Chapter 9: Valid Reasons

Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto if I would, Naruto and Sasuke would end up together. Italic is going to be when everyone is watching the Hunger Games and talking.

Naruto's eyes fluttered open, and he sat up. Immediately wishing he hadn't his head throbbed painfully. Then the pain in his leg and hands came crashing back, making him stiffen up and grit his teeth in agony. How did he get here? He glanced around. Nothing looked familiar to him. Though the air was still smokey, there was a definite improvement, but it was still too heavy to be healthy. He could just stay here for a little while.

He lay on his stomach by the cold pool, dipping his burnt hands in. He gave a sigh of relief. Shino had always said cold water was the first good treatment for a burn. Though, that was probably for minor burns only. His leg could easily be a whole different matter. Not that he knew for sure; he wasn't a healer. Plus, he didn't really have the guts to look at it right now.

He made a half-hearted attempt to wash the blood and ash off his face, and then decided not to bother. Instead he took a shaky breath and slowly swung his leg out in front of him. He heard a faint whimper of horror, and realized it had fallen from his own lips.

The burn was about the size of his hand, red and angry looking. And it hurt so bad... but it wasn't as severe as he'd dreaded. Slowly he leaned his leg out and dipped it in the pound, keeping his foot balanced and only slightly damp on a rock. Burns were always what he'd hated the most, and they were the most common injury in District 12. Typical. He could barely handle a tiny burn from a hot tray; this was an entirely different matter.

While there was no way he was moving his leg anytime soon, he took his hands out every few minutes and set about re-organising his supplies. He filled his flask with water and left it to purify as he ate one of the crackers from his pack. His jacket was destroyed; he cut off a massive patch of charred fabric, leaving the jacket cut off to the bottom of his ribs. At least he still had the hood. And now half of his clothes were cut off.

He drank his water slowly, taking his time and letting himself relax. Had he really been in that much of a daze that he hadn't noticed the pound before he fainted? No, he felt surely he would've seen it, he would've remembered. So what happened?

He sighed, deciding not to bother thinking about it. He was lucky to be alive, he didn't need to be questioning anything.

Though this was the third time he'd narrowly escaped something without a good explanation.

Whatever. The charred flesh of his leg was distracting right now anyway.

He whimpered in pain, leaning back against a tree and shutting his eyes. The pain never seemed to ease much. It wore on, throbbing on his leg and never ceasing. But he couldn't show he was in pain, not if he could help it. Potential sponsors were watching, as was his family, and Kiba. he couldn't let them see he was suffering. He was supposed to be strong.

Jirayia sat in the main Capitol square, watching the Games on one of the three large screens on the surrounding buildings. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a group of men laughing at the one screen events. And two women passed him, he briefly heard one say, "The poor dear, he'll never win the Game like that!"

"I always love this stage!" the other replied excitedly.
Always so thrilling to watch!"

And Shizune wondered why he hated people.

Because people were cruel, and selfish. Horrible, to put in a single word. Or disgusting, that worked too.

Little Kit was in pain, Jiraiya could see it in his eyes. That leg burn looked extremely nasty to deal with. Cold water wasn't enough to treat it.

Jiraiya got up and headed to the nearest of the fancy bars, in which rich snobby civilians would make bets on the tributes and talk about potential sponsors. Plenty of money going around.

Just what they needed.

He barely noticed the beeping sound at first.

Naruto's eyes widened as the little parachute landed next to him. He reached over for it, opening the little container and taking out a little metal pot. He opened it up to find a thick white ointment inside. It smelled strong, reminding him a little of the healing substances his mother used at home. Though this was clearly a much higher standard of medicine. He read the little note attached.

'Apply generously, little kit.-J'

Naruto grinned, hoping the cameras caught it and Jiraiya would see just how grateful he was. He dipped his fingers in and rubbed some of the medicine onto his leg. He gasped, eyes drifting shut in bliss as the most wonderful cooling sensation spread over the previously painful area. He rubbed more and more on every inch of his burnt leg, before spreading some over his hands and putting the medicine in his pack. He sat back against a tree, sighing in relief. He felt so much better now…

When he woke up, looking at the sun told him he must've slept all the way to afternoon. Jesus, he couldn't let that happen again, he was lucky nobody had slit his throat while he was sleeping. He drank some more water and refilled the flask before getting to his feet. He munched happily on a beef strip and cracker as he walked. He could catch something later on.

The day wore on, and he kept walking. Naturally, walking hurt, but not as much as he'd expected. He didn't have to limp much; the pain didn't lessen or worsen with the way he walked. It was just sore, no matter what he did. Evening was coming closer. He wondered if it was time to go hunting, or if he should just forget it that and go find a tree to sleep in and worry about food in the morning.

Well, a few seconds later that didn't matter too much. He had other things on his mind.

"NARUTO! DON'T STEP THERE!"

It happened in a split second. Naruto took a step, he heard a snap, something tightened around his ankle. Next thing he knew he was up in the air, yelping in shock as he found himself hanging upside down above the ground. Snare. Fuck it. Immediately as he started trying to break free, Naruto heard clattering and looked up to see two cans tied to the snare, effectively acting as an alarm for whoever made it. Tribute caught.

Naruto took a deep breath and leaned forward, feeling his shoulder and back strain as he tried to grab hold of his leg and pull himself up. He gritted his teeth, finally managing to grab onto his thigh and hold it tightly. He panted a little, before moving his hands up his leg, climbing up as he did until his hands finally reached the rope above his ankles and he was bent in half in mind air. The cans were still clattering together as he reached into his belt for his knife, grabbing it and cutting at the rope under his hand.

He saw Nagato crashing through the trees towards him just as the rope snapped and he was free. He swung his leg out and kicked at the District 4 boy, momentarily deterring him as he let go of the rope and landed on the ground, legs shaking slightly.

Instantly Nagato was coming towards him again and Naruto was dodging the fist about to smash into his nose, before slamming forward and knocking Nagato against a tree. Nagto snarled, before turning and yelling at the top of his voice, "I'VE GOT HIM!"

Naruto's eyes widened and he jumped back, eyes wide as he stared into Nagato's laughing face. "Nowhere to run now, is there?" Nagato grinned, taking another step towards him.

"Nagato, we're coming!"

Nagato laughed again. But it only lasted a second, before his heart stopped instantly as Naruto's arrow stuck deep in his skin.

Naruto was trembling as he watched Nagato fall. His first kill. The cannon went off.

It hurt. It felt nothing like killing a deer, or a squirrel.

Nagato had a family back home. Maybe he had a little sister who was waiting for him to come back...maybe he had a girlfriend too...and friends who thought he might come back alive… "I'm sorry." Naruto found himself murmuring under his breath. "I had too."

He heard the Careers crashing towards him and ran in the opposite direction, not knowing where he was going and not caring. He'd left an arrow behind too. Didn't care about that either. He had to get away, they couldn't catch him, he had to escape-

Naruto tripped and landed in a patch of bristly flowers, hissing in pain as he got to his feet again. His hands were scratched and stinging like crazy. As if they weren't painful enough already.

And he suddenly felt very dizzy. He ran off again, but immediately he knew something was wrong. He kept stumbling, vision blurry, every sound echoing around him. What the hell was in those plants?

The next time he tripped, he couldn't get back. Was he dying?

It served him right for what he did.

He managed to crawl, and hid in a shallow ditch under some thick bushes. Maybe he could hide here until it wore off-

The sky was dark by now. He saw an image of Moegi's face above him before he fell unconscious.

The fire must've got her...

"Shh," Naruto giggled, arms wrapped around Kiba's neck. "Don't be so loud."

"Why not?" Kiba smirked, gently trailing down Naruto's bare sides. "Nobody's going to hear us. Except maybe the squirrels…"

"You're kind of destroying the peace."

"Since when has that mattered to you?"

"I don't mean it like that, I just…." Naruto bit his lip, wide blue eyes looking up at Kiba. "It's just nice and quiet. Relaxing, you know? No need to wake everything up…"

"Got it," Kiba grinned, leaning down and kissing Naruto's soft lips. Naruto gave a soft whimper, one hand running through the older's short hair, the other running down his strong chest slowly. His fingers were cold but they burned against Kiba's skin, making him moan softly as his hands drew lower and closer to the hem of his pants. Kiba growled low in his throat, searching for Naruto's shirt and yanking it off. Then his lips were working their way down the blonde's small body, tongue gently sliding over little bumps and soft scars on his tan skin.

Naruto moaned softly, legs hugging Kiba's hips so he couldn't go down any further, before pulling him back up and kissing his neck softly as his hand dove deep into Kiba's pants.

Kiba moaned loudly, but Naruto's request to keep the peace was completely forgotten Kiba was tugging Naruto's trousers and underwear down, lifting his hips carefully as he tugged them down past his knees and over his feet, leaving them somewhere in the grass, not that he gave a shit anyway.

Naruto was trying to pull Kiba's clothes off too, getting them stuck around his thighs and bursting into a fit of laughter. Kiba grinned down at him, thumb reaching out to brush over the whisker mark on his cheek. "God, you're beautiful."

Naurto's cheeks turned pink. He responds by pulling Kiba in for another kiss, opening his legs wide and tugging on Kiba's hair.

Kiba worked him open slowly and gently, leaving gentle kisses against his neck and chest as he did. Sometimes he used his tongue as well, but not often. It all depended on what they felt like doing. Sometimes Naruto would be on all fours, clenching tight in the grass as Kiba kissed and ran his fingers over the ridges of his spine. Other times Kiba would lie on his back in the long grass while Naruto rocked on top of him, throwing his head back and whimpering quietly as the sunlight caught his hair just right.

This time, was like most others, Naruto laid out on top of Kiba's jacket, his legs balanced on Kiba's hips as he slid in slowly. They mostly did this in warmer weather; once frost started appearing in the mornings and snow started falling, it was obviously too cold to stirp. Once they'd found themselves hidden in the back of somebody's old shed, Naruto holding onto Kiba's shoulders, leaving fingertip-shaped bruises as Kiba thrust into him and pressed him up against the wooden wall.

Naruto was holding Kiba's shoulder now, moaning low in his throat as he bucked his hips up against the Inuzuka. Kiba grunted as his hips snapped forward, chuckling as Naruto threw his head back in pleasure, blonde hair already a tousled mess, blue eyes dilated and half closed.

They'd done this so many times. Maybe they were both young and a bit stupid, but they needed this. And what better place to get it than from each other?

Naruto always came first. Mostly because Kiba was determined to hold on until he did. This time, all it took was seeing Naurto come undone for Kiba to do the same, filling Naruto up, before slowly pulling out. Naruto was panting weakly, lips parted as his eyes finally met Kiba's. He smiled. Kiba smiled back.

He was just sixteen and Naruto was almost fourteen when Naruto told him he wanted to end what they had. Whatever that was. He gave a couple of reasons. And in fairness, they seemed vaid.

It still hurts either way.

Kiba sat in the long grass. This was pretty much the exact spot that he and Naruto had made love all those times. He wondered if those still meant as much to Naruto as they did to him.

He wondered if he'd ever get to ask.

Hope you like the story

Sorry for not writing, not for a while been busy with work and I'm starting to write The Princess Bride Harry Potter version. And I'm trying to get done writing this story. I'll try to write some more of the story and type it.

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