Author's Note: hey, hi everyone!
welcome to another of my mountain of wips. good news is that this story isn't one of those i started on a whim. nah, i actually want to continue this on fairly regularly so chances of this being left untouched after chap one are very rare.
there's no bad news! :P
so read on! hope you enjoy!
"Get up a light, won't ya?"
Naruto glanced up from his scrutiny of the ground. Ibiki was staring him down, expectant and a lot impatient. He nodded without resistance–he wasn't in the mood for an argument today–and channeled Kurama's chakra through his body. The cave lit up, bright yellow light darting in and out of crevices and cracks, chasing away the shadows till every groove on every surface was visible.
Konohamaru put out the pitiful ball of fire, gasping lightly at the brilliance with which Naruto shone. A few years ago, Naruto might've smiled at the unadulterated awe on his little brother's face. Now he could only shrug to hide his discomfort.
They trudged forward with a critical eye trained on the walls between which they walked. Naruto didn't exactly know what they were looking for, they never did on these kinds of missions, but any inconsistency, anything odd was their best bet.
Konohamaru pointed out a small burrow through the wall but after a quick search, nothing but dirt was found inside it. Ibiki controlled a chakra string to see how far it led, but it was an unfinished route carved by some animal that stopped about a feet from where it began.
Another thirty minutes of aimless walking brought them to a weird slab of rock, leaning against one end of the cave. It was polished stone, inscribed with rudimentary sealing symbols. Even so, none of them could decipher what it meant since the symbols weren't developed by shinobi but instead, their humanoid adversaries.
"Looks like the one we found in Genko, yes?" Ibiki asked. He crouched to get a better look at the lower end of the slab, head tilted at an awkward angle as if that would help him unravel the language of the seals.
"I think so," Naruto lightly brushed off the dirt that had settled into the ridges. "I bet on the Zetsus using this as a door. Here–see–this indent is likely where the handle was."
Konohamaru made a sound of affirmation, squinting at the spot Naruto had pointed out. "Uh-huh. Looks about right to me. Question is: what room was this door guarding and why did they wrench it away from it?"
Naruto stepped away, considering his surroundings. The cave branched out into two paths a little ways from there. Whenever they'd encountered crossroads before, they would spin a kunai and go forth in the direction that was pointed by the tip.
However, he could feel something was off about this part of the cavern. There was an almost inviting lull drawing him towards it, like birdsong chiming up at just the right tone to soothe him, to coax him to go there and get a better taste of it.
One look towards Ibiki and Konohamaru confirmed that he was the only one experiencing this persuasive sensation.
Immediately, he knew this was a trap. While the Zetsus didn't bother much with tactics and plans, instead preferring to overpower the shinobi sent with sheer numbers, Naruto didn't eliminate the possibility that this, whatever this beckoning was, wasn't a trick set up by them.
"Hey, guys?" Naruto called as he slowly walked towards the tug guiding him. "Let's have a look ahead. We can circle back to the rock if we find a room that fits it. Cool?"
"Wait up!" Konohamaru came jogging upto him, Ibiki right behind. "Don't wanna do the kunai thing?"
Naruto waved a dismissive hand, "It doesn't matter because we aren't picking one route."
"What does that mean, Uzumaki?" Ibiki's tone was sharp as he gripped Naruto's shoulder, halting him in his tracks.
Naruto glanced at the man who had a particular grimness beaneath his eyes that only came from numerous years in service as a ninja. No matter how much Ibiki got on his nerves, he grudgingly respected his new missions' captain. But that didn't mean he was scared of him.
He shook off Ibiki's hand, "It means you two take the right and I'll take the left. We're already behind on schedule and I have no intention of going back without finding the base of operations, okay? You have flares and I have my toads. We'll commmunicate through them since the comms. don't work out here."
Ibiki frowned severely as they approached the two meandering pathways. "Absolutely not. I don't know what gave you the impression that you call the shots here Uzumaki, but I'd like to snuff out that flame right here. I am your captain and you'd do well to remember that."
Naruto felt a rush of annoyance at the words but he stamped it down. He was getting better at accepting authority these days but he'd never fully learn to be compliant always. Not that Ibiki expected such a thing–Naruto knew the man was only trying to follow standard protocol and taking caution but that gentle pull was so appealing, so convincing, he just wanted to go towards it...
"Naruto!" Konohamaru pulled him by the arm and he realised he was walking again.
He gulped and turned his back on the crossroads, eyeing Ibiki's worried but irritated expression.
"Sorry," Naruto sighed and was pleased to see some of the tension leak out of Konohamaru's body. The boy had always disliked conflict of any kind in their team, which he reckoned was a development of the war. "I didn't mean to undermine your authority, Ibiki–but, uh, fuck man. We've been loitering in this shithole for a week and we need to complete our mission objective. The risk is very low– no sign of Zetsu life so far, no creepy Chakra Tree vines– so what's the big deal if we split up?"
"The big deal is that you're our only reliable light source," Ibiki replied tightly. His arms were crossed in his I'm-about-to-give-you-a-lecture-of-your-life pose. Naruto withheld a groan. "How do you think Konohamaru and I are supposed to navigate while you go off adventuring on your own? Seriously, use that head of yours!"
Thing is: Naruto was using his head. Just, his head thought it was a grand idea if he just went in through the left route, all alone, and saw what was waiting for him at the end of it. There was no danger, his mind just knew, because that soft, inviting hum told him so.
He turned and started walking again.
He heard shuffling behind him and then Ibiki was standing right in front of him, looking alarmed more than annoyed.
"Are you even listening to me, Naruto?"
"Hmmm yeah," Naruto replied distractedly and shoved Ibiki aside to continue on his way.
"Bro... " Konohamaru's uncertain voice reverberated around the space, "Bro what are you doing?!"
"Just taking a stroll," Naruto smiled and said. Yes, this was right. This felt good.
He kept walking.
The next two minutes were an absolute blur. He remembered going to base two using Kurama's power even as the bijuu sniped about him being under control or something. He'd pushed Konohamaru out of the way and he recalled activating lightning step (the technique that had earned him the regard of the Raikage all those years ago). Absently, he'd registered guilt at what he was doing, the harm he was causing but it was alright. It was fine.
Nothing mattered more than getting to the end of the cave.
The path finally opened up into cavernous room, furnished with rocky chairs and tables and an odd-looking stand that had a brace at the top of it. Nothing was held within it though Naruto reckoned that hadn't always been the case.
The tug had finally dissipated, leaving him disoriented and confused. He went back to base one and calmed himself enough to inspect the space he'd landed himself in.
The entire cavern–walls to floor to ceiling–was covered in symbols not unlike the ones they'd glimpsed on the slab of stone outside. It set his teeth on edge even as his curiosity spiked on observing the sheer scale of this continuous seal.
He approached the hole through which he'd entered in. Its dimensions were just right for the slab to act as a door. He could hear the faint calls of his name, frantic and concerned, and now with a clear mind he realised how majorly he'd fucked up. Shame curled in his stomach as he saw the crushed face of Konohamaru in his memories.
He stepped out.
Instantly, the tug was back and this time he didn't regain coherence of thought till he was halfway inside the room.
Angered, he tried going back the way he came from twice more, only to experience the same results.
"Damn it," he kicked stray pebbles on the ground, collapsing onto one of the rock-seats rooted in the cavern.
He'd just have to wait this out. Sooner or later, Ibiki and Konohamaru would arrive and then they could knock him out and carry him through the hole with no problems whatsoever. He was certain that they didn't have any creepy connection to this room.
With nothing else to distract him, he began walking around, tracing the lines of the engraved seal with veiled awe.
As much as he'd tried to learn the art of seals, following Jiraiya's demise, the discipline had always eluded him. He just didn't have the mind for it, nor the patience to learn it all, step by step. Shikamaru had tried, oh he had, but by the end of their two-months long beginner's course, they'd both agreed that he'd have to find a better way to honour his teacher's memories.
So even if these seals were crafted by his enemies, he couldn't help but feel genuine wonder at their ingenuity.
He sighed as he came to an end of his room tour, standing right in front of the elevated platform positioned at the dead-center.
Only now did he notice the writing–kanji–etched vertically downwards on both sides. It was odd that the Zetsus would incorporate a human language when they'd never done so before. They held being cryptics closer to their hearts than Konoha's Intel Department ever did.
He read the words: What do you most desire?
He rolled his eyes, snorting in amusement. So he was wrong. The Zetsus still loved being secretive assholes. They were just more dramatic about it.
He shook his head and lay down on the stone couch this time, liking the way the coolness of the surface calmed his shot nerves.
He closed his eyes and fell into a restless nap.
Twenty minutes had passed when he awoke, sweaty and breathless from the usual run of nightmares. Thing was, they weren't so much as nightmares as flashes of his memories of the battlefield that had yet to stop haunting his existence.
The war had ended almost two years ago but the scars still lingered.
He saw the effect it had on the people he held dear almost daily.
As if the pain of losing Chouji and Hinata wasn't enough, he had to go about his life while knowing the lives of those around him were falling apart.
Maybe his was too, if he'd felt victim to the persuasions of a fucking room in a secluded cave.
This time his snort was bitter, an attempt to curb his oncoming tears. He succeeded and rubbed a hand down his face to put some feeling into them.
But he couldn't stop his mind from wandering back to the dreadful topic. Just yesterday, he'd had a talk with Sakura. It had been short and clipped, like their interactions these days tended to be. The imprisonment of Sasuke was a giant rift between them, one that pushed them apart than bring them closer.
Naruto thought Sakura harboured some resentment for him. After all, he hadn't fought to keep Sasuke out of jail, though he had fought to shorten his punishment.
The point was, however, that Sakura was working herself towards an early burn-out. Nineteen hour shifts at the hospital was in no way healthy or sustainable and Naruto knew his friend was going to crumble under this weight very soon. He'd tried to talk her out of this cramped schedule but she'd rather snap at him than think about his advice.
As annoyed as that made him, he knew Sakura's dismissal of his concerns wasn't borne out of callousness. This was her method of coping– burying herself into so much work that the resulting exhaustion wouldn't allow her to relive any painful memories or address the gaping absence of their third teammate.
It was difficult to bite his tongue and not lash out when he saw the bags under her eyes or the perpetual state of mess her apartment was in these days. This was Sakura– the perfectionist, the hygiene enthusiast, the composed one of all his friends. To see her spiral so miserably was another aftereffect of war he had to endure.
Ino wasn't much better. She was on the verge of quitting the shinobi corps altogether.
First, Naruto had thought she'd decided to work at the flower shop full-time but a run-in with her mom had revealed that Ino planned to leave Konoha and study the mind arts in Kumo. Ino would return at some point but the thought of her never being a kunoichi again was a sad one, especially so because he knew Ino reveled in being a ninja.
She was going to succeed her father as the Intel head, at some point, but that dream was buried the moment they'd heard the distant explosion on the battle ground.
Shikamaru was dealing with his losses admirably well. But Naruto could sense that the Nara was only escaping his grief than tackling it head-on. The increasingly frequent trips to Suna under the guise of doing liaison-work proved as much.
Shino and Kiba seemed to be the only team members who could tolerate doing missions together. It was the opposite of what Sakura and Naruto had become. While they'd grown more and more distant, Hinata's death had only brought Shino and Kiba closer together.
Naruto was relieved that at least they had someone to confide in, to let their emotions out. Yet he couldn't bear to see them stationed in front of Hinata's gravestone every weekend, unfailingly, under pouring rains or melting heat.
Team Gai was just as despondent as the rest of them, but Lee's heartbreak over Gai-sensei's condition had been immense. The boy had dedicated all his time to helping his teacher rehabilitate and though progress on that end had been fruitful so far, Naruto as well as Gai himself, wanted to see Lee letting go of the hurts the war had caused him and not cling to the negatives so dearly.
Neji had been stoic before, but now he was stone. He'd shut off completely, that was all Naruto could say about him. Though the new Hyuga heir looked put-together to stray eyes, anyone who knew him well would agree that he was far from okay.
He rarely spoke to anyone or tried to maintain any social connections. He didn't show up to their planned dinners (that were growing more and more infrequent) and he didn't visit Gai or Tenten or Lee. He took up high-risk missions and spent all his time rewriting the Hyuga clan's policies with painstaking care.
Naruto wanted to shake Neji sometimes, roughly, violently, so he could get some kind of reaction, some kind of emotion from his friend.
As things were, Tenten was probably dealing with mess the war had caused the best. She was the planner of their get-togethers, the one who dragged Lee out of his house for impromptu spars, the one who visited Sakura at the hospital after Naruto had once asked her to.
She went on missions less and spent a lot of time building weapons but at least she didn't seem as maladjusted than the others in their friend group. Naruto considered her a rock now, a steady presence in the chaos that had become their collective lives.
But even so, he couldn't say Tenten was happy. Neither was anyone else. Not him, not her, not Sakura or Tsunade or Kakashi. Even the chirp of Konohamaru had dulled ever since the war ended.
He'd tried his best to cheer people up, to help them, but as he'd soon learned, he was in no way equipped to deal with his own emotions, let alone carry the baggage of someone else.
He didn't know the right things to say or do and it was agonising. This constant anxiousness that bubbled beneath every interaction he had with his friends. Any word, any action would topple them over the edge and so Naruto walked on egg-shells whenever he spoke to them.
It sucked. It made him feel a profound hollowness inside him but he didn't have any clear guidance about what should do, what he could do to make this all stop.
He bit his lip and stared hard at the platform again. The words echoed in his head, sounding a gong of urgency.
What did he most desire?
For his friends to be happy – the answer came to him with astounding clarity.
He stood up and walked towards the steps tapering upwards. The structure was more of a dais than a podium now that he was closer.
He climbed up, feet steady, momentarily forgetting that Ibiki and Konohamaru were searching for him or that this was some kind of Zetsu's lair.
All his thoughts had sharpened towards the small brace placed at the very top. It was stone-carved hollow cuboid which on a closer look seemed to be some kind of rigid glove on the inside. Five narrow channels that would perfectly fit fingers in them resided inside the brace.
Suddenly, the tug was back, encouraging him to place his hand inside the box. It was a nice idea, he thought. A soothing one. A smart one.
All his alarm bells were silent as he ran a finger around the rounded edges of the small brace. It compelled him to use it, to check out if his hand fit snugly inside it or not.
And he didn't find anything wrong with that suggestion in his head–almost as if someone was inserting them in, slowly feeding him what he should do next.
He felt obligated to comply.
Which was weird, since he hated compliance towards anyone but himself.
But this was himself, right? He wanted to do this. He wanted to use the brace.
He slid his hand into the box.
The moment he did this, the cloudiness from his mind was gone and with it came extreme alarm. He tried to pull his hand free but the box had extended a clamp at his wrist and was sucking on his chakra, draining his reserves impossibly fast.
At the same time, a distant rumble grew clearer, drawing Naruto's attention to some incoming projectile. The sound of stone dragging against stone became louder and with a definite, resounding thud, the slab from before came swooping in, retaking its post as the room's door.
Naruto held his breath, wild panic seizing his lungs as the seals drawn across the cavern lit up. He wasn't certain but he had an inkling where the energy for the light was coming from. Soon, his chakra was the most depleted it had ever been and he couldn't bear to maintain base one.
Kurama hissed something but he couldn't pay attention to his friend. His mental faculties were too busy trying to find a way out.
He tried using wind, fire and water jutsus on the brace using his idle arm but nothing worked on it. Instead, each of his attacks was entirely absorbed, the chakra channeling onward into the seals.
With a hint of hysteria, he realised he was being used as a chakra battery for this elaborate seal design. He didn't think anything good could come from this.
As much as he'd have liked to deny it, the truth of the matter was simple: if this continued, he'd die of complete chakra depletion.
Instead of another bout of panic, Naruto felt numb. He felt as if he was floating outside, viewing his body go through this all without really feeling any of it.
But then suddenly, the brace stopped vacuuming in his chakra. It didn't open up but it gave Naruto enough of a shock to observe what happened next with utmost clarity.
The symbols on the door finally brightened, finishing the connection between the seals on the walls. Naruto reckoned it acted as some kind of key that controlled this circuit of seals.
He braced himself for whatever would come next.
Nothing happened for a long while. He stayed still, his heart beat leaping into his throat as the wait grew excruciating.
And then there was a shrill ringing throughout the cave, so loud and painful that he could feel his ears bleed.
His vision blurred, dots dancing inside his eyelids and he made one last, desperate attempt to wrench his hand free from the box. It occurred to him that he could cut lose his arm but he had neither the strength nor the will to see it through.
As every facet of his consciousness was shattered, he felt himself fall into a stretching blackness. He wasn't sure if that was something his mind had made up or if it was simply what dying looked like.
He jolted awake to too-loud raps at the door.
Okay, so not dead.
He looked up, blinking rapidly to chase away the surplus of drowsiness in his system. It felt a lot like taking a bunch of sleeping pills and then being woken up by an emergency mission call.
The knocks were still persistent and unforgiving. A headache made him hit his skull with a fist, as if that would help any.
He looked around. He wasn't in the cave anymore. Awesome.
He wasn't in any hospital either which was a little weird but he guessed they'd transferred him out once he was stable to whatever fancy place this was.
And oh how fancy it really was.
He was pretty sure it was silk bedsheets he lying on top of.
He would appreciate his new location more if the asshole outside would just stop banging at his door.
With great effort, he stumbled towards out of bed and opened up the door, ready to shout his lungs out at the imbecile who had caused him a migraine.
But as soon as his eyes found the familiar face standing outside, creased with irritation, all thoughts of giving him a piece of his mind vanished, leaving in its wake sheer disbelief.
"Sasuke... " he breathed out, leaning heavily against the doorframe. His friend–best friend–was out of prison? Already? That wasn't supposed to happen till another two years. Did Kakashi shorten his sentence or was Naruto asleep longer than he'd first thought?
As weird as that thought was, it was nothing compared to the reaction Sasuke gave him.
The Uchiha snorted derisively, peeking above his shoulder into the room.
"It's fucking noon, Naruto. Couldn't you stop drooling over your pillow for one day and show up for my ceremony?"
Naruto frowned at him in confusion.
"What cere–" Sasuke didn't let him finish. He shoved him inside and shut the door close behind him.
And then Sasuke kissed him. Right on the lips. Without any preamble. It was messy and raw and hot and so fucking wrong.
Naruto pushed him away, again with great effort, and stepped back. "What the fuck are you doing, bastard?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him, "What, don't tell me you're in one of your moods again. First, you don't come and celebrate my fucking jounin promotion and now you don't wanna spend time with me?" he shook his head and he looked disappointed now, instead of the anger that had first coloured his face. "I'm so done with your bullshit, Naruto."
Naruto raised his hands, swallowing the lump in his throat. He was confused and tired and hungry and worn-out and this whole conversation was scraping at his nerves in the worst way possible.
"What are you talking about Sasuke? You were... you were in prison when I– how long was I out, huh? How long was I asleep? Was I in a coma?"
Something sincere must have shown on his face for Sasuke's face lost a bit of its edge. "Just over fifteen hours, I think. You were drunk out of your mind when I dropped you off here yesterday," he sighed, running a hand through his hair (which he distantly noted were styled way differently than what Naruto was used to seeing on his friend's head). "You didn't have dinner or breakfast again, did you?"
Naruto didn't care about food at the moment. "Drunk?" he plopped onto the bed, perplexed. He hated alcohol. "No, no, Sasuke. You don't get it! I'm talking about the cave– I passed out, didn't I? What happened then?"
"Cave?" Sasuke stared at him weirdly. Then, he snorted again and the edge from before was back. "You're still drunk. Wow. That is wonderful. Are you seriously hallucinating about me going to prison of all places?"
"What? No!" Naruto bounced his foot in agitation, failing to understand just what the fuck was wrong with this place. "I'm not hallucinating! I swear on my–my dad's name!"
Outrageously, Sasuke rolled his eyes at that. "If you think you're being funny here, Naruto, I assure you that I am not amused."
Naruto groaned. This was an impossible situation. He felt like he was missing not just parts of the story, but the whole story itself. For Sasuke to dismiss him bringing up Minato (something he'd only ever done with Sasuke or Sakura) with such ease was disturbing.
"I'm not trying to be funny," he stood up and approached Sasuke. "I just don't understand... the Zetsus, the box–"
"Yup," Sasuke cut him off, "You are drunk and I don't really want to deal with your stupid ramblings right now. So go take a shower and pop a pill. You didn't show up for me but you need to do that for Menma's party," he jabbed a finger at his chest, "so suck it up."
"Who's Menma?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke sighed again. "As much as I hate your little brother, your childish animosity with him is really helping no one, Naruto. Least of all, yourself."
Naruto stayed silent. He really didn't know what he could say to something like that. The possibility that this was a genjustu was a highly likely one but everything felt a bit too real for it all to be an illusion.
He also didn't understand what the purpose would be behind trapping him in a genjustu as bizarre as this one. If the Zetsus wanted him indisposed, they would've worked on a more convincing replica of his world so he didn't suspect anything and try to snap out of it.
Which he was going to try to do. As soon as he was able to think again.
"Anyway, I'm leaving," Sasuke said and leaned forward again. Naruto leaned away reflexively and saw Sasuke's jaw tighten.
"Whatever," the Uchiha muttered before walking away.
His retreating back made Naruto register the gravity of this whole situation. Sasuke was out of prison and he may not understand what was happening or how it happened but the fact remained: his best friend was free and Naruto was seeing him after two years.
In-person. Without jail bars or other mental barricades separating them.
"Sasuke!" he shouted and ran upto him. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around his startled friend and pulled him close. Though he didn't feel Sasuke hugging him back, it didn't sting much. He knew how much the Uchiha had always hated physical affection of any kind.
Tears formed in his eyes as he let himself bask in the fact that Sasuke was here now.
"I'm glad you're out. It's really good to have you back," he whispered into his shoulder.
After a moment, he stepped back, shooting a watery smile towards Sasuke who looked suprised, fearful and suspicious all at once.
And then the moment ended and Sasuke turned around sharply, fleeing. Naruto stood silently for a while before going back to the room–the luxurious apartment–and closing the door behind him.
As bewildering as the last few hours had been, he was determined to find his answers.
But before all of that, he needed a really cold shower.
Author's Note:
i loved writing this so hope you liked reading it just as much! as always, any feedback is welcome and thank you for reading!!
hope you have an awesome day ahead!
