White Noise

Chapter Two

Flashback_

Naruto plucked petal after petal from his daisy with blunt fingers and let them drop down to the grass. The pathetic scraps of plant appeared achingly white in the bright sunshine. He turned his gaze from them shortly. It always hurt his eyes to look at them too long.

Behind him he could hear Hinata wandering through the knee-long grass. The blades whispered against her clothing as the girl approached, though the sound was masked by the gentle rustling of a summer breeze.

It was a beautiful day to break rules and sneak outside of the fort.

The sensation in and of itself was a delicious drink that left him feeling exhilarant and satisfied. The boy felt more than he saw Hinata seat herself beside him and her hands smoothing her jacket as she lowered herself. The girl settled her warmth against his shoulder, letting her exhaled breath tickle against his ear. He didn't turn to look. Instead, Naruto focused his gaze on the white, fluffy clouds that played a game of tag in the sky. They were detached and unencumbered by the conflict of the world below. They were free in the truest sense of the word.

What would it feel like to exist as a cloud?

Unused to such thoughts, Naruto was unsure of how to handle the ideas and resulting emotions. Ignore them? Consider them further? Speak them aloud?

Weren't philosophical thoughts like this supposed to be good, positive things?

Then why did his ribcage feel like it was made from ice despite the warm sun spilt on his shoulders and the mass of Hinata on his chest? An odd sensation crawled up through his belly and numbed his lips. It was a dangerous emotion, he recognized. It was something that had tormented him throughout his painful childhood. It had him cry himself to sleep alone some nights and throw rocks with a vengeance the next day. A hated emotion, both bittersweet and terrible at once.

"Longing."

Naruto turned his head to spy Hinata from the corner of his blue eyes. Her eyes remained fixed upon the white fluffy cloud and her lips were parted ever so slightly.

"I wish..." Her voice was muted, as if she spoke to herself. "Don't you wish you were a cloud sometimes?"

Naruto hesitated as he tried to formulate an answer. None came, so instead he held his silence. It felt almost too dangerous to speak. Everything might come gushing out. His childhood, his desire for someone who cared, the pain, the anger, everything. She didn't need to hear all that, Naruto knew. She doesn't need to know.

Hinata's fingers curled into the earth beside his leg and he found himself fascinated. Hinata, with skin so pale and clean, digging dirt under her nails was a confusing paradox. She didn't belong outside, but nonetheless, here they were.

She spoke again, summarizing. "I always do. If I had been born a cloud, Neji would have been happy. His father would be alive. I wouldn't have hurt all those people just...by existing."

It was her, not him, that urged the other to slip from a crack in the Village walls and make their way here to this solitary, empty meadow of rolling dips. It looked like the swells of the ocean caught in time. The two ninja lay at the crested wave together in the cool summer afternoon and heard the roaring of the grassy sea in their ears.

"Sometimes," said Naruto moments later. The clouds passed in front of the sun and set a filter over the natural illumination. The meadow changed, morphed, became a brand new world right in front of their eyes and the scent of rain swarmed insistently. "I wonder... what life would be like if I weren't with Leaf Village. No Kyuubi. Just being stupid with lots of other kids. Having fun. Being..." His resolve twisted like a hung shirt on the line in the breeze. "Being happy." It was all he wanted, really. Wasn't it?

Hinata exhaled lightly and peeled away from Naruto's form to rise to her feet. The wind pushed the grass to bow around her calves and she smiled. "Would you really have been happy?"

Naruto blinked hard. Was that what he'd asked? "I-is that what I'm supposed to want? Isn't that what everybody wants? Happiness?"

Hinata pushed one of her ear-tails to join the mass of shiny black hair help tightly by her blue Leaf Village-insignia band. It did no good; the increasing breeze made strands flutter and tease at the corner of her mouth and over the rise of her cheeks.She was so beautiful, he realised. Almost other-worldly. She leaned down to the boy beside her, expression solemn. "What is happiness, anyway, Naruto? Happiness is spun just as fine as clouds. Happiness... Th-that's a fool's game. Any happiness I make can never last. Happiness isn't for us--for ninja."

It felt almost as if the air had been punched out of his lungs. He could only stare up at the soft gray specter as she voiced fears he never brought to conscious mind. They were there, kept behind doors with no locks and walls with no end.

For people like us.

Killers. Assassins. Bodyguards. Soldiers.

Could Hinata be right? Could that be all there was to the life they lead? It couldn't be true. It couldn't be possible. He didn't want it to be possible. Looking up at her, Naruto spied the faint glimmerings of silver at the corner of her cloudy, pupil-less eyes that threatened warily to spill over.

The tears decided him.

No.

He wouldn't believe in God if it were true that Hinata's mere existence precluded any chance she might have had for happiness and peace. The thought terrified him, sickened him that the world could be that sadistic. It really wasn't him that reached up to take her wrist and tug Hinata down to rest on his shoulder, then, it really wasn't. It was some automaton that slipped into his skin and rested his chin on top of her head, and it wasn't her that curled adolescent fingers around his forearms to pull them nearer.

"Hinata," he said. "If-if you ever have happiness...I'll protect it for you. I will. I will be there, I promise." Like no one had been there for him. Quite absently, he reached down and plucked a daisy's bobbing head from the waving grass by their legs and brought it up to Hinata's face. Slowly, he began to pluck petals from it once more.

Wasn't there some kind of rhyme that went with this action? A nursery rhyme?

Flowers for you

flowers for me

flowers for all

flowers be free

tell your own fortune

with the daisy charm

and find...

That was it. He couldn't remember any more.

And above the two curled forms, storm clouds were whipped to a frenzy, then erased from existence by a wind.

Maybe, thought Naruto blankly. Hinata's fingers were warm against his flesh, solid and real. Maybe this is happy.

He almost felt that way. Against him, Hinata murred quietly then neither spoke no more.

Naruto forcibly controlled his memories to replay that afternoon over and over again as Rusty dragged his feet in the dust ahead of him in a shambling, slouching canter that kicked up mountains of dust that stuck in his throat and coated his sweaty skin. Sasuke's head hung by his ear, eyes closed and mumbling every so often as the four made their way to the infirmary.

This, apparently, was Rusty's idea of fun. Any suggestions the genins had made were promptly and neatly shot down by that piercing yet delicate voice and the knobby knees. "No!" he would shout. "Mother doesn't allow me brutish war games!" after Sasuke had grudgingly volunteered to play hide-and-go-seek and Sakura suggested they play chess.

The pink haired girl had recoiled back a step and stared incredulously at the indignant, huffing form in front of her. "What? Why not chess? What's wrong with chess? What could you possibly have against chess?!" Rusty complained long and bitterly about the lack of entertainment in Leaf Village.

Rusty had propped himself up, puffed out his chest and impossibly looked down on Sakura. She was a full head taller than him. "It's a game of war, stupid. My mother says that even war games show a desire for violence. And I'm better than that. My mother says that makes me spiritually advanced." He folded his arms smugly as Sakura stood there for a moment, mouth opening then clicking shut at the preening little brat below her.

Naruto could hear her teeth grind from across the courtyard where he was lounging under a tree. It was Sakura's turn for Rusty-Sitting and she had taken him to the school, hoping he would be interested in a tour. He was not. He was interested in making every waking moment of this weekend into a living, breathing, heat-wave Hell. "Hey, Sasuke-kun," he interjected lazily, directing his voice to the dark haired genin who perched in the tree above him like some animated gargoyle. "Aren't you gonna help your lady-love out?"

The only response was a rustling of foliage and the crack of a branch inexplicably falling towards the blonde's head. Luckily, the Leaf Village forehead protector took most of the damage and Naruto could hop up beside his team mate amid the leafy branches. "Careful, Sasuke," Naruto smiled, Cheshire-style. "The branches just aren't safe." And the blonde pushed with all his might on the unresponsive boy's back.

Thud.

"Sasuke-kun!" Shrieked Sakura and all but materialized at the boy's side. His dark eyes were winced shut and he rolled gently from one side onto his other, cradling his wrist. His lips were curled back in a grimace of pain. "Sasuke-kun!" Cried Sakura again. "Are you all right? Did you break anything? Let me check!"

"Uchiwa!" Naruto plopped down out of the tree and crouched over his fallen comrade. His own brow was twisted in concern and a slight trace of guilt. He removed his hands from his knees and placed them on Sasuke's shoulders, forcing them to the earth. Patient thus restrained, Sakura took over in the diagnosis.

"Strained," she said quietly, rubbing the joint with the ball of her thumb, expression then turning thoughtful as she thought back to the standard medical training texts. "I think it's been broken, maybe. It's already starting to swell, see? We should take him to the infirmary." Sasuke moaned lightly in pain between the two as they conferred quietly, deciding who would be best to carry their partner. Behind them, Rusty stared incredulously. He stood alone, unsure, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other as the two fussed and murmured over Sasuke.

Inconceivable. They were here to watch over him. Over Rusty. The ninja were supposed to be fussing and scrabbling over him, not That Creepy Looking One! And even though he was Spiritually Advanced and far better than those Stupid Ninja, Rusty felt very small and alone, and intensely aware of how much he did not have anyone to fuss and comfort him when he was hurt. Not truly, anyway. Servants didn't count.

"Stop it!" cried Rusty and stamped his foot in the dust of the courtyard. Immediately the mumbling stopped and two heads swiveled in unison to regard the brown haired child incredulously. He swallowed, though at that moment he felt very, very wrong and very, very sick in his stomach. But he could not allow this to continue any longer! Rusty licked his dry lips and, since it always worked so well with his mother, flicked his bangs ineffectually from his eyes and placed his hands on his hips haughtily. "I'll tell you when we can take him to the infirmary."

Sakura's forearms trembled with the effort of not drawing her shuriken and skinning Rusty alive. Her hands clenched into the senseless Sasuke's blue shirt like claws, and Naruto's pupils dilated as his breath hissed from between his teeth. It was he that spoke first.

"As you wish, Rusty...sama."

Never before had Rusty ever hated the respectful appellation. But the pain of this rejection only made him dig convulsively back into his memories, pulling any scraps he could forward that he was right. Why? Because he was rich, and he had never fought, and he was better than this stupid, stupid bodyguard in front of him who probably needed help reading a cereal box.

Naruto stared evenly across the courtyard at the younger boy who folded his arms across his chest and childishly stamped his right foot to the earth. Naruto could feel Sasuke twitch under his hands and groan softly.

Finally, Rusty spoke. "Now we can go." The little twit, Naruto noticed, had the audacity to look pleased at his minor dictatorship. It would have made Naruto indescribably happy to knock that little tin-pot empire right out from under Rusty Manobi's hypocritical feet.

But, he realised as Sasuke moaned softly again, it would have to wait.

"I'll carry him," the boy said softly and Sakura nodded in response.

So, this was how their miniature caravan took shape that afternoon, with the unconscious Uchiwa Sasuke riding piggy-back on Naruto's shoulders, Sakura keeping an eye out for their precious charge, and Rusty mutely leading the way. Sakura muttered softly, expressing a wish to simply roof-hop their way to the infirmary instead of plodding there on foot. Rusty's nostrils flared. Sakura shut her mouth, and ground her teeth furiously.

"I could carry you," She offered at length.

"No," answered Rusty blithely, completely ignoring the common sense of her suggestion. "I want to lead."

And so an eternity later the four arrived at the academy's infirmary high on the eighth level. When Sakura rapped her knuckles on the wooden door it flew open immediately, and a voluminous woman in a gray apron gazed for a moment above the children's collective head-level. She blinked, then looked down to where the group waited.

"Oh, my!" She exclaimed, as she took in the pale Saskue. "Come in, come in! You carry him, you tell me what happened," Medic Nei said as she ushered Naruto and Sakura into the interior of the sick bay.

"What about--" exclaimed Rusty, straining to rise to his tiptoes, ever the valiant hero for leading 'his' party safely home.

Medic Nei flicked a fleshy hand in his direction. "We need no more bodies in the room. You sit there, young mister, and you stay put." Rusty's thin-lipped mouth snapped shut like a codfish's on a hook and his skinny bottom thumped down on the log bench to one side. The door closed with a slam and the breeze lifted his thick brown bangs from his pre-pubescent face.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder towards the door. "Uh, Sakura-chan?" The girl didn't answer. She was too occupied with her number one crush laying prone on the table in front of them both. She clasped Sasuke's free hand within hers and gazed fitfully at his face for any reaction. Typically, there was none. An un-reaction even, thought Naruto sourly. If that were actually possible. But leave it up to Super Dork himself.

"Uh, Sakura-chan?" He pestered again. Medic Nei bustled around the room, swabbing everything in sight and preparing to reset the broken bone in Sasuke's hand. The woman whistled a cheerful tune and glanced out the window often.

"What?" Asked Sakura distractedly.

"Should we really...be leaving Rusty like that?" True, the little shit was a pain, but they did have a job to do. Naruto shifted his weight from one foot to the next and tried to formulate the doubts and concerns swirling around in him to words and proper sentences.

Sakura blinked once, eyes still fixed on Sasuke's face. It was a moment later she replied, and then as if from a distance. "He'll be okay. He knows not to stray. Right now we need to worry about Sasuke-kun."

Naruto bit his lip thoughtfully. His concerns over Rusty still hadn't been placated, but he wasn't sure just how to broach the subject again with Sakura. She was always so single minded about Sasuke that any attempt to pry her away from the prone body with any tool short of a crowbar was sure to end in failure. Naruto glanced out the window. He really should mention his worry to Sakura. They really shouldn't just leave Rusty out there by himself. Little moron would mess with anything.

"Sasuke-kun." interjected the large medic, suddenly appearing between them. The two genin both looked up in surprise. The woman's demeanour had changed drastically. The smile had vanished from her fleshy face and her eyes glittered like hard chips of stone. "I'd be worrying more about yourselves at this moment, dears." And with that, she clapped a hand across the two genins' faces. Her hand was little more than a flash and neither had time to react. As Naruto and Sakura inhaled to cry out at almost the same moment, each felt a strange tickling sensation in the back of their throat, and smelled the faint scent of... peaches.

The grinning visage of the medic followed them to the floor, even as the world blurred, fuzzed and slipped mysteriously through their fingers.

Sakura regained consciously slowly and grudgingly, as if the waking world were the shore and she were tiredly slogging in its general direction. The scent of peaches swirled around her and her eyes refused to focus. But above her she could hear voices.

"...hide behind the Fourth."

Beside her, Naruto shifted.

"No, I got them. Yeah. No. ...Knocked out. The last is unconscious."

Sakura blinked blearily at the ceiling and pondered twitching her fingers. The effort to do so seemed far away and unimportant. But Naruto rustled again as he half rolled over. His two blue eyes stared blankly at the wall, one pupil huge, the other a mere pin-prick. He groaned softly, slightly, and then fell silent.

But that one groan was enough for the false-Medic Nei. During the time they had been drugged, she had changed her shape as well as her demeanour. The false-Medic Nei was now slim, athletic and feline with dreadlock braids that reached down to her waist and a anbu uniform. Her mask dangled from her neck in the stylized red swirls of, predictably, a tiger. She was over to their side of the room quick as a dart and stared down at the reviving genin as he groaned.

Oh, be quiet, Naruto! pleaded Sakura in her mind. Just...shhh! And maybe we can get out of here! The shore was drawing closer, she could tell, it would only be a matter of time until she could move again. The scent of peaches was fading rapidly.

But false-Medic Nei was taking no chances. "Well-ee, well-ee, well-ee. I spy two little lambie-kins, all spriteful and strong. We can't have that, now can we? We need Leaf Village humiliated and destroyed." Her hand dangled down near her right thigh for a moment and re-emerged into view with a wicked dagger. It glimmered sickly in the light and seemed out of place in the soft brown of the infirmary.

Sakura felt a thrill race through her, a bolt of liquid lightening as adrenaline flooded her brain. Come on! She urged herself. Move! Move! I can't die here, laying on the floor! Come on get up!

"Two little lambie-kins," sang the false-Medic and leaned over Sakura, her long shadow chilling the younger girl's flesh. "Two soon to be... none!" False-Medic Nei's voice was a chill whisper.

Sakura screamed inside her own mind. No! Not like this!

The blade of the dagger winked as Naruto flopped uselessly from one side to the other like a grounded guppy. Sakura could see he was struggling with all his might to move, but it was too little and far too late. They were going to die. A whimper escaped rose from her throat as the woman raised the dagger to strike home her first cut. Sakura could see the muscles and tendons in the woman's joints, flexing at the apex of her deadly arc.

She paused there, as if contemplating her actions.

And paused.

And hung there for a full breath. Sakura blinked (under her own free will, she was pleased to note) in confusion.

Then the woman gave a choking gasp. the tension in her trained muscles melted and flooded out of her as first her knees gave way, then her entire legs, and finally she collapsed to the stone floor. "Geff...Keff..." she rasped heavily as blood trickled from her mouth to pool on the floor. Sakura could see what exactly had killed the woman--a large shuriken in the nape of her neck.

Her eyes travelled up the shuriken to the wrapped legs and shorts standing above it.

Sasuke swayed above the gray-clothed form. He looked sick to his stomach, and his hand clutched to his chest oddly. The joint was a rotten purple and his flesh was pasty and white. "We... have a problem." he gasped.

"Just--just one?" burbled Naruto from the floor.

Sasuke leaned heavily and clumsily against the open door. "Rusty... is gone."