Bloodlust
Rating: R
by: bubblytokki
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"Ne... doesn't that look like a fox?"
"Idiot. How does that look like a fox? Foxes only have one tail."
"...there are foxes with more than one tail." * like me, * thought the other boy.
"Che. Who cares... why are you here Naruto?" * How troublesome. *
When nothing replied to his bothersome question, Shikamaru lazily turned his head to face the intruder of his haven of cloud-gazing. Naruto was as still as a rock. * Really... what a waste of time * he thought disinterestedly.
"Oy... Naruto, what's on your mind," Shikamaru queried; prepared to regret his act of kindness immediately after the words left his mouth.
Only to be answered with a heavier silence. Sighing with annoyance, Shikamaru shifted his weight to allow himself to sit up in the most leisurely way possible.
"I killed today," was the quiet answer, full of remorse and a deeper emotion Shikamaru was not familiar since he only had strategic missions rather than Naruto's deadly, bloody ones. His tone was... full of fear.
"Baka, we all kill if we have to on missions. You would kill more since you're a jounin now." He answered brusquely, uncomfortable with Naruto's behavior. There had been enough conversations of death and killing in their many cloud-gazing evenings. Actually, it seemed that it was all they talked about lately. Konoha village had managed to retain its status as the powerhouse of the world, which made it a target for assassinations and such.
"..."
Naruto didn't answer again and Shikamaru looked critically over the usually boisterous spiky haired blond man-child. Although still hyperactive and annoying, Naruto was the best shinobi around with his undetectable speed and stealth. Naruto's once and only wardrobe of the ostentatious orange jump suit had been replaced by a more sensible black cloak, similar to the anbu uniform with a hood to cover his bright blond hair. However, his body posture was all wrong for cloud-gazing; stiff and tense, almost ready to spring to action should there be a need. Making eye contact with impossibly fathomless aquamarine eyes, Shikamaru was startled to see the proud shinobi turn away in shame.
"I enjoyed it," Naruto whispered in a broken tone, his voice hoarse.
Shikamaru froze, uncertain of today's weird meeting. The boys met frequently (more like Naruto welcomed himself to Shikamaru's presence) to discuss the outcomes of their respective missions, which usually resulted in Naruto's elated boasting, but today Naruto seemed to be in a disheartened mood.
"Really, how troublesome," Shikamaru muttered under his breath, fully knowing that Naruto would be able to hear him anyway with his animalistic sensitivity in hearing. "What happened?"
"The ero sennin is mad at me, too," murmured Naruto as he used the palms of his eyes to cover his watery eyes.
"Naruto. Don't be so bothersome and get over with it," demanded Shikamaru, annoyed and perhaps a little anxious to hear what had disturbed his friend to this extent. Naruto never lost composure over killing someone ever since the Orochimaru incident all those years ago.
"It was a mission like any other Shikamaru. We were supposed to protect a stupid client. But the stupid client was a hoax, it had all been a trap," Naruto began hesitantly, somewhat fearing Shikamaru's reaction, but not surprised at the lack thereof.
"Hnn... Most A-class missions these days target the jounins, anyway," Shikamaru shrugged as he began rolling his shoulders to get in a more comfortable position.
Naruto continued to reminisnce about his mission, disregarding Shikamaru's comments as if he didn't hear them, his eyes glazed as he spoke tonelessly, "We were ambushed. Fifty kunais swarmed toward my teammates. I easily deflected them, but the client had knocked my teammates unconscious, using their trust in him to disarm them, while I had been ensuring that the kunais didn't reach their target, which had been us. I was furious, and I enjoyed ripping out his throat, watching his blood spurt onto the snow. His terror of his impending death as his eyes faded was exciting. It had been so easy..." At this, Naruto clenched his fists in frustration. "It was so fun, and the blood, it made me want more; it was so beautiful. The bloodlust was overwhelming. There were six shinobis in the snow, hidden by their white clothing... I saw them easily, and before I knew it, I had six hearts grasped in my hands, warm and still pumping although they were separated from its hosts. They all fell to their knees, locations disclosed by the blood spilling from their bodies. Humans have so much blood Shika and I delighted in bathing in it. For a moment, I think I understood Gaara's thirst for blood."
"..." Shikamaru was stunned. He knew of Naruto's amazing powers, the Kyubi that allowed his friend to have limitless chakra and stamina. "Was it the..."
A brief shake of Naruto's head contested his thoughts. "I couldn't feel the kyubi, Shika. It's fully integrated or something like that. At least, that's what the old hag says."
"Hnn...," Shikamaru contemplated this new development, trying to figure out a way to consol Naruto and prevent the bloodlust from occurring again. Although Naruto was troublesome, he was still the one who had saved Shikamaru's own life a bothersome amount of times. He couldn't forsake his friend and let Naruto go on a killing rampage.
"Shika... the only thing I recall was feeling another presence before I woke up in ero sennin's arms. It was strong and I truly wanted to defeat it and see more blood spilled. I saw crimson eyes with the pin-wheel swirl. I thought it was Sasuke and I hesitated. That hesitation would've killed my team and I, had the ero sennin not appeared."
"Is that why he is angry with you?" Shikamaru asked gently, unwilling to see his friend crack under the strain.
"Yeah... it seems that the ero sennin and the old hag have great expectations of me. And failing one mission would hamper their manipulations of my life. Seriously, you'd think they were my parents or something," Naruto managed to say with a wry smile, affection making its way into his eyes. "But it was strange. The moment the ero sennin arrived, the enemy... just disappeared, but it felt so familiar," Naruto trailed off, uncertainty clouding his eyes as he attempted to remember what had been disturbing him... other than his bloodlust.
"Then you shouldn't worry about it for now, baka," Shikamaru reprimanded in a mocking voice. Naruto seemed to be coming out of his slump and honestly, Shikamaru was relieved. An emotional, needy Naruto would be exceedingly troublesome.
"Ne... remember Uchiha Itachi?" Naruto suddenly inquired solemnly, realizing what the disturbance had been, which startled Shikamaru out of his reverie.
"Not really. Didn't that oh so wonderful lady killer Sasuke manage to kill that missing nin?" Shikamaru answered sarcastically. Even through the years, some things never changed. Such as Ino's obsession with the vengeful freak and his own bothersome crush on her.
Naruto shook his head as he turned to look at Shikamaru gravely, "He's alive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Um... I would've put translations for some words I used, but I figured that those who read fanfics would be able to understand them anyway.
^^
Thank s for reading.
Rating: R
by: bubblytokki
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ne... doesn't that look like a fox?"
"Idiot. How does that look like a fox? Foxes only have one tail."
"...there are foxes with more than one tail." * like me, * thought the other boy.
"Che. Who cares... why are you here Naruto?" * How troublesome. *
When nothing replied to his bothersome question, Shikamaru lazily turned his head to face the intruder of his haven of cloud-gazing. Naruto was as still as a rock. * Really... what a waste of time * he thought disinterestedly.
"Oy... Naruto, what's on your mind," Shikamaru queried; prepared to regret his act of kindness immediately after the words left his mouth.
Only to be answered with a heavier silence. Sighing with annoyance, Shikamaru shifted his weight to allow himself to sit up in the most leisurely way possible.
"I killed today," was the quiet answer, full of remorse and a deeper emotion Shikamaru was not familiar since he only had strategic missions rather than Naruto's deadly, bloody ones. His tone was... full of fear.
"Baka, we all kill if we have to on missions. You would kill more since you're a jounin now." He answered brusquely, uncomfortable with Naruto's behavior. There had been enough conversations of death and killing in their many cloud-gazing evenings. Actually, it seemed that it was all they talked about lately. Konoha village had managed to retain its status as the powerhouse of the world, which made it a target for assassinations and such.
"..."
Naruto didn't answer again and Shikamaru looked critically over the usually boisterous spiky haired blond man-child. Although still hyperactive and annoying, Naruto was the best shinobi around with his undetectable speed and stealth. Naruto's once and only wardrobe of the ostentatious orange jump suit had been replaced by a more sensible black cloak, similar to the anbu uniform with a hood to cover his bright blond hair. However, his body posture was all wrong for cloud-gazing; stiff and tense, almost ready to spring to action should there be a need. Making eye contact with impossibly fathomless aquamarine eyes, Shikamaru was startled to see the proud shinobi turn away in shame.
"I enjoyed it," Naruto whispered in a broken tone, his voice hoarse.
Shikamaru froze, uncertain of today's weird meeting. The boys met frequently (more like Naruto welcomed himself to Shikamaru's presence) to discuss the outcomes of their respective missions, which usually resulted in Naruto's elated boasting, but today Naruto seemed to be in a disheartened mood.
"Really, how troublesome," Shikamaru muttered under his breath, fully knowing that Naruto would be able to hear him anyway with his animalistic sensitivity in hearing. "What happened?"
"The ero sennin is mad at me, too," murmured Naruto as he used the palms of his eyes to cover his watery eyes.
"Naruto. Don't be so bothersome and get over with it," demanded Shikamaru, annoyed and perhaps a little anxious to hear what had disturbed his friend to this extent. Naruto never lost composure over killing someone ever since the Orochimaru incident all those years ago.
"It was a mission like any other Shikamaru. We were supposed to protect a stupid client. But the stupid client was a hoax, it had all been a trap," Naruto began hesitantly, somewhat fearing Shikamaru's reaction, but not surprised at the lack thereof.
"Hnn... Most A-class missions these days target the jounins, anyway," Shikamaru shrugged as he began rolling his shoulders to get in a more comfortable position.
Naruto continued to reminisnce about his mission, disregarding Shikamaru's comments as if he didn't hear them, his eyes glazed as he spoke tonelessly, "We were ambushed. Fifty kunais swarmed toward my teammates. I easily deflected them, but the client had knocked my teammates unconscious, using their trust in him to disarm them, while I had been ensuring that the kunais didn't reach their target, which had been us. I was furious, and I enjoyed ripping out his throat, watching his blood spurt onto the snow. His terror of his impending death as his eyes faded was exciting. It had been so easy..." At this, Naruto clenched his fists in frustration. "It was so fun, and the blood, it made me want more; it was so beautiful. The bloodlust was overwhelming. There were six shinobis in the snow, hidden by their white clothing... I saw them easily, and before I knew it, I had six hearts grasped in my hands, warm and still pumping although they were separated from its hosts. They all fell to their knees, locations disclosed by the blood spilling from their bodies. Humans have so much blood Shika and I delighted in bathing in it. For a moment, I think I understood Gaara's thirst for blood."
"..." Shikamaru was stunned. He knew of Naruto's amazing powers, the Kyubi that allowed his friend to have limitless chakra and stamina. "Was it the..."
A brief shake of Naruto's head contested his thoughts. "I couldn't feel the kyubi, Shika. It's fully integrated or something like that. At least, that's what the old hag says."
"Hnn...," Shikamaru contemplated this new development, trying to figure out a way to consol Naruto and prevent the bloodlust from occurring again. Although Naruto was troublesome, he was still the one who had saved Shikamaru's own life a bothersome amount of times. He couldn't forsake his friend and let Naruto go on a killing rampage.
"Shika... the only thing I recall was feeling another presence before I woke up in ero sennin's arms. It was strong and I truly wanted to defeat it and see more blood spilled. I saw crimson eyes with the pin-wheel swirl. I thought it was Sasuke and I hesitated. That hesitation would've killed my team and I, had the ero sennin not appeared."
"Is that why he is angry with you?" Shikamaru asked gently, unwilling to see his friend crack under the strain.
"Yeah... it seems that the ero sennin and the old hag have great expectations of me. And failing one mission would hamper their manipulations of my life. Seriously, you'd think they were my parents or something," Naruto managed to say with a wry smile, affection making its way into his eyes. "But it was strange. The moment the ero sennin arrived, the enemy... just disappeared, but it felt so familiar," Naruto trailed off, uncertainty clouding his eyes as he attempted to remember what had been disturbing him... other than his bloodlust.
"Then you shouldn't worry about it for now, baka," Shikamaru reprimanded in a mocking voice. Naruto seemed to be coming out of his slump and honestly, Shikamaru was relieved. An emotional, needy Naruto would be exceedingly troublesome.
"Ne... remember Uchiha Itachi?" Naruto suddenly inquired solemnly, realizing what the disturbance had been, which startled Shikamaru out of his reverie.
"Not really. Didn't that oh so wonderful lady killer Sasuke manage to kill that missing nin?" Shikamaru answered sarcastically. Even through the years, some things never changed. Such as Ino's obsession with the vengeful freak and his own bothersome crush on her.
Naruto shook his head as he turned to look at Shikamaru gravely, "He's alive."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Um... I would've put translations for some words I used, but I figured that those who read fanfics would be able to understand them anyway.
^^
Thank s for reading.