(A/N: I'm sorry for all the spelling errors in my last chapter. I'm hoping
to make this a multi chapter fic, but who knows ; And just so you know,
if I do continue, the birthday thing will not be the main topic. It will
probably be refferenced, but won't be the focus. Uhm...sorry for the crappy
chapters, but I'm kinda new at writing...well, read on if you will. PS: for
a part in this fic, Sasuke has a mental...thing, where he can forget
situations by blaming them on others. Uh...this is the only way I could get
it to make sense ;)
Previously: "Fire technique: Fire Flower!" was not processed until the wave of heated air first reached his face. As he looked up into the glowing wall off fire, one thought passed through his mind: "Aw, shit."
Chapter 2
When the molten wave hit him, a blood curdling scream ripped from his throat, causing both Sakura and Kakashi to cease sparring and notice the battle that was taking place next to them. Both watched in morbid fascination as the flame engulfed their team mate, not able to run to his aid. Sasuke was no better off, as he had been the one to fire the technique. He had thought that the blond would realise his danger, and dodge.
As the wave finally stopped flowing, Naruto fell to his knees. His jacket, what was left of it, was torn and burned, and no longer the garish shade of orange. Rather it was ash, as were his pants; his shirt hadn't fared much better, as it too was burnt, though still in one piece. Across his arms and face were patches of charred skin, and his eyebrows had been singed off. Giving one last small grunt from his abused vocal cords, he collapsed onto the ground.
The three, broken from their trance by the blond falling, immediately rushed to his side. Kakashi quickly checked over the blond to see if there had been any lethal damage done to his student. Assured that he would survive long enough to reach the hospital, the silver haired man gently picked up the fallen boy, and ran as quickly as he could to the nearest medical facilities.
Sasuke, however, stayed behind. He stood in the middle of the small patch of earth that had been burned, and simply stared at the ground. His sharp eyes noticed bits of cloth, as well as splotches of blood that hadn't been immediately dried upon contact with the fire.
He slowly stretched out a trembling hand towards the depression where his rival had collapsed, and snatched his appendage back as though burned himself. The ground he was still fairly warm, as he noticed when he kneeled. There were cracks spreading like spiderweb in the center of the circle, caused no doubt by the rapid evaporation. Sasuke couldn't believe what had just happened. Sparring was meant not to gravely injure or kill, but to test skills. Things like this weren't meant to happen. Especially not Naruto, was the thought passing through the Uchiha's mind. He rose to his feet, and unsteadily wavered in the general direction he knew his house to be.
The once lively dance of the leaves now seemed dull and subdued, as though they too were grieving. A solitary gull drifted languidly through the air, and Sasuke glared at it, as though admonishing it for being so cheery after an occurance such as the one he had just been witness to. Turning his gaze back to the dirt path in front of him, he once again let his thoughts wander.
He had seen the way that Naruto acted on the bridge, but had put it up to the blond falling back into old sleeping patterns. 'I should have told Kakashi-sensei that I didn't think he was up to it!' he mentally berated himself. 'heh...no, Naruto would just huff up, and tell me he thought I was scared. Ack... I can't believe I had been so careless! No, it was Naruto! He should have been paying closer attention! What kind of ninja will he be if he can't even take accurate observations of his surroundings?' feeling quite content now that he had placed blame on someone other than himself, Sasuke continued his trek.
The trees had gradually been growing thicker and closer together, which signified that indeed he was close to his home. The once dirt path had turned into cobble stone, and he stepped lightly from one grey stone to the next. He had often hopped across the rocks as a child, and had never really grown out of the habit. Looking up, he saw the Uchiha mansion in all its splendour.
The entire thing was built of pine, and age had weathered it into a deep brown colour. Its design was of the ancient oriental shrines, and had one come across it in the woods for the first time, they would stand in awe. It was a two story structure with many side buildings attatched by way of seperate hallways and arches. The basement was one floor, and was as wide as the first floor. Unlike other houses built at the time, it had more than just a spot in the dirt to store food.
Coming up to the small door after ascending the steps onto the porch, he turned the brass handle and entered the mansion. Once inside, he immediately proceeded through the empty hallways, remeniscient of Naruto's, and turned to the rice paper door seperating the kitchen from the rest of the home. Entering, he glanced around with mild annoyance at the normally spotless floor. There were small piles of dust littering the white tile floor, picked up by his person when he had knelt on the burnt ground. He decided to forgo sweeping until the next day, as his training had left him exhausted. Openeing his double door fridge, he extracted two onigiri and a can of iced tea; he was in no mood to cook anything even halfway decent.
Meandering into the section containing bed rooms, he opened the one he had designated as 'His', as he had grown tired of moving his posessions around from room to room. Stepping across the hard wood floor, he approached the queen sized bed, and placed the iced tea on the bureau standing next to it. The glowing digits of the clock informed him that it was only noon, but he assured himself that he would wake in a few hours and train to make up for lost time. Finishing off his onigiri, he wiped the crumbs off of the purple sheets, and guzzled the rest of his iced tea. Once this was completed, he laid back against the down pillows, and closed his eyes.
'Just a few hours,' he told himself. However, the chakra depletion he experienced from sparring forced him into deep sleep, and he dreamt away the afternoon, evening, and wee morning hours.
While the Uchiha had been grumbling and dragging himself to his house, a certain silver haired jounin and pink haired genin were rushing their blond comrade to the hospital. Said blond had begun to writhe in his teachers arms, as he became slightly cognizant of his surroundings, as well as the pain ripping through his body.
Had he the strength he would have cried out, but as it was, his entire body went rigid from schock. Eventually, the agony died down to a pulsating lance of heat that seemed to have no origin point, but rather came over him in waves. Once he calmed enough to think something other than 'Let it stop, God, please let it stop!' which he had been playing over and over in his head like a mantra, he slowly settled himself into a more relaxed position. Unfortunately for him, his sensei had hit a particularly unsteady roof tile, of which they were bounding over, and his burnt flesh rubbed against the rough material of the vest that the jounin wore. Biting his tongue to stifle a yelp, he concentrated on turning his head so as to see for himelf the damages that had been inflicted.
He had barely managed to turn his head, however, when the voice of his teacher broke through the urgent silence.
"Naruto, don't move around too much. I checked you over for critical wounds, but there's no telling how badly you've been injured. I'm not a medic nin," came the somber command, and Naruto obediently laid his head back against the arm of the silver haired man.
Eventually, the rhythmic up and down motions of running atop buildings lulled him into a stupor from which any pain he encountered from friction was dulled to a pin prick. Just as he was about to lose conciousness for the second time that day, an abrupt halt in their forward movement brought him to wakefulness. Peering over his sensei's elbow, he caught sight of a massive building painted almost completely white. There was one area in the middle of the structure, which he estimated to be about ten stories high, that was painted in the design of a red cross.
The few people who walked by the hospital, which had a distance of ten meters on either side seperating it from the other buildings and offices in the area, shot curious looks towards the trio. However, injuries and the like were not uncommon in the village.
Kakashi strode purposefully towards the large glass doors which reflected the late afternoon light. Sakura, still lost in her own little world, mindlessly opened the door for her teacher and injured comrade, and trailed behind them when they proceeded towards the front desk.
The jounin was at once set upon the smell of ozone and antiseptic, and he was thankful for his mask, which filtered out the strong odour. Various other people, ninja and citizen alike, were sitting in the customary padded chairs supplied for those waiting to see a medic. Small children huddled to their mothers, while holding kleenex to their noses, and a few were sitting with various limbs propped up, so as to ease discomfort. Kakashi took all of this in at a glance, and stood expectantly at the front desk.
A petit brunette, who was currently on duty, was busy filing some papers, and didn't notice the three in front. Kakashi cleared his throat to gain her attention, and the lady whipped her head around to stare at him. She smiled warmly at him, and asked in a sweet voice,
"Yes? How may I help you?"
He explained to her that one of his students had been injured in training, and needed immediate medical attention. The woman had begun to nod, when she caught sight of whom exactly it was who needed aid. Her once smiling face was not a vicious snarl.
"No! Get that...that thing out of here! It should not be treated!" the woman shrieked, utter contempt lacing her scornful words. "Take it out! Out I say!" she added when Kakashi made no move to leave.
Kakashi said nothing, but glared at her icily.
"You took an oath to help every injured person, no matter whom they may be. Now, either you help my student, or the Hokage WILL be contacted about this," he stated in a deathly calm voice.
The woman looked absolutely enraged, and others in the waiting room did not seem too pleased either.
"Yes, person! THAT is no person!" as she spoke those words, she advacned on the trembling figure in the jounin's arms. The bundle of ash gently pushed away from his sensei's arms, and painfully rested his feet on the floor. An expression of agony flashed across his face, but turned into a sad frown.
"I...I'm sorry you feel that way...I don't know...what I did personally...but I'm...sorry..." he whispered, desperate for a glass of water to soothe his aching throat. Instead of being pacified by these words, the brunette was further angered, and charged at the swaying boy.
Though Kakashi was a jounin, even he ws not fast enough to stop the blow that the woman placed upon Naruto. Thankfully, she was a civillian, and had not the proper aim. The pen merely struck his shoulder, and did not pierce too far. The pain of the wound, however, was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. This act of sadness and anger, when piled on top of the previous day's actions and pain from the burns, served to overload the boy's mind, and he blacked out.
(PSS: A/N: Ok...this was a weird chapter...sorry if nothing too good happened, but I had to get the whole mansion description thingy in there, 'cause I don't want to have to explain it over and over. After I'm done with them, I think I'm gonna try to further the plot, eh heh heh heh. Again, Sasuke isn't being blase about the incident, but he's kinda...messed up in the head because of what Itachi did to him. So again, he has the whole "forgetting" thing, like selective amnesia. Anywho! If someone asks, I will start creating word lists for those who don't understand the few japanese words or endings I use. Sorry if this chappie sucked! I've only got a vague idea myself as to what's going to happen, so uh...I'm almost as in the dark as the rest of you ; Hm...I wonder if I should stop torturing Naruto so much...Nah!)
Previously: "Fire technique: Fire Flower!" was not processed until the wave of heated air first reached his face. As he looked up into the glowing wall off fire, one thought passed through his mind: "Aw, shit."
Chapter 2
When the molten wave hit him, a blood curdling scream ripped from his throat, causing both Sakura and Kakashi to cease sparring and notice the battle that was taking place next to them. Both watched in morbid fascination as the flame engulfed their team mate, not able to run to his aid. Sasuke was no better off, as he had been the one to fire the technique. He had thought that the blond would realise his danger, and dodge.
As the wave finally stopped flowing, Naruto fell to his knees. His jacket, what was left of it, was torn and burned, and no longer the garish shade of orange. Rather it was ash, as were his pants; his shirt hadn't fared much better, as it too was burnt, though still in one piece. Across his arms and face were patches of charred skin, and his eyebrows had been singed off. Giving one last small grunt from his abused vocal cords, he collapsed onto the ground.
The three, broken from their trance by the blond falling, immediately rushed to his side. Kakashi quickly checked over the blond to see if there had been any lethal damage done to his student. Assured that he would survive long enough to reach the hospital, the silver haired man gently picked up the fallen boy, and ran as quickly as he could to the nearest medical facilities.
Sasuke, however, stayed behind. He stood in the middle of the small patch of earth that had been burned, and simply stared at the ground. His sharp eyes noticed bits of cloth, as well as splotches of blood that hadn't been immediately dried upon contact with the fire.
He slowly stretched out a trembling hand towards the depression where his rival had collapsed, and snatched his appendage back as though burned himself. The ground he was still fairly warm, as he noticed when he kneeled. There were cracks spreading like spiderweb in the center of the circle, caused no doubt by the rapid evaporation. Sasuke couldn't believe what had just happened. Sparring was meant not to gravely injure or kill, but to test skills. Things like this weren't meant to happen. Especially not Naruto, was the thought passing through the Uchiha's mind. He rose to his feet, and unsteadily wavered in the general direction he knew his house to be.
The once lively dance of the leaves now seemed dull and subdued, as though they too were grieving. A solitary gull drifted languidly through the air, and Sasuke glared at it, as though admonishing it for being so cheery after an occurance such as the one he had just been witness to. Turning his gaze back to the dirt path in front of him, he once again let his thoughts wander.
He had seen the way that Naruto acted on the bridge, but had put it up to the blond falling back into old sleeping patterns. 'I should have told Kakashi-sensei that I didn't think he was up to it!' he mentally berated himself. 'heh...no, Naruto would just huff up, and tell me he thought I was scared. Ack... I can't believe I had been so careless! No, it was Naruto! He should have been paying closer attention! What kind of ninja will he be if he can't even take accurate observations of his surroundings?' feeling quite content now that he had placed blame on someone other than himself, Sasuke continued his trek.
The trees had gradually been growing thicker and closer together, which signified that indeed he was close to his home. The once dirt path had turned into cobble stone, and he stepped lightly from one grey stone to the next. He had often hopped across the rocks as a child, and had never really grown out of the habit. Looking up, he saw the Uchiha mansion in all its splendour.
The entire thing was built of pine, and age had weathered it into a deep brown colour. Its design was of the ancient oriental shrines, and had one come across it in the woods for the first time, they would stand in awe. It was a two story structure with many side buildings attatched by way of seperate hallways and arches. The basement was one floor, and was as wide as the first floor. Unlike other houses built at the time, it had more than just a spot in the dirt to store food.
Coming up to the small door after ascending the steps onto the porch, he turned the brass handle and entered the mansion. Once inside, he immediately proceeded through the empty hallways, remeniscient of Naruto's, and turned to the rice paper door seperating the kitchen from the rest of the home. Entering, he glanced around with mild annoyance at the normally spotless floor. There were small piles of dust littering the white tile floor, picked up by his person when he had knelt on the burnt ground. He decided to forgo sweeping until the next day, as his training had left him exhausted. Openeing his double door fridge, he extracted two onigiri and a can of iced tea; he was in no mood to cook anything even halfway decent.
Meandering into the section containing bed rooms, he opened the one he had designated as 'His', as he had grown tired of moving his posessions around from room to room. Stepping across the hard wood floor, he approached the queen sized bed, and placed the iced tea on the bureau standing next to it. The glowing digits of the clock informed him that it was only noon, but he assured himself that he would wake in a few hours and train to make up for lost time. Finishing off his onigiri, he wiped the crumbs off of the purple sheets, and guzzled the rest of his iced tea. Once this was completed, he laid back against the down pillows, and closed his eyes.
'Just a few hours,' he told himself. However, the chakra depletion he experienced from sparring forced him into deep sleep, and he dreamt away the afternoon, evening, and wee morning hours.
While the Uchiha had been grumbling and dragging himself to his house, a certain silver haired jounin and pink haired genin were rushing their blond comrade to the hospital. Said blond had begun to writhe in his teachers arms, as he became slightly cognizant of his surroundings, as well as the pain ripping through his body.
Had he the strength he would have cried out, but as it was, his entire body went rigid from schock. Eventually, the agony died down to a pulsating lance of heat that seemed to have no origin point, but rather came over him in waves. Once he calmed enough to think something other than 'Let it stop, God, please let it stop!' which he had been playing over and over in his head like a mantra, he slowly settled himself into a more relaxed position. Unfortunately for him, his sensei had hit a particularly unsteady roof tile, of which they were bounding over, and his burnt flesh rubbed against the rough material of the vest that the jounin wore. Biting his tongue to stifle a yelp, he concentrated on turning his head so as to see for himelf the damages that had been inflicted.
He had barely managed to turn his head, however, when the voice of his teacher broke through the urgent silence.
"Naruto, don't move around too much. I checked you over for critical wounds, but there's no telling how badly you've been injured. I'm not a medic nin," came the somber command, and Naruto obediently laid his head back against the arm of the silver haired man.
Eventually, the rhythmic up and down motions of running atop buildings lulled him into a stupor from which any pain he encountered from friction was dulled to a pin prick. Just as he was about to lose conciousness for the second time that day, an abrupt halt in their forward movement brought him to wakefulness. Peering over his sensei's elbow, he caught sight of a massive building painted almost completely white. There was one area in the middle of the structure, which he estimated to be about ten stories high, that was painted in the design of a red cross.
The few people who walked by the hospital, which had a distance of ten meters on either side seperating it from the other buildings and offices in the area, shot curious looks towards the trio. However, injuries and the like were not uncommon in the village.
Kakashi strode purposefully towards the large glass doors which reflected the late afternoon light. Sakura, still lost in her own little world, mindlessly opened the door for her teacher and injured comrade, and trailed behind them when they proceeded towards the front desk.
The jounin was at once set upon the smell of ozone and antiseptic, and he was thankful for his mask, which filtered out the strong odour. Various other people, ninja and citizen alike, were sitting in the customary padded chairs supplied for those waiting to see a medic. Small children huddled to their mothers, while holding kleenex to their noses, and a few were sitting with various limbs propped up, so as to ease discomfort. Kakashi took all of this in at a glance, and stood expectantly at the front desk.
A petit brunette, who was currently on duty, was busy filing some papers, and didn't notice the three in front. Kakashi cleared his throat to gain her attention, and the lady whipped her head around to stare at him. She smiled warmly at him, and asked in a sweet voice,
"Yes? How may I help you?"
He explained to her that one of his students had been injured in training, and needed immediate medical attention. The woman had begun to nod, when she caught sight of whom exactly it was who needed aid. Her once smiling face was not a vicious snarl.
"No! Get that...that thing out of here! It should not be treated!" the woman shrieked, utter contempt lacing her scornful words. "Take it out! Out I say!" she added when Kakashi made no move to leave.
Kakashi said nothing, but glared at her icily.
"You took an oath to help every injured person, no matter whom they may be. Now, either you help my student, or the Hokage WILL be contacted about this," he stated in a deathly calm voice.
The woman looked absolutely enraged, and others in the waiting room did not seem too pleased either.
"Yes, person! THAT is no person!" as she spoke those words, she advacned on the trembling figure in the jounin's arms. The bundle of ash gently pushed away from his sensei's arms, and painfully rested his feet on the floor. An expression of agony flashed across his face, but turned into a sad frown.
"I...I'm sorry you feel that way...I don't know...what I did personally...but I'm...sorry..." he whispered, desperate for a glass of water to soothe his aching throat. Instead of being pacified by these words, the brunette was further angered, and charged at the swaying boy.
Though Kakashi was a jounin, even he ws not fast enough to stop the blow that the woman placed upon Naruto. Thankfully, she was a civillian, and had not the proper aim. The pen merely struck his shoulder, and did not pierce too far. The pain of the wound, however, was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. This act of sadness and anger, when piled on top of the previous day's actions and pain from the burns, served to overload the boy's mind, and he blacked out.
(PSS: A/N: Ok...this was a weird chapter...sorry if nothing too good happened, but I had to get the whole mansion description thingy in there, 'cause I don't want to have to explain it over and over. After I'm done with them, I think I'm gonna try to further the plot, eh heh heh heh. Again, Sasuke isn't being blase about the incident, but he's kinda...messed up in the head because of what Itachi did to him. So again, he has the whole "forgetting" thing, like selective amnesia. Anywho! If someone asks, I will start creating word lists for those who don't understand the few japanese words or endings I use. Sorry if this chappie sucked! I've only got a vague idea myself as to what's going to happen, so uh...I'm almost as in the dark as the rest of you ; Hm...I wonder if I should stop torturing Naruto so much...Nah!)