Psychic King: Hi everyone! Sorry about the wait, but here it is! The long
awaited ninth chapter! I hope everyone likes it. I want to start with a
quick apology, this chapter is NOT as heavily edited as I would like it to
be, but I wanted to get it out, as tomorrow I won't have time to post it
and if I didn't get it out NOW it might NEVER get out, you know?
Sakura: *lugging a human shaped sack over her shoulder* Hey! Psychic King- sama, I got the guy! He was quite a runner, but we caught him eventually, right Naruto? Sasuke?
Naruto: *eyes wide, voice shaking* Oh... Oh my God... It was terrible, awful! She... She hit him and then she took out the spork and... NO! Not there! *cowers on the floor*
Sasuke: ...
Psychic King: *eyeing the sack* Ah, you caught him, did you? Good I hope he's still alive, I have PLANS for this boy...
Sakura: *huffing* He'll never call a woman such things EVER again. Bastard.
Naruto: *muttering and shaking, clinging to Sasuke*
Sakura: *glancing at the two* Naruto! Get your hands off Sasuke!
Naruto: *drops Sasuke like hot metal* Yes mam! Whatever you say mam! Just don't pull out that spork again, please, I can't watch you do that anymore. I may never sleep again...
Sasuke: ... *raises a shaking hand towards Naruto* Pl~ please... don't leave me-
Psychic King: *smiling* Well, you seem to have made quite an impact on the boys, so I'm sure whatever you did is fine! We can continue with the rehabilitation later. *looks to audience* Anyway, like I said, I'm sorry this chapter took so long, with school problems and the restart of work I am a very busy Psychic King right now. But when things get settled and organized it'll be better. I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that replied sympathetically to my plight, you are all wonderful! Also, you may have noticed that I do not reply to individual reviewers, if you have something to say and WANT a reply, you can always e-mail me at Psychic_King@hotmail.com I love getting e-mail and I check it daily. Of course, please still review to fanfiction.net because the numbers going up is my truest joy.
Sakura: *shaking head* sad, isn't she?
Sasuke and Naruto: *inching slowly towards off screen*
Psychic King: Anyway, I have a few more things to say before I start the story! First off, thank you to everyone that catches my little bloopers. I have been paying attention and trying to stop these mistakes from repeating in future chapters, so keep letting me know! And secondly, I really appreciate your support for my original characters! I have ideas and plans for them, but it really depends on how epic I want this story to end up being... I will warn you that if you want a really long, epic story, let me know in the reviews, how does the saying go 'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak?' I have lots of ideas, but I'm not sure how many to introduce, so if your looking for a quick ending let me know THAT too. Anyway, I've made you wait long enough, sorry that the chapter is a little short, but please enjoy all the same!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Embrace of Solitude
Chapter 9
"Kentaar! I'LL KILL YOU!" Was the words Naruto was trying to form, but it came out as more of a strangled scream as his body shot up from his position on the ground. Three heads popped up around him, each staring at him in sleepy concern. From the mouth of the cave Tenmar appeared.
"Daddy?" Uzu's voice was filled with concern, "Are you alright?"
Naruto shook his head, feeling the same distant, unfocused feeling that he had felt that night in Sasuke's house. He barely noticed when Tenmar knelt down next to him and lifted him into his arms, carrying him to the mouth of the cave.
"Shush... It's alright Naruto-sama. Everything will be OK." Tenmar spared a glance to his siblings, "Go back to sleep, I'll take care of him. We still have an early morning."
Tenmar settled himself back down at the mouth of the cave, cuddling Naruto between his legs in a protective manner with his arms wrapped around him. He noticed for the first time how small and fragile the boy felt in his arms. He sighed. This boy was his father, but he also was not. Maybe when he was older things could be different, but for now... For now he was a young boy that still needed his protection and guidance. This wasn't what he had been hoping for, and part of him felt slight disappointment, but there was also an excitement. How many people got the chance to help raise their own father? And it wasn't like Naruto-sama was completely not father, parts of his personality was exactly like father. Time would help to bring the rest together. Until then he would have to treat him like a mixture of a brother and a father.
Realizing that the boy in question was shivering, Tenmar pulled Naruto a little closer to him, rubbing his arms absently. Looking down he noticed that Naruto's eyes still had a slight glazed over look to them and his face was overly pale. "Your hair..." Naruto's voice escaped in scarcely a whisper.
"Hum?" Tenmar looked down questioningly at Naruto. "What about my hair?"
"It's down. It looks nice. Almost as long as your mother's hair, I think." Naruto continued in his still small voice.
"Ahem, well..." The tall blonde blushed slightly. "I remembered as a child how you used to play with Mother's hair, and how beautiful it looked when she was walking just right in the sun, and..." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "I just could never bring myself to cut it." He noticed the wind was blowing it to tickle gently against Naruto. "Is it bothering you?"
The small blonde shook his head, grabbing a small handful of the golden locks and absently braiding it. "Illia used to sit this way with..." He trailed off momentarily, then shook his head, unwilling to continue.
"It's OK, Naruto-sama. You don't have to push yourself. I didn't realize how hard it would be for you. To be honest, Ganten came up with the technique Mina used to break the seal, and we didn't have anyone to test it on so we weren't sure what to expect. To be so young and have to deal with all these memories must be very hard. I apologize sincerely. If it weren't a dire emergency we would never have done this, not just for ourselves, but for your own safety it was necessary. That is why, from this point onward, we feel that you should live with us, if your village is unwilling to accept us then out here. If you would at least please consider our request, Naruto-sama." Tenmar looked down to the boy in his arms and noticed that he had fallen asleep, Tenmar's hair still clasped gently in his hands. "Sleep well, Naruto-sama."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kakashi sighed as they once again circled around the forest. There were clues to say they hadn't gotten far, but actually FINDING the place they took Naruto to was proving to be impossible. To add to his annoyance, Sasuke was trailing them from a discreet distance. If there was going to be fighting, having Sasuke, who was still recovering, tag along would only prove to be a burden. The faint sound of a scream to their east brought an abrupt end to Kakashi's thoughts.
Iruka glanced up sharply as well, "That sounded like Naruto!" He moved slightly ahead in that direction, and then stopped, reminding himself to wait for Kakashi's order.
Kakashi sighed again, then looking back he called, "Sasuke! I know you're back there, come on out." Sasuke stepped out, eyes filled with defiance, he crossed his arms and glared at Kakashi. "I'm not happy that you're here, but..." Kakashi shrugged. "Since you are, it can't be helped. One of us will be the decoy, going out and showing our existence to them, the others will hide until they are called for, do you both understand?"
Iruka and Sasuke both nodded, and Iruka opened his mouth, Kakashi shook his head. "I know you're going to ask to be the decoy, but I can't allow that. I will be the decoy. I'm best suited to handle myself if they decide to attack. We believe we are dealing with four of them, but there may be more, so be careful. Our goal is to retrieve Naruto, if it can be done peacefully than all that much better, got it?" The two nodded. "Alright, well, when we get close I want you to separate from me, one to the eastern side and the other to the western. Try to stay down wind, they are familiar with both your scents and they may be able to pick up your presence with that." Again he got two nods in return. "Alright then, let's go."
The closer they got to the source of the sound the more apprehensive Sasuke felt. From what he saw, at least the three men were nothing to take lightly. He had no doubt that if they had wanted to take out either him or Naruto they would have stood a good chance of being able to do it, especially if they worked together. He was torn between wanting Naruto back and wanting to seriously test his strength against one of them.
They reached a certain point and Kakashi motioned to them to find a place to hide. Sasuke looked up in surprise, this spot looked like nothing special to him, what could Kakashi see that he couldn't? He moved forwards slowly, taking the route to the east, as Iruka was already a good deal further out on the western side. He moved closer to the direction that Kakashi was moving, trying to get a glance of the place, and was hit with shock. Behind a set of large trees was a tall rock, leaning against the tall rock was the man from before, staring strait at the approaching Kakashi, in his arms lay a sleeping Naruto.
"Ah, good morning." Kakashi intoned, curving his visible eye in a dangerous looking smile. Tenmar simply glared back at the silver haired man.
It was really quite an amazing sight. The man, Tenmar if Sasuke remembered his name correctly, was sitting there, hair flowing freely with the wind, chest bare, revealing his muscular upper body, his face covered with an almost possessive glare, arms encircling an angelic-looking sleeping Naruto, who was curved perfectly between the mans legs. A venomous anger rose quickly in Sasuke as he stared at the scene. That man, with his hands all over Naruto! Reacting without thinking, Sasuke moved angrily forward, a snarl on his lips. He managed to stop himself when Kakashi sent a quick glare in his direction.
Tenmar glanced amusedly towards Sasuke's hidden location then turned back to Kakashi. "I assume you're here to take Naruto-sama back?" He smiled down at the blonde in his arms. "Naruto-sama..." He shook him gently, "You're friends are here."
Naruto's head moved slowly up from Tenmar's chest, blinking his eyes sleepily, "Sasuke?" He asked, and then his eyes focused on Kakashi. He jumped to his feet, suddenly full of energy. "Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?"
Kakashi's dark demeanor fell away as the boy jumped excitedly around, smiling. "Oi, you're such a trouble making kid!" He said voice full of good natured humor. "Iruka, Sasuke and I have been tracking your sorry butt all over this forest."
"Hey!" Uzu grunted, emerging from the cave in only his pants. "There are kids here that are TRYING to sleep! And don't you DARE speak that way to Da-"
Ganten walked from the mouth of the cave behind his brother, fully clothed and smacked his brother hard on the head. "Idiot." He glanced evenly at Kakashi before stalking towards the fire
Uzu stood behind the white haired boy, making faces at him, Naruto grinned. "So, where's Iruka-sensei and Sasuke? You said they came, right, right?"
Kakashi sighed, looking towards where Iruka and Sasuke were hidden, gesturing with his head that they should come out. He rolled his eye back towards Naruto and his new 'friends.' Naruto was happily talking to the red head that had yelled at Kakashi for being loud, the white haired boy was poking at the fire he had just set up, growling at anybody that stepped near him, Tenmar was staring wide eyed as Iruka jumped down to stand next to Kakashi and there was a little red haired girl standing at the mouth of the cave, hiding as much behind a rock as she cold while still being able to see what was going on.
Iruka and Sasuke were now standing next to Kakashi, mouths wide open as they watched Naruto talking happily with his captors. Sasuke was the first to recover, stalking up to Naruto, he smacked him hard on the head. "Dobe!"
Naruto turned to glare and the four strangers all fell silent as they turned menacing eyes to the dark haired boy. "Oi! Sasuke! What the hell was that for?"
Sasuke ignored the attention of the others as he stared at Naruto. A long moment passed as they gazed at each other, Sasuke not responding to Naruto's question. Finally Iruka also moved forward. "Naruto! Teme! What were you thinking, making us worry so much?" He knelt down and embraced the boy. "Don't ever disappear like that again, you promise, OK?"
Naruto nodded quietly, looking away slightly. Tenmar cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, it was our fault. We needed to talk to Naruto-sama alone and we didn't give him much of a choice." He blushed slightly.
"'Naruto-sama?'" Iruka repeated, looking from Tenmar to Naruto. "Naruto..." He sighed, "Let's just go home, OK? You can tell me your story on the way." Despite the polite way he worded his request, Iruka's tone was commanding and Naruto's first reaction was to run all the way to Konoha.
"Ano... Naruto-sama, please don't go... Don't leave us behind... again..." Mina had moved from her hiding place and was now standing in the center of the small clearing, reaching a hand out to the blonde boy.
Naruto's body sagged then he grinned up at Iruka and Kakashi as he took the girls hand. "Gomen! I'm not leaving without these people." He gestured to his captors with his thumb.
"Alright!" The red headed man, who suddenly looked almost exactly like Naruto, in posture at least, threw his arms around Naruto's neck. "I knew you'd like us once you got used to us! Except Ganten. But no one likes him!" The red head began laughing boisterously until an unexplainable log flew from no where and smacked him in the face. He shot an angry look at the white haired boy, who was glaring solemnly at the fire.
Kakashi sighed. Was this what the Hokage meant when he said Naruto may want to bring something back with him? He suddenly wished the Hokage didn't spend so much time speaking vaguely... "OK."
Naruto stared at Kakashi. "OK?"
"OK, lets go. Hokage-sama wants to see all of you tonight."
"Really?" Naruto's face was lit up in a hopeful smile. When Kakashi nodded, he jumped into the air, fist raised above him. "Yatta!" *~*~*~*~*~*~*
The walk back was uneventful in Sasuke's mind. For some reason, Kakashi seemed to be acting a little over possessive of Iruka, who was occasionally chatting with the tall blonde man and smiling. Sasuke didn't pay them much mind; his focus was on Naruto. The way he acted with the people that just recently captured him was... annoying. And that white haired guy that almost hit Sasuke kept sending him really nasty looks. Sasuke glared at him dangerously before looking back to Naruto, who was currently a few steps ahead of him and shifting his attention between the one called Uzu and Iruka. Then he turned slightly, and fixed the full force of his smile on Sasuke. It was like a ray of sunshine, and he felt some of his crankiness fall away. He suddenly realized he was smiling back at the blonde and quickly looked away, scowling.
Naruto laughed slightly, as Sasuke looked away from him. So Sasuke'd missed him, eh? That was unexpected. Nice, definitely nice, but by no means what he expected. A slight pain hit his heart when he realized that he probably wouldn't be living with the dark haired boy anymore. After all, he had to think about the children. Even though they were a lot older than he was and more mature... He shook his head, glancing back at Sasuke once again. His smile faltered as he noticed that Sasuke was locked in a glaring contest with Ganten. Things were not going to be easy, were they?
Ganten walked up to stand next to him. "Hi."
"Hi!" Naruto offered him a huge smile.
Ganten could feel himself smiling in return. His father certainly had a great way with people. It was especially amazing how Mina was so affected. Actually talking to the boy, ASKING to be taken with him, letting him TOUCH her... "Last night, when you woke up screaming, tell me what happened."
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. My mind's kind of fuzzy about it... There was someone talking to me and... They were angry, but they calmed down pretty quick..."
"Did they threaten you?" Ganten remembered having dreams like this up until a few years ago. Gifts sent from their precious Uncle Kentaar. "Was the voice like a mixture of an animal's growling and a man speaking?"
Naruto frowned, and then nodded. "Yeah! Now that you mention it, yeah, and he said he loved me!" He glanced at Ganten. "How'd you know?"
The white haired boy ignored the question, his mind sharpening in on one fact. "He said he loved you?"
"Mumm." Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah. And... There was something important, I KNEW it this morning. Something... about why I needed to stay near you guys... And Sasuke. But the longer it's been the less I can remember... I had a dream like this once before, too, I think." A look of extreme focus crossed his face. "It's... He said I was his older brother! And that I took what he most wanted from him, and he was going to destroy everything that reminded him of that and my most precious thing." Naruto thought for a moment. "Yeah, that was it."
Ganten froze in his steps, and rose his voice, "Tenmar!"
"What?" The tall man asked, a frown creasing his lips. "Is something wrong?"
"Naruto-sama, please tell Tenmar what you just told me!"
Naruto glanced from Tenmar to Ganten, and then looked around at everybody else. Everyone had stopped moving and were currently staring at him intently. "Um... It was just a stupid dream."
Sasuke moved closer to the boy, "Like the one you had that one night?"
Naruto didn't even have to ask what night Sasuke was asking about, he nodded. "Yeah. There was some guy talking to me, telling me that he was going to destroy my precious thing, I think. And he wanted to get rid of everything that reminded him of HIS precious thing, something like that. It's not a big deal."
Kakashi placed a concerned hand on Naruto's head. "When did these dreams start?"
"Right around when I moved into Sasuke's house. But I really can't remember the first one very well..." He struggled. "Maybe there was a lot of darkness around and... These tall spikes sticking out of the ground! And..." Naruto's face went white, and his voice got small, "And each of you were... hanging on the spikes... And the voice said that he was going to take..." Naruto shook his head, glaring at the ground. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Please, Naruto-sama?" Tenmar pleaded, placing a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder. "This is very important! If we know more about these dreams then we might be able to find out something about the one sending them."
"No!" Naruto backed away, feeling like a cornered animal. "I don't want to talk about it, leave me alone!" He jumped a head of the group, down the trail. Kakashi sighed and followed him quickly.
Iruka glanced sharply at Tenmar, "Do you know who's sending Naruto these terrible dreams?"
"Uncle Kentaar..." Came an almost inaudible reply from the least likely of sources. Mina's face had gone white and she was now shaking, but she looked at Iruka. "It was Uncle Kentaar. He wants to kill us, all of us, because we remind him of HER." The last word was said with some degree of disgust, but she continued. "Me most of all. He comes to me every night, every night the same dream and every night he-" She was shaking too hard to continue. Ganten wrapped his sister in a silent hug, allowing her to find escape from the strange stares of Sasuke and Iruka in his shoulder.
Tenmar patted her head lovingly, and looked to Iruka. "This is why we needed to take Naruto-sama away. Why he probably should still stay away from the village. It's only a matter of time before Kentaar decides to make good on his threats. He'll start with those that Naruto-sama loves, but whose existence means the least to him. He'll start with Konoha."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Psychic King: *sighing*
Sakura: *looking concerned* what's wrong now? Did that boy say something to you again???
Psychic King: NO! Nothing like that, but... *holds out the thermometer*
Sakura: *reading out loud* 100.4??? You're running a fever!
Psychic King: *nods* Yeah, I gotta cold while writing this chapter... *sniffing* and no one wants to take care of me!
Ganten: *stalking by, grabs Psychic King's arm* Go on. Get into bed! *sighing* really, you should take care of yourself! I'll bring you some soup. Just go to bed. *pushes Psychic King towards her room*
Psychic King: *tears in eyes* Oh! Ganten! I take back everything! You are my favorite! *sniffing*
Ganten: *glaring* get to bed!
Psychic King: *smiling* He really DOES make a good mother... *shaking head* I was pulling that stuff outta my a-
Ganten: NOW!
Psychic King: Hai! *jumps into bed, pulling the covers up all nice and comfy, smiles at readers* Well, until next time! Please review! I'm gonna take a day of Ganten-mommy pampering... *waves* have a good day!
Sakura: *sighing* Lucky... She gets a handsome guy to wait on her hand and foot...
Uzu: *suddenly appearing* you have NO idea. This is Ganten's chicken soup we're talking about here! There is nothing to compare... I wonder if I put this thermometer just right next to the light bulb maybe I can...
Sakura: That's not a good idea.
Uzu: *annoyed* What? It's just a little dishonest, no harm done. I LIVE for that soup.
Sakura: No, meant because Ganten is standing right behind you with a bowl of boiling chicken soup, and he looks kinda pissed.
Uzu: *jumps and turns around to see Ganten* eto... Ganten, I can explain! I was only joking, really! You wouldn't hurt your own brother would you? *turns and runs away*
Ganten: *shakes head and walks into Psychic King's room* Here it is, warm chicken soup.
Psychic King: *hearing her voice from off screen* Thank you! My hero! Could you maybe... feed it to me?
Ganten: WHAT???
Sakura: *lugging a human shaped sack over her shoulder* Hey! Psychic King- sama, I got the guy! He was quite a runner, but we caught him eventually, right Naruto? Sasuke?
Naruto: *eyes wide, voice shaking* Oh... Oh my God... It was terrible, awful! She... She hit him and then she took out the spork and... NO! Not there! *cowers on the floor*
Sasuke: ...
Psychic King: *eyeing the sack* Ah, you caught him, did you? Good I hope he's still alive, I have PLANS for this boy...
Sakura: *huffing* He'll never call a woman such things EVER again. Bastard.
Naruto: *muttering and shaking, clinging to Sasuke*
Sakura: *glancing at the two* Naruto! Get your hands off Sasuke!
Naruto: *drops Sasuke like hot metal* Yes mam! Whatever you say mam! Just don't pull out that spork again, please, I can't watch you do that anymore. I may never sleep again...
Sasuke: ... *raises a shaking hand towards Naruto* Pl~ please... don't leave me-
Psychic King: *smiling* Well, you seem to have made quite an impact on the boys, so I'm sure whatever you did is fine! We can continue with the rehabilitation later. *looks to audience* Anyway, like I said, I'm sorry this chapter took so long, with school problems and the restart of work I am a very busy Psychic King right now. But when things get settled and organized it'll be better. I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone that replied sympathetically to my plight, you are all wonderful! Also, you may have noticed that I do not reply to individual reviewers, if you have something to say and WANT a reply, you can always e-mail me at Psychic_King@hotmail.com I love getting e-mail and I check it daily. Of course, please still review to fanfiction.net because the numbers going up is my truest joy.
Sakura: *shaking head* sad, isn't she?
Sasuke and Naruto: *inching slowly towards off screen*
Psychic King: Anyway, I have a few more things to say before I start the story! First off, thank you to everyone that catches my little bloopers. I have been paying attention and trying to stop these mistakes from repeating in future chapters, so keep letting me know! And secondly, I really appreciate your support for my original characters! I have ideas and plans for them, but it really depends on how epic I want this story to end up being... I will warn you that if you want a really long, epic story, let me know in the reviews, how does the saying go 'The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak?' I have lots of ideas, but I'm not sure how many to introduce, so if your looking for a quick ending let me know THAT too. Anyway, I've made you wait long enough, sorry that the chapter is a little short, but please enjoy all the same!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Embrace of Solitude
Chapter 9
"Kentaar! I'LL KILL YOU!" Was the words Naruto was trying to form, but it came out as more of a strangled scream as his body shot up from his position on the ground. Three heads popped up around him, each staring at him in sleepy concern. From the mouth of the cave Tenmar appeared.
"Daddy?" Uzu's voice was filled with concern, "Are you alright?"
Naruto shook his head, feeling the same distant, unfocused feeling that he had felt that night in Sasuke's house. He barely noticed when Tenmar knelt down next to him and lifted him into his arms, carrying him to the mouth of the cave.
"Shush... It's alright Naruto-sama. Everything will be OK." Tenmar spared a glance to his siblings, "Go back to sleep, I'll take care of him. We still have an early morning."
Tenmar settled himself back down at the mouth of the cave, cuddling Naruto between his legs in a protective manner with his arms wrapped around him. He noticed for the first time how small and fragile the boy felt in his arms. He sighed. This boy was his father, but he also was not. Maybe when he was older things could be different, but for now... For now he was a young boy that still needed his protection and guidance. This wasn't what he had been hoping for, and part of him felt slight disappointment, but there was also an excitement. How many people got the chance to help raise their own father? And it wasn't like Naruto-sama was completely not father, parts of his personality was exactly like father. Time would help to bring the rest together. Until then he would have to treat him like a mixture of a brother and a father.
Realizing that the boy in question was shivering, Tenmar pulled Naruto a little closer to him, rubbing his arms absently. Looking down he noticed that Naruto's eyes still had a slight glazed over look to them and his face was overly pale. "Your hair..." Naruto's voice escaped in scarcely a whisper.
"Hum?" Tenmar looked down questioningly at Naruto. "What about my hair?"
"It's down. It looks nice. Almost as long as your mother's hair, I think." Naruto continued in his still small voice.
"Ahem, well..." The tall blonde blushed slightly. "I remembered as a child how you used to play with Mother's hair, and how beautiful it looked when she was walking just right in the sun, and..." He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "I just could never bring myself to cut it." He noticed the wind was blowing it to tickle gently against Naruto. "Is it bothering you?"
The small blonde shook his head, grabbing a small handful of the golden locks and absently braiding it. "Illia used to sit this way with..." He trailed off momentarily, then shook his head, unwilling to continue.
"It's OK, Naruto-sama. You don't have to push yourself. I didn't realize how hard it would be for you. To be honest, Ganten came up with the technique Mina used to break the seal, and we didn't have anyone to test it on so we weren't sure what to expect. To be so young and have to deal with all these memories must be very hard. I apologize sincerely. If it weren't a dire emergency we would never have done this, not just for ourselves, but for your own safety it was necessary. That is why, from this point onward, we feel that you should live with us, if your village is unwilling to accept us then out here. If you would at least please consider our request, Naruto-sama." Tenmar looked down to the boy in his arms and noticed that he had fallen asleep, Tenmar's hair still clasped gently in his hands. "Sleep well, Naruto-sama."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Kakashi sighed as they once again circled around the forest. There were clues to say they hadn't gotten far, but actually FINDING the place they took Naruto to was proving to be impossible. To add to his annoyance, Sasuke was trailing them from a discreet distance. If there was going to be fighting, having Sasuke, who was still recovering, tag along would only prove to be a burden. The faint sound of a scream to their east brought an abrupt end to Kakashi's thoughts.
Iruka glanced up sharply as well, "That sounded like Naruto!" He moved slightly ahead in that direction, and then stopped, reminding himself to wait for Kakashi's order.
Kakashi sighed again, then looking back he called, "Sasuke! I know you're back there, come on out." Sasuke stepped out, eyes filled with defiance, he crossed his arms and glared at Kakashi. "I'm not happy that you're here, but..." Kakashi shrugged. "Since you are, it can't be helped. One of us will be the decoy, going out and showing our existence to them, the others will hide until they are called for, do you both understand?"
Iruka and Sasuke both nodded, and Iruka opened his mouth, Kakashi shook his head. "I know you're going to ask to be the decoy, but I can't allow that. I will be the decoy. I'm best suited to handle myself if they decide to attack. We believe we are dealing with four of them, but there may be more, so be careful. Our goal is to retrieve Naruto, if it can be done peacefully than all that much better, got it?" The two nodded. "Alright, well, when we get close I want you to separate from me, one to the eastern side and the other to the western. Try to stay down wind, they are familiar with both your scents and they may be able to pick up your presence with that." Again he got two nods in return. "Alright then, let's go."
The closer they got to the source of the sound the more apprehensive Sasuke felt. From what he saw, at least the three men were nothing to take lightly. He had no doubt that if they had wanted to take out either him or Naruto they would have stood a good chance of being able to do it, especially if they worked together. He was torn between wanting Naruto back and wanting to seriously test his strength against one of them.
They reached a certain point and Kakashi motioned to them to find a place to hide. Sasuke looked up in surprise, this spot looked like nothing special to him, what could Kakashi see that he couldn't? He moved forwards slowly, taking the route to the east, as Iruka was already a good deal further out on the western side. He moved closer to the direction that Kakashi was moving, trying to get a glance of the place, and was hit with shock. Behind a set of large trees was a tall rock, leaning against the tall rock was the man from before, staring strait at the approaching Kakashi, in his arms lay a sleeping Naruto.
"Ah, good morning." Kakashi intoned, curving his visible eye in a dangerous looking smile. Tenmar simply glared back at the silver haired man.
It was really quite an amazing sight. The man, Tenmar if Sasuke remembered his name correctly, was sitting there, hair flowing freely with the wind, chest bare, revealing his muscular upper body, his face covered with an almost possessive glare, arms encircling an angelic-looking sleeping Naruto, who was curved perfectly between the mans legs. A venomous anger rose quickly in Sasuke as he stared at the scene. That man, with his hands all over Naruto! Reacting without thinking, Sasuke moved angrily forward, a snarl on his lips. He managed to stop himself when Kakashi sent a quick glare in his direction.
Tenmar glanced amusedly towards Sasuke's hidden location then turned back to Kakashi. "I assume you're here to take Naruto-sama back?" He smiled down at the blonde in his arms. "Naruto-sama..." He shook him gently, "You're friends are here."
Naruto's head moved slowly up from Tenmar's chest, blinking his eyes sleepily, "Sasuke?" He asked, and then his eyes focused on Kakashi. He jumped to his feet, suddenly full of energy. "Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?"
Kakashi's dark demeanor fell away as the boy jumped excitedly around, smiling. "Oi, you're such a trouble making kid!" He said voice full of good natured humor. "Iruka, Sasuke and I have been tracking your sorry butt all over this forest."
"Hey!" Uzu grunted, emerging from the cave in only his pants. "There are kids here that are TRYING to sleep! And don't you DARE speak that way to Da-"
Ganten walked from the mouth of the cave behind his brother, fully clothed and smacked his brother hard on the head. "Idiot." He glanced evenly at Kakashi before stalking towards the fire
Uzu stood behind the white haired boy, making faces at him, Naruto grinned. "So, where's Iruka-sensei and Sasuke? You said they came, right, right?"
Kakashi sighed, looking towards where Iruka and Sasuke were hidden, gesturing with his head that they should come out. He rolled his eye back towards Naruto and his new 'friends.' Naruto was happily talking to the red head that had yelled at Kakashi for being loud, the white haired boy was poking at the fire he had just set up, growling at anybody that stepped near him, Tenmar was staring wide eyed as Iruka jumped down to stand next to Kakashi and there was a little red haired girl standing at the mouth of the cave, hiding as much behind a rock as she cold while still being able to see what was going on.
Iruka and Sasuke were now standing next to Kakashi, mouths wide open as they watched Naruto talking happily with his captors. Sasuke was the first to recover, stalking up to Naruto, he smacked him hard on the head. "Dobe!"
Naruto turned to glare and the four strangers all fell silent as they turned menacing eyes to the dark haired boy. "Oi! Sasuke! What the hell was that for?"
Sasuke ignored the attention of the others as he stared at Naruto. A long moment passed as they gazed at each other, Sasuke not responding to Naruto's question. Finally Iruka also moved forward. "Naruto! Teme! What were you thinking, making us worry so much?" He knelt down and embraced the boy. "Don't ever disappear like that again, you promise, OK?"
Naruto nodded quietly, looking away slightly. Tenmar cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, it was our fault. We needed to talk to Naruto-sama alone and we didn't give him much of a choice." He blushed slightly.
"'Naruto-sama?'" Iruka repeated, looking from Tenmar to Naruto. "Naruto..." He sighed, "Let's just go home, OK? You can tell me your story on the way." Despite the polite way he worded his request, Iruka's tone was commanding and Naruto's first reaction was to run all the way to Konoha.
"Ano... Naruto-sama, please don't go... Don't leave us behind... again..." Mina had moved from her hiding place and was now standing in the center of the small clearing, reaching a hand out to the blonde boy.
Naruto's body sagged then he grinned up at Iruka and Kakashi as he took the girls hand. "Gomen! I'm not leaving without these people." He gestured to his captors with his thumb.
"Alright!" The red headed man, who suddenly looked almost exactly like Naruto, in posture at least, threw his arms around Naruto's neck. "I knew you'd like us once you got used to us! Except Ganten. But no one likes him!" The red head began laughing boisterously until an unexplainable log flew from no where and smacked him in the face. He shot an angry look at the white haired boy, who was glaring solemnly at the fire.
Kakashi sighed. Was this what the Hokage meant when he said Naruto may want to bring something back with him? He suddenly wished the Hokage didn't spend so much time speaking vaguely... "OK."
Naruto stared at Kakashi. "OK?"
"OK, lets go. Hokage-sama wants to see all of you tonight."
"Really?" Naruto's face was lit up in a hopeful smile. When Kakashi nodded, he jumped into the air, fist raised above him. "Yatta!" *~*~*~*~*~*~*
The walk back was uneventful in Sasuke's mind. For some reason, Kakashi seemed to be acting a little over possessive of Iruka, who was occasionally chatting with the tall blonde man and smiling. Sasuke didn't pay them much mind; his focus was on Naruto. The way he acted with the people that just recently captured him was... annoying. And that white haired guy that almost hit Sasuke kept sending him really nasty looks. Sasuke glared at him dangerously before looking back to Naruto, who was currently a few steps ahead of him and shifting his attention between the one called Uzu and Iruka. Then he turned slightly, and fixed the full force of his smile on Sasuke. It was like a ray of sunshine, and he felt some of his crankiness fall away. He suddenly realized he was smiling back at the blonde and quickly looked away, scowling.
Naruto laughed slightly, as Sasuke looked away from him. So Sasuke'd missed him, eh? That was unexpected. Nice, definitely nice, but by no means what he expected. A slight pain hit his heart when he realized that he probably wouldn't be living with the dark haired boy anymore. After all, he had to think about the children. Even though they were a lot older than he was and more mature... He shook his head, glancing back at Sasuke once again. His smile faltered as he noticed that Sasuke was locked in a glaring contest with Ganten. Things were not going to be easy, were they?
Ganten walked up to stand next to him. "Hi."
"Hi!" Naruto offered him a huge smile.
Ganten could feel himself smiling in return. His father certainly had a great way with people. It was especially amazing how Mina was so affected. Actually talking to the boy, ASKING to be taken with him, letting him TOUCH her... "Last night, when you woke up screaming, tell me what happened."
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. My mind's kind of fuzzy about it... There was someone talking to me and... They were angry, but they calmed down pretty quick..."
"Did they threaten you?" Ganten remembered having dreams like this up until a few years ago. Gifts sent from their precious Uncle Kentaar. "Was the voice like a mixture of an animal's growling and a man speaking?"
Naruto frowned, and then nodded. "Yeah! Now that you mention it, yeah, and he said he loved me!" He glanced at Ganten. "How'd you know?"
The white haired boy ignored the question, his mind sharpening in on one fact. "He said he loved you?"
"Mumm." Naruto nodded vigorously. "Yeah. And... There was something important, I KNEW it this morning. Something... about why I needed to stay near you guys... And Sasuke. But the longer it's been the less I can remember... I had a dream like this once before, too, I think." A look of extreme focus crossed his face. "It's... He said I was his older brother! And that I took what he most wanted from him, and he was going to destroy everything that reminded him of that and my most precious thing." Naruto thought for a moment. "Yeah, that was it."
Ganten froze in his steps, and rose his voice, "Tenmar!"
"What?" The tall man asked, a frown creasing his lips. "Is something wrong?"
"Naruto-sama, please tell Tenmar what you just told me!"
Naruto glanced from Tenmar to Ganten, and then looked around at everybody else. Everyone had stopped moving and were currently staring at him intently. "Um... It was just a stupid dream."
Sasuke moved closer to the boy, "Like the one you had that one night?"
Naruto didn't even have to ask what night Sasuke was asking about, he nodded. "Yeah. There was some guy talking to me, telling me that he was going to destroy my precious thing, I think. And he wanted to get rid of everything that reminded him of HIS precious thing, something like that. It's not a big deal."
Kakashi placed a concerned hand on Naruto's head. "When did these dreams start?"
"Right around when I moved into Sasuke's house. But I really can't remember the first one very well..." He struggled. "Maybe there was a lot of darkness around and... These tall spikes sticking out of the ground! And..." Naruto's face went white, and his voice got small, "And each of you were... hanging on the spikes... And the voice said that he was going to take..." Naruto shook his head, glaring at the ground. "I don't want to talk about it."
"Please, Naruto-sama?" Tenmar pleaded, placing a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder. "This is very important! If we know more about these dreams then we might be able to find out something about the one sending them."
"No!" Naruto backed away, feeling like a cornered animal. "I don't want to talk about it, leave me alone!" He jumped a head of the group, down the trail. Kakashi sighed and followed him quickly.
Iruka glanced sharply at Tenmar, "Do you know who's sending Naruto these terrible dreams?"
"Uncle Kentaar..." Came an almost inaudible reply from the least likely of sources. Mina's face had gone white and she was now shaking, but she looked at Iruka. "It was Uncle Kentaar. He wants to kill us, all of us, because we remind him of HER." The last word was said with some degree of disgust, but she continued. "Me most of all. He comes to me every night, every night the same dream and every night he-" She was shaking too hard to continue. Ganten wrapped his sister in a silent hug, allowing her to find escape from the strange stares of Sasuke and Iruka in his shoulder.
Tenmar patted her head lovingly, and looked to Iruka. "This is why we needed to take Naruto-sama away. Why he probably should still stay away from the village. It's only a matter of time before Kentaar decides to make good on his threats. He'll start with those that Naruto-sama loves, but whose existence means the least to him. He'll start with Konoha."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Psychic King: *sighing*
Sakura: *looking concerned* what's wrong now? Did that boy say something to you again???
Psychic King: NO! Nothing like that, but... *holds out the thermometer*
Sakura: *reading out loud* 100.4??? You're running a fever!
Psychic King: *nods* Yeah, I gotta cold while writing this chapter... *sniffing* and no one wants to take care of me!
Ganten: *stalking by, grabs Psychic King's arm* Go on. Get into bed! *sighing* really, you should take care of yourself! I'll bring you some soup. Just go to bed. *pushes Psychic King towards her room*
Psychic King: *tears in eyes* Oh! Ganten! I take back everything! You are my favorite! *sniffing*
Ganten: *glaring* get to bed!
Psychic King: *smiling* He really DOES make a good mother... *shaking head* I was pulling that stuff outta my a-
Ganten: NOW!
Psychic King: Hai! *jumps into bed, pulling the covers up all nice and comfy, smiles at readers* Well, until next time! Please review! I'm gonna take a day of Ganten-mommy pampering... *waves* have a good day!
Sakura: *sighing* Lucky... She gets a handsome guy to wait on her hand and foot...
Uzu: *suddenly appearing* you have NO idea. This is Ganten's chicken soup we're talking about here! There is nothing to compare... I wonder if I put this thermometer just right next to the light bulb maybe I can...
Sakura: That's not a good idea.
Uzu: *annoyed* What? It's just a little dishonest, no harm done. I LIVE for that soup.
Sakura: No, meant because Ganten is standing right behind you with a bowl of boiling chicken soup, and he looks kinda pissed.
Uzu: *jumps and turns around to see Ganten* eto... Ganten, I can explain! I was only joking, really! You wouldn't hurt your own brother would you? *turns and runs away*
Ganten: *shakes head and walks into Psychic King's room* Here it is, warm chicken soup.
Psychic King: *hearing her voice from off screen* Thank you! My hero! Could you maybe... feed it to me?
Ganten: WHAT???