Title: Future in Crimson Hands

Author: Tadz

Episode Three

"So, I will be your guard until you return to your village," Naruto said as he finished introducing himself to his latest client. He was a bit surprised at first. He did not expect to have a girl as a client, but it didn't matter. He accepted the mission, and so, he will complete it.

The girl smiled at him. "I know, that's why you're here, right?" Naruto nodded, mentally telling himself that he had never seen such brown eyes sparkle with mirth that much. It was different from the shimmer that his blue eyes have. Hers was untainted and innocent, although it was almost sad to see that one thing that was similar between them, was that they were both alone in this world—or so he learned.

"Let's go," the blonde youth said, carrying in his shoulders the things they needed for the journey. Then he picked up on his hands the bag of instant ramen he bought from the market just to accompany him.

Then he walked; with the girl following him.

When they were outside the Konoha gates, Naruto felt a hand on his bag of ramen.

"Wha—"he snapped his head on his ramen and was shocked when he saw his client taking the bag from his hands.

"I'll carry this, Uzumaki-san. Don't worry, I won't eat it," the girl laughed softly, taking the bag from his hand and carrying it. Naruto pouting, but then gave back a smile.

"You better don't. Or else…" he threatened, and then laughed.

His client skipped happily, humming a song to accompany them.

Two days passed and they were almost near their destination. Naruto and the girl became close friends, learning from each other that they were actually the same at some areas.

His client sat in font of the bonfire that night, holding in her palm a key. "What's that Kanzaki-chan?" he asked.

"A key," she said simply.

"I know that, do you think I'm an idiot?" he retorted, smacking his client lightly on her head.

She fell silent for a moment, as if considering the words of the blonde. "Kind of,"

"What?"

The girl laughed and simultaneously, Naruto sat beside her. "It's the key that holds history,"

"History?"

The girl nodded once, staring into the dancing flames. "You may not believe me, but with this key, I have seen the past and the future. But it's not exactly… beautiful,"

Naruto fell silent.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

Naruto shook his head. "I do. Maybe that's the reason why you know so many things about my personality," he replied, his mind wandering back to the times where he told his secret to the girl and the girl just answered 'I know'.

The girl smiled yet again. It was wistful. "Thanks for believing,"

"No prob,"

They arrived at the girl's village and soon, they will go their separate ways.

"Would you like to rest before you go back? The journey was not exactly easy and you need to gather enough energy," she asked the blue-eyed boy, while Naruto just nodded vigorously, happy because it was his first time to be invited to other people's house.

"Is there any ramen?" he asked as they neared her house and grinned widely as the girl said yes. "I'll make one for you," she said.

Inside her house, Naruto sat on the tatami floor in the dining room, waiting patiently and eagerly for the girl to bring his beloved ramen.

A crash was heard from within the house.

Naruto stood up and ran.

Another painstaking crash.

Shouts.

Voices.

He neared the room that was causing the commotion. Opening the sliding door…

"What—"he was cut off, seeing the bloody being of the girl. And hovering over her were at least seven thugs, holding knives in their hands.

"Who are you?" they demanded the blonde.

Instead of answering, Naruto charged forward, pushing the thugs that were standing over the girl's body. "Get away from her," his voice angry.

"And just who the hell are you? Stay away! That girl is a freak. A witch from hell!" the gang leader said, but Naruto paid no heed.

Kneeling down, Naruto checked her pulse and found that she was still breathing. "Kanzaki-chan," he whispered and bit back a tear as she slowly woke up from the pain.

"Na—Naruto-kun," she recoiled from several knife stabs. She took Naruto's hand and put something in his palm. "Thank you for protecting me Naruto-san, even when you didn't have to. You were the only friend I had," she took a sharp breath. "If you wished for one thing hard enough, it will eventually come true,"

Naruto shook his head again and again. "No… don't die," he pleaded.

"I will… always watch over you," then she went.

A cold wind blew past his ear. And vaguely, he thought he heard a whisper. No matter how distant we seem to be, as long as we are under the same sky, we are not that far apart. He choked at the words delivered to him. It was not true. Not any longer.

Then he turned menacingly to the thugs who did the damage. "You'll… pay."

And at that day, not only one went… but eight.

"Sasuke?"

The ebony-haired boy was standing in front of his apartment; the look in his eyes was hard to read. Naruto was quizzically staring at him, wanting to know why the Uchiha was blocking his way to find the intruder.

A bell rang in his head. The intruder! Naruto pushed Sasuke out of his way and tried to track down the chakra of the person who dared to go inside Naruto's apartment. But there was none. He sighed. "This is your fault Sasuke-teme," he accused the pale boy. "What in hell's world are you doing here anyway?" Naruto raised his arms up and folded it in front of him and tapped his foot. No response. "Well?" a raised brow.

"Dobe,"

"What? You came here to my house just to insult me? How dare you bastard?" a pointed finger. Then he brushed past Sasuke. "Whatever, I'm going inside. Go rot out there for all I care," he finally said as he motioned to close the door behind him.

"So... you don't…" care…

The blonde turned around. "I don't… what?"

Instead of answering, Sasuke just left, leaving a person wondering. What the fuck was that about? The blue-eyed youth asked to no one in particular, eyeing the direction of Sasuke's chakra.

"You are so weird, bastard," then closed the door.

In a distance, a certain boy watched. You… liar.

The sun was setting upon the haze of red and orange. The blue in the skies aglow pushed in the background of the fierce colors of war. Atop the Hokage Mountain, Naruto sat contemplative, a fleeting look upon the village where he was born and scrutinized under the hateful, defiant stares of the public. He never loathes the view of the people towards him, taking it instead as a challenge rather than going to the path of retribution. He knew better and he was positive. They would soon welcome him. He was sure.

He twirled around, still sitting, now looking over the lush emerald forest that was the territory of Leaf. The moon slowly rose from its hiding place, all big and round in its glory. Naruto stared at it, hypnotized by the magnificence of the astral body hovering over the now midnight blue skies.

He did not notice someone coming up behind him.

Lurking beyond the silhouette of the trees stood a person, still and calm, blending perfectly with its surroundings. And as the cold wind of the night blew, his clothing swayed together with the trees and their leaves, like they are not two, but one.

He watched as Naruto now stood, feet precariously near the edge of the mountain, but he paid no attention to it as he, himself, was captivated.

Captivated at the boy in front of him.

The blonde was illuminating a bright white aura; the presence of the moon as his source, his velvet hair dancing with the wind and his clothes settling against his skin. He slowly raised both his hands, and under his shirt shone a mysterious color of black.

He observed at a distance, knowing fully well that his presence was not yet felt. He stepped forward, tender and careful, pushing away the hair that became an obstruction to his vision. He was now nervous, as the blonde seemingly was not aware how close he was to dying. Although he knew that the blue-eyed youth would not let himself perish easily.

He took a step back, returning to his original place in the shadows when Naruto unhurriedly put his hands down to his side, letting out a breath he didn't notice he was holding.

And then… suddenly…

The blonde youth started falling down the mountain, fainting. The boy ran quickly, trying to reach his hand before he toppled down to his death. He charged. But he was too late. Naruto fell head first.

"NARUTO!" he shouted, attempting to wake the boy from his trance. "NARUTO!"

"NARUTO!"

A voice resounded through his head and he bolted awake, the wind crashing his ears with too much intensity. And then he knew.

Shit. Instantly, Naruto trawled out a kunai, wedging in the mountain side, struggling to slow down his drop so he can safely reach the ground. The kunai sled down the rocks and his hand burned. His fingers becoming numb and it bled. He had to let go of the kunai.

And he did, he reeled over the rocks and he toiled to stand up amidst his rolling, but then he ended up the same.

And then he stopped. He made contact with the grassy below, alive.

Naruto flinched as he rose up, noticing that his left thigh bone was broken in the process. Stupid moon. He glanced upward again, gawking as he saw how high his plunge was. And then remembering the voice that saved him, he glanced, squinted his eyes to see if the person was still there. But he was gone.

With a groan, he limped back to his house, then feeling thrashed, settled to find a big tree to rest under. He will just go back in the morning.

What… happened?

The morning rays glazed in the early sky, caressing the beat-up blonde boy. Naruto slowly opened his eyes, almost forgetting the midnight incident, but recalled, feeling the broken bone ache. Yet he still grinned, thankful to the gods that he was still alive.

However, he needed to get home.

Oh shit. I forgot I was supposed to meet with the team this morning. He thought another thanks to the gods that he was very near the training grounds.

He arrived late, unusually. Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura already waiting for him.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, looking over his dirty orange suit. "Did you get into a fight?" she added.

Kakashi walked towards him as he sat down, biting his lip as the pain emerged. Kakashi knelt and put a hand over his left thigh. "Hmm… it feels broken," he said simply, turning around to offer his back so he could carry the blonde to the hospital. "I think we need to cancel our meeting today,"

Naruto shook his head. "No need," he said, refusing the ride. Sakura gazed at him quizzically.

"Why is that?" she asked.

He didn't appear to hear her, he lay on his back and hoisted his left leg up and Kakashi backed away. Sasuke was giving him a curious look. "What do you think you're doing dobe?"

Naruto did not answer. He held his thigh with two hands and pressed. Hard.

"Oh my god," Sakura turned away, realizing what he was doing.

Naruto was shouting in anguish as he desperately relocated the bone back to its original position. Kakashi was wide-eyed while the Uchiha closed a delicate eye and winced, as if feeling the other boy's pain.

After a minute, he took out a bandage from one of his pockets and tied it around his leg. "Done," he said finally, standing and smiling as if nothing happened.

Sakura peeked and sighed. Then he lunged for the orange clad individual. "If ever you try that in front of me again, I swear…" she trailed off, threatening Naruto. "Didn't you know how gross that was?" she hissed.

"Sorry, but I didn't want Tsunade-baabaa scolding me again," he replied, folding his arms above his head, resting.

"Just be glad it wasn't serious," Kakashi immediately dismissed the subject, not bothering to question Naruto about it. He would know later.

"Yeah," he walked forward, sensing a bit of pain, but ignored it. Sauntering over a chair, he passed Sasuke.

Dobe, don't do that again. Came a sharp whisper, the Uchiha's voice low and rough. Naruto stopped abruptly. Staring into the dark orbs of Sasuke, as he experienced the depths of emotions he never knew the pale boy was capable of.

Naruto inclined his head to one side. Don't do what again?

-Continued-