Author Note: Here it is folks, Chapter 7. I don't know what I should talk
about so I won't even try. Not much to say 'bout this one. Read and say
what you think. I'm in a little sour mode right now so I'm trying hard not
to make it more angsty than it already is. Have fun reading it and leave a
review for me...
Couples: SasuNaru, HinaNeji, SakuLee.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own Uchiha Satoshi and that makes me very proud.
What you left me
By Monkan and Edited by Asaroth
Chapter 7
Sasuke stood by his window as he admired the sun as it rose on the sky. It was something he always did when he woke up. Admire the sun as it rose over the tree tops, but today it didn't hold the same spirit as it usually did.
Sasuke's thoughts were on Satoshi. Was he alright? Where was he? Who had done this? Who was it he had to win over?
So many questions, but no answers. He sighed when he closed his eyes. "I'll get you back, Satoshi. No matter what."
He turned his back to the window and walked over to his bed where his holster laid. He picked it up and took out one of the kunai's and held it in his hand. The blade was designed with a few marks at the base of the handle. It had been a gift from Naruto.
I've never used it. I have never been in a situation where I needed to.
Flashback
Naruto watched Sasuke as he looked the new weapon over. "It's... different, but I don't see why I can't use my own kunai." Sasuke finally said.
Naruto shook his head slightly. "This isn't something that you should use like your normal kunai, Sasuke-koi. Didn't you read what the marks say?" Naruto said.
Sasuke turned the knife over and watched the marks, they said: "To protect someone precious." Sasuke read slowly. He looked at Naruto. The blond only smiled at him.
"I want you to use it only when there's someone important to protect."
Sasuke was silent for a few minutes before smiling softly at his lover. "I will."
End Flashback
Sasuke let his finger caress the edge of the sharp blade. How could we had known that I would use it the first time to save our son, Naruto? Sasuke put it back into the holster before strapping it onto his leg.
He stood up straight and walked out of his room.
He walked through the living room and stopped by the door to the hall. His dark eyes looked up to the photos that decorated the wall. They were taken from many different moments in his life with Satoshi. There were even some with his friends holding or playing with Satoshi and some single photos of himself.
Over Satoshi's head, Sakura and Ino were glaring at each other on who should hold him. Neji, Hinata, Lee and Tenten were standing around Sasuke with Satoshi in his arms, a birthday cake with three candles in front of them. Sasuke at Naruto's funeral with Satoshi against his chest, Sasuke dressed completely in black and tears running down his face. Satoshi had some lighter clothes under the white blanket that kept him warm. A bored looking Shikamaru with Satoshi reaching for his hair from Chouji's outstretched hands. Satoshi playing in the park with his friends during a picnic, he was four. Another birthday photo with Satoshi. A sleeping Sasuke with an equally sleeping Satoshi in his arms in the corner of their couch. Sasuke standing in the park alone. Iruka playing with Satoshi. Jiraiya and Tsunade with their hands on Sasuke's shoulders while he held a two years old Satoshi.
Sakura had even managed to snatch a photo of Kakashi with Satoshi trying to pull down his mask with a few other Jounin instructors in the background. Of course Gai was also there and angry that his eternal rival was in the centre. You could almost see the flames around him.
The one that had been hardest to get was with the sand siblings. They always had some mission or other things to do. But they had finally, after three years, gotten a picture of Temari, Kankurou, Gaara and Satoshi. Satoshi was asleep, but the point with the photo was that it actually was Gaara the one holding him, even if he looked uncomfortable with it.
In the middle there was a picture of Sasuke and Satoshi in the park. They were standing under a tree with white flowers and Satoshi was amazed by them and stared wide eyed while Sasuke's eyes had a sad gleam in them even if he smiled. There were not many that saw it but there were actually tears in his eyes.
It was Satoshi's first birthday and one year since Naruto had died. Sasuke thought back for a moment on how everyone had tried to cheer him up, but it hadn't really worked back then. It was Satoshi that made me smile because he tried to reach the flowers even though he couldn't. It has always been Satoshi that made me smile these last few years. If something happens to him... I... I...won't... Sasuke lowered his head. I can't lose him.
With that final thought Sasuke stood up and walked to the front door and opened it. Outside there was Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru, Tsunade and Kakashi. Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru took in the appearance of their friend and comrade. He was dressed in a black shirt and just as black pants, the colour made him look paler than when he wore blue. As he walked closer to them Sakura saw the silver chain around his neck. She knew that at the end of it, his wedding ring hanged.
"Are you ready?" Tsunade asked. Sasuke just nodded.
With that they left the house to go to the tournament.
On the other side of Konoha stood two figures with the Hidden Leaf head- band, observing the daily activities taking place in front of them. They hadn't gotten much sleep last night, both from the feeling of fear that breathed down their necks and the fact that they needed to stay hidden from the rest of the village.
"When this is over I'm not going to leave my apartment for a week." One of them said.
The other nodded. "I know what you mean. It was the worst night I've ever had. I'm sure none of the others had much luck getting any sleep either."
"How's the boy?" The first one asked.
They looked over to where the little boy slept. They both sweat dropped. "At least one of us got some sleep. He's too young to know the danger that stands just a few meters away from him." They stole a glance at Naruto where he sat with the hat covering his face. If they hadn't been trained to be around him they wouldn't have known that their "companion" was watching them from under the hat.
Another man walked up to the boy and checked up on him to make sure he wasn't ill or anything. The night had been cold even if they weren't freezing. He pulled the blanket Satoshi had around him and laid his hand over his heart. Nothing was wrong with him.
The man stood up and slowly walked over to Naruto. He gestured with his hand for Naruto to raise his head. When the man got a look at his face he almost gasped. Two new whiskers had appeared on his face, more importantly his eyes were red. The eyes of the demon that were the main reason for all the suffering the blonds' family had endured.
I really hope this is worth everything, Raikage. To put someone through this much pain just so you can hope to harvest the greatest power in the world. He looked back at Satoshi who had woken up and looked around sleepily. If that boy gets hurt in any way, I won't stand back anymore. This wasn't part of the agreement. He's too young for any of this, his family is already practically torn apart, and he may lose both of his parents again just so you can test the result of your sick little plan. He looked over to the others; they knew what he was thinking. They had thought the same thing too. It was hard not to when you worked in some twisted fight for power. But it was his jutsu and knowledge that made it possible for them to control the great powers of Kyuubi so it wasn't surprising that he felt guilty, he did have a conscious. The others probably couldn't care less just as long as they got a good night's sleep and were well paid for the job. He checked the orb around Naruto's neck and saw that it shined green. He sighed deeply.
He saw from the corner of his eye that Satoshi was watching Naruto. For over five years this has gone on, that boy has suffered because of this, more than what is on the surface. He will suffer again and so will this young man. No matter what happens here today they will be the ones to suffer the most and so will the last member of this unique family. If he doesn't win he will see the face of his son for the last time. If he does win there will be a chance that he will kill his lover. He stood up. Can life become worse? Probably not!
A man suddenly arrived. "I've just talked to Raikage, everything is going as planned. We can move now."
Everyone nodded. They packed what little things they had and the man that had checked on Satoshi walked over to him and picked him up. Satoshi struggled for a moment before he heard a whisper. "Don't try to escape; they will hurt you badly if you try it. Stay with me, I won't let anything happen to you."
Satoshi didn't know what to do. They had been mean to him for taking him away from his daddy, but he was also scared of them. The only one that he felt wasn't bad was this man, but he was one of the bad guy and so was Naruto too. Satoshi looked over to the blond and saw that he was watching him back, but he didn't even seem to recognize Satoshi. Those red eyes had scared Satoshi a little when he saw them the first time, but they weren't so different from his daddy's Sharingan. So they made him feel a little better.
Satoshi smiled over to Naruto before smiling at the man in front of him. "I trust you." He said before holding onto the man's shirt.
"Are you ready?" A voice said behind Satoshi and he turned his head to see the others standing ready to go.
The man holding him nodded before they jumped away from the alley.
They where heading toward the tournament area.
Sasuke stood among the audience; he needed to get his thoughts away from what laid a head. It was more easily said than done, as always. His thoughts kept going to Satoshi. Was he alright? Was he hurt? If so then Sasuke wouldn't forgive them. He watched the people around him, so unaware of what was at stake now for him.
He saw some make bets on who would win. It sickened him that some would probably do it on his match too.
Half of the tournament was over and it soon was his turn. As he was in the competition he had had to fight another opponent earlier. Even if he was good he didn't stand a chance against Sasuke.
They didn't have any idea on who had kidnapped Satoshi. It could be anyone from the Mist village. There was at least twenty Mist shinobi's in the tournament and they couldn't accuse all of them. For all they knew, it could just be someone that blamed the Mist.
They had put Sasuke's name alone to give the kidnappers an opportunity fight him. They couldn't do anything until they knew where Satoshi was.
Sasuke felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Neji standing there.
"Are you nervous?" Neji asked in a low voice.
"I don't know. Yes and no, I guess."
Neji's hand squeezed reassuringly. "Everything will work out. You will have Satoshi back again, I'm sure of it."
Sasuke wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to believe that, but at the same time his guts told him that the Mist shinobi that had done this couldn't be trusted.
The hand disappeared. "Come on. It's time." With that Neji and Sasuke walked from the audience and down to the others.
Sasuke walked past them and he could feel their eyes on him. He walked down the stairs before walking out to the fighting ground. People started to talk when they saw who was next and wondered who his opponent would be.
Sasuke looked around, but couldn't see anyone. He stood there for a few minutes before he felt that something might be wrong or that they had changed their plans. The people started to get annoyed. They wanted to see the Uchiha fight and those that had bet money on him were getting angry.
"Nothing like the calm before the storm?" A voice echoed through the stadium. Everyone stopped with what they were doing and looked in the direction of the voice. Sasuke looked up sharply as soon as he heard the voice and he saw five men standing on the stadium's wall. One of them held onto a smaller form and Sasuke immediately saw who it was.
"Satoshi!" He yelled.
The little boy looked down and saw his daddy standing far down on the ground. "Daddy!" He yelled back. Without thinking he began to struggle against the grip and took the man by surprise so that he let go. Satoshi didn't get far before a kunai struck the wall in front of him. The collected gasp from the audience was almost drowned by Satoshi's scared scream. Satoshi was grabbed from behind and the man that had held him before was once again stopping him from doing anything stupid.
"I told you not to do anything like that." He tried to calm down the little boy and it worked a little, but he was still shaking.
Sasuke felt his blood boil. "Let him go."
"Not yet. You know you have to fight to get him back." The one that had thrown the kunai said.
"Who is it?" Sasuke tried to hide the venom in his voice, but failed miserably.
The man with a hat and a dark coat jumped down from the wall. Sasuke couldn't see his face but something was familiar with him. Sasuke's body tensed when his enemy walked closer to him. He stopped just a few meters away from him.
The people there didn't understand completely what was happening, but some of them understood that this wouldn't be a normal fight. Those from Konoha that had seen what was happening knew that Satoshi was Sasuke's son and that Sasuke was very protective over him. But that didn't explain what was happening now.
The silence filled the stadium and everyone was waiting, tensed, for what would happen next.
Sasuke's dark eyes didn't leave the other man for one moment. The hat still prevented him from seeing his face.
"I would like to see the face of the one I'm facing." Sasuke finally said.
He could see something that could be a smile or just a grimace of amusement. The man reached up a hand and grasped the edge of his hat and slowly took it off.
Sasuke's world froze and so did his heart. His eyes couldn't believe who was standing in front of him. There were a few differences between his memories and the man in front of him. The eyes were one of them. Sasuke didn't know what to do or what he felt. He was just so confused. His heart cried with joy to see the one he loved for so long again but at the same time this wasn't the same man he remembered.
"Naruto." Sasuke let out in a small whisper.
"Iie. (no)" The man up on the wall said. "The one you're seeing isn't the one you want him to be. This is Kyuubi." The man sneered down at Sasuke's chocked face. He took a step forward before he spread out his arms and yelled. "Let the life and death fight, begin!"
Naruto let go of his hat and it slowly fell to the ground.
Sasuke still couldn't move. His world had just been turned up side down again and he just didn't know what to do. "Naruto... is it... you?" He asked just loud enough for the blond man to hear him. For a moment Sasuke thought he saw something flash through the man's eyes, but it was gone before he could react on it.
The orb around Naruto's neck started to waver between two colours, green and red. The red was taking over, but the green still held a firm grip not letting the red take completely over.
Satoshi looked down with tears in his eyes. If only I hadn't walked with that man. If only this wasn't my fault, this wouldn't happen. Satoshi looked down at his father. He could see that his daddy also saw the man from the picture he showed Satoshi yesterday in the man in front of him. It had surprised Satoshi but he knew somehow he couldn't begin to understand how his daddy felt to see the one he once loved alive again.
The hat hit the ground with a soft sound at the impact and Naruto disappeared in a flash only to reappear right behind Sasuke. Sasuke had just enough time to react and move aside from the hand with claws that tried to strike his chest. Sasuke did a flip and succeeded in hitting the man in the chin with his heel before he jumped out of reach. Sasuke had to activate his Sharingan so not to fall into a trap. He still couldn't fight fully, how could he? This was someone that was or just resembled the one he once loved with all his heart. The one he had a son with and the one that he had lost so cruelly almost six years ago.
Naruto raised his head slowly and he licked up the blood that dripped from his split lip. His eyes glowed just as red as Sasuke's Sharingan.
Two of the men on the wall stepped into a defence position so no unwanted ninjas could try to rescue Satoshi. They put up a jutsu around Satoshi and the man, no one could enter it and those that tried would be attacked by the forbidden jutsu that protected the shield. The only way to exist was by a counter jutsu from the one inside the shield or the persons that put it up. The perfect shield if you wanted to protect someone or something. "What the hell?! This wasn't part of our deal." The man with Satoshi yelled.
The man right next to him smirked. "A change of plan."
Satoshi held onto the friendliest man's shirt.
Down on the fighting ground Naruto attacked Sasuke once again and this time he changed his attack in mid air and managed to tear the front of Sasuke's shirt and draw blood at the same time.
Sasuke pushed himself to a safe distance with his hand clutching his wound. He knew that something had almost touched his lungs. It burned when he breathed in fresh air into them.
Naruto looked down to his blood stained hand and for a moment he was lost in what he thought was memories.
His hands were stained with blood. Someone else's blood. Someone close to him was hurt.
"Naruto, are you there?" A voice called in his mind.
Who was that?
"Naruto, are you alright?" The voice said again.
That voice...
A face emerged in front of him. The same face that stood before him in reality. Sasuke's face, just a few years younger but still the same. The black hair. The dark eyes. The mysterious smile only he had.
The memories were erased by something else. It was red. So much red. Red like his eyes, red like his pain, red like the blood running through him, red like the blood on his hand.
Naruto suddenly clutched his head as memories invaded his mind. He screamed in pain and fell to his knees. For a moment Sasuke forgot that he was the enemy and ran up to the other man. Both their minds were so confused.
"Naruto, are you alright?"
Naruto looked up and for a moment his eyes shifted between red and blue. The glass cracked a little on the orb but just as suddenly as it had begun his memories were pushed away by the ones he had from the past year.
"IIE." Naruto yelled as he pushed Sasuke out of the way, sending the dark haired man flying backwards. He closed his eyes as he breathed fast. When he opened them again they were an even deeper shade of red and slowly but surely the final scar on his cheek appeared.
tbc...
Author Note: I know I'm bad for stopping now but I got to post this one now and continue working with everything else. I had fun writing this one and I hope you liked it just as much as the rest of my chapters. With little more then a month left in school I don't have much time to write now, but I'm stealing time when I should sleep and I have the documents open when I'm in school too so I'm thinking of them. Sorry, but it will take time for the next update on this story, I hope not more than two weeks. Tell me what you think and encourage me to write sooner and continue on the rest of this cliff-hanger.
In other words... R&R!!!
Couples: SasuNaru, HinaNeji, SakuLee.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own Uchiha Satoshi and that makes me very proud.
What you left me
By Monkan and Edited by Asaroth
Chapter 7
Sasuke stood by his window as he admired the sun as it rose on the sky. It was something he always did when he woke up. Admire the sun as it rose over the tree tops, but today it didn't hold the same spirit as it usually did.
Sasuke's thoughts were on Satoshi. Was he alright? Where was he? Who had done this? Who was it he had to win over?
So many questions, but no answers. He sighed when he closed his eyes. "I'll get you back, Satoshi. No matter what."
He turned his back to the window and walked over to his bed where his holster laid. He picked it up and took out one of the kunai's and held it in his hand. The blade was designed with a few marks at the base of the handle. It had been a gift from Naruto.
I've never used it. I have never been in a situation where I needed to.
Flashback
Naruto watched Sasuke as he looked the new weapon over. "It's... different, but I don't see why I can't use my own kunai." Sasuke finally said.
Naruto shook his head slightly. "This isn't something that you should use like your normal kunai, Sasuke-koi. Didn't you read what the marks say?" Naruto said.
Sasuke turned the knife over and watched the marks, they said: "To protect someone precious." Sasuke read slowly. He looked at Naruto. The blond only smiled at him.
"I want you to use it only when there's someone important to protect."
Sasuke was silent for a few minutes before smiling softly at his lover. "I will."
End Flashback
Sasuke let his finger caress the edge of the sharp blade. How could we had known that I would use it the first time to save our son, Naruto? Sasuke put it back into the holster before strapping it onto his leg.
He stood up straight and walked out of his room.
He walked through the living room and stopped by the door to the hall. His dark eyes looked up to the photos that decorated the wall. They were taken from many different moments in his life with Satoshi. There were even some with his friends holding or playing with Satoshi and some single photos of himself.
Over Satoshi's head, Sakura and Ino were glaring at each other on who should hold him. Neji, Hinata, Lee and Tenten were standing around Sasuke with Satoshi in his arms, a birthday cake with three candles in front of them. Sasuke at Naruto's funeral with Satoshi against his chest, Sasuke dressed completely in black and tears running down his face. Satoshi had some lighter clothes under the white blanket that kept him warm. A bored looking Shikamaru with Satoshi reaching for his hair from Chouji's outstretched hands. Satoshi playing in the park with his friends during a picnic, he was four. Another birthday photo with Satoshi. A sleeping Sasuke with an equally sleeping Satoshi in his arms in the corner of their couch. Sasuke standing in the park alone. Iruka playing with Satoshi. Jiraiya and Tsunade with their hands on Sasuke's shoulders while he held a two years old Satoshi.
Sakura had even managed to snatch a photo of Kakashi with Satoshi trying to pull down his mask with a few other Jounin instructors in the background. Of course Gai was also there and angry that his eternal rival was in the centre. You could almost see the flames around him.
The one that had been hardest to get was with the sand siblings. They always had some mission or other things to do. But they had finally, after three years, gotten a picture of Temari, Kankurou, Gaara and Satoshi. Satoshi was asleep, but the point with the photo was that it actually was Gaara the one holding him, even if he looked uncomfortable with it.
In the middle there was a picture of Sasuke and Satoshi in the park. They were standing under a tree with white flowers and Satoshi was amazed by them and stared wide eyed while Sasuke's eyes had a sad gleam in them even if he smiled. There were not many that saw it but there were actually tears in his eyes.
It was Satoshi's first birthday and one year since Naruto had died. Sasuke thought back for a moment on how everyone had tried to cheer him up, but it hadn't really worked back then. It was Satoshi that made me smile because he tried to reach the flowers even though he couldn't. It has always been Satoshi that made me smile these last few years. If something happens to him... I... I...won't... Sasuke lowered his head. I can't lose him.
With that final thought Sasuke stood up and walked to the front door and opened it. Outside there was Sakura, Neji, Shikamaru, Tsunade and Kakashi. Sakura, Neji and Shikamaru took in the appearance of their friend and comrade. He was dressed in a black shirt and just as black pants, the colour made him look paler than when he wore blue. As he walked closer to them Sakura saw the silver chain around his neck. She knew that at the end of it, his wedding ring hanged.
"Are you ready?" Tsunade asked. Sasuke just nodded.
With that they left the house to go to the tournament.
On the other side of Konoha stood two figures with the Hidden Leaf head- band, observing the daily activities taking place in front of them. They hadn't gotten much sleep last night, both from the feeling of fear that breathed down their necks and the fact that they needed to stay hidden from the rest of the village.
"When this is over I'm not going to leave my apartment for a week." One of them said.
The other nodded. "I know what you mean. It was the worst night I've ever had. I'm sure none of the others had much luck getting any sleep either."
"How's the boy?" The first one asked.
They looked over to where the little boy slept. They both sweat dropped. "At least one of us got some sleep. He's too young to know the danger that stands just a few meters away from him." They stole a glance at Naruto where he sat with the hat covering his face. If they hadn't been trained to be around him they wouldn't have known that their "companion" was watching them from under the hat.
Another man walked up to the boy and checked up on him to make sure he wasn't ill or anything. The night had been cold even if they weren't freezing. He pulled the blanket Satoshi had around him and laid his hand over his heart. Nothing was wrong with him.
The man stood up and slowly walked over to Naruto. He gestured with his hand for Naruto to raise his head. When the man got a look at his face he almost gasped. Two new whiskers had appeared on his face, more importantly his eyes were red. The eyes of the demon that were the main reason for all the suffering the blonds' family had endured.
I really hope this is worth everything, Raikage. To put someone through this much pain just so you can hope to harvest the greatest power in the world. He looked back at Satoshi who had woken up and looked around sleepily. If that boy gets hurt in any way, I won't stand back anymore. This wasn't part of the agreement. He's too young for any of this, his family is already practically torn apart, and he may lose both of his parents again just so you can test the result of your sick little plan. He looked over to the others; they knew what he was thinking. They had thought the same thing too. It was hard not to when you worked in some twisted fight for power. But it was his jutsu and knowledge that made it possible for them to control the great powers of Kyuubi so it wasn't surprising that he felt guilty, he did have a conscious. The others probably couldn't care less just as long as they got a good night's sleep and were well paid for the job. He checked the orb around Naruto's neck and saw that it shined green. He sighed deeply.
He saw from the corner of his eye that Satoshi was watching Naruto. For over five years this has gone on, that boy has suffered because of this, more than what is on the surface. He will suffer again and so will this young man. No matter what happens here today they will be the ones to suffer the most and so will the last member of this unique family. If he doesn't win he will see the face of his son for the last time. If he does win there will be a chance that he will kill his lover. He stood up. Can life become worse? Probably not!
A man suddenly arrived. "I've just talked to Raikage, everything is going as planned. We can move now."
Everyone nodded. They packed what little things they had and the man that had checked on Satoshi walked over to him and picked him up. Satoshi struggled for a moment before he heard a whisper. "Don't try to escape; they will hurt you badly if you try it. Stay with me, I won't let anything happen to you."
Satoshi didn't know what to do. They had been mean to him for taking him away from his daddy, but he was also scared of them. The only one that he felt wasn't bad was this man, but he was one of the bad guy and so was Naruto too. Satoshi looked over to the blond and saw that he was watching him back, but he didn't even seem to recognize Satoshi. Those red eyes had scared Satoshi a little when he saw them the first time, but they weren't so different from his daddy's Sharingan. So they made him feel a little better.
Satoshi smiled over to Naruto before smiling at the man in front of him. "I trust you." He said before holding onto the man's shirt.
"Are you ready?" A voice said behind Satoshi and he turned his head to see the others standing ready to go.
The man holding him nodded before they jumped away from the alley.
They where heading toward the tournament area.
Sasuke stood among the audience; he needed to get his thoughts away from what laid a head. It was more easily said than done, as always. His thoughts kept going to Satoshi. Was he alright? Was he hurt? If so then Sasuke wouldn't forgive them. He watched the people around him, so unaware of what was at stake now for him.
He saw some make bets on who would win. It sickened him that some would probably do it on his match too.
Half of the tournament was over and it soon was his turn. As he was in the competition he had had to fight another opponent earlier. Even if he was good he didn't stand a chance against Sasuke.
They didn't have any idea on who had kidnapped Satoshi. It could be anyone from the Mist village. There was at least twenty Mist shinobi's in the tournament and they couldn't accuse all of them. For all they knew, it could just be someone that blamed the Mist.
They had put Sasuke's name alone to give the kidnappers an opportunity fight him. They couldn't do anything until they knew where Satoshi was.
Sasuke felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Neji standing there.
"Are you nervous?" Neji asked in a low voice.
"I don't know. Yes and no, I guess."
Neji's hand squeezed reassuringly. "Everything will work out. You will have Satoshi back again, I'm sure of it."
Sasuke wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to believe that, but at the same time his guts told him that the Mist shinobi that had done this couldn't be trusted.
The hand disappeared. "Come on. It's time." With that Neji and Sasuke walked from the audience and down to the others.
Sasuke walked past them and he could feel their eyes on him. He walked down the stairs before walking out to the fighting ground. People started to talk when they saw who was next and wondered who his opponent would be.
Sasuke looked around, but couldn't see anyone. He stood there for a few minutes before he felt that something might be wrong or that they had changed their plans. The people started to get annoyed. They wanted to see the Uchiha fight and those that had bet money on him were getting angry.
"Nothing like the calm before the storm?" A voice echoed through the stadium. Everyone stopped with what they were doing and looked in the direction of the voice. Sasuke looked up sharply as soon as he heard the voice and he saw five men standing on the stadium's wall. One of them held onto a smaller form and Sasuke immediately saw who it was.
"Satoshi!" He yelled.
The little boy looked down and saw his daddy standing far down on the ground. "Daddy!" He yelled back. Without thinking he began to struggle against the grip and took the man by surprise so that he let go. Satoshi didn't get far before a kunai struck the wall in front of him. The collected gasp from the audience was almost drowned by Satoshi's scared scream. Satoshi was grabbed from behind and the man that had held him before was once again stopping him from doing anything stupid.
"I told you not to do anything like that." He tried to calm down the little boy and it worked a little, but he was still shaking.
Sasuke felt his blood boil. "Let him go."
"Not yet. You know you have to fight to get him back." The one that had thrown the kunai said.
"Who is it?" Sasuke tried to hide the venom in his voice, but failed miserably.
The man with a hat and a dark coat jumped down from the wall. Sasuke couldn't see his face but something was familiar with him. Sasuke's body tensed when his enemy walked closer to him. He stopped just a few meters away from him.
The people there didn't understand completely what was happening, but some of them understood that this wouldn't be a normal fight. Those from Konoha that had seen what was happening knew that Satoshi was Sasuke's son and that Sasuke was very protective over him. But that didn't explain what was happening now.
The silence filled the stadium and everyone was waiting, tensed, for what would happen next.
Sasuke's dark eyes didn't leave the other man for one moment. The hat still prevented him from seeing his face.
"I would like to see the face of the one I'm facing." Sasuke finally said.
He could see something that could be a smile or just a grimace of amusement. The man reached up a hand and grasped the edge of his hat and slowly took it off.
Sasuke's world froze and so did his heart. His eyes couldn't believe who was standing in front of him. There were a few differences between his memories and the man in front of him. The eyes were one of them. Sasuke didn't know what to do or what he felt. He was just so confused. His heart cried with joy to see the one he loved for so long again but at the same time this wasn't the same man he remembered.
"Naruto." Sasuke let out in a small whisper.
"Iie. (no)" The man up on the wall said. "The one you're seeing isn't the one you want him to be. This is Kyuubi." The man sneered down at Sasuke's chocked face. He took a step forward before he spread out his arms and yelled. "Let the life and death fight, begin!"
Naruto let go of his hat and it slowly fell to the ground.
Sasuke still couldn't move. His world had just been turned up side down again and he just didn't know what to do. "Naruto... is it... you?" He asked just loud enough for the blond man to hear him. For a moment Sasuke thought he saw something flash through the man's eyes, but it was gone before he could react on it.
The orb around Naruto's neck started to waver between two colours, green and red. The red was taking over, but the green still held a firm grip not letting the red take completely over.
Satoshi looked down with tears in his eyes. If only I hadn't walked with that man. If only this wasn't my fault, this wouldn't happen. Satoshi looked down at his father. He could see that his daddy also saw the man from the picture he showed Satoshi yesterday in the man in front of him. It had surprised Satoshi but he knew somehow he couldn't begin to understand how his daddy felt to see the one he once loved alive again.
The hat hit the ground with a soft sound at the impact and Naruto disappeared in a flash only to reappear right behind Sasuke. Sasuke had just enough time to react and move aside from the hand with claws that tried to strike his chest. Sasuke did a flip and succeeded in hitting the man in the chin with his heel before he jumped out of reach. Sasuke had to activate his Sharingan so not to fall into a trap. He still couldn't fight fully, how could he? This was someone that was or just resembled the one he once loved with all his heart. The one he had a son with and the one that he had lost so cruelly almost six years ago.
Naruto raised his head slowly and he licked up the blood that dripped from his split lip. His eyes glowed just as red as Sasuke's Sharingan.
Two of the men on the wall stepped into a defence position so no unwanted ninjas could try to rescue Satoshi. They put up a jutsu around Satoshi and the man, no one could enter it and those that tried would be attacked by the forbidden jutsu that protected the shield. The only way to exist was by a counter jutsu from the one inside the shield or the persons that put it up. The perfect shield if you wanted to protect someone or something. "What the hell?! This wasn't part of our deal." The man with Satoshi yelled.
The man right next to him smirked. "A change of plan."
Satoshi held onto the friendliest man's shirt.
Down on the fighting ground Naruto attacked Sasuke once again and this time he changed his attack in mid air and managed to tear the front of Sasuke's shirt and draw blood at the same time.
Sasuke pushed himself to a safe distance with his hand clutching his wound. He knew that something had almost touched his lungs. It burned when he breathed in fresh air into them.
Naruto looked down to his blood stained hand and for a moment he was lost in what he thought was memories.
His hands were stained with blood. Someone else's blood. Someone close to him was hurt.
"Naruto, are you there?" A voice called in his mind.
Who was that?
"Naruto, are you alright?" The voice said again.
That voice...
A face emerged in front of him. The same face that stood before him in reality. Sasuke's face, just a few years younger but still the same. The black hair. The dark eyes. The mysterious smile only he had.
The memories were erased by something else. It was red. So much red. Red like his eyes, red like his pain, red like the blood running through him, red like the blood on his hand.
Naruto suddenly clutched his head as memories invaded his mind. He screamed in pain and fell to his knees. For a moment Sasuke forgot that he was the enemy and ran up to the other man. Both their minds were so confused.
"Naruto, are you alright?"
Naruto looked up and for a moment his eyes shifted between red and blue. The glass cracked a little on the orb but just as suddenly as it had begun his memories were pushed away by the ones he had from the past year.
"IIE." Naruto yelled as he pushed Sasuke out of the way, sending the dark haired man flying backwards. He closed his eyes as he breathed fast. When he opened them again they were an even deeper shade of red and slowly but surely the final scar on his cheek appeared.
tbc...
Author Note: I know I'm bad for stopping now but I got to post this one now and continue working with everything else. I had fun writing this one and I hope you liked it just as much as the rest of my chapters. With little more then a month left in school I don't have much time to write now, but I'm stealing time when I should sleep and I have the documents open when I'm in school too so I'm thinking of them. Sorry, but it will take time for the next update on this story, I hope not more than two weeks. Tell me what you think and encourage me to write sooner and continue on the rest of this cliff-hanger.
In other words... R&R!!!