Band of the Forsaken

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto but I could if I really wanted to.

Flashback

'thoughts'

Demons talking

Chapter 2: Symphony of Sympathy

Naruto woke late in the night to find himself still in Konoha's hospital. He had been there for almost three days. The days were nothing but a continuous blur of nightmare plagued sleep and fleeting moments of consciousness where he was equally tormented by his memories.

He sat up and took stock of his surroundings for the first time. It was a fairly small room, obviously not meant for anything other than recovery. The door was on his left and next to it was a wardrobe which he assumed would contain spare clothes. It had a large bed which he was currently occupying and a nightstand on the side with various necessities on it such as tissue and mild painkillers. He noticed that his forehead protector was there as well. There was little medical equipment in the room other than some devices used to check recovery progress. There was a window on the wall to his right and across from the bed there was a large chair on which was currently occupied by the sleeping form of a certain jounin instructor.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked confused as to why the man would be asleep in his hospital room.

Kakashi woke with a start and looked around the room hurriedly before settling his gaze on the boy before him.

"Oh you're awake now. Sorry I just got back from a mission and came to check on you but I guess I fell asleep," he said while grinning sheepishly under his mask. "I'm glad you seem to be okay now. I've been worried ever since I brought you back but I'm afraid I haven't been able to visit until now."

Naruto smiled weakly and looked at his sensei. There were still people who cared about him even after his failure.

"Thanks for coming," he said, his old smile back on his face for an instant.

"No problem Naruto," Kakashi said as he returned the smile.

"So how is everyone else?"

Kakashi's face grew grim as he told Naruto the conditions of the other members of the recovery mission. "Well everyone's alive, at least for now. Shikamaru sustained the fewest injuries, suffering only a broken finger which he apparently inflicted upon himself to escape a genjutsu. Kiba also sustained only minor injuries, the most severe of which was a stab wound to his abdomen which he inflicted on himself though I don't know the full story behind it. After those two it gets much worse I'm afraid."

Naruto lost his smile from learning how well Shikamaru and Kiba had fared in their fights with the Sound nins and donned an expression of great concern.

"Why what happened to Neji and Chouji?"

'Kakashi sighed as he looked at his student's concerned face. "Neji suffered an extremely serious wound in his left shoulder above the heart. He was in intensive care for several hours but Shizune was able to stabilize his condition. He should be fine but it will take him quite some time to recover."

Kakashi shifted his gaze and stared out the window at the moon which was almost full. "Chouji was less fortunate. He used one of his family's techniques to defeat his opponent. I don't suppose you know anything about the Akamichi clan's techniques?" Kakashi turned towards Naruto who shook his head. "Ah. Well I didn't really expect you to," he said, turning back to the window. "Anyway their techniques tend to be powerful but use up chakra to the point that some amount of body mass is required. Chouji used a set of pills that made him stronger while eating away at his body. He was forced to take all three which is almost certain death because the deterioration of the body does not stop. Basically, unless it can be stopped his body will devour itself."

Naruto sat remembering Shikamaru's words after they had left Chouji to deal with Jidoubu.

"I know that more than any of us Chouji is the strongest."

"Will he be okay?"

"At this point It's hard to say but unless the effects of those pills can be countered he will die," Kakashi stated in a somber tone.

"I see." Naruto said in a strained voice. He didn't want one of his few friends to die because he hadn't been able to keep Sasuke from running away. "What about Lee?"

Kakashi looked confused for a moment before he remembered. "Oh yeah I remember Gai telling me he had gone after you. I must have missed him when I went to catch up to you and Sasuke. Don't worry about him though. As far as I know he only suffered some cuts and bruises."

Naruto was relieved to hear that at least one of his friends managed to make it out relatively unscathed. Then he remembered who his opponent had been. "You mean he beat that freaky bone dude with almost no injuries? Damn and that guy was tough. How'd he manage that?"

"Actually Lee wasn't the one who fought the Kaguya boy. Konoha has recently repaired its alliance with the Sand and they sent one of their more advanced genin teams to assist. They arrived after you went after Sasuke. I believe you know them actually. One of them uses sand. He was the one that saved Lee."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You mean Gaara! He's here? And he saved LEE?" The last time he had seen Gaara and Lee in the same room together Lee had been unconscious in a hospital bed and Gaara had been about to kill him.

Kakashi smiled slightly as Naruto went on about how crazy and creepy Gaara was. Seeing some of the old Naruto again was refreshing. He couldn't handle all this moping from the loudest ninja in Konoha. "Well the Hokage was skeptical about it too since she was given information on everything that happened during the chuunin exams. But according to his sensei and teammates Gaara is far more…stable than he used to be, so the Hokage agreed."

Naruto stopped his babbling and smiled. "That's good. He was kinda a jerk before but it wasn't his fault really."

Kakashi looked confused at that. "What do you mean?" As far as he knew there wasn't a way that being a crazed killing machine could not be his fault.

Naruto's smile faded a little as he thought of the sand boy's fate. "Gaara is…just like me."

Kakashi was puzzled by this. Naruto was probably the last person he would have compared Gaara to. His visible eye widened as he remembered the beast he had seen fighting Gamabunta during the Sound invasion. "You don't mean he's…"

"When I saw him in Lee's hospital room after the preliminaries for the third part of the chuunin exam he told me and Shikamaru that a demon had been sealed in him when he was born, in an attempt by the village to create the perfect shinobi."

Kakashi was shocked. He had seen the way Naruto was treated by most of the village. He knew that the fourth Hokage had had no other choice but still wished there was another way. But to do it intentionally? For no other reason than to create a weapon? That was just sick. "So he's a demon vessel too? That would explain his unique abilities and his state of mind," he said thoughtfully.

While Kakashi thought about what Naruto had just told him Naruto turned and sat on the edge of the bed. He checked himself over for remnants of the injuries he sustained during his fight with Sasuke. They seemed to be completely healed. He pulled his shirt up to check the spot on his chest where Sasuke had impaled him with the Chidori.

'Not even a scar. I guess having that damned fox stuck inside me has its perks.'

He got off the bed and stretched out before walking over to the wardrobe.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked, finally coming out of his thoughts to notice Naruto's activity.

Naruto grabbed a fresh set of clothes out of the wardrobe which consisted of loose fitting blue pants and a t-shirt. "I need to get out of here for awhile. You know as well as I do that I'm completely healed," he said as he changed.

"Shizune would never allow you to leave yet even if you are healed."

Naruto finished getting dressed and walked over to the nightstand to put on his forehead protector. "I know," he said smiling as he walked over to the window and opened it. "I'll come back before morning but I need some time to think and I can't do that while I'm here."

"Alright. Be careful and make sure your back before dawn," Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto.

Naruto looked at Kakashi and gave him his trademark grin. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." He jumped out the window towards the other buildings. "See ya later sensei!"

Kakashi got up to leave and stopped at the door. He turned around and looked out the window Naruto had left from. "I'm sorry Naruto," he whispered before stepping out into the hallway and heading home.

Naruto ran across the rooftops towards the Hokage monument, where he often went when he needed to be alone.

'Why did you leave Sasuke?' He thought as he leaped to another building.

'What were you thinking when you left?'

He arrived at the bottom of the monument and looked up at the faces of the previous Hokage, each the strongest ninja of their time. He focused on the face of the third Hokage.

'Did I do something wrong Old Man? Was it my fault he left?'

He stood in front of the monument for several minutes before he made his way to the top. He sat staring over the village, thinking of all the times he may have had opportunities to keep Sasuke from turning down the path of an Avenger.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto jumped up and whirled to face whoever had managed to sneak up on him. He stopped as he realized who the newcomer was.

"Gaara of the Desert."

Uchiha Sasuke stood atop one of the tallest buildings in Hidden Sound. He had arrived two days ago and had spent the next couple of days having his injuries healed by Orochimaru's assistant, who he remembered was named Kabuto. Kabuto had been surprised at the extent of the injuries he had sustained in his fight with Naruto, even though he had been using the level two curse seal and his sharingan.

Sasuke growled as he remembered the fight. 'When did you get so powerful Naruto? I was always the strongest and then you suddenly gain all that power without me noticing! I have to be stronger than you or else I'll never be able to kill Itachi!'

He jumped off the building he was on and ran through the now empty streets towards the southern wall of the village. He jumped to the top, ignoring the startled guards patrolling the top. He turned and looked back towards the tower that Orochimaru occupied. He thought it terribly ironic how much it resembled the Hokage Tower in Konoha. He was no fool. He knew there must be some other reason that Orochimaru had wanted him other than his skills, though he didn't know what exactly it was. Maybe he wanted him there to revive his clan in the Sound so he would have the Uchiha clan at his disposal. It didn't matter though. He would take what he could from the snake sannin and then kill him. Once he could do that he would hunt down his brother.

He turned back and stared in the direction of Konoha.

'When my brother is dead we will meet again Naruto…and then I will kill you.'

A/N

Well it took a lot longer than I had hoped it would but it's finally done. Thanks to those of you who reviewed. I have a problem with motivation and it helps to know people are reading my story. I'm gonna try to get the next chapter out sooner and I'll try to make it a bit longer too. I also don't have anyone to edit for me so sorry if I missed any mistakes. If anyone wants to edit for me drop me a line. So anyway see ya later. Please Review!