The Missing

Chapter 5 – Arigato

Rating: M

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

Waking up in a place that is most certainly not where you fell asleep is an extraordinarily confusing ordeal. For Naruto, who believed that he had perished, this ordeal was inconceivable. At first, the blonde ANBU captain thought that he was in a forest-like afterlife. Albeit, a rather destroyed one. The scent of blood and Sasuke was heavy on the breeze that blew through his hair, cooling him. He was faintly aware of gelid hands placing a cool scrap of cloth to his forehead. He would have objected as the tattered remains of his shirt was peeled away to allow bandages to be put in its place had he not been so totally after it.

What had happened? The last thing the boy remembered was a roaring in his ears, mind-blowing pain… And then nothing. Scattered voice came back to him, muffled as though spoken through a thick blanket. He grunted softly, almost feeling the waved of relief that washed over his companion. Who was it, anyways?

Hesitation. And then, Naruto slowly cracked an eye open, parting his lips to let out a happy sort of 'Hello Sound.' It was Sasuke who'd been nursing him. In his present state, Naruto failed to realized just how big that simple fact was. He was blissfully unaware of the particulars.

"Naruto…" Somebody was whispering to him. Something cool and wet fell onto his face. It took the boy on the receiving end of these tears a moment to figure out that his head was in Sasuke's lap. And the Uchiha was crying.

"Oi… Sasuke." Unsteadily, Naruto reached up t wipe the tears away from Sasuke's pale cheek with his thumb. "Stop being such a crybaby." He smirked as best he could, the hand falling back down to rest on his stomach. He watched as Sasuke, looking ever so disgruntled, quickly regained his composure and slithered out from under the blonde's head, stretching languidly as he stood.

"Five years and that's your greeting?"

"As I remember, your greeting was an exploding forest."

"Your fault. You're the ANBU captain. You should know better."

"I see you haven't changed."

"Same goes for you."

A tense silence hung in the air for a while, choking out any terse comment or harsh comeback. The pair stayed like that for a long time, glaring tired daggers into the other's eyes. There were screams bubbling under the surface of their even breaths. They wanted to yell at each other, highlight simple and huge mistakes. They wanted to do everything that seemed impossible in those silent moments. Finally, it was Sasuke who spoke.

"Shikamaru told me that you have been training under Itachi. Is it true?"

Naruto turned away, heaving a sigh. "Hai." He whispered guiltily. "I was trying to gain power so that I might avenge you. I suppose the deal that I made with your brother was foolish and very one-sided. But I didn't care. I didn't see any real reason for my existence. Had you been alive, I defiantly would have refused his offer. I made a lot of sacrifices to get where I am. Too many, I guess. Looking back on all that I've done… I feel like a total idiot. At the time it seemed like the right thing – the only thing – to do."

Sasuke went and sat down next to Naruto, helping him into a sitting position. He didn't object as the boy leaned his head on his shoulder. It felt sort of nice having Naruto there, especially after they had been apart for so long.

"Naruto… What are you trying to tell me?" There was a subliminal message hidden in his words, Sasuke was sure of it.

There was no answer. It seemed that Naruto had dozed off. Sighing, Sasuke eased the boy back down onto the ground and shuffled around camp to look for a blanket. After making sure the fire was contained, the Uchiha spread the blanket over his friend, found another one and willed himself asleep.

It continued on like this for another few days. Sasuke was certain that Naruto was trying to tell him something. He had decided that it had something to do with the Kyuubi. Was Naruto connected to it in some way? The villagers had always seemed to despise Naruto. His family – Uzumaki – did not seem out of the ordinary. But perhaps there was some underlying association with the Nine-Tails. The more the Uchiha thought of this, the more it seemed sensible.

First off, there was Naruto's unbelievable stamina and Chakra capacity.

Then there were the curious powers he had seen in the Chuunin exams and in the Valley Of End.

Third, Naruto's wound healed overnight. No ninja was that good. And Sasuke knew that Naruto had zero experience with healing techniques.

There were also the marks on his body that needed to be taken into account. The seal on his stomach. The whisker marks on his cheeks.

He had also said that Gaara was the same as him. What was the connection?

It was a while before Sasuke worked up the courage to confront Naruto with these facts. They were watching the campfire after sunset, Naruto fooling around with the remains of cup Ramen and Sasuke lost in the crackling depths. They seemed not to notice that nobody had come for them. It didn't disturb them that they had been forgotten. Clearing his throat, Sasuke tore himself away from the fire and stared at his companion.

"Naruto. When I was in Konoha… Shikamaru told me that Akatsuki – the criminal organization that Itachi belongs to – sought to extract the Kyuubi from you. And… I've been thinking…" He trailed off.

"Go on…" Naruto stayed focused on his Ramen, as if he knew what was coming.

"I was wondering… What is your relation o the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox that attacked Konoha 18 years ago?"

Naruto snorted rudely, and let the container fall out of his hands. He stared up at the stars for a long time before answering, as if attempting to build up the suspension.

"Simple. He's sealed inside of me. Wanna say hi?"

"You're kidding me…"

"Nope. The Red Chakra is his. When my eyes go red, he's coming out. My wounds heal overnight because of him. My stamina, huge Chakra capacity… All the Kyuubi." He sighed sadly, eyes tracing the curves of the night sky. "When I was little, I hated everybody in the village. They shunned me, told their kids to stay away from me. I was an unwelcome fly on the windshield of their lives. And I never knew why. When Mizuki came along and told me that the Kyuubi was inside of me… I felt so lost. I felt like I was a monster. I finally knew why everybody hated me, but I only felt worse. They day Haku almost killed you… He came out. That was the first time I tried to avenge you. I almost did. But my heart was too weak to kill him. From what I can gather, the Fourth Hokage wished for me to be seen as a hero. Sadly, that was not the case. I was rejected, cast away, hated. All because of something I could never hoped take the blame for. I can help the fact that the Kyuubi is inside of me like you can help the fact that you were born male."

Through this, Sasuke stayed silent. His jaw remained slightly agape; his lips moved incoherently. There were no real words to say to what Naruto had just told him. He sat there, jaw hanging open like some idiot until Naruto finally broke the shocked silence.

"You haven't felt true loneliness, Sasuke. When your clan was murdered… You still ad people all around who wished to cheer you up. People who cared. You felt alone, but somebody always asked what was wrong. It was different for me. People were happy when I was miserable. In their eyes, I was the Kyuubi. That is why I sought the position of Hokage so desperately. I wanted them to acknowledge me, my strength. I don't know what I'm trying to say to you Sasuke. I guess I just want you to remember that it could always be worse. I wouldn't wish true loneliness on anybody. It's hell on earth. A deeper hell than you went through. Day in, day out. Being unwanted by everybody is a terrible thing. I was lucky; I found people who really, truly care about me."

Naruto sort of smiled and snuggled deeper into the blanket. He had decided to get Sasuke to go into town with him tomorrow or the next day so that he could buy new clothes. Slowly, the ninja removed the forehead protector from around his neck and set it down on the ground beside him, scooting backwards to rest his back against a nearby tree. He seemed at peace despite his most recent confession. Slowly, Sasuke moved to sit beside Naruto, worming under the blanket and laying his head in the crook if the boy's shoulder.

"If Akatsuki extracts the Kyuubi… Won't they unleash it on the world?"

"Hai…"

"And you still went through with the deal, even knowing what would happen? How do you know that extracting the Kyuubi wouldn't kill you?"

Naruto shrugged dispassionately.

"You did this all for me, Naruto?"

Silence, and then…

"Did you honestly expect me to let Orochimaru get away with stealing my best friend's body? Besides, somebody has to stop the man. And Itachi's too lazy to get off of his ass and do it. But, yeah. I guess that in the end it all came down to my desire to avenge you. I kind of feel stupid now, knowing that you're alive and all…"

"Naruto…?"

"Yeah?"

"Arigato."

-x-x-x-x-

"It's been four days." Kisame smirked smugly, though kept his distance. Itachi had been in a rather foul mood since Naruto's departure. Though, he hadn't yet made any move to pursue the boy. Kisame could only imagine why.

"He'll be back." Despite his mood, Itachi sounded almost pleasantly calm. "That much we can be sure of." He pulled hs straw hat further down on his head and sighed. One such as Itachi always made sure that he had the upper hand in deals like this. There was no way for Naruto to get out of their little deal without first killing himself or the Uchiha. Itachi highly doubted either of these things would happen. And so, he carried on with the same confident air about him as always.

"Err… Itachi-san?" Kisame tipped his blue head to the side, ever wary of his partner.

"Mmmhmm?"

"Naruto… Well, how can you be so sure that he won't try and escape you?"

Itachi chuckled and stopped, as though lost in his own greatness. "As you know… I have used Naruto-kun for my own personal gain on numerous occasions. It was a simple matter to utilize the Mangekyou Sharingan to link or minds in such a way that I could contact the Kyuubi and strike a deal with him. Naruto-kun is just a pawn in a greater plan. If we cannot fully extract the Kyuubi, then we will remove Naruto-kun's soul and hand full control of the body over to the Kyuubi. The seal that restricts the Kyuubi has already weakened considerably since he was first locked away. One more life-or-death situation and taking control will be easy."

"So… What you're saying is that the little shit isn't even important?"

"His body is."

Silence hung in the air as Itachi continued walking. "The Kyuubi wants to be free. He will not let Naruto escape me so easily. The fox has been sending me thoughts through the link I established. It seems that he's met up with my dear little brother. This could work out perfectly."

The thought of this chilled even Kisame to the bone. He honestly couldn't imagine being used in such a blatant way. It was disturbing, really. How one could take a child like Naruto and twist everything so that they looked like Kami-sama. Kisame had never been one for feeling. But, really. He had to wonder what state of mind Itachi kept if he was so willing to torment his subordinate so.

"Hai, Itachi-san. Your plan is brilliant, as always."

-x-x-x-x-

The breeze that sauntered through Konoha spoke nothing of the carnage going on below the streets. In an underground room, dimply lit by old incandescent bulbs; a young ANBU captain was facing his fate. Though respected, he knew that the hidden village of the leaves could not condone such a crime. Nara Shikamaru had let a prisoner go free. Although he ha tried to convince his team mates and even Sakura that he had only done it hopes of bringing Naruto home, there were regulations to follow, rules that were to be heeded. He eyed the hypodermic needle in the medical Nin's hand calmly.

The audience to his death was small. The Hokage, her bodyguards, what remained of his team and his father. He didn't blame any of them for this. He smirked knowingly as the needle was inserted into his skin, feeling a welcome blackness take hold of his senses.

Reviewer Responses

Sakura Mikazuki – Well, I don't know if Naruto will be 'Evil,' but I defiantly hope to have some bloodshed cause by our ickle blonde. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far and I hope that you continue reading n.n.

Shadow Kitsune67 – Arigato. n.n Here ti is. Hope you enjoyed it.

FireieGurl – Truthfully, I'm glad as well. Didn't have the heart to keep them apart any longer.

Kori Hime – As always, don't be afraid to E-mail me with any questions about the story n.n

Just A Rambling Romantic – Hee Hee. I was sort of looking for a way to punish Kabuto. I found it with having smelly old men rape him. n.n

DesperateMeasures – Arigato! I think my head is two sizes bigger! n.n

Loaned - I'm going to assume that your review got lost in the mail. –hug-

Love Squared – Heh. I'm glad that you understand. n.n And, Sasuke didn't receive a punishment because Shika-chan helped him escape… But I suppose I should have added something in the way of reprimand… Thanks for the advice!

Matt and T.K. – Yeah, everybody seems to downplay Sakura, so I thought I'd out her right at the top! And, yes, I do plan on having some sultry boy on boy in this story. Do not fear, though! All warnings will be applied.