Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Warnings: Bad writing/holey plot part two. Bear with me, it'll get better.
-------------------------------------------------
:The Breaking Point:
Sakura walked beside Sasuke in a daze. "How did you know Samuel Blu was dead?" Both were out of their disguises and walking back toward the Mist Academy.
Sasuke shrugged. "Subtle hints were dropped. An older, experienced geisha said Samuel Blu had been before her time. An elderly woman reminiscing about partying the night away with the much older, dashing Samuel, even though other sources said the woman hadn't been able to be out an about for more than a few minutes at a time in years."
Sakura's mouth formed an "o." Her green eyes scanned the road habitually. She spotted two figures. "Isn't that the blond Mist proctor? And one of the Sound proctors?"
Indeed it was. The two were walking together, the blond's hands in his pockets. The two teens were close enough to see the sly smile on the Sound proctor's face as he leaned toward the lazily strolling blond. They could see his mouth move, but couldn't make out the few words the man said. They could, however, see the effect the words had on the other.
His normally gliding steps faltered, he swayed, then shook his head sharply as if to clear it. The smile on the silver-haired Sound spy's face sent shivers up and down Sakura's spine. The Sound man said something else and the blond's step smoothed out, his shoulders straightened.
He turned his face to the silver-haired man's and his eyes crinkled. The other man pulled back, his face still pleasant. Yet at the barely leashed violence burning in the man's eyes, visible even from a distance, Sakura couldn't help but gasp. The blond faced forward again, walking as if nothing had happened.
"Something about that Mist guy pisses me off." Sasuke muttered thoughtfully. Sakura eyed him incredulously. Sasuke? Pissed? At some guy he'd never even spoken to? A tall man with short-cropped black hair and a bandaged lower face joined the adults. With him was the long-haired beauty from before, the other Mist proctor. Another man, the other Sound proctor, arrived, immediately leaving with the silver-haired man. That left the Mist spies walking together.
Sasuke and Sakura sped up a little so they were within hearing range of the group they followed. "Nah, I didn't see anyone that interested me. Except for Haku, of course. Oh, Haku, I had so much fun earlier. I never knew you were so wild."
The taller man growled. Haku, the long-haired man, blushed. "We were sparring and you know it. You're such a perv, Naoko-kun." The taller man took a playful swing at the masked blond, who ducked lazily. Haku snaked out one hand, catching hold of the blond's arm and pulling him into a full body hug. He let the blond go with an unhappy frown. "You're not eating enough. You're still losing weight."
Indeed the blond looked insubstantial enough to blow away at the slightest breeze. Naoko waved a hand. "No, no. Training more. Remember? Besides, I've got to keep up my girlish figure." He struck a girly pose that was made more amusing by the fact that with his long hair, Naoko looked very much like an attractive woman.
The taller man snorted. "Get a haircut, runt. You're starting to look like that pin-up girl, Ms. November." Naoko nodded, tapping his chin thoughtfully.
Haku whirled around. "And when exactly were you looking at pin-up girls, Zabuza?" Zabuza groaned and Naoko laughed, hands behind his head, back slightly arched in a stretch.
Sasuke and Sakura froze at the sight it made. The laugh, the position of his hands, the tilt of his head, the golden blond hair, it was eerily similar to Naruto. But it couldn't be. Naruto was short and noisy. This guy was tall and mean. Besides, he didn't have the whisker-like scars on his cheeks. Or did he? His lower face was covered, so they couldn't be sure.
The Academy came into sight and the two secondary level spies could see Kakashi-sensei waiting for them. He and Zabuza seemed to know each other, as they tensed up in passing, waiting coiled in case the other decided to attack. "Down, boys." Naoko commented breezily as he passed them. Haku snorted and wrapped his arms around one of Zabuza's, distracting him from his foe and leading him away.
Kakashi stared after the group until his students drew even with him. He turned to them, head tilted and eye crinkled with a smile. "Yo. Heard you passed. You're at the point where you can go into specific fields. Congratulations." His eye opened and he feigned a faraway look. "Seems like just yesterday you two were snot-nosed little eight-year olds."
"Kakashi-sensei, cut it out." Sakura blushed a little. This much praise was almost out-of-character for their instructor.
Sasuke hadn't been listening, he'd been staring after the Mist group. "Sensei, did you know that man? The tall one, Zabuza?"
Kakashi's visible eye became cold and considering. "We've met. He was an assassin back in the day. They called him the Demon of the Mist. Slaughtered an entire graduating class when he was just a primary level. That's all in the past. He's just a teacher now." His eye thawed and crinkled.
With narrowed eyes, Sasuke continued to stare consideringly after the departed group, long after they were out of sight.
Naoko yawned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Or, at least, trying to. Sleeping was becoming more elusive as the weeks rolled on and what little sleep he did get was interrupted by nightmares he forgot as soon as he awoke. Prying himself out of his warm coccoon, the blond stumbled into the bathroom.
Squinting in the sudden light, he studied himself in the mirror. 'Haku was right,' he thought wryly. He had lost a lot of weight. His collarbone stood out starkly and he could count his ribs if he twisted just so. His already baggy orange pajama bottoms hung off his slim hips. Turning sideways, he perused his profile. The only thing holding his pajamas up seemed to be his hipbones at this point. "Right-o. Time to go clothing shopping. Without Haku." Haku would just be worried if he saw what Naoko's clothing hid.
Facing the mirror again, Naoko looked at his overall appearance. He looked like a panda, with the dark rings under his eyes. Or a corpse, when the dark rings were coupled with his gauntness. He ran a hand over his cheek, feeling the three parallel scars crossing the smooth skin. His body was covered with more scars than he cared to think about and there were only a few he could truly say he knew the origins of.
He ran his hand over one that curved up his ribs, leading to a star-shaped scar roughly the size of a fist near his heart. It was like a comet flying across his chest, if he was in a fanciful mood. There were other less interesting scars, such as kunai scars, claw marks, some torture scars - when had he been tortured? He trailed another long wicked scar down his hip, fingers brushing the edge of his tattoo. Ah, the tattoo. A spiral caged in by five seals on his navel. The black ink stood out against his tanned stomach. He pressed a hand to it, looking at the mirror but not seeing it. Then the moment was over and he was getting ready to face the day.
Naoko pulled his mask on, making sure he was presentable and nothing was hanging out. Never could be too careful when operating on very little sleep. He didn't look so much like a skeleton wearing his mask and padded vest, even if he did have to tie his pants on so they didn't fall down around his ankles.
Having made sure he was all put together one last time, he turned to go. As he did, he glanced at the mirror. He didn't see himself reflected there, he saw a silver-haired man in a mask much like his staring back at him with one eye. The other was covered by a black bandana bearing a metal plate inscribed with the symbol of Konoha, the Leaf Village.
One moment he was in mid-turn staring at the mirror, the next he was falling back into numb grayness. Ghostly images of people and places sped by, too many voices for him to single out yammered in his ear, vying for his attention. An apartment? 'It's so messy. Just like mine.' A man smiling, his face blurred as if he were being seen through tears. "You pass." What? But the man was gone. A little boy and girl stood before him, arms crossed. "Stupid. Dead last. Go bug someone else. Disappear." Why do the children's word's hurt him? Damnit, why couldn't he see their faces? But they too were gone. Suddenly he was cold, so cold. It was raining and he was soaked, curled into a doorway, hoping desperately for warmth and protection. "I found you at last." A pale hand reaches out to him. Suddenly he is outside watching the boy. 'Don't take it!' He screams at the boy, terror gripping his heart, although he couldn't say what exactly was causing the terror.
Naoko forcibly pulled his mind from the gray fog, breathing in harsh gasps as if he'd run several miles. He found himself collapsed, trembling, against the bathroom wall, knees folded under him. With a nearly hysterical laugh, Naoko pulled his mind together and wiped the cold sweat and - tears? - from his face with a dark sleeve.
Soon he became aware of pounding on his door. Pulling himself up using the sink, Naoko assembled a composed mask for his face and regulated his breathing. He could do nothing about his paleness. Shakingly, but getting steadier, he navigated the path between the piles of laundry, blankets, pillows, and other odds and ends littering his floor. He took one deep breath and whipped open the door before his guest kicked the abused wooden rectangle in.
A very worried Haku stood outside his apartment, fist raised to knock again. "Naoko! Where the hell have you been? I've been knocking for almost ten minutes. Are you all right?" Naoko stepped back and Haku entered his apartment, tsking at the mess.
"Yeah, yeah. I was just in the bathroom. I didn't hear you knocking." Naoko soothed. Haku gave him a slightly disbelieving look. The teen shrugged. "What'd you need? Actually, I was going to go shopping a little later. I think I need some variety in my wardrobe." The second the words passed his tongue, Naoko could have bitten it off. The last thing he wanted was for Haku to come shopping with him and see how much weight he'd lost in such a short amount of time.
He swore inwardly as Haku nodded. "I'll go with you. Zabuza is needing some new shirts." Naoko could see the older man's eyes stray to his face with a pondering light creeping into them. 'Shit. He's starting to get back to my health. Damn circular thinkers.'
Naoko thought quickly. "Ooh," he purred with a wicked grin. Haku's eyebrows rose, clearly not liking where the conversation seemed to be going. "Are you guys getting a little... rough? That's pretty kinky. And here I thought you were the innocent missionary-position type of boy." Haku's mouth opened and closed, and opened again before he firmly shut it.
"Exactly. I can't keep my hands off him and I've been tearing through his clothing." Haku agreed in a sarcastic monotone, throwing his hands up. "Forget it. Get your damn money, we're going shopping." Naoko hid a victorious smile behind one hand as Haku stalked out.
His smile faded as his mind replayed the scene in his bathroom just minutes before. Naoko scowled. Everything had gone pear-shaped for him, especially after that damn Sound proctor, Kabuto, had caught him alone.
Naoko and Kabuto walked quietly together, Naoko with his hands tucked into his pockets. The blond was admiring the peaceful scenery when the older man had leaned toward him with a creepy smile.
"You're as beautiful as ever, Naruto-kun." The man had said lecherously, as if he had intimate knowledge of Naoko's body. It wasn't his tone that threw Naoko off, it was the name: Naruto. It sent images flying through his mind too fast for him to grasp. Faces, voices, feelings, all running through him like a raging river, carrying him along with it. He was aware of his surroundings, that his step had faltered, that he was losing his balance, and shook his head sharply to banish the unwanted images. The other man cocked his head and smiled his twisted smile again. "What's wrong, Naruto-kun? You're looking rather pale." The last of the fog in Naoko's head was blown away as warning signals began flashing in his head at the Sound spy's proximity. He needed to be alert and on top of his game around that man. Kabuto gave him a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, made him feel sick. "I'm sorry, you must be mistaken. I'm not Naruto. I'm Naoko. Back off unless you want to lose that pretty face of yours, all right?" He had smiled at the man and that had been that.
And then this morning, with the man in the mirror - the man - the - it had been the man Zabuza had squared off with!
"Down, boys." Naoko said, glanced between Zabuza and the silver-haired instructor.
"Damnit!" Naoko snarled, pounding a fist into the wall, careful not to leave a hole or a dent. The landlord would have his head if there was any damage to the precious, paper-thin walls. Breathing deep, calming breaths, Naoko tried to ignore the fact that his life was coming down around his ears and just go shopping with Haku.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Oh my god, guys, I am so sorry I haven't updated. Really, truly sorry.The story gets better after this, I promise. All the great, juicy, angst-ridden parts are coming up. Well, not all. But a lot.
AN2: Okay. Sorry again. I meant to put this up before I left town, but never got around to it. Readers, you may have my head on a stick. I know the last few chapters have been somewhat sketchy. I had to beat my muse with a large stick to grind those out before my trip. So... very sorry, again, and I promise someday after this story is done, I'll go back and fix them up. This is just the first edition in all its hairy, warty glory.
PS. I can't answer all reviews in this chapter, but a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed. I love you all.
Raifel: Whatever he remembers comes and goes. Sometimes it's just a brief flash, sometimes it's a flood. It is pretty soap opera-ish. Heh. In the next chapter we meet Esteban, Naruto's evil twin! Just kidding. Thanks for reviewing. You made my day.
She.Who.Knows: Heh, don't murder Sakura just yet. She has a part in helping Naruto get his memories back.