The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'Thoughts'

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 12

He lies with Shadow to his right. He sighs as he plays over what happened in the fight between him and snake man. He's lucky that Shadow helped him stay in control as that really violent presents tried to get him attack mindlessly. He's kind of disturbed at his lack of control when pressed with all those negative emotions charging through his mind. What's even more eerie was the intensity of the emotions and how he had almost been swapped up in them without any real way to ground himself.

Shadow had been in deep thought since they arrived within their shared mindscape. He didn't know how long they've been here, but it feels like a while. He decides to break the silences that's been reigning between them, he asks, "What do you think happened?" "I think you need to get some answers out of Kakashi. There's something about this that might answer most of our questions." Shadow replies. He sighs and nods as he says, "I just hope he willing to answer them."

They get up and he summons a door. He glances over at Shadow, but finds that his friend has already woken up. He smiles slightly and then turns to face the door and walks through it. Light flashes before his eyes, then there is darkness.

He cracks his left eye open slightly and sighs as he notices how bright the room seems. He closes his left eye and then forces his eyes open, trying to resist the temptation of just closing his eyes. He rolls onto his right side and then sits up with his feet moving to the edge of the bed. He shivers as the cold air touches his semi-bare body; someone had the decency to put some boxers on him. He looks around and after touching the cold floor, he pulls his feet up and crawls to the end of the bed for his pack. He grabs it and begins to grab clothing out of it.

So he's wearing socks to keep his feet warm, a blue long sleeve shirt, and matching long pants. He shivers as he gets off the bed and walks towards the door. He looks in the hall and then he walks toward Kakashi's room. He cracks the door open and blinks as he finds Sasuke and Kakashi having tea. "Naruto, you're up." Sasuke says in surprise, the dark boy not able to keep his emotion in check. He nods, he shifts his weight and asks, "How long have I been out?" "About a whole day, rested?" Kakashi asks. He nods his head, relieved that it hadn't been very long.

As he's about to ask to speak with Kakashi alone, his stomach growls to remind him he hasn't eaten in over a day. He looks sheepish and Sasuke snorts, having gotten over his surprise and returned to his normal behaviour. "Do you want something brought up or would you prefer to head down by yourself?" Kakashi asks. He thinks about it and then says, "I'll go down stairs. Also, I want to talk with you about something that happened during the fight, Kakashi." Kakashi nods, it seems that Kakashi clearly not surprised that he would ask to speak with him alone. Before leaving the room he studies Sasuke for about two seconds.

He then closes the door behind him and walks down stairs. His thoughts weren't really anywhere as he enters the dinning room. He sits down and within two minutes, one of the servers takes his order and he then sits back and waits for his food to arrive. He doesn't really try to focus in on anything as he waits, just enjoying the paintings that hang around the room.

His food arrives and he thanks the server. He then slowly eats his meal; he didn't feel like rushing through his meal. Just as he finishes three quarters of his meal, Sasuke enters the room alone. He nods to Sasuke and Sasuke walks over and sits down. He looks thoughtful as Sasuke tries keep his curiosity under control. "Is there anything you want to ask?" He asks Sasuke, breaking the so called ice between them.

His lips twinge slightly at how relieved Sasuke seems after hearing that. "I'm sorry for using that jutsu on you again." Sasuke tries to say in a masked tone. He just grins and replies, "It worked out fine, right? That snake didn't stand much of a chance." Sasuke looks sharply at him and he adds, "I just have to hope you'll never have to use that jutsu on me ever again, right? Or do you feel so guilty about it that you want me to use it on you?" Sasuke glares at him, he knows that Sasuke was trying to open up to him, but he didn't want connect too much with Sasuke, after all, he now has almost everything in place for his retirement and he didn't want to leave too many people who cared about him behind when he leaves this world and migrates to Zi to become a Zoid pilot.

Sasuke recovers and says, "You're really an idiot, you know that? I'm trying to apologize here." He smiles and says, "I know, but you know what my future plans are. I don't want to leave behind too many friends, Sasuke." Sasuke's seems surprise on hearing that. "You really think someone would send you on a suicide mission because of some grudge?" Sasuke asks. He nods and replies, "Don't you have a grudge that you can't see yourself letting go of?" Sasuke's expression darkens and he says, "See? If you can't then the chances of most of the village will is nil. And trust me, I've tried asking people why they don't like me and they never gave me any real valid reason. I doubt you'd have any luck in that department either, Ice King."

Sasuke glares at the Ice King comment and says, "Out of to you and Sakura, there's more to you then you let on and I'm going to be waiting to see it, Dobe. And just for future refinance, I do need friends or want them for they hold you back." He snorts and says, "Really, then why are you so concerned about me?" "The chunin exams going to be happening in a month or two and only teams are allow to participate. You're part of this team and therefore I have taken it upon myself to make sure that you and Sakura are able to enter." Sasuke replies. 'I believe your just trying to fool yourself, lair. But I'm not going to call you on it.' He thinks as he rolls his eyes at Sasuke.

"I don't suppose you informed Sakura about this little decision?" He asks in his best innocent tone. Sasuke growls at him and glares, daring him to say anything more on the matter. He gives Sasuke a look of puzzlement and then watches as the brooding boy gets up and leaves the room, most likely to go train. He sighs and feels sorry for having to push Sasuke like that, but knew that in the long run, it was for the best.

'Then there's his goal of revenge. He's fixated on that goal and he'll let his consume him in the end. I wonder how far he'll go to gain the power to kill that guy?' He thinks to himself. He finishes the rest of his meal and then heads up stair to speak with Kakashi. He glances over at the front door before walking towards the stairs. He sighs and shakes his head slightly in hopes of banishing the urge to seek out Sasuke and try to smooth things over between them.

)-(Shadow)-(

He trots through down paths of the surrounding forest. He had already checked up on the Liger and it was fine, he had a lot to think about and he decided to go for a run just to keep himself from thinking too deeply on the matters he's worried about. First and foremost, he was concerned about the source of all of those negative emotions. He had an idea, but he didn't know if it were possible.

'Could Naruto have that demon fox that attacked Hidden Leaf within him?' Is the thought that circles within his mechanical brain, for in his mind it would explain why the villagers consider his friend and partner a monster, for it means that they know that the demon was sealed within the blond. Despite that, he just knows that Naruto's as human as any other.

Many images flash within his mind's eye, of Naruto displaying many different emotions. If he could do facial features, he would have a scowl on his face as he feels his fury burn brightly. If he wasn't so worried at what would happen if anyone found out about him, he would have long ago fused with a Zoid and unleash his fury and displeasure on those that treated the blond poorly. He reminds himself that the time was coming when they'll leave that village behind, though how they'll make it to Zi he doesn't know but he just knows that if things keep going their way, they'll be leaving the village once Naruto makes chunin and retires as a ninja through legal means.

He then moves onto the next order of busy, which is having Naruto gain battle experience with the Liger Zero. Personally, he doesn't like the white armour that the Liger has and he doubts they'll find enough paint to recolor it in another colour. Also, with him partnered with Naruto, the chances of the Liger evolving into something more suited to the blond. He would be smirking if he could as thoughts of what kind of improvements that could happen once Naruto gains more experience in battle as well as piloting the Zoid.

His startled to find that his within sight of the inn that Naruto's staying at, he changes directions as well as slow down. He circles the inn once and very slowly as to not draw any attention from either of Naruto's team mates and teacher. Satisfied, he heads back to where the Liger is resting and decides to fuse with the Zoid for a bit, just to see how much improvement he has made since the last time he has done so.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He has mixed feelings, even now that it's been about three hours since he spoken with Naruto. Oddly enough, he doesn't blame Naruto for pushing him away, he's actually glad that the blond did, he's more angry at himself for trying to befriend the Dobe and forgetting that he has no need for friends, for they only get in the way.

He growls and does the hand seals for Great Fireball and aims for the rock in the middle of the river. As he releases his breath and watches as a large ball of fire covers the stone. Once it vanishes, he breathes shallowly and quickly, that jutsu does take a lot out of him and that one was his forth within the last three hours.

Ever since he left the inn, he's been pushing himself once he arrived by this river. He's trying to clear his head but it wasn't working. He wonder, vaguely, if he the reason why he's trying to befriend Naruto might be that the blond doesn't want to be a ninja for the rest of his life and that made the blond safe in some really odd way. He frowns as he thinks about how easily the blond had ambushed him that one time.

He sighs and walks towards the bank. "You might want to come back to the inn before you catch a cold." He turns and finds Kakashi leaning on a tree, reading his novel. He grunts and sits down on the grass, feeling tired. He notices that the sun has set and then his stomach rumbles, meaning that he's hungry. "I'll never be as strong as him, will I?" He says out loud. "Which him do you mean?" Kakashi asks.

He sighs and replies, "Both of them." "Ah." Is all that Kakashi says. He looks up into the sky, searching for a star or something as the night sky continues to darken. "If you're tired, I'll gladly carry you back to the inn." His teacher offers. He throws a sour look over at the older ninja, then climbs onto his feet. "Naruto is?" He asks. "Went to guard the shop. Also, the sword's almost done, so we'll be leaving soon." Kakashi tells him as he leads the way back to the inn. He sighs mentally as an image of his brother appears in his mind and then replaced by Naruto's image. He frowns and looks downward at the path, he just couldn't find it within himself to be jealous of Naruto for being stronger then him. He knows that he'll never have the same determination that the blond has, even if the Dobe's goal is something he knows is a waste of talent.

To be continued …