Chapter 11 : Hold on I still want you.

Sasuke doubled over from pain.

Clutching his hurting stomach he grimaced. The pain was overwhelming, he felt as if his insides were tearing. He tried to suck in a deep breath but failed.

His curse mark was acting up. He had to get out of here, fast. No more time to engage in mindless quarrel with these academy grads jounins and ANBUs.

Damn that Neji Hyuuga. All of Sasuke's chakra points were locked. And damn that snake. He had been able to keep fighting on the additional chakra that the curse mark provided but now it was taking it's toll. He had to have his chakra paths unblocked soon or the mark with Orochimaru's chakra will take over.

He was fed up with these people coming at him like ants. Konoha had lofty words but poor results. All of these ninjas- a waste of Sasuke's time.

Sasuke felt anger come with full force. His frustration was getting at him and in his pain, he let himself scum to it.

"Enough of this.Get off me!" He shouted as bees and insects buzzed all around him- Aburame 's jutsu. He tried to move his legs but failed. His feet were glued to the dark shadows - Nara.

Sasuke twisted his lips. His head was swimming, black spots danced in front of his eyes. He was losing control.

Through sheer force of will, he gathered chakra in his chest. Taking a huge gulp of air, he directed it at his feet and released a fireball towards the shadow.

The fireball was so small it was pathetic but Sasuke was relieved - his legs won't burn in the fire. The light from it was enough to dispel Nara's hold on him. The insects around him dispersed in the fire.

He jumped back,swiftly.His body shook. No time. Sasuke gave a harsh frown when he was appropriately away from his opponents. "This ends here. "

Sasuke muttered to himself before making a number of signs for his next jutsu. He pushed whatever chakra - pure,impure - that he was getting, into it.

Lighting strike down at various intervals all around him where the others were standing. Each strike fell at each one of his enemies. The land they touched scorched. A few ninjas - died instantly. Others like Shino and Shikamaru jumped out of the way but were injured.

Sasuke saw this as his opportunity to get away.He started making his way out of there, away from the village.

He was running through the trees,when he fell.His feet slipped and he was on the ground. It was humiliating. But more than that it was painful.

He felt pain crawl up his spine. He cut the use of his chakra. Any more and he would change form into his monstrous self.

Breathing heavily he lay there. Taking on these morons was no big deal but his chakra paths blocked put him in a heavy disadvantage.

He didn't expect to rely so much on the curse mark but now he cursed every single one of them that came to his mind : Orochimaru, Neji, Naruto, the Hokage, Sakura, Kakashi-

No, not Kakashi, really- it was because of him that Sasuke would finally escape. He should probably thank him for it the next time he meets Kakashi- right before he kills him.

Sasuke's eyes were closed, his face sweaty as he thought about all he could to distract himself from the pain when he heard rustling of the leaves and then the more heavy noise made when moving through the forest.

Someone was coming this way. There were more than one -two, three- coming right his way. Probably in his pursuit. Sasuke stayed quite and hid himself among the fallen leaves and bush. He slowed his breathing and lay there without any sound.

He watched as two ninjas passed above him, going without looking from their path as they went from tree to tree. One of them was Rock Lee- that ghastly green jumpsuit was visible under the moonlight streaming through the trees. The other one was a kunoichi - he did not know her name.

Both of them went right past him. Sasuke relaxed. He waited for them to get further away, then, slowly let his camouflage drop. It was his mistake.

A figure fell right in front of him. He was still supine on the ground, struggling to get up when his head whipped up to see long, midnight hair cascading down as the figure landed, hands poised in front. Milky white Hyuuga eyes with Byakugan stared at him.

A Hyuuga girl. Sasuke's body tensed. He was in no condition to engage with another Hyuuga. Yes, if fighting her would free his chakra paths, then, he would not mind but still chances were he will lose the fight.

Sasuke's mind raced. This was a bad deal. He won't be able to hide or use any genjutusu against a Hyuuga. In his position this was a bad match. He waited for the attack to come. No, he had not given up. He won't go back but right now there was no way he could make a first move.He was still thinking.

The Hyuuga made no move of attacking him. She continued to move forward, nearer. Sasuke waited, his confusion at her inaction mounting. Not that he was complaining or anything.

Her Byakugan must have clearly shown her his current predicament. So, what was she waiting for- those two ninjas to return?

As she stepped right in front of him. Her hands raised in the gentle fist technique,

Sasuke's own sharingan flickered to life but did not hold for long. She tensed. Sasuke let his sharingan die down. His eyes back to normal, he looked at her.

If she won't do anything than Sasuke will. No merit in sitting here and wasting time. The others could return anytime. More problems for him. This was a Hyuuga anyway, if he can coax her to help him - no, that's stupid. A leaf ninja would never help him.

Before he could say or think of saying, a small, hesitant voice spoke up, "Sasuke kun".

" Huh. " A confused sound tumbled out of Sasuke's mouth before he could stop it. Blinking, he stared at the Hyuuga.

He was waiting here for her to strike and she was saying his name in such a meek polite way? Was she stupid?

Must be stupid.

Konoha was doomed if they were making such people ninjas. That was if Sasuke cared. It was very harsh to judge her like this but Sasuke wasn't even bothered half a bit about that. His mind was overjoyed. He can use stupid.

"You're, uh- Hyuuga? " Sasuke said, clueless as how to be polite to her in a way that will make her help him. He raked his mind to search for her name. If she knew him then she must be in his academy class or in the same circle of Naruto's friend.

Speaking of Naruto, his mind went there and he frowned.Overcame by a sense of curiosity, he looked for his chakra. He felt it halfway across the village.Good. Sasuke was about to break his attention when he felt it grow and become active.

Naruto's chakra was flaring up.

Time's up.

Sasuke hastily refocused on Hyuuga girl And decided it was better if he was straightforward. No time to indulge con.

He closed his eyes and searched his memories, going deeper and deeper till his genin days.There,he found her name - Hinata Hyuuga.

He quickly opened his eyes and spoke,

"Release my chakra and I will leave.I will not try to fight any of you. "

He saw Hinata's head snap up, shocked. "What? " She said, shock and confusion coming out her voice.

"If you cannot let me leave then it's fine too. But you can see what the chakra of the curse mark is doing. I need my own chakra, otherwise-" He paused letting his silence speak for itself.

"I cannot let you go. You have harm a lot of my friends. " Hinata managed to say.

Sasuke was losing his patience with her. And he didn't have time for this.He nodded his head and said,"Very well". Before he started to get up on his feet.

Hinata tensed. "What are you doing? " She asked, uselessly.She had the Byakugan, what was she not able to see about what he was doing?

"Getting out of here." He said, shaking his head and stepping up.

A sharp pain jolted his body. His ankle had twisted badly. He was not able to even stand properly.

Great. This was the only thing left to happen.

He clutched at the tree beside to stay upright. When he looked up he saw, the Hyuuga girl wasn't in her fighting stance anymore. Her Byakugan had faded too.

Sasuke raised one of his eyebrows. No way,she just did that. Instant death 101.

"Don't try, Sasuke-kun. You are already injured. " She said her voice pitiful.

"Then, what am I supposed to do? Sit here until someone more competent than you comes and takes me back to a place where they want to use me as a tool? " Sasuke said, suddenly angry.

He looked away and moved forward.It was a waste, he knew. But now he was too angry to care about it. Sasuke will get out whether anyone's there or not.

"Sasuke-kun" Hinata hesitant voice spoke up again. Sasuke stopped.

"You will leave and not harm anyone if I helped you?" She asked, her eyes fixed on the ground, near her feet,her eyes covered by her bangs.

Sasuke breathed. He nodded. Hinata nodded in reply. Her eyes weren't on Sasuke and Sasuke had not spoken.

As Sasuke suspected, her Byakugan was still locked on him. 360 vision of the Hyuuga, all right. Sasuke nodded, impressed somewhat. The girl wasn't a total fool, afterall.

She moved forward. Raising her hands , she took her position. Her eyes back on Sasuke. "Don't move. Stand straight."

Her voice was colder, far indifferent this time, as if she was channelling her inner Hyuuga. That voice along with the harsh look of Byakugan on her face and the fighting stance made Sasuke doubt.

What if instead of helping, she hurts him even more? Suddenly, he doubted this whole thing. After all, it was him who hurt and left Neji to die. There was no way this girl would help the murder of her own kin -

Sasuke never finished that thought. He braced himself as he went through the pain of Hyuuga's eight palm trigram technique for the second time that night

When he opened his eyes, he found himself slumped against the tree. He blinked twice and groaned. But at least this time when he breathed he felt the reassuring warmth of his chakra under his skin.

Hinata was standing, a little further away, her eyes trained towards village.

"Leave, now.Remember what you said." She said, her voice solemn.

Sasuke nodded in reply and got on his feet. His ankle did not hurt. He stepped on it again. Standing on both his legs he looked at Hinata again.

"Did you-? " He asked, hesitating.

"Yes, I did. You need to leave right now, if you want to escape.They are coming." She said, her voice faraway, sincere.

Sasuke did not move. She finally turned around, her Byakugan closed. She gave a small smile, "Be safe , Sasuke kun."

Sasuke said nothing.His eyes narrowed. He blinked and urged his sharingan to life. Then, he looked for the trap to spring open on him.

He took Hinata in. Her meek smile, moonlight illuminating her face, milky white eyes gentle. He looked for any genjutsu. Finding nothing, he turned his sharingan to normal.

"You are too trusting, Hyuuga." Sasuke threw back, before turning and leaping into the dark branches above.

Hinata stood there for a moment or two. apologetic, before she too turned away, going in the opposite direction.

Kakashi had made a grave mistake.

He ran through the forest at his fastest pace. Below, he saw the ruins of the fighting with Sasuke.

He moved past the injured, the dead and the rest who were standing still. He had seen Kiba take Sakura and Neji.

So, it had failed, huh? Sasuke did hurt them. It made Kakashi angry with himself. All this time and he was still so useless in protecting his people.

He summoned Pakkun, then. No need to dawdle. He asked Pakkun to chase Sasuke's scent.

A bark, and they both rushed following his trail. The air around him was solemn. Kakashi was lost in his mind. Pakkun understanding this, quietly led the way.

The air around them buzzed. Chakra filled the air. A huge chakra signature was fast approaching. Kakashi stopped. He was in the process of turning when Naruto flashed right past him.

Kakashi stood there, blinking before following him. He felt Yamato slide next to him while running.

"Kakashi-san" Yamato said. "It looks like the situation got out of hand. Things did not go as intended."

No, it did not.

Kakashi knew whatever had happened was unfortunate. It was his failure. And he needed to fix it.

But the end result will still come out the same. And that's all that mattered, in the end.

"No.It did get out of hand a bit. But it won't effect the outcome. I never bet on Sasuke. It was always the Council."

And at least they delivered, thanks to Lady Tsunade 's justified anger.

Kakashi replied, in a dismissive tone before increasing his pace.

The night air was chilling. A sweep of cold exhaustion creeped up on his shoulder, settling in his bones.

It was a long night, indeed. He couldn't wait for sunrise to arrive.

In all honestly, Naruto did expect all this.

Sincerely, it only took you so far being naive and ignorant. He had to know, obviously. Because if he didn't then how would he ever be able to do anything.

With intricate clarity he knew Sasuke was never leaving him again. All Naruto needs is to hold on to Sasuke as tightly as he could till Sasuke stops.

His forehead is bleeding, his eyes shut closed. But his arms are firm around Sasuke's waist, holding him tightly. As Sasuke hails punches on him.

They are both on the ground, rolling in mud and leaves. Sasuke hitting Naruto and Naruto holding on.

Some human primitive part of his mind veers, urges him to react throw back his own punch, stop this onslaught of never ending painful attacks but he cannot do that. Naruto cannot unbind his hands from around Sasuke and let him free- no matter how much it hurts.

His eyes turn red, Kurama awaking in the depth of his stomach. Raging, his claws come out, making Naruto's grip strength double. Red chakra envelope both him and Sasuke.

Sasuke screams. Pushing at Naruto now with his hands. Clawing at his face and chest to get away. Naruto knows he should just let go, unclasp his hands but it hurts so much.

Sasuke is struggling and thrashing and it is hurting Naruto. There are cuts and bruises on his face and chest and arms. Not to mentioned his face is swollen from all his previous beating but still - that wasn't actually Sasuke's fault was it? Naruto wasn't defending so-

Well, Now he knows why Sasuke is screaming so hard. Kyuubi 's chakra is burning him.

Naruto opens his eyes, peaks from under his eyelashes because it hurts to fully open them, to see blisters appear on Sasuke's skin, the chakra around them suffocating him.

The same thing that is slowly healing and protecting Naruto is harming and killing Sasuke. This is the kind of contrast Naruto has always hated about Kyuubi.

"Let me go, Naruto!!! " Sasuke screams, gives a last jolt before losing conscious and collapsing on top of him.

Naruto quickly lets go and moves away from Sasuke. Back in control of his emotions, kyuubi's oppressive chakra disappears too and Naruto is left in the aftermath of it to deal with the consequences.

Sasuke lies in front of him, on that cold muddy, ground with dirt on his face and clothes. He looks so- harmless, calm, in peace like this. But also so much abused, hurt and so... weak.

And Sasuke Uchiha was never weak.

Naruto does not know what he should do as he notices Sasuke's skin turn blue, his burnt skin and bruised arms and waist. He sits there hyperventilating, losing his entire mind -

Kakashi drops beside him. A warm hand falls on Naruto's shoulder.

"Calm down, Naruto. It's alright." Kakashi sensei voice swims inside his ear. He listens but they don't mean anything.

Kakashi sensei was a liar. Nothing was alright. He was just too much of a ninja to feel...conflicted.

But he is here now, so Naruto can let his heart, mind and eyes fall close- the discovery of his own emotions and intentions is just too much for Naruto to handle right now.

He lets go. Falling limp beside Sasuke. His heart beat, he can hear. A supreme form of sleepiness creeps up on his eyelids and they take him to blissful darkness- an ignorance that he just lost.

Though his hands never fall far from Sasuke's. He stays close.Only torn apart by their own morality.

*

Naruto stays in bed. Awake. His eyes staring at the ceiling but his mind is travelling to the night before.

His encounter with Sasuke replays in his mind like a broken record. His words and thought colliding and echoing.

Over and over and over again.

Sasuke had asked him why Naruto was so hung up on Sasuke, keeping him in the village. What does he want?

Naruto asks himself the same thing. He waits for the answer all night. A lot of reasons come to his mind.

Because you are my friend, Sasuke.

Because I care for you Sasuke.

Because you make me want to be better than I ever was.

Because I don't want to see you alone

Because without you I feel alone,

Because the path you are on only leads to death,.

Because you will die and I won't be their to save you.

Because I will never be at peace if you are gone.

Because it doesn't feel home to me if you are not there.

Because I am empty, cold and alone all the time.

Because I want to feel warmth again.

Because I want to grow up with you, grow old with you.

Because I want to live with you and die with you.

Because you are my first, my every beginning.

Because you are family to me,

Because I am a stupid greedy selfish about you.

Because I want you to.

Because just stay.

Naruto did not realize that his pillow was wet or his cheeks were flushed or his eyes were drowning in tears or his nose was runny.

Because you are you. And I am me.And I just can't seem to let you go.

He crushed his eyes shut and opened his mouth to gulp in air, to breathe, to fill himself because the pain in his chest - in his heart was becoming unbearable.

How did this all ever turned like this?

He was lost, and he was alone. And he did not want to be that anymore.

Naruto tried. He had tried. To move on and live with people who were left, who were actually there, but it just didn't work. A presence like Sasuke's was not something that could be filled in by someone else.

Everytime he learnt something he wanted to run and boasts about it to Sasuke. He woke up thinking about him and went to sleep with his face in his memories.

It was alright with Jiraiya. Naruto was happy then. Jiraiya was nice, he was warm, he was fatherly and he was there.

But after coming back to Konoha everything just made him anxious to get Sasuke back as if Sasuke not there was a distorted reality that was too hard to believe, to live in.

As if Sasuke was waiting somewhere just for him to come and save him.

He still liked being back in the village. Among everyone. They all were here and looked great. All of them had grown up and become strong and they were happy. It was good. It was amazing. It was beautiful.

And Naruto couldn't help and think about Sasuke. And his life in Konoha. All of them here and present and happy and alive and safe and...home.

Yes, that was what Naruto truly wanted : Sasuke and Konoha.

But apparently that was not possible.

Konoha and Sasuke together was not possible .

Whatever it may, Naruto wasn't the one to give up on his dreams.

He will never give up on that.

The night had failed, spectacularly.

When dawn came, it found Konoha as the victor.

And Sasuke was back at square one. Thrown into prison minus the leniency.

Sasuke couldn't even bring himself to complain. It had been fun. It was freeing or he was just going crazy.

Sasuke did not know how he was supposed to feel as he walked back to Konoha his hands in a bind. Kakashi in front, Naruto following behind him.

Tch, shameless. Will Kakashi be executed now for opening his seals and freeing him, a prisoner who injured a lot of valuable shinobi?

Valuable, my foot. As if anything as common as human lives were worth anything to these shinobi villages.

Sasuke scoffed at the silence around him. He was the murderer here and these nomads were feeling guilty.

He wondered if Itachi felt any- no, no, no - well, his mind wasn't supposed to go there and now his passive mood was gone - jumbled again- miserable again.

So, he started to distract himself with the events from before.

In the midst of their battle, they had ventured a little farther from Konoha. Walking all the way there after such a brutal fight was a hassle. Their pace was as slow as a crawling snail.

Sasuke did not mind but at the same time he was exhausted by the whole monotony of it. His mind was eating him, his body was aching with every step - God, he wouldn't even get a warm meal and bed after this. So why was he suffering so much? Just to end up in a prison cell?

Sasuke stopped and let his head and body fall.His head fell on Naruto's shoulder. His back aligning with Naruto's chest. Sasuke's eyes dipped closed. He wasn't going to walk anymore. If he was just going to a cold hard floor bed in a dingy prison cell there's no point in enduring this pain.

Either they stop and rest or they can carry him. Wood guy's here anyway- make a plank and lift him-

"Keep moving, Sasuke. " Kakashi jolts him forward, pulling at the leash of the rope that tied to his hands.

Sasuke frowned and pushed his hills into the dirt, forcing him to get going.

"I'm tired Kakashi, no more walking. " Sasuke's voice came much more of a command then a complain. He wasn't willing to walk.

A hand pushed his back - hard. He stumbled forward.

"Just walk Sasuke."Naruto said,his voice uncharacteristically low, abnormally serious.

Sasuke glanced back from the corner of his eyes. Naruto wasn't looking at him. His eyes were fixed on the ground, his hair shadowing them.

Sasuke almost said, " Make me. " But then, his eyes moved to Kakashi who shook his head at Sasuke, eyes hard and -- well, well, well, how beautiful- sad.

Sasuke gave him a small glare but continued on.

*

It was worthless. They were all worthless people with pointless morals.

One month in complete isolation in an underground prison facility.

Two months under the custody of the interrogation and torture department- with Ibiki Morino personally heading it.

Three months in regular prison after that.

That was the final punishment sentence given to Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke expected nothing much from them. He was apparently cursed to live an exceedingly disappointed life. And Sasuke wasn't sure how he was taking it

Not well, obviously.

He did not even know what he was expecting to be feeling a little miffed by this judgement.

Well, it was Kakashi's decision. Was he penalized for this?

Apparently, he was. Kakashi was demoted. Not in rank but in salary paycheck.

Poor Kakashi.

Seriously? Set the Hokage tower on fire, We will see if the amount saved from cutting Kakashi's salary will help them built a new one overnight.

what farce.

Sasuke's mood soured. No. Either Konoha was always like this or it just went off the deep end as soon as this new Hokage took command.

Or, probably their ninjas' mindlessly butting in other people business while kidnapping them for breeding was what was actually killing it's game.

Sasuke was definitely developing a split cynical personality just to deal with this nuisance.

They came to him, the guards. Gave him a brief summary. His punishment would begin immediately.

Sasuke had nothing to say. Not like they waited to listen anyways.

All in all, he was going underground.

Tsunade had seen the results. All was on her table, compiled and filed on her desk in neat details.

Still, She was stuck in some personal dilemma. Sasuke had made a fool of all of them. Still, does that make him a hero or a villian?

Her hastily meeting with the council ruined a lot of things too. Now, they weren't ready to back down. She will never hear the end of it if she didn't fix it.

Tsunade sighed. Being a Hokage really sucked.

"Okay, Let him in. " Tsunade nodded at one of the guards who had come to tell her that Kakashi wanted to meet her.

Tsunade had already anticipated that but she wasn't very sure on what he wanted to talk about.

"Lady Tsunade." Kakashi came and stood in attention in front of Tsunade.

"Yes, Kakashi. What is it that you want to say." Tsunade said,leaning back in her chair heavily, her hands folder near her chin.

She was exhausted. The only thing that she wanted to do now was go home to a warm bed and sleep straight until next monday morning.

Away from the hassle of handling this mess of a village.

"Lady Tsunade. I have a request." Kakashi said, his voice solemn. "Place me as another supervisor for Sasuke."

Tsunade was beyond surprised at this. Kakashi as a supervisor in a prison cell? At this time of financial instability? Her eyebrows rose up as she looked at Kakashi.

"Why? You know Kakashi- you are a highly sought jounin of Konoha. A lot of our clients request people like you and after recent pein attack-" Tsunade trailed after that not finishing.

"Yes, Lady Tsunade. I understand. I'll do my duty too but I still want to be there- Sasuke I don't know how well he would do - I want to look over him-" Kakashi said, eyes locked on the floor, reasoning in a dispassionate tone. Giving nothing away.

"Kakashi, I should remind you. You are also back on ANBU duty. That will also require a lot of your time. I understand where you are coming from but that cannot be possible in the current circumstances" Tsunade said,impassive

"That's so. It was my request still. I want you to consider it. I will do my duty as both Jounin guard and as ANBU captain but can you please put a guard to check over Sasuke in his first month of imprisonment. I want to be a part of his interrogation team, if you will allow me."

Kakashi had kept a calm, distant tone for most of his speech but at the end he looked up at Tsunade, when he spoke of being part of Sasuke interrogation and a sense of seriousness blinking in his eyes. Tsunade was surprised by this, too.

"You want to be a part in Sasuke's investigation? Well, I should remind you Kakashi that it might turn unpleasant and you-"

"I am still a shinobi, Lady Tsunade. There is nothing that I haven't seen or underwent. Watching Sasuke under torture and interrogation by Leaf Nin won't be something that breaks me." Kakashi gave a closed eye smile.

Tsunade had nothing to say to this. She understood all what Kakashi was going through. She too somewhere felt a bit upset about all this. If it was Sakura in Sasuke place- well Tsunade would be worried too.

"Fine.Kakashi.I will see to Sasuke's safety his first month of isolation. You can join the interrogation team. I will inform Ibiki but you still go have a talk with him." Tsunade sighed and sat up.

"It's been a long night. I would like to go home now." She said, concluding.

"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you for your time." Kakashi bowed a short courtesy bow and left.

Tsunade got up, shaking her head lightly.

Being Hokage was a hassle. And being Hokage at a time like this? Torture.

It was probably time she started on a suitable replacement.