Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This chapter contains graphic descriptions of violence.
Chapter 16
The sound of thumping dragged Sasuke from his sleep. He blinked a few times, taking in his surroundings, noticing how far the sun had creeped across the floorboards. It must nearly be noon, he thought as he blearily took in the dust particles dancing through the air. He brought a hand up to run his fingers through the tangled hair on the back of his head, coming away with a blade of grass that was somehow still stuck in the dark strands. He tossed the thing away with an annoyed huff, and flung his arm over his eyes as he began testing out the soreness of each muscle after the late hours of training he had crammed in last night.
Team Seven's first C-ranked mission had been an absolute clusterfuck nearly from the get go. The bridge builder who had hired them turned out to be an alcoholic who somehow managed to function, they were attacked by the Demon Brothers and that Swordsman from The Mist, and then belatedly realized that the hunter nin they thought was there to collect the bodies was actually just an accomplice. After all that fighting, all four enemies had escaped, albeit in various degrees of health.
Sasuke sighed in frustration at the memory. The team had been understandably irritated that what had appeared to be a victory with a display of well coordinated teamwork turned out to be nothing more than a preface for a potential shit storm. The Uchiha had been even more upset to find out that Kakashi had been hiding a Sharingan under that lop-sided hitae-ate all this time. The tense explanation of the "gift" had answered absolutely nothing, which only increased his irritation. The jonin was more concerned with interrogating their employer than satisfying the Uchiha's angry curiosity, especially when the perpetual drunk had revealed that Gato and the rest of his gang would return any day. With that knowledge Kakashi had set his genin to training like never before.
Standing up slowly, the Uchiha grimaced at the painful protestation of his muscles. At the age of fifteen, he and his teammates were all nearing their physical peak, with Naruto and himself seeming to be in a biological race to see who could have the most dramatic growth spurt. While the blond continued to be more lanky, so far the fruits of his training were hinting at the potential for a more powerful build, and Sasuke was displaying the lithe speed and agility for which his clansmen were known. But without his Sharingan, the skills seemed to be nothing more than a reminder of how far short of his goal he was falling. His jealousy of his kunoichi teammate's excelling expertise with her own bloodline was a point of personal frustration.
Between training with her team and her clan, Hinata was advancing rapidly. Her petite stature was slowly becoming a thing of the past. No one would ever call her tall, but her build was becoming more and more like her cousin, regal in posture and economic in her movements, she could be deadly in a fight. And with her Byakugan she could still kick Sasuke's ass as often as not, much to his shame. The fact that even Naruto had difficulty evading her Gentle Fist didn't give his wounded pride any consolation.
He had to get better. He couldn't let them outflank him. The sins of That Man still haunted his dreams and he had to keep pace, the passing of time just making the desire for more power and strength so keen he thought he could taste it at times. It was the push behind his strict training, and the reason why he had been out in the forest long into the previous night.
One of the first things Kakashi had taught him upon the formation of Team Seven was the water walking and tree climbing exercises, which he had been furious to realize Naruto and Hinata already knew. Since then every training session had felt like a race to an ever moving finish line, just as he felt he was drawing nearer to them, they would come up with some ridiculous collaboration or new skill and he would be sprinting to catch up once more. And it always seemed to center around that blond idiot.
Naruto, as it turned out, had a Wind Release chakra nature, and quickly realized that he could act as a catalyst for both his teammate's jutsu styles. The three would train their fledgling elemental natures until they were nearly exhausted, with the Tireless Orange Ball of Energy using his clones to practice combining his Wind with Hinata's Water, and Sasuke's Fire, while at the same time honing his own Nature Transformation using a pair of trench knives Kakashi had obtained with help from another Sensei. It was impressive to say the least, absolutely intimidating at best. And Sasuke hated feeling intimidated.
Another thump and the slam of the front door had Sasuke shuffling to the window to see who was coming or going. Lifting the blinds he squinted down from the second story bedroom into the yard, and saw no one. Must have been that kid coming in, he thought. His eyes strayed out to scan along the tree tops of the forest where he had snuck off in the evening after dinner to squeeze in some extra training. Hinata had been working to perfect the kaiten of her clan, while Naruto was meditating, again. The idiot had been doing that a lot on this trip, and it was rather unnerving to see him so calm, and yet so not calm all at the same time. The expressions that crossed his whiskered face as he sat in deep concentration fluctuated between menacing vulpine snarls to agonizing grimaces laced with misery. It was creepy as hell as far as Sasuke was concerned, and so he had left Hinata to watch over their unpredictable teammate alone, while he leapt away into the trees in search of a place to practice the chakra control and accuracy exercises he had found in his clan's library books, perhaps even fine tune his katon if there was a decent clearing.
With the cumulative strain of guarding the bridge all day and training late into the night, the Uchiha had finally collapsed on the grass, stupidly allowing himself to fall asleep unguarded in the moonlight. Luckily, the one who found him was that weird boy collecting herbs for his friend in the early morning light. Sasuke had thought about their conversation the whole sprint back to Tazuna's home in the pre-dawn hours. The idea the boy had expressed, of wanting to protect his precious people, had sounded genuine in Sasuke's mind, lining up closely with the beliefs of his own teammates. But while he didn't necessarily disagree, the potency of the boy's conviction fell flat for the Last Uchiha personally.
He had no precious people. That Man had taken them all.
There was another thump from downstairs but this one was followed by a crash and a scream that cut off abruptly. The hairs stood up on the back of Sasuke's neck and without wasting more time his hands were flying to strap his ninja pouch to his person. Where is everyone? Did they leave me here alone and go to the bridge?
Silently stealing down the staircase, Sasuke tightly gripped his kunai in his hand and used a mirror from his pouch to peek around the corner into the main living area of the bridge builder's home, where the man's daughter and grandson were usually having lunch this time of day. The sight reflected back at him had his dark eyes widening in horror, and the mirror cracked in his clenching grasp.
One ninja had Inari by the throat, pinned to the wall, his small legs thrashing harmlessly against his captor as he clawed at the brute's massive hand and wheezed through the snot and tears rolling down his reddening face. A second ninja stood behind the boy's mother where she knelt on the floor of the kitchen, his hand fisted into her hair, pulling her head back at a sharp angle as he teased her pale throat with the edge of his blade.
"Come on now, Love," he was taunting in a sing-song tone, "we won't hurt the brat if you just play along. We'll be quick about it." The mother whimpered as she tried to turn her head to see her son, tugging at the wire that bound her wrists behind her back. But with the death grip the leering man had on her hair twisting her line of sight sideways, her eyes locked onto the gleam of the mirror by the staircase instead. Her chocolate brown orbs seemed to plead for help as tears poured freely down her face.
Something inside the Last Uchiha snapped. Suddenly it wasn't The Land of Waves, but his own home. It was his own mother kneeling in the kitchen, her head bowed and fingers laced together in her lap. Her dark hair falling over small shoulders that slumped in defeat. Behind her loomed a shadowy figure with red eyes that whirled in a spiral of death, as he slowly unsheathed his katana, delicately lining up the shining blade to the back of her exposed neck. The voice was the echoing deep timbre that once was so admired by the younger brother, and now was only revolting to the young man. See what my wrath can accomplish...
His body throbbed and he felt himself scream but all that he heard was the roaring blood in his head, increasing in pressure until he thought his eyes would burst from their sockets. He attacked with the speed of righteous judgment, slashing his brother to shreds until the world was bathed in red. The roaring continued, and now his heart had joined the cacophony, its pounding reverberated from his chest up into his brain. The shadow moved and he threw every blade in his pouch at the traitor. The swinging arm that grasped the bloody katana was pinned to the wall when his kunai impaled its hand. He watched the body slump to the ground, hanging by the affixed limb, and the red hue bled out of his vision like the crimson liquid that flowed from the wounds in his brother's chest where several shuriken had sunken deep between the ribs, and Sasuke's mind swam with the heady euphoria of his victory.
"Okaa-san! Are you alrigh—" the desperate question froze on his lips as he turned to see not his mother, but Tsunami, clinging to Inari with his face buried in her lap. She was splattered with the blood of her now lifeless attackers, and whispering shaky words of comfort to her son. As she lifted her face to her savior, she gasped. Clutching the boy tighter she choked out in a hoarse voice, "Sasuke, y-your eyes!"
Sasuke fell to his knees, all the elation of his triumph gone in a whoosh with his harsh breathing, and he realized this was not the compound, and neither of the bodies around him were That Man, and he was still alone.
Pain pierced his eyes and he curled into himself, the heels of his hands pressing against the throbbing agony. He keened out a cry of misery that tore from his throat like the wail of the wind, sweat poured down his face and he cursed his brother anew. Would he never feel relief? Would it ever stop hurting? The pain drummed faster and he pulled away his hands to see blood and tears coating his fingers. Sudden understanding dawned on him and he scrambled over to the shards of the broken mirror on the floor, not allowing himself to look upon the morbid carnage around him for fear he'd vomit. In the cracked and distorted reflection, the crimson glow of a Sharingan stared back at him.
His hand fell limp and the broken glass clinked on the floor. Without turning around he swallowed thickly and asked, "the others, are they at the bridge?"
"H-hai," answered Tsunami, and he left, unable to bear looking at her again.
Sasuke shivered and clamped his arms around his knees to hide the movement. His tremors had nothing to do with the temperature, but all the same Naruto noticed and tossed another log onto the fire. The Uchiha nodded a quick thanks but slid a few inches further away from him at the same time.
The memory of the feeling of all that evil chakra rolling off of Naruto in waves was hard to reconcile with the now quiet boy sitting opposite the cheerful campfire, neatly gutting the fish that he had easily caught from the river the team had chosen to camp by on their journey back to Konoha. He kept his blond head down and his shoulders were slightly hunched as he focused on his task, like a dog with its tail tucked between his legs. Perhaps he had noticed the poorly concealed anxious glances Sasuke had been shooting his direction over the last few days.
One could hardly blame Sasuke for his caution. After witnessing the way Naruto had brutally torn into those gangsters on the bridge, the way his fingernails had sharpened and the marks on his face had deepened, the feeling of immense pressure in the air surrounding him, the way he seemed to radiate heat, and fury, and...and...evil...
It made Sasuke sick. Physically sick.
His eyes glazed over as he watched Naruto carefully slice one fish after another and impale them on the sharpened skewers his shadow clone had made. The flesh of the fish overlapped with the memory of the impaled bodies as those claws had torn through their flesh, his teeth gnashing and snarling in unbridled rage over Hinata's numerous injuries from the flying ice senbon, and the heart wrenching scene between Haku and Zabuza.
Naruto had been unashamedly heart broken, visibly shaking, with tears rolling down his cheeks as he watched the hardened rogue say his last goodbyes to his disciple. Sasuke had to admit that he had been saddened as well, although addressing the gang of thugs that had appeared at the end of the battle on the bridge had been his main concern.
He had barely registered the way Naruto and Kakashi-Sensei had knelt next to the fallen pair, hearing them utter their last convictions and reconciling their dreams with their dying breaths, before his teammates had closed their now dulled eyes and a light snow started to fall. Hinata was down, but breathing and awake, a testament to the progress she had made with her kaiten, having been able to block most of the ice user's senbon, but only just managing to hold him off until Naruto had stepped in to join her fight and defeat the cage of mirrors. While they fought, his shadow clone joined Sasuke to launch a well coordinated attack, and they took out the Demon Brothers once and for all. The entire time his genin were fighting, Kakashi-sensei was giving the Demon of the Mist a hell of a battle with his Sharingan.
Sasuke had looked away when the dying nin reached out to touch the face of his disciple with the tenderness of a father, trying to ignore the twisting of his gut as he remembered the boy's words just the night before. To be useful, to protect my precious people, it is something I would give my life to ensure. When a wind had rolled the fog away to reveal the very gang that had started this whole miserable event, Sasuke's overwrought body had collapsed at the prospect of another drawn out battle when they were already so exhausted.
But then it happened.
Naruto had snapped in a morbidly spectacular way, instantly engulfed in a crimson chakra that seemed to burn without consuming, blazing like a sunset but thick and heavy as a rank fog. The roar that ripped from him was the echo of nightmares. And his eyes, the devil himself was behind that blood red glare. Sasuke had fought to stay conscious through the suffocating power of the dense killing intent before finally his mind had shut down. But not before he witnessed the massacre of Gato and his men.
While the traumatizing scene back at the house had pushed Sasuke to act out in a murderous rage of his own, the whole attack had been a surreal out-of-body experience that in memory seemed separate from himself, almost like a fuzzy dream. He never could have imagined executing the horrors that Naruto performed. Never could have fathomed the gruesome way that blood could spray through the air when an artery was sliced. Never could have conceived the gurgling sound of a man drowning on dry land.
A piece of charred firewood popped out of the fire and landed near Sasuke's foot, snapping him out of his morbid reverie just as the blond jammed the last stick through the final fish. The squishing wet sound hit him in the gut and he abruptly leapt to his feet and ran into the trees, barely making it behind a screen of bushes before puking.
Wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, Sasuke shuffled down to the river and tiredly rinsed his mouth in the cool water before splashing some on his face. Pausing on the riverbank to allow his stomach to settle, he watched the moonlight dance across the expanding ripples, distorting his reflection, changing his face from that of a young man to something unrecognizable. He blinked his eyes and pulsed his chakra, still somewhat startled by the sight of the red dojutsu looking back at him from the surface of the water.
He had completely thought himself mentally prepared to witness and mete out death, he was an Uchiha after all, a survivor, and had spent hours pouring over various tales of battles in their vast library. There was nothing in those pages that could prepare him for that...thing. There was no way that was normal, that crawling sensation as if Fear's fingers were wrapping around his neck trying to choke him. What the hell was he supposed to do with a monster as a teammate? Lost in thought, he jumped when a deep voice interrupted his morbid musings.
"A ninja should always be aware of their surroundings," Kakashi chided the genin, his voice even and calm. He raised an eyebrow as the dark haired boy huffed and crossed his arms, turning his back to him in a show of offense at his intrusion. The jonin had noticed the way Sasuke had blatantly been walking wide circles around Naruto and treating him like a live bomb that could explode at any second. He also saw the way his fearful caution seemed to wound the jinchuriki more than any of the competitive insults the rivals frequently slung at one another. Determined to preserve what hard earned unity his team had, the sensei decided a reality check was in order.
"The life of a ninja is a dangerous one, and a short one if we get complacent and let down our guard," continued the seasoned Shinobi in a nonchalant tone. "Enemies will not care how young or how talented or how admired you are, if you are in the way of their objectives, your life is forfeit in their mind."
Sasuke scoffed, eager to reestablish his self image. "Everyone knows that, Sensei. I am an Uchiha, I have awakened my Sharingan. I know what it means to fight for my life or die." Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the bravado the boy was trying to display, but the tremor of his hand as he adjusted his hitai-ate gave him away.
"Then you know, those who leave their comrades behind are worse than scum." The Copy Nin waited a beat as his genin attempted to not cringe at the idea of staying by that monster's side, before continuing to press his point.
"On that bridge, it was us or them. Naruto reacted in defense of his teammates when we needed him. Hinata was injured, I was nearly out of chakra, and you..." Kakashi didn't need to say the words, Sasuke looked down, he had been at his limits, the use of his freshly awakened Sharingan had drained him more than he had anticipated nor cared to admit.
"What he did, what you saw, was exactly what he was born to do. Protect his teammates, his village, and his precious people, using the tools that he was given." Sasuke finally turned to face the tall jounin, black eyes betraying his anxiety despite the rigid set of his shoulders.
"Then why did it feel so wrong?" It was an honest question, a recognition of an inability to understand that which his mind desperately wanted to reconcile. How could that presence that bubbled off Naruto like the froth of a witch's brew be a good thing? Kakashi stared hard into the Uchiha's eyes, wanting to convey the importance of his words before they passed his lips.
"We don't always get to choose the tools we are given. But what we choose to build with those tools, is what matters in the end. Naruto seeks to build bonds with people and will guard those bonds at the cost of his life. He will do anything to protect his precious people, no matter what. Perhaps the fact that he is determined to build such honorable bonds despite the tainted tools he has been handed, is his most admirable aspiration of them all. Greater than becoming Hokage, than gaining power, than revenge, than bloodlines, or clan titles?"
The subtle barb was not lost upon the Last Uchiha, his vengeful goal was no secret amongst his teammates, whom the self proclaimed avenger actively sought to distance himself from in his constant efforts to pull ahead of them. Sasuke frowned at the unfavorable comparison of his own goal with the loud blond's, not wanting to admit that his Sensei's words could hit so close to home. Kakashi mentally nodded to himself, seeing the genin pondering his argument.
"C'mon," he drawled, once again slouching into his lazy pose and nonchalantly pulling out his favorite orange book. "Let's go eat dinner before Hinata starts looking for us. She hates it when we let the food get cold."
Naruto sat by the fire, shoulders hunched under an invisible burden, eyes staring hypnotically into the dancing flames while his teammates rested peacefully around him. His eyes started to drift closed and his hand slid limply from his lap as blessed sleep finally stole over him. Before his consciousness could fully disappear, in the distance a long howl echoed into the night, and his eyes snapped open. Before the baying wail completed its unearthly note it was joined by another, closer, and yet another, louder. Soon a cacophony of snarls and howls filled the air. The cries changed pitch into the shouts of men, screaming in anger, and pain, and fear. Heat built up around him and his skin started to burn, the heavy cloying smell of blood filled his senses and he tried to run away, but the mob was all around him, tearing at him. He threw up his hands in defense only to see his own fingers tipped with long black claws, savagely ripping into their faces. He tried to pull back, but no matter how many fell to his uncontrolled slaughter the screaming never ceased. It crescendoed into a hellish chorus that rattled in his brain and caused all the hairs on his body to stand up on end. "Stop!" he whimpered, but the hoard pressed forward, uninhibited by their missing limbs or eyes. "Stop it! Go away!" His own voice tried to carry out over the masses. "Leave me alone! I don't want to! Stop! Sto—"
"NARUTO-KUN!"
He jolted upright, panting, frantically scanning the forest. The fire had burned down to embers and the only sound was his own pounding heart beat and the whisper of the wind through the trees. The cool touch of soft hands pressed into the heat of his cheeks, and they gently forced his head to turn until pale lavender eyes were all that filled his view.
"Hime..." he rasped, his hands coming up to wrap around her slim wrists, her solidity grounding him in the present. She frowned with pity at his trembling form, his sleeping bag tangled around his legs from his thrashing. She had heard him from her branch up in the canopy, where she had perched for her shift of the night watch, and upon descending to check on him had understood the meaning behind the hoarse cries of his sleep.
"Another dream?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but trying to get him to talk to her, to push him to open up and not bottle everything inside. Kakashi-sensei had warned them that such reactions were common for shinobi, he called it post traumatic stress, and said it was important to reach out and help one another in any way they could.
Naruto exhaled a shaky breath, and she felt him nod in her hands as she settled herself down more comfortably next to him. Across the fire lay their two teammates, sleeping soundly after another long day of walking. Neither of them were fully recovered from the battle on the bridge.
"The same one as last time," the genin mumbled, pressing his face into her touch as she slid her fingers up into his hair and kneaded his temples. Hinata could hear him grinding his teeth from the stress of the nightmare, and drew her thumbs firmly down and around the angle of his jaw, prompting his taut muscles to relax. "You slept longer this time," she pointed out, hoping to encourage him, yet only receiving a grunt in reply, as he dropped his hands to his knees and fisted his blanket.
They sat in silence as the forest slept around them, Hinata carded her fingers back and forth over his scalp, applying pressure from his temples all the way back to the base of his neck in slow, steady repetition until his breathing gradually calmed to match her pace. But despite the comfort she tried to offer, his shoulders remained hunched and tight, his hands clenching and unclenching.
"Hime," his low voice was unusually quiet and hesitant, carrying only to her ears. "Please, can you...do the thing again?" Hinata smiled in the darkness, pleased he had actually asked. The idea had come to her as she contemplated the way his demonic chakra had reacted to her that day of Mizuki's betrayal. The first time he awoke from a traumatic nightmare, she offered to try the technique, but he had pridefully insisted that he would be fine with just a walk to clear his head. After bickering to the point where they were nearly yelling at each other over his stubborn refusal to accept help, in her frustration she had finally hit his tenketsu, immobilizing him entirely. Initially he was shocked at her aggressive move and pissed at the underhanded tactic, but when she began to work he quickly realized that she held the key to the peace of mind that was eluding his frequently interrupted sleep.
Hinata hummed her assent to his meek request, and he shifted his legs out of the sleeping bag, making room for her to sit between them. Crossing her legs she placed her palms flat against his chest, and sympathy washed through her when she felt the damp sweat of his t-shirt and the still rapid pounding of his heart through the thin fabric.
"Relax," she encouraged, and he drew up his knees on each side of her, bracing his forearms across them and shaking out the tension in his hands. She closed her eyes and focused her chakra into her palms, steadily pulsing it to match the rapid pace of his heart rate. Within seconds his shoulders had started to sag, and his breathing evened out. She slowed the pulsing of her chakra, coaxing his body to follow her lead. With a deep sigh his head finally fell forward onto her shoulder and she felt his relief pour through his soul as acutely as her own.
A cloud passed overhead, accentuating the chill in the night air, heralding their return to the northern landscape of the land of fire where spring was once again trying to crack through winter's frost. But Hinata felt only the warmth of being within the cocoon of Naruto's limbs. The heat of his chakra whirled together with her own, calming the turmoil and spreading her soothing aura over him like a cooling balm across burned flesh. She took as much comfort from his presence as she gave, slowly melding into him as her hands slid around his torso to rest upon his back, the movement eliciting a bone deep groan from his chest.
She smirked at his growl, and ran her fingernails down each side of his spine. He flinched and giggled, his hands snapping to her waist to push her away, but she pulsed her chakra and he instantly relaxed like a dog who had his sweet spot scratched, hands slipping loosely to her hips. She felt his hot breath stutter across her neck as he chuckled at her playful trick, and pride filled her at her successful consolation of his demons.
As the minutes passed she slowed her chakra to an undulating pace like the waves of the ocean, ebbing up and down a beach as it washed away all traces of imperfection. She felt him slump harder against her and his breaths deepen. A hand lightly tapped on her shoulder and she blinked up at Kakashi-sensei, who used the hand signals he had made them learn to tell her he was taking over the watch. She nodded once, thinking it was perhaps a bit early for his turn, but grateful all the same that she could stay with Naruto-kun. The silver haired nin gave her a cheeky wink before disappearing up into the trees.
Hinata rolled her eyes and fidgeted under her friend's increasingly dead weight, the long hours of night watch and chakra loss were culminating to something close to exhaustion, making her stifle a yawn. Naruto roused just enough to register her discomfort, but instead of letting her go he clumsily tightened his grip on her waist and pulled her down next to him as he thumped back onto his blanket. Hinata froze, awkwardly tangled in his long legs, fighting down a blossoming blush such as she hadn't experienced in years. Delicately she reached around to loosen his warm hand from where it was pressing firmly into the small of her back, sending a curious tingling sensation up her spine.
Gently laying his arm across his slowly rising chest, she pressed herself up with her elbows to slip away and leave him to enjoy his long sought rest. Just as Hinata thought she had escaped his semiconscious embrace, she felt his hand wrap around her wrist. Looking down she found his blue eyes hazily trying to focus, finally locking onto her pearly gaze as she fought down the butterflies that suddenly seemed to engulf her stomach. His grip tightened, and a look of discomfort crossed his clouded face, "Stay, Hime? Please? Just for tonight," he whispered with a voice already husky from slumber.
Hinata swallowed a lump that suddenly formed in her throat as she sees not the trained shinobi who just slaughtered an entire gang of men, but the lonely boy who is timidly admitting he is still afraid of what lurks in the dark. She nodded, not trusting her voice, and was gratified to see the crease of his brow smooth out in relief. He reached down, patting around the ground until he located the edge of his sleeping bag, and as she settles herself next to him he whips it up to cover them both. The action causes his body heat to instantly engulf her back as he hugs her to his chest like a body pillow. She has never been so grateful for darkness, for her cheeks are nearly stinging with her powerful blush.
The smell of moisture is on the air, and as she lazily blinks her eyes she can see a brisk cool fog begin to creep across the forest floor in the patchy moonlight, and thinks perhaps tonight was a perfect night to be in her best friend's embrace. Just as she feels herself slipping into oblivion she hears his voice whisper into her hair, "thank you, Hime."
Naruto leaned his head back against the massive bronze bar of the cage and smiled out into the vast cavern of his mind. He had been spending more time here, meditating, mostly just letting the Fox get used to his presence. The Demon had raged at first, striking his claws against the cage until sparks flew and sizzled in the water. But he had learned that there was no intimidating the stubborn blond, and whenever the grinning boy showed up to sit with his back pressed against the bars in a show of bravado that was either stupid or heroic, the Kyuubi simply retreated deeper into his prison and pretended to be asleep. Naruto considered that progress, even if it had taken nearly a year to accomplish.
"It feels nice doesn't it? Her chakra." The jinchuriki sighed blissfully and laced his fingers behind his head, gazing up at the twisting blue bands of light that dance like the aurora borealis across the black "sky".
"Ever since I first met her, she has always had a way of making me feel...calm. Like I was anxiously looking for something, but I forgot what it was, and the ache was driving me insane. Then she came along, and I felt..." he closed his eyes and twisted his face up in thought, mulling over the complexity of the emotions that he still cannot quite put a name to, shrugging as he decided on a word that almost explained it "...complete."
He looked back over his shoulder at the beast who merely flicked his tails in annoyance at the blabbering one-sided conversation. "Do you know what that feels like Fox? To be lost, and then found?"
When he receives no answer, he shakes his head and rises to his feet, shuffling back towards the black tunnel. Yet despite the lackluster response, he feels like each visit is a step forward on a hellishly long journey with the supposed Embodiment of Eternal Hatred. Every time he enters this place he opens his senses and greets his tenant, chipping away at the ridiculously strong walls with which the Nine Tails vehemently guards his emotions. But that one small chink in the beast's armor is always there, and Naruto knows, the Kyuubi longs for something. Something that was taken away, leaving him boiling with hatred and bent on revenge. Was it freedom? Obviously. But simply setting him loose wouldn't instantly turn him from a rabid fox into a fluffy kitten, his reputation for delivering apocalyptic carnage was established ages before he had become the occupant of any jinchuriki. Something else had happened long before his imprisonment, Naruto was certain. Now he just had to figure out what the hell it was.
Long after his red scarfed figure had disappeared down the black corridor, Hinata's pure blue chakra continued to seep into the chamber, coalescing with the bright glow of Naruto's own to create an essence of nostalgia that triggers a memory deep within the demon's lost soul. And all alone in his prison, a fox purrs.
