Night had fallen and Sasuke's room was shrouded in darkness. Door closed, he stood in the center of his room, feeling anger creeping into his mind. He paced slowly around his room, clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides.
'I can't stop thinking about that dobe,' he though irritably, ceasing his pacing as he stood in front of his door. Giving one look around his dark room, Sasuke grabbed a black hoodie from his desk beside the door. Pulling it on, he turned the doorknob and quietly walking out into the shared space between all the boy's rooms. Attempting to be as silent as possible, the black-haired boy slowly pulled his door closed. Turning around, he jumped at the sudden realization that there were two pairs of eyes staring at him from the couch.
"Why are you two up? It's like midnight." Sasuke asked, crossing his arms over his chest. The pair on the couch exchanged a look before shrugging.
"I have a hard time sleeping because of my PTSD." Kiba replied, his eyes appearing tired and his face withdrawn.
"The voices." Shino answered next but saying nothing else. The three were quiet for a second before Kiba stood up from the couch.
"What are you doing up?" he asked, sticking his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. Sasuke felt embarrassment wash over him briefly, still feeling the lingering anger in his mind.
"I wanted to go check something." He replied nonchalantly, avoiding direct eye contact with the other boys. Shino stood up from the couch next, standing close beside Kiba as if he were going to whisper something. Sasuke looked between them before deciding to end the conversation by walking to the door that leads to the hallway. A hand was suddenly on his arm, yanking him back.
"What the hell, Kiba?" he growled, yanking his arm back. Kiba frowned, his eyes becoming mildly annoyed.
"We can't leave, it's past curfew. Kakashi, Iruka, and the nurses walk the hospital all night." He shot back. Sasuke shrugged, heading back to the door and resting his hand on the cold doorknob.
"Where are you even planning to go?" Shino spoke, his words slow and deliberate.
"I want to know why Naruto and Gaara are on the opposite side of the hospital." He said plainly, turning the doorknob as he spoke and slowly pulling the door open. Kiba and Shino were beside him then in the doorway, suddenly interested.
"I wanna come too!" Kiba announced, his eyes wide with excitement. Shino simply nodded to agree with what the shorter boy said. Sasuke sighed, rubbing his face with his hands before talking.
"Fine, but you have to be quiet. I'm not going to get in trouble because of you two." He did not even try to argue, knowing that at least with Kiba it was be futile. The three exited their shared room, shutting the door behind them and glancing up and down the hall. The trio made their way toward the Common Room, it being the only place they knew Naruto and Gaara entered through a specific door. Peering in through the windows on the door, Sasuke cursed under his breath.
"Iruka is in here," he whispered, pointing to where the brunette man was sitting in a chair with a lamp on. There was a book in his lap, though his eyes were closed. Shino reached for the door, gently pushing it open while Kiba and Sasuke kept an eye on the sleeping therapist. One creak emitted from the hinges of the door, causing the three to freeze. Kiba took a step forward, looking to make sure Iruka had not been awoken from the sound. Nodding, the shortest boy used his hand to indicate it was okay to go, pointing at the door straight across from them. Sasuke followed the brunette while Shino took great care to shut the door.
"Shut the door, Shino. Shut it behind you." He mumbled to himself quietly, a small chuckle coming from him after he closed it completely. Sasuke turned, silently shushing the other boy. Kiba reached the other door first, a scowl on his face. Sasuke and Shino joined him, though Kiba apparently discovered that the door was locked. He made a motion with his hand that looked like he was putting something up to a black box on the wall that had a red light that was flashing.
'Card key?' Sasuke mouthed, earning a nod from his accomplice. Frowning, Sasuke's eyes scanned the room, landing on Iruka with disdain. He pointed at Iruka, then to himself, indicating that he would retrieve the card while Shino and Kiba kept watch. They all nodded in agreement, watching the newest of the group silently stalk toward Iruka. When he reached his target, Sasuke looked him over before attempting to touch him, hoping he would be lucky, and the card would be somewhere easily accessible. He noticed a clip on the sleeping man's belt loop, holding something that was in his pocket.
'Of course, it's a freaking mental hospital. Can't make it easy.' He scowled, frustration filling him. Slowly, Sasuke reached just the clip, unfastening it without touching the man. Very gently he tugged on the clip, watching a slim white card being extracted from Iruka's pocket. Once he got it, he quickly returned to where Kiba and Shino waited anxiously. Letting out a deep sigh, Sasuke realized that he had been holding his breath, and that his heart was beginning to race. He held the card up to the box, which caused the light to flash green instead of red. Kiba opened the door, pulling it open and allowing Sasuke and Shino to walk inside first.
The door was heavy, much heavier than the other doors in the hospital. Kiba guided it shut, though could not stop it from clicking locked. Peering through the small window on the door, they all collectively relaxed as Iruka was still asleep.
"Alright, now where?" Kiba asked, as the three stood in a three-way hallway intersection. To the left, the hall was lined with several doors, to the right there were very few larger doors, and straight ahead was a basic hallway that led through another set of doors into what was probably another hall.
"Let's go to the right first, and then just go from there." Sasuke replied quietly. They turned and headed down the decided hallway, stopping when they reached the first set of double doors. Able to see in through two small windows, confusion graced the three boys. They were looking into a very large room that had many steel appliances, mostly resembling medical equipment.
"I mean, it is a hospital, right?" Kiba tried to make sense of the room.
"Yes, it is. But, why would this be behind a locked door?" Shino questioned, before continuing to the next door. Sasuke followed, Kiba beside him. They looked into the second room then, and it was very similar to the first. This one was probably just as large, containing an assortment of steel medical appliances. However, this room had a section toward the back the piqued Sasuke's interest.
"What's that, back there?" he nodded toward where the white tile floor ended in the room and gave way to grey concrete. There were two blocked on the floor that had a metal ring attached to them. Attached to the rings were chains that were just on the ground, the ends of which appeared to resemble handcuffs. The floor in that area was much darker than the rest of the grey concreted floor. It had dark splattered as well as white marks that looked like claw marks littering the floor. Whatever they used that for, it was obviously not tolerated well by whatever was trapped.
"Why would that kind of stuff be in a mental hospital?" Shino asked this time, arms crossed over his chest in thought. Deciding not to continue down this hallway, the three went back to where they had originally entered and decided to take the straight hallway. Sasuke grabbed the card key from his pocket, using it to unlock the double doors that did not lead to another hallway, but a very large room that was like the Common Room.
This room was almost completely empty, except for a couple chairs that were arranged in a circle in the center of the room. The boys walked through the room, heading to the only door that was there aside from the one they entered through. Fascinated, Sasuke felt his heart pick up speed as he became more excited about this adventure. The anger that he had felt was giving way to restless enthusiasm. Using the card, he unlocked the door in front of them. As Shino pulled the door open, a sound echoed from the opposite end of the room; that sound of the door unlocking. Panic immediately spread through the three boys. They rushed through the door and pulled it shut, slowing at the last second to ensure it would be a silent escape. From through the small window, the boys saw a man enter the big room. His black hair flowed down to his waist, and his skin matched the rest of the hospital; pale and white.
"Shit, Orochimaru is coming. If he catches us here, we're done for." Kiba cursed, anxiously running his hands through his hair.
"He's not going to catch us. Quick, let's go down the hall and into the room at the end." Sasuke pointed to the very last door in the hallway. Shino and Kiba nodded, following behind the black-haired boy quickly. It felt like an eternity before the reached the door, opening it with the card. As with the last door, they heard the previous one unlocked as they quickly entered this new door. At that moment, the boys realized that they had not had time to check inside the room before they entered. Turning with their backs against the door, they were met with a furious, ice-blue gaze.
"What are you doing here?" the redhead that stood across from them demanded. He was standing beside one of the two beds in the room, appearing as if he had been doing something for the person that laid in that bed.
"We, uh," Kiba faltered, uneasy around Gaara. Said boy growled under his breath, his eyes narrowing further.
"Gaara, who's here?" a small voice came from the bed. Sasuke looked over, noticing a familiar mop of messy blonde hair. The boy that was laying down slowly pushed himself to sit up, his body clearly straining to move. Sasuke's mouth dropped open slightly, Kiba bringing his hands up to cover his mouth and Shino looking away; Naruto was not wearing a shirt, only a pair of black sweatpants. Sasuke and Kiba could not help but stare at the other boy's body.
He was a relatively well-built boy, defined muscle beneath his naturally tanned skin. But all over the surface of his skin there were scars, bruises, blisters, burns; you name the injury and it was probably visible across his body. Burn marked and blisters littered his chest, some of his skin even charred black. Various scars ran along his sides and his stomach, though there was one area that remained untouched. A black spiral design appeared tattooed on his abdomen, surrounded by an intricate design and some kanji lettering. Sasuke looked at Naruto's face; the bandage gone from his head but a scabbed over gash now visible.
'That's where I hit him,' Sasuke's mind raced. Naruto gave them a small, weak smile before slowly grabbing a white shirt from his bed and putting it on, with Gaara's assistance.
"What…What happened to you, Naruto?" Kiba asked, tears in his eyes. Naruto grabbed Gaara's arm, pulling himself to stand up with a grunt of pain.
"Nothing, Kiba, I'm fine. Why are you here?" he asked, leaning heavily on the redhead beside him.
"We wanted to know why you guys are here, and not with us." Shino spoke then, turning back to look at the blonde. The two Jinchuriki looked at one another, almost as if conversing silently.
Suddenly, Gaara pushed Naruto behind him and glared at the door.
"You need to hide." Gaara's voice was low, eyes fading into their demonic gold.
"Under the beds," Naruto instructed. A click from with other side of the door gave the three trespassers an idea of what was happening; Orochimaru had been heading to this room as well.
Sasuke and Shino dove beneath Naruto's bed, the covers pulled over the side in order to hide them. Kiba run under Gaara's bed, pulling the blanket down as well. The three held their breath, listening as the door opened.
"Ah, I see you were expecting me. And Shukaku is already here to say hello? How nice." Orochimaru chuckled.
"Naruto is not going again." Gaara's voice was fierce, the sandy tone it normally held was gone. Orochimaru laughed, and the three hidden teenagers heard his footsteps. From what Sasuke could hear, it sounded like the long-haired man was getting closer to Gaara and Naruto.
"It's your night, Gaara. Come," Orochimaru replied. He footsteps now sounded as if they were retreating, accompanied by what Sasuke assumed was Gaara's footsteps.
"Gaara," a new voice spoke. This voice was low and firm, holding growling tone.
"I will be fine, Kurama. Behave yourself." The sandy voice replied. As the door opened and closed, the three that were hiding came out from where they were.
"Naruto-," Kiba started, walking toward his friend.
"No, Naruto is not my name." the snarling voice replied, sounding offended. The blonde boy turned to face the other three, his eyes a deep shade of red.
"Who are you, then?" Sasuke demanded. Naruto laughed, a harsh and echoing laugh. Red eyes met black, Naruto placing a hand on his hip.
"My name is Kurama. I've been waiting to meet you, Sasuke Uchiha." A dangerously low reply came, a grin spreading inhumanly across Naruto's face, revealing teeth that looked as if they would belong to a canine.
"How do you know my name?" Sasuke asked, earning confused and startled looks from Kiba and Shino who stood, speechless, behind Sasuke. Kurama took a few steps closer, moving much more fluidly than Naruto had. He stopped inches from Sasuke, their noses an inch away from each other.
"How's Itachi and Obito?" he asked and tilted his head, the grin still glued to his face. Sasuke's eyes widened, his heart pounding in his chest. A small laugh burst from Naruto before his eyes changed. It looked as if someone lifted a red cloth from atop something blue, as the red in his eyes seemed to be pulled away. The smile faded, and exhaustion caused Naruto's face to drop.
"Sorry," Naruto mumbled, stumbling forward slightly into Sasuke, who instinctively caught him. Kiba and Shino stared, even Sasuke stared at the boy that had fallen into his arms.
"What do we do?" Kiba asked, his eyes wide and hands shaking.
"Lay him in his bed, and when he wakes up maybe we can talk to him." Shino suggested. The three boys gently laid the blonde down, standing beside the bed and looking down at him.
"I don't understand what's happening, but something definitely isn't right." Sasuke commented, earning nods of agreement from Kiba and Shino.
'Something isn't right. How does he know Itachi and Obito? Who exactly is Kurama, other than a demon?' Sasuke's thoughts flew around his head, but now all he could do was either wait for Naruto to wake up, or wait for Gaara to return from wherever Orochimaru took him.