Heeeeey! :D

This chapter is pretty funky. But in a very 'me' way. :3

Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept

Chapter Twenty-Six – Voices

Kakashi had all but given up at the end of the second week. They hadn't heard anything from the spies they had send out, and from what he could gather, Haku and Inaré were recovering as well as they could (at the very least, they weren't getting any worse), but Sasuke was still nowhere to be found. The Jounin ached to talk to the boy (at least if his teacher was blinded hopefully his student was not) but in the twelve days that had passed after the preliminaries, Sasuke had not left their room once. Kakashi was baffled. Again.

I hate this. I seriously hate this.

In hopes of easing his frustration, he hopped the walls of the village and wandered the surrounding forest, the afternoon sun streaming through the tall green trees. The entire time, he thought while trying not to think, and he could only sigh in exasperation and allow his mind to wander where it would, musing fruitlessly.

Not even his favorite Icha Icha scenes came to mind anymore. All he could think about were Sasuke's eyes.

They had been clear blue-green, like the crystal clear waters of a perfectly calm ocean. No fury raged behind them, no joy, no shame. Behind them, there had been nothing, and that made Kakashi even more uneasy than when there had been too much.

Whatever was going on inside Sasuke, it most certainly had its extremes.

He felt lost. Not in the physical sense, but emotionally. Mentally. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to help Sasuke in any way he could, but Zabuza simply refused to acknowledge that there was any sort of issue, and there was no one the gray-headed ninja could go to for help. He felt alone, abandoned in his quest for righteousness. Sasuke wanted to be saved - the man knew that. Why else would he allow himself this new life and a new name? He wanted to love and be loved. But he couldn't do those things if he was dead.

Or a monster.

"…should I do?"

Kakashi stopped short, looking around as he could've sworn he heard a voice. It had been very faint – almost at the very edge of his hearing – and he spun in a slow circle as he looked around.

He was pretty far away from the village. He knew that but he didn't mind. It wasn't as if the village was difficult to lose track of. There were tiny little clue specifically for native ninja to use to find their way home. Did he have company way out here?

"…hurt them all…"

That voice again. He took another circle. It was so soft, and sounded so familiar – Kakashi knew that he had heard it recently. But he couldn't quite place where.

"…can't help it…"

A stronger, much heavier voice. It almost made Kakashi wince, but at the same time it intrigued him. It wasn't one that he had ever heard before, but he could've sworn he recognized the tone.

"…must control…"

He needed to find the origin of these voices. There was something strange and foreign but yet startlingly familiar about both of them. Silently, he traveled through the trees towards where he thought they were coming from, and came across an extremely thick brush. Shifting slightly, he moved a few leaves aside to peek through.

What he saw astonished him.

He had stumbled across one of the many rivers that ran through the land, something that ran quiet but deep, cutting silently through the trees on its long way to the ocean. In the golden orange rays of the slowly setting sun, Kakashi saw a massive sphere of water floating suspended over the river, circulating and shifting within itself as a tendril of water kept it connected to the actual flow, constantly exchanging the water in the bubble with fresh water from the river.

Like blood.

Suspended in the water lay Sasuke, seemingly naked but the details of his body hidden from view because even the very outline of his body seemed to blend in with the water around him – even his hair had lost its black color, now the gentle blue of the river. Effortlessly, he flowed and moved beneath the water, facing skyward but never tensing up or sharply shifting. He was fluid, one with the element as it coursed aimlessly around him. Eyes open (not even the details of his eyes could be seen, from what Kakashi could tell), he gazed emotionlessly upwards – as if his mind was asleep but his eyes were open. As if he floated through space.

He's meditating. Kakashi thought, cautiously sensing Sasuke's Chakra. The flow was slow, and almost lazy. Has he been here this entire time? These past twelve days?

"I don't know what to do."

Now he understood. That was Sasuke's voice that he had heard. But as he listened to it, he realized Sasuke's lips weren't moving. And even if they had, there was no way Kakashi would've been able to hear him through the water.

Then the Jounin realized something. Was he… was he hearing Sasuke in his mind?

Okay. WEIRD.

"Wars are not won by apathy, little lion. Things will not change for the better if you simply refuse to make a decision. Fear fixes nothing."

That other voice again. It was blank, matter-of-fact, deep and rumbling. Like the voice of a great beast. It seemed to make the very air shiver. Looking around, Kakashi noticed that the very birds in the trees around them grew silent when that voice winded through the leaves.

Was that the voice of the monster within Sasuke? Kakashi found that hard to believe. This voice sounded so logical, so down to earth, and the monster that had emerged had been so… wild.

But then again, maybe this voice belonged to a wild beast monster too. Maybe they were one and the same. Sasuke seemed to close his eyes, lifting his chin upwards.

"I almost hurt all of them. Almost killed Sai. A slip up like that hasn't happened in over a year."

"Are you losing control?"

The question was simple and precise, and the power behind it made the bubble ripple throughout its massive girth. This great voice held no fear. It didn't leave room for side-stepping or ifs or buts or maybes. It was direct and commanded truth as the answer, with no wiggle-room for half-truths or partial lies. Immediately, Kakashi felt respect bubbling up.

I could learn a lot from this thing.

"No." Sasuke's voice was firm, and his back seamlessly arched within the bubble as his hair flowed around him. "I was stressed and angry. It was a fluke."

"You cannot lose control every time you are angry or stressed," that other voice stated simply. "Your people will not accept that excuse so easily. Especially if you're allowed to take what you want. You will be crushed."

A troubled expression passed over Sasuke's face, though his eyes remained closed.

"But how could I want that?" He asked softly as he floated there. "That's awful. It's nothing like me."

"Perhaps it is nothing like the person you want to be," the great voice replied. "But that doesn't make it any less real. Any less you. You must accept that."

"It's dangerous," Sasuke argued, almost pleaded. The bubble rippled again, but this time from the opposite side. "How can I accept something so cruel?"

"Just like a creature of nature must forgive its imperfections and accept what it truly is, you must do the same," the other voice stated. "An eagle does not hate itself for hunting defenseless rabbits."

"That would make me feel better if it were rabbits that I hunted," Sasuke responded grimly.

Kakashi, absolutely fascinated, didn't notice the creature walking up behind him.

"Hey, Kakashi!"

The Jounin stiffened in shock, losing his balance and falling through the bush into the clearing of Sasuke and his bubble, completely giving himself away. He scowled at the ground against his face.

"Pakkun…" he growled, digging his fingers into the dirt. "What the hell do you want?!"

"Oh!"

Kakashi lifted his head to see Sasuke open his eyes and turn his head to look the Jounin's direction (even Sasuke's eyes had disappeared into the water), barely-there eyes going wide as he turned to be vertical within the bubble.

"Sasuke…" the man breathed, hastily pulling himself up as he gazed at the boy. There was something surreal and ghostly about the way Sasuke floated there, completely one with the water surrounding him. There was certainly no Jutsu that allowed something like that.

At least not one known to man.

"Kakashi," Sasuke replied, leaning forward to drift closer to the man and closer to the edge of his protective sphere. "Why is it you that always seems to be the nosiest of everyone in the village?"

"I'm not the nosiest, just the bravest," Kakashi responded nonchalantly as he stood, brushing himself off as Pakkun padded over next to him. "Everybody's wondering what on earth is going on with you." He eyed the sphere curiously. "And this getup certainly doesn't help."

"You shouldn't have come here," Sasuke stated simply, his hair floating around his face like seaweed. Kakashi found goosebumps crawl up his arms at the way Sasuke's mouth still didn't move. "You shouldn't have seen this."

"Sasuke, I'm worried about you," Kakashi replied simply – honestly. They were alone for the most part (damned dog) and there was no reason to be tactful about it. "I already lost you once. I don't want to lose you again. I'll do anything to help you. Please, tell me what's going on."

Those monochrome eyes seemed to soften, and Sasuke looked away, his hair shifting with the movement. After a moment, he closed his eyes.

"I… can't, Kakashi," he breathed. Kakashi had to fight from stamping his feet in exasperation.

"Why not?" He almost whined, fighting to control his temper. "Sasuke, you're not alone anymore. You have people who honestly care about you, who honestly want you to thrive. Isn't that what you've always wanted? You don't have to fight every battle by yourself anymore. You have people who will fight for you! Strong and brave people! Why are you so hell-bent on self destruction that you're going to deny them? Why are you so afraid?!"

This seemed to strike a chord within Sasuke, and he raised a hand to set it on a translucent chest as he looked away.

"There is… something great and horrifying within me, Kakashi," he murmured. "I'm still not entirely sure what it is, but it is a pure, unaltered creature of desire. Everything it wants, it takes without thought. And that is terrifying." Raising his head, he gave Kakashi a level stare. "You can't help me fight myself. No one can."

"But that's not it, is it?" Kakashi insisted quietly. "There's more to it than that. That voice that I heard just now… alongside yours… what is that?"

Sasuke suddenly seemed very unsure, and he looked away, unable to meet Kakashi's eyes.

"That is… another piece…" he slowly admitted before shaking his head. "Kakashi, you shouldn't-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Sasuke," Kakashi growled warningly as Pakkun looked on in absolute confusion. His voice was firm and relentless. "I don't care if I shouldn't. I want to. I can handle it. Now please trust me."

Sasuke gazed at him for a long moment, struggling with himself and everything he learned, before finally sighing.

"All right," he relented sorrowfully as he looked away. "All right."

Closing his eyes, he pushed himself forward, breaking the bubble's surface and pulling away from it. As he emerged, the color returned to his body, and the water transformed into the clothing he had been wearing before as the water dragged across his skin, the bubble getting smaller and smaller as he traveled further and further out.

Finally, he landed softly, fully clothed, on the ground next to the river, the remainder of the bubble splashing harmlessly into the current behind him.

But when he opened his eyes, they were that special, crystal clear blue-green shade.

"So," he began, setting his hand on his hip and raising his hand out towards Kakashi, palm up. Those eyes were sharp and dangerous, and suddenly Kakashi found himself wondering if he had made the right choice as that deep baritone voice took hold of Sasuke's teenager vocal chords – still Sasuke's voice but at the same time not so much anymore. "You wanted to speak with me?"

End Chapter Twenty-Six – Voices

Ooooohmygooooodness!

You guys will thoroughly enjoy the next chapter. Seriously. It makes me giggle.

Do you want it sooner? If that's the case, you should review. :3

Much love!

DDB