Title Meaning: 'Forever'
Disclaimer: 'Naruto' is the property of Kishimoto-san and will never belong to me. I possess no talents in manga-drawing and as such could never be an artist capable of producing such a masterpiece. However, I am certain that the plotline is original and subsequently have not plagiarised an idea from any other author on any fanfiction site publishing 'Naruto' stories. Any similarities are by mere coincidence. Also, any non-canon techniques will either belong to me or will be the creations of other authors on this site – I will not be using one without prior permission and will give credit where it is due.
Rated: T (for mentions of suicide, some bad language and quite frequent violence)
Parings: Sasu/Saku, Naru/Hina, platonic Naru/Saku, other minor pairings.
Spoilers: Up to Manga Chapter 309 (No equivalent anime episode as of yet); more spoilers to come in later chapters.
Setting: Canon Universe, with some divergence into an alternate reality.
Chapter 2:
'I am Sasuke! But which tells the truth?!'
The wind started to swirl again, throwing leaves into the air to resume their dance around the newcomer who claimed to be Sasuke. The four shinobi were still anticipating their opponent's actions, yet unwilling to commit to the first move. Sakura shifted slightly, bringing her left leg into a 'ready' stance. At the first sign of an offensive move against her, though, the unorthodox angle at which she had placed her right foot meant she could quickly slip into defense, while the position of her arms in relation to her body would affect the finer points of her balance and the force behind her blows. Taijutsu training with Lee had its benefits, and it was something she would recommend to Naruto as soon as they got back to Konoha. Talking of the blond, he too was adjusting his body posture to suit the situation, though his stance was sloppier and full of minute errors. He was lucky to be resilient – if he were a normal person he would have died on his first C-rank mission, she thought with a hint of worry.
His eyes flickered over to her briefly, his head moving in a barely perceptible nod, and in exactly the same moment they pounced. Their target leaped upwards to evade the twin attacks, and narrowly avoided being caught by a kage bunshin that Naruto had hidden in the forest around them. A sharp jab to the solar plexus caused it to dispel in a puff of smoke, and the Sasuke dropped onto another tree branch with that infuriating, superior smirk. Seconds later it was replaced by a slight scowl of annoyance as a plume of flame roared towards him, once more causing him to dodge in order to prevent serious injury. Sakura glanced in their ally's direction, remembering that to be one of their planned tactics in the chuunin exams – she and Naruto would manoeuvre the enemy or enemies into Sasuke's range, so he could then attack with a katon jutsu. How did he know about those tactics?
"Sakura-chan!"
Naruto's shouted warning saved her life. She barely avoided the sword thrust aimed at her heart, but still gained a deep gash across her forearm for her efforts. In another swirl of leaves the allied 'Sasuke' appeared in front of her and blocked the second attack with a kunai, giving her the opportunity to heal the wound before it became a hindrance in the battle. One of the very first things Tsunade taught her was that a medic nin should avoid the worst of a fight so he or she would be in a condition to heal his or her team-mates.
Yelling profanities that, under normal circumstances, would have seen them dispelled in an instant by her trusty fist, a trio of kage bunshin rushed past like young juggernauts. One of them was definitely Naruto, ironically the quietest of the three blonds; she caught a glimpse of sunny yellow hair perched behind a thick tree-trunk, playing off the Sharingan's inability to see through solid objects. Its hands were moving through a set of seals that she recognized instantly – Kawarimi – and for a moment she was perplexed, but after a moment she came to the conclusion that the bunshin up there was a safeguard, hidden behind the tree so that Sasuke didn't detect it, and ready to exchange position with the real blond should it be required.
'Who would've thought Naruto knew tactics?' she thought with a twinge of amusement; Inner Sakura agreed with an emphatic, "Shannaro!"
The bunshin drew closer, and split off to attack from different directions to best deal with their rival. The real Naruto attacked from the front, a swirling rasengan in his hand once more, and Sakura realized that he hadn't used a bunshin to help make it this time. But instead of attacking Sasuke, he drove the swirling ball of chakra into the branch of the tree he was standing on, forcing the Uchiha into the air once more. The bunshin didn't fare so well, being dispelled by a precise, savage blow before they could even get in range.
Naruto didn't have time to react as snakes flew from the Sasuke's sleeves, reaching out towards him with poison fangs bared. She was vaguely aware of shouting some sort of warning; the air around him shimmered momentarily; and the snakes sunk their fangs into the blond, only to have him poof out of existence. The snakes hissed in confusion, writhing on the soil (she and the 'Sasuke' fighting for them were still in the trees, while the other had been forced to ground after their near relentless assault.)
A few soft, hesitant notes rang out, and after a moment Sakura's senses seemed to dull slightly. Then the world cleared again, and both she and Naruto saw their surroundings with more clarity than ever before. The melody was coming from their 'Sasuke', and she caught the movement of his fingers moving over a roughly carved wooden flute as he stood in a half-trance. It was warm and somehow soothing, this sensation, as if slowly but surely she was being purged of all her self-doubts, leaving her with fresh determination.
It had a different effect on the serpents though: they hissed and spat, writhing in agitation as they lost any sense of direction, eyes half-lidded under the Sasuke's influence. They caught a scent, and not connecting it to that of their master, moved in one sinuous motion and slithered towards their summoner, tongues darting in and out dangerously, their fangs pale against the ground and their own muddy skins. The ninja's sword flicked out and dispatched them long before they could get within range, though his brow creased into a scowl at being forced to dispose of his summoned creatures, and he levelled a cool glare at the raven haired man standing near her. He seemed unfazed by the open dislike, staring blankly into nothing.
Sakura's attention flickered back up towards Naruto, who by now was standing in the open, not bothering to conceal himself. His mouth was shaping words, one finger pointing over towards where their two other companions were fighting, and she noticed a flicker of orange and black racing towards them. Her temporarily heightened senses could detect chakra, an enormous chakra speeding towards their battles, and there was only one person she could associate it with – Orochimaru.
A kunai thudded into the bunshin left behind, though she realised that its memories would have been transferred back to Naruto. Kakashi-sensei had mentioned something along those lines before, about kage bunshin being useful for training purposes, but he hadn't yet told Naruto that.
"You'll be hiding in that tree all day then?"
'Sasuke' sounded annoyed by the happenings, and slightly bitter if his words were any indication. The other didn't relax: remaining in a ready position should the fight resume. He answered in a quiet, misused voice, "I don't gamble people's lives. You should know that, Zero."
Sakura started in surprise. Not only had this stranger claimed to be Sasuke, but in addition he was calling the one she and Naruto had been pursuing for all this time by another name. It was almost too much to take in, yet a rule kept repeating itself, something she had committed to memory during the academy years.
'A shinobi must be able to deal with new information uncovered in the field. If it should prove contradictory to the mission don't discard it, but try and link it to that which you already have, so that there will be as few casualties as possible.'
There came a clang, and she realised with a start that the two had started fighting again. She had no time to worry though; she could feel faint chakra signatures approaching their position, seemingly a scout party. She slipped a pair of black gloves on, heading to lie low in a location directly ahead of the scouts to catch them off guard – it was the only thing she could do without knowing their numbers.
Sakura had little time to prepare though. She had underestimated their speed, therefore only being able to stand there as they entered the small clearing near the other battles, too close to give her comfort. The effects of that calming melody were beginning to wear off, and she felt her little worries slipping back into the recesses of her mind. There were only three, all male, with the Oto hitai-ate and uniform of a common chuunin. Probing their chakra signatures again she decided that they were probably relatively inexperienced, only high-genin to low-chuunin level. Nevertheless, any interference in either battle could be dangerous for her allies and brother-figure. It was up to her.
She attacked.
Elsewhere, Hyuuga Hinata sat in her room, gnawing nervously on a fingernail as she tried to make sense of the book she was poring over. There were several advanced medical terms she didn't understand, though the nervous system was easy enough to understand if she compared it to the chakra coils of humans. They controlled things called… electrical impulses, whatever they were, and could be interfered with by touching various places on the body. Severing its contact with the brain would result in instant death, much like blocking the crown chakra. But this wasn't what she was interested in. She was trying to find out a way of removing the Caged Bird Seal from the Branch family, though having little success without Sakura's assistance. She probably understood what this meant, but with her away on a mission there were few people she could turn to.
"I might need to ask Neji-nii-san…" she murmured to herself, scribbling something that she did understand onto her pages of notes. "I-I won't be able to do this by myself…"
"Do what?"
Hinata spun round to face her younger sister, pale eyes widening with shock and fear. "N-nothing! Hanabi-chan, please-"
It was too late. The younger Hyuuga had already caught sight of the papers, and for a moment she seemed to freeze in that position before whirling round to face her sibling, byakugan eyes activating of their own accord in her anger.
"Hinata-nee-san, this is treachery!" she hissed, holding one of the precious pages of research in her hand – the one that outlined the basic procedure for putting the seal on originally, and then started to explore the possible ways of reversing the process. "Haven't you any idea what'll happen if you get caught? What if otou-sama finds out?!"
"Hanabi-chan, stop! He won't find out… unless s-somebody tells him…" Hinata was angry at the hesitation in her own voice but really was fearful of the consequences. Why, oh why hadn't she thought to check with her byakugan if anyone was approaching? "And… I'll just not get caught!" she finished, surprising even herself with the strength behind the statement. For a moment she had sounded like the one she so admired, her Naruto-kun; perhaps Hanabi was quelled by the ferocity of her words, since she took a step back before collapsing onto Hinata's bed, staring at the sheet of paper in her hands. She lifted her gaze, the protruding veins of the byakugan gone with her passing rage, and whispered with no more than a slight hint of suspicion, "Why?"
"Before you were born… before Neji-nii-san was branded with the seal… we always used to play together in the gardens. We were best friends… he promised to protect me always… and then the Main family put the seal on him, separated us. Hizashi-ji-san died not long after… and he forgot about the promise. But if we can get rid of the seal we think… we might be able to change the clan… together…"
"Going against a whole clan?" Hanabi shook her head slightly in what would have been a theatrical manner had the mood not been so serious, trying to clarify what she'd just been told. "There's no way we'll succeed."
Hinata looked shocked for a moment but then smiled, ruffling her younger sister's hair in a rare open show of affection. "Thank you," she said simply; knowing that was her sister's way of saying she would help them. It probably wasn't for the right reasons – it was far more likely she was doing this out of a sense of loyalty for her older sister – but all the same, it showed that perhaps the rift between them wasn't quite as large as anyone would otherwise believe.
The two 'Sasuke' sprang apart, breathing more heavily than before. The one previously addressed as 'Zero' was in a better condition overall; his opponent was bleeding from deep lacerations across his chest and thigh, locked in a struggle to prevent the curse seal from taking over his mind and body. The markings spread only a short way before halting, a dark stain on the side of his neck, and the pain from his wounds only made it harder to concentrate on forcing it down, but somehow he was holding onto his sanity.
"'Mister, why do you look like me?'" he said quietly, dark eyes staring in Zero's direction, yet only distinguishing a vague outline from the world of blurs around him. The other stiffened, remembering once asking that question of another person, somebody he felt he remembered but couldn't quite grasp – the memories slipped out of recollection as he tried, only to return to linger at the edges of his mind, teasing him with their. "What have they done to you, Zero?"
He wanted to ask how he knew that name; he wanted to know if this was the aniki he'd lost; but the cursed seal, spread over much of his body by now – he hadn't known about activating it during their short but vicious battle – made him answer differently.
"They gave me power, an identity beyond 'Zero'." A crazed smirk slowly crept across his face, twisting his features into a cruel leer-
(Though the part of him that was thirsting for the truth, those truths that would sate his needs, screamed and thrashed and tried desperately to regain control)
-as he continued, "I will be able to succeed where you have failed, aniki. But first I must kill you so I might truly own that identity. There can only be one of us!"
Even as the one known as Zero charged at him, ready to end his life in an instant, the original Sasuke stood in exactly the same position as before. It was impossible for a normal person to guess his thoughts from the expressions playing over his face, but with the copied sharingan, Zero could make out every tiny movement of his features. Acceptance… Regret… What sort of person could stand there, knowing they were about to die, yet only have such feelings instead of fear or hatred?
The sword fell.
A solid punch sent the final chuunin flying backwards. He collided with a tree with a sickening crunch of bones and slumped to the ground like a broken rag doll, leaving Sakura the only one to remain standing. It hadn't been difficult after the first nin had gone down – their teamwork had fallen to pieces after that. Without sparing the trio another glance she sprang up into the trees, attempting to locate the rest of her team. She didn't have time though. Before she could rejoin them a terrible wail split the air, coming from the direction of the two she'd just left. She cursed violently, using words learnt from her blond team-mate, when a plume of violet chakra rose into the air, linked with that same anguished wail. Placing her team towards the back of her mind for now she leapt to an adjacent branch, then another, all the while making for the source of the scream.
Her steps sounded like a faltering heartbeat, and the screaming wouldn't cease. It hurt just to listen. It was one of the most horrifying things she had heard, and filled her with the same dread as when Kyuubi had gained partial control over Naruto's body. Yet she couldn't stop now; she had committed to this course of action and would therefore have to follow it, or break her nindo.
"Sakura-chan!" Her head whipped round to face the blond as he drew up beside her, bright blue eyes clouded with worry. "Kabuto-teme and Orochi-teme have headed in that direction! Damn hebi interrupted our fight as well."
"It would be best if we avoid conflict with them," Yamato said, appearing on her other side. His face was stern and impassive, parts of the ANBU training. "None of us are in any condition to face a sannin."
Sai made no comment as Sakura and Naruto shared an uneasy glance, something the kunoichi was grateful for. After a moment's hesitation the blond ninja spoke, his voice subdued. "I've already said that I'm gonna bring Sasuke back. What sort of Hokage isn't able to save his best friend?"
"And you've as much chance of dissuading me as you do stopping Naruto from eating ramen," added Sakura, and despite himself Yamato gave a wry grin. Then silence descended once again, broken only by their footfalls against living wood. The screaming had stopped, but if anything the quiet unnerved the group even more because of the 'not-knowing'; well, Sai was probably the only one not affected by what was happening, and not for the first time Sakura wondered if killing emotions really was the easiest way to cope with their profession.
She had no time to continue subconsciously pondering the idea: they had reached the clearing again, and it was deserted save for a single figure, lying motionless in a pool of his own blood. Before a word could be said to stop them, the former Team 7 were leaping down from the trees. A shared glance and she knelt beside him, fingers moving over his neck in an attempt to find a pulse. His skin was still warm but Tsunade-sensei had told her that a body would be warm moments after death, but- ah. There was one. Good. She glanced up and gave Naruto a small nod; he and a kage bunshin picked the other boy up, supporting him between them, and before either of their other companions could make a comment the bunshin muttered something along the lines of, "Don't know which is which but he does," with a jerk of the head in the Sasuke's direction.
Not attempting to hide the air of resignation around him the senior shinobi turned and moved away, calling for his subordinates to follow. They obeyed, but as they leapt back into the trees both Naruto and Sakura thought the same thing simultaneously:
'Just who are you, 'Zero'?'
A/N: Whew! It's finally finished. Must say that the laptop didn't give me an easy ride – it didn't like Microsoft Word, it decided. Result was that bits of this chapter were wiped. Several times over. Ah well, life sucks sometimes. At least it's all here now- and just to make sure, I've hit SAVE again.
Many thanks to all of my reviewers, as I wasn't expecting… what, 5 reviews in less than 6 hours? And for the people, who have read but not reviewed, please do. An author thrives on knowing their good flaws and their bad flaws, but a pyromaniac does need fire. And flames are the easiest source of that… (Not that I'm insinuating anything – perish the thought!)
And I've got a beta reader now – everyone, meet Heoeca through the magical world of cyberspace!
B/N: Eh, just call me Danico. I'd just like to say since this sent me for a whirl. A lot of the words in this story are European based. Meaning realize is spelled realise and color is colour; those sort of things. Other then that, reviews for the spectacular story!