Run Away
By: Naruto's Mask
NM-chan: Oh...my...gosh...I FINALLY UPDATED!!!!!!!!!!!! I updated, I updated, whooo hoooo!!!!!!! Yeah! The slump is gone!!!!!!
Okay, here's the thing. This chapter has a scene that I've been thinking about ever since I started this story. However, I only though about the ending and what happens afterwards. I had no idea how to bring it about, the party thing was stumping me and my slump wasn't helping me much either.
Well, after finally getting it up to that point, I realized that I had no idea how to begin it, and then when it began it didn't go with what I had planned, so tried to get it so that it would go with what I had planned, but I couldn't, so I had to change a lot of things, but I got it in.
I'm so sorry I took so long to update! I really, really, really am! Forgive me?
AND NO MORE FLAMERS, DAMN YOU!!!!
"Ladies and gentlemen! The guest of honor has arrived!" Sakura announced loudly as they entered a building owned by Kiba's family. Seeing as they were one of the only families that didn't bear a grudge against Naruto, they were more than happy to lend the place for a welcome-back party.
"About time." Shikamaru muttered sourly as he finished fixing the tables, a task Ino forced him to do.
"Stop complaining you!" Said blond girl snapped. Naruto smiled as he saw that, other than their appearance, these people didn't really change at all.
"Come on, blondie! Don't stand there like some kind of wallflower! This party is for you and, damnit, we refuse to have spent all of this money just for you to hide in the back!" Kiba said dragging the blond out in the middle of the party.
"Okay! Okay! I'm coming!" He cried, but he couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't his past laugh, one that was loud and slightly annoying. This one was really…bubbly, for the lack of a better word. A laugh that soon spread to the other occupants of the building. Except, of course, for those who didn't laugh at all. Even so, you could still see a small twitch at the corner of their lips, obviously trying to hold back a smile.
"Oi, careful! You almost knocked over the food!" Sakura said as Kiba steered Naruto a little too close to the table where all the food was supposed to be. Naruto looked at the empty plates.
"What food?" All eyes turned to Choji, who suddenly became nervous.
"CHOJI!!!!"
"Ack! Ino! Don't hurt me!"
"Great! Now what are we going to eat?"
"YOU! You're coming with me to get some more food, and if you eat it all again, you're dead!" With that, Ino dragged Choji out of the building. Naruto couldn't help but snicker.
"Wow, things really haven't changed, have they?" He asked. Shikamaru sighed heavily.
"Unfortunately, no. Tch, so troublesome." He muttered. Sakura giggled and took Naruto's wrist, taking him from the table and back into the crowd of friends.
"Come on. Even without food, we can still have a bunch of fun." She said.
Kyo was with Tatsuya in the room that the Yamikage was staying in for the Chunin exams. The redhead had offered to help him organize the paperwork from those that needed immediate attention, and those that Tatsuya wouldn't have to worry about for a while. Naruto was the one who usually did this, and he had promised to do it the next day, but the blond had enough paperwork to worry about and Kyo had already finished his own. The less stress on Naruto, the better it would be for everyone. There were a lot of people who would be devastated if he fell ill trying to make their lives easier.
All right, let's see…okay, these submissions for new students can wait for a week or two, seeing as it's going to be a while before the year begins all over again. Permission for another outside farmland should be looked at, and then there's-
"Kyo-san? Did you hear me?" The red haired male was jolted from his thoughts by Tatsuya's words. He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.
"Excuse me, Tatsuya-sama, I wasn't paying attention. Could you repeat it?" He asked. The Yamikage laughed a little before nodded.
"Where is it again that you said Naruto-san left to?" He asked.
"Oh, yes. He has friends here that were happy to see him back and wanted to have a celebration. I also presume they are also happy that Naru-chan won't be titled an S-class missing nin." Kyo sighed, and Tatsuya could tell something was still bothering him.
"You're worried about him." He pointed out. Kyo looked at him, then back down and nodded as he continued separating the papers.
"Naruto…I'm just being paranoid, but I have this horrible feeling that something might hurt him while he's there." He sighed and mentally tried to assure himself that nothing was going to happen. That Naruto was able to take care of himself. Even so, he felt that nagging feeling that maybe he should have gone.
"Paranoia could just be another form of instinct, and one should always trust their instincts." Tatsuya himself felt a little worried about everyone who had come being out and about this village. He trusted the place just as far as he could throw it, which he couldn't. He had his trust in the Hokage and some of the clan heads he saw her speaking with that looked happy at the news that Naruto would no longer be considered a missing nin.
"Do you think so, Tatsuya-sama?" Kyo asked looking at him. The elder male sighed and looked at his subordinate and long-time companion.
"It wouldn't hurt to be safe. Go to him, at least make sure he is all right. If he sees you and asks why you're there, I'm sure he would understand your worry." There was a pause before Kyo stood up, bowed, and took off out the door. As he did, Tatsuya noticed a crudely made glass on the table crack slightly.
This is… Tatsuya picked up the glass before looking out the window, where Kyo could already be seen going down the street.
CRASH!!!!
"Owowowowowowowowowowow!!!!" Naruto moaned as he struggled to get out of the crater in the cement wall. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" He demanded loudly.
"FOR BEING A PEST! Do you know the headache I've been having all these years?! You could have at least dropped a note that all these idiots were WASTING THEIR TIME SO I COULD TELL THEM TO SHUT UP!"
"YOU'RE INSANE!"
"YOU'RE A PAIN IN THE ASS!"
"You're both going to get me grounded for life!" Kiba cried at the feuding duo.
"SHUT UP!" Both ninjas shouted before glaring at each other.
"Stupid brat!" One snarled.
"Crazy old hag!" the other retorted. Blue and amber clashed and everyone in the room could see the lightning going between them. Then, all of a sudden, both their scowls vanished and were replaced with grins.
"You really are a pain in the ass." Tsunade said ruffling Naruto's blond locks. The boy made a sound of protest before batting the hand away.
"And you're even more of a hag then I remembered." Deciding to ignore it and not ruin the mood, Tsunade instead embraced the nin in front of her, smiling slightly as she did.
"I've missed you, we all have, otouto." She said fondly. Naruto couldn't help but smile when she called him that.
"I'm still going to call you baa-chan, you know." She snorted and pulled away, bopping him on the head as she did (although the 'bop' made a pretty sore bump). Jiraiya, who had moved back to keep from being caught in the crossfire, decided to come back out of the corner. He laughed as he smacked the blonde's back.
"I see you still have your way with the ladies." He joked, causing Tsunade to glare at him, but he seemed to be immune to it at the moment.
"Yeah, I've always wondered how girls found smacking me across the room appealing." Naruto sighed.
That may be why I'm not attracted to girls. A tint of red stained his cheeks as he thought of Kyo. He was really beginning to miss the older male, but he knew Kyo wanted him to have some time with his friends by himself. Maybe he would come the their next gathering.
"Can someone give me a hand? If my sister finds this, she's going to skin me alive!" Kiba said, referring to the hole in the wall.
"I'll help, Kiba-kun." Hinata said shyly. The dog-boy blushed a little and the offer and smiled in appreciation, though he didn't really appreciated the glare given to him by Neji. Naruto was about to volunteer to help himself, since it was his hard head that helped cause the hole, but then someone grabbed his hand.
"Naruto, there's something I need to talk to you about." He turned and, to his confusion it was Sasuke who grabbed his hand. He was looking down, avoiding eye contact. Still, the blond just grinned.
"Sure thing!" He said and, as Sasuke was leading him up the stairs where no one was, Naruto suddenly remembered something.
"Naruto-san, there's something I would like to talk to you about."
His eyes widened and he bit his lip. Sasuke wouldn't be…no, please tell me he isn't going to…
Naruto held back a shudder. If Sasuke was doing what he thought he was doing, he needed to get out of here, right now. He didn't know if he would be able to handle this! He tired to calm his breathing as Sasuke led him to the balcony.
"Naruto, I need to tell you something. I-" Naruto, however, cut him off as he gasped and pointed to the sky.
"Hey, Sasuke, look at that!" He said, coming up with the first thing he could think of. Sasuke mentally growled at the interruption, but decided to look where Naruto was pointing. He then arched an eyebrow at the only thing he could see there.
"The moon?" He said incredulously. The blond grinned and nodded.
"Yeah! It's been a while since I've seen the full moon." It was true. Since Yamigakure is completely concealed, except for one small area, it is hard to see the moon unless you go outside, and he has avoided going outside out of fear the someone from Konoha may spot him. Not to say he hasn't seen the moon in the three years he's been gone, it's just that he's never been out when it was full.
"What kind of place is Yami if you can't see the moon?" Naruto thought about telling him. Well, it couldn't really hurt to tell a tiny bit about the place, as long as he doesn't give any hints as to where Yamigakure is. Besides, it would keep him talking and it would avoid any unwanted confessions that Naruto assumed Sasuke wanted to talk about.
"Well, I can't tell you a lot about the place, you understand, right? Can't risk eavesdroppers who want to know where it is finding out. What I can tell you is that it's a big, hollowed out mountain, courtesy of a bunch of shinobi who were cast out of Iwagakure." He said, remembering those ninja from the Earth Country. They were actually a lot kinder that Naruto had first assumed. "There is an area where a bit of light is let in, and that bit mildly lights up the village during the day. Small herb farms mostly occupy that area. But, other than that, it's pretty dark most of the time, hence the name, Yamigakure. I did once suggest changing the name to 'Village Hidden Within the Hollowed Out Mountain'."
Naruto giggled a little at that thought. He remembered the laughter that suggestion and Tatsuya actually considered it for a moment. But they had their name and symbol and it would be too much of a hassle to change it. Even so, they spent that entire night figuring out what the symbol would be and what their signature techniques would be. It was a pretty interesting night.
"Why does it not surprise me that you would suggest something like that?" Sasuke smirked. Naruto pouted and the Uchiha snorted. Sasuke waited for a moment, expecting Naruto to ask him to continue what he was saying before he was interrupted because of the moon. However, Naruto just continued to stare at the moon and hum.
"Look, Naruto, I brought you up here to tell you something. Something I wished I realized earlier. Maybe if I did, you wouldn't have-"
"Sasuke stop." He said, cutting the Uchiha off. "I know what you're going to say, and I really don't want to hear it. Please, can we just forget about this and go back. I don't want them to worry." The blond turned and was about to walk back downstairs when Sasuke grabbed his wrist.
"Naruto! Can you just listen to me? Damn it, I'm trying to tell you that I love you!" There was silence as the blond tensed. Sasuke inwardly groaned. This was not the way he was planning on confessing. But, what's done is done, and all he can do is wait for Naruto's response.
"…You…really are a bastard, teme." Naruto muttered as he began to tremble. He took his wrist away and looked at Sasuke with pained eyes. "How could you tell me this? How could you, after I spent three damn years trying to forget you! Trying to forget the feelings that I had for you?! How could you, Sasuke?" He demanded.
The Uchiha took a step back. He didn't expect this to be Naruto's reaction. "Had?"
"Yes, had!" Naruto took a deep breath before turning away. "Sasuke…I did love you Sasuke. I loved you so much it hurt. I guess it started when you saved me from Haku. You may have said your body moved completely on its own, but I cherished the thought, the illusion that someone cared about me enough to die for me."
"Naruto, I-"
"But then you left." Naruto faced him and Sasuke saw, to his surprise and displeasure, that the blond had tears cascading down his cheeks. "You left for power. I tried to bring you back and you nearly killed me! Even so, I tried so hard to bring you back, and every time you left me unconscious, my heart broke. The last straw was when I was nearly executed! For what? For bruising you and spraining your wrist? Sasuke, I can't love you! I can't love. Period!"
It was true. With his heart being broken time and time again by the person he considered most precious to him, and then the village he's done nothing but protect tried to have him killed, Naruto has forgotten how to love. He can care, but that's the furthest his feelings he could ever go. Even for Kyo. He cared about Kyo more than anyone else, but he couldn't love him. Kyo knew that, but he still stayed with him. He helped mend his heart knowing that it was very possible that it may return to the one who originally had it before it completely shattered…
To Sasuke…
"Naruto, I'm sorry." He said, walking up to the blond. He cupped the scarred cheeks in his hands and looked down at those watery blue eyes, truly remorseful about what he has done to him. "I really am."
Sasuke leaned down and gently pressed his lips against Naruto's before kissing him fully. Naruto's eyes widened and he stood shocked for a moment before finally collecting his wits and pushing Sasuke away.
"I…I need to go!" He said before turning and running off.
"Naruto!"
The blond didn't listen. He ran. Down the stairs, past the confused party goers and out the door. He didn't even care where he was going anymore, he just needed to go. This shouldn't have happened. Why the hell did he agree to host a gennin team? He knew that they would want to participate in the Chunin exams. He had just prayed they wouldn't pass the village's own exams that allowed them to participate.
He continued to run, but then, as he turned a corner, he ran into another body, someone who seemed to be in just as much a rush as he was. He flinched automatically and held his arms over his head, something that he had a habit of in the past and had never grown out of.
"Naru-chan?!"
Naruto looked up to see concerned green eyes. "Kyo…"
"Naru-chan, are you all right? I'm sorry, I should have looked where I was going." He said kneeling down. Then he noticed the tears. His breath automatically hitched and he moved closer. "Naruto, what's wrong? What happened?" He asked putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.
Naruto looked at him, tears spilling from his eyes without him even being aware of it. Then his face twisted in pain and he launched himself into Kyo's arms. "I'm sorry!" He cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" He sobbed, clutching tightly onto his robes. Kyo was surprised but he automatically wrapped his arms around him, hoping to comfort him while he was still confused.
"It's all right, Naruto. It's all right." He murmured comforting words, hoping to quell the tears. He didn't even care that they were in the middle of the street with people looking at them with both disgust and contempt. "Naruto, what's happened to you?" He asked, speaking more to himself.
"Can we just go, Kyo? Please, let's go." He said, his voice cracking. The redhead nodded and lifted Naruto into his arms. He wasn't a ninja, but he was strong enough to carry the surprisingly light blond and bring him to the inn.
Yuki shivered and looked around from his position on the log. Why did he suddenly feel so cold? There wasn't a breeze and the temperature of the forest was supposed to be fairly mild at night. Both Maya and Kisshu were asleep and he was taking up the first watch for the night.
Passing the first part of the exam was fairly easy. They had automatically figured that it was a test that was trying to force them to cheat, so they spent a third of the time doing nothing and waiting for everyone else to figure this out, then they spent another third writing down wrong answers and letting people cheat off of them. The other third was spent with Yuki being able to answer them all correctly and Kisshu using his bloodline to take the soul of one of the ninjas in front of him. He combined it with a mosquito and it copied Yuki's answers before using some ink Kisshu had in his pocket and writing them down on his and Maya's papers.
Naruto-sensei had told them about Ibiki and that he was a bit of a sadist, but that was all he told them. Sadly, it was a random jounin who was testing them, so they didn't know what to expect. He did give them a choice. Answer the tenth question and never become a higher than a gennin if they get it wrong, or leave and have a chance fore next year. The team knew that everyone expected them to drop out, especially with Yuki himself crying about not wanting to disappoint his sensei by being able to ever participate in the exams again, but they didn't.
So, now they were in the Forest of Death. They had the Heaven scroll and were actually waiting for someone to come after them since most of the people there were obviously pointing them out as the easiest team to target.
But since it was nighttime, they were making it hard for anyone to find them. Maya had already made a plan to get the Earth scroll. It may be exposing their true selves to anyone who witnesses it, but it may work to their advantage. Their opponents would be so confused that there was a slim chance they would be prepared to combat them during the final part of the exams.
"Ne, Yuki, go to sleep. It's my turn." Kisshu muttered drowsily as he got up from the sleeping mats that they had packed in some scrolls.
"Wake up a little before you tell me to sleep. The last thing we need is to be decapitated because you were too tired to pay attention." Yellow eyes glared at him and Kisshu walked up to his teammate before knocking him on the head.
"You shut up." He growled sourly, though he knew that Yuki was probably right. That didn't mean he wasn't going to be annoyed about it, though.
Yuki grumbled a little as he used his hands to rub down the dull pain on his head. He stayed true to what he said and waited for Kisshu to join the world of the living. Well, at least he wasn't as bad as Maya when she was woken up. The brunette couldn't help but shiver. She was scary when she was woken up.
He then sighed and looked back up at the sky. The ill feeling he got a while ago from the chill hadn't faded. He really hoped that everything was all right.
"Oi, stop frowning like that. It makes you look weird." Kisshu remarked, sticking his fingers in the corners of Yuki's mouth and forcing it into a smile. "There, that's better." He replied with a snigger.
Yuki batted that hands away and started spitting. "Don't stick your fingers in my mouth! Kami knows where they've been!" He said with a glare, but that only caused Kisshu's grin to widen.
"So what's with the long face?" He asked sitting down. Yuki stopped his spitting and looked at him before looking back up at the sky.
"Just a feeling that something bad happened. I don't know if it's mega-bad or just bad, but I think something bad happened." He said.
"Paranoia?"
"Maybe…" Yuki sighed and then got up and dusted himself off before walking to his mat. "I'm going to bed, don't doze off, Yuki. And good luck with Maya." He smiled and went down to go to sleep.
Kisshu rolled his eyes and leaned back as he yawned. Well, it seems that something's going to hit them once they passed the second part of the exam. Oh, he knew they were going to pass. They had to. There were some people the three of them needed to pound into the dirt. But, since they couldn't do that, they had to settle with the other Gennins in the exam.
NM-chan: Yeah, a bit of a surprise, don't you think? Okay, explanation time. I've been getting a LOT of PMs begging me to make this SasuNaru. I don't wanna! Still, may as well appease them by giving them the possibility that it will be SasuNaru. It's possible, but I ain't making a single damn promise, got it?!
Bob: Trust me SasuNaru fans, she isn't going make this SasuNaru, no matter how much you threaten her. She does not like it and would rather give up all her anime merchandise then make this SasuNaru. Do you have any idea how serious that makes it?! She nearly broke a guy's arm for trying to steal her Naruto calendar. A CALENDAR!!! So, there is no hope, live with it.