A Deal with a Devil
Chapter 2: Revelations and Rejects
The sun drifted lazily across the sky as hundreds of shades and hues of red, purple and orange cascaded across the sprawling night sky. Naruto had spent the day with Sasu as she shopped for some clothes that fit her. After they had been cleared to leave the hospital, they found a restaurant that sold, much to Naruto's chagrin, everything but ramen. After that they had been hard pressed to find a suitable clothing store, it seemed that Sasu was as picky as she was assertive, but finally they found a store that sold, mainly, dark colored clothing. It never ceased to amaze Naruto just how alike she was to Sasuke, and yet so very different. He soon lost himself in the likenesses and differences that Sasu shared with Sasuke as he leaned on a wall in front of the changing rooms. So much so did he loose himself, that he didn't even realize that Sasu had emerged from the changing room and was now approaching him. A light snap from her slender fingers woke him from his daze to meet eye to eye with the very same girl he had met in the hospital; only this time she was fully clothed. Apparently, she had decided on a pleated, mini-skirt that was mainly white with dark blue trim as it rested low on her hips and played up her long, silky, toned legs. As for the upper portion of her body, she decided on a solid white, backless, halter top with fishnet inlay that purposefully exposed her midriff. All in all it was a very stimulating ensemble, and was apparently the one she liked the best as the rest of her clothes rested in her hands.
After they left the store they walked quietly, as quietly as he and Sasuke had many, many times before, however, this was different. When Sasu smiled it was a true smile not the conceited smirk that often spread across Sasuke's lips. As much as he told himself, as much as he wanted to believe that Sasu was Sasuke and Naruto had succeeded in bringing her home, he knew better. He did not know who or what she was or if this was just another of Orochimaru's plans to rape Konoha once again, but Naruto had decided to play along for the time being.
It was about this time that Sasu saw her apartment in the distance and turned towards Naruto and affixed him with a gaze that reminded him of Sasuke's fan girls however faint it might have been, but that could not be; after all, he was Naruto, the black sheep of the village. Calmly she spoke, "Naruto, I know what I did qualifies as betrayal, and I'm sorry for what I did. Especially to you, I...I guess what I'm saying is, thanks." She finished as they reached the door of her apartment.
"You're my friend, Sasu. That's why I'm here, besides," Naruto flashed a fox like grin, "I had loads of fun today!" he proclaimed enthusiastically. Sasu smiled in response and Naruto thought he saw her skin turn two shades redder.
She moved slightly closer to Naruto, "Would you like to... um... would you like to come in for a while?" she asked. Naruto had wondered why she would ask him to come in when most people after spending a whole day with him were usually ready to kill him. However, the answer to that question would never be learned as Naruto heard someone stomping closer and closer to them. As turned around he found spotted a certain pink haired Kunoichi approaching with all the force of a gale storm. An eerie silence fell over them as Sakura fixed Naruto with murder in her eyes. The seconds that passed after that could be described as many different things: awkward, painful, but most of all it was described with the loud crack Sakura's hand made as it swiftly came across Naruto's right cheek.
"Sakura?" Naruto probed for an explanation.
"You...you bastard." Sakura hissed venomously, "You promised to bring Sasuke back and you... you bring this bimbo? Did you even go looking for him, or was Jiraiya teaching you how to pick up chicks while all the others did all the work?" Now Naruto, despite his loud mouth, was more often than not an even tempered person when around his friends, but he had actually been insulted, by someone he cared about no less. Naruto prepared to respond when Sasu actually beat him to the punch.
"I'm right here." She said.
"Who are you?" Sakura snapped.
"It's me, Sasuke." responded Sasu with uncharacteristic tolerance.
"This must be funny as hell to you, Naruto. I'll bet you're laughing you're ass off, huh? Make fun of Sakura, weak little Sakura who can't do anything but rely on Naruto and Sasuke to get the job done." Frustrated tears leaked sullenly down Sakura's porcelain cheeks as she continued to glare at Naruto. Sasu was on the verge of frenzied anger at this point, so much so that she was ready to knock Sakura into the Hokage mountain side monument.
"I'm Uchiha Sasuke!" Sasu insisted through gritted teeth. Sakura snapped angrily in Sasu's direction and wordlessly reached into her supplies pouch. She did not pull an explosion note, a kunai, or a shuriken, as Naruto had expected, but she pulled a picture from the pouch and shoved it inches away from Sasu's face. It was the team seven enrollment picture with Naruto on the left, Sakura in the middle, Kakashi on top, and a raven haired boy on the right. Sakura pointed to this sharp eyed boy on the right and seethed.
"HE," Sakura emphasized," is Uchiha Sasuke!"
Sasu snatched the picture from the Sakura and stared at it blankly, She remembered the day as if it had only been a few ago. Why, why was there a boy in her spot on the picture, something was wrong; something was terribly wrong. Sasu tossed the picture at Sakura, spun on her heel, and franticly searched for the key she had disguised as a dragon fly and attached to the door. She found it and the illusion went up in a puff of smoke, Sasu snatched the key and shoved it into the key hole. Nearly kicking in the door, she rushed into her room and stopped in front of a small antique cedar chest. She had already dropped the clothes she had bought on the floor, and was now fixed on the little bronze frame that laid face down as if trying to keep the truth from her. With a sudden jerk of her hand, the bronze picture was face up and reveling the truth.
Naruto watched as Sasu lowered her head, effectively concealing her expression, and placed the picture face down on the cedar chest. "You knew," a single tear rolled down Sasu's cheek, "didn't you, Naruto?"
For the first time in his life, Naruto was speechless. Though he could not see her face he, somehow, felt what she was going through. Confusion, wonder, sadness, and anger; he did not know how but Naruto could feel every strong emotion that surged through her body. Before Naruto could reply the dark haired Uchiha female vanished in puff of smoke.
"Damn it, Sasu!" Naruto swore as he bent down in preparation to go after her, but stopped and fixed Sakura with a placid glance, "Do... do you really think that little of me?" he asked not waiting for an answer as bounced off to give chase.
Elsewhere, Sasuke had found that the village he had stumbled onto was an embattled one and it seemed that it had been so for a very long time. What was even more surprising was who made up the village, it comprised of ninja from nearly all of the hidden villages. Stone, Sand, Cloud, they all seemed to be represented. However, what surprised Sasuke the most was that there was not a person in the village over the age of nineteen. He mused on these things as he sat in what was to be considered the main hall of the village, though just a tattered hall it still managed to be somewhat impressive due it's sheer size. Before him sat, what he assumed, were the elected clan leaders of the village; first to his right was a wild looking, messy haired, young woman with wolf-like eyes with the habit of scratching her knuckles. Next to her was the young, silver haired girl that led Sasuke to where he was now, he had learned that her name was Kaze but she declined to reveal anything more than that. Next to her sat a boy that seemed to be the youngest of the group and also the most nervous, he had dirty red hair and sword strapped to his back that at least three times his size. Finally, beside the nervous boy sat another teen male, he was definitely the oldest of the group, but he was different. This boy was bald and shirtless, his lithe muscular body was covered in scars but what stood out the most was the boy's expression. On his obviously battle scared and experienced face there resided the most jubilant and light hearted expression Sasuke had ever seen.
"Gaijin!" snapped the wolf haired woman to get Sasuke's attention.
"I suppose you're talking to me?" wondered Sasuke.
"Please, Kirika-sama, Let us not be rude." said the pleasant looking boy.
"Stuff it, Genbu." Huffed Kirika.
"You'll have to forgive her, she does not trust outsiders. I am Nakayama Genbu, the ill-mannered one is Kamitoku Kirika, the one with the large sword is Izumitaki Daisuke and you've already met Kaze."
"As you probably already know, there is not a single ninja in this village above the age of twenty," Explained Kaze, "and we all hail from different parts of the country."
"Yes," interrupted Sasuke, "Stone, Sand, Cloud, you're all from those countries, but I don't see anyone from the hidden leaf village."
"You are very good. How did you know?" asked the big sworded Daisuke.
"His eyes," snarled the wild Kirika, "They're special. He's from the copy cats of the leaf."
"The Uchiha?" wondered bald Genbu, "Very interesting."
"Does this matter?" asked Sasuke rather coolly despite becoming slightly annoyed.
"Not at the moment, no." responded Kaze, "I'm sure you have questions."
It was true that Sasuke had questions, though to say that would be a complete understatement, but the only one he truly required an answer to was, "Why?" he asked.
Not missing a beat Genbu explained, "We left our clans, our families and our houses because of disagreement with the leadership. People have many different things that they disagree on but the majority of the time its war. In each of our camps, the young disagreed with the old and we decided to leave."
"I see." was Sasuke's only response.
"Uchiha-san, we have a request to make. We know that you do not have a home village and would like to offer you one and a fresh start." requested Kaze.
"What's in it for you?"
"We gain another strong bloodline, increasing our village's strength and adding validity to the hidden village we aim to complete."
Sasuke considered his options, on the one hand Sasuke's vendetta against his brother could be completed with the raw power he had gained from the deal with Naruto's demon, but he seriously doubted that he had the skill to achieve anything more than a hollow victory. On the other hand he could go back to Konoha and be executed as a traitor. Maybe he would accept his punishment as a traitor after he completed his goals, and maybe just maybe he might be able to complete his second objective here. Perhaps he might be able to restore his clan here.
"Agreed." responded Sasuke.
It took a full six hours for Naruto to find Sasu as she sat on the top of the first's forehead protector on Hokage Mountain, her unkempt silky raven hair flowing in the wind. Naruto saw her as she sat with her knees tucked into her chest. She seemed so small, so fragile, so different from Sasuke. No, he had to stop comparing her to Sasuke as they were they were two different people and Naruto had to start thinking like that as well. He approached her cautiously, trying to sneak up on her, "I don't know what to think," she sniffed. "Who am I, Naruto?"
Naruto ceased his sneaking and sat down next to her pulling her into a consoling embrace, "You are Sasu Uchiha." He stated simply. She rested her head on Naruto's shoulder and wiped her eyes on his sleeve.
"Yes, but the memories that I have. The times I spent with you, Kakashi and Sakura, they're not real. What's worse they're not even mine." Sasu almost broke into a slow heavy sob again but stopped when Naruto gently took hold of her chin and moved her eyes to meet his.
"Oi, then we'll make new ones. Ones that are just..."
"Ours?" she finished for him.
"And I know just where to start..." Naruto smoothly leaned closer to Sasu, inching ever so slightly closer as she instinctively closed her eyes and waited for the plush contact lip flesh meeting lip flesh… Suddenly Sasu was swept up into Naruto's arms as he jumped off of the mountain, "Ichiraku has the best Ramen!" exclaimed Naruto.
End Chapter 2
AN: As of this point in the story, I am officially naming that Sasu, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura are all at the age of seventeen. So not that I've settled into a grove what do ya'll think? I wanted Sasuke to have a chance to restore his clan and I do eventually want him to go back to Konoha, I've got things planned. However, here is my dilemma; I don't plan to have Sasuke "hook up" with Sakura but one of the women in the village he just joined; that leaves the question of what to with Sakura. As it stands now she is just a third wheel. Anyway, if you've stayed this long why not leave a review?