Chapter Six: Sick in More Than One-Way
Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! You have no idea how much it means to me when I pull up my email and people have commented. My friends keep asking me why I look so happy nowadays and I just giggle!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does… But if I did own it, that would be really cool. I own all OC mentioned the story though! Enjoy ^_^v
Naruto tossed and turned in his bed, successfully kicking off the sheets. His faced was tense and beaded with a light sheen of sweat. His breath quickened, and one small teardrop escaped from his closed eyelid before he jolted awake. Naruto's hand was extended out in front of him. His eyes darted around him, almost searching for someone or trying to find evidence for something. He retracted his hand, and let it fall into his lap. Staring at the palm of his hand, Naruto's brows creased together in confusion. What exactly was he reaching out to? He tried desperately to remember his dream, but the only thing he could recall was the peals of laughter ringing in his head. He looked out his window, the sun peaking back over Konoha and giving his home a beautiful glow. His eyes softened.
How would it look from the Hokage office? It was a question that would often slip into his thoughts on mornings such as these. He wanted it so badly. To be respected and to protect everyone he loves. To love your home with everything you had, and be loved just as deeply. His heart clenched at the thought. He knew that it would be a tough dream to achieve, but he was Naruto Uzumaki, and he never gave up or went back on his word. Naruto was positive that one day, he'd be the leader of Konoha, and he'd be the best there ever was.
Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he flopped back onto his bed and stretched his back and legs. The next three days, Naruto and the other genin would have to train by themselves. All the jounin and ANBU were having a physical and psychological examination, which was ordered by Tsunade. She firmly stated that it was a necessary procedure, and it was something that should be done more then just once a year. Just in the past month, two jounin and five ANBU collapsed from malnutrition, and chakra exhaustion. Needless to say, many of the shinobi were not happy to be told that they couldn't take care of themselves… Even if it was true. Naruto chuckled at how much trouble Kakashi was probably going to cause. He doubted his teacher would let the doctors and nurses poke and prod him so easily.
He was tempted to have an appointment himself what with the kyuubi making a huge ruckus in his head. The fox kept on yelling about staying away from Uchihas but as far as Naruto knew, Sasuke wasn't about to put a kunai in his back, and Itachi hadn't been spotted around Konohagakure… right? He wasn't sure if any of the older shinobi would tell him even if they did spot the Uchiha brother, anyway. 'Atsushi' would probably know though, because he looked like the kind of ninja who knew everything that was going on before anyway did. Naruto wasn't sure what day 'Atsushi' was having his check-up, so he was pretty clueless with what to do for the day. Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto got to work at getting ready.
He pulled on the new set of clothes, shooting his pile of orange clothes an almost longing look. Looking himself in the mirror, he scrunched his nose in frustration, and grabbed his orange jacket. It didn't matter how caught up in the moment he was in when Ino bought him the new articles of clothing; he would always love orange in the end. Feeling more comfortable in the orange jacket, he warmed himself some ramen, and wolfed it down. After wiping the soup from his lips, Naruto slipped on his shoes and headed towards his The Valley. He wasn't expecting the black-haired boy to be there, but it was a good place to train, even if it was a little farther off from the village. He was about to exit the gate, but was stopped by Izumo and Kotetsu, the most frequently stationed gate watchers.
"Hey, Naruto! Training alone isn't always the best! You should get a partner… we're technically not allowed to let genin out of the village this often without another ninja to go with them!" Izumo yelled, successfully catching Naruto's attention.
"Oh-Uhhh I do have someone I practice with! He just doesn't always leave Konoha at the same time as me!" Scratching the back of his head, he mentally cursed at almost mentioning 'Atsushi'. But he did congratulate himself for the quick response.
"Really? Well that's great! Just don't stay out too long. Some hunter-nins caught traces of what might be a missing-nin lurking around. Be careful!" Kotetsu called out as Naruto jogged out of the huge wooden doors. Naruto frowned at the last comment. Maybe he shouldn't stay out so late. Casting the thought away, he was confident he would be able to beat the missing-nin, or at least hold he or her off long enough to escape. He took his time traveling away from Konoha. It was early morning, so he had a lot of time to kill and he felt like a light run would be an adequate warm up, too. Plus the day was turning out pretty awesome; the weather was perfect, and he had all day to do what he wanted to do. Naruto chuckled at the thought. When he was still in the Academy, a statement like that usually led to pranks and mayhem, but it was so different now. Naruto thought he did a pretty bang up job making himself the person he was today. It probably would have been easier if he had more support growing up, but in the end, he didn't regret it because it made him the person he was today.
"Naruto is that you?" a voiced called out from the trees.
"What a minute. 'Atsushi' is that you?" Naruto said. He trotted over to where the voice had come from and found 'Atsushi' leaning on an old oak. He was holding his side tightly, and Naruto could vaguely see red liquid dripping from in-between his fingers.
"Oh no! We have to get you to the hospital!" Naruto rushed forward and held 'Atsushi', almost toppling over when his masked friend stumbled from his tilted position on the tree. Naruto's eyes finally took in the ripped clothes, and what looked like charred skin all over his body. 'Atsushi' gave a choked cough, blood dripping out of his mask.
Naruto panicked, stuttering reassurances, and trying to drag his friend back to Konoha. His chest felt tight and his heart weighed down. He had only felt this scared and helpless when he thought Haku had killed Sasuke. Naruto gave a cry of distress when 'Atsushi' gave another watery cough, sending them both to the ground.
"N-naruto. I cough cough can't go to Konoha." 'Atsushi's' breath became more labored and heavy, the illusion around the mouth of the mask flickering from the chakra draining out of his body.
"What do you mean? You need help!"
'Atsushi' pulled away from Naruto, almost crawling backwards. The illusion around the mask now completely gone, Naruto say the thick drops of blooding erupting from 'Atsushi's' lips, but what scared him even more was the blood that looked like it was pouring from higher up the mask.
"YOU'RE BLEEDING TO DEATH! What do you expect me to do?" Naruto was covered in blood, a wild frightened look plastered on his face. "What do you fucking expect me to do?"
'Atsushi' motioned for Naruto to come closer, causing the blonde boy to practically scrabble to his side. Naruto bent of him, watching 'Atsushi' gasping for air and coughing but even more blood. Naruto reached for the mask, so he could help 'Atsushi' with the blood starting to choke him to death. In one swift motion, 'Atsushi' bit into Naruto's extended arm. Naruto yelled in pain, his heart racing as he felt the teeth in his arm shift. He tried pulling away, but the iron grip holding him and Naruto's desperation kept him from really struggling away. Hot tears dripped from his face, as he felt a good amount of chakra move into his arm and seep out of his body. Naruto felt dizzy, the edges of his vision blurring. His body went slack as the teeth removed themselves from his arm.
"The technique isn't really suited to most shinobi's bodies, since you have to be a sensor type shinobi, but luckily I'm skilled enough to do it with most other people."
Naruto looked at him through sleepy eyes that followed the tiny rivers of his and 'Atsushi's' blood running down the boy's mouth and off his chin. His ears sounded like they had cotton in them, and he could barely hear 'Atsushi' continuing to speak to him. "Unfortunately it can't heal all my wounds completely, and it affects you, too. I'm sorry."
Naruto nodded. He was relieved that 'Atsushi' wasn't in a fatal condition anymore, but slightly creeped out about being bitten. His eyes drooped even lower, and Naruto frowned even more when he saw a red flow of liquid still dripping from higher up the mask, which was covered. He fell on top of 'Atsushi', and felt arms circle around him.
"It better not leave a mark…"
Naruto blacked out, too spent to even keep himself awake to hear 'Atsushi's' response.
'Atsushi' staggered onto his feet, and held Naruto to him. Shifting his arm position, he got Naruto in to a secure grip, and slowly made his way to the village so as not to open up the half healed wounds. He walked little by little for what seemed like hours, alternating from walking on a marked path, off the trail. The sun was still high in the sky, and getting into Konoha at this time of day without detection was slightly harder, but with Naruto unconscious, it might prove to be a challenge for him. His eyes burned slightly, and he could feel the pressure of the seal put on him pushing against his eyes. Taking deep breaths, 'Atsushi' tried to ward off the churning feeling bubbling in his stomach. A coat of cold sweat broke out all over his body, and he had to place Naruto down, so he could sit down and hope for the queasiness to go away. Not being able to take it any longer, 'Atsushi' flipped off his mask, and vomited on the ground, his long hair sadly caught in the mix. Too pained to really care, 'Atsushi' pulled out a kunai, severed it off, and tossed it onto the ground. Breathing through his mouth, he dry heaved a few times, and clutched his stomach. He struggled to keep himself standing, almost falling to his knees from the fatigue. A few minutes past, and it was all over, leaving him only light-headed and feverish. Making sure to at least burn the evidence of him ever being there, 'Atsushi' fixed his mask back into place, and picked Naruto up again. How much he wished he had his eyesight back. He was a fool to sacrifice so much for so little, and in the end he was going back to Konoha in some form or another. Did Naruto looked pained? Did he have a peaceful expression on his face? 'Atsushi' only held on to the memory of what the small boy looked like now. It was like an old graying photo; everything was dull, and the faces were getting harder and harder to see as the days past. He long had it been? A year? Wondering around in darkness, and only holding onto faint images of what was supposed to be there. 'Atsushi' sighed. It was strange how what he thought was his most precious thing dimmed in comparison to Naruto. Again and again it was Naruto. He carefully lifted a finger to touch the headband on his head while still caring the other boy. The blue cloth attached to the medal plate had always been his. From the first day he had become a genin, it was never replaced. The metal plate barring the Konoha symbol, was not. His real one had a scratched line threw it, but he hadn't kept it. When he woke up a year ago to find himself wondering the land blindly, the only things he had were the clothes on his back, and the headband clutched in his hand. It was like starting all over again. Learning how to walk, and communicate. And then how to sense things and fight. He wasn't a genius for nothing, but that didn't mean it wasn't the most difficult task he ever had to accomplish.
'Atsushi' could hear the sounds of Konoha twenty minutes later. He carefully slithered through the underbrush, and held onto Naruto securely. He only had a little bit of chakra left. Maybe only enough to make one clone, and then teleport them a short distance, but for that to be possible, he needed to be a few yards closer. Holding Naruto closer, 'Atsushi' went through the necessary hand seals, and set a Naruto clone to the front desk to 'check himself' in. While the clone past through the door, 'Atsushi' waited for the two guarding ninja to turn their heads, and then tossed himself inside Konoha walls. Flashing through more hand signs, he held onto Naruto tightly, and teleported them both to Naruto's apartment. Unfortunately, 'Atsushi' only got them to the alley that was to the left of Naruto's apartment, so he had to somehow get them up the stairs without being seen. Seeing as going on the main road to take the stairs wasn't going to work, 'Atsushi' shuffled to the back of the apartment and jumped to the back door. Easily opening up the old, and rusty lock, 'Atsushi' stepped in, and carried the blonde boy to his bedroom. Placing him on the bed, his feet buckled beneath him, and 'Atsushi' laid halfway on Naruto's bed. To tired to really clean himself off, he dragged himself closer to the other boy so that they were both curled up on the small bed together. He stared blankly forward, his bare fingers lightly tracing shapes into Naruto's back. He pulled the boy closer, holding onto him like a lifeline, and burying his face into the soft spiky hair. Breathing in Naruto's sent, he sighed for the millionth time. "I'm sorry, and… thank you." He felt something stir from behind his eyes as he said these words. Snapping his eyes open, he thought he saw the color of Naruto's hair, but marked it off as imagination well all he saw was darkness again.
Kakashi sat in the waiting room to get his check up. He was currently scratching Pakkun behind his ears, and staring off in front of him. There were reports of a missing-nin being seen around Konoha, and while this meant someone got to investigate and probably take the person down (a favorite type of mission for higher level ninja) he was more worried about Naruto. His youngest student was training all the time outside the village, so what of the missing-nin was from Akatsuki, and one of the members was watching the boy. But if it was Akatsuki, then they probably would have grabbed naruto by now, right? Kakashi was also aware that several of the members of Akatsuki purposefully made catching the victim harder just because it was fun and challenging. It sickened Kakashi just thinking about it, and he felt Obito's eye twitch in agreement.
"Are you okay Kakashi?"
The white haired man looked down at his smallest dog. The dog was looking at him in concern, obviously feeling the confusion and concentration rolling off his master. Kakashi started to scratch in pug's ears again.
"Yeah… I'm fine. I'm just going to check up on Naruto after I get this over with."
Sneezing in agreement, Pakkun closed his eyes, puffed back to the rest of the dogs, and left Kakashi to his own thought.
Kakashi shook his head. Maybe he was worrying too much, but he just had this gut feeling that he was missing something major.
"Kakashi Hatake, please report to room 117A." Hearing the nurse call his name, Kakashi got out of the chair he was sitting in and strolled over to the designated room. He normally would have caused some trouble for whoever was going to do all the test, but he was too distracted to really pay much attention to his lack of response. His examination ended quickly, and he only listened with half an ear, when the nurse told him to come back the next day for a psych analysis. Exiting the hospital, he decided to see if Naruto was home or not. There was a big chance that the genin was off training, and if that ended up being true, then Kakashi would try talking to the boy tomorrow. Mapping his way through the familiar streets, he calmly walked up to Naruto's front door. Knocking on the door several times, he was only met with silence. He was a bout to give up, when a thought popped into the Jounin's head. He could check the bedroom window to see if Naruto was in there or something, and if not, then the copy-nin would just go home. Hopping onto the balcony railing, he leaned forward and looked in through the bedroom window.
Cliffhanger! This is actually getting pretty exciting for me… weird. I've learned that writing fan fiction it really hard because every time you start writing a story, you want to start another one. I have a fantastic Harry Potter/Naruto Crossover plot in my head, but I know that if I start writing it now, then I'd never finish this story and my other one. If I have more then two stories then you would probably be getting an update from me every two weeks or something and that would be bad because no one likes waiting forever. (I don't) Thank you for reading my story! Review!
Chapter Seven: Behind Every Mask