Chapter 2: Only Silence Remains
Sun peaked threw the curtians of the Uchiha Mansion, causing Sasuke to awaken from his slumber. His eyes opened slowly as he tried to adjust. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he slipped on his slippers and headed toward the bathroom to do his 'Daily Business'.
"What a weird dream" He thought, sighing loudly as he undressed himself for his everyday routine. " I could've swore I heard Naruto coming to my room last night and kiss me on my forehead. It felt so real."
He placed his fingers and ran them over the spot where Naruto had kissed him earlier that morning, feeling it tingle slightly at his touch. Sighing deeply and hopping in the shower, Sasuke let the hot water steam over him, giving him the cleansing and soothing feeling that he craved. "...Naruto.."
He moaned slightly, as he pictured Naruto, his body gleaming with sweat, his lips plump and swollen, and lovebites littering his body as he panted out Sasuke's name, a blush complety visable on his cheeks. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as he felt something harden between his legs down south. Quickly turning the facet to 'C' for the cold water, he sighed. "I really need to stop doing that..." He mumbled to no one in particular as he finished his shower and wrapped a towel around his body, not bothering to dry his hair. He slowly walked over to the dresser, and started to prepare himself for training when he spotted a hand-written letter...addressed to him.
"Hey, this wasn't here last night... Where did this come from..?" Sasuke picked up the letter and causiously looked it over, before stuffing it in his pocket to open later. "It must be something from Naruto...like in my...dream.." Sasuke though for a moment, as he stroked the letter he had stuffed in his pocket. Shrugging it off, and pushing it to the back of his mind, he gathered his Kunai and Shuriken sets and headed out the door.
As he locked the door, and walked down the street, he thought about his schedule and the date. "Hmmm...I should really change how I do things in the morning...its begining to affect my schedule ...Hey, today's Naruto's birthday.." Sasuke said as he saw the Great Festival sign hanging over his head as he walked into the heart of the village. "He did tell me his birthday was the same day as the Yondame's death and the great Kyuubi no Kitsune defeat..." Sasuke headed towards the Ichiraku Ramen Shop in hopes to find his adorable walking sunshine and take him out to eat.
"Morning Ichiraku-san, Ayume-kun" Sasuke greeted walking up to the counter and taking a seat, ordering a bowl of Miso Ramen. Sasuke took out a pair of chopstick, awaiting the arrival of his teammate. He could just see it, his teammates face pop up out of nowhere, whining to Sasuke and challenging him to endless battles, Slurping down his bowl of Ramen in less than 6 seconds. Sasuke gulped as he felt a bulge in his pants, trying to hold it down and picture something else. Gai-senpai in a bikini...'uggh..' he though shivering slightly as he waited.
"Order up." Ichiraku said, snapping Sasuke out of his daydream. Ichiraku waited paceintly before handing the piping bowl of soup to Ayume and placing it in front of him "Enjoy."
"Itadakimasu." Sasuke mumbled as he plunged into his bowl of Ramen. 20 minutes and an empty bowl of Ramen later, Sasuke got up to pay his bill. He handed his money to Ayume and asked her the question that's been bugging him. His little ball of sunshine hadn't bothered to show up. Was he sick? "Hey, Ayume-kun, have you seen Naruto as of late?"
Ayume smiled and shook her head slowly, staring Sasuke dead in the eyes. Taking the money and placing it in the cash regeister, she turned back to face him once more, a sad smile plaster there as fakely on her face as a customer walked into the stand.
"Sasuke, I haven't seen Naruto since Yesterday morning" Ayume mutter quietly, soft enough to avoid concern from her father, but loud enough for him to hear her.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. Maybe he WAS sick after all."So...he hasn't come by here at all today? That's unusual...Maybe I should go and check up on him" Ayume nodded, watching Sasuke take his receipt and walk calmly away. "Thank you, Come again!" Ayume said, waving her hand in his direction. 'And make sure Naruto-kun is alright'
Naruto stood on the head of the Hokage Mountains, his brilliant azure eyes dulled to a foggy blue, glossed over slightly as if he were in a trance. "The time has finally arrived Konohagakure, your nine-tailed demon will vanish from this world, as well as his jinchuuriki vessel." a small defeated smile on his playing with his lips. He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, coming face to face with Kyuubi in front of the large cage.
"Kyuubi..?"
"What is it Gaki.." Kyuubi stated quietly, her voice breaking through the silence from the back of her prison.
"..Is it time? Are you ready for what's ahead..?"
Kyuubi sighed. Opening her closed eyes and staring at the boy in front of her, she wrapped her tails around his fragile figure and nuzzled him as closely as she could to her own body as she attempted to reason with him. "..Are you sure you want this? I know the kind of determination and jumping ahead you love to do without thinking things throughly, Kit, But I don't want death to come to you ar such an early age--"
"I don't care anymore Kyuubi. I deserve to make my own choices for once, and at this particular moment...THIS is my deision. I know you can relate to how I feel because you've seen my life, I expect, and you known how much pain i've been through. My life was fucked the day I was born, so why not give my village what they ask for? Its for the best anyway..."
Kyuubi growled as she listened intenly to his too true words. Yes, she had seen the way those godforsaken villagers had treated him, even though he put his life in danger for every one of them. She understood how he felt because she'd pick at his memories and watched through his eyes to see the outside world. No wonder he wanted to finish this off...No one loved him, cared for him, or visited him when he needed it. Only a few people that she knew truely loved him, but now she doubted even that emotion she senced off of them. She had mistaken it for Pity. The pity of having to bare her burdens. The pity of living on his own with no family.Pity. In her mind only one phrase popped up inside her head as Naruto cuddled up into her Tails 'Lifes a bitch..it always comes back to bite you in the ass...'
" Kit, please don't do this. You have a whole life ahead of y--"
Naruto glared at Kyuubi as he intterupted her once more "What kind of life do I have in a world like this? I'm the most hated person in the whole providence. If i was a wanted man, i would be perfered dead than alive...these people...they don't need me..Im just a burden...A demon.." Naruto's gaze distanced as his mind retailiated a hidden memory...
FLASHBACK
"Bakemono! Monster! I don't care if Hokage-sama sent you here!"
Rocks flew at his direction, one hitting his face and leaving a marks. Blood dripped down the area underneath the forehead protector, and close to the left eye. Naruto barely felt it at all. The pain he felt was something else – something deeper.
"You've only come to devour my child again, haven't you? Haven't you!" The red haired woman was hysterical now, pulling at her hair and screaming as if Naruto was about to kill her. "I won't let that happen! I won't forgive you! I won't ever forgive you!" She was pulled away by a man – maye he was her husband? "I'll never forgive you, you demon monster!" she wailed, tears spilling out onto her cheeks.
"I-I'm sorry," the man said over his wife's hysteria. "My sister is stricken with illness," he explained wearily.
Well, at least he isn't her husband – he's her brother, her family, Naruto thought.
"She lost her child…in that event, and she seemed to misunderstand you being here…"
Naruto cast his eyes down on the ground. Even if the man's tone was gentle and apologizing, the hate in his eyes was inevitable. The woman's screams grew louder with each passing second.
"Don't come near me! Don't come near me, monster!"
"I didn't do anything," he said softly.
"Urusai you fuckin' monster!! GO DIE IN A DITCH SOMEWHERE! GIVE ME BACK MY CHILD!!" She screamed, breaking free from her brothers' grasp and tackling him. She furiously began punching him relentlessly in the face, screaming wildly, as he took it his eyes filled with melancholy. The woman's brother stood and turned his face from him, looking in a different direction as his sister attacked the 'monster'.
When she finally stopped and kicked him in his gut, something in him broke. he didn't know what it was but it hurt. He watched the woman and her brother walk away, her clinging to him as if nothing had happened. He layed upon the ground bleeding profusly as Kyuubi's chakra went to work and he sighed, tears welding in his eyes 'They're right...I am a monster...'
END FLASHBACK
Naruto's body shook violently as the unwanted memory over took his senses. "Kit..." Naruto let out a strangled cry as he started sobbing uncontrollably. He unraveled himself from Kyuubi and wrapped his arms around his knees, laying in the pool of water that made up his unshed tears that had risen slightly over the years of his sorrowful, miserably pitiful life. Kyuubi watched with little interest,blood-red eyes closing at another though that struck her. Her kits' life line had just snapped with that awful memory and he was going to go through with it no matter what.
"WHAT?!" Shizune yelled quietly, her hands covering her mouth to keep her from speaking out to loudly. Kakashi nodded, his eye grieving over the note in silence. " Shizune shook her head violently as she stood to her feet, slamming her hands on her desk. "Kakashi, we must inform Tsunade as soon as possible..but she's in a meeting with the elders.."
"We need to tell her NOW, Shizune. If we don't, we may be too late if he decides to go through with this.." Kakashi said quietly, grabbing her arm and heading toward the stairs leading up to the meeting hall. Shizune gulped loudly as she was lead up the stairs. ' What has gotten into that boy? Had he not caused us enough stress? I know we must inform the Tsunade-shishou but if the elders are still in the room..' Kakashi paused and knocked on the door of the meeting room, his grip around her arm tightening slightly as a shuffling sound and a string of colorful words was heard. '...they may forbade us from going to look for him.'
The door opened and Kakashi and Shizune were now standing in front of a very pissed off Hokage, who was still in a meeting.
"Tsunade, what's going on out there? Who was at the door?" one of the annoyed elders stated vaguely glancing up from his paper. " Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it." She stated sturnly and closed the door as she stepped out of the room and into the hallway.
Kakashi stared into Tsunade's eyes with tired features, How was he going to break the news to her? Naruto was like a little brother to her. Tsunade qurked an eyebrow and crossed her arms, her temper rising "..Kakashi, Shizune. What is the meaning of this? You come here when i'm in an important meeting about Naruto's dream to being a Hokage and here you are, inturupting my meeting when i haven't gotten them to see it in my favor." She crossed her arms when Shizune cringed at the mention of Naruto's name. Like it was Taboo or something. "Shizune.. What is the reason for your interuption? It better be inportant."
Kakashi sighed heavily and glared at the letter in his hand. " You take one look at this and then you'll see how important this is. Go finish your meeting Hokage-sama then take some time to look at that. You might just be suprised." He stepped away from her and grabbed Shizune arm once more, making some hand signs." I know I was." He mumbles quietly, then they disappered in a cloud of smoke, Shizune's muffled gasp, echoing through the empty hallway as Tsunade stood there, alone.
Tsunade stared at the crumpled letter as she rubbed her thumb around it. ' What's that pervert getting at?' She curiously started to unravel it until...
"Hokage-sama!! What are you doing?!"
One of the elders had opened the door, and was now previously glaring at her in distaste. " Get back in here and finish this meeting! We all are ready to leave if you don't mind. This isn't helping you get your point across about that bakemono.." He mumbled as she stepped inside to room, slipping the letter in her robes, smiling.
"Sorry, fellas. It seems it was just one of the kids running around knocking on the doors. Plus I needed a little fresh air'' She smiled ' To keep me from strangling every single one of you old crones' she added mentally, sitting back at the head of her chair.
"That's quite alright, Hokage sama. So this is our proposel on the bakemon since you took too long.." The lead elder called, Whinzer stated as she stared silently at him, unhearing.
qiuely
' I wonder what that letter was about. Does it have something to do with the Akatsuki?' She wondered quietly as the discussion continued.
Sakura smiled and thanked the lady at the cash register as she walked out of the Kiniharu Shoppe. " Thank You! Come Again!" the lady yelled at her as her shop door closed. Sakura stepped out into the crowded streets of Konoha, the preporations of the festival later tonight already visiable around her. "Wow, some people just can't wait to party." She giggled, as a pair of small children ran around her wearing masks and laughing. She sighed happily as she gripped at the two gifts under her arm as she headed in the direction of the Uzumaki household.
Sakura hummed to herself as she entered into the Weaker District of Konoha. There where run down houses, and dirt and grim all over the place. She cringed when she passed an open sewer that somehow overflowed with some unknown substance. She crinkled her nose 'Ugg...it STINKS so BAD!! How the hell could anyone LIVE in this place?!' She gagged and speed up her pace, the quicker she could give this to Naruto, the better. She walked for a few more blocks then stopped infront of a pair of apartments, that looked slightly better than the rest of the District. She checked her watch and took a step forawrd, opening the door and walking toward the staircase.
" Damnit!" She mumbled as she kneeled down to pick them up, lifting her head up to glare at the something she bumped into..more perferably a person. "Watch where you're going you bastard! You should be helping me pick this shit up. Its you're fau--Sasuke?" Her eyes widened slightly at the panicstricken look posted on the Uchiha's face.
"S-sakura..." He mumbled, helping her up to her feet, and gripping her shoulders tightly, the bags still on the floor.
Sakura stared at Sasuke and gave him a worried look, he'd never looked so scared in his life in her eyes. 'Something must be wrong...' She thought as she listened to his irregular heartbeat and breathing, and also noteing his sweaty palms, which indedicated that he had been running around. " Are you okay, Sasuke-kun? You seem a litt---"
"Naruto's missing." He interupted her, picking up the bags and shoving them in her arms while pulling her with him down the hall to Naruto's apartment, the door wide open, a sign on the outside of his door. Sakura's face dropped in disbelief as she read the sign on the door out loud, which clearly explained the Uchiha's worrisome features.
"For Sale by LandLord.Previous Owner's status: Unknown reason for departure"