Warnings: Nothing much for this chapter
Disclaimer: Characters are property of a certain Masashi Kishimoto, I'm just borrowing them.
A/N: Another long-ish break, I'm sorry _ And now I'll be focusing on the Christmas fics, I still have a couple to write... I'm not really satisfied with this chapter, but I suppose it's alright. Thank you for the reviews! I appreciate them all more than you can imagine!
For Didi
Naruto yawned and scratched his lower back as he stumbled out of the bath house, his head spinning slightly. It was really dark outside, the moon was hiding behind dark clouds and the only sources of light were lamps that shone from the windows of the buildings scattered along the road. Loud music and singing echoed around the bounty hunter as he slowly turned to drag himself towards the hotel, feeling blissfully relaxed and content with his life. His stomach was full, he was clean all over, and most importantly, his body hadn't felt this sated in months. It had been a new girl, with long dark hair that had looked almost black in the dim lighting and dark eyes to match it, and she had been very eager to please.
Yet when everything should've been perfect, Naruto knew that something was wrong. Maybe it had something to do with the way his thoughts had kept slipping back to Sasuke during the foreplay, or how there was this feeble yet stubborn noise nagging at him in his head. The raven had left at least two hours ago, that much the girl that had replaced Kakashi at the front desk had been able to tell him, and even when he wanted to be angry at Sasuke Naruto couldn't really blame him.
A low whistle made the blonde jump and he had to stop for a moment to figure out what it had been. Then, after a moment of no odd whistler, he realized that it had been himself doing that sound, and he let out a amused laugh. Sasuke would've definitely laughed at him too had he been here now.
Somehow that thought angered Naruto a little, and he picked up his pace, the urge to get to the hotel soon poking him. Not that he was in a hurry to get to bed, but he wanted to go and kick Sasuke's ass for leaving him alone like this when they could've had lots of fun together in the bath house. It was frustrating, being abandoned like that, and Naruto's hands clenched into fists as he stalked forward, his good mood suddenly gone. Stupid Sasuke, being so damn uptight...
He reached the hotel and flashed it a quick smile, ignoring the people standing outside and looking like they were starting to fight at any second, and stepped inside.
Something was off. The blue eyes squinted thoughtfully as Naruto took in his surroundings, scratching his cheek. The saloon-like room was large and very loud and brightly lit, but he was pretty sure the piano hadn't been there when he'd last seen it. And oh hell no, that guy behind the bar counter was someone he'd never seen before... Something was definitely wrong, and after a moment of thinking the blonde realized he had to be in a wrong saloon.
"Oops...", he muttered, turning around and immediately bumping into an older man coming inside.
"Hey, watch where you're going!" the man exclaimed loudly, shoving Naruto roughly.
"Either get out or sit down, don't just stand there!"
Having almost lost his balance, Naruto stumbled clumsily as he tried to regain his footing, the evil glare that had been meant for the man finally burning holes to the wall.
"I was just goin', no need to get... aggressive", he snarled irritatedly and headed to the door. By now he had figured that he was probably a bit too drunk for his own good, but the young man couldn't really care less. He was still an ace at drawing his gun, no matter how drunk he was, and...
Wait, no. Maybe it was better to carry his gun in his hand after all, just to be safe. The bad guys wouldn't wait for him to draw, that was for sure, and Naruto wasn't going to be taken by surprise.
Whistling again, the blonde headed into the night, throwing his revolver into the air and catching it again. A daring act, yes, but he was too drunk to care. Not that he liked being drunk, not at all. It was annoying and made his head feel fuzzy and he wouldn't have drunk so much if Sasuke hadn't just disappeared like that. He had been only slightly tipsy when he'd realized the raven had left, and then he'd drank some just because he'd been angry, and then some more because he had actually started to feel pretty good... And here he was now, whistling to himself and wandering slowly and uncertainly back to the hotel.
With lots of luck Naruto finally ended up in the building he was headed to, and even if it took him a moment he managed to open the door with the keys he fortunately hadn't forgotten at the bath house. Grinning madly the blonde stepped inside and shut the door with a loud bang. Now he wished that Sasuke had been asleep, it would serve the bastard right to wake up to such noise...
"Hellll~lo, m'lady", Naruto slurred loudly, stumbling closer to Sasuke's bed.
But almost immediately he stopped, a frown crossing his face. Now something was definitely wrong, even more than had been when he'd accidentally went to that other saloon, and something cold appeared in his stomach, making him squirm.
There was nothing in Sasuke's bed. The sheets were straight and neat, it was clear that no-one had slept in that bed tonight, and when Naruto turned to slowly look at his own bed there was nothing either. The cold thing in his stomach was suddenly at least twice as big, and the blonde let out an odd growl, trying to think. All the relaxation was gone from his body as he sat down on Sasuke's bed, fighting the headache that he could feel coming, and tried to tell himself that now would be a good time to get magically sober again.
Of course nothing happened, and after good twenty minutes Naruto found himself still sitting in the same spot. He let out a frustrated groan and flopped to lay on Sasuke's bed, his mind hitting blank. What was going on? All Sasuke's things were here, he couldn't have left, but he wasn't here either...
Naruto rolled over to his side and nuzzled the pillow his head was resting on. He huffed in annoyance and closed his eyes for a second, hoping that something would come to him that way. He was still too drunk to think about anything clearly, his world starting to spin when he tried to get up too quickly, and with a sigh the bounty hunter gave in to his body's demands.
The next time he opened his eyes it was light outside, and the room was still empty save for himself.
Sasuke groaned, his head lolling back as he started to slowly regain consciousness. The back of his head throbbed painfully where he'd been hit, and he found out he couldn't move is hands at all as he tried to rub his eyes. His eyelids felt heavy as he fought to open them, his body growing more aware of the position he was in. The raven let out a sigh, trying to ignore the pain on the back of his head, and then tensed as he heard someone else moving somewhere close.
Not wanting to be blind anymore, Sasuke slowly forced his eyes open, blinking a few times to get used to the light. Fortunately it wasn't bright, as if whoever had captured him had thought about his eyes when setting the lights, and it didn't get long until Sasuke could keep his eyes open.
He was sitting upright in a wooden chair, his hands tied behind his back and a rope binding his ankles as well, efficiently stopping any kind of escape attempts he might make. His head still throbbed painfully and it made it hard to concentrate on his surroundings, but with some effort he looked around. The room was small and very plain with no furniture which immediately made Sasuke think that he was probably trapped inside some kind of a closet, perhaps an abandoned one. For a moment he considered shouting for help, but the idea was gone as soon as it had come because when he tried to open his mouth, a strong hand appeared from nowhere and rested heavily on his shoulder.
"I see you're awake."
Sasuke swallowed thickly and refused to turn to look, the voice being more than enough to identify the man.
"Kakashi", he bit out, his voice sounding raspy and hoarse even to his own ears. The hand left his shoulder and brushed over his hair, making the raven shudder in disgust, and then it was gone.
"What do you want?"
Sasuke wasn't sure if he should've been afraid, but he really couldn't bring that out. He was just annoyed and slightly nervous, his hands itching to punch the daring man from the bath house. He had no idea why he had been dragged here like this, but he was sure it had something to do with the fact that the man obviously knew who he was. The raven still wasn't able to shake of the feeling that he knew Kakashi, but he sure as hell wasn't going to ask.
"Just talk", Kakashi sing-songed, walking around the chair and dragging along another one, placing it in front of Sasuke so he could sit down and watch the younger man. He was wearing the same clothes he had had last night, or whenever it had been that they had went to the bath house with Naruto.
Naruto. The question rose from inside Sasuke before he could think about it at all, his lips moving on their own.
"Where's Naruto?"
Kakashi looked mildly amused, his one visible eye lighting up a little.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" he replied easily, glancing down at his open book's pages as if he was reluctant to leave it even for a moment.
Sasuke was hardly able to bite back a snarl.
"I asked... Where is Naruto?" he repeated slowly, glaring weakly at Kakashi. His head was starting to get worse as he tried to hold it up and keep up with the glaring at the same time, and his fingers felt numb when he tried to stretch them. How long had he been here?
"And I told you rather clearly I'm not going to tell you", the older man stated firmly. He looked still just as bored as he'd been before, but he put away the book he'd been holding and shook his head, studying Sasuke's face with his only eye.
Feeling uncomfortable under the sharp staring, Sasuke shifted a little and closed his eyes for a moment, not feeling necessarily threatened at the moment. Sure, he was tied up like a prisoner, and even when he still could feel a certain cold-blooded determination oozing from the man, it didn't feel like this Kakashi was particularly dangerous to him. Besides, Sasuke had never been a coward and rarely even Orochimaru had managed to threaten him into silence when he had had something to say.
"Why not?" he demanded and his eyes narrowed as he watched the dry but humorous glint in the stranger's eye. Why didn't he feel like a real prisoner at all? It was almost like the man was toying with him rather than trying to scare him.
Kakashi shook his head again, some gray hair falling over his eyes and he swiped it away, giving Sasuke a crooked smirk.
"Because you don't need that information right now. But don't worry, he's alright."
"I'm not worried!" Sasuke immediately snapped, his cheeks heating up lightly as he realized that had probably come out a bit too fast.
"Of course, of course", Kakashi murmured and let out a little chuckle before his face grew serious again and he gave Sasuke an intense look.
The younger man tensed again, his lips pressing into a thin line as he brazed himself for whatever would now be coming. He didn't know what to expect, and it was making him slightly uncomfortable. But as long as he couldn't see a gun anywhere things were fine; as long as he was kept alive he could bear almost anything.
Kakashi blinked slowly and then leaned closer a little, an unnamed emotion flashing in his eyes, before he looked away with a sigh.
"You look so much like him..."
That wasn't exactly what Sasuke had expected.
"What?" he asked, puzzled, and tried to make something out of the way Kakashi kept eying him with a look that was almost... sad.
"You really don't remember me, don't you?" The sadness was suddenly gone and the older man leaned back, relaxing in his chair.
"No wonder though... You weren't even born..."
Sasuke frowned, feeling slightly puzzled. Kakashi had just proved that he knew him, but how was it possible if he hadn't even been born back then, whenever that was?
"Who are you?" he asked suddenly, studying Kakashi's face intensely. For some reason he felt like the information was really important, something he needed to know, and he was also aware that he probably wouldn't be leaving the place before he remembered who the guy was.
Amusement flashed in the older man's eyes and he smirked slowly at Sasuke.
"Just Kakashi", he answered simply with a shrug, but the way he kept returning Sasuke's stare hinted of a deeper meaning behind the reply.
Almost growling in frustration, the raven tried tugging his hands free again, the urge to punch Kakashi growing almost unbearable. Or maybe he should just shoot the man when he got free, to get out of here. He didn't have time to waste...
"Stop playing around", Sasuke snarled, trying to look threatening despite his not very convincing situation.
"I'm in a hurry, I don't have time for your games..."
"Oh?" This time, Kakashi's voice was far from bored. In fact, he had sounded overly surprised, as if he was still mocking the younger man.
"Why would you be hurrying somewhere? Running away from Rattlesnake's men, maybe? Or doing something for him... Granting him his final wish? How noble of you... I didn't realize you actually cared about him that much..."
At that, Sasuke started seeing red. He could've been able to bear listening to the other man picking on him, making fun of his current state or even his relationship with Naruto, but this... This was too much.
"How dare you?" the raven hissed through his teeth, glaring at Kakashi with such cold hatred that even the stoic man couldn't keep his face entirely bored. Sasuke noticed the tiny flinch, but it didn't bring him much joy, not right now.
"Do you honestly think I would do something like that? After everything he did to me? I was never willingly helping him, you bastard! I was fucking sold to him, for God's sake!"
Kakashi remained silent as Sasuke yelled at him and trashed in his chair, struggling to get free. The gray-haired man didn't move as he watched the raven, but the smirk had faded away as he let it sink in what he had just heard.
"...sold to him, you said?" he asked calmly, his eyes darting down to his book again. He hadn't given it any attention in a while, and thinking that it maybe felt a little bit left out he stroked the covers gently.
Sasuke's mouth snapped shut and he stared at Kakashi, horror clenching his insides as he realized what he had said. The way he had ended up in Orochimaru's hands was something he had never discussed with anyone, and blurting it out like this was something he had never wanted to do. The humiliation of being sold like a pathetic animal had been almost too much for him to bear back them, and the feeling had just gotten worse along the years.
"I see... Everything makes sense, then... Itachi killed them all, didn't he?" Kakashi kept talking, oblivious to Sasuke's mood change. When he received no answer he barely nodded at the raven, standing up with the bored look back on his face.
"So you wasn't voluntarily working for Rattlesnake?"
"Never!" Sasuke bit out, his face feeling too warm. But he was just so embarrassed, his eyes already focused on the floor as he waited for the other man to come to some kind of decision.
Nothing more was said, and slowly Kakashi turned around and walked over to the door that was apparently behind Sasuke's back since the raven couldn't see it. He slipped out and closed the door, leaving the younger man in complete silence. Sasuke couldn't hear anything from the outside, and slowly he started to believe it wasn't even morning yet. His headache was now almost gone, only a dull but bearable throbbing remained, and he closed his eyes for a moment. He had no idea what was going to happen next, Kakashi hadn't given him any clues, and now that he was alone his thoughts returned to Naruto, wondering what had happened to him, if anything. Perhaps he had just spent a happy night with a pretty little hooker and then slept soundly until morning, if it was morning already. For some reason, thinking about that made Sasuke even more pissed off about the situation.
After what had felt like hours to Sasuke, he started hearing noise outside the room again. It had been all quiet before, his breathing being the only sound in the small room. He had tried to struggle against the ropes for a while after Kakashi had left, but with no knife it was impossible to get them off his wrists. The struggling had only made his ankles and wrists ache, the skin tearing, and finally the raven had given up with an angry huff.
And now it appeared that someone was coming to him again. Sasuke listened carefully as the voices came closer, one of them loud and almost drowning the other one. As he listened to the deep voice that was apparently almost yelling at someone else, he started to feel familiar tightness in his stomach, and the closer the voices got the worse he felt. He would've recognized Naruto's voice everywhere, and it made him suddenly feel cold all over. Had they captured him as well? It couldn't be, this had to be some kind of sick and twisted joke of Kakashi's...
"...and I swear, if you have hurt him at all I will rip your balls off! You have no idea what he's been through, you bastard..."
Sasuke closed his eyes exasperatedly, deciding that he didn't want to hear after all. Naruto's voice had trailed off for a moment, another voice that had to belong to Kakashi now speaking, asking something, and then the bounty hunter was yelling again. That was, until a key was turned in a lock and Sasuke braced himself for whatever would happen next.
There was a stunned silence that lasted for some seconds, those seconds being enough to clear Sasuke head as he held himself still, refusing to turn to look. It definitely hadn't sound like Naruto was a prisoner of any kind, but you could never be sure.
A low growl pierced the silence and suddenly there was a lot of noise, all coming from the blond-haired bounty hunter as he rushed forward, sinking to his knees to free the raven from the ropes. His fingers worked feverishly and then there was a side of a blade pressing against Sasuke's palm, the sharp metal cutting through the ropes easily. Naruto was letting out angry huffs and grunts as he worked to free the raven, Kakashi staying at the doorway, watching them with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Finally the bloody ropes fell to the floor and Naruto jumped up, walking over the chair to face Sasuke. The dark eyes were directed at the floor, black bangs falling over them to hide Sasuke's face from the view, but the blonde was taking none of that. He reached forward and grabbed Sasuke's face, lifting it as his eyes searched for the other's, trying to read the obsidian pools for any sings of pain.
"Sasuke?" Naruto murmured with comforting yet slightly panicked voice, stroking the pale cheek with his thumb without noticing it himself.
"Are you okay?"
He received no answer, but he couldn't help flinching as the dark eyes turned to finally look in his, biting cold anger swirling in them.
"Sasuke?" the bounty hunter tried again, and this time his voice was a bit higher than before.
"Damn it, answer me! Are you hurt somewhere? Did he do something?" Sasuke looked so weird to him, and he had obviously been struggling a lot, what if Kakashi had really done something, why was Sasuke even here...
"My my, Naruto, you're hurting my feelings", Kakashi drawled from the doorway where he was still standing.
Naruto gave the older man a half-hearted glare, his attention still on Sasuke.
"I know well enough what you're capable of", he murmured at Kakashi, and then yelped in surprise as Sasuke suddenly moved, his hand coming up in a fast motion to swat Naruto away like an annoying bug.
Too many things happened too fast for Naruto to follow. Sasuke was telling him to hand over the knife and he did, but just as the raven's fingers touched the blade Kakashi was there, someone cursed loudly, blood splattered on Naruto's hand, the blonde stumbled backwards and he heard the chair scraping against the the floor as Sasuke struggled against the rope that was still holding him seated, hissing at Kakashi. It all took less than three seconds.
Silence fell again, and the stunned blonde found himself sitting on the floor and staring at Kakashi with wide eyes. The older man was standing behind Sasuke, the knife he was holding pressed against the raven's neck, and the bored look he usually wore had finally given way to something sharper, harder.
Sasuke was not moving. He was breathing heavily, careful not to shift even a little bit to keep his throat still in one piece, but his hands were clenching the edges of the chair painfully hard and his jaw was tense, his dark eyes glaring at the wall behind Naruto. Slowly, sensing that the blonde was watching, he let his gaze drop for a moment, and something flashed in the black depths, something Sasuke probably hadn't meant to let on the surface.
That sobered Naruto enough that he could stumble up from the floor, his brows knitting together in angry frown as he stalked closer to the chair, torn between trying to get Sasuke to look at him again and concentrating on Kakashi alone.
"What the hell, Kakashi?" he spat out, his hands clenched into fists and shaking from anger as he fought the urge to grab the hand that was holding the knife and wrenching it away from Sasuke. Even if he did trust Kakashi, the situation was making him nervous in a very unpleasant way.
"Let him go, you old pod!"
The one-eyed man slowly shook his head and the blade stayed in its spot, keeping the raven immobilized.
"Not yet, Naruto." Kakashi's voice was calm and quiet but free of any signs of boredom and disinterest. His gaze was glued on Sasuke, he kept studying the raven as if expecting him to do something rash.
"What's wrong with you?" Naruto half-yelled in frustration, flailing helplessly. He felt so useless, standing there, but there wasn't much he could do for Sasuke at the moment. The raven wasn't in an immediate risk of death, but he was threatened by Kakashi nonetheless, and no-one on their right mind would feel comfortable around a man with a record such as Kakashi's.
"Let him the hell go, what do you think you're doing? He's done nothing wrong!" He stepped closer again, looking from Kakashi to Sasuke and then right back, not wanting to miss anything.
In response, Kakashi arched a brow and a look of dry amusement crossed his face.
"Nothing? Are you sure?" he asked sarcastically and Sasuke tensed, his hands still holding onto the chair.
"I believe there are lots of things he's done in his life... Things that you might not be aware of."
Naruto blinked stupidly, but then his anger flared again, the blue eyes darkening as the need to defend Sasuke grew.
"Shut up! You know nothing, Kakashi! I saved him from Rattlesnake, I [i]saw[i] what it was like! Just let him go right now you beef-headed coot!"
Again, Kakashi refused to listen. He only shook his head, giving Naruto an interesting look.
"Saved him? You? I don't think so", he drawled, pretending that he didn't notice the way Sasuke had started to fidget nervously. The conversation obviously wasn't going to a way he would've wanted it to.
"I think you should've kept a better eye on this little Nancy-boy instead of spending your night painting your nose and entertaining that pretty painted cat..."
Naruto's eyes flashed dangerously and he let out a feral growl, refusing to look at Sasuke. Kakashi was raising his bristles on purpose and the blonde knew that man had no intention of telling him anything actually important, he just enjoyed toying with him like this.
"Enough!" he snapped, his self-control already cracking.
"Let him go, and then we can talk all you want!"
Kakashi stared back at him for a moment, showing no emotion as he contemplated the choices. Then, slowly, he pulled the knife away, the blade leaving a thin red line on the tender skin.
"So you really trust this dude... How unexpected..."
Still shaking from anger, Naruto held out his hand for the blade, and after Kakashi handed it over he knelt down to cut away the ropes from Sasuke's ankles. His forehead wrinkled as he fought to keep his hands steady as not to cut the raven's skin. It took him a moment, but finally they fell to the floor and Sasuke immediately stretched his feet, almost kicking Naruto in the process. Naruto simply glared at him, getting up to cut away the final ropes that were still keeping Sasuke tied to the chair when Kakashi stopped him, firmly grabbing his arm.
"Wait", the older man suggested with hard voice.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
Had it been anyone else but Kakashi, Naruto might've thought there was a hint of concern in his voice, but now he just sneered and shook Kakashi's hand away.
"If he was out to kill me, he would've done that already. And besides, he's not a dude." His anger had deflated quickly as it always did, although there was something lingering in his mind, making him tense and annoyed.
Kakashi watched Naruto cutting off the final ropes, a thoughtful look in his eye. He couldn't recall seeing the young bounty hunter like this in a long while, so riled up for someone's else sake. He could see trust and something that he couldn't quite place on Naruto's part, but the other man was harder to read... But then again, he was an Uchiha, and Kakashi had long ago realized that no-one but another Uchiha could really understand what was going on in their heads. Yet even if Naruto trusted this former shake of Rattlesnake's, it didn't mean the raven was completely clean.
Sasuke had remained silent through the whole conversation, and when the ropes loosened around him he shook them off and slowly stood up. His legs were numb and he was tense and stiff, his joints letting out little pops and cracks as he took a couple of steps forward, feeling surprisingly weak. The headache returned immediately, the back of his head throbbing painfully and he fought to keep his face impassive as he felt Naruto's eyes on him, knowing that the blonde was looking for a reason to coddle him some more.
"Are you feeling okay?" The bounty hunter immediately asked just like Sasuke had expected, and he reached to touch Sasuke's arm, only to have the raven swatting his hand away. A frown crossed Naruto's face and he glared at Kakashi again, blaming him for Sasuke's sour mood.
Sasuke turned around, facing Kakashi, and his eyes flashed dangerously. He was not letting it on, but his insides were bubbling with anger and hatred. The man had insulted him repeatedly, but the insults weren't what really mattered to the raven. He could take being called a dude no problem, Nancy-boy was more annoying especially when he had tried his best to become more masculine, but what really bothered him was the way the older man was so suspicious of him. He hadn't been there willingly after all, and he was sure Kakashi was aware of that, yet still the man kept giving him this doubtful look, almost as if he was expecting Sasuke to shoot both him and Naruto at any moment.
Rolling his shoulders, Sasuke glanced around and then back at Kakashi, avoiding Naruto's eyes. He was still pissed off at the blonde, he would've never been knocked out and dragged here for this stupid interrogation had it not been for Naruto, and he didn't have the energy to deal with Naruto right now.
"Where's my gun?" he asked calmly, keeping his eyes on Kakashi. The question also included the knives he had had hidden in his clothes but were now gone, because there was no way Sasuke would leave this room unarmed.
Kakashi shrugged one shoulder and suddenly smirked at the raven. However, his next words were directed to Naruto.
"Should I give them to him?"
Naruto groaned in frustration, giving Sasuke a quick glance before returning his stare at Kakashi. He was tired of these stupid games and Kakashi's suspicions and being confused in general. The latter was mostly caused by Sasuke though, and the way the raven stole all his attention and stayed in his head even when he tried not to think about him.
"I already told you, you scamp. We need to get going", he snarled, the darkened blue eyes watching as Kakashi shrugged again and left the room for a moment.
He came back before neither Sasuke nor Naruto had the time to think about running away, holding Sasuke's revolver and a couple of knives in his hands. The gray-haired man handed them over to Naruto, giving Sasuke just one more meaningful glare.
"You're free to go", he informed them, smiling pleasantly as all he received were two almost identically pissed off glares.
Snatching his weapons from Naruto, Sasuke slid the gun into its holster and kept the knives in hand as he headed out of the door, keeping an eye on Kakashi as he went.
Naruto cleared his throat and then turned to follow, his anger slowly fading into complete confusion. He couldn't understand what this whole scene was all about, something was still wrong. And as if to emphasize that, when he was about to pass his old teacher the man reached forward and grabbed his elbow, still giving him the same odd smile.
Before Naruto could as much as yelp in protest, Kakashi had leaned closer, way too close actually, his breath was ghosting over Naruto's ear as he spoke.
"Don't trust him more than you'd trust Black Weasel himself. He might not act like he it, but he isn't all that innocent." He pulled back again, and when Naruto had finally recovered from his surprise, Kakashi was already leaning against the door frame with his precious book in his hands, looking like nothing had happened.
Knowing that he would get nothing more out of his teacher, Naruto exited the room with a confused frown on his face, his thoughts swirling around in his head. Why would Kakashi mention Black Weasel? The bounty hunter was sure it wasn't a coincidence, Kakashi never did anything without a meaning. He had the feeling there was something he should understand, something behind those words that would tell him something very important about Sasuke and what had happened here, but he couldn't bring himself to make the pieces fit. Although it was good to see that his old teacher hadn't changed, Naruto wouldn't have minded a bit clearer piece of advice. No matter how great a bounty hunter Kakashi had been on his prime, it didn't mean he had to act all that mysterious all the time.
Shrugging, he jogged out of the building, searching for Sasuke with his eyes. Whatever Kakashi had tried to say could wait a little longer, it didn't appear to be too urgent anyway, and now he had to catch up with the raven and... apologize? Naruto's stomach clenched unpleasantly as he thought about apologizing. Would he have to? He hadn't done anything wrong, after all, it wasn't Naruto's fault that Sasuke had refused the lady he'd been offered and decided to run away into the night all by himself.
Sasuke's anger had obviously sped up his feet as well, because Naruto didn't even see him before their hotel. As the building came into view, he caught a glimpse of familiar dark hair disappearing into the building and then the door was shut, making the blonde curse under his breath. He had been jogging to catch Sasuke before he reached the hotel, but no, the bastard had to practically run away from him like that and leave him hanging.
Grumbling to himself, Naruto hurried to the door and then inside, to finally grab Sasuke's shoulder at the door of their room. The said shoulder tensed immediately, and the bounty hunter could see that the raven was fighting against the urge to shrug him away.
"Sasuke." The word came out choked and fast, and Naruto cleared his throat, his fingers tightening around the other's shoulder, not wanting to let him run away.
"I... What happened?" Sure, Kakashi had told him the basics earlier, but he wanted to know if the man had left something important out.
Slowly, Sasuke turned his head, an unreadable look in his eyes as he gave Naruto an odd look, but he didn't attempt to shake the man's hand off.
"Why are you asking? I bet he told you enough already." His voice was calm and collected, but something was different to how he'd been before. The raven sounded more reserved, withdrawn, like he was purposely keeping Naruto out. He hadn't opened up much before either, but now it felt like it had gotten just worse.
"Now, let go. I have things to do."
A couple of quiet and sulky days later Naruto woke up suddenly, his whole body tingling unpleasantly. It was dark inside the room and at first he couldn't see anything, but even as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the lighting he couldn't shake off the restless feeling. It almost gave him chills, making his hairs stand up, and instinctively his hand went to search for his gun that was hidden under his pillow. His fingers met the cold metal and he sighed in relief, pulling the revolver out and holding it steady, ready to shoot if the situation called for it.
He waited quietly, listening closely to find out if there was someone else breathing in the hotel room. It took him a moment before he realized he was alone, but before the thought could really register a dark human figure flashed behind his window and Naruto let out a choked yell, firing towards the window. He hadn't survived this long waiting for others fire before he did.
In the middle of the sound of the glass shattering, Naruto rolled off his bed, hoping to use it as a shield between himself and the bullets. His breathing was heavy but he was no longer slightest bit sleepy, the surprise having shaken him awake.
Much to his surprise, the room remained utterly quiet, his breathing being the only sound before he heard heavy running steps from corridor outside the room and someone banged on the door.
"Hey? What's going on there?" a male voice demanded loudly, trying the door knob. Too bad Naruto had locked it when they'd gone to bed.
"There's someone outside the window!" Naruto called back although he had the feeling he was probably alone already. All he could see from the window now was a wall of another house and a bit of sky and some stars, no suspicious figures looming around and preparing to shoot him.
That was when Naruto remembered what had seemed off in the room in the first place. It was way too quiet, his breathing being the only one, and in a flash he had turned around and crawled to Sasuke's bed, panic clenching his stomach.
"Sasuke!" he hissed loudly, reaching to pull away Sasuke's covers.
The bed was empty. Again.
The man behind the door shouted something again, and still staring at the bed in shock Naruto crouched and made his way to the door, holding his gun ready as he opened it. He was greeted with a sight of the owner of the hotel standing at the door, holding a gun as well as he peered at the blonde.
Naruto, however, had turned away as soon as he had checked there was no-one else with the hotel keeper, and was no inspecting the room, looking around for any signs of Sasuke. There was absolutely nothing. Everything Sasuke had carried with him were gone save for the sack where his dress had been kept, and Naruto had the sinking feeling that Rayo wouldn't be there either. His stomach burned as he clutched his gun, trying to reason with himself. The raven had left, again, but this time for good. It didn't look like he was coming back at all.
"...your friend?"
The hotel owner's words slowly registered in Naruto's mind and he spun around, shaking his head hastily at the man.
"I don't know, but I have to go now... I'll pay when I come back!" He was a regular customer after all, and he knew the man would go demand the money from Kakashi if Naruto didn't make it back to the hotel in a few months.
The bounty hunter hastily pulled on some clothes and stuffed some necessary equipment to Sasuke's dress sack. The hotel keeper was staring at the broken window as Naruto rushed past him and down to the stairs, trying not to make too much noise. It had to be past midnight already, most of the hotel guests were asleep and even if he was freaking out he was thoughtful enough to not disturb the other guests.
Naruto made his way to the tables in a record time, and he was greeted with the sight he'd been expecting; no sign of Rayo anywhere. Whirl looked like he'd been dozing a little, but as Naruto unceremoniously rushed into his stall and started saddling him the stallion was quickly awake and giving Naruto a doubtful look.
"Sorry, boy...", the blonde murmured, patting Whirl's neck apologetically.
"But tonight we have to run after one stupid princess."
And in no longer than five minutes they were out of the stable, heading down the street. It irked Naruto that he had no idea where to go, no hint of Sasuke's whereabouts or destination, but he trusted his tracking abilities enough. Which meant that as soon as he passed a saloon, he stopped in front of a group of very drunk men to ask a couple of questions.
The confrontation left the men slightly richer and Naruto with a direction to go to. One of the drunkards had said that a man with piercing eyes on a crazy-looking black horse had passed them no longer than twenty minutes ago, and the bounty hunter had immediately recognized the description. The other man, the one that was less drunk, had also mentioned that the spooky guy had apparently been in a rush and it had been obvious that he'd been heading out of the town. Some said that it wasn't smart to trust the drunk, but Naruto had learned otherwise during the years.
That was why the town was soon left behind him and he rode forward in the quiet night. He was probably feeling more nervous than he should've, but the road he was currently following would take him to the abandoned Uchiha ranch before eventually leading to the next large town. Not that Naruto liked admitting it, but if he could decide he definitely wouldn't have been passing the ranch by night. The other road would've taken so much longer that he hadn't even considered it for real, knowing that since Sasuke wouldn't care about ghosts.
The closer he came to the said ranch the slower Whirl seemed to walk, as if reflecting his rider's mood. The bounty hunter was itching all over thanks to his nerves, worry about Sasuke and the fear of ghosts almost choking him as he forced himself to keep Whirl walking. He felt sweaty and unsure, his hand shaking slightly as he clutched his revolver like a drowning man clinging to a tree branch, and his eyes darted nervously around. The ranch was already there, looming in the horizon, but Naruto knew from experience that even if the building looked like it was still far away, he would be there sooner than expected.
Everything around the ranch felt eerie. It was dark, the trees looked dead and a run-down gate creaked quietly as the slight wind made it shift a little. Other than that, Naruto couldn't see or feel any signs of wind, the windows of the main building looked like dark, unforgiving eyes staring at Naruto, and every crack of branches Whirl stepped on made the man jump in the saddle and wave his gun blindly in the air, ready to shoot at a vicious ghost if one came to view.
The whole place looked so dead, the blonde was sure not even rats or lizards lived there. Absentmindedly he wondered what kind of place the ranch had been on its days of prime, but it was hard to imagine any living creature habiting this place. Shivering, Naruto headed towards the main building, but everything came to a halt as a faint light suddenly flashed in one of the windows. The blonde let out a muffled shriek, his instincts screaming at him to run for his life. It was the ghost of the younger brother, he knew it was, the ghost had come to murder him, mistaking him to the man that had slaughtered his family years ago...
Had he not been mounted, Naruto would've been running halfway back to the town already. But Whirl wouldn't let him. Huffing, the horse pushed forward toward the building, with his rider practically shaking from fear in the saddle. The road went very close to the house before turning sharply away from the ranch again, and every step closer to the building made Naruto's throat feel tighter. Another horrified gasp escaped Naruto's lips as the light moved, past another window, and then faded again until it was dark again inside the building. The ever so courageous bounty hunter swallowed, his hands feeling weak as he kept his hold of the reins and waited for Whirl to get close enough to the house.
It had been only a step or three before a soft neigh caught Naruto's attention. Unlike the other sounds here, that neigh had sounded surprisingly alive and coming from something that still breathed and ate. Whirl raised his head sharply before answering the neigh with another one, picking up his pace as he now clearly headed towards the building. Terrified, Naruto sat in the saddle, his eyes almost shut as he hoped Whirl wasn't wrong with this one. According to the horse's behaviour, he could guess it was Rayo there, and staying in a place like this was so Sasuke's style.
A moment later Naruto reluctantly peeled his fingers off Whirl's mane, patting the horse gently one more time before stepping away. Rayo was just some feet away from Whirl so at least the horse wouldn't be getting bored or scared, and for a moment the bounty hunter wondered if he could simply stay here with the horses and wait for Sasuke to come out on his own.
Because now it was already very clear that Sasuke was in there. Rayo was out here waiting for him, tied loosely enough that she could be freed quickly if there would be a hasty retreat, and she was also moved out of the plain sight to behind the main building. Somehow it pained Naruto to see how well Sasuke was hiding his presence, as if to make sure the blonde would never find him, and had it not been for Whirl he would've never stopped here. Sasuke was weird, but he never would've guessed this weird.
Swallowing thickly, Naruto inched away from Whirl, walking slowly around the house to the closest door. He kept close to the wall, to make sure no-one or nothing could attack him from behind, his knees still feeling oddly soft as he reached a door that he thought might lead to a kitchen. Going to the front door hadn't even crossed Naruto's mind, that would be suicidal in his opinion, and so he silently grabbed the doorknob and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. The light inside the house had not been a ghost. It had been just Sasuke, not some kind of freaky ghost waiting for him to walk into its trap...
Had Naruto seen himself he might've mistaken himself to a ghost actually, so pale he was as the pushed the door open, wincing as it let out a low creak, and then slid inside. He closed the door softly, leaning his back against it as he took in his surroundings, letting his gaze travel around the room.
He had indeed entered a kitchen. It was a large one, with lots of closets and a huge oven, and a large wooden table with two long benches was placed on the far right. On the wall above the stove hung a line of smaller pots and wooden utensils, and Naruto's gaze also slid over a wooden baker's rack. On almost every counter top there were all kinds of jars, and the blonde briefly imagined how difficult it would've been to sneak here to steal a couple of cookies if you didn't know which of those was the cookie jar. Then he shook his head, dismissing the thought, and stepped away from the door.
Moon was shining through the window, giving the room the same eerie atmosphere that had held the whole house and its grounds outside. The warm shades of brown and red were somehow mutilated by the pale light, and even the horse shoes Naruto had noticed on the wall seemed to be casting wavering shadows to the room. It was difficult to keep his imagination from taking over, and Naruto wished from the bottom of his heart that he would've had taken a lantern with him. He had a small one with his packages, but he knew that if he now went out of the house, he would not be coming back regardless of Sasuke being here.
The man rubbed his chin, the freshly shaved stubble feeling odd under his fingers. The room looked like your typical haunted house, and Naruto wanted nothing more than to turn around and run away. Although he was rather sure that if he tried, the door would not budge, and he didn't want to try feeling trapped like that. The crazy ghost had to be somewhere here.
Shaking his head, the bounty hunter took a couple of steps forward and then stopped in his tracks, his hand flying up to his hat's rim. It suddenly struck him that people had died here, quite a lot of people actually, which made this place... Well, definitely not sacred, but there was something in the air, something that made him take off his hat. There weren't many places that he honored that way, only when going to church (which he very rarely did) or a bath house he would agree to take it off, but for some reason it felt almost necessary here. Not that the dead cared, of course, but maybe the ghost of the slaughtered younger brother would feel a bit more favorable towards him this way.
Feeling a bit better yet kind of naked without his hat, Naruto tiptoed to the only door that was open, appearing to the middle of a long hallway. It looked like any other hallway he'd been before, only it was quite of dark in there, and as he glanced down the blonde flinched, noticing the dark stain he was standing on. It looked like the wooden floor had absorbed something dark and the stain had become permanent, and Naruto had no questions of what the liquid might be.
A violent shudder ran down Naruto's spine and he quickly stepped away from the stain into the hallway. He wasn't particularly sensitive to blood, of course not, but it was his surroundings that made the thing creepy. After that stain, the man made sure to glance down every now and then to make sure he wasn't standing on anything he'd rather avoid.
The worn out hat in his hand, Naruto kept walking down the hallway away from where he supposed the main entrance was. His other hand rested on the handle of his gun, not that it provided much safety considering how little damage bullets supposedly did to ghosts, but at least he felt better that way. The old floor squeaked under his feet as he made his way to the end of the hallway and he almost jumped out of his skin, the sudden sound scaring Naruto to half death. The way his heart pounded like crazy had him leaning against the wall, his hat pressed above his heart as he attempted to catch his breath, mentally scolding himself for being such an idiot. It was just the floor, no need to be afraid...
The expressive blue eyes closed for a second to help Naruto calm down, but as he opened them he was about to have another heart attack. Closer to the end of the hallway there were two doors open on the wall opposite the one he was leaning against, and from one of the doors faint light was shining and flickering softly. The shadows stretched as if the light source had been moving slowly, and Naruto had to bite his lip to hold inside a terrified whine. Suddenly he all he could think about was how much he wanted to find Sasuke and on the other hand, how happy he was that he was alone. Had he been here with Sasuke, the raven would never let him live this crazy state of fear down.
As Naruto watched, the light started to slowly move away again, and the blonde found the strength to push himself away from the wall. He knew that he should've called out to Sasuke when the man had been that close, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. Maybe Sasuke was crazy enough to walk around here making that much noise and even carrying a lantern, but Naruto sure as hell wasn't going to attract the ghost's attention. Not that there were any ghosts for real, of course.
...noise? Suddenly the hairs on Naruto's arms were standing up and he started slowly pull back, keeping himself close to the wall. He waited until there was an open door behind his back and slipped through it without even turning to look where he was going, his eyes still on the light that had started to move closer to the hallway again. The footsteps grew heavier and louder and Naruto found himself holding his breath, trying to keep as quiet as possible.
Something wasn't right here. Rayo had been outside which meant Sasuke had to be here, there was no way that devilish mare would've let anyone else bring her here. He couldn't also imagine any other place for the raven to go to, with so little equipment he couldn't have left for any longer riders so it made sense that he'd decided to stay here, close to Leaf Creek but in a place he knew Naruto would stay away from. It was clever, very much so, and the bounty hunter silently admitted that maybe Sasuke truly was a lot sharper than he'd thought in the beginning.
However, that didn't explain the footsteps and the light. Had it been just the light, Naruto would've been running out of the house already, but he knew for sure that ghosts didn't make so much noise. He stayed hidden in the shadows, waiting for the mysterious someone to come out from the room, and after a moment his efforts were rewarded. A tall, bulky man peered out of the room, stepping into the hallway. He looked quite average, his clothing being nothing to attract attention and there was nothing in his face to hold anyone's interest for a while. The lantern gave just enough light that Naruto could make out his features, and he could immediately tell he hadn't seen this man ever before.
A sigh of relief threatened to leave his lips but he refused to let it out, sliding deeper into the room he was currently in. The lantern man hadn't looked like he was going to check even the hallway properly, but Naruto wasn't going to risk it, not like this. His mind was desperately trying to bring some logic into this, having the man here, and he couldn't help but to wonder if it had been Sasuke's plan all along. Maybe he'd agreed to meet the man here and that was why he had been in such a hurry? And he hadn't told about the meeting to Naruto because it had something to do with Rattlesnake and his business.
That seemed like the most logical explanation but for some reason it made Naruto's heart sank and he had to swallow heavily. He hated it that Kakashi might've actually been right about Sasuke after all, that the right place for the raven would've been prison, despite what he'd said back then. It wasn't like Sasuke couldn't lie.
Slowly he shook his head, listening to the heavy footsteps moving away again, and then started maneuvering his way to the other side of the room where there was another door. The moon was providing just enough light for him to see the furniture in what he thought had been a dining room.
Naruto opened the door carefully and glanced around, seeing nothing but darkness. He couldn't help but to wonder where the lantern man had disappeared, but it wasn't on the top of his list right now; he had to find Sasuke.
After a moment the bounty hunter had located a staircase leading upstairs, and he stood at the end of it, staring up. The man wasn't sure if he wanted to go there, for some reason the darkness seemed even heavier on the second floor, but the way the odd man kept circling around the ground floor didn't leave him much choice. The first step let out a creak as Naruto stepped on it and he let out a muffled curse, glancing around in growing panic. had the man down here heard him? For long seconds he listened carefully, waiting for the footsteps start coming running towards him, but as nothing came he slowly moved close to the wall and started making his way upstairs. Inside his head he quickly thanked whoever had built this house and decided to have wall on the other side of the stairs instead of putting the stairs somewhere out open with only railings on both sides. Walking close to the wall made usually little noise, unlike trotting up closer to the railing.
There was still no steps downstairs as Naruto got to the second floor, his legs feeling significantly stronger than they had before. It made this so much easier, to have more people here, to know that there was at least something he could shoot here if things went wrong.
The second floor didn't differ much from the first, and Naruto glanced down at the hat in his hands, but ended up in not wearing it inside at all. Upstairs or not, the ghost of the house still hadn't disappeared. He shrugged and then glanced around, his eyes wide as he looked for a sign of the ghost being present. No ghost anywhere, but what he saw instead was faint light shining from one of the doors on his left. His curiosity peeked, Naruto swallowed and started to tip-toe towards the doorway, hoping that it would be Sasuke this time. He wouldn't give himself out yet, but it wouldn't hurt to spy on the raven a little to see what he was actually doing.
Naruto's brows were furrowed in concentration as he made his way closer to the door, listening carefully. Surprisingly, the only sounds he could hear in the dark house were the heavy steps from downstairs and almost inaudible rustling from a corner of the room which he suspected was caused by rats moving around. The room he was heading to was quiet, almost as if there was nobody inside, and briefly the blonde wondered if he'd been wrong about the light. Maybe the guy downstairs had left another lantern here and then left to look for whatever he was looking for down there.
It wasn't enough to make him get careless though, and Naruto drew in a deep breath as he pressed flat against the wall, inching closer to the door to peek inside. Fortunately the light didn't reach the doorway so whoever was in that room wouldn't probably see him thanks to the hallway being so dark. The calloused fingers held onto the gun tighter as Naruto slowly moved his head, peering into the room with only one eyes.
What he saw immediately was Sasuke. The man was standing in front of what looked like some kind of a drawer, his hands hanging down, held slightly apart from his body, and his posture tense. The light that came from a lantern on the floor revealed the blank look on his face, but he was obviously gritting his teeth and staring at something on the right side of the room, something that was hidden from Naruto's eyes for now. The bounty hunter tore his eyes away from Sasuke's face for a moment, a gentle gleam on the floor forcing him to look down to the raven's feet.
Sasuke's gun lay there, looking like it had simply been dropped to the floor, and Naruto couldn't understand what kind of idiot would throw his only weapon to the floor like that unless he was being...
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Sasuke..."
...threatened. An unfamiliar voice echoed from the other side of the room and Naruto found himself shivering, a chilly feeling coursing through him as he tried to see what exactly Sasuke had been trying to do. It had to be something with his other hand, the one Naruto couldn't see from here, because he could easily tell the raven hadn't moved even a finger when he'd been watching.
"That's more like it... Behave yourself and I might not need to tie you up... Lord Orochimaru told me you never really enjoyed that."
The slightly nervous tingling in Naruto's gut changed into something totally else, a variety of emotions in fact. The man, whoever it was that had just spoken, had mentioned Rattlesnake in a way that left no doubts about what their relationship had been. 'Lord Orochimaru', which would've made Naruto laugh out loud if the situation hadn't been so serious, pointed clearly to this man being one of Rattlesnake's subordinates, and likely quite a close one if Rattlesnake had really told him such things about Sasuke.
That revelation about the raven was actually what was making Naruto's blood boil. Sasuke hated being tied up? He didn't even want to think about how Rattlesnake had found that out. He had noticed the man in front of him grow slightly pale at the mention of being tied up, and a wave of protectiveness flowed over Naruto, his hand clenching into a fist.
It had been bad enough to let Sasuke be caught by Kakashi that way. Practically sending Sasuke away alone to the night had been the stupidest thing to do, but he hadn't been in a condition to think about it over. He still remembered that rush of horror and panic he'd felt when he'd realized Sasuke was gone for the first time, and the guilt of being mostly responsible for it. He hadn't been able to protect Sasuke despite his good intentions, and in the spur of the moment he had sworn to himself that he'd protect the man from now on. Then Sasuke had gone missing again, and this was where Naruto found him.
Biting his lower lip hard to have the pain cover the rushing emotions, the blonde slowly moved so he could look at the other side of the room as well. His attention was immediately caught by a barrel of a gun that was aimed at Sasuke, explaining all too well why the raven was behaving so well. Gulping, Naruto tried to shake off the cold feeling and slowly moved his gaze to the man holding the gun.
He wasn't a large man by any standards, but he had a certain air around him that it made it hard to ignore him. There was nothing in his clothing that stood out, and the relaxed, confident look on his face made him look like he was strolling down the prairie with his horse instead of threatening another man with a gun. His hair was light, the moonlight giving it an almost silvery glow that didn't waver even in the light from the lantern, and although it briefly made Naruto think of Kakashi he soon realized that there were nothing else connecting those two. While the retired bounty hunter appeared mostly harmless, this man made Naruto shiver and pull his gun. The wheels were already turning in his head as he tried to figure out how he could take that man out and save Sasuke, without attracting the attention of the man downstairs. But then the man spoke again, and before the words had entirely left his lips, the bounty hunter felt his blood run cold.
"Sooner or later you will end up haunting this place though, just like you should be. But I'm thinking of a little necktie social to get you there."