Byakuya
Chapter 26
Betaed by: Sufinkusu
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Iruka noticed that Sasuke was throwing wondering glances at Naruto, and the chuunin was sure Naruto was aware of them too. Naruto ignored Sasuke who turned his dark gaze onto the Uchiha main compound in front of them.
Naruto's going to have to tell them sooner or later. Otherwise somebody's going to get hurt, Iruka mused worriedly.
"Now take it easy with your training, give the drugs a couple of hours to clear off your system so you don't get muscle damage." Kakashi said as Sasuke opened the gate of the main house, revealing a huge un-kept garden behind it. Sasuke nodded curtly before turning to walk inside without a word.
"Yea, good night to you too, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto bellowed after the Uchiha. Iruka almost laughed at the way the brunette's shoulders tensed as he fought not to show he heard Naruto; Naruto was the only one who could draw a reaction from the stoic Uchiha.
Kakashi shook his head amused before giving Naruto's shoulder a slight push.
"Come on, it's almost dinner time." Kakashi mentioned with a slight glance at Iruka. Iruka fought the urge to blush, but didn't quite succeed, feeling slightly exited at the mention of their first date. Both Iruka and Kakashi had danced around the subject a long time. They had been friends for years and had even slept together a few times, but they hadn't been together romantically.
"Yeah, let's get going, you've had a long day Naruto." Iruka agreed, smiling at the blonde who turned to glare at his old teacher.
"Spoilsport," Naruto countered with his tongue out. Iruka traded a look with Kakashi before the group of three made their way to Naruto's apartment.
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"Take it easy for the rest of the night, Naruto!" Kakashi quirked from the hallway as Naruto closed the orange door of his apartment after him. Rolling his blue eyes Naruto sighed and started to take off the broken kimono ensemble.
Frowning at the cuts on the sides that actually reached almost below his shoulders, Naruto threw out the idea about sewing the red yukata and the under-kimono, folding the cloths into a messy pile and putting them on the back of his closet instead. Raising his arm Naruto gave a trying sniff at the air before grimacing.
Fighting with Hiashi and those hanyou really were one hell of a workout. At least judging from the smell, Naruto mused while fetching a fluffy blue towel from his closet and entering his bathroom. Naruto peeled off his boxers and weapons, grimacing at the stench of blood that spread into the small room once layers of cloth were removed.
Stepping under the warm spray of cleansing water Naruto started to rub his skin clean rhythmically, his thoughts turning to what had happened in the medic examination chamber. Naruto leaned forward slightly, and sighed as his forehead made contact with the cool tile of the bathroom wall.
Sakura fears me.
The scream just seemed to echo in his head the same way Kyuubi's purring sometimes did when the demon was exceptionally happy. Of course, Naruto hadn't felt anything but fear from the Kyuubi for months.
Perhaps it can feel the seal weakening, draining us, Naruto mused at his awakening, something he had a feeling he could no longer deny. It was all there, the erratic dreams of his hyper unconscious, the bleeding from his throat and lungs, the sudden flashes of chakra behind his eyelids, and of course, the most dangerous one; the way how his chakra seemed entirely out of control.
Well, not out of control so to say. More like slipping out of control, Naruto darkly thought as he turned to stare at his soapy hands as the water washed the white substance away. He could still feel it, the chakra that he had gathered under his skin and onto his hands as he formed the seals for the shield that because of the mixing chakra turned out purple.
If I were to ever survive my awakening, wonder if that would be what my chakra would look like…? Purple?
Naruto threw his head back under the spray that had turned cold when he hadn't noticed, relishing in the shivers that went through him. An exhaustion unlike anything he had ever felt before swept over his bones and flesh, and abruptly Naruto felt so old. So incredibly old.
Wonder what kind of monster I would end up like…? One with fangs, claws and whiskers…? Like I haven't been one for sixteen years already…And suffered for it.
Turning the cold shower off, Naruto reached for the blue towel, sucking in the warmth as the cloth warmed him up. Naruto stepped out of the shower and immediately out of the bathroom, not giving a glance at the mirror, afraid to look at the person looking back at him.
No matter how much Kisho and Yei tried to avoid the subject, the change was still evident.
The last shreds of hope of ever being able to become fully human once again would be crushed once the awakening was complete. Naruto had seen Kisho and Yei once without their respective genjutsu's that covered the damage done to them at the awakening.
Naruto fingered the white fang hanging around his neck, feeling the loss of something and craving for the company of his fellow Jinchuuriki.
Kisho and Yei had both taken off their genjutsu's as they had partaken in the ancient celebration of the crimson moon with Drake, Yuki, Gaara and himself.
Kisho, at his awakening had nobody to strap him down, nobody to explain to him what was happening. He had lost his other eye and clawed his whole body open in hope of feeling something other than the excruciating pain as his soul was ripped apart. Kisho had recovered from his awakening good though; He covered his missing eye by sunglasses and painted red stripes over the two huge scars on his face. People just assumed the face paint was a fashion statement of some sort. The scars on his body were easily covered by clothing, and as a samurai-nin Kisho wasn't ashamed of his battle-scars, though he preferred to keep them out of sight as not to upset people.
Yei was a different story entirely. She had had someone to hold her down, to take her clawed hand and guide her back to sanity. Yei hadn't been the strongest of people however, which was understandable as she wasn't a ninja. Kisho hadn't been able to bring her totally back and there were times when she hovered on the brink of insanity and the different identities she had chosen to hide herself behind. Naruto wasn't really sure what her original hair color was as she dyed it as often as her mood changed, but he supposed it had been dark brown, once.
She had been strapped down when the last convulsions had mended her and the Yonbi no Sokou, the four tailed dragon-like demon, and so had been unable to hurt herself physically. The mental damage was bad enough though, and Yei had never been able to return to normal life. The scars that Naruto had seen once the henge had been dropped had been done by Yei, after her awakening. The angry dark red scars covered her legs and arms like a bloody spider web, making Naruto shiver at the thought of them.
The scars were never spoken about, though Naruto knew the other Jinchuuriki with him had seen them too, and by the forlorn look Kisho had sent at them, Naruto knew that the oldest Jinchuuriki had known of them, but didn't have the heart in him to stop her.
I'd rather die the day of my awakening than to be reduced to something so not me, Naruto thought as he let the towel drop on the floor before he nestled under the thick covers of his wide bed. Naruto curled into a ball, trying to stop his feet from shaking by wrapping his arms around them.
So Sakura is afraid of me, and she doesn't even know half of the story.
Naruto's blue eyes darkened as he felt his breath uneven and a steady pressure grow in his chest.
Soon they'll know. And once they do, they'll abandon me, like everybody else.
Naruto retracted his hand to claw on the skin of his chest with the claws that seemed to form without his permission.
Monster
The claws broke the skin, drawing red blood, something, that until now had at least been human. Naruto clenched his eyes closed, trying to force down the burning in the back of his throat. He refused to cry, something he hadn't done because of grief since the time he had thought Haku had killed Sasuke on their first B mission.
Abomination
The pictures of his parents flashed between his eyelids bringing him slight comfort that was gone in a second. The only people that could have loved me unconditionally, Naruto's mind remarked.
Freak
The sense of such dire loneliness seeped into Naruto's heart and the blonde started to shake as the hatred all the villagers had regarded him with for years was brought into his memory.
Nobody will love me.
The faces of his human friends and family, Kakashi, Iruka, Sakura, Tsunade and Sasuke flashed through his mind, a sarcastic voice in the back of his mind reminding him of all the hurtful remarks they had sent at him. Naruto gasped for air as his eyes were filled with tears.
Oh god, nobody is ever going to love me.
