Immediate feedback for the last chapter was lukewarm at best, and I kind of agree that something was missing and it didn't really stand up to snuff with previous chapters. That's why I took a short hiatus from this story to give myself some space to recharge my batteries and work on a different story in another genre. We'll see how this chapter goes, but if this chapter doesn't go over well either, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue this story. This is by no means a threat to somehow get more reviews; this is just a small FYI for future reference.
Chapter Eleven: A Painful Request
Sasuke stared at his possessed friend, a numb wash of horror making his blood run cold. Kyuubi's red eyes gleamed in the light of his chakra-tails as he slowly looked around the courtyard of Konoha ninja - like a hungry wolf eyeing a herd of startled deer. His lips were curled away from his teeth in a grotesque parody of the honest, inviting smile that had always graced the face of the boy the fox-demon currently possessed. Blood and strands of sinewy gore dangled from his claws from the dead Akatsuki ninja laying in dismembered heaps around him.
To the horrified Uchiha heir, he looked just like some ancient god of death.
"I cannot tell you how long I've wanted revenge against this village for your leader locking me in this body," Kyuubi said, his voice echoing through the silent courtyard. "For fifteen years now I've had to bide my time and plot my revenge. I hadn't been expecting any kind of assistance in breaking past the Fourth's seal, but Akatsuki proved more useful than originally expected…" The possessed demon-vessel gave a nasty chuckle as he glanced at the bloody corpses littering the ground. "They planned to kill my vessel and use me as their tool, but in the end it was them that died to help me gain my freedom. How very ironic…" Another chuckle rumbled Kyuubi's throat and sent a cold shiver down Sasuke's spine.
"And now-" the fox-demon victoriously announced, looking around the courtyard of horrified Leaf ninja, "-I'm finally free to punish those that tried to keep me sealed away." His face broke into a malevolent grin. "Let the fun begin."
Before Sasuke or any of the other ninja there knew what was going on, a towering wall of flames suddenly sprang to life around them, ringing the entire Uchiha-complex like a fiery siege wall. The flames climbed into the night sky several hundred feet, as if trying to scorch the very stars. The moon disappeared from view behind the towering inferno and roiling clouds of smoke.
Within seconds the air became blistering hot. Sasuke could barely breath. It was like being trapped in some sort of blast furnace, or the deepest circle of hell. Sweat broke out across his body and soaked the cloth backing of his forehead protector. He felt his skin tighten around him like some kind of invisible shell. Somewhere off to the side, he heard somebody - probably one of the other Rookie Nine - begin coughing on the suffocating hot air.
Blinking his eyes against the stinging heat, Sasuke glanced at Kyuubi, startled by this unnatural show of power. The fox-demon grinned, his sharpened fangs flashing in the fire-light. "This is to make sure none of you try to escape too," Kyuubi explained with a grin. "I don't want any more of my playthings to get away."
Subconsciously, the ninja began to move closer to each other, closing rank to form a protective huddle against the demonic fire-storm. In the midst of them all, Sakura rushed to Jiraiya's side who had gone frighteningly still where he'd collapsed from Kisame's earlier attack. The Sannin's face was deathly pale. His clothes and the sand beneath him were caked thick with dark red blood. Gathering chakra to her palms, Sakura pressed them to Jiraiya's shoulder, desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood that was steadily draining the Toad Sage of life.
"Kakashi!" Gai yelled over the roar of flames. "What do we do? We're trapped!"
The copy-ninja didn't immediately answer. Sasuke glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and saw a thick sheen of sweat appear on his sensei's brow. For some reason, he had a feeling it wasn't because of the heat though. Kakashi's mismatched eyes were wide, the visible portion of his face etched with fear. Sasuke saw that same fear mirrored in everyone else there.
No matter how skilled Konoha's finest were, none of them were strong enough to defeat the destructive force of nature that was Kyuubi, undenied lord of the bijuu. Even channeled through the body of a tortured, half-starved, fifteen-year old boy, no mortal being hoped to stand a chance against the fox's demonic storm of chakra.
The blood-splattered remains of Akatsuki's top ninja should have been enough proof of that.
"We have to somehow reactivate the Fourth's seal," Kakashi finally replied, "or somehow get Naruto to regain control."
Dark laughter echoed across the flame-enclosed courtyard, interrupting Kakashi.
"You are wasting your time, human," Kyuubi chuckled. "The kit's too far away for you to reach. I locked his subconscious away just like the Fourth did to me all those years ago. He's too weak to fight me anymore."
"Do not underestimate Naruto!" Lee yelled, angrily clenching a fist at the possessed demon-vessel. "He is a shinobi in the truest sense of the word. He would never admit defeat to you!"
Kyuubi chuckled under his breath. "You don't know how badly that boy's suffered these last few months. His will to fight is all but gone. He's so very, very tired and in so much pain. Do you know how many times he wished for death to release him while he was still in Akatsuki's hands? Many. It was only some instinctual desire to live that kept him from out-rightly taking his own life. His desire for death still grows everyday though. You could almost say I am being merciful by locking him away like this. You see, I have no desire to see him dead either; because if he dies, then so do I. His subconscious is in a place you will never reach."
"You should have learned by now that you should never underestimate your enemies," Neji said, glaring at the fox-demon with narrowed eyes. "You were sealed once, you can be sealed again."
Kyuubi's face twisted into a snarl, Naruto's possessed features contorting into an expression so wrathful and inhuman his friends never would have thought such an expression possible for the happy-go-lucky boy to make.
"It is you that overestimate your chances of survival," Kyuubi hissed, his voice rumbling the air like an approaching thunderstorm. "You have no hope of defeating me. I am lord of the bijuu. My very name strikes fear into the hearts of every creature on this planet. I have lived for countless centuries and brought terror and death to more people than you can ever imagine! Countless shinobi and shamen have lost their lives to me, including your precious Fourth Hokage! So do not think for a moment you will ever defeat me! That child might have been my jail keeper for the last fifteen years, but no longer! He is broken and defeated! I am Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox-demon! Compared to you pitiful humans, I. Am. A. God!"
The wall of flames surrounding the compound flared hotter, as if directly fueled by Kyuubi's rage. His chakra-tails wildly lashed the air, leaving long scorch marks across the ground where they hit.
Naruto's friends all cringed away under the almost tangible wave of hatred that rolled off the possessed boy.
"We have to try and reactivate the Fourth's seal!" Kakashi yelled, shielding his face from the roiling waves of heat with his arm. "Gai, Asuma, Kurenai, do any of you know the Five Elements Sealing Technique?"
"I do," Gai shouted.
Asuma and Kurenai, however, shook their heads.
"What are you planning to do?" Asuma said.
"Kyuubi's managed to break past the Fourth's Four Symbols Seal which allows his chakra to leak out into Naruto's own, but he wasn't able to actually break past the curse seal which is still keeping him inside Naruto's body," Kakashi replied. "The Five Elements Seal will cut off Kyuubi's chakra and strengthen the Fourth's original curse seal."
"But that technique will completely disrupt Naruto's chakra flow," Kurenai said. "He won't be able to use any chakra even if he does regain control of his body."
"I know," Kakashi murmured. "But it's the only hope we have right now to stop Kyuubi from destroying us and all of Konoha. We'll worry about restoring Naruto's ability to use chakra when he's not possessed anymore. The only other thing I can think of to stop Kyuubi would be to kill Naruto. And I really don't want to have to resort to that just yet…"
Sasuke wasn't the only one to stare at his sensei in horror, his breath catching in the back of his throat. Kakashi couldn't be serious! He couldn't possibly be suggesting they do what he thought he was if they ultimately failed reactivating the Fourth's seal!
Kakashi looked around at all the other trapped shinobi. "The Five Elements Seal is a close range technique, so Gai and I have to get within one meter of Kyuubi to do it. It will be extremely dangerous, but I need you all to distract Kyuubi long enough for us to get an opening to attack. Are you willing to risk it?"
Without hesitation, Sasuke stepped forward. "I am." The quickness and determination with which he answered did not go unnoticed. Many of the former rookies cast him long, penetrating looks. But for once, there wasn't any hint of animosity in them for the former deserter.
"So am I."
"Anything for Naruto."
"Of course we'll help."
"He's our friend too."
"He would've done the same thing for any of us."
One by one, the other rookies and Gai-sensei's teams all stepped forward, determination burning in their eyes. Kurenai and Asuma also nodded their willingness to help.
"Do you really think some spur of the moment battle plan will work against me?" Kyuubi's voice shattered their aura of camaraderie. The possessed demon-vessel was staring at them, his teeth bared in a dangerous snarl. In the flickering light of the fire-barrier, his skin glowed a hellish orange. The blood from the dead Akatsuki ninja gleamed like wet tar on his hands almost all the way up to his elbows. Tiny cyclones of fire flared in and out of existence around him in the sizzling hot air. Like a hungry predator he began to advance on them, his chakra-tails lashing the air like fiery whips. "I won't stand for anymore of your foolish whispering," he snarled, promised death rumbling off every syllable. "This ends now! And once I finish with you, I intend to level this entire village to the ground and turn everyone in it to ash!"
Then with a feral howl, he lunged at the nearest person standing on the edge of the group - Shino Aburame.
The insect-master barely had time to leap to the side before Kyuubi's claws slashed the air right where he'd been standing only half a second before.
"Ino, Shikamaru, Choji! To the right!" Asuma yelled as the entire group scattered from the enraged demon.
"Team Eight, to me!" Kurenai cried. She and her student swiftly diverted to the left.
"Neji, Tenten, flank around to the opposite side!" Gai's voice rang over the background roar of fire. "Lee, stay and protect Sakura while she heals Jiraiya." As his students sprung away, Gai turned to Kakashi. "We'll attack from different sides. But we'll probably only have one shot each at hitting Kyuubi with the Seal. He won't let us close enough to use the same attack twice."
"I know," Kakashi murmured. "Try to attack from the back, but be careful of those tails. I have no doubt they'll kill you if you get hit by one of them."
"I will. Just worry about not getting yourself killed, rival," Gai murmured with a humorless grin. Then with only a parting nod, Gai disappeared from Kakashi's side almost as if he'd never even been there.
Sasuke saw him reappear across from them on the other side of Kyuubi.
Now ringed on all sides, Kyuubi looked around, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a fearsome snarl, like a tiger trapped in a circle of hunters.
"Sasuke," Kakashi whispered, "I want you to watch the jutsu Gai and I are about use with your Sharingan. If something should happen to either of us that keeps us from being able to perform the Seal, you'll have to take our place. Your Sharingan makes you the only one that can learn it fast enough if the worst should happen…"
Sasuke didn't say anything in reply, and solemnly nodded his head. Closing his eyes, he felt the familiar pulse of chakra course through the retinas and cones of his eyes. When he opened them again, his vision was washed with a faint glow of red; his pupils - he knew - now ringed by swirling black tomoe spokes. Gripping his kunai tighter, the boy turned to Kyuubi and sunk into a battle stance.
This was it. This was their final chance to save his friend. If they failed resealing Kyuubi then there was no saying what would happen to them or the boy the fox-demon currently possessed. Naruto's conscious was locked away somewhere in that fox's mind, making him a prisoner in his own body. It wasn't right. His friend had already suffered so much because of Kyuubi. If he could just reach Naruto, he knew he could think of something to help Naruto regain control. The only question was was if the broken boy was still willing to fight anymore to regain that control. Sasuke had already seen how hopeless and defeated Naruto had been before he'd been possessed. There was no saying now how much weaker his friend's will to live had become…
"You foolish, humans," Kyuubi hissed, glaring at the circle of ninja. "I will make you suffer for your impudence. No one challenges the nine-tailed fox demon and lives to tell about it. Your deaths will all be slow and painful in coming."
Sasuke didn't know who moved first - Kyuubi or his fellow ninja. All he knew was that within seconds, the flame-encircled courtyard had become a massive moving entity of bodies and crackling chakra - more than a dozen Leaf ninja locked in mortal combat with the possessed demon vessel.
Sasuke's conscious world became a blurry kaleidoscope of chakra-tails, fists, moving bodies, jutsu, slitted red eyes, and claws.
He fell into the familiar rhythm of battle.
Dodge, feint, back-spring, shuriken, dodge, retreat, pause, lunge, jutsu attack, dodge, spin, shuriken.
It was a deadly dance. One he had learned from his earliest childhood. It was as familiar as breathing. But this battle held more meaning than just life or death to Sasuke Uchiha this time; because this battle would determine not only the fate of himself, his teammates, comrades, and village, but more importantly the fate of his only friend - a boy who little more than two years ago had risked his own dreams and ambitions to save him from the darkness of his own hatred and revenge. This battle was to determine the fate of the only one who had ever managed to make Sasuke see the possibility of happiness in this world of loneliness and despair. The one who had given him a reason to hope again. The only one to selflessly give everything he had for everyone else with no expectation of anything in return. The one who would lay down his life for a friend in a heartbeat (and for once Sasuke could do the same for now in return).
This time Sasuke was fighting for Naruto Uzumaki. And that made this battle all the more important. Because this time, nothing was going to stop Sasuke from getting his friend back once and for all. Even if he had to wrestle that fox-demon back into the Fourth's prison with his own two hands, he wasn't going to let Kyuubi hurt his friend anymore…
Tenten was raining a hail of shuriken down on the possessed demon vessel from one of her weapons scrolls. But all of them met their end in a fiery blast of chakra from Kyuubi, which vaporized them midair as if they were nothing but a pesky swarm of flies. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Neji's hands fly into a complex series of hand-signs. The familiar snap-hiss of chakra filled the air, and a wave of crackling blue light raced towards Kyuubi. This attack too was neutralized by a pulse of demonic chakra.
Kyuubi turned towards the two, hatred rolling off him in almost tangible waves -
and for a brief moment, exposed his side for an opening to attack.
Without hesitation, Sasuke took it. He lunged forward, ready to deliver a kick to the side of the demon-vessel's head.
But before he could get within five feet of his possessed friend, Kyuubi seemed to sense his presence and wheeled around on him, his chakra-tails lashing the air.
Sasuke barely managed to duck in time before one tail came dangerously close to swiping his left arm, forcing to him to drop and roll away across the ground. The air sizzled as Kyuubi's tail swept over him. More crackling auras of jutsu sounded somewhere off to the side, diverting Kyuubi's attention away from him back towards the others. With a monstrous roar Kyuubi lunged at Kiba and Akamaru who had moved forward to fight him.
Panting where he lay, Sasuke held his arm. His Sharingan-tinged vision flared white with pain. Although he hadn't been directly hit, the heat-auras that radiated off Kyuubi's tails were still hot enough to leave what felt like at least second degree burns.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Sasuke began to force himself up off the ground, cradling his blistered limb to his chest.
Suddenly, there was another presence beside him. "Stay down, Sasuke. You're hurt."
Looking up, he found himself staring up into none other than Shikamaru Nara's face. The strategy-genius's face was covered with sweat and dirt, his ponytail mussed. But despite his disheveled appearance and their perilous situation, Sasuke couldn't help but detect a hint of Shikamaru's familiar aplomb of idle indifference.
Ino suddenly appeared beside Shikamaru and knelt beside Sasuke. "Let me see your arm," she said, holding her hands over his injured limb. She too looked like she'd just survived the deepest circle of hell. Her usually immaculate hair was matted down with sweat and her face flushed red from the surrounding wall of flames. Bright green chakra encased her hands as she began to heal the blisters and suppurating burns that had already sprouted across Sasuke's bicep and forearm.
When Ino finally finished and leaned away, Sasuke found his arm completely healed. Experimentally flexing his elbow and finding everything in working order, Sasuke nodded his thanks to the blonde kunoichi.
"This is bad," Shikamaru said as he, Sasuke, and Ino all turned back towards the ongoing battle. "We can barely get close enough to Kyuubi to fight hand to hand, and nothing we do seems able to slow him down. All we're doing right now is playing a doomed game of cat and mouse. Gai and Kakashi still haven't been able to get anywhere close enough to try that sealing technique."
"What about your shadow justsu?" Sasuke said. Ino and Shikamaru both looked up at him in surprise. "If Ino and I both rushed Kyuubi at the same time and distracted him, would that give you enough of an opening to catch him in your Shadow Freezing jutsu?"
Shikamaru seemed hesitant. "Possibly. But with this fire wall around us, I don't know if there's any way for me to cast enough of a shadow. There's too much light coming from every angle. And even if I could catch Kyuubi in my jutsu, I know I wouldn't be able to hold him for long. He's too powerful. Kakashi and Gai would have to attack within moments of me catching him."
Sasuke nodded. "They'll both be looking for the opening and take it. You have to try it. It's our only chance. We're not going to last much longer against Kyuubi like this. It's now or never."
Shikamaru studied Sasuke for a long moment of silence with unreadable eyes. But then giving a heavy sigh, the lazy genius looked away back towards their demonic opponent. "Gods, this is so troublesome… This better work, Uchiha, or I'm blaming you."
Sasuke didn't bother to reply. Glancing at Ino, he nodded and the two jumped back into the fray of battle. Moving side by side, they maneuvered closer to Kyuubi who was currently fighting Asuma. The jounin was using his trademark wind-chakra blades, but they seemed powerless against the possessed demon vessel. Each stab or slash from Asuma's chakra-blades was deftly batted away with the back of Kyuubi's forearm.
Swiping his claws at Asuma - intent on slashing the man's throat in half - Kyuubi forced the man to back-spring away to a safer distance-
And that was when Sasuke and Ino attacked.
Moving in unison, the two rushed Kyuubi from different sides. Both of their hands flew into hand-signs - Sasuke conjuring a Kanton Fireball and Ino a powerful chakra wave - and released them with thundering force on their possessed friend.
Just as expected, Kyuubi was unfazed by the attacks. Ino's jutsu got no closer then several paces from him before it was subsequently snuffed out by a flare of Kyuubi's chakra. Sasuke's fireball seemed to hit some kind of invisible shield several feet away from Kyuubi and dissipated in a cloud of smoke.
Kyuubi turned on them, his eyes flashing death. But before the fox-demon could come at them in retaliation, he suddenly faltered, pausing mid-step as his muscles froze.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke spied Shikamaru standing several dozen paces away with his fingers held in front of his face in a hand seal with a narrow shadow-trail stretching out from him to the fox-demon's feet.
"Gai, Kakashi, now!" he yelled between gritted teeth as his body visibly began to shake with the effort of holding Kyuubi. A new sheen of sweat broke out across his forehead.
Kakashi and Gai sped forward, their bodies moving so fast they were only blurry streaks even to Sasuke's Sharingan before they were suddenly both standing directly in front of the paralyzed demon. Auras of chakra flared into being around their hands, which Gai and Kakashi both slammed against Kyuubi's stomach directly over the Fourth's curse seal.
Kyuubi howled in pain.
Sasuke saw Shikamaru collapse to his knees, unable to hold Kyuubi anymore.
The demon-vessel clutched his stomach, heaving for breath. His chakra-tails one by one drooped limp to the ground behind him, the sand melting into an almost instantaneous pool of glass beneath them.
Everyone watched with batted breath, waiting to see if Kakashi's technique had worked. They waited for the chakra-tails to flicker out of existence and the red to drain from their friend's eyes. They waited in unbearable suspense for the demon to retreat back into his prison and their battered friend to reemerge.
But it seemed Kyuubi was more powerful than any of them had ever imagined…
"You stupid mortals!" he howled, and with an apocalyptic flare of chakra abruptly stood straight again, his eyes flashing like they were windows into the very depths of hell. His chakra-tails began to coil and lash the air again like a knot of angry vipers. The air around him grew suffocating hot. "I told you your foolish tricks will not work against me!"
Then moving faster than half the people there could track with their eyes, Kyuubi lunged at Kakashi and Gai. Before the two jounin could defend themselves, Kyuubi's claws slashed the air.
Sasuke saw a misty spurt of blood, and then Kakashi sent flying backwards several dozen feet before he hit the ground with a sickening thud. He lay there motionless, his mismatched eyes tightly closed. The front of his jounin vest was torn by four long slash marks that ran from his left shoulder all the way across his chest to his right ribcage. Blood poured from each of them, soaking his vest red. Sasuke saw a thin trail of blood roll down the side of his sensei's face from underneath his forehead protector.
"Kakashi!" Gai yelled. But before he could go to his rival's aide, one of Kyuubi's tails whipped the air and hit him full in the chest. The man flew backwards and lay in a jumbled heap. The stench of burnt flesh filled the air. Sasuke had to look away. Gai's chest was nothing but a blackened mass of charred flesh and cloth.
Several of the former rookies and other sensei rushed to the injured men's sides.
"Kakashi? Kakashi, answer me!" Kurenai yelled, shaking the older man as she desperately pressed her hands to his mutilated chest.
"Gai-sensei!" Lee's terrified shout echoed across the courtyard over the background roar of fire. He, Neji and Tenten were all huddled around their fallen sensei. Ino kneeled close beside them but seemed unsure where to even start to heal the horrific burns covering half the unconscious man's torso.
A vicious growl came from Kyuubi's direction, the fox-demon watching them with furious red eyes.
"I told them they couldn't stop me," he hissed. The air rumbled with his wrath.
Sasuke stood there in a daze. Kakashi's technique hadn't worked. Kyuubi was still in control of Naruto's body. This wasn't right! Naruto should have been able to regain control by now. He saw Gai and Kakashi both land the sealing jutsu on Kyuubi. It should have worked. Unless…
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, stepping towards his possessed friend. "I know you can hear me, Naruto! You have to push Kyuubi back! You have to fight him!"
Kyuubi slowly glanced at Sasuke, his eyes narrowed into slits as his lips curved into an annoyed snarl. "The kit can't hear you, boy," he hissed. "And even if he could, he's too weak to fight me. He's finished."
"I don't believe you," Sasuke growled. "Naruto's stronger than you think. He's defeated worst scum than you."
"Is that so?" Kyuubi said. He began to stalk towards Sasuke, his chakra-tails framing him in a fiery halo of light. "Then you think he can stop me before I rip your throat out?"
"I know he will," Sasuke confidently replied. The Uchiha stood his ground as Kyuubi drew closer like some kind of demonic god of death.
Tiny drops of blood dripped from the ends of Kyuubi's claws. His scarlet eyes stared straight down into Sasuke's. Sasuke could feel his skin prickle from the intense heat radiating off the fox-demon's body as Kyuubi came within only paces of where he stood with his hands held limp by his sides.
"I have faith Naruto will stop you," Sasuke murmured as Kyuubi lifted his hand - the blood coating his claws flashing in the firelight- "because I know that Naruto would never let you hurt one of his precious people…"
Kyuubi snickered evilly. "Then may that pathetic delusion of faith be your last living thought," he said, and swiped his claws at Sasuke's throat.
Sasuke stood there motionless, defiantly staring back at Kyuubi even as death rushed towards him almost as if in slow motion.
But just before the fox-demon's claws could cover the last few inches needed to end the young Uchiha's life, Kyuubi suddenly froze, his hand halting midair. Sasuke saw surprise flash through the demon's eyes.
As Sasuke watched, Kyuubi began to tremble, the fox-demon visibly fighting to move. With a vicious snarl, Kyuubi whirled away from Sasuke, gripping his one hand as if it suddenly pained him.
"How?!" he roared, his anger physically vibrating the air. "How is this possible? You shouldn't be able to fight me!"
Staggering, Kuubi collapsed to his knees in the middle of the flame encircled courtyard gripping either side of his head. He began to shake it back and forth, as though trying to rid his ears of something only he could hear. "No! It's not possible! I locked you away! You shouldn't be able to fight me! You're all but gone!"
Kyuubi's chakra-tails began to flicker, like candles sputtering in the wind.
"No!" Kyuubi roared. "I won't let you defeat me!"
But then with a thundering roar of anger, Kyuubi collapsed to the ground.
Like someone flicking a light switch off, the fire wall surrounding the compound and Kyuubi's chakra tails all abruptly blinked out of existence.
At the sudden loss of light, Sasuke was momentarily blind. Bright afterimages danced across his vision. Everything was dark. As he furiously blinked his eyes he was slowly able to make out shapes again as his eyes adjusted to the comparatively dim moonlight overhead. Looking around it was hard to believe that this was the same place as the fiery hell he'd just been trapped in a moment ago.
With his sight half returned, Sasuke turned towards the still figure laying several yards away in the middle of the now dark, blood-soaked courtyard.
Silence stung his ears as he and everyone else stared at the crumpled figure. For a moment no one moved or even seemed to breath.
A cool breeze drifted across the courtyard, chilling Sasuke's sweaty neck and face. The coppery smell of blood drifted on the wind.
Slowly, hesitantly Sasuke took a step towards his friend's still form. He cautiously moved closer, half expecting Kyuubi's chakra to flare back to life at any moment.
"Naruto?" he called. His voice rang like a gunshot through the tense silence.
As if woken by the Uchiha's voice, the crumpled form began to stir.
With a murmured groan, the blond shifted off the ground, painfully pushing himself to his knees. The boy knelt there a moment, his head bowed to his chest as if too weak to actually lift it. Then slowly, ever so painfully slow, he raised it and looked in Sasuke's direction.
As the moonlight washed over the figure's bone-sharp features, Sasuke had to choke back an almost painful rush of emotions that rose in the back of his throat.
For staring back at him from that emaciated face were not the slitted red eyes of the fox-demon Kyuubi, but rather the bright blue orbs of his one and only friend. Kyuubi's feral looks were gone along with any trace of demonic chakra, and replaced with the haggard, confused expression of a fifteen-year old boy.
Shakily, as if in a daze and unsure of where he even was, Naruto looked around the blood-spattered courtyard. His eyes widened at the sight of mutilated bodies around him. The color drained from his face. His whole body began to shake. Slowly, he raised his hands so he could see them in the silvery moonlight. For a moment Naruto just sat there, staring at his blood-stained hands. But then, slowly shaking his head as if in denial of the terrible sight, Naruto clenched his eyes shut and released a gut-wrenching sob. Several tears streaked down his hollowed cheeks.
"No…" Naruto murmured, shaking his head as that word rolled off his tongue again and again in a horrified chant of denial. "No… no, no, no, no, noooooo!"
Screaming his horror into the night, Naruto clenched his bloody fists and bent down over them. Violent sobs wracked his skeletal body.
Sasuke quickly hurried to Naruto's side and knelt down beside him. "Naruto…" he murmured, and stretched his arm out to put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" Naruto screamed, violently cringing away from the other boy's touch.
Startled, Sasuke retracted his hand, but remained where he knelt by Naruto's side.
Choking on his tears, Naruto huddled into a tiny ball, as if trying to escape the horrible dream he'd just woken up in. "Who did I kill?" he demanded. He'd begun to rock back and forth where he knelt, clutching his blood-stained hands to his stomach. "Who was it that I killed?!"
Sasuke could hear the threat of an impending mental breakdown in his friend's voice if he didn't chose his next words carefully.
"They were just Akatsuki ninja," he murmured. "It wasn't anyone we knew. They were trying to kill you. It wasn't your fault. Kyuubi was possessing you. None of this was your fault."
But Naruto didn't seem to hear. "I killed them… It's all my fault, I killed them…" he sobbed over and over as he rocked himself back and forth on the chakra-scorched ground. Tears streamed down his cheeks as if he had no power or will to try and stop them. His entire body trembled, shaking in horror at the sight of sticky blood covering his hands.
Sasuke felt his heart clench at the sight of so much suffering and guilt. Never had he seen Naruto reduced to such a state. Even when he'd found him still alive in the hospital, his friend hadn't cried with such utter heartbreak or despair. It was like Naruto's final thread of sanity had been severed.
Unable to passively watch anymore, Sasuke did the only thing he could think of. Slowly he reached his arms out and wrapped them around Naruto's trembling shoulders. He felt his friend tense and try to cringe away, as if too ashamed to let anyone touch him. But pulling him tightly against him - offering all the comfort and forgiveness he could possibly express in that simple gesture - he felt Naruto give up his struggles and collapse against him, his anguished howls echoing into the night.
"I killed all those people!" Naruto wailed, burying his face in Sasuke's shirt. "It's all my fault!"
"It wasn't your fault. You didn't kill them. It was all Kyuubi," Sasuke whispered, clutching Naruto tighter as if to physically make him believe what he was saying. "It's wasn't your fault."
"It's my fault Kyuubi got out. I should have been able to stop him," Naruto sobbed. Twisting Sasuke's shirt in between his fingers he huddled closer to the dark-haired boy, as if afraid to let go. "Please, Sasuke…" he sobbed, "please just kill me…"
Sasuke felt his blood run cold, his breath hitching in the back of his throat. "What?"
"Please, you have to kill me," Naruto cried. "I don't deserve to live. I'm nothing but a monster. I killed all those people… Please just kill me… before I hurt anyone else…"
Sasuke felt as if his world was slowly crumbling around him. His stomach felt as if it'd suddenly been filled with ice water. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on Naruto, pulling him closer. "No," he said, angrily shaking his head as unbidden tears stung his eyes. "Don't you dare talk like that. I already told you I'm not going to let you give up without a fight."
"Please…" Naruto begged, his sobs muffled by Sasuke's shirt. "Please just kill me…"
Sasuke angrily shook his head. "No… Don't ask this of me. I can't do it. I won't…"
And as he knelt there holding the shattered remains of his friend as if to physically keep Naruto from going through with his request, a single tear slipped down Sasuke's cheek and mingled with Naruto's already dampening his shirt…
To Be Continued…
I wanted some of the other main characters to actually get hurt fighting Kyuubi to heighten the seriousness of everything going on instead of it just being 'oh, some nameless, faceless Leaf ninja got hurt.' For awhile I was planning for Kyuubi to go after Lee or maybe even Neji (I thought they'd be fun punching bags for some reason), but sometime during the actually writing of the scene, it was Kakashi and Gai that took one for the team. Oh well…
Any thoughts?
Please review!