Disclaimer: I still don't own anything in the Naruto world, though I do own a quiche.
Warning: Incase you failed to read the last warning this story will get around to being Yaoi, KyuuNaru for those that care to know. I can now safely say that it won't be till Ch 5. So if you wish to keep reading, even though you hate Yaoi, knock yourself out!
I am floating in a dark water filled hall, I've been here before. I stand and begin to slosh through the water my breath echoing against the walls egging me on till I'm running. I dash around corners, my feet slipping on the water covered floor. I'm searching, searching, and not finding. Where is he? It's always been so easy to find him before. Finally I come to his chamber, what I find cause my breath to catch and my heart to freeze. The room is empty and the tall gates stand ajar. My hand brushes the torn seal and disbelief fills me. He's gone, but gone where?
A young man stood above the crumpled form of Naruto, he was moving his long figures in pure fascination. Now that black cloaked little nuisance was out of the way he was free to explore this new body of his own making, and of course to examine the object of his infatuation that lay so conveniently at his feet. With a sweeping movement he was kneeling at his blonde angel's side. His warm hands traced Naruto face, and a smile tugged at his pale lips.
"Get away from him!" A female voice shouted and the man's eyes flickered towards an angry girl with pink hair.
"As you wish, I simply wanted to insure that he was alive." The man's voice was smooth and deep. The pink haired girl eyed the stranger standing before her, he was amazingly handsome with red-gold hair pulled into a messy ponytail on the back of his head, his eyes were dark, but as the sun caught then they seemed to glimmer red, and his skin was as pale as a clean scroll.
"Who are you?" The girl demanded as she approached her fallen friend. The handsome stranger seemed to pause for a moment, as though unsure of how to answer.
"My name is Kuro, who are you?" His answer seemed less certain then it could have been.
"My name is Sakura. What are you doing so close to the leaf village?" She asked as she moved her hands down Naruto checking for any major wounds.
"He's fine, I already checked. I was unaware that I was near any villages; I'm not from around here. I only came because I heard an explosion and wanted to see if I could help." Kuro shrugged. Sakura appraised him again, he didn't look dressed for travel, but before she could press the issue the rest of her team appeared.
"Sakura who is this?" Kakashi asked, eyeing Kuro suspiciously with his Sharingan, his chakra looked very familiar.
"He says his name is Kuro and that he heard the explosion and came to see if he could help." She said, her voice said she didn't believe a word the man had told her. Kakashi however just nodded, as if this where completely expected.
"And Naruto?" The littlest traces of worry seemed to lace Kakashi's voice. Sakura bit her lip and threw a glance at Kuro.
"Everything seems to be fine, Kakashi-sensei." There seemed to be something left unsaid, something that Sakura was reluctant to mention in front of Kuro. Kakashi nodded and the dark haired boy next to him spoke up.
"We should get back to Konoha." His voice was soft and unemotional, almost as if his fallen comrade meant nothing to him. Sakura nodded and Kakashi bent to pick up Naruto.
"Kuro you don't look equipped to be traveling. Why don't you come back to Konoha with us?" Sakura met Kakashi eyes and gave a slight nod. The boy standing next to Kakashi opened his mouth to say something.
"I think that's a good idea Kakashi-sensei. Don't you Sai?" She gave the boy a hard look and Sai shut his mouth and looked indifferent.
The group made their way to Konoha. Kakashi and Sai didn't seem worried about the Akatsuki so Sakura made no move to bring them up. She did notice that Kuro seemed to avoid Sai, but Sai wasn't a very friendly person so she brushed it aside. They didn't stop till Naruto started to shift in Kakashi's arms.
"Where are we? When did the sound come back?" Naruto muttered wiggling so that Kakashi almost dropped him. The group paused to lay Naruto on the forest floor and Sakura moved to examine him again.
"Your loss in hearing was most likely caused by being so close to the explosion. Are you feeling ok?" She asked her hands glowing as she moved them down his body. He shifted and made a face.
"I feel odd…empty." Naruto seemed unsure of how to describe the feeling which odd because the young man was never unsure of anything.
"Nothing a bowl of Ramen won't fix!" Sakura said smiling too brightly.
"Idiot." Sai stated calmly, it was unclear which of his team mates he was talking to, though he seemed to feel the sentiment applied to both of them.
"Hey, whose he?" Naruto questioned when he became aware of Kuro. Sai turned to look at Kuro.
"Sakura says that he says his name is Kuro." Naruto eyed the red-hair man in front of him.
"Were did he come from?" The blonde demanded, at this the other three in the team shrugged and turned to stare at Kuro.
"I…" Kuro bit his lip and looked embarrassed, "I don't really have a home." He hung his head, ashamed.
"So you're a missing-nin?" He pressed. The others gave him an odd look; Naruto normally was very trusting and open to new people. Again Kuro looked uncomfortable and sifted under Naruto's clear blue gaze.
"No. I never really had a village." Kuro seemed to very upset by this, Naruto sniffed and glared in obvious disbelief. Kakashi glanced at the sky.
"We're not going to make it back to Konoha tonight. Why don't we make camp here?" The team nodded and began to lay out their bedding on the forest floor. As he looked for a place with out rocks Sakura could have sworn she heard Naruto mutter,
"I miss Yamato." She smiled; she too missed the man's ability to raises a house in a few seconds. It was apparent that despite being a wander Kuro had no bedding, however when they offered share some blankets with him he waved it off. As Naruto shifted trying to get comfortable he couldn't help but feel that someone was watching. Indeed when he turned to look, he could have sworn he saw to red eyes glowing out of the darkness.
AN: Yeah Ch 2! Happiness! Sorry for the lateness, but fanfiction wouldn't upload anything for me. So I have decided that standardized testing is a waste of time and money. And that the retards that write the questions don't care about what you know they only care about wither or not you pay attention to the intrusions and work well under a time limit. And the stupid freaks think that 30 min is enough time to write a full developed, edit paper on something you've most likely never though of before! So anyway now that my ACT induced rant is over I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 3 will be posted April 22-ish.