Gnagh. Sorry this is late. I have no actual excuse, but SCHOOL'S OUT NOW! I DON'T HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL ANY MOOORRREEEE!!! I'm so happy. I might actually be able to update on time now. BUT. I will not be here from the 13th to the 21st. I'm going to the West Coast. No updates will occur at that time, unless I can get a hold of my grandparent's computer. Which will probably not happen...

Disclaimer: Nein.

Warnings: Language, mild violence (will get worse for a bit later). Pretty tame, for the most part. Kiba torture. Delvage into PlotLand.

Pairings: InoNaru (almost-smexy scene), OroSasu (minor), more NasuSasuNaru later.

Summary: Naruto has always had dreams of being invisible. After a falling out with his aunt and a run-in with the school bad ass, Sasuke, he finds he really is. Somehow he has to make Sasuke see him, or he'll never be seen again. Based on the movie The Invisible.

"Hey, Uzumaki."

Naruto looked up from his computer to Kiba, who lounged across his bed staring at the mutilated dartboard on the ceiling.

"Hmm?"

It was early evening. The air had gotten hot and humid, and both teenagers refused to go out into the suffocating heat. The friends had found refuge inside Naruto's basement lair, and were probably never going to leave until it had dropped at least ten degrees.

"What's happened to your flight? I thought you were supposed to leave by now..." Kiba's brain deteriorated as the temperature went up, so logic and brain-power were difficult for him to manage properly.

"It was changed," Naruto said, leaning back in his chair. He had been typing up a number of his poems, trying to store all of them electronically before he left. "I'm not leaving until like midnight."

"How are you paying for all this?" Kiba asked, flipping over to rest on his stomach, propped up by his elbows. "I mean, your aunt doesn't want you to go, right?"

Naruto grinned widely, his cheeks scrunching up. "I've been saving up. C'mere."

He got up and motioned for Kiba to join him at the book case. Kiba groaned and clambered up, stumbling lazily over to the bookshelf and peering over the blonde's shoulder.

Naruto reached up and pulled out an old Japanese mythology book. He flipped it open to the legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox, and showed Kiba a section of the book that had been cut out. Kiba whistled. A great deal of money was stuffed in the hole in the pages.

"The program also sent me money to pay for my ticket, so I'm covered there too. 'S all good!" Naruto winked.

Kiba checked the time. "Crap. I gotta go home and get ready. Hyuuga's party tonight! You gonna go? 'Cause you should. It'll be great." He gave Naruto a thumbs-up.

Naruto shrugged. "Meh. Guess so. Haven't got anything else to do tonight..."

The brunette whooped. "Yeah! Now you can help me win over Hinata!"

Naruto spent quite a lot of time thinking things over after Kiba left. He fingered the watch his aunt had given to him, admiring the sleek silver edge and smooth leather strap. Engraved in the back of the watch were the words:

"To Naruto:

For overcoming everything to fulfil your goals.

Your father would be proud.

Love, Tsunade."

Naruto had never worn it. He also knew that he would forget it if he ignored it right then, but his bags were hidden under his bed and he was too lazy to get them back out to put it in them.

He shrugged, changed his clothes, and tucked the watch into his pocket.

Sasuke and his gang caught Kiba while he was on his way to the Hyuuga's party.

"Y'know, Inuzuka, there's something very rude about turning people you don't know in to the police. It's not very good for building healthy relationships," Sasuke said, leaning close to Kiba's deathly pale face. Sakon's large hands held the tattooed brunette against the wall firmly, and Kiba could feel the other teen's breath against his cheek. "You could have waited at least until the second date. More traditional, you see..."

Sasuke reached into his pants pocket, and pulled out his knife again. Tayuya, who stood behind the pale boy looking menacing, had a knife too; hers was almost eight inches long and wickedly serrated. If Kiba had actually done what the Uchiha was accusing him of, he probably would have been even more terrified than he was. Not that that was exactly saying much, because already he felt like shitting his pants and passing out.

Sasuke growled, and gently, like a lovers caress, only more dangerous and less arousing (unless you were into that), dragged the flat side of his knife along Kiba's tattooed cheek. He didn't press, didn't cut the skin, and Kiba could barely feel the icy cold blade on his face it was so light–but he knew it was there.

"You've got some nerve, fucking with me. I oughta cut your tongue out for waggin' too much."

Kiba attempted to regain his control, which seemed to have fled the country and was possibly cowering behind some Tibetan zen monk. He didn't do a very good job of coaxing it back.

"L-look, I've got n-no idea w-what you'r-re talkin' ab-bout... I s-swear, I-I didn't d-do anything!" he stammered, shaking. "I didn't c-call the p-p-police, a-an' I d-didn't turn you in o-or nothin'!"

Sakon leaned closer, and Kiba could smell his breath. He'd been drinking. And probably hadn't brushed his teeth in days.

"Lying piece-a-shit! Shut the fuck up, an' start talking!"

Tayuya kicked him hard in the knee, and Sasuke had to refrain from rolling his eyes, because that would definitely send the wrong message.

"Okay then," Sasuke said, his obsidian eyes boring into Kiba's frantic brown ones. "Let's say you're not lying. You didn't call. Then–" he leaned back, taking in the dog-lover's shaking figure, "who did?"

Kiba froze. He couldn't say anything. Or rather, nothing he could say would help him. He didn't know, and if he said that, Sasuke would probably break his fingers or something. At the very least, Sakon would. He had no alternative, no plan B. He hadn't thought he'd have needed one, actually. Some optimistic bone in his body had hoped against hope that if he denied it, Sasuke would leave him alone. But Kiba–unfortunately–lived in the real world.

He swallowed.

"I-I'm not...don't hurt me o-or anything," his voice shook, "but I'm s-sure– I-I thi-think it was–"

Naruto checked his watch for the fourth time and grumbled. It had been three minutes since he'd last checked his watch, and Kiba still hadn't shown up.

Naruto stood outside the Hyuuga's–for lack of a better word–mansion, waiting for his friend. The air had cooled down considerably since the sun sank below the horizon, so Naruto wore a dark orange sweater over his t-shirt and black trousers. His fingers brushed against his pocket, where the silver Rolex was. Guilt had been plaguing him for no reason for quite some time, and he couldn't tell if having the watch helped that feeling or made it worse.

He didn't know if he wanted to go to London or not. Tsunade's face kept forcing its way to the front of his mind–almost betrayed. He shook his head. His aunt didn't feel anything. She was so absorbed in her own perfect life that she couldn't be bothered to feel anything.

But still.

He wouldn't have any friends in London. Kiba wouldn't be there. Nor would Chouji or Shikamaru, or Hinata. Neji, in all his pompous rich-boy prickness wouldn't be there. The joy of being a great writer and having such an amazing opportunity was wearing off in the face of how damn lonely he'd be. Sasuke wouldn't be there, but that was probably a good thing, all things considered.

Plus, all the writers in London were probably totally emo or too stuck-up to be any good. That was the problem with those weird British people. (Naruto pointedly ignored the fact that everyone was like that.)

Naruto checked his watch again. It was 9 o'clock. He glanced out at the dark road, still looking for Kiba, and kicked a pebble on the ground impatiently. Then he turned around and followed a stream of other high schoolers into the Hyuuga's grand house.

The music was loud and obnoxious. Neji had obviously not picked it. Neither had Hinata, if the amount of swearing was anything to go by. It pounded through the walls, making the floor vibrate and rumble. People shouted over the music, made out in dark corners, and basically infected the entirety of the house.

Naruto hated it.

He loved parties. Really, he did. He liked music (not rap, it had no dance beat), and he liked company (but only when they were not drunk off their asses), and on a general note, he liked booze too (but not enough to get him completely wasted. A simple buzz was enough, really). This party, with its booze, sex, bad music, and waster party-goers was not exactly Naruto's idea of a good time.

But he had to live with it, or he'd never live it down.

Naruto sat at a table overlooking the pool, idly spinning the Lazy Susan. He wasn't sure why the Hyuuga's had a Lazy Susan, but they did, and so he wouldn't doubt them and their activeness. He took a sip of his Coke, deciding that getting drunk before he left the country would, in fact, be a bad idea.

That's where Ino found him.

"Hey!" she shouted cheerily, crossing the room to him. Her navy blue dress was short and shimmery, clinging to her curves and draping low across her chest. Her hair was down and loose, falling like a sheet of gold down her back and swaying as she walked. "You came! I'm so happy!" She slid onto the bench-like seat next to him, pressing herself against his side. "I thought you were too busy to come."

Naruto glanced at her, and made his decision.

"You wanna go to London?"

Ino blinked. Then she gaped, and her sky blue eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

Naruto pulled out the boarding pass and the brochure. "Flight leaves at one a.m., if you wanna go." He grinned.

When they had found an empty room, Ino had felt no reservations in shoving him down onto the bed, with little thought as to whoever's bed it actually was. She kissed him deep, and pressed her body against his, straddling him so that her dress rode up over her smooth thighs.

She pulled back and grinned, slightly drunk, delicate hands reaching for Naruto's belt. She ran her hands over his hips, and paused, confused when she encountered the bulge of the watch, half fallen out of his pocket.

Sitting up, Ino pushed back her hair, and looked at the watch, admiring its make.

"Nice watch. Why do you have two? If you've got a watch as nice as this, why are you still wearing that ratty ol' thing?"

Naruto took the watch from her, staring at it. "My dad gave me that watch," he said, referring to the watch still adorning his wrist.

Ino shrugged, uncaring. "Wouldn't your dad want you to wear a better watch?"

Naruto looked contemplative, and slowly sat up, moving Ino off of him so that he could get off the bed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the London writing class brochure, tossing it in Ino's lap.

He nodded to her.

"Have fun in London."

Someone had spiked his drink, he was sure of it. Otherwise it wouldn't be so hard to walk down the line in the middle of the road. He kept veering off to the left, and the left wasn't really much more exciting than the right side, so it couldn't be some sort of subconscious desire to explore the wonders of the left side of the road.

Naruto definitely felt drunk, at least a little bit.

He wove across the road, arms out to the sides, breathing in the cool night air. It wasn't any warmer than before–if anything it was colder–but he rolled up his sleeves, convinced that it would help cool off his body.

He resisted the urge to sing as loudly as possible. Or play the 'Penis Game' with himself. That's what he usually did when he was bored, alone, or drunk. Or all three.

A rumble alerted him of a car driving behind him. Naruto veered to the left again, before deciding the right would actually be better, and walked purposefully to the side that would best get him squashed.

The car rumbled again, but made no move to pass him. He wavered a bit more, tripping over his feet, and used one arm to gesture wildly for the car to pass him.

The car's engine growled, and Naruto suddenly felt distinctly nervous. He looked back, and saw the old grey car thrumming along right behind him, like a crouching panther awaiting the opportune moment.

Naruto tripped unsteadily around the bend, when the car roared to life, and started after him. He looked back again and felt fear grip him as his feet took off in a mad attempt to get himself out of the way.

But he couldn't out run a car.

It chased him off the road, clipping his hip with one of the side mirrors, and scraped against a tree at the edge of the forest that surrounded Konoha.

Naruto went flying into a ditch, and, shoving himself up, looked as well as he could at his attackers, being blinded by the glare of the headlights.

His head hurt so much.

W00t! Chapter is done, PLOT IS FULL STEAM AHEAD. This chapter was almost 6 pages! Yaaay. I can't write car-chase scenes.

It's 2:31 a.m. here. I'm sleepy.

Review::heart::