BIRTHDAY SPECIAL! I AM 16! Yaaay me! (nyer-her, I'm such a dork XP)This is actually just a plea for attention. ::attention -whore:: XD BUT, I have worked my ass off, to bring you this, magnificient piece! Ha-ha! Yeah, I'm a loser, shaddap. Anyway, this was one of my favourite chapters. Because of the last bit. I was so looking foward to writing it, but I'm not quite sure I did it justice...:-(
Oh well. Appreciate the update. XD Ignore my lack of spellability.
Disclaimer: ...::snort::
Warnings: Language, mild violence, YAOI. Tsunade-angst. Kiba-idiot. Sasuke dancing. Naruto freaking out about everything. The usual. XD
Pairings: NaruSasu (working on it, 's getting there), InoNaru (minor), OroSasu (minor)
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.
There were more people than anticipated. A good dozen kids from school, most of their parents, the lady from the grocery store, Mr. Ichiraku's entire extended family (twenty three of them in all), several teachers, neighbours, and a few strangers who simply wanted to help.
All in all, a good turnout.
Kakashi surveyed the group with a critical eye over his book. Iruka was more useful, wandering from group to group handing out orange flags and giving tips on how to search.
Inuzuka Hana, Kiba's older sister and K-9 specialist, tapped Kakashi on the arm, drawing his attention.
"We're all set up, and it looks like everyone's ready," she said, pulling her long dark hair into a low ponytail. Her dog sat obediently at her feet, his wide blue eyes eager to get started. "You'll have to show us where to start."
"A'ight. Oi, Iruka! C'mon."
The two officers led the group to a place that Kakashi had discovered earlier that morning. It was relatively close to Naruto's house, just about half-way between his and the Hyuuga manor. The road led down a sharp curve through the woods, and right at the vertex of that curve was a small break in the trees where a small stream had cut its way through the ground. The tree on the far side had bark scraped off, and tire marks in the soft ground led the white-haired man to believe that this was the best place to start.
Kakashi handed Hana Naruto's orange t-shirt for her dog to smell. The dog yipped, and sniffed it enthusiastically.
The search party was split into groups of three, each carrying a number of the small plastic flags in order to mark places where there may be evidence of Naruto's passing.
Kiba trailed behind, clutching his flags to his chest. He couldn't help but think about how much Naruto would have loved them. They were his favourite horrendous colour after all.
"K-Kiba, we're going now. Shino h-has already started looking. A-are you alright?" Hinata asked, pale eyes looking at Kiba worriedly.
The brunette boy forced a laugh, and scratched the back of his neck–a gesture reminiscent of Naruto. "Y-yeah, I'm good. C'mon, we gotta go!"
"Hey! Look!" Chouji shouted excitedly.
Shikamaru grunted, looking bored. He wouldn't have been there if Chouji wasn't such a nice guy. Also demanding and star of the wrestling team.
"It's his watch! Look, it's got his name on it! Hey!"
He pulled out one of the flags and dug it deep into the earth where they had found the watch.
"So troublesome..." (1)
Naruto ran ahead of the searchers, heading directly for the storm drain.
"Hey! Heeey! Oi! Over here!" he shouted, waving his arms wildly. "Hellooo Wake up, people! I'm HERE!" He added a bounce to his get-everyone's-attention-dance.
He huffed, and watched the scattered people closely. They spread out, calling his name, searching under bushes.
Grrr...
"Hey, I think he's found something!" Hana shouted over her shoulder, as her dog dragged her...straight towards Naruto.
The dog growled again, eyeing him suspiciously.
Naruto felt hope rise inside his chest. He can see me. He knows I'm here–YAY! Yeah, it's a dog, but that's okay.
Moving slowly, so as to not disturb or frighten the dog, he knelt on the moist ground, laying his palms flat against the dirt. "Hey, boy. Hi, you can see me, right?"
The dog whined and crept closer. More people had started arriving, excited that they were heading in the right direction.
"Yeah, that's it boy, c'mon." Naruto inched backwards, holding his hand out for the dog to sniff. "Come on, c'mere, good boy."
He kept moving backwards on all fours through the low ferns that surrounded the storm drain. He felt his feet hit the lip of it, and breathed out, "C'mon, atta boy, c'mon..."
There was a loud crack as he put his hand down on an old stick, which snapped at the pressure. The dog yipped, startled, and took off, dragging Hana again.
"This way! I think he's caught the scent!"
Mr. Ichiraku took a moment to shove a flag into the ground less than five feet from Naruto, and raced after the rest of the group.
Naruto groaned and banged his head against the ground. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckity, fuck."
He sat back up and wiped dirt from his face, shaking out his blond hair, and crossed his arms, pouting.
Then he froze.
Kiba stood at the crest of the hill, staring directly at the storm drain. His face was white under his tattoos, but expressionless.
"Kiba! C-come on, we h-have to follow the others," Hinata's soft voice carried through the woods, and Kiba turned away.
"Coming," he said, glancing back over his shoulder as he left.
It was hours later. The search had been unsuccessful, but they hadn't given up hope yet. Most people ended up camping in the woods, where the police had set up a site, while others went back home to restart the search in the morning.
Tsunade had eaten dinner alone–really alone, not just 'Naruto's-At-A-Friend's-House' alone, but 'Oh-My-God-Naruto-Might-Not-Come-Home' alone. It was hard. She had made dinner for two, as if just expecting Naruto to just walk in and say "Hi! Sorry I'm late for dinner!"
It took effort to get back to work. Her mind was constantly distracted, always wondering whether or not Naruto was dead, or injured, or what.
Naruto sat on the stair leading from the second floor to Tsunade's study, right next to the living room. He watched her work, frowning slightly.
She was so stoic. So emotionless about the whole situation. It was almost impossible to believe that she even care what with the way she was reacting to his being almost dead. Dying.
"Y'know, it's funny."
Tsunade didn't react, and leaned over to bring a new folder to her computer, typing out the information. She sighed and took a sip of tea, brushing hair out of her face.
"You've always...had your fingers in–in everything, y'know. You've always controlled my life, invaded my space." Naruto jumped down, the stress and frustration from the day taking its toll on him. He crossed the room, 'til he stood by his aunts desk, watching her fingers move rapidly across the keyboard. "My life, my room."
He reached out, taking one of the folders from Tsunade's desk. She blinked, then turned away, looking for a new pen to correct something in the hard copy, and Naruto dropped the folder, grabbing her by the shoulders. Her honey-coloured eyes widened, startled.
"DON'T–don't feel a thing, granny! Don't bother! You wouldn't wanna ruin your pretty–pretty face. Your pretty face that means more to you than I do!" He shook her hard, and she raised her hands to try and grab his arms, but he slapped them away. With a snarl emphasized by the new whisker-marks on his face, he grabbed her jaw–the jaw of the face much too young for her years–and forced her wide eyes to meet his. "I'm out there! I'm dying, granny, I'm fucking dying, an–and you're, you're sitting here, with your work, and your fucking tea," he stood, and grabbed the cup of tea, hurling it at the wall where it shattered on contact. He took no notice of the burning liquid on his hands.
"I really wish you could see me, 'cause then you'd know how I really, fucking felt." Out of control, finally able to let go of the swirling, conflicting emotions built up inside of him. "I'm sick of you! Sick of–of you, and this whole fucking world!" He spun around, and slammed his hands on the desk, taking hold of the first things his fingers touched and heaving it across the room–it was the keyboard. The flat-screen monitor tore loose as well, and he shifted his grip, slamming the whole thing into the wall. "Your friggin perfect world, where you rule everything, and you're the only fucking important thing! I was gonna be something, granny, I was gonna be something of my own, but that won't fit into your world! Well, too bad! It's not fucking perfect!"
With a ear-shattering crash, he picked up one of the IKEA chairs that sat in the study, and flung it through the large glass window. The sound of chirping crickets immediately filled the room, as well as the light patter of rain on the ground.
Naruto closed his eyes, the anger gone from his system.
When he opened it again–as expected–everything was as before, perfect.
Tsunade sighed again, and scratched her forehead, running her fingers through the long blonde locks that framed her face.
She turned in her chair again, and her teacup fell to the floor with a muffled thump, spilling liquid everywhere.
Tsunade swore softly, and dropped the files in her hands to try and mop up the mess. It would stain, probably. Herbal tea, for relaxation, unfortunately did nothing to lower her anxiety.
She picked up the cup, checking it for cracks, swallowed thickly, and started to cry.
Naruto stared.
The whole day, Tsunade had been trying to restrain herself, trying to keep her emotions in check–but no longer. The search had come up with nothing, nothing, and it just made her heart feel heavier.
She sobbed loudly, crouched on the plush carpet, holding the empty teacup to her chest like it was her missing nephew. Tears rolled down her cheeks, flushed red, and her face contorted with agony.
The boy she mourned over took a step forward, then hesitated, knowing it would do no good.
But he didn't care. He rushed to the grieving woman and wrapped his arms around her, holding her as close as possible, comforting her as best he could, even if she didn't know it. He felt horrible for his words, wanted to take them all back. It was only slightly reassuring that she had never heard him, but he still said them, which was the main problem.
He had meant them, and now all he wanted was to take them back.
Naruto cradled his aunt, letting her rest her head against his shoulder, leaning his cheek on the top of her head as her body shook with sobs. There was nothing more that he could do.
It was almost midnight. Tsunade had gone to sleep, still sniffling, almost an hour ago, but Naruto felt no exhaustion in his body. He probably could sleep if he wanted to, but he was restless, and it didn't seem like he needed sleep.
The blond wandered the darkened streets alone, hands in his pockets. He had come downtown to try and find some form of entertainment–he could probably sneak into all the movies he wanted, he thought with a snicker. Perk.
Loud voices distracted him from his contemplation of movies (Transformers seemed to be winning, but the Simpson's Movie was also quite tempting), and he turned to watch a door slam open in the quiet night. Light spilled out, flashing and annoying, and a woman shouted into the street, "Oi, Sas'ke! He's upstairs now, y'can come in!" She giggled, and held the door open as a dark shape detached itself from a wall and sauntered into the building. A club, from the pounding music.
Naruto was slightly gob-smacked to run into his nemesis so often, but shrugged. With nothing else to do, he might as well stalk the older boy. It wasn't like he'd notice. An evil grin lit up Naruto's face. Just thinking about all the dirty little secrets he'd find out made him giddy.
His face fell, and he shivered as Iruka's statement in the elevator came rushing back to him.
"Raped."
The door rebounded with a loud bang, and Naruto jumped to catch it before it closed for good. He was pretty sure it would lock if left to its own devices, and him knocking would have no effect.
The club was loud and brightly lit. Or, the really bright lights would flash really brightly for about a second, and just about all of them were strobe lights, so the general effect was more along the lines of epileptic shock, while still lighting the room decently.
Naruto dodged his way through grinding bodies, eyes locked on one black hoodie that was slowly making its way up to the second level. The music pounding through the club was mostly techno, with some other variations mixed in as well. No rap, from the looks of the patrons.
Naruto clambered up the metal stairs after Sasuke, apologizing every so often to people he stepped on. Not that it mattered, but it was the principle of the thing.
When he finally caught up with Sasuke, he was deep in conversation with a terrifying older man.
The man was roughly mid-late twenties, possibly early thirties. His skin was pale, and sort of pasty, though the light could have very easily been misleading. The man's face was half-covered in bandages, and his chest was bare–something apparently not uncommon there. He wore military pants, and his black hair was so spiky it looked dangerous. He had one arm wrapped around a younger...person, with soft features and long dark hair, who was smiling kindly at Sasuke while the other two talked. The younger person wore a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a loose, drape-y green shirt that floated around its figure enough to disguise any gender-distinguishing features.
"–Akatsuki, but he was kicked out. He gave me this," Sasuke was saying, as he handed the large man something small and shiny. The man grunted and fingered it reverently, holding it up to the light to inspect. "I figured that a thing like that could cost a good deal of money. Gold and rubies."
The man handed the small thing–which Naruto determined to be a ring from the way he hooked it around his little finger–to his companion, who studied it just as intently. When it spoke, it was with a voice as soft as its features.
"Looks genuine. Might be a good idea to have it checked by a professional, though, Sasuke-kun. But I think it can work out." It smiled serenely, and handed the ring back to the larger man.
Sasuke smirked, a gesture so casually familiar it made Naruto's stomach turn, and responded softly. Naruto couldn't hear what was said, but he could see the large man nod and murmur back. He threw his head back and gave a barking laugh as the person beside him chuckled politely behind one slim hand.
Sasuke lips quirked again, and he inclined his head to both people, and the man clapped him on the shoulder in a half-friendly, half-threatening kind of way, and said, "Why don't you go dance? You haven't been to visit us lately."
The black-haired boy nodded, and thanked each person with another slight incline of the head, and a soft "Zabuza-san, Haku-kun."
Then he turned away, and Naruto scampered after him, feeling completely out of it.
Naruto almost lost the older boy in the writhing crowd, but raced to keep on him as the crowd parted to surround the Uchiha.
Then Naruto fell to staring again, completely speechless–which pretty much a first.
The Uchiha unzipped his hoodie, and dropped his hood to reveal a black beanie like he had been wearing before. He shrugged the sweatshirt off his shoulders and wrapped it firmly around his waist. The night was hot and sticky, so instead of the usual turtlenecks and long-sleeved shirts, Sasuke wore a thin white t-shirt, with a design of an oriental dragon printed on it.
Naruto couldn't help thinking that the t-shirt flattered Sasuke's slim torso much more than the sweatshirt, as said boys hips started to move to the music and his well-defined muscles stood out under the fabric of the shirt.
Then a pale arm–there was something weird about the boys forearms, but the light was too bizarre to tell–rose to grab the beanie, and pulled it off with one swift move.
It wasn't spectacular. Sasuke's hitherto-unseen hair wasn't ten feet long and made of silk, and it was sort of lost in the flashing lights, but Naruto inhaled sharply anyway.
The hair wasn't exactly black, not really, but more a deep, deep shade of blue. Raven would be a better term, as the colours shifted to make black and then blue again. His straight bangs fell around his face looser than when hidden under the ever-present hood, and swayed softly as the pale boy's movements picked up speed with the tempo. The back was artfully layered and wild–unusual, after a day stuffed inside a skull-tight cap. It was feathered enough to stick up in the back, and Naruto was reminded immensely of a duck's ass.
The music was in full swing, and Sasuke threw himself fully into it. He writhed and twisted, hips undulating and feet pounding along with the rest of the crowd. His hair flew everywhere as he bounced his head with the beat. He raised his arms into the air, body arching like a cat's, and brought them down again to hold in front of his chest as he moved.
He wasn't an amazing dancer–but he was wonderful to watch. The music fit him, it worked with him. It was like he was made for the music, as he danced fluidly, wildly. It was unrestrained beauty, a releasing of pent-up fears, anxieties, worries, everything. Naruto could see as he danced that Sasuke was no longer the last Uchiha–no longer the most formidable person on campus, no longer the pain-filled boy who never had a proper childhood, no longer anyone–no one but Sasuke.
Just Sasuke.
"I see you," Naruto whispered, wonderingly. "I can see you..."
And Sasuke danced.
(1) I'm sorry. I had to. XD It was necessary.
WOOHOO.
The Naruto vs Tsunade thing was pretty much taken right from the movie...I feel bad about that, but it was so good! I didn't do it justice...::sigh::
Now, I'm sleepy, so I won't be responding to many reviews, but I LoVE YOU ALL ANYWAY:heart:
Okay, to Lunar Chasmodai, you're so awesome. ::net-hugs you back:: And about the fox thing, well, if you read closely, the fox shows up after its been hit by the car--but its still alive. So, when the fox that tries to eat Naruto's pants disappeares, the fox in the road is dead (it's the same fox, JFYI). And Naruto--up 'til this point thinking he was dead--realizes that he's not dead either, just caught in limbo. Hooray for not-dead Naruto!
And the LeiseFlustern, sorry I'm so crap at explaining things. ;; But I'm gonna try again. Okay, Naruto throws Sasuke off the building--then things go normal, and Sasuke's still on the building (never been thrown off) and Naruto's still where he threw Sasuke off, looking over the side of the building, where Sasuke would be, if Naruto actually managed to throw him of. But he didn't, so he wasn't , so no.
That didn't help at all, but it makes sense to me. I'm not sure if that helps things, or if I'm crazy. ::shrug::
Anyway, Zabuza and Haku made me happy. I was gonna have it be Juugo, but then I decided--enormous scary man? Durrh, Zabuza! ::snerk::
I need more sleep.