Pairing votes:
Naruto/Sasuke
Naruto/Sai
Naruto/Shikamaru
Neji/Naruto
Gaara/Naruto
Kyuubi/Naruto
Naruto/Ino
Naruto/Hinata -
Naruto/Temari
Side pairings:
Gaara/Sai
Ino/Shikamaru or Temari/Shikamaru
Neji/Gaara:
Chouji/Ino
Sakura/Neji
Some changes to voting for pairings….. So. The next chapter….. Let's get started!
Well, actually I want to say there IS a fight scene in this chapter. If it sucks, know that I take the blame and will try to make it up. Feedback will be nice though!
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So denied so I lied are you the now or never kind
In a day and a day love I'm gonna be gone for good again
Are you willing to be had are you cool with just tonight
Here's a toast to all those who hear me all too well
Here's to the nights we felt alive
Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry
Here's to goodbye
Tomorrow's gonna come too soon
Put your name on the line along with place and time
Wanna stay not to go I wanna ditch the logical
Here's a toast to all those who hear me all too well
Here's to the nights we felt alive
Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry
Here's to goodbye
Tomorrow's gonna come too soon
All my time is froze in motion
Can't I stay an hour or two or more
Don't let me let you go
Here's a toast to all those who hear me all too well
Here's to the nights we felt alive
Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry
Here's to goodbye
Tomorrow's gonna come too soon
Eve 6 - Here's To The Night
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"So, you have new techniques and you never told me?"
Shikamaru blinked once, then gave a small frown. "I just learned them, stop yelling."
Naruto pressed a hand to his forehead, his golden hair swaying with each step within the confines of it's ponytail. "You still never told me." Pouting, Naruto decided to ignore Shikamaru for the moment.
Sai grinned evilly when he saw the smile Shikamaru had on his lips.
The two shared a glance when Naruto stopped walking, lifting his face to the sky. "What is it?" frowning, Naruto sniffed lightly. "I smell something." Sai snorted. "Great, now he's a dog." Naruto gave him a nasty glance before his eyes widened.
"It's blood… and…." Naruto gasped. "I smell it…. I smell him!"
Racing off without another word, Shikamaru groaned. "Oy, Naruto! We shouldn't just run… oh never mind." Sai nodded at Shikamaru's gesture. "Let's go."
The two melted into the forest a head of them, silently gaining on Naruto's wild steps.
---
"Oh my…"
Naruto's eyes widened as he looked around the temple, his pupils narrowed to paper thin slits as he used his heightened senses to sniff out and see around.
"Naru-to." Shikamaru faltered in his reprimanding, his eyes taking in the large, almost
ethereal temple.
Naruto snarled with an animosity that Kyuubi had growing within him. His caution and internal warnings all but locked deep within his mind until he was acting purely on Kyuubi's instincts.
Blood was everywhere, bodies were cleared away, but the blood remained in dark crimson, near black pools of dried residue. However, that didn't hold Naruto's attention. It was the child- no…. a male his age with another demon within him, laying huddled on the ground in the very centre of the spacious temple.
The demon dog above him, made of pure chakra seemed to become even more insane as it's nose and eyes focused on Naruto.
Using every little ounce of control in his body, Naruto squashed down Kyuubi's personality and instincts so he could run forward towards the injured male. "Are you o-"
"STAY BACK!" Naruto leapt in surprise as the male sat up and looked at him, his skin drawn and pale with pain. Even as silver streaks of lightning like chakra ran over his wounds sporadically as the demon within him tried to heal him back up.
"It's a trap, they're trying to catch you!"
"That won't help now, dog."
Naruto leapt back at the last moment before the ground that he was just standing on was destroyed.
The smoke cleared, Naruto thankful to see that Sai and Shikamaru were standing next to him while in front of him…
"Kisame…. Itachi."
Shikamaru eyed the infamous Itachi, his eyes narrowing when the crimson eyes moved to stare at him. "Look away." at the last moment, Shikamaru looked to Itachi's shoulder. "His eyes can suck you in and you'll be gone for what seems like days….
weeks."
Naruto growled in anger as he crouched down in a defensive move, his nails growing and sharpening as Kisame lifted up his broadsword.
Absolute silence reigned for exactly 1 minute and 23 seconds, according to Shikamaru's mental clock.
That was before Itachi shifted.
"Get him. Kill the other two."
As if that was 'go', Kisame rushed forward while Naruto and the other two darted away from each other as to attack.
Naruto leapt towards Itachi, his shocking blue eyes seemed to glow as his pupils fully formed into slits and bled crimson.
Look into his eyes… Let him feel what others have…
Naruto knew it could kill him, but he couldn't resist Kyuubi's voice. His eyes moving up and locking with the deadly Mangekyou Sharingan that Itachi had mastered.
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DIE, DIE YOU DISGUSTING, PUTRID HUMAN!
Naruto couldn't look away, all his senses drinking in what was around him.
He tasted the blood in the air…
He smelled the scent of a thousand corpses, of a thousand deaths…
He heard the sounds of claws and fangs ripping through flesh…
He felt the blood saturated ground beneath his feet…
He saw the demons, two beautiful… But deadly demons ripping into the very much human flesh of Itachi…
YOU! YOU KILLED OUR BROTHERS, YOU KILLED THEM!
Crimson slit pupil eyes moved to the frozen figure of Naruto. Next, pure black eyes stared into Naruto's eyes, Blue slit pupils laughing at the fear he radiated.
DO YOU LIKE THE PAIN, DO YOU RELISH IN IT LIKE WE DO?
Kyuubi seemed to thoroughly enjoy the rage his demon brother showed.
YOU'LL NEVER GET US TO IDLY SIT WHILE YOU DO AS YOU PLEASE.
Naruto fell to his knees as he watched Itachi revitalize, only for the dog demon's teeth to sink into his leg and rip it off.
But Itachi never spoke, screamed or cried.
WE WILL TAKE BACK OUR FRIENDS. WE WON'T LET YOU SUCCEED.
The totally colorless world faded, everything melted away until the real world materialized once more.
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"Damn it Naruto, don't space out at a time like this!"
Naruto shook his head, looking around.
Kisame was literally frozen in place, his body in a truly uncomfortable position where he was bent back as if to dodge something. That something looked to be one of Sai's ink tigers. Three kunai were imbedded into the ground beside his feet, right into his shadow.
"Take Itachi down! Kisame is already done for!"
Naruto nodded, relieved beyond belief at seeing the teamwork Shikamaru and Sai showed to take down Kisame, the damned fish face.
Looking around some more, Naruto saw Itachi just standing there. His eyes blank, his pupils completely faded away to give him a dead look.
Ignoring the briefest feeling of pity, Naruto leapt towards Itachi with his claws outstretched.
Only to find himself on his face and Itachi several feet away.
"Damn you!"
Rushing towards the elder Uchiha, Naruto gasped as a sword- no, a thin katana ran through his shoulder, but that didn't stop him. He buried his kunai into Itachi's stomach and the two stared each other in the eye.
…People think demons only fight each other, they don't know how we can work together…
Naruto felt the power of the Kyuubi running through his veins, but he also felt it pulling at him, directing him towards the youma stuck in the blood cage.
"Naruto!"
Naruto blinked, looking up as Sai's ink tiger- one of them, was run through with Itachi's katana. "Focus!"
Splatter your blood on the circle…
Naruto's hand automatically went towards his wound, where he literally scooped out a hand filled with blood, throwing it towards the dog demon afterwards.
The circle glowed brightly for a moment, before Naruto's blood started to boil wherever it touched the dried blood, a thick purplish black fog like gas steaming up from the reaction.
Everyone started coughing the moment the gas entered their lungs, holding their hands over their mouths, their eyes watered.
"Itachi, let's retreat for now!"
Itachi looked at Naruto, then the boy within the blood cage.
"We will be back, and we will take both of you."
Disappearing in a flurry, the temple fell silent as everyone gasped for air. The only sound was the tinkling of glass as it fell in shards from the three foot by three foot mirror, seven different stones glittering as the cracks within them stood out completely.
"Man, what destruction."
Naruto and Shikamaru looked sadly at the mirror, knowing how many people depended on the mirror for guidance and support.
Sai merely shook his head and gave a small smile. "All things can be fixed."
Shikamaru gave an annoyed sigh as Naruto exploded on Sai's 'innocent' comment.
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"What's your name?"
Amethyst eyes flashed from beneath silver, jagged cut bangs. "Sven." Naruto smiled to Sven, (A/N: Think of Seven, without the first E) who merely ducked down and hunched over his mug of tea. "What country are you from?"
Sven's voice was low, but sweet to the ears. It was hard to hear though, he didn't speak up well.
"I grew up here. In Nano country."
Naruto nodded, looking at Shikamaru who finally spoke.
"Why don't you return to Konoha with us? I'm sure Tsunade would like to speak to you."
"But…. I'm a demon."
Naruto looked depressed for a second, depressed at how beat down Sven was.
"So am I, but that doesn't stop me!"
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "It seems to encourage you." Naruto grinned to Shikamaru, going into his 'good guy pose' like Rock Lee would.
"Yep!"
Shikamaru smiled slightly as he leaned back and closed his eyes, his head cushioned by his bag. "Now, it's time to sleep, baka."
Naruto rolled his eyes to Sven, who giggled almost silently. His skin was now flushed and the natural healthy tan color he inherited from his parents. His wounds were bandaged and his eyes didn't look so pained.
"Do you want my blanket, I mean- we didn't think there would be company on the way back."
Sven looked torn, but slowly nodded. Smiling softly as Naruto handed him the blanket. "Thank you."
Naruto nodded absently, his eyes trained on the forest beyond Sven's shoulder.
Pale skin danced between trees, snake like eyes stared back into his own. Mocking… Smirking.
"Naruto-san?"
Naruto looked to Sven.
"It's nothing, and it's Naruto. I'm no one special."
The fire was doused and everything blanked out, Naruto missed the small smile present on everyone's faces.
Man, was he blind.
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End chapter.
Hope this didn't seem like a filler chapter, but… I mean…. come on, I did this up in a day while I had some idea of what was going to happen next.
For you Shikamaru fans, hope you liked this!