It gets a tad angsty in this chapter, so be prepared for that. Also in regards to time, it's been several weeks since the confrontation/transformation of Naruto in the Forbidden Forest. Chapter 11 was the morning of the first official day of school, but we're fast forwarding a tad to the next week or so.

Once again, thanks so much to my reviewers and those who read my story simply for the joy of it.

Disclaimer: Again if I owned either, they would most certainly not be fit for TV. : 3

Now, on with the show.

Chapter 12: Ghost Town

The sky dripped and dazzled with dappled starlight, their twinkling forms skimming off the surface of the water in peaceful rays. They shone merrily down on the far Earth, safe in the sanctity of their twilight bound home seemingly a world away. He used to love watching the skies when he'd been younger, found a comfort in their silent watch. He'd sit on lush roves of rolling grass that seemed to stretch for miles, contentedly gazing upward on what he'd thought at the time were quiet, shimmering all-seeing guardians.

Every day, he came early before the first of the effervescent lights were out, he'd sit in wait of that first appearance, the words of a poem that Iruka had taught him sitting in wait on his tongue.

"Star light, star bright

First star I see tonight

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight."

And he'd close his eyes tight and wish with every fiber of his young body for someone to acknowledge him, to look at him with the pride that only a true loved one could provide, for a friend who would gladly eat ramen with him, who would explore the far reaches of the seemingly limitless forest that surrounded their village with him, and to merely sit content and happy with him forever.

And each and every night, he tried to wish a little harder.

However, as night crept upon him now, he didn't look to them for comfort. He ignored their light dancing on the surface of the sea he stood on, avoided the blinking comfort they tried to offer, and turned his back on any thoughts of fruitless wishing. For now, his attention lay only on the eyes that used to remind him of a dark, starless sky when they'd been twelve and still made his heart sting with a forgotten, unreachable joy that sang a brittle song in his chest.

He stood across from him, poised almost delicately on the rocks that lined the shore, his face blank and eyes shining dull in the moonlight. For the longest moment, Naruto felt the air slip from his lungs, wisp into invisible tendrils of life, and slip into the atmosphere to never be taken again.

He inhaled and they moved.

Sasuke shot across the water, waves rushing and crashing as he and Naruto met halfway, blades poised against each other, eyes drawn sharply together as they pressed against the other. They leapt apart with a cling of metal, ending up on opposite ends of the shore. Water, salty smooth and clinging, swept against their ankles with futile hopes of calming their human storm and receding as they saw that their efforts gained them nothing.

Naruto felt the crushing in his heart, that hard, grasping hand that reach in and yanked and yanked until his heart took refuge in his throat and beat and swelled until he felt like his lungs might very well collapse from their overwhelming need for air. Sasuke didn't move, a thin line of blood appearing on his cheek, its mirror image sliding across Naruto's as well. The thin lines of blood seemed to trickle down both their cheeks in unison, dripping down their chins and mixing with the salty earth beneath them. And then he blinked and straightened, his blade sliding back into its sheath, black eyes focused and mocking on the blonde. Naruto felt a cringe in his chest as those eyes pierced him, as though they were saying that he wasn't worth the time or the effort to continue such a fight.

Across from him the boy, the man, he'd called friend, whom he'd spent all of his hope looking for, walked away, taking his heart and trampling his hope along the way.

He woke with a start, hand reaching up to his chest, clutching for the strong pounding of his heart. The rustle of trees provided him with a fake sense of tranquility, cooling the cold sweat that beaded on his forehead. The lapping of the lake's waves was an assault on his ears, to reminiscent of the rolling waves where he'd last seen his wayward teammate. Just the thought of the raven haired Sound-nin brought an ache to his eyes, and a rasping to his chest and throat that couldn't be quenched by even the deepest of breaths.

An errant breeze stroked his cheeks and he leaned into it, letting it wash over him in a comforting chill. Remnants of the dream still swam before his eyes, and with a great sigh he hefted himself from his grassy perch, mechanically sweeping dirt from his person. The dreams plagued him more and more as of late, whispering fragments of Sasuke, of his greatest failure, his broken promise, forever taunting him with his own shortcomings and weakness. His fingers curled into fists, and he was ashamed to realize that he was shaking with a myriad of emotions he wasn't sure how to tame. They curled and twisted around his chest, slithering into his heart with a poison more deadly than Tsunade's most potent drugs.

The short breeze brought with it more than nature's comfort, and on the wind he could hear the sound of conversation drifting his way, a conversation that was hushed and almost furious sounding. The wind rustled, carrying on it a poignant scent of books, parchment, and oddly enough vanilla mint toothpaste. He leaned casually against the tree, folding his arms and taking on a look of pleasant surprise at the approach of the curly-haired girl he'd met briefly at Grimwauld Place known as Hermione Granger. Oddly, her usual company, Harry and the redheaded Ron, were nowhere to be seen. Even odder was the fact that the conversation he'd overheard seemed to be taking place between her and herself. Things got even more curious as his sharp eyes caught the sight of her flushed face, heaving chest and heavy breathing. She continued his way, not even registering his presence until he waved a hand into her still moving face. With an undignified squawk she reeled back eyes shooting to his face in surprise.

"Hisoka!"

"Ah, hello Hermione-chan, I'm sorry to have interrupted the riveting conversation you were having with yourself, but you were about to walk into the lake."

If possible, her face flushed further in embarrassment. She regained herself though, coughing and straightening out her uncharacteristically ruffled clothing, running her hand through her hair self-consciously. "I apologize Hisoka, my mind was elsewhere." Naruto chuckled. "I noticed." Silence hung in the air between them, and Naruto struggled for something to say.

"So what brings you out here? Shouldn't you be in class or something?" He noticed the way her eyes immediately flashed guiltily and how her hands nervously clutched at the books in her arms. A sudden thought occurred to him and he winked at her waggling his eyebrows.

"Has someone been skipping class? Tsk, tsk Ms. Granger." Her mouth flew open in indignation, ready to refute him he was sure, before it snapped back closed and the guilty look totally consumed her face. He let out a hearty laugh at her expense. "Don't worry; your secret is safe with me." To exaggerate his point he mimed zipping his mouth closed and throwing away the key. She huffed, her face still colored in embarrassment.

"I…normally don't do things like this…" The way her voice trailed off self-consciously made his chuckles subside and he trained gentle eyes on her. "Hey now, it's nothing to get all upset over, I used to skip class all the time. In fact, on more than one occasion my teacher had to literally drag me back to class!" The admission, while not wiping the low look from her eyes, did make her lips quirk in amusement.

"So, how about I challenge you to a rock skipping contest hmm, unless of course you have more classes to skip?"

As Hermione nodded her consent and followed him further toward the banks of the lake, a flash of silver caught his eye. Employing the trick of looking without seeming to look, he caught a rather good sight of one Draco Malfoy shuffling from the same direction Hermione had in a similar state of dishevelment.

Saying nothing he turned back to the girl, picking up a smooth, flat stone from the bank.

The town, so far, had given them no leads to follow. The circle of stones that had brought them there had been drenched in that magic that they knew to associate with the abductors, however once arriving in the town, the trail had literally gone cold, diminishing in the throng of the non-magical people who inhabited it. Neji turned to Gaara, ready to tell the other of the lost trail, when the narrowing of the other's eyes stopped him.

"There."

He turned instantly in the direction of Gaara's eyes and was met with nothing but thin air. His eyes squinted and the air shimmered. His eyes activated and the air blurred and realigned itself into the form of a hunched over man who strongly resembled a basset hound. They slinked their way through the crowd towards the slouching man as he shuffled his way toward the road leading out of town. As they neared they slowed down their swift walking to a casual pace, pretending to pick disinterestedly through a rack of postcards. The man continued to move, unknowingly leading them toward his destination. They watched as he entered a dirty alley and Neji watched as he picked up an old, broken bottle. His brow knitted together in bewilderment; the bottle was radiating the same kind of odd magical signature as the stones had. He motioned to Gaara and they crept toward the alley, blending in with its dank darkness with ease.

By now the aura the bottle was emitting was practically tangible to the shinobi. Neji swept his eyes to Gaara and together they moved even close, kunai seamlessly appearing in the Hyuuga's hand and sand shuffling silently toward the man. The sand swirled and knotted, its edges evening out and forming a ball.

Gaara's eye nestled itself into the dirty folds of the man's cloak, giving him an up close view of the bottle and its holder. However, before he could sum up his view, the man warped out of sight. Gaara cringed, swaying back, hand flitting to his eye, hissing like an angry cat. His body remained tense, expression nauseous as he attempted to find the words of what he was seeing. Suddenly, he staggered, falling to one knee as his hand began to spasm even more violently over his eye. Neji knelt beside him, only the barest of space separating them as he hovered beside the disguised redhead. Finally, whatever it was stopped, leaving him with harshly controlled breathing and a cold sweat beading his forehead as he struggled to right himself and maintain his stoic expression.

"What did you see?" Gaara didn't reply at once, his face contorting in distaste before speaking.

"Have you ever taken psychedelic drugs?"

He didn't like this place at all. The walls echoed with nothing but emptiness and were shrouded in a cold mist that continually crept into his body. While Orochimaru's base was no better it had the added advantage of familiarity. But the man who called himself the Dark Lord had no such thing in this sad excuse for a home. The manor also bore too much resemblance to a place that had once been his home, a place that had been equally cold and devoid of life. But Sasuke Uchiha was above wallowing over such things and he immediately cast such thoughts aside.

He also despised the man who insisted on being called Voldemort. He was a worm, a pathetic creature with even more pathetic goals in Sasuke's eyes. If it weren't for that fact that Orochimaru was adamant about this alliance he would have gladly run the man through his sickeningly white chest.

The only place of solace he found was outside in the adjoining graveyard. He found the silent graves morbidly soothing, the creeping mist nothing to shudder at, and the distinct lack of Voldemort or any of his cronies was particularly attractive. However unfortunately, today was not one of those days where he could find escape among the dead, and he found himself with the uninteresting task of sitting in on one of Voldemort's many unnecessary meetings. He sat there, merely taking up space and idly twirling a kunai, taking silent satisfaction from the occasional nervous glances the man's lackeys sent him. The man himself sat proudly erect in a high backed chair, his prized serpent curled across his shoulders and hissing occasionally at his followers. Sasuke would have chuckled at the snakes less than savory comments if a certain name hadn't stopped his hand mid-twirl.

Thunk.

The kunai sank deep into the polished wood of the table, Sasuke's twisted face reflecting on it in a snarl.

"What did you say?"

Silence born from his unexpected outburst rang amongst the group and Voldemort's face had taken on an uncharacteristic smile. The sight of the snake-faced man looking at him with such an expression grated on his nerves and he could feel the red of the Sharingan bleeding into his eyes. With a hiss he hurriedly deactivated them and cursed his lack of control.

But then again, he'd always lacked control when it came to Naruto.

His temper felt tightly curled up, like a snake ready to strike out, and he barely kept it back as Voldemort merely continued to look smugly at him.

"We had the pleasure of hosting your ah, acquaintance with us for a time. Unfortunately, due to some unforeseen meddling, he left our keeping only a few short weeks ago. It was my hope that you and your master would help in his retrieval."

"Orochimaru knew of this?" The words barely made it passed his lips they were pursed so tightly. Voldemort's barely visible eyebrows rose smoothly in what could only be described as glee.

"Why of course, it was one of the terms in our agreement."

The anger lashed through him visibly and it was with great self-restraint that he didn't merely lunge across the table and swipe the kunai through that pale, unprotected throat. With his constraint tightly in place he stood from table, effortlessly pulling his kunai from the table and stalked from the room.

As he proceeded through the hallways the venom of anger slid through his veins, igniting his blood like hot lead, a monster uncurling in his chest and snarling with uncontrollable hate. With a snarl his fist flew forward, smashing into the wall beside him, the stone crunching and crumbling beneath his powerful knuckles. He stood there for what felt like immeasurable moments, nothing but Voldemort's words coursing through his ears, and hot shame flushed across his features and he growled as he reflected on his utter loss of control. Even when they were separated by countless miles, that blonde-headed idiot still managed to make him lose his cool. A red film of anger washed over his eyes and he continued walking the empty hall, his anger exuding itself in waves. He entered the room he'd been given when he and Orochimaru had arrived, and he didn't bother to flick on the lights. He didn't want to see the disgusting extravagance of the room, and instead he sunk onto the overstuffed mattress without a sound, his hands curling sharply into the plush sheets.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there consumed in the dark, the only break from silence the gentle flutter of the curtains when the occasional breeze passed through the window. But when he stood, he stood with purpose in his eyes.

Eyes that bled red with the worst of his intentions.

Naruto whistled merrily as he jostled his way through the crowded halls of Hogwarts with Hermione in tow behind him. The bushy-haired girl had lightened up considerably after besting the blonde in their rock skipping contest and was now chatting amicably about all the classes she was taking and the books required for each one.

Hermione trailed off in her speech as she noticed that Hisoka was barely paying attention, but instead of the usual annoyance that accompanied such action, she only felt a fond exasperation. She simply couldn't bring herself to be cross with the cheery blonde. Speaking of blondes, a flash of platinum blonde hair streaked across her vision, and she skittered to a stop when she realized not only to whom it belonged to, but that they were heading straight for her and Hisoka. Hisoka, noticing her sudden stop turned to her inquisitively and raised an eyebrow in question. But before she could respond, Malfoy did it for her.

"Hello Hisoka," his eyes flashed to her for the barest of seconds before returning to Hisoka, "Heading to the Great Hall?" Hisoka shook his head, and Hermione could see the cogs in his head literally turning and panic gripped her chest. "Actually, I was just escorting Hermione here to the library; she said she wanted to show me a few books she thought I'd like to read." Hermione tried not to gape, because they had in fact been going to the Great Hall for dinner, and she couldn't fathom his sudden lie. Once again Malfoy's eyes flickered to her, but this time instead of leaving right away, they lingered and she shifted uncomfortably. "I see," Malfoy said slowly, an odd glint coming to his eye that made her nervous, "well, once you finish I would enjoy having dinner with you, so just meet me in the Hall afterwards." Hisoka nodded his consent and they parted ways, walking aimlessly down the hall for a few minutes before he stopped.

"So, right, where IS the library exactly?"

This time Hermione couldn't hold back her stare of incredulity and she soundlessly pushed him in the right direction.

ok...so it's been a disgustingly long time since I've updated, but fret not, I don't intend to take such a long hiatus again. -Cherry