That Evening
Naruto poked his head in through the door to his shared quarters with Kiba, peering at the dog-boy sprawled so lazily on the bed. Kiba surveyed the blond with a quick up-and-down glance before rolling over so he was looking at Naruto from upside down. The blond smiled and bounced over to the Inuzuka, perching precariously on the edge of the bed. He extracted a small package and handed it to Kiba, who turned it over in surprise.
"What's this for?" Naruto shrugged.
"No reason. Just to make up for the times I've been away." Kiba practically destroyed the gift, unwrapping the paper with wild eagerness. A delicate necklace fell out into his waiting hands. The Inuzuka frowned.
"Are you sure this wasn't for a girl?" Naruto laughed.
"You haven't looked at the ornament." Kiba fingered the small dog on the chain, obvious love glinting in his deep chestnut eyes. After carefully replacing the chain, he pounced on the startled blond, squealing happily.
"Thank you, Naruto!" Naruto extracted himself from the Inuzuka's arms, smiling awkwardly.
"Do you like it?" Kiba grinned toothily.
"Of course I like it, you moron!" Giving the blond another rib-cracking hug, he bounced off the bed and into the bathroom, putting on the necklace and smiling proudly at the trinket. With a laugh, Naruto let himself out, Kiba's whoops still ringing in his ears.
He was jerked rudely from his blissful dreams by a distant crash. Voices were heard, accompanied by screams and more crashes. Alarmed, the blond bolted up in bed, snatching a nearby knife on his bedside table. Creeping quietly to the door, he'd just reached the handle when the door burst open, expelling three burly men into the room. Realizing that now wasn't the time for questions, the blond slashed at the men, drawing bloody gashes down their arms and torso.
The men staggered backwards but regained their footing, reaching out towards Naruto with huge, clawing hands. Naruto scrambled backwards onto the bed and thrashed wildly in their grasp, but was quickly subdued and chained to the bed. Beside him, Kiba writhed, murder flashing in his eyes. The man on the right smiled and cracked his knuckles ominously, sending his fist careening towards Naruto's face. The blond managed to duck, but at the very last moment, the rock-hard fist smashed into his head near the temple. Naruto struggled to keep his eyes open, but darkness quickly engulfed his senses and he slumped backwards onto the bed, slipping into unconsciousness.
Gaara struggled to stand; he was awakened when his door was pulled clean off its handles. Three men came in, closely flanking a hooded figure. Gaara inhaled sharply as the figure reached up and lowered its hood with spidery pale fingers. Unruly brown hair emerged, accompanied by a face he knew all too well.
"Father…" The man smirked and executed a short bow.
"I'm sorry to disappoint, but you utterly failed to kill me that night in the bar. Your old man doesn't go down that easily, I'll have you know." His bodyguards sniggered darkly.
"In fact, I have you right where I need you, my little one. You see, after you uploaded your little virus onto our computer system, one of our guards witnessed the infection and notified me. Knowing you'd attack sooner or later, I decided, why not attack when the wounds are still fresh?" With a deft movement, he strode forward, quickly binding the redhead's unresisting hands and feet. Gaara managed a smirk, which rather unnerved the man before him.
"That may be so," His tone was mild, as if the two of them were discussing small talk over cups of coffee in a café.
The other's face darkened and he drew his knife, drawing the flat of the blade across Gaara's face in a slow, sadistic movement. The redhead merely smiled up at his father, further irritating the man. With a ferocious growl, the man flipped over the blade and pressed down into Gaara's pale, white skin, drawing a thin line of blood from the side of his lips to the bottom of his eye. Gaara never flinched; his eyes glistened with an unreadable expression—or lack of expression—that positively frightened the man before him. The man snarled again and drew his knife over the exact same cut, biting deeper into the skin. Scarlet libation flowed in trickles down the redhead's face like war paint, but to the other's chagrin, Gaara merely chuckled.
"You honestly think that's all it will take to break me, Father?"
His head snapped to the side and white-hot pain blossomed from his cheekbone. Still he smiled, staring defiantly at his father's livid expression. The man's face turned a dark, ugly shade of red; his eyes bulged and his mouth was pressed into a thin, reedy line. Drawing back his fist, he lashed out once more, striking Gaara squarely in the nose. A crunching sound was heard, and blood exploded from the redhead's nostrils, running in thick rivulets down his mouth and chin.
Turning his head to the side, he rested his nose against the pillow and pressed down, stabilizing the wounded appendage. He snapped his head to the side and heard another crunch; his nose slid back into place, accompanied by another onslaught of pain. Looking up at his father, he was somewhat amused to see a slight crook in the man's nose that obviously wasn't part of his original anatomy. It seemed that his dear old man never learned how to reset a broken nose. He twisted to the side again as the knife slashed down his torso, drawing a long, bleeding gash across his already wounded chest. It was all right, really; Gaara, being an experienced spy, was somewhat used to the means of physical torture. He closed his eyes as his father ran yet another gash down his face; it was better to succumb to the pain and wait it out. If one played dead, the pain would eventually stop.
In the Servant's Quarters
He awakened to a rather disturbing sight. The room was bent at extremely odd angles, the silence too loud, and smell of blood too acrid. Naruto shook his head in a weak attempt to clear it; the room tilted dangerously and threatened to collapse. He felt a pull on his wrists as he tried to get up; craning his head at an angle that made his spine scream, he turned and gazed dazedly at the handcuffs that chained him to the bed. With a valiant effort, he tried to pull his wrists free from the cuffs, but to no avail. The one hindrance that stubbornly planted itself between the cuffs and freedom, was the bone in his wrist that stuck out just at the junction of his wrist and his palm.
Naruto gritted his teeth and tugged once more. The cuff latched stubbornly onto the heel of his palm and wouldn't let go, no matter how meticulously he wriggled and squirmed. Slippery, he thought. I need something slippery. He reached up and crooked his elbows, making his clavicle creak in pain as he reached up with his tongue, reaching for his wrists to somehow lubricate them. His tongue stopped scant centimeters away from his wrist and wouldn't lengthen any longer no matter how far he stuck it from his mouth or how much he craned his neck. His energy expended the blond sunk back down onto the pillows, biting his lip in frustration.
A sudden idea occurred to him. Perhaps….he thought back to the time where he'd treated Gaara's wounds, just fresh from the battle with his father. The blood…the blood was plenty slippery. Yes, now that he thought back to it, Iruka had mentioned something about fresh blood being extremely slippery indeed. His eyes zeroed in on the knife that lay on the night table next to him. If he could only reach it….
Naruto uttered a silent oath under his breath, cursing the bastards who'd disabled his hands. His feet were still in excellent working condition though…..his eyes darkened to the shades of a typhoon, creased in determination. Cranking his legs upright like some sort of maladjusted acrobat, he twisted his waist at an extremely painful angle and bent back his knee so that the heel of his foot rested just against the handle of the blade. Deftly flicking his heel to the side, he sent the knife spiraling straight towards face, ducking as it soared scant millimeters past his eyes. As the handle gyrated past his mouth, he bucked, teeth closing firmly over the brown handle like a bloodthirsty pirate. He grinned through the knife. That was part one, now part two was the tricky.
Reaching up, he repositioned the handle in his mouth so the twelve-inch-long blade pointed tip-first at his wrist. Craning his over-taxed neck up yet again, he drew a long, thin line across his wrist, enough to draw blood yet not deep enough to damage any underlying veins or arteries. He cut deeper still, twisting his head to the side to expose more blood. Spitting aside the knife, he tilted up his wrist so the blood flowed around the handcuffs, lubricating the iron ring.
With a mighty tug, he wrenched his wrist to the side and down, sliding freely from the cuff. Smiling victoriously, he massaged his free hand before grabbing the knife and slitting his other wrist. Pulling the other hand free, he untied the cord from his waist and rose triumphantly from the bed, stretching himself and rearranging his spine. He flicked a brief glance over at the comatose Inuzuka lying stretched out on the bed, but decided to keep him chained; if his absence was discovered, at least Kiba wouldn't be a suspect. Sneaking quietly down the deserted hallway, he perked up and cocked his head to the side at the sound of stirrings coming from the guest bedroom. Bounding quietly up the stairs, the blond peeked through the door, quickly spying Neji chained tightly to the bed.
Narrowing his eyes until they were mere slits, Naruto slunk in the door, checking for intruders before padding noiselessly to where the Hyuuga lay. Neji's opalescent eyes widened and he shifted on the bed, struggling to rise but detained by the handcuffs that restrained him in a similar fashion Naruto had already experienced. Snatching a nearby paper clip, he straightened it out and picked both locks, easily undoing the handcuffs. Neji sat up and rubbed his sore wrists, grinning wryly at his servant.
"Thank you." He noticed the thin scars on Naruto's wrists, courtesy of the healing wounds.
"What happened?" Naruto smiled.
"Details later. We have to locate Sasuke, Gaara, and Kabuto."
They flung open the door and rushed outside, only to encounter three men in the hallway. The men paused, startled, then realized their hostages were free and cracked their knuckles ominously. Naruto flicked a brief gaze over the three. One had a nasty boil on his nose, the other was covered in tattoos that spun in weird designs over his arms and neck, and the third had a pole the size of Japan stuck through his right ear. Together, they posed a fairly decent threat. The blond sized them up carefully.
"Neji, you take the two shrimpy ones; I'll get the one on the left." The Hyuuga smirked.
"Why do you get all the fun? Give me the one on the left and you get the shrimpy ones." The men growled at the way Naruto degraded them so.
"Very well."
With a snarl, Naruto whirled into the air, barreling straight for Thug 1. Thug 1 swiped at the elusive blond; Naruto ducked and Thug 1 clipped Thug 2 neatly in the ear. Thug 2 roared and kicked out at the blond; Naruto saw him coming and jammed a foot into his midsection, dropping to the ground and helping him over his head, sending him straight into Thug 3. Neji jumped to the side and settled for watching as Naruto lashed out, striking Thug 3 and Thug 2 squarely in the groin with a well-aimed midair split. Both thugs reeled backwards, clutching their nether regions as Thug 1 spiraled towards Naruto with a razor blade in hand. Naruto simply stood still, and let the man gain plenty of speed before grasping one hairy arm in both hands and whirling him over the balustrade, sending him plummeting four stories before landing with a crash on the stairs below.
Getting back their breath, Thug 2 and 3 lumbered unsteadily towards Naruto in a last ditch attempt to bring down the blond. Naruto whirled and shoved the heel of both hands into their necks, crushing their windpipes and sending them over the railing to join Thug 1. Dusting off his hands and smirking, the blond whistled tunelessly and strolled down the hallway past Neji's shell-shocked figure as if he were taking a stroll through the park. After a few moments of silence, the Hyuuga caught up with the blond, and the two strolled in silence down to the guest bedroom where Sasuke was locked.
After freeing the Uchiha and Kabuto (whom they found tied to table of all places), the four dashed to Neji's bedroom, bursting into the room. There they found the redhead himself, badly mangled and on top of him, his father, wielding a thin blood-soaked blade. Gaara peered blearily at the four with his malachite eyes, his lips curving into a faint smile as his gaze swept over Naruto's frame. Though the blond couldn't hear it, he read the movement of Gaara's lips.
"Glad you could make it." With that, the redhead let out a sigh and fell unconscious to the bed.
Gaara's father stood, surveying the four with mock interest.
"So my son has his rats to do his bidding." Naruto growled ferociously at the man.
"How dare you speak of him like that?" The man laughed, a high, shrill, cackling bark.
"I dare…because he is mine."
"You certainly don't treat him as yours." Naruto hissed. Gaara's father tilted his head to the side, a sick parody of a smile on his lips.
"He was never my son; only an experiment that has exhausted its usefulness. When one experiment loses its use, we simply dispose of it."
Naruto's rage exploded, coursing through his body in waves. The image of Gaara's father blurred, becoming no more than a shapeless mound of flesh with writhing arms and legs. With a howl, the blond leapt forward, gyrating straight for the man before him.
He'd forgotten that he was merely a boy, and that he was facing one of the leaders in the world's most dangerous opium ring. He'd forgotton that the man was armed with a knife, whereas he only had his arms and legs. All sense of reason flew from his brain as he sped towards Gaara's father, and the look on the other man's face was that of pure shock as Naruto closed the distance between them. He was so shocked, he couldn't get his knife up in time as the blond collided with his body and sent him sprawling to the ground; the last thing he saw was a flash, then a face, a horribly twisted face with blood-red eyes portraying centuries of bloodshed and pain, the maw yawning and sprouting fangs, hungering for his life.
Naruto's claws dug into the man's neck as his teeth sank themselves in the man's carotid artery. Pulling free, he raised his taloned hand and drew five raw slashes across the man's face, slashing across the eye, the nose, and the mouth. Shrieking a macabre, grating screech, he picked up the man and flung him to the wall, smashing his throat in the process. Screaming again, he plucked the knife from the man's limp fingers and thrust it to the hilt inside of his heart, giving it one violent twist before yanking out the blade. The corpse slid to the ground, collapsing in a pitiful heap at Naruto's feet. The blond panted, breathing heavily before turning to face the three other members' stunned expressions. His eyes were no longer the color of the clear night sky soaring up into a universe of stars and moons and planets and galaxies. They were iced over. Shut.
"I do hate bastards who enjoy causing pain." Kicking aside the corpse on the floor, Naruto walked in an almost ethereal manner to Gaara's comatose form, almost as if he were floating to the redhead.
Cupping his hand behind Gaara's head, he lifted him up and gazed ruefully at the calm, almost serene expression on the redhead's features. Tearing up a strip of his shirt, he gently sponged away the blood that streaked Gaara's frame, revealing many slashes and wounds on the redhead's broken body. The wounds weren't that bad—most of them were superficial—but Naruto felt sorry for the fallen spy all the same. Laying him tenderly back down on the bed, he turned to the other remaning members.
"We have hindrances to exterminate." Striding angrily down the hall, Naruto bid them to separate to different storeys of the house, taking the last three for himself. Once the Uchiha, the Hyuuga, and the Yakushi were gone from his sight, the blond turned and barreled through all of the rooms, ruthlessly mowing down any poor, unsuspecting wretches who happened to get in the path of his destruction. Whirling through the rooms like a tornado of fangs, claws, and blood, Naruto spun through the house in a crazed frenzy, quickly ridding the mansion of any invaders. He met Neji, Sasuke, and Kabuto on the third floor, gasping for breath.
"Cleaned out your floors, have you?" The three nodded.
"Good." A sudden shift stirred in Naruto's eyes, and they lightened once more to reveal the blond they all knew and loved. Long gone was the feral killer, replaced by the amiable Naruto once more.
"Sorry about that….I get really pissed when people exploit others." Neji nodded sympathetically.
"It's quite all right. How is Gaara faring?" Naruto sighed, running his hand through his frowzy bronze locks.
"He'll be fine."
"Damn right I'll be fine." A voice growled from the hallway. The four whirled around to witness Gaara limping towards them with a wry smile on his face. Naruto looked floored. After a series of lightning-quick emotions and a batch of half-thoughts, Naruto screamed the first half-thought that wormed its way through his mind, mentally cursing himself for lack of brain-mouth coordination; his reaction took the whole of five minutes.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, GALAPHANTING ABOUT THE MANSION IN YOUR WEAKENED STATE?" The redhead winced and clasped his hands over his ears. Hell hath no fury like a worried blond scorned. Naruto could wake the dead and kill them again with the volume of his scream. Even Gaara, the very quintessence of unflinching calm managed a small wince.
"Now now, calm down. You said so yourself that my wounds were superficial." He chuckled at the look of profound chagrin on the blond's face.
"But…but you still need your rest." He spluttered frantically. Gaara laughed.
"I'm tougher than I look, kitten. You'd best not contradict me lest you wish to find yourself hung on the ceiling by your entrails." Naruto promptly shut up (Gaara's threats were never the kind to be taken lightly, no matter how far-fetched they seemed), though he still looked plenty livid.
"Oh very well, have it your way…but when you come crawling to me whining about blood loss and infection, don't expect me to be too sympathetic." Gaara chuckled ruefully.
"Since when have you known me to contract an infection?" Naruto drew back, obviously miffed.
"There's a first time for everything!" The redhead smirked.
"Then I shall have the benefit of experiencing what you say I shall experience." Turning, he limped away.
"W-wait, where are you going?" The redhead stopped, looking bemusedly over his shoulder at the ruffled blond.
"Everywhere and nowhere. You know me, Naruto-kun. I am cursed with the affliction of being a perpetual roamer." The blond sighed, defeated.
"Very well, but you have to promise to visit sometime!" Gaara laughed.
"I promise." He limped out the door, retrieving his cloak and bags by the foyer. Naruto watched him go, straining his eyes for any last sight of the enigmatic redhead as he disappeared into the night.
Neji sighed and sifted his fingers through his hair, releasing the stress that bore down on his mind, a result of the events that had just taken place. Sasuke let out a breath as well; Kabuto hitched his spectacles back on the bridge of his nose. Silence permeated the air, though it wasn't the least bit comfortable. Naruto swung his arms back and forth, fidgeting slightly.
"So…" It was a weak attempt at a conversation starter, but Naruto desperately needed to break the silence.
"What do we do now? We've resolved all unfinished business." Kabuto shook his head and pointed towards the Uchiha and the Hyuuga, a bemused smile on his features.
"Oh no we haven't. You've still got a slight problem, Naruto-kun, and this problem cannot be solved so easily as the ones before." Both Sasuke and Neji stared sadly at the blond, nodding in agreement.
"We've given you enough time, Naruto. It is now you're decision on which of us to pick. Choose wisely; this is a critical decision indeed."
Naruto glanced back and forth between the two, emotions tearing his heart into shreds. He loved Neji….but he also loved Sasuke. The blond's eyes reverted to a shade of blue used only when he was antagonized or extremely frustrated; a blue so deep, one could drown in their bottomless depths. He lowered his head, bangs falling in front of his eyes as he meticulously picked out each separate trait and difference of the two beings before him. He clenched his fists in frustration, knowing that his time had come, that he could not delay any longer. After what seemed like an eternity, the blond looked up, a deeply sad expression lingering in his clear sapphire orbs. Neji and Sasuke looked on, patiently waiting for his decision. Finally Naruto spoke, picking his words and articulating them with the utmost care.
"Neji…Sasuke….before I begin, I have to have your solemn promise that either of you won't harm the other lest he's the one I choose." The look in Naruto's eyes was dead serious. Exchanging a brief glance, the Hyuuga and the Uchiha nodded slowly.
"Good." Plowing ahead, Naruto bravely continued, turning first to the Uchiha.
"Sasuke…to make a long story short….these past few weeks have been the world to me. I've received friends, enemies, plenty of trouble….I feel more alive than I've ever felt before. That and being wanted by two of the most available bachelors in the whole of Japan." He laughed softly, but continued.
"You've been a crucial part of my life, Sasuke, and you will always bear a place in my heart. Your vigor, your bluntness, your outright defiance, moodiness, and most of all, your complete and utter devotion. That drew me to you, and kept me endlessly enthralled. Rare have I seen such a person, Sasuke, and I want you to know that you are one of those mythical species only heard about in storybooks that truly cares for everyone and everything, no matter how hard you try to hide it."
The Uchiha tilted back his head, trying not to blink. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, and one renegade drop of saline moisture slipped unbidden from his lash and fell down his cheek, landing silently on the floor. With a sad smile at Sasuke, Naruto swallowed and turned to Neji.
"Neji…at first I though you were just a cold, heartless bastard…but then I got to see the true side of you, your kindness, your passion for life, your vivacious personality, and most of all, your boundless gentleness. All of these things, all of these things drew me to you. You've showed me the world, poured out your heart and soul to me, and for that, I cherish you." Naruto clenched his fists, tears running down his eyes as well. Kabuto sniffed politely into his sleeve.
"I know that I cannot possibly choose both of you…so I make my decision now." He drew in a deep, somewhat calming breath, steadying his nerves before clamping his eyes shut and speaking the fated words.
"The one I choose….the one I choose….is…."
And as he spoke the last word, one world crumbled and fell to ashes, darkening into a graveyard of forsaken hopes, yet the other world soared past the heavens, shooting up into the eternal paradise of bliss, forever remaining in the Elysion of joy.