Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Yes, another update! "Finally!" you all shout. Oh, and if any of you don't know, the sequel for When Sounds Become Visual is back in action, so stop by there and drop a review! Yes, shameless advertisement.
"Dammit, try harder!"
"W-we're trying as hard as we can, Tsunade-sama... He's not responding to anything... He's not coming back..."
Five doctors and two worried nurses all surrounded a large, metal table in the center of the main surgery room. They had various types of machinary with them, beeping and humming sounds echoing around the room. One of the doctors, a man with a shaved head and a bright white coat on, shook his head and turned off the light that was hanging over the table.
"He's gone."
Sasuke, who was outside of the room and looking through the glass window, narrowed his eyes dangerously and slammed his fist against the glass. His rage was evident in his face, his teeth gritted and eyes burning into a red that was similar to Itachi's.
His mouth moved, but no one inside of the room could hear him cursing at them and yelling at them to bring Naruto back.
Tsunade shouted in anger and shoved her doctors aside, turning the light back on. She grabbed a needle from the tray of medical instruments and dipped into a small bottle she'd pulled out of her pocket. Some of the doctors recognized what it was and their eyes widened.
"Tsunade-sensei... Do you really think that's going to work? That's used to induce a seizure in patients..." one of the nurses watched the blonde woman sink the needle right into Naruto's temple.
"I had promised myself to only use this as a last resort," she growled, waiting for a reaction from the lifeless body. "It should jump start him... and hopefully he'll be able to stay awake long enough for his body to stabilize. If not, there's no way we could bring him back again. Misora, bring Sasuke in here now!" she snapped at one of the nurses.
A shorter girl with brown hair nodded before scurrying over to the door and opening it, not even having to call for the raven before he ran into the room and shoved the doctors out of the way, his dark eyes landing on Naruto's face. He was pale... too pale...
"Don't touch him yet," Tsunade ordered him. "His body should react to the drug at any second. I would have to say that he's very lucky I'd ordered this weeks ago for him... just in case something like this happened," she sighed. "He should be coming to..."
As if his body was triggered by the woman's words, Naruto's muscles began twitching and jerking. Soon, his whole body began to shake and gurgling sounds were coming from his throat.
"What happening--"
Tsunade cut him off, telling everyone to back off. "He's going into convulsions. It's painful for him, yes, but this is the only way we could bring him back long enough for him to even have a chance," she grabbed something from the tray and opened Naruto's mouth, placing it inside so that he wouldn't choke on his tongue.
"Naruto..." Sasuke whispered. He hoped to whatever god existed that his mate would live. He didn't know what he would do without the cheerful male in his life. It seemed like only yesterday he'd found him in that alley, cold and wet from the rain.
The heart monitor that Naruto was attached to picked up on his heart beat, the sound music to Tsunade and Sasuke's ears.
Blue eyes snapped wide open, glazed over from death. His body continued to shake violently and he made sounds similar to that of swallowing or gagging, his lips moving.
"Get to work on stabilizing him!" Tsunade shouted and stepped back, letting her men work on the feline. She placed a reassuring hand on Sasuke's shoulder and smiled. "Don't worry, he'll be fine."
Honestly, Sasuke felt like crying. So many close calls, so many hours of worrying over the pet he cared for the most... He didn't know how many more of these times he could handle.
"I thought he was never coming back..." Sasuke admitted. He didn't hide the tone of anguish in his deep voice. "All I could think about was when he was a cub and I would pet him or hold him in my arms... I couldn't let go of my boy... And even though we're mates... I can't let go of thinking of him as my little boy, my everything."
Tsunade looked out the window at the rest of the family that was in the waiting room. She smiled softly and nodded in understanding.
"It looks like Naruto finally has his own loving family now," she said. "He's come such a long way from the orphan you found in that alleyway, don't you think so?"
Sasuke nodded and wiped away the tears he tried his hardest not to let fall. He never let himself cry. NEVER.
"He's stabilized, Tsunade-sama! He's going to make it!"
"Tsunade-sama--"
"Sa-sasuke! Sasuke! Sasuke!" Naruto's croaking voice broke through their voices and silenced the entire room. A doctor stepped aside and a large hand reached out between him and one of the other professionals. It reached out toward Sasuke, fingers outstretched.
Tsunade pushed the leopard forward and Sasuke hurried to the table, taking Naruto's hand with his. He couldn't help but let tears slip from his dark eyes when he saw those beautiful cerulean eyes gazing up at him, that gorgeous face framed by his sweaty golden locks. His limbs were still shaking, but not enough to worry about.
"Thank you..." Sasuke whispered. "Thank you...!"
"I was so scared..." Naruto told him, his own eyes watering. "I didn't want to leave you...! Sasuke, I never want to leave you...! I couldn't find my way back!"
Sasuke inhaled deeply and pressed Naruto's cold hand against his cheek, shutting his eyes.
"But you're back now... and that's all that matters."
Naruto smiled weakly.
"Yeah..."
--
"Would you like some tuna?" Kyuubi smiled and offered Naruto a small plate with fresh tuna on it. He had his hand on his slightly bulging stomach and looked on the brink of passing out, but he refused to sleep. He may not have been that close to the blond leopard, but he was worried that the other cat would end up having another seizure.
He'd watched Naruto convulse on the operating table and it wasn't the most pleasant sight he'd ever seen, that was for sure.
Naruto smiled and, with much reluctance from Sasuke, leaned forward to take it. Ever since they'd gotten home, Sasuke had held the blond against him every second, never leaving him for a single moment. He looked tired, too, from worrying so much, but wouldn't let himself sleep unless Naruto slept.
"Thank you, KyuKyu," he said the nickname fondly, using his fingers to eat the delicious fish. He purred in appreciation, much like he normally did. None of the household members could tell he was scared to death of every second that ticked by. He didn't know if the medicine they'd used on him would cause some strange reaction, or if he'd end up in the same position as when he'd arrived at the hospital...
"You scared us all," Kyuubi commented, sighing. "If my own kit were to go through something like that, I don't think I'd be able to handle it. You're very strong, Sasuke."
The darker leopard didn't say anything.
"Kyuubi," Itachi called from the hallway that led to the library. "Let them be. Come with me into the library, I need to speak to you."
The orange-haired fox stood slowly and gracefully, nodding his head to Naruto and Sasuke before joining Itachi and smiling to him kindly, his crimson eyes sparkling in affection. Naruto watched them, then his eyes landed on Kyuubi's stomach and he wished he and his mate could have cubs of their own, without any special kind of science. That thought made his anxiety subside for a while.
"Are you feeling alright?" Sasuke asked, his head tilted back and his eyes closed.
Naruto smiled to himself a bit. "I've been better, but I'm ok. My headache went away."
"Ah..." Sasuke absently stroked his lover's arm with his thumb, his breathing quiet and steady. He could feel his consciousness slipping away, but he tried his hardest to stay awake. What if something happened? What if he wasn't there for Naruto? What if... what if...
But he couldn't keep his eyes open and sleep was too tempting. His mind slipped away from the real world and the last thing he saw was his one and only turning toward him and staring at him with those beautiful blue eyes.
Naruto watched Sasuke sleep, but carefully untangled himself from the pale pet after a minute or two, not able to sit still anymore. He inhaled deeply and went in the direction of the kitchen, seeing no one around. Spotting a note on the table, he read it and laughed lightly. Kakashi had scribbled a message about him going to the store and there was a small doodle of an angry turnip under it.
I would've missed Aboji, he said to himself. He shook his head to get rid of the darkness that consumed his thoughts. He didn't want to think of the hell he was trapped in while "dead." His heart thumped painfully in his chest at the thought of Seung being stuck there for all of eternity.
Stalking forward quickly, he pushed through the back doors that led to the back yard and let a small whimper escape from his lips once the cool air hit his heated skin. The pain was too much; so overbearing, so intense, so consuming!
"I'm so sorry...!" he fell to his knees just beyond the garden where Seung would chase after butterflies and dragonflies. Tears forced themselves past his lashes and he wrapped his arms around himself, bending forward and pressing his forehead into the lush grass. The sky was pink, red, orange and yellow; such a pretty background for Naruto's bitter anguish.
Blue eyes opening, crystal clear tears fell into the grass and resembled the glistening dew of morning. His lips trembled as his thoughts fell onto his kitten, then to Sasuke, then his owner. He'd let everyone down... He'd done nothing to save Seung, he'd worried Sasuke to the point of absolute exhaustion so many times, and honestly... he thought he wasn't worthy of being the great Hatake Kakashi's pet.
"Mom, Dad..." he whispered, pain laced in his deeper voice. "Please tell me... What's my purpose? Everything in my life so far has gone wrong, except for Sasuke..." he smiled faintly. "But I feel as if I'm failing him... as a lover and son, as wrong as that sounds..."
"Naruto-kun," a voice spoke up from above him.
Cerulean eyes shot wide open and Naruto sat up abruptly, coming face to face with Sai. The tall cat smiled and held out his hand, looking as if he had a secret to tell. His short black hair was messy from the wind, but he still looked very handsome.
"Sai... I haven't seen you in a while..."
"You're very beautiful," the other cat stated out of the blue, his expression changing to that of wonder and appreciation. "I'm stunned that you changed so much since the last time we saw each other. You're gorgeous."
Naruto blushed lightly and thanked him. "Um, Sasuke and I are sort of..."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you ucomfortable. I was just stating the obvious," Sai smirked. "I came by to see how you were doing. My owner informed me of the past events... and I wanted to say that I'm very sorry for your loss."
Naruto's face went blank at that.
"Don't be sorry..."
"But in spite of the tragedy... may I offer you a beacon of light?" Sai straightened up and for an instant, Naruto found himself drawn to him. He gave off such an aura of elegance and perfection that it was almost impossible to stay away from him. How had he not felt that in the beginning? Or maybe what drew him to the other cat was the sense of... curiosity. What exactly was Sai speaking of?
"Sai...?"
Sai stepped to the side and revealed Kiba, the dark-skinned dog holding the hand of a small pet that looked similar to...
The blond's eyes widened and he held a hand out, his body shaking.
"Seung...?"
"This is one of your other cubs, Naruto-kun," Sai announced. "After my owner told me what happened and mentioned that someone had taken your other two... Kiba and I went on a little hunt," he smiled again, kindly. "We found her on the verge of death in an old warehouse downtown. She had a chain wrapped around her throat and it permanently scarred her skin there and almost suffocated her, but she managed to survive a few days with it."
"Papa!" the girl ran from Kiba, a little sundress on her lithe body. She had sun-kissed hair that fell in waves to her shoulder blades and her eyes were so blue that Naruto could see himself in them, as if looking into water. "Papa!" she repeated when she reached him, her smile stretching from one cat ear to the other. She was hoisted up into the air, Naruto's heart about to give out.
He cried out in joy and held the small child against him as tightly as possible, pressing his face into her soft, curly hair. She smelled so sweet, just like Seung had. Tears of happiness fell down his cheeks and mingled with her curls, but she didn't mind, her small hands rubbing little circles on his back. She could barely remember her father, but she could recognize his smile and eyes anywhere. They were the same as hers.
"Her name's Kyung Soon," Kiba said with a big grin. "When we found her, we decided to give her a Korean name, since you're from Korea... Ya don't mind, do ya?"
Naruto shook his head and smiled into Kyung Soon's hair. "Not at all. It's a beautiful name. Little Kyung Soon," he pulled back and looked at his daughter, so happy that he could still have at least one of his cubs in his life. He would never let his guard down around her, not like he had with Seung...
"What do we have here?"
Kakashi pushed open the unlocked fence to the backyard and raised his brows at the two uninvited guests. Looking at Kiba, he 'hmmmed.' He was pretty sure he'd asked Shino nicely to keep his frisky pet off of his property at all times, so as not to have a repeat of the little incident a while ago. Once his eyes landed on Kyung Soon, though, he was speechless.
"Naruto..."
"Sai and Kiba heard about what happened to Seung and my other cubs..." the blond started, cradling the girl against him once again. "They searched all over Naha for the two remaining ones and found her," he smiled and lifted Kyung Soon up, lowering her to the ground so that her white sundress fluttered around her knees. "They found her chained up in a warehouse... Her name's Kyung Soon. Isn't she beautiful?"
The silver-haired man chuckled and bent down, reaching into his paper bag full of groceries to pull out a stuffed rabbit. "I bought these for Kyuubi's kits, but it won't hurt to give one to her. Come here, Kyung Soon, you can have this."
The small kitten's eyes lit up and she ran over to Kakashi, plucking the stuffed animal from his hands and hugging it to her cheek. She bowed politely and smiled as brightly as the sun, her fuzzy ears perked up at the top of her head. "Thank you!"
Kakashi straightened up and pet Kyung Soon on the head, turning to Kiba and Sai.
"I must thank you for what you've done for Naruto. He seemed so lost without Seung... I'm glad at least one of the others was able to survive and find her way here," he chuckled again. "She's very lucky that Orochimaru didn't make sure she was... well...deceased..."
"Orochimaru?" Kiba asked, confused. "When we found her, there was a group of people on the other side of the warehouse... We were able to sneak her out, but I did catch a guy's name. It was definitely Orochimaru or something like that... We were going to call the cops, but we had Kyung Soon and that was all that we thought was really important..."
Naruto's eyes widened, but then narrowed into thin slits. His fists clenched at his sides and he grit his teeth, his ears flattening against his head.
"Kyung Soon, stay with Aboji."
The girl blinked.
"Aboji...?" she pointed to Kakashi.
"Yeah, stay with him."
"Naruto-kun, what're you--" Sai began, but he stopped himself when he saw Naruto change into his animal form, the leopard so long, lean, and gorgeous that he matched Sasuke in beauty. He didn't have much time to gawk, though, because Naruto ripped off through the yard and jumped over the fence.
Kakashi sighed and led Kyung Soon toward the house. "Sai, Kiba, could you please follow him? I'm afraid he's going after Orochimaru himself... and I don't need him getting hurt."
Kiba gave him a thumbs up before he fell to his knees and changed, his dark brown coat even darker from the setting sun. He jumped over the fence, as well, followed by a sleek black cat with hauntingly golden eyes.
"Where did Papa go?" Kyung Soon asked, clutching the bunny to her chest tightly.
"He'll be back soon, so don't worry. Now, let's head inside and you can meet your other Papa," Kakashi tried to take her mind off her missing parent.
--
Naruto ran past the pedestrians on the streets, their pets watching him sprint by with their ears up as high as possible. Quite a few of them even attempted to run from their owners so they could follow him, tasting the scent of the hunt as he went by. Sakura, who was with Sibel Claire in a hair salon, pressed against the glass window as she saw the cat run by.
"Was that... Naruto?" she watched Kiba and Sai right behind him and pursed her lips together, wondering what was going on. Turning, she saw her owner facing the other direction while talkin with the hair stylist. She slipped through the open door and hurried down the sidewalk, jumping and transforming into a large white tiger. A few kids nearby screamed in fright and clinged to their parents.
Hey! she called out to Kiba, speeding up until she was right on his flank. What's going on?
The Shikoku dog didn't look back. He, instead, sped up and all three of them turned the sharp corner that had oncoming traffic. Kiba skid to a halt, then went across the street so as not to get hit, amazed that Naruto would just leap onto taxi cabs and small cars, hopping from one to the other with such grace.
It's a long story, so I'll tell ya later! Right now, we have to keep track of him!
Sai roared so loud that the windows of the small street shops shook and all of the onlookers on the sidewalks moved out of the way, scared that the pet would attack him. He quickened his pace and managed to reach Naruto's side, the both of them looking at each other.
Slow down, Naruto-kun! They probably already left!
But Naruto refused to listen, his eyes flickering away before he suddenly stopped and sprung upward, sinking his claws into the fabric of an overhang. He pulled himself onto it and sped across rooftops, swirving away from the following pets.
Kiba cursed and stopped, looking around for a way to get to the clouded leopard as quickly as possible. A sudden scent reached his nose and he craned his neck to the side, watching a black flash go by him. Behind him, Sakura yelled Sasuke-kun!
Sai slowed his steps, his mouth open as he panted from all of the exertion. He didn't know how Naruto could keep going at that speed. Kiba snorted and howled in annoyance.
We already know where he's headed, so let's just find the shortest route there, he growled. Sasuke should be able to catch up to Naruto in no time. Come on.
They all headed in another direction, hoping they could reach the warehouse before Naruto and Sasuke. But Sakura stayed at their flanks, staring back at where Sasuke had disappeared, wondering why the pet she adored had such a look of pain and anger in his eyes.
--
Naruto could practically smell the scent of his cub in the air around the dirt road he was on, his large paws kicking up pebbles and twigs. He was sure the warehouse was close by and he would have his revenge! He felt like he was betraying Sasuke, but the desire to avenge his dead son was so immense he couldn't fight it off.
Seung... he thought to himself and came to a stop, but a dark growl behind him made him turn. Cerulean blue eyes met blood red ones. Sasuke?
Kakashi told me where you were going, the leopard snarled, baring his fangs. But not after revealing that little girl... Could you not be satisfied with having a living cub, Naruto?.! You just decided you had to come out here and risk your own life, as well, huh?.!
The blond was taken back by the angry tone and crouched down, revealing his own long fangs. He stepped back, then swirled around and took off, kicking up stones into Sasuke's face. The darker leopard stretched his mouth open wide and made a sound as if he were about to go after his kill.
Naruto didn't even get to go very far before he was slammed into the gravel, growling in pain. Did it really come down to this? Fighting his own mate?
You said you wouldn't seek revenge, Sasuke hissed. All I asked of you was to not go down the path I did! After what Itachi had done to our parents, I wanted revenge, too! But he wasn't in the right state of mind... so I forgave him. You have to be thankful for what you have, not be sad over what you lost!
Don't preach to me! Naruto growled. I'm not you!
But I made you who you are! Sasuke glared at him dangerously, pinning him to the warm earth. I taught you everything you know, I raised you to be who you are!
Naruto was about to speak, but his lover cut him off, looking about as dangerous as ever.
Make your choice on what you're going to do now. You either stay right here with me, or you run off and you lose me, Sasuke's voice was low.
Those words struck Naruto to the core and the snow leopard stopped his struggling, his neck stretching so he could brush his snout against his mate's jaw. His affectionate gesture caught Sasuke off guard, but the other feline returned the nuzzling and stepped back, changing back into his human form. He watched Naruto morph back as well and he pulled the tan cat against him.
"I only want to protect you," he whispered to the blond.
Naruto felt like crying, but he just rested his head against Sasuke's collarbone. He was a complete idiot... and it was so much harder than usual to control his emotions.
"I just wanted Seung to not die in vain," he closed his eyes tightly. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't be... I would have wanted to do the same..."
"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura approached them from behind a small storage building, Sai and Kiba at her side. She looked so confused as she stared at them, her eyes go back and forth between the two. It was as if she was critically analyzing something, but didn't know how to go about it.
But she knew what was going on and she only smiled at them, ignoring the pain in her chest at the loss of the person she cherished the most. Her beloved Sasuke didn't belong to her anymore, but if it was Naruto... it was okay, right? Yet even as she bent down beside them and asked them if they were okay, wearing a pretty smile on her face, she couldn't help but wish that Naruto would just disappear off the face of the earth.
She didn't want to see them together like that.
But if she would've known that her words would soon bring on a string of such painful events, maybe she would've kept her mouth shut and would've just wished for the best.
Yes, I hope this chapter was long enough for you. Not that many more chapters, then the story will be over, sadly. Please review and give your theory on how the story will end!