The forest was cast in the deep shadows of twilight, but the boy walking beneath bare branches had no trouble navigating it, seeing the birds in the trees and the mouse that scurried across a root to his left clear as day.
He was naked and dirty and walked hunched over, as if he was ready to spring into action any moment, always vary, always alert, head twitching towards any sound he could make out.
The moon peeked through a crack in the clouds, illuminating a patch of wood and the lone deer standing there, partially hidden by bushes, docile as it dozed, ready to run the moment it caught sound of a predator.
The boy walked on bare feet, sneaking closer, avoiding fallen branches that might snap and alert the deer. He was close, almost close enough to jump when the deer seemed to notice him, head snapping towards him before it took off, alerting its fellow deer hidden just beside it, deeper in the bushes, with a loud snort.
The boy would not let his prey get away, and under the silvery light of the moon rust-coloured fur spread as a wave as he transformed, nose elongating into a snout, ears growing pointed and mouth filling with sharp fangs.
The change was over in seconds, and soon he was running through the underbrush, leaping over a small stream and over stones, feet steady on the uneven ground, eyes locked on the animals he had been tracking. They were fast, but so was he, and with a last leap he was flying through the air, hands wrapping around one deer's flank. He dug his claws in as the deer bucked, trying to get him off. The claws sank deep into flesh, and the deer fell to the ground. The boy was thrown off, rolling through grass and fallen leaves.
The deer was struggling to get back on its hooves, but the boy was too fast, crawling through the underbrush towards it and burying his fangs in its neck, warm blood filling his mouth as the deer trashed in its final moments.
The boy was too preoccupied with feeding to notice the men in black some dozen yards away, didn't see the night scope that had tracked him, didn't know there was a rifle pointed at him, not until the trigger was pulled, a small dart whizzing through the air until the point found its home in the boy's thigh.
He yelped and spun around, not comprehending what had happened, finding the dart and pulling it out.
It was too late, the sedatives already flooding his system, and moments later the world grew grey and he fell to the ground, consciousness slipping from him.
The last he saw was a man leaning over him, looking pleased, like a predator who'd caught its prey.
Sasuke grunted as the fist connected with his stomach, driving the air out of his lungs. He didn't let it stop him for long, dodging the fist that aimed towards his face, satisfied when he heard the crunch of knuckles meeting bricks.
He twisted his body into a sharp spin, sending his foot into vulnerable ribs and driving his opponent to the ground with practiced ease.
He knew he should use that opportunity to leave, should have left the bastard lying on the ground heaving for his breath, and go back home for the night. It was already a bust, the man had zero information, and the meeting he'd set up was just an attempt to weasel money out of Sasuke with fake information.
He should leave.
He kicked out, pure anger and frustration filling his body, making it hard to make rational decisions. He didn't want to be rational, he wanted to get an outlet for his anger, so he dropped to a knee, fisted the front of the asshole's ratty sweater and dragged him high enough off the ground to send a fist flying into his face.
He wanted to go on, but the shitbag crumpled to the ground and stayed there, making no move to get up again. It pissed Sasuke off. Anger was coursing through his veins and he had no way to get it out. No matter what he did it seemed to grow in him, like a festering wound in his gut. He felt useless and trapped and lonely, and nothing he had done put him any closer to helping Naruto. It was dead end after dead end, and he was sure he was feeling his sanity unravelling thread by thread as days passed where he was alone, where he was failing.
He hated Naruto for doing this to him, for making him open up and care for him in a way he had never cared for anyone, only to leave him alone. He had been fine before Naruto, but now that he had felt how it was to truly love he wasn't sure he could go back to that. Naruto better not have done something foolish like get himself killed, because then Sasuke was going to jump off a cliff just so he could get to him and kick his ass in the next life.
Sasuke eyed the unconscious bastard on the ground just long enough to make sure that he was in fact still alive, and then he stalked out of the alley, intending to go home and continue his job there. He hoped he didn't find Kakashi waiting for him. He had been ignoring his boss' calls all day, not in the mood to talk to anyone, but he had a feeling Kakashi would let that fly for only so long before showing up in person. Sasuke should just do as Naruto and quit the DPA altogether, save them the trouble of doing it for him. Without Naruto he wasn't going back there anyway, the thought of working alongside someone else was utterly repulsive. He couldn't trust anyone else to have his back as Naruto had.
No matter how much they had seemed to despise each other in the beginning they had worked seamlessly together almost instantaneously. Naruto was always there to back Sasuke up, and vice versa. They didn't need to talk to know that the other would be where he needed to be, ready to protect and help.
Which was maybe the exact reason Sasuke didn't notice the two men approaching. He had gotten complacent having Naruto around with his heightened senses, and now he was going to pay for growing dependent on someone.
They announced themselves with a punch to Sasuke's skull, from behind, like the cowards they were.
Sasuke's head rang as he stumbled forward with the force of the hit, and when one of the men kicked the back of his knees he fell to the ground, barely able to catch himself with his hands before he broke his nose against dirty concrete. His hands took the fall instead, leaving more skin on the concrete than his palms.
It was pathetic how easily the two had snuck up on him. He should be better than this.
A knee planted itself in the small of his back, pressing him to the ground, and then there was a hand on his neck, grinding his cheek into the dirt.
He had no idea who the two were, but they didn't seem happy, and right now Sasuke had no idea how he was going to get out of this. He couldn't reach the knife he had strapped to the small of his back, and the weight on his back made it impossible to get any kind of leverage to throw the man off of him.
His eyes widened when he saw the scruffy tips of old leather boots stop right in front of him, and could only watch as one of those feet drew back and kicked out, aiming right at his face.
Naruto had to grasp onto a counter top as he rose from the chair, dizzy from the shot of suppressants the doctor had just given him. He took a deep breath and made sure his feet were steady and able to keep him up before he let go, testing his footing. The world spun only a little before settling.
The doctor paid little attention to him, preoccupied with throwing away the used syringe and then moving to make notes on a chart. They kept tweaking the formula, and sometimes it made Naruto feel more like a lab rat than anything else. He had tried to get Sai to tell him more about the drugs, and what he was, but Sai always deflected his questions, saying that only Danzo could answer that, but so far Naruto had only seen Danzo that one time. He was apparently too busy with work to stay at the cabin, or even visit. He was running for governor, and even though Naruto didn't really know what a campaign like that entailed it seemed to keep Danzo too busy to check up on the cabin at all. Naruto didn't much like it, one meeting hadn't been nearly enough to gauge what kind of person Danzo was, and he had questions he wanted answered. Needed answered.
The suppressants did their job, gave him the control he had longed for, but he needed shots every other day to keep it that way. Whenever the time for a new shot was nearing he felt the familiar stirrings of the beast in his gut, so he knew the effect they brought was only temporary. Did Danzo mean for him to live here for the rest of his life, or would he send him back with the suppressants when they had perfected the formula? Would he expect payment for it, or was it some charity thing? Was he going to have to go on the news and show his support for Danzo as governor? He could already imagine the headlines, how Danzo had saved Naruto from himself, it was the perfect story for a politician with aspirations wasn't it? The press would eat that shit right up. Fuck, Naruto hated not having any of the answers.
The cabin had everything one might need for daily life, but Naruto could feel himself growing restless, feeling trapped behind the tall walls that surrounded the property. The longer he was on the suppressants, the more confidence he gained in the fact that this was working. For now the beast was under control, and the more he allowed himself to believe that it meant he wouldn't hurt anyone again the more he wanted to go find Sasuke. He wanted to show him that he had found, maybe not the answers he had been looking for, but a solution.
He found himself lying up at night, imagining the life he wanted, by Sasuke's side, working together as partners again, falling asleep next to each other, laughing and fighting and making love.
He had already tried to ask the doctor as well, but if Sai had brushed him off the doctor had just looked at him with wide eyes and said that he was just doing his job, as if even the thought of answering Naruto's questions was terrifying to him. Naruto knew rodents weren't the bravest of shifters, but it had just been a question, he didn't get how it would have that effect.
No, the doc wouldn't give him the answers he looked for, but maybe he'd answer something else.
"Hey, doc?" he said as he rolled down his sleeves, startling the rat shifter who spun around, nose twitching wildly.
"How is the fey woman we brought in yesterday?" he asked. He had dropped her off in this very room the previous day before leaving for his bedroom, after ensuring that the doctor was going to take care of her. He had thought they might put her up in one of the spare bedrooms upstairs when she had healed well enough. She seemed to need a safe place to stay to heal and gather her strength again, but he hadn't seen her around today, and she clearly wasn't with the doctor any more.
"She's gone," the doctor said curtly and turned back to his paperwork again.
"She's gone?" Naruto repeated in surprise. She had been so weak she couldn't walk yesterday, magic completely drained, no way would she have recuperated enough to leave yet. Not that Naruto knew a lot about fey magic, but he hardly thought it was potent enough to make her magic come back this fast.
"They took off her shackles, and we did a physical. She was just drained, but she wanted to stay with family, so they took her to someone who'd look after her," the doctor said, tone making it clear he wasn't really in the mood to talk to Naruto.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he looked at the doctor's back, as if that would will him to talk more.
"You can leave now," the doctor said, dismissal clear, and Naruto knew he wouldn't get more from him, so he left the room and headed upstairs, hoping for once that he would stumble upon Sai so he could ask him more about what happened to the fey. He wasn't sure he was quite ready to believe the good doctor.
He headed for the kitchen, figuring he could scrounge up some lunch before he went looking for Sai, but when he stepped into the room someone else was already there, making coffee.
In itself that wasn't a strange thing, considering that at any given moment were at least five other people living in the cabin, but when the man turned around as he heard Naruto come into the room Naruto recognised him as the man he had seen yesterday when he had carried the fey into the cabin.
If Naruto hadn't figured as much yesterday it became clear right now that it had been him this man had been so shocked to see, not the fey, because his eyes widened upon seeing Naruto now as well. It was as if he was seeing a ghost.
"Uhm, hi?" Naruto said hesitantly. Apart from Sai most people who came through the cabin seemed to ignore Naruto, so he had no idea what was up with this man's reaction, because he was pretty sure he had never met him before.
The other man's lips parted, but no greeting passed them, just a softly whispered, "It can't be."
Naruto was more than a little confused at the reaction, but he had no time to inquire further because the next moment he heard voices nearing, and the other man apparently did as well, because he seemed to startle at the sound and shook his head as if to clear it.
Naruto made to turn around and leave, having forgotten why he came into the kitchen in the first place, but suddenly there was a hand on his arm, and the other man pulled him close, whispering in an insisting voice, eyes wide, giving him a terrifying look.
"I need to talk to you, but not here, not now. I'll find you later, but in the meanwhile, don't trust Danzo."
Naruto was about to ask what the hell was going on when the man pulled away and left, coffee cup forgotten on the counter, vanishing out a door just as two dog shifters walked into the room, one of them limping and the other admonishing him for being weak. They abruptly stopped talking when they saw Naruto, and Naruto took that as his cue to leave the room, mind spinning as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Who was the man, and what did he want to talk to him about? Why wasn't Naruto supposed to trust Danzo?
Kakashi was sitting on the floor in the hallway outside of Sasuke's apartment, empty message opened on his phone, waiting for him to write something while he was passing the time. He was coming up empty. He had been sitting here for over an hour, and every attempt at writing something just came up sounding worse than his previous attempt.
It shouldn't be this difficult. All he wanted to do was to check up on Iruka, to see how he was doing. He had seen him a few times since he came to the city, but Iruka hadn't stopped by the office at all this last week, and Kakashi had yet to come up with an excuse worthy of stopping over, which was stupid, because he didn't need an excuse, but at the same time he was afraid that Iruka would see right through him, see that Kakashi hadn't been able to stop thinking about him at all, and be utterly disgusted about it.
Iruka was in no place to want Kakashi pursuing him, he was probably too worried about Naruto to think about himself, and Kakashi should just give him space, but at the same time every fibre of his being was just screaming at him to just go over there and throw himself in Iruka's arms.
He closed the app and shoved the phone back in his pocket, hands going up to his face, fingers digging into his temples to alleviate the headache settling there.
Normally he wasn't one to hang around in hallways, but he had tried to call Sasuke all evening, and he was getting worried, so now he was determined to camp out here until Sasuke came back from whatever he was doing. Kakashi had a sneaky feeling it wasn't anything good.
He didn't need to wait long, five minutes later the elevator bell dinged, the doors slid open and Sasuke all but fell out of it, crumpling to his knees as if he had been leaning against the doors.
Kakashi was on his feet in a split-second, rushing over and stooping down, tilting Sasuke's head towards him.
A bruise was blossoming around his eye, well on its way to swelling the eyes shut altogether. His lower face was covered in blood from his nose, and his cheek had split open. His breathing was shallow as if it hurt to draw his breath, so Kakashi suspected bruised or even broken ribs.
"What happened?" he said, getting an arm around Sasuke to keep him steady as he tried to stumble to his feet. Sasuke didn't complain even as his arm was manoeuvred around Kakashi's shoulder, which was not a good sign, because usually he would have bitched at being all but carried, so it had to meant he was hurt bad enough to realise that he in fact needed the support.
Sasuke coughed once and spat a glob of blood to the floor. "Nothing."
Kakashi decided that he'd wait to push him until they were somewhere he didn't have to drag Sasuke along, so they walk towards the door, Sasuke limping a little, his free arm wrapped protectively around his chest.
Somehow they got inside, and Kakashi manoeuvred Sasuke towards the couch, lowering him on it before heading towards the bathroom in search of towels and a first aid kit. He needed to assess the damage to see if Sasuke needed to be brought to the hospital.
When he came back Sasuke was slumped down, head resting against the back of the couch, legs stretched in front of him.
Kakashi washed off blood from Sasuke's face, deemed the nose unbroken and stuffed toilet paper up there to stop the bleeding while he moved on. The cut on the cheek was barely bleeding, so that would just need some bandages and a little time to heal. He was more worried about the ribs at this point. Sasuke tried to shove him away when he moved to assess their state.
"You'll let me check you right now or I'll call the paramedics and have them drag you to the hospital before you'll have time to finish cursing me out."
Sasuke glared at him, which wasn't very effective at all with the swelling around one eye, but moved his arm away, allowing Kakashi to pull the shirt up and prod at Sasuke's sides.
As far as Kakashi could tell his ribs seemed whole, but they'd gotten banged up, a large bruise covering most of the right side of Sasuke's body.
After fetching a bag of frozen vegetables for the shiner that was still darkening around Sasuke's eye Kakashi sat down on the coffee table. Sasuke looked worse for wear, his face still streaked by blood where Kakashi hadn't washed it properly. His clothes were dirty, and there was a rip in his sweater Kakashi was pretty sure hadn't been there before tonight.
"As far as I know you are temporarily suspended from the DPA to recuperate, which means you should be at home, healing, not out on the streets getting beat up. I'd like an explanation right about now," Kakashi said, leaning in a little.
"It's not work business so it doesn't concern you," Sasuke said, closing his eyes in dismissal.
"You are still a member of my unit, so it very much concerns me. If you get yourself killed that would mean I would be short one agent," Kakashi said, knowing well that Sasuke would know that it wasn't being short one agent that was his real fear.
"Just got into a scuffle, nothing big, you should see the other two guys," Sasuke said, wincing as he shifted on the couch, the action probably jostling his ribs.
If he thought Kakashi was about to believe this was some drunken bar brawl gone wrong Sasuke was sorely mistaken.
"Are you looking for Naruto?" Kakashi asked, cutting to the chase. As far as Kakashi knew there had been no word from Naruto since he resigned weeks ago, but he wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke wasn't letting that stop him, even if he had no business being anywhere he might get hurt. It wasn't long since he he'd nearly died, the wounds on his chest barely starting to be categorised as scars, he wasn't physically or mentally ready to be out on the streets or getting into fights.
Sasuke didn't answer, but Kakashi saw him grind his teeth, and he knew he had hit the bullseye.
"You won't find him by getting yourself killed," Kakashi said.
"I won't find him if I just sit at home either," Sasuke spat out, lifting his head and shooting a venomous look in Kakashi's direction.
"Sasuke, what happened out there?"
Sasuke kept silent so long Kakashi was sure he wasn't going to tell him, then he sighed heavily and let his head drop back against the back of the couch.
"I've been trying to gather information, using some people I got to know when I was searching for Itachi. Some of them didn't much appreciate my methods, so they decided to get back at me."
Kakashi figured he shouldn't have been surprised, Sasuke was hardly the type to sit around and do nothing, but this had to stop. If Naruto came back he would want Sasuke to still be alive, not stabbed in some alley, left to bleed out because he had walked out alone. There was a reason agents always went out with partners, the streets of the city was filled with all kinds of beings that wouldn't mind killing you for fun, Sasuke should know this considering he had executed dozens of them. It was folly going out there alone, poking sticks at beehives and hoping not to get stung.
"You can't do this," Kakashi said.
"Someone has to, Kakashi. The DPA is not about to help track him down are they? There's only me, and I'm not giving up until he's back with me. I can't abandon him, I can't."
Kakashi heard the raw pain in Sasuke's voice, and knew that no matter what he said Sasuke would be out there as soon as his ribs allowed him to move.
Kakashi wished he could tell Sasuke that his unit had his back, that he would take the other agents off duty and have them help, but he knew he couldn't. They were one of the few things that helped keep the city safe from vampires, they were too crucial in the fight against the demon scourge. There was also the fact that Tsunade had informed him that the warrant on Naruto was rescinded, so there would be no one backing them up in the DPA, and going against those orders would likely have the entire unit disbanded altogether. There was one thing he could do for Sasuke though.
"Stay in for a few days, rest up. This weekend I'll go out there with you, okay?"
Sasuke had given him a hard look, as if to assess whether Kakashi was telling the truth or not. Then he nodded once. "Fine. But I'm going out on Saturday, whether you come with me or not."
Kakashi wasn't sure he was doing the right thing, but right now he thought it was the only thing he could do to help. Sasuke was falling apart. The rest of the team could deal without him sitting behind that goddamned desk all shift, he could be reached by cell phone, and Tsunade would just have a missing unit leader during her meetings. Kakashi thought she would understand and let it slide. If not it was a chance he was willing to take. What could she do? Fire him? That would leave the unit leaderless, and there wasn't a lot of people willing to do that job. No, he was sure she would be lenient with him if she were to find out, and he guessed this was a good a time as any to test just how right that assumption was.
He left Sasuke's apartment after making sure he was as well as he could be after having been used as a makeshift punching bag, patched and drugged up.
Kakashi was the first to admit that he might have a bias towards Sasuke amongst the agents in his unit. He had always seen a lot of himself in Sasuke, and had wanted to see him do well in life. He hated seeing Sasuke like this, not just the physical wounds, but the way he seemed to be standing on a precipice, the smallest wind likely to push him into the abyss.
It wasn't that he didn't care about the other agents, he would give his life for them in a heartbeat, but they all had someone, parents or siblings or partners, to look out for them, Sasuke was, just as Kakashi, all alone in the world.
Until Naruto came along.
The partnership between the two of them had made them stronger than they had ever been alone. Kakashi remembered how Sasuke had been before Naruto. A capable agent, sure, but Naruto had grounded him, made him better.
Not just that, Naruto had made Sasuke happy in a way Kakashi had doubted had been possible.
Kakashi had always seen some similarities between Sasuke and himself. They both kept people at an arm's length, albeit for very different reasons, and for a while that had been fine. Now though, now Kakashi had seen how it could be if you found someone special, and he was feeling a longing for the same in his life.
He still didn't know what it was about Iruka that had drawn him to him from just about the first time he saw him, Kakashi just found the energy he gave off relaxing. Iruka seemed so real, so down to earth, kindness flowing from him like soft heat waves that seemed to warm Kakashi's soul, and he found himself gravitating towards him. Iruka had gone against everyone else, had taken in Naruto and shown him what love was, and maybe that was what had Kakashi believe that Iruka might be the only one who would really accept him as well.
He had good reasons to stay away from people, had always believed that he needed to be a step removed, that he shouldn't be allowed what everyone else had. He wasn't like anyone else, and even though he tried to act as if it didn't matter he wasn't sure he could keep on acting forever.
He wouldn't do anything to pursue Iruka romantically, this was not the time for that, but he would allow himself to get a little closer to his warmth, to be there for him, as a friend, and then maybe one day, when Naruto was back, he could start hoping for more.
He made his way over to the elevator. He needed to talk to Iruka.
A/N: A shoutout to everyone that's still reading Unleashed. If I don't reply to your reviews it's just because I'm a mess and forget, believe me when I say that I read and cherish every single one. 3 Also, big stuff is about to happen real soon. Like, next chapter real soon, so keep hanging around! :D
