Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Which is good, 'cause I am kinda bad at deadlines; especially the self-given type.
I'll be frank with ya, I don't really know where this story is going, so I'm freelancing it; winging it. I write and it becomes. So I'm personally not expecting all that much from this fanfic. That is not to say that I won't put forth any effort, quite the contrary. But usually I know where I want to take my stories and the whole storyline and scenes are in my head, just without the words. This time I went against my usual path and published before picturing the climax! At the time, I wanted to see who would be interested and now I'm all 'Why, muse, WHY?' But she is irrefutable and I must listen to her else I would not be able to write anything good!
So onward with the chapter!
Sasuke Uchiha was annoyed.
He did not get much sleep last night, maybe an hour or two at most. Whenever he closed his eyes, memories of. . .that person. . .would attempt to replay themselves in his mind despite him consciously trying to avoid those memories. Not that his infuriating brain listened to him; all night he had to diligently distract himself from images of. . .that person. . .from the past and from yesterday, if that thing was really him.
What was really aggravating was have to re-confirm to himself many times that it did not matter if IT was really Nar—that person. Sasuke kept fucking feeling whenever he thought about him; it was almost just as bad as when he had first arrived. And just like last time, he had to firmly tell himself that even IF Sasuke saw him then it would not make a damn difference! Sasuke needed to get stronger and Orochimaru was the only way!
But those images of him from during the Chuunin exams and during their fight in that damned valley kept popping up. His damned mind kept comparing those memories of him with the him from yesterday.
They had the same feral scarring, same elongated nails, and the same feel to his chakra. But there were definitely some differences. HE seemed older yesterday than before. And those eyes. . .they were the same blood red color and same animalistic pupils, but they were not they eyes Sasuke remembered from his memories.
Before—during the Chuunin exams and during that fight in that damned valley—while his eyes had changed, they were still HIS eyes! They still retained his essence and soul. So while at the time, Sasuke was extremely mystified as to why his eyes had changed to radically from sapphire blue to blood red, there was no question that it was still him.
But yesterday. . .those eyes were not his eyes. Those eyes from yesterday were those of a wild beast. There was none of his essence, none of his soul glimmering in those eyes. There was a certain ferocity only matched by apparent hunger. There was no human intelligence that Sasuke could see. There was only instinct that drove that animal.
Sasuke tried to rid himself of such thoughts, it made no difference to him if he had truly appeared before him in that strange form. He constantly reminded himself that it did not change anything; he would NOT return to that village!
He needed power! He needed revenge! He did NOT need HIM showing up not only physically but also in his fucking thoughts!
Sasuke was an Uchiha, so he was perfectly able to tell that pesky brain of his to STOP thinking about. . .that person. . .at least, for a couple of minutes. It had taken diligent and constant reminding, but Sasuke had made it through the night without thinking too much about him; and sleep.
A Sasuke without sleep was not a Sasuke to be messed with, as Kabuto found out all too soon when he merely knocked on the Uchiha's door. The glasses wearing man was seriously debating between cutting off his what he feared to be permanently singed ponytail or to start refusing wake-up duty all together.
The Uchiha was too tired to constantly keep up his Uchiha apathy. Fortunately, the only thing really felt was extreme annoyance. He lashed out many times when he would usually ignore whichever whelp decided to speak to him, or looked like they were thinking about talking to him. There sure was a lot today, and it was annoying; those fuckers.
He did not have the energy to put up with the snake bastard's perverted and twisted antics today, so instead of steadfastly ignoring him during breakfast, Sasuke allowed him to 'win' and sent him an Uchiha Glare signaling that he was not in the mood.
Surprisingly, Orochimaru understood for the most part. He most likely understood that Sasuke's temper was testy today due to him being so tired even though the snake only had vague guesses as to why. It helped that last night some new prisoners tried to escape causing the wardens to have to kill a few; loudly. Sasuke would NOT admit that. . .THAT person. . .was responsible for his inability to sleep last night. He simply allowed the snake to believe he was a light sleeper who could not sleep through the commotion those attempted escapees had made.
Breakfast, fortunately, was a silent event. Normally, Orochimaru and that weakling of a follower, Kabuto, would discuss the day's schedule and one or both of them would slide in annoying hints that they knew something Sasuke did not know and would deliberate between themselves in code hoping to entice Sasuke into interest.
But Sasuke blew up Kabuto's breakfast when he tried to start talking.
After that, people got the hint to not talk around the Uchiha.
Wild Beast
Training was irritating. Again.
The drizzle was worse than it was yesterday. The entire hideout was covered in mist yet there was still drizzle falling on all those who ventured outside.
The mist was not as condensed as Zabuza's was, but the slight rain made it almost as hard to fight in as it was with the rogue ninja.
Today, Sasuke was to spar with at least fifty of Orochimaru's experimental whelps; both for his training and so that the snake could see the progress of his sick mutations.
The mist and the light rain made things unbearably irritating and Sasuke just wanted the session to be over. It was not imperative for him to relearn lessons he had had to deal with while a Leaf ninja so he ended up frying most of his opponents in quick succession. While he did not kill anybody—they were not worthy nor did he feel the need to kill to gain experience—he did give more than a few second degree burns.
Sasuke supposed that had he been in his usual apathetic mood, he could have used the weather to his advantage and practice the silent killing technique that Zabuza had executed so famously.
But fuck that; Sasuke was pissed.
It had only taken Sasuke forty-five minutes to wipe out all of the enemies, and the timing irritated Sasuke. He knew he could have done better, even though today he had made a new record; the previous being an hour.
After he had burned the last opponent, Orochimaru began to clap for him; a mocking, well-spaced clap.
"Very good, Sasuke." The man spoke in a tone that was meant to be complimentary, proud even, but Sasuke knew that the man was up to his aggravating tricks.
"Fuck off." Sasuke snarled as he turned his back to the snake.
He was not sure what Orochimaru was expecting, but he was sure that it was not that based on the stunned silence behind him.
Maybe he should have cared that he was probably pissing off the snake, who would take out his frustrations out on Sasuke in irritating ways like erratic schedules, more useless training, or even infuriating discussions involving that person. But all Sasuke was concerned with was leaving the area as soon as possible.
Before Orochimaru could say anything else, Sasuke headed towards the forest. He needed a fucking walk.
The Uchiha just needed to relax; all the lack of sleep had made him stressed and tired. Maybe he could find a quiet place in the forest to rest. Maybe he could find somewhere picturesque and calming. Maybe he could see Nar—
NO!
Sasuke mentally shook his head so he would stop thinking about such nonsense. He would admit that he was going back to the clearing JUST to confirm that it really was him that he saw yesterday. He would NOT, however, admit that he was excited. Not at all.
He was about to berate his idiotic mind for trying to get him to think he was eager to see the clearing e saw yesterday when he realized that his legs were already taking him in the direction to the clearing he was found in yesterday.
Heaving a defeated sigh, Sasuke allowed his legs to continue down a winding path towards the clearing to calm himself with a walk and in case he was being followed; if he was, then there would be hell to pay.
Fortunately, while coming back to the hideout from the clearing, Sasuke had used his Sharingan so he memorized the most direct way there and was able to map out the roundabout way towards his destination for future reference. In a way, it was therapeutic. Since he was on his way to see him, his mind allowed Sasuke to think about mapping out the rout in peace.
He could not see too far ahead due to the mist and the drizzle, but he was still able to make out some landmarks like large dips in the land and strangely shaped trees.
Sasuke had spent around two hours walking around—much like yesterday—before he saw the familiar ring of trees surrounding the clearing that was hidden behind them. The clearing was sure to be visible without the mist, though.
Upon seeing how close he was to the clearing, Sasuke went on the alert; that person had known Sasuke was there yesterday as soon as he discovered the clearing but kept his distance due to not recognizing Sasuke. The Uchiha was not sure whether he would recognize him today or just that someone had entered the clearing, but he would not be taking chances.
The closer he got to the clearing, the more he questioned what he saw yesterday. Was that really that person? It seemed real, but there was always that chance that this was all an elaborate hoax. . .
At the thought, something in Sasuke's stomach fell; it felt like disappointment.
Wait—did that mean that Sasuke WANTED it to be that person?
No! That did not make sense! Sasuke did not care if that was that person! He was only here out of curiosity! He was here to check to see if it was a hoax, and since it probably was, he was here to see exactly WHOSE ass he would be kicking into next year.
Sasuke was diligently reminding himself exactly why it was that he was here when he—cautiously—entered the clearing.
Dammit.
It was just as fucking stunning as it was yesterday.
Just without the cliché rainbow on the waterfall seeing as the mist, drizzle, and the clouds shut the sun away. Thank Kami.
Wearily, Sasuke scanned the area for the thing he saw yesterday; he would not admit that it was him until he saw IT again.
When he saw nothing, he scanned his memory to try to remember what he had done in order to make it reveal itself to him.
Upon remembering, Sasuke mentally scowled. Yesterday, he had growled out of frustration which made it growl in return. Did it think Sasuke was speaking it's animalistic language or something?
Mentally sighing and feeing ridiculous, Sasuke scanned the area again to make sure there was no other human around to bear witness.
He spread out his chakra, searching for any intruders and for that person.
Sasuke spread his chakra around a five meter radius when he encountered another source of chakra and froze. It was not the chakra of any of those twisted experiments, the glasses wearing servant, or the snake bastard. . .the chakra did not even feel remotely human.
It felt more ancient, powerful, and vile than anything any human could hope to unleash. It felt like. . .
. . .a demon. . .
Upon the realization of the only one Sasuke knew who it could be, he slowly and cautiously turned so he could face the source.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Sasuke made his way closer to the waterfall, close to where he first saw it yesterday. He briefly wondered why it had yet to come out to face the threat of another ninja who so obviously found them with their chakra.
Then Sasuke realized that of course something with such demonic chakra would have no need to defend itself from the threat because Sasuke's chakra was NO threat to something as vast and vile as THAT!
Sasuke grit his teeth. This was only MORE proof that he needed to stay with Orochimaru to train. If that person could survive such chakra then Sasuke would strive to not only survive, but conquer.
The Uchiha inwardly groaned as he remembered that he did not bother to hide his chakra yesterday and IT still hadn't revealed itself until Sasuke had growled.
Fanning out his chakra once more to make sure that there would be no witnesses, Sasuke noticed that IT's chakra was dormant; it had not changed from when Sasuke had initially scanned the area.
New discovery aside, Sasuke had made sure that there were no other chakra sources other than the two in the annoyingly beautiful clearing. Sighing, he mentally prepared himself for his self-humiliation of growling on command as well as physically preparing himself to jump to a nearby tree.
Seeing that there was no point in stalling anymore, Sasuke huffed and let loose a throaty growl, hoping to entice IT out of hiding.
The effect was near instantaneous: the demonic chakra spurred to life and IT jumped out of the bushes, charging towards Sasuke.
Sasuke jumped for a nearby tree without low branches.
Up in the tree, Sasuke activated his sharingan and looked over IT.
IT was actually Naruto!
Through his Sharingan, he saw a sliver of Naruto's blue chakra near his heart. But it was almost completely overwhelmed by the vast multitude of red chakra radiating from his body!
Naruto sniffed around after Sasuke shot to the tree, crouched down on all fours with his eyes closed in order to focus on his nose.
Sasuke thought that with the mist and the rain it would be harder to locate his scent, but Naruto found his location quickly, looking up at him with those feral eyes.
He help eye contact, trying to find some semblance of his ursurato. . .NARUTO, but found none. He only saw an animal glaring back at him.
Naruto bared his elongated fangs at Sasuke, snarling at him as if annoyed that Sasuke was unreachable. Then he raised a clawed hand and swung at the tree Sasuke was perched in.
While he did not knock the tree down, there were deep claw marks left within the bark and the tree shook a little.
Seeing no need to stay in place, Sasuke jumped to another nearby tree, aware of red eyes following his every move.
This time, he landed on a comparatively lower branch, though still out of reach of Naruto's claws.
He noticed that Naruto's forehead protector was nowhere to be seen on his person. Considering that all of his clothes were ripped in various and multiple places, it was not a stretch to assume that it had fallen off or ripped as well. But a part of Sasuke remembered how much his dob—NARUTO had cherished that thing so much, placing it over his own wellbeing at times like when Zabuza was going to step on it. Sasuke also remembered how much emphasis his idio—NARUTO had placed in its symbolism during their fight in that damned valley. Seeing him without the thing only reinforced to Sasuke how this was not the Naruto from his memories.
There was also dried blood on Naruto's upper forearms as well as some staining his ripped orange sweatshirt.
Sasuke did not get to spend any more time observing the changes in his lov—NARUTO because Naruto had moved to clawing at the tree Sasuke was currently perched on.
Sasuke went to jump to another nearby tree when Naruto rammed into his current tree.
The bump combined with the wet surface made Sasuke slip.
As soon as his body left the branch, Naruto jumped up towards him, claws extended and fangs snapping at him.
Red eyes connected with the other set if red eyes, only seeing hunger and ferocity.
Sasuke twisted his body perpendicular to the tree trunk and kicked off of it.
Pouring extra chakra into his feet, Sasuke clung to another tree trunk, though he was too close to the ground.
Naruto lunged for him, growling the entire time.
Using the extra chakra, Sasuke kicked off the tree trunk back to his previous tree just before Naruto's clawed hands ripped the bark off of the tree trunk.
He repeated the pattern until he was a safe distance above Naruto who let loose a frustrated roar and started swinging his claws at the trees in earnest.
Seeing that the trees were less than safe, Sasuke jumped to the waterfall, landing on the rocks above it.
Naruto's eyes followed him the entire way and turned his body to crouch before the waterfall, waiting for Sasuke to come down.
Gazes connected once more. Naruto was staring with hunger and a frustration for losing his meal in his slitted eyes while Sasuke was staring with confusion and frustration for a lack of understanding in his tamoe dotted eyes.
Why? Why was Naruto in such an animalistic state? He understood that Naruto was the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, but he did not understand why that was affecting Naruto in such a way now!
The blonde had gone through thirteen years without anything like THIS happening, so why during Naruto's fourteenth year of being alive?
Sasuke's damned mind reminded him once more of those two times he had witnessed with kind of power but wrote it off. Those times were different. Those times, Naruto had been in control.
Not this time, though. This was not Naruto. At least, this was not Naruto in control.
As Naruto crawled on all fours closer to the edge of the waterfall, Sasuke wondered exactly who was in control of Naruto's body. Was this Kyuubi? From what Sasuke understood from the stories about the demon told to the children of the village, the memories retold to the older generations, and the scrolls concerning the demon in the Uchiha complex, the Kyuubi was hatred incarnate.
Sasuke did not doubt that after feeling the vile chakra against his own, but it did make him doubt that the demon from the legends was in control of his frien—NARUTO's body. Sasuke assumed that Kyuubi would not simply wait for his food but rather immobilize it and eat it without second thought.
Naruto reached the edge of the small cliff and started clawing at the rocks. They were too slippery for Naruto to jump on safely so he had apparently settled for clawing at them like he had with the trees.
From Sasuke's memory of the last time he had seen Naruto using the Kyuubi's chakra in that damned valley, Sasuke knew that while in that state Naruto had excellent control of the demonic chakra, able to extend tails, legs, and extra arms out of pure chakra at the enemy.
Sasuke assumed that was Kyuubi's influence since the usurato—NARUTO had never had great control over his own chakra.
Naruto had scraped himself a large indent into the small cliff's edge and had jumped up to crouch inside of it. He then focused on creating another indent to get closer to his meal.
Noticing this, Sasuke decided that his time in the clearing was over.
Sasuke stood up, careful of the water from the mist, rain, and waterfall, and poured chakra into his legs and jumped to a nearby treetop.
He heard an indignant roar behind him as he left the clearing.
Sasuke knew that there was a little piece of the Naruto from his memories somewhere in that wild beast he had left behind, and he was going to find out just how much of the old Naruto was actually in there.
And that was the chapter.
I realized that annoyed at the literary levels in FF or not, one type of story I do not like on principle is the ones written as an excuse to write hard yaoi lemons. That is not to say that they do not have their sweet moments, like there are some where one uses sex to convey to the other just how much they mean to them, to reassure each other of their love for each other, or to reassure an individual that the other will always be there. But there are too many stories where the lemon part of the 'story' is almost twice as long as the 'plotline'.
Plus, there are too many of these 'stories' have no point other than to write their porn. It is annoying and I honestly prefer porn to them. At least in porn, it is very obvious that the sex is very much the point. Speaking of, I find the dialogue for pornos absolutely hilarious! My friend and I were watching a porno to show them just how ridiculous the introductions to these pornos really are. Two of our favorites were one with two hot nurses 'studying' for a medical exam. All we learned from the two's studying was that you shouldn't put a fake IV line in the ass, but apparently it feels good.
And one with two guys where the twink is the underwear-clad housekeeper 'cleans' the room:
"I think I finished everything here."
"You haven't finished me."
~Sex ensues~
Anyways, thank you for the faves/alerts! And an extra special thank you to those who reviewed! You guys feed my muse's needy side. She is quite insistent on those for inspiration so keep 'em comin'!