Chapter 22 =]

Sasuke Uchiha stared at the man before him. Where ever this man went, legends were born of his prowess. Just mentioning his mere name got him the respect of nobles; ninja and civilian alike. And now this impressive man stood before him, begging him of his help? What could he do that this man could not? He was dimly aware of the other strange people staring at him as well. He knew he was an Uchiha and therefore elite amongst the ninja population, but what could he do, untrained as he was, compared to the Sannin before him?

Quelling the rising panic in him he voiced his doubts, "What can I do that you can't?" Even to him, his voice sounded incredulous, no matter how hard he tried to make it sound calm.

Jiraiya looked down at the youth before him. He understood where the boy was coming from. But it was not skills or techniques he was after, it was experience and wisdom that can only be learnt from suffering. Each of them knew what loss was, but none of them knew what it was like to lose the two closest people to you all in one go. That and Kyuubi was very much a part of Naruto, it was probably like losing half of his soul, and none of them could comprehend what he was going through or the words that could help him through it. Then the gennin boy that had been caught up in this mess had voiced an idea. The Uchiha child. He had his entire clan wiped out by his brother, the brother he loved more than anything. That had to be close to what Naruto was feeling. Maybe he could help. And so, the Guardian of Fire and Magma has instantly disappeared to collect the boy whose clan held mastery over his flame.

Not saying a word, Jiraiya looked behind him drawing Sasuke's eyes to the still figure on the forest floor. Naruto was slumped against a tree, eyes wide and unseeing. Tear stains ran down his cheeks, making the strange purple markings on his face darker. His shirt was ripped, showing Sasuke a view of his stomach which held a dark swirl with intricate lines and curls surrounding it.

"What's wrong with him?" Sasuke whispered, afraid that if he raised his voice any higher it might shatter the fragile looking boy. It was the Mist hunter Nin that answered him.

"He lost those who were closest to him, those who sacrificed themselves for him, those who saved him." the Nin said softly, matched Sasuke's hushed tone. It was then he understood why they had brought him here. They wanted him to make it better. That he would have some miracle cure to the suffering the blonde boy was going through. He was about to say he couldn't help when he caught sight of said blonde's eyes. They were so lost, so hurt, so lonely. How much did he himself wish for someone to come up to him and say the right words. Not just the empty sympathy or reassurances of his parents love.

But what did he know? He didn't know how Naruto had lost his precious people, he had no way of understanding the kind of suffering he was going through, the reason for it. Steeling himself

"Tell me what happened."

Jiraiya looked closely at the boy, as did Zabuza. Studying the young man before them, they came to a decision. If they really wanted his help, they were going to have to tell him everything. Well, not everything, such as Naruto's real parents or the reason why he came to the village, but the majority of it all. Getting nods of consent from the rest of the group, Jiraiya made Sasuke face him.

"This is gonna be a long story brat, get comfy."

...

Naruto was numb. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't feel anything. Well, he couldn't feel anything physically; his emotions were another matter entirely. He had heard the voices of sympathy, pity. The excuses they gave for the two that weren't here anymore, but it all fell onto deaf ears. Only one word, one question was left to rampage within his mind. Why?

They had sealed themselves inside of him. They were gone. They left him. They promised they would never leave. They promised! He couldn't fathom the reason why they would do this. Did they hate him? Hate him so much that they decided to leave? But not just leave, seal themselves away from him. The though made him question the motives behind every act of kindness they had ever shown him. The pain was overwhelming, and he was paralysed with it, he couldn't scream his agony because his throat wouldn't work. He couldn't tear at his stomach or face to remove the markings because his arms wouldn't move. So he just sat there staring at space, feeling nothing but pain.

Then a fist came flying at his face and knocked him to the ground. The physical pain was almost a relief from his turbulent thoughts, and the shock of the action made him focus on the person standing in front of him, and ignoring the stunned faces of the adults surrounding him. If Sasuke punching him felt like a brick to the face, his next words were like a sledge hammer.

'Your pathetic, no wonder they left you." his tone was cold, and full of disgust. Naruto could only stare at him uncomprehendingly.

"What?" he managed to whisper, thinking he misheard.

"You're pathetic." Sasuke repeated, but he didn't stop. "Your wallowing in self-pity sickens me and I barely know you. If this is what you are really like no wonder they left you, hell, sealed themselves away from you. I would have done the same thing. They must have really hated you and probably jumped at the opportunity to get away from such a loser-" Sasuke was cut off as multiple people threw themselves on him to shut up, various pointy objects held to various vulnerable places.

Each word held a barb of poison that stung Naruto deeply. Wasn't it what he was just thinking to himself? But as he heard the words come from someone else's mouth they sounded so... off.

"No, you're wrong,' he whispered. The words stopped the scuffle that was happening mere feet from him. Sasuke scoffed, ignoring the glares and threats of death he was receiving.

"Really, pray tell me how."

"Okaa-san saved me when I was hurt," he said, voice getting stronger.

"She was a traveling medic, she did what was in her job description, and you're no one special." he shot back.

"Kyuubi healed me when I was hurt!"

"If he cared why didn't he let the pain go away, instead of allowing it to happen over and over again?"

Naruto was speechless, true he had been thinking the exact same things mere seconds ago, but hearing them voiced made him want to deny it with all his being. He wanted Sasuke to stop, he wanted him to go away, but Sasuke didn't stop there.

"If they cared so much then why aren't they here?" The snide question, with viscous intent made Naruto snap. Tears streaming down his face he leapt up and hurled his fist at the face that was saying the hurtful comment, and he screamed. He screamed so loud his voice tore and made his throat raw.

"SHUT UP! JUST, SHUT UP! THEY LOVED ME! THEY SACRIFICED THEMSELVES SO THAT I CAN LIVE! STOP TALKING ABOUT THEM! JUST SHUT UP!"

Sasuke allowed the fist to hit him. He remembered when he lost his family; he was so, so lost as to what he should do. People just gave him sympathy and false, empty words. So he blamed the only man he could think of, he became bitter and withdrawn from the world around him and focused only on destroying the one who had so thouroughly destroyed him. He knew it was not the right path, but he had no one to direct him towards the light. No one knew what he was going through. And so maybe, just maybe, he could do for Naruto what no one could do for him.

As his fist hit Sasuke's face, Naruto seemed to lose what little strength he had and collapsed forward. Multiple arms shot out to grab him and he clung to the closest pair: Shizune. Muscles shaking, he couldn't form a coherent thought until a gentle hand patted him on his shoulder.

"Then live for them. Mourn for them, but do not wallow. It is ok for you to live, it's what they wanted, it's why they did what they did," Sasuke whispered. As those simple words destroyed the dam that was holding them in, Naruto cried, allowing his pent up sadness to rain down his cheeks in waterfalls of tears. Clutching at Shizune who tried to offer as much comfort as she could, he cried his loss to the world.

.*.*.

"I'm gonna kill you. Slice you up into little pieces, roast them, and then feed them to Jiraiya's frogs."

"Hey, they wouldn't eat that! Feed them to the Guardians as a sacrifice or something!"

A boom of thunder dissuaded that idea.

"Fine, find some other ravage, carnivorous animal, kill them because they have your body pieces in it and then tie a rock to its carcase and throw it into the deepest river I can find."

"Wait... you were gonna do what with my frogs?"

"It's not your frogs anymore."

"What about the Guardians?"

"I'm sure being inside living fire would be better than forever at the bottom of a river so my plan wouldn't have gone that far."

"... Haku you can be scary."

Sasuke's pale face went paler and the gentle looking boy was casually discussing whether his body pieces would suffer more at the bottom of a river with its high pressure and raging rapids, or inside a Guardians stomach being constantly burned for all eternity. Thankfully, the murderous looking one covered in bandages was the one to stand up for him. Sasuke felt too thankful to point out the irony.

"Don't kill the brat, he saved our brat no matter how stupid the means," he glared at Sasuke who paled even further. He was starting to resemble a blank scroll. "For that he can live... for the moment."

"Fine, he can live. He doesn't need his arms to live right?"

They had made camp in the clearing Sasuke had been brought to. The sun had begun to set throwing a cadence of oranges, yellows, pinks, reds and purples against the sky that broke through the canopy of the trees, and settled on the group of ninja, giving them the last warmth it had to offer before the moon rose and gave them its soft light.

Naruto had fallen asleep once his tears had run dry and his wails had turned to soft sobs. The woman, Shizune had placed him in a sleeping bag and was staying with him through his slumber, in case of nightmares. Sasuke had forewarned them it was a high possibility. The Guardians, still running on the power given to them when Kyuubi was healed, took up guard around the campsite, allowing everyone else to retire, although none of them felt like sleeping just yet.

Kiba and Akamaru, sat with their backs against a tree opposite Naruto's tent, eyes trained on the entrance. It seems as if they would be acting as watchmen tonight too, whether they were expected to or not. Kiba had the suspicion they had been forgotten, but that was fine with him. It meant he would be able to watch the blonde with little interruption for meaningless things, like questions.

Jiraiya, Haku and Zabuza however, were enjoying their game with Sasuke. They were a ways from Naruto's tent, so their conversation wouldn't wake him; but still close enough should anything happen. They could just see the wall of the Leaf village through the dense tree tops, and they didn't want to chance being stumbled upon by a patrol unprepared.

"What ninja has lived past twenty with no arms?" Jiraiya asked.

"That's the point," Haku said smugly. Feeling it was time for a tactical retreat, Uchiha's never ran away, Sasuke moved and sat under a large tree at the edge of the clearing. He could see the opening of Naruto's tent and if his suspicions were correct, this was the place he needed to be.

...

"Teams one and two will be the training grounds; Search teams' three to six will be responsible for the east district as well as market places. Seven to nine will be business areas as well as the Hokage Monument and teams ten to thirteen will be the perimeter as well as forests surrounding our immediate area. Any ques-"

"What is the meaning of this?" The Third Hokage demanded, walking in on the group of Anbu that were being debriefed by Danzo. The councillor Homura was the one to answer.

"The demon has escaped, and with him has captured the heir to the Inuzuka clan. Also reports indicate the missing Nin Zabuza Momochi was seen with them as well as the Sannin Jiraiya and apprentice to Tsunade, Shizune. Our conclusion is that the demon and Momochi have teamed up and captured the three so we are sending out teams to search and capture them back. We cannot allow the demon to fall into another village's hands, no matter how unsightly it is."

The Sandaime just stood there, mouth agape like a fish out of water.

"You conclusion? You think a gennin and a missing jounin level ninja can take down Jiraiya AND Shizune? Also whilst taking a gennin as if they didn't have their hands full already? You should be sending out scouts and information gathering teams not retrieval and assassination squads!" spluttered the Third. Danzo looked over the man with barely concealed disgust. In his youth had he said that, it would have rung with authority and every shinobi within hearing distance would have stood to attention, now, he had just gotten soft. Too easy to manipulate and barely a challenge against him.

"Sandaime, this matter does not require the attention of the Hokage; we are merely upping out border patrols in case the missing Nin decides to return." He said smoothly. The Third looked at them suspiciously. He knew they were after Naruto, but what could he do? Danzo had control of nearly everyone in this room. Growling slightly he turned on his heel and left, pretending to not feel the smirk of the man behind him. He knew he was getting weaker and he needed to name an heir, but who still held the Will of Fire within them bright enough to lead this village? He needed to get his political power back and save this village if he is ever going to face his predecessors in the next life.

...

Naruto awoke with a silent scream. Sweat was pouring off him in buckets and his body trembled ever so slightly. Next to him he could hear Shizune breathing lightly. Years of waking with nightmares had allowed him to not wake those who slept near him. These were his demons to fight; he would not wake Shizune-nee-chan with his problems.

Carefully and silently, he left the tent, making sure to scan his surroundings first. The leaf gennin that was at the hospital room was asleep at the base of a tree opposite his tent, his puppy lying across his lap. Near the ninja, close enough to give him warmth but not so close as to burn him was the Guardian of Fire. The fox sat proudly, his eyes alert for any danger. The moment Naruto had wakened the foxes gaze had been zeroed in on his tent. Smiling at ember softly the blonde continued to examine his camp. Other tents had been set up and he could sense the beings asleep within them. They obviously knew they would be safe from harm if the Guardians were on watch, but he could still sense that if any noise went louder than a whisper, all would awaken. Employing his years of practicing the ninja art of silent walking, Naruto left the clearing in the direction he heard rushing water. He needed to wash the sweat off his face.

Concealed from his senses and sight, a pair of onyx eyes watched him leave towards the river. Sasuke knew this would happen, with what he had learned from the jinchuuriki's past, he was used to waking up with nightmares, and he did it himself about twice a week. This way he would be able to watch the blonde and converse with him without the presence of the adults. The... scary... skilled killers that were Naruto's caretakers. Covering his tracks as best he could, Sasuke followed after the blonde, nodding to Ember as he past the fire fox. The powerful entity looked at him and tilted its head in acknowledgment. Ember knew what the boy had planned; this would be good for both their souls.