Author's Note: Reviews are still welcomed. And you might want to set up the cue music before you start reading to be able to stay with the mood of the moment. All my music can be found on Youtube (.com) Just a helpful suggestion.
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Not Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or GetBackers, or the song lyrics I will be using, but I do own the plot.
Cue Music: Requiem for a dream – Enya
Cloud was staring at Iruka, irritation clearly written all over his face. Iruka was staring back at him mirroring his expression.
The blonde's class was full in session, but Iruka had a break in his schedule so he decided to join everyone. He claimed he had nothing better to do but Cloud and the boys knew otherwise. He was the mother hen of the group after all, and he was worried.
Everyone was in their respectful groups, but there was still two students missing, hence the irritation.
'Where could they have gone off to?' Cloud kept switching glances between the door and the class.
"I'm sure they'll turn up soon." The English teacher tried to reason.
"Iruka you've been saying that for the past twenty-seven minutes." Without removing his eyes from the spot silently willing them to walk through the door, Cloud managed to mumble in reply.
"I just hope nothing happened to them-" Iruka began before he was interrupted by a sharp knock on the door.
Cloud was in front of it in a heartbeat. When he opened the door he was met with two vivid grey eyes instead of the expected blue or turquoises.
"Sorry am I interrupting anything?" The voice was as smooth as melted chocolate, and the smile was as alluring as the first time he had laid eyes on it.
Cloud was left staring at the man in bafflement before he was gently moved out of the way.
"No, nothing important. Anyway the students are doing their group assignments." Iruka had been hoping the missing students would show up at the door but when he locked eyes with the stranger he felt a rush of heat settle comfortably on the bridge of his nose. 'My god the man is handsome!'
"Ah, that's good to hear, I just thought I'd drop these two to class seeing as I held them back and all. Oh, where are my manners? Hi I'm Leonhart Leon and you are?" he held out his hand in offering.
"Oh so your Leon! It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Kakashi's already explained the situation, I'm Umino Iruka." The jovial reply was given as he readily accepted the handshake. Something clicked as the music instructor finally registered his words.
"Who were you dropping to class?" Iruka peered curiously while Cloud finally reacted and questioned since greeting Leon.
The brunette stepped aside to reveal a blonde and a silveret in a quiet heated discussion.
"So that's where they've been." Cloud's voice interrupted the two who finally noticed everyone staring at them.
"Sorry I held them back, we had to discuss an important matter." Leon's smile turned guilty as he regarded the two teachers in front of him.
"Don't worry about it I'm sure they can catch up just fine." Cloud sent the boys off to their respectful seats before turning back to Leon.
"You can come in if you want." He shrugged his shoulders out of habit more than anything else before waiting for a reply.
"I'd like that actually it'd give us some time to talk.
The blonde led the way back to his desk with Iruka and Leon in tow.
"So, mind explaining what took you so long?" Kazuki's lax demeanor was very misleading. It meant that he wanted answers and he was going to get them now.
Naruto chucked nervously to cover up his fear. "Leon and Riku were explaining things about our history and we just got so caught up we lost track of time."
The three boys stopped all activities and gave him the 'you-don't-expect-us-to-actually-believe-that?' stare.
"Since when, were you on a first name basis with either of them?" Kazuki tried again. Naruto caved at that point.
"Since he said he didn't like to be called, 'sensei', by his special students." He muttered.
Ginji slid his glasses down the bridge of his nose to stare at him knowing it'd make him spit it out already.
"Alright! Alright already! Sheesh..." Naruto threw his arms up in the air in defeat. Ginji beamed, 'Works every time!'
"I've been having these weird dreams lately, and they were trying to help me figure them out. We went to Leon's office and then I sort of ended up getting a real shocker. You guys should have seen it! It was even more amazing then the indoor gym. Maybe Leon will take you guys later…" He trailed off in thought.
"Naruto!" Three stern voices rang out in unison.
"Okay, okay... two days ago I was on my way to the gym when I decided to explore..."
"What did Leon want with you guys?" Sasuke surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, asked.
"We had a rather interesting discussion actually." Riku started.
Sasuke arched a single brow and waited for him to continue.
Riku leaned in so his mouth was directly aligned with Sasuke's ear. "What exactly did you run into two days ago Sasuke-niisan?"
Sasuke's body went rigid, "How..."
"The both of you reeked of blood when you stepped into the room. Kiba, Gaara, Roxas, Axel, and Shido all almost passed out because the stench was so strong. Don't worry they didn't say anything to anyone," He hurriedly said so Sasuke wouldn't avoid the question.
Riku backed up bit to gauge his reaction. Sasuke looked around the group and heaved a sigh. It wasn't good to keep secrets anyway, that lead to problems later on.
"I ran into Naruto..."
It was pouring outside yet again, so all of the students were stuck in the indoor gym. Classes were over for the day and it was their second official day for special training.
"Since you weren't able to make it yesterday we'll have to partner you up with advanced students to get you up to par. I wasn't here to see how you did the first time around so for today we're going to work on conditioning your bodies." Leon was reviewing the files that Kakashi had put together in one short day. Kakashi for once had his head out of his book and was assessing his students. "I think the best method to use would be the partnered-groups."
"Sounds good enough to me," Leon answered back
"What's a partnered group?" Sora was waving his arm slightly to attraction attention.
"Saku..."
"Yeah yeah I know already!" She gave Kakashi the evil eye before turning to Sora and smiled.
'Whoa, her mood swings are scary!' his inner chibi commented hiding behind a blanket that popped out of nowhere.
'Agreed,' Sora thought back.
"There are four people in a cell and they rotate partners." Sakura walked over to a pale skin boy and yanked his sketchpad and marker away ignoring his cries of protest.
She drew a circle and placed four bubbles on it. Then she proceeded to fill the bubbles in with names and drew arrows leading the names to one and other.
"Do you understand?" She held up the sketchpad and the four nodded their head.
"Well then that takes care of that. Sorry about that Sai." Sakura handed back the sketchpad with the offered apology.
"What did you just call him?" Naruto couldn't believe his ears. 'Not again!'
"My name is Sai, nice to meet you!"
The blonde almost sighed out of relief when he noticed it was a completely different boy.
"Sorry about that, I mistook you for someone else." Naruto had the decency to look sheepish.
"No problem, think nothing of it." Sai's smile was just a little bit too eerie at that point.
"Err, yea no problem, right..." He turned around to face forward as Leon began to call out groups checking them off as he went along.
"Group 1 will be Fuyuki Shido, Fuchoin Kazuki, Tsukimi Sora, and Arashi Riku."
"Group 2 Amano Ginji, Uzumaki Naruto, Midou Ban, and Uchiha Sasuke," now Naruto knew something was up when he was paired with the bastard yet again.
Kakashi interrupted his though to lazily call out the next group.
"Group 3 Neji, Gaara, Roxas, Axel..." His voice drowned out as he continued to pair everyone.
"I need to know what your abilities are so if you would please demonstrate." Leon stood patiently waiting.
"How do we do that?" Naruto was confused.
"Hn, dobe just remember the feeling you had the first time around and call it out." Sasuke had his eyes closed as he leant against the wall.
"Alrighty then," Ginji closes his eyes in response and concentrated.
After one minute of concentrating he opened his eyes, "Nope sorry I've got nothing."
"Well this isn't getting us anywhere fast." Ban looked at the other special students who were running track.
"Maybe it'll work better if they were exposed to their element." Sakura suggested.
"That might actually work," Kakashi nodded slowly in agreement.
"I've got a lighter" Axel offered up.
"And I've got a pocket flashlight," Neji took it out as he spoke.
"Now where are we going to get lightning?" Shido asked.
"I think all you need is something that conducts electricity." Gaara surprised everyone by actually offering his opinion.
"Wait! Wait a minute, I thought you said we were going to do body conditioning ..." Naruto trailed off.
Leon smirked, "I did and you are."
"What do you mean?" Kazuki was pretty sure body conditioning meant stretching and working on the muscles and such.
"It's a specialty of ours you could say. Our chakra, or energy, works with our muscles and nervous systems to produce optimum results." He explained.
"Oh, okay then." Ginji cheerfully accepted.
Kakashi handed Naruto the lighter, Sora the flashlight and Ginji a florescent light bulb he had pulled from a wall lamp.
"Think about what it is you can create and envision it coming through your hands."
The boys all found a comfortable spot on the floor while Kakashi turned to the rest of the group.
"Since you all already know this stuff, you can either do warm ups or sit and relax. You're pretty much done mastering the basics and quite a few of you already mastered advanced techniques. So go do whatever it is you kids do when you have spare time." He waved them off boredly.
Everyone but the Shimagara no Hebi left. The rest of the large group sat with the three boys on the floor making themselves comfortable. "Kazuki if you don't mind can I see you over here for a second?" Kakashi called him to the side.
Leon took over from there and sat himself on a barstool to the left of the group, this could take a while.
Naruto wasn't getting anywhere! He sighed in frustration. It came out whenever it wanted, Naruto simply couldn't control it. Ginji and Sora weren't making much progress either. It had been over an hour now and no such luck came to them. It was frustrating, tiring, worrying botherso...and if Sasuke didn't stop breathing down his neck, so help him god he was going to kill him!
"Will you backup bastard! Haven't you ever heard of personal space? Kuso..."
Sasuke smirked and leaned in closer, "What's the matter dobe uncomfortable?"
Naruto gritted his teeth in an effort to ignore him. He could understand Kiba and the rest of the gang being there, Hell even Gaara and Neji were welcomed, but what business did Sasuke, Ban, and Shido have there? Riku he could deal with, he didn't really dislike him that much at all anymore. He didn't know when, but Riku's company had become tolerable.
Sasuke gracefully maneuvered himself directly in back of Naruto pressing his chest into his back while folding his legs Indian style.
"Exactly what do you think you're doing?" Naruto hissed eyeing him warily.
"Dobe, you're going to take all year and still not get anywhere. I'm just making sure we all don't turn grey and die before you finally accomplish something."
"Teme! That's none of your concern!" he hollered.
"Actually it is since you're my partner and all. I can't let you drag my perfect marks into the ground simply because you're to slow to figure things out for yourself."
"I think I liked you better when you didn't talk." Naruto glared full force but it was ruined by the pink tinge on his face. You shouldn't have even been able to see it past his big thick glasses and long greasy bangs, but Sasuke did.
Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, "Really now, I was under the impression that you...enjoyed my company." He purred into his ear.
"Asshole if you're going to help then just do it already!" Naruto turned his head away unwilling to look at the seductive rave.
Sasuke inwardly cringed at how easy the whole 'get-Naruto-to-fall-for-you' thing had been. But, sitting behind the boy wasn't as awkward as he'd thought it'd be. In fact it felt a little bit comfortable.
He found it amusing how stiff Naruto had gone when he grabbed his hands. In truth, sitting like this actually happened to be the correct way of interacting with someone else's chakra. The fact that it made Naruto uncomfortable was just a bonus.
"Hold your hands out and cup it together." Sasuke proceeded to place Naruto's hand out in front of him as if he were cupping water. "Now relax usuratonkachi, or else you'll screw this up."
Naruto fidgeted about before taking in a deep breath and forcing himself to relax. He still didn't trust Sasuke. The bastard had a weird way of controlling him against his will.
"Imagine your energy flowing outward through your hands." Sasuke waited for the boy to comply in patience. When Naruto's chakra washed over him, it felt like a warm blanket had wrapped around him. It was calming and Sasuke almost lost himself in it.
He leaned forward and noticed Naruto had his eyes closed. He lit the lighter and let the flame dance in the air over his open palms. When nothing happened Sasuke resisted the urge to yell at the idiot for his clumsiness, it would have been counterproductive.
"You're not doing it right, I said to relax." He ground out in frustration.
"I am relaxed you bastard" Naruto spat back. Sasuke grabbed his chin and turned his head towards him. Blue orbs were staring directly into crimson hues before he found himself going completely lax in the raven's arms.
'What the hell is he doing this time?' He was about to voice his objection to the situation and demand to know what Sasuke did to him when he was cut to the chase.
"It's to help you relax. It's one of my special abilities, and before you ask, yes it was necessary. Now sit up and let's try this again."
Naruto tried to sit up, he really did, but apparently he was too relaxed. Sasuke sighed as he fully supported the boy's added weight and repeated the same steps as before.
He lit the lighter and let the flame dance in the air over his open palms. He clicked it shut, placed it on the floor next to them, and cupped his hands under Naruto's. Sasuke forced some of his chakra into Naruto's hands and Naruto twitched ever so slightly at the tingling feeling it left.
"When you open your eyes don't panic dobe or you might set something ablaze." Partial annoyance found its way into Sasuke's voice.
"Urusai-tebayo"
The raven's eyebrow twitched in irritation as the imbecile found a way to butcher his word.
Naruto slowly opened his eyes and was immediately enraptured by the ball of flame swirling and twirling in the palm of his hands. He smiled a little in genuine content and turned to Sasuke.
"Thanks, I guess," he said awkwardly.
"Hn, don't get too happy yet dobe. You still need to learn how call on your own fire and control it."
"Yeah, yeah way to ruin the mood teme." Although Naruto said that, neither boy bothered to move as they watched the flames swirl around, contently. Had they bothered to notice, they would have realized Sasuke's arm curled loosely around Naruto's waist, and Naruto's head rested in the crook of Sasuke's neck.
It almost went unnoticed but a pair of sad green eye looked on with heartbreaking disbelief.
Sora stared at the flash light trying to figure out how exactly they expected him to create light from it. He was just about to call it quits when he felt someone settle in back of him. He tilted his head back and blue met with turquoise.
"Uhh..Riku?"
"Yes?"
"What are you doing?" Sora blinked before setting his head in an upright position and turning it around to face Riku.
"Well I figured that since I'm your partner I should give you a hand. Nobody actually tells you this but getting started is the hardest part."
"Oh...but why are you behind me then?"
"Because chakra flows better like this and it's easier to stabilize you from behind. Kind of like the concept, if you fall I'll catch you... that sort of thing." Riku waited for permission to continue.
"Oh...'kay then lead away." Sora acted calm and collected but inside he was panicking. Riku was directly behind him for god's sake!
"Before we begin I need you to relax." Riku gently grabbed Sora's hand and rested both of them on his thighs. 'Relax? With you behind me? That's like asking me to stop breathing...' Sora forced the thoughts from his head and breathed in deeply.
"M'kay I'm ready."
"Good, now I want you to press your hands together as if in prayer," he instructed gently.
"Like this?" He inquired demonstrating.
Riku placed his hands on top of Sora's, "Perfect, now imagine your Chakra coming through the tips of your fingers."
Sora's chakra felt like a breath of fresh air. Riku wanted to rest his head and sleep in hazy pleasure. He opened his eyes and grabbed the flashlight turning it on. He held it directly over the former chibi's fingers and waited for something to happen.
He looked closely at Sora and realized that he had his eyes shut to tightly. 'Ah, so there's the problem!' Riku opened his mouth and Sora was immediately captivated by the tune meant only for his ears.
"I heard this before..." Sora was trying really hard to stay focused but all he truly wanted to do was fall back into Riku's arms and stay there.
His body eased into Riku's before the song stopped.
"What did you do...Riku?" A darkened blue lidded gaze was focusing on their pressed together hands.
"It a hymn to calm you down a little. This won't work if you aren't completely at ease."
"A song? You have a beautiful voice." Sora commented not really caring that Riku's voice wasn't really a voice at all.
"Let's give this another shot shall we?"
He nodded and closed his eyes completely showing his response rather than verbalizing it. Riku watched as the light particles seeped into tan skin, so different from his own.
"You can open your hands now." Sora opened his hands and watched as the light formed into tiny spheres of light. They reminded him of fireflies as they flew about his palm in erratic patterns.
He broke out into an ear splitting grin as he turned to face Riku.
"Thank you!" Without thinking of the consequences he leaned forward and placed a quick but soft kiss on Riku's cheek. It was worth the embarrassment to see Riku's flushed face and childlike smile, Sora decided.
Ban sighed before getting up. Ginji peeked at him through an open eye, watching as he sat himself in back of him much like how Riku and Sasuke had.
"Open your eyes."
"W-what?" Ginji stuttered.
Ban smiled before repeating himself. "Open your eyes."
Ginji lowered the fluorescent tube bulb that was clasped between his two hands and complied with Ban's wishes. He turned his head slightly to ask Ban a question but realized a little too late that there was almost no room between their faces.
Ban gazed into his eyes and almost at once Ginji fell into a trance. His eyes were glowing again and the cat-slit pupils showed prominently against his enthralling electric blue orbs.
He shook his head in order to get rid of the drowsy-ness. Ban was looking at him expectantly.
"How do you do that? He questioned instead.
"Do what?"
"That thing with your eyes..."
"Hn I have no idea what you're talking about."
(Que music: Requiem for a dream – Enya)
Ginji pouted, Ban knew very well what he was talking about. He was just trying to avoid the question! The blonde looked at his hands and sighed. He felt a jolt of electricity run through his fingers and quickly dropped the bulb in his grasp.
"What was that?" He looked up expecting an answer but no one was there.
"Ban?" he looked around him but his surroundings didn't change. The only thing missing were the people. The lights in the gym were off as usual as the lightening cast eerie shadows across the expansive floor.
"Ban-chan, are you there?" Ginji tried to rise to his feet but found he couldn't move his lower extremities. He was paralyzed from the waist down.
"Is anybody there? Help please? There's something's wrong, I can't move!" His voice was growing desperate as his heart began to race.
'Where did everybody go?'
The silence was deafening as he shouted again. "Kakashi-san, Leon-san? N-NARUTO!" he felt the tears blur in his eyes but it went unnoticed as something moved across the room.
Instead of feeling relieved he felt his blood run cold. "W-who's there?"
No reply was heard but Ginji heard a dull thud and saw it splay itself across the floor. It was a person, or at least he thought it was one. A black shroud covered its main torso but left the disgustingly pale blue limbs riddled in veins in plain sight.
Slowly it put one flesh covered hand forward and dragged itself closer to Ginji. He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. He didn't bother trying to hold in his silent sobs. His eyes never left the figure. The closer it got the more Ginji could make out the trail of blood it was leaving behind.
He used his arms and tried to pull himself backwards. The thing was getting faster as it clawed its way across the ground. Ginji opened his mouth to scream again but silence ripped from his throat instead.
It was a mere ten feet in front of him now and Ginji could make out every detail on the corpse. Its veins were stark against the translucent skin and bloody bruises littered the female's body. Her limp, dirty, blonde hair had patches of blood caked in and in other spots it seemed as if the hair was ripped right out with the skin still attached to the roots. She picked her head up and Ginji felt physically ill. Her mouth and eyes were sewed shut with large black stitches, but the face itself rang a bell deep within his subconscious, he knew that face but had no name to place to it.
He tried to scream harder but it was like he was drowning in water and no one could hear him.
He turned his head in a desperate attempt to search for an escape but by the time he turned back she was gone. The trail of blood was the only proof she was there in the first place. Ginji hyperventilated as he slowly backed up.
His efforts came to a screeching halt as two bloody pale blue arms enveloped him from behind and the rancid smell of putrid rotting flesh attacked his nose as a head tucked itself into the crook of his neck. His heart stopped for a second before an excruciating thump resounded in his chest.
Lightening surged forward and obliterated everything in its path.
(Que: end Music)
When the light bulb shattered in Ginji's hand Ban knew something was wrong. Brown spectacle covered eyes came into focus and the tears were instantaneous. He didn't say a word but he sat there shaking like a leaf. Ban hadn't seen such absolute and sheer... terror... in a long while.
He gathered Ginji into his arms and lap and held him in a fierce slightly painful embrace to keep him grounded.
"B-Ban- c-chan!" The cry was horse and unstable as he flung himself around into the embrace.
"Shh, it's alright, I'm right here. It was just a dream."
Ginji's glasses dug painfully into his neck but he ignored it as he petted the boy's hair softly. It didn't take long for them to capture everyone's attention.
"What went wrong?"
Leon wasted no time in kneeling next to the clearly distressed boy.
Ban shook his head indicating that he didn't know.
They were surrounded by worried faces in less than a heartbeat.
"Leave him alone, I've got this under control."
Everyone but Naruto, Sora, Kazuki, Sasuke, Riku and Shido backed off, but they didn't go very far as they watched the frightened boy with anxious eyes.
"Aniki, Daijoubu?" Naruto placed his hand on Ginji's long locks and smoothed them out.
A wordless sob answered him.
"What did you show him?" Sasuke was furious. He knew that his brother had been planning this since day one but to actually go through with it after everything they'd been through? Even Ban wasn't that heartless.
Sasuke looked Ginji over and felt that weird protective surge go through him again. He reminded him so much of Naruto...
"I asked, what did you show him?"
He raised his voice in agitation and that drew the attention of everyone surrounding them yet again... Sasuke practically never yelled.
"What?" Kazuki breathed out harshly.
Sasuke ignored the accusing stares in favor of getting an answer from his brother.
"I didn't show him a nightmare Sasuke, I showed him a dream."
"Some fucking dream that must've been!"
Ban didn't know how to answer that. He was only trying to relax the boy not scare him.
The youngest Uchiha's eyes bled crimson as the tomes began spinning dangerously about. Blue eye's locked directly onto red and allowed them access to his memories.
Carefully, Sasuke carded through the contents of the dream Ginji should have seen. And in his defense his brother had been telling the truth.
Ginji's dream should have been one him of him perfectly controlling his abilities in order for him to know what it felt like. This confused the raven greatly. There was nothing in there that warranted fear of any degree.
Thinking quickly Sasuke turned to the nerve wracked boy and placed his hand on his shoulder to draw his attention.
"Ginji I need you to look at me."
The distraught boy went rigid. He heard those same words before and this time around he wasn't going to trust them!
He shook his head furiously from side to side and buried his head further into Ban's neck.
Sasuke turned to Naruto. "We can't help him if we don't know what's wrong."
Naruto bit his lip while clutching at Ginji's hand. "What exactly is it that you're going to do?"
"I'm going to go into his memory and see what the problem is." He answered calmly.
Naruto didn't want a stranger running around in his brother's head but Sasuke's point was more than valid. For the first time, he willingly wanted to trust the man who'd been the cause of his misery until recently. He nodded once before carding his fingers through Ginji's overgrown hair.
"Aniki, please we want to help." He whispered quietly.
Ginji locked eyes with Naruto and Naruto felt the world stop for a moment. He knew that look, but more importantly he knew that feeling. Just what had his big brother seen?
"Onegai..." he whispered more desperately.
Ginji nodded and turned his head to reluctantly face Sasuke. Sasuke removed his glasses and brushed some of the hair out of his eyes. The caring gesture calmed Ginji down some as he watched the ruby gems implore him.
"Don't worry, we're here to help."
His tomes now spun lazily about, his first task was to calm him down before he started to hyperventilate. When he was satisfied with the results he accessed his memory and closed his eyes. A long term connection worked differently than a quick scan. It required you to inhabit that person's body as if you were there. Sasuke would experience everything that Ginji had firsthand.
Everyone watched with baited breath as Sasuke's lids fluttered open.
His skin was paler than ash and he was unresponsive.
"What did you see Sasuke?" Once again Leon was the first one to react.
Sasuke just stared ahead, his mouth refused to work. He didn't scream, he didn't cry, he didn't even give into the urge to empty his stomachs content then and there.
He couldn't, it was as simple as couldn't get his mouth to move or his hands to signal his wasn't his fear, he knew that but Ginji's overwhelming emotions possessed him. He just sat there. And then he started ever so slightly shaking. It was barely noticeable at all but to those who knew him it held a tremendous effect.
Leon and the others watched with rapt horror stricken fascination as Sasuke literally broke down in front of them. Whatever it was that Ginji saw... was enough to shake up even Sasuke. They could only dream of what went on in there.
Naruto didn't know how to react. How could he? He didn't even know what was going on! All he knew was that ever since they got here, things haven't been following their natural order. It was almost like their past was coming to haunt them. Only now they didn't know how to explain their misfortune. Before it seemed as if they were always getting into strange accidents, and everything that went wrong only happened around them. It was the strangest case of the-wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time ever noted in history. It came to the point where all of the boys dropped their social lives, and locked themselves away in their apartment. But even there they weren't safe.
When Ginji had received an invitation to attend the school for the four of them, they were skeptical about it. Kazuki and Sora paid it no mind altogether. Going to an exclusive school with all expenses paid was a dream too good to be true. But they took the offer and ran with it. Now he was starting to wonder, not for the first time, if they'd made the biggest mistakes of their lives by coming here.
"Sasuke-teme what did you see?" He placed a hand on the boys faintly quivering shoulder and forced him to look at him.
"Give me a minute will you?" Sasuke brought his hands up to his eyes and squeezed them shut finally being able to respond.
It wasn't that it was the worst thing he'd ever seen… The grips of strong emotions that were completely foreign to him finally deserted him. He hadn't experienced fear like that himself for many many years, it was more than a shock to his system.
His head snapped up as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He almost let his energy go flying but he realized that those arms were not the same ones from the nightmare. They were warm and comforting.
He rested his head on the shoulder offered to him and inhaled deeply letting his arms fall limply to his sides as he was held in Naruto's firm embrace.
"That was some fucked up dream." He whispered not really paying attention to anything.
"Why?"
"You don't want to know." His grave tone broke no room for argument.
"Somebody screwed with the Jagan." Sasuke said not really meaning for the others to hear him
Ban looked at him with dubious narrowed eyes. "Show me."
"Iie" Sasuke refused without any thought on the matter.
"It wasn't a request Sasuke. There is no such thing as manipulating the Jagan. I need to know what it is we're dealing with here."
"Later, okay?...just later." Ban nodded and moved to stand with Ginji.
"What's the Jagan?" Sora asked never hearing the word before. He felt helpless as he watched unable to do anything.
"The evil-eye, it has the capability of showing you your worst nightmare or wildest fantasy. But it has its drawbacks. The illusion despite how much time passes within it, can only last one minute in reality. It can only be used three times in a day and a person can only be affected by it once in a twenty-four hour time period." Sakura explained as she walked up to the group of boys.
She stopped in front of Ginji and slowly reached out her hand as if to touch him. She hesitated for only a moment before gently petting his head.
"Are you okay?" she asked softly, as if she was afraid that a loud noise would break the poor boy apart.
Ginji nodded and attempted a smile to reassure her.
"Why the sudden change of heart?" Ban teased in order to lighten the tense atmosphere.
"What can I say? I'm a girl, we're suckers for tears." Sakura couldn't honestly say when but she started to worry about those boys. It's the reason why she and Ino had gone to check up on them. Regardless of what she said, Sakura really didn't hate anyone. Neither could Ino for that matter, but she sure as hell could hold a grudge.
Sakura smiled and pulled the taller teen into a warm hug. Ginji relaxed almost immediately into the embrace, it was so inviting. Sakura used her chakra to sooth his shaking body, it worked like a charm as Ginji's form stilled. When she released him, he gave her a distorted version of his hundred-watt smile and turned to Ban.
Ginji looked at him and he was a total mess. The rest of them had yet to say anything.
"You guys are to keep him occupied at all times. It's dangerous to leave him by himself, don't let him out of your sights, understand?" The nonsense tone in Ban's voice was firm.
They all nodded without hesitation, and that meant all of them present and accounted for.
"You really don't need to worry about me. I'll be alright" Ginji spoke for the first time.
He turned to the blonde and tilted his head upwards with graceful thin long fingers. "Let's go to the bathroom and get you cleaned up." Ban completely disregarded his previous statement.
"Ban-chan?"
"Hhm?"
"Arigatou"
"Shinpai suru na (1)"
"Hai" Ginji clasped the thin fingers in his own as the taller brunette led him out of the gym."
"Wait for me I wanna come too!" Sora yelled running up to them. Ban paused at the door and waited for the younger boy to catch up. Sora nearly collided into Ginji as he wrapped his slender arms around his waist. It was his way of saying, 'It's okay now, I'm right by your side.'
Naruto rubbed his head in frustration while keeping his arms securely around Sasuke. "Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here?"
He received no answer.
Naruto was safely tucked away in his bed when he was interrupted by a soft knock on his door.
A tuff of blonde poked its way into the room. "Naru-chan is it alright if I..."
Naruto smiled and scooted over in his bed to make room for his big brother. He pulled the sheets back and patted the spot next to him. Naruto was secretly glad for his company. Even though he had nightmares of his own to deal with, he was too afraid to tell anybody about them. Sure he told his brothers about his horrifying escapade in the hall, but that didn't mean that they believed him, or understood it. Besides he needed a reason to watch over his precious Aniki. He scared him so bad earlier, but he knew that, like him, Ginji would take a while to truly get over his fears.
Ginji stood in the doorway clutching his pillow to his chest. He didn't want to trouble his little brother but memories of that woman kept him from shutting his eyes. He watched as Naruto made room for him and wasted no time in crawling into bed.
When he was comfortably settled in, he felt Naruto snuggle up under his chin while wrapping his arms around him to sleep... just like he always had. His hand wrapped around Naruto's braid out of sheer habit of comfort than anything else.
"I love you Aniki."
Ginji hugged him back smiling gently as he kissed his forehead. "Love you to otouto." He didn't really have problems falling asleep after that. After all, he needed to be strong enough for his little brothers.
"Sasuke, you can't put this off any longer, you need to show me his dream." Ban was already comfortably in his pj's resting on his bed. Sasuke was also dressed for the night as he lay next to his brother.
He sighed before turning to him. "Hn, you're not going to like this."
Sasuke activated his Sharingan and took Ban into his thoughts. When it was over Ban just lay there for a moment. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and sat up. "Fuck I need a smoke."
He walked over to the balcony and threw the French-doors open. Ignoring the thunder storm that was still raging outside, he lit his cancer stick and took a deep drag.
"Sasuke something's wrong with these guys. And I'm not sure that their powers are the only thing that their hiding. Haven't you noticed? This storm hasn't stopped since they've arrived. And if something is strong enough to intercept and manipulate the Jagan than we're in deep shit. It's a bad omen Sasuke." Ban took another pull from his cigarette.
"First Naruto, now Ginji. Did you notice the weird pattern taking place? They, it, whatever, is toying with them."
Ban flicked the cigarette butt over the balcony thinking over Sasuke's words. He shut the door and turned the lights off. "Their senses..." His eyes widened for a fraction of a second as realization dawned on him and he finally understood now what Sasuke meant.
"Exactly, their senses, Naruto couldn't hear anything, and Ginji couldn't say anything." Sasuke thought hard over what the connection could possibly be.
"Mizaru, Kikazaru, Iwazaru..." Ban's head shot up, his eyes narrowing, as he spoke rapidly piecing it together.
"See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, the wise monkeys of course!" Sasuke was quick to translate the old curse.
"But wait..." Sasuke stopped as something dawned on him.
"That leaves one left."
"Yeah and I have a pretty good feeling on who we have to keep an eye out for." Sasuke slid under the covers, and turned to face his brother. It would take too much effort on his part to go to his own room anyway.
"Do you think we should warn them?"
"No, we don't want them to panic. Tomorrow we'll relay everything to Riku and Shido. We all have classes with them. If each of us keep an eye out then I'm sure we'll be able to figure this out." Ban chewed his words carefully before saying them.
"So I guess we aren't trying to chase them away anymore." Sasuke really shouldn't have found anything amusing at the moment but he couldn't help it.
"Tch, like hell we are. You're as interested in them as I am. And don't try to deny that Naruto hasn't caught your special interest." Ban wasn't asking him, he was telling him.
"Go to sleep already." It wasn't a denial but it wasn't admittance either.
Sora rolled around his bed fitfully. He just couldn't seem to sleep in his new bed. He grabbed his favorite pillow and made his way quickly to Kazuki's room. He'd feel safer in there anyway.
Too bad he didn't notice that the reflection in the mirror wasn't one of his retreating back. Bank soulless eyes trailed after him.
TBC...
Side Notes
Shinpai suru na - Don't worry
REVIEW REPLIES:
Nusku – Thanks for waiting on me, it must be annoying to have sporadic updates, lol
wierdchick – Did you like your surprise? You've been so good to me it's the least I can do. Thank you for caring about my health too, I'm all better now! Don't worry, I'll answer all of your questions soon just keep reading mm'kay?
Dayxxdreamer– Thank you for the review. I'm glad you liked it. If you stick around for a bit more I assure you everything will fall into place all in due time.
deadly-grace– Axel and Roxas it is! But expect there to be SasuNaru as well. I've never actually read a fic focused around those two so please forgive me if it comes out terrible. I have a few questions though...Is that your only request for your one-shot? Are you leaving the story line up to me? And... um under which category do you want this posted? Kingdom Hearts or Naruto? That decision is completely up to you. But also bear in mind that if it goes up in the Naruto section then the pairings will split the stage time half and half to keep both crowds satisfied. I hope you don't mind.
Berry – Aww thanks a bunch for the review!
relapsing ffic reader – You like your gift? I bet you weren't expecting that one! Congrats I was waiting on the 100th review to update. I wasn't sure if it would ever come, It was kinda frustrating.. Anyway if you don't want the fic then I don't mind I just need an idea of what the hecK I'm getting myself into... I'll probably get started on them during spring break.
DarkRavie U – I hope this sated your curiosity a little bit ;)
yo-yo's suck – I'm sorry I made Cloud seem like such a jerk but I promise there is a reason for that. You'll see what I mean when we get there...If you decide to sick around that long of course...
TEres321– I hope you liked my gift. Please let me know asap when your ideas come to you. I'll probably get started on them when I get a break in my hectic schedule.
-C-heese -C-ake -CC- Aww you're such a sweet heart! (Grabs CheeseCake-chan in a bear hug cutting off her circulation) oops sorry about that I simply can't seem to control my own strength :grin:
luvsillyllama– You shall wait no longer your wish was my command! Lol did you like the chapter?