Happy Easter! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, just my own characters!
Chapter Fifteen
"This is fucking bull shit!" Naruto growled under his breath as he tried to move his wrists as he found them falling asleep.
'Tell me about it,' Kyuubi groaned. The device on her host was sucking her dry of her chakra, causing her to become exhausted and weak. Even doing the simple task of talking was proving to be a little difficult for her.
For the last three hours, Naruto had been chained to a cement wall in the dungeon. His wrists were so tightly chained, he could feel the metal dig into his skin every time he tried to move them. He was sitting on his butt and had barely any room to move. The room he was in was poorly lit and it was the size of a small office room. There was nothing in the cell as it was a holding cell. The cell was damp and had water dripping from the ceiling in one corner and a cold current blew every now and then. It was such a miserable place. Not to mention the blonde was under constant watch.
/When is Sasuke getting here?/ Naruto thought to the fox, getting more and more irritated. Not only was his wrists falling asleep but his ass was too. He wished he was allowed to move around to stretch his legs. /The only reason why we haven't busted out of this god forsaken place was because he told me he had a plan that would get the elders off of my ass. Where is he?/ He couldn't help but get impatient. You would to if you were stuck in a holding cell not allowed to do anything.
The fox rolled her red eyes, 'Patience, Kit; he'll come when he's able to.' She wouldn't admit it, but she was getting just as impatient as her host.
/How do you know?/
He saw the fox shrug in his mind. 'Cause he said he would? Use common sense, Kit.'
The blonde rolled his eyes. He rolled his shoulders back as much as he was able to to get the stiffness out. He also tried once more to move his wrists but received the same results as last time. Because Kyuubi's chakra was cut off, he felt a thin stream of warm blood roll down his arms. It didn't hurt, but it would be annoying if he got an infection. These cuffs better be cleaned.
/Man, I hate that bastard!/ He growled, thinking of the man who wanted to make sure that the cuffs were as tight as possible so that there would be no chance of escaping. Keo was the one who ordered that so his liking of the man dropped further down into the negatives. /When I get out of here, he will be the first person to feel my wrath. Screw Orochimaru. Keo will get the worst punishment./
The fox ignored her vessel's empty threats. Suddenly, she raised her head from where she laid them down on her paws and growled lightly, alerting her kit, 'Speaking of the devil's spawn.'
Naruto opened his eyes and his usual blue orbs turned a bloody red as they slitted like a cats. He glared at the said ANBU who was walking calmly down the hallway to where Naruto's cell was. The man stopped right outside the cell and talked in a hushed voice to the men who were guarding Naruto. They talked for maybe a few seconds (Talking about if he, Naruto had moved, thanks to Kyuubi's sharp hearing ability they were able to hear what was being discussed) before Keo relieved them both. He waiting until the two guards were out of sight before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a key and unlocked the cell's door.
"How is our little demon?" He asked and walked into the cell, leaving the door wide open. Walking over to the blonde, he squatted down a foot in front of him and smirked.
"Been in worse conditions," Naruto said in a venomous voice as he kept his tone calm.
Keo reached across the small gap and slapped him as hard as he could in the face, "I really hate it when you look like that." He said, enjoy the moment.
Naruto turned to look at the brunette and smirked, making his expression look scary. "Then how do you want me to –," and he was slapped once again, before he even got to finish his sentence.
"Learn to speak with respect." And then he slapped the prisoner once more for the hell of it.
'Aren't you going to do anything?' Kyuubi asked, trying hard to not unleash her chakra and attack the soul who was doing harm to her vessel.
/Like what? As you can see, there's not much I can do without ruining whatever plan that stupid Sasuke thought of. Besides, let him do what he wants; he's having so much fun./ He sarcastically added. To be honest, the slaps weren't even hurting, he could barely feel them. But, thanks to Keo, that quickly left as the brunette used chakra this time and punched him in the gut.
"You like that, demon?" He asked, a crazed look to him. He did another number to the unfortunate blonde before calming down a little and asked, "What is it like having a demon inside of you?" He combed his hair back with his fingers even though his hair was buzzed.
Naruto rolled his eyes mentally and kept a calm, expressionless face on the outside, "Way better than not having one." He barely had time to look in the Kohona ninja's eyes before he was punched in the stomach not once, but twice. He could already feel a nasty bruise forming there as the blood vessels were all torn up.
This went on for the next ten minutes; Keo would ask Naruto some simple questions and when he answered, whether Keo had liked the answer or not, he would be abused. Keo was having a little too much fun as he hit the blonde where ever he could. He would even kick at him.
"You know," Naruto spat out a mouth full of blood to the side, "Why don't you go do something useful instead of being in here in my face. I would rather be in peace." he glared daggers at the ANBU and managed to have the lad go paralyzed for a second in fear before he regained his stance.
"I am wasting my time here," Keo admitted and looked around the small prison with a look of disgust. He looked back over to the blonde. The man before him was slouched a little with blood all over him. There were tears in his clothing with fresh and old blood running down them and they were wrinkled. He was panting heavily and had one eye closed from the blood that was running down his temple. "Man, you look pathetic," he commented.
Naruto just watched him turn around and leave the cell, not once saying anything. He waited until the older man left when he mumbled under his breath, "I'm going to kill him when I get the chance."
XxxxX
Temari paced along the hotel room she and her two brothers were staying at, free of price thanks to the hokage. The three were not the only ones there, Tsunade and Jirayah were there too, sitting at the dining table across from the two male sand siblings.
"They can't kill him," Kankuro stated, breaking the silence that seemed to overcome them.
Jirayah rubbed his temples, massaging a head-ache that had been with him for the last couple of hours. He could really do with some sake at the moment. "Don't you think we know that?"
The puppet master uncrossed his arms and shook his head, "That's not what I meant. Naruto will stay in that cell for maybe only a couple of hours before he breaks himself out. He won't stay there doing nothing, not when he has better things to do."
Tsunade leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms under her breasts. A teasing smile blessed her lips as she said, "You made it sound like he's done this before." She raised an eyebrow.
Temari stopped her pacing and turned towards the table. Her eyes caught Kankuro's before she said with a smirk, "You can say that." She left it at that and resumed her pacing.
"What did he do to be thrown in jail?" Tsunade asked, a spark of interest crossing her face. This had to be good.
Kankuro shrugged but kept his smile on his face. "Let's just say he and this elderly woman got into a fight and he lost. He was thrown in jail later because they had a rule that you treat the old people with respect, otherwise you do a day or more in jail, depending on how badly you mistreated the elder." He rolled his eyes and added, "And you know how he is."
Both Konoha ninja knew very well how Naruto was. They had first class experience with the blonde and being disrespectful. All they had to do was think about the little nicknames he gave them, 'Pervy Sage' and 'Grandma-Tsunade/ Baa-chan'. They both shook their heads mentally.
"So, what're you going to do about this?" Temari asked Tsunade, getting back on the topic at hand.
The hokage frowned, "I really don't know. The elder's are very stubborn and will always be guarding Naruto. Even as hokage, I won't be able to bail him out." Under her breath, even though everyone could hear her, "Those elder's have way to much power..."
"I say we still break him out," Jirayah grumbled.
Tsunade rolled her eyes at him and said in a sarcastic voice, "Yeah, then they go hunt you down."
"No one is going to die," Gaara said, speaking for the first time. He had one of his legs crossed at his knee and his arms crossed at his chest. His eyes were closed as he looked downwards.
Kankuro frowned at his brother, "You have a plan, don't you?"
He nodded. "It isn't my plan exactly, it is the Uchiha's. But we worked it out with both ideas. But in order for this plan to succeed, we must do nothing. No breaking him out. We will simply wait until execution day."
Everyone stared at him, wondering what kind of plan this was.
XxxxX
"What're we going to do?" Sakura mused to her dark haired friend as they sat in a over crowed bar. She was panicking and jumpy as she held onto her cup of cup. "We need to get Naruto out of there!"
Sasuke looked over Sakura's shoulder as he sat opposite from her. They had been in the bar for nearly twenty minutes, just getting their order of drinks when she had brought up her fears. He took a sip of his own tea and said in a soft voice, "I have a plan." The sun outside was sinking behind the rooftops and the lanterns to light up the streets came on.
The kunoichi watched him with questioning eyes. She leaned in when he made the gesture too.
Speaking in a whisper, he told her what the plan was. He didn't have to worry about anyone hearing the plan since the place was so loud with men and women alike becoming drunk even though it was just beginning to darken.
"Do you think that'll work?" Sakura asked and leaned away, thinking the plan over in her head. She could see a few flaws, but if they had certain people helping and had Naruto caught up to speed on things, then there shouldn't be any problems. She admitted that the plan he and Gaara came up with would work, but some of the flaws seemed a little big.
Sasuke leaned back in his chair and looked out the window to his left. He crossed his arms against his chest. "With him being so heavily guarded, that's all we could think of. We needed something that was sneaky and our options were limited unless Naruto just wanted to put on a show to escape. But, that's all we came up with."
"Came up with what?" A cheery voice asked.
Both shinobi flickered their heads to the newcomer standing right next to their table. Iruka-sensi, but now they just call him Iruka, stood next to their table with a curious look about his face. He showed no sign if he had heard any of the earlier conversation.
"I-Iruka!" Sakura said in surprised. "What're you doing here?"
The older man smiled and shrugged his shoulders in a easy manner, "Just saw two of my old students and thought to come and say hi. Mind if I join you two?" He asked.
Once he got situated in the third chair and waved away the waitress who came by to see if he wanted anything, he leaned forward a little and all of his cheerful expression dropped from his face. He crossed his hands on the table before him and said in a voice barely above a whisper as his tone was dead serious, "Is it true that Naruto is being held prisoner here?" His eyes narrowed dangerously in a way the two younger ninja had never seen.
Sakura glanced at her old comrade, wondering what he was going to say. She knew that Iruka loved Naruto like a little brother and would do anything for him to ensure his safety. If they lied to him and he found out, not only would he be hurt, but his grudge against them would be hell.
Sasuke stayed in the same state but leaned forward a little to lean against the table. "How do you know of this?" He kept his voice hushed.
"Some villagers have been talking about it all morning. They said they saw a familiar blonde hair man surrounded by the ANBU court, the hokage, Jirayah and you two. Knowing better I knew the blonde was Naruto. By the time I heard of it, the whole town was talking."
The female of the three thought back to this morning when they were all walking to the gate to see Naruto off. She didn't remember seeing any villagers awake by that time.
"That," the teacher continued, "and the battle field near the gate is in a complete ruin. The chakra signature left there was a familiar one and much too powerful to be anyone's here besides a handful of ninja."
Sasuke nodded his head. "Naruto did come back and he is being held prisoner on the order of the elders." Iruka's eyes widen in rage and disbelief. Disbelief that the said blonde was here. He already knew what kind of people the elders were. "The elders have already said that by tomorrow at noon, they're going to do the execution."
"But they can't do that!" He hissed.
"But they are." Sakura turned her gaze down to her hands as she continued to hold her cup. Even if Sasuke's plan works, when would they see that blonde again? She wouldn't be able to last another four years without him, much less one. "Tsunade has been arguing with them non-stop for the last couple of hours and hasn't made a dent in them yet. They have their minds set. Not even the war threat worked."
Iruka frowned at this news and raised an eyebrow, "War threat?"
"Gaara of the Sand wagered war on the Leaf if the elders go through with the execution." Sasuke filled him in.
"But why?"
Sakura answered him, "Apparently, when Naruto was banished, he went to the Sand and that became his new home. He became a part of the village. They really care about him."
Iruka thought for a minute. "At least he had a place to go." He got quiet and the two could tell he was sending a silent thank you to the Sand village for looking after the boy.
Sakura glanced over at Sasuke. Out of everyone in the Leaf, Iruka was one of the few who took the blonde's banishment the hardest. He had gone missing for a few days and no one could find him. He came back on his own, looking more depressed than ever. When people tried to comfort him, he waved them away and accepted no help. It took many months for him to recover, but there had always been a part of him that didn't.
Giving their old sensi a minute to himself, the two started to get up when Iruka stopped them by suddenly saying, "Tell me what I can do to help." His voice was full of determination and so were his eyes.
The two younger ninja looked at each other and a silent message passed between them. They sat back down and leaned in to the middle of the table so they could talk. Sasuke quickly caught him up to date about everything that had happened and what the plan was.
XxxxX
Later that day, the whole village found out that after four years, Naruto Uzumaki had returned to the Leaf and was being held prisoner. The ones who knew Naruto the best and had time to spare, were in the Elder's office, protesting about his releasal.
"He didn't do anything!" Rock Lee argued, thinking about how the certain blonde would do the same for him if he had been in the same position.
Kiba growled in agreement and said, "Yeah, you can't do anything to him, much less kill him!" His best friend, Akamaru barked in agreement, his sound deep and loud.
The eleven rookies, plus everyone who was in the office the day before, and Iruka, were all crowded into the semi-large room, arguing with the two stubborn Elder's. When they found out why their friend was in chains and what his sentence was, they immediately took Tsunade's side and continued to argue.
"What is done is done," Homura replied calmly, unaffected by the young adults words. He and his old teammate were seated behind a large table for meetings and he had his hands folded on the table before him.
Neji stepped up and said in a soft voice, "What has he done that is so bad that his punishment is death?" He held a hint of venom in his voice.
Homura, who had answered that question so many times, let an annoyed sigh out. He massaged the bridge of his nose as if it would help to answer the question. "After being banished from the village, the punishment is death. It doesn't matter who it is. If you come back, you will be executed. That is how we have done it in the past, and that is how we will continue to do it. I will certainly not change the traditional rule for a low-life demon. Besides, he is better off dead."
"You're the one who should die if you want to kill an innocent man!" Kiba shouted. "All Naruto has done is helped this village. Name one thing that he—,"
"Enough!" Koharu yelled, silencing the man. "No matter what you say, do, or think, Naruto Uzumaki will be executed tomorrow at noon. I'm tired of all of this; I will hear no more of this topic. Our minds our made up and nothing, I repeat nothing," she looked at every single pair of eyes in the room, as if challenging them to yell out, "will change our mind."
The challenge was met and arguments were strewn from almost about everyone in the room. The rookies of the group kept asking and arguing, saying that Naruto did nothing wrong and how they were wrong thinking that they could just kill him. Tsunade kept bashing on the subject that just because they were the elder's didn't give them permission to do what they liked without her, the hokage, say so.
Through all of the commotion, the elder's stayed quiet, letting the others get everything off of their chests.
One question that seemed to quiet down everyone in the room, was when Kakashi asked, "So, what're you going to do about the Sand?"
All eyes were on the eldest people in the room.
Homura said in a simple reply, "If it is war they want, then so be it. We will show no mercy even if they are our allies. There is no point in declaring war over a single man."
"If you are going through with this war, you will be minus one ninja." The softest of all voices spoke.
"And which ninja would that be, Miss Hyuga?"
Hinata stepped forward so everyone could see her. She was slightly shaking from being in front of people and going against the elders, but she had a confident look on her face that said she wasn't backing down. "I-if you go to war a-against the Sand Village, I will not be assisting. Naruto is my f-friend and he is a friend to the Sand. If you kill my friend, I will not help this village. I will help, however, if they will take me, join Gaara and his village."
The whole room was silent. So quiet that you could probably hear a feather fall and hit the floor. Every pair of eyes were no longer on the elder's but Hinata. They were all surprised by her speech and realized how much courage it took out of her to be able to go against authority and speak her mind.
Kiba stepped up next to his comrade and slung an arm around her shoulder. "Same here. What you are wanting to do, is just plain wrong. I will not partake in this bull shit."
Neji and Shino stepped up too, but unlike their friends, they kept quiet. They did nod their heads in agreement.
"Naruto is my friend, even if I have not seen him for four years." Lee said and stepped up next to the other four with Tenten following. The rest of the rookies and the adults followed after them, each one glowing with determination that they wouldn't let their friend be executed so easily.
Tsunade crossed her arms and held a small smirk on her face. "So, what're you going to do, now that you're short almost twenty ninja? Not to mention strong ninja."
The elders remained quiet. You could almost picture gears turning at a hundred miles per second in their heads/ They were trying to figure out what they could say to use against them.
After a moment of quick thinking, they came up with a solution.
Homura spoke in a calm manner, "Fighting with a different village and going against your own... do you not see how wrong this is? Betraying your own kin and friends. People you grew up with. Do you really want to hurt them?"
Choji frowned. For once, he wasn't eating anything and didn't even feel hungry. "But is it wise to betray our friends?"
Sasuke narrowed his black eyes and said with a dangerous tone, "My old sensi once told me, 'When you're on a mission and you disobey orders, you're considered trash. But if you leave a teammate behind to die to carry out the mission, you're worse than trash.'"
Kakashi blinked from where he stood and resisted the urge to look at his old apprentice. He was surprised that the youngster even remembered that, let alone the exact words to what he had said nearly ten years ago. Pride swelled inside of him but he didn't let it show.
Ino nodded her head. "If we just let you kill Naruto, what kind of friends would we be?"
"It doesn't matter," Homura said. "Like I said over and over again, there is nothing that will change our minds." He stood up from his seat. "We will hear no more."
Koharu got to her feet next to her old teammate and looked from one face to the next. Each one were holding all sorts of emotions, ranging from rage, sadness, depression and much, much more. Speaking in a calm voice, she stated, "If you want, we will allow you twenty minutes today to talk to him. You will be monitored." She had to admire everyone's trust and friendship with Naruto.
Despite ready to blow up, everyone took the offer.
XxxxX
"Come on demon, you're being summoned." Keo unlocked and walked into the cell prison. With the keys in hand, he walked over to the certain blonde.
Naruto, who had been 'sleeping', faked a yawn. He had been replaying the conversation he had with Sasuke who had visited him almost ten minutes ago. They had been discussing the escape plan and going to into detail about it. "By who?" He asked, curious on who was summoning him. Sasuke never mentioned this part to him. Maybe he didn't know. "I thought I still had a day left to live."
Keo kneed the prisoner hard in the stomach and punched him in the jaw. "People wants to see you." He said in disgust as he unlocked the handcuffs connected to the wall. Before Naruto could collapse to the ground in a heap as his wrists were released from a tight bond, Keo grabbed the chain and in one quick movement, yanked the blonde to a standing position. He got right behind him and jabbed him forward with a stick he produced out of thin air.
'Huh, this isn't weird at all.' Kyuubi said, 'watching' her host walk out of his prison cell to be surrounded by more ANBU ninja.
Naruto mentally rolled his eyes. He brushed the corner of this mouth on his shirt to get rid of the blood that seeped from his mouth when Keo had punched him. He let himself be escorted to how knows where without saying anything.
Within a couple of minutes, the group led Naruto into a big room with lights shining down from above. Immediately, Naruto was blinded, not used to any sort of light since he had been stuck in a dungeon for too long. He tried to shield his eyes with his cuffed hands but the slightest movement caused the nearest ANBU to jab him in the side. After giving the ninja a death glare, Naruto did his best to allow his eyes to adjust by them selves.
'Ick, can someone turn down the lights?' Kyuubi said in an annoyed manner.
/Why? It's not like you're being affected.../ Naruto thought back, wondering why she was complaining. But he silently agreed with her and wished someone could dim the lights. A head ache was making its self known and his eyes were starting to hurt.
When his eyes finally did adjust to the annoying light, he was able to look around the room he was walking further into. It was about as big as half of a soccer field with nothing really in it. The room probably would have seem bigger if not for all of the familiar faces standing around, talking with their friends in hushed voices. It wasn't until Naruto entered the room did everyone stop their conversations with one another and watched him.
It was dead silent in the room.
The squad of ANBU led Naruto to the edge of the group before they flash-stepped away, leaving Naruto exposed. However, Keo was the only one who stayed behind, standing a couple of feet behind the blonde.
"You have twenty minutes," he said in a tight voice. "Use them wisely." He then put a few more feet in between himself and the 'demon'.
Naruto looked at his friends and family who stared right back. So this was why he was summoned. In an awkward voice, he said, "Hey..." and let his voice trail off.
No sooner had he spoke did someone from the crowd walked over to him and pulled his fist back and socked Naruto right in the jaw. The force from the punch managed to have the blonde stumble a bit, but he caught his balance right away.
"Kiba!" A few people called out in shock.
Kiba was breathing hard and locked eyes with Naruto, his eyes glaring at him. "Why the hell did you leave Naruto?"
The blonde calmly looked at his old friend and managed to smile, not once wincing from the pain in his jaw. "Nice to see you too, Kiba."
Said name cracked a smile, not needing an explanation since he sort of knew the answer. "Four years man, and you never thought to even write a letter? Geez, what kind of friend are you?"
The little reunion between the two seemed to loosen up the rest of everyone else and soon, everyone from the rookie twelve walked over. There wasn't any more punching, just very firm pats on the back. He received hugs from the girls (causing Hinata to turn bright red) as their greetings.
Naruto couldn't really do anything seeing as how his hands were still cuffed together. But he gave it his best by talking and smiling.
"Naruto," a soft voice sounded above the rest of the chattering. Some of the younger adults moved aside when they realized who had spoke. "It's been a while, huh?" Iruka asked and walked over to his former student.
The blonde smiled and did his best to embrace the other. "Well, if you count four years as long, I guess it has been." He tried his best to keep his voice from cracking as emotions swept through him. Deep down inside him, it felt like it had been more than four years, much more. He never realized how much he missed this man and pain came down on him as he realized he was going to have to leave again.
"I'm so glad to see you again, Naruto." Iruka whispered and squeezed his former student.
Naruto choked up and could only nod his head as they parted. As soon as they did, he felt a firm pat on his shoulder and turned his head to look into the blue eyes of his former sensi.
"Hey, Pervy-sage." Naruto grinned, finding his voice. They might of seen each other earlier, but they never did have a proper reunion.
Jirayah ruffled Naruto's blonde hair like he was still a kid, "Hey, squirt. How you holding up?"
He rolled his eyes and sarcastically replied, "Well, my hands are chained up, practically cutting off my circulation; my chakra is being bounded and I've been sentenced to execution in a day. I think I'm holding up just fine. Just throw in some poisonous snakes and it'll complete my day."
Sasuke stepped up and ignored the last part as he gestured to the blonde's body, seeing the clothing torn and stained with dry blood. "What about the bruises and cuts?"
Naruto didn't say anything at first. He could feel everyone eying his body, taking in the abuse he had been going through and bit his cheek. "Nothing I can't handle." He finally said and shrugged. As soon as those words left his mouth, he felt a presence behind him and didn't even have time to tense up and see who it was when he felt a gentle hand touch his right side to feel his ribs. As soon as the hand touched him, he let out a hiss of pain.
"Right. You're able to handle a broken rib or two?" Sakura asked, being the one who was behind her former comrade. With the smallest of touch, she was able to tell what Naruto had broke. She touched his other side and was relieved to find no broken bones. Then, she turned him around to face her and poured some chakra into her hands. Going to worst of cuts, she started to heal him.
Ino watched the medic ninja go to work and asked, "Who did this to you?"
"They did a number on you," Lee added and watched the hokage walked over and poured some of her own chakra into her hands to help heal him. "
The blonde shook his head and let out another hiss of pain when both medic ninja found a tender spot. Through gritted teeth, he was able to say, "It's nothing. It doesn't even matter anyways." He didn't feel the need to explain to everyone what had been going on in his cell with Keo. He already knew that that ninja was going to get what was coming for him. If he said anything about it to anyone, they might get to the certain ninja before he could and that wouldn't be any fun now, would it?
Temari walked over to her step brother with Kankuro right behind her. "Don't worry, Naruto, we'll get him after this whole ordeal." The blonde Sand ninja smirked, fully aware who had been causing her younger brother pain.
Naruto couldn't help but smirk back, "Not if I get to him first."
Everyone looked between the two and realized a moment had happened that they, everyone else that didn't know the two that well, only knew what it was about.
Tenten cleared her throat, "So, Naruto," she said, bringing the said name over to her. She waited until both medics were done healing the blonde so she could go on. But, before that could even happen, the blonde's eyes widened a fraction and a blue electricity formed around him. Those who were the closest to him jumped back before the were shocked.
"Nn!" Naruto gritted his teeth and had to close his eyes from the pain. He could feel something warm pass through him, feel it on the inside. It didn't hurt but more felt like something brushed up against him. He knew immediately what it was. It was chakra... familiar chakra. But with that chakra entering his body activated the cleansing device.
Being sucked of his and the new chakra inside of him, the device also sucked some of his gathering energy away from him. No longer having the same energy to stand up, Naruto fell to one knee, his hands going to the device. He wanted to rip it off of him as the electricity came to a stop.
"Naruto!" A few voices rang out.
Shikamaru who had been closest to the blonde, knelt down to try and help his fallen friend up. But before he could try and help, a voice stopped him.
"You felt that too, huh?" Temari asked, her voice filled with a mixture of sadness and anger.
Naruto stared at the ground, trying to regain his breathing and he nodded his head.
Shikamaru frowned and looked to the kunoichi, "Felt what?"
Both ninja helped the blonde to stand up as he was having difficulty in doing so.
Temari looked to her biological older brother who nodded. Together, the three siblings looked passed many confused eyes to the red head who was standing towards the back of the group.
Gaara was standing next to Tsunade -who had moved back after healing Naruto- and Kakashi. He had his arms crossed at his chest in his normal stance and he watched them with unmoving eyes.
"Sana needs us," Naruto said, recovering from his little scene. He straightened back up and looked straight into the Kazekage's eyes.
"Out of the way," a voice said behind the crowd before anyone could say anything. Everyone turned around to the person who spoke and saw him shoving his way through. "Your twenty minutes are up," Keo sneered. Behind him was the ANBU from before. They all walked over to Naruto.
Many protests started up but with a shake of his head, Naruto got them to silence themselves, "You guys all knew it would come to this." He said and rolled his shoulders back and popped his neck to relieve tension that was building up. "This was my time to say goodbye to all of you."
Naruto looked around the room, meeting each and every pair of eyes. He still couldn't believe that he hadn't seen this bunch for several years and when he finally does, he could only say goodbye to them as he was sentence to death.
To lighten the mood up a bit, he grinned real big like he used to in the previous years when they all hung out. Almost everyone in the room felt their heart squeeze from the sight of their beloved blonde smiling that trademark grin. "I would say that I'll see you guys soon," he said in a joking manner, "but that would mean you guys fell in battle or something bad happened." He earned a few smiles from his friends and a few eye rolls from the adults. "So, how 'bout I'll be waiting for you guys, no matter how long it takes me, ne? And it better take a while. I don't need you all to be dying at such a young age." He turned his blue eyes to Tsunade and Jirayah, "I'll probably be seeing you two sooner than later though."
Both of them shot him looks that said 'I-get-you-later-' and they crossed their arms over their chests.
"Disgraceful brat," Tsunade mumbled at the same time Jirayah said, "Watch your mouth."
Keo ruined the moment by shoving Naruto's arm to get him walking in the direction where Naruto's cell was. "Come on," he said. He received many tense people and a few growls by his harshness towards the blonde.
Right as Keo was passing by Kiba, Kiba spat out, "You better watch yourself, bag of shit." His dog next to him growled in agreement and bared his teeth.
Keo rolled his eyes at the threat and sneered, "Why should I? He is nothing but a stupid demon who's going to be dead in a couple of hours."
That crossed the lone and if it weren't for Hinata and Shino holding Kiba back, the man was going to attack the ANBU ninja.
Keo didn't so much as flinch. He just ignored him and continued forward. He pushed Naruto again to get him to speed up the slow pace that had befallen them. "Move faster."
Naruto looked over his shoulder and smiled a sad smile to the friend who tried to defend him. "Thanks," he said and meant it before turning back to face the front and allowed himself to be escorted back to his cell.
Even though it sounded like Naruto had said his final goodbyes, he still really meant them even though he wasn't going to die. Only certain people knew about the plan and that was how it was going to stay. His friends all needed to hear him say goodbye since it was probably the last time he would see them. This time, he was able to say his goodbye and be able to leave without regretting anything.
XxxxX Till next time.
Finally, got this chapter up. Tell me how y'all like it, or if you don't or whatever.
Reviews:
Glaceon: Awww, thank you! You don't realize how much that means to me. So really, thank you a lot. And don't worry, I will be continuing. The only way I'll stop this story is when I finish it. :3 (Sad but true. I've come to far to just stop with this story) I'm really glad you like this story. Gives me inspiration to keep writing. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you again! ^^ (I don't know if you'd like my other stories; they're Yu-Gi-Oh! But, who knows? xD) Thanks again! And hope you like the rest of this story!
