I dedicate this chapter to the author known as dazdnconfusd730 and his/her story called Walking Corpse. If you're looking for a story to read, I highly recommend that! :D
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto just my own characters!
Death and Freedom
Sasuke's POV
Sasuke watched his best friend stand there like he didn't care what was about to happen to him. Lee, the ninja covering the blonde's eyes, was tying the blind fold as tightly as he could so there was no source of light coming in while Sasuke bit his cheek to keep from saying anything. He had to keep reminding himself that the plan was working and that his best friend wasn't really going to die. But, seeing the dobe in this position, this venerable was not something he would want to witness again. This was just flat out horrible.
Once the blind fold was on, Lee laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder and guided him away from the group. Naruto stumbled along, but having more grace then most would have. They walked a little a ways and Lee stopped him several yards away from where they just were. A few yards in front of where Naruto stood, the ANBU were all standing in a line facing him. In each one of their hands were a few kunai for when they carried out the sentence.
From where he stood, Sasuke couldn't hear what Lee said to the blonde, but it was somewhere among the lines of get down on your knees. Naruto did so, all the while he kept his head up like he wasn't afraid of what was about to happen.
Lee made sure Naruto was in his position before walking back over to where he was just at. From there, Homura cleared his throat and said in a loud voice that echoed around the area, "Now, the act will begin." He tried to hide a smirk at what he said next, "Don't think of this as a punishment or an act of war," his sought out Gaara's who didn't look any different, "think of this as a favor to the world. With his death, we will be ridding ourselves of a demon."
From the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Keo smirk and heard him mumbled under his breath, "May your soul never rest in peace. Wonder this Earth forever alone or go rot in Hell where you deserve to be."
The Uchiha bit his tongue hard to keep from punching the sorry bastard in the face. He curled his hands into fists at his side and kept his eyes on his best friend. 'Be careful, Naruto.' He thought and felt a small tug of concern in his gut.
Homura looked over to the ANBU who were waiting for their cue. He nodded his head.
Naruto's mini POV
He stared at the blind fold, seeing nothing but darkness. The guy who had put on his blind fold had left him and he listened to the elder speak. All the while he spoke, he kept his expression as blank as it could go, not showing any weakness or thoughts. He sat on his knees with his hands cuffed in front of him and waited.
There was a silence in which caused Naruto to feel a spark of nerves form in his stomach. Here he was, waiting for his moment to 'die' and he was just sitting here, doing nothing. He tried to even out his breathing so it wouldn't get caught anywhere and did an okay job at it.
'Just relax, kit.' Kyuubi's calm voice filled his mind, helping ease it. 'It's about to be all over.' She could see what was happening without the need to 'see' through her hosts eyes.
He gave a mental nod of his head and breathed through his nose and slowly out through his mouth. From where he was, he listened with his ears (which were sharp thanks to Kyuubi) and heard everyone holding their breathes. He predicted most of his friends were looking away, not wanting to see the horrible sight about to come. He didn't blame them.
He heard it before it actually happened. The sound of more than thirty kunai's being hurled into the air with force behind it as it headed straight for the defenseless blonde. And every single of them hit their mark in less than a second. Kunai stuck out in either his chest, neck or arms, but none of them hit the face, as was procedure.
Naruto could only gasp in shock from the penetration of the kunai's striking him with a force that nearly sent him falling to his back. But with sheer luck, he kept himself up as straight as a plank. He wouldn't give in to falling back and show he was a wimp. He will stay up right and show he was strong, even after having many weapons embedded inside of him.
He gasped again when the shock was overridden with the sudden pain that just seemed to register in his mind. Using what little energy he had left, he forced his face to go back to expressing no emotions, even though for a second or two, it showed pain. He could feel hot liquid slide out from the corner of his mouth and more of the scarlet liquid leak out from his wounds.
There was two kunai embedded deeply in his neck. Blood poured from the wounds as he struggled to breathe with mouthfuls of air, but that only caused more pain.
Under normal circumstances, his wounds would already start to heal themselves thanks to Kyuubi. But with her chakra being cut off from his from the stupid cleansing device, he was going to get no healing treatment.
'Almost there, kit,' Kyuubi's voice sounded far away to him, even in his mind. It was like a huge building was separating them. He wanted to reach out to her, but he didn't have the energy to as it was leaving him. As best as he could, he smiled.
As soon as he felt he only had a little of energy left to keep staying up on his knees, he felt an over load of chakra leave him.
Sasuke's POV
Sasuke could tell the elder's were a bit surprised to see Naruto still able to stay exactly as he was without falling. There was a twitch here and there on them as they waited. And waited...
After about two god awful silent minutes since the ANBU had thrown their kunai's, there was a change in the atmosphere. Before anyone could move so much as an inch or shift their weight, a blast of red chakra shot out of the blonde, causing everyone to brace themselves as if a huge storm was coming. Most ninja tensed at the source of unknown chakra, but then bristled when it hit them who it belonged to. The red chakra soared into the sky and when it reached it's highest peak, transformed to take the form of a fox, a fox with nine tails. It was in chakra form so it wouldn't (or shouldn't) be able to attack them, but the sight was horrifying. The last time they saw that form that huge, it was attacking their village.
Panic screams filled the arena as the fox growled out at them. Everyone's eyes were on the fox. Then, without a blink later, the fox moved it's head to the sky and let out a pain-filled cry as the form started to fade away.
"What the hell was that?" Koharu demanded, fear sparking through her like electricity. She turned her gaze, as did everyone else, to the blonde. But, he wasn't able to answer. He was on his side and didn't move, not even his chest rising and falling to determine he was still alive.
No one breathed as they watched Sasuke walk over to his best friend and knelt down next to him. He checked for a pulse and after a minute, he looked up with that same unreadable expression. What he said next chilled some people to the bones and had others let out a loud sob before they erupted with tears.
"He's dead." He looked back down and being as gentle as he could, took the cuffs off around Naruto's wrists and tossed them to the side, skidding all the way over to where the elders stood. They didn't move, didn't even think. They just watched the man pull the blind fold off of the man who used to be known as the loud mouth kid. Now, that name didn't even seemed to fit to see him so quiet.
Sasuke took the blind fold off and set the cloth to the side. Everyone saw Naruto's face, saw how peaceful it was. His eyes were closed for the last time and his lips were turned upward into a soft smile. He died peacefully and with a smile on his face. That smile, for reasons they couldn't figure out, seemed to embed itself into the elder's mind and made them think, was killing him the right thing to do?
The Uchiha stood up without a comment and disappeared from his spot. He reappeared a second later next to the Kazekage -who never moved- all the way on the stands, facing them. He continued to wear that unreadable expression but his eyes did shine with pain. Pain at seeing his best friend leave him for the second time.
Tsunade had stood on the other side of Gaara. Her arms were crossed at her chest and a deep frown animated her face. She took her eyes off of the boy who she loved as much as a son, and turned them to the elders. Making sure her voice wouldn't crack from strain and tears that threatened to fall, she said, "I hope you know what you just did."
It was dead silent as the elders' turned away from the body to the hokage. They seemed to recover from their shock and the thought that haunted them. The male spoke first, "After twenty-four years, we got rid of the nine-tails. I know what we did."
"She didn't mean that, you brainless old fool," Kiba dared to say. He was trying to hide his own tears and the only way he was able to was using anger to have them hide behind.
Both elders' turned to the Jounin with raised eyebrows. But, before they could respond to the rude out burst, Choju got to it first, "Must we spell it out for you? You just accepted war!"
"Not to mention losing some of your shinobi." The quiet Shino commented, his eyes unable to read as they hide behind his sun glasses.
Homura puffed out like a blow fish. "Now wait just here a minute. If you were to leave your village, you would be considered a rogue ninja and you would never be allowed to come back."
"Then I'll take them in," Gaara said, speaking for the first time since Naruto was brought into the room.
"What about your families?" Koharu asked, thinking that she got them. No one would leave their families. "What about your friends and neighbors? Your teachers?" She looked expectantly to the sensi's in the room as if they thought they would change their mind.
They all looked at them with disgust.
"In truth," Asuma said around his cigarette. He had his hands in his pockets and leaned forward against the railing, "I'll be following my old students." Choji, Ino, and Shikamaru looked at him with a smile and he grinned back. "I'm not going anywhere without them and they're not going anywhere without me. We're a team."
"And same goes for me!" Guy said with a serious smile. He put a hand on Lee's shoulder and the other on Tenten's. Neji stood a little behind the female but still close to the group to show that they were also still a team and that was how it was always going to be.
Kurinai, with her three old students and Akamaru surrounding her, nodded her head. "You won't be seeing me either."
The elders' skipped over Kakashi, knowing that he was with the rest of the group. Killing his student wasn't something he'd over look or appreciate so of course he wasn't going to stay. They landed their eyes on the only person who hadn't said anything yet. They bet he would stay.
"So, Iruka, what will it be?"
The shinobi turned to them with an angered expression. Why did they always think he would change his mind? He tried to keep his tone calm and relaxed, but that never went through. "Do you really expect me to stay here after you murdered an innocent man?" He yelled, grieving for the blonde. "Naruto is like a little brother to me. You just killed one of my family members, someone who I loved so much. Have you no heart?" He shook his head as his throat started to close on him. "Just like last time, my answer is the same; count me out."
The elder's looked at each other and shrugged. They thought they would be able to persuade him to stay, but after hearing him out, they definitely thought wrong.
Homura looked around the room and announced, "What is done is done; there is no turning back the clock. Naruto Uzumaki is dead. Now Gaara," he turned to the man, "we'll discuss your act of war in my office. I'm sure we can work something out."
Gaara said in a grim voice that sent shivers down their spines, "There is nothing to discuss. I gave you time to think about the war, but you ignored that time. You brought yourself into war and if I were you, I would get what men you have left ready." Without waiting for a reply, he spun on his heal and turned around, walking out and away from the arena. Everyone else all sent looks that could kill at the elder's before following the Kazekage out.
XxxxX
'Are you alright, kit?' Kyuubi's voice filtered his quiet mind after almost thirty minutes of silence. She was growing worried about her host by his non-talkative state. It wasn't like him to be this quiet, even to have his brain rid of all thinking. He always had something on his mind whether it'd be something important or something dumb like why the grass is green.
/I'm fine./ Came his short reply as he landed on a tree branch and half a second later, kicked off of it with a powerful thrust that sent some of the tree leaves to rustle. He soared through the air for several seconds and when his flight was decreasing, found another tree branch to kick off of.
It was silent for a couple of minutes; the two preoccupied with themselves to talk with each other. But, as the quiet dragged out again, the blonde gave a quiet sigh before he allowed his mind to wonder back to escaping the village that only happened an hour ago.
Flashback:
"You understand the plan, right?" Sasuke asked, kneeling down in front of the blonde in the prison cell. It was his and Neji's turn to guard the 'prisoner' so they took this opportunity to explain how Naruto was going to escape. This was probably the only time they'll get to have the time to explain.
Naruto nodded his head, absorbing the plan into his head and etching it into his brain so he wouldn't forget, not like he could. "Why can't I just escape now?" He gripped and huffed out. He needed to save his sister right now and he couldn't do that locked up here. Not to mention his wrists and butt and legs were already asleep and the tingly feeling was making him annoyed.
Sasuke shook his head with the usual annoyed expression to him. He sighed and explained to him like he was talking to a five year old, "Because... it'll make it look like you actually died and the elder's won't expect a thing." He received a blank look. Already knowing Naruto was doing it on purpose just to see how far he could push it. He gritted his teeth and added, "You'll have a head start in escaping."
The Jinjuriki turned the plan over in his mind but not before grinning at the Uchiha. The plan sounded simple and easy. He would stay locked up until the day he would be sentenced to his death. On that day, Sasuke would come into the cell and unlock his wrists. At that moment, he would replace Naruto with a substitution while the real Naruto would stay behind and turn himself into a pebble on the ground. It'd be swift and efficient, as long as they both were paying attention. When Sasuke would leave with the fake Naruto, the real one would wait a couple of minutes until he couldn't hear anybody, and escape the cell and then the village. The fake Naruto would go through the whole execution and the clone would stay intact for a while even after being killed by whatever option he chose from. When his clone does poof away, Sasuke would be there and make another reappear to keep the image that Naruto Uzumaki was dead.
"You know," Sasuke suddenly said, snapping the blonde out of his thoughts, "I'm going with you this time."
Neji, who was watching the halls to make sure no one was coming, tried to tune his hearing away, to give the two best friends some time to talk. He knew how much his captain missed the certain blonde so what he was saying now was no surprise to him. But, as much as he tried not to listen, he found himself angling towards the two to get a better spot to listen.
"No." Naruto simply said and looked deep into his friend's eyes while his own blue ones narrowed.
Sasuke narrowed his own eyes at the response, but he was already expecting it. "I'm going whether you want me to or not." His mind was made up and it looked like there was no way to change it. The look in his eyes, the determination, would have left normal people to back down because they knew, no matter how much they argued, they wouldn't be able to change it. But, Naruto wasn't a normal person and he knew he could change the Uchiha's mind.
He shook his head. "No, you are not. You're staying here even if I have to knock you out senseless." He said. Sasuke stayed quiet, knowing that Naruto wasn't done yet. "You have a place where you can call home, a place where you know and are accepted. I'm not going to give you the chance to throw that away. I'm not going to let you become a rogue ninja again just because of me. This is my banishment, not yours. You're staying here."
The raven bristled at the answer. "The only reason why I came back here was because of you! Otherwise, I would have stayed with Orochimaru. I came back here because I knew you were here. You don't belong out there but here, in this village. You deserve better." His eyes narrowed even more and he hissed the last part. "And don't give me that bull shit where I am accepted here. Not everybody trusts me still! If anyone should have been banished, it should have been me. All I have done was betray my village. You, you did the opposite. You helped this village in more ways than I can think of. You helped this village more times than anyone I have known."
Despite everything he had said, Naruto just shook his head and closed his eyes. "You're not coming with me, Sasuke." He reopened them and his eyes seemed to revert back to normal.
"Why? Why is it that you won't let me come?"
"Because. You don't belong out there!"
"Neither do you!"
Naruto paused at that moment. His mouth was opened to argue back but no words came out. He already had arguments with himself about that one. But, he could never make up something to fight that. He knew that was true, that he didn't belong out there. Yeah, he had Gaara and the Sand but that wasn't the same. He didn't belong in another village because he had his own. But, he was kicked out of it...
Sensing that he didn't have an answer to his statement, Sasuke continued, "Why is it that when I had left, you were able to come after me? I almost tried to kill you, but you still came after me. Why won't you let me come with you?" His voice stayed cold and angry, but he had lowered it so he wouldn't be yelling anymore.
"There's more to this than you're letting on." Naruto simply said, using the softest of soft voices. His expression was calm with a hint of sadness in it. He blinked his eyes once. He knew his friend a little to well to know that there wasn't just one thing, but more than one thing bothering him.
"How could you?" Sasuke asked. It seemed like all of the anger and hate and bitterness was washed out of him as his tone became soft with sadness in it. His voice almost broke but he made sure it didn't. This was probably the first and only time he had ever gone this close to breaking, and surprising, he didn't try to cover it up. He let his feelings out. "How could you have just left like you did? Without even saying anything?"
Naruto softly laughed and shook his head, confusing the raven but then angering him to where his sappy emotions were quickly masked by his anger. "This is no laughing matter, Naruto!" He hissed and grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him to where only an inch was between their faces.
The blonde didn't do anything as his hands were chained up. He felt the hot breath of his best friend on his face and said with an emotional voice, "Did you think I didn't want to say goodbye?" He asked. He had his gaze firmly on Sasuke's and tried to relax. He ignored him having a tight grip on his shirt. "Do you know how hard it was to leave my home? My friends? My family?" He shook his head and looked away, afraid that the tears in his eyes were going to spill out. A lump formed in his throat from releasing his thoughts that he had bottled up inside him for the last four years. He swallowed a few times and said, "I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay, even if I never said it or acted it. You just don't understand. Things were hard enough as it was without even trying to say goodbye."
Sasuke bristled and his grip tightened again. He opened his mouth to argue back that he didn't even have to leave when Neji cleared his throat. "You could have at least left or send a letter." He said. Both men turned their gazes over to the Hyuga to find him watching both of them.
'See?' Kyuubi mused, 'You should have sent them a letter! And you always say my advice never works...' She huffed out.
Naruto looked away and shook his head, causing Sasuke to look back. "Look guys, I'm sorry about not saying goodbye or sending a letter. It was hard enough as it was with all of the shit that had been happening to me. Writing a letter wouldn't have done anything." There was a pause for maybe a second and then, "And Sasuke," He looked his best friend straight in the eyes and told him firmly, "you aren't coming with me." Before he could let him argue back, he added, "And that's final."
Sasuke looked ready to protest when Naruto suddenly turned his head to the left with a serious expression and whispered, "Someone's coming."
The ANBU captain released the blonde after several seconds of starring at him and stood up. He walked out of the cell and locked it up without another word. He went to the wall opposite of the cell and leaned against it with one leg propped up on it and his arms crossed at his chest. He closed his eyes and tilted his head downwards, looking as though he had been there all that time and not talking with the 'prisoner'. And all the while of doing that, he realized that he was going to have to stay here. He didn't know why, but something about the way Naruto spoke made him realize something... did the blonde not want him to come?
End Of Flashback
Lost in thought, Naruto didn't realize he had stopped on a tree branch with one hand resting on the trunk of the tree. He was starring straight ahead of him, looking at nothing. There were tears in his eyes and they slid silently down his cheeks.
Not soon had he left his old village, he blew the cleansing device right off pf his stomach by channeling his stored chakra into it all at once. It was an overload for the thing so it exploded, leaving him free of it. And while he had been jumping from tree to tree, remembering the mental directions that formed in his mind from Sana signaling him with her necklace, he fused some of his own chakra into his bracelet to warn Gaara he was on his way to save their sister.
'Hey, kit?'
/Y-Yeah?/ Naruto blinked his eyes and shook his head a little, just realizing he had zoned out. He quickly rubbed his eyes to rid himself of his tears.
'You need to be moving if you want to find Sana.' Kyuubi's voice gently reminded him. She had been reading her host's mind and realized what was going through his brain/ Not wanting to disturb him, she kept quiet and watched around to ensure no one was around and wanted to ambush him.
Naruto nodded his head and kicked off of the tree once again. /Right.../
'We're about a day away from Orochimaru's lair from what Sana's message read. If she hadn't been moved, then we'll be there soon. I suggest you summon your extra help when we get within an hour of there.'
Naruto nodded. He had already thought of that. If you were planning on breaking into someone's lair where it was bound to be full of ninja, might as well go prepared and have some others help.
With the thought of his sister and saving her on his mind, Naruto found new strength in him and picked up the pace. "Don't worry, Sana; I'm on my way. And this time, no one's stopping me."
XxxxX Till next time!
Reviews:
Glaceon: Aww, I'm glad you liked it! :D I'm trying to really put everything I have into the chapters now. Trying to focus my thoughts in this story (mostly so I can finish it!) But I'm really glad you liked it! And just so you know, I love writing cliffies! They're fun! :D Thank you!
DRAGON: Hey! :D :D :D Glad to see you again. X3 And to answer your reviews (though you'll not see them for a while... lol) But, yes, the elder's suck. I'm trying to get people to really hate them! :O And Kyuubi is a girl because... well, I really don't know why. It might be because I just really like the fox as a girl. It'd be weird if it was a boy for this story. And don't worry, all of my earlier posts are in the past. So you don't upset me with any questions. And Mr. Blue... I kind of forgot about him. XD But yeah, he was. But, it just makes me want to write more. ^^
And for school, I don't do S.T.A.R... I am in the class that is continuing with TAKS. And hopefully, this'll be my last year. -fingers crossed- And don't worry, I suck in math too. I hate it so much! I took them this week, and today was the science. I think I failed that one. :/ Thanks for liking the story though!
