'Thinking'
'Kyuubi_talking'
"Talking"
/Naruto Talking to Kyuubi/
"Jutsu's"
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. The plot idea is my own and the OC's as well.
Chapter 33
"What're you doing here?" Naruto hadn't even made it out of the village yet when he was stopped by a familiar figure who was surprisingly alone.
Dressed in black cargo pants and a black top with a sword at his back, Sasuke looked pretty casual as if he lived in this village and wasn't an ANBU captain back at the Leaf village. His cheeks had a slight reddish tint to his normally pale skin and his breathing was slightly labored. He had been moving at a fast pace some time ago.
"I heard you were spotted in this village." Was his reply. He quickly calmed his breathing down to come out in a normal pace and scanned the blonde up and down before adverting his gaze to behind him. "There's a pub back in the village. Let's go grab a drink." He didn't ask but more so commented before he began to walk past him.
Naruto didn't move. "I'm not in the mood for a drink." Sasuke stopped. He was now standing beside his old friend. "What do you want?"
"I'd rather talk in a secluded area." Neither of them had to look around to point out the villagers casting them curious looks as they continued on with their daily chores.
With a slight sigh, Naruto turned around and stalked off towards the tavern a couple of yards away. Sasuke's expression remained blank and he followed behind.
They two reached the tavern and were quickly seated in the back of the building next to the window. The place was pretty empty for a Thursday morning but the two didn't mind as they sat across from one another. Sasuke slipped his sword off and placed it up right in the seat next to him, closest to the window. Naruto remained how he was and crossed his arms against his chest and nearly glared at the other. A waitress came by and Sasuke greeted her casually and ordered a bottle of Sake and she quickly disappeared. He didn't look at Naruto as they waited. Instead he turned his head to the window next to their table to watch the scenery outside. Within a few minutes, the lady was back with the bottle and cups before fleeing from the scene.
Sasuke poured the two cups full of the alcohol and passed one over to the blonde who simply stared at it before turning to the window. Sasuke took a drink and grimaced from the burn.
"What do you want, Sasuke?" Naruto asked when the raven placed his cup back down. He uncrossed his arms and had a hand on the table, drumming his fingers as he continued to look across the way outside to the busy bees working.
Sasuke was quiet. He observed his old comrade and noticed the changes that occurred since the last time they saw each other. Before him was an empty shell of a man with hollowed out and lifeless eyes; nothing to resemble the laughing and carefree man from before. The man before him was slouching and was barely able to hold himself together. He lost some of his glow around that attracted people closer together to form a bond. The man in front of him was not Naruto but the shell of Naruto.
"You look like shit," Sasuke finally said.
Naruto merely shrugged. "I feel worse."
It was quiet again. This was not the reaction Sasuke was hoping to get out of him. He took another swig of his drink before placing the cup back down on the table in front of him. He starred at the drink before saying, "I just wanted to talk." He nearly whispered, reciting the words just as he remembered them from a couple of years back.
"I'm not going back."
"I'm not asking you to come back. I just… When I heard from my men they heard a rumor you were sighted here, I didn't hesitate to come after you. I didn't even know what I was going to say to you." Sasuke continued to stare at his cup. "If anything, I just wanted to talk to you, even if it was for a second."
"Why?"
Sasuke shrugged and tossed back the rest of his drink. "To pretend, even if for one second, things could be normal again, like how they were supposed to be." He put his cup back on the table and looked up to stare out the window. "Ever since the war, nothing has been normal. Repairs on the village went underway and all of the repairs have been completed but the people… They haven't acted the same. Something has been missing. Tsunade has been paranoid and has many ears all around. But that doesn't help her.
"The village is depressed with the amount of loss we've experience and it was getting to be too much. I had to get away."
Naruto didn't move but said, "Give it a few more months and everything will be back to normal." He closed his eyes and his drumming stopped. "The people are lost because they fear with having no elders in the place everything will turn to shit. But to be honest, they're better off without the old hags. They just need to relax."
Sasuke didn't say anything. He took a deep breath and noticed the drumming started up again. "Where are you off to now?" He turned back to look inside and grabbed the bottle before pouring himself some more.
"Don't know. Somewhere new probably."
"Doesn't it ever get tiring?"
"…"
Sasuke nodded his head and took a long drink. By now, the burning sensation eased and it was like drinking water. "You know, a lot of people want you -,"
"Don't."
Sasuke shut his mouth and looked up and his eyes met the dull shade of blue ones. "Don't what?"
Naruto stopped drumming his fingers again. His voice was flat and void of all emotions. "Don't continue that sentence. I am not welcomed there, even if the elder's are dead." He saw the other begin to bristle and continued to talk, "I don't belong anywhere anymore. My life is on the road, to be alone and to die alone."
"Will you stop?" Sasuke nearly hissed. His eyes narrowed and his back straightened out. "Her death wasn't your fault. Get over this self-misery." He didn't even have to bring the name up to understand what was going on. "Sana wouldn't want you to continue beating yourself up over this! There wasn't anything you could have done."
Finally, Sasuke sparked some life into the blonde. Naruto's eyes narrowed as well and his words came out in a growl, "Don't you talk about her as if you knew her. Don't you fucking talk about her!" The few conversations around the small tavern stopped as their voices began to rise.
Ignoring him, Sasuke continued, "Death does some crazy things to people. Even to the point where people kill themselves because they can't get over the grief. But ask yourself, Naruto," Sasuke left his cup half full and stood up. He grabbed his sword and slung it over his back. "Do you think Sana would like to see who you've become after her death? Do you think she would be proud to see you wallow in misery and blame yourself? I might have not known her, but I do know that you loved each other. When she was waiting for you to return from rescuing her from Orochimaru, she was frightened. Even when her other family arrived, it was you who she was waiting for. If you had died, think: Would you want her to have blamed herself for your death?" He shook his head and placed some money on the table. He didn't say anything but began to walk away.
"Do you really think your little speech was going to get me to come back?" Naruto snapped back before Sasuke got any further.
Sasuke reached the door to the tavern and stopped. He had a hand on the door frame and looked back, his eyes showing pain. But he kept his voice neutral and said, "I wasn't trying to get you to come back, Naruto. I knew what you were feeling this whole time but I wasn't able to find you. This is what best friends do for one another." He gave him one more look before turning back and walking out of the bar.
Naruto stayed where he was. He could hear the workers in the shop whispering to themselves about what they witnessed but they never came over to him and for that, he was thankful. In the back of his mind, he could hear Kyuubi muttering to herself, having heard the entire conversations but he choose to ignore her.
He stood up and placed some more money on the table before stalking out of the building. As soon as he hit the border line of the outside/inside world, he paused. Sasuke was nowhere in sight. Naruto scoffed to himself and walked outside to begin his journey to his next destination.
XxxxX
The rain came down lightly at first. Naruto kept going, moving at a semi-fast pace from one tree to the other. His mind was a blank state with nothing to process.
'It's going to rain harder. You should find some cover soon.' Kyuubi quietly muttered as she observed the outside world through her host. In response, Naruto shrugged. Trying to suppress her annoyance, she tried again in different approach, 'You've been at this for a couple hours without stopping, kit. You need to rest and dry off or you'll catch a cold.' Again, the same response. 'That's IT!'
Suddenly, Naruto felt a searing pain in his skull and he stopped dead in his tracks. Before he could grab his head in agony, Kyuubi hissed at him, 'I am so THROUGH putting up with your shit and you pathetic behavior! It has been months since Sana died and you act like the world's biggest baby because you lost someone close to you.' Naruto stared at a tree as he listened and didn't say anything. He flinched from her words but listened to her furious rant without showing any emotion. 'Well newsflash for you kit, you're not the only one who lost an important person when she died. Get over it or it'll consume your pathetic life sooner rather than later. Stop the moping because I'm sick of watching you. It's sickening and it's embarrassing to call you my host.' With that, Kyuubi became quiet. She managed to sever the connection between the two so Naruto couldn't try to communicate with her.
Instead of trying to reason with her, Naruto blinked and looked away from the tree and continued on his way as if nothing happened and he didn't just get insulted by his own demon. Within minutes, the light pitter-patter rain came down harder and it became hard to see even a few feet in front of him. The final decision to find shelter was when Naruto jumped from one tree to the other and slipped on the slick bark, losing his balance and letting gravity take its course.
Naruto did nothing to try and save himself and fall to the earth with a hard thump. He laid on the ground and simply stared up at the top of the trees and let the rain hit his face without so much as flinching. Even when the thunder started up he stayed where he was. Past the tree tops, he saw the dark gray and black downs glaring down at him and a small voice filled his head.
"Naruto, why does it rain?"
Tears fill his eyes as he remembered the first conversation he had with Sana about why it rained. He remembered like it was just yesterday.
'Well, a long time ago, back when I was about your age, maybe younger, a lot younger, I asked one of my teachers the same question. He told me it was because there are holes in the floor of heaven."
"Holes in heaven?"
"Yup. Right now, Sana, you have some people up there in heaven. Well, your mom and two brothers are watching you. You know that because their tears are coming down from those holes."
"Why are they crying?"
"They miss you and wish they could be here with you now."
"Are you watching me now?" Naruto whispered to the rain as his tears turned into full on rivers down his face. He swallowed and couldn't help the hiccup that came with it. Without realizing it, Kyuubi reopened their link and quietly listened to her host. "Do you agree with everyone else, Sana? Am I an embarrassment? Are you upset with me?" His crying turned into full sobs as he stared up at the clouds, unable to control himself.
Lightening rippled across the sky and was closely followed by thunder.
"I… I can't function anymore; it hurts too much. It hurts to be the original me and it's so much easier to push everyone away." Naruto squeezed his eyes shut. His emotions hit him all at once. The anger, the sadness, the regret and bitterness, the loneliness, suddenly, he couldn't take it anymore. Naruto jumped to his feet and without thinking, he ran at the closest tree and punched it with just his strength. He continued to hit the tree and blood immediately began to form and mix with the water. He punched the tree and released the anger he'd been suppressing the past couple of mouths. He punched the tree to release all of the sadness and loneliness he's been feeling since his sister was taken from him. He punched the tree to rid himself of all of the guilt he possessed. He punched the tree to feel the pain it caused him.
"Agh!" He screamed and punched the tree one last time with enough force to snap the tree in half. As the tree came crashing down, Naruto glared at the sky and yelled, "I'm sorry I didn't protect you! It should have been me!" Red chakra began to leak out of him and his blue eyes narrowed into red slits. But the red didn't last too long as it soon began changing color.
'Kit? What're you doing?' Kyuubi hissed as she felt a different energy possess her host. When she received no answer, she tried again, this time fear growing in her voice, 'Kit? Naruto!'
The black chakra began to come off of him in waves as he stared up at the sky. "It should have been me who died, not you! It's my fault. It's my fault you died, Sana! How can I live with myself knowing that I'm responsible for your death?" Suddenly his whole body is engulfed in the black chakra. Kyuubi couldn't be heard as she screamed her host's name. The black chakra began to whip out of him and took form of a fox like creature looming over him. People from hundreds of miles could feel the presence of the beast.
A tanned hand appeared out of nowhere and gripped Naruto's shoulder. And just like that, the black chakra vanished without a trace. Naruto dropped his head and stared at the person next to him. He didn't bother to try to rid his face of the tears that continued to spill from his eyes. He didn't try to stop the heavy breathing or his look of complete lost. He simply stared at his step-brother for a minute before throwing himself at him, clinging to the one person who understood him the most as if his life depended on it. And as of now, it sort of did.
Gaara held Naruto and didn't say anything. Instead, he hugged him hard and felt his own tears fill his eyes at the broken sight in front of him. In a quiet voice, Gaara said, "You don't have to go through this alone, brother. I'm here for you."
XxxxX
Until next time!
