Disclaimer: I don't own nor have I contributed to Naruto in any way
Disclaimer: I don't own nor have I contributed to Naruto in any way! Nope! None!
Sky-eyed Kitsune and Gomi-kun blab & Updates
Sky-eyed Kitsune: Wooow, I've been away a while ne? Though I'm happy to say that I still continued to receive many reviews in my inbox even after the update in June!
Gomi-kun: Don't let the reviews go to your head. --.--
--
For those of you just joining the madness now, I have stopped replying to reviewers because I've got so many that it tends to take an hour to do so! X0 But please know that I treasure each review I get, and read them all. In fact when I read them they made me smile in the way that a writer does when they've realized that they have a reason to write! So sincerely, thank you all who take the time and read and review! I will though be answering questions if someone doesn't understand one part of the story or something along those lines.
Reviewer Question Replies:
No Inquiries.
POLL RESULTS!
Should Naru accept Sai's proposal:
Damn straight! –21 votes
Nuu! Sasunaru foreveh! –42 votes
Yes! Erm, wait no…I mean…:splode: -6 votes
My own personal vote was no…for now that is! :evil laugh: But it will be swimming around in Naruto's head for a while.
--
Chapter Dedication: For mmm.kai.mmm (you always spoil me with such lovely reviews ), xxtarragonxx (omg muffin O.o omnomnom), and drarythoughts (I love itakyuu too: hotness!)
--
My hands are searching for you
My arms are outstretched towards you
I feel you on my fingertips
My tongue dances behind my lips for you
This fire rising through my being
Burning I'm not used to seeing you
I'm alive, I'm alive
I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healing
My hands float up above me
And you whisper you love me
And I begin to fade
Into our secret place
The music makes me sway
The angels singing say we are alone with you
I am alone and they are too with you
I'm alive, I'm alive
I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healing
And so I cry
The light is white
And I see you
I'm alive, I'm alive, I'm alive
I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healing
Take my hand
I give it to you
Now you own me
All I am
You said you would never leave me
I believe you
I believe
I can feel you all around me
Thickening the air I'm breathing
Holding on to what I'm feeling
Savoring this heart that's healed
-All Around Me by Flyleaf
I really love this song because it to me fits Sasuke's and Naruto relationship, even outside of this story.
Chapter Nine: All Around Me
--
Tsunade shifted uneasily where she sat.
The more chakra the group pushed in to Naruto's body, the more Kyuubi's own would repress it and throw it back.
"This isn't working," she thought anxiously. "He can't propel any of his own chakra out while keeping Kyuubi's from taking over his body. That's what we really need; not an attempt from the outside, but the inside. But the only person who could do that is…"
Tsunade looked over to Sasuke, and was surprised to see his sharingan wildly spinning already.
"Looks like he's a step ahead of me."
"Put your hand on the bars of Kyuubi's cage."
Naruto grimaced at Sasuke.
"I can't; they burn me every time I try," he said.
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows and placed a hand on one of the bars. Nothing happened, and he shot out a flurry of chakra. The red fog around it skittered, and began to dissipate, before coming back with a vengeance.
"It's because you're not producing chakra," Sasuke said. "You can't since your trying to prevent your body from being taken over, which means you still have all of it."
"I can't use it though," Naruto reminded.
"But I can."
"…what?"
Sasuke turned back to Naruto and met his azure eyes.
"I need you to give me your chakra," he said. "If we can get enough chakra to push against Kyuubi's from the inside, it'll weaken from not being able to keep up with your rising chakra levels."
"There's already chakra flying around everywhere in here."
"But it's not hitting the right point. It's just whizzing around with no specific destination. If I can take your chakra and the chakra in the air and coat it over Kyuubi's cage and continue out, it'll eventually be cornered and we can flush it out with your own chakra."
Sasuke paused.
"But I need you to trust me Naruto."
Naruto looked up at Sasuke. The raven had left for years, come back, promised to explain everything later, and now he wanted the trust that he had lost long ago?
The blond looked over at Kyuubi, who just stared back with indecisive eyes. Naruto sighed and nodded.
"Ok," he said tiredly.
Sasuke smiled a little and nodded.
He gripped a hand on the iron bar and held out the other to Naruto. Naruto took it, albeit a little hesitantly, and winced when he felt his chakra being taken by Sasuke.
"Sorry," Sasuke said, concentrating. He stretched a thin filament of Naruto's chakra over the cage and the fog retreated a bit, but then came back and sliced through the barrier.
"The chakra's not strong enough," he said.
"Because you're only letting it trickle through," Kyuubi suddenly said, and Sasuke and Naruto looked at him.
"Chakra is exchanged through willingness and physical contact. You're just barely holding hands. You need to get closer."
Naruto felt his face flush, but he nodded. He sensed Sasuke delicately wrap his pale arms around his form, and against his will he felt himself immediately relax into the touch.
Sai narrowed his eyes as he the red chakra around Naruto become thicker, and for a moment he let himself believe that they had lost and the Kyuubi was taking over completely. Then he saw how the chakra was lifting into the air, skittering from Naruto's body as if it had been scorned.
Tsunade smirked. The Uchiha had things under control after all.
The group watched the chakra hover in the air as if searching blindly for its place of origin, before convulsing wildly and dissipating.
"Minna-san!" Tsunade said, the group looking to her. "I'm performing the next set of seals. Please follow and hold the last seal with me and circulate your chakra inside of Naruto."
The shinobi gave each other confused looks, but didn't dare to object in such a serious situation, and followed Tsunade as she made her hand signs.
Naruto's body convulsed as the chakra in the air space began to move in a circle, combining themselves and making it easier for Sasuke to take in and push out over Kyuubi's cage and outward.
Sasuke looked down at the blond in his arms. Naruto was breathing harshly and his skin was hot and sticky with sweat, his golden locks sticking to the sides of his neck and cheeks.
Sasuke brought the blond's face into his hands, cupping his cheeks gently. Naruto's eyes remained shut as he panted and gripped the front of the raven's shirt tightly.
"I've got you, Naruto," he said quietly, Naruto opening his eyes slightly as he felt Sasuke's breath flutter over his face. He didn't have the strength to resist when the Uchiha enveloped his lips with his own in a slow and soft kiss.
Naruto felt a small twinge of disappointment when the raven pulled away, but it was quickly replaced by pain, and he hissed as a constricting sensation poured over his body.
Sasuke pulled Naruto's head close to his chest, the blond's ear right over his heart as he buried his face in the sun-kissed spikes.
Tears pooled in Naruto's eyes as he heard, as he felt, Sasuke's heartbeat through the thin cloth that was his shirt. The heart that he had thought would never come back, or had already stopped beating a long time ago.
Naruto gripped onto Sasuke's shirt tighter as the tears spilled down his whiskered cheeks.
"I'm here," Sasuke breathed, pulling Naruto closer in the embrace.
"S-Sas…" Naruto choked through his tears.
Sai resisted the urge to yet again hold Naruto close as he saw a thin trickle of tears slip from the closed eyes and trail an invisible line down Naruto's whiskered cheek.
To say that the group had been there long would have been an understatement.
The hours had seemed to drag on to days as the morning faded to night. The shinobi in the circle shifted and traded their spaces with others, thoroughly exhausted. Even after six hours straight Sai eventually caved in and had to take a break.
He currently sat outside the circle, watching the red chakra sift around Naruto and fade before more was pushed out of his body. Now and again the blond would cringe or shift, but for the most part stayed still. The seal Tsunade had placed over Kyuubi's broken one was now the dominant of the two.
It didn't go unnoticed by Sai that Sasuke had yet to switch out during the entire period, and his sharingan was still activated.
Tsunade meanwhile wavered a little where she sat.
Her outer appearance belied her age, and she was at this point feeling as though she were over three hundred years old, all energy drained from her. She thanked every God she knew that it was almost over, and Naruto was still with them, still in control.
"Minna-san," Tsunade said weakly. "Please release your seal simultaneously. We have done all we possibly can."
She group unlocked their hands and let out sighs of weariness.
"Everyone go home and get some rest," Tsunade said, standing. She wobbled and would've fallen if it weren't for Gaara appearing behind her to help steady her.
She nodded thanks as the redhead released her.
"Gaara, I have a favor to ask," she said. Gaara blinked in response. "Naruto won't be taken to the hospital."
Gaara's eyes narrowed, and Tsunade sighed sadly.
"The council insists that Naruto be held in solitary confinement under the shinobi prison. The room will be sealed several times to dispel demonic power. The council is questioning the strength of the new seal, and they want Naruto to stay a week in the cell just to make sure Kyuubi doesn't break out."
"He will be given food and water, right?" Gaara said apprehensively, not liking where this was going one bit.
"He'll be given enough water for the week, but no food."
"Why?"
"We can't afford a person going in everyday to bring him food in case the Kyuubi decides to lash out."
"This is stupid," Gaara spat. "It's like a punishment."
"I want you to stay in the cell with Naruto. If Kyuubi does lash out, you would know better than anyone how to handle it. That, and I know he'll want company."
Gaara nodded.
Naruto opened his eyes previously closed from weakness as he felt his hands sink.
He blinked and looked at the fabric of Sasuke's shirt, and his eyes widened when he saw that the raven was slowly fading.
Sasuke looked down at Naruto sadly. He knew that their time together was over. Outside of Naruto's mind it was a whole different story. There were other people to deal with, the issue of Naruto dating Sai, and Sasuke's genin team and probation.
"Sasuke?" Naruto said, looking up a little.
"The sealing is over," Sasuke said. "I have to go now. I'll see you on the outside, dobe."
As Sasuke pulled away and he continued to fade, Naruto fell to the ground, his legs to weak to support him.
Sasuke swooped forward on instinct and tried to catch the blond, but he fell right through his arms as if Sasuke were just a ghost.
"Naruto!" Sasuke said worriedly as he noticed that the Kitsune had blacked out.
"I've got him," Kyuubi, who had been curled in a far corner of his cage the whole time, said as he walked forward. He was twitching from lack of chakra, his body used to holding near bursting amounts. He leaned down and wrapped Naruto in his thick, nine crimson tails.
Sasuke nodded. He was almost gone completely from Naruto's subconscious when he heard Kyuubi say,
"Sasuke. Thank you."
Sasuke realized that it was the first time the demon had called him by he first name, before he disappeared.
Sasuke blinked as he came back to the sealing room, the shinobi around him talking tiredly with one another and some even collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.
Sasuke hissed and clapped a hand over his eyes, groaning softly.
Sai, currently conversing with Yamato, didn't fail to notice. Neither did Tsunade as she finished her conversation with Gaara and walked over to him, kneeling in front of the raven
"I know what you did Sasuke," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He had yet to remove the hand over his eyes as they stung, sending shockwaves of pain throughout the rest of his body all the way down to his toes.
"Arigatou gozaimasu Sasuke-san," Tsuande continued, bringing him into a hug. "I know that we would have lost him if you hadn't stepped in with your sharingan."
Sasuke registered something warm and wet hitting his shoulder, and it hit his mind that the hokage was crying.
Sasuke used his free hand to pat Tsunade's back lightly. Tsunade pulled away and smiled a little, feeling much more respect for the raven. If his feelings for Naruto were really just shallow, then he would have never endured the hours of pain and energy he had gone through to keep the blond alive.
"Sasuke-san, let me see your eyes," Tsunade said. She gently pulled Sasuke's hand from his eyes and told him to open them. They were bloodshot and a cloudy black, unlike the sharp onyx they had been before. Tears of pain welled on their edges, making their appearance slightly glassy.
"I can't see…" Sasuke said.
Tsunade positioned both of her hands over Sasuke's eyes.
"This will sting for a moment," she said, and after receiving a nod from Sasuke her hands glowed with a blue light.
Sasuke hissed in pain and fought his natural instinct to close his searing eyes. He finally saw a little light filtering in, and a very fuzzy image of Tsunade's hands came into view.
"Any better?" the blond asked.
"Some things are partially black. Everything else is fuzzy," he said. "But they don't hurt as much now."
"Good. Come to me once a day to repeat this until your vision clears. It's not permanent; you just strained the sharingan too much."
Sasuke nodded. He heard something shift in front of him and vaguely registered a shock of sun-kissed hair behind Tsunade.
"Where will Naruto be taken?"
Tsunade sighed.
"The council has insisted solitary confinement and-"
"What!?" Sasuke hissed.
"Let me finish," Tsunade said firmly. "He'll be kept in a cell under the shinobi prison for a week. He is allowed water and will be chained up. The seal is unstable, and the council wants to be sure that the Kyuubi won't break out. I'm sending Kazekage Sabaku no Gaara with him to stay in the cell."
Sasuke glared bitterly at the floor, biting his tongue to keep from lashing out.
Tsunade sighed again and patted the Uchiha on the shoulder before standing. She watched as three ANBU picked up the unconscious blond from the floor carefully. In the corner she saw Gaara talking to Sai, who nodded now and again. Tsunade knew that he was being told about Naruto's situation.
She motioned over Gaara and pointed to Naruto, and the Kazekage left with the blond after a swift nod to Sai.
Naruto groaned as his new seal and the old one throbbed terribly, pulsing a deep blood red on his stomach.
His eyes opened halfway, and he blinked a few times before opening them fully.
He let his eyes adjust to the darkness before his mind finally started to rustle beneath the haze of unconsciousness.
"Where am I?" he mused aloud.
"Underneath Konoha prison."
Naruto furrowed his eyebrows.
"Gaara?" he probed into the dark. He heard some shuffling in response.
"Gaara! Where am I?" Naruto said, trying to move forward. He tugged at his arms, and when they didn't budge he tried to look at his wrists, but only saw more darkness.
"Gaara! Where are you?" he said, struggling against what bound him.
Thick iron cuffs patched with suppressing seals bound his wrists, both melded to the wall. Naruto's legs were loose beneath him, but shackles hung around his ankles. His body sagged, too weak to even hold himself up.
"I'm right here," Gaara said, his voice much closer. Naruto felt the redhead place a hand on his forehead, and he calmed slightly.
"You have on a blindfold. The council is keeping you in solitary confinement for a week to test the new seal. It's unstable and the Kyuubi could still get out. Tsunade asked me to accompany you here."
"I see…" Naruto said, emotion slipping from his face. "Can you take off my blindfold?"
"I can't. It has a suppressing seal over it," Gaara said. Naruto nodded slightly in response. It was quiet for a moment until Naruto spoke up again.
"I'm sorry you have to stay here with me."
"I don't have to do anything. Tsunade asked me if I would, and I said yes," Gaara said firmly, and Naruto smiled a little.
Naruto's mind ran over the sealing again. He didn't even remember being carried beneath the Konoha prison, and he concluded that he must have passed out. The last thing Naruto remembered was—
"The sealing is over. I have to go now. I'll see you on the outside, dobe."
"Sasuke," Naruto said under his breath.
"What?" Gaara said, raising a non-existent eyebrow.
"Nothing," Naruto sighed. He shifted and lifted his head more to let it rest against the stone behind him.
"Hey Gaara, can I ask you something?"
"If this has anything to do with that shot of tequila I gave Rock Lee-"
"No no! Nothing to do with that!"
"Hn…ok then."
Naruto sighed audibly again.
"Gaara…you and Neji are dating right?"
"Yes."
"What would you do if Neji asked you to marry him?"
Gaara paused for a moment before answering.
"I would probably say yes."
"Because you love Neji, right?"
"Yea."
"But what if you didn't love him as much as you thought?"
"Huh?"
"Like what if someone you used to love a long time ago came back and you still loved them? Like Lee or something?"
"Lee?" Gaara said incredously.
"Just as an example!"
"Tch, fine." Gaara paused to think. "Then I'd probably tell Neji to wait for me and spend time with both him and Lee."
"Wouldn't that be cheating on Neji?"
"It wouldn't matter. It would be helping me make my decision, or else I wouldn't say yes to Neji or get together with Lee because I wouldn't know who to pick."
Naruto nodded.
"That makes sense…thanks Gaara."
"Hn."
The cell was silent.
"…so about that tequila and Lee-"
"Shut up."
Sasuke stood outside the Konoha Prison, hands shoved in his pockets and Uchiha glare firmly in place.
No one but the Hokage and Gaara had been allowed to accompany Naruto beneath the prison to be sealed.
He stood with a small group of people, mostly consisting of the rookie nine and a few women that he supposed had to be some of Naruto's fangirls. He scanned the small group one more time, and then he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Where's Sai?"
Tsunade's chair groaned as she sat back in it, a cup of sake locked into her hand.
She let out a tired sigh, swirling around the sake in the cup.
Tsuande admitted while it was just a precaution to keep Naruto locked up for the week, the excuse of a threat belied the fear under the surface of the council. It was true that they had accepted Naruto now and he was very loved by the village, but people were fickle. If Kyuubi's power even flickered again, everyone could turn their backs on the blond.
Tsunade watched the liquid in her cup swirl as she thought before finally tossing it down her throat.
She turned in her chair to glance out the window behind her that overlooked the village, when a red mark on her calendar caught her eye.
Tsunade was not an organized person. She didn't keep important documents in locked drawers, or file the mission reports she was given. And thus, the calendar Shizune had given to her to write important dates on, was normally blank.
Tsuande scrunched her eyes a little, and she almost slapped herself when she saw the note under the date two days away.
Naruto goes into heat.
Nyhaha, I'm an evil thing am I not? XD
IMPORTANT:
Remember waaay back in the beginning of this story when I said there would be no lemons? Well I realize that now I lied because I am definitely planning lemony goodness XDD But I know that has rules against really hard sexual stuff, so during the parts that there will be lemons I will post a link for those of you to read it on my deviantart account. You don't have to have an account to read it. I'll now also be posting the fanart I've received on my page! They are for my different stories, and one even for a story that won't be published on until late fall! :D
Cheers!
Sky-eyed Kitsune
Translated by Gomi-kun