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: It's been a while, huh? The semester is finally over!! I'm really glad too- it was a crummy one. Still managed to pull a 4.0 from the classes I took though, so I'm happy ^^
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. ^^
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Chapter Twenty Two: Replay
Sasuke whipped out his arms, shoving away branches while avoiding any obstructions on the ground; he couldn't afford to loose Kyuubi's chakra trail. He almost wondered why the demon didn't mask it.
Sasuke halted in the forest as the surge became stronger than ever, as if being pulsed out with the purpose of being found.
Sasuke gasped as the earth beneath his next step suddenly gave way, and he slipped into the loose ground.
He grunted as his body hit a hard surface, and the demonic, yet docile chakra enveloped him.
"So, you've come."
Sasuke lifted his head to be met with the dim glow of Kyuubi's visage in the darkness, lit by two weak torches clinging to the dirt walls.
"I knew you would come looking for me again," Kyuubi said, turning away from Sasuke and kneeling on the ground. "Now that you are here, in this sacred place, do what you will."
Sasuke stood from his crumpled heap.
"Sacred place?" he questioned. He felt foolish the moment the words had left his lips as his eyes landed on, in the dim light of the torches, Naruto's blue crystal necklace hanging from an embellished tree root in the slope of the wall that Kyuubi faced.
Sasuke paused. "This was his?"
"He came here for seclusion and meditation," Kyuubi answered back quietly. "He was here often after abandoning his attempts to bring you back."
Sasuke's dark charcoal eyes smoothed over with the wavering shadows cast by the lights.
"Do us both a favor, and take care of what you came here to do," Kyuubi finally growled, frustrated.
"Do what?"
Sasuke took a step back as Kyuubi whipped around and pinned him to the earthen wall by his shoulders, claws digging deep into the pale covered flesh there.
"Kill me!" Kyuubi finally screamed.
"Kil—"
"Yes! Kill me! Kill me please!!!"
Sasuke watched in horror and amazement as Kyuubi's shoulders quivered, and his claws released Sasuke as he sunk to his knees, his hands following close behind. He gasped softly as his body shook, long wisps of scarlet hair sweeping over his shoulders. It wasn't until what seemed like hours later that Sasuke realized that Kyuubi was crying.
Sasuke shook his head disbelievingly, and the presence of Naruto Sasuke had felt pulsing through him, slipped away.
"For so long I've been waiting…waiting to be free," Kyuubi struggled to say as his tears pattered down. "And now that I have it…" Kyuubi shook his head and lashed out a curled hand at the ground, carving deep slashes into the earth. "Just kill me!" he finally shouted.
Sasuke knew that he couldn't relate to what Kyuubi was going through; he had never been without a purpose in life, or a reason to live. There was always something waiting for him to finish, something for him to return to.
Kyuubi had nothing. The closest thing to a family he had ever possessed was Naruto, and the closest thing to a home he had ever encountered was within Naruto. All around him there was hatred for what he had done, and there was no one that would truly accept him.
Until this point, Sasuke had not grasped the concept of complete nothingness, of total emptiness. It was unfair for any creature to have to suffer through life without a purpose.
Sasuke furrowed his brow and gave Kyuubi a harsh kick.
"Get up!" he shouted, clenching his fists, and Kyuubi looked back at him with empty, yet astonished eyes. "If Naruto could see you now, he wouldn't even know who you were, because you damn well aren't Kyuubi! Don't you think Naruto expects more of you? For you to do more with your life than just welcome death!?"
Sasuke shook his head. He knew that these words weren't just for Kyuubi, but for himself to hear as well.
"I can feel Naruto, I can…but only when I'm not as hopeless as you are," he said. His eyes became soft as he looked down at the ground. "This is how Naruto must've felt inside all the time…like just giving up all together." Sasuke clenched his fist once more. "But he made himself a purpose instead of giving up like we are."
Sasuke looked back over to Kyuubi to see the demon's eyes closed his thought. Then slowly, almost languidly, he rose from his sunken position, skin alight with wisps of fire. He opened his eyes and smirked at Sasuke.
"Nice speech," he said jestingly. "But there's work to be done."
"Work?" Sasuke questioned.
"Of course. I wouldn't expect you to come all the way here and rekindle the ashes left of me without the intent of hoping that I could bring Naruto back."
"Can you?"
Kyuubi paused as he thought. "Perhaps," he said in a near cautious manner. He shook his head. "I don't know. I'd need access to Naruto's research for that."
"Research?" Sasuke settled himself down on the dirt floor, Kyuubi joining him.
"When Naruto was still alive he spent years studying jinchurriki. He made many new discoveries, but nothing near what he wanted. He was attempting to find a way to connect with jinchurrikis that had already spent their lives, and their souls were sent to an unknown dimension."
"Why would Naruto be interested in that?"
"The souls of jinchurriki could provide more information than any existing one on their housed demons. But as far as Naruto's goal for his research, even I don't know."
Sasuke furrowed his brow. "Can't you hear his thoughts?"
"Sometimes," Kyuubi said, tilting his head a little. "But I couldn't reach Naruto within the days of his death. In this time he was consumed by his research to the point where I suspect he must have made some sort of breakthrough."
"And this could help bring Naruto back?" Sasuke asked eagerly.
"I'm not sure, but it's really the only thing I can think of."
Sasuke stood. "Then we need to retrieve Naruto's manuscripts from Tsunade."
"Naruto did not leave them in his office; he hid them somewhere. Since I could not connect with him I have no idea of where that place could possibly be."
Sasuke clenched his fist.
"You were like Naruto's brother. You would know best where he hid it," he said. Kyuubi shook his head, sighing tiredly.
"I don't. I really don't. This was one of Naruto's most private places. And if it's not here, then I'm not sure of where it is."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes to the ground, frustrated. He jumped out of the underground nook, struggling a little to climb his way out of the deep hole. Once out, he stood and walked off in the direction of the dying lights to the east.
"Let's go out and play, Naruto."
Naruto jerked up abruptly, poking his head out from Konoha's autumn fields. Sakura giggled above him, holding out her hand. Naruto held up one of his own to block the bright midday sun from his eyes.
"Wake up silly!" Sakura laughed as Naruto blinked, taking her hand. He gasped a little as she pulled him up quickly. "C'mon Naruto, let's go play!"
Naruto looked down at his hand as Sakura tugged it impatiently, noticing how pristine, how unscarred and small it really was. Naruto almost tripped as Sakura began running, yanking him along.
He looked up as he ran with her, the clouds creating a dappled pallet of light and shade over the field. The sensation of rain pattered upon his shoulders though the skies remained utterly clear. He looked down, watching his sandaled feet rise and fall to the silent beat of the earth, his black spiraled shirt flapping about in the rushing wind.
"Sakura?" he asked, and they stopped running as they reached the mouth of Konoha's forest.
"What is it, Naruto?" she said, smiling back brightly at him. Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. He looked down and caught his reflection in a puddle near his feet. He got down on his hands and knees, leaning forward until his nose touched the water, his reflection rippling and blinking back at him.
His child face displayed a look of utter loss and disbelief. A small hand touched fingers to his young face, tracing the marks where black scars should have been.
"Kyuubi…" he murmured.
"What's a Kyuubi?" Sakura asked, kneeling down in front of Naruto. He looked up at her, only to fall back on his bottom, swiping the sudden water splash from his eyes. He cleared his eyes in time to see Sakura laughing and running away.
Naruto clambered to his feet and sprinted after her.
"Sakura!" he yelled out, increasing his speed. He felt his short hair swish over his neck, the pungent taste of the forest on his tongue, and the weightlessness of his rushing body. He breathed in as deeply as he could, letting the sensations fill him, and releasing a cry of joy with his exhale, marveling at the distance in which in his voice carried.
"Sakura!" he yelled, grinning widely as the wind licked at his face. "Sakura, wait for me!" Naruto's smile gradually faded as he ran, the trees around him loosing their array of scarlet and gold leaves, shriveling before being carried away by a frigid wind.
Naruto skid to a halt, gazing around him as everything withered into skeletons of their previous forms.
He shut his eyes tightly, covering them with his hands for added measure, his heartbeat increasing as his breath became short and fast. He listened to his own nervous panting for a little while, until he had gathered the courage to remove his hands a little.
All at once he tore them away when he saw the edge of white over his fingers, and his breath hung visible in the air, accompanying the snow dropping all around him.
"Dobe."
Naruto looked down, his heart quivering and his breath becoming even shorter as Sasuke looked up at him from the ground, needles puncturing his bloody skin and regret dripping from his every pore.
"You should see your face."
Naruto dropped down to his knees immediately, pulling out the needles from the raven's skin as quickly as possible, his eyes stinging and glassy.
"You're ok, Sasuke," he said, though the more needles he pulled out the more seemed to replaced them, until Sasuke was devoured by them.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, diving into the pile of needles.
He gasped, throat closing as he lost his breath, until he finally emerged from a lake to the valley of end.
Naruto heaved himself atop the water with his adhesive chakra, but stumbled in a sudden stinging pain.
He slipped on the water, his chakra abandoning his body as he clutched the spewing red whole in his chest, sinking under the water's crystalline surface. He gripped a hand on its edge, gasping for breath above the rippling waves.
Darkness seeped into the edges of his eyes as he desperately tried to pull in air. A figure loomed over him in a calm posture, and Naruto sputtered water from his mouth.
"Sa-Sas!" he gasped as Sasuke's face came into focus, staring down at him. "Hel-he!" Naruto shot his grappling hand into the air towards Sasuke, sinking under the water's surface before it was grabbed and he burst above the surface again.
"Sasuke!" he breathed, looking up at the raven. As relief washed over him, it was quickly swept away with the tide as Sasuke released the grip on his hand, and he plummeted into the water, Sasuke's wavering reflection above the surface staring down at him without care, without pain.
Without love.
Naruto tried to gasp for air but only water filled him, seeping into his lungs as the hole in him expanded, blood seeping out into the water and overtaking his vision as his hand still reached upward for Sasuke.
Naruto clamped his eyes shut as his fingertips were devoured by the water.
"Jinchurriki go to a place where their souls are locked forever."
Naruto's eyes shot open, and he whirled around where he stood in his hokage office, robes billowing at his feet as he turned.
"Kyuubi!" he shouted, banging his fists against the walls. "Help me, Kyuubi!!!" Naruto punched the wall, picked up his desk and threw it across the room, and shattered anything breakable until he collapsed onto his knees, panting madly. He gripped his hair down to the roots, tears flowing down his unscarred cheeks and pattering against the floor.
He suddenly coughed and gripped his chest, scrunching the fabric of his shirt between his fingers. The light of the room swept over with a warmer tone, and Naruto turned to the window.
His lungs clawed for air desperately as he felt the life leaving his body, all of his color and warmth being sucked away, slipping through his hands.
"This is the part where I die for good," he thought as his coughing became wheezing gasps. "Where I won't have to experience anymore of these memories ever again." Naruto's thrashing ceased as he became still on the floor, quivering breaths winding out of him, lips barely parted as his eyes shut, and feeling finally stopped.
.....
"Let's go out and play Naruto."
Naruto's eyes flashed open, and he wordlessly stared up at that same, smiling Sakura. His hands shook and his mind whirled as she helped him up. He looked up, feeling the pattering of rain against his skin once more, only to see clear skies.
Sometimes the harshest physical punishment in the world can not sum up to the emotional agony of living through the worst, and very real nightmares in your mind.