Chapter 14

Naruto

Neji was in a foul mood, Naruto felt immediately. He walked in and took a seat beside Sasuke, and he could feel the wave of enmity flowing in their direction.

What had the git done in the half hour he had been away from him? Sasuke's easygoing attitude was not doing any favors, as he calmly observed his fingernails as Neji gave the lecture about auras and how his own conversely kept pulsating.

"Uchiha," he said suddenly, zeroing in on him. Sasuke looked up and froze. Even Naruto shivered. Neji exuded clear hatred, and was apparently trying hard to keep it under wraps but it escaped him in waves. "Come up here."

Sasuke got up, walking down to the front, hiding the itchiness he felt by pretending to adjust his hair. Naruto braced himself. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Shinobis possess abilities to affect the minds of others without relying on genjutsu or Yin release," Neji went on to explain to the rest of the class, who waited with bated breath to see what would happen. Ino nodded, understanding as she took notes. This was a topic which actually interested her and related to her clan's specialties.

"What I would like to demonstrate on Uchiha-san here, is the use of such a technique, called Sakki," Neji continued, his smile not reaching his eyes. Sasuke scoffed, matching Neji's smile.

"No," Hinata murmured very softly. Naruto had heard, and looked in her direction. She was sitting next to Kiba, and he spoke softly to her. She was just as anxious as Naruto felt and looked on uneasily at the boys up front.

Naruto wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to interrupt without making it obvious what was on everyone's minds.

He also knew Sasuke would, as usual, be exceedingly overconfident, and the words coming out of his mouth just kept on proving the point.

"Really, sensei? Tell you what, you can demonstrate, and I won't even place any shield on my mind and we'll see how that affects me."

"No," Naruto spoke up, unable to stop himself. Sasuke had no idea what he was walking into. Neji's Killer Intent was famous among his clan, known not to just set back but to paralyze his opponents in fear. And Neji had no idea the darkness Sasuke had since time subdued in his mind. Naruto remembered the first time they had been faced with strong killer intent, at he hands of Zabuza Momochi when they had been completely paralyzed. The second time was when they were confronted by Orochimaru, and Sasuke had all but collapsed that day. That had been years ago, and one was the demon of the mist and the other a Legendary Sannin, but they had all grown so much more powerful since then. And Sasuke was overestimating his state of mind again. He had never taken well to enemies targeting and goading his darkest thoughts.

Naruto knew of Sasuke's near-constant battles and how he had been putting his shields up since he was young, he was trained, but he was, as usual, acting cocky, fearless in front of Neji whom he didn't even see as much of a competition.

Neji smirked. "Oh no," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Don't do that, protect your mind in any way you can. I have to make sure nothing really happens to you. Naruto is worried too, see."

Sasuke scowled, eyeing Naruto angrily for embarrassing him. It made it seem like he wasn't capable. No matter. He would teach Hyuga by embarrassing him also.

"Not to worry, sensei," he said. "Give me everything you got. You know my demise doesn't scare me, and you can have me picture it in any way you want. Come on."

"I expect you to fight back, Uchiha," Neji said. "I want you to try and break free from it, so we can also teach the class how that's done. That is today's lesson."

"I'll try to go easy on you, sensei," Sasuke smirked. "That's why, going in, no shields. And then when I break free from it, trust me, you'll know, and so will everyone else."

Naruto saw that Hinata had started biting her nails. Sakura too had finally leaned in, interested and curious. She had been, as usual, absentminded, staring out the window. She whispered something to Ino and Ino stifled a giggle.

Neji cleared his throat. "Alright, Uchiha, let's begin. And yes, put up your shields, don't be coy, it is after all a class room and the point of this lesson. I intend to leave you paralyzed in fear without the use of any eye technique or genjutsu."

He made sure he had the attention of the whole room. He sighed, counting down, closing his eyes.

"3… 2… 1."

Neji opened his eyes and bore down on Sasuke's, and his right eye flashed unwittingly for just a second, as always betraying his emotions and in this case, projecting his Killer Intent, just as Naruto had feared.

A wave went through the crowd and Naruto felt his skin crawl visibly. He had a hard time swallowing his own saliva. The rest of the class felt just as uneasy and he saw that a few students had started fidgeting while a few others were visibly hugging themselves. Another kunoichi was tapping her foot incessantly.

Naruto imagined a bird of prey swooping in, grabbing a snake in its talons tightly and was about to tear apart the skin to devour its insides. Was that the image Neji was projecting? That couldn't be it though.

He focused on Sasuke and saw his eyes wide, Rinnegan exposed, and based on the lines appearing on his forehead, he appeared to be wrestling with his own thoughts. He had broken into a sweat.

"Neji," Hinata got up and spoke firmly, and just in time, Naruto felt. Neji's chakra had risen, and had begun to show and take shape into a visible form. It had begun to sprout wings, Naruto made out. Neji stopped abruptly, but not before a few strands of his chakra had poked Sasuke mercilessly.

Sasuke shook his head to clear the projections he had seen. He blinked fast three times, before his muscles relaxed and he smiled lazily again.

"That's it?" he drawled. "Why listen to the lady and stop? I thought we were just beginning."

Neji observed him silently and turned back to the students, who all flinched as his Tenseigan revealed behind his hair for a second. The air was still heavy in the classroom, and the kunoichi who was tapping her foot previously was now breathing loudly.

"Go back to your seat Uchiha," he said. "So what I'll be teaching you all is to harbor your chakra in such a way that it envelopes your presence, so aside from targeting lesser enemies, any sensory ninja who has sights on you from afar would be thwarted…"

Naruto looked at Sasuke slowly making his way back to their seat, looking down at the steps he was taking. He slid back and Naruto put a hand on his shoulder to check how he was feeling, but he shrugged it off.

Sasuke

There never seemed to be an end to the darkness. Every night he spent alone was filled with despair. Screams echoed in the recesses of his mind. Every nightmare ended in inexplicable feeling of loneliness clawing at his insides. He wanted to wake up one day and finally feel whole again, before this damned war, before everything, before his brother had slayed their clan.

The architecture had changed - it was a low-rise condo rather than an entire compound - but this was the very house he had lived in before all the madness. Yet, his was the only one occupied. It seemed, like him, no one wanted to live in this building.

He knew he had to walk the path of redemption alone. His darkness had been replaced, and he wanted to wander the world with a new pair of eyes, ones which despite being extraordinary weren't blind. Yet, wherever he had turned, he had seen more and more darkness, even as he struggled to keep the light alive. He saw more violence, more deceit. Clansmen killing each other over disagreements was common, as was human trading. He had also discovered that there were many like him who would do anything for power.

Although he had been doing well dealing with disputes and protecting the village from afar, he needed to catch a breather as darkness threatened to consume him again. When Karin had asked to accompany him on his next mission, he hadn't said no. She had followed him, and he hadn't turned her away. They had quickly fallen back into their old routine; she climbed into his sleeping bag and kept him warm, and his demons would remain at bay. The two, however, agreed not to stay exclusive, and that gave him much needed space. Physically, he wasn't alone, and the sex was indeed mind-blowing, exhausting him enough that he slept. Yet, somehow, the dark clouds still appeared overhead some times, casting malicious shadows.

Another reason which had prompted his earlier return, though he wouldn't admit it to him, was Naruto. He missed Naruto, and even Sakura. Naruto's letter that he could reinstate and form his own police force in Konoha like his ancestors had gotten him interested. It had always been his dream. He could even start a family.

He wished Karin would reach sooner. At least he would have company. Her arrival had delayed, but she'd be here soon, probably by the weekend. She'd rub her fingers across his forehead, trying to relax him. She would put her other arm around him, holding him close, her warmth a welcome presence, reminding him someone had his back. She would then wrap her leg around him as they both drifted off to sleep once more. But what'll he do till then?

A sigh escaped his lips as he wiped his own forehead with his fingers, not surprised to find it wet. He had gotten so used to being aware of his surroundings, often jumping awake, imagining a twig breaking underneath a foot, the sound of the wind whooshing as a kunai flew at him, wails of grief echoing, or Orochimaru's voice in his head, laughing maniacally. He saw his entire clan slain, blood stained everywhere, bodies strewn around every corner he turned.

The days seemed to pass by okay. But every night, he was haunted by his dreams. He stared at the ceiling of his bedroom, remembering all the pain and suffering he had seen and also caused.

Hush, little baby, don't say a word

And never mind that noise you heard

It's just the beasts under your bed

In your closet, in your head.

He shook his head, along with it the little sleep he had left. That couldn't have been the lullaby his mother used to sing to him. After that scoundrel Neji Hyuga had tried to intimidate him, he couldn't remember. He felt Neji mocking him.

"Dreams of war, dreams of liars, dream of hell's fire" he pictured Neji saying maliciously in his head.

If I die before I wake,

I can't pray the Lord my soul to take

I sleep with one eye open

As the soul in me is long since broken.

He looked at the clock. Quarter past two. Sleep had evaded him and his thoughts were his own worst enemy.

Wordlessly, he got up, throwing a change of clothes and his toothbrush in an overnight bag. His skin seemed to crawl even further as he heard the crickets chirping. The silence was deafening.

Here's to being human, he mused as he prepared to leave. Peace was strange. There was actually some beauty in the bleeding; at least he felt something.

He bid the spies obviously still watching him a farewell with a two fingered salute. He knew they'd easily follow his chakra signature. It'd lead them to where he had reappeared now, at the heart of Konoha, climbing up an apartment building to the upper floor. His feet automatically carried him down the length of a passage until he reached an unfamiliar brown door. He hadn't yet visited this place after the renovations, but he knew he was at the right location. He could feel it.

He knocked at the door and waited patiently, readjusting the drawstring bag on his right shoulder.

The door creaked open slowly, light falling on the hallway. A sleepy blonde appeared, rubbing his left eye with his knuckle and his right hand on the doorknob. He was wearing his sleeping hat.

"It's me," Sasuke said. "Can I stay here the night?"

Naruto nodded, wordlessly opening the door wider and stepping aside.