Disclaimers: Naruto is not mine, sadly. This is purely a fanfic using someone else's characters.
Warnings: This story includes strong language, violence, sexual assault, torture, sexual content (yaoi), & angst.
It's All In Your Head
Chapter 65: Save
--
"Naruto!" Sasuke raced past Kakashi and over to his blonde, his heart slamming violently in his chest as he pulled him into his arms. "Thank fucking god.."
"'Ske.." Naruto choked, tears welling up in his eyes. "How did you find me?"
"Later" he murmured. "I'm getting you out of here first."
Naruto shook his head. "I can't. He.. he took Kurama."
Sasuke pulled back to get a look at his face. "Kurama?"
"Kyuubi. His real name is Kurama."
Sasuke eyed the blonde, seeing the pain and fatigue in his eyes, the gash on his chin and up the side of his face. The deep bruise around his throat from his restraint. His jaw clenched tight at the sight of it. "What did he do to you?"
He tucked his hand into soft blonde locks as he turned to glare at the other Uchiha. But he wasn't looking their way. His attention was fixed on Kakashi. Only Kakashi.
His important person.
Sasuke didn't know what to make of that. This man had attacked Naruto, and he had a steadily growing Kyuubi bound to him. Maybe he had been close with Kakashi in the past, but he was their enemy now. And they had to stop him- by any means necessary.
"We have to get him back, Sasuke."
The raven turned to look back at his blonde, and his crimson eyes softened. "We will" he said. "I promise." He looked up again, prepared to face off against Obito, but Kakashi had stepped forward in his place.
"Tobi.. what is this? How.. how are you still alive?"
The masked man tilted his head, studying the person who had once been his entire world. "Disappointed?" he asked smoothly.
Kakashi swallowed audibly, his face stricken with pain. "That you're alive? No. That I didn't know for the last fifteen years?" he choked. "Yes."
Obito's one exposed eye slid over to Kakashi's sharingan, the one he had given him before- when he…
He dropped his gaze. "I'm not the person I used to be" he murmured, mostly to himself.
"Neither am I" Kakashi replied.
Obito looked up, finding those heavy mismatched eyes once more. "You don't understand, 'Kashi. You can't understand.."
The jonin took another step towards him, his brows furrowed as he searched the mask, wishing he could see the face beneath it. "What don't I understand?"
"I'm not the same man because I- I can't be!" he shouted, his composure breaking. "I am but a fraction of the man I once was- barely even that! Madara saved me, but something.. something never made it back. A part of me died that day, and it's gone. I can't get it back.
Not even for you."
"Is that why you've stayed away all of these years?" Kakashi cried. "Because you thought I couldn't accept who you are? Do you really think so little of me?"
"You don't understand.." Obito said quietly.
"Then help me understand!!" Kakashi screamed.
He marched up to his long-lost love and grabbed his arms with bruising force. And Obito let him. He didn't phase out like he always did, didn't resist human contact like he had since the accident. In fact, he found himself welcoming it.
He tried not to think too much about that.
"You would never love this Obito" he said, his voice low and weighted. "You couldn't.."
"Tobi" Kakashi slid a hand from his arm to the side of his face, cradling it, gazing at the eye he could see, searching for the person he knew. The one he fell in love with. The one he missed every moment of every day. "Why couldn't you just give me a chance?"
He went to remove the mask, but Obito grabbed his wrist and squeezed down hard to stop him. "Don't."
"Why?"
"I'd rather you remember the face I used to have."
"I don't want to just remember you." Kakashi tightened his grip on his arm, suddenly afraid that he would disappear all over again. "Not when I finally have you back."
That seemed to snap Obito out of whatever trance he had him under. He shoved out of his arms and stumbled back, out of reach. Kakashi tried to go to him, but he quickly shifted out of view- dragging the Kyuubi with him. They reappeared at the far side of the cave, away from temptation. "You don't have me back, Kakashi. That won't happen."
"Obito-"
"Aren't you forgetting something" he snapped. "I kidnapped your precious student. I forced the Nine Tails out of him. I tormented someone you care about, and I plan to destroy your village! How could you even think about being with me?!"
Kakashi looked over at the blonde, his face growing hot with shame. He had told Sasuke that he wouldn't be swayed by Obito, that his one and only focus would be Naruto, and yet the minute he got there Obito was all he could see.
"Naruto.."
"It's ok, Kakashi-sensei" he said, seeing the regret, the pain. "I know you care about him."
Sasuke seemed less inclined to forgive him for his slip up. His sharingan spun with his rage, his mouth curled into a tight snarl. The thought of this man tormenting Naruto sent a sharp pang into his chest and a rush of adrenaline through his veins. He was angry, and ready to lash out.
Naruto grabbed his arm, easily reading him and his murderous intent. "Don't" he said firmly.
"He hurt you" the Uchiha growled.
Naruto dropped his gaze. "I just want Kurama back" he muttered. "Kakashi and Obito can.. can figure out everything else."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, eyes flashing with fury. "That's not good enough."
He shifted out of view and reappeared before the other Uchiha, chidori crackling in his palm. He pretended to aim for the man, but instead sent it shooting through the chakra connecting him to Kyuubi. The tie between them partially severed, and the Nine Tails took care of the rest. He jerked away from his captor and threw his head back, a fearsome howl tearing from his throat.
"That won't stop me" Obito snapped, moving towards his prey.
Kyuubi leapt from the cave and his form suddenly doubled in size- as if Obito had been the one actually containing it.
And maybe he was, Naruto thought.
He had a feeling the Uchiha wasn't as cruel as he wanted people to believe. His interaction with Kakashi only further proved that. He clearly had some fucked-up notions, and he had hurt him and Kurama, but there was something more there. He seemed to be in pain too. A deep, buried pain. Naruto could see it because he knew that kind of pain. The kind that went with a past that relentlessly tore at you until there was nothing left, leaving a shell of the person you once were.
He knew that pain far too well.
The Uchiha disappeared with the Nine Tails, and Kakashi ran after him. He had lost him once; he couldn't let it happen again. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled him along with him as he followed. He could tell that Kakashi still had his sights set on Obito, so he would the one to get Kyuubi back to his host. Naruto was clearly desperate to have him back, and he would do everything he could to help his blonde. He didn't care if the village was wiped out in the process but Naruto did, so he would stop that from happening too.
The two leapt through trees, following the massive Nine Tails as it bulldozed its way through the forest- making its way towards the Hidden Leaf. Naruto screamed for him to stop, but he either couldn't hear him or was too far gone to acknowledge it. "We have to get closer!" he shouted. "I can get through to him- I know I can."
Sasuke nodded, but he was worried. He was well aware of what happened the last time Kyuubi was unleashed on the village. Naruto's parents had been killed, and he had been forced to bear the weight of his demonic energy. He didn't want to see Naruto face the same fate as the rest of his family..
Please be careful, Naruto.
He only remembered as they approached the massive beast that Naruto couldn't hear his thoughts. His plea had gone unheard..
He could only hope that he would do it anyways.
Naruto jumped in front of the beast and threw his arms out, his eyes wide with his own silent plea. "Kurama, STOP!!"
A claw swiped down at him, and Sasuke rushed in fast. He scooped his blonde up and leapt out of harms way just in time. He dropped down behind a barricade of shrubbery and pulled his blonde down with him.
"Are you fucking insane?!" he snapped. "You're going to get yourself killed if you do shit like that!"
"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?!" Naruto shouted back. "I need to get through to him or he's never going to stop!"
Sasuke glared at his blonde for another moment before turning his focus over to the rabid animal destroying the forest in front of them. He lifted his gaze, and an idea slowly formed in his head.
"You need to go up."
"What?"
He looked back at his blonde. "I'll throw you into the air. Get on his back- then he won't be able to attack you. You can try to talk him down from there."
Naruto considered it as he eyed his determined raven. It wasn't a bad plan. "Where will you be?" he asked.
"I'll try to slow him down, buy you some time."
Naruto didn't like the sound of that. "I thought you just told me that was a way to get myself killed."
"I'll be careful."
"Sasuke.."
The Uchiha grabbed the back of his head and jerked him forward into a seering kiss. He pulled back far too soon and met wide blue eyes. "It's going to be ok, Naruto. I promise."
His chest tightened as he watched his blonde blink back sudden tears.
"Don't do anything stupid, Sasuke. I.. I can't lose anyone else."
"I know."
The two exchanged another heavy look before rising to their feet. "Ok. Let's do this."
They leapt back into the trees, finding the highest branches as they gained on the Nine Tails once more. When they were finally right beside him, Sasuke channeled his chakra into his arms, grabbed his blonde, and threw him up into the air as hard as he could. He made a wide arc and dropped down onto the beasts back, exactly as planned.
Naruto ran up his spine and grabbed a fistful of fur as he dropped down on top of his neck, close to his ear. As he called out to his fox, Sasuke got to work on a certain jutsu. One he had learned unbeknownst to his blonde- mainly because he didn't want to bring up anything painful for him. But he also didn't want him to know that he had prepared for the possibility of something like this happening.
He had spent quite some time looking into a jutsu that was widely known to only exist within the Uzumaki lineage. One that Naruto's mother had used to subdue the Nine Tails twenty-one years ago. While Sasuke couldn't exactly duplicate the Adamantine Sealing Chains, he had found a way to do something quite similar.
Sasuke dropped down in front of the Nine Tails and moved his hands fast. He bit down hard on his thumb and slammed his hand down on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Massive chains shot up from the ground and wrapped around the Nine Tails, forcing him to stop.
Naruto ducked to avoid them as they continued to encircle his friend. "The hell..?" He looked down and saw Sasuke with his hands over a summoning circle, his head down as he focused on the chains he had somehow managed to conjure. "What are you doing?!" he screamed.
Sasuke looked up and met his wide eyes. "Talk to him!" he shouted back. "I won't be able to hold him back for long!"
Naruto decided he could ask his boyfriend about the jutsu later and turned his attention back to the fox. "Kurama, it's me- it's Naruto. Listen- I know it's hard, but I need you to fight this. I know you're in there. So, just focus on me, ok. Please.. I need you to come back."
He couldn't hear any thoughts coming from him and wondered if it had to do with the minuscule amount of Nine Tails chakra he had left. Or maybe there are no thoughts to hear, he thought. Maybe he's purely running on animal instinct and nothing else.
Naruto looked down and could see that Sasuke was struggling to hold him back on his own. He didn't have much time, but he had to get through to him. "Fuck.. but how am I supposed to do that?!"
He looked down at his rabid companion and decided that it was more than simply being heard. He had to be seen. Naruto crawled up Kyuubi's head, holding on tight to avoid being thrown off, and slid down the demon's snout until they were eye to eye. He carefully sat up and met his feral gaze.
"You are not just the Nine Tails" he said firmly. "You are Kurama. Someone who protects people, even when you're tempted to tear them apart first. You are fiercely loyal, stubborn as hell, and surprisingly gentle- though you'll never admit it."
A light of recognition flashed in those red eyes, just for a second, but it was enough encouragement for him to keep going.
"Kurama, you were there for me when I had no one, and you protected me more times than I can count. You are my best friend!" he shouted, his composure slipping. "Please! I need you. I- I don't want to do this without you!"
The cruelty cleared from those blood-red eyes and his gruesome snarl fell. He stopped fighting the chains that Sasuke bound him with, and he stopped trying to throw Naruto off of his face. The tension in his brows loosened, and a spark of the real Kurama suddenly reappeared.
What are you doing on my face, human?
Tears slipped down Naruto's cheeks as he stared unblinking at his friend. He was relieved to hear that snarky voice in his head again, to see his mischievous eyes looking back at him. So much so that he couldn't get the tears to stop. He dropped forward and buried his face against his fur. "You're back" he murmured against him.
Kurama felt his own rush of heavy emotions, but he'd never admit it to the kid. He had to hold onto some semblance of dignity after going completely feral like that. Instead, he offered a small smile and leaned into the feel of his favorite person holding onto him.
I'm back.
Author Note:
Ok, wasn't sure I could get the Kakashi x Obito dynamic to work (mainly because I usually pair Kakashi with Iruka) but I kind of think I love this.
More is heading your way, so hopefully you're loving it too. :)