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Winter Release	By : Cepheus Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1260 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Thanks to all the reviewers! And
thanks to my BETA Silent in Nightmares!

Cepheus: so, well, tenth
chapter� already?! O.o well, that means something. :) hope you will like this
messed up chapter.

Be aware
of some things before you scroll down to read, please. I want this to be a good
fic. That�s why I try to develop the story slowly, so not to ruin it all by
rushing too much. There are many things I can�t explain in this fic about many
characters, things I can�t develop like I would want.

But I will
try with what I have. And what I like. I hope you will stick up with me for a
long while, since I am not up to end this fic anytime soon.

And� I don�t know the names of Jiraiya�s
Genin team, apart for Arashi, so I made up the other two�s names.

��

Rating: M

Summary: Clich� Plot: Naruto�s friends find out
about Kyuubi but don�t reject him for this. Akatsuki captures him whilst he�s
training with Jiraiya, but the Fox can�t be removed from his body; and before
rescuers come, Naruto finds himself in an interesting situation with a certain
Uchiha genius� (ItaNaru, ShinoKiba, NejiShika)

Warnings: yaoi,
boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such.
Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC
warning as well.

Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto
does.

�Talking�
�Thinking�
�Flashbacks, memories, dreams�

��

Winter Release

Chapter 10: Darkness

A sudden light, flashing in the darkness, so bright and clear that
Naruto yelped hoarsely, forced him to close his eyes in shock. He groaned at
the pain it caused with the sudden movement.

He felt a rumbling underneath him, as if the entire earth was trembling
and crashing all around his motionless body, and he felt the vibrations
reverberate through it to him; even his heart was beating at the same speed of
the rumbling sound that now covered any other sound, covered everything,
covered even his own thoughts�

And that�s when the pain really began.

��

Jiraiya knew something was wrong
when, after the long fight against Kisame, his opponent suddenly stopped.

The white haired Sannin had been
sure that Naruto would escape if things were to get too dangerous, and he also
believed that (with his enhanced speed) Naruto would at least reach Iwa before
Itachi could get the chance to capture him, so he�d concentrated solely on the
shark�like shinobi.

This had been his mistake, because,
in the moment the fight against Kisame started to get more violent and vicious,
he lost sight of the blond teen; he�d tried to search out Naruto�s chakra,
feeling it disappear in the distance towards the direction of the village of
Iwa, so he�d assumed Naruto knew better than to just let the Uchiha get him.

Not that he could have helped;
Kisame was a strong opponent, and he was not willingly to let Jiraiya go
without spilling some blood.

But, after having evaded another
attack of the huge, chakra-eating sword, Kisame stilled, and threw the white
haired man a toothy smirk so malicious that it made him resemble a shark even
more.

�Seems like this time we succeeded
in taking the Jinchuuriki�� he said in a taunting voice.

Jiraiya froze and, again, he flared
his chakra out in search of Naruto�s.

He felt nothing� Naruto was nowhere
to be found.

�What�� he felt a strong feeling of
dread wash over him, but he did not let fear control him �he couldn�t believe
that his apprentice had been caught.

�You underestimated Itachi�san�s
speed, Jiraiya�sama,� Kisame�s smirk widened even more. �Not even the vessel
can match his speed� Naruto is in our hands now.�

The gray clouds above them (which
had grown heavier and darker as the fights proceeded) now finally relented, and
cold rain started to pour down on their heads. Neither took notice; they were
too busy.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth, ready to
take off and search for Naruto (he shouldn�t have let him out of his sight in
the first place!) but then, a shape emerged from the forest, and he froze.

That couldn�t be possible.

Itachi was walking calmly towards
him and Kisame, showing nothing but indifference, but what had shocked the
white haired Sannin was the form lying limply under one of Itachi�s arms
�Naruto. The blond was bleeding from a wound on his chest, the red liquid
dripping onto Itachi�s arm and onto the ground, and Naruto was obviously
unconscious.

Itachi�s crimson eyes were fixed on
the Sannin, who was too stunned to make a move.

�Seems like, in the end, you lose�
Itachi said quietly.

Jiraiya couldn�t look away from the
motionless form of Naruto; he could see that the boy was barely alive, but the
wound was already healing due to the chakra of Kyuubi inside him. Itachi was
holding him tightly with his left arm, not bothered by the blood, and acting
like the blond was just some object.

The Uchiha stared coldly at the
white haired man before looking down at the unconscious body under his arm,
something flashing in his crimson eyes.

�What a waste; he was growing,� he
said, so softly neither of the other two heard him. But his voice remained
emotionless.

Finally snapping, Jiraiya attacked.

�I can�t let this happen, I won�t let Naruto be taken away from me! I
already watched my best student die without being able to do anything,
I won�t let my apprentice die as well!�

With this thought clear in mind,
Jiraiya formed his own Rasengan in one hand, but his assault was stopped again
by Kisame, who absorbed it with his Samehada, taking advantage of the Sannin�s
rage.

Itachi merely stared at both of them
emotionlessly, not even moving from his position, his eyes turning down to the
blond teen�s body before looking back up again.

Jiraiya felt himself
lose chakra from the attack, but had no time to retaliate, as a blow from the
shark�like nin caught him in the jaw, causing the Sannin to fly backwards.

Kisame waved Samehada again, this
time aiming for cutting away a part of Jiraiya, who had to back away so as not
to have his arm chopped off.

Using this moment of distraction to
their advantage, Kisame and Itachi performed a few quick seals. As the rain
started to fall heavily on them (the light downpour turning into a storm) the
two Akatsuki members disappeared from the battle field.

Jiraiya was left alone as the sky
cried and rumbled above him, staring in shock at the blood pooling on the
ground in front of him, where Itachi had been holding Naruto.

The Sannin was completely at a loss;
he�d failed in protecting Naruto from the organization, and now the chances he
had of getting Naruto back were equal to nothing.

The feeling was not foreign to the
white haired man, having felt the same already when Orochimaru had betrayed the
village for his immortality quest, and later on, when Yondaime had sacrificed
his life for Konoha�s safety. But then he�d closed his heart so as not to be
hurt again, and, now, after Naruto had re-opened it, making Jiraiya feel like
he was finally being redeemed from his previous mistakes� he�d failed again.

And the hurt was thrice as strong as
before, compounding the pain of each and every failure.

He hadn�t been able to take
Orochimaru back, or to make him retreat from his decision to search for
immortality by using young bodies.

He hadn�t been able to stop Yondaime
from giving up his life with the ultimate seal during the fight with Kyuubi.

He�d thought that maybe� maybe by
training Naruto, and making him strong and worthy, he
would redeem himself for his past sins, but instead he�d been foolish enough to
let the Akatsuki take away the blond.

Naruto was lost to them.

�What would you say to me now� Arashi�� he thought, gritting his teeth in
despair.

He was ready to give up. Everything
forgotten, the white haired Sannin simply stood there under the storm, ready to
mourn one more soul he had lost. The shock was so great he simply couldn�t
cope.

But then,
almost unconsciously�

A flash of a long�buried memory
nudged him faintly, and Jiraiya remembered; he remembered a day many years
before, when he was nothing more than a Jounin �and yet, already a Sannin� at
his first day as a teacher.

�Start Flashback�

Jiraiya simply glared as he proudly
stood in front of what he had to call his team for future years.

He hadn�t liked the idea of training
a bunch of hyper boys, freshly out of the Academy, at all, and he wasn�t
particularly up to the challenge. However, his sensei had asked him to,
because, at the time, with wars and rivalries flaring up easily, Konohagakure
was in dire need of good, valiant shinobi, and Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi�sensei
knew he was a great ninja, despite his fondness of watching naked women
bathing.

And he wondered why he�d been forced
to pick three genin when his best friend, Orochimaru, was still a free jounin.
This was not right. Maybe Sarutobi�sensei was just preferring
the Snake summoner over him, but there again,
Orochimaru had an obvious dislike over children. He would never get himself to
take a group of brats to teach� not in a million years.

At least that was what the snake had
said� if Jiraiya recalled it clearly. He hadn�t been paying attention at all, too busy dreaming about writing some kind of novel that
would bring him money and fame.

And knowing how picky that snake
could be, Jiraiya was amazed that the girl could have attracted his attention
at all. She wasn�t even all that beautiful, but, then again, Orochimaru wasn�t
a pervert like the white haired man.

Jiraiya looked at his three
students, his eyes trailing from a bored looking girl (who was munching on a
leaf) to a yawning boy (who looked like he wanted nothing more than return to
bed) to a blond boy who looked expectantly at him, blue eyes eager and bright.

They looked like� children. How much
time had passed since he himself had been called so? Too much
for his liking, and too much for his heart to be able to accept it.

He sighed in defeat.

�My name is Jiraiya, but you can
call me The Genius Hermit of the Toads, Handsome Sannin Jiraiya� he muttered
half heartedly. �I love women, sake, and I hate wasting my time. My dream is to
publish a book for all to read. Now introduce yourselves�.

He would have put more emphasis and
enthusiasm into it, but he�d been dragged from his usual morning onsen�spying
by Tsunade to get to the training ground for his first team, and he wasn�t
pleased.

At all.

�I�m Tachibana Midori,� said the girl,
still holding the leaf between her lips. Her jade eyes were staring at him
almost as if she was asking herself if this was really the mighty Sannin
everyone spoke so highly about. �I love plants, and I hate demanding people. My
dream is to successfully create a potion that can be instantaneous in healing
battle wounds�.

Jiraiya waved his hand at her. So,
she was from the family of plant users that had transferred itself from the
Grass Country.

The boy in the middle stifled
another yawn, and tried to look a little more interested as he pointed at
himself, �I am Hinachi Keitaro.
I hate to wake up early, and I love books. My dream is� well, I want to become
a medic nin� he admitted, fidgeting slightly.

There were few male medic nins at that time, but it wasn�t uncommon for a male shinobi
to choose this path if they had a distaste for action.

The Sannin turned to the last genin,
bored to the maximum. And here he had thought that, by handling the top rookie
of the class and the second in rank, he would get some excitement.

�My name is Kazama Arashi,� the
third member of Team 5 said proudly, his eyes shining with determination. �I
hate people who betray friends, and I love my village�.

Jiraiya had to refrain himself from
snorting at the kid. Such an idealistic fool.

�And what is your dream?� he asked,
barely hiding a smirk.

�I want to be able to protect those
that I care for,� he said. �I want to become strong and protect my village.�

Jiraiya had to admit that he was at
least self�confident. Still a fool, but self�confident.

�You can�t be serious about such a
thing. Come on, you don�t have to show off to our sensei �he�s a Sannin after all,� Keitaro
stared in mocking sarcasm at his team mate. �Besides, you may not have been the
dead last of our class, but you were pretty much close to it! How can you think
of becoming strong enough to protect this place?�

Arashi didn�t look bothered at all
by the boy�s words, and smiled simply as if he knew a secret the other did not.

�Not being able to memorize the history
of this village and a bunch of theoretical facts doesn�t mean I won�t be
strong,� he replied proudly. �I don�t care what others think! I will grow
strong to protect the ones I care for!�

�So you want to be Hokage? If you
were Hokage, you would be the strongest of all shinobi,� Midori commented,
staring at him.

�Nah, Hokages
have too much paperwork,� he dismissed the fact with a wave of his hand. �I
won�t be hiding in an office; I will be where I am needed, and I will protect
my village!�

�It�s not that simple, little brat,�
Jiraiya intervened. �What makes you think you will be able to protect
everything you care for? Sometimes you will just have to make a choice, and you
may not be able to save everyone�.

He didn�t even know why he wanted to
squash the boy�s hopes. Maybe because lingering too much on such dreams would
just shatter him later on.

�I know that, maybe, one day, I
won�t be able to protect everyone. But I will do my best, and I know that
because I have faith in myself,� the blond looked up at him. �I�d do anything to achieve my goal.�

Jiraiya stared back at those blue,
sparkling orbs, and, before he could stop himself, he leaned over and ruffled
the blond hair almost affectionately, receiving a protesting wail from the boy.

�Come on, brats,
let�s start with a little test of mine.� With that, Jiraiya stood up.

He didn�t know why, but he felt like
smiling.

�End Flashback�

Arashi wasn�t just showing off that
day. He believed in his words, and had remained faithful to them through all his
life up to the very last moment, always doing what he could to protect his
precious village.

Not even when all odds were against
him had he wavered against his opponents.

Jiraiya clenched his fists in
determination and anger. The rain was drenching him, but he didn�t care.

�I can�t abandon Naruto like this. It�s not something I would do� it�s
not something Arashi would do. Because he did everything he could to protect
those he cared for� and it�s time I start to show that I can do that as well.
Wouldn�t want a stupid ghost to haunt me at night because I wasn�t a good
teacher for his offspring, would I?�

Jiraiya straightened, his resolve
steeling once more as he remembered his student, and what he�d become.

It seemed like this time it had been
a student that had taught his sensei something valuable� or at least, reminded
him of it.

�Don�t worry, Naruto. I am coming�.

��

It was a sunny day in Konoha,
despite the cold morning, and everything seemed to go on as if nothing was
wrong� nothing had changed in two years. It was still the same quiet place,
with villagers walking around, doing their jobs, and dark shadows passing from
time to time through the streets and over the rooftops.

In the Hokage tower, where Chuunin,
Genin, and Jounin could be seen coming and going to bring reports or take new
missions, the Godaime Hokage was working as usual, with two Jounin guards
standing in front of her door.

Tsunade let her eyes trail away from
her desk, which was covered with papers and scrolls, and glanced outside the
window, for a moment confused.

She�d been doing paperwork all day,
mostly because Shizune had threatened her for a while with hiding her bottles
of sake if she didn�t return to find Tsunade�s work all done when she came
back, so the blond haired woman could do nothing but apply herself to her work.

That is, until she felt a light
shudder run through her back for apparently no reason.

Her hand tightened on her pen so
much she snapped it in two pieces, but she was too caught in her bad feeling to
pay the pen any attention.

Why was she feeling this dread
welling up in her stomach?

It had been a while since her last
bad feeling, so she didn�t remember what this kind of warning meant. One had
occurred when Orochimaru left, but the most recent had been before meeting with
Naruto, when the snake had tried to gain her services by promising her what she
wanted the most. She was glad she had refused the offer, because nothing could
ever erase her love for her brother and Dan, but they were dead and she had to
keep on living�

It wasn�t until she felt the ink
dripping on her hands that she shook the thoughts and the feeling away from
her, cursing lightly because she�d ruined half her work by breaking the pen.

Standing up, the Hokage made her way
towards the bathroom to wash the black ink away.

Too bad she didn�t notice the
newspaper Shizune had brought in before on the table. In a corner of the right
page, half covered by the black ink, was the winning number of the Weekly Ninja
Lottery.

If Tsunade hadn�t spilled the ink on
the paper and on her hands, she would have been suddenly aware that the number
was identical to the one on her lottery ticket.

A bad omen�

But everything would be clear soon,
because, with a pop, something green appeared in the Hokage�s office and hopped
onto the table, knocking away some scrolls in its hurry; and the moment Tsunade
returned to the room, she was aware of the middle sized toad hopping
frantically on her desk.

Tsunade felt her throat constrict as
she looked at the summon, wondering why Jiraiya had sent one so soon after the
last letter� that had been only a week before. It was still too early, knowing
he usually sent one letter every month and no more.

She felt instantly that something
had happened, and she reached the table in a second, staring down at the
animal, which stopped moving as he saw her.

�Tsunade�sama,� the toad said, not
looking up at her, and handed her a short sheet of paper. Tsunade took it and
nodded to the toad, which disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Opening the letter, Tsunade felt her
heart clench painfully, and, as she finished reading the short message, she
felt like the world was collapsing around her.

�It can�t be��

The blond Hokage let herself fall
onto the chair, head held in her hands as if thinking that this was just a
dream, a nightmare, wishing she could wake up and nothing more.

It wasn�t, because, as she opened
her eyes again, the letter in front of her was still there, white paper and
black ink, shattering her life in a million pieces and then stepping on them
until nothing was left.

The door creaked open and Shizune
appeared, her face twisted in a grimace as she saw her sensei sitting there and
not doing her paperwork. The woman was about to yell at the Hokage �only she,
Jiraiya, and Naruto were not that respectful of her� when she noticed tears
falling on the documents on the table, and she realized something was very
wrong.

�Tsunade�sama!� she cried,
approaching the crying woman, who said nothing to her apprentice and handed her
the letter.

Shizune blinked.

A letter?

She took it, noticing the trembling
hands of Tsunade, and, as her eyes fell on the contents of the letter, she felt
her blood freeze.

�Tsunade. I am sorry. Akatsuki has Naruto. I
couldn�t stop them or protect him. But I am following their trails right now,
and they seem to be going to the depths of Earth Country, north of Iwagakure. I
may need backup. I�ll get him back, believe me.�

Shizune couldn�t see Tsunade�s face,
but she could clearly see her fists clenched painfully, so that her knuckles
were white, and she was trembling.

Shizune didn�t know what she could
do, because she was just as shocked herself; in the little time she�d come to
know Naruto, the little bright blond had brought into her life and into
Tsunade�s so much light that she now thought of him as family.

Knowing his life was now at risk
because of something he could not prevent was plainly unfair.

�Call Kakashi,
Seishiro, and Gai�.

Tsunade�s voice was dark and
controlled, but Shizune knew better than to think the blond woman was fine.

Shizune nodded and exited the room;
the moment the door closed behind her back, she felt a giant crash from inside
the office, but she didn�t enter again. She had to find the two Jounin and the
ANBU leader.

Both her and Tsunade, who was now
standing in front of the broken remains of the table and the scrolls and papers
now floating around her, only to fall messily on the floor, could only pray to
whatever god was up there for Naruto to be safe.

Or else�

��

Having a day off didn�t seem that
bad to Kakashi as he wandered around in the village with his book in hand.

It had been a while since he�d had a
day of vacation, after all the missions he�d taken (now that his team was no
more, because two of the members were away from Konoha, he�d resumed doing high
ranked missions) and he now looked forwards to a day of complete relaxation.

He�d planned to visit his favourite
teacher later on, when he finished teaching at the academy, but it was still
too early.

At the moment, the silver haired
copy�nin was returning from his morning trip to the cemetery, something he did
every single day, standing near the grave where the name of his long�lost
friend was carved for eternity.

Kakashi often wondered if he would
end on that stone as well, because he knew a ninja�s life was not supposed to
end with a peaceful death by old age. The only one that had reached an age that
permitted him to resign from his work had then been forced to return due to the
death of his successor, and had then died in battle as well�

His name was carved on the same
stone proclaiming him to be the hero he�d been.

Kakashi wondered if Obito would be
proud of him, or if he would just scold him, because his favouritism for one of
his students had caused all three to suffer greatly, and even after two years
he couldn�t but feel guilty about it; he was trying to redeem himself every
day, but he felt as if it was not enough.

But if there was something Kakashi
shared with his death friend, it was the faith for his team. Obito had once put
everything in Kakashi�s hands, even his life, trusting him, and had showed him
he�d cared about Kakashi after all, and not only about himself.

And Kakashi was willingly to do the
same. He would put his trust in Naruto, knowing he would never back away from
his words� it was his way of ninja.

It was almost scary how much Obito
and Naruto had in common. Both had been shunned for their entire lives, both
wanted to change how people looked at them, both had been unfortunate enough�

But, unlike Naruto, Obito never had
a chance to fulfil his dream.

He�d never had a fair life because
of his clan, and Kakashi knew that, by giving Kakashi his eye so that they
could be forever united, Obito had wanted to show the world he was something
more than a dead last.

Kakashi respected him greatly for
that.

�Shikamaru, don�t be stubborn, come
back! Tell me!�

Kakashi blinked as he stared at the
sight in front of him; two of Team 10 were walking
down the street in the opposite direction. One was the blond girl that used to
fight against Sakura, Ino, and the other was the Chuunin Shikamaru.

The latter was walking in his usual
slouched way, grimacing at the girl latched onto his arm, who was almost
whining.

�You�re so troublesome, Ino,� he
muttered, before spotting Kakashi. �Ohayo Kakashi�sensei,� he said, walking
away.

Kakashi scratched his head in
confusion.

Ino didn�t let go as she waved at
Kakashi, pleading the lazy teen again, �Shikamaru! Tell me who you�re going out
with! It�s been a year, ne?! I deserve to know!�

�It�s been two years,� Kakashi
corrected, waving his finger.

He was grateful the Genin and
Chuunin of the village could still amuse him. More so if he was to prod them in
this way.

Ino stopped to stare at him, eyes
wide, and Shikamaru froze.

�And Ino, you shouldn�t butt into
Shikamaru and Hyuuga�s affairs� Kakashi added with a smirk (which neither of
the two teens could see) before walking away, feeling rather smug and
contented.

Ino�s screech could be heard up to
the top of the Hokage
Mountain, �You�re going
out with Hinata?!�

Kakashi resumed his walk, snickering
softly, �She�s so clueless�� He was
determined to go to the bookstore to see if the new �Icha Icha� book was
finally out, but was stopped by a cloud of smoke speeding towards him.

The silver haired ninja groaned in
distaste. Of all days Gai choose this to bother him with one of his challenges?

But as the spandex wearing Green
Beast of Konoha stopped in front of him, Kakashi knew something was not right;
Gai�s face was serious, and that was enough to drive Kakashi�s suspicion to
high levels.

�My rival, Hokage Tsunade�sama has
asked for us� Gai stared hard at the other jounin, not really knowing how to
explain what had happened to him. This was a first for him, since he would
usually start mouthing off about the Flame of Youth and such� but this was
serious.

Not even he could joke over this.

�Gai, is there something wrong?�
Kakashi forgot about his free day. Something that could make Gai serious was
surely something big.

Gai sighed, and stared with
understanding at the other man, �Kakashi, I�m sorry. Akatsuki has Naruto�kun�.

The book fell from Kakashi�s fingers
and he didn�t care. A second later, the two were gone. �Icha Icha Paradise�
forgotten on the ground.

��

Tsunade stared at the three men in
front of her with grave eyes, a light red tinge signalling to all of them that
she had been crying until a moment before, but she looked so fierce and
determined now she was almost scary.

Apart from Kakashi and Gai, there
was another man in the room, dressed in the usual ANBU outfit, the mask of a
nezumi hiding his face. He looked like he was still strong, and the aura of
authority he had was enough to let others know he was one of the captains of
the ANBU.

�What happened to Naruto?� Kakashi asked, concern clear in his voice.

No one saw the sudden tenseness in
the nezumi�s stance, since the other four in the room
�Shizune was there as well� were too concerned about the blond Genin to notice.

Tsunade stared at the copy�nin, �He
and Jiraiya were attacked in the proximity of Iwagakure, in the Tsuchi no Kuni, and now Akatsuki has Naruto. From what I recall of
what Jiraiya told me, it will take them three days to
fully perform the extracting jutsu, and they have not yet started. It seems
they have to be together to do that, and they need a special, prepared place as
well. I think you have at least a week to reach Jiraiya in the Earth Country
and save Naruto.�

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. He knew
this was serious, and that Naruto needed him; if not before, now he could at
least show the teen he cared for him.

�I accept,� he said.

Gai nodded; there was nothing else
to do. He was fond of the bright blond, because, even after everything he went
through, he could still smile. Gai could see a burning flame in him, just like
the one Lee had.

�What about my team?� Gai asked
then.

Tsunade thought about it for a
moment. It was a dangerous mission, and it would put Kakashi, Gai, and the squad
of ANBU in risky situations. She could not let unprepared ninja follow, but she
couldn�t let the appointed shinobi go alone against Akatsuki.

For a moment she wished she wasn�t
the Hokage. She would drop everything to go in search of Naruto, but she
couldn�t.

She had her responsibilities, for
all that this sounded wrong to her in such a situation.

�Neji passed the Jounin exam,
right?� she asked the bowl�headed shinobi, who nodded enthusiastically. �I
think you should take him with you. He is a friend of Naruto, and he knows
about him, and he has enough experience to not be a hindrance�.

Gai nodded.

�I trust you to take Naruto back,�
Tsunade said. �Now, go.�

The nezumi ANBU nodded, and took off
to find his companions; no one saw the grimace of hatred that marred his face
underneath.

Gai and Kakashi nodded as well
before disappearing, each of them heading to a different place. Tsunade was
left sitting at the table, her hands trembling again. She trusted the two
Jounin and the ANBU team to take Naruto back, and against all odds, she also
trusted Jiraiya, because he cared for Naruto as well.

��

Kakashi could do nothing but hug him
tightly when Iruka broke down.

He had never hugged anyone before
Iruka came into his life, so, even now, it felt quite strange to just hold him
(without doing anything else more perverted) but, at the same time, it felt right.

Even if caring for someone was said
to be a hindrance for a shinobi, Kakashi thought otherwise. The strongest
people he knew, dead or alive, were
the ones that had something to protect. And he knew better than to just turn
his back on something that would make him strong. He would never let go of what
he cared for.

The silver haired Jounin had known
it was his duty to let Iruka know about Naruto�s kidnapping, but he hadn�t
expected such a devastating reaction. Sure, he knew Iruka cared a lot for
Naruto, almost as if he was his father, but to see him broke down completely
hurt him even more.

And still, he knew he had done the
right thing when he had decided to tell the teacher about it.

�Iruka, trust me, we will take
Naruto back, and he�ll be fine,� Kakashi reassured the distressed Chuunin.

Iruka sniffled hard, not quite
believing that his little Naruto was now in the hands of someone who had hurt
him so much.

It took a while for his trembling
and his rage (because he was furious as well, at himself and at the Akatsuki)
to calm down, but, when he did, he became aware of the fact that Kakashi was
holding him tightly, trying to comfort him.

Iruka willed himself to breathe, and
let his shoulders relax; Naruto was out of his reach, but the words his lover
was whispering in his ear were calming him down.

The Chuunin stared up with pleading
eyes at the man he�d come to love, and frowned in a serious way, �Take him
back. I have faith in you, Kakashi.�

The silver haired Jounin nodded
seriously before pulling down the mask from his lips, locking them with Iruka�s
in a slow kiss.

Then he smiled cheerfully at Iruka,
waving goodbye. �I�ll never let someone I
care for die again,� he promised to himself.

Iruka stared a the
place where Kakashi had disappeared, a stern look in his eyes. He had known
better than to ask Kakashi to let him come with the rescue party �he would be
no match against the Akatsuki, because, after all, he was still only a Chuunin.
He�d never wanted to be anything more, and teaching students was what he loved
to do.

He would leave everything in
Kakashi�s hands.

�I hope you are ok, Naruto��

��

The pain.

For him, there was no consciousness,
no sanity, no thoughts�nothing else existed.

Only pain.

It came on so suddenly that he had
no time to prepare himself, no time to brace his mind and body for it� it was
far stronger than anything he�d ever experienced before� so strong, that the
pain he had felt when under Tsukiyomi paled in comparison.

Sheer, utter,
devastating pain.

Blinding him, chocking him until his
lungs could no longer breathe, until his mind attempted to retreat from
reality, but there was no escape.

It stretched through his entire
frame, reaching every single part of him, from his twitching fingers, buried so
deeply in the ground under his body that his nails were broken and bloody, to
his feet; he was trembling and shuddering, his frame seizing uncontrollably,
and yet he wasn�t able to move from the spot he was in.

Too strong.

The pain.

Some part of him knew he�d been
yelling� he wasn�t really aware of the time passing; he was aware of nothing
but the throbbing sensation spreading in his body, waves that felt like a
thousand thorns were being pushed inside his skin over and over again.

It felt like his insides were being
pulled out, he felt like his brain was being smashed against a wall� nothing
mattered but the pain.

He yelled so much his voice was
rough and low, and still not even he could hear his
own voice above the mad thumps of his heart in his ears, his breath stopping in
his lungs.

�Stop��

Nowhere to
turn. Nowhere to
escape� there was no way to flee the pain, no hope at all, nothing, he was so
hurt he couldn�t even tell if he was still alive or not, because it was long
since his mind had shut down.

And still, he wasn�t unconscious.

Maybe it had been the shock and the
pain fighting against any blissful sleep that could have spared him the torture
and the pain he was going through at the moment, or maybe it had been his own
stubbornness before his brain shut off.

He didn�t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him give
up and admit defeat� not even against all odds.

He didn�t want to die in his sleep�
it would not be fair; he was already far too gone to be saved, he knew this and
accepted his death. At the point he was at, he even welcomed it, the pain was
too strong, and he just wanted it all to end.

Any way� to
stop.

Shattering his
defences.

Breaking his
mind, his will, his soul.

Nothing was left.

But still, he would not die without
staring at death itself in his last moments. He wanted to be able to see the
end, because he was not afraid of it anymore. Not after this.

He wanted the respect that he
deserved, and he never had it. Fleeting thoughts running among the pain,
bringing more pain on a mental level, knowing this was were he would cease to
exist. Every since cell of his body screamed it.

Hot tears
burning down his cheeks, his cries high in the air, never ending, the anguish
radiating from his body, almost dancing around him, almost visible and tangible
in the darkness, as if his thoughts turned into a black mist that now
surrounded him.

The pain never stopped.

Never dying away, for how much he
begged it to.

But he refused to slip into alluring
unconsciousness.

He was to die.

And he wanted to show them he would
do it like a real shinobi.

Not begging. Not dying when he
wasn�t aware of it.

He wanted to welcome death by
looking it in the eyes, showing everyone he didn�t fear it, he didn�t fear
anything.

He didn�t want to show his weakness
with his vanishing strength. If not for the respect of the
living, then for the respect of the dead.

And he stopped begging for the pain
to stop; he stopped crying to whatever god was up there to end his torment and
grant him his wish for death.

He cried for the pain. He let tears
fall even thought he could not feel them on his cheeks anymore, the shock
blinding and dulling everything but the sheer pain.

Nothing was real; he didn�t even
know if he was lying on the ground anymore, because all he was aware of was the
pain and nothing more.

Nothing else.

Some part of him was still able to
think rationally, and that part was mourning. He would never see his precious
people again. Iruka�sensei, Tsunade obaa�chan, Ero�Sannin�.

He would never fulfil his promise to
Sakura.

He would never see Sasuke again.

He would not become Hokage. And,
despite having tried to renounce this dream before, he simply couldn�t, and had
continued to believe it even against all odds.

But everything was shattered now.

He was no more.

Naruto was no more.

How much time had he passed crying,
twisting on the ground, blood trickling from his eyes and the corner of his
mouth together with tears and sweat, how much time had he spent yelling, so
that now his voice was gone, how long had the torture continued?

He could not know.

Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. Weeks� he couldn�t
know.

He couldn�t care.

He just wanted for it to stop.

Now Kyuubi would have his chance to
destroy the villages, whilst he would die.

What a way to end his life� lying on
the dirty ground in a pool of his own blood, feeling the very essence of his
life being pulled out of his body with each second passing by� the tug on his
belly, and on his heart growing stronger and stronger, the pain burning him
alive from the inside and the outside.

His skin feeling like it was melting
on him, his eyes nothing but a flame, the capillaries snapping and bleeding
together with the smaller veins of his body, bile rising inside of him,
twisting and seizing around so harshly he could have broken his arms or legs�
not that he could have felt that.

Amidst with the pain came the strong
feeling of a spoken jutsu; he hadn�t sensed it with his hearing, because it had
been long since his ears had stopped functioning� it came with the feeling
inside him of a foreign pulse vibrating in resonance with his own thumping
heart, almost hypnotizing him.

Blind eyes widened to look at the
nothingness of the darkness around him. Naruto could feel it was coming to an
end.

Since he couldn�t feel his body
anymore, it was purely instinct that told him at a subliminal level that the
seal on his belly was changing, and fading slowly, and his dazed mind
(frightened away and unresponsive because of the shock and the pain) could feel
the demon reach out, being called out by a force so powerful Naruto felt ripped
apart.

A last coherent thought occurred as
his mind resurfaced for a second to reality, before the pain clouded him once
more.

A last agonizing cry shot out in the
air, filling every spot, reaching deeply into every heart and every soul,
crying out hopelessly.

For the last time, before he let
darkness claim him forever.

�I�m sorry��

And then,
nothing more�

� but
silence.

No pain, nothing.

Only a comforting darkness,
and he welcomed it.

��

Cepheus: Obito. I love Obito.

Drop a review if you care! I would love you forever!

Besides, you want another chapter up soon, ne?
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Winter Release