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The Little Things	By : starapple Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 903 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
- 12
- 13
- 14
The Little Things
By
Starapple/Martinique
Warnings:
Spoilers up to chapter 238, as if you don�t already know if you�re
on this particular chapter.
Disclaimer:
Not mine. Oh, I wish. Like us all.

Chapter 12 � we are more than
demons
There was
a difference between ordinary news and that which came from the
Hokage. News that came from the two leaders was the kind that
travelled on the heels of shinobi as they met in the shadows of
buildings, passing along small tid-bits. They had gone from peace to
martial law to full-out war. The enemy didn�t know it yet, but
every single shinobi upwards from Chuunin knew it. They were going to
war, they were going to fight somewhere and they had less than a week
to prepare.
He
expected the town to have been in uproar, but strangely they welcomed
it. Months of living had been peaceful, but there was still anger at
the force that had made them leave, and irrationally they turned
their minds against it, wanting vengeance, wanting to punish. The
town was consistent in their anger, and he knew well that they could
carry grudges.
Sakura
finally understood. Some things had to be done. Naruto could see this
as he stepped into the hall brimming over with shinobi who mingled in
groups. She stood easily, weight balanced on one leg more than the
other. Her battle-ready, metal-gloved hands twisting into and out of
a shaped fist.
He
considered going over there, but he knew he wasn�t in the right
mood to talk to her, or Ino for that matter. They hadn�t noticed
him either, so he kept going, looking for an unoccupied wall. Along
the way he spotted Kiba, Temari and others, but they didn�t notice
him either, too caught up in their conversations.
He saw
Sasuke one the left wall, clearly having the same thought as him.
There was a gap of free space around him, shinobi pointedly but
subtly ignoring him. He joined him, gaining a near-imperceptible nod
from Sasuke.
The room
thickened with bodies, heat stifling them. The doors shut heralding
the beginning of the meeting. Heads turned towards the stage,
waiting, conversations halting abruptly.
Tsunade
and Gaara stepped out onto the stage, dressed in full formal gear,
cloaks brushing the floor as they came forward, expert embroidery
lined with gold and silver flashing in the light. The hall wavered in
standstill.
�This
was a war of attrition.� She began, loudly, authority and the voice
of a leader breaching every ear. �This was a war, seeking to ground
us down, and yet it has found us, not cowering in escape tunnels to
join the fallen, instead we are thriving and this, this here is our
counter-attack.� She looked out over them, hard stare returned by
unflinching faces.
She began
again, quieter, her voice rising to a thundering crescendo.
�They
may have thought themselves victors. As they did, we will bring this
war � fought with honour � to their doorsteps. We will not resort
to trickery. We have all we need, standing here today. The war is not
over. This will be the final battle. You will take part in this, the
momentous battle. We will turn the tide against those, who sought to
push us out of our homes, knowing not that we carry it wherever we
go! We have laid our roots, and now we will sever theirs.� She
stopped abruptly in her speech, but it lent itself to what she said.
Impossible, but she seemed to grow taller in Naruto�s eyes. He
could admire her, and knew that this is what true leadership sounded
like. The pause drew itself out, and a wave rippled through the mass.
Bodies pulled themselves into lines, standing firm on balanced feet,
spines elongated. A charged silence filled the air.
�Today,
Shinobi of Konoha and Sand, we are at war with the Mist Country.�
She pronounced, and within them all it was the sound of a death
sentence descending onto any mist shinobi. She searched their faces,
measuring, judging. Looking hard at those that seemed to lack the
proper enthusiasm. Naruto could feel the pressure inside of him, the
push to action he could sense directly in front of them.
And it was
there, a subdued frenzy yet to break loose. They wanted this war,
needed it almost.
The
declaration left him cold and hot, and to his right Sasuke watched
the proceedings with a blank expression. It didn�t seem to faze
him. Naruto swept his gaze across the assembled shinobi, spotting
most of his year from the academy days. Anbu lined the stage, just to
make a point.
Tsunade
gave them one last hard glare, and then with Gaara in tow, swept over
the stage to the back, disappearing from view.
That left
them with a stuttering mass, grazing the fringes darkly. Some began
to leave, but they were hardly finished. Major instructions had yet
to be passed down, and this would start in a while.
Naruto
felt cheated, and something just to his left, right there in his
blind spot mocked him. Safe, but he�d watch it. And catch it. He
just needed to shift his eyes just enough, just�
�Lunch.�
Sasuke said, in a way that allowed for no argument and it irked, an
itch embedded deep in that triangular area beneath his shoulder blade
he could never reach. And distracted him.
There was
no point in biting back at Sasuke, especially when he had such a smug
look on his face that spoke of hallways at midnight and stolen kisses
for thanks.
And why
did he always insist on giving the other ammunition to fire at him
with?
The war
was on their doorsteps and he was considering whether lunch was a
good idea or not. When had he become so accustomed to the situation?
Somewhere the thought of lives that would inevitably be lost should
horrify him.
War is
beautiful in the abstract. He knew that. Had never fought in a war,
missions weren�t war. War was heat and cold, action and passivity,
camaraderie and depressing loneliness all rolled into one. The gall
to be looking forward to it, the whole lot and he no better, thinking
pork would be so nice right now.
How did
Tsunade do it? And she�d been full of fire, so convincing. Darker
than he had expected. He wasn�t convinced though, and such simple
theatrics wouldn�t work on him.
He felt
scrambled along the edges, as if someone had thrown a disruptor into
his brain, leaving him reeling, unearthed, afloat in his mind. Where

was Gaara? He hadn�t even said anything to warn him, what
did that make him?
It was
already setting in. Not knowing. Passivity. How long could they last
without cracking under the immense and continuous barrage of gore and
violence; red blood black congealed mush holding together splintered
fibres.
He could
almost see where this war would go, and he wished dearly Sasuke
wouldn�t keep looking at him like that because it was interrupting
his thoughts � floating freely across fields sweetly scented tang
of blood threatening below � disassociative state something
whispered to him � and he�d lost track of the smirking thing in
his blind spot even though it hadn�t moved.
He shook
his head sharply, hair falling loose of the hastily tied pony tail
and he decided to cut the damn stuff later, who cares if it would
grow back when he shifted.
�No. Not
hungry.� A lie. Rice and pork would be so nice right now, just
after noon. He couldn�t deny though that he wanted the war just as
badly, because everyone else did. It wasn�t a good reason, but it
was all he had. Everyone he cared about was fine � in the physical
sense � and he had never cared about the flats of old Konoha. They
were all he had and he still had them.
The war
threatened that.
He was
excited and subdued all at the same time. Sasuke still leaning
against the wall and he wondered if an earthquake would move
him, could move him against his will if he so chose to remain.
It�d be
something to do on a Saturday.
Tables
were shifted to the front and the crowd that had swelled in noise
sobered up, loosely facing desks. Sealed envelopes were carried
forward in flat-pack boxes.
They began
to call names, alphabetical order. He was well aware that they would
be here for ages, he was hungry and Sasuke was poorly-concealing a
knowing smirk. The urge to squeeze his neck, just a little, to feel
that soft skin contract under rough hands was tempting, but he kept
his hand at his side. He knew it could be a lightning movement but
Sasuke knew that too so why was he toying with him?
He knew.
Naruto
breathed out, letting the tension flow out of him. Fixed his hair
back up. He spotted Shino and his family. More like smelt them,
faintly. Heard them rustling even as they stood still, like a rush of
leaves in an autumn breeze.
Sasuke
knew what he was doing; testing his boundaries and it didn�t sit
well with Naruto because how dare he play with him.
He wasn�t
civilized, no, he couldn�t be bothered to be civilized enough to
play with him, not when it came to his emotions because those were
locked up, and if he let one out to play in the open with Sasuke it
would swallow him whole.
It was war
time, he didn�t have to be civilized. It�s not as if they had
time for such stupidity, they were, as Temari had said, shinobi.
War was
something of a sham, really. It served for no purposes other than to
send a bold voice screaming in the forest about being pissed off at
the other side, and where exactly did he fit into that?
Voices
were crowding, talking, stuttering over sentences as they struggled
to make themselves clear to other shinobi. Talking as if breath had
already been rationed.
He settled
down into place. This would take a while.
As people
were called and even Shikamaru stepped with a sense of urgency
towards the tables, Naruto wondered what exactly his role in this
loathsome fiasco would be.
Shameful.
The war
being such a sham, two sides throwing each other�s civility in
front of the other while arranging mass murders of innocent children
� when were women innocent these days? Not those that he knew.
Shameful. War. Sham. Loathsome and all these other thoughts swarmed
in Naruto�s mind, but he knew he would enjoy it.
It no
longer scared him, that fact. Hadn�t since he realised how free it
made him. But he was anchored in two worlds and the human part was
horrified at how easily he could sleep at night. No nightmares. Only
happy dreams.
Power
surges within him, the memories they brought with them were enough to
scare any man, to sicken him. Make him retch. All he felt was a deep
latent satisfaction at a scene well-played.
He heard
the light scuffle against the wall as Sasuke made his way towards the
front, weaving through bodies that stood resolutely. He wondered if
they were doing it on purpose, denying that he was Uchiha, or if they
were too caught up in mind-numbing frenzy to notice him. He got no
pleasure from it, as he supposed he would�ve done on any normal
day.
He hadn�t
heard them call Sasuke�s name.
He looked
out over the scene, taking in the people there, calculating numbers
in his head because there were always casualties in war.
How many
would be back, able to stand here?
Naruto had
no doubt he would be here, holding open the doors for those that
limped, heads bent in mourning.
Sasuke was
back, face still blank � perhaps carefully so, Naruto couldn�t
tell � white envelope held idly in his palm. As if this was a
normal mission envelope. He leant back against the wall.
Naruto
ignored him. He focused on the tables, waiting to hear his name. He
heard the rustle of paper, could see long fingers open up the paper.
The brief tightening of hands at whatever it had found. Naruto nearly
let himself smile. The first reaction.
He wanted
to know what it said in Sasuke�s envelope to irritate him into
actually reacting. Back in the day not even D missions had bothered
him enough to make his hands do the facial equivalent of scowling.
Finally he
heard his name called, and weaving through the crowd - too caught up
to notice him, or Sasuke it seemed � arrived at the tables. Handed
a pristine envelope, name hastily scrawled in pigeon scratch.
Orders
directly from the old hag.
He licked
his lips thoughtfully. Turning over the envelope to inspect the
closure. The disinterested chuunin who had handed him the blasted
thing had finally noticed the tails and was too entranced not to
stare.
People
either knew what he was or considered it a strange bloodline ability.
The marks on his cheeks helped, as did the long braid of hair. And
they never ever questioned him directly. After all, the Aburame clan
had weirder stuff going on, what were a few tails in comparison? Even
if they were nine great fox-red tails with dark-tipped edges. It was
a good thing no one bothered to wonder why too hard. Those that knew
now knew better than to say anything to him.
The
envelope burnt red in his hand, he was aware of it so intently that
he wove through the crowd without even really noticing it.
He tore
the envelope along one side, tipping out the instructions. The
agitation had left him; he was calm as he read the scrawl. Telling
him to join Gaara and wipe out any and all hostile demons once the
capital had been taken. Telling him, more importantly, to lead a team
of shinobi. Sasuke. And four other names he didn�t recognize.
No wonder.
If he were feeling particularly stupid right now, he would laugh.
Openly. But wars were serious matters and undoubtedly if the usual
fifth rule applied he would be writing home to someone�s parents or
children to relate a heroic death. Even if it had been a coward�s
death, a panicking shinobi running, unable to handle the pressure of
war.
The
barrage of opened skulls and bloated stomachs was different to
mission assassinations. Or self-defence. It was never carnage. It was
survival. The hum of voices died down as the alphabet wound down.
Groups detached, war still abstract, ready to say goodbye to their
families with the promise of coming back.
The �how�
stayed unsaid.
Naruto
gathered himself together, fitted the scrap of paper back into the
envelope and turned to study Sasuke. Dark eyes rose to meet his, and
Naruto knew words would have to be said at one point. They pierced
him, demanding answers as if he had committed a crime.
Eyes
narrowed at what Naruto said, a smile gracing white teeth.
�This
should be fun.�

August was
dry, and its night cool. Naruto could feel midnight passing them as
they ran on, aware of the five shinobi that ran alongside him. Aware
of the entire army racing only to crash to a halt at the edge of the
forest, where guards patrolled.
The war
had been on everyone�s lips, goodbyes had been said. Gaara hadn�t
come to him, too busy with the preparations to spare any time.
Naruto
felt free. It all didn�t matter. He was in his element; the earth
pulsed beneath his feet, guiding him forwards. Welcoming him home and
he was sure he could smell the heady fertile mulch as they ran
silently. The subtle tang of freshly-budded leaves hanging on the
fringes of his mind.
He was
prepared to fight to the death.
He cared
nothing for the ideals, the reasons, the purposes.
It didn�t
worry him in the slightest, this looking forward to murder.
Life
didn�t understand fair-play. Neither did he.
The trip
over the expanse of water had been boring, nothing untoward had
occurred. As expected. Instead of Gaara�s bridge, there were actual
ships that ferried them over. Tsunade evidently had planned ahead,
but Naruto didn�t understand why there had been this need for
secrecy.
He was
beginning to suspect that Tsunade was lying to them all about
something, and he didn�t like it. Didn�t like not knowing,
because it offended him. It was hard for him to tell lately if it
offended him or the Fox�s memories. Once the memory surges had
stopped being shocking, the emotions that came with them,
overpowering and confusing as they had been, were difficult to
separate from his.
Something
warred inside him, hating to be used, and yet happy to enjoy it as it
happened.
Naruto saw
the darkness rise as they came upon the edge of the forest. Although
he couldn�t hear the rest of the army, their stopping was audible.
The success of their entry into the capital rested on the next few
moments. They would win, because they had the advantage of surprise,
but needless deaths were best avoided.
It was a
sprint of 600m to the perimeter. Before it were seven guards aligned
in a semicircle around the town. From their current position, Naruto
could see only two guard posts, jutting out above the fence. The
fence could be jumped easily by the worst of shinobi, but they wanted
to avoid anyone raising the alarm. The sea roared to his left, even
though it was nearly a mile away. They were to wait in position until
they saw their guard go down, and this wouldn�t happen until
packets of shinobi had encircled the entire city.
Naruto
smelt the air. Sasuke was to his right, a dark head barely visible in
the thicket of vegetation. Naruto raised a hand to his ear, tugging
once. The rest of his team melted into the trees while he crouched,
eager. Adrenaline pumped through his body. He had to give Tsunade
credit, they would never expect this. The perfect Ambush, even
Shikamaru had approved of the plan.
He
pretended he had nothing to do with it, but everyone knew better.
They had to make sure they didn�t fail in its execution. Gaara was
on the other side of the city; they would meet in the middle, and
then fan out to find any demons.
The clack
of hardened bamboo snapped him to his senses, just in time for eyes
to narrow, pupils adjusting to see the poison dart snap out of the
forest and towards the guard who was oblivious to his death.
He raised
his arm until it was level with his waist, cautioning his team to
wait. The second clack reached him dimly, and Naruto raised his arm
up into the air, allowing them to descend into man-made hell.
Thirty-two teams of six shinobi breached the perimeter, splitting to
take different roads. The entire army couldn�t afford to lose the
momentum they had gained. Windows were smashed and inhabitants killed
with aimed senbon needles, throats slit. They decimated the
population, taking only those who were shinobi.
Superior
intelligence gave them this advantage, and those that had been missed
would be easier to deal with in the morning. The advantage was
theirs, even on foreign soil. The night crept by as he and his team
worked their way into the middle of the city, screams that broke the
air occasionally quickly silenced. They met no resistance, and it was
almost making Naruto nervous because it seemed impossible and not
right that they get away with it. He didn�t know if there had been
any casualties so far, but he seriously doubted it with the way
things were going on his side.
Even as he
felt alive, the dirt and mud dragged at him, and he thought of hot
water to soothe, of clean clothes ironed and neatly pressed as Hinata
had done for him once. He�d broken his arm, if he remembered
correctly. He knew she had done it for more than pure charity, he
didn�t wear his clothes ironed, and when he did � well, he only
broke one arm.
His hair,
hastily slashed at with scissors the morning they left hung about his
face, humidity causing it to fly around his face as they silently
trod down cobblestone pavements speaking of an older time.
This city
had been a town once, before that a fishing village. Before that �
nothing, just an assortment of people living on the sea side before
shinobi had come and made their homes there. Had decided to protect.
Had decided to make demons to fight for them, to conquer land and
Tsunade knew, that much Naruto understood.
They
weren�t the first to reach the city centre; they had had the most
shinobi to remove, so they were one of the last teams to reach the
centre. Blood spatter graced their outfits; they hadn�t shied away
from it.
Admitting
to murder was beyond most assembled here, after all they were shinobi
and loyalty was unquestionable. But Naruto knew better, he knew it
was murder but he didn�t care. And Gaara knew, this much Naruto was
aware of too. And Sasuke understood what they were doing here too,
that it was all murder, carnage and most importantly revenge. They
all understood and didn�t care, because they were shinobi. Because
they were more than just the average shinobi.
Others may
come to that realization once the blood dried and they had to wash
the stains off the clothing, but until then Naruto knew that he only
owed allegiance to whoever he gave it.
He hadn�t
given it unconditionally to Konoha. They weren�t family, they were
just where his family was. And sometimes that was the same thing but
it wouldn�t do well to forget the subtle difference.
Prisoners
were dragged to the front, to be interrogated about the whereabouts
of demons and other shinobi. They would crack, they were weak from
depending on demons.
They
didn�t understand how volatile they could be, and it was enough to
nearly make Naruto laugh and break the mission silence that should
continue until dawn came.
Dawn was
another hour away. The cleansing had taken five hours. As Naruto
manoeuvred himself closer to the front, aware as he had been
throughout of Sasuke watching him, the Mistkage was brought out, robe
hastily swung around his thin form. In case he broke loose, so
everyone knew immediately only to disable him, not attack to kill.
The other prisoners were expendable.
Not that
the Mistkage would have a chance to break loose.
Gaara was
at the front of the group, eyeing the man with disdain. Amazed that
it had been this easy. Naruto saw Sakura�s pink hair at the fringes
of the circular square, throwing orders around on the takeover of the
hospital. He knew Lee would be watching her, so he moved on, spotting
various people from the old year, guarding the centre from any
shinobi they had missed.
A seagull,
awake before dawn, pierced the morning with its great cry. The air
was heavy with the smell of the sea, and sand. He could smell it
everywhere, the sand, and its sunburnt flavour. Below that, Gaara�s
sand, and its iron tinge.
Hinata
caught his eye, opal eyes keeping watch. He could see Neji on the
other side of the circle doing the same. They seemed on edge, backs
straight, form held straight. Naruto dug his hands into his pockets,
returning to see Gaara motion to the shinobi, allowing them to take
the mistkage away.
The city
was theirs.
Gaara
caught his eye, and Naruto wasn�t sure if that was a smirk on his
face or the filter of the light through the mist. He saw the nod that
told him it was time to do their own work.
�Sasuke.�
Sasuke came closer, a bare presence just to his right, unsure now,
more so than before. Too stoic to admit it though.
�Hn.�
He grunted, and if Naruto didn�t know better he would have pulled
him up for being insolent.
He was
being insolent and he would get away with it because he knew

and it irked him.
�The
team is yours.� It was delightful, Naruto thought, to be giving
power over to him.
�Fine.�
A deliberate, lingering pause before the voice curled to settle over
his stomach, sardonic. �Good hunting.�
The remark
made him frown briefly, but he knew Sasuke hadn�t seen, the mist
was heavy and he was behind him. He turned around to face him, taking
a step back towards Gaara. Smiled. Ran his tongue over a fang
briefly.
�We
will.� He didn�t care what the rest of his team possibly thought
of him, though the entire exchange probably just confused them.
Satisfied, he left a scowling Sasuke to give orders to the team.
All it had
said on his slip of paper, Naruto knew, was �Report to Uzumaki
Naruto�.
The old
hag was up to something, he knew. Had been up to something over the
past year and a half. He marched alongside Gaara, who didn�t say a
word as they descended into the basement. The thoughts ran inside his
heads, conflicting with reality, distracting him. He felt as if he
was seeing double, yet walking in a straight line.
The stench
was overpowering. Fumes of bodily fluids hit them, and Naruto knew
they were chained to the wall because there was no other way of
dealing with them at this stage. Dark eyes pierced the humid air,
eyes that weren�t Gaara�s, or his. The blood was rising in his
veins, pumping faster, spiralling back to the heart of things. So
much younger, and yet he could feel the strength in them, it
poured off in steady waves of pure energy. The passageway, slick with
blood, seemed to fall into nothingness, down towards the bowels of
the earth. Felt safe. And threatening. The atmosphere was completely
wrong and yet he could feel himself humming, and Gaara was shining as
if the light was focused on him, and he knew it was just a trick of
his mind. The threatening sand didn�t help; it ran up the length of
the wall, seeking the nooks and weak points in the grilled gate. He
watched it come apart under Gaara�s thoughts.
�I�ll
go in.� Naruto said, a dark smile on his lips that felt out of
place, perhaps in the way the lips tugged over canines that suddenly
felt sharper, longer. Gaara stayed in the shadows, but Naruto could
feel him watching him, knew that in his mind Gaara was alight with
fire.
The dark
kid in front was starved, hanging in the chains limply, but Naruto
wasn�t stupid. He knew how survival could fire the strength of
someone upwards, and he had no intention of giving the kid the chance
to even attack. A Rasengan blossomed in his open hand, and he
marvelled at the swirling energy filled with only one purpose, to
kill. He didn�t care to know what it was supposed to be, it didn�t
really matter because he was nothing but an annoyance, a tool that
they would destroy in the name of War and Konoha and a thousand other
platitudes.
Life,
Naruto found, thrusting an open palm forward to bury the whirlwind
into the demon child�s heart, was simple.
Simple to
destroy.
As a
brief, plaintive cry gurgled off, drowned in a sudden resurgence of
blood, Naruto found that life was hard. So very, fucking,
hard.
Hard to
live.
He turned
away, and it was as if he had killed his first man again, close and
personal, with someone unable to fight back and it didn�t matter,
all this talk of Shinobi honour when you could assassinate. Despite
the cauterizing effect of the Rasengan, the skin sagged open to let
blood gush forth from the arteries now that the heart was completely
destroyed.
The fresh
smell of new blood nearly made him puke, this was an unnatural
situation to be in but he stepped back out of the cell, letting the
iron gate scream on the hinges as they shut, sand pouring out of the
lock.
It wasn�t
their fault that they had been duped and deceived into taking on a
demon, and they wouldn�t ever survive the onslaught, not when they
hadn�t had time to adjust, when the demon�s mind was already
formed and not bound like theirs had been. It didn�t matter though;
they would die at their hands. They wouldn�t fail in their
assignments.
Failing in
assignments meant weakness, meant Orochimaru killing a weak Hokage,
meant the destroying of trust carefully forged through teamwork. He
wouldn�t fail an assignment.
�Naruto.�
Gaara asked. And didn�t. Flat eyes shifted to see Gaara looking at
him. He felt smooth, ready to prowl, to stalk. Easy. Lazy. Distracted
because there was no challenge and yet the blood in him hummed,
vibrated, tapping out a rhythm on his heart.
�Next
one.�
�No.
This isn�t-� He stopped, as if unsure what to say that wouldn�t
be off, Naruto knew this. He could almost taste what Gaara really
wanted to say, that this wasn�t fun any longer. Not
exciting. That they could finish this right now.
�You do
it then.� He almost snaps, relaxing out of a stance he hadn�t
realized he�d been in, somewhere between attacking and giving way.
He gave way.
A few
rough hand movements, sand flashed down the basement, filling air
with sand until the barrier hit their feet. The living tomb and
Naruto turned to head upwards into the morning, into the dawn now
that the dirty deed was over.
It wasn�t
their fault, and it wasn�t his. Life was hard to live successfully;
life was laughably simple to destroy. Demon or not, and it happened
everywhere, all the time. They were agents of inevitability.
This
wasn�t like a year out hunting amongst leaves for tracks, this was
war and he wanted no part of it. And yet he did. The conflicted
feelings, and the sudden guilt masked by a deep satisfaction at the
way things were going were bound to drown him.
He heard
Gaara trudge up behind him, the slither of sand that followed
inexorably. They exited the basement, and it was odd to think that it
looked like any ordinary basement. It hid secrets, not fuel, it hid
monsters, not food, and it hid weapons, not tools.
Fist
tightening at his side, squashing the urge to smash something apart,
and he could feel it rising but he repressed it, pushed it down,
taking steadying breaths.
�We�ll
sweep the countryside at night.� Gaara instructed, but how could
Naruto forget? This was why he was here.
�Of
course.� He lets the false eagerness linger on his tongue,
swallowing around it. A hand touches him, tentative, sand-soft
against his elbow, tightening.
�We�re
at war.� He says, and Naruto wonders how simplistic Gaara can be
about the entire thing, seeing black-white when the world was blazing
a fire-red at all the corners.
As if that
explained everything, but Naruto nods and turns, giving a reassuring
smile.
They were
where he had left them in the middle of the Square. It hadn�t taken
as long as expected to deal with the chained demons, but those
particular specimens had been on the verge of death anyway. Had it
been mercy? Like shooting a doomed animal? Or was it murder, because
it came in a human shape and had a name before it was re-labelled in
the eyes of everyone? He didn�t know. He just felt contempt for
such pathetic creatures, and yet the confusion reigned as to why he
felt like that. It was alien, and yet familiar, it was comforting and
as old as skin.
The sun
shone down, evaporating mists that slowly settled into the ground.
Naruto closed in on his team, settled on a fountain. Although he
tread lightly, Sasuke�s eyes swirled around to him, narrowing into
frowning lines. Betraying an emotion, one that tasted green in the
air.
He came to
a stop next to him, standing loosely at his side, not bothering to
greet. The stillness was breath-taking, awing because it could herald
success or more fighting as they struggled to keep the city under
control. Hopefully any thought of rebellion would crumble once they
realised they had no army to speak of.
�This
was a war of attrition.�
The war
was over now. Not then, when the Hokage had spoken such loud,
fiery words. No, the war was over now; Naruto knew it, the war of
attrition ended last night because there was no hope for a
counter-attack.
�We
will not resort to trickery.�
The
perfect Ambush, this would go down in Konoha�s Annals as the most
successful battle. He should be proud to take a part of it. Where had
the battle taken place? He was there and yet he had no recollection
of it. Memories of deaths in bed were there instead.
Naruto
turned the ideas inside, outside, thinking, trying to figure out what
it was that was so very wrong about this situation.
Shameful.
�Fuck
it.� He knew he had said it, but somehow he hadn�t expected to
actually hear the sound. Fuck it.
�What?�
Sasuke asked. Four pairs of eyes peered up at them.
�This.�
He threw his hand out. He turned away from the team, nimbly stepping
a few meters away. Sasuke trailed behind him. �This isn�t right.�
Sasuke
actually looked confused for a moment, as if he didn�t understand
when Naruto knew he did because he was well-bred. Surely it meant
something.
�We�re
at war.� Sasuke said, mindlessly, and Naruto almost laughed at the
irony of it.

It was
half past six in the morning when the first civilians began to wake
up, when others left the night shift.
It was
nine in the morning when the last body hit the floor and the people
gave up.
Friday,
the 5th of August. The historic date.
Martial
law was declared, the police disbanded, checkpoints erected
throughout the city. News was sent racing back to Konoha, Gaara and
Naruto swept the country-side, dispatching all the strays.
Somewhere,
in the middle of killing, Naruto realised that Tsunade had known a
long time ago what would happen. It was inevitable, and she had sent
them as a warning to the Mist Village, warning them away from the
path they had taken. Two young shinobi. One unstable. The other
uncontrollable. It had nearly worked, but the smirk of the Mistkage
had been pure arrogance.
It was
impossible for him to be arrogant any longer, not with his robe slung
hastily around his form. His cheeks carrying the stubble of a doomed
man willing to give anything away in order to survive. Pathetic, when
his shinobi had died in bed for him. For this useless, bland figure
whose voice cracked under the increasing demands. The lack of sleep.
The pressure positions. The relentless cold, or heat applied, the
genjutsu used until the mind fractured and unfolded, and he babbled
away village secrets for the taste of water.
This was
the reason they were at war, and the man didn�t have the decency to
die with honour intact.
Once they
knew everything, including the number of demons created and where
they had been left, they took him away. Naruto wasn�t sure if he
was taken to Konoha, or if he was left to die, or if sand snaked
upwards to tighten its grasp on a blubbering throat.
He knows
he doesn�t care any longer, not when there are only two more demons
left, far down along the coast.
When they
came back nearly a week later, Naruto�s hair streamed behind him,
dressed in a set of Gaara�s clothes. Gaara matched his pace, gourd
visibly cracked in places. Dark scowls made others give way.

Gaara
shifted behind the desk, wondering when everything had shifted that
millimetre to the right. It had been harder than expected. They�d
underestimated the strength of them when they worked together, and
those had been smart enough. It was easy to see why so many villages
had been driven away, destroyed by the menace of demons. Those in the
basement had been kept on a short leash, sent out to spread panic and
terror. Rumours spread and they had been sent as a warning to the
Mistkage. He hadn�t heeded it.
It had
been harder than expected, children yapping at the legs of their
elders, running away and appearing to harass them at night. Never
mind the days it had taken to track them, they then proceeded to
elude them for a full three days before they lost patience and killed
them. Not without a very bloody fight though, the smart eyes of
demons glowing in scared human faces. It was survival, and after the
first girl they knew better than to mess around. It didn�t prevent
him from not being thrown against his own wall of sand. It had given
way for his body, softening the fall, but the gourd had cracked under
the strain.
Dimly, as
he returned to the battlefield a mere kilometre away, he could hear
the crackle of fire. The screams of two burning monsters. The
anguished screams of denial. He sped up, racing back only to find the
fight over and Naruto naked, stinking of smoke but alive, a hard
brittle grin on his face as he stood over two smoking carcasses.
�Clothes,
please.�

�What
the fuck is wrong with you?� The words rolled off Sasuke�s lips,
a smooth graceful sound.
The
finesse of that particular statement amazes Naruto.
�I don�t
know. What�s going on with you, Sasuke?� They had another week
here of shifts and wariness before the diplomatic team came to take
over and install a new kage.
�Nothing
but shift work.� He seated himself in the chair opposite Naruto,
who�d shorn his hair once more. Sasuke had noticed a long time ago
that Naruto was different, but here again there had been a
near-imperceptible shift, leaving Naruto darker, sharper, deadlier.
There was a still hum about him that spoke of danger distilled, the
eyes narrowed in anticipation of something untoward. �What�s
going on?�
Eyes
flickered to his face; Sasuke knew they were weighing up the pros and
cons of a particular response. A small grin settled onto Naruto�s
face as he came to some conclusion, and Sasuke knew he�d calculated
the odds out of curiosity, rather than any caring part on his behalf.
�I�m
with Gaara.� He says it, direct.
Sasuke�s
glad his hand was under the table between them, so he could quite
happily clench his fist. What an absurd response, but he indulged in
it anyway.
Naruto
speaks again, looking off to the side. �How�s the wife hunt
going?� Just silence. Naruto gets up, hands buried in his pockets,
chopped hair hiding his eyes for this brief moment. �You shouldn�t
let the past influence you so much.� He says as he walks out of the
door.
The
response came automatically from Sasuke, with no need for thought. It
held everything in it, all his life experiences, all the blood, sweat
and tears. Naruto. Itachi. Orochimaru. Life, death, now. His family.
�We are
the past.�
Naruto
hears those words, allows them to whisper in his ear while he strides
away, in search of Gaara.

AN:
This chapter made me neglect my books, so I�m going to throw it out
here so that it stops bugging me. Also to get the idea of finishing a
Jiraiya/Tsunade out of my mind.
Nudd: Thanks so much for the review ;)
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The Little Things