Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

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
- 14
- 15
- 16
Useless Note: I finally
found out why to me ItaNaru is not just possible, but perfect. I had to think a
lot since a person asked me why ItaNaru and not, for example, ItaSasu which
gives more with angst (he didn�t accept my �I don�t like that couple� reply�).
Though I love incest, I can�t see ItaSasu, it simply doesn�t work for me. The
answer came to me by reading the last volume of Rurouni Kenshin. If you don�t know it, too bad for you� I saw Kenshin�s version
of ItaNaru. It was AoshiMisao� and
seeing it made me realize just how good Naruto would be for Itachi. You can
understand that, ne? it�s the same (feel free to
comment on this through PM).

Thanks to all the reviewers! And
HUGE thanks to my BETA Silent in Nightmares!

Cepheus: sigh. I hate
exams. Please, enjoy this chapter, and review if you care.

Also, since many were getting
impatient about it, there is ShinoKiba in there.

��

Next update: Unknown.

Rating: M (or is it some more?)

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 15: Realizing

It was strange.

He could admit that he had never liked to kill; not because of any
feelings or regret� he felt nothing more than hatred when he killed for his
family or for some mission he had as an ANBU. But hatred was enough for him.

No, he hated killing because he didn�t like how his hands were marred by
blood, how the dripping liquid stained his fingers and nails, hard to wash away
when dried, and stained his clothes as well.

He would never kill in a unsightly way, because he found no satisfaction
in killing without watching the life energy, crimson blood, leave the corpse in
the moment of death; blood was what made someone alive� but despite that, the
sight of such vile liquid on himself made him disgusted by it.

Blood was not supposed to leave its natural flow inside a body, unless
life abandoned it, which would result in the corruption of the person it
touched with death, where upon it was no longer perfect, but was tainted with
the disruption of the natural environment.

Death was nothing short of disgusting� where the integrity of the body
was ruined and destroyed, but, at the same time, in its imperfection, satisfying.

So fragile was life, so easy to end, not hard to forget, not important
but, at the same time, something vital and precious, protected by a thin layer,
looked highly upon and coveted.

As in opposition, perfection and
imperfection, life and death, where humans could disrupt this cycle. Killing.

Crimson eyes stared down at the blood clashing against the pale
complexion of his hands. The horrible sight that usually brought repulsion to
him, showing the reality of a shallow belief, now had a different meaning,
caused a different feeling.

He could even go as far as to name it satisfaction�

The red blood on his hands had an enticing shade, the way it dripped onto
his wrist and down his arm, staining his ANBU outfit, staining his skin, and
falling on the floor with a grace Itachi had never seen before.

Never before had such a sickening and filthy sight brought him such
feeling of fulfilment. If that was the name the sensation had.

And the numbness in his eyes. As if they were burning from the inside, almost painfully, the feeling
one would have if they were to get acid on their bodies, thrice as stinging.

Something was pooling up towards the surface, burning the insides of his
head so much he let out a small sigh, but it wasn�t exactly painful to him.

There was pain, he was hurt. But the knowledge that he�d achieved
another level on his perfection both choked and satisfied him.

His eyes looked up, meeting the dying ones of the person that had helped
him in his step forward; deep black orbs that stared intently at him, unmoving,
in death.

What was hidden beneath those eyes was lost to him, as under the veil of
the incoming death he was facing what he�d wished to see. He could not know
what he was thinking, and yet he had no desire to know. It was unimportant now.

His fingers twitched slightly, and Itachi could feel the muscles, the
tendons, the bones around it, and blood. Uchiha�s blood.
From his chest, from his body.

Him, Uchiha Shisui.

His face was even paler than normal, a trail of crimson blood dripping
down his chin, bubbles of bloody air sneaking through his bluish lips together
with pathetic choking sounds.

He had carefully hit close to his heart, so close, indeed, he could move
his fingers to the right, and touch the trembling organ if he wanted to; but
not close enough to kill him instantly.

He knew well where to hit so as not to cause instant death, but still
deliver a deathly blow� that was part of his being an ANBU and a genius. There
was a reason as to why he�d not killed Shisui on the spot� and it was not meant
to torture with pain, both he and Shisui knew it.

He had penetrated a lung though, causing the other shinobi a hard time
breathing� not that it mattered, since in seconds he would be dead.

�Can you see it, Shisui?� he demanded, his voice low but still.

He needed a confirmation that he had it.

From the eyes of the person that had helped him; to know that the
required need was easily fooled, to know that feelings had nothing to do with
that in the end. To know he could step further ahead without being hindered
with such useless things.

�You asked to see if I had limits,� he continued, crimson eyes fixed
into pitch raven ones. �You asked to see just how high I could go in my
perfection� now you can. In the moment of your death, as I did
the last sacrifice, can you see it?�

Shisui coughed up hard, spitting blood all over Itachi�s face. He
remained stoic.

�� I can�� the dying teen tried to smile, but what came out was a hollow
grin that meant nothing. And everything. �I can� see�
your perfection�� he coughed more. �And your limit��

Itachi�s eyes were swirling madly, crimson colour mixing with black as
the Sharingan turned and twisted, forming something slowly but surely.

And as Shisui exhaled his last shuddering breath, the moment he slipped
into a comforting, but cold, darkness, Itachi�s eyes stilled. Showing now the new perfection, the weapon above any other� the
Mangekyou Sharingan.

Shisui�s dead corpse fell on the ground,
staining it with the blood now flowing freely from the wound on his chest, as
Itachi stared at his crimson coated hand.

He stared at it, not caring about the body at his feet, or at the small
smile still on the teen�s lips even in death� his eyes could not leave the
bloody hand.

Before, such a thing would have disgusted him.

But the thought that it was not just any blood� but an Uchiha�s�

His face remained expressionless, unreadable.

Uchiha�s blood.

The hatred inside him burnt stronger, feeding of the sensation of
satisfaction that now was running in his mind and body.

Uchiha�s blood on his hands� was not disgusting at all.

��

Itachi stared in silence at his father.

At the man that he didn�t consider that; there was nothing that he could
feel when he was close to this family, if not for the brother that taught him
the only emotion he could feel.

Such a child had taught him hatred.

His father had a strange look as he stared at his first son, a stare
that held contempt, worry, hatred, and sadness. But there was more. Satisfaction� and fear.

�It was you,� his voice was sad but firm. There was no question in his
statement.

Itachi did not reply.

�Now you have It,� he murmured again.

And again, Itachi did not speak.

�I am proud my son now has such a powerful weapon� it was needed, his
death had to happen to permit your ascent towards perfection.�

This time, Itachi stared at him. His eyes were void of any emotion, as
was his voice.

�I am perfect already,�� he said quietly.

Fugaku bit his lip.

�Why did you drown him? Why the letter?�

Itachi uncaringly stared at his father.

�I did not drown him, I did not write the letter,� he said.

And he was not lying.

He could lie, and he could say the truth. There was no difference
between the two things since he didn�t care about feeling guilty because of lying,
and the truth meant nothing.

But Shisui was the one that wrote the letter. It surprised Itachi to an
extent, to realize Shisui had expected his death, and had waited for it.

He had written what he�d felt, something Itachi could not comprehend,
but could understand. There was a hidden meaning in his last words, just like
there had always been a hidden meaning in everything Shisui had done.

Shisui had been a brown leaf to Itachi, on a different level. Hiding himself among lies and truths, knowing something more than
the others, observing. Shisui had known he would be part of the �revenge�
Itachi was going to get, a really important part, and maybe�

Maybe Shisui approved. Or else he wouldn�t have prepared everything
before his time arrived.
Itachi had done nothing but throw Shisui�s corpse into the Nakano river,
after cleaning it from the blood.

The only thing he was sure about, the moment he stood and stared at his
father, was the fact that his eyes were spinning dangerously, Sharingan melting
into its most lethal form.

And the fact that it was all drawing to an end.

��

Temari stared at the wall, biting
her lower lip, unsuccessfully trying to move her feet towards the Kazekage�s
office.

A part of her wanted to run away,
fast, and not turn back, but she knew she couldn�t do that; it was her duty, as
Gaara�s second, to give him the messages from other villages, but she couldn�t
do that, not with this message.

How was she supposed to look at her
little brother in the eyes, and repeat what the ninja from Konoha had told her
minutes before? How could she look at him while telling him that� the person
that had changed him, and his views on people, the
person that had defeated him for the first time, the person that had convinced
him to become Kazekage, the person that was just like him� was dead?

Temari felt useless and defeated.

She had always loved her little
brother, despite the fear he�d caused in her, and in Kankurou, because he was
still part of her family, what was left of it at least.

And now that he was changed, now
that he had understood what loving a village despite everything felt like, now
that his heart had opened for the first time, allowing itself to care for his
siblings, allowing them to care for him in return, she had to go and tell him
that the very person that was the one to thank for this was dead.

She simply couldn�t.

Her back pressed against the wall,
Temari closed her eyes, wondering what she could do. The message had been way
too clear.

A Konohagakure nin
had arrived �Temari had been shocked to see it was the green�clothed one Gaara
had fought once many years before. But he had told her he was the fastest, and
the only one willingly to do such thing. Lee was his name.

Lee had communicated to her that
Naruto was dead. His eyes had been shimmering with real tears, the sadness so
deep and clear it had hurt her as well. Tsunade, Hokage of Konohagakure, had
known of the friendship between Gaara and the blond, and had felt responsible
for telling the sand nin about Naruto.

Temari felt her stomach clench
painfully.

What was going to happen now?

What would Gaara do once told of
Naruto�s death?

Would he loose everything, and
return to the way he was before? What would happen, then, to all their efforts?
What would become of him, and of Suna?

�Oi, Temari nee�chan,� she opened
her eyes and stared wordlessly at the familiar figure of her younger brother,
Kankurou. He was standing next to her with a concerned expression, his face for
once ridden of his kabuki paint. �Are you ok? You seem troubled, what happened
with the Konoha nin? Is something wrong?�

His tone was demanding, but his eyes
were concerned. He always had been the pessimistic one, so the first thing he
presumed was some kind of incoming war, and he didn�t want that �at all.

�Yes� I am fine� kind of,� she
replied, sighing deeply before pulling herself away from the wall. She didn�t
like the feeling of helplessness, and she�d always been able to take care of
herself and her little brothers, and she would try to be there for Gaara now.

He needed all their care with such
horrible news.

�I received some pretty bad news,
and I am supposed to tell it to Gaara,� she added.

Kankurou�s face turned even more
worried.

�Is there��

�No, no wars, no fights, no
problems,� she glared at him half heartedly, pissed off by his usual pessimism.
�It�s about� Naruto.�

Her brother cocked his head in
confusion; that name was always spoken with gratitude by the two of them,
knowing how helpful the blond had been, not just once, but twice.

�What�s wrong, sis?�

�Naruto was taken away by an
organization that is trying to take all of the demon containers,� she
explained. �His demon� Kyuubi� was supposedly taken away, and he died.�

Kankurou blinked twice, then his face turned pale.

He�d caught on to what would be the
consequences of such a message given to Gaara, and he felt dread make its way
inside his chest.

�Are you�� he pointed towards the
office, and Temari just nodded gravely.

�No, I will be telling him,� a voice
spoke from behind Kankurou.

Both siblings turned, and saw the
green�clothed Konoha nin standing there, staring at
them with determined eyes. He would have been a funny thing to look at, due to
his giant eyebrows, and his green spandex, but the way he was looking at them,
with tortured but serious eyes, made any trace of mirth that could have been
there disappear from Temari and Kankurou�s faces.

This guy had obviously been friends
with Naruto, and he knew the pain his departure would cause to Gaara, much
better than Temari and her brother would ever know.

Even so, Temari was not willingly to
let someone else tell Gaara this, because she felt it as her responsibility.

Lee closed his fist tightly, closing
his eyes briefly, �Naruto was one of my close friends, and I am the only one
that can explain everything to Gaara�sama� please, Temari�san, Kankurou�san, let me be the one to tell Kazekage�sama about this.�

Temari was about to reply, but
Kankurou stopped her by grabbing her arm, and shook his head.

She nodded, and leaned on the office
door, knocking it; she knew she was just being a coward, but she was also glad
Lee had offered himself.

She just hoped everything would be
ok.

��

�Kiba,� a voice shook him out of his
thoughts.

Kiba blinked and looked up; he�d
never really been that quiet before, he himself thinking he would never stay
put and be quiet for long, but the last few weeks proved him wrong.

His energy was drained away, but
what shocked the Inuzuka heir most was the realization that he really missed
the blond idiot.

Kiba and Naruto had never really
been great friends with each other, mostly because Kiba loved to tease Naruto,
coaxing him into verbal and physical fights (not that Naruto wasn�t just as
willing as he was), and when they were still at the Academy, they had shared
many escapades while fleeing from Iruka�s wrath during school time.

He had known the blond so long he
couldn�t recall a period of his life he hadn�t been fighting with him; and
despite everything, he�d considered Naruto a friend of sorts, one with whom to
release his energy.

Even after knowing his secret, Kiba
hadn�t changed his opinion of the blond; instead, his respect for him had
increased, prodding him to train and become just as strong.

During the years Naruto had been
away, Kiba hadn�t had the time to really miss the blond, mostly because,
despite not being in the village, Kiba had known Naruto would return, and he�d
immersed himself in the training, hoping to see Naruto come back to challenge
him.

He never had the chance to.

Naruto was now dead.

That was why he felt empty inside;
he�d been wanting so much to show off his powers, knowing Naruto would do just
the same to him, he�d been waiting for his friend to come back so he could
start their routine again.

But he would never be able to.

Kiba had to admit it; he missed
Naruto.

The village was so silent now,
almost deathly silent, as if everything had fallen under a thick blanket of
stillness, as if the village itself was missing the blond.

Before, he hadn�t realized it, maybe
because he knew Naruto would come back one day� but now, he was painfully aware
that there was no loud voice echoing through the streets, no one to pull
pranks, no one at the ramen stand.

He missed the massive chaos the
blond was the cause of.

Kiba knew he was being irrational
now; yes, Naruto was his friend, but many in the village had lost their loved
ones before, and they still moved forwards, smiling, and acting as if nothing
was wrong, when instead no one that had known Naruto was doing so�

And that made Kiba realize just how
much of a strong influence the blond boy had been on all of them.

As if by loosing him, Konoha itself
lost its own, small sun.

That should sound stupid, and,
normally, Kiba would have been the first one to laugh at such thoughts� but not
now.

It really looked like Konoha had
lost something important.

Looking up from his musings, Kiba
noticed who had been calling him, and nodded at his sister, standing up from
his crouched position under the family tree.

�Kiba�kun, Shino is here,� his
sister told him.

Kiba nodded, he really needed Shino
now; the presence of the silent boy had been important to him, being such a
help both mentally and physically. Shino was the only person now Kiba felt
comfortable with, apart from his other friends, but in a different way.

�Hey,� he muttered to the silent
shape of his best friend and lover.

Yes, Shino and Kiba had been
together for a while now; though Shino�s family hadn�t taken too well to
finding out the sexual orientation of their only child, there was nothing they
could do about it, and, in the end, had relented.

On the other hand, the Inuzuka
family, once they had found out about Kiba and Shino, had taken it upon
themselves to make sure the two would be together and happy (and even though
Kiba didn�t look like it, he really was grateful his family had been so
accepting about his homosexuality).

Shino nodded his head slightly in
greeting before lifting his stretched hand towards the other teen, who
gratefully laced his fingers with Shino�s, and followed him outside the
Inuzuka�s property.

For some time both remained quiet,
not willingly to speak, enjoying each other�s presence, then, unsurprisingly,
Kiba let out a sigh.

�I understand,� he muttered. �That
people die everyday, leaving behind those who miss them� I understand that, and
I know we all should move on, I mean, it wasn�t even that close to us� but it
feels wrong.�

Shino�s fingers curled tighter
around Kiba�s.

He�d been expecting such thing from
the other teen for a while now, because his silence was not just upsetting, but
prelude to something; Shino had learned how to read the Inuzuka teen, and he
knew he would speak when ready.

After all, all of Naruto�s friends
felt this way.

Shino hadn�t been really close to the blond, and he could admit
this without lying, since he was always blending into a corner whilst Naruto
was always attracting attention to himself.

But even Shino missed the loud
mouth, in his own way. He could understand what people who were closer to him
could feel.

�It�s ok,� he replied, his voice
resounding in the silence. �No one ordered you to stop missing a friend, but
you can�t let this affect you to the point of depression.�

Kiba blinked and stared at the
taller teen with a frown; Shino looked intently back down at him, for once
taking off his sunglasses.

Deep brown eyes stared into Kiba�s,
filled with concern and sincerity. Just this look told Kiba more than Shino�s
few words �they wouldn�t have gone this far if he hadn�t been able to understand
every little sign the silent teen made.

Shino knew the void Naruto�s death
had caused in everyone, because he too was sad about it, but death was normal
in a shinobi�s life; that didn�t mean they should forget the one who died.
Allowing those who died to be forgotten would be wrong and disrespectful; the
living had to remember, but live on.

Kiba smirked, feeling much better;
he tightened his hold on the other�s arm and, pulling Shino down, he licked his
cheek, shaking his head at the faint blush on the Aburame�s
face.

�Thanks,� he sighed.

Shino put on his sunglasses again,
leaning down to kiss Kiba, before the two moved towards Ichiraku ramen, where
their friends were waiting.

Since they were not of age to drink
sake for Naruto, they had decided to meet at the place Naruto loved and have
ramen instead.

To anyone else such a thing would
seem stupid, childish, and unacceptable, a disrespecting act towards the death,
but to those who had known the blond, this wasn�t so
strange or wrong.

Naruto would have appreciated it,
they all thought.

��

The air in the office was
suffocating.

To Lee, it felt like he was slowly
choking in there, under the intense gaze of the teen that now was
Kazekage�sama; he couldn�t believe he�d fought against him many years before,
and now the guy wasn�t just changed for the better, but was� also the protector of the village of Suna.

Lee was in awe. That was the right
way to use a flaring will.

But this was not the time for such
thoughts, because he was here to communicate something important, and he�d been
the only one who accepted the task �well, he�d also been the one that had
proposed that someone had to tell Gaara about Naruto�s death.

�Kazekage�sama?� he straightened up,
tentatively trying to call Gaara back to reality. He was now staring almost
fearfully at him, expecting some sort of ferocious attack from his sand, or
something like that.

He�d said it, explaining carefully
to Gaara about Akatsuki (everything he knew about that organization), and Naruto�s
death, and that�s when everything had turned dangerously silent and� heavy.

�Where is his body?� Gaara�s voice
was low and collected, but Lee could feel a tension under the calm exterior
that needed nothing to explode onto the surface.

Lee blinked; he had not expected the
question at all.

�Kazekage�sama?� he repeated, biting
his lower lip.

�Gaara,� the other teen replied
almost unconsciously, his eyes turning sharply towards Lee, flashing
dangerously. �Don�t call me Kazekage�sama.�

A moment of silence, then Lee tried
again.

�Gaara�sama��

Gaara�s eyes turned into slits,
�Where. Is. The. Body.�

Lee gulped, seeing the sand shift at
the other teen�s feet. Why would Gaara ask about Naruto�s body?

�The rescue team didn�t take
Naruto�s body back,� Lee replied, cowering slightly; despite knowing Gaara had
changed over the years, he still had a too vivid memory of what the teen could
do with his sand. Gaara had destroyed almost all hope of his recovery, and only
Tsunade�sama had been able to restore his body enough for him not to just
return to his ninja life, but also to become a Chuunin. �The report said
Akatsuki took it away with them.�

Gaara blinked, but stood in silence,
his sand curling around his feet almost protectively, his face frowning in thought.
�Then Naruto is not dead,� he finally commented.

The sand shifted away, disappearing
in the gourd that was against the wall next to the door; Lee stood speechless,
staring at him with a shocked expression.

�What��

Gaara glared at him and sat down,
closing his eyes briefly.

The news, at first, had stunned him;
he�d felt something in him hurt painfully when his mind registered Lee�s words.

Naruto� dead.

To Gaara, thinking that the blond
was not breathing anymore was both a deep pain and something unthinkable. It
just seemed wrong, he could not picture Naruto laying
dead on the ground.

Not him. Not Naruto.

The blond would never let someone
kill him, no matter how strong his opponent could be, it was simply wrong.
Naruto would die for his friends, but he had been the one to say he would never
die before succeeding in his dream�

Gaara could see in his mind Naruto�s
blue eyes sparkling with life and happiness, and in no way could he accept the
news. Everyone could die, Gaara knew this better than anyone
else. Naruto could die too. But he could not believe Naruto to be dead, at
least not like this, not in this way. Not now.

�Naruto is not dead,� he repeated
loudly. �There is no evidence if there is no body. Naruto would never die
before becoming Hokage.�

He knew it, he was sure of it. There
was something inside him whispering that Naruto was not dead, that this was
just too suspicious, too wrong.

Lee sighed; he really wanted to
believe in Gaara�s words, but for how strong Naruto�s flame of youth had been, he too had to bow to the Akatsuki�s power. He had not been
strong enough, and he was dead; he could understand that Gaara had cared for
Naruto, in fact wherever Naruto went, he helped someone.

He�d helped Lee himself, and Gaara,
and Neji, and the Hokage herself, and surely many
others� but now he was dead. Everyone had already accepted that, for how
painful it could be�

�Gaara,� Lee forgot for a second to
call the other by the right suffix, and stepped towards him with a serious
face. �I know it�s hard, but you have to accept it, Naruto is dead.�

But the redhead simply shook his
head. It was not a matter of belief, even if he believed Naruto was still alive; no.

It was a matter of proof. �Besides,� added the part of him that
was collected, �Akatsuki needs Shukaku as
well. Why, if Kyuubi was taken four weeks ago, aren�t they appeared to take my
demon as well?�

The fact that he was sure Naruto was
still alive helped him see things more clearly; the missing body was suspicious, Akatsuki would have no need of Naruto�s corpse,
so why had they taken it away?

�They had no need to take the body
away,� he commented coldly. �And not one of them have
appeared to try and take Shukaku away. If mine was the last one, they would
already have appeared, but they haven�t�

Lee frowned. That was true as well.
But he shook his head; he was not convinced.

�I don�t care what Konoha thinks,�
Gaara stood up again, his green eyes flaring even if his expression was still
blank. �Naruto is alive.�

Lee sighed, fidgeting under the gaze
of the Kazekage, and turned to leave. If the redhead wanted to be in denial,
there was nothing he could do.

Gaara hesitated for a second, before
his sand moved to stop Lee from leaving the room; the Taijutsu lover stopped,
shifting uncomfortably as he felt the sand touch his skin.

Yes, the memory of their fight was
still engraved in his mind, and not in a good way.

Gaara, too, remembered it, but many
things had changed. Mainly, his view on things. That�s
why he felt the need to apologize for what he�d done. His sight on many things
had been wrong, Naruto had showed him the true way to confront his inner demons
and fears, and that he wasn�t alone.

That time he�d taken away from this
guy the only thing he had, and felt no guilt in doing so, but now he knew he�d
been wrong.

Lee had helped him as well, together
with Naruto, in seeing what was wrong with him.

�I want to apologize for our
battle,� Gaara said, looking away, not used to ask forgiveness.

Lee blinked, then, as his brain
processed what the redhead had said, he smiled at him, feeling some of his old
self return for the first time in weeks.

�There is nothing you should be
sorry for!� he exclaimed happily, flashing the Kazekage one of his blinding
smiles. �I am glad you are fairing well, because you deserve this respect, and
your flame now burns strongly, thanks to Naruto!�

Gaara blinked �he had forgotten just
how strange this guy was.

But as he stared at Lee, who was now
doing strange poses, and smiling, while assuring him he�d long since forgiven
him, Gaara felt a strange sort of feeling inside him.

Maybe apologizing was not that bad,
after all.

��

Naruto fidgeted, hissing as a
painful twinge made itself known from his back up to
his shoulders.

He had lost count of how much time
had passed since Akatsuki had captured him, sealing his chakra and forcing him
to live in the undergrounds of their hideout, but he felt that it had been at
least a month, even though he wasn�t completely sure about it.

For a month, he�d lived in the
darkness, or at least what was left of it (he�d managed to get some light in
the undergrounds, and was determined in keeping it at every cost), his only
visitor, Itachi.

After the visit he had from that
straw haired shinobi that had called himself Deidara, he�d seen no one apart
the silent Uchiha, soon welcoming his visits as they were the only time he
could see another living human being.

The leader of the organization never
returned to see him, and of that the blond was immensely glad, because he
wasn�t sure he could have resisted the darkness and evilness the figure seemed
to emanate by just existing.

Plus, the white, unseeing eyes
(that, as he could remember, could actually see, for how strange that sounded)
were rather unsettling. Naruto wished he would never come back again, but knew
his wish would not be granted, and dreaded the moment the leader would return.

What left him baffled though, was that they had stopped experimenting jutsus and
scrolls on him, a thing that both relieved and scared him �he couldn�t shake
off the suspicion that they were preparing something awful that he would not be
able to evade.

Despite his initial uncertainty,
he�d soon fallen under the vicious circle that accompanied every visit of the
raven haired young man, coming to the conclusion that, apart the daily visits
he received from him, he would have gone crazy way too soon if he were to keep
silent.

Because Naruto
and Itachi never spoke to each other.

Or at least, Itachi never said a
word unless strictly necessary.

The blond ended up waiting every day
for the figure to appear on the entrance of the room he�d settled into, almost
anticipating his presence that at lest reminded him he was not alone in that
place.

Contrary to his first belief, Itachi
hadn�t wanted sex every time he came. Naruto wasn�t exactly unhappy to let the
older shinobi have his way with him anymore, not after promising himself he
would deal with his guilt if (when,
Naruto had to remind himself, not if)
he were to escape from that prison.

But that didn�t mean his body had
recovered enough to let him do such activities every day; Itachi seemed to
understand that. Itachi usually appeared twice a day, one time to take him food, that now came regularly during the time Naruto thought
was midday, and one time to
stare at him.

Just stare. He would not come to him
for� that, but just to look at him,
as if waiting for something to happen, and Naruto was always left confused and
puzzled every time Itachi disappeared.

Every day was similar to the one
before it, a never ending routine broken only by his wandering around the
basement, Itachi�s visits, and the blond teen�s usually unsuccessful attempts
to strike up some sort of conversation.

�I wish there was someone else for me to talk to,� Naruto sighed, stretching his back.
The day before Itachi had come, and had left when Naruto had passed out as
usual after their� Naruto shook his head; he still blushed
thinking about that stuff.

Naruto was aware that Itachi didn�t
come only during the day; from time to time, or maybe many times during a
single night, he would wake up startled, only to feel the presence of another
in the same room, watching him, but that too had come to be seen as normal �not
that there was anything really normal in his life at the moment, but at least
he had come to accept his imprisonment as inevitable, and that had helped a lot
to overcome him usual restlessness.

Naruto wondered when he would
finally recover enough to try and train a little, knowing he needed to regain
his strength if he were to hope to escape.

Again, as he shifted to the bucket
of water he found next to his made�up futon (he�d used some of the tissues he�d
found around the basement, and Itachi hadn�t protested� which of course was
expected since he rarely spoke), Naruto realized Itachi was there.

So as Itachi stared at him, Naruto
observed Itachi. That was another routine, and the Kyuubi container felt almost
reassured by it, because holding onto something as constant as Itachi�s
presence, which was itself a deep contradiction, helped him have a grip on
reality.

Being alone most of the time was
hard on him, since Naruto had always been one for the big crowds.

But, as time passed by, Naruto found
he could spend the time in Itachi�s visits trying to read Itachi by the way he
moved. He would not speak to him, so Naruto tried another type of language he�d
learned long time before how to use� actions.

Intense blue eyes would stare
intently as Itachi entered the room and leaned on the wall, crimson pools
(often black and as deep as a bottom�less pit) staring back with just as much
concentration at what he did.

Naruto didn�t know what to make of
it at first, but, as the days went on, he found he liked all the small signs he
could make out from the emotionless shinobi.

And, just as slowly, his body
started to regain a part of its strength.

��

Lee stopped his run right in front
of TenTen and Neji, who were sitting on a bench next to the tower.

Team Gai had been the one sent to
tell Gaara about Naruto, even though only Lee had entered the Kazekage tower to
speak with Gaara and his siblings, whilst Neji and TenTen waited outside,
patiently.

They would have followed their team
mate inside, but he�d pleaded with them to let him go alone, and Neji had
accepted it.

Now that their mission was
completed, they could return to Konoha.

TenTen smiled at both her friends,
�Are you ready?�

Lee nodded eagerly, and Neji sighed,
standing up, both moving towards the main entrance of Suna. TenTen bit her
upper lip and brushed some sand away from her face before following them at a
slower speed.

She couldn�t deny something had
changed in both her friends and team mates, and she felt saddened by this. Neji
now was even more silent and reserved than he was when they met for the first
time as a team, and even if they spoke to him, and he would reply and reassure
them he was ok, she could clearly see Naruto�s death had effected
him greatly.

After all, he�d been there with the
Rescue Team, he�d seen Naruto�s lifeless body�

What could she do to help her
friends? She felt really useless.

�If you are still alive it means
Kazekage�sama took it pretty well,� TenTen managed to catch up with the other
two, and stared at Lee curiously. She had wanted to make a small joke to ease
the tense air a little, and was rewarded by a small smile by her
spandex�clothed friend.

�Truth be
told, he didn�t believe me,� Lee admitted, scratching his chin his smile
turning brighter. �When I told him about Akatsuki, he replied Naruto was still alive�
even after I told him about the lack of chakra and all, he kept on saying
Naruto was still alive.�

Neji stiffened, his eyes showing a
little emotion that disappeared a moment later; it was still a sore point, he
still had not accepted the fact that Naruto was dead.

�Why is that so?� TenTen asked,
confused. �He should believe you, after all� weren�t Kazekage�sama and Naruto
good friends?�

Lee nodded eagerly, �Of course they
were. Gaara became Kazekage because of Naruto, and they are both� well, Gaara
is a Jinchuuriki like Naruto was,� Lee corrected himself, biting his lip. �But
he told me� he said Naruto wasn�t dead because there was no need to take the
body away. Akatsuki needed the demon in Naruto, and
not the dead corpse� so�� it was clear Lee didn�t understand what Gaara had
told him, because after all, Lee wasn�t bright in these matters.

To him, everything was
straightforward, and what wasn�t was foreign and confusing to him.
But Neji was the perfect opposite.
That made perfect sense to him.

As Lee continued babbling about
denial and things like that, Neji rethought about what had happened that day,
Lee�s words replaying in his mind over and over again.

�There was no need to take the body away. Akatsuki needed the demon in Naruto, and not the dead corpse��

Why hadn�t anyone thought about it
before?

Why hadn�t anyone wondered about
such strange actions?

They were ninja. Even if tragedy hit
those who were close, any shinobi would have found it strange that a group of
missing�nins that only wanted a demon would take away a useless corpse.

If the vessel were to die (Neji had
done research on Jinchuuriki after Naruto�s departure, together with
Shikamaru), the demon would follow him in death; if the demon were to be taken
away, the vessel would die� as far as he knew.

But if the Akatsuki had managed to
take Kyuubi away, why keep the body?

Why show the dead body of Naruto to
them and then take it away? It went
against all the basic rules of the shinobi world.

But the fact that, indeed, the fact
that the tragedy had stricken someone close to all of them, Naruto, had blinded
all of them, the grief preventing them to see the truth.

They had
counted on this, knowing that the loss of a bright soul like Naruto would
affect them�

It made perfect sense now, for how
stupid and idiotic it might seem� for how foolish the mere idea was, Neji felt
something clench inside him.

It was all so simple.

He stopped, everything stilling
around of him as his mind processed what he was starting to suspect; what if� what
if the extraction had gone wrong?

What if�

What if Naruto were still alive� in Akatsuki�s hands?

��

Cepheus: Don�t worry, next chapter we�ll move on, promise.

Review! A line, a word, a paragraph, anything, but
comment on me! It�s not that hard, and I love reviews! Make me happy, and I
will make you happy! Writing more,
more detailed, faster. Just� a comment? Make my day a
happy one! :)

Ending note: in countries where Shinto and Buddhism are the
general religions, blood and other internal fluids are considered highly
because they keep the person alive, but if they are to leave the body, then
they are considered impure and disgusting, as is death and the dead corpse. Something that goes against the natural rules of life. To
understand this concept, you can try and read the various ancient myths such as
Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi and Susano�s.
- 14
- 15
- 16
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Winter Release