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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
- 15
- 16
- 17
Thanks to all the reviewers! And
HUGE thanks to my BETA Silent in Nightmares!

Cepheus: � new chapter�
and the plot starts to get on a more lively level� so
to speak. Enjoy and be nice with me.

It�s ok
for me to say just how much I love Deidara? I love him. I really do. I enjoyed
greatly writing this chapter too!

��

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 16: Limits

The wind was blowing harshly on the
ground, sending waves of sand flying up high, forming whirlpools in the air,
then falling down again, reaching out to hit the two figures that were slowly
making their way towards the South; everywhere around them there was only sand,
sand, and a few rocks, proving that they were walking in the Wind Country.

A few stray cacti were standing
above the line of sand, and sometimes a shrub or two would be seen, fighting
against the sand that was trying to cover them.

One of the figures was crouched
down, almost crawling over the sand, whilst the other was stretching at his
side, skipping every few steps, a bag hanging from his arm. Both were clothed
with a black outfit with red clouds on it, making it obvious they belonged to
the Akatsuki; they also had rice�paper hats with dangling stripes, which
protected them from the heat and the sand.

�We�re getting near now, un! I can
feel the ones Orochimaru conditioned near,� the tall one said in a sing�song
voice. �But are we sure we can trust that jutsu?�

The other figure didn�t seem
interested in what he was saying, but replied nonetheless. �I don�t know his
reasons, nor how they will react to us.�

His head moved, the cloth that was
covering half of his face swaying lightly as he stared at the little sack the
other had in one hand.

�Are you sure you can get through it
with just this little bag?� he inquired suspiciously. �Remember that our
opponent uses his powers to control the element around us��

The guy laughed, his hat moving and
showing a strand of straw hair that was covering his left eye.

�My jutsus are the epitome of art,
and I decided to take with me my favourite, number 18, un!�
he moved one hand in front of himself, pointing it towards the wall of
Sunagakure. �Because our opponent is the Ichibi, un!�

Deidara started to laugh, whilst his
companion simply continued crawling towards Suna. As their leader had
explained, they needed the Ichibi no Shukaku, not only because that was the
last demon (as they had already captured the remaining seven, and detained the
Kyuubi), but because, as they knew, the Jinchuuriki of Shukaku was friends with
the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

Their leader�s plan was simple; they
would extract the Ichibi from the Jinchuuriki, assuring themselves the
possession of all the eight demons, then would present
Naruto with the dead body of Shukaku�s vessel.

Using the knowledge that Kyuubi�s
vessel was easily controlled by his emotions, they would then remove the
binding seals their leader had put on him, and the Jinchuuriki would do the
rest.

Allowing his rage to control him,
the demon�s power would leak out of his body, making it simpler for them, who
would be ready for it, to reverse the seal on his stomach to gain control to
Kyuubi, blocking the human�s mind inside, helpless.

Then it would take nothing for them
to capture the last Bijuu, and they would be unstoppable.

As Deidara and his companion walked
slowly towards the wall that protected the village of Sand, they could see the
genius behind its creation �it was a high wall, made with blocks of
brown�greyish stones that allowed many guards to hide among it in rows, as in
barricades, so as to be sure that they could control every single inch of the
territory around Suna.

At this entrance, the South one,
there were twelve Jounin�level shinobi, and all of them turned towards the two
approaching figures, their eyes staring at them closely.

�What�,� one of the guards standing
in the lowest row of the wall frowned, taking in the appearance of the two. �Red clouds on black cloths�
isn�t that��

He stopped his trail of thoughts,
unsure.

At a meeting with the Kazekage and
some of his councillors, as well as many of the high�level shinobi of Suna, the
captain of the guards, Jounin Yuura, had told them
about Akatsuki, an organization that was seeking the demons like the one
residing in their Kazekage�s body.

The information had been certain
since it originated from Jiraiya�sama, one of the well�known Sannin of
Konohagakure, who was now an ally with Suna.

They had been told that something
that could identify members of that organization was their attire: black cloaks
with red clouds on them� just like the two that were getting near.

He blinked, feeling a familiar
pattern of chakra appear behind him, and, turning, the guard was relieved to
see Captain Yuura, the one who had explained the
Akatsuki to the council and to the Kazekage.

�Captain!� he yelled, motioning to
the two figures. �Look, are those two��

Then he stopped. The other Jounin�s
face was almost blank, his eyes fixed on the two, but there was something the
guard could not understand. He looked�

�Don�t worry,� Yuura
spoke with a calm but emotionless tone. �It�ll be over in a moment.�

Deidara and his companion finally
arrived at the wall, which stood high above them, but everything was silent,
apart from the harsh wind.

The two slowly made their way
towards the small passage in the middle of the protecting wall, and were met by
a gruesome sight �corpses covered in blood were sprawled on the ground,
motionless, and in the middle of the massacre, stood one person.

Yuura was still staring in front of him
with a blank look, almost as if he weren�t really there, at least not
completely. His hands and clothes were sporting spots of blood, exposing him as
the killer of his team mates.

The one next to Deidara smirked,
eyeing the slaughter with a satisfied expression.

�I take it you remembered me� well
done,� he said.

Yuura fell to his knees in a flash,
bowing down to them, �Yes sir, of course, Sasori�sama!�

Deidara looked almost displeased. He
didn�t really like infiltrations, because he could not show his artistic side,
but he would take the best even out of such situations.

�It�s alright� if he didn�t remember
I would have used my jutsu, un!�

Sasori cast a glance to his straw
haired companion before looking again at Yuura, �He
remembered, and now is my faithful servant,� he stated coldly.

�Yeah, yeah, I know,� Deidara shook
his head and lifted his left hand up; soon, chewing sounds could be heard, and
the mouth in his palm let out a ball of clay. Deidara closed his hand in a
fist, and, when he opened it again, the ball had been turned into a small
bird�like statue.

�Here we go,� he stated loudly with
a smirk. �Sasori�danna, please look� we are gonna attack this village from high
above.�

He let the small, bird�like thing
fall on the ground, and it landed with a low chirp. Deidara clapped his hands
in a seal, and, with a puff of smoke, the bird suddenly grew much larger,
assuming a dangerous appearance.

Deidara smirked in appreciation and,
jumping high, he settled on the back of the bird.

�What do you think of this? My artistic creation, un!� Deidara turned to an uninterested
Sasori with a proud smirk.

It had always been like this between
them, ever since he�d joined Akatsuki, some sort of fight on what art really
was; it wasn�t like either enjoyed the fight, but Deidara appreciated the
discussion and the difference between their opinions, because it brought fun to
him, and despite the hassle, he found everything in life funny, their fights
even more so.

It was also because it was the only
thing that could get a reaction out of his team mate�speaking about art. They
had never talked about their pasts, nor why they both had decided to join
Akatsuki, because that wasn�t something either was willingly to share with
people they knew were not to be trusted �after all, they were together only for
the sake of their common goal, nothing else.

No emotions attached�

Deidara found this funny as well.

�I can�t wait to see that,� Sasori
commented with a rough voice.

Nothing gave away what he really
thought, but, to the straw haired shinobi, it meant nothing. Life was fun. And
he enjoyed when he could unleash his art for his companion to see.

�I wonder� what kind of person is the one tailed Jinchuuriki?�

��

Naruto stifled a yawn.

He was becoming restless. If that
was a sign that he was finally regaining his strength, he was more than happy
about it.

His body itched to move, even if
only to walk around aimlessly waiting for Itachi to appear and pass the time
for him, either by engaging him in activities Naruto found every day more
alluring and wrong, despite everything, or by just being there.

Not that Naruto
wasn�t trying to speak to him.

He was.

Even more now that he needed to just
do something, to break the silence, the slow moving of the day, when everything
was just the same all over again, and he had nothing to concentrate on but his
situation, and what he was missing.

What about his friends?

What was he loosing by remaining there, enjoying his time in the most sinful way he could
think of?

Betraying, not betraying, it meant
nothing at this point, he just welcomed any
distraction to his current trail of thoughts.

Even if such
distraction would be� thinking about something else entirely.

He could not stand the dread.
Thinking of what he was missing out on made him loose hope of ever being able
to get free� and he wanted to think with a clear mind, not be hounded with
worry.

He would get out of here. For sure.

�What made you join Akatsuki?�

Now, maybe this could be called
courting death, because after all, he never received replies from the raven
haired shinobi; not that he tried for any reply. He just liked to hear some
other sound apart the nothingness.

Although his questions were not what
one would call proper conversation. Not with a mass murder, any way. Maybe he
really was insane after all, if anything that had happened to him ever since he
was captured mattered at all.

Naruto could merely continue each
day on, his mind filling with questions he was sure he would never get answers
for.

Did he care?

No, not completely.

Blue eyes lifted from his hands
(really, he would have cut a hand off to read something now� just to prove how
desperate he was at the moment), and allowed himself to stare; one would say he
had enough time to actually look at Itachi, after all, in their time together,
he�d been seeing him pretty closely many times.

But� there was something more in
just allowing his eyes to trail over Itachi�s still form; almost as if, by
looking at him this way, Naruto could get something out of him he would never
get in any other way.

He�d noticed some things.

No one would label Naruto as the
observant one, after all, but having nothing else to do, he jumped on the
little he had.

For one, Itachi never discarded any
of his clothes. Not even the black outfit, not even a shirt, or his pants. It
was like he would feel vulnerable without them, but this was not all; he would
never let Naruto touch him�

Naruto would often grab his shirt as
some kind of anchor when everything else blurred away around him, making his
mind hazy and lost in pleasure, but the raven haired would not let him touch
his skin.

It was not that Naruto was an expert
when it came to pleasuring someone. His first had been a mass murder, after
all. No one would expect him to know anything, as he�d never really experienced
what others would call normal reactions of a teenager.

And yet, despite everything, he�d
felt the growing desire to just feel Itachi�s skin under his fingers.

The blond was aware that, for
Itachi, sex was the ultimate form of power and control; he dominated over
Naruto completely, rendering any of his attempts at control pointless and
useless.

Even to the point of hurting him�
slightly, not anything that couldn�t heal� subtly. But it was like a reminder,
so as to tell Naruto to just forget it.

Itachi was in charge, and made sure
Naruto would be aware of it.

But Naruto wondered if Itachi had
ever let someone touch him at all. The thought settled itself deep in his
subconscious, making him crave an answer he would never get.

Then, he�d seen the small, almost
invisible changes of expressions and the subtle shifts Itachi had when Naruto
asked him pointed questions. Naruto knew the Uchiha could not kill him, so he
kept on asking, without thinking really, but he wanted to see if something
could unsettle Itachi.

If there was something that could
make Itachi seem more human� and after all, it was not like he himself was really
sane, since this interest he had for that family was kind of morbid. The blond
was aware of it.

When he was alone, and felt like the
walls were closing in on him, choking and suffocating him, so much he wanted to
cry and yell loudly to make his existence a reality and not a nightmare, Naruto
concentrated on the sole human he could see, which was Itachi.

Maybe his obsession was the only
thing that kept him sane after all, so to not drown himself
in despair and darkness.

That thought was what scared Naruto
the most. And thus, he continued asking.

Itachi was standing with his back
against the wall, but at Naruto�s voice, his charcoal eyes turned slowly
towards him, assessing and probing his presence. Naruto shuddered a little
under the scrutiny, but ignored the feeling.

It was as if he didn�t fear Itachi
anymore, but that was not the case. He still feared him. They had sex together,
he was the only other human Naruto was allowed to see, but Naruto was sure
Itachi would kill him without looking back if it was required.

If he were not the Kyuubi holder,
would Itachi still look at him this way? Or would he have been dead by that
time? Naruto did not know, but he had a sinking feeling Itachi was not
interested in what he was, but what he had in him.

Maybe it was a little too much to
ask, especially when referring to someone that was supposed to be an enemy for
him, a threat, but he had thought (hoped?)
that maybe� just maybe� someone would look at him for what he was. He was
pretty sure about himself, but not even this self confidence could really help
that much anymore.

Naruto had long since realized he
would never be strong by using Kyuubi�s power and not his own. How could he get
respect by borrowing power?

Maybe that was what Sasuke could not
understand, Naruto was sure of that; he wanted revenge with power that was not
his own, but would he feel satisfied and free if he were to win this way?

Using something that didn�t belong
to him?

Staring at Itachi, Naruto felt the
sudden urge to yell again.

He could not picture Sasuke, the
Sasuke he knew, the one he�d come to appreciate as a friend, a team mate, part
of the family he never had, killing his brother. Maybe he was too optimistic,
too clueless, but he could not see him killing his brother coldly.

He would falter before doing it, he
would not finish it. But, as he stared at Itachi, his former question ignored
even by himself, he knew that it was the same for the older Uchiha as well. For
some strange reason he could not fathom, Itachi had decided to let Sasuke live.

Why?

He did not know. But Itachi would
not kill Sasuke. Call it a gut feeling, and maybe Naruto would one day be
proven wrong, but�

It was an understatement to say he
could not see Sasuke strong enough to ever kill his brother either. Itachi was
different. In some way the blond could not understand� but it was true.

Why had Itachi killed his family?
Out of hatred? Why had he joined Akatsuki� what could they offer him, after
all? Maybe it was just because of what he did.

Because there was
no other option.

Naruto had once heard about an
illness that made people sympathize with their capturers even through torture.
He did not remember its name, but he wondered if what was
happening to him were symptoms of this illness.

He though it wasn�t that; he had no
sympathy towards Itachi. He was curious to see what was
underneath the surface, what the causes of his actions were, what had caused
him to feel so much hatred�

He wanted to understand him, but
that didn�t mean he accepted or agree with his behavior.
He would never say that Itachi exterminating his whole clan was a good thing,
no matter what reasons he could have had.

He simply wanted to understand, and
he himself did not know why.

There was something about Itachi
that interested him �he�d seen many hide what they were under a mask, as he
himself had one that had slowly become his true face, but Itachi was�
different.

Naruto had also seen many others
that had darkness inside, but he�d always found the key to understand them, no
matter what.

Gaara, even
Sasuke, despite the fact that the younger Uchiha had then decided to end it all
by going to Orochimaru. He had never been able to really get close to Sasuke, because his mind
had been fixed on his revenge and nothing else.

But still, Naruto knew one day he
would see him again, and take him back to Konoha. This was his promise, this was one of his goals.

Become Hokage to be acknowledged,
respected, loved; make Sasuke realize his way of pursuing revenge was wrong (revenge on the same man he had in front of
his eyes, advancing towards him with blazing crimson pools� knowing what would
then come). And now, a new goal� get out of this
place, and start to unravel the mystery that Itachi was.

Even though, for the present moment,
everything blurred away in a heated kiss.

��

The sight was wonderful.

It didn�t matter that the Kaze no
Kuni was arid, deserted, empty of anything but sand and rocks, with few plants
that were the only ones able to resist the changes in temperature that occurred
from night to day, but the villages that grew there were anything but horrid.

Sunagakure was enormous and florid
despite the place it was born into; the village was conveniently placed in some
kind of valley or depression of the ground, surrounded by a huge wall made by
the scaled mountains (carved by men) that offered a very good protection to it,
and there would have never been need to fear an attack, since its protection
was almost perfect.

Almost.

Deidara stared closely down at Suna,
eyeing, appreciatively, every single carved rock, everything from the
disposition of the whole village to the position of every single house,
admiring the carvings and the beauty of the place.

The Kazekage tower was right in the
middle of it, clearly clashing against the rest of it because of its size, a
round shaped tower that was the stable pillar of Sunagakure and its
inhabitants. Every road, and every main street pointed
and headed towards it, making it look like a giant red centre from which
sprouted many rays that reached the borders.

It was a village filled with life.

The hair on Deidara�s face moved out
of the way, revealing a small camera that the straw haired shinobi used to zoom
in on the various parts of the village, carefully assessing its power.

�One� two� and� there is a third,� he thought, as his bird flapped its
wings, flying to the left. �There are
three sky guards, un,� he nodded. For a city that
was well enough protected from ground attacks, and had only to worry about sky
ones, only three guards was a severe miscalculation.

But Deidara recognized the artistic
disposition of the village anyway.

�This disposition is not shabby at
all, un!� he complimented the village out aloud for no reason at all. Maybe he
just liked the sound of his own voice. He was like this, after all. �It will be
satisfying enough to ruin it��

Digging his hand in the bag he had
with him, the Akatsuki shinobi took out three small spiders of the same
dimensions the bird had before he had enlarged it, all of them made of clay but
previously prepared.

�I will have to go on a sneak attack
then, unfortunately, un,� he shook his head again,
finding it a waste of time.

He let the spiders fall down as the
bird did a sharp turn around, swiftly making a
familiar hand seal that caused the clay�made spiders to turn slightly bigger
�but not too much.

On different spots above Sunagakure,
three guards stood during their patrol duty, eyes scanning around carefully,
faces serious and collected.

None of them heard the thump the spiders made after falling near them, nor did they see them
crawl up to their shoulders� and when they did, it was too late already.

�Agh! What�,� one by one, the spiders jumped on the three Jounins� faces, the
claws residing on their legs penetrating the skin above the men�s eyes and
below their mouths.

�What the hell is this disgusting thing?!� one of the men cried out in shock.

Deidara heard, and he smirked,
shaking his head, �Disgusting thing? Oh, you�ve really got no taste,� the smirk
grew bigger as he positioned himself in a hand seal. �No
wonder stupid, ignorant people can�t comprehend art� un.�

His smirk grew cold, as it looked
like all the fun had disappeared from his face, leaving behind a serious and
almost maniacal glare.

His eyes were shining dangerously as
his lips moved, forming whispered words, staring with fascination and
expectation at the men as they struggled to get the spiders off.

�But I will teach you to respect
art, I will make you open your eyes and see�,� he clapped his hands in a seal.
�Art is a bang.�

Three explosions resounded in the
silence, but the guards were situated in places where no one could really see
or hear what had happened, due to the wind still blowing harshly and their
secluded positions.

So, no one noticed their corpses
fall lifelessly on the ground, their heads blown off by the force of the
exploded spiders.

Deidara smirked in satisfaction as
he led his bird into a swift descent, landing on top of the Kazekage tower with
a soft tap.

Crouching down on the roof, Deidara
allowed himself a short, clipped laugh, �Infiltration successful,� he said.

Then as the smoke cleared� a person
stood right in front of him.

�Huh?�

It was a teen, obviously younger
than he was, with flaming red hair, a tattoo on his forehead (the kanji of �ai�, love, which once
signified the lost hope in the world, and now stated the change of feelings
that were now turned on protecting, and not destroying, and a huge gourd on
his back, whose deep green eyes were fixed on him in a glare, his arms crossed
on his chest.

Though he�d never met him before,
Deidara recognized the person the moment his eyes set on him.

�Sabaku no Gaara, Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku and Kazekage of
Sunagakure no Sato, un��

There was only a second to think
before the sand, commanded by Gaara, attacked him mercilessly.

��

Tsunade closed her eyes, not
trusting herself to speak at the moment.

At her side, Jiraiya had his face in
his hand, and both were deathly silent, shocked and astonished.

Neji was staring at them with sharp
and serious eyes, which held something one would call hope, his frame slightly
leaning forwards, his composure for once lost.

Next to the office entrance, Shizune
had her hand on her mouth, eyes widened in shock at Neji�s daring words.

�Neji, it�s not that easy�,� Kakashi
was the only one who spoke in the room that still could speak without having
his voice tremble with emotions, words that were still clear in the only eye he
had uncovered.

He would not let hope touch him, not
in such circumstances. He was not going to let his heart be hurt again in hope
of something that would never become true. Not now, not anymore. He�d suffered
enough as it was, without having to suffer because of a stupid hope.

�But it�s obvious!� Neji bit his
lip, trying to regain his composure, but he couldn�t. This meant more than
anything else, he could not stay put until the Hokage, Jiraiya�sama, and
Kakashi realized the foolishness of their beliefs. �They took away his body!
Why would Akatsuki need Naruto�s body? And why is Gaara still untouched when
Akatsuki needs all the demons? They have Naruto alive, and for some reason,
they can�t take Kyuubi out!�

Tsunade and
Jiraiya stiffened hearing Naruto�s name, since the loss was still too fresh for
them to settle down.

Almost two months had gone by
without Naruto, and they still could not accept he was not alive anymore.

All the others had found a reason to
live again, more or less� Iruka had, in the end, returned to teaching at the
academy, knowing that he needed to think about something else if he wanted to
prevent going insane, Konohamaru had decided he would honour Naruto�s memory by
becoming the greatest Hokage ever, and had started playing pranks on the
villagers, followed by Ebisu who was now his three�team cell�s sensei.

Even Hinata was slowly getting
better, despite her pale complexion, which had turned even more
pale lately, and she used to be so silent that it was hard to tell she
was even there. Kiba and Shino had tried to ease her out of her pain, and,
luckily enough, in the last few days she had smiled, albeit shyly, and not with
much conviction.

But to Tsunade and Jiraiya, who had
lived through more than any of them, that had seen the truth of war, of loosing
their loved ones, that did not have their lives in front of them, but rather
behind them, moving on had been, and still was, harder.

The list of people they had loved
and had lost was longer than the one of the people they loved that were still alive, and each name passing from the second to
the first list was like a stab in their hearts, almost accusing them to have
somehow failed.

Naruto was the hardest to let go of,
and to have Neji now, with his vain hopes, come in front of them like this,
begging to be listened to, speaking about impossible things when he himself had
seen Naruto�s dead body and had admitted chakra was not circulating anymore
(and to a skilled medic�nin like Tsunade, this statement meant certain death),
could bring nothing but pain to them.

They were holding no more hope for
the future, and they were still living only because they had duties they would
respect until death came for them too.

�Tsunade�sama, Jiraiya�sama,
Kakashi�sensei, believe me, Gaara is right,� Neji stressed the last part,
knowing he had the eyes of every person in the room on him �his friends�, the
Hokage�s, the Sannin�s, Kakashi�s.

�Neji, you have to let Naruto go,�
Kakashi commented. �We don�t know anything about Akatsuki, for all we know they
might keep the bodies of the Jinchuuriki to study them, or to keep them for who
knows what� remember, Orochimaru had once been one of them as well.�

Jiraiya sighed, �Despite your
concern, I have to admit that we know almost nothing of that organization, nor
its goals, or the members� names. They are all shinobi, but usually they don�t
operate the way ninja villages usually do. They have their own way, and it
seems they keep the bodies.�

Tsunade nodded and straightened her
back, deciding she could not let Neji�s words affect her, not the blossoming flower
of hope that was deep inside her.

She would not delude herself. Not on
Naruto. Never.

�Stop this useless racket, Hyuuga,�
she stated clearly. �Your mission is over, you are dismissed.�

Neji backed away, feeling Lee�s arm on
his shoulder, and shook his head, �No, you don�t understand� I am sure Gaara is
right! I believe Naruto is still alive!�

Everyone stared at him with sad
eyes, everyone in the room believed he was just deluding himself in thinking
this, because the pain was not acceptable for him.

Lee smiled friendly to Neji, and he
and TenTen walked away, taking the Hyuuga with them, Shizune leaving with them.
Kakashi nodded and puffed away as well, his only visible eye darkening as he
disappeared.

Jiraiya and Tsunade remained
motionless for a moment, averting their eyes from each other and neither moving
nor speaking; this was too much for them.

�Tsunade�,� Jiraiya�s voice was not
as steady as he wanted it to be.

�No. No, Jiraiya,
no. I�m too tired for this,� she shook her head and leaned over her
hands. �Too damn tired��

Jiraiya lowered his head and,
without another word, he moved towards her, embracing the shaking frame slowly,
trying to give as much comfort as he himself was seeking, in a rare, unusual,
and almost foreign sign of affect between two former team mates.

�I know, Tsunade�hime� I know,� he
muttered, closing his eyes. �I am, too��

Outside the Hokage tower, Neji
stared up at the sun, remembering when, many years before,
he�d been looking up at the same sun, realizing that Fate was not really
controlling his life. That day when Naruto gave him hope.

�Neji�kun, I know you are hurt�,�
TenTen bit her lower lip and stared at him with warm eyes. �But I won�t tell
you I believe you. Naruto is dead, and you have to let go��

Lee looked away; he knew he
shouldn�t have told Neji about Gaara�s words. He felt like it was his fault,
and now he was needed to speak with the only person that could help and advise
him� Gai�sensei.

Lee walked away,
uncharacteristically slow, and TenTen too, knowing she could do nothing for her
team mate. Only one person here could help, and it was not her, but a certain
lazy shinobi that, somewhere, was staring up at the clouds.

Neji�s eyes turned down again; he
hadn�t even heard TenTen�s words, or notice that she
and Lee had walked away, too caught in his thoughts to care. He had a renewed
hope that could not be extinguished, no matter what.

�Naruto, you believed in me many times� this time, it will be me
believing in you. I can�t help, not like this, not knowing where you are, but I
will believe in you. I am sure that wherever you are, you will return here soon.�

Because, as it
was, Neji could only hope. And now, he needed Shikamaru.

��

Naruto gasped, and his eyes widened
as he felt teeth sink into his throat, so hard that a drop of blood trickled
out, licked away a moment later by a talented tongue; his back arched in
pleasure, liking the double feelings of pleasure and pain that ran through his
body like fire.

His hands, for once, were not pinned
above his head, in an uncomfortable (but arousing and suspiciously exciting)
way that left him vulnerable to the assaults of Itachi, and were not gripping
the older shinobi�s shirt tightly, but were laying at the sides of his head,
fingers clenching and unclenching rapidly in response to the bites and the
licks.

For the present moment, as he laid
in Itachi�s arms, close to letting himself be taken once more, Naruto felt like
he could just forget where he was and what was happening, as what mattered was
the contact, the feeling of being alive, and the rush of adrenaline and
pleasure cursing through his frame.

Everything was blank, unimportant,
and he wanted it to be like this. At least until the moment the heated peace
would end.

Naruto groaned again, welcoming the
closeness of the other man, almost craving for it, and tentatively lifted his
hands, hoping against everything that Itachi would be too busy to notice what
he was trying to do.

His fingers twitched as he bit back
a throaty moan, feeling that skilled tongue run along his collarbone up to his
earlobe, almost coming then and there for how sensitive his ears were, but he
tried to focus himself on his own task, and, with a second to consider what
reaction he would cause in the Uchiha, Naruto finally did something he�d been
wanting to do since the start of their �affair� �he touched Itachi�s hair with
his fingers, marvelling at how nice it felt.

�Soft� he
gingerly thought. He had expected some, but not this much smoothness.

The touch was rewarded by a sharp
bite, much harder than the previous, and it hurt so much Naruto had to gasp in
pain, arching his back at the feeling of Itachi�s teeth puncturing his skin,
and the feeling of more blood trailing out, this time not just a drop, but a
steady flow.

He yanked his hands away, knowing he
shouldn�t have dared, but feeling like he had to at the same time, and, as his
fingers left the dark hair, he clumsily pulled away Itachi�s tie too, making
the hair fall in a cascade around his head.

Naruto was stunned as his sight was
surrounded by a beautiful charcoal blanket, feeling it against his heated skin,
dazed as his fingers moved through it like in a silk tissue, lips barely parted
in awe.

It was beautiful�

His attention returned in a flash to
the Uchiha above him, who had jerked his head back, taking away most of the
hair too, and was now staring with an unreadable expression down at him,
crimson eyes spinning madly almost in rage (almost).

Naruto did not care. He didn�t care
what Itachi�s reaction would be; he did not care what would happen next.

He let his fingers follow the head
movements so as to not lose touch with the hair. He knew he�d never felt
anything remotely similar to this in his life, and he liked the feeling.

�Beautiful,� he breathed, not even
aware of having spoken out aloud. His lips moved lightly upwards in a satisfied
grin, happy he had been able to see and feel what he�d wanted for so long.

He felt daring as his eyes met with
crimson ones (sensing more than seeing,
shock, disbelief, confusion, or maybe, just a trick of the light since he knew
Itachi felt almost nothing), so he moved his head upwards, helping himself
by giving a push with his upper chest, and, with a completely serious face
(eyes still joined with Itachi�s) he licked the other�s lips, falling back down
with a wince caused by the wound on his neck.

Itachi didn�t say anything.

For a long moment, Naruto waited to
see what would be his reaction. If he would stand and walk
away, or �punish� him.

What he had not expected was to look
on as crimson bled into charcoal, Sharingan disappearing into nothingness, and,
before he could think, he was being surrounded again by the silky blanket,
feeling it scrape and brush against his face and neck as Itachi�s tongue licked
at his wound, sensuously cleaning it of the blood.

Naruto groaned at the feeling, the
hair brushing with a feather�like touch that made his body burn with desire.

He didn�t know why Itachi had simply
resumed his ministrations, without even tying his hair up again, but he was way
too grateful for it.

Being allowed this small �victory� (wondering if, by allowing him that, Itachi
had simply wanted to show him he had no interest whatsoever, or just that he
was still in control) Naruto sighed and parted his legs, silently begging
his lover to continue, the fire building inside him burning twice as strongly
than before.

��

Deidara was pleased.

Well, to say pleased was an
understatement; he was amused.

The fight with the Ichibi
Jinchuuriki had been amusing, and rushed. Gaara had used his power the second
he�d seen Deidara standing on top of the Kazekage tower, trying to crush the
Akatsuki member with its sand.

�Start Flashback�

Deidara had jumped again onto his
bird, leaving the roof a second before the sand hit the spot he�d occupied;
glancing down at the Kazekage with a smirk. �You knew I was there, un,� he commented amusedly.

Gaara stared stonily up at him
before the sand curled around his feet, moving him upwards in the air to meet
the Akatsuki member above Sunagakure.

�His power is useful� un,� he thought, staring at the sand
under Gaara�s feet. �So that�s how a Jinchuuriki
fights��

�There are no birds like yours in
this desert,� Gaara commented coldly, his green eyes staring emotionlessly at
Deidara.

�Well, that helped me� now I won�t
have to go through this village to search for you, un!�
Deidara let out an amused laugh.

Gaara stared unblinkingly at the
strange man on the back of the bird, recognizing the coat of the shinobi as one
belonging to the organization he�d heard about from both his Jounin captain and
Lee, the Konoha nin.

Something else flashed in his mind,
and his eyes turned into slits.

�Uzumaki Naruto,� Gaara hissed. �He
is alive,� this wasn�t properly a question as much as a statement.

Deidara couldn�t help but smirk,
eyes glinting mischievously, but he did not respond.

Gaara raised both of his arms high,
eyes blazing with some sort of sedated anger, and Deidara could only move out
of his way as an enormous column of sand exploded from behind the red head, and
the Akatsuki shinobi had barely the time to fly away before it started chasing
him.

�Well, risky� he has the geographical advantage� un.�

So the battle started, flying and
moving in the sky above Sunagakure, bombs against sand.

Gaara�s sand had taken the
appearance of clawed hands, whilst Deidara had thrown small birds, each and
every one of which had met with the absolute defence of the raised wall of
sand.

The last two birds were luckier than
the others before, and managed to slip past the sand�hands and hit the
Jinchuuriki.

Deidara waited in expectation, but
when the smoke vanished in the air, the sight made his hope lower again.

Gaara had closed himself inside a
sand�made shell, protecting himself from the last explosions with a barrier
that completely blew away Deidara�s chances to get him.

What was he supposed to do? This
was, by his knowledge, the weaker Jinchuuriki; there shouldn�t have been
problems, but he was indeed proving to be annoying.

Gaara was a good shinobi, and the
fact that he had such an advantage was not in Deidara�s favour.

Though, he could find a way to
weaken Gaara�s protection, since the sand the Jinchuuriki used from his gourd
had absorbed more chakra than the sand which he used from the environment
around him; it was obvious, because, by keeping it with him all the time, the
sand in the gourd would be impregnated by the demon chakra pulse, making it
handy and malleable for the Kazekage.

Instead, the sand he had used to
form the massive attacks was heavier, and harder to use, because it could only
be used with the demon chakra active; it would not bend at Gaara�s will like
his own would, but it was still controllable enough to be far too dangerous.

Thinking this, Deidara realized the danger
that was behind him too late; too late he turned and saw the giant mass of sand
that was closing in on him, and too late he tried to get out of it.

The Desert Prison closed with a
giant wham on Deidara, but the shinobi had the presence of mind to use the
giant current of air caused by the sand closing in him to his advantage, moving
out of the way and exiting the prison by mere inches.

Unfortunately for him, his bird did
not escape the prison, and a second later the straw haired shinobi started to fall.

Dropping down towards the ground at
extreme speed, the wind slashing against his face, making his hair thrash
around, Deidara was still perfectly collected, as he stared upwards, admiring
the attack he�d received and biting his lip in wonder, �What to do, what to do��

Again Gaara attacked, not leaving
any time for his opponent to think of a counterattack; some of the sand that
Gaara controlled, the stronger sand he had in his gourd, attached itself to
Deidara�s left arm.

�Sabaku Kyuu,�
Gaara glared from inside his protection.

The sand around Deidara�s arm closed
with a sickening crack.

To Gaara�s surprise, Deidara kept
his cool even though one of his arms was being yanked out of him, and let one
of his last birds go, doing a one�hand seal to make it grow like his previous
one.

Flapping its clay wings, the
owl�like bird moved upwards again, and Deidara stared
at the combination of sand Gaara had used once again, barely noticing his arm
being ripped off of him.

He�d seen the damage the
chakra�moulded sand of the gourd could do, and this was where the ultimate
defence brought him�

Rummaging through his bag, Deidara
hummed in thought.

�Only this bird I am using and my favourite number 18 left� un. What to
do�,� Deidara picked
up a small, strange�looking sculpture of clay and held it in his only remaining
hand as he looked straight into Gaara�s eyes.

There was only a small quantity of
sand that the red haired teen had in his gourd, so the really dangerous sand
was a small percentage compared to the normal sand.

Deidara smirked. Time to have his
little piece of art shown to everyone� especially the Kazekage�

�End Flashback�

Deidara smirked as his bird flapped
his wings. His eyes trailed down to the hole he had instead of his left arm,
and his smirk only grew. The fight had been entertaining, no matter the cost.
Maybe the loss would just make life more fun for him�

Despite the loss of his arm� he felt
satisfied.

After all, he thought as he glanced
behind him, he�d achieved his goal.

On the back of his bird, unconscious
and helpless, was Sabaku no Gaara, the Jinchuuriki of Ichibi no Shukaku.

The last standing demon had been
captured.

�Not killing him was harder than I
first thought� but my job here is done. Mission
complete� un.�

��

A falcon flew through the blue sky
towards Konoha. In his claws was an urgent message from Sunagakure.

��

Cepheus: the rest of the fight between Deidara and Gaara
and the part with Kankurou and Sasori will be added somewhere in the next
chapter� explained better.

And someone nicely pointed out this was leading to
Stockholm Syndrome and I had to stop this before it
ruined everything. Thus the relative part.

(makes no sense ne?)

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Winter Release