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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
- 20
- 21
- 22
Thanks to all the reviewers! And
HUGE thanks to my BETA Silence in Nightmares!

Cepheus: I noticed it�s
been a while since I last updated, but Real Life and other fics took priority
for me� I hope this chapter won�t make you disappointed, even though nothing
happens. New things are pooling under the surface, and soon enough, you will
know�

��

Next update: I don�t
really know�

Rating: M (or is it higher?)

Summary: Kyuubi�s secret out. Akatsuki
attacking. Fighting for strength, and falling for your ex�best friend�s
older brother. Maybe Naruto will have to deal with more than he imagined�

Warnings: yaoi,
boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such.
Mental torture 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 21: Progression

Naruto relaxed
his tense muscles, finally accepting the truth. He closed his eyes again, deaf
to Kakashi�s pleas to not go back to sleep, and soon he slipped away in the
darkness again, welcoming the rest.

This time there
wouldn�t be a crumbling sound mixed with a disgusting stench, nor nightmares.
He was safe.

��

For the first week after his rescue,
Naruto simply let himself sleep; sometimes he would wake up, almost as if in
need of making sure he was still out of Akatsuki�s clutches, and he would ask
for some water before falling asleep again.

His body had been drained of energy from
the long exposure to Kyuubi�s chakra, and he needed all the rest he could get,
and no one was going to deny it to him. Also, both his and Kyuubi�s chakra were
almost completely gone, and he needed to rest.

Even during his dreamless sleep, Naruto
could feel the comforting, soothing touches of Kakashi�s hands on his hair,
calming him down; he knew that the silver haired Jounin rarely left his side,
not even when he was deeply asleep, and the blond was grateful for the concern.

After all, he didn�t want to be left
alone, especially now, and he needed to know there was someone with him all the
time.

That he wasn�t in the darkness anymore.

In his short, conscious moments, Naruto
couldn�t help but feel secure and at peace �after so much time trying to
protect himself, with no one else to help, it was wonderful to let himself go,
knowing someone else would be there, keeping him safe.

It might seem stupid and childish, but Naruto relished this thought.

Sometimes, as he slowly swallowed his
water, he could vaguely feel Neji and Shikamaru standing next to the wall,
smiling at him whenever his unfocused eyes would shift towards them, and Naruto
knew they cared as well.

He was glad, glad for everything. He just
needed to rest a bit, and then he would be as good as new.

Day and night, around his sleeping form,
doctors and healers would work and monitor his progress, preventing his body
from collapsing for lack of strength and chakra, and helping some of his deeper
wounds to heal without using jutsus or chakra (since the worst ones would not
completely heal if not with time).

Seeing as his body had been almost
completely depleted of chakra, for the first three days the medic�nins had
worked on giving him their own, having noticed that Kyuubi was not working
along with them �it looked like the demon was resting as well, the reason unknown to all of them.

And just as Naruto had thought, Kakashi
never left his side, unless it was to eat or sleep; the silver haired Jounin
knew that showing so much care for someone was unusual for him, but this
situation was special �he felt like he�d been offered another chance.

The day his sensei died he had not been
able to help in any way; just like he had been too late in helping his best
friend (a best friend he had neither recognized
nor accepted as having until it was too late).

But Naruto�

Naruto was stubbornly clutching to life,
and Kakashi was not going to waste this opportunity.

He would never have to feel guilty for not
caring anymore; he would not let himself shy away from caring for someone.

In Konoha, news of Naruto�s reappearance
had travelled faster than expected and all his friends knew already, from
Sakura and after that, from Lee. Many had wanted to leave the village and move
to Suna to assist him, especially Sakura, Hinata, and Iruka, but Tsunade �who
had secretly wanted to go as well� had denied them permission, knowing it would
attract too much attention.

Akatsuki was surely searching for him
again, and they probably would notice if Konohagakure�s ninja were to move in
crowds towards Suna. Also, Konoha was still being reconstructed, and they
needed all the shinobi they could get �Kakashi�s stay in Suna was a stretch
already.

Whilst Naruto�s death had brought about
many changes in those that had been close to him, bringing the shy Hinata out
of her shell (she would not let her
weaknesses get the better of her ever again), and making Sakura see just
how wrong she had been, making her train harder to get strong, as well, now
Naruto�s reappearance had brought back hope in everyone�s hearts.

Lee, Gai, and TenTen had also returned to
the village, leaving behind Shikamaru and Neji with Kakashi to take care of the
blond, since the two shinobi had been opposed to their return �Lee had asked to
stay as well, but Gai did not let him.

Kakashi had been restlessly watching over
Naruto, fussing over him much like a father would (and that had earned him many
�youth� comments from the Green Beast), not caring at all what the reactions in
Konoha would be like.

As for the Kazekage, well, Kakashi had
been shocked to see how time could change someone.

Gaara was completely different from the
young, psychopathic teen that had almost killed Sasuke, Lee, and Naruto three
years previously, not to mention the many shinobi he had effectively killed
without even blinking an eye.

The redhead now had matured, calming down
enough to let everyone see that his eyes were not filled with bloodlust
anymore, or insanity.

Gaara ended up loving his village like
Naruto did his, and by what his older brother had said to the Leaf�nin, he had
also protected Sunagakure from the two Akatsuki members with his last
resources, and was caught because of that.

And to Kakashi�s complete surprise, Suna
seemed to love him back.

There were no glares against the Jinchuuriki,
no insults; Kakashi had seen the looks in the villagers� eyes when Gaara walked
through the streets with his emotionless glare, and they looked� content.

Kakashi was sure that, one day, Naruto
would gain the same love from Konoha, as well.

The Copy�nin had been surprised to see how
much Naruto had changed as well, noticing how similar the blond was now to his
sensei� to the father whose identity Naruto was as yet to be informed of.

Despite how stupid it might seem, it had been hard to notice, even though there were few
blondes in Konoha, but then, Kakashi had never seen his sensei when he was
young, something that only Jiraiya, Sandaime, and a few others in the village
had.

But now, the more Kakashi looked at
Naruto, the more he could see his sensei in him, minus the brash personality.

The villagers had never noticed,
their eyes blind with rage and hatred when they stared at Naruto, and after
all, the village saviour had ended up being more of a myth than an actual
person.

But Kakashi had noticed it after a couple
of missions, reaching the conclusion by himself, and
Sandaime had admitted it.

The love for ramen, the smiles,
their bright and innocent behaviour� believing in their nindo, they would do
anything to accomplish their goals� and friends always came first.

It was hard to admit it to himself now, but Kakashi had been sour towards Naruto
because he�d been angry at his sensei; he had never told him his wife had been
expecting a child, and he had sacrificed himself for the sake of the village.

Naruto had never known the pain he caused
Kakashi simply by� living.

And it was not just that. It felt like a
big, sick joke. Naruto reminded Kakashi of Obito. And even if Kakashi could
accept the similarities with Yondaime, he could not stand to stare at Naruto
and see Obito.

The friend he had failed to save, the
friend he had lost before coming to fully accept his feelings.

He had been selfish and egotistic, and now
he wanted nothing more than to make up for his actions, knowing he had been
stupid all this time, doing what his sensei had always told him never to do.

Yondaime� he would be disappointed in
Kakashi�s decisions, but the Sharingan user was willing to change.

Kakashi hoped Naruto would still want him
as a teacher, even now.

A brown eye turned to the sleeping figure
on the bed as Naruto shifted, his face scrunching up a
bit; Naruto shifted again, and finally he opened his eyes, groaning softly in
pain. Even though most of the wounds had been healed by now, he still had many
broken bones, and stiffness, not to mention�

Kakashi�s eye unconsciously moved towards
Naruto�s wrists �such a show of stubbornness made him reconsider Naruto
greatly. The blond had obviously pulled four wards from his ankles and wrists,
and Kakashi knew how dangerous something like this could be. Naruto had been
reckless, and he had ignored pain that would have killed anyone else, and even managed to run for miles, too.

Probably already weakened by the wards
(that had given him nausea and dizziness) Naruto hadn�t even realized the exact
amount of damage he�d done to his own body, but then again, Naruto had escaped
from Akatsuki�

Maybe that kind of pain was the only way
out. No one knew yet what had happened to the blond in those months.

Kakashi had been there when the medic�nins
had started cleaning away all the blood. Their horrified expressions in finding
the ripped skin, and the flesh underneath, and the burns and the horrible scars
had worried him more than anything else.

Anyone else under the same amount of pain
and shock would have died already, but Naruto was there, very much alive.
Kakashi wanted to know what had happened to him in the Akatsuki undergrounds.

Something else that shocked Kakashi was
the seal that apparently had been keeping Kyuubi�s chakra sealed away from
Naruto, probably the same one that had hidden his chakra patters, making him
seem dead.

Kakashi remembered just how well it had
worked.

Ocean eyes were open again, focusing on
Kakashi�s face as the older shinobi smiled down at the teen.

�Naruto, how are you feeling? Do you want
some water again?� Kakashi was used to the blonde�s brief moments of
consciousness, and grabbed the glass from the near-by table.

Naruto nodded, accepting the glass with
grateful eyes, and cleared his throat twice, shifting in the bed for a better
position.

The silver haired Jounin observed him,
wondering if Naruto had enough sleep and would stay awake �he had many things
he wanted to know, after all.

�Kakashi�sensei�,� Naruto�s voice was raw,
but not strained anymore, a sign that the painkillers had helped take the pain
away and that the rest had done him good. �How long have I been sleeping?�

�Give or take, seven days,� the other
replied, his shoulders relaxing slightly. It looked like Naruto was done with
sleeping and would stay awake for a while. �How are you feeling?�

�� Relieved,� Naruto admitted with a small
smile.

And he really was; more than happy, or
anything else, he felt relieved. He was safe again and he�d waited so long�

Kakashi smiled at him, his only visible
eye curving upwards.

�I am glad you�re back with us,� he
whispered, so low Naruto had to strain his ears to hear him.

Naruto smiled up at him. Me too.

�Are you too tired to speak with me a
little?� Kakashi asked, sitting a bit more comfortably on the chair.

Naruto blinked, and shook his head, �No, I
feel fine� and I want to know what happened too� I was tired before, but now
it�s ok,� he assured his teacher.

Nodding to his student, Kakashi let a
smile linger on his covered lips again, relieved to see that, despite
everything, Naruto�s spirit was still here, burning as usual. After three
years, now he could look him in the eyes.

�All your friends are glad you�re ok, the
news travelled back to Konoha as soon as we took you here,� Kakashi�s voice was
laced with relief he didn�t bother to hide.

Naruto�s smile was warm; he wanted to
thank the silver haired Jounin for his words and for just being here, but he
knew that he would not accept it. After all, Kakashi was known to shy away from
such trivial things as feelings and the like.

He simply nodded, acknowledging his words.

�Naruto, we want to know what happened,�
Kakashi�s voice turned serious, his eye darker as he leaned over a bit, staring
at the blonde. �You returned when you were thought dead, with such wounds that
anyone else would have died in your place, and even carrying Gaara on your
back�,�

�Gaara?! How�s Gaara?!� Naruto straightened
up in a flash, coughing as he changed his position, being hit by a wave of
nausea.

He had suddenly remembered about the
redhead, and he wanted to know if he was ok.

Kakashi helped him sit up comfortably,
knowing he would have to tell Naruto what he wanted to know before he could
have his own answers.

�Calm down, Naruto, Gaara is fine,� he
said, patting Naruto on the head. �You should be more worried over yourself,
after all you�ve done� the Kazekage is fine, he started working again five days
ago, completely healed.�

Naruto let out a sigh of relief, flopping
back on his pillows.

�What about� what about� Shukaku?� he asked then, feeling a cold
grip in his chest.

He feared Akatsuki had been able to
extract the demon anyway, even though it was not probable, since Gaara was
still alive.

�Shukaku is still inside him, but
strangely it�s not acting up on him, since Gaara slept for a day straight and
the demon didn�t try to control him�,� Kakashi frowned; this was something else
he would have to ask Naruto about.

Naruto smiled again, thinking about it a
bit.

�What about�,� he started, but noticing
the stiffening of Kakashi�s shoulders he bit his lip, knowing it was Kakashi�s
turn now. But he had one last thing he wanted to know, and he had to ask it
before anything else. His blue eyes darkened a bit, and he took a shuddering
breath. �How long?�

Staring into his serious eyes, Kakashi
knew instantly what Naruto had wanted to know. How long have I been with them?

�Almost three months.�

Naruto�s eyes widened in shock, as
he took a shuddering breath, thinking about the real amount of time he had been
prisoner in the Akatsuki�s clutches.

He stared down at his trembling and
bandaged hands for a while, digesting the news, whilst Kakashi simply waited;
after what felt like hours, Naruto shook his head.

�So long�,� he muttered.

Memories of what had happened to him
flashed in front of his eyes as he relieved them, the pain, the darkness, the
dread, and�

Eyes widening, Naruto shook his head
wildly, halting his thoughts as Itachi appeared in his mind.

�Not now, not
now, not now,� he
chanted in his head.

It was not the time to feel remorse and
guilt for what he did. He didn�t want Kakashi to find out� the thought that
someone might find out filled him with shame.

Staring up at Kakashi, he finally took a
good look at his former sensei, noticing for the first time that he looked
fairly older. Not as in three years of not seeing him
had caused Kakashi to suddenly age.

It felt as if he had aged all at once, and
Naruto couldn�t think of a cause for this. Unless� but Kakashi would never feel
the weight of Naruto�s death upon his shoulders, would he?

Naruto was sure it couldn�t be; after all,
this was Kakashi they were talking about� though� he was surely acting warmly
with him, now�

�Naruto, what happened?�

Naruto gulped down his anxiety, knowing he
would have to explain what he had been through.

For a second he could not remember how it
had started, but then his eyes flashed, �Ah� Akatsuki attacked me and
Ero�sennin when we were moving towards Iwagakure�,� he started, searching for
the right words.

It felt as if years had passed instead of
few months, and he felt suddenly very tired. Retelling everything as he could
remember it, from the capture to the sudden, blinding pain, Naruto tried not to
shudder and fall into the darkness of his memories, knowing he was safe now.

Fingers gingerly brushing against his
abdomen, Naruto also spoke about his suspicions of a second seal over the first
one, and about the strange seal that had been put on him by the Akatsuki�s
Leader.

�We had your seal checked up, and it seems
like it,� Kakashi agreed, nodding. �Yondaime seemingly thought about the
possibility of someone trying to break through the first, and decided to add a
countering effect.�

Unknown to the other, both mentally
thanked Yondaime, knowing Naruto wouldn�t have been alive anymore, hadn�t it
been for him and his foresight.

Naruto continued explaining where they had
put him, with only Itachi controlling him (gulping
down in embarrassment as Itachi�s voice echoed in his mind, taunting him, the
memories that would be kept hidden from Kakashi and everyone else), his
fingers clenching around the sheets of the bed.

�Naruto, what happened to your wrists?�
Kakashi wanted a clear answer on this, as only assumptions couldn�t work well,
in these situations.

�Ah!� Naruto felt vaguely relieved that
Kakashi wasn�t suspicious (though, of course he wouldn�t be, but Naruto felt
oddly guilty, and exposed even though in reality he hadn�t slipped anything
out). �Akatsuki had some kind of barrier around their undergrounds, and I
couldn�t get Kyuubi�s chakra and�,� he scratched the back of his head and
winced at the pain flaring through his wrist and arm.

Kakashi�s eye was still fixed on him,
making him squirm in uneasiness.

�And� well� I needed my chakra� so I
ripped away the wards,� he gulped, knowing somehow he�d done a very, very, very
stupid thing. He smiled sheepishly, waving his arms a bit, �But then it helped!
I managed to Rasengan the barrier and then I went to find Gaara and he was
looking dead and I was angered and�,� he gulped down some air and blushed,
looking away. �And then� I don�t know how, but the seal over my stomach broke
and I could use Kyuubi�s chakra�,�

He fell silent, peering up to see shock
pass through Kakashi�s visible eye. Somehow, he became good in reading people�s
faces, after all.

Maybe he had something to thank Itachi
for�

The blush deepened a bit.

Kakashi was torn between two opposite
needs �hug Naruto, even though this would probably make him look a fool, or
smack him on the head for his idiocy. Kakashi was glad to have Naruto back,
after all.

He compromised by ruffling Naruto�s hair.

�You can consider yourself lucky, Naruto,
what you did could have killed you� wards come with strict rules and if taken
away without dispelling their effect is even worse.�

Naruto nodded frantically, knowing it
would never happen again.

�What happened then?� Kakashi asked, but
Naruto blocked him lifting his hand.

�Please, can I see Gaara? We can continue
with Gaara here, but I need to see him!� Naruto still had in mind the image of
a lifeless redhead on the ground in front of him, and he could not shake away
the fear that he was not well, no matter what Kakashi had said.

He wanted to see Gaara and make sure with
his own eyes that he was ok.

Kakashi stared at him for a second, then nodded, standing up. Naruto didn�t seem drowsy and he
was looking up at him with pleading eyes.

Normally, it would be impossible to see
the Kazekage like this, but the redhead had requested to be informed by Kakashi
the moment Naruto was awake, and the silver haired Jounin would do just that.

A bit unwillingly Kakashi moved out of the
room, leaving Naruto alone.

Staring at his sensei�s back disappearing
behind the door, Naruto relaxed on his pillow, feeling his hands tremble for
another reason than pain; he had been tense until now, and his shoulders were
hurting him.

He felt almost dirty,
and expected Kakashi to point at him in disgust for what he had let Itachi do
any moment now; the weight of what he�d done was finally falling on his mind, realizing
just how wrong it had been.

It felt like he had everything written on
his face, and every moment passed by he expected someone to come inside the
room and accuse him of betrayal.

Locked inside a prison in the middle of
nowhere, with no other human contact but Itachi, it had felt like the most
normal thing in the world for him to let Itachi have his way� but now that the
world looked a lot brighter and he�d met again with Kakashi and the others, it
felt wrong.

Dirty, and wrong, and�

�You are not betraying your village, there is nothing wrong.�

Itachi�s words didn�t make sense, but at
the same time a part of him kept whispering that what he�d done had nothing to
do with his village, or his friends, and had everything to do with him and his
needs.

But the main part of his mind was
screaming in anger against himself. Screaming so strongly that Naruto wanted
nothing more than to forgot what had happened.

He had betrayed his friends, taking
pleasure from an enemy, and he felt so deeply ashamed he feared everyone could
see the guilt in his eyes. And he was even more ashamed by the fact that even
thinking back to what he did, he could not deny it had felt good.

He had liked it, he had wanted it.

To be owned this completely� shivering
despite himself, Naruto was sure that if he were to be given a choice, he would
allow it to happen again. This was what scared him the most.

Though, he remembered how Itachi had
looked. To him, everything had been nothing but a show of power,
that was clear, up until the last moment.

Naruto still didn�t know why he�d asked
Itachi about the hatred. It felt� right. There were many things he wanted to
know about the Uchiha, and he could not pull away from this desire�

The desire to know. He could (he would, and would have to) push away the memories of the many
times he�d allowed himself that sin, ignoring their existence and moving on as
if nothing had happened (it was still a
fresh wound that he could not face �yet).

But� his deep interest for Itachi and his
brother remained.

He was a curious person, but this kind of
curiosity was created by a different reason than a simple desire to know.

He would do everything he could to
understand, just like he had wanted to before leaving Konoha, three years
before. Itachi interested him; everything about the raven haired shinobi moved
something inside him that asked to be known.

Naruto had seen the pain in someone�s eyes
many times (Sasuke felt pain, a pain so
deep that it was mistaken with hatred), and many times he�d seen the hatred
(Orochimaru�s eyes were filled with such
emotion, and Gaara�s� a hatred against the whole world that continued to burn
no matter what�) but he had never seen such an empty look before.

No one ever had the eyes Itachi had. Empty of everything. But just as he�d thought, Itachi had
once hated, so strongly that now he couldn�t feel anything else.

Naruto wanted to know why. Why the
emptiness, why the flicker in his dark eyes when the blonde had mentioned the
hatred.

Why Itachi didn�t like to be touched, too.

Maybe he was a fool for trying to
understand everyone, trying to search for the good in everyone�s heart, even
those who would never deserve it� but after seeing the worst in people, Naruto
wanted to believe in second chances.

Naruto had never deluded himself in
believing he would be loved by his village. It would hurt too much if he�d
wished for that; but he was slowly gaining the respect of his precious people
and that, for now, was enough.

But he also knew that shinobi were all the
same. Yes, he followed his village and they called their enemies evil, but
indeed, all shinobi followed the same rules, all shinobi killed to survive, all
shinobi worked for their own reasons, and he was not going to delude himself in
thinking he was good whilst others were not.

He had his own way of living, just like
everyone had. Haku taught him that, by deciding who he wanted to protect and
what he wanted to believe in. He�d never known exactly why Haku followed Zabuza
before, but the expression in the teen�s eyes was too clear, and only now did
Naruto realize what it was.

Love and devotion. Every shinobi had their own ways that no one else could understand, and that
maybe no one else would accept and respect� that much Naruto knew. He himself
had decided to go against most rules and live the way he felt.

All in all, the first teachings he had
received was that, from Haku, of all people �one that had been his opponent.

Naruto was old enough to thank Haku�s
memory for this. And now, he could not consider his opponents like monsters and
killers anymore, because that way� it would mean he was one too, and that his
friends and teachers and precious people were too.

Even Kyuubi had acted the way he had
because of his own life� it might look wrong in people�s eyes, and evil and
biased� but Naruto knew that human rules never applied for demons.

A sudden flare from his seal made him
blink, and he briefly wondered if Kyuubi could listen to his thoughts and had
agreed.

Naruto frowned as he carefully leaned on
the pillow again, his mind flashing memories of another Uchiha, much to his
displeasure. The other Uchiha he had met as he was running from Akatsuki.

He�d seen Sasuke.

Sasuke, his Sasuke, whose name brought a flare of pain straight to Naruto�s
chest. He�d finally seen him, after so many years, and he had been unable to do
anything. With Gaara on his back, and the little chakra that still remained
inside him, Naruto knew he could have done nothing at all.

But, what was Sasuke doing there, of all
places?

Hard words were still clear in Naruto�s
heart and they hurt, but the same determination to bring him back was just as
strong.

�Do you think
you deserve to even speak to me?�

Naruto�s eyes shut close and he clenched
his hands into fists painfully, sending a jolt up his back.

�I can sense
your weakness! Not even that form can give you power? What are you? You can�t
even touch me like this. I won�t waste my time enslaving you.�

Sasuke�

He had been so dead tired when the raven
had appeared in front of him, but even with his blurry mind he�d seen Sasuke�s
eyes� how he had become after three years with Orochimaru. Naruto had thought
there was still time to save Sasuke, but just seeing him like that�

Naruto knew the time was not enough
anymore. Sasuke was already losing himself, whilst Naruto trained to be able to
save him.

And still�

�Become strong,
Naruto, because we will be seeing each other again, and that day will be the
last for our friendship,� Sasuke had said in the end. �Now
you�re not even worthy of my attention.�

But Sasuke�s eyes had changed. Briefly,
they had changed. There had been a flash of what Sasuke had once been, deep
inside� deep inside.

Maybe there was still a chance, after all.

Definitely, especially since Sasuke
himself had promised they would meet each other again. Naruto was sure the
Sasuke he knew was still there, lost inside his rage and pain, and he would
reach to him and bring him back.

�Un, Sasuke, I
will definitely bring you back� and find something more about your family, all
right!� he smiled to himself, feeling the well�known fire burn in his chest
once again. This was what helped him move on �a reason to keep on fighting and
never give up.

After all, Sasuke had been his very first
friend.

��

Moving down the corridor, Kakashi couldn�t
help but shake his head in relief� he didn�t know what he�d expected to see
when he�d waited so long for Naruto to wake up, but a part of him had been
afraid to be faced with the fact that the blonde teen could have had become
another person entirely.

Maybe it was because of the three years
Naruto had spent away from Konoha, or maybe for the many months under the
control of Akatsuki, but Kakashi felt so relieved he couldn�t think about
anything else.

Naruto was, in a way, more mature, and
different, but still the same Kakashi had known. Not much had changed, and the
innocence in his eyes had remained unchanged�

He was glad of this.

Staring in front of him as he walked,
Kakashi couldn�t help but feel like a huge weight had been lifted away from his
shoulders and chest, and he breathed in relief, feeling the tension disappear
completely.

For the first time in months, as he headed
for Gaara�s office, he took his orange book from its pocket and flickered
through the pages, a smile forming on his lips.

One thing he didn�t know was if Jiraiya
knew what had happened at all, since the man had disappeared from Konoha days
after Naruto�s �funeral�, and had never reappeared again after that, probably
because of his own deep pain.

The silver haired man hoped Tsunade had
been able to contact him.

In a way, the comfortable weight of the
book in his hands reminded Kakashi of the past, and of the things that were his
fault. He�d preferred to train a future traitor instead of Naruto, and even
Sakura had given up on training with him in order to study under Tsunade�

He�d been a real failure as teacher, but
at least now he had a chance. He would take up Naruto and Sakura�s training
again, and for once be what his own sensei had been for all of them.

With this in mind, Kakashi reached Gaara�s
office door and knocked soundly, clearing his throat and waiting for the
permission to go in; slowly opening the door, Kakashi slowly nodded at the
Kazekage of Sunagakure no Sato, who glared up at him with an unreadable face.

�Kazekage�sama,� Kakashi spoke politely
�even though the redhead was younger than he himself was, he still had a higher
position than him, and the only person that would be able to speak with him on
an equal level was Naruto, and no one else. �Naruto is awake, and wants to see
you.�

Something flickered in the green orbs of
the shinobi as Gaara stood up, passing next to Kakashi, and lifting the gourd
onto his back with one single swipe.

Kakashi felt a smirk tug at his lips again
as he followed the teen out of the room, looking amusedly at the shinobi around
them as they strolled down the corridor.

Some of them were still staring with a
flash of fear at the red haired teen, but the majority of them were staring
with respect, admiration, and even love �something Kakashi would have never
have thought to see in such close�minded people� towards Gaara, and the silver
haired teen once again hoped that one day Naruto would be stared at with the
same feelings.

Gaara didn�t look like he was
acknowledging the stares and the newfound feelings that were clear in their
eyes, but his shoulders were not tense, and his emotionless expression had
nothing to do with the hatred-filled one of years before.

Reaching the door of the infirmary, Gaara
threw a look at the Jounin that was following him and raised one invisible
eyebrow, mentally wondering whether to let the man follow him into the room or
not.

He wanted to see Naruto, see him alive and
awake, speak to him and hear his voice again, and a part of himself
wished for that to happen when they were alone, but he also knew that this
Jounin was Naruto�s sensei and that he cared for the blonde a lot.

Suppressing the strange feeling of
protectiveness and blaming himself for being stubbornly stupid, Gaara shook his
head and motioned for Kakashi to enter with him.

��

There was darkness.

Deep darkness,
and no sound that could break through the tenseness around him.

Everything felt heavy, even the air,
almost as if it was pressing against his chest as he breathed. Darkness was
curling around his body, but strangely, this thought didn�t cause him to grit
his teeth as he would have before�

As if something had changed.

Before, the darkness had bothered him,
even if he ignored any feeling brought to his senses, even if he hid his heart
and his mind away, only wanting to be strong, but now, the darkness meant
nothing to him.

Yes, he was sure of that. Something had
changed, and it had happened ever since the news of Naruto�s assumed death had
been delivered to him by a smirking Orochimaru.

Crimson swirling eyes closed for a moment,
and then changed to black, fading into the darkness around him.

His mind was cold, cold but more focused
than it had ever been before, as if everything returned again to sharpness, as
if the mist that had been on his heart and mind had finally lifted and vanished
from him.

Yes, everything was because of Naruto.

Sasuke knew he�d felt despair the moment
he�d known Naruto was dead. The despair had been so strong it reminded him of
the pain he�d felt when he�d seen his family�s corpses laying in their own
blood.

That had been the moment in which he had
realized just how strong his feelings were, and that he would never be able to
completely remove them, at least not the ones regarding Naruto, of all people.

Naruto, who he had tried to sever a bond
with, failing miserably not once, but twice.

The despair for his death, knowing
that he had never wanted to lose him forever. Knowing he would have never been able to
kill him only for his revenge.

And in this sudden sharpness of his senses
and his mind, he had realized something else, too.

From seeing Naruto alive, knowing he was
not dead, knowing he had escaped from Akatsuki, bringing the Sunagakure�s
Jinchuuriki with him too, Sasuke had seen everything turn into focus again.

Orochimaru would never give him what he
wanted. He would never go against Akatsuki only to keep his side of the
contract with Sasuke� he had never intended to. Itachi would never be killed,
and Sasuke had renounced to his body for nothing.

Orochimaru was close to the end of his
three�year term, and would soon want his body, ignoring everything else,
because there was no need to go against Itachi, his goals were different. He
didn�t care.

And Sasuke�s consciousness would disappear
and he wouldn�t have had his revenge.

It was painfully clear now.

So clear he uselessly wondered why he
hadn�t realized it before.

But now, he couldn�t step back anymore,
and he didn�t want it; his power was still not enough to over take his brother,
and he could not hope to have more time than what he already had. Just as it
was now, inside him the need to finally bring an end to his brother�s life,
accomplishing his need for revenge, was flaring inside his chest so strongly it
hurt.

Time was running low on his part, and
there was nothing he could do. He didn�t have more time, he didn�t have the
strength, he didn�t have�

�Sasuke�kun�,� the low voice of his new
�master� made him inwardly cringe, where before he would have rejected the
sound and the disgust away from his mind.

He could not deny the harsh truth anymore,
knowing that a part of him would have wanted to keep moving blindly forwards,
ignoring what was to come, because right now, he could almost feel the time
left run through his fingers away from him, and still he hadn�t realized his
goal.

But now�

Something in him wanted his attention. He
felt calmer now, as if he were looking at his situation with a clear mind and
everything, and he knew that with the little time left, he still had a lot to
do.

There was no way he would allow Orochimaru
to take over his body before his revenge was done, but now�

Sasuke�s eyes turned colder as he looked
at the snake man in front of him, whose eyes were smirking at him with a
glimmer of dark, morbid amusement.

He knew what Orochimaru had in mind for
Konoha, and he knew what was going to happen. He still had one chance, and he
would not waste it.

He was back, and he was determined more
than ever to accomplish his goal �no matter what, he would get what he wanted.

��

The room was quiet for a moment,
blue eyes staring into deep green ones as both Jinchuuriki looked at each other
in silence; Naruto�s last thread of tension disappeared from his shoulders
seeing that Gaara was really fine, and Gaara�s own shoulders dropped down a
bit.

Finally, after days of worry �though
he would never admit it aloud� Naruto was awake and apparently fine.

�I�m glad you�re ok,� Naruto let a
smile brighten up his face as he waved a bit at the changed redhead; after
three years, he could see he�d changed a lot, and the new, calm look in those
green eyes told him a lot about his
inner self as well.

Gaara�s face betrayed nothing as he
took a seat next to the bed, whilst Kakashi leaned against the wall with the
book in his hands, seemingly disinterested but in truth attentive to what the
two would say.

�Thanks,� was the first thing that
left Gaara�s lips, shocking the hell out of Naruto, who was speechless for some
moments before the smile reappeared on his face.

�It�s nothing� I�m sorry for not
arriving before� I�m sorry for�,� there was a flicker of pain clear in his eyes
and Gaara noticed it, knowing exactly what he was thinking about.

The pain� the
pain of the extraction. It had been almost devastating, and he�d blanked out after countless
hours where it wouldn�t stop, welcoming the darkness that took its place.

�It was nothing,� he replied, though
such pain had shocked him out of his own normal self. Gaara wondered if Naruto
had resisted as much as he did through the pain, and knew instantly that
probably he�d resisted a lot more than he had. �I always knew you were alive,
so I never stopped waiting for you to come back.�

Naruto�s eyes widened and he blushed
lightly, detecting in the redhead�s voice a bit of warmth towards him. He was
glad to find out Gaara had changed so much, but was still the same, and that
they were still friends, after all these years.

�Thanks,� Gaara let his lips curl up in a
small grin.

He�d missed Uzumaki Naruto, alright.

He could also see that something was
different in the blonde�s eyes, but he could not understand what had changed.
He could not pinpoint the feeling, so he chose to ignore it. Naruto was there,
and he was still the same, and he was glad enough for that.

One of the Kazekage�s hands moved forwards
almost without his consent, a bit uncertain as he stretched his fingers towards
Naruto�s face, slowly brushing against one of his cheeks. Naruto was too
shocked to speak but did not move, smiling warmly at the first willingly
contact Gaara had ever had with him.

The hand retracted quickly, almost
ashamed, but Naruto�s smile reassured Gaara nothing was wrong, and the
redhead�s face turned a bit warmer.

�Are you feeling well enough to come out a
bit?� he offered to the blonde, motioning for the door.

Naruto�s eyes brightened up considerably,
�Of course! Kyuubi is finally healed enough on its own to start healing me, so
it�s ok!�

This time Kakashi couldn�t keep
quiet, and lowering the book from his face he stared at his student with a
serious eye.

�Naruto, what happened to Kyuubi?�

Naruto and Gaara both turned towards
him, having forgotten his presence in the room, and Naruto unconsciously
scratched the back of his head.

�Well� the Leader�s jutsu� he blocked
off Kyuubi�s chakra from mine, and it seems that our pathways are too mixed
together to be forced apart� so Kyuubi was dying since the chakra wasn�t moving
anymore,� this was what he had understood about it, anyway. �So when the jutsu
broke� well, Kyuubi�s chakra and mine mixed and I was able to take Gaara and
run away, consuming all of it.�

Kakashi frowned, thinking about it.
If Kyuubi and Naruto�s chakra patters were mixed together, it meant it wouldn�t
be possible to separate them anymore, even though Akatsuki didn�t know of this
�they were now too fused with each other, and Kyuubi would not be taken away,
not with this new discovery and the second row of sealing kanji Yondaime left
on him.

Watching Gaara help Naruto out of the bed,
after a while moving to lend a hand as well, Kakashi couldn�t hide a cheery
smile. After everything that had happened, there was still hope, and both he
and Naruto could move back to Konoha.

He watched as Naruto tried to hop around,
almost falling down on the ground face�first, complaining and laughing merrily
at his own clumsiness, and his smile widened a bit.

He watched as Naruto clung to Gaara�s arm
with a smile, blue eyes sparkling with joy.

Yes, Kakashi had never been happier.

��

Cepheus: KakaObi will live forever in my heart. Much love. And don�t think Naruto�s guilt won�t be back
stronger than before!

Also, something that will not be really explained in
the fic is that Shukaku was being extracted from Gaara, but when Kyuubi�s
chakra interfered, the Tanuki demon felt the power of the Kitsune and
retreated, knowing its proximity would mean death (by raw power and
intelligence, Kyuubi is far superior to Shukaku). The presence of such opponent
quieted the Tanuki down.

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Winter Release