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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
- 2
- 3
- 4
Edited:15/04/2011
Note:the story has a long way to go. Itachi will leave for a while, but he will make a return soon, so don’t despair!
Cepheus:third chapter for you! Please read and enjoy! And don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the ANBU… just scroll down, please. I hope you like a thicker plot…

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Rating: M
Warnings:yaoi, boy x boy relationship, angsty, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

“Talking”
‘Thinking’
–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Winter Release
Chapter 03: Dread…

Tsunade was standing there, her glare unforgiving and fixed on Itachi.
She had a hard time concealing the hatred she felt, the desire to just rush off to Naruto to make sure he was ok.
He didn’t look fine at all, anybody could see that; the blond was still trembling, and his blue eyes were glazed over, showing clearly that whatever Itachi had showed him through the Tsukiyomi was still affecting him.
Tsunade didn’t want to think about what was the true power of that attack, but the results were far too obvious –she had to get to the teen as soon as possible and get him to a hospital.
But the Hokage couldn’t ignore the fact that Itachi was standing there, unmoving, and she needed to focus on him and not get distracted –that would only cause her to lose Naruto, and she wasn’t about to allow the Uchiha to get him away.
Itachi was a dangerous opponent, one she could not underestimate, especially since he would not hesitate to ruthlessly kill her. So she did not move, keeping her ground against the Akatsuki.
It was still storming badly around them, turning the world into a blur of white, grey and nothingness, the chilling cold numbing them, but neither moved, simply gazing into each other’s eyes, light brown against crimson, waiting for something to happen.
“It’s a pleasure meeting you, Tsunade–sama,” Itachi murmured, voice laced with coldness.
She narrowed her eyes. “I can’t say the same, Uchiha Itachi”.
With that, Tsunade readied her fist and lunged towards him, gathering an amount of offensive chakra around it –and she swung it at Itachi.
Unfortunately, the moment the punch landed on the spot, Itachi was not there anymore –the raven haired missing–nin was gone, and Tsunade’s attack landed on the ground, creating a hole due to the strength she had used.
Crimson eyes flickered at the damage the punch had done, and Itachi nodded slightly, assessing the strength of his opponent; Tsunade was not one to mess around with, as the strength of the Legendary Sannin was well known to the Akatsuki.
Itachi knew better than to just rush at her, though.
Her strength, her experience… Itachi was a very strong, skilled shinobi, but so was Tsunade, and her knowledge would still prove to be a problem in such a situation.
Staring at the unmoving Uchiha again, Tsunade wondered if the boy was able to feel at all. To her eyes, Itachi was, despite his fame and skills, still a kid, but this was a kid who had murdered his whole clan in a single night, a kid whose eyes didn’t show anger nor fear… not even interest.
A genius. What could she expect from a genius? One that was not lazy, nor easily controlled?
He would have no trouble in unleashing his full power on anyone who dared to stand against him…
Somewhere behind her, Kakashi and Gai were fighting against Kisame, doing their best to prevent their chakra from being absorbed by the sword.
On his own, Kisame was almost having fun, slashing his weapon around with a sadistic smirk, his shark-like features accentuated by his sharp teeth; he knew that his two opponents were strong and skilled and that their combined efforts could be the end of him, but he wasn’t entirely bothered by it.
He as simply enjoying the adrenaline of the battle, and since he hadn’t been able to fight to his heart’s consent before, he had every right to have fun –after all, Itachi was enjoying himself against Tsunade, right? So he could do it too.
“My Eternal Rival! We shall defeat this one and go to Naruto–kun!” Gai called out to Kakashi, face expressing his seriousness. He knew that the situation was tense and a glance at the teen immobile on the snow showed he wasn’t fairing well.
Kisame did his best not to grimace.
Yes, that spandex wearing man was strong –he could see it by the way he attacked, fluidly and without wasting a movement– but his appearance, those eyebrows… the outfit itself… didn’t the man have any shame?
No one in their right minds would want to walk around dressed like that. Especially with such a weather.
Kisame grunted in displeasure as once again the green clad shinobi avoided him. that guy used more Taijutsu rather than chakra-based attacks, which meant he would be a hassle to defeat. Kisame was almost worried… almost.
A kick, a punch, twisting in the air and kicking again.
Kakashi and Gai changed places to hit Kisame with a combo. The two, used to sparring with each other, knew well how to work together, having memorised each other’s battle behaviour, and their matching moves showed exactly that.
Dodge, block, counterattack, slipping through the snow before punching again…
Kisame retreated slightly to evade Kakashi’s fist, throwing Samehada on the side to stop Gai’s kick to his face, then swayed the weapon around, causing both men to hastily jump out of his reach.
A smirk showed the two Konoha–nin just how much Kisame was having fun with them.
The storm wasn’t going to end anytime soon, the snowflakes twirling and rushing around, blurring the world around them as they clashed again and again, not caring about the cold. Both sides wanted to gain the upper end and get Naruto, who was still unmoving on one side, lost somewhere in the depths of his mind.
For a single second, as the winds rushing by calmed down somehow, the five shinobi stilled and glanced warily at their opponents, waiting for the next attack; it was then that they became aware of the forgotten figure in the corner –the Usagi ANBU, that nobody remembered being there in the first place.
Kakashi switched his attention to him, confused as to why the man had yet to move to help them against Akatsuki; maybe, despite his standing as ANBU, he was scared by his teammate’s death and by Itachi’s powers…?
“The Akatsuki is here to take Naruto,” he urged the man, his now uncovered Sharingan blazing. “Use this opportunity to bring him to safety inside the village –bring him to Jiraiya–sama!”
The Usagi had been staring at them in shock without moving, mostly because he had seen the Kyuubi demon being attacked and somehow forced into submission by the intruders and had found the sight appeasing, but at Kakashi’s words, he snapped out of his musings.
So he’d been right –the two men wearing matching cloaks were there for the demon child.
So it was because of the little demon that his partner had been brutally killed… it was because of the rotten monster that Tsunade–sama had been forced to fight against such a powerful opponent…
She was protecting the demon.
The ANBU was sure that the new Hokage wouldn’t really be against getting rid of the demon, because the woman was strong and intelligent and surely she couldn’t be smitten with him. unfortunately Kakashi, the man who had been such a strong asset to Konoha, was clearly fooled by the demon, just as the teens back in the village had been.
If he wasn’t there, Tsunade would surely let the intruders take the demon away.
The two men from Akatsuki were strong, and they wouldn’t leave without the demon, but with the situation as it was, Tsunade, Kakashi and Gai would not allow them to…
Unless…
Hidden behind his mask, the ANBU’s face twisted in an insanely evil smirk.
If the demon were to be killed…
He moved.
Kisame, alerted by his sudden leap, shifted to intercept him, but Gai and Kakashi were quicker, and blocked him before he could do more than take a couple of steps in the ANBU’s direction, forcing the shark–looking man to defend himself from their attacks instead.
Kakashi was glad the ANBU had reacted to his words –now Naruto would be safe…
Tsunade watched the flash that was the ANBU pass by her side, and was almost sure Naruto would be safely taken away to the village, when…
Itachi moved.
The Godaime Hokage couldn’t even notice his movements, as the raven haired man moved as fast as a lightening, stepping in-between the ANBU and the still unmoving Naruto in the blink of an eye; light brown eyes widened in shock as the Hokage watched things unfold in front of her eyes –the ANBU extracted a kunai from his pocket and lunged forwards, ready to bury it in Naruto’s throat…
Itachi intervened to stop him; the Sharingan master blocked the assault with one single, fluid move, swiftly grabbing the wrist of the ANBU and twisting his arm around, causing the man to gasp soundlessly and fall on the ground.
The man’s elbow snapped loudly, breaking under the Uchiha’s hold.
Gritting his teeth, the ANBU tried to ignore the pain; he had been trained to stand more than just that, of course, but nonetheless fell to his knees as the pressure around his arm doubled, then he felt his opponent press one hand against his back –ready to snap it any moment.
“Why?!” Tsunade yelled at him, for once forgetting that she was supposed to fight Itachi as he’d just saved Naruto’s life; the purpose was clear, Kyuubi was still inside him and the vessel was to be left alive, but she could care less at the moment. “Kakashi told you to save Naruto!”
The ANBU’s reply came in form of a furious hiss.
“That demon deserves death… he brought those filthy outsiders here and almost caused you, Hokage–sama, to be hurt… if he’s disposed of, no one will be sad!”
Tsunade’s eyes widened only to narrow a split second afterwards, realising that the ANBU was one of those people who hated Naruto because of the demon.
Why couldn’t they get it? Naruto wasn’t the demon…
Why couldn’t anyone understand?
It didn’t matter anymore, though, because Itachi emotionlessly stared down at the man he was holding in a deathly grip, and his crimson eyes narrowed in speculation. “Naruto–kun belongs to us. I won’t let anyone kill him before the Kyuubi is taken out”.
A loud crack echoed in the forest, dulled out by the still falling snow; the now dead body of the ANBU fell gracelessly on the ground, unmoving.
Tsunade was snapped out from her shock by that sight; she could not dwell on the death of that ANBU, because Itachi was far too close to Naruto at the moment and she had to fight with him again to ensure the teen’s safety.
Itachi glanced down at Naruto’s body with an unreadable expression, before lifting one hand towards him –then he stopped, retreating as Tsunade once again came for him. the Uchiha jumped away and landed gracefully a few feet away, watching as the Hokage placed herself between him and Naruto.
For a moment, he seemed to consider the situation. He had used Tsukiyomi once already, and it was clear the fight would last more than he had predicted…
Kisame stared at Itachi, and there was some kind of silent agreement passing from one to the other as they both took a step backwards. “Until next time,” Kisame smirked to Kakashi and Gai, feeling smug despite the situation.
Then the two disappeared in a swirl of snow.
Tsunade forced her muscles to relax as the chakra of the two disappeared completely from her senses. They were really gone… for now, at least.
Uchiha Itachi was surely an interesting person…
Then she remembered. “Naruto!” she cried, finally running to the blond that was still in the same position of when she’d arrived.
Blue eyes were half closed and unfocused, as if Naruto wasn’t really there, lost somewhere in the depths of his mind; snow had covered him halfway through the fight, and Tsunade could clearly see the blue tinge his lips and nails had acquired.
He was freezing and trembling and in need of her care. She hadn’t used that much chakra since the fight hadn’t been a proper one, but merely an observing of the opponent’s moves, so she could give Naruto all her attention and skills.
Kakashi and Gai, a little more tired but not to the point of not moving, were at her side a split second later, watching with worry the trembling frame of Naruto in Tsunade’s arms. His glassy eyes were what scared both men the most.
“I need to take him to the hospital,” she told them, staring at the two jounin seriously. “Can you two dispose of… the corpses?” she pointed her head towards the two dead ANBU, that were now being covered by the snow.
They nodded and she swiftly formed some seals, Naruto carefully held against her chest, the freezing and trembling frame a comfort to the woman that for a moment had feared to lose him, like she had lost her lover and her little brother already.
As she disappeared, leaving behind two distressed men to cleanse up, the storm finally retreated a little, slowly starting to abate as Tsunade brought Naruto back to the village.
It felt almost as if the Akatsuki had brought the storm with them, in the end vanishing with it.
Kakashi sighed, covering his Sharingan and staring at the direction where he knew Konoha was. He was terribly worried for Naruto, having suffered under the attack of Itachi, and he didn’t want to know what the teen could have felt during Tsukiyomi.
He really didn’t want to lose another person he was learning to care for –not after Obito, not after Yondaime, then even his other student, Sasuke…
‘Be safe, Naruto’.

…–…–…–…

Shizune walked down the corridor with a frown on her face, wondering why the hell Jiraiya had seemed so worried all of sudden.
It wasn’t like he had never deserted hospitals when he’d been younger, if only to go spy at some onsen or whatever; Tsunade liked to tell her stories about her childhood, and they were filled with Jiraiya’s perverse desire to see naked women all the time.
Jiraiya hadn’t had time to tell her exactly why he was so stressed out for Naruto’s disappearance, when the teen was just gone with his friends to play in the snow… she really couldn’t understand –maybe he was just too much overprotective?
Yes, probably his paternal feelings for Naruto were to blame. After all, it was far too easy to come to like Naruto, if one allowed him close, Shizune knew that well. He was almost a little brother to her, too…
Still, the blond teen had needed some time to relax, away from his problems, because after what had happened with the Uchiha boy (Sasuke was his name), Naruto had been shutting himself off from people. He had looked sad.
Naruto needed his friends, he needed to realise that brooding wouldn’t help him –he just had to look forwards and stop mourning.
Sasuke would not come back, not until he got what he wanted, and that was the power to kill his brother. Maybe by that time, he would be completely changed, tainted by Orochimaru’s darkness. He would not be the same Sasuke Naruto had known till then.
Things change. People change, Shizune knew that too well.
At times, it wasn’t a bad change –Tsunade had changed a lot since meeting Naruto, after all. But certain changes were not for the best, and Shizune was afraid that in regards to the youngest Uchiha boy, this would be the case.
Shizune sighed. Maybe she should just check Naruto’s room one last time to see if the teen was back already, at least so she could calm down Jiraiya’s worry.
Really, the man acted too much like the teen’s father, or grandfather, given the age, and it was rather amusing for a man who had always been so against having a family.
Considering Naruto’s situation before, it was a vast improvement, and she inwardly cheered at the thought that someone so determined to never settle down was finally caring so much for a child like Naruto, who needed it so much.
Definitely heart warming.
Gently pushing the door open, fully expecting an empty room, Shizune blinked in surprise at the sight that greeted her instead.
There were teens scattered everywhere in the room, all sleeping or about to fall asleep; a few of them were on the hospital beds –two in each room as standard procedure– while others were on the chairs. She recognised some of them as Naruto’s friends, so she presumed they all were.
Still, and that caused her to frown, Naruto wasn’t amongst them.
One of the boys looked up at her as he heard her open the door, and his eyes studied her for a moment, dark and sharp. Then, the teen slowly stood up, moving as if each step took too much out of him.
He made his way towards her, keeping silent as so not to wake anybody else.
“We will wait for Naruto here,” he stated, stifling a yawn that to Shizune looked more like a bored yawn than a tired one. His eyes were serious, and he looked like he would not accept a refusal from her.
She found herself nodding even thought she could just throw a fit and send them all out in a moment; it really wasn’t the time to be picky, and they did need sleep. So she simply left, shaking her head slightly as she started walking down the corridor.
The look in the boy’s eyes…
Something was up, and Naruto was not there.
Where could the blond ninja be then?
It was exactly then that Tsunade appeared right in front of Shizune, clutching at her chest the trembling frame of Naruto.
“What happened?!” Shizune gasped, noticing the state the teen was in, and following Tsunade as the woman moved swiftly towards the closest room, lowering Naruto down on the bed and covering him up with blankets. “Shizune, bring more blankets –I need your help now, so work with me”.
With a nod, Shizune got closer, ready to help.
Brushing one hand on his cheek, the black haired woman noticed just how cold the boy was, and wondered with a tinge of worry where he could have been. He was freezing. Had it started storming so badly and he hadn’t even noticed…?
Then, Tsunade tilted Naruto’s head her way, and Shizune met with Naruto’s eyes. Gasping in shock, she reeled back and away from him.
Eyes that once had twinkled with warmth and brightness were now dull and glazed over… as if Naruto wasn’t really there. That was a rather familiar sight but Shizune couldn’t put a finger on where she’d seen such eyes before.
“Akatsuki was there,” Tsunade murmured as she started her healing techniques on the still trembling body. “Itachi Uchiha used his Tsukiyomi on Naruto”.
Shizune gasped, finally placing where she’d seen that look before; these were the same eyes the younger Uchiha had when Tsunade had first arrived in Konoha.
Green chakra flickered around Naruto, slowly calming him down that the trembling stopped, his breath slowing down; blue lips and nails slowly returned to their usual colour, and as Tsunade leaned forwards to listen to his heartbeat, she could feel it returning to its normal pace as well.
“What…” the younger of the two kunoichi stopped herself before she could voice her question; Shizune had wanted to ask ‘what kind of vision could have caused such a reaction?’ but she knew it was better not to ask.
Finally, empty blue eyes fluttered close, and Tsunade let out a hiss of relief as Naruto’s body relaxed, falling into a deep, healing sleep.
“He was almost kidnapped… hadn’t I been there with Kakashi and Gai, the Akatsuki would have taken him, Shizune,” Tsunade groaned, sitting down next to the sleeping blond and watching his now peaceful expression with haunted eyes. “I was about to lose him…”
“But he’s there, you didn’t lose him,” the younger woman cooed gently, trying to reassure her mentor despite her own shock. “Tsunade–san, Naruto is still here”.
With a startle, she realised that Naruto’s friends were still waiting in the teen’s old room. “Tsunade–sama, Naruto’s friends are here… shouldn’t we let them know he’s safe now?”
Tsunade grabbed Naruto’s unresponsive hand in hers and nodded to the black haired woman absently, “tell them to not come here until morning, though… he needs to rest”.
As her apprentice left the room in a hurry, Tsunade did not look away from the sleeping boy in front of her, gritting her teeth so not to let out her rage.
If only she’d been a little faster, her adopted little brother would have been safe, and now… ‘I am sorry, Naruto,’ she thought, watching him sleep with tenderness.

…–…–…–…

When Shizune opened the door of Naruto’s room once again, all the boys were apparently asleep, the only girl curled on the bed closer to the window; she was about to leave and wait till the morning to tell them about Naruto when one of them shifted and slowly stood up, carefully avoiding any noise so not to wake his friends, and walked towards her, grimacing.
“What?” he growled –but in a low voice. He didn’t really want to wake the others.
Shizune looked at him; it was the same one from before, the one that had looked like he had a natural inclination as a leader –though with his bored expression, one could never be sure about it. She motioned for the door and he followed her outside, waiting with a raised eyebrow to hear whatever she had to say.
Shizune cleared her throat. “You were waiting for Naruto, but he won’t come back to his room for now… there was a problem,” she really didn’t know how to explain it to the teen, especially if he was looking at her with that expression.
It was a calm, assessing gaze that would have suited better an older man, not a teen barely thirteen.
The boy’s eyebrows shifted upwards at her words but he replied nothing, just waiting for her to continue. There was more than this, he knew it, and he wanted to know everything.
Shizune hadn’t really intended to explain what had happened to anyone, especially not to some teen who wouldn’t surely understand (it directly included talking about the fox and about the organization that wanted to cage the demon), but seeing the determined stare of the boy, she decided that maybe he ought to talk with someone who would know just how much to tell.
She hoped Tsunade would not get angry with her. “Maybe it would be better if you could follow me… Tsunade–sama will be able to explain more about the current situation as I was not there to witness the attack”.
“Attack?” something flickered in the dark eyes and Shizune could clearly see the worry.
Shikamaru grimaced. He had found it suspicious to see an ANBU member patrolling inside the village and not outside, but now everything was falling into its place; someone had attacked the village, and by the way that woman spoke, Naruto had somehow happened to be in the middle of the attack and had gotten hurt.
Or worse… maybe he had been the intended target.
“Is he seriously hurt?” he asked her.
Shizune slowly shook her head, “I can’t answer to that, I am sorry… you should speak with the Godaime if you want to know more”.
Her answer worried Shikamaru even more. If Naruto had escaped safely, she would have reassured him, and if he had just been caught in whatever battle had taken place, she surely would have known the extent of his wounds.
That she didn’t want to speak about it meant a whole set of troublesome problems he wanted to know about.
So, Shikamaru simply nodded and followed her through the corridor, sleepiness gone; the room he entered a few minutes later had the Godaime Hokage sitting on a chair, her back turned to the door, and on the bed, sleeping peacefully with no visible injury, was Naruto.
The absence of visible wounds made Shikamaru even more apprehensive. What was going on?
On the other side of the room was standing a white haired man Shikamaru had met only once; he recognised him for what Naruto called him, Ero–sennin, and the aura around the man was quite grave. Both elders moved their attention to him the moment he stepped into the room, Tsunade moving to stand up.
Shikamaru ignored her for a moment, stepping at Naruto’s side to stare at his motionless body.
“What happened?” he asked, recognizing the signs of the healing induced sleep and knowing the blond would not wake up until morning.
Tsunade stared at him, almost tense. “There was… an unexpected attack and Naruto found himself in the middle of it,” she replied.
Shikamaru was not stupid. Even though the explanation was identical to his speculations, the way she had spoken clearly pointed it out as a lie. At least, part of it was surely a lie.
He scoffed.
“Was he with you?” Tsunade asked, now staring intently at the boy in front of her. She had recognized him as the Nara heir, the one speculated to be a lazy genius. “What happened? Why did he left?”
“Information for information,” Shikamaru lazily replied, sitting down on the other side of Naruto’s bed readying himself for some discussion.
Now that would prove to be difficult. He wanted to know what had happened after Naruto had left them, and the Hokage wanted to know how Naruto had gotten himself into that situation… he was the only one awake that knew that, so he would take the best out of this situation.
Tsunade glared at him, eyes narrowed. “I have nothing to tell you,” she replied haughtily.
“That is a lie,” he replied.
“What do you want?” Jiraiya intervened, trying to assess just how much the teen knew and would be willing to tell.
“Why were we not informed that Naruto was the container of Kyuubi?” if the situation hadn’t been as serious as it clearly was, Shikamaru would have been rather amused at seeing the shocked stares of the three adults in the room. As it was, he simply filed the reaction for later.
“Who… when…” Tsunade closed her mouth and waited.
“So it is true,” Shikamaru sighed. What the ANBU had said was true, Naruto really was the vessel of the demon that had almost destroyed Konoha. His suspicions had proven to be true after all.
Oh, of course he had believed the man. Naruto’s reaction had been proof enough as it was. Besides, he’d had suspicions for a long while before, but he had needed confirmation from a certified source, and that source had been, amusingly enough, the Hokage herself.
By the looks he was receiving, it was obvious the three were waiting for him to explain himself, so he let out an exasperated sigh and closed his eyes. ‘How damn troublesome…’ he thought.
“We decided it would do him well to unwind a bit. Play around with us. Relax. We knew it would put us in trouble, but we didn’t really care,” he stated, tension somewhat abating as he spoke. “Then we had a run in with an ANBU patrolling the streets. He looked rather tense after Naruto bumped into him, and after verbally accusing Naruto, he tried to suffocate him”.
A gasp was heard from the two kunoichi in the room.
“We intervened to try and stop the attack, but the ANBU was under the illusion that Naruto had been ‘fooling us into believing him’, and so he told us that Naruto was the vessel of the Fox Demon Kyuubi”.
Another loud gasp; Shikamaru smirked slightly at that, amused at their stares of complete shock.
“Naruto… he didn’t know how to confront us on the matter, and it was clear the ANBU’s declaration had scared him. He left and we decided to wait for him here, to talk” he concluded, shrugging slightly.
Tsunade slowly took a deep breath and tried to refrain from punching her fist through the wall. So that was why Naruto had been outside of the protections Konoha offered.
Then, a thought occurred to her, and she fixed her angry gaze on the teen again. “What was the man’s mask?”
“Usagi” Shikamaru replied.
Oh, of course.
The same ANBU.
At least he had been dealt with. It was barely a consolation, though.
“What were you going to say to Naruto?” Jiraiya walked towards Shikamaru and towered imposingly on him. If the teen wanted to–
“I think I should be offended if you are implying we’d ever reject Naruto,” he glared back at the older shinobi, ignoring the fact that the man was stronger than him and of a higher rank. “Although considering how many people in the village are against him, your mistrust is quite understandable”.
Jiraiya sighed in exasperation; he was not one for big speeches at all.
“What. Were. You. Going to say. To. Naruto,” he repeated, massaging his eyes. He could feel a headache coming up. It wasn’t enough that his pupil (soon to be apprentice) had almost been abducted by one evil organization, now a smartass was giving him big speeches. Hurray.
He hated his life.
“There is nothing to say. Naruto is still Naruto, our friend,” Shikamaru replied proudly. “The fact that he has a demon inside doesn’t change a thing for us. If anything, we respect him more for the things he has to go through every day because of Kyuubi”.
Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a look and smiled softly, relieved by Shikamaru’s words; at least the new generation knew better than that, they looked deeper than the surface. Naruto was a wonderful person, but his friends were equally so.
Finally, Naruto had found loyal friends that accepted him for who and what he was, and did not turn their back to him if he needed help.
That sort of reassurance was of extreme value.
“I have a question of my own, now that I answered yours,” Shikamaru intertwined his fingers together and placed his chin on his hands, staring at the three adults in the room seriously. “What really happened? Naruto didn’t just find himself in the middle of an attack. Were the attackers after Kyuubi’s power?”
Really, they had to expect this from the so called genius. But nonetheless, they were surprised to hear that; It took a few seconds before any of them could say something, and it was Jiraiya that spoke for both then.
“Yes. There’s no point in keeping a secret now that they know, Tsunade, don’t make that face,” the white haired man shook his head with a small smirk as the Hokage glared at him. “The intruders belong to an organization called Akatsuki. They want to extract the power of the Kyuubi from Naruto, and that is why they were here”.
Shikamaru nodded, humming softly as he filed the information away in his mind.
“But they failed to capture him,” he stated looking at the sleeping blond. “At least he’s safe, and I won’t ask anything else… for now”.
He slowly stood up and stretched, scratching the back of his head before walking away.
Tsunade and Jiraiya stared at him in disbelief as he waved his hand, closing the door behind his back.
“That was really… something indeed,” Shizune shook her head.
“He’s strange,” Jiraiya pointed to the door where the Nara had disappeared through.
“Not as strange as you are,” Tsunade retorted back.
Silence filled the room and Shizune smiled and left, deciding to go rest a little bit and knowing it would be useless to ask the two to do the same. The two Sannin returned to sit at Naruto’s bed, glancing down at the sleeping blond with a warmth neither of them had showed for someone else in years.
“Will he be ok?”
Jiraiya did not look up at Tsunade, knowing she wasn’t looking at him either.
“I hope he will…no, I am sure he will,” was the quiet answer.

–Start Dream–

‘Where am I?’
Darkness enveloped him like a blanket, shifting and moving around him like fog, thick and empty but hiding the world away.
For a single second, he was glad that this darkness wasn’t the same as the one inside Itachi’s Genjutsu, but that relief quickly vanished as he realised that this darkness was, albeit different, just as bad.
He was cold, colder than he had ever been before. Was he still inside the snowstorm? He couldn’t even see his own body, much less the world around, and this uncertainty filled his heart of fear.
What was this heavy darkness? Why couldn’t he see anything around him?
Naruto tried to look around, if only to find out where he was, but he was still unable to see anything. There was only darkness.
He opened his mouth to scream, but his voice refused to come out, his throat constricting as he tried again and again. He choked on his breath, growing even more scared.
What was happening?!
Tentatively stepping forwards, feeling the concrete floor under his feet, Naruto continued walking and finally, as he shifted blindly forwards, the black mist started to quiver and disappear, retreating behind him.
Finally, he could see where he was, and the fear subsided a bit.
He was in the middle of his village, Konoha, familiar surroundings calming him down. It was around midnight, and looking up, the sky was filled with shining stars. It was a beautiful sight, one that usually filled him with calm, but without reason, the distress and strange heaviness in his chest returned to him as he looked around.
There was a full moon above him, and it was of an unusual colour… red as blood. A bad omen? He remembered someone once saying that the worst things happened during a bloody full moon…
Not wanting to think about that, Naruto started walking again, slowly and hesitantly, afraid that the mist would come back and steal Konoha away from him, but soon realised that the mist had disappeared. The world remained steady around him.
The streets were empty as he walked around.
Even though he was away from that dark fog, he could still hear no sound, except that of his own footsteps and heart racing in his chest. Something was wrong. Where was everybody? Why wasn’t anyone coming out?
Even the shinobi that should be patrolling were not there…
And…
That smell…
What was that smell? It was sending shivers down his frame. Inside him, something was screaming, trying to get his attention, and Naruto shivered once again –he didn’t like it. What was happening?
Coppery and sickly sweet at the same time, the smell of… blood…
He hurried his pace, footsteps echoing in the streets as he ran, wild rhythm in synch with his heart, and after what felt like hours, Naruto reached the main square of Konoha, following the smell.
There they were, the villagers, gathered together in the middle of the square, forming a circle.
No one was speaking; they were all just standing there, mostly unknown faces, like an unreal play where all the actors were still like statues. Unmoving. Emotionless.
A sense of dread pooled in the pitch of his stomach as Naruto felt a whiff of that smell of blood coming from the centre of the circle; something had happened… but what?
He stepped forwards. As if the play suddenly started, all the villagers turned to him.
“Look it’s him,” a voice whispered.
Filled with hatred.
“The monster,” someone else added.
Whispers sneaked through the crowd, loud enough for him to hear all of them as he walked forwards.
“He did this”.
“He can’t be controlled anymore”.
“What could you expect from someone like him?”
Naruto looked around at the faces of the people around him. The eyes were darkened with disgust and hatred, stronger than they had usually been… and fear. Faces he could not recognize, and faces he could.
So much fear.
“Monster!” a voice addressed him from his right, the whispers turning into yells as he tried to advance through the crowd, the villagers moving away from him as if he were an incurable disease.
Naruto was frantic now, what could have happened, why were they blaming him?! He did nothing wrong! He was not a monster!
They were wron–
The scent of blood was coming much stronger now, heavy and disgusting, and Naruto fought the urge to step back. Intoxicating. Revolting.
“Look what you did, you demon!”
And he looked.
Horrified, he stepped up in the middle of the circle, eyes widening as he finally saw what was lain there in a pool of blood, motionless… lifeless.
A body. Someone he knew –someone he’d known far too well.
He was sprawled on his back, head bent in an unnatural angle, facing the blond teen, who just couldn’t look away. Pitch black hair, cut short. A hitai–ate tied around his forehead, crimson eyes widened and veiled in death, glazed over, glassy and void of any other emotion but the fear that was still clear… even in death. Shattered clothes, soaked with dark blood, and a dark mark visible on his neck.
Those eyes…
Accusing… Empty.
Sasuke.
“No…” he murmured, his voice so low he himself couldn’t hear it, nausea pooling inside him.
He stepped back, horrified. That was Sasuke’s body, in a pool of his own blood. Not breathing, not moving… why was Sasuke there? Why was he on the ground, like a broken doll? Why wasn’t he moving?!
Dead, he realized. There was no way Sasuke could be still alive, not after all that blood loss… not with those empty eyes… not with the way his neck was twisted…
Dead? No, Sasuke couldn’t be dead…
“No!” he turned to look at the faces all around him, but on every single one of them he saw the same sentence… ‘Murder…’ “No! I didn’t kill him! He was gone! I did not kill him!”
“Monster! You killed him!”
“You let out the demon and you killed the Uchiha Prodigy! You are nothing but a demon! You should die for this!”
“No, I didn’t! I didn’t!” Naruto tried to back away from the blood, from the motionless body that was obviously Sasuke’s, but the people around him stepped forwards, blocking his way out. Naruto gasped as someone grabbed his arm, and looking up he recognized a familiar face –it was Tsunade. “I didn’t kill him! I didn’t!” he cried, desperately trying to have her believe him. she was family, she trusted him, she would understand… “You do believe me, right?”
But Tsunade’s expression was unmerciful.
Her eyes shone with the same hatred all the others had. She was glaring at him, and the grip on his arm was painful… but not as much as the look in her eyes. “I thought you were a good person, Naruto, but I was wrong,” her voice was like a knife slicing through Naruto’s heart. “Look at your hands, you killed your best friend…”
Naruto stared in shock at his hands; the nails were now long, as sharp as claws, and they were covered with blood… fresh blood, crimson like the widened eyes of Sasuke–
“No!” he yelled. “I would never have…”
He was released from the grip only to be pushed down, falling on top of Sasuke’s body. Blood covering his clothes and face, fingers, knees, blood covering him as he backed away again, but his eyes could not leave Sasuke’s face. Tears slowly streaked down his cheeks.
He was his best friend…
“Monster!”
He didn’t do it!
“Demon!”
Blood, so much blood… all on him…
“Murder!”
He grasped his head in his blood stained hands, trying to block away the accusing voices.
“Abomination!”
‘No, no, no, no…’
“He should have killed you when he had the possibility!”
‘Noooo!’

–End Dream–

Blue eyes snapped open and he jolted up in a sitting position, tears streaming down his cheeks, heart pounding hard in his ears.
It took him a while, trembling, cold and scared, to understand that he was huddled in a bed –a hospital bed.
Sasuke was not dead… he hadn’t killed him at all.
But… he was still gone. Gone from the village because Naruto had not been strong enough to take him back… and he hadn’t been strong enough to face Itachi either…
A wave of nausea hit him; he felt alone. He wanted someone… anyone… even if that would make him look weaker than he was already, he really wanted someone to be there for him.
Naruto was a strong person, but after the ordeal with Itachi, his nightmare, his friends being revealed about Kyuubi and the fact that he had failed Sakura by not taking Sasuke back…
It was too much. Didn’t he deserve to have someone to cheer him up, for once? Someone that could be there for him, if only to tell him that everything would be ok? He felt cold and alone and abandoned.
Would someone even want to…
‘Monster…’
He shuddered.
All that pain. That hatred.
He knew it was real. All real. This was simply what the village thought of him. All the people in Konohagakure… they hated him. He wasn’t one to live in denial, after all, and what the Tsukiyomi had showed him was simply the raw truth.
Oh, he could live with knowing that, he’d been ignoring the villagers’ hatred ever since he could remember, but…
But now Sasuke was gone. The person he had considered his best friend was gone, and truth to be told, Naruto was tired.
There was nothing that could replace a friend that had considered him normal, in his way, and an equal, but that friend had rejected him and tried to kill him. having someone who was as hurt as he was, who could understand what it meant to be alone… with Sasuke, Naruto had finally someone to befriend that could really understand.
They were rivals, they were friends, they were almost… brothers. They respected each other, and Naruto had thought that with Sasuke he could finally be himself –have someone that could see him for who he was.
He’d thought he could forget his nightmares and finally have something normal.
And then Sasuke had decided to leave to pursue power, leaving Naruto behind again. Alone again… and more than that, it was Naruto’s fault Sasuke had left.
After having tasted what it meant to have friends, Naruto was alone again, and it was easier to slip and allow the hatred from the village to reach deep inside him.
They would always hate him, and it was in times like these that Naruto felt his faith waver; would he ever make them change idea? Would they ever see him as something different from a demon, a monster?
He was fighting hard, but so far, there had been no change…
Gritting his teeth so that nobody outside the room could hear his muffled screams, Naruto felt tears roll down his cheeks without being able to stop them.
He was alone, so it was ok to let it go, if only for a moment… right?
And damn, it hurt. The more he cried, the more he felt empty and useless; he had promised himself that he would never cry, that he would be strong even when it hurt, and he would never act as if something was wrong.
He had wished with all his heart to be accepted, but it was harder to believe things would ever change, now.
It was hard to keep on believing. It was hard to ignore the hatred, the glares, the whispers behind his back. He needed to get even stronger then, so that even if they were to keep on hating him, he would be strong enough not to care about it anymore.
Curled into the hospital bed, smelling the antiseptic in the air and hiding his face under the blankets, Naruto continued crying, letting everything go and knowing that he would feel better afterwards, even if now he felt like shit.
He was alone, and he was useless and hopeless, and it hurt, and probably his dream would take far too much time to become reality, and he knew he was wallowing in self pity, but… if he couldn’t have someone at his side to tell him it was ok, then he would at least allow himself a moment of weakness.
Then, he would go back to being strong.
When Tsunade returned in the room with a mug of coffee followed by Jiraiya, both looking weary and tired, Naruto had fallen asleep again, tears carefully wiped away, and neither of the two Sannin noticed as they sat down at his sides again.
He didn’t know that Tsunade had been sitting there, looking after him, for the whole night, or that the one he called Ero–sennin had remained in the room as well, eyes lost outside of the window, hoping that Naruto was ok.
He didn’t know that his friends had been huddled together in a room not too far from the one he was in now, waiting for his return, one awake during the whole night to think about things he’d been told.
He wasn’t aware of that yet, but there were a lot of people who, when looking at him, never saw a demon or a monster, but simply Naruto.
…–…–…–…–…–…–…
Cepheus:so that was it. Drop me a review if you feel like it, you’ll brighten up my day!
To be clear –there won’t be any SasuNaru. Maybe, and I’ll stress the ‘maybe’, there could be hints, but don’t take it at face’s value. They were friends before Sasuke betrayed him, and that’s why Naruto still has issues… he is sure he was the one who betrayed Sasuke first.
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Winter Release