Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Dark, Light and the Shadows Between (complete)	By : momhuey8 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Naruto/Sasuke Views: 1492 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: 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
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"How are you adjusting?"
"Fine," Sasuke's lukewarm response to the Hokage's question indicated otherwise.
"I understand there have been confrontations." Tsunade watched Sasuke from across her desk. For a moment she thought he was going to cry.
I…It….I would prefer no confrontations…" his voice faded. Then he started again, his face a rigid mask. "It seems that Uzumaki is unhappy with my return."
"Has he said why?"
"No," Sasuke's voice wavered. "He only wants to fight."
"I'm surprised I haven't seen you in the hospital."
Sasuke looked surprised. "Why?"
"Well, to put you back together after he takes you apart," she said, picking her nails idly.
Sasuke snorted.
"What?"
"He's no better a ninja than when I left. I have to be careful to keep from hurting him too badly."
"Is that right?"
Sasuke just looked at her.
"Why do you think he does it then? He's never struck me as particularly masochistic."
"I…"Sasuke's head dropped." I guess he just hates me."
Tsunade shrugged. "Enough about him. How are you doing? Is the mission schedule too taxing?"
"It's fine. I could use more."
"Are you happy being back in your old home?"
Sasuke was silent several moments, then responded, "It's…I may want to explore other options at some point."
Tsunade raised a brow.
"It's large and would require a lot of time and money to restore it properly."
She studied him for a moment.
"Is there anything I can do for you, Sasuke?" she asked gently. "I can talk to Naruto if…"
"No!" he said quickly. "He…" Sasuke's shoulders slumped and he whispered, "He has every reason to hate me." He lifted his eyes to her. "Maybe more missions. I'll just stay out of his way."
Sasuke's body language tugged at her. The little bastards under her care were such fucked up beings. They all walked around with this bag of labels; ninja, killer, male, son, heir, prodigy, loser. The first label they tried to lose was the one that was impossible to shed; human.
It was always so tempting to just shove people in chairs and say, "Look, this is how it is…"
But she'd learned that this arrogant male world seldom listened. These little duckies needed to figure things out themselves. Clarity was not out of the question, it just usually came at the point of a sword, and often too late.
She smiled to herself. She thought that this time though, she could show them some clarity.
"Yes. Missions. I agree. Shikamaru will be in touch."
"Baaaa-Chaaaan," Naruto whined. "I can't go out with a team. Someone's gonna get hurt."
"Shut it, brat," Tsunade snapped. "Nara's team needs your skills this time."
Naruto frowned and wrung his hands.
"Tell him Shika," Tsunade nodded to the brunet standing next to Naruto.
Shikamaru flipped through the pages in his hands, his face impassive.
"It seems tactically impractical to treat this as a typical A or S class mission." He looked up. "There are three options as I see it."
Tsunade smirked and waved her hand, giving him leave to explain.
"We can deploy Konoha's entire ninja contingent from Jounin up, to clean out the rebel nest in the forest northwest of Suna. If we make the first move, however, it will be considered a declaration of war by at least two hidden villages, possibly three."
Naruto stood with his eyes closed, his fists clenched.
"Option two is that Ko-chan stays here and never returns to her family in Waterfall again."
Naruto's eyes flew open and he gaped at Shikamaru at this suggestion.
"Or Uzumaki-san can deploy with a team and we let the rebels make the first move. We can clean out the forest and it will be in the name of protecting the Raikage's niece.
Naruto scrubbed his hands through his hair in frustration. Then his head shot up. "What if we take her around the forest?"
"That would add at least two weeks to the trip," Tsunade said. "Have you ever met her?"
"She'd never make it," Shikamaru interjected.
After several moments of silence, Naruto finally gritted out, "On the off chance I agree to this, who's on this team anyway?"
"My usual team," Shikamaru answered and Naruto felt the blood leave his face. "Me, Tsugi and…Sasuke."
Five minutes later Naruto found himself standing in front of Tsunade. Shikamaru was gone and she'd come around the desk to stand in front of him.
"No," he whispered.
She laughed. "You're not Hokage yet, you little shit. Until then I dispense missions and you say 'Hai, Hokage-sama.'"
"But, grandma..."
"Ah!" She wagged her finger. "Hai, Hokage-sama."
"But…"
She reached and squished his face in her hands, manipulating his lips and jaw. "Hai, Hokage-sama," she growled. "Say it! You'll find it cathartic. Or at least less painful.
"B…"
"Say! It!"
"Hai, Hokage-sama," he finally muttered. She turned him around and shoved him toward the door.
She laughed again as she heard him muttering under his breath, "…saggy…old…menopausal…"
Sasuke wondered when Naruto slept. The blond ninja hadn't even packed a tent as far as Sasuke could tell. He took all the shifts guarding and almost never ate with them or sat around the fire at night.
Sasuke was no idiot; Naruto was clearly avoiding him. At least it was better than fighting.
When he was with the team, Naruto spent his time entertaining the client. He was charming, funny and thoughtful and Sasuke knew that if the poor girl was a year or two older, she'd be madly in love with the gorgeous blond.
Sasuke was nervous though. He knew he'd need to work out these issues with Naruto someday, but he'd have to get him through this mission first.
What the hell was the Godaime thinking? He'd gathered that this mission was going to be especially dangerous, thus the extra ninja, but …Naruto?
Fuck, he had to be the worst ninja in the village. Maybe Tsunade hoped some stress on the relationship would force them to sort out some personal issues, and maybe it would, but at what cost? If it came down to a choice between Naruto or the client, the client could bend over and kiss her pre-teen ass goodbye.
He'd just have to be the best ninja he'd ever been when the shit hit the fan.
Eleven days into the mission, just as sunlight began its introduction of the horizon, Sasuke woke to the sound of chirping; Naruto's signal. He scrambled out of his tent to gather with the rest of the team around the embers of last night's fire.
"They're two miles out and closing," Naruto said in a hushed voice. He swept his hand through the dirt and started drawing with a twig.
"There are three groups coming from three directions, hoping to hem us in. The only way clear is the way we came."
"How many?" Shikamaru asked, studying Naruto's sketch.
"Totally? About a hundred."
"A hundred?!" Sasuke hissed. "Fuck!" They were dead.
"I can clear a path north, so you can go on," Naruto looked meaningfully at the team lead. "But I need to be able to work."
Shikamaru nodded without hesitation. "Just tell me what you need."
"I really hate subjecting that little sweetie to this, but I think just a shield and then you get the hell out of here."
"Okay…"
"What? Wait!" Sasuke interrupted. "What are you talking about? I don't understand the plan."
Shikamaru just looked at him. Sasuke threw his hands up. "What am I supposed to do?" He pointed at Tsugi. "What are we supposed to do?"
"Nothing. Now shut up."
"Noth…"
"Shut up, Uchiha," Shikamaru growled then turned to Naruto.
"How long?"
Naruto closed his eyes and Sasuke swayed as he felt Naruto's chakra caress his senses and move through the earth under this feet.
"They're moving fast. Three minutes."
"Shit! Tsugi, get Ko-Chan out here now." He turned back to Naruto. "Where do you want us?"
Naruto pointed to a stand of trees. "There. Shika, try not to let her see, okay?"
The team, minus Naruto and Sasuke rushed over to the stand of trees. Tsugi wrapped Ko in a cloak and pulled her head into his chest.
"Naruto, I don't understand the plan." Sasuke was truly confused.
"I don't know what Shika will decide after this, because we're splitting up here. Just get over there for now."
"But…"
Go!" Naruto said in a panicked voice as he looked north then east.
Sasuke just stood there.
"Son of a bitch!" Naruto howled. Then the air around Sasuke thickened and he found himself lifted off the ground and flung through the air to land at Shikamaru's feet.
Before he could gain his footing, a hazy red cloud surrounded everyone but Naruto, who stood alone in the center of the clearing.
The first wave of about thirty ninja descended out of the trees about one minute later. Sasuke pounded on the shield trying to get to Naruto, who stood against this band alone.
Then his arms fell limp to his sides as he actually heard Naruto's chakra. His mouth hung open as the air around the enemy ninja clouded with swirling…sand? Yes, sand had risen out of the ground and begun to take on a glint.
Tsugi squeezed a whimpering pre-teen as their shield was peppered with sprays of blood and bits of flesh. Blood flew everywhere, painting every tree and rock as screams filled the air. Sasuke realized that the sand had been superheated, transformed into glass and was shredding the thirty bodies into unrecognizable chunks of steaming, oozing biota.
But before his mind could categorize and understand, the second wave of ninja arrived from the east.
Naruto, dripping with enemy blood and still unarmed, turned. He made a couple of quick hand seals and thirty more Naruto's appeared.
He pointed south and yelled, "Slow them down."
Then he turned back to the enemy, just now dropping from the branches overhead. They seemed taken aback, undoubtedly expecting to see a different result from their advance team.
"It's Uzumaki Naruto," someone shrieked.
"Fuck!"
"Run!" Several turned and started to flee.
Sasuke watched as wind picked up in the clearing and scooped the whole lot of enemy ninja into a writhing, screaming clump.
"Spare us!"
"Mercy!"
Their screams were lost as a funnel of pure white flame swept from the sky and through the mass of bodies leaving behind…nothing.
Ko was sobbing and clinging to Sasuke as he watched, stupefied, speechless, his brain racing to comprehend what he was seeing.
Naruto dropped into a fighting stance, finally pulling a sword and creating from nothing a giant, glowing pure chakra shuriken. His head was cocked and he seemed to be listening and sniffing.
Then the shield was gone and Ko was running toward Naruto. He saw her coming and tossed his shuriken away, obliterating four trees and a boulder.
"Naruto…" She threw herself into his arms. "You're so brave," she snuggled, ignoring the blood transferring itself to her. "I'm going to marry you when I grow up," she cried, her overwrought emotions spilling out of her.
Sasuke stood back, snippets of clarity clicking into place.
"He could crush me like a gnat," he whispered, realization falling out of his mouth without thought.
"Yep!" Shikamaru smacked his shoulder and went to Naruto.
"Shika, my clones bought about six minutes. Head north. I'll get the rest of these guys and you shouldn't have any more trouble."
Shikamaru grabbed an armload of their supplies and nodded. "We'll see you back in Konoha, Naruto."
Naruto knelt in front of Ko and grinned. "Go with these guys. They'll take good care of you."
"Naruto…" she reached for him again.
"I get to Whirlpool every once in a while. Buy me some ramen next time I'm there?" he said as he tried to wipe blood from her cheek, but only adding more from the mess on his hands.
Tsugi dropped to one knee and bowed his head. "Naruto-sama, I…"
Naruto jerked him to his feet and cuffed him on the side of his head. "I told you to stop that," he frowned.
Then the grinned and punched the younger ninja in the shoulder. "Take care of my girl, okay?"
The blushing boy nodded and Naruto turned back at a sound coming from the forest behind him.
A giant shuriken reformed in his hand and he yelled over his shoulder, "Go on. Get the hell out of here. She's seen enough."
Sasuke, still standing unmoving as his brain raced to understand all he'd seen, started to open his mouth when Shikamaru grabbed his arm and jerked him into a run, leaving a grinning Naruto to face another small army of ninja, alone, once again.
- 3
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- 5
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Dark, Light and the Shadows Between (complete)