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The Hunting Ground	By : Ljiljana Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1010 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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
- 5
- 6
- 7
Chapter Six

The sky roared above their heads, inauspiciously loud, but
it was invisible on the other side of the thick brunches that made a dense
cover, efficiently cutting off their view and stopping most of the light rain
from falling on them. It has been almost two hours now they had to walk, stepping
over little islands of oddly squishy and unstable plants; pushing through the bushes
high enough to be lost among them � some full of berries, both edible and
poisonous. Sasuke took some amusement in the fact Naruto still had no idea
what-so-ever how to tell them apart.

He seemed to be learning fast, though. Sasuke threw a kunai
at his hand every time Naruto would try to pick a poisonous berry along the
way, and he would turn, glaring and blushing and swearing like no Hokage
should; but that stopped after the first hour. Sasuke kept quiet, knowing full
well that was more irritating, which hadn�t stopped Naruto from telling him
exactly how much of an asshole he was, over and over again, in many different
ways. As a result of it, now Naruto none-mistakenly only tried for the edible berries;
a solid proof he could learn anything given the proper motivation, which was no
fun.

The rain was getting harder by the minute, and even though
the cloaks they were wearing were rainproof, some water was finding its way
under anyway. On some places, mud would grip on Sasuke�s feet, almost gluing
his sandals to the place with such viciousness, it almost seemed alive and
hungry. Naruto had no such problems. Sasuke, put out by it, firmly believed it
was because even mud refused to mess with his demon
and not because Naruto knew something he didn�t.

Even the rich crowns could not stop raindrops from getting
through when the weather became really bad. Naruto seemed perfectly content to
skip around through the puddles, so Sasuke finally gritted his teeth and said:
�We have to find some cover.�

It earned him a wide smile that was just a masked smirk.

A cover is not hard to find in a forest as rich in
vegetation as this one was. It took them only a couple of minutes; both sides
of the riverbank were high, and the water was much higher then it could rise
now. It had made alcoves deep enough for the two of them to fit in for a while.
If the rain did not tone down after a couple of hours, though, they would have
to unseal the camping gear.

The alcove they�d chosen was deep enough not to be wet, but
Naruto spread his cloak on the ground anyway, and Sasuke spread his own over
the entrance hole to � as much as it was possible - fend off the most stubborn
raindrops. Both of them were more or less dry, too. There was no need to remove
clothes, which was a relief; Naruto was distracting enough these days with his
shirt on.

The light was dim inside - not too bright on a rainy day in
the middle of a thick forest to begin with, it was coming through only where
Sasuke�s cloak couldn�t cover the entrance well, but they could see well
enough. Naruto set down with so much gratefulness in the satisfied sigh that
had he let out, as if they were on the move for weeks already. �Arranging his things on his side of the cloak,
Sasuke carefully listened Naruto�s breathing, which was too heavy, especially
considering they were just walking.

He settled down, with his back to one of the sides where
parts of tree roots broke out, facing the entrance. Naruto didn�t look bad, not
even too tired, sitting down with his legs crossed but the blush was high on
his cheeks and his eyes were closed in concentration. It took him a second, but
Sasuke finally realized he was drawing from the nature as soon as he reiterated
the small chill running down his spine.

�Wow.� Naruto said, in a whispered awe. �This is such a good
place for this. It feels great.�

Sasuke turned the sharingan
on. There will be no better chance to see this; even if he still has no one to
help him work on sage techniques, Sasuke wanted to know how it all functioned. He
had spent much of his time in the woods couple of years back, just watching the
flow of the nature, curling and moving chakra
in the trees, in the ground, in the forest animals. It was � calming, or at
least it was calming his nerves down.

There was no way to know how it would look like watching
chakra flow with byakugan, but it couldn�t
be as beautiful as this. It was like an explosion of brilliant blue that was
Naruto and soothing yellow energy of the nature that gathered around him like a
protective, living shield. Chakra was
pulsing even brighter then ever in the half-dark and for a moment there, it
looked like as if all of it was coming from Naruto, like he was the source of
the entire light play; not just blue, almost solid shadow in the middle, but
yellow spots, too.

Sasuke couldn�t even blink, but then Naruto raised one arm
to the back of his neck, in an old, familiar gesture and the yellow light flew
off him back into to the ground and roots. Sasuke could see Naruto�s face
muscles moving into a sheepish grin and he switched the sharingan off in time to see it form.

�Couldn�t concentrate.� Naruto
explained. �Looks like I�m still not fully recovered.�

That was not truth. �You seemed fine yesterday.�

Naruto hesitated. It was only for a moment, not long enough
to give away that something was wrong to anyone who didn�t have a reason to be
afraid there might be, but to Sasuke, it was very obvious and so was the excuse
he was making up on the spot. �Well, I couldn�t sleep last night and besides we
are on our feet for almost two days. I was very sick, you know. The night
before that girl died, I couldn�t even drink water.�

Maybe he was sick then, but he was fine yesterday and last
night, too. And he was maybe not sleeping well
last night, considering the murmured words and occasional annoying gasps he was
letting out, but Naruto certainly was
sleeping, so that was a lie. Sasuke didn�t call him on it.

�So,� Naruto asked after some long minutes, filled with
nothing but the sounds of rushing water. �Why are we going to this place,
anyway?�

�Didn�t Sakura tell you?�

�I never asked.� Naruto answered. �Just wanted out, so
before she even finished �I think you
should go out of Konoha for awhile� I was already packing. She did say it�s
about these murders, though. You found out something?�

Well, shop-talk was better then awkward silence.

�It�s something I remembered. And because we have enough
time, it�s worth spending some time on it.�

�Something you remembered.� Naruto echoed. �You heard of
something like this happen before?�

Sasuke told him. He made sure to leave Itachi out of it this
time, because Naruto was not Sakura and he would try to talk about it, which
was unacceptable. But everything he remembered Shisui telling him, he repeated.

�I don�t get it.� Naruto said after thinking it over for
several minutes. �I know you don�t see people drowning in puddles and toilet
seats all the time, but that happened a long time ago. What made you think it�s
connected?�

What was it that
made him think it was connected? The only thing Konoha had in common with that
place was Uchiha clan, as far as Sasuke knew. It was more instinct then a precise
thought. �It is the only similar case I ever heard about. Considering my clan
used the place as a hideout and as a weapons storage for a really long time,
there is a connection.�

They were already sitting pretty close, because the alcove
was small and Naruto�s cloak was even smaller, so when Naruto shifted,
uncomfortable or unprepared for the track the conversation was taking, their
knees brushed. It lasted for a second only, but it felt too good anyway. Sasuke
moved away so it wouldn�t repeat.

�But they are dead for a long time now. I can�t see how
could they have anything to do with what is happening to Konoha now.�

�Some things they had left behind are still active, though.
That is how your AMBU got hurt.� Not only were those traps active, bur they
were also there, in that particular
hallway of the police station for a reason, guarding something. Maybe what ever
was on the end of it wasn�t connected to what was happening, but Sasuke never
had much faith in coincidences.�

Naruto frowned, and decided to change the subject. �But how
do you plan to find out anything? That place is completely abandoned.�

�It�s mostly
abandoned.� Sasuke corrected him. The side of the place on the river was far
from abandoned, actually. The port was on a place too convenient, and people
obviously moved back in after some time, regardless to what happened to the
place.

Naruto pulled a face on him, childishly. �It looked dead to
me.�

�You�ve been there before?�

�Yeah.� Naruto answered, without
any further explanations. Sasuke didn�t feel like prompting every little bit on
information out of him, so he didn�t ask about details.

After that, they had fallen into a silence that was neither
comfortable nor complete. Rain was still consistent on the other side of
Sasuke�s cloak, and the dense stream was getting through on the beams of the
faint light, but the roaring of the river was stronger, almost completely
masking the sounds of rain now. Naruto stretched and lowered himself down on
the ground, like he was preparing to sleep, with his arms under his head.

When Sasuke already thought he had fallen asleep, Naruto
said: �I love how this place smells.�

It smelled like wet earth always did, like dirt and things
long rotten. And if Sasuke shifted only a little more away from Naruto, his
pants would smell like it, too; the cloak they had to share was not all that
big. He wanted to move, though; because even on the very edge of it, Sasuke
could still feel the warmth Naruto was glowing with, where his elbow was
closest to Sasuke�s thigh. He refused to do anything, no matter how much he
wanted to and no matter how inviting heat of another body in the cold alcove
was, so the both of them stayed like that until the sounds of the rain began to
subdue.

�We�re going.� Sasuke decided, and got to his feet to remove
his cloak from the entrance.

On the other side, the small river was now much higher, loud
and powerful, almost reaching the lowest part of the alcove. Fouled by the soil
the water had blended in, picking it up along the way, the river was brown and
dirty, full of small broken brunches and leaves.

�Can you smell the stinky grass?� Naruto asked, very close
on Sasuke�s right. Unexpectedly aware of the familiar warmth he was working so
hard to resist earlier, so shockingly different from the sharp swipes of the
wind on his face, Sasuke couldn�t help the violent shiver that made him jerk
his left shoulder. �It means it was hailing somewhere close.�

Even while wondering where Naruto could pick up completely
useless information like that, Sasuke bent his arm and slammed the elbow into
Naruto�s ribs. He really should know better by now; it was his own fault for
standing so close.

Of course, Naruto was not supposed to fall over, no matter
how serious the hit was. Maybe clutch onto the bruised rib, and then try to hit
back, but not simply fall on the side like a pushed puppet. He was obviously
feeling much worse then he was letting on.

�Oi, bastard!�
Naruto yelled, trying to get up. �What the hell was that for?�

�Just a quick health check.� Sasuke
answered, not liking one bit how suddenly pale Naruto was, or how he still showed
no signs of wanting to hit back.

�That will leave a nasty bruise, you jerk! And it will hurt
every time I try to bend.�

�You�ll heal.�

Naruto gave him a dirty, annoyed glare. �What part of �the
stinky fox locked himself on the other side of the seal and I haven�t seen him
all year� did you miss? He won�t heal me!�

�You�ll heal anyway.� Sasuke told him. Not as fast, of
course, but nothing was broken.

Not bothering to say anything intelligent, but muttering
insults, Naruto picked up his things and they finally continued the trip.

It was almost sundown when they arrived; clouds were breaking
away, uncovering a pale star here and there. Skyline above the remaining of the
tallest of the buildings was irregular, full of holes in the rooftops and water
tanks; broken and cracked chimneys. Some windows were still intact, as far as
it could be seen in the cloudy sunset, but dirty, smeared with years of rain
and bird�s shit and some were gaping, glassless. On some buildings, outer walls
were wearing black scars where fire fed on them once.

The gate was wide open and the main road was cleared up,
just like they were the last time Sasuke came here. The sign was still
declaring this place abandoned, but as long as you keep your head low enough to
catch the ruins in side vision, it actually looked inviting.

�Oh, wow! What�s that?� Naruto gasped when they climbed the
first wide step of three that lead up to the gate. Sasuke turned to check on him,
but Naruto was smiling and spreading his hands, like a child trying to catch a
butterfly. �Do you feel it?�

Sasuke moved back to where Naruto was, but he couldn�t feel
anything. Sharingan in place, he
tried one more time. There was nothing - not movement, not chakra.

�Here.� Naruto said impatiently and grabbed Sasuke�s hand to
show him. He still couldn�t feel anything, but right before Naruto stopped
moving their hands, a little stirring of colors caught his eye.� It was like oil in water, a smudged rainbow,
spreading before his eyes through the tin air, up into the sky.

Sasuke blinked and stepped back, but it seemed once you see
it, there was no way to lose it again. Transparent, except from the gentle
color swirl, it was rising up like a wall. A couple of more steps back, and
wall became a dome that went so high in the sky; even the tallest of buildings
were inside of it.

�What? What do you see?� Naruto asked, exited.

�It�s all around the place.� Sasuke answered, not really
willing to share his personal impression on just how beautiful it was.� �Like a barrier.�

Naruto came closer and squinted up against the sky.

�I can�t see anything.� He said, disappointed. �But it feels
really good, like sinking slowly into warm water.�

�Was it here when you saw this place earlier?� Sasuke asked.
The barrier, whatever its purpose was, certainly wasn�t put here by civilians.

�Oh, we never had to come this near. It was clear that the
thing we were looking for wasn�t here any longer.�

Sasuke, following Naruto who once again climbed the wide
staircase, understood why he was so reluctant to talk about the subject before.
It must have been on the day Sasuke finally found Itachi, when Naruto saw this
place before. It explained why Sakura never asked him details about the
location, as well. Konoha was tracking him by the smell trace, and it must have
led them right past this place. ��

�It�s almost dark.� Naruto said while they were going
through the gate, casting suspicious looks to the nearest buildings. �Where are
we going to spend the night?�

�I told you it�s not abandoned completely. There must be
some kind of inn near the river; they have many guests from the river ships
that anchor in the port.�

�Real inn? With
running water? And warm food?� Naruto asked in the excited voice, loud
enough for Sasuke to vaguely wonder if he was trying to get the answer from him
or from Sakura back in Konoha.

The walk through the ruins was long and empty. Nothing was
moving, except from small animals and birds that found home in the old, half
collapsed structures full of the more stubborn plants and trees that managed to
break through concrete. The first signs of life were fresh child drawings on
the gray walls near the road.

�Look, �Naruto pointed out a crooked smudge of orange paint
Sasuke already saw, sounding amused. �Someone made a picture of Kyuubi!�

It really was the fox. The bouquet of tails that Sasuke
previously dismissed as poorly drawn fire counted nine exactly, together with
the one that was obviously trying to break down the mountain, or a nicely done
triangle. It seems like parents hadn�t stopped telling their children stories
about nine-tailed fox, even after everything that happened. Kyuubi was last one
still imprisoned inside of a human vessel and no one knew what happened to the
rest of the tailed beasts once Pain�s summoning statue was beaten.

They walked through the first inhabited part of the place
side by side, when dark already blackened every angle and corner. Dim lights
were illuminating rooms and homes hidden behind the curtains, mostly in the
buildings that were either not as damaged as those near the gate or renovated
to some degree. From one of the alleys they�d passed came the smell of food,
delicious and sweet.

The main road ended long before they had managed to reach
the river, with a wide crack that was neatly forming a circle; it must have
been created by explosive. Crossing it would be easier and quicker, but Sasuke
wanted to see as much as it was possible of this place and people. Guided by
faint and rare signs of life, on foot, they followed dark side streets, going
around cramping remains of the buildings that once crashed on them.

Lights slowly became brighter, lit closer together and half
way up on the old, undamaged lampposts. People finally showed their curious
faces outside; it seemed the place wasn�t getting many visits from this side.

A group of children playing some game under the streetlight
under watchful eye of an older woman waved back to Naruto, some giggling. The
sounds of their game echoed behind them as they walked around the corner, into
the next street and disappeared completely by the time they found the way back
to the main road. There, finally, the place was bursting with life.

As the first object of interest, the blacksmith shop with an
impressively loaded noticeboard in front was still open. In wasn�t selling
weaponry, only some common things that even though could be useful were not a
standard part of shinobi equipment.

Across from it, an old man was sitting on some old rugs,
next to a yellow wall. As soon as he saw them coming, his face lit with a huge,
toothless, insane smile, and he buried his hand deeper into the layers on dirty
materials. Even thought there was no sense of danger coming from the old
homeless man, Sasuke�s hand was deliberately free and in position most
convenient for drowning his sword. You never know in a strange place like this
one.

But the old man dragged a biwa out. Instrument was
obviously old, and only one wire was still fixed in place. Sasuke wondered idly
if it can even be played in such horrible state, but the owner had no such concerns.
With the same stupid smile still on his face, he expanded the string as far as
it would go and then he let it fall back. The movement produced a shrill sound,
coming back in a horribly accurate, numbing echo. And then he repeated it
several times, making odd, disconnected music that would surly make holes in
brain if listened long enough.

Naruto exaggerated the shudder. �You think he�ll stop if I
give him some money?�

�If he doesn�t,� Sasuke answered after yet another tone that
made his nerve endings curl in discomfort. �I�ll kill him.�

�O, ha-ha, very funny.� Naruto mocked and went to try and
quiet the man in his own way. And even though what he had said might have been
overstated, Sasuke had absolutely no guilt thinking that if Naruto failed to
stop the music that sounded like small tortured forest animals, he will tie the
musician�s hands with that single remaining string so tightly, he will learn
how to eat with his feet sooner then find person capable of untying him.��

Sasuke continued to walk and Naruto caught up. The street
was mercifully filled only with sounds of dull thuds that were coming from the
back of the blacksmith�s shop.

�Hurry.� Naruto advised him,
speeding up himself. �I don�t think he understood a word of what I said, he
just kept smiling, so he might continue any second now.�

Sasuke thought that they were already too far away for the
sounds to have the same effect, but he had no choice but to follow Naruto�s
lead and hurry.

In the street that followed the riverbed they found an inn.
The place looked better from the inside, and it was just a big old house that
was renovated recently. Hall, now serving as a dining room, was filled with
people and the entire place smelled like fried fish. Boy with one leg a bit
shorter then the other yelled at them from behind a counter that they had a lot
of guests and that only �one of the big rooms� was free, which probably meant
the most expensive one they had. Sasuke took it because Naruto was too busy
watching a bearded man at the nearby table swallowing most of his plate�s
contains in one go. Money was not a problem and neither was sharing a room �
Sasuke had no intention of letting Naruto out of his sight after the way he was
behaving that afternoon. For better or for worse, the odd health of Konoha�s
leader was now his responsibility.

Once Sasuke was done, Naruto was looking like he would fall
asleep on his feet at any moment - probably from the sudden indoor heat. His
eyes were half closed and his head was a bit bowed.

Sasuke bent closer so Naruto could hear him through the
noise. �Are you hungry?�

Naruto turned his head and blinked up at him, and then he leaned
back with his entire weight, until Sasuke was the one supporting them both. �Nah. I�m just tired.�

Automatically, Sasuke caught his elbow, suddenly feeling
very, very angry with Sakura from making him bring Naruto along and for himself
for going along with it. It was mistake, a serious mistake. Naruto jerked from
the nap when Sasuke squeezed, thankfully, and glared half-heartedly.

�It�s upstairs. Door painted in green.� Sasuke informed him
of what he had heard from the boy, nodding at the staircase behind Naruto.
Either from the embarrassment of reaching for support,
or from the embarrassment of reaching for support from Sasuke, Naruto flushed violently red and hurried in front of
him and up the stairs.

Every door on the floor was painted differently, and the
green one was at the end of that hallway. There was only one bathroom on the
floor, meant for all guests to share, and the room was fairly small, especially
for a wooden table, a chair, three beds and a mattress on the floor, but it was
clean. A wall was covered in a painted picture of a tree and fluffy white
clouds on the pale blue sky behind it. The only window was looking at the wall
from the building next door, though if you would turn completely to the right,
you could see quite a bit of the river port.

Even though he itched to wash the mud off of him, Sasuke let
Naruto go first. He was looking worse with every minute; like he had invested a
huge effort just to manage here and now, when he accomplished it, all the
tiredness caught up. �

When Sasuke was done with the bathroom, Naruto was fast asleep
in the bed closest to the widow. He took the nearest one, in case Naruto
continue to get worse, and in the crowded room, they were close enough for him
to hear every little sound and murmur Naruto would let out. There was no
denying it; Sasuke was worried. But he was also annoyed, because how the things
would develop now depended on Naruto�s health, when he will be able to go down
the tunnels and ask Granny-cat some questions.�
She will ask for things in turn, because she had no more debts to him
and he had no more debts to her, but Konoha was
the most powerful force in the Fire country and this time Sasuke was acting in
the name of the village and not despite of it. Money will probably do.

Smiling slightly into the night where no one could see it,
Sasuke hoped Naruto won�t pick up on his little weakness for Granny�s cats � if
he felt well enough in the morning to come along, that is.
- 5
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The Hunting Ground