Gone

Author’s Note

Woohoo! THREE Chapters and FIFTEEN reviews! I love you guys so much!

So, don’t hate me for this chapter. I really felt like it needed to be written this way.

Anyways, I really can’t wait until one of my stories reaches the epicness that it deserves fan art.

Why?

Because I have to scenes in the chapter where I would love to see someone do fan art for it. I can’t draw at all….. T-T Otherwise, I’d draw it out myself. I won’t tell you the scenes I want, but I’ll give you a hint. Naruto and shop girl. Plus, Sasuke and Hokage’s tower.

Anyways, keeping reading and reviewing guys! Your reviews let me know that people are interested in this story and I don’t have to abandon it!

With that said, don’t hate me too much and Enjoy!

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The months seemed to fly by as Naruto slowly but surely healed. Everyone was concerned when they realized that Naruto wasn’t healing as fast as he used to, especially since he had the Kyuubi. It was just unusual that the Kyuubi wasn’t doing anything to help its’ host heal faster. They ran tests on the Naruto and the seal, but came up with no results. They just couldn’t figure out why Naruto was healing at a normal, regular human pace and not the Kyuubi pace. It was unusual, and it worried them. However, Naruto, as was his nature, took it all in stride, and was only concerned with news of Sasuke. Unfortunately, there was no news. At first, that worried Naruto, but Sakura reassured Naruto since it meant that Sasuke was relatively calm, or was at least planning something.

At first, Naruto hadn’t been willing to listen to Sakura, or trust anything she said because of the revelation of what she’d done with Sasuke. Naruto just couldn’t believe that his own friends, the people he had grown up with and trusted dearly had done something like that to his lover. So, he’d refused any offers of Sakura’s help. He’d also let his displeasure be known to anyone that came in. He’d blamed everyone he could get within ear shot. The only people he didn’t blame at the time had been Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji and Hinata. He didn’t blame Lee because Lee wasn’t able to do Ninjutsu and could only do Taijutsu, so it would have been impossible for him to do it. Naruto didn’t blame Hinata because he knew that Hinata wasn’t the type of girl to do it. He didn’t blame Shikamaru because he knew Shikamaru was far too lazy to have done it. He also didn’t blame Chouji because he didn’t think Chouji could have even done it.

Needless to say, Naruto had held a grudge with the others for quite awhile. The only reason he’d stopped holding a grudge was because Iruka had come in to explain to him why everyone had done what they did. When Naruto heard it from Iruka, to him, it was rational and made more sense, so he’d forgiven everyone. Although, he was a bit more reluctant to forgive Sakura and Neji for doing the jutsu because of reasons he felt were totally valid. Sakura, he was reluctant to forgive because he knew of her former crush on Sasuke and Naruto questioned whether or not her transforming into Naruto had anything to do with that. It was a dumb reason, but it played into some of Naruto’s insecurities with his lover. Naruto blamed Neji because Naruto had sincerely believed that Neji would have been smart about it and known that it wasn’t what Sasuke needed.

Now, Naruto was far more rational as his body healed. The more Naruto’s body healed, the more movement he had. The nurses had him working out doing bits here and there, lifting hand weight, and they massaged his arms, to get the blood flowing and to help the weak muscles strengthen. Naruto hadn’t minded since the exercise proved to be a good distraction from his worries with Sasuke. Naruto had been thinking hard while he lay awake at night. There had been so many ideas, so many thoughts. Naruto just couldn’t think of a way to make Sasuke realize that Naruto was alive. Naruto honestly had begun to give up, but he didn’t surrender completely. When he felt like he was going to give up, he thought about other things, like training his body and how to get stronger to be on even footing with Sasuke.


It took Naruto half a year about to heal, and when he was better, he was training, and getting his body back to tip top shape pre the now four years he had been without it. Naruto had trained with Kakashi, trying to get himself back in shape. Lee and Gai even offered to ‘help’ once in awhile. The days Gai and Lee ‘helped’ were days Naruto referred to as hell days because they had been so focused on physical training that Naruto wanted to collapse by the end. But as he trained with them and everyone, he found that the training with Lee and Gai actually helped him. Not that he would ever tell them. With the Hell Training, Naruto was more limber, a bit bulkier in terms of muscles, and he had started to fill out as his body caught up with the three, no, four years he had been behind in growing. Naruto, as he filled out changed his clothing since people told him the jumpsuit was no longer in style.

He was reluctant at first, “But I love the jump suits!” Naruto had protested as Sakura started tossing them out and burning them before Naruto could save them. Luckily for Naruto, he had hidden the special jumpsuit. The jumpsuit was just sentimental because Sasuke had given it to him for his birthday during their relationship. Naruto knew it was the one Sasuke had given him because of the crest sewed on the inside of the breast of the jumpsuit, in the general area his heart was. Naruto kept that one folded and hidden where Sakura hadn’t been able to find it. So, after his jumpsuits had been sewn, he’d been dragged to clothes shopping.

“I don’t see why I can’t just wear the Anbu or Jounin uniform Sakura!” Sakura whipped around and said “Oh really Naruto?!? Are you Jounin? I hadn’t noticed!” Naruto flushed and said “Shaddup! I don’t need the chuunin exams to tell me what to do! Besides! I was officially passed as a Jounin! Baa-chan said so herself!” Sakura snapped “You got lucky! Now shut up you brat and come with me.” Sakura cracked her knuckles and made a fist, preparing to punch Naruto to get her way. Naruto, sensing the danger to his persons, obediently backed down and acquiesced. Sakura, seeing Naruto submit to her wishes gave Naruto a smile that only the devil could love and she said, her voice sickly sweet in a way that had Naruto sweating in fear “I knew you’d see it my way Naruto.”

With that, Sakura led Naruto into a clothing store and shoved him into a changed stall. She then had the sales girl help her pick out outfits for Naruto to wear. The first outfit Naruto came out in was a black Chinese fighter style outfit. It was black silk with blood red borders. The pants were just black silk. Naruto came out looking unbelievably good, yet, stupid in a way, that Sakura shook her head and said “Here, try this one Naruto.” Naruto grumbled but obeyed. He’d felt stupid in the outfit anyways.

When Naruto came out again, he was decked out in a skin tight black zip up vest with no collar, and a pair of black silk pair of pants that were reminiscent of the Chinese fighter outfit pants. Sakura swooned a bit, liking the outfit. The salesgirl did too, but Naruto hated it. Stomping back inside the dressing room, he savagely stripped out of the clothes and changed into the next pair of clothing hanging on the hook. This outfit had been chosen by the sales girl, the first one had been the sales girls and the second had been Sakura’s. Naruto sighed as he changed. Well, he always wanted to be a doll……not really.

Several more outfits later and Naruto, the sales girl and Sakura had finally agreed on an outfit. Well, it was more like Naruto and the sales girl agreed, and Sakura just sulked. Naruto’s new wardrobe consisted of a sleeveless orange vest with pockets in the front he could shove his hands into. The vest had a hood as well, and when Naruto pulled it up, it flattened his hair. While it looked a little dumb on him, the black t-shirt underneath with a bit of sleeve peeking out from the vest, leaving Naruto’s arms bare. Naruto wore a pair of black cargo shorts underneath and his shoes remained the blue sandals. All in all, Naruto’s look gave him an updated more mature look.

After Naruto paid for his new updated wardrobe, Sakura bought him the all black ensemble that she had swooned over, much to Naruto’s consternation. Naruto protested “But, Sakura! I didn’t want this.” Sakura had replied, sounding a bit smug “It’s a gift, now shut up.” Naruto grouchily agreed since Sakura didn’t look like she could easily be swayed from her decision. When they parted ways, Naruto went back to the Uchiha compound, to the main house and to the kitchen to make himself some cup ramen. Ever Since Naruto got out of the hospital, he’d been cleaning the main house out, so that when he could finally convince Sasuke that he was alive and well, they wouldn’t have to worry about how dusty and dirty the place was. Now Naruto was all alone in the home that had once been a place of warmth and love. It had, embarrassingly enough, been referred to as their private love nest.

After Naruto finished eating, he cleaned up and went to bed. He always hated sleeping in their bed. With the teme not there, it was hard to sleep. Gods he missed Sasuke’s body warmth. Why did Sasuke have to be so stubborn? Naruto sighed and as he pulled the blankets over his frame, he murmured to Sasuke’s side of the bed “Good night teme…….”

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Why did he always do this? Sasuke wondered as he dwelled within the darkness of his mind. Bandages wrapped around his arms, hidden by the robes of the Hokage usually, but not tonight. Everyone had gone home. He was alone……again. Sasuke unwound the bandages from his wrists and forearms, revealing two long scabbed over shallow cuts from wrist to forearm. He hated himself for doing that, but in the pain of loneliness, it brought relief. The aching pressure of being an Uchiha and not allowed to show emotions made him ache. His one source of relief was gone, vanished. Naruto had been his world, his everything, and Sasuke had come to realize with Naruto’s absence, how much he’d relied on Naruto to keep his sanity. It was the pain of losing him that Sasuke chased away with the cuts on his arms. It was the pain of being an Uchiha he tried to chase away with his violence.

It was the pain of being Sasuke he couldn’t chase away with sleep. Sasuke had tried, the first month after Naruto was gone, and he couldn’t sleep. He’d been so scared, so worried for his lover, worried that Naruto had died without him knowing, or while he was sleeping. Now, it became a habit. He just couldn’t sleep. So, he brooded. He had very few happy memories, and as the days wore on, the time without Naruto faded in his memories to dim feelings of happiness, and he was once again trapped in darkness. Sasuke took his customary kunai and held it to his wrist. With a vicious slice, he cut open the scabbed over injury and watched crimson beads well up from the wound through the sharingan’s eyes. As he wheeled his chair about to face the glass panels of the window, he was a fearsome, scary and awe-inspiring sight to see.

Sasuke let the kunai bury itself in its’ usual wedge on his desk while he rested his arm on the glass and pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the window as he stared out on to the sleeping streets of Konoha. Sasuke stared for what felt like hours before he finally pulled away, leaving a crimson arch of blood dripping down the glass panels of the tower. Sasuke would clean it up when the sun rose and his mood lifted……if only a little bit. In the mean time, Sasuke put salve over the cut and re-bandaged it. Sitting in the hokage’s chair, he leaned back and looked up at the moon through the crimson arch of his blood, mangekyou sharingan spinning wildly as he stared.

Sasuke was trapped in the darkness…..and blood…………..again.

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Naruto sat up with a start. Looking around, he was met with the familiar prison cell of the Kyuubi. Getting to his feet, he walked over to the cell and called “Oi! Kyuubi! Where are you! Why’d you call me?” Kyuubi’s leering crimson eyes and Cheshire cat like grin appeared; its body remained in the shadows. “That’s not a nice way to speak to your elders brat.” Naruto snapped, irritated with the Kyuubi’s attitude “Shaddup! Why’d you call me dammit?!?” The Kyuubi snorted and rumbled “You have much to learn brat. You have learned from your little childish frogs. Now, it is time you learned from me. You, as my container, cannot die!” Naruto glared at the Kyuubi and snarled “Why should I listen to you?!? I don’t owe you anything!” The Kyuubi snorted again and said “Wrong kit, you owe me everything.” Confused, Naruto faltered. He asked, sounding perplexed “Why?”

“Because you died four years ago in that forest.”