See Me

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, sadly that means I do not own it and have gained nothing but personal satisfaction for writing this.

A/N: Special thanks to cutsycat for being my beta and constantly being on my tail about finishing this. (Yeah without her I could have hid and finished this chapter later.) Also a huge thanks to Word_Slave for all of the reviews and encouragement. :)



^_^ Enjoy.



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"I'm sorry. I'm doing this for all of you, believe in me!" He yelled as he leaped out of the window onto the small roof below. 'I'm going to make it. I'm going to save them all.' Naruto thought as his feet touched the solid ground.



His eyes widened in fear as his foot became lodged, he looked down in a panic only to see the one thing he was not expecting. Looking to his right he saw an annoyed face before hearing, "Tch, always so troublesome."



"Shikamaru, let me go, you have no idea what's going on." Naruto said in a rush.



"I know exactly what's going on. Tch as troublesome as you are, I don't think you need to go through with this."



Shikamaru let go of his jutsu after seeing the sand come down and secure his captive and hauling the panicked blond back through the window.



Once inside the now full room Naruto continued his rant about them not knowing what was going on and to let him go. Gaara had finally tired of hearing his friend going on before covering his mouth with sand.



"We understand what is going on Naruto. But do you really realize what pain your death would cause?" the Kazekage asked quietly.



Naruto gave him a confused look indicating that he didn't know.



Sighing the young red head sat down across from him and went on. "You told me that you didn't want anyone to die for you. Did you know that you could have died when you helped Chiyo-sama save my life? How do you think I felt afterward finding out that my friend could have and would have died before I ever had a chance to thank him?"



Gaara waved his hands to the others when Naruto averted his eyes from him. Perhaps one of the others could save the blond from himself.



Lee was the first to step up and speak to Naruto asking him, "Who shall I shed the sweat of my youth with if you leave? You are the only one who is willing to fight with me. When my legs were crushed and I was crippled you gave me strength to keep trying. You proved the a hard worker could beat a genius. You encouraged me to continue to ask Sakura-chan out. You are also the God-Father of our little girl. How should I explain to her that Uncle Naruto will never come around anymore?"



Shikamaru continued when he saw that Lee was too emotional to continue. "You were one of my first friends. We used to skip Iruka-sensei's class together, get into trouble together, and the laugh about it. Who will laugh with me now when we see the younger generation cause the same trouble as us? Who will nurse my plants back to life? Who can I tell my hearts desire to without them laughing at me? Who will come to me in the middle of the night and let me cry on their shoulders when I have had to kill someone when I was on a mission?" Shikamaru shook his head and indicated to Neji that he should speak.



Neji looked deep into the sky blue eyes before he started to speak in a hushed voice. "When we first fought you had told me you would become Hokage and that our destinies were not preordained like I had always thought it was. You taught me to fight for my freedom. You promised that you would change the Hyuugas and make them remove the branch family's cursed seals. Our seals are still in place, so who will have them removed for us? Who will open our cages and free us from it? Who will hold me up when I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders if you are gone? Who will help me hold my head up when I want to hide? Who knows my pain better than you?" Neji stepped back and shook his head in disbelief at what he had said. Only Naruto could get him to open up like this.



Kakashi wiped away the tears he could see forming in the blond's eyes before speaking. "Who will eat ramen with Iruka? Who will keep Hokage-sama from doing something stupid? Who will help Sai when his emotions confuse him? Who will keep Sasuke from leaving again? And if he does leave again who will have the courage to bring him back? Who will Chouji have eating contests with? Who will keep Kiba in line? Who will get Hinata to open up to the love of her life? Who will get Shino to see what is in front of him? Who's smile will brighten everyone's lives?" Taking a deep breath he continued in a softer voice, "Who will accept my love freely? Who will be my sun? Who will give me a reason to come back after a hard mission? Who will give me the will to continue living? Tell me Naruto, if not you then, who?"



Kakashi motioned to Gaara to have him remove the sand covering Naruto's mouth so the blond could finally speak. "You don't understand everything that is happening Kakashi." were the first words that were whispered from his mouth.



"Then tell me, help me understand Naruto because, right now, I can't understand what the hell is going on." Kakashi begged. "Everyone please leave us to talk alone. Gaara could you please remove this sand?"



"Will you run if I let you out of the sand?" Gaara asked the blond.



Knowing that a lie would be detected he answered truthfully by nodding his head. Gaara growled low in his throat before going to the guards outside his door and giving a hushed order. Everyone waited in silence as the guard left to do whatever that was ordered of him. Minutes later the guard returned and handed the Kazekage the requested item. He looked at Naruto then sighed, he didn't want to do this to his friend, but he had no choice. He placed the metal collar around the blond's neck, then proceed to uncover his arms and place him in cuffs and then again with his legs. He looked mournfully at his friend who looked like a fugitive in chains before saying "This will suppress your chakra so you can't use your jutsu to escape. Kakashi-san I am trusting that you will be able to handle things from here."



Nodding an affirmative, Kakashi watched everyone file out the door. When the last person was out and the door shut behind them he turned to his blond captive and pleaded with him to tell him what was going on.



"The seal keeping Kyuubi in has weakened considerably Kakashi. She could sneeze and it will break and then she will be free to do what she wishes." Naruto admitted to him.



"So she has been trying to break out?" Kakashi asked wide eyed.



Naruto looked at him on confusion, "No, that's what is troubling me. She's been quiet and almost calm. It's like it's the calm before the storm you know?"



Kakashi sighed in relief then an idea came to him. "Naruto, have you asked Kyuubi why she hasn't been trying to come out?"



"No." Naruto confessed. "I'm- I'm afraid to ask."



"Try talking to her, but for all of our sakes be polite, please."



Naruto nodded before turning his thoughts inward to speak with the demon.



'Kyuubi-san, I need to speak with you.'



'What do you need kit?' Kyuubi replied with a bit of amusement. She had been listening the whole time and wanted to know what he would say.



'Why haven't you tried to break out lately?' Naruto asked bluntly.



'Kit, I'm old and tired, I feel it's about time I retired.'



'What do you mean retire?'



'Look Kit, I lost my mate and my litter a long time ago. I held onto my anger about that for a long time. Then when I was sealed in you I resented the restraint. I felt like the humans were trying to control me yet again. I hated that they kept trying to control me and use me for their wars. I was sure that you would do the same thing to me. When I noticed you only used me when you absolutely had to in order to protect your loved one I started to think of you differently. I couldn't stop from coming out when you were very angry, because your emotions were broad casted to me and I felt them strongly. You are my Kit, so I wanted to hurt whatever was making you angry or hurting you. You've calmed down considerably now that you have matured.'



'Wait, what do you mean I'm your kit?'



Kyuubi snickered before continuing 'Out of all that I said that was the one thing you latched onto huh? Remember that I said I lost my litter? Well I have come to think of you as my kit, my child. I would not have let you go through with this mission. I wanted the others to be able to talk you into staying, though if they couldn't I would have let you get to the Akatsuki's lair then killed them all for touching you. Then I would have made you go back to Konoha where all your important people are. Listen to them Kit. You are needed and loved, and your mate once told you that you had the power to change people, let me add that you have the power to change demons as well. I will not break out of here, I do not want to hurt those that are dear to you. I will protect you and help you protect them as well. Go home Kit, this is a fools mission that is not needed.'



'My mate?'



'Yes the man in the room with you now. Did you even listen to a word I said to you?'



'I did, just the mate thing threw me for a moment. So I have your word that you will not try to break out?'



'You have my word. I may grumble from time to time about you being thick, but I will never hurt you in any way I promise.'



Naruto smiled a real smile for the first time in a long time before looking at his mate and saying "Take me home Kakashi."







TBC...

Next chapter, Coming Home

*Runs for dear life and hides.*