Untitled_SasuNaru

[A/N:

Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews. It's nice to know that people like the way this is heading. I'm kind of stuck right now on chapter six but, I'm typing my fingers off. Here's chapter 4, enjoy!]









"So, what did you get from everyone before I came over?" Sai was sitting on the roof of the apartment building with Naruto.



"An outfit from Iruka-sensei, a picture from Sakura-chan, a bunch of papers that really boil down to I can start Hokage-training in a few years from Baa-chan and I opened Kakashi's gift with the rest."



"Well, with the weapons from Tenten, the crystal flower Ino made you, the green suit Lee gave you, the salve from Hinata and Neji, the stuffed fox from Kiba and Akamaru, the eight cups of new ramen from Chouji and finally the Biggest Book on Bugs from Shino, I would say you had a pretty good birthday."



"Hmm."



"What's that supposed to mean?"



"Nothing." Sai looked over at his teammate and then back to the black sky. It was cloudless and the stars shone over even the brightest village lights. The village people were preparing for the annual festival that would take place in two days, on Naruto's real birthday.



"So what does she have you doing for the next few days?"



"Can't say."



"Ahh. It probably has to do with a certain missing nin, ne?"



"Hmm."



"Alright, I won't ask anymore." Sai had become someone that Naruto could count on and even though he was still dealing with his lack of emotion problem, he was working on it. He still called Sakura ugly, although not in front of Neji and he agreed that Hinata was going to become ANBU before even Neji. They talked about many things but it usually stayed centered around people and places.



"Come on Naruto, let's go inside."



"Huh-why?"



"You haven't opened my gift yet."



"Oh. Coming." Sai turned, a smile gracing his face and he mumbled under his breath, "I wish."



"What?"



"Nothing." They both walked back into the apartment and Naruto sat on the couch and looked at the small black box that Sai handed to him.



"What is it?"



"Open it." Naruto pursed his lips but opened it. Inside he found a small foil-wrapped packet. "A condom?"



"Hai."



"Why on- nevermind, I don't want to know your motivations."



"Aww, Naru-chan! Take all the fun away why don't you!" Sai let out the epitomy of a sigh and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a silver bracelet with another trinket on it. Naruto inspected it and smiled. "It's the same one that Iruka-sensei gave me."



"Hai. He requested it from me and I made it. Since it was a fox I had a pretty good idea of who was getting it so, I made another one, in another color, and put it on something so you could show it off."



"Thanks Sai."



"You're welcome Naruto." Naruto pulled the trinket from his breast pocket and looked for a way to attach it. "Here, give it to me." He handed the bracelet and trinket to Sai who slid the end of the fox onto the bracelet. "I didn't even know that was there," Naruto said. "Of course. It was made by the best." Naruto smiled as he got the bracelet back. Sai spoke up, "I was worried you wouldn't wear it because it was to...to..." He paused and his face went blank. He was doing a guessing game in his head.



"Girly?"



"Yes! That was it."



"Well you were right but I have a better place." Naruto pulled out the necklace he never took off and, taking the trinkets off the bracelet, he placed them on either side of the stone Tsunade had given him.



"Even better I would say."



"Hmm." Naruto got up and headed to the bathroom. "Are they water proof?"



"Hai." Hesitating before walking any further, Naruto looked back at his teammate.



"Did you...want to-"



"If you don't mind."



"No. I'm going to shower though so it will be a little bit."



"Okay." Naruto nodded and walked into the bathroom, closing the door gently behind him. Stripping off his clothes and his hetai-ait, Naruto turned on the hot water and waited a few moments for it to heat. When it was done he stepped in and started washing. This wasn't what took him longest in the shower, it was what he did afterwords.



Sitting down in the center of the shower, Naruto drew his legs to his chest and held them there with his arms. Closing his eyes, he focused and saw himself standing outside of a familiar barred cage. The seal had a diagonal line through it but neither said anything about it. Naruto had started having a strange feeling that even though he was trapped, Kyuubi liked where he was just fine.



What do you want brat?



Nothing.



Liar.



Always.



Really, what do you want? You are stinking up my cage already.



Fine fine. Naruto thought for a moment, sitting outside of the cage but close enough, that if the fox wanted to, he could smash the mental image of himself to bits.



What is wrong with me Kyuubi?



Not this again Naruto, please. I think I might go insane this time.



Like you aren't already?



I never said that, but I don't want to be running around this question. Not now and certainly not ever again.



Why?



I have answered you on this same topic more than once and I just find repeating myself to you to be a waste of time.



All you have is time.



But that doesn't mean I want to spend it repeating myself Naruto.



Uhg. You can be really irritating sometimes.



Me? That's the pot calling the kettle black.



What?



Nothing Naruto. So what do you really want to talk about?



I don't know.



Then why are you here?



Honestly?



Yes.



I don't know that either Kyuubi. I guess it's just even though you are a monster-



Uh, Naruto?



Huh?



Shut up.



Okay. They sat there for a while, not saying anything. The Fox was curled around itself and Naruto was just sitting there, looking at him with his arms across his chest. The did this often, just sitting across from each other in silence. It was a chance for Naruto to deal with inner conflictions and the fox to tell him he was just being stupid. It helped even though it should have pissed him off but it gave him someone to talk to who actually understood what he was feeling and that made it easier.



Your water is getting cold Naruto.



Oh, alright. Naruto came back to himself and turned off the shower, not really moving from his position. He was tired but strangely, he was dreading his bed at the moment. Sighing, he stood and got dressed in his stripped pajamas, hat and headed out. Sai was there, already naked down to his boxers -not that it took much- so Naruto crawled over him and to the inside of the bed.



"If you fall out tonight, it's your fault. I told you to sleep on the inside."



"I would rather fall out than be crushed against the wall."



"Fine."



"Fine."



Naruto turned around and faced the wall, one of his many pillows crushed to his body and closed his eyes. Sai had started sleeping over after the very last time he'd seen Sasuke, well, before the idiot had come back to the village. There was no where for Sai to sleep so he'd had to sleep with Naruto and it had just grown on them both. No, they didn't do anything even as much as Sai wished it, so it was more for comfort. Sai wouldn't admit it becauase he didn't know how and Naruto would never give Sai the amunition to use against him if he admitted it so it went unspoken. There were times that Sai stayed over for a week or so and sometimes just once a month. It was spurratic at best but it didn't really bother them anymore.



"I will never get used to this."



"You already have. Look, you're utterly relaxed."



"Huh."



"What?"



"Nothing Sai. Go to sleep."



"Fine." Sai moved and spooned against Naruto's back, arm going over the blondes middle and closed his eyes, forcing himself to sleep. Naruto still had his eyes half open when he decided to finally sleep.





"Give us the Uchiha and no one gets hurt."



"You are in no place to say that."



"But I am." The shinobi waved a hand and a small army stepped from behind the tree line. Tsunade just smiled and called out three of her ninja; the ones that stepped forword: Sakura, Naruto and Sai. They were all in their jounin wear, Sakura with her arms crossed over her chest, Sai with his hands around a paintbrush and scroll and finally Naruto with one hand in his pocket.



"Hai Hokage-sama?" Sakura stepped forward, next to her teacher and village leader.



"Get this rif-raff off my doorstep. They knew from the start they weren't going to get the Uchiha so they wanted to start a fight. Finish it."



"Hai." She looked around the Hokage who started to walk away. "Team, move out!" Sai and Naruto nodded and disappeared. Turning around, Sakura had an evil smile on her face as she popped her knuckles. "You losers can either walk away unharmed or not walk away at all."



The leader of the Sound shinobi that had come for Sasuke just smiled. "And who are you puny ninja to us?"



"Special-" said Sakura who stepped forword.



"Jounin-" said Naruto as he landed behind the group.



"Team Three," said Sai as he landed to their left with scroll and paint brush out.



The leader of the sound shinobi just laughed and almost doubled over with it. "So Konoha thinks that three little jounin can defeat twenty?"



Naruto pretended to think about it and looked to Sai who was thirty or so yards away. "That's what?"



"Five for the each of us?"



"Yes." Sakura nodded and the smile never left. "This is your last chance- Leave Konoha and never come back or die here."



The sound shinobi took an offensive stance. "As you wish," said Sakura. She took her own stance and rushed at the head of the group. Her hand collided with the ground, sending splinters of earth at them. As predicted, the group moved back, right into Naruto, who had summoned a companion. Sure, it wasn't the big Toad master himself but, one of his sons would do any day.



As the toad under him spit out oil, Naruto ignited it and rushed in. "Kage Bunshin no Justsu!" Five clones appeared in the smoke and he directed them to move to the right of the group and hold them there. The real Naruto pulled out three shuriken and two kunai. The shuriken were thrown at the closest enemies to him and as he'd thought, they were batted away. Somewhere in the distance he heard two sounds, one sounded like singing and the other sounded like an instrument. He frowned and looked to one of the clones. "Tell Sai to go for the musicians." The clone nodded and ran in the direction he'd last seen Sai. With one Kunai in each hand, Naruto rushed in, careful to not breath in any of the smoke, and started fighting.



"He said go for the singer and the one with the flute!" Sai nodded and listened for the singing and the sound of the instrument. They were far away, not part of the group. He frowned for a moment and wondered why they weren't then moved farther into the woods. His post was covered by the clone that gave him the message so he didn't have to worry about anyone following him. As Sai followed the sound, a tree next to him shattered. The frown left his face and the calm, emotionless mask that was Sai appeared. "There you are."



Pulling out a blue scroll and ink, Sai started to paint. His hands moved quickly over the surface of the scroll as it formed an undefinable picture. While the trees around him shattered into pieces, Sai never took his eyes off what he was painting and when he was finished, his fingers formed seals and the ink on the scroll disappeared. In the distance, the singer screamed a loud shreik and then the instrumentalist. On the same blue scroll, Sai started to paint again. The seals he'd used made the ink disappear once it touched the scroll and the screaming never once let up. When the last line was painted, Sai closed the scroll, put his ink away and went to see his handywork.



Sakura was in melee combat. It seemed the sound shinobi descovered her strength and didn't want her using it on the earth or anything else she could get her hands on but what they didn't expect, was that she used the strength in her melee as well. The sound of bones cracking and breaking around her made a calmness run through her body. When the two shinobi that had ganged up on her fell to the ground, skulls bleeding and bodies broken, Sakura stared at a small boy. He smiled and innocent smile at first but then it filled with malice. She hated when children were fighting. Before Sakura could rush at him, the boy let out a scream that had her falling to her knees, hands over her ears. She groaned as pain flooded her head.



The small boy moved closer, the screaming getting louder and his hands making seals. The sound went silent and her ears were ringing but Sakura got to her feet in time to see a burst of flame coming right at her. Blocking the attack from reaching her face, Sakura was forced back to take cover behind a rock. Sighing inwardly, Sakura made a clone and sent it out. As the boys attention was split between the rock and the clone, she jumped out and got behind him. With hands as gentle as winter's first snow fall, she snapped his neck and set him down on the ground. Sparing one second to close his eyes, Sakura got back into the fight, arms and legs hurting from the burns they'd sustained but her not caring.



The smoke from the fire Naruto had made was being sucked up by one of his clones. He nodded to the others and they moved to circle around his prey. The shinobi was male, and he held no weapons. His hands were covered in a metal film that went to the wrist and his face was covered in a mask. He wore long sleeves and pants and when Naruto looked to his face again, his hair was long and white. The hetai-ait with the symbol for sound was at his neck and even though it was that low, it seemed to hold the hair away from his facial mask. The shinobi wasn't in an offensive position and that confused Naruto. His fellow nin were being slain and he wasn't even the least bit worried?



Kill him quickly.



I know Kyuubi.



Then do it NOW! Growling, Naruto closed in, and threw the kunai at his opponent. The man dodged to the ground and sprung into the air above Naruto. Looking up, Naruto pulled out two dull blades that wrapped around his hands and jumped to join he other man. As they faught, Naruto felt the familiarity of the shinobi's style but who it was eluded him.



As naruto went for a blind spot, the shinobi moved and gently touched his hand. Naruto cried out and the chakra blade fell from his hand. He couldn't move the hand that had been touched. It felt broken. He knew Kyuubi would heal it but why wasn't he doing it now?

I could use some help!



I can't heal that!



WHY THE HELL NOT?!



He cut the chakra flow in one blow and in another he broke your hand in more places then I can focus!



Then that's why the blade wasn't working...



PAY ATTENTION! Naruto caught a blow to the ribs and he was thrown into a tree behind him. As he coughed, blood came from between his lips as did a growl so low, the other shinobi shivered. When he looked up, Naruto's eyes were a glowing red.



"That. Hurt." He stood, spit out the blood in his mouth and took a tai jutsu stance. The chakra blade in his left hand roared to life and he sent a wave of that power at his opponent. The man dodged out of the way and it looked like even under the mask, he smiled. That made Naruto frown. "Who are you?"



The man said nothing but in a burst of speed, he was standing in front of Naruto and he reached out, grabbed the blondes shirt and kicked him in the gut. Doubling over, Naruto hissed and reached for the shinobi's hands. His hands had turned into claws so when he tightened his grip, blood spilled from where nails touched. "Let go!" In two swift movements, Naruto removed the man's hold and threw him out into the woods. Probably not the smartest idea but he was starting to get annoyed. Getting annoyed led to anger and anger got him in trouble. Calm down Naruto, he told himself as he went after the shinobi. It wasn't until he'd reached a clearing that he saw the other. In one hand the shinobi held a necklack. Naruto's necklace.



"GIVE THAT BACK!" Rushing in without thought, Naruto's slowly cooling temper flared back to life and he was soon chasing the shinobi.



Both ninja were in a large field. The grass had just started growing back within the last year or so. The field was a memory that Naruto cared not think about. He'd faught one of his friends here. At the time, the current Kazekage of the Sand wasn't his friend but a truly confused teen who also harbored a demon inside him. Neither one of them had won the fight in his opinion but Gaara seemed to think otherwise. It was something they constantly talked about, well, when Gaara actually talked that was.



Naruto watched the shinobi drop the necklace and one hand move to the mask at his face. Slowly, the white haired nin moved it to the side and revealed a face Naruto thought he would see only when he killed it.



"Kabuto!"



"It's been a long time Naruto-san." Kabuto had only let the mask reveal half of his face and it was a curious gesture.



"What are YOU doing here?" The question was a low, rumbling sound.



"I came to retrieve something that belonged to us."



"What would that be?"



"Uchiha Sasuke." The mask was moved fully to show the other half of Kabuto's face. It was a mess. It looked like he'd been burned with pure acid and tried to heal but it hadn't worked. "We want Sasuke back."



"Even if I could give him back to you I wouldn't let you touch him." He thought for a moment, "And who is 'we'?"



"Aww, sentiment for someone who still could care less if you died? How touching." Kabuto's voice was low, almost a hiss.



"What happened to you?" Still on guard, Naruto started to circle around the other shinobi.



"It seems that even though Orochimaru-sama wanted his body, Sasuke wasn't going to let him use it. Sasuke attempted to kill Orochimaru-sama and it seemed that it fell on me to save him. I did it the only way I knew how." He lifted on of his sleeves and Naruto thought he would be sick. "He is part of me now, Orochimaru-sama. He lives even thought he was thought dead." A horrid laugh fell from between marred lips. "He will have the Uchiha's body and there is nothing you can do about it!" As Naruto rushed at him, Kabuto poofed away. Naruto yelled out because he was angry and even as he fell to his knees, he knew it would never end. The necklace that had been stolen from him was retrieved and he just sat there, staring down at it.



It's never going to end is it Kyuubi?



Not as long as the snake has a way out.



Not as long as Sasuke is still around.



Don't say that.



Why? it's the truth.



Because even though you dislike him, you still want it to be true.



What?



That he is back. That he is still the friend you thought he was.



Do not.



Yes, Naruto, you do. I feel it every time you think about him or have to see his face. It's rather annoying and grates on my nerves.



Words of wisdom from something that would rather have everything around him dead eh?



No one said I was a complete monster brat.



Hmm. Rising to his feet, Naruto fled back to the aid of his teammates not aware of the eyes that followed him.



"I think it worked."



"Yesss."