Fading Scars

This is an Alternate Universe fic set perhaps a day or two after Orochimaru’s retreat from Konoha. A lot of liberties were taken from that point on in terms of time-line. This is also a very angsty (especially Naruto) and sexually graphic fic—just the way we like it!

This was written as a one-on-one RP, so the point of view of the story will change, usually with every paragraph. Scenes will also change abruptly and large periods of time will pass with little notice, though I’ll try to give some warning at the beginning of the chapter.

// = thoughts
* = emphasis

Please read and enjoy!

Fading Scars
Chapter Six:

The traveling went well--they were covering a good deal of ground, and though Neji could still tell there was some kind of pursuit, they didn't seem to be catching up. He was relieved, especially when there was no sign that a Hyuuga was with them.

It was early in the evening, just after they had started out, and Neji had taken to a higher branch to scout out the area. The weather had finally cleared up. He was just about to start down when the skin at the back of his neck began to tingle. //Shit!// "Sasu--"

The pain struck hard and fast, barely giving him time to cry out before his knees buckled. Clutching his head, Neji was only slightly aware that he had begun to fall.

Sasuke's head snapped up at the first sound of unnatural movement--his eyes widened when he realized what was happening. Without taking the time even to call out to the boy he leapt for him, catching one of the straps across his jacket. His free hand tugged a kunai free to plunge into the nearest branch; they jerked to a sudden halt, and thankfully Neji's jacket didn't tear.

"Shit…. Neji!" Sasuke eyed the distance from the ground--it might be enough to jump. "Try to hold still!"

Neji shuddered, fingernails nearly tearing at his scalp. "Fuck--hurts---" He gasped as another wave went through him, and he couldn't hold on. His sight blurred, and he just managed to breathe Sasuke's name before he fell unconscious.

"Neji...? Hey, Neji!" Sasuke paled, and as he watched Neji's body go limp all he could think was that...he had died. Just like that, his family had killed him. Shaking, he released his kunai and tugged Neji's body against him; despite the weight he was able to drop onto a lower branch, and then safely to the ground.

"Neji!" Sasuke rolled him onto his back, and sighed openly in relief when he found he was still breathing and had a steady--though weak--pulse. //They're catching up,// he realized with a start. //Neji said it shouldn't have worked as well this far, but it's worse--one of the Hyuuga are after us.// Biting his lip, he dragged Neji into some undergrowth. //Wake up, damnit!//

Neji groaned as something stung his cheek. He opened an eye enough to see a swinging bush branch, th ith it took him longer to realize that he was being dragged. "Sa...." //Fuck, my head....// A pained whimper passed his lips as he tried to move.

"Stay still," Sasuke hissed, until finally they were relatively hidden in the bushes. //If they waited this long to hit us, they'll be close behind.// He dropped swiftly down beside Neji, laying a hand against his chest. "Do you want water?" he asked quietly. //Goddamn them!//

Neji reached up, covering his eyes. "Yes," he hissed. He whimpered when his fingers brushed his scar, and he pulled them quickly back as if burnt. "Shit...."

Sasuke tugged his canteen free, carefully supporting Neji's head as he tipped the water to his lips. Neji wasn't able to take much, and so he turned instead to remove his forehead protector and the bandages underneath. He poured a bit of the water over his seal in hopes that the cool liquid would help calm him.

He sighed. "Yes...like that...." Neji relaxed as best he could, waiting for his skull to stop throbbing. //They're right behind us,// he kept thinking. //They have to be close, for it to hurt like that....//

Neji reached out, catching Sasuke's wrist. "You have to go," he murmured, blinking to try and clear the water from his eyes. "They'll catch you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Sasuke replied instantly, putting his hand up so that the water wouldn't interfere with Neji's sight when he poured a bit more over his forehead. "I won't leave you to them--they might just kill you, you know." He grimaced. //Probably the only reason they haven't already is because they're hoping to slow me down. Damnit, I won't let them play us like that!//

Neji's lips curled faintly. "I know," he whispered. //I knew they would. They can't let Byakugan get away that easily.// His fingers flexed around Sasuke's arm--he had to understand. "I can't fight like this," he insisted, shuddering as another, brief throb went through his temples. "You can't take on a bunch of hunters by yourself."

Sasuke smirked. "You haven't seen me lately," he countered. He tugged Neji's hand off his arm and began to stand. "I'll leave the water here," he said, curling Neji's fingers around it before he was upright. "Just be still--if they're coming, I'll be ready for them. And not a sound from you."

"Sasuke--" Groaning, he planted his hands against the ground and pushed. His arms shook as he tried to sit up, his lack of balance making him almost ill. //We can't stay--we can't.// It took another moment, but he managed to get himself upright.

"I said stay still!" Sasuke barked back at him. //Stubborn asshole.// He leapt up back into the trees to retrieve his kunai, and on the way down took stock of what he'd have to work with. //I might have to use up the wire with traps. They might be expecting it, but it's the best we can do.//

//Shit.// Neji fell back, gasping as his head was jarred. //God, it hurts. Who did they send?// Rolling onto his side, Neji curled up as his stomach began to twist with nausea. He bit his lip to try and keep quiet, but a few strained whimpers still made it out. //Damnit. Damnit!// He squeezed his eyes shut. //F...Father....//

---

Hinata lowered her hands slowly as the veins around her eyes smoothed back out. "There," she said, very softly. "He won't be able go anywhere tonight. And…he's close…."

Shikamaru sighed and clapped her shoulder. "Good work, Hinata," he told her seriously. //I really hated to make her do it, but…we're running out of time.// "We'll catch up to them by morning." He looked to his other companions. "I know it sucks, but are you up for a night run?"

"Of course," Naruto replied immediately, Kiba nodding alongside him. He glanced briefly at Hinata before focusing again. //We need to catch up. Sasuke won't be far now.// "Let's do it."

They ran all through the night, and though it was a bit harder to track them in the dark Shikamaru was assured when he realized they really were catching up. //It'll be soon. If Sasuke hasn't left Neji behind by now he might be waiting for us. Annoying bastard.// "Keep an eye out for traps," he alerted his team. "We should be close."

Naruto paused on a tree branch. His senses had been getting better since the exams, and he tried to stretch them out now.

Kiba appeared next to him. "They're just ahead," he whispered. "Akamaru says there are traps already set." He glanced around for Shikamaru, waving him closer. "What's the plan?"

Shikamaru let his eyes sweep the area, planning ahead, trying to use what little he knew about Sasuke to their advantage. //They'll be simple traps, but lots of them. Wires and fire, if I remember what Asuma told me about Uchiha fighting style.// He looked to Naruto. "Do you think he knows you're with us?" he asked evenly.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, squintingoughough the trees as if he could see the traps in place. "Probably not. Other than maybe Hinata, they really shouldn't know about any of us, right?"

"That's true," Kiba murmured, eyes narrowed. He absently stroked Akamaru's head. "Normally, this would be a job for the Hunter-nin, or at least a few Jounin, considering who might show up...." //And instead they send us.//

"Then the real question is, is Sasuke so far gone that he'd barbeque his own teammate on sight," Shikamaru said with a humorless smirk. //It's worth a try.// "Naruto. You'll go first--be your normal, loud self, eh? I doubt he'll set off any traps if it's just you being annoying." //Sasuke might even keep him away from the traps. It'd sure be nice know where they are.// He shrugged. "Well, I hope."

Naruto grinned--he wasn't any good at sneaking around any "Le "Leave it to me. So long as it's just Sasuke, I'll kick his ass." He made a fist in determination.

//At least someone's motivated.// "We'll watch your back," Shikamaru promised.

Hinata ducked her head. "Um...good luck, Naruto-kun," she offered shyly.

Nodding, Naruto pushed to his feet and leapt, already forming a pattern of seals.

A moment later he landed on the ground in the middle of a small clearing. It was almost eerily quiet. //Not for long.// "Sasuke!" he bellowed suddenly, pulling out a kunai and glancing around. "I know you're here. You must be some kind of scaredy cat to leave without finishing our duel!"

//Naruto?// Perched high above him in the trees, Sasuke felt his heart skip. //What's he doing here? Did....// Slowly, he crawled further down the branch. It really was Naruto, just beyond the range of his traps. //Shit. Did they send him? It must be a trick--there must be jounin with him.//

"Sasuke!" he shouted again, slowly beginning to move around the clearing. "I'm gonna tell everyone you hid from me! Come out!" Naruto spun around quickly, pausing as he spotted a wire set low to the ground--his eyes narrowed. "You really expect me to be tricked with a fake trap, Sasuke?"

//Shit.// Sasuke clenched his fists against the wood beneath him. //If he moves any further, he'll hit the real traps.// He hesitated--giving up his location might be the end if Naruto really did have a team nearby--but he didn't have a choice. "Naruto!" He stayed down, hoping that the trees would at least give him a little cover. "Don't come any closer!"

He turned towards the voice with a grin. "I hope you're not worried about me, Sasuke," he yelled back. Naruto started across the clearing confidently. "You should know better by now."

//No--wait--// "Naruto!" Sasuke reached for his kunai, but it was too late--Naruto's foot scraped one of his tripwires, sending a pair of kunai at his ankles and head. But just as the blades hit there was a puff of smoke, and the boy abruptly vanished.

//Kage Bunshin?// Sasuke froze, and dropped ply ply back onto his hands and feet, clutching his kunai. //Damnit, I should have expected that from him.//

Naruto leapt through the branches--he had easily seen Sasuke in that brief moment he had revealed himself, and he flew across the short distance towards him. "Sasuke!"

//Shit--// Sasuke reeled back, just far enough to plant his foot and push into a counterattack. He slipped past Naruto's punch to land his elbow in his chest--and went right through him. //Another clone?// His momentum carried him, and he leapt easily to the next branch. //There could be any number of them, and knowing Naruto they'll stumble on all the traps....//

"Naruto!" Sasuke turned slowly, trying to anticipate where the next attack would come from. "Don't waste your time--I'm not coming back!"

"You're not going anywhere!" came the reply from half a dozen directions. "I'm not letting you get away until we've settled things." Another trap went off, causing a third copy to vanish, shortly followed by a fourth. A fifth Naruto stalked towards Sasuke. "Besides, going after that Sound bastard isn't going to help anything--he just wants to use you!"

"Better him than the goddamned Hokage!" Sasuke shot back vengefully, readying himself for Naruto's attack. //There's gotbe mbe more. I won't let him draw me out.// "At least he can give me what I want!"

Another trap went off as the remaining answered. "Only if ets ets what he wants! Shit, Sasuke, not even I am that stupid!" The real Naruto continued to watch as his clones ran about, gradually closing in on Sasuke or tripping more traps. //Damnit, don't be so dense.// "He's not going to help you for free!"

"I don't care." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as they took on Sharingan's color, gauging the movements of the clones. A throwing star of his took another two before they could set off some of his better traps. //Damnit Naruto, I'm not a fool. I know all that.// "I don't care!" he repeated, shouting. "I'll help him burn Konoha to the ground if I have to!"

All the Naruto's growled at that, and ignoring the remaining traps they sprung. Four figures came at Sasuke, kunai poised and ready. "I won't let you!" they all shouted. "I won't let you kill all those people!"

Sasuke formed a quick series of seals, and as he leapt from the branch he spun in a tight circle, unleashingerieeries of fireballs. The four Naruto's were quickly incinerated. Sasuke dropped to the earth as his opponent's disappeared like the rest. "Then come fight me yourself," Sasuke challenged. The seal on his neck began to tingle, and he winced as he forced it back.

One of the smoking bodies did not vanish along with its peers, and Naruto rose up behind Sasuke to kick him square in the middle of his back. "You asked for it!" he spat back, crouching and waiting for the counter he knew would come.

Sasuke grimaced as he rolled and sprang quickly back to his feet. "Naruto...." He stood ready as he watched the boy. //Damnit.// "Don't do this."

"I don't care where you go," he growled, tearing off his singed and ruined coat and flinging it aside. "But you're not joining that monster. Iruka-sensei said that he's going to use you, take over your mind or something, and I won't allow it." Naruto pulled out several more kunai, shoulders tense and ready. "I don't care how shitty things have gotten back home, but I don't want it to be destroyed!"

"They'd would have told you anything," Sasuke muttered bitterly, "to save their asses." He crouched, ready to spring into an attack, when...his limps started to move without him, releasing his kunai. "What the--?"

"Whew." Having laid in wait for just this opportunity, Shikamaru straightened from his hiding place in the bushes--Sasuke unwillingly followed suit. With the sun still trying to climb out from the tree line theree ple plenty of shadows for him to have latched onto their target. "Sorry, Naruto," he said with a shrug. "You'll have time for a duel later, I'm sure."

Naruto frowned, ready to protest, but fell silent instead. He approached Sasuke with a frown. //Iruka-sensei wouldn't lie to me again. He wouldn't....//

Neji strained his hearing, trying to make out what was happening. He almost recognized the third voice--one of the rookies. //Damnit, what did they do? And what about the other two?// Fingers curling, he tried to push himself back into a sitting position, arms shaking. "Sasuke...."

Hinata had slipped away from their leader, as per his instructions, and at the first sign of movement she carefully investigated. She cringed when she spotted Neji struggling upright. //I have to do this, though.// With a deep breath she leapt down next to him. "Neji-kun, please don't move," she said quietly.

Flinching, Neji jerked his head up. "Hinata-sama...." His eyes narrowed angrily. He had guessed it would have been her as the one pursuing him, but somehow he had never completely believed it. Hinata, who had always preached kindness, who had always been polite....

"Damn you," he hissed venomously. He tried to stand, but his legs refused to work. Instead he pulled himself across the ground by his arms, loosing a kunai as he dragged himself towards her. "Damnit, Hinata...."

"Neji-kun...." Hands trembling, Hinata pressed his hands together in the proper seal and stepped back a step. "I'm sorry," she all but pleaded. "I didn't want to but...but please stop. Don't make me do it again."

"Fuck you!" he spat, continuing closer. "Goddamn dogs, all of you--" Neji flung his kunai, but his position threw off his aim and the blade sailed wide.

Hinata cringed and fell back again. //I can't back down,// she tried to tell herself. //I can't!// She took a deep breath. "Please forgive me." Her hands tighd asd as she engaged the seal--just enough to keep him from moving again, she hoped.

Neji screamed as his head seemed to explode. He fell back to the ground, convulsing and tearing at his headband as his flesh burned. He didn't pass out--it was too much for him to be able to escape like that--but already he could smell and taste blood at the back of his throat. //Father--Sasuke--help me! Make it stop!// Tears poured from his eyes as the agony gradually pulled away, mixing with the blood trickling from his nose. "Fa...." His chest was aching, voice choked and raw.

Kiba dropped to the ground beside Hinata, eyes wide. "What the hell happened?" he asked, shaken at the sight of Neji lying in the dirt, twitching. "Hinata...?"

Hinata retreated several steps in shock--it had been a long time since she'd seen the effects of the curse seal, and watching Neji suffer made her stomach jump into her throat. She clamped her hands over her mouth. //Oh God, I did that…?//

Sasuke's heart jumped at the sudden lifting of Neji's voice, off in the bushes. "Neji…. Stop it!" As he shuddered the seal on his neck began to burn, creeping up his face. "Goddamnit, leave him alone! *Stop hurting him!*"

His chakra flared, throwing Shikamaru suddenly back and shattering his jutsu. With a growl he charged past Naruto--all his malice aimed at the young girl that was causing his friend pain.

Naruto dove; despite being shaken by the screaming, he was able to grab Sasuke around the ankles, sending them both crashing into the dirt. "Kiba! Get her away!" he shouted, fighting to hold Sasuke back just a bit longer. He vaguely heard the pair backing away, hoping Kiba would be smart enough to keep her away from the boys.

"Let go!" Sasuke twisted against Naruto's hold like a mad animal, feeling a thrill of satisfaction as his heel connected with the side of his head. //Damn them--I'll fucking kill them all!// Sasuke scrambled to his feet, but by then Kiba and Hinata had taken to the trees, and he couldn't locate them right away. He leapt for the nearest tree, forced to retreat only briefly by a trio of throwing stars Shikamaru had aimed at him.

//Damnit.// Naruto pushed himself upright, prepared to follow, but a low moan gathered his attention. //Neji....// Hurrying forward, he parted the bushes to find the older boy curled against the ground. His face twisted at the smell of vomit and blood, and he moved closer. "Neji?" The other didn't respond, and he knelt beside his head. //He...doesn't look good.// "Sasuke!" he shouted into the trees, hoping to pull his attention away from Hinata. "Sasuke, Neji's sick! What the hell am I supposed to do!"

Sasuke twisted around; he felt strangely lightheaded, though he could feel the heat spreading down his back. //Neji....// When Naruto reached for the fallen boy his insides clenched. "Get away from him!" he bellowed, changing targets. "Keep your goddamned hands *off him!*"

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