Who I am

A loud sneeze echoed through said blonde shinobi’s apartment. Rubbing his nose and sniffing, Naruto stepped out of the shower.

“Someone must be talking about me.” Naruto laughed, toweling himself off. Most of the cuts and bruises had managed to heal since his little encounter in the woods with the ANBU, but his ribcage still hurt. If he was careful, he maybe able to fake it, and fool the others. Maybe was the key word. Sasuke was just a little too annoyingly perceptive, and Sakura was one of the top medic-nins, so either of them could suspect something. He’d just have to be extra careful. Anyway, if he was found out, he could just feign stupidity and say he slipped up during a training exercise. The stupidity and klutz act, though not as useful as it use to be, still worked occasionally.

Wrapping the towel around his waist and exiting his bathroom, Naruto quickly entered his bedroom, and began rustling through his dresser for some relatively nice clothes. Choosing a simple skin-tight black tank-top with loose khaki pants, and a dark brown vest as suitable attire, Naruto turned around just in time to her the soft chime of a single bell, and the silhouette of a shadow swiftly retreating from his open window. Blinking in surprise, Naruto threw the clothes onto his bed and walked over to the window. There, on the windowsill, sat a white envelope. Sighing, he casually picked up the envelope and opened it, revealing a folded letter. Reading it quickly, Naruto chuckled.

“Under the ‘Peak of the Night Sun’ huh? So she had comes now of all times? Geez, I wonder what she wants from me this time.” Naruto tossed the letter onto a nearby desk that was set in the corner of the room, and began to dress himself.

Once fully dressed, Naruto returned to the bathroom to give himself a quick check-over, and exited to his living room.

‘5:45... I still have some time before I go to Sakura‘s. Maybe I’ll practice a little with my newest birthday present.’ Naruto grinned as he grabbed the white katana and held it in his hands, feeling it’s weight. Stepping into the middle of his living room, where there was the most open space, Naruto took a stance he had once seen Sasuke use. Closing his eyes in concentration, he paused. Quickly, without warning, he unsheathed the blade, slicing it through the air. Naruto was amazed at the perfect feel the katana had. Not to heavy, not to light. Nor was it to long or too short. He felt as if this blade was made just for him.

Taking a few more practice swings, Naruto sheathed the sword once more. Holding it up to the light, Naruto smiled.

“Kouryuu was it? Well Kouryuu, I have a feeling you and I are going to good partners from now on.” Naruto spoke to the blade.

“You know, talking to yourself is considered to first signs of insanity.” A voice cut in from behind him.

Spinning around, Naruto was so startled by the voice he almost wasn’t able to dodge the kunai that came flying at his head. Jumping to the side and into an attack position, Naruto faced the source of the voice. An unknown young man, about a half a foot taller than Naruto, stood leaning against the doorway leading out to his balcony. His hair was light, almost a pure white, and was tied behind his head in a long ponytail. He was dressed entirely in black clothes, with the exception of a red bandana tied around his upper arm. A wide grin was plastered on his face, but the thing that stood out the most was his eyes. Blue in color, but as cold as ice, and held the intensity of a veteran killer.

“Who the hell are you!?” Naruto yelled to the man, but the stranger gave no answer. He just simply continued to smile. Naruto couldn’t tell where the man was from. There was no metal forehead protector showing which village he may be from, nor was his style of clothing familiar to Naruto. “Fine, don’t tell me. But I do want to know why you’re here.” Naruto continued.

“That’s simple. You have something that we want, and we’ve come to take it.” Another voice cut it, once again from behind Naruto.

“What the hell!?” Turning partially around Naruto saw the second voice. There, stood a woman. Shorter than both Naruto and the other man, but she too was dressed in similar clothing, including the red bandana, which was tied around her neck. She had shorter red hair, which cut rather clean and neatly. A intricate black and blue tattoo spiraled around her neck and around her left arm. As far as Naruto could tell, it didn’t appear to be any special seal or use for a jutsu.

Moving slowly so that each enemy was to either side of him, Naruto watched each of them carefully.

“Something I have? And what would that be?” Naruto asked in a calm yet hard voice, while his hands gripped the katana so hard his knuckles turned white. He was in a pretty bad position. He was up against two unknown enemies who he didn’t even hear yet alone sense approach, and his only weapon was Kouryuu, which he never trained with. All of his equipment was still in his weapons pouch in his bedroom.

“The very thing that has defined your whole existence.” A third voice answered.

Appearing from down the hallway where his bathroom and bedroom were, another man came into view. He was clearly taller than all of them, with an extremely powerful aura surrounding him. He was dressed like the other two, but this time the red bandana was around his forehead. A black hood covered his head and shadows were cased over his face, so Naruto couldn’t tell what this person was like.

“The very thing that…defined my…existence…”Naruto’s voice trailed off as his brain finally registered what the man meant.

“That’s right The nine-tailed demon fox, Kyuubi!” The first man laughed, taking a step into the room.

Fear now gripped Naruto, as it was now clear what their target was. Unsheathing the katana, Naruto held it in front of him, his eyes darting around the room for an opening of escape. In that very instant, the white-haired man appeared in front of Naruto. Gripping Naruto’s wrist hard, the man shook his head, still with that evil grin on his face.

“Tsk tsk tsk, naughty little demons shouldn’t play with sharp objects.” The man gave Naruto’s wrist a painful twist, making him cry out in pain and drop the katana. Taking his other hand, the man quickly punched Naruto in the gut, making him gasp for breath and his knees collapse. Still laughing, apparently at Naruto’s pain, the man picked up the katana, and began to examine it.

“My my…what a pretty little sword. A birthday present was it? From someone special, no less. I wonder how sharp it is…” The man rambled on, as he admired the blade.

Naruto, in what he thought was his opponent’s carelessness, leapt to the side, and attempted to run for the unguarded balcony door. Several kunai landed in front of his feet, making him freeze. The other two black clothed enemies apparently weren’t just going to stand there. Picking up two of the kunai at his feet, Naruto decided to see just how strong they were. Making his trademark signs, Naruto used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to make two more clones of himself. Nodding to his clones, Naruto ran after the woman, with the kunais in hand. The other two clones charged after the other two enemies.

Swinging his kunai to attack the woman, Naruto was forced to dodge to the side before he could complete his attack, when another kunai came flying at him. He didn’t however, see the two kunai from behind, as both hit their target. One imbedded itself into his side, while the other in his upper shoulder. Pulling them out quickly, while ignoring the pain, Naruto began to gather chakra into his right palm. ‘A rasengan would take at least one of them out‘, Naruto thought. Taking the kunai he had in his left hand, Naruto charged the woman again, rasengan fully charged. However, again the white haired man appeared in front of him in a flash.

All Naruto saw was a bright flash, and then there was just pain. He looked down to see Kouryuu imbedded all the way through his right hand, the one where the rasengan had been. The blade had cut through the rasengan, and sliced through the middle of Naruto’s palm, coming out the other side of his hand. The kunai in his left hand clattered to the floor, as both of his arms shook with pain. Biting back a cry of pain, Naruto pulled the blade from his hand. His right hand dropped to his side, as his left weakly gripped the now bloody katana. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto took notice of the taller man, who apparently hadn’t moved from the spot he was standing in since he first appeared.

‘When did my clones disappear?’ Naruto mentally thought.

Jumping back into the middle of the room, Naruto once again did the signs for Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and created two more clones. His hand hurt like hell, but the pain had to be ignored. His life, and possibly the lives of many others were at stake here. He couldn’t allow them to take Kyuubi.

“Are you doing that again? Just give it up.” The white haired man sighed, shaking his head.

“Sorry, I’m not the kind of person to just roll over and let people walk all over me.” Naruto replied, while signaling his clones to get ready.

“Oh? You mean like when you let those Anbu kick the shit out of you earlier?” The white man laughed again. Naruto just frowned. ‘They were there watching when that happened?’ He thought. ‘Why didn’t they attack me then?’ Nothing at this point was making sense. ‘Who are they?’

Deciding to attack first and ask questions later, Naruto charged forward once again, Kouryuu ready to strike.

--

“SASUKE-KUN!” A loud shrieking voice was Sasuke’s only warning when entering Sakura’s apartment, before being tackled by a blonde blur.

“Ino…this is getting really old…” Sasuke mumbled and attempted to detach the blonde-haired kunoichi who had arm arms clamped around his mid-section.

“Aww.. Sasuke. You know how old habits die hard. Plus, you know you secretly like it.” Ino giggled and winked at him.

“As if. Now get off.” Sasuke firmly pushed the girl off him and scowled in annoyance.

“Hehe, now now. You can’t have a face like that for a birthday party. You need to smile! This is a celebration!” Ino attempted to reach up and pinch Sasuke’s cheek, but her wrist was caught just short by Sasuke’s hand.

“Just give the bastard a beer and leave him alone Ino!” Kiba called from across the room and waving around his own beer. He was camped on the couch with a dozing Shikamaru, who also had a beer in hand.

“Kiba! What is that? Your third beer?! Give it a rest, you booze-hound!” Ino yelled and stomped over to him, while Kiba just gave her a howl in response.

Using Kiba’s distraction, Sasuke slid away from Ino’s attention and stealthily entered the kitchen, where Sakura was putting the final touches on the meal, along with Hinata.

“Damn it. Does she have to do that every time she sees me?” Sasuke grumbled and straightened out his shirt, trying to remove some of the wrinkles from where Ino had her vice-grip on him. Sakura just watched him with a smirk. She remembered Naruto mentioning once that Sasuke often fretted over his appearance like a girl, and she actually agreed with him.

Taking a long look at his appearance, Sakura was a little surprised. Dressed in his usual colors, Sasuke wore a deep navy blue collared shirt, which was tucked into black dress pants. His hair was more combed back then usual, with some of his unruly bangs gelled and pushed back behind his ears. Sakura couldn’t remember Sasuke dressing so formally before.

Turning back to the food she was preparing, Sakura attempted to hide her smile. “Oh, Ino’s just trying to ruffle your feathers like usual. You know she doesn’t mean any harm. She’s just messing with you because she knows you hate it.” Which Sakura honestly meant. Both she and Ino had long let go of their crushes over Sasuke. While both girls just treat their relationship with Sasuke as just friends, Ino tended to show such “friendship” in a different way. Ino now made it her goal to embarrass and annoy Sasuke in every way possible. This included everything that the Uchiha tries to avoid, from flirting, tackling, childish pranks, and the occasional grope. Sasuke secretly thinks that she’s taking lessons from Naruto, because between the two, the two blondes are a formidable force against the Uchiha in terms of breaking his personal-space bubble.

“Yeah well, it’s damn annoying.” Sasuke continued to scowl.

Crossing his arms, he leaned against the doorframe. Peaking his head around the corner, Sasuke scanned the living room, taking in who was already here. Kiba and Shikamaru were camped out on the couch, with Ino now trying to squeeze herself in between the two. She was attempting to wake up the unconscious Shikamaru by poking him awake.

‘Better him then me.’ Sasuke just shivered slightly, and continued to look around. Sitting on the floor in front of the couch sat the three hoodlums that followed Naruto around a lot.

‘What were their names? Kono-something?’ Sasuke couldn’t remember.

Standing off to the side next to the couch was Lee with Gai, who were both showing off some ridiculous pose that they’d come up with to the kids sitting on the floor. Though Lee had definitely matured over the years, with his appearance slowly drifting away from that of his sensei’s, the outrageous personality had yet to dwindle. If they had been standing normally like the other people in the room, Sasuke wouldn’t have guessed that they were there. Both Lee and Gai were dressed in casual attire instead of their trademark green body suits. Sasuke guessed that they took Sakura’s threat of not letting anyone with a ninja uniform in the door seriously.

At the punch-bowl/beer table, stood Chuoji, who was chatting quietly with Shino. Sasuke seriously couldn’t think of what the two could ever talk about, as Chouji always has food in his mouth, and Shino simply doesn’t talk.

Next to that, against the wall, stood Kakashi.

Sasuke blinked.

‘Shit. Kakashi was hear before me? Did hell just freeze over?’ Sasuke was beyond shocked, and his eyes slightly widened, not believing what he saw. Then he saw Iruka standing next to Kakashi. Ah, now there was the reason. He smirked. Iruka had actually followed through and dragged Kakashi’s ass to the party on time. That’s why Sasuke always respected about the academy teacher. He was reliable and dependable. That, and he always seemed to be able to control the loopy and clueless silver-haired jounin.

The two of them where chatting with the other senseis, Atsuma and Kurenai.

Sasuke blinked once again at the next person he saw. Tsunade herself was actually there. She was standing with the other senseis, talking wildly and waving her hands about, with one of them holding at sake cup. Shizune was next to her, desperately trying to keep the Hokage under some control, and failing miserably.

“Jeez Sakura, did you invite the whole village?” Sasuke commented, turning back into the kitchen, watching Sakura running about. He couldn’t believe so many people had shown up, just for one dobe.

“Unfortunately, no. Both Neji and Tenten are out on a mission, so they couldn’t make it.” Sakura replied, her back turned as she started on some dishes in the sink. Sasuke hummed slightly. He thought the atmosphere was slightly more pleasant then usual. Whenever the elder Hyuuga was around, Sasuke always had a feeling he was being watched, and had constant chills run up his spine. The continuous paranoia of the Hyuuga watching him would sometimes put Sasuke on edge. Not that he would ever admit that the Hyuuga bothered him. Because he didn’t.

Suddenly, a howl and a whine from Akamaru, who had been napping by the door, attracted their attention. Kiba immediately sprang to his feet.

“Shit! Tsunade-sama! The old hag’s coming! Akamaru can smell her just down the street!” Kiba announced to the semi-intoxicated hokage.

Snapping out of her alcohol-fueled rant, Tsunade snapped her fingers together in the air, calling everyone’s attention.

“Alright guys, you know the drill. Take your places and shut your mouths!” She bellowed. Immediately the room was a flurry of activity, as ninjas took action. Lights were turned off, curtain’s closed, and music turn off. Once done, everyone used their stealthiest poses to hide themselves amongst the furniture. Sakura quickly ran to the door and clicked the lock, and turned off the remaining lighting in the kitchen and entryway.

“Sakura, what the fuck is going on? If Naruto‘s coming, shouldn‘t you not lock the door?” Sasuke asked, completely baffled and slightly irritated by the sudden change.

“Shhh!” Sakura waved at him, trying to quiet him. She motioned for him to kneel down, and she crept up beside him.

“It’s not Naruto. It’s the Elder, Koharu-sama. Tsunade-sama was suppose to be at a dinner banquet tonight with the Fire Country’s nobles, but instead she skipped out to come to here. Koharu-sama is probably looking for Tsunade-sama now.” Sakura whispered to Sasuke.

Sasuke couldn’t help but sigh. Leave it to Tsunade to skip out any sort of work or formal socializing.

So there they all were, hiding out in Sakura’s apartment, just waiting in silence. From a distance, they could hear the steady thumping of footsteps heading in their direction. Sure enough, a few minutes later a loud rapping came from the door, and a sour voice called out.

“Tsunade!? Are you in there!? Tsunade!?” The banging on the door continued for several minutes straight as Koharu repeatedly called out.

On the other side of the room Ino was currently trying to keep an intoxicated Kiba from laughing his ass off, by slapping a hand over his mouth. It really was quite a ridiculous situation. Here they all were, elite ninjas of Konoha, hiding in an apartment from an elder woman, who’s voice could raise the dead and an iron-fist that was about to break through the front door.

Finally, the pounding stopped, and they could all hear Koharu leaving, along with several strings of swears and curses. The all waited another few minutes, until Akamaru gave a “yip” of approval, signaling she had officially left the area. Ino finally let go of Kiba, who immediately took a huge gulp of air, before falling onto the ground, howling in laughter.

“Finally. I thought she was going to beat my door right of its hinges!” Sakura exclaimed, flicking the lights back on.

“Humph! That old bat should just hurry up and keel over! Her and those other living corpses in the council!” Tsunade huffed, already pouring herself another cup of sake.

“Tsunade-sama! You shouldn’t say such thing!” Shizune scolded the Hokage as she attempted to wrestle the sake-mug out of her hands.

The music was quickly turned back on, and the party resumed. Sasuke, not particularly one to join in the crowd, continued to hover by the kitchen. Tapping his foot in irritation, he glanced at the clock on the wall. The dobe was already 10mintes late.

“I’ll give him 5 more minutes, then I’m going out to drag his ass here myself.” Sasuke told himself, watching the front door anxiously.

--

Blood sloshed loudly on the ground, pooling and dripping everywhere. Naruto blinked heavily once, then twice, attempting to clear the blood from his eyes, as it ran down his face. Giving a gurgled cough, the momentum of his chest heaving made his knees give out, and they collided heavily to the blood soaked floor. His arms felt like lead, as they hung limply by his sides. Kouryuu had long since been beyond his reach, as the ivory sword had been flung somewhere away from him. Naruto’s head was bowed, his red-stained hair falling in front of his eyes and sticking to his forehead. His vision was blurring too, and darkness was creeping into the corners of his eyes. But it didn’t matter, because he didn’t need to see. No, he didn’t need to see to know that they were still there.

“Kekekeke, that’s it? That’s all you’ve got to offer? Pathetic.” The venom-filled voice of the silver-haired attacker called tauntingly to Naruto.

Naruto growled in frustration and in pain. Every attack, every technique or tactic he attempted on these bastards all ended in failure. He hadn’t gotten a single scratch on any of them. And they didn’t even attack him offensively, or as a team. No. They’d only cripple Naruto’s futile attempts at an attack, and then break him a little, bit by bit. Not once did he actually see them work together. They were just fucking toying with him.

Closing his eyes momentarily, Naruto traveled into the furthest part of his mind. Where the great gates held the Kyuubi-no-Kitsune. Standing ankle deep in water, Naruto approached the bars of the cage, and called angrily into the cage.

“Oi! You bastard! What are you doing!? Are you going to help me out or not!? If you hadn’t noticed, I’m kind of getting my ass kicked.” Naruto called into the darkness.

“It’s useless. We cannot win this fight.” A low voice grumbled from the back of the cage.

“WHAT!? What the hell!? Why are you wussing out on me now!?” Naruto all but screeched into the cage, grabbing the bars and shaking them angrily.

“There’s no point in fighting anymore. I cannot help you.” The Kyuubi’s voice floated from the darkness, full of defeat and dread.

“No! NO! I refuse to give up! I NEVER give up!” Naruto yelled into the cage.

“Well you should!” Kyuubi growled angrily this time, finally emerging from the darkness. His eyes flashed wide with fear, anger and desperation. “You should give up! We have no hope, kit. Because against these bastards I’m actually you’re weakness, not your strength. We’re finished, because of ME.”

“What…I don’t--” Naruto was cut off however, when suddenly he felt his consciousness being pulled back out from the depths of his mind, and back into reality. Naruto’s eyes fluttered open in surprise.

“He’s right you know. He is the reason why you can never defeat us.” The silver-haired man laughed, standing dangerously close to Naruto.

“Wha--?” Naruto never had the opportunity to voice his question however, as suddenly his whole body tensed in blinding pain. Gasping and clutching his chest, Naruto struggled to say upright as wave after wave of agonizing pain ripped through his body. Tilting his head up, he could barely see through his blurred vision. Attempting to focus, he could just make out the three attackers, standing in a circle around him, murmuring some sort of jutsu. Tendrils of …something…ghost like swirled around them. Then, summoned ghost-creatures lashed out, all plummeting at Naruto at the same time.

Suddenly, the whole world seemed to freeze in place. Naruto’s muscles locked, his breath stilled, and his heart stopped. A second later, the world spun again, and Naruto couldn’t feel his body as it fell to the ground. He couldn’t see, as blood and darkness filled his eyes. He could hear though, a scream so terrible and gut-wrenching. But it wasn’t his scream. It was Kyuubi’s, as it howled and writhed in pain.


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Wow, haha, I think hell just froze over, because I actually updated!

I'll admit, I kind of fell out of the fandom a while back. Don't get my wrong, I still love Naruto, and I've been reading every new chapter (even though I think Kishimoto has gone a little bat-shit with his story telling.)

About 80 of this chapter I wrote at the same time as the previous chapter (which yes...is two years old...).

After school started, I kind of lost interest in writing fanfictions all together. Truthfully, I hadn't written a single fanfiction for two whole years. That was UNTIL I got swept up into this wonderfully series called Katekyo Hitman Reborn. (Which I DEMAND you all read. It's an insanely kick-ass manga. The anime's...meh, but the manga is a masterpiece. ...Yes...I'm that obsessed). Anyway, thanks to KHR, I began writing again. My writer spirit is back again with a vengeance!

So yeah, I want to thank all of you who's reviewed so far, and stuck with me! I was surprised how many reviews I kept getting, even though I hadn't updated in like..forever. (you're all crazily obsessed XD )

Next chapter...will come eventually. Can't say when for sure. So much has changed in the series, I probably have to go back rework some of the details.

Until next time!

REVIEW PLEASE! I LIVE FOR REVIEWS!!