You Can Never Go Home Again

[EDIT 6/9/07]: ZOMG there was a HUGE blaring mistake in this chapter that I'm surprised no one called me out on. Fixed it now :O

A/N: Not really a whole lot to say this time around…welcome to chapter 9, hey, look, it’s only been 2 months instead of half a year!

A lot of people expressed surprise at the hint of NejiSaku in the past chapter. Honestly, that’s fine if you don’t care for the pairing. I’m intrigued by it, that’s all. But don’t worry, it’s not a big thing I’m going to touch on in YCNGHA, it was just a subtle mention, a showing of the passage of time. Things change, people change. In the ‘today’ society of Naruto, I doubt the pairing could ever actually work, with the strictness of the Hyuuga line, but just the thought that the interest was there was a nice step outside of the norm.

Oh, and Anime Detour was so much fun, I got to meet up with Questofdreams several times. She’s so cute! Lol…she was just how I imagined her to look.


DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Naruto or any characters therein associated with him. All are copyright Kishimoto-sensei. Thank you for your brief attention.


ENJOY!


You Can Never Go Home Again

Chapter Nine: I’m Losing You And It’s Effortless

Honor thy dead.


!!!!!!!

Mizuo lit a single lamp in the corner of the room, letting the shadows fill the rest. The team drew into that corner, gathering close, shoulders brushing. Naruto studied them all, eyes dark.

“Things are happening.” Sigume murmured. Konohamaru touched the white bandage covering his eye as the other continued, “It’s not safe here.”

Something is in the walls of the city.

Naruto didn’t need the Kyuubi’s thoughts to realize the situation. He sank down to a crouch, and traced the lines of the wood floor with his eyes, “I think…I think we’ve reached the end of the safe part of the trip.”

“What do you mean, Naruto-niichan?”

“Something tells me…with our burden delivered…we’re open targets now.”

Toshio flipped his long hair over his shoulder, then leaned against the wall, “So what do we do?”

“Draw them away from the village.”

“So we’re not going home?” Konohamaru asked softly, and all eyes turned to Naruto.

Naruto rose again, looking at each of them carefully, “Not yet.”

They are not after these boys, Kit.

I know.

Don’t trust anyone.

I know that, too.

And don’t close your eyes tonight. The moon is whispering blood.

From their dark corner, no one saw the moon vanish behind dark clouds.

!!!!!!!


He debated on ignoring the person behind him. It would be so much easier to play the role of the dumb blonde and pretend his shinobi senses hadn’t kicked in. Especially since the other was now a member of ANBU and could move like the wind itself.


But he knew Sasuke wasn’t stupid.


“It isn’t nice to spy.” He stated after a long silence, “Especially not on old teammates.”


He felt the other’s warmth behind him, just out of arm’s reach, “We should talk.”


“There’s not much to say right now.”


“You had plenty to say to Sakura.”


Was that a hint of jealousy? Naruto’s eyebrow quirked. Inside him, Kyuubi stirred.


“Sakura is different.”


“How so?”


“I can salvage something of myself with her.”


“Wh-“


“Did you know…” He cut him off sharply, “That the Kyuubi is sealed inside me?”


Utter silence.


“And still quite active.” He clasped his arms behind his back, and let his eyes blindly go over the rows of names again, “I can tell quite a lot of things beyond human senses. I can tell there was a fire in the grocery market last week. I can tell you a woman is giving birth to a baby girl ½ a mile from here.” He turned to look at Sasuke, “And I can tell…you gave up on me.”


“No.” It was firm, but soft. Too soft.


“It’s okay, Sasuke.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, “No need to lie. I could smell him on you.”


Sasuke stiffened, eyes going only a fraction wider. Naruto could hear Sasuke’s heartbeat as he took a step closer. And then something else caught his interest. His eyes narrowed sharply.


He wasn’t sure if it was Kyuubi or himself who issued the growl.


“Who have you been in contact with?”


Sasuke frowned, “No one.”


Liar.


“I came straight here from the house.”


I can smell him. His eyes traveled over Sasuke’s body, who have you been visiting, Sasuke? His hands were giving off the scent, Who have you been touching? Have you betrayed us all this time?


He turned on his heel and walked away.


Sasuke called out, tried to say something to him.


But all he heard were the silences in between.


!!!!!!!




They heard movement outside, an hour before sunrise, long after they’d doused the lamps and moved to look asleep. Naruto was the first to open his eyes, and staring across the room, met the glimmer of Mizuo’s. He gave a slight nod, and the boy rose, silent, and crossed to the rice paper door.


There was no other noise for a long period, and Mizuo seemed like he was ready to drop his guard soon. But the moon outside flashed a beam of light between the clouds, and then the room exploded into a silent flurry of movement. They were all on their feet in a matter of seconds, as the door spilled open and closed.


Naruto saw no one, but he could smell them. Something the others couldn’t. The air smelled like rotting fruit, but the scent rolled away from him.


“SIGUME!” The boy dodged, just as an invisible limb slammed into the wall he’d been close to. Wood cracked, the floor squeaked. Naruto ducked and swung his foot out, and felt the passing breeze as it barely missed fabric. His foot hit the ground and he rolled instantly, as kunai appeared where his other foot had been. He lunged, felt his fingers grasp fabric, and twisted. He pulled the weight over his shoulder, slamming the invisible being onto the floor in front of him.


And then they weren’t invisible anymore.


It was a man, clearly older than the group, despite being hidden in cloth much too similar to their first attacker to be comfortable. The man lay stunned for a brief moment, before he swung his legs out and tossed himself back to his feet.


“So you broke it.”


“No.” Naruto replied, “You did.”


“Smart.” The man ducked as a foot flew towards his head, then twisted out of reach and back towards the door, “But not smart enough.” His fingers flew into hand seals. Ones Naruto didn’t know.


It was a human act, to watch the fingers form seals. Naruto should have known better than to be human.


And then the man smiled, “Nurikomeru*!”


Naruto was getting really tired of falling into darkness.


!!!!!!!


He didn’t know where he was going, just knowing that he had to get away from Sasuke. In the end, he went to the one place he knew Sasuke wouldn’t go.


Sakura opened her front door, her face showing only minor surprise at seeing him again so soon, “Did you decide to take me up on the offer?”


He smiled at her, “I’m sorry. Guess I’m still as stupid as I was. Do you mind if I stay here tonight?”


Her face softened and she leaned against the edge of her door, “Of course not. I didn’t think we were done with our talking anyway.”


“Far from it.” He nodded, then stepped in cautiously when she gestured for him to enter.


Sakura lived in a small apartment, the front door opened to a small living room with the kitchen split off from it only by a marble-topped counter. The bright red walls were offset by golden-framed paintings of summery scenes and a dark wood entertainment stand, filled with books and a radio with rather large speakers. The couch and over-stuffed chair in the center of the room were a dark leather, and at the moment looked rather too appeasing to him. Off along the opposite wall was a hallway, which he assumed led to the bathroom and her bedroom.


He slipped his shoes off, then followed her as she went to the kitchen, “I was just making tea.” She pulled a large black and red kettle from the heat, and poured the steaming water into a teapot, “Take a seat, Naruto, I’ll bring it in.”


“So homely, Sakura-chan.” He smiled and did as she asked, still looking around, “I like it.”


She brought the tea over on a tray, serving them both a steaming cup, before sitting in the chair, smiling easily at him, “I’m glad you’re home, Naruto.”


“Yeah.” A hesitant second, “Me too.”


“We all are. It’s better to know you’re safe. You never contacted us.”


“There wasn’t time.”


“There was an entire year of time.”


He looked up at her with his ice-cool eyes. Sitting in a chair that seemed too big for her petit frame, her green eyes looked wild to him. But he couldn’t read them. He felt the space, then. The vast valley they’d have to cross to meet again.


She was made of iron, he was made of dust. She could make it to the middle in one piece. He would have to put his faith in the invisible and hope there was enough of him left to be recognizable when they could meet again.


The moment was fragile, so he said simply, “It would jeopardize everything.”
She didn’t ask what he meant. Instead, she threw him off balance, “What did Sasuke want?”


He hadn’t thought she’d known he was there. He couldn’t meet her eyes, “To open old scars.” To fill our wounds with salt.


“He wants his best friend back.” She said softly, lowering her eyes to her cup, “Everyone knows, you’re the only one to take his walls down.”


“Am I?” He couldn’t stop himself from rising to his feet, “I don’t know. It seems like he’s made some friends while I was away?”


“If he did,” she watched him circle the couch and start pacing, “It’s because you broke him out of that lonely corner he’d tucked himself into.”


He turned to look at her, “Who was he? I saw his picture.”


“Naruto.”


“At least give me a name.”


“This is something you should be asking him.” She sipped her tea then set it back on the tray, “It’s not my place to tell you.”


“I can’t ask him.” He circled back to his seat and lowered himself into the soft fabric, “I can’t talk to him. He doesn’t want to hear what I say.”


“Maybe because everything you say to him is in anger.” She reached out, a soft, pale hand on his, a sharp contrast of femininity against his tan, hard hand, “He’s only human, Naruto.”


His eyes met hers and he realized she knew. She knew about them. About what they had been. A cold feeling washed through him and sank into his stomach like a stone. She knew, and for some reason that made him angry. So, they hadn’t been a secret. Or they had and Sasuke had let it go. Naruto felt that valley widen.


“Talk to him. Talk to me. I’ve missed you, Naruto. And…it feels like you’re still not here.”


“You don’t care?” She blinked, looked confused, “About him. And me. You’re so calm.”


“I came to terms. It’s been a long time since I found out.”


“Found out?”


“Figured it out.” She withdrew her hand and clasped it in her lap with her other one, “When he started hanging out with Tsugi.”


Tsugi. A confirmation. The name he'd burned into his memory. It sounded less threatening rolling off her tongue. But the sharp pain was still there when he focused on it. Tsugi


“How would that give anything away?”


Sakura smiled, albeit a little sadly, “Because he looked like you. Acted a lot like you. And Sasuke tolerated his touches. Like he’d been used to them all along.” Her eyes rose to him again, “And he had been. Because he was still seeing you.”


He didn’t have much to say to her after that. They talked quietly about mundane things, she caught him up on friends’ lives, he told her jokes he’d learned. In the well lit room, he pushed his shadows to the corners until she went to the closet and got him a blanket and pillows.


When she said good night as she flipped off the lights, she meant it.


Because he was still seeing you. He turned those words around, held them up in the obscure shadows, and tried to understand what she meant. Sasuke wasn’t brainless, he’d known what he was doing with the other blonde.


In the darkness, the walls were oozing blood. And he was sure he could smell the rotting bodies that haunted his nightmares. He buried his head in the pillow, and wished Sakura’s light scent would mask the sharpness of the scent of his memories.


!!!!!!!


There were gentle fingers in his hair, “Naruto. It’s time to get up.” That warm voice, a tone he’d never heard before.


His eyes opened slowly, and took a moment to adjust to the brightly-lit room. Sasuke leaned back on the bed, shirtless. Naruto frowned, sitting up, “Where am I? What happened?”


“What are you talking about? You’re in my room. You and Kiba had a drinking bet last night. You both lost.”


He looked around, hand on his forehead, “Last night? But what about the mission?”


Sasuke frowned, “Mission? Are you feeling okay? We’ve been on leave for the past week.” Sasuke reached out, pushing Naruto’s fingers off his forehead and replaced them with his own. They were cold, and familiar and quite welcome. They slid into his hair.


Soft lips met his. For a second, he relaxed. But this wasn’t Sasuke. The personality was all wrong. He pushed himself backwards, pushed till his back hit the headboard.


“Naruto?”


“What the hell is going on? Who are you?”


“What are you talking about?”


Naruto rose, standing on the mattress, “You’re not Sasuke. You haven’t insulted me once.”


The face was blank, watching with those black, black eyes, “That’s not funny, Naruto.”


“Stop this, whoever you are. Get the fuck out of my head.”


“You’re not making any sense, Naruto.” Hands reached out and tugged at his wrist, “Come on, lay back down…that alcohol must have done something screwy with your head.”


He pulled out of the grip, “Stop touching me.” He backed over to the other side of the bed and jumped down, “You’re not him. What’s going on?”


Sasuke rose, head tilted to the side, “I think you need a head examination, Naruto. Let’s go see the Hokage, if this has you so freaked. Maybe she can talk some sense into you.”


“Yes. Let’s go see Tsunade-baba.” He couldn’t turn his back to this not-Sasuke, not even as he climbed onto the windowsill. The not-Sasuke didn’t move, simply watched him.


So he turned, and fled.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ch. 9 Fin.

*Nurikomeru = To Seal

Next Chapter: Illusions.