Into the Woods

They were all a bit sad to see the visitors go, but truth was they were all a bit tired. Hinata went and fell back in bed, leaving the food her companions had brought her largely untouched and sitting on the table. She was asleep again in no time. Sakura had gone back to joke with Naruto some more, before they both started yawning and decided to turn in. Naruto watched her through the window as she went across the hall again, leaving him alone in his prison. He felt guilty. He really wanted to talk to her some more, to tell her about what had happened and see if she had any advice/comfort for his troubled mind. But the topic was awkward enough, let alone having to discuss it through a speaker box. He sighed as he went and threw himself onto the bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to make heads or tails of everything. It wasn’t long before he drifted off to sleep.

He woke up with a jump, looking around and trying to figure out where he was. It was dark, and there was a loud rhythmic rushing sound coming from down the corridor along with the constant dripping of water. It was hot in here, and the air tasted of smoke and sulfur. It was oddly familiar, but he couldn’t quite figure out where he was. He heard a low rumble, surprised to see an orange glowcoming from that direction. He got up and made his way down, blinking as he stepped into the light. It was a large room, so large that it didn’t seem to have a ceiling, the walls reaching up and up till they disappeared into the shadows. It was empty aside from the massive barred gate that took up the entire other side. He recognized the gate, seeing the paper seals placed all around it, being held firmly shut by a giant chain. Taking a deep breath, he called out into the darkness.

“What do you want with me now, Kyubi?”

Red eyes blinked open behind the gate, gazing down upon the young man. A large grin soon followed.

“What do I want?” it chuckled to him. “I’m afraid it’s the other way around. You called to me first, remember?” Naruto thought back, suddenly remembering that he had indeed asked the demon a question while back in the woods. He chuckled and took a seat in the middle of the floor.

“I suppose I did. Took you long enough to decide to answer.”

“I tried, but you seemed a bit...distracted”the eyes responded, winking down at him with a playful growl. “I must say that I approve. It’s about time you chose a mate. You humans take so long. And she is quite...appealing.” Naruto narrowed his eyes at that comment, not sure if he liked the beast thinking about Hinata like that.

“You leave her alone, she’s not some plaything for your amusement.” The darkness smirked back at him.

“You said so yourself, there are three of us involved in this. Besides, I like her. I like her a lot better then that other piece of tail you’ve been chasing for so long. So quiet and submissive...like a good little female should be...talented too...but she’s still green around the ears. I could teach her a few tricks...if you’d let me.” The blonde couldn’t take it anymore, and stood to leave. “Naruto” it called to him. He froze. Kyubi had never used his name before. He turned back, surprised to see the menacing smile gone and a seriousness to the eyes. “She is our mate now, we need to protect her. Your fears are not unfounded.” He blinked at this and took a step closer to them.

“So what do you propose, demon?”

“You say that as if it’s an insult.” came the reply, the eyes narrowing at him. “Not all demons are evil. I have saved your life on a few occasions. I give you my power, and yet you’re afraid to use it.” He seethed at that remark

“You haven’t answered my question” The smile returned.

“You should come visit me more often. You rant and rave you need to get stronger, that you have no one to train with...you’d be surprised what I could teach you, if you weren’t so afraid of yourself.” Blue eyes glowered at that.

“Afraid? You think I’m afraid? Ha!” The darkness gazed down at him again.

“Prove it boy...you’ll never be able to face the demons of the world if you can’t face the demon in yourself.” They turned away from him, blinking out again. Naruto stared into the darkness, knowing Kyubi was right and hating him for it. He turned to leave, suddenly feeling unbearably hot. He took three steps when suddenly the floor seemed to give way beneath him, causing him to tumble down, down, down...

~*~


Sakura awoke with a start, glancing quickly at the clock on the wall. 0300, time for rounds. She laughed to herself. ‘2 patients...this shouldn’t take long’ She had fallen asleep at her desk again, and gave herself time to stretch out the kink in her neck. She had gotten dressed for bed with full intentions of getting some well needed sleep, but decided to do some reading first. She pulled the strap to her camisole back up to where it had slipped off her shoulder.

‘I’ll do a quick check then climb into bed’ she told herself. Reaching down, she flipped the pages shut on the medical text she’d been sleeping on, and startled at the loud thump she heard. It took her a second to realize that didn’t come from her book, but from one of the rooms. She checked the monitors quickly. The lump in Hinata’s bed hadn’t moved since she last looked in on her, but she blanched as she looked at Narutos.

“What the...?” she said, getting to her feet. His room appeared empty. She got up and ran across the hallway to check, grabbing a respirator and the keys incase she needed to go in.

The darkness erupted in a flash of pain and stars. Naruto groaned, pushing up against the wall that appeared out of nowhere. Trying to figure out which way was up. As he head cleared he soon realized it was no wall, but the floor, as he had apparently fallen out of bed. The sheets were tied around his legs and his pajamas clung to his damp skin.

‘God it’s hot in here’ he thought, desperately clawing his shirt off of him. He was soaked through with sweat, and he shivered as he managed to get the fabric over his now throbbing head. Suddenly a familiar voice called out from the dark corner, startling him.

“Naruto? Are you alright in there? I thought I heard something, I’ll come in if you need help.” As he remembered where he was, he pulled himself off the floor.

“It’s ok Sakura-chan...I just fell out of bed is all.” He covered his eyes as he turned on the light and sat blinking for a moment, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He could see her worried face pressed up against the glass as he made his way over to it.

Her eyes watched him get up from the mess on the floor. He was breathing hard, his normal ruddy complexion looked quiet pale, and he was sweating profusely judging from the way his hair was sticking to his face. The skin on his chest and shoulders glistened, and his pants clung damply to his legs. She couldn’t help but stare a moment, wondering when he’d developed such a nice body before she could shake that thought from her head.

“Are you sure? You’re a mess...you feeling ok?” He nodded back at her, hand still to his head.

“Yeah...I had a weird dream, fell out of bed and hit the floor pretty good. I’m fine really.” He was startled at how much concern showed in her green eyes, and how pretty she looked with the light from his room illuminating her face just so. “What time is it? I didn’t wake you up, did I?” She smiled softly.

“It’s a little after 3. I was up anyways taking care of some stuff when I heard you fall. You know me...always busy.” Naruto smiled back at her.

“Yeah, I know. I keep yelling at you to relax more often. You push yourself to hard. You need to take better care of yourself and get some sleep.”

They sat in silence for a moment, each just happy to see the other again until Naruto interrupted it with a large yawn. When he looked back at her, he realized her strap had slid down again. As his eyes took in the bared shoulder and followed it, he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her cleavage was plainly visible at the top of the cami, and she must have been a bit chilly. He could make out two small points where her nipples were peeking out of the material. His groin warmed, waking up on it’s own as he took in this site. He’d never seen her in so little clothing, that tiny cami and the little sleep shorts that showed off her long legs... gosh she has long legs he realized.

She watched him for a moment, wondering what had his attention so fully until she realized exactly what he was doing. She pulled the strap back up, breaking his trance and causing them to both blush. He was grateful he had the shirt still in his hand and moved it in front of his crotch, hoping she hadn’t noticed the tent that was starting to pitch itself in the fabric there. She looked away from him, taking a step back from the window.

“Well...if you’re sure you alright...I’m just going to go crawl into bed...”

“Yeah...and I think I’m gonna go rinse off in the shower...” he piped in, pointing towards the bathroom.

“Goodnight” they said in unison before hurrying off.

~*~


Sakura practically ran back across the hall, shutting the door behind her quickly. She leaned back against it and slid down to the floor.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she said to herself. “You shoulda completely flipped out on him for that! Checking you out like that...with Hinata sleeping in the next room! OH! He’s such a pig that Naruto!” She sighed, thinking back to that intense gaze...his bare chest, and yes that slight rise in his groin as he looked at her. Why was she enjoying this so much? She should be angry and repulsed, and instead she was liking the way he looked at her. “And then you tell him you’re crawling into bed? Geeze, why didn’t you just unlock the door and invite him to join you while you were at it!” She laughed to herself at that one.

‘What’s wrong with you Sakura. He’s with Hinata now. You should be happy for them.’ After all these years of him hitting on her and begging her to go out with him, she never thought twice about turning him down...sometimes being rather cruel about it. But now...she winced in surprise as a pang of jealously twitched in her chest. He was such a nice guy, fairly handsome too, and all she ever did to him was yell and insult him. Now he’d given up on her and found someone else, and now she found herself wishing for that attention again.

She thought about her own obsession with Sauske, about that night so long ago when she had thrown herself at him one last time, begging him to either stay in the village or take her with him, as long as they could be together. And his only response was to thank her, then knock her unconscious to leave her behind. And she still pined for him.

'You’re pathetic, Sakura.’ she said to herself, remembering back on all the times Naruto had been there for her. He’d always been so kind to her, always looking out for her, and now he was gone too. The two guys she was sure would never leave her side had both left her behind. She buried her face in her knees and cried.

~*~

Naruto hurried into his bathroom and shut the door behind him. “What the hell just happened?” he asked himself. Sakura just caught him ogling her...and she didn’t freak out on him? He rubbed his head, wondering if he was still asleep or that really just happened. A sudden throb from his crotch confirmed it was very real. He shook his head trying to figure out what the hell was going on these days. First Hinata...now Sakura?

“Hinata...” he said sadly. He had no idea what was going on with her in the next room. She could be falling apart over there by herself, and he’s sitting around talking to demons and checking out Sakura’s rack. Feeling like scum, he cranked up the cold water and hosed himself off before crawling back into bed and falling into a fitful sleep, his hand resting on the empty space next to him where she used to be.