Chapter Eight

Sasuke and Naruto stood under the shade of the tree near the bridge, waiting for Kakashi-sensei to arrive. He was going to be very late, as was common and expected, but Naruto didn't mind waiting. The villagers that passed over the bridge did not often look at people who were not in motion, and since he truly did not want to be noticed, he was content to be as still as possible until he was forced otherwise.

He smoothed the hood down over his eyes, and was surprised to feel the vitality running through his veins; ever since Kakashi-sensei had shown him the Kage Bunshin, he'd had more energy to spare than he was used to. The bunshin would help him clean the house every morning, and the work was done twice as fast without him worrying that the job wasn't being done right. After all, a part of him was doing the work.

This resulted in Sasuke being in a better mood, which meant he was less likely to hiss threats at him, which he had been doing very often of late. It had left him unsure- would he really kill him, or were they empty words?

As he pondered this, his eyes drifted to the left, and jumped when he saw Kaori next to him. He hadn't heard her! He sidled a few steps away from her- she was too close, and then he got a good look at her face. It was swollen, mottled with purple and blue bruises, and one eye was so bad that it was nothing but a mass of swollen, damaged tissue. There was blood caked along the side of her face and running down a swollen neck. Her right eye seemed like it was the only one functioning, at it stared at him, empty and sad.

Naruto swallowed and wrung his fingers in distress just as Kakashi-sensei popped up, his eyes running over them. "Still no Kaori huh," and Sasuke shook his head in reply. "Very well. We can't continue missions without her, so let's go over to her place and see what's keeping her."

They moved toward the inner village, and Naruto hesitated, looking nervously as Kaori, whose swollen lips moved up in a slight smile. He rubbed his head, and quickly followed after the others, keeping his head low and darting wary glances at the villagers. Had that one looked too closely at him? Was there rage in that one's eyes? They stirred, and he felt Them looking through his eyes, and they watered with the strain of Their presence. Kakashi-sensei stopped them in front of a cottage that was trapped between a food mart and a private business, and to Naruto it looked out of place as Kakashi-sensei rapped on the wooden door.

It was answered by an older woman with graying brown hair and swollen eyes from constant crying.

"Y-Yes," she choked out, and Naruto saw Sasuke's shoulders tense at her despairing tone. He glanced at Kaori, whose one good eye was shedding tears as she stared up at the woman.

"I'm Kaori's sensei, and she hasn't shown up for missions," Kakashi-sensei addressed in a very careful tone as the woman broke down and buried her face in a shaking hand.

"We can't find her," the woman sobbed. "She hasn't been home for three days!"

"When was the last time you had seen her?" he asked, voice more brisk. Sasuke's head was already swiveling about, but he gazed through her, not seeing that she was standing next to Naruto.

"She went to do missions, like she had been doing the last two months."

"Did you alert the authorities?"

The woman wiped her face with shaking hand and looked up at him. "No, we didn't want to over-react. Kaori had a habit of going off on her own, but not for this long! I-I fear-"

"Sasuke. Naruto." Kakashi-sensei cut in, and both boys looked up at him. "Sweep the village. Ask anyone you know if they have seen her. In the meantime, I'm going to the Tower to report her disappearance."

Sasuke nodded and grabbed Naruto's arm, pulling them away from the cottage and into the street. "Alright, I go east, you go west. Search every place between here and the walls. Meet me at the bridge at sundown- with or without Kaori." Sasuke was about to rush off, but he paused and looked back at him. "And no one's going to kill you. They try, and you get rid of them. Understood?"

Naruto nodded and smoothed down his hood, watching in fear as Sasuke rushed away. He turned, glancing at the villagers, before moving eastward. Kaori followed along with a limp, eye focused on him.

At sundown he returned to a frustrated Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei, both who seemed more concerned the longer her absence. Already several other ninja had been alerted, and Kakashi had already summoned a dog to sniff her out. But her scent had long faded, and it was too hard to pinpoint where she had gone.

They returned to the compound with Sasuke in a dark mood, and Naruto feeling strangely confused. Why was Kaori following him? Did she not know she was dead? He noticed that once they passed through the gates of the compound, she stopped, watching them go in longingly, but not following.

---

The next day, Sasuke was startled to see the members of Team Eight and Ten hanging out at the bridge.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!" Ino called gleefully, and he moved to walk closer to Naruto. He glared at the girl when she approached, and her eyes fell on Naruto, who was staring at her, face pinched. She scowled and moved away as Kiba and Shikamaru approached.

"We got a mission to find your missing teammate," Kiba informed them, brown eyes full of excitement warring with sympathy. "This sucks balls though. What do you think happened to her?"

Sasuke felt rage pass through him. "If I knew that Inuzuka, we wouldn't need your help searching for her," he snapped, and ignored Akamaru's growling, though upon ignoring it noticed that Akamaru wasn't growling at him, but at Naruto, who at first was looking at something, then turned his eyes toward the dog. The puppy's ears fell back against its small skull and it gave a small whimper before flopping itself on Inuzuka's head. The dog boy frowned and sent Naruto a curious look, but the blond was instead looking at the others before staring at the ground- then alternately throwing odd looks at the area next to him. Sometimes he knew he would never understand what fully went on in Naruto's brain. All that night he had tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep because he was seeing his dead family all about him, with two new added faces, Kaori and Naruto, but Naruto remained on his pillow most of the night, reading or whispering to himself, which was so much the norm that it bothered him that Naruto wasn't upset about Kaori's disappearance.

They split up, digging through sections of the village in search of Yoshina Kaori, and with every empty lead, Sasuke felt dread course through him. He'd gotten along with Kaori- she wasn't a fawning girl only concerned about looks or her future marital status, and she hadn't talked their ears off. She was a decent sparring partner, and he had thought, that they had been lucky to get her, and not Sakura or Ino. She'd actually been...cool...

And now they couldn't find her.

---

Naruto stood at the bridge, hood all the way down, and kept darting glances at Kaori, who remained near him, staring at him- waiting, it was obvious that she was waiting for him to do something. Or more like ask something. He had returned to the bridge soon after everyone had departed to search for Kaori.

He looked at her again. "Um...what happened?" he asked, and cringed when a passing villager looked down at him in puzzlement. He kept his head low until the man had moved on, then looked up at Kaori. The girl opened her mouth, and he could see several teeth missing.

"Dad got mad," she gurgled sadly, blood and rusted puffs spilled from her mouth. "It was nothing new- but I cut him this time...and he..." She shrugged and continued to stare at him. "That you, Naruto?" she asked suddenly. "I barely recognize you...look so different." her voice faded.

Their laughter echoed through his head like a ringing bell, and his eyes fluttered in response, making him waver on his feet. Colors distorted, like water running through a pastel painting, and he coasted along with the sensation, forcing himself not to fight or struggle. He just let it run through him, the mesh of color and the strange sense of euphoria, like he was flo-

"Hey," a voice crashed through him like a ball through glass, and Naruto's head snapped forward to see one of the boys from Team Ten, Shikamaru, gripping his arm, dark eyes full of concern. He blinked rapidly and tried to pull his arm away, but the villager had a good grip on him. "You okay?" he asked, and he quickly nodded in a hopes that the boy would release him. "I don't think so," Shikamaru's voice was laced with doubt. "You're eyes were rolled up into your head."

Naruto quickly looked away, instead noticing that Kaori was staring across the river, her eye focused on one spot. She turned her head slowly and looked at him, then back at the spot, a far bank full of moss and high weeds. He pulled his arm from the villager's loosening grip and moved over to the railing, squinting to see what was there.

"What is it?" Shikamaru asked, and joined him at the railing, trying to look where he was. "Do you see something?"

Naruto nodded, even though he didn't, and moved down the bridge until it was no longer over the river, but over the bank, and dropped down over the side, landing on wet earth and weeds. Shikamaru followed after him, and together they trekked carefully along the bank, startling frog and mosquitoes as they passed, until the stench of death assaulted them, along with a host of flies, and they stopped before Kaori's body.

"Shiiit," breathed Shikamaru, a hand flying over his nose as he stared down in disbelief at Team Seven's third member. Her whole body was bloated gray with water, face almost unrecognizable. She wore the clothing he remembered from four days ago, though most of it was torn in random places. It seemed she had floated along in the river and had gotten tangled in some of the thicker roots that stretched out from the bank and often caught things.

Shikamaru looked at the body, then at Naruto, who was standing even closer to her, seeming unaware of the smell or the cloud of flies buzzing around them and on the body. His face was empty, not the 'this is too shocking for proper emotion', but a more like, 'I'm only mildly disturbed' empty. He watched as the blond lifted his hooded head and looked to his right, then back down at the body.

"I'll go find one of our sensei's," Shikamaru offered, the the blond nodded, not looking away from the body. He was grateful to go, if only to get away from the smell and Uzumaki's apathy.

As the villager left, he turned to Kaori, who stared miserably at her body. "Just when you think you'll live forever," she muttered.

"Nothing lasts forever," Naruto rasped, and They roared Their amusement through him. They understood, They agreed, and They rejoiced in this knowledge, while he sank into the knowledge that this too, would be him one day- dead and forgotten, by someone's hand.

They started to arrive within fifteen minutes of Shikamaru's departure, Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke, all of Team Eight, and eventually, the rest of Team Ten. They looked on in grim silence as the medic nins came to examine her body before lifting her into a black bag and carrying her away.

"Who could have done this?" the red-eyed woman asked angrily, an arm resting on her own genin, as if to comfort herself that at least her genin were still alive and well. Kaori turned and looked at him, and Naruto cringed and sighed.

"Her father," he rasped, and every eye turned on him. He flinched and continued, "She told me that he didn't like her." He didn't miss the suspicious look on Sasuke's pale face, but mostly he saw the rage in his sensei's eye, and the slight tremors running through his body.

"Really," Kakashi-sensei's voice was like frozen steel, and all the gennin looked up at him with wide eyes. Kakashi-sensei turned on his heels and began to march up the bank, and they followed him all the way to the Yoshina cottage and watched as he banged on the door.

The woman opened the door, looking even worse than yesterday, and gasped in alarm at all the people standing in her small yard.

"Where is your husband?" Kakashi-sensei snapped, and the woman's red blotchy face paled.

"I-I don't know! He's been out searching for K-K-"

A wave of killing intent blew over them and the woman choked. "I tried to stop him!" she shrieked "He didn't mean to- h-he was drunk!"

A chuunin who had been posted at the house frowned and looked at Kakashi-sensei. "I'm guessing you found her," and at his stiff nod, and chuunin sighed and stepped forward, taking hold of her arm. "Alright lady, let's go. We need to have a long talk. One you're not going to enjoy, I imagine." He pulled her from the doorway, and they all moved aside as he passed through. "And don't you worry, we're going to find Mr. Yoshina, and have an even longer talk with him." The woman blubbered incoherently until she was out of sight.

Naruto turned his head, spying Kaori standing there, watching her mother go. Then she turned and looked at him, undamaged eye leaking tears, lifted a hand and gave him a weak wave. Then she turned, walked away from them, and he watched as she slowly became transparent, and faded away.

----------

That night Sasuke was once again plagued by nightmares, this time instead of Kaori and Naruto dead along with his family, it was just Naruto, sitting in his own blood, staring it him with luminous blue eyes, blame and betrayal swimming amongst the tears. He woke with a start, sitting up and blinking rapidly, spotting Naruto in his corner; the blond was reading something so intently, that he didn't stir when Sasuke sat up. There was a small night-light in the socket, and Naruto had the book angled toward it.

"What are you reading?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his eyes, and Naruto lifted his gaze and blinked at him. Strange- with the gloom and the soft light, it almost seemed as if his eyes were glowing. Naruto lowered the book and slid it along the floor, until it was close enough for Sasuke to see.

The Amateurs Guide to Horticulture: And Wowing your Neighbors

Sasukestared at the book, then looked at the blond flatly. "You're reading about plants, two in the morning?"

Naruto dragged the book back to him and continued to read. Sasuke threw his legs off the side of the bed and narrowed his eyes. "Tell me Naruto, are you at least minutely upset that our team mate is dead?"

"Everyone dies," Naruto whispered in reply, and Sasuke glared angrily at his dismissive words.

"You don't need to tell me that. I know. I just don't get why you don't seem to care."

Naruto's eyes drifted up from the book and looked at him, and for once, there wasn't any fear or anxiety in them. "No one's going to care when I die."

Sasuke folded his arms and stared at the blond until the boys eyes drifted back to the stupid book about plants. He was wrong- he was so very wrong. He would care, he would care very much, but it would be a cold day in hell if he ever admitted such a thing. Instead he lay back in bed and turned his back to Naruto, tossing his covers over his body.

"Well now we're one member short," he stated after some time, and the rustle of a turned page was the only response he received. Sasuke sighed and shut his eyes, but it was a while before he fell into an uneasy sleep, plagued with the dead.

He completely missed Naruto's rocking, cradling his head and whispering to himself- the book forgotten.

----------

Kakashi wandered through the cottage, sharp eye taking in the pictures on the walls, the little knick-knacks lining the tables. All night he had been at Obito's grave, wallowing in his failure, his inability to watch over someone precious to him. That his genin would be murdered by her own father, his mouth filled with bile as he slipped into her room, and made a complete stop in the doorway, eye going wide as he took in the bedroom. From wall to ceiling were pictures, some blown up, some regular size, and as he took a careful step in, he stared incredulously at the object of Kaori's obvious obsession. There were hundreds of candid photos of Naruto, him seeming completely unaware that they had been taken.

There were pictures of him bending down to pull weeds- he remembered that mission- pictures of him staring at the ground, looking over at something, a picture of him and Sasuke sparring. All pictures of Naruto, in the same grey sweater, looking pale, weak, and drawn; he looked very ill in most of the shots, and he realized by the background, that these had been taken during Naruto's Academy days. He turned in a complete circle, eyes taking it in, and noticed on a dresser a hooded doll with blond hair peeking out. He picked up the doll and noticed that there were three lines drawn on each cheek, and that the wisps of blond hair seemed too long, and as he touched it realized that the strands were real.

His eyes fell on a book labeled 'diary'...no secrecy there, apparently, and he picked it up and opened a random page halfway through the book.

I walked past Naruto today during lunch and I noticed that he smelled really good- like fresh laundry good. I'm not used to boys smelling so good.

He flipped through another page.

Naruto doesn't like Sakura or Ino, which is cool, because I hate both of them. It's so fitting that we would both hate the same things.

He flipped closer to the ending.

I was leaving the girls bathroom today and I saw Sasuke dragging Naruto from the bathroom. Naruto was bloody and screaming that someone couldn't make him. Nara Shikamaru was there too. I wonder what they were trying to make him do. I wanted to go to his rescue and get him away from Uchiha, but I was too scared. I went into the bathroom and saw chunks of Naruto's hair on the ground.

He glanced in alarm at the blond Naruto doll and flipped to the second to the last page.

I hurt all over, but even with that, today was a good day. I still can't believe I'm on the same team as Naruto! And we met our new sensei today, and he was really cool. I thought he would give Naruto a hard time like that bastard Mizuki, but he wasn't mean to him at all! I hurt, but today was great!

On the last page, the words were scribbled and smeared.

Naruto doesn't like me. Daddy doesn't like me. No one likes me.

Kakashi quickly shut the diary and placed it back on the desk, taking a deep breath and staring at the pictures on the walls and ceiling. Just as he moved, his foot touched something, and he looked down to see a plastic wrapped package with a small card taped to it. He bent down and picked it up, pushing open the card.

Happy tenth birthday Naruto

Love,

Kaori.

Kakashi sighed and placed the present under his arm, quickly leaving the room and exiting the cottage. He was about to be late for her funeral, so he hopped onto the rooftops and headed for the funeral home.

When he arrived, it was to see that Team Eight and Ten had arrived, and surprisingly Gai's Team, and Umino Iruka, all decked in black. He stood next to Sasuke and Naruto, both were very pale, and it seemed that Sasuke had dressed Naruto in his clothes, perhaps because Naruto didn't own any black. The service started, a coffin with Kaori's picture sitting on top, and it was cruelly, a very sunny day with a perfectly cool breeze.

Out of the corner of his eye he surveyed Sasuke, taking in the shadows around his eyes, and the fine line in which his lips were pressed, suppressing the rage that swirled in his black eyes. His hands gripped the white lilies so hard that the stems had already bent. He gaze moved on to Naruto, who was not in a hood for once, and it was apparent that this upset the blond very much, judging by the way his eyes darted around under his uneven bangs, and the unhappy droop of his lips. Once again Kakashi noticed his hair, and saw that it was actually approaching the middle of his back. But what had his attention was the fact that his hair was in different layers, and not the professional kind, but the...pulling chunks of his hair out...kind.

Just then, and he wasn't sure what made him notice, but his eye fell on the pair of lilies Naruto held in one hand, and watched in silent shock as the bouncy white petals began to droop and crinkle, turning a rotting brown until they hung withered in his thin hand. Kakashi looked incredulously at Naruto's face, and at first the boy didn't seem to notice that the lilies had died in his hands, but then he glanced down at his flowers, taking in that they were in fact dead, then his gaze drifted away, as if flowers dying in his hands were a common occurrence.

Kakashi was speechless. When the speech was over, they placed their flowers on her coffin, and he saw Sasuke frown at Naruto's dead flowers- good, he wasn't the only one seeing things.

As they left, Kakashi stopped both boys. "Naruto, Kaori meant to give this to you," and he handed the package over to the boy. Naruto flipped the letter to read the inside, blinking at the words, before placing the package under his arm and smoothing down his bangs.

"What happens now?" Sasuke asked, pulling his eyes away from the package and looking up at him.

"We can't take missions with just two members, so we'll have to wait for the Hokage to send us a replacement. Take the next few days off, and I'll notify you when we have a new member."

Sasuke nodded, and both he and Naruto ambled away. Kakashi turned back to the service, and watched as the gravediggers began to gather their shovels.

----------

Naruto sat down in the grass, wiping his sweating brow with a small napkin from his pocket, and glanced at Nabeshin, who was sitting beside him, staring up into the night sky, dark eyes full of secret thoughts.

"Um...Nabeshin?" he whispered, and the Uchiha turned his gaze onto him. "Where...where do you go when you die?"

The Uchiha frowned and looked down at his hands. "Can't say, being that I never left." He gave a wan smile and looked down at him. "Truth be told, I- we thought Sasuke-chan had brought you to take us." Naruto lifted his head and blinked at Nabeshin, who flinched and averted his gaze. "Your eyes...they are like two beacons of red light. We thought you were Death, finally come for our souls. But..." he shrugged and stared back up at the sky. "We haven't gone anywhere. It's like we're trapped."

Naruto picked at the grass. "Do you think it's quiet?"

Nabeshin shook his head and shrugged again. "Like I said, I dunno. It hasn't been very quiet so far." A glare came over his face. "They bitch and moan all day! Useless- all of them!" He thumped his katana in the grass in agitation.

"Naruto," someone called, and Naruto turned to see Sasuke wandering around the houses in his pajamas, head twisting around, searching for him. "Naruto!" the Uchiha called, and there was a sense of desperation about this call- he knew that the Uchiha hadn't been sleeping well these last few days. Naruto got to his feet and walked from the training field, katana swinging at his side. Sasuke caught sight of him and rushed past a decapitated Uchiha, whom he had been standing next to.

"Where have you been?" Sasuke demanded as he approached. "I've been looking all over for you," he paused as his eyes fell on his katana. "Were you training?" Naruto nodded. "Well why didn't you wake me? We could be training together." and he turned back to retrieve his katana.

----------

Haruno Sakura leaned back in her seat and closed the review booklet, which she had been going through the last two months ever since she had been sent back to the Academy. She had insisted it wasn't her fault, that the boys had made her fail, and she even overheard the jounin sensei who had tested them say that she had potential, but she had been sent back anyway.

She'd been resigned to reviewing everything over again and taking the test- and hopefully get a better Team this time. She had been hiding from Ino and any of the others she used to associate with, because she knew she wouldn't be able to bear the teasing she would get if they found out she wasn't a genin.

The door slid open and Iruka-sensei entered, face solemn, and he gestured for her to meet him at his desk. Standing up, she picked up her finished booklet and rushed over to him.

"Have a seat," he gestured to the one across from him and she sat down, suddenly feeling nervous. Why was he so serious? "Well, I have good news for you, I guess," and he looked uncomfortable with his words. "A spot on a Team has opened up, and the Hokage has given the okay for you to take that place."

Sakura bounced in her seat, eyes shining with excitement and relief. "Finally! Who am I paired with?"

Again Iruka-sensei looked uncomfortable. "Uchi-"

Sakura squealed and hopped up and down. The gods were surely smiling down upon her! Not only was she getting on a Team, but she was getting on the same Team as Sasuke-kun!

"Settled down," Iruka-sensei sent her an irritated look, and she sat back into her seat.

"What happened to their third member?" she asked, and at this the man sighed.

"She died," he stated, and Sakura felt herself pale. "So I imagine both boys are very upset. So please, don't make things difficult for them. Meet them on the rooftop here, at seven tomorrow."

Sakura nodded and stood up. "Of course," she quickly headed for the door and it was as she was exiting the Academy grounds that his words hit her. Both boys. Sasuke-kun and... "Oh no," she breathed, and felt much of the excitement fade.

Uzumaki Naruto.

TBC

By the way, there are no pairings in this fic.