Chapter Six
He was in a dark place, a black void, floating, but not alone. No, he was never alone-couldn't ever recall being alone. They were always with him, as They were now. Eyes appeared in the void, large eyes, the eyes of a giant, red and black, blue and purple, green and yellow, and so many more that they took up the space in the void, filling the darkness.
Naruto curled into a ball, made himself as small as possible, but still They saw him.
"You are weak," They boomed, and Naruto flinched, pain lancing up his spine and settling behind his eyes. "But you have been given an opportunity that we will not let pass us by. We will be powerful again," There was a great deal of delighted laughter at this. "You will not fail us." It felt as if the eyes were so close that they were touching him. He understood the threat, the price if he failed; eternal torment, eternal misery- forever with Them.
"WAKE UP."
--
Naruto's body jolted, and his eyes flew open. He blinked rapidly as the headache descended upon him, and he sat forward on his pillow and surveyed the room. It was much larger than his own had been, with a bigger bed and a long book case taking up one side of the room. When Sasuke had finally dozed off, Naruto had placed his collection of books in the case, and had been pleased to find that they all fit. And while Sasuke slept curled up under his blankets, he picked up the toys and placed them in the large chest that sat in another corner of the room. He pulled out his bag full of cleaning supplies and wiped down every surface as quietly as he could without waking the dark haired boy, who did not stir once.
Taking a deep breath, Naruto picked up the bag and opened the door, fear rising in him as he peeked out into the dark, cold hallway. He half expected the woman to be there, waiting for him to come out, but the hall was empty and silent, except for the occasional creaks of the house. He swallowed nervously and stepped out, slowly shutting the bedroom door behind him, breaking out in a cold sweat as he slipped down the hallway and entered the large living room. It had much more furniture than he liked to see, fancy furniture, and all of it coated with dust and filth.
Naruto sighed. This would take all morning, and with the headache he had...The blond took another deep breath and got to work, washing the wooden walls, wiping down the couches, scrubbing the carpets, polishing the tables and lamps. When that was finished, an hours' worth of labor, he slipped into another room, which turned out to be a very big kitchen. He moved to the kitchen sink and opened the cabinet beneath it, and was pleased to see an array of cleaning material already available to him, because no doubt he would run out with such a big house. He grabbed a few bottles, straightened up and turned, and gasped in horror as the woman from yesterday stood behind him. The bottles slipped from his arms, crashing to the linoleum as he backed up into the sink.
The woman, who was probably Sasuke's mother, simply stared at him, her dark eyes filled with tears, her face lined with grief. Then she turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving him shaking in front of the sink, pale and sweaty, heart pounding in his ears. And They laughed.
After ten minutes of shaking, he worked on the kitchen, mopping the floor, cleaning the stove, polishing tables and chairs. When he was finished with that he drank from the faucet, quenching his thirst. Then he moved on to another room connected to the living room, but froze in the doorway when the stench of blood assaulted his nose.
This room also looked like a living room, except it seemed more serious, with a longer table and many chairs, and farther into the room was a very large desk. On the floor before the table was a very large stain, a stain he understood all to well, and standing on the stain was a man, dark of hair and eyes, with lines running along his face putting him somewhere in his forties. He also had a kunai in his chest, but he was also missing an arm. He stared at Naruto dispassionately before speaking in a cold voice.
"Have you come to take our souls, demon?" rusted puffs came with each of his words; Naruto wrung his fingers as he stood in the doorway, shaking his head in reply. The man stared at him a moment, before replying, "You think you can hide in the body of a child? I can see your glowing red eyes," his dark eyes bored into his own, dead, lifeless, but at the same time, angry. "You cannot fool me-"
Naruto backed out of the doorway and shut the door, staring at it before taking a deep breath and turning his back to face the living room. The house had to be clean- but not even he would dare clean that one. He moved on to several other rooms, a few bathrooms and hallways, a stairway, and one very chilling, isolated room filled with ninja apparel and a bed. This room had almost been as bad as that other room, there was a muted anger here; it seemed to fester the very air, and Naruto was left to wonder if all the bads things that happened in this little village had started right here in this room. He moved through that one quickly before leaving. He was relieved to say that Sasuke's mother and father were the only two he had come across.
When he returned to the first floor, it was to see that Sasuke was awake and making breakfast, still looking a bit pale, but also determined. Determined was bad, because it meant that Sasuke was probably going to make him do things he didn't want to do. He rubbed his eyes, which felt swollen by the force of his headache and put the cleaning materials away. It was seven in the morning, and it had taken him four hours to clean the majority of the house- minus the room with the stain and Sasuke's father.
"We leave in an hour," Sasuke reminded him as he placed the bowl of cold soup in front of him. Naruto sighed and picked up the spoon but made no complaint. There was no need to do such a thing- Sasuke would only force him out of the house, and fighting back would only be wasted energy.
After they ate and showered, Sasuke helped him newspaper every window in the house, and there were many of them, and he was doubly grateful for the all the back issues Sasuke's father had kept, because he was doing double layers, being that he didn't want all the massacred Uchiha to look inside, which some of them were doing as he taped down the newspaper. Sasuke made no comment as to why he was shaking so much.
Then they ventured out to the Academy, and he stuck very close to Sasuke while all the Uchiha lifted their heads and watched him go, some eyes full of nothing, others full of despair, horror, pain, or most common, wanting.
What they wanted, he could only imagine.
--
At first he was struck by his own stupidity, at returning to the Uchiha compound. What had he been thinking, coming back to this place, where his whole life had been ruined? He was sure he would crack in the first night alone, back in his own bedroom, back to all the memories. But he had awakened at one point, and seen Naruto putting his books in his book case, and all the fear seemed to ease away. Naruto was part of his new life, in which his old one couldn't touch, and Naruto's indifference to his tragedy was reassuring. He didn't need pity, or for someone to constantly bring it up- or try to heal it for that matter, and he could assure himself that Naruto would do none of these. Naruto would not talk about it at all- not because he was tactful or sensitive, but because talking meant someone would pay attention to him, and Naruto just didn't like to talk- which was fine with Sasuke.
And it turned out, as time passed, that though he was back where he had started, things were still different, and though Naruto was jumpy, and stared at weird things, he also went outside more without Sasuke having to pull him out, or glare threateningly. They trained when they wanted, day or night, without the worry that someone would approach them- except for the Hokage, who was very surprised by their move. But he was also very pleased by Naruto's progress. The blond no longer looked like he was starving, had grown a few inches, and actually managed to look at the Hokage without fear. That didn't mean he talked to him- a conversation with Naruto consisted of yes or no, unless- and this was the only exception- if he was giving a textbook style explanation, and this he didn't do very often because Sasuke had stopped asking him if he knew things. He just assumed Naruto did, and if he didn't- well, Sasuke couldn't tell.
Naruto was a very good training partner. Reluctance and frailty aside, it appeared that Naruto was the type of person that when he did things, he did them right. So though he knew Naruto had no wish to be a ninja, that didn't stop the blond from taking training seriously. He fought Sasuke during taijutsu training, and he was sleek and fast, incredibly evasive and leaning toward the fluid movements of tai chi. His jutsu abilities were at the standard level, and he could perform all of the Katon jutsu Sasuke could, and his kunai tossing was accurate and deadly, now that he had the physical strength to make the kunai stick.
So it wasn't much of a surprise when Naruto quietly mentioned the use of a katana.
--
The man had approached him while he sat under a tree with Sasuke, sweating from their taijutsu training, and feeling the ache in his muscles, and from spots where Sasuke had hit him. The sun was peeking at them through the leaves, and he wished he were inside where it couldn't bug his eyes. He was already feeling very nervous, not because he was outside, but because it was quiet. Everything was quiet; They had not said, or laughed, or roared, in the last hour, and this frightened him. He had been hearing Them all his life, They had made Their presence known to him the moment he could understand the concept of thought-or an inner voice. They had always been there- and yet, They were silent.
He could only conclude that They planned something horrible for him- in the same way They forced Sasuke upon him, so when the man with a large chunk of his skull missing staggered toward them, he was not surprised. Sasuke was oblivious, as usual, staring out at some of the houses, unaware that the man was there.
He wore a chuunin's vest, and his hitai-ate hung comfortably around his neck, seeming completely normal despite the exposed brain. Dangling in one hand, was a katana, worn from use and looking quite comfortable. He stopped several feet from them, and Naruto looked up at him, ready to leap out of the way if the man attacked- which he no doubt would, being that he was a villager, and they always wanted to see him suffer.
"You're a small one, eh?" the man commented congenially, puffs of rust escaping his mouth. Naruto swallowed and glanced at Sasuke, who started to sharpen a kunai, looking relaxed and content. He looked back at the man, who smiled happily- which was alarming, because none of the other Uchiha's had ever smiled. He couldn't imagine why they would have a reason to. "I saw you and Fugaku's boy sparring, and you look to me like the kind of boy who should be getting a sword." He leaned forward and peered down at him, and Naruto leaned back. "You're not very strong physically, but you got precision, and you got speed. Go get yourself a sword and I'll show you some moves- since I ain't done shit for six 'effin months."
He waited for Naruto to reply, and just when he decided not to say anything, They stirred, and he knew he would have to do what They wanted. Naruto nodded rapidly, and the man smiled.
"Good. I'm Nabeshin. I'll see you sometime..." And strangely enough, his gaze hollowed out, and he seemed to lose interest and simply drifted away. Naruto wiped his brow and glanced again at Sasuke, who was inspecting the kunai he was sharpening.
"Sasuke?" he whispered, and the other lifted his head and turned questioning dark eyes upon him. Naruto averted his eyes, instead staring at Sasuke shoulder. "I...I would like to train with a sword." A look of keen interest flashed through Sasuke's eyes, and he turned and gazed toward the houses.
"That's interesting," he commented, and got to his feet. Naruto stood up and quickly followed him as he made his way through a winding path between houses, pausing at intervals with a slight frown, before turning down one corner, until he approached a square house with the distinct scent of metal. Sasuke hesitated at the door before stepping in.
The house was actually an armory, the walls lined with spears, cudgels, katana, nodachi's, poles, kunai, shuriken, and axes. Sasuke stepped up to one of the walls and pulled down a short bladed katana, about the length of his arm, give or take a few inches. He handed it to Naruto, and as he gripped the worn gray handle, noticed that it wasn't as heavy as he had thought. He carefully swung the blade, watching how the blade arced through the air, and saw out of the corner of his eye Sasuke picking up another, almost identical katana.
"We can train together," Sasuke said, swinging the blade with more force and carelessness than Naruto dared. "What made you want to learn the art of the sword?"
Naruto shrugged and smoothed down his hood. His eyes found a dark smear on the wall, and he quickly gazed about, searching for the black smith, hoping that he wasn't still in the room. Together they exited the armory, Sasuke admiring the katana and the sheaths they had confiscated.
--
He noticed, as things seemed to go, that the Uchiha were most active during nightfall, which was no big surprise as scary stories went, and even though he was terrified to go out, They gave him such a headache that he was all but forced to seek out Nabeshin. He was putting ninja stealth to use, and he hid behind trees, or water heaters, benches, and behind forgotten laundry on hangers to avoid the bloody, wandering Uchiha. He often found Nabeshin wandering around a building, looking agitated, and he looked upset every time Naruto approached him, and he could only reason that something about the house upset Nabeshin greatly, and he couldn't understand why Nabeshin would return there every night if the place upset him so.
But Nabeshin was an excellent teacher, very patient, and though his head leaked and his brain sat exposed to the elements, he showed Naruto the proper way to hold the katana, to sheath it, and how to stand. He never touched him, and Naruto never made an attempt to make physical contact- the very thought made his skin crawl- mostly because he didn't like when people touched him, and barely tolerated it from Sasuke. After a few hours of lessons, Naruto would return to the house to clean, and run from Sasuke's mother, who sometimes roared throughout the house, and he had awakened Sasuke several times with his screaming. Sasuke dealt with this in his usual way, which was to drag him back to the room and stand around and wait until he could produce coherent thoughts again; he never asked him what the matter was.
After a day spent at the Academy, Naruto would show Sasuke what he learned from Nabeshin, and though Sasuke was mystified as to where he had learned the techniques, the dark haired boy simply believed that as the Nine Tailed fox Demon, he would know these things. Actually the idea that he may know things that Sasuke didn't seemed to intrigue the Uchiha greatly, and he often asked what else did he know. These questions often excited Them too much, enough to pain him and send him to his corner, and often when things got that bad, Sasuke would leave him alone, and eventually he stopped asking.
But Nabeshin's lessons were proficient-Sasuke had a natural talent for the blade, and both of them trained until the blade felt like a mere extension of their arms. They knew each others moves, and they fought each other into a standstill- or until Naruto got tired and gave up, which frustrated Sasuke to no end. Sasuke didn't like it when Naruto surrendered, and often yelled at him for this 'weakness.' Naruto didn't much care, as long as Sasuke didn't strike him for it- which thankfully he never did outside of training.
But Naruto always expected him to. Always.
--
Haruno Sakura was very excited today. Today, all her years at the Ninja Academy would pay off, and she would be taking a final exam and move on to be a genin. This was a moment, in a series a moments, that she had been waiting for, and she just knew that after she passed the exam, she would be teamed up with the coolest, handsomest, strongest, ninja of their class. The top rookie Academy student, Uchiha Sasuke.
She blushed in the mirror and drew her brush through her hair for the hundredth time until it absolutely gleamed. She had tried to imagine what being on a team with him would be like, how much potential she could bring, how many missions they would complete, how much he would see that she was the coolest kunoichi around. She stepped out of her house and headed down toward the Academy.
She knew that she would be on the same team as he, but she couldn't figure out who that third member would be. But she knew one thing, one thing that made her not worry- it wouldn't be Uzumaki Naruto. Her teeth clenched at the though of his name. She absolutely hated Naruto, and she wasn't the only girl that felt the same. Naruto was the reason that none of the girls could get close to Sasuke, because apparently Naruto didn't like anyone within ten feet of him, in all angles, and since he was always with Sasuke, no one ever got close to the gorgeous Uchiha. As a matter of fact, ever since Naruto had shown up, Sakura could only recall one time when Sasuke wasn't with him- if one was absent- both were. The girls liked to think of Naruto as a leech, clinging on to Sasuke, always taking up his time and attention, so that no one could ever speak to him. Some of the boys had made crude comments before that Naruto was Sasuke's little girlfriend- but that joke had faded when Sasuke beat the boy up in the bathroom pretty badly. She'd heard Kiba say that Naruto had just stood by and watched.
She could imagine it, and shuddered at the thought of Naruto's eyes. She hated those red-rimmed, shadowed eyes; when they fell on her, they always seemed to be accusing her of something- Naruto always made her feel like she had committed a crime, and she couldn't stand it. What had she ever done to him? And sometimes, when she got too close, and Naruto would move closer to Sasuke, the dark- haired boy would give her such a look, like she was the bane of his existence, and how dare she make Naruto uncomfortable!
How she hated Uzumaki.
And then, of course, he'd had to take her spot academically. So not only was he taking up Sasuke's time, he also had to be a genius as well. She'd seen his work, his neat penmanship and his superior textbook-like answers. She'd seen Shikamaru send him fascinated looks, no doubt intrigued by the hooded blond, who never spoke, even when addressed by Iruka-sensei and Mizuki -sensei. This, was often a comical event in class, because although Iruka-sensei had long ago stopped asking Naruto questions, Mizuki-sensei seemed intent on getting answers from Naruto. And no matter how vehemently he asked, or slapped his hands down on Naruto's desk, the hooded blond would remain immobile, forever staring at his desktop. One time, Mizuki-sensei had gotten so fed up with Naruto's insolence, that he had reached out to grab the blonds face, but Sasuke had jumped up and grabbed his wrist, and had given him a nasty glare. The tension had only been defused when Iruka-sensei returned to the classroom to see the standoff. Needless to say, Naruto still never spoke to him, and they all had talked of it for many days.
She supposed what bugged her the most was that not only was he good academically, but when it came to taijutsu and ninjutsu, Naruto was good. She and many others had often stopped to watch Sasuke and Naruto spar, and it was marvelous. Sasuke moved with power, a punch or a kick filled with force, precision and grace. He was always an offense fighter, while Naruto was the opposite fluid and light, quick on his feet, and often redirecting the force of Sasuke's punches and kicks. They mirrored each other in a way that said they fought often, so that they never really scored each other, since they apparently knew each other so well. This, of course bugged her.
What was the likelihood that they would both end up on the same team? She didn't think she could compete with Naruto, but she wouldn't worry- they never place two genius's on the same team.
As she stepped into the Academy, she immediately spied both boys, standing in a corner, both heads bowed close together, as of they were speaking. She couldn't see Naruto's face, because his blond bangs and hood covered most of his face, but she could see some of Sasuke's face, and he looked downright unhappy. As if sensing her gaze, he looked up, and she shrank away from the rage in his eyes. Sasuke looked pissed. Naruto did not look up, which wasn't uncommon, but he did put a hand over his eyes and squeezed his temples with his index and thumb. It was something she had seen her mother do when she had a headache. Yesterday everyone had been talking about the shocking scene that had taken place outside, and she shot covert glances at the hooded blond. What had Sasuke done to him? For a second she paused on the thought- why would she think Sasuke had done anything to him? She had heard the terrible screaming...
But why was Sasuke so mad?
--
He had been living in a world comprising solely of him and Naruto- Sasuke would admit this, that they seemed like the only living things in a world of ghosts. He hadn't been paying too much attention to what was going on around them, that time was passing by- birthdays had come and gone without notice. The world outside the Uchiha compound had become a blur, almost intangible except for days at the Academy, or when he needed to stock up on supplies. There was him, there was Naruto, there was training, and cleaning, and keeping Naruto from killing himself all week during the Fall Festival. There were newspaper windows, all-nighters, and patching up cuts and bruises. There were katana to sharpen and chakra to mold. There was forcing Naruto to eat, and waking up to have his pajama's taken, and perfecting jutsu. There was complete silence, and the lack of conversation.
There was his world, consisting of him, and Naruto.
And then Iruka-sensei had announced the genin exam, and it was as if he had awakened from a perfectly acceptable dream, the kind where you wake pissed because it was way better than the waking world. In his mind, those were the worst dreams, and Iruka-sensei had crushed it like a cockroach.
Though the idea of moving up in his ninja career should be a happy thought, it was clouded over by the realization that they would be moved into teams, and there was no guarantee that Naruto would be placed with him. And by the gray cast of Naruto's skin, the blond had arrived to the same conclusion, probably before him.
There had been the sound of all the other students, and they chattered in excitement over Iruka-sensei's calls about reviewing material, and it was as if he was seeing and hearing them for the first time. He had lifted his head and surveyed them, seen kids he used to talk to bouncing in their seats, bragging about their potential. All the girls were crowded together, squealing at one another, and a few glanced at him in excitement.
Sasuke had turned back to stare down at his desk, and realized that he mirrored Naruto, who had not once looked up. Naruto was instead staring down at the desk in horror, face going from gray to a nasty shade of yellow, very alarming, and Sasuke had quickly asked to be excused. Iruka-sensei had been about to ask why, but he had caught a glimpse of Naruto's face and had allowed them to leave.
Naruto threw up breakfast in bathroom, and then proceeded to hug the toilet, shaking and staring into the bowl.
"I won't go out there," he rasped, and when he looked up at him, Sasuke had seen his eyes look completely wild. He knew that look- it was the same look he got during the Fall Festival, crazed and unfocused, his eyes jittering in their sockets. He felt dread course through him.
"Not out here!" he had hissed, and tried to pull Naruto away from the toilet, but the blond clung to it like his life depended on it.
"I won't go on team alone! They can't make me!" Naruto started to shriek, and Sasuke was alarmed to see that his nose began to gush blood. Naruto released the toilet and dug his hands into his scalp. "You can't make me!" He started to scream. "You can't make me!"
Sasuke felt a presence behind him and spun to see Shikamaru standing in the doorway, brown eyes staring in alarm at the crouching blond, who was now pulling out chunks of his hair.
"I won't go, I won't go!" Naruto was wailing, and Sasuke quickly wrapped both arms around the blond and dragged him out the stall while he continued to shriek. He dragged him out of the bathroom, aware that Shikamaru was still following him, and he took a second to pause and glance back at the worried boy.
"He's just having a moment," he called over Naruto's screams, feeling flecks of blood splatter his face, and he quickly continued to drag Naruto away from the Academy just as he noticed several students and chunnin appear at the doors and windows.
"Should I get a sensei?" Shikamaru offered, still following, wincing as he saw Naruto's nails run over his whiskered face, immediately drawing more blood, that wasn't already pouring out of his nose, mouth, and scalp.
"Nono," Sasuke huffed as he struggled not to fall over as Naruto writhed in his arms, his legs almost tangling with his own. "Just leave us- you're making him crazy."
Shikamaru stopped and stayed back as he struggled on, stopping only once to keep Naruto's hood over his head as the villagers stopped to stare in shock as they passed. Naruto's blood was now running all over Sasuke's face, and soaking into the neck of his shirt, and he was surprised Naruto hadn't started clawing at his face.
"I won't go! They can't make me!" Naruto continued to scream. "They can't make me!"
The progress had been slow and taxing, and Naruto's screams were starting to attract even more attention. Pursing his lips, Sasuke had dragged Naruto into an alley and quickly slammed the blond's head into the wall, cutting his screams short with a choking sound, and the blond went limp. Sasuke had then carried the bloody blond all they back to the compound, leaving him in a very guilty, very foul mood.
A very foul mood.