Naruto: Past tense Chapter 29Reoccurring, a naruto fanfic

Chapter 29: Reoccurring

It was bright today, the sun high enough over the horizon to show off it's full form before it ascended into the blanket of scattered white clouds. Golden rays pored through every window, making the building a radiant bright.

Naruto walked down the main hall that was illuminated to high contrast with sunlight pouring through every open door, his chest bare, cover in only a pair of white night pants he'd just slept in. Naruto slipped his arms behind his head and opened his mouth wide with a deep yawn. 'I wonder where Gaara is?' It was his natural first thought, having found the stoic boy gone in the middle of the night. Which didn't surprise him...

! - ! - !

"Mmm..."

Naruto slowly lifted his left hand, letting it fall lazily on his face over his right eye, and he rubbed it softly. His mind drifting back into conscious out of somehow managing to slip out of his sleep. 'What time is it...' Naruto opened his eyes, blurry vision sharpening to the moon lit darkness of the room. 'It's gotta be like midnight...' He thought sleepily, staring up with half lidded eyes at the shadows on the ceiling radiating from the darkness of night. 'Hnnn...' Naruto slowly rolled over on to his side and found himself face to face with a sleeping Gaara.

Gaara's eyes opened in that same surreal way, alert and focused as if he hadn't been asleep at all, just as always. "Naruto? Is something wrong?"

! - ! - !

It was early, the sky was dark, still filled with stars not yet dulled by the sun's rays. It was cool, though he knew that would change by the time the sun was well into the sky, not that it mattered now. The trees of the surrounded forest cast deep shadows, ones that Konohamaru couldn't hope to see past, the only light offered to him was the moon that sank low in the horizon, more of a backdrop through the trees behind him then anything else. It would be full in a day or two, every time he looked at it he couldn't help thinking that small fact and inanely of Kiba.

The boy sat under one of the large trees that stretched high into the darkness beyond sight, his legs crossed and his arms folded, eyes half lidded and attempting to stay conscious.

"Hey, wake up!"

"!" Konohamaru flinched and sprang to his feet at the sudden and deep voice that rang in his ears from above. He turned around just in time to see the man fall from the darkness above and land with a type of grace that only came with strength. "Boss, you scared me!"

"Obviously." Kisame folded his arms and looked over every inch of the sleepy boy standing half alert before him. "We need to work on that." He looked on familiarly as Konohamaru shook his head, bringing himself into some since of awareness, and stood up strait, looked at the older man at complete attention. He had to give to Konohamaru, he was determined, even at 4 in the morning. He didn't complain at all about the time, which when thinking of it, a thoughtful expression came to Kisame's face. "You know...why don't we start at 4:30..." Kisame turned around, staring upward absentmindedly at the surrounding trees, rubbing the back of his head uneasily. "Are you...hungry...at all?"

Konohamaru smiled, his hands falling to his stomach with an excited laugh. "Yeah!"

! - ! - !

Konohamaru sat mounted on a stool in the kitchen in front of the sink, staring anxiously at Kisame's back, watching the man at the stove intently. The soft aroma that filled the room teased at his sense of smell, the familiar sounds of a sizzling pan, the boiling of contents inside of a pot made his mouth water. After waking up at 3:30 in the morning to make it to this one spot in time, he never realized how hungry he was, the only feeling that overdid his fatigue and sleepiness was the growling of his stomach.

Each movement Kisame made to manipulated the substances stirred the anxiousness and hunger within Konohamaru even more, his eyes followed Kisame's actions in a hypnotized manner. The only person who could draw such a reaction from him was Iruka, Iruka always somehow woke up before he did, and on Konohamaru's habitual trip down the main hall was met with the scent of food. It was kinda like that right now, Kisame had manged to wake up before him just as Iruka did, and already the scent of food was making him impatient.

He was always happy with Kisame, Kisame challenged him in every possible way, from his patience to his nerve. 'Kisame...' It was kinda like how Iruka was, being his teacher and all, and manager who trained him in the ways of business. Iruka gave him chances Sasuke wouldn't dare, he allowed Konohamaru to take risks that were by all means that were foolish and dangerous, but he always protected Konohamaru when he needed it even if they weren't on the same team. Kisame was like that a little bit, only on a much more... discarding scale, he didn't care what kind of dangerous endeavor the boy took, or if he got hurt sometimes. But somehow he did manage to help him at those rare times he really and truly needed it.

Konohamaru's mind drifted farther and farther from his stomach and more and onto Kisame and Iruka. Iruka was always nice, and patience and protective. Kisame always messed with him and had fun doing it too, the times he actually wanted to deal with the boy, and he'd kill anyone who messed with Konohamaru. They were so different...but...still... he-

"What the hell's whit that stupid look on your face?"

Konohamaru flinched with a small jump, almost making him lose balance and fall out of the chair. Konohamaru grabbed on to the seat to catch himself and looked up at the man standing over him, and smiled nervously with a small bit of embarrassment. "Nothing, just thinking."

Kisame rolled his eyes, darkness from the window above the sink edging at his vision, the hell if he was thinking, he probably was falling asleep. "That's a first."

"Are you calling me stupid!" Konohamaru growled angrily, narrowed his eyes.

"Damn right."

"Hey!"

! -! - !

Naruto stopped, stretching his arms high above his head as he passed Kiba's room. 'That never happened before.' He thought. 'He never woke up in the middle of night before...' When Gaara went to sleep he generally stayed asleep unless there was something that warranted waking up, except for that one time when he was possessed by a demon. and if there was something like that he would have woken up too, right?

! - ! - !

"Mmm..."

Gaara's eyes opened in that same surreal way, alert and focused as if he hadn't been asleep at all, just as always. "Naruto? Is something wrong?"

Naruto burred his hands into the messy golden strands of hair, scratching his head lightly. "Nah...just woke up I guess." He said, before curling up beside the red head and closing his eyes.

! - ! - !

'Where did he go...' Sasuke slipped his legs over the side of the empty bed and pushed himself to his feet. The younger Uchiha looked around his room as if this time he expected to see the boy where all others surveying he'd been taken since he awakened didn't. Konohamaru never woke up this early, only when he had to go on a mission without him, those rare times his particular brand of skills, though Sasuke wasn't completely sure what they were, were needed, leaving with Kiba or Neji. Or training, those even rarer times Konohamaru was awake early and was motivated by something to do it.

Sasuke ran his hand softly over his face and brushed away the half ruffled hair that drifted over his eyes. 'Mission, that's probably it.' He thought.

It was warm through out the building, so Sasuke had no problem venturing out into the main hall in nothing besides his boxers. He drifted down the sun lit corridor, glancing around curiously, almost pacing down the trail anxiously. He never knew the cause but he always became uneasy when Konohamaru went off on assignment with out him like this. The best he could do now was start on the paper work...if Konohamaru had indeed gone on a mission. The thought graced his mind that Konohamaru could just be in his room.

Sasuke set his course for the basement, but his ears were saluted with the sounds of voices and movement in the kitchen as he passed by, so he naturally took a detour. Iruka was there, sitting with an almost boredom at the wooden table, staring down at a pencil in his hand. Gaara was sitting opposite of him, his eyes fixed on the man who didn't seem to notice him, but Iruka never seemed to notice anyone, as if he was trapped in his own little world that was devoid of everything. And of course Kakashi was there, leaning against the wall behind Iruka with the familiar book in hand, but his attention was divided between the text and the man he was observing thoughtfully.

"Kakashi." Sasuke took another short glance at Iruka, the man seemed to draw attention to himself without doing anything to warrant it. "Did you happen to send Konohamaru on a mission?"

"No." Kakashi's visible eye slowly shifted over to Sasuke. "Why? Worried about him?"

"Not really." Sasuke's eyes quickly drifted back into the inattentive, discarding look he naturally assumed at the mention of it. "Just wondering where he went."

Iruka's eyes shifted from the almost bored look to a small thoughtfulness as he stared at the object in his hand. "..."

"He's probably in his room." Kakashi offered simply. "Knowing him he's training, nothing to be worried about."

A streak of annoyment rose audibly in Sasuke's voice. "I'm not worried."

"He's not down there." Gaara spoke up, his usually silent voice was always unexpected when he intervened in a conversation. The stoic boy went into farther detail before anyone had to ask him any questions. "I was looking for Naruto before I came here, neither of them were down there."

Sasuke folded his arms and glanced up at the ceiling, distracted in contemplation for a small second. "I'm sure he's around here some where then."

And that's when it hit Iruka, wisdom came suddenly. His eyes lit up in a reaction that was completely foreign to him in the days as of late, he realized something, and it made him excited in the wrong way for the wrong reason. "..." Iruka looked up at Sasuke, waving his hands in a manner that seemed to mean stop or wait.

"Huh? What?" Sasuke grew a little confused, this was the first time Iruka had done something like this since he stopped talking. "What is it?"

Iruka's gaze shifted around nervously, a confused expression grew on his face, looking down at the ground like a child trying to solve a math problem by counting on his fingers. Then something inspired grew visibly on his features as he figured it out.

"Is it about Konohamaru?" Kakashi pushed himself off the wall and watched the man intently. A small excitement was growing slowly inside of him when he watched Iruka, he was trying, he was showing something.

Iruka's face lit up even farther as he nodded, as if he wanted to smile but was just short. But he wasn't so happy trying to convey the next part, mainly since he didn't know how, it only came out as a confusing series of gestures.

'?' Sasuke's head tilted to the side questioningly, what the hell was he suppose to make of this? 'Wha...' He looked to Gaara for some kind of hint, since Gaara spent so much time with Iruka, he would know better. Unfortunately Gaara gave him no clue, since he didn't know himself.

Iruka clasped his hand across his face with a small sigh, this wasn't working. It was like being trapped in a cell in the dark, he should have been able to do this... An angrily frustrated expression crossing his silent face as it usually did when he attempted to convey something and failed.

Kakashi immediately moved in, resting his hands on to Iruka's shoulders and forcing the man to looking up at him. "No, No. Your doing well." Kakashi reassured him. "Don't give up now." Iruka lifted his head, a small hint of sadness in his expression this time. Kakashi slipped his hand under Iruka's chin and lifted his head, locking their eyes together. "I know it's hard, but don't give up." It was the last thing he offered before slipping his hands from Iruka's shoulders and backing away.

"..." Iruka stared down at the ground for a few seconds, before letting his eyes drifted up to Sasuke. It was like a being trapped in a cell with a window that was just out of ear shot... He began thinking again. And then it hit him, it was so obvious! Iruka's face illuminated again, pointing out the window.

"The window... Outside?" Gaara asked, gaining an affirming nod from the older man. "What is he doing? Is he training?"

Iruka paused for a moment...come to think of it, he didn't know what Konohamaru was doing. But what he did know...at lest knew now, that the boy didn't come back last night. He shook his head.

"Is he with Kiba, or Neji?" Sasuke asked, his voice peeking with interest. As reluctant as he would be to admit it, he was getting caught up in this a little, it did seem to be a definitive moment for Iruka.

"No, he isn't." Gaara shook his head.

"How do you know?"

"I went looking for Naruto with them too, Konohamaru wasn't there."

Kakashi turned his attention to the window Iruka had indicated, gazing out on to the open fields that stretched far beyond his vision could reach. He may have been reading too much into this but he knew Konohamaru never trained in open areas by himself, always in the forest. "Is he gone?"

A stratified look grew on Iruka's face and he nodded.

"And you don't know where?" Kakashi didn't think he could understand it if Iruka did.

Iruka shook his head in denial.

Sasuke's expression grew confused again, he really didn't know what to make of this now, How could Konohamaru just leave and not say anything? Should he be worried? He found himself looking around to the other three in the room for some kind of answer. It didn't matter really, he was already worried. "I'll be back."

In other words, he was going to go look for him.

! - ! - !

Naruto stopped, stretching his arms high above his head as he passed Kiba's room. 'That never happened before.' He thought. 'He never woke up in the middle of night before...' When Gaara went to sleep he generally stayed asleep unless there was something that warranted waking up, except for that one time when he was possessed by a demon. And if there was something like that he would have woken up too, right?

'Hmm...' Naruto started to feel a little worried, where was Gaara anyway? 'Maybe he went with Iruka, I mean he has been with him a lot lately.' Naruto reasoned, pausing his decent down the hall and turning around towards the door to Iruka's office that resided at the opposite end of this corridor. 'Yeah, that's probably it, he hasn't been getting a lot of sleep anyway.'

It was silent, the only sounds were the faint ones of Naruto's foot steps as he back tracked across the carpeted floors to the door in question, why was it so quiet? 'Must have gone on a mission.' he thought to himself, dropping his hands from where they rested interlocked behind his head and reaching for the door knob. 'Everyone else is probably asleep.' With another sleepy yawn, Naruto pushed the door open... 'Wha...What the hell?' He found himself looking into the deep darkness of complete emptiness, an abyss, the growing sinking feeling in his stomach made him feel he was standing at the edge of a cliff, like the room wasn't even there!

Naruto slammed the door shut and leaned against it as if to hold the darkness back, his eyes shifting around nervously around the deathly quiet and sun brightened hall. "What the hell is going on here!"

! - ! - !

"Mmm..."

Gaara's eyes opened in that same surreal way, alert and focused as if he hadn't been asleep at all, just as always. "Naruto? Is something wrong?"

Naruto burred his hands into the messy blond strands of hair, scratching his head lightly. "Nah...just woke up I guess." He said, before curling up beside the red head and closing his eyes. "I just had the weirdest dream." By now his voice was a mumbling whisper while his mind drifted farther and farther away from consciousness.

"Really?" Gaara's voice was completely alert, it amazed Naruto to no avail how Gaara could just be awake as if he hadn't gone to slept at all, how he didn't need it in the least.

! - ! - !

The sun was high into the sky now, spares rays of golden light shining through the tops of trees and created a hazy light on the forest floor amongst the trunks of trees. '!' "Ugghhfff!" A loud, rough sound was torn from Konohamaru's throat as his body crashed chest first against the hard wood, the side of his face slamming painfully against the wood, and his body repelled off of the surface from the force, falling into a sitting position on the firm ground.

Kisame folded his arms and watched Konohamaru wrap his arms around the tree's trunk and use it to pull himself to his feet with a general indifference. "Your not listening." He said, his voice not hiding his annoyance one bit.

Konohamaru turned around, taking in deep breaths as he forced himself to stand up strait, rubbing his chin slightly. "I am Boss." Konohamaru said with a plead to understand, his voice retaining more calm then it usually would have if he wasn't under training, an obedience was clear in his tone.

Kisame let his arms fall loosely to his side, ready. "Your Chakra isn't spinning fast enough, it's not even balanced." Kisame told him, he could see it easily, 'Idiot, he's gonna hurt himself.' he snorted to himself. Konohamaru was able to to pour chakra into his muscles, in turn becoming temporarily stronger. However Konohamaru was unable to do that and spin his Chakra at the same time, so that's what Kisame worked on, giving Konohamaru strength and balance.

Konohamaru clinched his fist at his side, a strained look coming on to his face. His Chakra's rotation came to a complete halt, seeping back below the surface like water creeping through the cracks. And then he started over, bringing it fourth with all the fierceness of a raging storm, he grunted slightly as it pooled in his torso and began spinning like a whirlpool. Oddly enough, once it started to spin the watery aspect of it faded, it felt like a howling wind, raging around inside of him but some how leaving everything undisturbed.

"Faster." Kisame commanded, watching the boy carefully as he poured more of his chakra into the spin. A small drop of sweat was forced from beneath the cells of Konohamaru's skin and streamed down from his forehead. He could tell Konohamaru had been practicing, quite extensively it seemed to him, since he'd taught the technique to him a little over two years prior, he didn't expect the boy to be so good at it. Konohamaru wasn't overly smart, nor did he have a particularly abnormal amount of talent or potential, he never expected Konohamaru to reach this level so fast. 'Kid's not half bad.'

Konohamaru felt the chakra rubbing against the inward boundaries of his sides, brushing against his waist with bare traces, softly touching against his shoulders. He was surprised. 'Hey...I never put this much into it, it never got this far before with out hurting.' He thought to himself with a bright smile crossing his lips, he was filled with astonishment at this new achievement. He had begun to think it wasn't possible for him to do such a thing, now he wasn't sure if he could take it farther.

He was brought back to attention by a swift blow to the chest by Kisame's foot. "Pay attention!"

Konohamaru flinched and stood up strait, he had to resist the urge to returning his attention back to the chakra spinning inside of his body.

Kisame smirked slightly, something Konohamaru learned wasn't generally a good thing. "Alright, let's see if you can keep it up." Kisame gave Konohamaru no other words beside the vague warning before he lifted his foot and stomped down into Konohamaru's chest, hard.

Konohamaru slid backwards a good distance still half balanced on his feet before he finally fell on to his back. 'Damnit, Kisame says I have to pay more attention! Focus!' He clinched his chest where the impact had been forced on him and coughed, making sure he kept the rotation in check as he pushed himself to his feet. He was starting to lose count of how many times he'd been hit like that, maybe Kisame was right, he wasn't paying attention. Though he wasn't completely sure he hadn't been paying attention all the times he'd been given one of Kakashi's painful strikes, if Boss said he needed to focus the he 'd focus. Jaw set and eyes firm, Konohamaru bolted forward towards Kisame with fist clinched.

! - ! - !

Sasuke had felt frustrations this strongly few times in his life, and as he stood in the middle of the only near by forest still left in Konoha that he knew to be Konohamaru's favorite training spot. He felt that frustration at it's full force now. The dark haired boy's eyes twitched in a growing aggravation, where was Konohamaru? He knew not to run off like this with out saying anything, they had demons after them.

Sasuke looked up towards the top of the trees, folding his arms across his chest. It was something he didn't understand, why Konohamaru liked this place so much. These trees were the only ones big enough, strong enough, deeply rooted enough to withstand that massive storm. And they truly were big, and tall. Konohamaru liked climbing them, it seemed to be one of his most common methods of his training, to try and climb up these massive trees with out using Chakra to jump, only with his hands. 'He never did make it yet...'

There was a small displacement of air around him as Neji and Kiba landed beside him. "Any luck?" Sasuke asked, hopefully, a foreign tone in his usually stoic voice.

Kiba shook his head, softly scratching his furry gray ear while the matching tail shifted around softly behind him. "Nope, hell I can't even find his trail." Kiba snorted. "Or his scent, it drops off two steps from his room."

"So...there's no sign of him?" Sasuke asked, he found that hard to believe, but if Kiba couldn't find him...

"Well." Neji folded his arms and closed his eyes with the same thoughtful look he usually carried reappearing on his face. "It seems that Konohamaru dose not wish to be found."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke really was confused now, this didn't seem reasonable. "Are you sure?"

Neji didn't know the answer to the real question Sasuke wanted to ask, which was why would he do something like this, but he did know to a good degree of certainty the answer to the question he was asking. "Positive."

"Wait a minute." Sasuke grew a little more irritated, why was this so hard? "Are you saying Konohamaru managed to sneak away and cover his tracks well enough to evade Kiba?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Neji said bluntly, glancing around the area with lazy eyes. "He knows us well, you were incapacitated yesterday Sasuke, there was no way you could have seen him. I was working, Kiba was on a mission, and no one else knew to look for him."

"He apparently knew how to get around my nose." Kiba added, nodding in agreement. "Yup, he Doesn't want to be found. Iruka didn't happen to imply he was in any danger did he?"

Sasuke sighed, continuing to gaze upwards with a now defeated look on his face. He couldn't help but thinking how Konohamaru seemed to love heights, he liked going higher, as high as he could. And every time it rained he did so, looking at the sky as if he wanted to reach the clouds. "No, no he didn't."

"Then we can only wait."

"I guess so."

There was another small displacement of air before Gaara landed in front of Sasuke, his presence unknown to everyone beside Kiba's sense of smell. Sasuke was visibly flustered by the sudden appearance, but he managed not to flinch. "Did you find Konohamaru?" He asked, his voice making it unclear if he was concerned about it or not.

Sasuke shook his head, "No." He said, regaining himself. "Why?"

"I'm looking for Naruto." Gaara told him, looking around with slight interest. "Have you seen him."

The 3 boys replied negatively.

! - ! - !

Naruto stopped, stretching his arms high above his head as he passed Kiba's room. 'That never happened before.' He thought. 'He never woke up in the middle of night before...' When Gaara went to sleep he generally stayed asleep unless there was something that warranted waking up, except for that one time when he was possessed by a demon. And if there was something like that he would have woken up too, right?

'This is insane!' Naruto bolted to the next door on the left side of the hallway and pushed it open, only to find the same empty darkness 'Where am I!' Naruto frantically checked the next door, and the next, and the next, frantically trailing down the hall and checking in rapid succession, one after another with the same result. Until finally he reached the final doors, the stairs leading to the library and the other to the basement. "Uh...Uh..."

Which door should he chose?

'Does it matter?' Naruto clinched his head stressfully and looked between his two options, every so often glancing over his shoulder to the blackness beyond the other doors. He also noticed the hallway wasn't nearly has bright as it was when those doors were closed. 'Wait...weren't those doors open? How did they get closed? ...Were they actually open?' Naruto clinched his head and cried out loudly, he could practically feel the hall growing darker and darker around him . "What is this?"

! - ! - !

"Mmm..."

Gaara's eyes opened in that same surreal way, alert and focused as if he hadn't been asleep at all, just as always. "Naruto? Is something wrong?"

"Really?" Gaara's voice was completely alert, it amazed Naruto to no avail how Gaara could just be awake as if he hadn't gone to slept at all, how he didn't need it in the least. "What was it about?"

"Huh?" Naruto peeked his eye open and looked up at the boy. "You really want to know?"

"You seemed to be acting pretty odd while you were sleeping." Gaara told him. "What was it?

! - ! - !

Konohamaru fell to his knees, clinching his chest with one hand hard enough to dig his fingers a considerable way into his skin, taking deep, starved swallows to reclaim what was knocked from his lungs. The pain at first was stunning, but it dulled, Kisame's attacks always dulled after the initial strike, fading in intensity with in a few seconds and changing into some throbbing pain that stuck with him for a lengthy duration. It was a routine that got harder to take with each repetition, but yet still Konohamaru rose to his feet as he always, this time rubbing away a smear of blood from a cut on his cheek and spitting out he red liquid pooling in his mouth.

It was like a dance, a set movement, no matter what attack he threw at Kisame the man always countered, or hit him first, and before Konohamaru knew it he was on the ground. And just like always he got up and tried again in, instep with the dance

Silently Konohamaru stiffened his jaw, fixed his eyes and checked the chakra in his chest. As long as it was still moving he was fine, he told himself, and silently he charged at Kisame standing in front of him. Only a grunt slipped from his mouth as he lept into the air with his fist drawn back and threw a punch at the man with all of his strength.

'Hmm...' Kisame easily grabbed Konohamaru's fist and held him captive above the ground by it. A small smirk crossed his face as he lifted the short male until they were face to face , leaving him hanging by the arm like bait, helpless. He watched Konohamaru's eyes tremble with surprise for a quick second before they grew steady and firm. Then boy moved, Konohamaru reeled his foot back and sent a hard kick at Kisame's chin. Kisame easily lifted his other hand and swatted it back down before flinging his body away.

'!' Konohamaru tumbled through the air in a disorienting manner, but the Chakra stirring in his chest gave him an unnatural balance that he used to bring him under control. Konohamaru landed side ways against a tree trunk and kicked off, propelling himself toward the man again. "Uff!" He didn't get chance to launch an attack, before he could, Kisame stepped to the side out of the way and let him fly stomach first into his outstretched fist.

His eyes unfocused a faint gasp slipped out of his open mouth in a futile attempt to reclaim the fleeting air. Flashes of light flared around his vision and a loud ringing sounded in his ears, with such a thunderous volume he couldn't even hear his heartbeat pounding wildly in his chest. "Unnaaaa..." Konohamaru's half dazed body slid weakly from Kisame's fist and fell into a sitting position on the ground.

It was coming to the point where Kisame was starting to lose interest in beating the boy like this, it had been an hour now. And as always to Kisame's amazement, Konohamaru's movements and recovery only diminished, but not his persistence. It was enough to make him want to take pitty on the boy and stop, but he didn't, and he wouldn't, because he had to see, he had to know just where Konohamaru's limits resided.

Kisame gave a small, light nudge to Konohamaru's chest with his foot and watched the boy fall over in a manner reminiscent to a stiff object, landing flat on his back with a grimace of pain. "..." Konohamaru bit down on his lip and slipped his hands behind him, trying to push himself up and not scream at the same time, he clearly struggled. 'Damn kid...' Kisame crouched down beside him, looking over him silently for a while, simply observing as Konohamaru narrowed his eyes and tried to sit up, but didn't get more then a few twitching inches before he fell back to the ground in failure each time. But he still tried. "You can't even stand up, why do you keep trying?"

"..." Konohamaru didn't respond, he never spoke. It was strange, after a while Konohamaru stopped talking, no sound passed by his lips beside a few uncontainable grunts. Had it been a normal situation he would have screamed and shouted all of his anger and frustrations out with blatant disregard, but for some reason when ever Kisame trained him, if training was what it could be called, like this, Konohamaru only spawned a look of concentration, as if that said it all. His eyes cringed slightly as he clinched the soft strands of grass around him as if trying to get a grip to gain leverage..

"Just stay down, it's not like your gonna win." Kisame fell into a sitting position and crossed his legs, last time two full minutes had passed before Konohamaru got to his feet, he wondered how long it would take this time. One minute and counting. "It's no point, your just wasting your time. Not like your gonna win."

Konohamaru grunted softly with physical exertion, giving up on sitting up, he alternatively rolled on to his stomach and stumbled to his feet in one quick burst. After that it was like catching his second wind, the hard part of standing was over, it was easy to move once he actually got up. With Chakra still stirring, Konohamaru dashed towards Kisame in stumbling, off balance steps and a rough out cry, throwing another somewhat weak punch at the sitting Kisame.

Kisame lifted his hand and blocked, just as soon Konohamaru drew his hand back before he could be caught by it and grabbed the man by his wrist. Then desperately the boy thrust his head past Kisame's arm with an attempted headbutt, pulling himself forward by Kisame's arms to add the momentum he no longer could conjure on his own will. 'Idiot.' Kisame tilted his neck to the side and watched while Konohamaru lost what little balance he had and missed completely, the boy's neck ended up coming to a stop on Kisame's shoulder. 'Gotcha.' Kisame quickly pressed his head against Konohamaru's and pinned it against his shoulder, trapping the boy.

This time he had a certainty Konohamaru would have shouted at him to be released if he wasn't so tired, breath lacking and energy withdrawn strenuously from his body. Konohamaru could only struggled weakly, failing around as best he could until he lost all leverage with the expenditure of his last bit of air, falling limp in Kisame's restraint. "..." He's legs gave way and he fell to his knees in Kisame's lap, gasping as if his lungs failed to inhale. 'Damn...'

"Just stop." Kisame said, "Your not getting out of this, just quit."

"..." He still gained no response, only heavy pants. Konohamaru's heart pounded with such a speed that Kisame could feel it against his own chest, the blood rushing through his body, heating his flesh enough to condense sweat on his skin.

Finally after a while Konohamaru's breaths slowed and his heart eased, and yet he still didn't move. "Give up?" Inquired Kisame expectantly.

The only response he got was Konohamaru's hand pushing against his broad chest and the boy's other fist coming at his face. He could have taken the blow easily, yet Konohamaru hadn't been able to touch him yet, he didn't want to tarnish that now. So he tilted his head to the right, dodging the blow and at he same time releasing Konohamaru's head from his grip. "Guess that's a no." He said with some amusement as Konohamaru stumbled backwards a safe distance.

! - ! - !

Naruto stopped, stretching his arms high above his head as he passed Kiba's room. 'That never happened before.' He thought. 'He never woke up in the middle of night before...' When Gaara went to sleep he generally stayed asleep unless there was something that warranted waking up, except for that one time when he was possessed by a demon. And if there was something like that he would have woken up too, right?

Which door should he chose?

Naruto opened his eyes and found the doors fading in to the growing darkness. It was now or never, he had to pick a door. "What the hell does it matter!" Naruto screamed and lunged for one of the doors. He grabbed blindly on to one of the doors, prying his fearful eyes open to review his choice, which happened to be the one to the basement, and pried it open without farther hesitation.

A swift breeze burst outward over Naruto, ruffling everything on his body that wasn't skin tight. A sharp convulsion shook through Naruto's body that made him cringe and his eyes shut without consent, his blood ran cold, his body chilled internally while his skin grew warmer on the outside. "...?" Naruto shook his head as if dispel the sudden feeling and opened his eyes. '!' "Ghaaa!" Naruto's half open eyes widened to fearful standards.

A black light, like velvet floating atop a body of water, illuminated around him from the gasping emptiness he found on the other side. Deep shadows shined on to his body like light from a dark sun as it expanded to dangerous reaches. Naruto found himself standing face to face with it, almost swallowing him. This strange thing became like liquid, shifting and stirring like waves in a storm.

I finally get to taste.

"!"

! - ! - !

"Mmm..."

Gaara's eyes opened in that same surreal way, alert and focused as if he hadn't been asleep at all, just as always. "Naruto? Is something wrong?"

"Really?" Gaara's voice was completely alert, it amazed Naruto to no avail how Gaara could just be awake as if he hadn't gone to slept at all, how he didn't need it in the least. "What was it about?"

"Huh?" Naruto peeked his eye open and looked up at the boy. "You really want to know?"

"You seemed to be acting pretty odd while you were sleeping." Gaara told him. "What was it?"

"The dream? It was kinda strange I guess." Naruto yawned softly, letting both eyes drifting open half lidded. "I don't know, I was here, and I was looking for you. But every door I check there was nothing there..."

! - ! - !

The darkness of night was well upon them now, the moon rising slowly from the horizon ahead. The silver light shined through the trunks of trees, giving a dim light to the forest's floor.

Konohamaru fell backwards against a tree, his head reclining on to the broad trunk and his eyes rolling to the shelter of leaves from thick branches above him before blankly falling shut. "Un...Unhhaa..." Konohamaru's body slid down the chipping wood with a rough scratching sound until he fell to his knees. His body was covered in cuts and lacerations, blood streamed down his left cheek, pooled on his forehead, dripped over his neck and shoulders and a lot of other places he didn't care to think about. The lack of air and extreme fatigue became familiar to him, there rarely was a time time during this when he wasn't desperately drawing in air and his heart wasn't pounding.

Kisame stood no more then 3 feet ahead, watching the boy with a focus, like he was watching a puzzle he couldn't seem to deduce an answer to. An anxious energy coursed through his body as he watched the boy, all desire to continue with this fleeted. On the contrary, he actually was starting to feel bad about this, a completely foreign sensation considering he'd rarely felt bad about anything he'd done in his life.

Konohamaru was still, deathly still, barely moving. Kisame had stopped counting the time it took for Konohamaru to stand, it grew too long for his patience. In fact Kisame was almost sure Konohamaru had fell asleep briefly last time. 'This kid...' It was the most interesting thing he'd seen in life, it was fascinating, it was impossible, it was improvable, it was someone unlike Kisame had ever seen.

Konohamaru grunted softly with quiet whimpers like crying, his eyes closed as he tried to shift off his knees, slowly pushing himself into a crouch and shakily raising himself up. "Uha...!" But his legs gave way and he fell flat on his face, and laid there, staring outward with wanton eyes. He didn't try to make another move.

It had been 5 hours, and the pace had slow to an excruciating crawl that finally collapsed before his eyes. Kisame tilted his head to the side and an unsure expression reached his features, he didn't expect this. "Kono...Konohamaru?" Kisame in softly nudged at the boy with his foot but got no response, Konohamaru didn't so much as make a sound. 'Is this...is this it?' Kisame wasn't sure at first, it was clear he wasn't a sleep, still conscious by the small bit of remaining focus in his eyes. But he just laid there, bleeding.

"Aw hell, is that it?" Kisame scratched his head softly his eyes still unsure, but those unsure eyes dulled into a disappointment. This was it, he was giving up, he thought. His expression dropped in disappointment, the back of his mind held the small notion that Konohamaru might not ever give up, he'd just pass out or something like that. 'He's really done...' Kisame sighed exasperatedly, he'd imagined Konohamaru giving up many times in his mind, and this wasn't remotely the way he thought the boy would do it, just quiting with out saying anything.

Kisame softly ran a hand through the spiky blue hair and turned away, so this was Konohamaru's limit, he never thought he'd reach it.

It's truly was in the journey and not the destination.

'Geez.' This couldn't be it? It couldn't be... Kisame closed his eyes and lifted his hands with uncertainty, as if he was unsure of himself or what to do next. Finally after a still moment he clasped them together and performed a quick series of hand seals before quickly lowering them to his sides in a motion that appeared shunning. The sky stirred above them and the patchy white clouds drifting around the dark sky became gray.

With a loud sound like thunder, water fell from through the trees, rattling the leaves in a loud up roar as a torrent of rain streamed down and drenched the land. Kisame tilted his head back and closed his eyes, standing dormant.

Konohamaru's eyes grew wider, a distinct focus coming into his vision. '...Rain...' He laid there, face down, feeling the water pound against his back in small, wet presses, drenching his clothing. It ran cooling down his shoulders, streaming down from his hair on to his face, washing away the blood from his face, from his body. The pain seemed to lessen now. 'It's...It's raining.' With slow, jerky movements he lifted his head, ignoring the pain that came as he planted his hands in front of him, pushing himself to his knees with a pained grunt from weak and sore muscles.

Kisame folded his arms, still turned away. "So, you done yet?"

"N..." Konohamaru wiped away the water from his eyes and fell back against the tree behind him, staring at the sky. "N-No..."

That was all he needed to hear, besides, he couldn't stand doing this anymore. "Alright kid, that's enough."

Konohamaru stared at the man's back, his newly reconcentrated eyes softened immediately. "R-Really?"

The man simply nodded, staring at patches of sky he could see through the leaves.

Konohamaru's head fell loudly against the tree trunk and he closed his eyes.

'Persistent little bastard.' Kisame took in a deep breath and finally turned around, to his mild surprise he found the boy already asleep, a small smile crossing his lips. Which made Kisame wonder at first, if he could fall asleep that easily, was he really about to give up? 'Heh, probably not...' Kisame thought to himself, kneeling down beside Konohamaru and scooping him into his arms.

! - ! - !