Still With You In
Your Heart
Chapter One
To Be Dead, To Be Lost, To Be Mourned
"I swore I wouldn't die" Sasuke gasped out. He need to tell Naruto…
Naruto held Sasuke tighter, his heart beat faster, his mind raced with havoc as he tried to fully register, tried to comprehend –
"But don't you dare die…"
The warmth left the body he held, the body of a boy who had been his rival, comrade.
His friend.
Naruto's mind raced around with an unknown panic and pain. It finally came to a stop, attention directed to Sasuke's vitals. No heart beat.
Dead. No pulse. Dead. His body rapidly becoming cold, pale -blood slowing to a stop. DEAD. DEAD DEAD DEAD.
Naruto's mind raced again. His blood boiled with a sudden hidden power, red cat eyes forebode of a terrible fate for the ice shinobi. His mind came to a stop once again, this time at the kernel of the red hateful power. Kill him. KILL HIM.
And the Kyuubi, with a claw free of its cage obliged with sordid glee. Blood was to be spilled. Naruto felt a colossal mind grace his and speak inside him.
Let me out more, let me tear him to pieces.
Naruto obliged.
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Naruto woke up to the gentle but urgent shaking Kakashi was giving him. His blue eyes peeked from eyelids heavy from chakra exhaustion. He made out the Jounin's masked face to his right, and a pink blur and a taller figure that must had been Tazuna to his left.
What..happened…
"Naruto" Kakashi spoke as he watched his loudest and most exuberant student wake up.
He needed to know what happened. He needed to know why-
Kakashi just jerked his head away in time before Naruto could slam his head as he sat up quickly as he recalled what happened. Immediately he looked around for Sasuke, pushing his body up and breaking free of the circle the other three had formed.
Instead of an intact bridge, what appeared to be a crater had sent a section of the bridge into the ocean.
The section that Sasuke was on.
Naruto's mind froze as comprehension and realization that not only was his friend dead, but his body was being swept away by the strong currents…being swept and lost.
"Naruto"
Naruto didn't turn to face Kakashi and answer him. Numbly and without thought he ran to the crater, preparing to jump into the water and take back Sasuke's body from the current's clutch.
But Kakashi moved before Naruto could take more than a few steps and grabbed him.
"Let me go!" Naruto began to thrash against Kakashi, but Kakashi held on.
"Naruto, what happened?" the white haired jounin asked urgently.
"LET ME GO!" Naruto thrashed even more in an attempt to struggle out of his sensei's grasp and get back Sasuke.
"No"
"LET ME GO DAMMIT!" Naruto screamed.
"No, not until you calm down and tell us what happened" Kakashi insisted, and he would hold on to his student until he got an answer.
Naruto knew this but continued to fight against Kakashi's grip. Minutes crawled by as everyone dreaded Naruto's news, knowing the truth deep down but not wanting to believe.
Eventually though, the physical exhaustion of the fight and chakra use, and the emotional exhaustion of sadness and anger over Sasuke's death calmed Naruto down. He became limp in Kakashi's arms and rested his forehead against the Jounin's vest.
"Sasuke is dead" The words ghosted out of Naruto's lips. Kakashi's eyes widened. He let go of his student and stood there as Nartuo slumped to the ground in surrender to the fate of his friend.
Sakura gasped and fell to her knees in shock. No, Sasuke couldn't be dead- he was the best! He was an Uchiha! He was Sasuke..
"Naruto" Kakashi was struggling to keep his voice steady. After all, they were his first students and already one was dead, it was to him ultimate failure. "What happened?" Kakashi asked softly.
Naruto clenched his fists, pulling up the words and wrenching his mouth open to allow them to escape. "Sasuke b-blocked an attack meant for me…" he trembled"…it killed h-him, and th-then I-I got…mad, and…and after that I d-d-don't remember anything except f-fire, and the urge to kill…" Naruto said the last part with a held-back sob.
"SASUKE!" Naruto slammed him fist into the bridge, and then slammed the other, and again, all the while yelling and crying. He didn't care that they started to bleed. He didn't care if he was bawling like a baby and didn't care if everyone though it was immature and contrary to the shinobi ideal to act as he was. He needed to let it all out. The sorrow, anger, guilt-it was because of him Sasuke was dead.
All the while Kakashi looked on sadly. Sakura cried softly. And Tazuna stood, feeling pity for shinobi, for their lives are often short, and their days labeled with death and pain.
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Kakashi sent one of his dogs to Konoha to request for a search party for a missing dead nin. The party arrived a day later – the other genin of the rookie nine and their senseis came to help search, along with various chuunin. They combed the waters. Nothing.
More jounin and hunter nin came to search the rouge shinobi and criminal compounds run by Gatou, in case Sasuke's body was taken in order to learn secrets of his recently acquired Sharingan.
Nothing. No body…
After three weeks the search was called off with much reluctance. It took Kakashi, Iruka and another jounin to hold down Naruto and then to knock him out before they could move on. He wanted to stay; he wanted them to keep looking. He wanted to give Sasuke a proper burial…
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Four years later
"BAAAAABAAAA" a screech resonated round the Hokage tower, causing several of the staff to cringe, especially a large breasted Hokage who at the moment was signing the fragile pyramid of papers.
"BAAAAABAAAA! YOU STUPID OLD HAG YOU HAD BETTER HAVE A GOOD EXPLANATION!" the voice was coming increasingly nearer.
The blonde shinobi leader rubbed at her eyes and sighed – 'here we go again' she thought.
A loud crash and some surprised shouts later, her door now rested in peace on the floor…in two pieces that is. A boy crowned by the sun, with eyes touched by sky, whiskered cheeks and a face that defied the world marched into her office.
'Oh yes' Godaime thought as she resigned for an argument and headaches 'here we go again'
For the next half hour or so Godaime listened to Naruto rant about the news he had received from Jiraiya who had obviously not done his job well and break it to the boy gently that he would not be receiving missions better than guard duty for a while, and that it was at the moment for the best.
"OLD HAG WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSE TO DO FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS IF YOU WON'T LET ME OUT ON GOOD MISSIONS!?" If it was believed impossible now, Godaime Hokage no longer scoffed that Naruto's voice could get any louder. "I'M NEVER GOING TO BE HOKAGE IF YOU HAVE ME AS YOUR STUPID BODY GUARD AND I'LL GET FAT AND LOSE MY SKILLS AN-"
"FOR KAMISAMA'S SAKE, SHUT UP!" Tsunade could no longer take it, and she was beginning to feel the first stabs of her migraines. There was only so much she could take of his outbursts, even though they had happened regularly whenever the blonde gaki disagreed with something – mainly concerning missions.
'Where is that sake?' Tsunade thought while groaning into her hands.
She looked up and saw the Naruto she had come to know so well. Arms crossed, face frowned and stubborn. He had grown somewhat from when she had first met him nearly four years ago. His face slimmed, his hair a little bit longer, and his angry stare much more effective. She sighed again. "Naruto, please sit down".
Naruto sat down waiting for Tsunade to tell him what the heck was with the no-missions policy. He NEEDED missions. They kept him busy, pushed him forward, made him stronger.
"Naruto" Tsunade began "You know very well that Orochimaru is seeking a way to capture you and use you for his own advancement in power. On top of that Akatsuki is ALSO looking for you, and need I remind you that while Orochimaru is one powerful man, the Akatsuki are more numerous, and Itachi is much stronger than Orochimaru."
"But Baachan that's exactly why I need missions! To get stronger and to fight them so I can beat them to the bloody pulp they deserve to be!" Naruto sat on the edge of his seat, knuckles white from gripping the arm rest.
"BRAT! The last time you fought Orochimaru, which may I remind you happened almost a month ago, you were only able to draw it to a tie"
"No, I won. I crippled his arms again and killed Kabuto"
"AND NEARLY DIED" Tsunade yelled. Honestly, couldn't Naruto realize just how much he suffered as well?
"I still won." Naruto pouted. Sure he had ended up in a coma that for some reason Kyuubi had a hard time taking him out of. Neither he nor Tsunade could figure out why it took Kyuubi so long to heal his injuries, and no matter how much they pestered, Kyuubi wouldn't tell. He would only slam the gates of his cage shut with his tails and ignore them.
"You are still recovering, you were only let out yesterday. And besides, you're not getting guard duty for ten years. At least six months as we analyze the Oto and Akatsuki situation."
"Six months?! That's still too long! Baaaaaaaaaa…." Naruto pleaded. Tsunade faced his best puppy-dog eyes with stubbornness. "No"
"Three months?"
"No"
"Five?"
"NO Naruto." Tsunade sighed in annoyance. Naruto recognized his defeat when he saw it (which wasn't often) and slumped into his chair in surrender. Tsunade witnessed how upset he had looked and felt bad for making Naruto feel this way.
"Naruto" Tsunade began. Naruto looked up a bit hopeful but held back his hope. Tsunade rarely changed her mind, and never did when it meant her loved ones could get hurt.
"Remember the promise you told me you made four years ago at Sasuke's funeral" Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden bring up of THAT topic. He bowed his head and nodded in remembrance. Yeah…I promised him I wouldn't die...so that he wouldn't have died in vain…
Tsunade pitied her favorite gaki. She had learned all about Sasuke from both Naruto and her apprentice Sakura. Apparently he was a lot like Orochimaru when Orochimaru was that age…the only difference was that while Orochimaru didn't give a shit, Sasuke sacrificed himself, to save Naruto. For that alone Tsunade felt gratitude to the young Uchiha she never met, sadness for his death.
Tsunade sighed again. "If it means so much to you, gaki, then train in one of the Anbu training grounds. Those should be quite challenging. And if they aren't then ask some of the stronger shinobi to spar. Many are curious to know how strong you are since they heard of the fight with Orochimaru, you know."
Naruto nodded at this, understanding that for the moment, those were his only options.
"But for now, rest. You don't start guard duty until next week and I don't want you training until that time either, got it?" Tsunade's stern but worried face showed how much she felt for the blonde, and Naruto understood that making her worry too much wouldn't be good for her job or his.
"I promise"
Naruto was getting up to leave when Sakura entered. She looked at Tsunade's broken door and quirked an eye at Naruto. Naruto gave a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of this head.
Sakura rolled her eyes but smiled and faced Tsunade. "I just came to inform you that Hyuuga Hanabi is no worse for the wear, and Mrs. Aogawa gave birth to twins."
"And your training lessons?"
"Done" Sakura replied with a bit of pride. She always managed to go through Tsunade's training regimes quickly, unless Tsunade was in a bad mood. Then it took most of the week.
"Good" Tsunade said with a look of content. "You have the rest of the day off. Now leave me alone so I can do this paperwork"
"Pfft. You mean so you can drink your sake"
Naruto meeped and dodged the book Tsunade threw at him with Sakura not far behind, giggling in mirth.
Once outside the Hokage tower, Naruto slowed down and began to walk in the direction of the old training grounds. Sakura knew the route only too well. 'I guess He must have came up in their conversation…'
Sakura sped up to meet with Naruto's stride in silence. It was just understood that now was not the best time for random conversation. Even Kyuubi didn't talk during these visits, not unless it involved an emergency. He understood how it was like to lose a precious someone – though the loss made him bitter and spiteful, he still understood.
Finally they reached the old training grounds where they battled Kakashi for the bells, where they first officially became Team Seven. They stood in front of the memorial stone, eyes instantly spotting the name of their fallen comrade after numerous visits. They stood side by side in silence as they remembered Sasuke, his glares, his attitude, his sacrifice.
I'd like to thank whoever decided to give my story a try despite the terrible summary.
I suck at summaries, because I can't summarize. I tend to have the 'disadvantage' as my teachers call it, to want to elaborate and tell every single bitty detail. Fortunately I've learned to stem that a bit – but it's so hard! If I had my way, this chapter would have been a novel in itself…but that's not a good thing.
The first chapter is still pretty long; the next chapters might not be so long unless I decide that something interesting will happen in them. Then expect to sit for an hour or so, unless you're a fast reader like me.
This is my first story, and I'm hoping to make it continue for a while…whether short, or long, who knows, up to my fancy ne?. Reviews and helpful criticism would be nice 3