Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Between A Rock And A Hard Place ❯ Coming Together ( Chapter 16 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

His tan hands trembled as he cupped them close to his knees. How pathetic was he, now worrying like crazy since Tsunade sent him out. Naruto just couldn't kill the feeling that everyone was trying to hide something from him. First Gaara, with his mysterious illness that seemed to be entirely different from the rest of the villagers, then Sasuke with his awkward behavior for which Naruto almost thought was jealousy, now Tsunade was sending him away so he couldn't find out about the disease that had suddenly put so many lives in danger. What was going on here and why was he the only one left out of the mix?

Naruto's head sank in-between his legs and chest as he cuddled himself against the wall to the small hut. Sasuke, sitting remotely similar, stared at Naruto with a hint of sadness. His expression had softened completely upon noticing Naruto's own worried condition. Despite the still ravenous anger he had for the blond and his new secret lover, Sasuke could never ignore how upset it mad him to know Naruto was in any way hurt or saddened by something. After all it was the blonde's enormous heart that first drawn Sasuke to the obsessive admiration he has now.

"What do you think they are talking about in there?" Naruto asked in a low voice, hoping Tsunade wouldn't over hear him and chide him for his uncontrollable curiosity. He got this eerie feeling the very moment Tsunade's face went pale and her expression blank. But what had she sense that he himself had missed? Having the Kyuubi spirit in him should have enhanced his sense more than any other shinobi, yet he was unable to see what was clearly evident to everyone else. It couldn't be his exhaustion could it? Naruto knew he was still a little worn out from last night and probably the previous adventurous nights, but surely Kyuubi would have recharged his strength by now. Was Kyuubi weakened too? Was he getting sick as well, if that was even possible?

"I'm sure it's nothing." Sasuke said confidentially. He hated lying straight to Naruto's face like that. He was not as oblivious as the blond. He knew that look in the notorious sanin's eyes. There was obviously something very wrong going on. He would be wrong to tell Naruto that Tsunade was going to heal everyone and they would all live happily ever after, so he didn't. It was better for him to at least pretend he had no roll in knowing this just in case Naruto should try to blame it on him.

"I really hope you're right Sasuke..." Naruto muttered in reply. He lifted his head only slightly and glanced at Sasuke through glassy cobalt eyes. "All these villagers are depending on us. If we should fail, I don't think I would be able to forgive myself." Gaara's reputation was on the line as well. If he didn't have the same illness, then the people would still have reason to blame him. That would only bring about more fighting and trouble. "Sasuke, I really am sorry about not telling you earlier." Naruto mentioned absentmindedly. He thought he had to say it now or he would never be able to say it. "I was afraid you would ridicule me for liking Gaara."

Sasuke half laughed. "Now that was a stupid thought. You are my best friend Naruto, actually my only real friend. I could never make fun of you for something you really cared about, besides ramen of course. I will always think that is the most unhealthy obsession you have." Sasuke chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood. His throat suddenly clapped down on his laughs and his head jerked down to see the thin palm that had unexpectedly slipped into his. He had to admit, Naruto's hand was so warm and soft as the blond squeezed his palm tightly. He supposed Naruto was just trying to overcome his nervousness of having finally confessed his fears. "You have to know Naruto...I will always stay by your side. No matter what you do or where you go, I promise to protect you." Sasuke sweetly promised. He didn't care anymore that Naruto was with Gaara for the moment Gaara screwed up, Sasuke would be there to kick his ass and scoop Naruto up into his arms. At least then Naruto will finally know he was right all this time and that he had always adored him. If only life were that simple.

Meanwhile Tsunade wasn't having as great a acceptance moment as the two teens outside. She was far from the calm, yet reckless manner she was use to. By simple staring at the specimen she new this recovery would beyond her. She specialized in medical problems, but this was not an issue of the physical body. This was a battle of the mind. "I am sorry." Tsunade turned to the two children standing by her, wondering why she had yet to perform any jutsu's to heal their mother. "I don't have the medicine I need to heal her right now. She should be fine for several more days, I shall be back before then and treat her myself." Tsunade explained. Though she was lying through her teeth, she was desperately hoping to have found a remedy by then.

With that said, Tsunade took her leave. But the moment she stepped passed that front door, she spotted a yellow blob jump in front of her. "So how did it go? Did you heal her? Is she going to be okay?" Naruto asked anxiously, his eyes wide with expectance. Tsunade nearly punched him in the face just to turn those heart felt eyes away from her. How could she tell this ambitious boy that there was no hope for these people as far as she was concerned? So Tsunade merely smiled a gentle smile and walked passed the blond. It left Naruto in an obvious confusion as he scampered close beside her, Sasuke falling back with the escorts. "Tsunade, can you check out Gaara too?" Naruto asked. "I think he's coming down with something."

In a flash of a moment, Naruto and Sasuke both froze in place as Tsunade's eyes widened to unsuspecting lengths. But Sasuke, the more sensible one of the two teens, understood Tsunade's surprise. Gaara had a demon spirit within him just like Naruto, and just like they were immune to long standing wounds, they had an extremely high resilience against sickness. So it was very peculiar to hear Gaara could be sick. But this only confirmed Tsunade's assumptions more. No physical disease could pass on to a demon, so it most definitely got there another way.

Tsunade continued walking toward the Kazekage's office, her pace having quickened quite a bit. As Naruto earnestly tried to keep up with her, she couldn't help but notice another suspicious abnormality. She stopped on brief moment, grabbing Naruto’s hand quickly. "Naruto where did you get this?" She pointed to the boy's hand. Naruto stared down at the two punctured holes left from the snake's fangs three days ago, they were nearly faded all the way through, but still noticeable. He quickly mentioned the incident to her, making Tsunade skeptical. Kyuubi should have healed up this simple wounds days ago. "Has your chakra control been working right lately?" Tsunade asked; Naruto merely nodded his head. Overuse of chakra would lead to exhaustion and make wounds heal slower than usual, but Naruto hadn't been required to exert his chakra during the past week, so it made no since.

Jade orbs ran slowly over the scene. The walls were a dull gray color, freshly sainted with red. Well, not too freshly sainted. The floor, that was once a calming, faded green color, was marked by a series of ancient calligraphy as well as like blood drops. A collection of scrolls laid scattered about the room haphazardly. Gaara frown drearly at the room. It had been three whole weeks since he last came down here. Since the basement was no longer used by storage, he had thought it a perfect place for his 'experiment' during the time. But he merely regretted it now. It had been a stupid idea and now it was a tremendous problem.

"Why do you hate me so?" Gaara asked hoarsely to the being that controlled so much of his life from the inside. He knew he could not blame Shukaku entirely for what he had done, it was his own fault for ever believing he could be parted from this god forsaken demon. He had been standing here in his day dreaming for several hours now. Instead of completing his work like he intended to do when he first got out of bed after Naruto and his 'activities', he had came down here.

There was just an oddness to being near Naruto during the night. Though Gaara would always feel spirited and relieved around the boy, he knew it was an unlikely outcome. He shouldn't be at peace in the night, especially because of some blond boy. It seemed almost too good to be true when Naruto arrived, claiming to be the answer to all their prayers. And he had been for several occasions now, but Gaara hardly thought he was deserving of this blessing. After how he had condemned his people, he did not deserve such an angel. Shukaku was only mocking him for sure. Sure Naruto had been given to him by sheer luck and faith, but Gaara was all too sure someone would find away to steal away his joy and leave him scared and worse off than before. Such a fate was obvious, especially when he was already pushing Naruto away, though the blond just didn't seem to know it yet.

As if to prove himself of this fact, Gaara began to mold up his worthless sand. The thousands of tiny grains moved at his command, bending at his will. He found it stubborn that the sand had refused to work for or with him during the past few days. His normal barrier no longer came up on its own whenever he was touched and his evasion had gone down drastically as well. But the first day Naruto and the rest arrived, it had worked fine. It wasn't until he was in the boys presence that his chakra was thrown all off balance. Gaara was not as oblivious to the changes as Naruto was, he had noticed Naruto's chakra loss as well. Since he first noticed Naruto's wounds had lasted more than a day when Sasuke saw them.

"Gaara! Gaara, someone's here to see you!" Kankuro's voice rumbled from upstairs. Gaara absentmindedly growled and stepped aside. He was never pleased to hear he had guest. And judging by what day it was, there was only a few possibilities of who it could be. Gaara reluctantly made his way back up to his office. A frail looking woman with short black hair stood across from Temari and Kankuro, discussing something of great importance. In truth, Gaara could care less what news she was bringing, but he had a duty as the Kazekage to up hold.

"Oh, good afternoon Kazekage-san." Shizune replied, smiling mildly upon seeing the grumpy looking boy. "Sorry for the long wait, but Tsunade has finally made it into town. Unfortunately she is out with Naruto right now, but they show be back any moment to go over this mission with you." The lady explained. For some odd reason Shizune could tell Gaara was suddenly angered by something she said. She supposed the boy was frustrated with Tsunade for not having come here directly, but in truth, Gaara was a little upset to hear Naruto was with her. Kami knows what could come up in one of their conversations.

Fate had proven to be against Gaara when he heard the boisterous voices from outside and the footsteps of many. He could hear the front door being opened and closed, and the sudden urge to run away became strong in Gaara. But he had no chance before the door to his office came busting open and he figures of his Konoha assistants appeared. "Gaara! Look, baa-san finally showed up! She can make you all better now!" Naruto exclaimed, rushing over to Gaara's side. He seemed so oblivious to how angry he had made Gaara just now.

The red head quickly stepped back away from his blond boyfriend, eyes hard and narrow with fury. "I told you I'm fine! I don't need Tsunade to check me. I only called her to help out the villagers. So instead of wasting precious time on your idiotic illusions, you should be doing just that." Gaara snarled viciously. He no longer had any patience for Naruto when it came to spreading around what he thought were only rumors. He didn't need a doctor! Naruto stood in absolute bewilderment before Gaara. What had he said or done that was so wrong?

"Um...Sasuke, why don't you take Naruto out and go inform Kakashi and Gai of my arrival." Tsunade suggested. Seeing as how the air had suddenly become so tensed when Gaara lashed at the blond, she knew something was terribly wrong. Just the simple glow in Naruto's eyes when he came running up to his friend, Tsunade had figured it was more than concern that lead to the blonde's actions. Sasuke nodded and grabbed Naruto's wrist, tugging him out of the room. At first Naruto was too stunned to move and even tried to approach Gaara again, but Sasuke insisted on their departure.

Shizune, Temari and Kankuro all seemed to get the idea and took their own leave. With the door now closed and the two supposedly strongest ninja in the village standing before each other, the room went silent again. It was Tsunade who had broken the ice a second time. "You lied to me." Tsunade stated coldly. "When I was first requested for this rescue mission I was informed the villagers had come down with a plague, and that you had no idea of what was making them sick."

"At the time I didn't." Gaara corrected. He turned his back to Tsunade. "Shouldn't you be using your pathetic medical jutsu's on them now?" He asked somewhat smugly.

"You know good and well my medicine will have no effect on them." She barked back.

"What?!" Tsunade and Gaara both jerked around, staring at the door where a startled Naruto had burst through the door. Sasuke was still tugging on the back of his shirt where he apparently tried to stop Naruto from coming back in here. "What do you mean your medicine would work Grandma Tsunade?!" Naruto asked hysterically. "You can help anyone! You healed Sasuke and me before! Why can't you do it now?"

Tsunade hesitated at first. Her eyes fell coldly on Sasuke, who got the hint and ran for the hills. She didn't want this to get out, but it might be for the better to explain this to Naruto. Since he is evolved, it could better help protect him. "I can't help these people because they are cursed by the effects of a forbidden jutsu." Tsunade stated sternly. Gaara stiffened; his fist clenched tightly and he glowered at the ground. "They are mere innocent victims to the selfishness of their own Kazekage." Tsunade continued.

"Shut up!" Gaara snapped. His eyes were furiously shaking and glimmering with a deep flame of hatred and what Naruto could also see as sadness. "Don't act like you know a damn thing about me! You have no idea what I've been through or the things I've done! So where do you get off calling me selfish?!" She didn't know the truth, Gaara thought angrily. It was wrong of her to assume the worst of him. This wasn't his fault! Kankuro said so, Naruto too! This couldn't possibly be all his fault.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto interrupted, baffled and upset. "Gaara wouldn't make his villagers sick. He's not like that anymore!" Naruto defended. Even though Gaara had hated everyone at a time, that didn't mean he still wanted to kill everyone. he had changed, Naruto was sure of it. And why would he call for help if he wanted these people dead? There had to be a better explanation than the one Tsunade was giving.

"You would really like to think so wouldn't you Naruto?" Tsunade questioned. It was true, Naruto would have liked to see the good in everyone. "But Gaara is so careless and selfish he hadn't even bothered to put you out of harms way. He is making you both sick!"

"What?! I'm not sick; I told you Gaara is the one that is sick. "

"Don't be foolish Naruto. Your chakra level has fallen drastically and you know it. Gaara is responsible for everything. He is poisoning his own people with Shukaku's spirit!"

"No!" Gaara yelled out. "Stop it! I didn't mean to hurt them!" Gaara screamed out. Naruto fell silent with worry once he noticed the dreary and sorrowful tone of the other boy. "It was an accident..." Gaara whispered. Moisture formed in his eyes and he was reminded of the horrible moment. "It wasn't suppose to happen that way." A sob like whimper escaped. "I was the only person who was suppose to die!"

To Be Continued...

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, it won't take as long next time. Anyway, I hope you all really liked this chapter. Okay there wasn't much to like when things are so chaotic, but at least its progress in the plot. After the next chapter there might be a little more SasuNaru stuff for awhile. You'll find out why of course, but don't be to discouraged. Also I want to know which guy you think should be Naruto's 'first'. I mean since this is a GaaraNaru fic, I would like Sasuke to have something out of it in the end, even if it was later regretted by Naruto. And I'm still going to do the GaaraNaruSasu at the end, so...who should have the honors?