Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Blood Stained Hands ❯ Reunion ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: Reunion

 

Sasuke trudged slowly through the streets of Konoha. His head was bowed and shoulders hunched as if he carried some kind of heavy weight on them. No longer was there any hint of the Uchiha's superior aplomb or grace. All anyone watching at that moment would have seen was the broken remains of a lonely boy crushed under the weight of Life's cruel injustices.

 

Sasuke hardly seemed to know where he was going. He just let his feet carry him wherever they may. There was no reason to care about where he was going anyway. Nothing mattered anymore…

 

For a brief moment of time, he'd once again had a purpose to live: to hunt down his older brother and avenge the deaths of his best friend and family - to finally make Itachi pay. But just like every other time he'd tried to stop his murderous brother the bastard had managed to slip away at the last minute and escape.

 

Years ago, Sasuke would have been a towering storm of rage right now - stomping around and on the verge on killing anyone stupid enough to come near him. But now getting mad just seemed like too much effort. The cold emptiness in his heart seemed to suck all other emotions from his body, leaving him hollow and numb inside. This latest attempt to find his brother just proved once again he was too weak to avenge those he'd lost. That he was a failure…

 

The boy bowed his head, fighting to keep back the swell of self-loathing and disgust in the back of his throat. It was his fault Naruto was dead. If only he'd been there sooner, the blond whirlwind might still be alive. If he'd just kept a closer eye on the idiot instead of worrying about finding Itachi, then he might not have had to find Naruto's mutilated corpse in the middle of that blood-soaked clearing…

 

He could still feel his friend's blood coating his hands. He might not have been the one to actually break Naruto's neck or slash a razor-sharp blade across his stomach, but he knew deep down he was just as responsible for the blond shinobi's death as Itachi himself. If only he hadn't been so obsessed with finding Itachi, or had been watching Naruto's back instead of being so consumed with his own hatred and revenge, then maybe his friend would still be alive today, laughing and joking there beside him like he was so often wont to do…

 

An almost painful rush of sorrow assaulted Sasuke - memories of the blond shinobi rising in the back of his mind like restless spirits of the dead - but somehow the boy managed to keep his composure. Although his heart felt like one massive throbbing wound, he refused to give himself the comfort of letting any tears fall. He hadn't cried since that fateful night in the clearing. He didn't deserve to cry. It was his fault Naruto was dead in the first place. It seemed only proper that he should have to silently bear this pain even though such a punishment was hardly adequate a price to pay for the horrible crime he was guilty of.

 

The boy continued to aimlessly walk for some time, guilt haunting his every step. The streets were for the most part empty - most of Konoha's ninja population still on the border at the Akatsuki stronghold, while the rest of the villagers seemed to be waiting in tense anticipation for word on the battle. As Sasuke neared the main market area of the village however he came within sight of a number of people.

 

A crowd had begun to form off to one side of the street - a number of stall vendors and citizens gathering in what looked like a small gossip circle. He saw two Leaf forehead protectors amongst the crowd and could only assume they were either gennin or ninja that'd already returned to the village from the raid like he had.

 

Not one for rumors or the local gossip mill, Sasuke was about to walk past them without even a second glance. But just as he was about to pass them he happened to catch a snippet of one of the ninja talking, and stopped dead in his tracks.

 

“… were searching the cave for anymore Akatsuki and found a prisoner locked in a cell,” the ninja was saying, loudly reciting his tale to his audience. “Supposedly it was the Kazekage and one of our ninja that found him. But what you'll never guess is who it is they found.” The ninja gave a dramatic pause, his audience of shopkeepers and housewives all leaning forward in suspense.

 

“It was the fox-boy!” his companion excitedly exclaimed, as if unable to take the suspense anymore himself. “You know, the Kyuubi vessel!”

 

An audible gasp came from the captivated group of villagers.

 

“But I thought he was killed last summer in an Akatsuki attack,” one woman spoke up, her tone doubtful.

 

“No. It was him they found, without a doubt,” the second ninja said, shaking his head excitedly. “The Hokage saw him herself and started giving orders for him to be brought back here. She's looking him over now in the hospital. Even the Kazekage came back with her as an escort. Do you know the Kazekage and that fox-boy were supposedly friends before everyone thought he died?”

 

The group of ninja and villagers continued talking - hypothesizing the possible relationship between the two demon vessels and how the boy had miraculously come back from the dead - but Sasuke heard no more of what they said. For he had already sped off some time ago in the direction of Konoha's hospital.

 

oooooo

 

“I need bandages and water,” Tsunade said, her tone harsh and clipped as she examined her unconscious patient, using her medical jutsu to see what damage had been done to the boy she'd come to see as a little brother. “Also bring extra blankets and antibiotic salve. A couple of these wounds look like they've become infected.”

 

Two medics hovering near the door scurried out of the room to get what she'd ordered, leaving the Hokage to tend to her patient. Iruka hovered close beside Naruto on the other side of the hospital bed, anxiously whispering soft reassurances and comforting words to the boy as he rhythmically petted the tangled mess of bangs from Naruto`s face. Tsunade couldn't help but wonder if he was really trying to comfort his student or still trying to come to terms with the fact that the boy was still alive. Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Gaara stood in a small group on the other side of the room near the door, out of the way, but Tsunade could feel the three ninja watching her every move, as if ready to leap to Naruto's aid at any moment. If it wasn't for Tsunade's lingering shock she would have almost found it amusing how the boy had single-handedly turned some of the most powerful, battle-toughened ninja around into worrying mother hens. But then again, considering the boy's unexpected return and current state of being she could understand how those that'd known him could become so protective. She knew she herself was certainly no exception…

 

The female Sannin had to fight to keep her anger in check as more and more injuries were revealed to her searching hands. Naruto's body was littered with bruises and half-healed cuts. It'd been a sickening sight to see the devastation wrought on the poor boy when they'd finally arrived at the hospital and stripped Naruto of Iruka's vest.

 

Although he'd never been large or heavy in build, Naruto looked absolutely emaciated. Tsunade could count every single one of the younger shinobi's ribs and was painfully aware of the way his collarbone and cheekbones protruded from his body as though his skin was two sizes too small for his skeletal frame. As she ran her hands up and down his body she could feel the distant echo of torn ligaments and muscles through her medical jutsu. Whatever Akatsuki had done to him, they'd done it repeatedly, and often. Often enough for Naruto's unnatural regenerative powers to have trouble keeping up with healing the damage…

 

“How is he?” Tsunade heard a voice say, and looked up to find Jiraiya standing beside her, staring at his student with unreadable dark eyes.

 

“He's extremely weak,” Tsunade sighed, shaking her head in helpless anger and frustration. “He looks like he hasn't been fed in months and I can detect signs of torture, or at least some kind of abuse.”

 

“Will he recover?” Iruka asked, his one hand still rhythmically stroking Naruto's hair.

 

Tsunade wearily shook her head. “I don't know. Physically he should, but we don't know if he's suffered any kind of psychological damage. I wouldn't put it past Akatsuki to have done something like that…”

 

“Akatsuki will pay for what they've done,” Gaara growled from where he still stood near the door, his voice dripping with promised death.

 

Kakashi stepped closer to the bed, his one eye shadowed as he stared at Naruto`s barely recognizable form. “We're lucky we found him. I'm surprised Akatsuki didn't try to take him with them when they were escaping.”

 

“We must've caught them off guard,” Jiraiya said. “They must not have had time to get him.”

 

“I still want to know how he's alive though,” the silver-haired jounin said. He hesitantly reached out and touched Naruto's bony shoulder, as though trying to convince himself the boy was really there alive and breathing. “I and at least four other people found his body. There's no way someone could have survived what Akatsuki did to him. We also cremated his body. There should be no possible way for him to be here…”

 

Unfortunately, the famed copy ninja and the other shinobi didn't have time to wonder how such a miracle was possible. For just at that moment - as though woken by Kakashi's gentle touch - Naruto stirred, his eyelids weakly fluttering open before sluggishly falling close again. A pained moan sounded somewhere deep in the back of the boy's throat as he lethargically rolled his head to the side.

 

“Naruto?” Iruka called, anxiously leaning forward and petting back his student's hair. “Naruto, can you hear me?”

 

As though actually hearing his sensei's voice, Naruto rolled his head back towards Iruka. Eyelids slowly parted to reveal two hazy, cerulean-blue orbs underneath. There was a momentary pause as Naruto blankly stared up at his teacher. But then, his eyes finally focusing on the one leaning over him, a terrified scream burst from the boy's lips.

 

Before Iruka or anyone else knew what was happening, Naruto sprung upright and violently twisted away from him, scrambling to the other side of the bed.

 

“Get away from me!” he screamed. His eyes were filled with panic, his expression terrified. “Get away!”

 

He finally came to the edge of the bed and tumbled over the side. Too weak to stand or walk, Naruto scuttled backwards across the floor, his feet desperately kicking at the ground until he finally collided with the wall behind him. He sat there with his back pressed against the wall, breathing hard and staring at the group of startled ninja in unrestrained panic.

 

“Don't touch me!” he yelled. “Stay away!” He'd drawn his knees up to his chest like a frightened animal. His hands clawed at the wall as though trying to find some kind of escape. “You can't have it! I won't let you have it!”

 

“Naruto,” Iruka said, slowly stepping towards the boy, his arms outstretched to draw his student into a comforting hug. “Naruto, it's us. Don't you remember-?”

 

“Stay away!” Naruto once again began kicking at the ground, scrambling backwards against the wall until he was huddled in a tiny ball in the far corner of the room. “You can't have it! I won't let you take it!”

 

Gripping either side of his head, Naruto frantically looked around the room, his blue eyes almost bulging from his emaciated face. “Where am I?” he cried, his voice breaking with fear. Tsunade could tell by the panicked look in his eyes that Naruto didn't recognize anyone there. “You can't have it! I won't let you get Kyuubi! It's not yours!”

 

Tsunade, Iruka, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Gaara all stared at Naruto in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening.

 

“Naruto,” Tsunade said, stepping around the bed towards him. She moved with exaggerated slowness, making sure to keep her voice as soft and reassuring as possible. “It's alright, Naruto. No one's going to hurt you. We-”

 

“STAY AWAY!” The boy cringed away from her and huddled into an even smaller ball, his knees drawn flush up against his chest. “You can't have Kyuubi! I won't let you! I`ll die before I let you get it!”

 

Unable to come any closer, Tsunade could only watch as the broken shadow of the boy she once knew hugged his knees and began rocking back and forth in the corner, fearful tears leaking down his cheeks. It was then that Tsunade suddenly realized whatever Akatsuki had done to Naruto was something far worse than what she'd ever expected. And for the first time in as long as she could remember being Hokage or even a medic, she felt completely and utterly helpless in knowing what to do to help heal those wounds…

 

oooooo

 

Sasuke flew through the crowded hospital, his feet eating up the stretch of sterile white floor. His breathing rasped harshly in his ears like pads of steel wool. His sides were beginning to cramp from running halfway across the village, but he ignored the pain. He could focus on nothing but the haze of frantic disbelief clouding his brain.

 

Those two ninja had said someone had found Naruto - that the blond shinobi was still alive! He had no idea how such a thing could be possible, but he had to make sure. The possibility of such a miracle being true was too much of a fantastic, unlikely hope for the boy to ignore. He had to know if his friend was really alive…

 

The deeper Sasuke delved into the hospital, the faster his heart began to race. He'd caught several glimpses of ANBU black opts - private bodyguards of the Hokage - milling around the halls, which almost screamed Tsunade was somewhere nearby.

 

Could this mean those ninja hadn't been lying and that Naruto really had been found?

 

Pushing more effort into his stinging leg muscles, Sasuke sped down another hallway. It was not difficult to deduce where Tsunade might be. The entire hospital was abuzz with noise and movement. Medics and nurses rushed about tending to patients, but the chaotic disorder of the place was impossible to mask the presence of half a dozen ANBU with their painted animal masks standing guard at one end of the hall. If those ninja had been telling the truth before and Tsunade truly had returned to the village with Naruto, then that was most likely where he was going to be found - with the Hokage.

 

As he neared the troop of guards - despite all his frantic thoughts and desperate need to see if his friend was really alive - Sasuke still had the presence of mind to know he would need an excuse to get past Tsunade's body guards. ANBU were charged with protecting the Hokage's life and weren't about to let just anyone run up to her. He'd be lucky if they let him within fifty feet of the room.

 

He was going to need a plan…

 

Unfortunately, Sasuke never got a chance to put any of his Uchiha genius to use, for just at that moment a frightened scream suddenly pierced the air, echoing down the corridors like some kind of ghostly cry from beyond the grave.

 

Sasuke almost froze at the sound. He knew that voice…

 

Although weak and laced with unfamiliar fear, Sasuke immediately recognized it. It would have been impossible for him not to. He'd spent so many of Team Seven's first missions together trying to block out that voice's incessant babbling, it'd been permanently etched into his memory. It was a voice he hadn't heard in more than nine months; a voice he'd thought he'd never hear again…

 

Naruto…

 

Any thoughts of plans now completely forgotten, Sasuke put on an extra burst of speed and rushed past the startled group of guards.

 

“Hey!” one of them yelled, lunging after Sasuke. But the boy was too fast. Driven by adrenaline and the almost painful hope now coursing through his veins like fire, not even the most elite of ninja probably could have stopped Sasuke from reaching that hospital room. If he was right and those ninja's story was to be believed (and assuming grief and guilt hadn't finally robbed him of his last bit of sanity), Sasuke would have gone up against a whole squad of ANBU without a second thought if it meant him once again seeing his friend who thought he'd lost to death so many months ago.

 

Dodging another ANBU that tried to grab him, Sasuke leapt towards the door, wrenched it open, and stumbled inside. His eyes quickly took in the scene, cataloging the presence and position of everyone there. Kakashi, Gaara, and the Sannin pervert Jiraiya were standing off to one side of the room. Tsunade and Iruka were near the far wall, their backs to him. And huddled there in the corner…

 

Sasuke felt the air leave his lungs like he'd just been punched in the gut. His entire body froze, paralyzed by the sight of the one he beheld.

 

Like a tiny ball of misery, a blond figure sat in the corner of the room, his knees pulled up to his chest. At Sasuke's sudden entrance, he visibly jumped, his head snapping up as if afraid of some kind of attack. Frightened tears leaked from his eyes, pooling and running along whisker-marked cheeks.

 

For a moment Sasuke wondered if what he was seeing was really real. A part of him knew who he saw couldn't really be sitting there - that there was no possible way he could still be alive! But no matter how hard the rational side of Sasuke's brain tried to assert itself, there was no denying the hauntingly familiar blue eyes staring back at him from the face of this emaciated, broken boy…

 

“Naruto…” The name slipped from Sasuke's lips like a whisper, shocked disbelief robbing him of any other intelligent speech.

 

For half a breath of eternity the two just stared at each other, their gazes locked in mutual surprise.

 

Not really conscious of his own actions, Sasuke shakily took another step into the room, his eyes never leaving those of his resurrected teammate. “Naruto… how-?”

 

But Sasuke never got a chance to find out how his friend was still alive, because just then the ANBU guards he'd slipped past in the hallway finally caught up with him, streaming into the room and tackling him from behind.

 

“Got you!” one yelled, seizing Sasuke's arm and twisting it behind his back. Another guard grabbed Sasuke`s other arm and did the same, effectively immobilizing the young Uchiha. They began to pull him back towards the door.

 

“No!” Sasuke yelled, struggling against his captors. “Let me go!” His eyes were still locked on the frightened blond figure in the corner. He had to go see his friend. He had to make sure he was really real. “Let me go!”

 

“Sasuke..?”

 

Although weak and barely audible, the raspy voice rang like cannon fire through the room. Everyone froze, looking at Naruto in surprise. The boy was staring at Sasuke, the first true hint of recognition sparking somewhere in the back of his eyes. His body visibly relaxed, his muscles slowly untensing as recognition flooded his face.

 

“Release him!” Tsunade yelled, hurrying towards the group of ANBU. “Let him go!”

 

The ANBU reluctantly obeyed the Hokage and let the struggling ninja go. Sasuke stumbled as he was released, but he hardly seemed to notice. His attention was wholly focused on the other boy huddled in the corner.

 

“Go back outside and wait,” Tsunade said, sharply motioning her guards back towards the door. “And don't let anyone else inside. If anymore people come bursting in here like that and traumatize that boy anymore than he already is, so help me gods I'll have your heads.”

 

As the ANBU retreated from the angry Sannin and shut the door behind them, Sasuke took several more steps towards his former teammate, his eyes wide with lingering disbelief. Naruto didn't move, his legs still protectively drawn up against his chest as he watched Sasuke draw near. Unlike with Tsunade or Iruka, he did not try to scramble away. But even then, the suspicious shine of fear did not fully leave his eyes.

 

Slowly, hesitantly, as if afraid his friend might suddenly disappear in a cloud of smoke, Sasuke knelt beside Naruto on the ground, his hands held out to the sides so as not to startle the frightened boy. For a moment all Sasuke could do was stare. His mind felt like a raging storm of confusion, disbelief and shock. He still couldn't seem to make himself believe what he saw was real. It was all just too much for his jumbled brain to comprehend.

 

Very carefully, Sasuke reached a hand towards Naruto, wanting nothing more than to touch his friend and know that he was truly and honestly alive. Naruto at first flinched, shying away from the other boy. But then relaxing, he allowed Sasuke to tentatively run his fingertips along one whisker-marked cheek.

 

“Naruto…” Sasuke whispered, his voice breaking somewhere deep inside his throat as emotions long since repressed threatened to overwhelm his defenses. “It's really you…” Suspiciously damp eyes swept over Naruto's emaciated face, cataloging every line and darkened shadow capture and untold horrors had wrought on the once happy, outspoken boy. He slowly met Naruto's eyes again, a thousand different questions fighting to be asked at once. But only one actually made it out.

 

“How..?” Sasuke whispered, his voice choked with emotion. “How are you still alive? I was there when they found your body. You were dead…”

 

“That wasn't me,” Naruto croaked, his voice weak and somehow childlike in its wretchedness. He hugged his knees closer. “Akatsuki faked my death so they could kidnap me without anyone coming to save me. They captured one of my shadow clones during battle and used some kind of special scroll seal on it to keep it from disappearing or me breaking the jutsu…”

 

As if remembering that terrible night, Naruto curled into an even tighter ball, wrapping one arm across his stomach while his other hand snaked up to grip the back of his neck. Tears pooled along his eyes and streaked down his cheeks in long, salty tracks. “I was knocked out when they started cutting up my clone…” he said, rocking back and forth in the corner. “I didn't know what they did until my jutsu finally broke…”

 

A shuddering sob racked his skeletal frame. His voice began to quiver, his entire body beginning to shake. “W-whenever you make a clone you know everything that clone did once it disappears. You know everything it saw, felt, or did… When my jutsu finally broke…” Naruto seemed unable to finish his sentence and trailed off with a gut-wrenching sob. Rocking himself back and forth, he clutched his stomach and neck tighter, as if assaulted with the memory of some long remembered pain. “When my jutsu finally broke,” he forced himself to go on, “it… wasn't very pleasant…”

 

“Oh gods…” Kakashi murmured, his one eye wide with dawning horror. “Everything they did to your clone you felt after your jutsu broke, didn`t you?”

 

Naruto didn't answer. But it was not difficult to glean an answer from the way the boy curled tighter in on himself and sobbed as he held his stomach and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, as if trying to smooth away some phantom pain.

 

“The jutsu must have been broken when his clone was cremated for the funeral…” Jiraiya said. The wandering Sannin stared at his former student, his dark eyes filling with grief. “Those bastards… I'll kill them if I ever get my hands on them.”

 

“But why?” Sasuke demanded, still dazed by everything he'd heard. “Why would Akatsuki want to kidnap you and go to all the trouble of faking your death?”

 

“Because of Kyuubi,” Naruto cried, miserably shaking his head. “They want to use the fox's power for themselves. They're trying to break the seal. I`ve been fighting them, but it`s getting so hard to do…” Clutching either side of his head, Naruto huddled farther into the corner, as if somehow trying to hide.

 

“I can feel Kyuubi all the time now in the back of my head,” he sobbed, frantically clutching his hair between his fingers as though trying to actually pull it from his head. “All the time… I can hear it clawing and scratching at my mind, trying to get out… It won't ever stop. Nothing I do will make it stop!” His voice steadily began to rise in pitch and volume, panic lacing his words. “It just keeps getting louder and louder!” he cried. “I just can`t make it shut up!”

 

Now hyperventilating and sobbing freely, Naruto collapsed down over his knees, still rocking back and forth in place. His entire body shook. His fingers clawed at his scalp, viciously tugging at his own hair. “Make it stop!” he pleaded, screaming through his gritted teeth. “Please just make it stop! I don't want to hear that fox anymore! It won`t be quiet or go away! All I can see are flames and teeth! Please just make it go AWAY!”

 

“Naruto, stop it!” Sasuke shouted, desperately trying to pry his friends hands away from his head before he could tear his own hair out. Several strands of blond hair drifted to the floor. “Naruto, stop it!”

 

Finally peeling Naruto's fingers away from his head, Sasuke suddenly found his arms filled with his sobbing, shaking friend. Naruto desperately clung to Sasuke, his face buried in the dark-haired boy's shirt. “Please don't let them get me again,” he sobbed, his pathetic cries muffled by Sasuke's shirt. “Please. I can't go back there. If I do they'll break the seal and Kyuubi'll get out. I can feel the seal getting weaker all the time. Please. Please don't let them get me. I'll do anything, just please don't let them get me again.”

 

Startled and just a tad bit overwhelmed, it took a moment for Sasuke's brain to catch up with the present. But then, as if suddenly remembering who it was sobbing against his chest, Sasuke slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around his friend's bony shoulders, drawing him into a tight embrace. Once again Sasuke was faced with the fantastic reality that his friend - who he'd just spent the last nine months mourning and believing was dead - was not only still alive but actually there, in his arms - undeniable proof of the other shinobi's existence. It was almost too much for him to believe…

 

Naruto, now a limp, shaking bundle of misery in his arms, sobbed uncontrollably into his chest. “Please don't let Akatsuki get me,” he continued to cry, desperately clutching Sasuke's shirt as if afraid to let go. “Please… I can't go back there…”

 

“It's alright,” Sasuke whispered, hugging his old teammate close. “I'm not going to let them get you. You're safe now. No one's going to hurt you here…”

 

As if actually believing the other boy, Naruto's sobs began to quiet although his grip on Sasuke's shirt did not lessen. Holding him close, Sasuke was sickened by the way he could feel all of Naruto's bones poking through the thin material of his shirt, like the blond was nothing but a skeleton masquerading as a human being.

 

Gods, what did they do to you, Naruto? he wondered as red hot anger began to boil up inside him. This wretched creature in his arms was not the Naruto he used to know. This was nothing but a broken, withered shadow of the boy.

 

He was going to kill everyone in that cloak-wearing crime organization. He didn't care how long it took to hunt them down, he was going to rip each and every one of them apart. He might have spent their first few years together as Team Seven denying any sense of kinship or common bond with his other teammates, but he'd be damned if he was going to let someone hurt his friend and try to get away with it now. The last thing Akatsuki's ninja were going to hear before he sent them all to the gates of hell was the roaring fury of a full power Chidori…

 

As if seeing Naruto's quieted state as a sign it was safe to approach the boy, Iruka slowly stepped closer. “That's right, Naruto,” he said, his voice soft and reassuring. “No one's going to hurt you here. You're safe now.”

 

But as Iruka knelt beside the two and stretched his arms out to take his student from the Uchiha's care, Naruto violently cringed away, huddling deeper into Sasuke's embrace.

 

Sasuke snarled as his head snapped towards his former academy instructor, his teeth bared in warning. By the way Iruka leapt backwards, he wouldn't have been surprised if he accidentally let his Sharingan surface and momentarily flash red.

 

For a moment it looked like Iruka wasn't sure whether to be more hurt by Naruto's rejection or frightened of Sasuke's bloodline trait.

 

Finally taking pity on the man - after all, Sasuke knew Iruka would never intentionally try to scare or harm his ex-student - Sasuke leaned out his traumatized friend`s death-grip. “It's alright, Naruto,” he whispered, coaxing his friend to look at him. “Iruka won't hurt you. He used to always take you out for ramen. Remember?”

 

Tears still pooling along his eyes, Naruto glanced Iruka, his face filled with confused, uncertain fear. But then, as if suddenly seeing his former instructor for the first time, Naruto's entire body relaxed, recognition flooding his features. “Iruka-sensei?” his voice trembled. He slowly leaned away from Sasuke, his eyes locked on the gentle chuunin.

 

“Yes, Naruto, it's me,” Iruka said, tentatively reaching his arms out towards the broken boy again. “I'm not going to hurt you, I promise.”

 

As if that was the only kind of reassurance he needed, Naruto collapsed into Iruka's arms, letting the older man pull him into a suffocatingly tight embrace. Broken sobs once again assaulted the boy, tears dampening the chuunin instructor's shirt.

 

“They told me no one was ever going to save me,” Naruto sobbed, his body shaking helplessly in Iruka's arms. “They said everyone thought I was dead and that no one would come rescue me. I thought I was going to die down there…”

 

“Sh… it's alright, Naruto,” Iruka murmured, rocking the boy back and forth in his arms. “It's alright. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, I promise. You're back home now. You're safe…”

 

His wasted body now completely drained of strength, Naruto went limp in Iruka's arm, his quiet sobs echoing through the room. Murmuring soft reassurances and gentle words of comfort, Iruka scooped Naruto up into his arms and carried him back towards the bed.

 

Sasuke watched Iruka gently lay his friend back down and pull a blanket up over him. His arms felt strangely empty now without his friend there to fill them. Getting to his feet, Sasuke glanced at Tsunade who was standing not far from him, silently watching Iruka tend to his student.

 

“I'm suppose to leave tomorrow morning for a mission,” he said, stepping towards her. “I want to give official notice now that I will not be going…”

 

Tsunade looked up at him in surprise. But then her face lighting with understanding, and she slowly nodded. “I see. But a ninja cannot just ignore his duties to the village. You will have to be reassigned. Until further notice you are herby assigned to watch over Naruto Uzumaki and act as his personal bodyguard. I expect you to give nothing but your best in fulfilling this mission…”

 

Sasuke bowed his head, the smallest hint of gratitude lighting the Uchiha`s eyes. “Thank you,” he murmured.

 

Tsunade however looked grave. “Don't thank me just yet,” she said, glancing once again at the frail figure on the bed. “If Akatsuki truly wants Kyuubi, then I have no doubt they will come after Naruto again. And this time they'll stop at nothing to get him back…”

 

To Be Continued…

 

Reviews, as always, are most appreciated and encouraged!