Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Broken ❯ With a little help from my friend ( Chapter 15 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: blackarora 
returning to normal is hard to do.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Hentai / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.19.2005 | Updated On: 02.20.2006 | Pages: 7 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 1.7K | Status: Completed
returning to normal is hard to do.
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Psychological / Hentai / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.19.2005 | Updated On: 02.20.2006 | Pages: 7 | Words: 6.5K | Visits: 1.7K | Status: Completed
I do not own Naruto.
With a little help from my friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sasuke felt like he was falling, his stomach in his throat, as he plummeted to earth at mind-boggling speeds. Then the feeling stopped and was replaced with a lurch up. His stomach now in his toes as he was sent skyward.
Dark lashes opened to reveal just as dark eyes blurred with fatigue. Wind was whipping past the pale form and was messing up the black hair, turning the dark locks in to miniature whips that stung his face. Grunting, he buried his nose into the warm form under him to shield his face from the wind and the sting of his hair whipping against his pale cheeks.
There was an annoying ache that seemed to start in his head and migrate to the rest of him. Making his head throb and joints stiff. Wincing as he curled into the source of warmth under him, warm puffs of breath batted against his ear and Sasuke heard a raspy pant.
Focusing his tired eyes, he pushed his weight onto his hands and looked down at the blonde.
Naruto looked peaceful as he slept, making odd sounds when he breathed in and there was dried blood around his mouth, but for the first time in months, the blonde looked relaxed. Lifting his hand, Sasuke used his thumb to brush some of the blood away, then ran his hand through the flaxen hair, smiling as the strands slipped through his fingers.
Naruto was safe. They were safe and Orochimaru could no longer hurt either of them.
Slowly he lowered himself back to the blonde, set his pale check against the whiskered one and closed his dark eyes. Holding on to Naruto, Sasuke let out a small chuckle as he held him tightly.
They had gotten away.
Sasuke could feel the blonde’s ribs through his shirt and the harsh pants as he held on to him.
They had gotten away just in the nick of time. Naruto would not of lasted any longer and despite everything, the snake was dead and they were free to go as they pleased. The relief he felt knowing that he never had to watch as Naruto was abused again was like a weight that had been lifted from his stomach.
Pressing his lips to the bony collarbone he whispered. "We made it, you’re safe. We’re out of the sound, dobe."
Balling his hands in to the fabric of Naruto’s shirt he shuddered and let out a deep breath. For the past 7 months all he had allowed himself to think about was getting out. Getting Naruto out of the snakes clutches and somewhere safe, somewhere that he could start to return to his prior self. Feeling the rhythmic warm breath against his neck, Sasuke settled down; he could feel himself start to drift back into sleep, still holding on to the blonde he had fought so hard for.
Suddenly the flying feeling left and was replaced with free falling one. Sasuke was slightly lifted off from the toad’s back and he could feel the sleeping teen under him shift with the fall. Scrambling, the raven-haired teen grabbed the toad’s jacket and pressed himself against Naruto, in order to hold the sleeping teen in place.
The falling feeling was wreaking havoc on his stomach, and Sasuke had to force himself to not puke. The toad hit the ground and the two teens were pushed in to the soft flesh of the toad with the force of the impact.
The upward motion did not come this time, instead the pink, gray studded tongue wrapped around the two teens and set them on the ground. Unwrapping itself just in time for the Uchiha to regurgitate his last meal on the grassy embankment he was set on. Black bangs falling forward to hide his face as he heaved repeatedly.
Stepping away from the pink puddle, he slid on the wet grass to the stream the embankment led to. Soaking his leg as he fell in, he scooped up water in his hands and noticed how they were shaking. Splashing the cold water on his face, he stood on his shaky legs and took a good look around him.
They were in a swamp and a warm damp wind was blowing, carrying the smell of wet earth with it. Gamabunta was sitting in what must have been a fairly deep pool that the stream ran into. It was up to the toad’s ankles, so it was at least ten feet deep. Looking up to the giant toad, he cleared his throat and asked where the hell they were.
"Somewhere safe."
The toad’s voice made Sasuke cringe. He still had a headache and the loud voice was not helping any. The raven-haired teen looked around again. Spikes of grass and cattails stuck out of the murky water. Little bugs looking like spiders danced on the water’s surface. Birds called from the trees that had vines hanging off the branches. The slight breeze was making the vines sway and flies were already buzzing around the puddle he had just made
‘Trust a toad to think a swamp is safe.’
"But where, in what country?"
"Insolent whelp don’t question me."
Sasuke heard the strain in the voice and figured that the toad had reached its limits and dropped them in the safest place it could find in the immediate area.
"There’s a town 10 miles to the south west. Take care of Naruto, he and Kyuubi are so drained that neither will wake for a few days, that and his lungs are in bad shape. Kyuubi doesn’t not have enough spare chakra to heal him."
Sasuke had to jump aside as Gamabunta-sama slammed his pipe in to the ground between him and where Naruto was laying. The large pipe making a human sized dent in the wet ground.
"Don’t let him die boy."
The giant toad looked Sasuke over and growled as much as a toad can. There was a poof of smoke, and the toad was gone. The raven-haired teen gave in to the weakness in his knees and flopped down onto the grassy embankment, sliding down on the wet grass, and nearly falling in to the stream again. His temples where throbbing and his stomach was still churning enough that he thought he would be sick.
‘That’s right, it only takes a day for me to go in to withdrawal. Damn I’m such a freaking junky.’
Lying on the wet grass Sasuke reached over and grabbed the elbow guard that hid the proof of his addiction. Tracing his fingers over the slightly raised blue marks, he shuttered. He wanted some, he all ways wanted some. It was disgusting how much he wanted it. Closing his eyes he set his head against the wet ground, getting mud in his raven hair as he feigned for the drug. A small whimper from Naruto drew his attention away from the pleading of his veins. Opening his eyes and sitting up, he looked over at the blonde who was still sleeping, lying on the top of the grassy embankment.
Naruto did not look so relaxed now, his face was shadowed with pain and his breathing was interrupted with small whimpers. A fresh line of red leaked out of the corner of his mouth to drip down the tan cheek to stop by his ear. The raven-haired teen got up and went to his friend’s side, slowly easing the shirt up so he could get a look at Naruto’s chest.
Sasuke was not prepared for what he saw. It was like removing that blanket from Naruto so many months back. The tanned chest was covered in scars, from the old faded ones that formed the kanji, monster, to the red ones that looked freshly closed. The lines covered him from his collarbone to the hem on his black pants, where Sasuke was sure they continued south.
Sasuke clenched his fists and felt a lump grow in his chest. ‘How could he live through all of this?’
The raven-haired teen knew that Shijima’s experiments were not given the luxury of anesthetic; that almost all of them went insane from the pain before they where killed off. Sasuke unclenched a fist and gently traced a scar that ran across Naruto’s gut just above the navel. The raised white line interrupted the smoothness of the tan skin and the seal, or what was left of it, looked and felt as if it had been inked over the scar only hours before.
Sasuke dragged his hand up the blonde’s chest feeling the scars that covered it, stopping at the blonde’s breastbone. He could feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath and the beating of the heart a few inches under his fingers. The Uchiha removed his hand and placed it on the other side of Naruto on the wet grass. With one hand on each side of the sleeping teen to support himself, he leaned over and set his ear to the chest.
Each time Naruto breathed in there was a gargle and a wheeze; the heartbeat was a bit fast but other wise good. Good heart, bad lungs. It sounded better than yesterday when they were running away. Sasuke groaned when he thought about the fact that he could have killed the blonde by making him run in his condition.
Suddenly, Sasuke’s hand slipped on the wet grass and the whole weight of his head slammed in to the tan chest under him. Quickly picking himself up, the last Uchiha watched as one of the red lines split and leaked out a few crimson beads.
Cursing himself to the depths of hell, he searched through his pockets and pouches for a bandage. Sasuke stuck his hand in to his pant’s pocket and cringed when he cut his hand on something. Wrapping his hand around the sharp whatever, he slowly pulled it out.
One of the syringes that Koshi had given him had shattered, it’s precious liquid wasted on the pocket liner. Throwing the broken one away, he removed the remaining one and rolled it on his pale palm. "A strong pain killer, one that won’t get you addicted to it."
As Sasuke looked upon the clear liquid, the all to familiar feeling washed over him. Oh the wonderful nothingness was calling him. It promised to take away the stomachache and the sore shoulder and anything else he thought needed to go away. It was tempting him, begging him to make it all go away and make him feel warm and careless.
Nothing would matter.
Slowly Sasuke rolled up a dark sleeve and prepared a vain, making it visible so he could hit it with the needle. With practiced hands he slid the needle in to the vain and slowly pushed the plunger in.
Sasuke managed a weak smile as he looked over the blonde. He tore a strip from his shirt and pressed it to the weeping wound on Naruto’s chest. Reaching down he removed the needle from the blonde’s arm and threw it in to the bushes that were growing at the side of the stream.
Naruto mattered.
He could not let Naruto die. He would not let Naruto be in pain because of him. He did not need it now, He had Naruto.
The pained shadows left the blonde’s face and the whimpering stopped. Sasuke eased the black shirt down, covering the chest and the scars it held. The raven-haired teen looked at his hand holding the hem of the shirt, it was shaking and it would not be long before the rest of him would be shaking as well. Throwing his head back, the sick Uchiha looked to the sky, his dark hair swaying in the breeze. The sun was still rising, he had slept on the back of the toad for close to 24 hours and he still felt like he could sleep for another 24.
Sighing, he maneuvered Naruto so he could carry him on his back. The swamp was not as safe for people as it was for toads. He had to get them to a safer place before he was too sick to do anything.
~~~~~000000~~~~~~~
Naruto woke as something moved across his chest, grabbing the fabric of his shirt just under his armpit. There was a solid warmth pressed against his right shoulder and warm puffs of breath batted against his ear. Blue eyes shot open as the blonde shuddered.
If he was waking next to some one then he had just destroyed another town. Orochimaru was going to fuck him now that he was awake.
He tore himself away from the warmth and scrambled away. Confusion set in as he backed away, bumping in to a tree. This was not the massive bed that Orochimaru had, or even his own. He was out side and the form on the grass was not the tall sinister snake, but Sasuke.
‘Sasuke? Wait, I killed the snake. He’s dead. He’s dead and can not hurt me any more.’
Naruto took a few deep breaths and was startled that it did not hurt that bad. It always hurt when he breathed. The blonde put a hand to his chest and traced the most resent cuts. Slight pain but nothing compared to what he was used to waking up to.
He looked back to Sasuke, who was still lying on the patch of ground that he had scrambled away from. The light through the trees flickered with the wind and shadows danced across the pale skin. It was late in the day by his reckoning, but the sun was still up, so why was Sasuke sleeping?
‘Sleeping curled up next to me.’
A small blush crept across whiskered cheeks. Naruto shook his head to clear it of the thoughts about how it felt to have Sasuke there. Locking that feeling away and bringing out the more logical one of the danger he posed to the Uchiha.
‘He should not be near me I’ll just cause him pain. I’m a demon.’
Slowly the blonde stood, his hair a mess, and looked for the way out of the thicket he was in. He should not be around the other teen; he would just hurt him again. Spotting a gap between two trees and stepping towards, he heard a low moan and look down as Sasuke woke.
The blonde returned to sit down next to his dark haired companion, knowing that Sasuke would not let him leave if he was awake. Careful not to touch him. Not to plague him with his miserable existence and destroy him like he destroyed everything he touched.
Sasuke had helped him escape, but when it came down to it, he still had no control over the demon. He was dangerous to others like this, and he always would be. Especially to Sasuke, who the demon showed a liking to.
There was no way that he could be around people anymore. The demon would make him kill them. Sasuke had tried so hard to get him out of the Sound, but there was no place that he could go and not pose a threat to the people there. He was even more of a danger to Sasuke, he could not stay here. Over and over the reasons poured through his head, and he had to agree with them as he watched the groggy Uchiha wake up.
It broke his heart to leave the raven-haired bastard that had gotten him away from that hellhole, but he would still smile and pass it off. He would leave when Sasuke fell back asleep. Forcing a smile onto his face and cheerful humor in to his voice, Naruto made himself sound just like he did before Orochimaru got a hold of him.
"Sasuke why are you sleeping?"
"Dobe."
Naruto watched silently as Sasuke sat up, his fake smile wavering. The raven-haired teen looked like shit. There were dark circles around his eyes, his skin looked paler than normal, he was shaking like he was cold, and looked tired even though he had just woken up.
Sasuke pulled himself in to a sitting position then focused his dark eyes on to the blonde. "Moron, you’ve been asleep for three days strait."
"You look like shit on a stick."
Sasuke made a small growling noise and looked away. "I feel like shit."
"What happened?"
"What?"
"Something must have happened when I was out, to make you look like that."
Sasuke closed his eyes and shook his head. Naruto was acting like Naruto, but Sasuke did not need the Sharingan to see that’s what it was, an act. It bothered him that Naruto thought he had to act happy around him, act like nothing was wrong with him.
Seeing the blonde like this, even this half assed version of the old Naruto, made him not want to say what was wrong with him. The old Naruto would not understand about addiction and the power it had. It made him feel like he was running away again and hiding from his problems to say that he was an addict, but he had to. He had to tell him why it had taken so damn long to get him out.
"Dobe, nothing happened. I’m in withdrawal."
"From heroin."
The raven-haired teen glared up at his blonde friend. How long had Naruto known about his addiction? Why the fucking hell didn’t he say something before?
Naruto’s fake smile slipped as he shifted uncomfortably under the harsh gaze of the raven-haired teen. It was an acquired habit that he felt he had to say something to defend him self, he did not like it when people were mad at him. It had a tendency to hurt.
Words just started to spill from his mouth in hopes to stop the anger before it escalated to something more.
"Orochimaru told me that’s why you would never help me to get out. That you where not willing to give up the drug for me. I, I was starting to believe him."
"Naruto." Sasuke sounded angry, and the tone made Naruto wince. He did not want Sasuke mad at him. He looked away; the shadow of his blonde bangs hid his eyes. The words he was saying were triggering the feelings of hopelessness that had accompanied them when he had first thought them.
"You just came and told me to be strong, that you would help me get out of there. Then as soon as you would leave I would have to destroy another town. I, I was starting to think that he was sending you."
The happy face self he was trying to keep up for Sasuke fell entirely away. His voice broke as he said the last part.
"Naruto, I’m sorry."
The blonde looked to his raven-haired companion in shock. Sasuke was not looking at him, but the sincerity of his statement was written on his pale and tired face.
‘He’s apologizing to me? Why? I’m not worth it.’
Naruto clenched his fists and swallowed the lump in his throat. He was not worth anything. He, who was responsible for so many horrible things, wasn‘t worth an apology. He could not forgive himself for what he had done. Now Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke of all people, was apologizing to him. The lump came back and with it the knowledge that Sasuke should not care about him, that he should leave him to save him the pain he was sure to inflict on him.
Naruto made a fist in the grass warmed by their body heat. Sasuke should not of helped him. He did not deserve to be saved. Not after what the demon did, what he did.
The raven-haired teen saw the look on Naruto’s face and spoke as tears started to form in the mismatched eyes of the blonde. Reaching out, he placed his shaking hand on to the bony shoulder and whispered.
"I’m sorry."
Naruto heard the words again. Words he did not deserve. Slapping the hand away he could not fight the wave of anger directed at himself that came rushing over him.
"FOR WHAT?! Why did you help me? I’m a demon and you could have been killed. I could have killed you. Or worse yet, Kyuubi could, he could, he could have raped you again. Why did you help me? I’m a monster, a demon, a filthy little beast not worth looking at."
Sasuke watched, eyes wide in shock, as Naruto called himself all kinds of horrible things. He had just tried to apologize for making him think that he was being used against him, and the blonde was flipping out. The tears flowing down his cheeks did nothing to stop the flow of spiteful words coming from his mouth.
‘Did Naruto really believe these things? That he is a monster?’
Sasuke remembered the night after Kyuubi went to rut. Orochimaru calling him a monster that nobody would save. He had said the same basic thing in the ally on Naruto’s attempt to escape. Sasuke closed his dark eyes and made a fist. He hated mind games with a passion, thanks to his older brother, and he could see the one that Naruto was trapped in. The stream of obscenities slowed. Naruto sounded like he was drowning in his own tears.
"You can’t care, Sasuke, you’ll just get hurt. All I’m good for is hurting people.
"
Sasuke opened his eyes and watched as Naruto pulled his knees to his chest and started to rock.
"I’m a monster. You should not help monsters."
It was spoken so softly the dark haired one could barely hear it. Sasuke could not stand it any more and he grabbed the blonde and pulled him to his chest, setting the blonde’s forehead on his shoulder and setting his pale hand in the flaxen hair.
"You are not a monster. You where forced to do those things. I can and I do care."
Naruto could not hear him. He had locked himself away in the dark pit of his own mind. Nothing could hurt him here. His body was acting on instinct when it pushed away from the one holding it. When he was just held tighter he started to fight to get away. He knew that he had to get away, before he hurt Sasuke, or worse.
Sasuke grappled with the blonde, they both were still week but Sasuke knew that Naruto had an edge on him. The Uchiha cold not stop shaking, and the pounding headache did not let him focus. Naruto was pulling away, and Sasuke was struggling to hold him in place. The dark haired teen was sitting and did not have much leverage to work with so he let go and Naruto crashed through the underbrush.
The panicking blonde’s charge through the dense underbrush only slowed him down and the Uchiha was able to get around him before he had made it through. As the blonde cleared the last bushes, Sasuke blind sided him and swept low with his legs knocking him to the ground. Naruto jumped up started to run when a dark blur tackled him.
Sasuke was just trying to pin the blonde, to stop him, to find out what the hell was wrong. He managed to get a hold on one of the blue-eyed boy’s wrists and was punched with his other hand. Naruto did not seem to notice that he was not returning punches or kicks, or that Sasuke was yelling at him to stop. Getting a hold of the blonde’s other wrist he flipped the irate teen to his back. The Uchiha quickly straddled Naruto’s stomach and pinned his hands next to his head.
Naruto screamed and tried to buck Sasuke off. He twisted, squirmed, and desperately tried to get out from under Sasuke.
"Stop. Please don’t. Please."
He clawed and writhed; being like this was triggering different memories, painful ones. Orochimaru had loved it right when the feeling would return to Naruto’s form. How he would fight against the snake, although he was weakened and had no hope to win. How the snake would play with him, hurt him until he pleaded for him to stop. Then the bastard would screw him.
Once when he was numb and unable to fight back was not enough for the snake any more, he had to reduce the blonde to nothing. A toy that did as he was told, or faced the consequences.
Sasuke watched the blonde, the fear that appeared on his face as soon as he was pinned and the begging.
It spoke volumes about Naruto and what he went through. Sasuke doubted that Naruto even realized that he was doing it. By now it was probably so ingrained that he did it automatically.
The raven-haired teen cursed under is breath. He knew that there were going to be problems like this. How could there not be? Though he had hoped that Naruto would be a little more cooperative with him. He felt sick, and his shaking had gotten worse from the brief fight. If Naruto wanted to leave his chance was approaching, the raven-haired teen could feel another bout starting.
He had not eaten much or slept much in the last few days. The headaches made it so he could not concentrate to hunt, and if he ate it would just come back up. In the last two days, his shaking had gone to full out episodes that left him on the ground, unable to move for hours afterwards.
Sleep was hard to come by; he slept for an hour or less, and always felt worse after waking. He was usually so disoriented that the smallest things, like a bird chirruping near by, would send him in to a panic attack. Confused and out of it half the time, he had used the blonde as a home base. Even in the worst tricks his mind played on him, he could hold on to the sleeping teen and ride it out.
All because Naruto was there and needed him.
As Sasuke’s shaking got worse, his strength left. Naruto was still thrashing under him, but he did not want to let him go. He needed Naruto to be here. He needed Naruto to need him, to be his reason to go through this. The raven haired Uchiha slowly lowered his head and set it on the struggling blonde’s shoulder.
Naruto froze as he felt Sasuke settle to lie on top of him still holding his wrists. Slowly the hands left his wrists and moved down his arms to grip his shirt.
"Naruto, stop it, I will not hurt you."
The words snapped Naruto out of the hell that was his memories. Orochimaru never talked to him once he decided to stop playing and start screwing. The blue eye focused and looked at the messy dark hair that rested on his shoulder. He should leave Sasuke now that he was too weak to fight to keep him here. He could just push him off and walk away.
Reaching up and pushing the shoulder of his child hood rival, he felt a sudden jerk and heard an odd gasp from the teen on top of him. Stopping, surprised, Naruto felt as Sasuke started to curl up on top of him and started to shake. The raven-haired teen clinging to him, making pained gasping noises, as the shaking got worse.
Sliding to the side and off of Naruto, Sasuke’s shaking became constant, and the raven-haired teen started to hyperventilate. Making sounds between gasps and gagging as every muscle in his body shook. His hands could no longer hold on to Naruto’s shirt and fell away, digging in to the earth beside him.
Naruto watched, torn, he could leave now with no resistance from Sasuke, but he did not want to leave Sasuke like this. Sweat was beading on the pale brow, and black hair clung to it as the Uchiha gasped and sputtered on the ground next to him.
The raven-haired teen cried out in pain as his muscles cramped from the spasm. Naruto reached out and wrapped himself around the shaking teen, pressing himself against him. Using his body to straighten the curled form out so that he could breathe better and wiped the sweat soaked hair out of the pale face. Naruto rested his chin on the top of Sasuke’s head, feeling each little movement the Uchiha made. Slowly a well-scarred hand started to rub circles on the back of the shaking teen, rubbing the sore muscles and getting them to relax.
After a few minutes, the shaking stopped and Sasuke was left panting on the ground. Dark eyes half lidded in exhaustion as he lie limply in the blonde’s arms. To spent to move as Naruto slung his arm around his shoulders and dragged him to his feet, then back to the thicket he had just run from.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small, whip-thin trees surrounded an oval clearing in the dense underbrush at the base of an ancient oak tree. The young thin trees had bent naturally reaching out over the open space to get as much sun light as possible, shading the small clearing. Animals, probably deer, had found the space and made a passage to it through the bushes. It was a natural hiding spot. The shade kept it cool, and the dense bushes around it made it impossible to get to if you did not know where to look. Well, that was before Naruto had made a new side door to the place.
Yawning and scratching his head, the blonde looked over to the small fire in the center of the thicket to the two small fish that were cooking over it. Sasuke was awake then. The past few days he had slept more than he was awake. Kyuubi was just a tightly packed ball of exhaustion in his stomach, and it was affecting him as well.
He woke up just long enough to pee, eat, drink and go back to sleep. Sometimes Sasuke curled up to him, shaking fiercely, would wake him up. Then he did the only thing he could do, hold the raven-haired teen and rub his cramping muscles until it stopped. The fits had pretty much stopped all together by now, though. The fist day he woke was the worst he had seen Sasuke, so exhausted from the shaking that he had slept for the rest of the day.
Naruto coughed and felt the slight burn in his chest. The blonde was surprised that he had made it as far as he did during that mad dash. He was by no means healed, and was still very tired. But then, he guessed, fear was a powerful motivator.
And after that first time he did not leave, he found that he could not bring himself to do it.
Sighing, the blonde sat up and reached for the larger of the two fish skewered on small sticks. As he began to eat the crispy thing, a noise from the side signaled his raven-haired friends arrival. The bastard had figured out that Naruto did not like to be snuck up on and always made a bit of noise to warn him, so he didn’t flip out and attack him.
The Uchiha sat silently down across from the blonde and took the remaining fish. Now that Sasuke was feeling a little better, he was acting like his frozen popsicle self, grunting as a greeting. The fish were eaten in silence, occasionally interrupted by the coughing of the blonde.
"There’s a town to the south west of here. We should go to it."
Naruto nearly choked on his fish. "What!!! Why??"
Sasuke sighed and took a bite of his fish before he replied. "To find out where we are."
A small piece of dread was welling up in the blonde’s stomach. He had not been around any place village-like since the last time he had destroyed one. Sasuke must of saw the worry on his face.
"You won’t destroy it. Kyuubi is still to weak."
"Sasuke what if..."
"If I had worried about all the what ifs of getting you out of the Sound, I never would of did it. Shut up, finish your fish, and come on."
Naruto ate the last bit of his fish and stood up, still unsure as to whether this was a good idea or not. The dark haired teen put out the small fire and led the way out of the shelter.
Sasuke led the blonde, staying close to him. It was only 10 miles to the town and they both were finally healthy enough to make it. Naruto had been staying awake for progressively longer periods of time and it had been over a day since he had a shaking bout. It was early in the morning, and the blonde had just woken up, so now was the best time.
From behind him, he could hear the raspy coughing of his friend. Another reason to go to this town. Get Naruto to a doctor to drain the fluid out of his lungs. He was healing at a slightly faster rate then a normal human, but still, fluid in the lungs was bad. The more the blonde exerted himself, the worse the coughing got, and he would turn an odd blue color.
Sasuke had made it as far as the road they were about to reach, in his explorations from when Naruto was sleeping, and after that it would be just a walk, not the jumping over fallen trees and dodging mud holes like they were doing now.
Coming up to the hard packed dirt road Sasuke turned to watch Naruto apprehensively approach. The blue-eyed teen was nervous and not hiding well.
‘He has to get used to being around people that are not out to hurt him. Better now that Kyuubi is too exhausted to come out if he panics.’
Sasuke felt a surge of protectiveness come over him as the blonde walked to his side. The clothes Naruto wore hung loose on his emaciated frame, scars shown on both his hands and neck. He was so small; it did not look like he had grown much from when they were 12. Sasuke had been confused with 17 and 18-year-olds when he was just turning 16. Naruto looked 13 tops. The nervous way he looked around was so unlike the 12-year-old Naruto though.
Naruto had reached his side and was starting off down the road when Sasuke reached around and grabbed Naruto, pulling the blonde in to a tight embrace. His mouth even with the blonde’s ear.
"Don’t worry; I wont let any thing happen. I promise."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
Sasuke let go of Naruto with a small push and started to walk down the road like nothing had happened. Naruto stayed put for a second watching his best friend lead the way. A smile crept onto his face, a true grin as he realized that he believed Sasuke. From the depths of his core being, he believed the raven-haired bastard.
With a whoop and a laugh, he ran to his friend’s side. All worries for the moment pushed aside with the hope in his friend’s promise, only to see Sasuke smiling at his antics and call him a dobe.
With a little help from my friend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sasuke felt like he was falling, his stomach in his throat, as he plummeted to earth at mind-boggling speeds. Then the feeling stopped and was replaced with a lurch up. His stomach now in his toes as he was sent skyward.
Dark lashes opened to reveal just as dark eyes blurred with fatigue. Wind was whipping past the pale form and was messing up the black hair, turning the dark locks in to miniature whips that stung his face. Grunting, he buried his nose into the warm form under him to shield his face from the wind and the sting of his hair whipping against his pale cheeks.
There was an annoying ache that seemed to start in his head and migrate to the rest of him. Making his head throb and joints stiff. Wincing as he curled into the source of warmth under him, warm puffs of breath batted against his ear and Sasuke heard a raspy pant.
Focusing his tired eyes, he pushed his weight onto his hands and looked down at the blonde.
Naruto looked peaceful as he slept, making odd sounds when he breathed in and there was dried blood around his mouth, but for the first time in months, the blonde looked relaxed. Lifting his hand, Sasuke used his thumb to brush some of the blood away, then ran his hand through the flaxen hair, smiling as the strands slipped through his fingers.
Naruto was safe. They were safe and Orochimaru could no longer hurt either of them.
Slowly he lowered himself back to the blonde, set his pale check against the whiskered one and closed his dark eyes. Holding on to Naruto, Sasuke let out a small chuckle as he held him tightly.
They had gotten away.
Sasuke could feel the blonde’s ribs through his shirt and the harsh pants as he held on to him.
They had gotten away just in the nick of time. Naruto would not of lasted any longer and despite everything, the snake was dead and they were free to go as they pleased. The relief he felt knowing that he never had to watch as Naruto was abused again was like a weight that had been lifted from his stomach.
Pressing his lips to the bony collarbone he whispered. "We made it, you’re safe. We’re out of the sound, dobe."
Balling his hands in to the fabric of Naruto’s shirt he shuddered and let out a deep breath. For the past 7 months all he had allowed himself to think about was getting out. Getting Naruto out of the snakes clutches and somewhere safe, somewhere that he could start to return to his prior self. Feeling the rhythmic warm breath against his neck, Sasuke settled down; he could feel himself start to drift back into sleep, still holding on to the blonde he had fought so hard for.
Suddenly the flying feeling left and was replaced with free falling one. Sasuke was slightly lifted off from the toad’s back and he could feel the sleeping teen under him shift with the fall. Scrambling, the raven-haired teen grabbed the toad’s jacket and pressed himself against Naruto, in order to hold the sleeping teen in place.
The falling feeling was wreaking havoc on his stomach, and Sasuke had to force himself to not puke. The toad hit the ground and the two teens were pushed in to the soft flesh of the toad with the force of the impact.
The upward motion did not come this time, instead the pink, gray studded tongue wrapped around the two teens and set them on the ground. Unwrapping itself just in time for the Uchiha to regurgitate his last meal on the grassy embankment he was set on. Black bangs falling forward to hide his face as he heaved repeatedly.
Stepping away from the pink puddle, he slid on the wet grass to the stream the embankment led to. Soaking his leg as he fell in, he scooped up water in his hands and noticed how they were shaking. Splashing the cold water on his face, he stood on his shaky legs and took a good look around him.
They were in a swamp and a warm damp wind was blowing, carrying the smell of wet earth with it. Gamabunta was sitting in what must have been a fairly deep pool that the stream ran into. It was up to the toad’s ankles, so it was at least ten feet deep. Looking up to the giant toad, he cleared his throat and asked where the hell they were.
"Somewhere safe."
The toad’s voice made Sasuke cringe. He still had a headache and the loud voice was not helping any. The raven-haired teen looked around again. Spikes of grass and cattails stuck out of the murky water. Little bugs looking like spiders danced on the water’s surface. Birds called from the trees that had vines hanging off the branches. The slight breeze was making the vines sway and flies were already buzzing around the puddle he had just made
‘Trust a toad to think a swamp is safe.’
"But where, in what country?"
"Insolent whelp don’t question me."
Sasuke heard the strain in the voice and figured that the toad had reached its limits and dropped them in the safest place it could find in the immediate area.
"There’s a town 10 miles to the south west. Take care of Naruto, he and Kyuubi are so drained that neither will wake for a few days, that and his lungs are in bad shape. Kyuubi doesn’t not have enough spare chakra to heal him."
Sasuke had to jump aside as Gamabunta-sama slammed his pipe in to the ground between him and where Naruto was laying. The large pipe making a human sized dent in the wet ground.
"Don’t let him die boy."
The giant toad looked Sasuke over and growled as much as a toad can. There was a poof of smoke, and the toad was gone. The raven-haired teen gave in to the weakness in his knees and flopped down onto the grassy embankment, sliding down on the wet grass, and nearly falling in to the stream again. His temples where throbbing and his stomach was still churning enough that he thought he would be sick.
‘That’s right, it only takes a day for me to go in to withdrawal. Damn I’m such a freaking junky.’
Lying on the wet grass Sasuke reached over and grabbed the elbow guard that hid the proof of his addiction. Tracing his fingers over the slightly raised blue marks, he shuttered. He wanted some, he all ways wanted some. It was disgusting how much he wanted it. Closing his eyes he set his head against the wet ground, getting mud in his raven hair as he feigned for the drug. A small whimper from Naruto drew his attention away from the pleading of his veins. Opening his eyes and sitting up, he looked over at the blonde who was still sleeping, lying on the top of the grassy embankment.
Naruto did not look so relaxed now, his face was shadowed with pain and his breathing was interrupted with small whimpers. A fresh line of red leaked out of the corner of his mouth to drip down the tan cheek to stop by his ear. The raven-haired teen got up and went to his friend’s side, slowly easing the shirt up so he could get a look at Naruto’s chest.
Sasuke was not prepared for what he saw. It was like removing that blanket from Naruto so many months back. The tanned chest was covered in scars, from the old faded ones that formed the kanji, monster, to the red ones that looked freshly closed. The lines covered him from his collarbone to the hem on his black pants, where Sasuke was sure they continued south.
Sasuke clenched his fists and felt a lump grow in his chest. ‘How could he live through all of this?’
The raven-haired teen knew that Shijima’s experiments were not given the luxury of anesthetic; that almost all of them went insane from the pain before they where killed off. Sasuke unclenched a fist and gently traced a scar that ran across Naruto’s gut just above the navel. The raised white line interrupted the smoothness of the tan skin and the seal, or what was left of it, looked and felt as if it had been inked over the scar only hours before.
Sasuke dragged his hand up the blonde’s chest feeling the scars that covered it, stopping at the blonde’s breastbone. He could feel the rise and fall of his chest with each breath and the beating of the heart a few inches under his fingers. The Uchiha removed his hand and placed it on the other side of Naruto on the wet grass. With one hand on each side of the sleeping teen to support himself, he leaned over and set his ear to the chest.
Each time Naruto breathed in there was a gargle and a wheeze; the heartbeat was a bit fast but other wise good. Good heart, bad lungs. It sounded better than yesterday when they were running away. Sasuke groaned when he thought about the fact that he could have killed the blonde by making him run in his condition.
Suddenly, Sasuke’s hand slipped on the wet grass and the whole weight of his head slammed in to the tan chest under him. Quickly picking himself up, the last Uchiha watched as one of the red lines split and leaked out a few crimson beads.
Cursing himself to the depths of hell, he searched through his pockets and pouches for a bandage. Sasuke stuck his hand in to his pant’s pocket and cringed when he cut his hand on something. Wrapping his hand around the sharp whatever, he slowly pulled it out.
One of the syringes that Koshi had given him had shattered, it’s precious liquid wasted on the pocket liner. Throwing the broken one away, he removed the remaining one and rolled it on his pale palm. "A strong pain killer, one that won’t get you addicted to it."
As Sasuke looked upon the clear liquid, the all to familiar feeling washed over him. Oh the wonderful nothingness was calling him. It promised to take away the stomachache and the sore shoulder and anything else he thought needed to go away. It was tempting him, begging him to make it all go away and make him feel warm and careless.
Nothing would matter.
Slowly Sasuke rolled up a dark sleeve and prepared a vain, making it visible so he could hit it with the needle. With practiced hands he slid the needle in to the vain and slowly pushed the plunger in.
Sasuke managed a weak smile as he looked over the blonde. He tore a strip from his shirt and pressed it to the weeping wound on Naruto’s chest. Reaching down he removed the needle from the blonde’s arm and threw it in to the bushes that were growing at the side of the stream.
Naruto mattered.
He could not let Naruto die. He would not let Naruto be in pain because of him. He did not need it now, He had Naruto.
The pained shadows left the blonde’s face and the whimpering stopped. Sasuke eased the black shirt down, covering the chest and the scars it held. The raven-haired teen looked at his hand holding the hem of the shirt, it was shaking and it would not be long before the rest of him would be shaking as well. Throwing his head back, the sick Uchiha looked to the sky, his dark hair swaying in the breeze. The sun was still rising, he had slept on the back of the toad for close to 24 hours and he still felt like he could sleep for another 24.
Sighing, he maneuvered Naruto so he could carry him on his back. The swamp was not as safe for people as it was for toads. He had to get them to a safer place before he was too sick to do anything.
~~~~~000000~~~~~~~
Naruto woke as something moved across his chest, grabbing the fabric of his shirt just under his armpit. There was a solid warmth pressed against his right shoulder and warm puffs of breath batted against his ear. Blue eyes shot open as the blonde shuddered.
If he was waking next to some one then he had just destroyed another town. Orochimaru was going to fuck him now that he was awake.
He tore himself away from the warmth and scrambled away. Confusion set in as he backed away, bumping in to a tree. This was not the massive bed that Orochimaru had, or even his own. He was out side and the form on the grass was not the tall sinister snake, but Sasuke.
‘Sasuke? Wait, I killed the snake. He’s dead. He’s dead and can not hurt me any more.’
Naruto took a few deep breaths and was startled that it did not hurt that bad. It always hurt when he breathed. The blonde put a hand to his chest and traced the most resent cuts. Slight pain but nothing compared to what he was used to waking up to.
He looked back to Sasuke, who was still lying on the patch of ground that he had scrambled away from. The light through the trees flickered with the wind and shadows danced across the pale skin. It was late in the day by his reckoning, but the sun was still up, so why was Sasuke sleeping?
‘Sleeping curled up next to me.’
A small blush crept across whiskered cheeks. Naruto shook his head to clear it of the thoughts about how it felt to have Sasuke there. Locking that feeling away and bringing out the more logical one of the danger he posed to the Uchiha.
‘He should not be near me I’ll just cause him pain. I’m a demon.’
Slowly the blonde stood, his hair a mess, and looked for the way out of the thicket he was in. He should not be around the other teen; he would just hurt him again. Spotting a gap between two trees and stepping towards, he heard a low moan and look down as Sasuke woke.
The blonde returned to sit down next to his dark haired companion, knowing that Sasuke would not let him leave if he was awake. Careful not to touch him. Not to plague him with his miserable existence and destroy him like he destroyed everything he touched.
Sasuke had helped him escape, but when it came down to it, he still had no control over the demon. He was dangerous to others like this, and he always would be. Especially to Sasuke, who the demon showed a liking to.
There was no way that he could be around people anymore. The demon would make him kill them. Sasuke had tried so hard to get him out of the Sound, but there was no place that he could go and not pose a threat to the people there. He was even more of a danger to Sasuke, he could not stay here. Over and over the reasons poured through his head, and he had to agree with them as he watched the groggy Uchiha wake up.
It broke his heart to leave the raven-haired bastard that had gotten him away from that hellhole, but he would still smile and pass it off. He would leave when Sasuke fell back asleep. Forcing a smile onto his face and cheerful humor in to his voice, Naruto made himself sound just like he did before Orochimaru got a hold of him.
"Sasuke why are you sleeping?"
"Dobe."
Naruto watched silently as Sasuke sat up, his fake smile wavering. The raven-haired teen looked like shit. There were dark circles around his eyes, his skin looked paler than normal, he was shaking like he was cold, and looked tired even though he had just woken up.
Sasuke pulled himself in to a sitting position then focused his dark eyes on to the blonde. "Moron, you’ve been asleep for three days strait."
"You look like shit on a stick."
Sasuke made a small growling noise and looked away. "I feel like shit."
"What happened?"
"What?"
"Something must have happened when I was out, to make you look like that."
Sasuke closed his eyes and shook his head. Naruto was acting like Naruto, but Sasuke did not need the Sharingan to see that’s what it was, an act. It bothered him that Naruto thought he had to act happy around him, act like nothing was wrong with him.
Seeing the blonde like this, even this half assed version of the old Naruto, made him not want to say what was wrong with him. The old Naruto would not understand about addiction and the power it had. It made him feel like he was running away again and hiding from his problems to say that he was an addict, but he had to. He had to tell him why it had taken so damn long to get him out.
"Dobe, nothing happened. I’m in withdrawal."
"From heroin."
The raven-haired teen glared up at his blonde friend. How long had Naruto known about his addiction? Why the fucking hell didn’t he say something before?
Naruto’s fake smile slipped as he shifted uncomfortably under the harsh gaze of the raven-haired teen. It was an acquired habit that he felt he had to say something to defend him self, he did not like it when people were mad at him. It had a tendency to hurt.
Words just started to spill from his mouth in hopes to stop the anger before it escalated to something more.
"Orochimaru told me that’s why you would never help me to get out. That you where not willing to give up the drug for me. I, I was starting to believe him."
"Naruto." Sasuke sounded angry, and the tone made Naruto wince. He did not want Sasuke mad at him. He looked away; the shadow of his blonde bangs hid his eyes. The words he was saying were triggering the feelings of hopelessness that had accompanied them when he had first thought them.
"You just came and told me to be strong, that you would help me get out of there. Then as soon as you would leave I would have to destroy another town. I, I was starting to think that he was sending you."
The happy face self he was trying to keep up for Sasuke fell entirely away. His voice broke as he said the last part.
"Naruto, I’m sorry."
The blonde looked to his raven-haired companion in shock. Sasuke was not looking at him, but the sincerity of his statement was written on his pale and tired face.
‘He’s apologizing to me? Why? I’m not worth it.’
Naruto clenched his fists and swallowed the lump in his throat. He was not worth anything. He, who was responsible for so many horrible things, wasn‘t worth an apology. He could not forgive himself for what he had done. Now Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke of all people, was apologizing to him. The lump came back and with it the knowledge that Sasuke should not care about him, that he should leave him to save him the pain he was sure to inflict on him.
Naruto made a fist in the grass warmed by their body heat. Sasuke should not of helped him. He did not deserve to be saved. Not after what the demon did, what he did.
The raven-haired teen saw the look on Naruto’s face and spoke as tears started to form in the mismatched eyes of the blonde. Reaching out, he placed his shaking hand on to the bony shoulder and whispered.
"I’m sorry."
Naruto heard the words again. Words he did not deserve. Slapping the hand away he could not fight the wave of anger directed at himself that came rushing over him.
"FOR WHAT?! Why did you help me? I’m a demon and you could have been killed. I could have killed you. Or worse yet, Kyuubi could, he could, he could have raped you again. Why did you help me? I’m a monster, a demon, a filthy little beast not worth looking at."
Sasuke watched, eyes wide in shock, as Naruto called himself all kinds of horrible things. He had just tried to apologize for making him think that he was being used against him, and the blonde was flipping out. The tears flowing down his cheeks did nothing to stop the flow of spiteful words coming from his mouth.
‘Did Naruto really believe these things? That he is a monster?’
Sasuke remembered the night after Kyuubi went to rut. Orochimaru calling him a monster that nobody would save. He had said the same basic thing in the ally on Naruto’s attempt to escape. Sasuke closed his dark eyes and made a fist. He hated mind games with a passion, thanks to his older brother, and he could see the one that Naruto was trapped in. The stream of obscenities slowed. Naruto sounded like he was drowning in his own tears.
"You can’t care, Sasuke, you’ll just get hurt. All I’m good for is hurting people.
"
Sasuke opened his eyes and watched as Naruto pulled his knees to his chest and started to rock.
"I’m a monster. You should not help monsters."
It was spoken so softly the dark haired one could barely hear it. Sasuke could not stand it any more and he grabbed the blonde and pulled him to his chest, setting the blonde’s forehead on his shoulder and setting his pale hand in the flaxen hair.
"You are not a monster. You where forced to do those things. I can and I do care."
Naruto could not hear him. He had locked himself away in the dark pit of his own mind. Nothing could hurt him here. His body was acting on instinct when it pushed away from the one holding it. When he was just held tighter he started to fight to get away. He knew that he had to get away, before he hurt Sasuke, or worse.
Sasuke grappled with the blonde, they both were still week but Sasuke knew that Naruto had an edge on him. The Uchiha cold not stop shaking, and the pounding headache did not let him focus. Naruto was pulling away, and Sasuke was struggling to hold him in place. The dark haired teen was sitting and did not have much leverage to work with so he let go and Naruto crashed through the underbrush.
The panicking blonde’s charge through the dense underbrush only slowed him down and the Uchiha was able to get around him before he had made it through. As the blonde cleared the last bushes, Sasuke blind sided him and swept low with his legs knocking him to the ground. Naruto jumped up started to run when a dark blur tackled him.
Sasuke was just trying to pin the blonde, to stop him, to find out what the hell was wrong. He managed to get a hold on one of the blue-eyed boy’s wrists and was punched with his other hand. Naruto did not seem to notice that he was not returning punches or kicks, or that Sasuke was yelling at him to stop. Getting a hold of the blonde’s other wrist he flipped the irate teen to his back. The Uchiha quickly straddled Naruto’s stomach and pinned his hands next to his head.
Naruto screamed and tried to buck Sasuke off. He twisted, squirmed, and desperately tried to get out from under Sasuke.
"Stop. Please don’t. Please."
He clawed and writhed; being like this was triggering different memories, painful ones. Orochimaru had loved it right when the feeling would return to Naruto’s form. How he would fight against the snake, although he was weakened and had no hope to win. How the snake would play with him, hurt him until he pleaded for him to stop. Then the bastard would screw him.
Once when he was numb and unable to fight back was not enough for the snake any more, he had to reduce the blonde to nothing. A toy that did as he was told, or faced the consequences.
Sasuke watched the blonde, the fear that appeared on his face as soon as he was pinned and the begging.
It spoke volumes about Naruto and what he went through. Sasuke doubted that Naruto even realized that he was doing it. By now it was probably so ingrained that he did it automatically.
The raven-haired teen cursed under is breath. He knew that there were going to be problems like this. How could there not be? Though he had hoped that Naruto would be a little more cooperative with him. He felt sick, and his shaking had gotten worse from the brief fight. If Naruto wanted to leave his chance was approaching, the raven-haired teen could feel another bout starting.
He had not eaten much or slept much in the last few days. The headaches made it so he could not concentrate to hunt, and if he ate it would just come back up. In the last two days, his shaking had gone to full out episodes that left him on the ground, unable to move for hours afterwards.
Sleep was hard to come by; he slept for an hour or less, and always felt worse after waking. He was usually so disoriented that the smallest things, like a bird chirruping near by, would send him in to a panic attack. Confused and out of it half the time, he had used the blonde as a home base. Even in the worst tricks his mind played on him, he could hold on to the sleeping teen and ride it out.
All because Naruto was there and needed him.
As Sasuke’s shaking got worse, his strength left. Naruto was still thrashing under him, but he did not want to let him go. He needed Naruto to be here. He needed Naruto to need him, to be his reason to go through this. The raven haired Uchiha slowly lowered his head and set it on the struggling blonde’s shoulder.
Naruto froze as he felt Sasuke settle to lie on top of him still holding his wrists. Slowly the hands left his wrists and moved down his arms to grip his shirt.
"Naruto, stop it, I will not hurt you."
The words snapped Naruto out of the hell that was his memories. Orochimaru never talked to him once he decided to stop playing and start screwing. The blue eye focused and looked at the messy dark hair that rested on his shoulder. He should leave Sasuke now that he was too weak to fight to keep him here. He could just push him off and walk away.
Reaching up and pushing the shoulder of his child hood rival, he felt a sudden jerk and heard an odd gasp from the teen on top of him. Stopping, surprised, Naruto felt as Sasuke started to curl up on top of him and started to shake. The raven-haired teen clinging to him, making pained gasping noises, as the shaking got worse.
Sliding to the side and off of Naruto, Sasuke’s shaking became constant, and the raven-haired teen started to hyperventilate. Making sounds between gasps and gagging as every muscle in his body shook. His hands could no longer hold on to Naruto’s shirt and fell away, digging in to the earth beside him.
Naruto watched, torn, he could leave now with no resistance from Sasuke, but he did not want to leave Sasuke like this. Sweat was beading on the pale brow, and black hair clung to it as the Uchiha gasped and sputtered on the ground next to him.
The raven-haired teen cried out in pain as his muscles cramped from the spasm. Naruto reached out and wrapped himself around the shaking teen, pressing himself against him. Using his body to straighten the curled form out so that he could breathe better and wiped the sweat soaked hair out of the pale face. Naruto rested his chin on the top of Sasuke’s head, feeling each little movement the Uchiha made. Slowly a well-scarred hand started to rub circles on the back of the shaking teen, rubbing the sore muscles and getting them to relax.
After a few minutes, the shaking stopped and Sasuke was left panting on the ground. Dark eyes half lidded in exhaustion as he lie limply in the blonde’s arms. To spent to move as Naruto slung his arm around his shoulders and dragged him to his feet, then back to the thicket he had just run from.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Small, whip-thin trees surrounded an oval clearing in the dense underbrush at the base of an ancient oak tree. The young thin trees had bent naturally reaching out over the open space to get as much sun light as possible, shading the small clearing. Animals, probably deer, had found the space and made a passage to it through the bushes. It was a natural hiding spot. The shade kept it cool, and the dense bushes around it made it impossible to get to if you did not know where to look. Well, that was before Naruto had made a new side door to the place.
Yawning and scratching his head, the blonde looked over to the small fire in the center of the thicket to the two small fish that were cooking over it. Sasuke was awake then. The past few days he had slept more than he was awake. Kyuubi was just a tightly packed ball of exhaustion in his stomach, and it was affecting him as well.
He woke up just long enough to pee, eat, drink and go back to sleep. Sometimes Sasuke curled up to him, shaking fiercely, would wake him up. Then he did the only thing he could do, hold the raven-haired teen and rub his cramping muscles until it stopped. The fits had pretty much stopped all together by now, though. The fist day he woke was the worst he had seen Sasuke, so exhausted from the shaking that he had slept for the rest of the day.
Naruto coughed and felt the slight burn in his chest. The blonde was surprised that he had made it as far as he did during that mad dash. He was by no means healed, and was still very tired. But then, he guessed, fear was a powerful motivator.
And after that first time he did not leave, he found that he could not bring himself to do it.
Sighing, the blonde sat up and reached for the larger of the two fish skewered on small sticks. As he began to eat the crispy thing, a noise from the side signaled his raven-haired friends arrival. The bastard had figured out that Naruto did not like to be snuck up on and always made a bit of noise to warn him, so he didn’t flip out and attack him.
The Uchiha sat silently down across from the blonde and took the remaining fish. Now that Sasuke was feeling a little better, he was acting like his frozen popsicle self, grunting as a greeting. The fish were eaten in silence, occasionally interrupted by the coughing of the blonde.
"There’s a town to the south west of here. We should go to it."
Naruto nearly choked on his fish. "What!!! Why??"
Sasuke sighed and took a bite of his fish before he replied. "To find out where we are."
A small piece of dread was welling up in the blonde’s stomach. He had not been around any place village-like since the last time he had destroyed one. Sasuke must of saw the worry on his face.
"You won’t destroy it. Kyuubi is still to weak."
"Sasuke what if..."
"If I had worried about all the what ifs of getting you out of the Sound, I never would of did it. Shut up, finish your fish, and come on."
Naruto ate the last bit of his fish and stood up, still unsure as to whether this was a good idea or not. The dark haired teen put out the small fire and led the way out of the shelter.
Sasuke led the blonde, staying close to him. It was only 10 miles to the town and they both were finally healthy enough to make it. Naruto had been staying awake for progressively longer periods of time and it had been over a day since he had a shaking bout. It was early in the morning, and the blonde had just woken up, so now was the best time.
From behind him, he could hear the raspy coughing of his friend. Another reason to go to this town. Get Naruto to a doctor to drain the fluid out of his lungs. He was healing at a slightly faster rate then a normal human, but still, fluid in the lungs was bad. The more the blonde exerted himself, the worse the coughing got, and he would turn an odd blue color.
Sasuke had made it as far as the road they were about to reach, in his explorations from when Naruto was sleeping, and after that it would be just a walk, not the jumping over fallen trees and dodging mud holes like they were doing now.
Coming up to the hard packed dirt road Sasuke turned to watch Naruto apprehensively approach. The blue-eyed teen was nervous and not hiding well.
‘He has to get used to being around people that are not out to hurt him. Better now that Kyuubi is too exhausted to come out if he panics.’
Sasuke felt a surge of protectiveness come over him as the blonde walked to his side. The clothes Naruto wore hung loose on his emaciated frame, scars shown on both his hands and neck. He was so small; it did not look like he had grown much from when they were 12. Sasuke had been confused with 17 and 18-year-olds when he was just turning 16. Naruto looked 13 tops. The nervous way he looked around was so unlike the 12-year-old Naruto though.
Naruto had reached his side and was starting off down the road when Sasuke reached around and grabbed Naruto, pulling the blonde in to a tight embrace. His mouth even with the blonde’s ear.
"Don’t worry; I wont let any thing happen. I promise."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
Sasuke let go of Naruto with a small push and started to walk down the road like nothing had happened. Naruto stayed put for a second watching his best friend lead the way. A smile crept onto his face, a true grin as he realized that he believed Sasuke. From the depths of his core being, he believed the raven-haired bastard.
With a whoop and a laugh, he ran to his friend’s side. All worries for the moment pushed aside with the hope in his friend’s promise, only to see Sasuke smiling at his antics and call him a dobe.