Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Frightening Truth ❯ 2 ( Chapter 2 )

I do not own Naruto-kun and co.

 

Sakura groaned as the comforting blankness of sleep left her and forced her into the black world of consciousness. `Wait, consciousness isn't supposed to be black.' Sakura glanced around, noticing a small fire several feet to her right where Sasuke and Kakashi were sitting motionless. She tried to sit up but yelped in pain when an electric jolt ran from her head down her spine. Kakashi was immediately at her side helping his student closer to the flames.
“How long have I been out Sensei? Must have been a while if you managed to set up camp and start a fire.”
Kakashi's visible eye looked troubled, a strange effect since the copy-nin hardly ever looked troubled.
“Actually Sakura we only woke up a few moments ago. We weren't the ones who started the camp or the fire.”
Her eyes widened and clearly showed her fear despite her attempts to keep her face calm. Sakura shook her head and gazed absently at the fire while she spoke.
“Where is Naruto? He usually recovers the fastest so he might have seen who started the camp.”
A low voice came from the woods behind them, making all three draw kunai and take up defensive stances.

“I made camp and started the fire. Sakura you can sleep on the opposite side of the log for privacy if you want.”
All three blinked when Naruto came into the firelight carrying two full canteens of water. He set one of them next to the fire and gave the other to Sakura. She accepted it numbly, staring at him with an open mouth. Sasuke and Kakashi were in similar states. Naruto ignored their reactions and crouched down to throw more wood onto the fire. Sakura shook her head and in a fit threw the canteen at his exposed back. His hand reached behind him and caught it expertly without spilling a single drop.
“You shouldn't waste water Sakura, unless you want to refill it.”
Naruto's tone was cold, casual, and completely out of character. Sakura's mouth dropped again when he stood and tossed the canteen back to her. Catching it out of reflex, she failed to see the top coming loose and was splattered with the icy cold liquid. Inner Sakura was fuming. ` Who the hell is this? This is not Naruto! Naruto is nice! Naruto is...is NOT THAT GUY!' Naruto frowned at her clumsiness but soon returned his gaze to the dancing flames.
`This is going to be harder than I thought. They really had no idea; maybe I'm too good of an actor.' Naruto mused to himself, senses alert incase of attack. It was these senses that had enabled him to catch the canteen. Normally he would resist the urge to reach out and catch it to hide his abilities, but this time he couldn't. This time he had been forced to react how he would naturally. `Damn that woman and her jutsu, I didn't think it would effect me this much. She is definitely one I need be careful around. Ne? Kyuubi, what do you think I should do?'
'Slit her throat and let her bleed to death slowly, or better yet remove all of her organs one by one.' Naruto could feel the fox grinning. `Oh! Or you could release me and I could kill her. You know that would be a suitable punishment.' Naruto snorted slightly. `For who, me or her?'
'Her of course'
'Ya right. You and I both know that I will be the one pinned with murder even if they know it was you. And besides, we haven't gotten the seal completely off yet so we don't have our true form. Anyways I haven't had a good fight since that Gaara guy.'

Naruto felt Kyuubi pacing in the cage in his abdomen, growling loudly.
'I haven't had a good fight since we were sealed in this pathetic body, so stop complaining!'
Naruto could actually feel his chest rumbling with the force of the snarl. He soothed the nine-tails, mentally stroking his fur and rubbing his ears.
'Calm down Kyuubi, the seal is almost gone. And as soon as it is we will have our true form plus this one, imprisonment is only a small price to pay.' He felt Kyuubi snort and lean into his scratching fingers.
'You've been saying that for two weeks now! How long do I have to be stuck here? It's dull and cant see very well through your eyes.'
This time it was Naruto who snorted, causing his teammates to turn and watch him discreetly. He noticed but did nothing.
'Now who is complaining?'
Naruto once again felt his chest rumble when he received an answer. He chuckled and soothed the demon with practiced ease. The kitsune was soon slumbering in the diminishing seal. By this time Naruto noticed his teammates and sensei openly staring at him. He tried to send them an innocent look, but because of a sudden shock of pain he ended up with the glare that usually adorned his face when not in their presence. Sasuke blinked, surprised, and Sakura glared back.
“What is wrong with you Naruto? First you come out of nowhere and act all creepy now you are laughing at nothing then glaring at us! What is going on?”
The blonde ninja scowled and cursed under his breath because she had worded her question well enough to force him to answer lest he invoke the jutsu.
“The jutsu that woman used on us forces us to tell the truth.”
Sakura's mouth dropped open then closed with an audible snap. Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly.
“How do you know this?”
Naruto turned his scowl on the Uchiha. `Stupid bastard, why cant he just shut up and accept information?'
“I woke up before you.”
Sasuke glared as he watched Naruto talk with Sakura. He was acting suspicious. Naruto would usually go over every detail of what happened, adding in how he defeated one hundred missing-nins who just happened to pop up out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly. Now he would answer with just enough information to count as answering the question. Sasuke had also noticed that while Naruto was looking at Sakura, and seemed to be paying attention to her, he wouldn't answer any question that wasn't worded well enough to catch him in a corner. Then when he would answer it would be in simple four to five word sentences that left more questions than answers.
Naruto's eyebrow twitched when the girl before him fired off another question he had to answer.

“What's with the third degree? Why are you so angry Sakura, is it because you cant lie and you are taking it out on me?”

Sakura's mouth closed, yet again, with an audible snap. `This is not Naruto. The normal Naruto would kill just to have us looking at him, and now that we are trying to talk he ignored most of our questions then yells at us.' Inner Sakura said bitterly.

`I think this is the real Naruto. Maybe everything we saw before was just an illusion. I mean he has had a bad past right?'

`I guess.' Inner Sakura volunteered reluctantly.

`Then how can you blame him for not trusting us?'

Inner Sakura exploded on her counterpart.
`How can I not! We've known him for damn near three years and he has been lying the entire time! The question isn't how can I not it's how can you.'

Sakura blinked at this question then turned her attention back to Naruto who was still waiting for an answer. Lowering her eyes to the ground, she spoke in a voice close to a whisper.
“I apologize for my rude behavior, I only have one question left.”
Lifting her eyes she could see that Naruto's face showed surprise, from her apology she assumed. He swallowed and nodded hesitantly. Turning her jade gaze back to the forest floor she once again spoke. This time her voice was so quiet he had to lean closer to hear her. When he did he leaned back quickly, as if he had been burned.
“Are we even friends?”
#################################
With every fiber of his semi-human being he wanted to tell her that they were friends, but he couldn't force himself to say the words. Every time he tried he would get a migraine that would leave as soon as he stopped trying to speak the words he so desperately wanted to. Naruto tightly closed his eyes and ignored the increasing pain shooting through his head.
“Of…”

Naruto leaned back on the log he was perched on. `This is a lot more painful than I thought it would be. It's taking a lot of effort just to keep the pain out of my voice. Damn. Ne, Kyuubi, can you do something about this?'

`Why would I do that?'

Naruto resisted the urge to scowl and grind his teeth in frustration.

`You know they're good allies, damnit! Why do you have to be difficult?'

`Don't tell me I'm being difficult! You're the one who won't admit that you don't like your teammates!'

`Forget I asked. Listen, if you wont help will you at least shut up so your annoying voice doesn't add to the pain?'

Naruto forced himself not to smirk when he felt the kitsune sulk and use his chakra to ease the headache.
“Of course we are friends Sakura-chan!”
She looked skeptical and Sasuke and Kakashi looked downright disbelieving. He tried to smile reassuringly but an explosion of pain sent him to hands and knees. Naruto tried to get aid from the demon, but he couldn't manage to articulate his thoughts. He could only see black even though he knew his eyes were open. He heard Sakura scream his name off in the distance, but he almost didn't, the pounding of his heart covering almost all sounds.
Naruto forced his mind to clear. The pounding black fog of pain lifted and he found himself huddled on the ground, his own harsh breathing assaulting his ears. Still cradling his head, he sat up slowly and tried to look around.
“Now you go? Star food oatcake?”

`That cant be right.'

“Wha?”

Naruto's tongue felt swollen, his mouth dry. He shook his head, trying to clear his senses. He immediately regretted moving, even that tiny movement sent echoes of pain racing through his body. He felt a cool hand on his forehead and once again heard Sakura's voice. It sounded closer than before but still far away.
“Naruto? Are you ok?”

`Pshh, Star food oatcake. You are pitiful.'
Naruto grimaced at Kyuubi's comment. He knew that the fox masked his concern with cynicism, but it still stung. Ignoring the emotional pain for the moment he tried to reassure his team. The result being another torrent of pain. Resisting the urge to shake his head he spoke to Sakura and Kyuubi simultaneously.

“I hurt.”
`This isn't good Kyuubi. If that little lie caused that much pain I am totally screwed.'
Sakura snorted and brought her fist up to strike him but stopped when she saw him flinch. A guilty expression flooded her face.
“I'm sorry Naruto! I forg..OW!”

Sakura slid to her knees and clutched her head. After a few second she looked at Sasuke and spoke in a pain filled voice.
“What was that?”
Sasuke snorted and turned his back. Naruto snorted at the same time.

Sakura glared at him, blaming Naruto for Sasuke's cold nature.
“What?!”

Naruto chuckled and leaned against the log he was once seated on.
“Baka. Didn't I just say that we couldn't lie? Well?”
She intensified her glare.
“I guess.”
“Well you obviously lied.”
She scowled for a moment then her eyes turned soulful.

“That means that you lied. You lied!”
Naruto snorted again.
“I was wondering when you would put two and two together.”

`FUCK! Why cant just shut up?! I am digging my own grave! Gods, I'm living up to my reputation as a moron.' He felt Kyuubi snickering in the background.
"NARUTO!"

Naruto let out a longsuffering sigh and looked Sakura in the eye.
"Look, it doesn't matter if we are friends or not. The only thing that matters is getting out of here alive, and to do that we need to work together. Lets just forget about this incident for now and get out of this damn forest. When we are on the outside you guys can gang up on me and try to pry out whatever secrets you want."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"Since when do we listen to you, dobe?"

Naruto's glare sent all his teammates back a step.
"Since you figured out that I wasn't the dobe."
Sakura moved to step in between them to stop the upcoming fight, but stopped in her tracks at what was standing behind the quarreling nins. It was…..

Review please