~*~
Bonds of Blood
By: Animeroxsmyworld
Chapter 7: Starting to Break
~*~
Itachi laid the unconscious blond on a cushioned bench as he waited for the Hokage to see him. The Sandaime was currently with someone from the Yamanaka clan, investigating on the events that took place.
Most likely by using the Yamanaka’s abilities to read the man’s memories.
Itachi glanced over at Naruto, taking in the small spatters of blood that coated his fingers, and splashed across his white t-shirt. Slumbering though, he didn’t look like a child who had just killed two men and would’ve likely killed another if Itachi hadn’t arrived on the scene.
‘Then again, one should never be fooled by appearances.’ Itachi thought to himself. It was dangerous and many shinobi would be dead if they judged by appearances.
The door to the room opened, Itachi straightening up from where he was leaning against the wall. Sarutobi walked in, looking more worn and tired then usual.
“Ah Itachi. So it was you who was on the scene.” Sarutobi commented as he walked into the room, taking the white and red hat off his head to reveal his lack of hair.
“Yes.” Itachi answered simply, stepping aside as Sarutobi came to Naruto’s side.
“Tell me. Did you see anything?” He asked, glancing at the 13-year-old.
“Only the aftermath. I was preoccupied at the time of the event.” Itachi explained blankly. Sarutobi sighed, dragging a hand over his face. This was turning into such an event.
Slowly, Sarutobi reached out and shook the blond boy’s shoulders. It took a few seconds, but Naruto soon began to stir. His eyes cracked open as he mumbled something under his breath, before his gaze focused on the Hokage next to him.
“Oji-chan?” He asked sleepily as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, blinking rapidly to get his eyes to focus more and his brain to actually wake up.
Despite the circumstances they were meeting under Sarutobi smiled.
“Hello there Naruto. Are you awake yet?” He asked softly as he crouched down on his haunches so he was at a better eye level for the boy. The blond yawned before nodding his head, eyes now open and looking between the Sandaime and Itachi curiously.
What was going on? What happened?
“Naruto…” Sarutobi called, the boy’s attention returning to him. “What’s the last thing you remember?”
Naruto frowned in confusion at the question, unsure of what exactly was going on, but obliged anyways.
“I was at the festival, but I didn’t have enough money so I—“ Naruto started before his eyes bulged and he shot to his feet. “THOSE GUYS! THEY ATTACKED US! ME, KYOKO, AND SASUKE! THEY WERE—” Naruto yelled urgently.
“Yes, we know. It’s taken care of.” Sarutobi reassured as he stood and placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder to sooth him. Gently, he lowered the boy back onto the cushioned bench. Naruto uneasily looked between the two men for more reassurance.
“R…Really?”
“Yes.” Sarutobi assured firmly. “But Naruto, can you tell me what happened when the men attacked you?” He continued, crouching down in front of Naruto once again.
“…well…” Naruto mumbled, brows knitting together in concentration as he starred at his lap. “They said that since I didn’t have the money, they were going to use ‘ransom’.” Naruto said, emphasizing the word that he didn’t know the true meaning to.
“Mhmm. Then what?”
“Then they attacked Sasuke and Ky—“ Naruto started before he cut himself off, noticing the blood coating the tips of his fingers. His stomach churned as he held his hand out in front of him, the dried blood flaking as his fingers bent. Crimson caught his eye on his shirt and he suddenly pulled the front of his shirt out so he could see it better.
His breathing went shallow as he saw the spatters of blood that coloured his white shirt.
“Naruto…Naruto…” Sarutobi called out sternly as Naruto starred, unresponsive.
“I… attacked…them…” Naruto teetered, the words whooshing out of him in a silent breath. His mind was blank, all he could do was stare as his memories replayed the events. His fingers twitching as he remembered slashing the one guy across the face, the result being the blood now on him.
“I…they were hurting Sasuke and Kyoko…I didn’t mean to…I just…” Naruto stammered as his hands fisted in the material of his shirt. His head bent, hair covering his face from view.
“Naruto. Calm down. It’s alright. We know it was self-defence.” Sarutobi tried, Naruto barely acknowledging his words. “We know everything that happened. You helped your friends. It’s ok.” Sarutobi continued to try and sooth.
Naruto raised his head slightly, blinking once.
“I killed them.” His voice quivered. Sarutobi looked at a loss of what to do as he straightened up. It seemed Naruto remembered perfectly what he had done.
The Sandaime sighed solemnly at what he had to do next. But it needed to be done to help the boy in front of him. “Sorry about this Naruto” He apologized as his left hand glowed with chakra.
Naruto blinked and his head perked up at the sudden change of conversation. Sarutobi gently placed his hand on Naruto’s head.
“Nagori Sakujo no Jutsu.”(Memory Deletion Technique)
Naruto’s eyes fluttered rapidly before he slumped under the Hokage’s hand, Sarutobi catching him.
“Itachi, can you take him home please. He’s had a long day as it is.” Sarutobi said as he looked over at the still present Uchiha. Itachi nodded, not able to disobey the orders given to him by the Hokage, and took the boy.
~*~
Kyuubi no Kitsune let out an angry growl as he glared at the bars that stood in front of him mockingly. Despite how big their iron frames seemed to humans, to a demon, they were as weak and frail as toothpicks.
And yet he was trapped.
He paced back and forth frantically in his confines, water sloshing underneath his paws as his teeth sneered at the bars once more. For eight damn years he had been trapped here! He was starting to go insane!
Traitorous thoughts of just giving up and just lying down peacefully had already started to form in his head!
But there was hope! Just awhile ago, he had managed a small crack at the base of one of the damn bars. A fraction of his chakra had leaked through when he did, but it didn’t faze him.
Not when a chance at escape was in sight. It had only just taken eight years for it to appear.
Narrowing his eyes, the Kyuubi lunged forward, massive jaw wrapping around one of the bars.
On queue, the seal that the Yondaime had so graciously sealed him behind flared up and Kyuubi jerked back with an inaudible yelp as power surged through the bars. Something akin to electricity, yet fiercer.
“You fucking bastard!” Kyuubi snarled, venom coating every word. He then twitched, head raising a fraction.
Someone was trying to place a jutsu upon him. His growl vibrated through the dripping corridor.
Enough with all the damn jutsus!
Glaring above him, where the itch of the jutsu was, he allowed a tiny tendril of his chakra to crawl out through the tiny crack he had made in the bars. The red chakra soared towards the source of the itch, and obliterated it.
The Hokage’s memory jutsu was then erased, its effects becoming useless upon the blond boy who slept on obliviously while Kyuubi went back to trying to demolish his restraints.
~*~
“I already told you, I don’t know!” Naruto growled, Sasuke for once being the annoyance as he pestered Naruto about the festival night, that fateful night being five days ago. At least when Sasuke pestered someone he didn’t do it with energy and enthusiasm like Naruto would’ve.
He just asked the same question at random points in the day when Naruto wasn’t expecting it.
“Tch.” Sasuke responded, clearly unsatisfied. At the moment the class was outside and split up, the boys on one side of the field and the girls on the other side. They were holding sparring matches, supervised of course, to work on their fighting techniques.
They needed to get three hits, or points, to get their enemy out.
The boys fought the boys and the girls fought the girls until Iruka thought enough time passed and the girls would fight the boys. Sasuke was glad he was healthy enough to fight, having just received a mild concussion from the night of the festival.
Kyoko was told that if her arms had been pulled any harder her arms would’ve been pulled out of their sockets. They said she was lucky.
Naruto on the other hand was still coping with the night. Yet after a few nights of tossing, turning, and not eating right, Naruto started coming back to himself. He was sleeping through the night and eating full meals again. His cheery personality had even come back ten fold.
“Sasuke vs. Roku.” Iruka called out, Sasuke walking into the center while a copper haired boy walked in as well. It didn’t take Sasuke long to take the other boy down with a swift punch kick and punch combo, and Sasuke was soon at Naruto’s side again, arms crossed over his chest.
“Why do you care anyways?” Naruto asked as they watched the other boys fight as names continued to get called. Sasuke however didn’t feel the need to answer him and Naruto huffed angrily.
“Kyoko vs. Misora.” Mizuki’s voice called from the other side of the field, catching the two boy’s attention. They turned and saw blond pigtails walk into the center, a girl with a violet bun on her head walking to match her.
Misora lunged too early and Kyoko dodged easily, twirling around her and hitting her squarely in the back, earning herself a point. Misora attempted to regain herself and aimed a punch but Kyoko ducked and managed to punch her in the gut which made the other girl double over.
Another point.
Kyoko quickly danced out of range and swept the girls feet from under her, earning her the final point and winning her match.
“I didn’t know Kyoko was good.” Naruto commented as he watched her walk out of the center, pulling a lollipop out of her pocket and popping it in her mouth.
“Hn.” Sasuke nodded, before his attention got called back to the boys’ side. “You’re up.” He said as he pushed Naruto forward. Naruto grinned as he bounded into the center, his opponent Akimichi Chouji.
Chouji was unresponsive, just wanting to get out so he could eat his bag of chips so Naruto won within seconds, hitting Chouji twice in the stomach and once on the forehead. Naruto jumped happily at his victory and bounded over next to Sasuke who just rolled his eyes at the one sided fight.
It was obvious to anyone that Chouji hadn’t even tried.
Time continued to drag on before both boys got called into the center to face each other, each surprisingly serious as they watched the other.
“You’re going down Sasuke!” Naruto declared as he settled into a fighting stance, determined grin on his face. Sasuke however, didn’t give his usual ‘yeah right’ response that he always did. Instead he just stayed silent, watching ever closely.
Iruka signalled for the fight to begin and the two slowly began circling each other.
Naruto was the first to move, running forward with a punch aimed for Sasuke’s chest. Sasuke frowned to himself and placed a hand on Naruto’s fist, guiding it away from himself as he stepped back.
He then gracefully landed a square punch to Naruto’s cheek, dazing Naruto for a few seconds.
Naruto staggered back a bit before growling, still determined to beat Sasuke. He came at the raven haired boy again and Sasuke dodged again, but this time he didn’t retaliate.
Sasuke just continued to dodge out of the way, scowling at the blond with a frown on his face. This continued for a good few minutes until Naruto got frustrated.
“Why aren’t you fighting?” Naruto demanded, stopping to stomp his foot as Sasuke flipped away from him to put some distance between them. To say that their fight had everyone’s attention would be an understatement. Sasuke usually always took Naruto down quickly…like usual.
This behaviour was different.
“Fight for real.” Sasuke commanded.
“I am!” Naruto exclaimed, irritated.
“No! I mean fight like you did at the festival!” Sasuke barked. At this Naruto flailed his arms angrily.
“I told you I don’t know how!”
Sasuke grunted before springing towards the blond who yelped in surprise before raising his hands to block the attack. Sasuke’s fist hit Naruto’s block before Sasuke twisted on his heel and raised his foot, his kick catching Naruto’s side.
Sasuke had two points, Naruto had zero.
Naruto grunted in pain before taking a swipe at Sasuke who evaded and landed another kick to Naruto’s chest.
Sasuke straightened abruptly now that he had won and stalked out of the center, Naruto growling as he followed him. When they reached the side Sasuke silently brooded to himself, upset that Naruto wasn’t fighting him seriously while Naruto brooded over the fact that he lost to Sasuke once again.
“How are those two friends?” Shikamaru asked Chouji as he noticed the two brooding males. They seemed more like rivals then friends at the moment. How troublesome.
Chouji just shrugged.
~*~
“OK, let’s now have the girls face off against the boys. Everyone gather over here!” Iruka instructed as Mizuki and Iruka gathered together in the middle of the field. The two groups joined in the middle of the field, making a circle around where Iruka and Mizuki stood.
Immediately they started calling out names, the matches starting with a small groan from the crowd.
“Hi Kyoko!” Naruto called as the two boys joined her, neither noticing when she jumped violently at his voice. She grabbed the end of her lollipop as she starred at him with wide eyes.
She made a mix of noises in her throat, Sasuke only raising a brow at the noise as he stood next to her. She was acting strange.
Naruto took no notice of anything however, and started to talk away to another boy who was standing not too far from them when Kyoko left to fight. It eased her nerves slightly, but when she resumed her position by Naruto and Sasuke, her stomach filled with butterflies. Time continued on, people switching up to fight as names were called.
“Kyoko vs. Naruto.”
Kyoko felt her stomach flop as she paled while Naruto bounded into the center, always eager for a fight. Kyoko stepped back, starring at the center until Sasuke shoved her into the middle to face Naruto.
“Come on!” Naruto called out eagerly as he fell into position. Kyoko thought she would faint. She remained unmoving for a couple minutes, Naruto’s face falling into one of confusion.
She fell into position when she caught a slightly impatient look from Iruka, biting down on her lollipop forcibly to keep her in place. Inside her stomach was dancing with butterflies.
Always the enthusiastic one, Naruto rushed her and Kyoko jumped away, startled. Taking the advantage, Naruto aimed a punch at her cheek and Kyoko was just barely able to intercept it with her forearm, a grunt escaping the two from the impact.
She pushed him away, Naruto reeling as he stumbled back before he lunged again. The two secret siblings fought, Kyoko dodging and flinching whenever he got too close while Naruto began growling in frustration.
She fell to her haunches and swept Naruto’s legs out from under him, making him fall onto his back. Her point.
From his position, Naruto swung his leg and repeated her move, springing upwards with a triumphant cry as she fell back onto her butt this time. Too quick to let this opportunity slip by, Kyoko could only look up as Naruto stood over her and swung a punch towards her.
In her mind Naruto’s image suddenly flickered, eyes becoming those blood red as fangs protruded from his mouth and her breath hitched, heart pounding against her ribcage as she starred in terror at her attacker.
The fist just barely tapped her forehead…like a feather.
Wide blue eyes starred at her as Naruto gaped at her silently. He stood frozen and all around them everyone watched in confusion as seconds ticked by.
Naruto took a few staggering steps back, eyes still locked on hers as he slowly lowered his fist.
Her face was one of complete fear. He had always received hated glares and looks from the villagers. The name calling and the violence. He was used to it…expected it even, but this…
She was afraid of him. Actually afraid of him.
Seeing the look on one of his best friends made his heart shatter as she scrambled to her feet and bolted out of the clearing.
~*~
Lunch time came around and everyone pulled out their food as they grouped together. Naruto just sat at his seat, starring at the Styrofoam cup of instant ramen in front of him with unfocused eyes.
The image of Kyoko’s face when they fought plaguing his mind. What could he have done to make her like that? Was she scared of him hitting her? But they were sparring. He was supposed to do that!
The chair next to him scraped against the floor as it was pushed back and Sasuke sat down next to him, plopping his bento box onto the desk surface. Silently Sasuke began eating his lunch while Naruto continued to stare at his ramen.
After a few minutes of this, Sasuke realized something was up and blinked when it registered in his head that Kyoko wasn’t sitting with them. Actually, she hadn’t been sitting with them for the past five days.
He wouldn’t admit it, but it was starting to bug him…just slightly.
Looking around, he spotted her sitting with Ino, Sakura, and a few other girls from class. She didn’t even look over at Naruto and Sasuke. She stayed firmly situated in the circle of girls.
It was…different.
Sasuke frowned.
“Hey are you going to eat that?”
Both Sasuke and Naruto jumped violently, their heads snapping in the direction of the noise, Sasuke never admitting that the Akimichi boy had actually managed to sneak up on him. Naruto had actually jumped because the plump boy was poking at Naruto’s ramen cup, Chouji’s brown eyes starring at the noodles hungrily.
Naruto blinked owlishly before Chouji’s words sunk in, their meaning as well, and he snatched his ramen possessively.
“Yes! It’s my ramen!” He declared, clutching the Styrofoam cup to his chest. Chouji pouted, falling back onto a nearby chair, unintentionally seating himself at the desk with them.
“Besides, you have food!” Naruto pointed out, now snapped out of his thoughts. Chouji did indeed have a pork bun in one hand, and a rice ball in the other. Shikamaru propped his head up on his hands, waking up from his nap at the sound of his friends’ voice.
“Chouji, eat your own food.” Shikamaru advised from a couple desks away.
“I am!” Chouji defended, taking a bite out of his pork bun as if to prove his point. “I just get hungry after I finish my lunch is all.” Chouji explained, his words muffled.
“You’re so troublesome.” Shikamaru complained, getting up and sitting next to the rotund boy who ate his lunch without complaint. Naruto welcomed the extra people at their desk, happy for more company.
Sasuke looked a little irked but it eventually faded as his face transformed into an emotionless mask that was eerily similar to his brother’s.
Lunch continued to pass, Chouji and Shikamaru conversing with Naruto over pointless topics while Sasuke looked on in disinterest. He glanced over to where Kyoko sat and straightened slightly when he caught her eye.
She jerked before whipping her head around, shoulders hunching up to hide her face from him. Sasuke’s brow furrowed and he decided he needed to interrupt the conversation going on.
Reaching over he shoved Naruto, making Naruto stumble slightly in his seat before glaring.
“What?!” He demanded grumpily, Chouji and Shikamaru falling silent. No one in class had really figured out how or why those two started hanging out together. Kyoko, Sasuke, and Naruto made some kind of weird friendship that didn’t quite make sense.
“Do you know what’s up with Kyoko?” Sasuke asked blankly, jerking his head in the blond female’s direction. Naruto stiffened, glancing at where the female was seated before he looked away.
“Nope.” He answered quickly, his voice surprisingly clipped. Sasuke looked at him suspiciously, but said nothing else.
Kiba chose that moment to walk into the classroom. The Inuzuka liked to eat his lunches outside.
Kyoko froze, paling as Akamaru barked his greeting. Kiba saw her and sighed in exasperation, placing Akamaru, who had been on his shoulder, in the front of his shirt.
“Don’t worry, I got him.” Kiba reassured, Kyoko nodding mutely though her eyes stayed transfixed on the puppy for any sudden movement. Like Akamaru suddenly leaping out of Kiba’s shirt and making a beeline for her.
Kiba made to walk on by before he sniffed and paused, looking at Kyoko with a funny expression.
“You have a faint smell of a dog on you.” He stated before leaning his head closer in her direction and sniffing, Akamaru following his example.
Kyoko almost fell off her chair.
“Kyoko, did you get a dog?” Misora asked, taking her juice box out of her mouth. Kyoko looked around and saw that all her friend’s eyes were on her.
“Um well…Hari-san…bought a puppy to help me…get over my fear…” Kyoko explained, shooting another glance at Kiba.
“Did it work?” Another girl asked, Kyoko shooting her a disbelieving look. Thankfully she wasn’t the only one.
“Ami…” Ino sighed, shaking her head slowly. “If it worked Kyoko wouldn’t still be afraid of dogs.” Ino pointed out, Ami only blinking before nodding.
“Hmm, she seems fine to me.” Chouji commented off-handedly, grabbing a bag of chips from somewhere and opening them, eating them without hesitation. Sasuke’s brow furrowed and he looked over at Naruto, the blond male having a look of hurt fixated on his face.
Something had definitely happened here.
~*~
Classes were over and kids were spilling out of the building in a mesh of color.
“Slow down! Sasuke!” Naruto complained as he chased after the raven haired boy who was in front of him, walking at an alarmingly fast rate. The Uchiha ignored him as he pushed his way through the crowd, a few casting him a glance but not paying it much mind when they saw it was Sasuke.
Naruto just followed in the wake Sasuke had made.
“Finally…” Naruto grumbled to himself as the taller male came to a stop, Naruto managing to catch up to him. When he did though, he wished he hadn’t. Sasuke had stopped Kyoko who had been in the middle of heading home.
“Uh…” She started, blinking.
“What’s going on?” Sasuke shot bluntly.
“Huh?”
“You’re acting strange.” Sasuke stated.
“Well….I…” She fumbled, not knowing what to say.
“Come on Sasuke, just drop it.” Naruto said as he appeared at Sasuke’s side, Kyoko flinching at his voice. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed at the reaction.
“No, something’s up.” Sasuke said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest.
“N-N-Nothing’s going on.” Kyoko stammered quietly, wanting more then anything to just run away under Sasuke’s gaze. As if her feet made up her mind for her, she started walking, manoeuvring around the two. “I have to head home now…” She excused herself, head bent forward.
Sasuke grunted in irritation. Kyoko then stumbled, tripping over her own feet. Instinctively, Naruto grabbed her wrist before her face could smack into the ground.
She jumped at his touch, whirling around to yank her arm away. In that same motion, her other hand came up and instinctively hit the blond male’s cheek, the slap echoing through the air.
Sasuke looked between the two in bewilderment as Naruto starred in shock. Kyoko’s eyes were wide in fright.
It had been an instinctive reaction. She hadn’t meant to hit him.
She staggered back, all three kids speechless. Realization seemed to dawn on Sasuke, and he took a step forward. As if that broke her from her trance, she turned and ran, clearing the Academy grounds easily.
Naruto slowly raised a hand to his sore cheek. He had been hit before. But being hit by one of his best friend…it just seemed to hurt that much more.
~*~
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Naruto.