Belong To Me

Author: Ladelle

Rating: M

Comments: So, long delay. I know. I'm really trying! But this is part one of two, and with the second part I will finally have a completed fic! We should all celebrate, right?

Chapter 4, part One:

Haku glanced to the side, a cold chill racing up his spine and settling on the more paranoid side of his mind. He could see the edge of the city from his perched position on a rather oversized boulder, and something had just happened there. What, he couldn’t be sure. He turned his attention back to Zabuza as a giant splash entered his ears, and jumped to the side when one of the Four, Suigetsu, skidded across the water and collided with the rock below him.

The pale man groaned as he tore himself back up, attempting to regain his composure. Zabuza had managed to pull up some water clones of his own, and they proved to be undefeatable. Still, Zabuza could read the worry on Haku’s face.

“What is it?” he asked, taking advantage of the time it was taking Suigetsu to collect himself. There was a moment where Haku glanced back to the city, his eyes narrowed, before turning back to Zabuza with a concerned frown. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. If there was one thing Haku could take pride in, it was his intuition. And right now, it was telling him that something about their battle had just altered.

Suigetsu leapt back into the water with an astonishing sense of speed and mobility, diving forward with a long sword clutched in his hand, his attention set on the water clones on either side of Zabuza. His eyes were bulging with the rage of potential defeat, and he released a battle cry as he swung his weapon forward, aiming straight for the heart of the gurgling water-based man.

The sword never even reached the clone.

Zabuza had stepped forward, so quickly that the movement was practically invisible, and wrapped a firm hand around Suigetsu’s throat, halting him mid-attack. The thin defender of Sound froze, a gulp rolling against the inside of Zabuza’s palm as he glared upwards, angry.

“Is this how you fight with honor—“ he began, but Zabuza interrupted.

“It’s your city. Do you sense something wrong?”

The comment seemed to catch Suigetsu completely off-guard and the grip around his throat loosened as Zabuza looked down at him seriously. Haku stepped forward, glancing again towards the city. “Do you?” he asked.

The sudden feeling in his chest was driving him insane. It was negative and thick, like he had eaten a spoiled piece of meat. And it frightened him, because he knew that their very lives together depended on this mission.

Suigetsu stumbled backwards, letting loose some spit form his mouth before wiping his lips. He was hunkered over himself, obviously exhausted, and he looked back and forth between the two Konoha warriors in confusion and suspicion.

“What?”

Zabuza’s voice was firm, and bore some maturity that was to be expected. “Do you sense something happening in your city? Something not involving any of the warriors from Konoha,” he stated, reading Haku’s thoughts almost perfectly. Suigetsu narrowed his eyes, suddenly attuned and alert. He stood up straighter and glanced towards the city, and a look of a palpable distress overwhelming his face.

“What on earth—“

Haku ran into the water, straightening the pack he had around his shoulders, his priorities suddenly changed. He looked frighteningly serious for someone with such a pretty face, and his voice was direct. “We need to get to the castle,” he stated, and Suigetsu glared at him, irate.

“I’m not letting either of you go anywhere,” he concluded. It was obvious he felt strangely defeated, even when the battle had never officially come to an end. But the gap between him and Zabuza was great, and he wasn’t sure if his pride would let him settle to move the battle to another day.

“We didn’t come here to harm your king,” Zabuza said, and he sheathed his sword. “If he is in danger, it is our duty to protect him—as well as yours—for the sake of the treaty we came for.”

Haku nodded and looked affirmed. “You are a good fighter. But we both feel an even greater one inside that city.” He searched Suigetsu’s eyes for some sort of understanding before extending his hand.

“A truce, for now. The battle can continue when we know your king is safe.” Big brown eyes met soft blue and Suigetsu glared between them. He didn’t’ shake Haku’s hand, but stepped forward, his body language hinting that he was agreeing.

“I have never lost so much pride in one day.” He muttered and he picked up his pace. Haku glanced to Zabuza and they both followed, Zabuza speaking clearly.

“There is nothing shameful about protecting what matters most to you,” he said and Haku took off in a jog, trying to get their party to move faster.

“Why do you think we’re here for Konoha?” the smaller man said, and Suigetsu couldn’t say anything in return.

Narrowly avoiding a rather forceful round-kick, Naruto leapt backwards, wondering why it was taking both he and Sakura so long to defeat the woman in front of them. She didn’t seem to have any unusual talents, save for the fact she was an extremely gifted martial artist. Aside from that, she seemed to be completely average.

“Naruto, we don’t have time for this,” Sakura said from beside him, and she pressed her fist into the palm of her hand, eyes narrowed. Naruto felt her frustration, knowing that she was right. They didn’t have time for the woman’s evasive techniques—not with the castle so close and their goal within it.

Naruto was breathing deeply and his head was starting to hurt a little. He wasn’t used to fighting people with agility as good as Karin’s, and glancing back and forth to follow her movements was making him feel a little overworked.

A warm hand encircled his wrist, and he glanced down to find that it was Sakura’s, and that she was staring up at him with conviction. “Go.”

Naruto frowned and shook his head. “I’m not going to leave you—“

“Naruto,” Sakura interrupted. “Only one of us needs to make it to that castle. And it will only take one of us to defeat her.”

The moment was ruined when Karin slid between them, forcing them both to separate by jumping backwards. Naruto hissed as his feet grinded across the gravel below and he let his palm ride the ground in order to steady himself.

Karin was standing between them, smug. Her pretty lips were turned upwards in a smirk, and a delicate hand settled itself on her hip. “And to think I expected so much more,” she said condescendingly, shaking her head. Naruto almost growled.

It wasn’t as though he couldn’t use one of those techniques to defeat her. But she…was a woman. And he didn’t feel comfortable destroying Sasuke’s top soldiers, even if it was for the sake of the king’s audience. He was fighting seriously—or as seriously as he could, knowing that his gender left him at a disadvantage.

And as usual, Sakura could read his anxiety.

“Naruto!” Her eyes were wide as they urged him to take her advice, and after a moment of him still inwardly debating, she rolled her eyes and forced her fist into the ground below her, sending a splitting crack past Karin and underneath Naruto’s feet. He hopped backwards, frowning, as a rock bed jutted out of the ground, effectively forming a mass that created a wall between him and the two women.

“Sakura…!” Naruto growled and from the other side, his partner sounded.

“Get going already!” She yelled, and Naruto stood, almost at a loss for what to do. He knew Sakura could handle herself, and he knew that she had forced him away because she knew he wouldn’t leave otherwise. He let out a breath and resolved to leave his faith in the girl he had grown up with.

After a moment he turned towards the city and took off in a sprint, thankful to realize that it was closer than he had originally thought. The bug-eyed beetles were still clicking on his shoulder, a sound he had managed to forget during his battle with Karin. But now, as the only sound he heard was a light breeze whipping past him, the clicking seemed louder than ever.

“You little guys are so loud,” Naruto stated, and he deviated right to an alternate pathway he remembered from Shikamaru’s map. With luck it would be a shortcut—he didn’t want any interruptions. The sooner he could make it to the castle, the happier he would be. He didn’t want their battles to last longer than necessary, for both sides’ sake. Sasuke needed his soldiers and Naruto needed his friends, and so he was willing to be hasty.

The outer wall of the city was only a few minutes away and Naruto sped up. His energy was boosting again as thoughts of Sasuke entered his mind. Thoughts of how much his help meant to Konoha, and thoughts of building a strong relationship with the leader of Sound as the up-and-coming leader of the village.

Not to mention…something else.

An undeniable attraction and challenge between them. The feel of Sasuke’s fingers on his flesh, eyes of a caged animal staring at him from below. Dark eyes, cold eyes, desperate eyes. Eyes that Naruto couldn’t forget; an expression that haunted him.

Sasuke was power. He was the most influential man you could hope to meet and for some strange reason, Naruto wasn’t afraid of him. Given, Naruto was hardly ever afraid of anyone, but still—the fate of his future relied on this one person. He only hoped that he could coerce the man into some sort of deal.

Finally reaching the wall, Naruto gathered his energy and stamina and took a practiced jump towards it, meeting it with his palms about hallways up. He hopped up from there, taking only a mere few seconds to find footing on the top, eyes wide from the incredible view of the city.

It was sandy and red with waves of golden rooftops leading to a spectacular protrusion in the center—the castle Naruto recognized immediately. A breeze cooled the perspiration on his forehead, and the sun beat down on him, a familiar feeling that reminded him of long days tending to a crop or running town errands. I felt good.

Satisfied with the brief break Naruto took off forward, leaping from roof to roof and drawing the attention of small children as he did so. They watched in awe and fascination and he smiled boyishly, his attention still focused on the castle ahead.

It was always good to know that children were the same wherever you journeyed to; still young and pure and excited. It made his hope and faith soar a little, and as the buildings grew a bit steeper he found himself diving into the side streets below, racing past the families and small pets that occupied it. He had as much agility as anyone else, and he slid past a pair of lesser guards with a less-than-practiced stealth.

He had never been known for his ability to stay hidden. In fact, he was known for his ability to stand out.

Leaping back up on top of a small run of shop-canopies Naruto shot forward, glancing back idly to see the guards glancing around, searching the ground for him. He took a right in order to follow his selected path, the castle growing closer by the second. His chest was filling again—this time with that overwhelming sense of accomplishment. The nervous anxiety that creeps through you before you win something great.

He was about to leap forward onto a slightly raised adobe building, but an explosion made him stop in his tracks. Eyes wide he whipped to the side, balancing himself carefully on the metal landing he had frozen over, taking in a rising ball of fire and dust that drifted into the sky like an earthy balloon. It drifted above a residential area and Naruto could hear people screaming and fumbling around in fear.

The feeling in Naruto’s chest changed. Civilians weren’t supposed to get hurt in this. Konoha’s soldiers knew that—and so did the guards under Sasuke. So if that was the case—what had just exploded?

Naruto glanced up at the castle towering above him and then to the explosion, indecision tearing at him. A bad feeling had already begun to fill him, drawing him towards the area that had been affected, mentally noting that it was the area where Shikamaru and Chouji were supposed to be.

He looked back at the castle. He cursed and deviated right, going as fast as he could towards the settling dust and debris. The air smelled of energy and power, the result of a strong talent being let loose.

“Chouji!” Naruto yelled, hoping his friend was somewhere nearby. Sure enough, his chubby friend emerged from a rolling ball of dust, glancing around, searching for the source of his name.

“Chouji!” Naruto yelled again, drawing the boy’s attention towards him. They made eye contact for a brief moment before Chouji looked away, holding his hands in front of him defensively as another blast funneled towards him. He held strong against it, his feet grinding across the gravel road as he was forced backwards, and Naruto lifted his vision to find the culprit.

“Are you just going to sit up there Naruto, or help?”

It took the blond a second to realize that Shikamaru was next to him, having jumped out of the mess of explosions himself only to land on the same rooftop. Naruto frowned and stared at his friend, eyes full of concern. “What’s going on?”

Shikamaru was calm and focused, nothing deviated from the norm. He looked somewhat distraught, however, as he glanced around in an attempt to formulate some sort of plan. “There’s someone headed for the castle, not us and not them,” he said firmly. “Maybe using the fact Sasuke’s four strongest are away to get to the king.”

Naruto’s eyes widened. That wasn’t something any of them had predicted. Another explosion racked the town from below, and Chouji flew up from the mess, stumbling to form a graceful landing on a building adjacent to them. Naruto glanced back to Shikamaru.

“I have to get to the castle,” he said and glanced around the streets, now becoming vacant as civilians made their way towards the outskirts of town. “Have you heard anything from Zabuza or Haku?” He asked.

Shikamaru shook his head before looking a bit curious himself. “Where’s Sakura?”

Naruto frowned. “She wanted to fight on her own,” he answered.

A figure emerged from the settling clouds of dust, effectively catching Naruto’s attention. A man came towards him, knife in hand—but no normal blade by any means. It was a sharp shape made of energy—a talent that Naruto had yet to see in his lifetime. Shikamaru stumbled to the side as Naruto blocked the blazing dagger with his arm, using his low-set metal armbands to hold the attacker at bay.

“Not bad,” said the man hovering above him. “Not bad for Konoha.”

The man pressed harder against him, forcing Naruto to lose his balance and fall backwards onto the rooftop, still managing to keep his hold. Their age difference wasn’t by much, but the other figure had gray hair—a result of over-using his talent. His lips were curled up dangerously and his eyes were magnified through thick glasses.

“Naruto!” Shikamaru shouted from beside him, and Naruto growled. “Yeah, yeah,” was the guttural sound, and he rocked upward enough to send his foot into the man’s chest, expelling teh attacker from his position above. The man flew back and caught himself against the wooden boards of the roof, looking engaged an excited.

“We don’t have time for this,” Shikamaru said, and Chouji watched them from afar, waiting for his partner to give some sort of order. The gray-haired opponent laughed a little before stepping in front of them, obstructing their path towards the castle.

“I don’t intend on letting you pass,” he said, and Naruto bit his lip, more focused on the castle behind him than the man’s threat. If whoever had entered had a man strong enough to hold back three of them, the intruder had to be incredibly strong himself. And on some level, Naruto felt frightened for Sasuke.

“What’s the plan, Shikamaru,” he barely put the words into a question, his eyes settled on the man in front of him. Shikamaru let out a terse breath, seemingly annoyed at the situation.

“Have you used one yet?” he asked Naruto, and Naruto raised an eyebrow.

“Used one of what?” There was a moment that passed before he seemed to comprehend the question. “Oh, no. That guardian wasn’t strong enough for me to use my talent.”

Shikamaru nodded and clenched his fists, lowering them as their opponent prepared to come at them again. It was a fast motion, almost too fast for Naruto to catch, but luckily Chouji had spotted the plan of action long before he had even thought to predict it.

The heavyset boy was in front of Naruto and Shikamaru sooner than they could blink, using his body as a shield against an onset of energy, using his own bulk to deflect it. Naruto scuttled backwards a few steps and Shikamaru did so a bit more gracefully, all before Naruto grimaced.

“What’s the plan, Shikamaru?” He asked a bit more forcefully, beginning to feel irritated and pressed for time. His friend shook his head before stepping closer, his words quick.

“Use one on this guy. If you get him down, we can take him from there—until his energy is depleted, it’s going to be too rough,” he said. Naruto cracked his knuckles and knelt down, preparing for an attack of his own.

“Why didn’t you say so in the first place?” he said, but his expression was too focused to be considered joking. He dodged forward like a bullet, holding his fist back against his side, the breeze whiplashing his bare skin against his speed. “Hold him, Chouji!”

Chouji obeyed, much to the other man’s surprise, by gripping his arm through the incredible show of forced energy. Controlling chakra seemed to be the opponent’s talent, and it was amazing that Chouji couch reach straight through in order to get a good hold on the other man. Naruto’s face turned downwards a bit, and he pulled together his own collection of chakra, ready to send the gray-haired man to his grave.

It was a talent he had discovered when he was young, though he rarely used it. It was lethal and very difficult to use—in fact, he himself could only use it a few times in one go. It was like a blue mass in his palm and it shot tingles up his arm as he formed it, pushing it forward like a well-aimed punch.

The eyes of a doe wouldn’t look more surprised or frightened as the man struggled against Chouji’s grip, wiggling and writhing in order to get out of the way. Naruto only sped up, resolving to finish this in one blow so that he could continue towards the castle—and to Sasuke.

“N-Naruto—“ Chouji let out a startled gasp when the man jostled free, trying his best to avoid any collision with Naruto’s attack, only to have Naruto catch his right arm in a terrifying blast. The power faded as the impact occurred, and the man flew backwards, rolling over the rooftops before tumbling down to the street below—a fall not far enough to claim his life.

Beads of sweat tickled Naruto’s brow and he wiped them away, hunching over his knees as he struggled to take in breaths. It always took a lot out of him, but it was one of the strongest attacks he knew. He only wished the man hadn’t deviated. It meant he was still a threat.

“Damnit,” he ground out, and Shikamaru leapt beside him, placing a concerned hand on his shoulder.

“Are you alright?” he asked, and Naruto took a deep breath, pulling himself up before nodding. “I’m fine.” He was disappointed though, but he wouldn’t say it.

“I think…we can still take it from here,” Shikamaru said, and Chouji was coughing as he came to their side, all three watching as the man struggled to up himself on the gravel below.

“Are you sure?” Naruto asked, and he patted Chouji on the back, his own form of team spirit. Chouji’s coughing lessened, and Shikamaru nodded.

“His attacks were with his right hand, so I think we can manage,” he said, adding more fuel to the fire of Naruto wanting to leave them in favor of the intruder.

Naruto frowned, not confident with leaving quite yet, but knowing that if anyone, Shikamaru was the one to trust. He glanced down to the twin beetles on his shoulder and gave a short winded command. “Get back to Shino. Something tells me we’re going to need a medic,” he said, and as if the bugs understood, one took off into the hazy day sky.

“You two—don’t do anything stupid,” Naruto said, although he knew exactly what Shikamaru would say back to him.

“Don’t you do anything stupid,” the pony-tailed boy replied, and Naruto grinned, realizing he was more likely to push boundaries than anyone else.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Naruto replied, and he jumped to the building across from theirs, narrowing down the path he intended to use. The castle wasn’t far—but who know how long Sasuke had been alone with whoever had entered?

It wasn’t as though Naruto doubted Sasuke’s ability to fight, but at this stage in the game they had created, if something happened to the king, he would be held responsible. And as the new leader of Konoha, he couldn’t take on the burden of an accusation so large.

Naruto let his arms fall limply beside him and increased speed. He really hoped that Sasuke was good in a battle.

It wasn’t until and explosion wracked him from his thoughts did Sasuke think anything unusual about the proceedings of he and Naruto’s deal. He was positive that his fighters would prevail, which was unfortunate, mostly because he wanted an opportunity to see Naruto again. And although he had concluded that he would see the blond again regardless, he had come to think that he would prefer to see a look of long-winded defeat over the bright excitement of the other man’s normally smug features.

He saw the pillar of dust rise from his bed, clouding his perfect view of the gleaming afternoon sun, and stifling his laid back predictions of the insetting battles. He heard civilians scattering in the detonation’s wake and was immediately on his feet, emperor’s robes dragging idly behind him.

He had never thought the ruffians from Konoha would be crude enough to endanger civilian life.

It made his teeth grind and his anger soar, any excitement for seeing the blond again fade from his mind. There were reasons he didn’t deal with lower villages and this was one. His people’s lives were just as important as those from their village, whether they would admit it or not. And wreaking havoc on his own very city—the city they wanted protection from, was beyond forgiveness.

Putting on a pair of shapely leather sandals, he strode to his balcony, trying to examine the area that had gone up in smoke. It was too difficult to make anything out through the clouds so he merely glared, not surprised when one of his tenants burst into his quarters.

“Sir, the Marketing district has just—“

“Obviously,” he supplied and he frowned. “Send out the castle guard unit. I want every one of those Konoha soldiers arrested and jailed.”

The small boy nodded quickly before dodging out of the room, and Sasuke could hear his feet padding down the hallway. Then there was silence, spare a few more miniature explosions that followed the large one, filled with the dazzling colors of chakra that incited battle.

He shook his head, and his attention suddenly veered downward, backing up as he sensed something coming. He pulled a sword from a collection beside him and ripped it free of his sheath, all in time to raise it in defense as a figure that leapt gracefully into his room.

Arm guard caught sword, the shimmering metal glinting against the sun outside, the screaming of metal met by metal. It was Naruto.

“Are you alright?” he asked, and the question caught Sasuke off guard, especially because they were in a very compromising battle position. Bright blue eyes bore into his own, just as he remembered them, only filled with concern rather than smug anticipation. He frowned, dragging his sword downward before sending it forward again, almost causing Naruto to fall backwards off the balcony railing with the intensity of the force.

“I will be as soon as you are defeated,” he answered, and Naruto raised an eyebrow before ducking to avoid another swing, one that grazed his cheek. Naruto’s expression drifted to anger.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked, and he swiveled to the side, jumping over Sasuke and landing in the shadows of his room. He didn’t wait for an answer as he looked around the room, searching fro the signs of an intruder.

“Really, are you alright?” His eyes once again met Sasuke’s, ignoring the fact the king was rushing at him with the blade again.

“Don’t come into my castle demanding stupid things,” Sasuke said as he came at Naruto, “After blowing up part of my city.”

Naruto stepped to the side slightly, letting the sword ride against the fabric covering his hip, until the hilt—and Sasuke’s fingers—met his side. Sasuke still pushed him backwards, nearly pressed against him, until Naruto was backed against a wall, pinned between the sword and Sasuke’s left hand.

“What are you talking about?” Naruto asked, clearly confused. When Sasuke only glared further, it suddenly struck Naruto what exactly he was referring to. “That blast wasn’t ours—it’s someone else’s. I came here because Shikamaru said someone broke past them into the castle.”

Sasuke looked disbelieving but Naruto made no attempts to fight against him, even when Sasuke brought his hand in closer, forcing Naruto to lean against the sharp blade at his side. “Why should I believe you?” Sasuke asked.

Naruto brought his hand up to Sasuke’s, letting his palm slide underneath, his fingers seeking to lock with the pale fingers above his own. There was a heat between them that was becoming obvious, and the anxiety between them only seemed to fuel it. “Because I was worried about you? I came to rescue you,” he stated.

Sasuke seemed startled at the touch and backed up, pulling his sword out of the wall as he did so. Naruto let out a breath as the blade left his side, grateful it had only torn a small portion of his tunic and not his skin.

“I don’t need rescuing,” he said. “Especially from someone like you. And I don’t believe you. If there were a foreign presence in this castle, I would feel it.”

Naruto stepped forward, only to have the edge of Sasuke’s sword meet his throat, causing to raise his hands in a confused surrender. “Sasuke—“

There was a shuffling outside the main doorway and a few guards entered, swords drawn. “My Lord we saw him enter and—“

Naruto glanced to the side to view the people that had entered, and Sasuke bobbed his sword a bit, looking placid. “Put him in the holding cells.”

Naruto frowned. “Sasuke, don’t do something stupid. I’m not your enemy,” he said it as evenly as he could, ignoring the fast a couple guards had already come close enough to grab him enough to restrain him. “Sasuke,” he said again, and the king sent him a terse glare.

“You are not important enough to use my name so freely. Lord Uchiha would get you much further,” he said condescendingly. “Now get him out of my sight.”

Naruto growled as the guards yanked him backwards, and in all truth, he could have broken away. But at the moment, staying at least in the castle seemed more productive than escaping out, especially if he wanted to protect Sasuke from who or whatever was lurking inside. “You’re making a mistake.”

The guards pulled him out of the doorway and Sasuke scoffed. “My only mistake was in trusting an honest battle with a pitiful town like yours.”

Cold words settled in Naruto’s mind and he turned to the one beetle he had left. “Tell them not to come near this castle,” he said. If anything, it would be best if he were the only one to be blamed for whatever was going on.