Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Wings ❯ Pain ( Prologue )

The Angels came from above and the Humans saw the Light

With words of Love, the Angels came to Be One with Humans

With Want and Need, the Race began to grow

But, as Always, with Light there must Come Dark

Light must Fight Dark for Balance

Light Always had

Light Always Will

And now,

With the Birth of Light and Dark

It shall Begin

Again

Sasuke absently reached up to gently rub his shoulder, feeling the pain spasms coming sooner and sooner.

"Sasuke-kun?" he heard Sakura ask softly beside him, watching his intently with soft aqua eyes. "Is something wrong?"

Quickly he pulled his hand away, stuffing it in one of his pockets. He bowed his head slightly to shade his eyes with his blue-black bangs and gave her a look he knew to be arrogant before shaking his head slightly.

"Of course not."

Even without being able to see her properly through his hair, he could practically feel the little hearts floating around her head and the stars sparking in her eyes as she nodded, dazedly. On the other side of him, he could hear Naruto growl something about Sasuke. The dark-haired boy merely closed his eyes and leaned up against the railing of the red bridge, feeling the sun's rays pounding on him from above.

He had given up all hope that Kakashi would arrive on time, at least once.

Another spasm ran though his shoulders and down his spine and he could feel the flesh on his back around this shoulder blades stretching slightly as two hard lumps quivered slightly, just under his skin.

It's going to be soon, he thought, commanding his body not to react to the pain. I just hope it's not too soon.

Finally, at long last, Kakashi appeared atop one of the red arches over the bridge.

"Hello," the silver haired Jounin said, raising one hand in greeting.

"You're late!" both Naruto and Sakura yelled, as was their usual greeting.

"Sorry - a lady asked me to stop so she could draw me."

"Lame excuse, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura grumbled, folding her arms across her chest as Inner-Sakura yelled several very impolite words and Naruto whined.

"Hey, hey!" Naruto called, as Kakashi leapt from the arch to the actual bridge. "Did you get us a new mission at least?"

"Of course. One I'm certain you are all familiar with."

~*~

As the sun set on Konohagakure and Kakashi set off to turn in the mission report, Sasuke cursed the very name that damn cat, his eye twitching slightly as Sakura gently applied the disinfectant to the four parallel scratches on his cheek with a small cotton ball. He had been ready to pounce on the thing when he'd had another back spasm - so far the worst one yet - causing him to fall just before it.

No wonder Naruto hated it so much - those claws stung.

Noticing his faint signs of discomfort, Sakura blushed slightly and said softly, "Sorry, Sasuke-kun. But, like they say, if it burns that means it's working."

Sasuke just grunted something as Sakura placed the cotton down and gently applied a bandage to his cheek. Beside him, Naruto grumbled, flinching as he ran a stinging ointment over the various scratch and bite marks that lined his arms and face. As Sakura turned to replace the supplies back in the Aid-kit, Naruto suddenly grinned hopefully and leaned forward.

"Hey, hey, Sakura-chan. Could I, maybe, walk you home today?"

Sakura slammed the lid down on the Aid-kit and said sharply, "No."

Naruto twitched slightly, turning to glare at Sasuke as Sakura suddenly said cheerily, "But I'll walk you home, Sasuke-kun."

"No," Sasuke said as he stood and began walking off. He focused his mind on keeping his shoulder blades from twitching as the two lumps, now stretching down to the middle of his back, under his skin began quivering fiercely. Not here, he thought desperately. Not here, not now. Unwilling to see if the lumps would obey his commands, he quickened his pace from a walk to a fast jog.

Naruto stood, shoving his hands in his pockets as Sasuke walked off, glaring at the boy's back. Stupid prick, he thought moodily. Why does Sakura-chan even like him.

He was about to turn and go off to his own apartment when he noticed Sasuke's shirt give a slight quiver just before he bolted down the street. Frowning, he waved distractedly at Sakura and rushed after his teammate, wondering about what he'd just seen.

"Sasuke!"

Crap! Sasuke glanced behind him, seeing Naruto running to catch up with him. Why was the dobe following him? Suddenly, a wave of pain shot up his spine and he gasped, stumbling and falling face-forward.

"Sasuke?"

Naruto dropped to his knees beside Sasuke as the boy cried out in pain, eyes clenched shut, tears of pain rolling down his cheeks, and fingers twitching, searching from something to grab. His back, under his shirt, was… thrashing. Violently. As though something was trying to get out.

"Sasuke - what the hell is going on?!" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke cried out in pain, spittle flying from his lips. "My… My shirt! Get it off!"

"What?!"

"Get it - ahh! - off!"

Naruto stared at Sasuke in disbelief for a few moments before taking the hem of the boy's shirt in his hands, feeling something brush up against his hand through the cloth. Shuddering slightly, Naruto grabbed a kunai from his belt pouch and ran it up though Sasuke's shirt, cutting it from the boy's body.

The cloth fell, exposing Sasuke's back and Naruto gasped. It wasn't the vast multitude of long scars, both old and new, that littered across Sasuke's back (mostly his shoulder blades) that made him recoil in disgusted horror, but the two dark patches under Sasuke's skin that thrashed, pressing against the skin and stretching it almost to the point of ripping.

Sasuke cried out again, taking his shirt from his body and twisting it into a hard knot. With quivering hands, he brought the torn cloth to his mouth and bit down on it to avoid biting through his tongue, as well as burying his nails into it.

Suddenly, there was a loud, watery, ripping noise, a wet splattering and a gasp from Naruto, followed a split-second later by searing pain from his back that caused darkness to take over Sasuke's eyes.

The pain had ended for now.

~*~

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Naruto: -glares at Angel- What's with you focusing on Sasuke all of a sudden.

Kakashi: And the new "motion" symbol.

Angel: 'Cause I like to torture him and 'cause FF.net seems to have decided that asterisks do not, in fact, exist. -sits in Kakashi's lap and sighs- One more day… Just one more! -cuddles Kakashi- ^^

Kakashi: -attempts to read Icha Icha Paradise around her-

Angel: -decides to ignore that- Nine, do the disclaimer.

Nine: Why me?

Angel: You haven't said anything yet.

Nine: -sticks tongue out at Angel- Angel does not own Naruto. If she did, it would look like crap and have shit like this in it. -gets Icha Icha Paradise thrown at her-

Kakashi: Hey… I was reading that.

Angel: Meh. -glomps him tighter- So, till next time! ^^