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Inner Demons - Part 1

Naruto saw the sun rise, he had barely slept after Sasuke's outburst, feeling guilty about somehow being the cause of it, even if he wasn't sure how. With the sun rising they would soon be on their way to attack the bandit fort, he needed to square things with Sasuke, he wouldn't be able to focus properly without doing so. As if to answer his need Sasuke walked into the room, looking tired and depressed, he barely look at Naruto which made him feel even worse.

"Sasuke..."

"Naruto... I'm sorry for exploding like that last night." Sasuke cut him off. "I had no right to do that."

"Yeah... you didn't!" Naruto crossed his arms and cocked his head. "I don't know what bug crawled up your ass, but I didn't sleep with Kiba last night!"

"Yeah... I know." Sasuke had realised his mistake shortly after making his dramatic exit out the window, he saw Kiba and Akamaru taking turns fucking Inari all night long, the three of them only stopping to sleep a couple of hours ago.

"What the hell got into you?" Naruto asked.

"I just freaked out..." Sasuke muttered, not entirely a lie, but he wasn't going to rat on Kiba no matter how tempting it was. "I'm sorry."

"Right, well... apology accepted." 'That was easier than I thought!' Naruto thought to himself, he had been worried about how to go about apologising to Sasuke, and here he was apologising to him. "But I'm kinda sorry too... if I could just make a decision... then this wouldn't have happened."

"Well we have been kinda pressuring you, so I'm sorry for that as well."

"Thanks." Naruto smiled, Sasuke returning it.

"So Tsunami is up making breakfast already, we shouldn't hang about, we've got a mission to do."

"Right, I'm going to head to the bathroom and I'll meet you down there." Naruto replied, feeling his face flush as he remembered his encounter with Tsunami the night before. Sasuke left the room and started banging on Kiba's door, enjoying the fact he was waking him up after his strenuous night of sex. After dressing and relieving himself Naruto encountered a bleary eyed Kiba as he was coming out of his room.

"Morning!"

"Morning Naruto..." Kiba replied with a yawn, he had just managed to shove Inari back into the room before Naruto saw him. He didn't want to explain what the boy was doing there at this time of the morning. "You going down for breakfast?"

"I need to grab my sword from my room, I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay, see you down there." Kiba smiled, trying hard to act naturally. He made his way towards the staircase, Akamaru following close behind, as Naruto stepped into his room.

Naruto picked up his sword which leant against the wall next to his bed and slung the strap over his shoulder. He sensed something off, he couldn't explain it, he looked round the room and then moved to the open window. As he stared out over the calm waters of the lake there was a blinding flash of light.

************

Sasuke and Tazuna sat round the table as Tsunami served breakfast. The room was filled with the smell of delicious food that made his mouth water, after a long night on patrol he was famished. Tsunami handed him a bowl of rice and without waiting for the others he began to devour the bowl, the warm food was nirvana, warming him from the inside out. He stopped eating long enough to see Kiba and Akamaru enter the room, that's when he felt it, he put down his rice and stood up. Akamaru and Kiba sensed it as well, Akamaru letting out a whine of concern, it was unmistakeable Sasuke would know it anywhere. A build up of lightning chakra.

"GET DOWN!"

A second later there was a blinding light and the house shook, a thunderous roar. When it was all over Sasuke had pulled Tazuna beneath the kitchen table, the ceiling had collapsed on top of them. Forcing his way through the debris he pulled Tazuna out, Tazuna a little shaken but none the worse for wear.

"Kiba!"

"Over here." The brunette ninja replied, kicking away part of the fallen ceiling in order to stand. Akamaru and Tsunami emerging behind him, Tsunami in a state of shock, tears streaming down her face. Looking up, the upstairs of the house was totally destroyed. Sasuke felt his heart stop at the realisation, Naruto and Inari were up there.

"INARI!!" Tsunami screeched.

"NARUTO!" Sasuke yelled. "Kiba get them out of here! I'll look for Naruto and Inari!" Sasuke leapt up into the wreckage of the upstairs, there was barely any floor left up there, the only thing that remained were the walls, the rest had either fallen into the floor below or had been incinerated in the blast.

"SASUKE!" Kiba yelled, Sasuke cursed and ran as quickly as he could to Kiba's aid. When he got there, he found Kiba and the others surrounded by a large group of masked bandits, lead by Karabe, Kisame and the other man from the photo, Zaraki. The photo hadn't done Zaraki justice, the man was a tower of muscle, standing head and shoulders above everyone else. The man wore a black sleeveless t-shirt which showed off his impressive muscles and black pants. He hair was styled into long jagged lengths which made him look like a horned demon.

Once he reached the others he noticed that one of the masked bandits had a knife pressed against Inari's throat, the boy was unconscious and soaking wet. The explosion had sent him flying into the lake. Sasuke allowed himself a moment to hope that the same thing had happened to Naruto.

"Let the boy go!" Sasuke demanded, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword strapped across his back.

"I don't think you're in any position to be giving orders here!" Kisame laughed.

"So these are the brats that have been causing me problems?" Zaraki asked as if he was unimpressed, the man looked disappointed and bored. "Right, here's what's going to happen! You're going to hand the woman over, then you ninja are going to leave town permanently!"

"If we don't?" Kiba snarled.

"Then the boy dies!"

"Inari!" Tsunami yelled, Tazuna having to hold her back from running to her sons aid.

"Tsunami, you can't!" Tazuna pleaded with her.

"I have to! They have my son!" She cried.

"You've heard the stories, if you go with them..."

"If it means Inari live, I'll do anything!" Seeing his daughters resolve he couldn't deny her, he would have done the same if it was him that they wanted. Releasing her Tsunami ran to her son, only to be intercepted by two more masked bandits who pulled her away, much to her distress.

"Now, you have an hour to get out of town, after that we will kill the hostages and hang their bodies from the bridge if I so much as think you haven't left!" Zaraki bellowed. Sasuke and Kiba were helpless to act, they couldn't do anything without endangering Inari and Tsunami. "Kisame, Karabe, keep them busy while we head back with the hostages!"

"Got it!" Karabe grinned. The group of masked bandits and Zaraki leapt through the tree tops away while Kisame and Karabe stood guard. Even now they couldn't risk attacking them, they had Tazuna with them and he was a sitting duck.

************

Naruto felt weightless and heavy at the same time. Flinching as he tried to move, he was floating in the water, he tried to remember what had happened. That's when he heard someone scream. Looking over in the direction of the scream he saw a large group of bandits surrounding Sasuke and Kiba. He watched as Tsunami ran to them and then the bandits taking off, Kisame and Karabe staying behind. He had heard the rumours about what happened to those kidnapped by the bandits, he couldn't let that happen! Diving under the water he swam to the edge of the lake behind Kisame and Karabe. He looked back and saw Sasuke looking at him, he had to trust that they'd be able to take care of themselves, he couldn't let them get away with Inari and Tsunami.

Taking off at full speed Naruto desperately tried to catchup with the group of bandits. For them to be able to run through the tree tops like they were, they had obviously been given some basic training, they would be more of a challenge than the bandits they met on the bridge. Soon Naruto could see them in the distance, encouraged by this he pushed harder still, closing the distance between them. He was only thirty yards behind them when Zaraki stepped out from behind a tree and clotheslined Naruto, his large muscular arms swatting him out of the air with ease. Naruto tumbled through the air, hitting several branches on his descent to the ground below, landing hard on the forest floor.

"Ow..." Naruto groaned as he picked himself up, his legs shaky as he tried to remain standing. Zaraki landed nearby and eyed him up and down.

"I guess you're the other one." Zaraki said dismissively.

"I won't let you take them!" Naruto yelled, ignoring the pain and forcing his body into his quick-draw stance.

"You don't have a choice, leave town now or they'll be killed."

"I won't abandon them!"

"Then I'll have to deal with you here!" Zaraki scowled, annoyed at Naruto's defiant attitude. Naruto stared the large man down, not intimidated in the slightest, adrenaline surged through his body killing any pain he had been suffering.

Zaraki charge Naruto head on, the bigger man planning on using his superior strength to crush Naruto in a single blow. Naruto stared him down as he charged, unleashing his quick-draw as Zaraki's fist came swinging at him. His blade connected with Zaraki's wrist, and surprised Naruto when all he managed to do was deflect the blow, he could feel the heavy resistance from the blow, heavy enough to make his hand numb from the back lash. He was so surprised by the turn of events he failed to see Zaraki's left coming straight at him. The fist connected with his stomach, driving the wind from his lungs and sent him flying backwards into a tree trunk. He slid to the ground, wheezing as he desperately tried to suck air back into his lungs. Zaraki clenched and unclenched his right fist, trying to get some feeling back into it after Naruto's powerful quick-draw. He saw how his stone skin jutsu, which covered his entire body had been cracked, he was impressed that simple sword strike managed to crack his armour. He couldn't help but smile, turning his attention to winded blonde before him, he hoped that the fight wasn't over yet, it had been years since he'd found someone who had given him a decent fight.

"You finished already kid?"

"Not... a... chance!" Naruto wheezed, using his sword as support, his legs shaking from the effort of trying to hold him up.