BLURRED SOUND

Sasuke Uchiha met Naruto Uzumaki when he was seven years old; a twist in the time line, and he meets her again five years later during the Chunin Exams – as an Otogakure Genin. SasuFemNaru. AU/AT. Dark Naruto.

PART II

CHAPTER THIRTY–THREE
- - GIRL IN THE MIRROR - -

'Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as
your own unguarded thoughts' ~ Sutta Nipata.

Naruto frowned at her counterpart – or Naruko as she had started referring to herself as to avoid confusion - in fury.

What was it going to take to crack this idiotic self? Why wouldn't she just disappear? This was the fifth time she had come back under these falls, and it was exactly the same as before. They would fight for hours. Naruko would scream boring things about how horrible she was being to her village, and that it was horrible that she could act as she did, that revenge was a double edged sword...

Naruto knew all of this already, and responded as such with her usual cool-headed detachment. Why couldn't she just get rid of her? There was no connection between them at all, nothing in her personality she needed or could use, so what was keeping here here? It was a question that, the more she pondered it, the less she understood the answer to it.

It was a good think she was able to absorb Killer Bee and Yugito's chakra better than Karin's. She'd have been in trouble for real otherwise. She'd been here far too long already, but she wouldn't leave until she had completed this training.

Kyuubi was certainly no help, and her certainly wasn't fond of Naruko either. In fact, he was doing everything he could to help her get rid of it... that set of quite a few alarm bells. Kyuubi didn't help unless he had personal benefit, and she used his chakra plenty enough already... it was certainly worth thinking about. There was obviously something the fox didn't want her to know.

Still, Naruko was giving her a headache!

"Will you stop yelling? Nothing you say about Konoha is going to tug my heartstrings. I'm not you – I don't know what you are, but it certainly won't be me..." she snapped, loosing her cool for a moment and openly snarling at her mirror image.

Naruko frowned, but had a smirk on her face that made Naruto wondered if she was rubbing off on this clown of a girl; she hadn't seen her glare as well as that so far. Maybe she should try subterfuge instead?

"No – I'm not you exactly, but I am You. We're two sides of the same seal, completely different, but we are the same! I'm as determined as you are, I can fight as well as you, my family means as much to me as it does to you, all different certainly, but still same! You just won't admit it..." she stated pointedly, her voice not the desperate tone, but a more solidified, concrete one of certainty.

"Well, I'll concede to that at least – but I still don't have need of a self like you! You're nothing but a hindrance to me! Rest assured, I will find a way to get rid of you!" Naruto snarled.

"No you won't. You can't kill me; deep down, you'll never be able to kill me off completely! I understand why you hate me, I'm angry about our parents, our clan too, but you're hampering yourself and you don't even realise it! You refuse to accept things you think will get in your way, even if you just making things worse for yourself by doing that!" Naruko snapped.

Naruto stared at her, not quite understanding herself; just what was Naruko trying to imply? She wasn't doing anything that didn't work to her benefit! Everything she did was to her own planning, her benefit. The only thing she could say that had disrupted her plans was her bloodline.

Sasuke didn't count... He... Gods, why didn't he just do as he was supposed to? Why, why, why? Why was she so bothered by his absence? Why was it making her so mad? Why did he leave her behind? She may have left, but he left her behind! He was supposed to come with her! He was supposed to understand...

Naruto's eyes froze unblinking as she realised her train of thought, realised where it had stemmed from. Froze when she realised something else; Naruko was absolutely right.

Killing Naruto, erasing that sad, pathetic, Konoha-loving sycophant would rid herself of whatever ghastly hold it was that on close examination, had made her think of Sasuke so possessively that one moment years ago, as they had made their way battle-worn from Konoha to Oto

Killing Naruko, Naruto was sure would mean distancing Sasuke from her completely, and that thought paralysed her. She could could accept that reluctance – she ad already admitted his temporary absence bothered her, of course she would be more displeased with a permanent one... But accept having this dunderhead of a counterpart somewhere in her soul?

She couldn't do it, but she was loathe to kill her, just as Naruko had said.

For a rare moment, Naruto had no idea what to do.

Naruko – as her counterpart called her when she got sick of a simple snarky 'you' – watched Naruto's conflicted expression with frustration, empathy, and grief.

She knew, as the suppressed emotion that she was, that nothing she said would get through to Naruto yet. She could hint, and throw her self around as blatantly as possible, but it wasn't going to be a quick thing for her companion to realise her biggest mistakes. She had to learn by herself, or there would be no point to it.

Naruto only trusted her own judgement, and her own judgement was biased, warped – uncomprehending. By common standards, she'd gone mad. Naruto knew it too – how would Naruko know if Naruto didn't? - but that just made it worse.

Her brain was slowly being starved of the chakra it needed to focus properly too. That was half the reason she was going so mad. Of course, she would never be truly sane – she did enjoy killing people, and cannibalism didn't faze her in the slightest – but at the moment Naruto wasn't even capable of rational madness.

Sasuke's chakra had never been enough in the first place, even when they gained a little more control over the demands of the longevity bloodline. Naruto had been responsible for her own mess of course, but that had been a slow contributing factor to her problems too.

"Look, trying to get rid off me isn't going to help you, you won't get anywhere if you do that! Until you realise what it is you need to do with me, you aren't anywhere near ready to control Kurama's real power. Feel free to come back when you figure it out, but you're not going to accomplish anything if you can't understand yourself!" she stated, pointing her finger dramatically.

Naruto narrowed her eyes – confused, dismayed, angered, betrayed eyes – on her.
"what does that mean? Who's Kurama?" she asked suspiciously.

"To complete this training, you have to understand yourself. Since I'm part of you – whether you'll admit it or not – when you understand yourself, you'll understand me; you can't come back till then because if you do, you'll just turn into Kurama himself if you try to control his chakra" she replied with a calmer, more patient voice.

Naruto was still confused.

"Kurama's chakra? Don't you mean the Kyuubi's? You give him a nickname or something?" she asked, almost amused.

"Of course not – that's his name" Naruko replied.

The shock that reverberated through the face of her mirror made Naruko's chest ache, but the only person who would get through to herself was herself, and she would fulfil that role. Sasuke would have to do his share eventually too, be he was halfway responsible for her – their – instability.

Not by action as Naruto liked to profess over and over, but simple lack of communication; he knew to what extent Naruto would communicate with people voluntarily, how guarded she was. He obviously hadn't been ready for Naruto's expectations of him, and Naruko wouldn't have him blundering back in till he'd learned himself.

Naruto would never adjust enough to accept, actually trust him if he did that, and Naruto wouldn't even trust her own self. She had to trust someone though, and Sasuke stood as better chance of managing it. Naruko would make sure to help him achieve that goal.

Even if it meant tearing Naruto's mind apart and putting it back together with the missing pieces filled in.

It was late in the evening when Naruto reached the meeting spot where Itachi was waiting for her with Karin.

She was ignoring what Naruko has said to her in Kumo – she didn't need that training yet. Whet did she need to understand about herself? She knew who she was, what she wanted, there was nothing to understand. More importantly, she needed to coerce Itachi into giving her some chakra for the journey to Nami.

She was loathe to go to him for help, but it would help, and at the least she could count on him to serve in his brother's best interests. That was, provided Sasuke still held her in his best interests. She might have to do some bluffing, and she wasn't sure if she could bluff with Itachi.

He had a horrible habit of being able to see right through her; all she could do was hope he was suckered by some 'Wonder how Sasuke'd take it if you killed me' talk if it was needed. With any luck he wouldn't consider taking the chance. Technically, Karin was right about him stabbing her in the back, but Itachi wouldn't do that until he was certain he would get away with it.

He was waiting in one of the trees, and flickered down as soon as she arrived, winded, with Karin beside her; the knowing look on his face was unpleasantly unsurprising. Of course, as her former guard after Konoha had wiped her memory, Itachi knew everything about her genetic traits.

She wondered if he had half been expecting her to come to him for help. Certainly, he would have known that Sasuke's chakra reserves weren't enough for her to live off properly. Even if the little whatsit had stayed, Naruto had a feeling she would have had to seek out Itachi anyway. It was better this way really – Sasuke would not have been amused if he had stayed, and she had said she needed some of his brother's chakra.

"You're earlier than I was expecting; problems in Kumogakure Naruto?" he asked.

Naruto glared at him; he couldn't know what had happened, but she couldn't deny that her appearance and demeanour were the ones of a person whose plans had flowed seamlessly.

"Nothing unmanageable; did you want to start our talk now, or would you prefer later?" she asked, trying not to sneer at him too much – she needed his help much as she was loath to admit it.

"Later; I haven't eaten yet, and I'm sure you'd rather have some food after your journey" he replied, waving his hand towards a campfire with a spit.

"I can cook for myself thanks" Naruto hissed.

Itachi gave an almost snarling smirk, and Naruto gave him a simpering grin; as soon as she was done with him, she'd stick a kunai in his gut like she should have years ago.

The meal was tense in silence, if not blatantly hostile; Itachi might have laughed had he been viewing the matter from Karin's point of view.

After he and Ino had eaten, Naruto had disappeared for a few hours, when he inquired where she was going, Karin turned pale; 'She's going hunting – it's a Kyuubi thing I think, but I'm probably wrong', she'd said.

The screams of a nearby traveller on the road explained her disgust - apparently Naruto was depraved enough to find her food sources from things other than the local flora and fauna.

After that, she returned, stinking and covered in the blood of whichever poor soul had been deemed her victim; the satisfaction was much reminiscent of someone who had relieved their stress. Itachi had tried to fathom many times in the past why his brother would consort with the girl as he had, but he had no answer for it other than his brothers own mental scarring.

Karin had quickly removed the blood into a corked phial that was tied to the belt of her medical pack with a set of angular hand signs, and then the redhead headed for her sleeping roll (which was notably far away).

And so, Itachi was left to deal with the insane Kyuubi girl to his own content. She said nothing, laying flat on the grass and string up at the cloudy sky; she didn't use a sleeping roll, and was very quiet for a long time. She was clearly paranoid at the very least; then again, she was either a wanted criminal or a Jinchuriki host. A lot of people were looking for her – it was probably more sensible to leave a sleeping roll behind.

"You owe me a favour Itachi" she said finally, a slate-like, hardened gaze remaining on the dark clouds that rolled above them.

"in what way do I owe you a favour?" Itachi sneered.

"Sasuke would rather kill you than tag along with me; I'd say you owe me for keeping my mouth shut about your particular loyalties" she snipped.

Itachi nearly snorted again; maybe Sasuke did still want to kill him, but he hardly suspected it was due from lack of effort to persuade him otherwise on her part. Still, Sasuke was still oblivious to his real motives. That was an advantage he could not afford to loose. Not if he was going to removed this depraved demon's claws from him permanently.

He wouldn't have to do a lot to manage it either. He could probably kill her right now. She was unstable, out of chakra by disastrous proportions, and had only one, perhaps two real allies at the moment. Even Sasuke had started seeing her mind getting warped with the need to control. It would be so easy...

he would play her little game however. For one, he couldn't not truly be certain of Sasuke's reaction to her death, and for another... he was loyal to his village. Konoha should be the ones to decide her punishment and fate. Itachi would intervene with Sasuke's attempt to intervene when the time came, and that would be the last of the dreadful girl.

He supposed there was some humanity in her though; she had sounded insulted by her own admittance of Sasuke's 'betrayal'. Maybe she had enough human mind left to show remorse after all. She was doing a good job of convincing herself otherwise though. She was truly gifted in the art of lies. Especially ones to herself.

"I don't generally offer my assistance to liars."

"Liar? You're the real liar here, not me! At least I have some honesty, which is something you certainly don't. My affiliations have always been perfectly clear. Unlike you!" Naruto snapped.

He couldn't argue with that. Naruto was honest about her own murderous desires towards Konoha. She was just smart enough to know how to avoid the headsman's block or the noose waiting for her in Konoha. She'd never made much of a secret about it though, not even during the Chunin Exams.

"Is this how you ask people for their aid in Uzushiogakure? How rude" he murmured; her eyes were glowing red in the night air as she glared at him for that comment.

"You owe me!" She hissed persistently.
"Very well; what do you want in compensation?" he sighed; forcing her away was only derailing his own plans.

Better pandering to her whims now than ignoring her and risking the information he had already given Danzou and Tsunade-sama of her location changing too quickly.

"I want your chakra" she replied bluntly.
"Very well" Itachi replied, just as bluntly.

As soon as the word left his mouth, she had pounced over him, and almost torn his throat out with desperation to steal the chakra that flowed through it.

Sorry for the long wait on an Update for this story; there will be some real action next chapter to make up for it. I'm agonizing over it actually - I've probably said this before but I LOATHE fight scenes. Makes writing fanfiction about Ninjas (for whom fighting brings home the bacon) stupendously difficult, but I'm on a high at the moment.

A short 'Play' I wrote for a unit on my college course was picked out by my lecturer for a rehearsed reading at the local city library XD XD XD XD XD It's not acting really, but hearing stuff I wrote being read out as if it was? Holy Crap was that a Buzz.

Sasuke will make an appearance next chapter, as things are brought back to real time, and both he and Naruto will grow up a little as things start getting on. They'll still be certifiably insane, but a more mature form of insanity.

Chapter title is 'Girl in The Mirror' by Britney Spears.
Hope you liked :)
Nat.
x