Author's Note:Hey there! I know that I should be working on the newest chapter of FD but I was watching some 'Literal' trailers (they're hilarious- I recommend Assassins Creed: Revelations Literal Trailer) and with the Halo: Reach one- it just gave me an epic SasuNaru idea so I just had to write this!

OH! I listened to two songs whilst writing this! Well, they were more OSTs for 'Spirited Away'. One of them is 'Dragon Boy' - I'll put a (1) when I was listening to that one and the other was 'Sixth Stop'- I'll put a (2) when I listened to that one, just in case you guys want to get the most emotion out of the scenes! ^_^

Warning: faintly hinted SasuNaru towards the end, swearing, violence, blood and scenes that some people may find upsetting. Wow, that was painfully formal :/

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Naruto characters and after this, you may not want me too :/

Dog Tags

It was chaos. How it had happened, nobody was sure. One moment everything was calm, the next, a bullet had hit the skull of the person in front of him, splattering thick, red, sludge onto his face and staining his blond locks. He barely made it to the floor in time and crawled along, using the deceased person as cover as he was certain that they'd not shoot a dead body. The cries of wounded men were sang to high heavens as the blond shuffled across the floor with maximum effort. An explosion to his right caught him off guard and he rolled to the side, his dog-tags falling out of his uniform, revealing the name 'Uzumaki Naruto'. He panted, rubbing dirt from his scarred whisker cheeks and continued crawling through the grime and detached body parts of the men he'd trained with throughout his time in the armed forces. He flinched violently when he felt some of the sludge from earlier mingle with the dirt and trail down his face to his top lip. Disgusted, he quickly wiped it away with the back of his hand.

A yell in the distance alerted him to the fact that there were others that were still alive. He glanced around, checking to see that the coast was clear before jumping up and zigzagging out of harm's way. A bullet missed his foot by an inch; his head by a centimetre. After so much dodging, ducking, dipping and diving, he dived down behind a barricade and curled in on himself as the bullets pelted the metal like raindrops. Whilst he was there, he looked around at the slaughter from behind him. Corpses lay scattered over the beach they had been dropped off at. There were many men, dismembered from an earlier mortar attack, spraying innards everywhere like a water balloon full of chunky soup. Random body parts were being washed up on the beach, mixed with the dead fish. The wine coloured ocean lapped the shores of the strawberry sherbet beach. So many were trying to find shelter; so many were failing. Someone tried to run to where Naruto was to help him but before he had even gotten a foot away from where he was originally standing, he was shot directly in the forehead, creating a layer of strawberry icing on top of the sponge-cake of a beach that was constantly absorbing, intercepting and saturating. The boats in which they had arrived in were full of dead bodies, one of them the unfortunate person that Naruto was situated behind. A soldier, no older than 16, was rushing around, trying to help people out by offering them medical assistance- that was until something small, metal and hot caught him in the back- it was more commonly known as a bullet. The teen whimpered, blood spilling from his mouth before he silenced with a final shot, collapsing to the sand. A man lay not too far away from that scene, trying to stem the blood from a wound using his rifle cover. Naruto swallowed, knowing that he wouldn't be able to save the man. He closed his eyes and leant against the barricade, letting out a sigh as he did so. Still absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't register that someone was calling out to him until there was a slap to his face. Cerulean blue eyes snapped open and tan hands instantly reached for the dagger he kept in his pouch. Adrenalin pumped through his veins and the man who had shaken him awake reacted swiftly, pulling out his own blade to counter that of the blond's.

"Dobe! Snap out of it!" was the yell that accompanied the block. Finally snapping out of his daze, the blond managed to see who it was that he so furiously attacked. His breath caught in his throat as he realised it was his best friend, Uchiha Sasuke. Unable to comprehend the logic of the situation, he let out a choked sob and pulled the raven towards him and under the shelter of the barricade just as a bullet flew past where the Uchiha's head had been moments ago, hitting the man who was struggling earlier in the head, painting the sand beneath him red. Naruto shuddered and pressed closer to the raven that he had just saved.

"What do we do Sasuke?" he asked shakily as once more it started to hail bullets. (1)Sasuke sniffed and looked towards the blond with red blood smeared across his face. He took a deep breath and turned towards his childhood companion.

"Now Naruto, I need you to listen to me very carefully," he stated with deliberate slowness. Naruto nodded and leant in, reading the raven's lips as well as listening.

"For this exercise, you'll need to call me Captain Uchiha, got it?" he asked. Naruto swallowed and nodded, aware that Sasuke had his reasons. Sasuke nodded in return before getting onto one knee, looking as though he was about to take off. Fear engulfed the body of the blond and he grabbed onto the sleeve of the taller male.

"Sasuke, don't leave me!" he cried out. Sasuke ignored him.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" he yelled out, still being ignored.

"CAPTAIN UCHIHA!" he all but screamed, tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. Sasuke looked around with a small smile playing on his lips. In the background, there was a moderate amount of silence as the enemy reloaded their weapons. A pale hand went up to the owner's neck before pulling something over his head and placing them over the head of the blond.

"Look after these Lieutenant Uzumaki," he whispered, wiping the other's face with a clean tissue. Naruto looked devastated at the act and clenched them in his fist tightly as the raven smirked slightly at him before looking to another barricade where the rest of the survivors were laying. He looked up to the gunmen then to the barricade. He then turned to Naruto.

"Okay, I'm going to join the others. I'll motion to you when it's safe to cross as well," he instructed. Naruto gulped but nodded his head, understanding that should Sasuke fail, he may as well just want to fail too. Sasuke nodded once more before jumping up and dashing to where the others were. As soon as Sasuke had left, the maelstrom of bullets rained down once more upon his barricade, one of them piercing the metal and grazing his shoulder. The blond let out a hiss of pain and he could hear the shocked cry of his companion in the distance as the metal shells pounded relentlessly against the metal that was still thinning, hitting him a few more times but with a less force and luckily not in the vital areas.

Everything was hazy for the blond who had collapsed forward slightly into the grime and remnants of those that had died before him. The smell of death was overpowering his senses and he felt as though he couldn't keep his eyes open for much longer. Sounds had become dimmed and distant, not registering properly in the wounded teen's mind. He struggled to make out the horizon that was stained with so much red but not of the natural kind; the copper kind. The distant yells of his childhood companion were soft to his ears and he concentrated on that sound alone as he drifted in and out of consciousness. And then, as if by some miracle, everything stopped. The firing, the smells of death and the feeling of impending doom as in front of him, lay a single inactivated grenade. He was struck by an idea and without a thought to spare, he grasped it and flung himself against a thicker part of the barricade, ignoring the attention his injuries begged for. Once he knew that the enemy would be reloading and the sound of gunfire had ceased, he stood up, and with as much energy as he could, tore the pin from the grenade, and launched it across to the enemy territory. With that distraction, he vaulted over the barricade and once more zigzagged his way next to the Uchiha who almost sobbed with relief. It didn't stop him from pulling the blond into a bone-crushing hug though. Naruto gasped slightly as his wounds were aggravated but brushed it off as he hugged the Uchiha back.

"So how did I do then, Captain Uchiha?" he asked smugly, albeit a little out of breath. Sasuke smirked- unbeknownst to the blond- and just held him tighter, resting his chin atop his head.

"You did awesomely, Naruto." He told his companion. A foreign yell was sounded as the fire was started up again, this time from both sides. Naruto smirked and let out a ragged breath as he aimed his rifle at the person who also had his aim on him. With a small snatch of the trigger, he had shot through the other's scope, killing him instantly. Sasuke was faring well too, picking out the ones who had their aim on his blond and vice versa with Naruto. They made an epic duo, and soon, there were barely enemies left. With that result, the squadron pushed forward, advancing on the enemy via a fight-through.

The squad moved around the enemy bases, seeing what they could find to be of use. Naruto was walking close to Sasuke, still breathing heavily. The raven looked towards the blond with mild concern.

"Dobe, are you alright?" he asked, stopping and grabbing Naruto's arm. The teen in question turned around and grinned at the taller teen, a little red staining his teeth.

"I- I'm fine, why do you ask?" he asked himself, swaying a bit on the spot, still panting.

"You seem out of breath, maybe we should rest up," Sasuke suggested as an afterthought. Naruto swallowed and nodded whilst Sasuke brought the remainder of the battalion together- which only happened to be four others: Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Neji, Sabakuno Gaara and Nara Shikamaru- all of who were either lieutenants or lower.

The group walked for a while, getting into the countryside before it started to rain heavily, water cascading upon them and not bullets. It was a relief to the men- all of who still had blood matting their bodies and dirt clinging to their hair. A small barn was situated up ahead and it looked dry enough for the night. Sasuke let out a barely audible sigh. He had been worried about Naruto- for the whole journey he had been quiet and not put in much of an input. He was also bringing up the rear, which never happened because he always liked to be up front with the raven. Being the attentive best friend he was, Sasuke looked back to see that Naruto's face was a bit flushed as the rainwater poured like sweat down his face, washing away the blood he hadn't managed to wipe off in those few seconds. He gave the go ahead for the others whilst he hung back to check if Naruto was okay.

"Dobe, are you okay?" he asked, trying to put an arm around the blond's shoulder. Naruto winced slightly at the contact but nodded. His blue eyes that usually were the colour of sunny skies were now dulled and distant.

"Y-yeah, teme, I'm fine. I'm just tired," he whispered. Sasuke nodded before continuing to walk beside the blond that was walking so slowly.

That's when he collapsed.

In a panic, the Uchiha had knelt down beside him and shaken him as the rain cascaded over both of them.

"Naruto?" he called, tapping whiskered cheeks slightly. There was a soft moan for a response and blue eyes fluttered open.

"'Ske?" he asked in a confused voice. Sasuke smiled slightly, glad that Naruto at least remembered his name. Without a moment's hesitation, he had swept the blond up in his arms and was carrying him to the barn where the rest of the soldiers were now resting. He edged the door open and the other four looked up in surprise when the blond had been carried in.

"What's wrong with Naruto?" Kiba asked, rushing up to the raven haired teen. Sasuke sighed.

"I don't know- he won't tell me," he replied, unaware that his voice was shaking. (2) Gaara had instantly pulled out his medical kit whilst Shikamaru pulled out a clean sleeping bag on which Naruto could lay as they attended to him. Neji walked over, holding the tanned teen upright whilst Sasuke started to undress him. After a moment, he was only down to his boxers and was laid onto the canvas, olive green material. Sasuke hissed as he turned Naruto onto his stomach and observed three bullet holes, none of which that had actually gone deep into his body, but were still lodged in there nonetheless. Kiba arrived with a bottle of fresh water to wash over the blond who was unconscious. Gaara approached with the medical kit, about to tend to the wounds when Sasuke grabbed it from him and started to fix his friend up himself.

Everyone sat in silence as Sasuke attended to Naruto with so much care and gentleness; a look of utmost concentration upon his face. After about 20 minutes, he was finished and rolled Naruto onto his back once more, but not before resting a soft blanket underneath so as not to aggravate the wounds once more.

"Captain, what are we going to do?" Neji asked the Uchiha. Sasuke looked towards the pale eyed teen and then back to Naruto.

"We have to stay safe until he recovers. Shikamaru, you can use my sleeping bag and I'll use Naruto's." He informed. The group nodded and respectfully gathered their things and set up their individual sleeping areas, not breathing a word about how Naruto and Sasuke seemed closer now than they had ever been before.

The six of them were friends and came from a small town called Konoha. When the army had come round looking for recruits a year ago, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru and Gaara had all signed up at the tender age of 18. Luckily they were all still alive; at least, Sasuke prayed that Naruto would make it through. The only light in the barn came from a small oil lamp that Kiba had found and it burnt gently as the Uchiha sat up in his sleeping bag and stared at the blond who was still resting, breathing evenly, and groaning on occasion when his wounds were grazed. The raven just sat there, head resting on his hands which were linked together, elbows resting on his knees. The blond turned that instant, facing the raven and so that the oil lamp illuminated his features. Sasuke felt his breath catch in his throat as the blond smiled a little bit and whispered his name. Onyx eyes widened.

"Sasuke," Naruto whispered once more. Said teen blinked and swallowed a few times.

"Yes dobe?" he whispered back, being careful not to wake anyone.

"I'm not asleep yet- can you tell me a story?" the blond asked. Sasuke frowned at the question before it finally hit him. Naruto was dreaming about their past when they'd spend the night at each other's houses. Sasuke smiled gently and repeated exactly what he'd said all those years ago.

"Dobe, you're too old for bed-time stories," he whispered, stoking blond locks in calm, comforting notions. There was a content sigh as the blond leant into the touch. There was an even louder exhale of air, followed by nothing. (1)

Naruto had stopped breathing.

Panicked, the Uchiha licked the back of his hand and put it near the blond's slightly open mouth to double check. There was nothing. Something painful pricked his eyes and it was then that he realised he was going to cry.

"NARUTO!" he yelled, waking the others from their sleep as he literally straddled the blond, pushing down on his chest thirty times before providing him with two breaths of air. Kiba watched in shock as the usually stoic Uchiha broke down before them, trying to revive his best friend.

"Naruto, no don't do this to me!" he sobbed, applying more compressions to his chest before once more giving him two breaths. The blond's mouth tasted like copper and tears were messily applied to the blond's cheeks each time he gave him more air. Sasuke was becoming light-headed from not having enough air himself but he didn't give up. He couldn't give up. Naruto always been a constant in his life and to have that snatched away was unthinkable.

"Naruto, please! Wake up! Breath you stupid dobe!" he sobbed, pounding his chest another thirty times. As he was giving his second breath of air, there was a spluttering cough as Naruto regained the ability to breath. Without a moment's hesitation, Sasuke had pulled the blond in for a bone-crushing hug for the second time.

"You idiot! Only you'd forget how to breathe!" he scolded, trying to hide the fact he was so happy but terrified at the thought of losing the one he held so close. Naruto raised his arms weakly around the Uchiha and brought him closer. He sniffed slightly, inhaling the scent of Sasuke- the scent of home. Naruto let a smile overtake his features before closed his eyes and leant against his most precious person.

"Teme, you aren't getting your dog tags back that easily." He whispered as the tag chains around his neck twisted together, becoming one.

Ahh, good ol' friendship/ implied SasuNaru ^^ I'm just glad I managed to finish it before 5am so I can actually get some sleep because believe it or not- but I'm actually wanting to sleep now! I have no idea why- it's so strange for me to want to sleep! Meh, I really hope you- well, I can't think of you saying that you enjoyed it- unless you liked the gore :3 I'm a gore-a-holic XD ANYWAYS! I hope you liked it enough to review! Until next time!