A/N:

Fangirls and...other fangirls! (If there are any guys out there, sorry...I've got mostly fangirls)

May I present to you, my all new, all annoyingly emo Naruto fic! Hahaha!

Yes, this will have dashes of other Yaoi in it, and I might have to find a site to publish anything I feel goes over the M rating...which I doubt will happen due to my wimp-ish-ness, but this will mainly be SasuNaru/NaruSasu. No, I'm not making either one seme or uke. Cause I'm that lazy.

But other than that, don't get down on me please. I just found my new obsession with the show and the yaois, so I really don't know all that much about the characters and anything that's happened thus far. Bear with me, if you will. I'm still learning.

However, I do know that Sasuke received the curse mark during the chuunin exams. Well guess what? I'm changing that. Hehe.

So yeh.

♥Raven

Chapter One: Fallen Prodigy

The blonde opened one eye, glaring at the battered alarm clock next to his mattress. He grumbled once or twice, willing the hands to go back a few hours, but eventually started to pull himself up. Once again, the boy had laid wrong on his arm, causing all circulation to be cut off and for the arm to fall limp and lifeless next to him. He shuddered slightly feeling the blood rush back to his fingers, but ignored it and moved to the shower.

He plucked his orange pants and his long sleeved fishnet under shirt off the floor, moving slowly and tiredly into his bathroom. He yawned, growling at the reflection he saw in the mirror. It was obvious the boy wasn't a morning person. The genin finished his shower and emerged from the bathroom, only to nearly go flying back into it. "Sasuke you bastard!" He stood up again, pulling down the bottom of his fishnet top. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting you." The dark haired genin replied, perched in the window sill.

"I think I can take care of myself." Naruto spat back, picking up his jacket and head band from the nearby dresser. "You don't need to baby sit me."

"Oh I don't, do I?" Sasuke tipped his head toward the alarm clock, laying flat on it's back from being knocked over earlier that morning. From what Naruto could see, the clock was ten minutes past the time he had needed to be at the bridge.

"Whatever. Kakashi-sensei is never on time, so why should I have to be?" The blonde fought defensively, crossing his arms.

"Because Kakashi-sensei is waiting at the bridge with Sakura, and has been since just before I arrived." Though it was new, and Sasuke wondered if he was sane in saying so, he said it anyway: "Kakashi-sensei was early." Naruto made an odd 'humph', a vein in his forehead bulging as the other boy rolled his eyes mischievously, before following his teammate out through the window.

Though it hadn't been stated as they left, it seemed like the two genin were putting all they could into beating the other to the bridge. More Naruto than Sasuke, really, but the Uchiha boy honestly wasn't putting that much effort into it. They both arrived at the same time, much to Naruto's dismay, but he accepted it upon seeing his sensei patiently waiting, talking absently with their pink haired teammate. "You were early, Kakashi-sensei?"

"You were late, Naruto?" The masked jounin shot back, oddly upset about the boy's lateness. Hypocrite.

"I wasn't any later than you normally–" Before he could finish his sentence he recieved a sharp jab to the side from Sakura, sending him a short glare before returning her love-sick gaze to the uninterested Uchiha.

Kakashi just shook his head, quickly returning to the task at hand. "There has been word of a few criminal sound ninjas running around near the village, and every genin team is being set to patrols." Before the jounin could continue, Sakura cut in.

"Isn't that a chuunin's mission? If not a jounin?" She asked, worried slightly for Sasuke's sake. Ever since he'd been marked with the curse, he'd had a hatred for sound ninjas and anything else that could even slightly remind him of the snake that left him with it.

"All the chuunin are being partnered with a genin team, and all the jounins, as you know, have their genin teams." Kakashi replied.

"In otherwords, the Hokage is putting forth all ninja to protect the village?" Sasuke added, slight curiosity in his voice. "How terrible of criminals could they be?"

"The kind that follow Orochimaru almost directly." Sasuke growled and mumbled a few curses under his breath, fighting to keep himself from lunging into the trees right then. "They're obviously out to taunt before they pull anything," Kakashi paused and looked at the anger boiling in the face of his second-oldest genin. "Anko-chan has a mark as well, Sasuke. You must hold off." This only recieved a grunt.

"Oh get over yourself." Naruto spat, getting another elbow to the side.

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke retorted, his gaze never once leaving the forest behind his sensei. He waited anxiously for the words 'Let's go' from the silver haired jounin, hardly catching anything else the man said.

After plenty of warning, plans, and suggestion, Kakashi signaled them off. Sasuke, in his own little world, had only skimmed the information. Naruto had done the same, however it was due to his lack of patience. They raced through the trees madly, skimming the ground and branches for any signs at all for a sound ninja. The only sounds, however, were the light ruffles of the leaves around them and the small taps their shoes made against the branches.

Sasuke stopped and Sakura nearly rammed him in the back. He didn't pay it much mind, though, and continued looking around from that spot. "Sasuke, did you notice something?"

The boy said nothing, merely scanned the area. When Sakura caught sight of the boy's profile, she gasped lightly, seeing the Sharingan wheel almost throbbing. It began to spin, speeding around so fast that it looked almost like a blurry ring instead of a spinning wheel. "Yeah. A fifth pair of footsteps." He said quietly, scanning around quicker still. Sakura was worried about Sasuke's mood, not wanting anything to stimulate the curse mark. Out of no where he yanked a kunai from a side pocket and flung it at a nearby branch, taking a few strands of Iruka's hair along with it.

"What was that about?" Iruka yelled, feeling his scalp to make sure nothing more than the tip of his ponytail was cut.

"Sorry." Sasuke said through a grunt, the Sharingan wheels slowing and shrinking around his pupil until his eyes returned to a chilling gray. Naruto lunged up through the branches, having been running at a lower level than Sasuke and Sakura.

"Iruka-sensei! What are you doing here?" He asked excitedly, nearly shoving Sasuke and Sakura off the branch to get to his former teacher.

"I was partnered with your team. Didn't Kakashi–" Iruka was cut off when the silver haired jounin appeared behind him.

"Yeah, I told them. But we have bigger things to deal with. I spotted a pair of sandal prints on a branch ahead." Kakashi said, obviously unnerved. "It's rather sloppy that they were left there," He crossed his arms. "But we need to check it out, none the less."

"What if it's a trap?" Sasuke asked.

"We won't know that unless we spring it, first." Kakashi said. It's not something the jounin would usually say, but he had to do something to keep Sasuke in check. "Let's go."

They all quickly disappeared, rushing through the branches with more urgency. The sound ninja had to be close, and if they caught them they'd no doubt find Orochimaru somewhere near. Sakura and Kakashi were the first to arrive at the sandal prints, followed shortly by Iruka then Naruto. Sasuke, though, was no where to be found. "Where is Sasuke?" Sakura begged, worried that a sound ninja might have caught him.

"He should be catching up. He wasn't that far behind me and Naruto." Iruka said, trying to hide the worry in his voice. He turned to Naruto who merely shrugged.

"I didn't see him behind me." Sakura fidgeted nervously.

Kakashi put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine. He could just be on a lower level than we are. He'll be al–"

A loud shriek came from further back in the trees, followed by equally loud laughter. Sakura screamed to herself, bringing a hand to her mouth. Kakashi's hand shook and he pulled it away, turning his one-eyed gaze to the chuunin beside him. Before any of them could so much as blink, Naruto was rushing off through the trees toward the origin of the yell. "Naruto!" The three remaining shouted, following closely after.

Naruto moved faster than ever, his eyes shooting from branch to branch. He had to force his feet into a branch to slow himself once he spotted the familiar dark hair of his teammate on the forest floor. "Sasuke!" He yelled, jumping from the trees beside the Uchiha heir. The boy was hunched forward, gripping the curse mark tightly. His nails were digging into his shoulder, blood pouring from the wounds. Naruto pulled him back, looking to the bruises on the boy's face and cuts up his arm. His eyes were closed, but there was an eerie feeling around him that screamed Sharingan. He'd over used it. "You idiot! You shouldn't strain yourself like that!"

"I don't think he can hear you..." Came a hissing voice from behind a tree trunk. A masked sound ninja emerged, cackling with laughter. "It's amazing what sonic pitches can do to the ears."

Sasuke writhed on the ground before Naruto, his hands fighting over whether they should grip the curse mark or his ears. He yelled out in pain, causing Naruto to cringe in both sympathy and anger. "Dammit, you! I'll kill you!"

Sakura jumped out of the trees, landing right in front of Naruto. "Sasuke! Naruto, what happened?" She noticed the anger in Naruto's eyes, frightened as they started to turn from blue to purple. Before they had a chance to make it to red, Sakura fell to her knees and put her hands on the orange shoulders of her teammate. "Calm down, Naruto. We'll deal with it." His eyes slowly changed back, his breathing and pulse slowing. He looked down at Sasuke, who was gritting his teeth tightly and gripping at his ears. The curse mark was obviously less painful, having settled itself across the genin's shoulder and slightly up his neck.

The sound ninja laughed, walking out from behind the tree. No sooner had he done this, Kakashi and Iruka landed in front of the three genin, their hands moving at high speed to make a jutsu. Kakashi's headband had been pushed up, his Sharingan spinning quickly. He didn't even have to glance at Iruka once to know what jutsu they were using. It was a very Naruto-esque thing to do, but they figured it'd be the only way to distract the sound ninja enough to get the genin out. "Go! Take Sasuke to the hospital!" Kakashi's voice echoed out, each of thirty clones speaking.

"But sensei! We need you to seal the curse!" Sakura yelled, trying not to show her sudden confusion.

"It's not like we won't make it back." Iruka said, his thirty clones all speaking at once as well. "Just take Sasuke and try to keep him from using too much energy." This didn't seem to please the dark haired genin. He couldn't hear all that well still, but he could begin to pick up traces of sound.

"I won't go!" He screamed over the ringing in his ears. This made it all the more obvious that he needed to get away from the sound ninja. He opened his eyes, the Sharingan spinning madly. The curse turned a glowing red, spreading across his shoulders and over half of his face. He stood up shakily, then ran through the crowd of Iruka's and Kakashi's, destroying any clone that tried to get into his way.

"Sasuke, no!" Sakura screamed, seeing the curse continue to spread. The curse spread down Sasuke's left arm, almost turning his flesh completely black. Had it not been for the real Kakashi, Sasuke's attack would've finished and the curse probably would've worked it's way to devouring his entire body.

"If you strain yourself like this, you won't survive to see another battle! Think!" Kakashi poked a pressure point, tossing Sasuke through the crowd and to Naruto, who, with a shocked expression playing his face, caught his unconscious team mate. "A ninja always knows when enough is enough! Take him back to the hospital now!" The two genin nodded, disappearing into the trees without question.

--

They made it back to the village without trouble. Sasuke was still knocked out, but was now on Naruto's back. They moved quickly, receiving odd looks and whispers as they passed. Sakura watched Naruto, his gaze lowered and almost defeated looking. It was hard, being the village outcast and seen with an injured prodigy. It was enough to get some nasty rumors started.

Upon making it to the hospital, Naruto wasted no time getting Sasuke to a bed, despite the arguing nurses who'd have done anything to at least hold the Uchiha boy. He merely glared, sliding the door shut behind him and closing them all out. Even Sakura hadn't made it into the room. But she chose not to argue; just to sit and wait.

Naruto set the other boy down gingerly, removing the other's shirt to examine the curse. He reached into a cabinet and grabbed a towel, which he folded and soaked in cold water, placing it softly over the pained boy's forehead. The curse was vivid, making the pale skin that was still showing almost look like the mark instead. From the tips of the fingers on his left hand, up until the nape of his neck was completely black, though, and this made Naruto cringe slightly. "You shouldn't put so much stress on yourself."

"You shouldn't worry...so much..." Naruto jumped at the other's voice, noting that his eyes were still closed and that his teeth were still clenched in slight pain.

"We almost lost you." He said, calming down again.

"I'm fine."

"Don't you lie to me!" The Uchiha boy said nothing. Naruto picked up the other's blackened hand and held it tight, taking a seat next to the bed.

Sasuke smiled. "Thank you, Naruto."

A/N:

Very revoltingly cliche. With just as much emo. xP

Neh. It's alright. What better way to get things rolling, eh? Hehe.

In my other stories, I find that my chapters are shooooooooooort...so I pushed myself to get a long chapter out of this one. I figure that if I start the story with a long chapter, I might want to force myself up to par with every other chapter. 2287 words in this chapter. Not so much, but hey, I try. So ha.

Review review review!

♥Raven