Two boys faced each other, two pairs of eyes staring at each other. One in anger, the other desperate and pleading, tinted red with animalistic rage. One was a blonde, shrouded in red chakra in the shape of a fox. The other a raven, skin an abnormal grey with two huge hands sticking out of his back in a crude imitation of wings. Night and day. Yin and yang. A swirling ball of compressed, malevolent red chakra formed in the hand of the whiskered blond, a cackling mass of tainted black chakra in the hand of the other. As if they were mirrored images, they jumped forward at a signal which only the two of them knew about, actions inversed and exactly the same.
"Naruto!"
"Sasuke!"
Kakkashi raced through the forest, as he urged his legs to move faster. His students were in danger! He came to an abrupt stop, however, as he spied a blob that stood out among the natural green shade of trees and earth. He slowed.
"Naruto? Naruto, are you okay?" he asked the figure, as he neared it.
An alarming amount of blood flowed from the hole in his chest, the flesh around it charred, but already starting to close. Wounds littered his form. Droplets of the wine-red liquid was left in the shape of his footsteps, a trail to show the distance he had travelled.
On his back was another boy, his dark locks a sharp contrast to the blond, although it was hard to tell because of the blood which matted the both of them. Every step the blond took caused his wounds to widen, and his chest wound was just horrifying to look at.
"N-Naruto…" Kakkashi stammered, a hand reaching out for the boy. "I'll carry Sasuke, so…"
The boy shied away from his hand, though, the movement leaving a splatter of blood on the floor.
"Naruto…"
Sakura stood by the gates of Konoha, waiting for the return of Kakkashi and Sasuke. She squealed as she finally saw the two figures she was waiting for approach.
"Sasuke-kun! Sensei, is Sasuke-kun alright?" she shouted at them, running up to meet them.
The sight that greeted her eyes was not one which she wanted to see. Kakkashi was flitting about Naruto worriedly, the boy giving no visible reaction as he continued to walk. What drew her gaze however, was the body that Naruto had slung over a shoulder.
Her beloved Sasuke-kun had bruises all over him and seemed unconscious, a bleeding shoulder wound clearly visible. He was drenched in blood, and he seemed paler, as if he were a corpse. She screamed.
Just keep walking. He had promised. To bring Sasuke back to Konoha. So…
He didn't know how long he had been walking for. A hand reached for him. He avoided it, frowning. He wouldn't let anyone take Sasuke. Not when he could finally bring him back. The hand didn't come again, and he continued walking resolutely. His vision was blurred, and the edges were tinted black. Weariness weighed heavily on him.
A bright flash of white spread across his fading sight, and the scene he saw cleared a little. Sakura had her hand out, glaring at him, an angry flush across her face as tears appeared in green eyes. His check started to sting.
"Naruto! How could you? I asked you to bring back Sasuke-kun, but not half-dead like this! How could you?" She screamed, back-handing him across the face.
He watched as she left along with a group of shinobi to the hospital, Kakkashi carrying Sasuke. They were gone in a moment. All of them were worried about Sasuke, after all.
He recalled the tears in Sakura's eyes. He had made her cry. He was such a jerk.
Exhaustion rose like a wave to engulf him. He wouldn't. He couldn't collapse in the middle of the road like this. He would be blocking other people's way. His knees buckled as the strength to simply stand left him. He dragged himself across the ground slowly, gritting his teeth as sand entered his wounds and raw flesh was dragged over the ground, which was littered with small rocks. He had to at least reach the woods.
After what seemed like an eternity, he felt the cool shade of trees and knew that he had reached the edge of the forest. Sight abandoned him long ago. He felt himself slip into unconsciousness, falling from the darkness into a chasm so deep, he felt like he could never escaped it. One last thought stood out as he drifted away.
They had took Sasuke to the hospital and left him here.
The Kyuubi gritted its teeth as it sent out another wave of chakra throughout his host's body. He refused to die here, trapped in this pathetic mortal body. Definitely not because his host wanted to rescue someone. What a joke it would be! The great king of Bijyuu, lost because of its host's need to save a human.
It noticed a small crack on the puny bars holding it captive, and its mouth stretched into a mockery of a grin, teeth glinting even though the sewers it was in had not an ounce of light.
It then snarled as it was forced to send out yet another wave of its malicious chakra. It would be a long time before he could stop. His host was on the verge of death after all. The weakening of the bars though, were a much appreciated bonus.