A/N: This is my first Naruto fan fiction! So, please enjoy. I had to really do my homework for this one XD. This takes place when they're fourteen, ignoring the whole defection arc thing. To clarify, Sakura was born February 28th, Sasuke July 23rd, and Naruto October 10th. Baa-chan is how Naruto refers to Tsunade. Italics represent Naruto's thoughts.
EDIT (July 7, 2012): Recently, I've been updating this fan fiction again to iron out some bad writing. Thanks for reading!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.
"Happy fourteenth birthday!" the blond teen grinned, holding a cardboard box out.
Two innocent teenagers were simply sitting outside on a grassy field, the field where they first ever trained together. It was a mild July 23rd, the breeze coursing quietly through the training field, and the afternoon sun's rays warmed the boys' skin as they sat together in peace. It seemed like nothing could be better on that single afternoon than each other's company.
The blond's raven-haired friend gently took the medium-sized box from the blond's hands, his face expressionless. The box just had one word scrawled across it: SASUKE. Quietly, yet swiftly opening it, he took out one of the several things inside it. Reading the packaging, he sighed.
"A whole box of miso ramen. That's so great, Naruto," he rolled his eyes. "Thanks a lot."
"But it's instant! You can take it on missions and stuff, Sasuke!" Naruto replied.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "You have to boil ramen, Naruto."
"Then bring a pot!"
Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, best friends, although they hated to admit it and most likely never would. They had known each other for years and years, but had never really met until they became a team, Team Seven. They were complete opposites: the annoying, ugly, unintelligent loser versus the cool, beautiful, gifted ninja. Yet, as they say, opposites attract.
"Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto began to look around excitedly. "She needs to give you a present! It's so much fun to give presents and watch people open them!"
"She's on a mission, but will be working at the hospital when she gets back. It's summer; foolish genin and academy ranked ninja injure themselves a lot around now," the fourteen year old replied cooly.
"But we're still genin too! Are we 'foolish'?"
"Only foolish genin get injured. I'm far from foolish, although I can't say the same thing about you."
They both had grown up since they had officially met two years ago, and they were continuing to grow; Naruto had grown to be near five-foot six, becoming taller than his pink-haired crush, yet his absolute rival still remained taller than him, but only by an inch or two.
"Ooh, are you looking for a fight, Sasuke-chan?" Naruto grinned.
"Bring it on, loser," Sasuke smirked, setting aside the package.
Naruto jumped up from his sitting position, ready to train. Full of boundless energy, the orange-clad ninja stood in a defensive stance as he watched Sasuke speedily rise to his feet, but stumble slightly on the way.
"Ooh, be careful Sasuke! Wouldn't wanna damage your pretty Uchiha face, would you?" he grinned mischievously.
Sasuke straightened himself without a reply, rubbing a few blades of grass off his navy shirt and colorless shorts. He stood in an offensive pose. "Let's go."
The fight was just a small training session, and Sasuke didn't even bother to activate his sharingan. However, Naruto felt something strange as he attacked Sasuke; the Uchiha wasn't fighting normally. His movements felt weaker than usual, and he almost seemed awkward in his attacks.
"Sasuke," he huffed. "Why are you going easy on-"
Sasuke landed a low kick on Naruto's knees, causing Naruto to cry out. "When will you give up, you loser?" he sneered. "You've already lost."
Naruto ran forward panting, getting ready to punch his rival in the face. "I'll never give up!"
As soon as he executed his attack, Naruto realized that instead of hitting Sasuke, he had swung at empty air; Sasuke had vanished. Naruto quickly turned to see Sasuke in the middle of a jump kick, and before Naruto could react, the kick landed on his tanned face, knocking him onto the ground.
"Hmph," the raven haired smirked, only to have it wiped off his face when the Naruto before him transformed into a log. He glanced around, caught completely off guard for the first time during this sparring session. He listened for any traces of sound, any sound, but there was nothing but the slight breeze. The sun was setting, casting shadows everywhere and making it harder to find Naruto.
Abruptly, a bright orange jumpsuit tunneled himself out of the ground in front of the Uchiha at a ridiculously high speed. Naruto grinned cheekily.
"Don't underestimate me, Sasuke!" Naruto shouted determinedly, throwing his fist back as he prepared to punch the other boy.
Time seemed to slow down.
Suddenly, Sasuke's pale legs were shaking awkwardly as if he couldn't control them. It seemed like he was trying to move them, but they trembled incessantly, as if his knees couldn't bend properly. His obsidian eyes stared at his legs in horror, and suddenly looked up to see a concerned look pass through Naruto's eyes, but it was too late for the Uzumaki to stop.
Naruto's fist rammed into Sasuke's chest, throwing the Uchiha several yards backwards and slamming him to the ground. Dust exploded onto the field, rendering Naruto unable to see anything.
Holy crap, I hit him hard! I've never managed to get a hit in like that!
"Sasuke? Sasuke!"
Naruto ran forward to where he had seen Sasuke land, waiting for the dust to clear.
Sasuke lay on the ground, hacking up thick, crimson blood onto the gore-stained ground. He clutched his chest desperately, his breathing shallow as he huffed for breath. Suddenly, the ashen boy started coughing even more violently, and a strange gurgling sound escaped his throat, red trailing down his gray lips.
...What have I done?
"Sasuke!" Naruto seated himself beside the ill boy and sat him up. Fear coursed through his veins, for he couldn't believe the sight before his very eyes. He had never seen Sasuke, the powerful, nearly infallible one, like this before.
The blond pushed Sasuke's head toward the ground in the attempt to stop Sasuke from choking on his own blood, and it didn't take much effort; Sasuke's head gracelessly fell forward. Blood poured out of his mouth and splattered on the ground, tainting it.
"We need to get you to baa-chan!" Naruto panicked. "She can fix you..."
Sasuke's face had grown pale, paler than Naruto thought was physically possible. The obsidian-eyed boy stopped coughing, but his eyes brimmed with anxiety and stress as agony was carved into his features. He held onto his chest, his breathing raspy still.
"Shut up, Naruto. I'm…fine," he breathed. He carefully stood up, the bit of color he usually had returning to his cheeks. His breathing seemed to strengthen, although he still looked in pain. "You just hit a vital point. Hard."
"But…you didn't even block! You would never fall for something like that!" Naruto admitted. "Are you okay?"
"I was giving you a chance to win," he lied in his attempt to sound cool, "so I let you win. What, do you want a rematch?"
"No! Let's call it a day then," the younger of the two shouted, gravely worried. An accident like this had never happened before, and...it scared him.
Sasuke took a few wary steps forward, wiping the blood off his face with the back of his sleeve. He struggled for air when his knees suddenly buckled beneath him, and he was on the ground again.
"Sasuke!" Naruto ran to his side, sitting him back up. "You're obviously injured! You're going to baa-chan NOW!"
Sasuke stood up more defiantly this time and weakly began walking away from Naruto. "I'm fine," he muttered. "I just need to rest for the day."
With a sigh, Naruto gave in and ran after Sasuke, "If you're going to be an ass about it, I'll take you home and make baa-chan go to you!"
The raven-haired didn't complain; he lacked the energy to do that. He slowly paced through the quieting streets of Konoha, ignoring Naruto walking beside him. Sasuke stared at the ground during his entire journey, attempting to block out whatever emotion he was feeling as the moon began to rise in the darkening sky. Sasuke's footing briefly wavered, and he wobbled to the side for a short moment. Naruto frowned, but didn't bring it up.
It looks like he's drunk.
"So…" the thirteen-year-old attempted to make small talk. "Where do you live, anyway? I live there," Naruto pointed to a nearby building.
"Ten minutes from here."
"Sasuke, you can stay at my place for the night," Naruto offered, "since your walking is kind of off."
"I'm fine!" Sasuke snapped, glaring at Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, and then he narrowed his eyes in return.
"I'm just worried about you, you know!" Naruto looked at his best friend angrily, but also with concern. It wasn't like Sasuke to just stop moving like that when they were training, let alone walk in such a strange way. The amount of blood he had coughed up couldn't be healthy either.
Come to think of it...Sasuke had been acting strange recently, especially on missions...
Suddenly, the body walking beside Naruto was gone. Sasuke had already raced forward and away from Naruto, picking up the pace as began to dash through the empty moonlit streets. He ran faster than usual to reach his house, and Naruto, after recovering from a brief moment of shock, shouted back at his best friend.
"Wait, Sasuke!"
Suddenly, Sasuke seemed to collapse before Naruto's very sapphire eyes, his body hitting the ground down the street with a dull thud. Naruto rushed forward to his fallen comrade, staring into his friend's pale face. Sasuke's eyes were shut closed, a look of dull pain contorting his beautiful features. He breathed harshly, even in his unconscious state.
It's so obvious that the guy's in pain that it's ruining his pretty face! Wait...pretty? What the hell?
Naruto blushed harshly in the moonlight and picked Sasuke up from the ground, sliding his arm over his shoulders. He succeeded and began to walk slowly towards what seemed like a ghost town in front of him, focusing on getting Sasuke to rest in bed. If he couldn't get the Uchiha to go to the hospital (and it would be difficult to walk him there in his condition anyway; the hospital was all the way across town, and Naruto too was fatigued from the training session), he would just bring Tsunade, the world's best medical ninja, to examine him.
The blond didn't know which building Sasuke lived in, so he walked through the empty street and picked the closest, nicest looking one - Sasuke's father had been the head of the Uchiha clan after all, so Sasuke had to live in the nicest house here. Taking off both his shoes and Sasuke's shoes by the steps, Naruto stepped inside and roamed through the house. There were countless rooms, so he peered through several of them until he found one that piqued his interest. It was a room with a spacious bed, a small television, and a large balcony. Setting Sasuke down on the bed carefully, Naruto looked around the room.
This must be Sasuke's room, he smiled as he noticed a picture of Team 7 on the dresser by the window. I don't want to leave him, but he'll kill me if he wakes up and sees me…He's a ninja, and he's gonna notice me. I gotta go get baa-chan to come here anyway! I'll go get her now!
Naruto nodded to himself as he strolled to the entrance, slid his shoes on, and walked out.
"WHAT ! ?"
"You heard me, Naruto. You're going on a C-ranked mission with Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kiba, and Shikamaru will act as your squad leader. You're just bringing a message to the Grass Village that we don't want intercepted, and it isn't likely that you will be attacked anyway," the Fifth Hokage demanded as she sat at her desk, facing Naruto with a miffed expression.
"It's just that Sasuke…Sasuke…" Naruto trailed off. "You gotta help Sasuke!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow curiously.
"Replace Sasuke with someone else for this mission. You need to go to his house and help him!"
"Help him with what?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke's almost guaranteed to pass the next chuunin exam, so he is certainly capable of a simple C-ranked mission. It's a ninja's duty to serve the village. He can do it."
Naruto hesitated. "I hurt him," he replied, pain leaking from his voice, "We were training, and I don't know what happened, but he didn't block or dodge, and I hit him in the chest, and now he looks like death, and I don't know what to do...There is no way he can go on a mission right now; he's injured, and he won't go to the hospital! I had to leave him at his house because I lost a lot of energy from our training and couldn't carry him to the hospital. You have to go help him, baa-chan!"
"Why didn't you tell me before? Let me go take a look at him, and I'll decide whether he can go on the mission or not," Tsunade stood up from her seat determinedly.
"He definitely needs to go to the hospital! I think he's really…hurt, and it's my fault! Please, baa-chan! He's coughing up blood and can't walk properly and stuff!"
The blonde woman was caught off guard by the innocence and caring in the thirteen-year-old's eyes. Her eyes twinkled with compassion as she noticed how innocent and pure the blond was, almost like her late little brother.
"Fine, Naruto!" Tsunade smiled as she flipped through a few papers, "Sasuke will be replaced with…Hinata. Meanwhile, I'm going to take him to the hospital and take a look at him."
Naruto grinned as he ran out of the room, "Okay, thanks, baa-chan!"
The blond ran through the village, the cool breeze ruffling his orange jumpsuit. The moon hung high in the sky as he scurried through the empty streets, heading towards the village gates.
"Hey, Naruto!" Kiba raised a hand as a greeting, "What took you so long?"
"Naruto," Shikamaru acknowledged the spunky ninja, "where's Sasuke?"
"Um…Sasuke's not coming. Hinata's replacing him for this mission. She should be here soon! Baa-chan probably told her by now."
"Sorry I'm late!" a pale eyed girl suddenly ran up to the trio, "I just found out now about the mission. I wasn't expecting a mission and had to pack quickly, so please forgive me…Naruto?" she suddenly noticed the jinchuuriki standing in front of her.
"You know what the mission is, right?" the chuunin of the group asked, "or do I have to brief you about it?"
Hinata was blushing immensely, "I k-know already th-thank y-y-y-you..."
"Yo, Hinata!" Naruto grinned, raising a hand in greeting. "How are you?"
"Eek!" Hinata turned scarlet and fainted, overheating with embarrassment.
After a few minutes of fanning the female Hyuuga, the team set out into the distance for the Grass Village.
I'll be back, Sasuke!
- The next day -
"Good job, guys. The mission was successful, and we got a lot of appreciation from the head guys over there. You're all going to do well in the chuunin exam. Ugh, I have to be a proctor for it, and it's so troublesome..."
"Thank you, Shikamaru!" Hinata replied graciously, bowing her head to the cell leader.
"Thanks!" Kiba grinned as Akamaru barked excitedly. "Did you see that gatsuuga (1) I pulled off back there? It beat the crap out of those low-ranked ninjas!"
"For sure!" Naruto smiled, but his mind was elsewhere as he and his squad stood right by the exit of the village. Naruto had beaten everyone to Konoha from the Grass Village with his speedy, nonstop running for reasons the others didn't know.
I have to go see Sasuke. I'll stop by his house first and get his things so I can bring them to the hospital, even though he doesn't deserve it...
Naruto dashed through the village without even saying goodbye to his teammates, leaving them miffed. He raced through the crowded roads until he found himself outside of Sasuke's house within the Uchiha ghost town, throwing off his shoes and making his way inside. He finally spotted the door to where he had left Sasuke after a few seconds of quick searing, so Naruto put his hand to the doorknob when he suddenly heard quiet moaning echoing within the room.
Wh-what the hell?
Gulping, Naruto pushed the door open and made his way inside.
"Sakura?" a weak voice asked.
The bond stared at the teen in front of him. "Sasuke?"
Uchiha Sasuke was lying on his bed in the same clothes as yesterday, except the black shirt had a little more blood on it than before. His purple bed sheets had small dried blood stains, and the boy sitting on the bed was sweating, his breathing still shallow. His pale face was twisted in absolute torture.
"Oh, it's just you, loser."
"What happened to you?" Naruto's cerulean eyes were wide in shock. "Why the hell aren't you in the hospital!"
"I'm getting better," Sasuke replied. "I just need some rest."
"But baa-chan was supposed to take you to the hospital!"
The raven haired raised an eyebrow. "In your dreams maybe."
Suddenly, there was a tapping at the window. A messenger bird sat by the window sill, tilting it's head with a small scroll in it's break. Sasuke stood up and, coughing, opened his window to take the green bordered scroll. Reading it quickly, he tossed it aside, the scroll landing on the floor with a dull thud. He took his blood stained shirt off and glanced at the blond behind him, raising an eyebrow.
Naruto frowned. "Where are you going? You're still sick!"
"I'm not sick," the Uchiha rolled his eyes as he quickly slid on another shirt emblazoned with the Uchiha crest, "but I've been summoned by the Hokage. She said for you to come too."
Why didn't baa-chan take him to the hospital! Why is she summoning us?
"But…but!" Naruto trailed off, "You're not going anywhere unless it's to baa-chan!"
Sasuke breathed, "I am, you idiot."
The jinchuuriki paused and then sighed, "Sasuke, don't injure yourself even more. I don't know why you won't accept help from anyone or accept that you're sick! If you're going to see her now though, you better ask for her to heal you!"
The two left the complex in silence and walked wordlessly throughout Konoha, the afternoon sun blazing just like it did yesterday. Quietly entering Tsunade's office, Naruto gave the Hokage an angry, betrayed look, while Sasuke stood there plainly, awaiting orders.
Tsunade smiled, "You two are going to investigate the outskirts of Konoha. There has been suspicious activity there lately, so check around and stand guard for a few hours. This is just a C-rank mission, so don't worry about it too much. Back-up will come and meet you in about half an hour; we have too many shinobi out right now to send you a qualified leader, so it'll just be the two of you. This is one of the busiest summers we've had and we're still recovering from Orochimaru's attack. For now, Sasuke will be active leader until Iruka and Neji show up. Any questions?"
Throughout her speech, Tsunade had been studying Sasuke vigilantly, her eyes narrowed slightly in concentration. "Sasuke," she asked carefully, "how are you feeling?"
"Fine," he replied flatly.
"No heart conditions or motor issues I should be aware of?"
"No."
"I will ask you this one more time. Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"Well then," she sighed, "I can't examine you if you don't want me to. You're wise enough to come for help if you need it. So, you are dismissed, Sasuke."
"What the hell? You gotta examine him, baa-chan!" Naruto yelled, banging his fists on her desk.
"Naruto!" Tsunade said defiantly. "Uchiha Sasuke is mature enough to come to me if he needs help. I can't make him tell me the truth and I can't make him tell me what's wrong with him. It's his own fault if he doesn't want help!"
Sasuke swiftly left the room in silence, ignoring the argument, and Tsunade took advantage of this. She turned to Naruto. "Naruto, I went to see him while you were on the mission. He was sleeping when I arrived, and I've decided that it's too unstable for me to move him without his consent. I may be Hokage, but that curse seal…"
"Curse seal?" Naruto interrupted. He still didn't know about that black mass Orochimaru had left on Sasuke's shoulder, having had been unconscious when it happened.
"When I analyzed him just now," Tsunade ignored the comment, "he had an erratic heartbeat, a fever, shallow breathing, and seriously low chakra. He's worse than when I last saw him and needs to go to the hospital, but his curse seal could activate if he's stressed out, and it would kill him in his condition."
"Kill him!" Naruto jumped. "What curse seal? What's going on?"
"Let me finish, Naruto!" the Hokage shouted angrily. "Anyhow, Sasuke is definitely sick, but if he's not knocked out, I can't move him. Sedating him without knowing the chemical properties of that curse seal could cause unknown side effects, and we can't do that to him. I don't want to knock him out without knowing what is wrong with him either, especially if he has a brain injury of some sort; you did say he had issues with moving, and he may have hit his head at some point during training. It's safer to let something else happen to him that makes him want to go to the hospital, like breaking his arm, than for me to move him without his consent. Got it?"
Naruto grinned, though still perturbed by some of Tsunade's comments. "Got it. I just need to break his arm then to make him go to the hospital, right?"
Tsunade smirked, "I'll let you just this once."
"Thanks, baa-chan," Naruto stuck his tongue out before exiting the room to meet his pale faced teammate. Without a word, the best friends walked to the outskirts of the village. Sasuke continued to occasionally waver like a drunk man when he walked, and he ignored Naruto during their entire journey. The blond noticed the mortification glinting in those endlessly black orbs of his, but decided that it was probably better not to say anything.
When they reached their designated area, the pair scanned their surroundings, checking for any signs of foreign ninjas in the area. Sasuke, still breathing shallowly, sat on the top of a boulder and waited for any sign of movement.
"Sasuke."
"What?" Obsidian eyes looked up to meet Naruto's sapphire ones. They glared at each other angrily.
"Why the hell won't you just admit that you're hurt?" Naruto bellowed, displeased.
"It's not important," the Uchiha replied. "If I want help, I can go see Tsunade on my own time."
The jinchuuriki glared at him, "Unless you die first."
They sat in silence.
"Is Sakura back?" Sasuke asked casually.
"What the hell?" Naruto muttered, "You don't care about yourself enough to go to the hospital, but you're asking about someone else? You don't give a damn about anyone, so why the hell are you asking?"
"What does it matter to you!" Sasuke shouted, but the force drained his face of any color it had left. The boy bowled over and hacked crimson liquid into his ashen hands before hastily glancing back up at his best friend. "Shut the hell up, you dumb ass."
"Don't tell me what to do, bastard!" Naruto ignored Sasuke's behaviour, but his eyes widened at the unsightly amount of blood that had stained Sasuke's hands. His palms were smothered in the substance, dripping silently onto the wet soil.
I was just kidding about breaking his arm, but...maybe I should break it. He's really sick...he has to go to the hospital!
Naruto edged closer to Sasuke and swallowed nervously; it was unnerving to purposely want to hurt someone. As the blond was about to reach his tanned hand out to Sasuke white arm, Sasuke whipped around to face him.
"Someone's coming."
The sound of someone within the trees echoed throughout the empty path. Twigs snapping in half registered in their ears, and they were immediately on guard against the potential enemy. Sasuke stood and armed himself with a kunai, Naruto ghosting his actions. From the deep darkness of the forest, two figures without village headbands stumbled in front of the duo, clad in black outfits and masks.
"They're not ninja," Sasuke stated with his trademark smirk. "This should be easy."
"Let's go!" Naruto jumped up. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Three clones of Naruto appeared in the air and tackled one of the figures. One after another, they punched the dark figure mercilessly.
"U!"
"ZU!"
"MA!"
"KI!"
"NARUTO RENDAN!"
The figure was beaten to the ground easily, and he groaned slightly in pain. Finished their job, Naruto's clones dispersed into thin air. The blond turned around to see Sasuke standing in front of the beaten man's crushed partner, still wearing his perfect smirk upon his marble features.
"They let their guard down," Sasuke concluded smugly. Before he could continue, he noticed Naruto's mouth turn into a perfect O - there was something behind him. He spun around to see the man he thought he had defeated standing up, fatigued but amused. The tall enigma's hand was equipped with a flat, dull weapon trickling with the lightning element.
"You thought that was the end?" he laughed insanely. "Come out now!"
About fifty ninja walked out of the forest, each looking almost exactly the same. They wore the same charcoal outfits and masks, but they all wore headbands from a village that Naruto didn't recognize.
"It's over!" the masked man shrieked as he rammed the odd weapon into Sasuke's head. Before Naruto could register what was happening, Sasuke's body flew back from where he stood, slamming him into the gigantic boulder he had once sat on. A loud crack resounded through the air, and the boulder split at the impact, leaving Sasuke's broken body on the ground, blood streaming down his head.
"Sasuke!" Naruto screamed and ran to his comrade's fallen body, praying that the injury didn't look as bad as it really was, but he knew that odds of that were dismal. Upon reaching the Uchiha's body, the jinchuuriki gasped at the wreckage. Sasuke's body was deathly white, and the thick blood flowing down the side of his head was a dark crimson, juxtaposing against Sasuke's unnaturally white skin. Naruto held up Sasuke's body with his sun kissed hands, only to find the back of Sasuke's skull wet with what could only be blood.
"Come on, Sasuke! Open your eyes!" he cried, and an overwhelming feeling of panic, sorrow, and anger flushed through his entire system.
As if on command, Sasuke's eyes opened, seemingly staring at the boy holding him. His lips quivered, but he said nothing.
"Sasuke, are you okay?" Naruto shook his injured friend. "Answer me, dammit!"
Despite his pleas, Sasuke did not respond. Instead, he with unfocused eyes stared blankly into the space before him, unmoving. He just didn't blink or move; it was as if he were day dreaming, and Naruto's words couldn't reach his ears. Completely dazed, he was oblivious to both Naruto's screams and the world around him
"Come on! Answer me, dammit!"
Sasuke continued to stare expressionlessly, unresponsive.
Naruto swore and muttered, "Dammit! Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Three clones appeared beside Naruto, each of them as distressed as the original. Two of them took and held Sasuke's body, protecting the boy, while the other two Narutos proceeded to fight. However, that formation didn't last long. One of the ninja immediately threw shuriken at all three of the clones, causing them to disappear as quickly as they had been summoned.
"CRAP!"
What…What do I do?
Take Sasuke and run?
Try to fight?
I don't even have enough chakra left considering I just got back from a mission! It wasn't supposed to be like this.
There was no time to think - another ninja taunted the thirteen-year-old mercilessly, throwing a kunai into his leg.
"ARGH!" he screamed, falling to the ground as he was suddenly submerged in pain. Breathing heavily, he pulled the bloody kunai out of his leg and pocketed it, doing his best to ignore the pulsating pain and the wet feeling running down his leg. He couldn't afford to let himself be distracted by pain...not with Sasuke like this.
Kyuubi? You there? I...I need help. I don't think I can do this alone...
"Naruto!"
Naruto turned around to find Neji and Iruka running up to him from behind, both gasping.
"Naruto!" Iruka yelled. "Take Sasuke and run! Then tell Hokage-sama to send more backup!"
The orange-clad ninja gazed at Sasuke and noticed that his eyes had finally closed. He was completely unconscious, but at least he wasn't being...so strange anymore.
"I can't run from a fight, but Sasuke…"
Neji bellowed, "Take him and go!"
Naruto nodded and lifted Sasuke's right arm onto his shoulder. Quickly using up the last of his chakra, he summoned one last clone to help him carry Sasuke. The clone took Sasuke's other arm, and they swiftly ran back to the village as quickly as they could with Naruto's injured leg and only two clones.
I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei, Neji...but I have to save Sasuke!
Naruto and his clone eventually made it back to the village with Sasuke. Both ran as fast as they possibly could (which, in their condition wasn't very fast), each trying to share Sasuke's weight as their leg wounds bled even more heavily. Desperate to save Sasuke, Naruto dashed to his apartment and laid Sasuke onto his own bed after dispelling his clone; his apartment was much closer than the hospital, and Naruto was smart enough to realize that if he tried to carry Sasuke all the way there, let alone just himself, he would probably collapse. Wordlessly, the blue-eyed boy jumped out the window and ran beneath the bleeding hot sun to the Hokage's building only a few blocks away. Scurrying up the scarlet stairs, he pushed Kotetsu and Izumo out of the way, knocking their stacks of paper over and unfortunately staining some of them with his blood. They yelled after Naruto, but he just continued running to Tsunade's office, fully realizing that both his consciousness and Sasuke's life depended on it. Blasting the door to the Hokage's office open, Naruto wasted no time in communicating his jumbled thoughts.
"Baa-chan!" Naruto panted, his face turning white from blood loss and a lack of chakra. "Sasuke's dying, dying! We need to get him to the hospital, and we need back-up for the mission too because there were like a hundred ninja, and we just couldn't-"
"Naruto!" someone that clearly wasn't Tsunade asked. Her voice was sweet like icing, full of youth, vitality, and curiosity.
"Huh?"
The girl before him was his longtime crush, Haruno Sakura. She stood by Tsunade's desk, her rosette hair reaching just above her shoulders. The light breeze carried the scent of cherry blossoms, and it helped calm Naruto down a bit, but just slightly.
"Sasuke-kun's dying? Naruto, what's going on? What happened to your leg? Are you okay?"
Tsunade stood from her desk beside her apprentice. "Speak more slowly, Naruto."
Gasping, he told them the bare minimal. "Sasuke got hurt and was like, really weird. His eyes were open, but he wasn't answering me! There were a ton of ninja there, and we just couldn't handle them. Iruka-sensei and Neji showed up, but they told me to send backup because of all the ninja. Since my leg is busted, I thought it'd be faster to have you help me get Sasuke to the hospital, so I left him at my place!"
The Hokage quickly flipped through some papers, a stern look encompassing her face. "Sakura, take Naruto out of here and get Sasuke. Do basic first aid on him if needed and bring him to the hospital. First aid won't be needed for Naruto."
Sakura took a look at Naruto's leg. The once visible wound was now healed, and only the remnants of blood indicated that there was ever an injury in the first place. Puzzled, the med-nin in training grabbed Naruto's arm and ran out of the room toward his apartment, silent at first. However, as they stopped in front of the door into Naruto's house, she solemnly asked him a single question.
"Naruto…is it really bad?"
Naruto didn't reply, but his face said it all. Sakura looked down, a melancholic look gleaming in her eyes, and she knew.
They quickly bolted into Naruto's apartment and stopped right outside of Naruto's bedroom. Just as they were about to open that fateful door, something stopped the duo. Inside, there were the sounds of breaking glass and a strange human thumping, sounds that were normally never heard by human ears.
Sea foam eyes met cerulean one. Sakura began to shake slightly, and Naruto was shivering just as well with fear of what lay beyond the door. With a single gulp, he pushed the door open.
The sight that lay before Naruto was horrible, and the image was forever burned inside Naruto's head.
Sasuke's muscular body was on the floor, twitching and kicking everywhere. His strong arms punched through the mattress, now ruined, as his legs kicked and smashed Naruto's dresser to pieces. Shards of glass were stuck in the Uchiha's face, and a pool of blood had begun collected around him. A strong smell of acid burned the air, causing the duo's eyes to water, and they didn't have to ask what it was. Only the whites of Sasuke's eyes were visible as he convulsed violently in the bedroom.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed. Naruto ran forward and attempted to restrain Sasuke, only for his left cheek to be met by a powerful force. Sasuke's fist slammed into Naruto's face, causing Naruto to cry out in pain and stumble backward.
"Naruto, you have to wait until he stops!" Sakura instructed, doing her best to stay calm, "or you'll hurt yourself! Seizures can't be stopped, so just wait until it's over to help him!"
Naruto stood back, rubbing his bruised face. However, he noticed that on the varnished floorboards lay a broken picture frame, that wooden frame with the picture of Team Seven inside. The frame was completely shattered, and the image looked slightly torn by the shards. A scratch marred the image through the centre, practically erasing Sasuke's face completely. That image didn't keep Naruto occupied for long though; his eyes were glued to Sasuke's helpless body thumping the ground, his back arching impossibly as if it were about to snap.
Sasuke was having a seizure, and there was nothing they could do about it.
A/N: How was it? I'm working hard on this, so please support me.
(1) Gatsuuga, for those who don't watch the subs, is Fang Over Fang, that attack where Kiba and Akamaru become two huge, angry dogs I believe.