Ok, there are some things you should know before you read this fanfiction:

1) This is a shared story. You see, 1 person does 1 chapter, and another person does the other. I, the Bista part of this name, do the odd chapters and the Mali part of this name does the even chapters.For more details, please visit our profile and things will become a lot clearer.

2) I have read all the manga chapters there are to read at this momentin time (all the way up to chapter 308) and have seen all the episodes. My partner on the other hand has barely seen any episodes and hasn't read any of the manga. She asks that if you notice something wrong with her writing or that something doesn't make sense, to please let us know.

3) Once you read the first few sentences, you'll know when it's set. (like the place and time)

And I think that's everything. Enjoy!

Note: We do NOT own Naruto, or any of the characters. All we own is our plot and (if the moment calls for it) any other characters that we might make up.


Chapter 1:

Return

It was a hot, sunny day in Konoha. Naruto lay face up on a grassy slope, his orange and black suit clashing with the green grass and purple and blue flowers. With his hands as a cushion under his head, his elbow's almost touched Sakura's, who was lying beside him. The bottom part of her red dress was covered by a medical apron filled with the many tools she needed to help a person in need. Kakashi was a fair distance away from the two under the shade of a tree, reading a brand new copy of Make-Out Tactics, the book Naruto had given to him as a present just the day before.

Naruto's surprise return to Konoha yesterday had caused quite an uproar among the old 'Rookie Nine'. All of his friends that he had passed with had gone on to become Chuunin, and Neji, a Jounin. Today, he had decided, was just a day he could relax and spend with Sakura and catch up with the current events in the village. Tomorrow it was planned that they would begin to search for Sasuke again, as he only had four months before Orochimaru took his body.

Neither Sakura, Naruto nor Kakashi had heard anything about their former team mate, or about Orochimaru. Naruto had checked Oto during his training with Jiraiya, but the snake Sannin was no where to be seen, along with Sasuke. Kabuto wasn't even there, and the village was functioning like a normal Hidden Village(1). Sakura sat up suddenly and looked around, her eyes widening with every jerk of her head.

"What's up?" Naruto asked, sitting up as well.

"Didn't you hear that," Sakura frantically whispered, as if the slightest noise would alert some unknown enemy.

Naruto listened as hard as he possibly could, but he still couldn't hear anything. Just as he was about to give up and ask her if she had even heard anything, he heard it.

"What is it?" he whispered, leaning close to her so that only she could hear.

Sakura shook her head. "I don't know."

Naruto listened again, drinking in the sound as it got louder. He couldn't hear it normally, so he let the Kyuubi's chakra sink into his ears, amplifying the sound. After about a minute of listening to it, he could identify it as someone running recklessly through the forest, heaving breathes and off balance footsteps. Naruto didn't know how Sakura could even catch a single sound of it. That's when Kakashi heard it.

He stood up tall and dropped his book where it lay face down, its pages crumpled on top of the swaying grass.

"I don't believe it," he said under his breath, his one visible eye widening as he looked out onto something unseen by neither Naruto nor Sakura.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura half said, half whispered.

"It can't possibly be…" Kakashi muttered again, paying no attention to his pupil.

Naruto tried to find where his teacher was looking, following his line of vision until he was looking deep into the forest. Kakashi sprang forward, running with tremendous speed across the field toward the nestle of trees that marked the beginning of the forest. Sakura and Naruto hurried after him, unable to keep up with their sensei's speed. When they entered the forest, Sakura put her hand out to stop Naruto from going any further.

"What?" Naruto asked impatiently.

"The sound; it stopped," Sakura stated, looking wildly around again. "It should have gotten louder as we got closer to it. I don't like this one bit. Besides, do you think Kakashi-sensei would want us to follow him in the first place?"

"There's only one way to find out," Naruto said. "And that's to follow him and see if he gets mad. Come on!"

Naruto ran out ahead of her, slowing down only slightly when he heard Sakura behind him. They had no clue where Kakashi had gone, but could only assume that he had gone forward, along the path that lead deeper into the forest. The deeper they went, the more worried they got seeing as there was no trace or Kakashi, or whatever he had seen.

"Sakura, come quickly," came Kakashi's voice from up ahead and to the right. "Hurry!"

Naruto slowed himself so that Sakura could get ahead of him, both of them heading in the direction that Kakashi had shouted from, veering of the path and hopping on trees to reach him. They hadn't gone very far when they reached him. He was kneeling down beside something. Sakura jumped down to help, but let out a little scream and jumped back, her hand over her mouth with shock. Naruto jumped down to look at what had frightened her and ended up copying what she had done. Lying there at Kakashi's feet, covered in dark red blood was the lifeless body of Sasuke.

Sakura screamed again, but Kakashi put a finger to his mouth to shut her up.

"He's not dead," he said softly. "But he will be soon if you don't stop this bleeding. Hurry up!"

Sakura nodded slightly and knelt down, her eyes wide. Naruto watched from the side in shock as Sakura's hand started to glow. She waved her hand across his body, willing the bleeding to stop. Slowly, she was able to see his chest rising slowly as he breathed. She exhaled deeply and looked at Naruto, as if to say 'what's going on?'

Naruto shrugged stiffly and on Kakashi's orders, picked up Sasuke's limp body and put him on his back. He was quite a bit lighter than Naruto had expected. He figured that Sasuke probably wouldn't have time to eat during training, or maybe even refused to eat. He made sure not to bounce too much because Sakura had said very sternly that there were still injuries that could be made worse because of it. They went straight to the hospital without anyone seeing them and took him into a private room. Sakura called Tsunade and Shizune and shooed Naruto out of the room.

Both Kakashi and Naruto waited anxiously outside the room for a word on Sasuke's condition, both pacing the hallway and glaring at any nurse that happened to walk by. It was about an hour later that Sakura finally let them into the room, telling them to keep their voices down.

Shizune was writing something down on a clip board by the end of the bed and Tsunade was leaning against the side of the wall with her eyes closed. There was a gentle 'beeping' in the background confirming Sasuke's pulse as he lay in the single bed in the room, unconscious. There were bandages across his forehead and a breathing mask over his nose and mouth.

Naruto stared at his former team mate and couldn't help wondering what happened to him. He had left Konoha seeking power and of all people, he went to Orochimaru. Had something gone wrong? It was too early for Orochimaru to try to take his body, yet something horrible must have happened for Sasuke to run away from Oto like this.

Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and pointed over to Tsunade. She was motioning to his to step outside, holding the door open to show that Sakura was already outside. Reluctantly, Naruto left Sasuke's bedside and stood beside Sakura as the Hokage closed the door gently behind her.

"I know this is sort of sudden," she said, sympathy audible in her tone. "But I've chosen you two to go on a mission in Suna."

"But…" Naruto started.

"No buts," Tsunade told him sternly. "Gaara's been kidnapped by Akatsuki and Suna has called for Konoha's help." She sighed before she continued. "I know it's hard for you to leave now that Sasuke's back, but he needs time to recover anyway, and I'm sure he'll be ready to wake up by the time you get back."

Naruto wanted to argue but knew she was right. Beside him, Sakura nodded pathetically before announcing she had to prepare for the journey and hurrying down the corridor. Naruto took one last look at Sasuke's door and went to go prepare his own things, trying to keep his mind on Gaara and not on Sasuke, as hard as it was. Before he met Sakura and Kakashi at the village entrance, he quickly checked up on Sasuke. Tsunade shooed him out and told him that Sasuke's arrived was to be kept secret until they found out what happened to him, making Naruto even more anxious for Sasuke's awakening.


(1) - How can a village be hidden in sound? Seriously, I don't think the maker of Naruto thought that one entirely through.