I don't own Naruto


"Ah!" It was barely a sound, no more than a gasp of breath, but it still alerted one of the two men who were walking in the forest of the other ones pain.

"Naruto!" gasped the man who had not emitted any sound until this point as he reached out and grabbed the others arm so that he could pull the suddenly limp body against his own. "Naruto," he said again now that he had the body in his arms and was slowly lowering it to the ground.

"I'm fine," the weak voice that came from the equally weak body was more indication than the stronger needed to tell him that Naruto was lying to him.

"Don't lie to me Naruto," he mumbled. Now that he was sitting on the ground with Naruto sitting in his lap and resting against his chest, he could check to make sure that the boy was not in serious danger. He placed his alarmingly pale hands against Naruto's misleading tan forehead and felt for a temperature. What he found made him frown. "You have a high fever," he said.

"Yea," Naruto gave a weak smile even as the sweat travelled down his face and onto the other's navy blue yukata.

"You know?" the stronger of the two asked. "Naruto, I told you to tell me when your not feeling well." He wasn't mad. He could never be mad at Naruto. He was mad at himself for not noticing the signs, but he would never be mad at Naruto. He raised the pale hand that rested on Naruto's forehead a little higher so that he could move golden locks off of the heated skin that it was plastered to. "We could have stopped and rested for a while."

"You said that we were almost to a village," Naruto said silently. "I was hoping that we would be able to make it there before it caught up to me."

"You can't take that kind of risk Naruto," Sasuke sighed. "We don't know this area and, for all we know, we might be several days away from a village. What will I do if you get seriously injured."

"Sorry Sasuke," Naruto conceded. "I'll try not to worry you next time."

"You always worry me," Sasuke shook his head and ran his free hand through his own pitch-black hair. After a moment of sitting there silently and allowing Naruto to rest, Sasuke sighed and shook Naruto out of the fever-induced trance that he had fallen into. "As much as I hate to say this," he said to the man in his lap, "you were right. We have to make it to the village before nightfall. Hopefully, we'll find a hotel where you can rest."

"That'd be nice," Naruto agreed before allowing himself to be pulled up to a standing position once again.

"Will you be okay?" Sasuke asked as he allowed his obsidian eyes to look Naruto up and down to make sure that he wasn't too ill to travel. He couldn't help the frown that pressed at his lips when he looked, once again, at Naruto's tattered clothes. The things had long ago been destroyed, Sasuke's weren't much better, but neither of them had any money to replace them. The two of them looked like the poor orphans on the streets that always begged for money. Sasuke had to admit that he and Naruto were practically that, but they used to have plenty of money to buy new clothes even when they didn't need to replace old ones. That was before they became rurounii. Before they were forced to leave their home on this important mission. The only thing that remained clean on both of their bodies were the three swords strapped to Naruto's left side and the two sword's strapped to Sasuke's. They were cleaned on a regular basis so there hilts showed only slight signs of use. "Do you want me to carry anything for you."

"You're already carrying my bags," Naruto said, "I don't have anything else for you to carry." It was true that Sasuke was already carrying Naruto's bag, in fact now-a-days Naruto almost never actually held onto his own bag, but it wasn't true that he couldn't carry anything else. Even though he had his own bag, Naruto's bag, and the two swords that he always carried on his left side, he could still carry Naruto's swords. However, he was a samurai, and he knew what being separated from ones swords felt like, and he didn't want to make Naruto feel that way. He had also noticed how Naruto had immediately wrapped his left hand protectively around the swords when Sasuke asked so he did not press the matter.

"All right," Sasuke said. "We should try to hurry. I think it might rain soon, and I don't want you to be stuck out here when it does."

Naruto nodded and the two of them set off as quickly as they could with Naruto's weakened body slowing them down.


Sasuke was only just barely able to drag Naruto into an inn before the rain started falling in torrents. They had caught the light beginnings of the rain, but they were able to avoid most of it. He placed Naruto against the wall and immediately went to the front desk to ask for a room for the two of them to share.

"We don't give rooms to criminals," the nasty man spoke down his nose at Sasuke and Sasuke couldn't help but to grab his swords with the hand that would never unsheathe them and hold them closer to his side. It was a habit that he had picked up because it made it easier for him to pull out one of the swords when he actually needed to do so.

"Please," Sasuke asked. "My friend is sick and he can't go outside or the rain will make him worse."

"He should just die," the old man stated. "It's what you deserve."

"You bastard," Sasuke growled as his right hand made it's way to the hilt of his sword.

"Sasuke," Naruto called out as he struggled to lift himself away from the wall. "You can't blame the man for not wanting criminals to be in his inn. He could get in trouble."

"I don't care," Sasuke growled. "You're sick and we need to find you a room to sleep in."

"I'm sure there'll be other inns in this place that we can stay at," Naruto said calmly.

"Good luck with that," the innkeeper sneered.

"And if there isn't," Naruto continued as if the man hadn't said anything, "then I'll be fine camping outside. We've done it before."

"Not while you're sick," Sasuke protested.

"I'm always sick Sasuke," Naruto responded. "Please can we get out of here. I really don't feel well and I want to find somewhere that I can rest soon."

"Fine," Sasuke growled as he released the swords and moved back to Naruto's side. "I hope you're inn is set on fire," Sasuke spoke over his shoulder and then he was back outside with his arms wrapped around Naruto. Back outside where the rain and the wind had made a full-blown storm. "Damnit," he cursed even as he and Naruto struggled down the road to find any other inns. They found a couple more, but each one gave them the same response so they were forced to continue walking until Sasuke heard someone call out to them over the rain.

"What are you doing out there?" the voice said. Sasuke looked over and saw a girl in a bright pink kimono trying to hold an umbrella above her even though it was doing little to protect her from the wind and rain.

"We're looking for a place to stay," Sasuke called back desperately. Maybe the girl would be willing to show them somewhere that they would be welcomed. Naruto was becoming increasingly heavier as they walked and Sasuke knew that his mind was drifting into unconsciousness.

"You've passed all the inns," she motioned back to the way that they came even as she struggled against the elements to get closer to them. "Couldn't you have just stayed there?"

"They did not welcome us," Sasuke answered. "Please, do you know of a place we can stay? At least until this rain is over?"

The girl took one close look at Naruto, who was now practically unconscious, and nodded. "Come with me," she said as she continued on the way that she had been heading in the first place.


Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, comments, or requests, please message me and I will read them all. Flames are accepted and used to improve my stories.

I have not yet written the next chapter, so I will post the next chapter as soon as it is written.