A/N: And the OOC continues. I really don't like this chapter very much.
Humor + Gore + fluff
Naruto heaved a sigh of relief when the town finally came into view. An hour ago he started to complain to Sasuke that being carried like this made all the blood rush to his head, after which Sasuke dropped him and told him that he weighed a ton anyway and he should have said something earlier. They took a rest and continued with Naruto half-walking half-leaning on Sasuke. After five minutes Naruto didn't think he'd be able to make it much further but his dignity wouldn't let him ask to be carried. For once in his life, he didn't complain either, and rather kept vigil knowing he was the only one who was left to mourn his friends. Sasuke, completely oblivious to this change from Naruto's usual disposition, didn't say anything either.
As the boys got closer and closer to the town, Naruto subconsciously strained his ears to hear the sound of people. Yet no such sound came; not even a bird could be heard in the utter silence, even though they were so close to civilization. Sasuke must have noticed as well, because Naruto felt his shoulder tense up in preparation for an attack.
The strange silence prevailed even as they came inside the unattended gates; the guards were nowhere to be seen. In fact, there wasn't a single person to be seen; the streets were completely empty. Neither of the boys dared to say a word as they stumbled together through the abandoned town. The only sound to be heard was Naruto's foot dragging along the cobble stones as they passed empty house after empty house. Nowhere was there any sign of struggle or death, it was as if the entire population had just vanished. From what Naruto remembered, the town was fairly small, only about a hundred people or so, but where were they?
The sound of shifting gravel behind them made Sasuke spin around quickly and Naruto turn painfully after. Both took up defensive stances and drew whatever weapons were closest to hand. Then as one, they dropped their shoulders and Sasuke switched off his Sharingan when they saw what had shifted the gravel.
It was a girl, no more than fourteen or fifteen, who had run out of her house. Her brown hair was fairly long and hazel eyes were blazing at the two intruders. She was clutching a large kitchen knife with both hands, obviously ready to attack if they made a wrong move. She looked them over, her eyes lingering on Sasuke a bit longer before darting up to Naruto's headband. Her eyes widened and she dropped the knife in shock. The sound of the knife clattering to the ground snapped her out of her trance and she peeled her eyes away from the two Shinobi and to the door.
"Ma! They're survivors!" She yelled into the house. She waited for a reply, and when none came called again,"Ma!" She motioned for the boys to wait as she ran into the house.
Naruto and Sasuke just had time to exchange glances before the girl emerged again, dragging with her a heavily pregnant woman in a messy apron with plump cheeks and a welcoming face. Upon catching sight of two boys she gasped and smiled warmly and she waddled over to them as quickly as she could. On instinct they drew back slightly, but the civilian women had no way of noticing as she grabbed each boy in turn and planted a kiss on each of their brows.
"Oh thank goodness someone survived," she cooed. "I was so worried when Arashi came back saying that everything was burned right down to the ground. Right down to the ground, he said! Can you believe that? Said no way anyone could have lived through that, but I told him, I told him no way, it's a village of ninjas for gods' sake! Someone had to have lived and here you boys are! I'm so happy!" she fretted with them going as far as to spit on her apron and wipe a smudge of dirt off Naruto's cheek. "Pesky lines won't come off. Oh no matter, no matter. Come in boys, please come in. You look tired, you're probably injured, and hungry! Oh gracious me, Yuko!" She turned to her daughter who stood in the gate gawking at Sasuke. "Yuko go get supper ready, I need to tend to these boys."
"Oh that's really not neciss—" Sasuke began as the Yuko rushed into the house. Naruto begged to differ, but didn't have time to say so.
"Oh nonsense, nonsense!" the woman rambled, helping Naruto towards the house leaving Sasuke to follow. "You boys have been through a lot! I insist! Yuko and I have been dying to know what happened over there last night! Oh, you won't believe some of the things we saw! Simply terrifying!"
She went on like that the whole way in and as she practically pushed the two Shinobi onto an old tattered sofa with the faded pattern of sunflowers on it in the main room where she immediately began smothering burns with a foul-smelling crème and bandaging cuts without ever pausing for a breath. Naruto and Sasuke could do nothing more than sit, and nod and smile occasionally, exchanging confused looks in between. Sasuke, whose shirt was tattered beyond recognition, was given another one. When it came to Naruto the woman frowned as she prodded him in several places and asked if it hurt.
"Yuko!" she called when she was finished with her diagnosis, "Help me take this boy into the other room!"
Yuko emerged from what Naruto assumed must have been the kitchen because along with her came the intoxicating smells of food that made his mouth water. Together, the two women helped Naruto out of the room. When Sasuke got up to try to help he was forced back down onto the sofa. Meanwhile, Naruto was taken into a small bedroom across the hall. From what he could see of the house, it was pretty tiny and fairly poor, but managed to feel very much like home. Colorful flowers decorated the wallpaper and the pictures hanging from it, as well as the carpet. The woman instructed him to take off his jacket and the shirt underneath before settling him onto a futon in the corner and shooing her daughter off. When Yuko was gone she locked the door and checked for anyone outside the window as she closed the blinds.
Naruto lifted his head to see what was going on, but she shoved his shoulder back down.
"Listen boy," she whispered softly, "you have a few broken ribs, a broken collar bone, the bone in your thigh is cracked badly and you have a few torn muscles. I can fix them all, but you have to promise never to speak of what you see me do, alright?"
Her voice was much more serious than before, and all Naruto could do was nod solemnly.
The woman gave a nod back before forming a few hand signs so that her hands glowed green.
"You can do med—" Naruto yelled in surprise, but she clamped a hand over his mouth and motioned for him to be silent.
"No one must know that I can do this, do you understand?"
The hand was still clamped over his mouth, so all he could do was nod again. Only when his mouth was free did he whisper. "How can you do that? Why don't you want anyone to know?"
The woman sighed and began on one of his ribs. "It's a long story. Someone I knew a long time ago had been a Shinobi that taught me healing. Bad things happen to civilians who learn ninja arts," she furrowed her brow as sadness filled her voice. "They're targeted, either by enemies or even by the Hidden Village of their own country. You mustn't tell anyone."
Naruto tried to tell her he'd swear on his life not to tell a soul but she shushed him. "Don't talk, I need to focus. Just relax, it'll all be over soon."
Naruto considered the hazards of allowing a stranger put chakra into his body, but the motherly way in which this woman treated them seemed as far from a threat as could be. He let himself sink into the pillow and succumb to the warm tingling of the medical jutsu. In a minute he was fast asleep, dreaming that it was Sakura healing him.
Sasuke sat quietly as instructed on the sofa, now alone in the small living space. From the looks Naruto had been exchanging with him, he didn't know these people either, and for Sasuke, it was enemies unless proven otherwise or absolutely necessary. Heck, he barely knew Naruto, but from what he'd just experienced he was probably an emotional wreck. He didn't strike him as entirely smart either, so the chances of him acting the whole time were low. Besides, no one could fake the emotions that flashed through the blonde's eyes just a few hours ago by those ruins. He would trust him for now, at least until he got some decent information on his own past, if the boy really did know him from before. Before what? The only thing Sasuke could really remember was the color red, and that was about has helpful as anything. It was just red, and burning, and then he was waking up to the blonde practically punching him the arm.
Yuko interrupted his thoughts when she walked in from the kitchen carrying two bowls. She smiled sweetly as she handed Sasuke one of them and placed the other on the table before sitting down on the sofa next to him in the spot Naruto had just occupied.
The bowl Sasuke had been handed contained a few steamed vegetables and some sort of unidentifiable meat on top of a rice. It looked safe enough, but he wasn't going to disrespect his host by checking it for poisons while she was sitting right next to him. The girl, however, wasn't planning on leaving and instead sat there staring at him. When he raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior she just smiled and scooted closer so that she was practically touching him.
"Hi," she said quietly.
Sasuke stared at her before mumbling, "Hey."
"I'm Yuko," she told him, batting her eyes. "What's your name?"
"Do you have something in your eye?" he asked.
The batting of the eyes immediately ceased and was replaced by a pout. "Why won't you tell me? I'm sure it's a good name…"
Sasuke wasn't sure what to tell her. On the one hand, it would be smarter to tell her a false name because that way he couldn't be traced. On the other hand, Naruto might have already blurted out his name, and it would sound suspicious if he told her something different. Besides, she might know something about him.
"Sasuke," he answered flatly, and stared down at his food.
"See? I think that's a very nice name," she leaned closer. She was practically on top of Sasuke now, and it was very irritating.
"You're really cute, Sasuke-kun," she added with a giggle when he didn't say anything.
Sasuke frowned at her and moved ever so slightly away.
Yuko pouted again. "You don't have to be shy. My mom will take a while healing your friend. We can entertain ourselves here…"
Sasuke tried not to show his disgust at the implied pastime and but scooted a fraction over none the less.
"You're a ninja, aren't you?" she asked, still oblivious to Sasuke discontent. "That's so cool," she murmured, running her hand up his thigh. He scowled.
Sasuke really wanted to draw his sword right now. Things would be so much easier if he just killed her, but she was their host after all, and her mother was feeding them and healing them, and it would be simply rude to kill her daughter in return.
"Why is the town empty?" he blurted out instead.
"Huh?" Yuko sat back, finally giving Sasuke room to breath. "Oh, we were told to evacuate. See, after all that stuff that happened over in Konoha last nigh, some people went to check, and they came back with these reports saying the place had burned to the ground!! So all the neighboring villages were told to get out of the area. I have no idea why. Do you know?"
Sasuke knew exactly why. A Hidden Village was the military power of the country. If they village fell, the country was basically defenseless. As soon as the other countries found out, they would come and try to take it. Of course, the first thing they would do is go to the find the Hidden Village and make sure the rumors that if was dead really were true. The safety of the neighboring towns was not guaranteed. Of course they would be evacuated.
"Not a clue," he mumbled. "Why are you and your mother still here?"
"Oh! It was her idea!" Yuko swatted at the air. "She says the baby's due any day and she wants to have it here at home rather than in some refugee camp. We're leaving right after it comes. You can come with us if you'd like!" She leaned into him again.
"I'll…have to ask my companion." That's a no. You can get your cleavage out of my face now.
The door that Naruto had been taken through opened and Yuko's mother waddled in.
"Ma!" Yuko suddenly sprang up from the couch, completely flustered, and brushed off her skirt, blushing like crazy.
"Help your mother over to the couch, Yuko," you woman sighed. The girl scrabbled to help her mother.
Sasuke stood up to make room for her but she just waved him back down. "No, no. You sit. Why haven't you eaten anything? Eat, eat!" As soon as her mother was settled, Yuko rushed out of the room and into the kitchen, still very red in the face.
Sasuke faked a smile at the woman sitting next to him before reluctantly picking up a chunk of the mystery meat from his bowl and putting it in his mouth. It wasn't the greatest thing he'd ever tasted, (not that he could remember,) but it was decent. He gave another tiny smile to the woman, who returned it warmly.
"I'm glad you like it!" she leaned back into the sofa and sighed, rubbing her temples with thumb and forefinger. "Oh goodness, I'm exhausted. This boy here is starting to kick something fierce," she rubbed absently at her stomach. "And your friend was injured real bad. It's a wonder he was able to make it all the way here! Oh, what am I saying? It's a miracle you two even survived? What happened over there?"
Sasuke looked up, his mouth full of rice, and took his time swallowing to ponder his reply to the question. "I….don't…know…" He began slowly as the story formed in his head. "I wasn't there. I came across the ruins and heard him calling for help. I can to crawl under a burning post to get to him. He didn't tell me anything of what happened."
"Oh how brave of you!" the woman cried, grabbing Sasuke head and pressing it to her chest. "Oh you poor baby! So valiant, saving a complete stranger! So brave!"
Sasuke thanked the training he couldn't remember for being able to hold his breath through the whole rant about how brave he had been, because she was completely smothering him.
By the time she let go, Sasuke had been starting to get dizzy.
"Did you see anything that happened?" he asked as a change of subject.
"Oh it was horrible, deary, just horrible!" She grabbed his hand and clapped it between her own. He resisted the urge not to pull it back. "It must have been the middle of the night! There was this sudden wave of fiery energy! Blasted across town, woke up just about everyone! Well, we all rushed outside, and there standing in the middle of the forest like it was grass was this enormous fox! At first I thought it was on fire, it sure did look like it, but then one of our neighbors yells that it's got quite a number of tails on it! Sure enough, there were a bundle of them, all moving far too fast for me to count, but far more than a fox should have! And they were swinging all over the place! I think one of them smashed that big old mountain with all the heads on it! Oh the fox was huge! And the energy coming from it, uh! Could have knocked me dead right on the spot! I swear!—"
"What happened then?" Sasuke interrupted, knowing he wasn't going to get any information if she kept going at this rate.
"Oh, right, right. So there was this fox, and everyone was simply frightening out of their wits, I know I was. It jumped around a few times. I could have sworn I heard it laughing but that's just ridiculous. Foxes don't laugh! What a silly idea! So it was out for maybe a minute or more, and then this other blast of energy came and a hole opened up in the sky! Will you believe that? A Hole in the sky!"
"A hole?"
"Oh yes, yes! And the fox, the fox jumps up and right through it and disappears. The hole closes up behind it and then everything is perfectly silent. Everyone starts whispering, wondering what happened and all. A few of the young men around here decide to go out there and take a look. The neighbor's boy, Arashi, was one o'them. Oh I was worried sick he wouldn't come back alive. You ninjas don't usually like it when us civilians get involved and we told them that, we did, but they really wanted to go see what had happened. Not every day a giant fox comes out of nowhere and disappears into the sky now is it?" the woman chuckled.
Sasuke took this momentary pause for air to take his hand back, stand up and place his now empty bowl on the cabinet next to the sofa. "Thank you," he bowed to the woman. "It was very kind of you to heal me and my friend and to provide this lovely food. I think it's best we leave before it gets too dark. We don't want to intrude on your hospitality."
"Oh, nonsense! Nonsense, boy! You two simply must stay the night! Your friend is already asleep in the next room! I hope you don't mind sharing, I already took the liberty of moving an extra futon in there. You can't leave now! You need some well-earned rest, the both of you!"
Before Sasuke could protest the woman heaved herself to her feet and pushed him along out of the room.
"Please, get comfortable! Make yourself at home!" she whispered as she opened the door and practically shoved him inside before closing it behind him.
He stood awkwardly in the doorway until his eyes adjusted to the darkness before fumbling his way to the unoccupied futon at the other end of the room. Naruto shifted slightly in his sleep as he passed.
"Mmm, who's there?" he mumbled.
"It's me, Sasuke."
Naruto smirked, not bothering to open his eyes. It made him look very fox-like in the darkness.
"You woke me up," he muttered. "Bastard."
Sasuke smirked too as he pulled his shirt off and crawled under his covers. It was silent for a few minutes, and Sasuke was sure Naruto was asleep again until he spoke.
"Hey, you know that Yuko girl?" he whispered.
"Yeah. What of her?"
"She's kinda cute, isn't she. Seems kinda shy though."
"Oh, yeah, she's really shy."
"Are you being sarcastic at me?"
"No, what makes you say that?" Sasuke found himself smiling.
"Ass," Naruto mumbled as he turned away from the Uchiha.
Sasuke waited until his breaths had evened out. It was amazing how a foul-mouthed stranger could wipe away all his anger and unhappiness with a few insults and a smirk. It didn't make any sense, and it didn't really have to because Sasuke was too tired to figure it out right now. He let himself drift off listening to Naruto gentle breathing.
Naruto's eyes shot open in the darkness. At first, it was unclear what had woken him up. He kept as still and silent as possible, yet all his instincts were on high alert. Sasuke was lying on his own futon not far off, also fully awake.
A wave of murderous intent washed over the room. Both boys tensed visibly, straining their ears for its source.
A shrill yell echoed through the house. Naruto recognized it was most likely being Yuko's. The enemy was close, possibly even in the room next door. Sasuke had probably realized this as well, and both of them jumped from their beds and began to throw on their clothes and weapons. Naruto was surprised at how well his injuries had healed at the hands of the Yuko's mother.
When both were ready and suited up, they stood by the door. Sasuke put his hand on the door knob. Their eyes met and Naruto noted the Sharingan shining brightly back at him. He nodded, and Sasuke nodded back before retching open the door. Both jumped into the hallway.
At the far end stood a Shinobi, clad in black, with a Stone headband. He noticed Naruto and Sasuke immediately, and shifted into a fighting stance. A second Shinobi, also in black and also from Stone, walked out of the room closest to the end of the hall and closed it behind him, wiping the blood off his sword on a nearby tapestry. The carpet of what Naruto could see inside the room was soaked in blood as well. The blonde grit his teeth.
The first man hissed something to his oblivious partner, who turned his head to look at the two Leaf ninja before going into battle stance himself. Naruto only had time to draw a kunai out of his sleeve before the fight was on.
The second of the Shinobi leapt at Naruto, sword raised, but the blonde dodged it. This hallway was much too tight a space to fight it, they had to get outside somehow. Sasuke managed to solve this problem by shoving Naruto aside to dodge an enormous earth jutsu that came flying their way. The rock burst through the wall behind them, and the two boys took the chance to get into the open night air.
Naruto used the pause that it took the Stone Shinobi to follow them outside to form him hand sign.
"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" he yelled. Like the day before, no clones appeared. Naruto swore.
"Don't you know any other jutsus?" Sasuke hissed.
"Of course! I know Rasengan!"
"Great, then use it!"
"I can't! I need a clone for that!"
Sasuke was about to make some sort of smart-ass comment about it when the Stone Shinobi jumped out. Naruto had no choice but to dodge and throw his kunai at his attacker. The Shinobi snickered at Naruto's naïveté and swung his sword at him. The blonde threw some shuriken, which also missed, and drew a second kunai preparing for hand-to-hand combat.
Behind him, Sasuke had just about finished off his opponent. Naruto growled in annoyance and leaped at the Stone Shinobi, who jumped out of the way. Naruto wasn't able to dodge the counter-blow in time, and winced as the sword sliced into his upper arm. The cut wasn't deep, but it hurt like hell.
How was he supposed to fight? His chakra wasn't working for one thing, which would have been okay if his opponent didn't have a sword. Evidently he needed to disarm him, but how? Naruto tried to think of how he'd won fighting in the past when he'd run out of chakra, but only one thing came to mind. Kyuubi. Where was that damn fox when he needed him?
The enemy attacked again and all Naruto could do was jump aside. This wasn't getting him anywhere. What he really needed to do now was go back and check if Yuko and her mother were alright. The Stone Shinobi advanced at Naruto once more, sword raised. Just as the blonde prepared to dodge once more a second blade ran right through the attacker's stomach. Some of the blood splashed onto Naruto's shocked face as the opponent fell to the ground with a groan.
"You're totally helpless," Sasuke informed the blonde as he wiped his sword against the fallen man's leg.
"Well I was going to thank you, but I just changed my mind," Naruto sneered, smudging the blood off with his own sleeve.
"Fine by me," Sasuke smirked as he resheaved his sword and turned to go back to the house. Naruto took a last look at the two dead Stone Shinobi before running to catch up.
As it turned out, Yuko and her mom shared a room; both were now lying dead on the floor of their home. The woman's eyes were closed and peaceful, meaning she had been killed first in her sleep. This must have woken Yuko, who was killed next, since her eyes were open in alarm. Naruto squatted down to close them for her. He didn't lie when he said she was pretty. Next, he crawled over to her mother, and quietly pulled the blanket over bleeding abdomen, thanking her silently. How many more people did he have left to lose?
Sasuke remained standing behind him, his expression blank and unreadable. Both turned their heads to the sound of movement outside.
"Come out you cowards! We know you're in there!" someone yelled from outside with an Earth Country accent.
The boys exchanged glances; it was a fight in here or a fight out there, either way, no way out. Sasuke drew his sword. Naruto fished around in his pocket for his last remaining kunai. With a final nod they marched out of the room, down the hall, and out of the hole in the wall.
Outside, they were met by a platoon of Stone Shinobi, outmatched ten to one.
"You know what really blows?" Sasuke asked Naruto, taking a fighting stance and never taking his eyes off the enemy.
"What?" the blonde asked, doing the same.
"Everyone I've met this past day has died," he said with a smirk.
Oddly enough, Naruto found this profoundly funny and beamed. He was going to die; he wasn't nowhere near okay with that, but someone couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't have any trouble believing Sasuke couldn't hold his own against these guys, and now Naruto would be off to join his fallen friends. Spending a day with Sasuke like this was more than worth it, but as much as he would want to spend the days that followed, getting one chance to say goodbye to all the people he'd loved….he'd take that chance.
"Here's to a day-long friendship," Naruto murmured half-heartedly.
"Here, here," Sasuke called quietly in return just as the first Stone Shinobi moved to attack.
He was headed for Naruto, an enormous club hoisted over his head. The blonde's eyes widened at the incoming danger, but he didn't move to dodge.
"Naruto!" Sasuke cried, but his voice sounded distant and foggy. Everything seemed foggy and distant and slow for some reason. Naruto closed his eyes and braced himself for when the club would hit. This was it. Goodbye Sasuke, hello everyone else!
A whoosh of movement just a foot or so from Naruto's face made him open his eyes again. The club-wielder had been knocked off his feet by something that was now wrestling with him on the ground. It wore rags and was moving too fast to get a good look at, but by the light of the moon didn't look entirely human. It had several weapons, all swinging about as it attacked the Stone Shinobi.
The club-wielder's comrades stared for a moment.
"Go, you idiots! Attack!" the man on the ground yelled at them.
Without hesitation each hoisted up his weapons and ran at Naruto and Sasuke, only to be blow off their feet by a gust of wind that only rustled Naruto's jacket.
"What the hell is going on?" Sasuke exclaimed, edging away from the rag-clad thing of the ground as it jumped off the club wielder and now turned to face them.
A/N: Cookies to whoever can guess what or who just saved Naruto's and Sasuke's lives!
OCs...how did I do? I had to add in something! Were they too Sue-ish? It was unavoidable, I'm sorry. (every girl Sasuke meets thinks he's cute in some way or another. As annoying as it is, it's the only in character thing I can do)
