The Forgotten Ones

~SasukeUchihasGuardian~

Alright everyone! Here's chapter 3… enjoy :)

*By this way, throughout this story, Sasuke will have times of being his normal stubborn self (like in the manga and anime) and times where he is soft (Uke, except no relationships) He'll be a little stubborn in the beginning, and he'll get nicer as the fanfic goes on.

Why is he acting helpless now?

1) He's weak. 2) He's dying. 3) He can't walk. 4) He's severely traumatized. 5) He's delirious and feverish. 6) Because he's cute like that. 7) Because it's my fanfic, and I want to.

Yup. On with the story.

Chapter 3: The Definition of Worrying

"Just hang on Sasuke… a little longer… we're almost there…" Naruto was breathing heavily, trying his absolute best to make it to the Sand Village. To get there, it was about a three hour walk through a scorching hot desert. Naruto knew that their fevers would only escalate with the dry heat pounding against them, but he had no other choice. It was either risk it all to get through the desert while dehydrated, tired, hungry, and wounded, or die before making it halfway to the next village. He had been slowly keeping pace for two hours now, and he was beginning to get worried.

His movements were slowing as his dehydration got worse, and with the wounds he had, he didn't dare try to run. He glanced down at Sasuke, whose breaths were slowly but surely becoming more and more shallow. Naruto wiped the trickling sweat from his forehead and took two more steps, but he fell to his knees instantly. It took all he had not to drop Sasuke into the sand that burned his toes when it flooded over his sandals. Using the very last of his strength, he lied Sasuke down gently, before collapsing onto his side, his breaths coming out in hot puffs that he could feel in his mouth before escaping.

"I… I'm sorry Sasuke… I'm so sorry…" he whispered.

"N-Naruto…" He didn't know Sasuke was conscious, or how long he had been, but he hoped it wasn't too long. He didn't want Sasuke to have to suffer in the heat. He hoped he would be able to sleep right through it.

"I can't… I can't make it… I can't go anymore… I'm so sorry… S-Sasuke…" Naruto wheezed, cringing slightly as the pain intensified.

"You… you can… Naruto…" He coughed, inching closer to his teammate the best he could, using every last bit of his strength to do so.

"Please… we'll die… if y-you… don't…" He coughed again, this time blood spraying the sand in between their faces.

"S-Sasuke… go… go on your own. Go and bring back help…" he whispered hoarsely. "I can't… I can't go on…"

"I… I c-can't…" he murmured quietly, his body beginning to shut down on him once again. He felt himself slipping back under the abyss of dreams. "N-Naruto…"

"The pain… it won't stop… I would… but t-there's just… too much… of it…" It hurt to speak.

"Pain… is t-temporary… you're… you're s-so close to… b-being healed… you… y-you can't… give up now… you can't die… so… so c-close…" he managed, just as his eyes slipped shut.

Naruto let his words soak in, knowing he was right. Pain was temporary, and they were close… too close to give it up. Naruto grit his teeth, knowing it would be challenging, painful, and extremely exhausting, but he couldn't give up. For his sake, and for Sasuke's.

With that, he stood. The pain increased, and he flinched, almost doubling over in agony again, but nevertheless, he was standing. He lifted Sasuke into his arms once again, feeling even more throbbing shoot through his body like bullets, but with his best friend's words fresh in his mind, he began walking. Then the walking turned into sprinting, which then broke into a run as fast as any uninjured shinobi's pace, ignoring the whip of his unzipped jacket when it hit him.

Naruto eventually found himself nearing the village gates and he sighed in relief. Instead of using it as a reason to slow down, he used it as motivation to speed up. He ran straight through the village, not caring about all of the gapes and the looks of bewilderment he got. He heard a few villagers gasp when Sasuke convulsed violently and sprayed quite a large amount of blood both into the air and onto Naruto's bare chest. People began clearing the way for him, so it only took a few more minutes before making it to the Kazekage's tower.

"Sasuke…we're here…" he breathed in relief. "You'll be healed soon enough, and then we can carry on with our lives! We're gonna make it after all…"

He opened the door and walked in without knocking, and suddenly, the Kazekage gasped and stood up, slamming his fist down angrily on the table.

"What do you think you're doing, barging in here?" He screamed ferociously. "Get out!"

"Please sir!" Naruto shrieked, causing the Kazekage stop yelling at once. After he realized that the boys weren't from Sand, he was shocked that two injured people from another village stumbled into his own land.

"Please you have to heal Sasuke! He's gonna die if you don't do something! Please sir! He won't survive much longer! He can't walk and he's blind in one eye and he's bleeding badly and it won't stop no matter what I do for him! Please help him before he dies! Please!" He cried frantically, unable to say anything formally since he was so panicked. He pulled Sasuke closer to his chest. He knew that the Uchiha couldn't handle anything else anymore. His body had gone passed its limit.

"Boy… what village are you from?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We're from the Leaf Village… can't you ask us questions later? He's gonna die soon if you don't help him!" He yelled, listening to Sasuke's breaths get shallower and hitch slightly. He could hear the wheeze in it more clearly than before.

"Leaf Villagers, huh?" He said, his expression unreadable as he walked forward and got down on one knee. He cupped Sasuke's face and turned it to face him, a lot less gentle than Naruto had expected. He then held out his foot to examine the swollen ankle that was twisted awkwardly and painted a disturbing black and blue. Glancing down, he saw the pool of crimson blood growing bigger and bigger below as it dripped from the torn shirt that had been wrapped around it. Sasuke suddenly cried out in pain, his body convulsing as he coughed up more of the coppery liquid than Naruto expected. He whimpered in his sleep and curled into a ball more in his teammate's arms, trying to take in a breath that his lungs wouldn't allow. Feeling agitated, he began to move around and quiver a little, but he stilled when he felt a cool hand on his burning forehead, guessing it was Naruto. The Kazekage removed his hand from the boy's ashen skin, feeling the blazing heat radiating from it. He sighed and stood back up, glaring at Naruto.

"Get out. Now. If you leave now I won't order my village to assassinate you."

"What?" Naruto felt his blood run cold. It was if his heart had stopped. "We just need to be healed! That's it! Please help us! Our villages were allies!" He cried, desperate to save Sasuke's life, and probably his own.

"we're. Not anymore. Your village is gone, so why should I help the last two people remaining? There's no Hokage anymore that will threaten my position as Kage away if I say no. The Leaf Village disgusts me. Unable to take down that demon fox… it nearly destroyed my village because of their weakness! We lost many of our men to it until finally we were able to seal it!" He growled. "Do you know how many lives were trashed because of the Leaf's weakness?"

"It's not our fault that our village couldn't handle the Nine Tailed Fox! We're the last two alive and we need help! Sasuke's gonna die!" He yelled in frustration.

"Why should I waste medical supplies on you two measly little brats? You're not part of our village. I can't assassinate you by law since you're not rogues, but the threat stands as is. If you stay any longer, I won't be afraid to order my men to kill you. I don't care if you guys didn't have anything to do with the Nine Tails. Nobody was out on missions during the time the fox attacked your village, so it's not like your best ninja were away. You are the only survivors. How you two weaklings made it out alive, I don't know, but I also couldn't care less. Now get out of my village, you pathetic brats."

"But-"

"Get out!"

Tears of frustration leaked from his eyes. The words hit him like a brick wall. The pain coursing through his body was suddenly numbed by anger. Hatred. He hated the Kazekage. How dare he treat them like dirt because of the village they were born in? Because of him, Sasuke would die, and he wasn't too far behind. He growled at the man before him, not caring that he had a higher status than him.

"I'll remember this. I'll forever remember you as a murderer who killed my innocent best friend, the last of the Uchiha Clan, because he was afraid of losing a little bit of his medical supplies." He hissed. "You murderer."

With that, he turned and walked out, not caring to see the expression on the evil Kage's face. He slowly made his way outside of the village, staring at his teammate the whole time to avoid the curious stares of the residents. He could hear them whispering about him and Sasuke, and he tried his best to block them out.

"Where is he going? Why isn't he bringing that boy to the hospital?"

"That boy looks like he won't make it much longer!"

"What if that blonde haired boy hurt him? Does he even realize what he has done?"

"He's an idiot if he thinks that boy can survive without bringing him to the hospital!"

"That's Sasuke Uchiha! How did he lose to an idiot like that?"

"Shut up before he hears you, Akira! He may seem just as weak as the fallen one, but he might be a lot stronger!"

"Look at those two fools, thinking we'd accept them. They're clearly from the Hidden Leaf Village."

Naruto had heard enough. He whipped his body around and screamed out at the people without thinking.

"Our village is gone! That stupid demon fox destroyed our homes and our families! That thing did this to Sasuke! He's dying and it's not only the fox's fault. It's your own STUPID leader's fault! He refuses to help him and because of this my only friend- the only one I have left- is gonna die!" More angry tears leaked from his eyes and he turned and ran. He didn't care to look back at the shocked expressions of the villagers. Adrenaline gave him the energy to run right out of the village gates and into the desert. He ran as far as his legs could take him, before collapsing back down into the soft, burning sand. He lied Sasuke down beside him and curled up in a ball and cried.

"I… I'm so sorry Sasuke! I couldn't save you!" He sobbed, knowing his teammate couldn't hear him. With his lack of medical knowledge, the only thing he knew was that Sasuke was either unconscious or in a coma. He quickly sat up with a surprised gasp when Sasuke let out a dry hiss, and coughed up blood that sprayed the air and covered the sand around him, along with his face. Naruto used the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the crimson speckles away from the burning cheeks. His tears slid down his face, down to his chin, where they plummeted from tanned skin to ashen. Sasuke's eyelids fluttered a little, but the Uchiha didn't wake.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore. The trauma of losing everyone in the village was horrible. Carrying his best friend with his wounds made it worse. Then there was the dry heat and the fear of dehydration and death from the heat, and when he finally beats all odds and brings the only person he has left to safety, they kick him out, still injured, to die in the desert. Naruto knew he would lose Sasuke, and with his wounds too terrible to walk any farther, he would eventually fade away with his teammate. Exhaustion had taken its toll on the both of them.

"I hope… I hope… when I pass away… I hope we see each other again… Sasuke… in heaven…" he murmured quietly, squeezing the Uchiha's hand gently.

Naruto pulled him closer to him, but not so close that the body heat would make their temperatures worse. The blonde could feel Sasuke trembling, and he figured he trapped in a nightmare, and he felt terrible knowing he couldn't wake him up.

~Sasuke's Dream~

Standing on top of a building, Sasuke was frozen stiff as he watched the Nine Tailed Fox destroy everything around him. It had shattered every building except the one he was standing on. He wanted to flee, to run as far as his body would go, and farther, but it was if the fox's eyes paralyzed him and glued his feet to the cement. He watched as it rammed its snout into the hospital, then lashed a tail to destroy the Ninja Academy. It threw people, some dead and some alive, into its mouth using a massive tail, and Sasuke could hear the sickening crunch of bodies being smashed by razor sharp fangs. Blood began leaking from the lips that were pulled back into a snarl. He looked around him, seeing very few people left. One of the remaining survivors was Kakashi, who was running as fast as he could towards the building Sasuke was standing on. He looked back up at the fox, about to create a distraction for Kakashi, when suddenly, he noticed a man standing on top of the demon's head.

"I-Itachi?" Sasuke gasped. Crimson eyes lowered to look at him, sending a shutter of fear down his spine.

"Foolish little brother…" The Akatsuki member whispered. "Mangekyou Sharingan!" In an instant, Sasuke was trapped in the genjutsu, for what his brother had said was a week. He had lost count after a few hours. After the genjutsu broke, Sasuke fell forward, dizzy and almost completely unconscious from the powerful attack his brother had used. He began to plummet to the ground, but before he could land, fangs began to close in on him. The fox clamped down, and all he could see was darkness.

Similar nightmares, some a better some worse, continued playing in his mind over and over. No matter what he did, even though he knew he was dreaming, he couldn't escape the darkness he found himself drifting in. He realized the scariest thing about it all was that he was truly alone. Trapped in his own nightmares without Naruto.

The only thing that eased the dreams was when he felt a gentle hand squeeze his, and a familiar voice whispering his name.

It was the only reassurance he had that he would eventually wake up from these nightmares.

But little did he know that when he woke up, he wouldn't be healed up in the Sand Village Hospital like Naruto had promised.

His nightmare was only beginning.

~To be continued~

Yes, yes… I know that was terrible. Bite me.

Oh no! The Kazekage didn't heal Naruto and Sasuke! What will they do? Next chapter might come out sooner than usual… as long as you review :)

Last chapter didn't get very many reviews… please review guys! I lose motivation easily without them!

Thanks for reading!

~SasukeUchihasGuardian