Chapter 4

Sarota

Naruto couldn't believe it. Here they were, trying to track down some rogue ninja, and they get discovered. He just couldn't believe it! The moment the ninja had charged at them, he immediately dropped his goofy attitude, and jumped out of the way of the ninja's rapid punches. He then threw his kunai at the ninja's now exposed back. It hit him, sending him off balance. Got ya! Naruto thought triumphantly. He landed, and ran toward the ninja, ready to give him a nice punch in the face. But in a poof of smoke, the ninja was gone, and in his place…was a log.

Naruto stopped short, surprise written all over his face. Damn! A substitution! He looked around, franticly, straining his eyes to find his opponent. Suddenly, about ten kunai came at him from every direction. He narrowly avoided them. Where is he? He thought, looking around again. I can't find him anywhere! In a flash, the ninja was in front of him, sending Naruto to the ground with a punch. Naruto grunted as he hit the solid earth. That was fast!

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled. She threw her own kunai at the ninja. He ducked, not even turning to face her. She heard him mutter, "Too obvious," but he didn't do anything to her further. He grabbed Naruto by his collar, and held him in the air.

"You weak little fool," he breathed in his face. His breath smelled of old fish. "You can't beat me…" Naruto smiled.

"Oh yeah?" He quickly overlapped his middle and index fingers into a cross shape. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" In a poof of smoke, two Narutos were on both sides of the real one. The ninja, taken by surprise, didn't expect the two punches that the newly formed Narutos gave him. He was sent back into a tree, the real Naruto being released from his grasp. "Let's finish this!" Running toward the ninja, all three Narutos pulled out a kunai, and threw them. The ninja, recovered from the last attack, was able to block them all with his own kunai.

"You'll have to do better then that!" the rogue nin boasted. He smiled, but then gasped as he spit up blood. He fell to the ground, a kunai imbedded in his back, and a fourth Naruto standing behind him. The ninja was dead. The Naruto who was standing behind the ninja frowned as the other three disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, running over to him. Naruto smiled as she approached. His face, then, contorted into concern.

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Sakura was shocked.

"Am I okay? I'm the one who should be asking if your okay."

Naruto seemed to not of heard. "Are you okay?" he asked again. Sakura sighed.

"Yes, Naruto, I'm fine." He smiled, and looked in another direction. Sakura followed his gaze, and saw Sasuke was still fighting a ninja. She gasped. Sasuke seemed to be struggling.

-

Sasuke was struggling. No matter what he tried, the ninja seemed to be able to dodge or block everything he threw at him. Sasuke ran for him, and punched. The ninja blocked it easily, and countered with his own punch that Sasuke was barely able to avoid. Sasuke jumped back, pulled a kunai from his holster, and threw it. The nin deflected it with his own kunai, and threw it. Sasuke ducked just in time as it flew over his head. Well, well… he thought, standing up straight. Interesting…

He jumped in the air, grabbed three kunai from his pouch, and threw them respectively. The ninja dodged them all, and jumped up to meet Sasuke in the air. As he came up, he kicked. Sasuke blocked it, and tried to elbow the ninja in the face, but missed as the ninja turned in the air. Now behind Sasuke, the ninja fired a couple of punches that would of seriously damaged him had he not twisted in the air, last second, and narrowly blocked them all. After grabbing the ninja's shirt for support, Sasuke was able to twist around again. As he was twisting, Sasuke managed to hit his opponent in the neck with the back of his forearm, sending him flying toward the ground.

The ninja hit the ground with a thud, and got to his knees. He was still not able to move from the impact. Sasuke, still in the air, made the correct hand signs, ending with the sign of the tiger. He smirked. "Fire Style: Pheonix Flower Jutsu!" He took a deep breath and shot out multiple fireballs at his enemy. The ninja, still not able to move, was a sitting duck as all of about twelve fireballs exploded into his body. His howl of pain was earsplitting, and Naruto and Sakura had to cover their ears to drown out the horrible noise…But soon, the howls stopped, and the only thing Sakura saw was a body sprawled out across the forest floor, smoking, and still had small flames on his arms and back that hadn't gone away yet. It was a horrible sight. She felt the tears coming, but couldn't hold them back as she buried her face in Naruto's chest.

At first, Naruto was surprised to find that the pink haired ninja had buried her face into him, but he soon understood why, and wrapped a protective arm around her.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura, then back at the ninja. He sighed. Perhaps he could have ended it in a cleaner way. He glanced over at Kakashi, who was standing over a motionless nin. He was staring intently at the body. Sasuke walked over.

"What's up," he asked. Kakashi looked at him.

"I'm confused…"

Sasuke was mildly surprised. "About what?"

Kakashi sighed, and leaned backwards to stretch his back. "These ninja…Well…Usually, rogue ninja aren't as good as real ninja. You see, they don't really have the time to train everyday like we do, so usually, their ninja skills weaken, and aren't as developed."

Sasuke nodded.

Kakashi continued. "But, these ninja…They weren't like that…They were as strong as ever, it seemed. Looks like they keep up with their skills just as much as we do."

Sasuke nodded again. So they might be facing ninja just as strong as Zabuza was? He couldn't help but smile. Very interesting in deed…

Kakashi looked over at the smoldering flesh Sasuke had left behind. Then, he glanced at the body lying on the ground by Naruto. His gaze shifted to the crying Sakura. He sighed. This was going to be a long mission…

-

Team 7 was jumping threw the trees once more. Kakashi was in front, followed by Sasuke, Naruto after that, and Sakura was bringing up the rear. They were going far faster then they were before the ninja found them. Kakashi was convinced that the other ninja already knew they were here, and, as such, they were going as fast as possible to find them, before they were found. They had been doing this for about half an hour. Sometimes they would get a break when Kakashi stopped for about ten seconds just to look around. Then, when he stopped, they were off again. Naruto didn't feel like asking him what he was doing, he was too worried about Sakura. These ninja were strong, and Sakura didn't stand a chance. Sure, he would always tell her she was strong, but deep down, he knew she didn't stand a chance. He wanted to believe, but he just couldn't…

Kakashi stopped again, and his team followed suit. They were all breathing heavily, and Kakashi noticed. They were going too fast, but they didn't have time to slow down. These ninja were no joke, he could feel it. He debated what course of action to take. If they kept traveling like this, they were sure to bump into them eventually. He wondered if they should split up. If anything, it would put his team at a disadvantage, but they would be able to cover more ground. It was tough, he was sure his team could take care of themselves…But he didn't know the exact number of ninja, he didn't even have an estimate…Split up or stay together…Split up or stay together…He decided.

"Listen, everyone," he said, turning around to face them. "I've decided on a course of action."

Everything was silent, no one said anything. No one moved. After about two minutes, Kakashi still hadn't said anything. Sasuke was getting annoyed.

"Well?" he asked. "You gonna tell us?"

Kakashi's good eye looked at him in surprise. "Huh? Tell you what?"

Unbelievable! "The action!" Sasuke said, halting himself from lunging at him in annoyance. "The course of action!"

Kakashi's eye still held mock confusion, but then it widened. "Oh!" he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "That's right. Sorry, I kind of zoned out there…" He cleared his throat. The truth was, he was doing a little last minute debating whether this was the right decision or not. "We're splitting up!"

-

It was, Sasuke guessed, about one or two in the morning. Darkness had surrounded them, and it was a cool night, giving off an eerie atmosphere. He, Sakura, and Naruto had taken a short break on a tree limb. They had separated from Kakashi about three hours ago, and Sakura suggested they stop for a minute, to regain their strength. Sasuke couldn't help but notice it was a fine suggestion, and had agreed. They were all sitting on a high limb on a very tall tree. Naruto was eating an apple, Sakura, snacking on a rice ball, and Sasuke, himself, was partaking in his own rice ball. They had been eating for about two minutes. Naruto decided to break the silence.

"So," he asked Sasuke. "What's the plan of action?"

Sasuke swallowed his bite, and leaned back against the tree trunk. "Well," he began, "first we need to find the rogue ninja's base, at least then, we'll know how many we're up against. If it's not many, the three of us can take them, but if it's a lot, then we'll go find Kakashi." He finished, taking a swallow of water. Naruto nodded, understanding.

He finished his apple, and threw the core to the ground. Sasuke stood. "Alright, let's keep moving." He looked at Sakura. She nodded, and packed up her remaining rice balls. She put the box in her pack, and stood up as well. In a swift movement the three of them were gone, jumping across tree branches once again.

Another half hour of jumping went by, and Sasuke hadn't seen anything. He was beginning to wonder if the ninja base was in this forest at all, but suddenly, he felt a chakra signature. He stopped on the branch he was on. Naruto and Sakura stopped on the one behind him.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Sasuke turned to face his friends.

"I've found them." He said quietly, and then jumped off. Naruto smiled, and then followed. Sakura after him.

-

When the three genin arrived at the source of the chakra signature, they found something surprising. In a man made clearing, there were many tents scattered about, and plenty of ninja walking around, talking, or snoozing under the moon. Sasuke was caught of guard by the sheer number of them.

This can't be! He thought worriedly, looking threw the bush they were hiding behind. I would've placed their number at about twenty…But…There has to be at least fifty of them! He glanced around, and saw Naruto and Sakura having the same thought, as was worry was sketched across their faces. This was too big for them to handle alone. He turned and faced his friends.

"Listen," he said quietly. "We gotta find Kakashi. They are too many of them for us to take on our own." Naruto and Sakura nodded, and soon, they were jumping threw the trees again.

They hadn't gone three minutes before Naruto spoke up.

"Hey, Sasuke, wait a sec!" He stopped. Sasuke looked back, and stopped as well. Sakura was standing behind Naruto, wondering what he had to say. Naruto looked down at the ground for a minute, then back up to Sasuke. "We can take them, Sasuke." He said simply. His voice held complete confidence; he was so sure in the matter.

Sasuke looked at him in surprise. "What…? Naruto, are you crazy?"

Naruto didn't flinch or even get mad about Sasuke's words. "No," he said. "Look, Sasuke, if I just make enough Shadow Clones, then there's no reason we can't win."

Now Sasuke was getting annoyed. "Naruto, this isn't the Forest of Death, these are elite ninja we're up against! We both had trouble against one, so what makes you think we can beat fifty!"

Naruto looked back down at the ground. When he looked at Sasuke again, his face held a grin. "I know that! I was only kidding!"

Sakura almost fell off the branch she was standing on. Only kidding? But it sounded so genuine… Sasuke was glaring at Naruto with complete annoyance. "You loser! We just wasted so much time because of that!"

Naruto was still grinning. "Yeah, I know," he said sheepishly. "Sor-"

It happened in a flash.

Sakura didn't even see the kunai fly by her, and it struck Naruto right in the back. Sasuke's eyes widened. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Naruto was falling off his branch. The blood spilling from the wound was barely visible in the night air. Sasuke pulled a kunai from his holster and threw it in the direction that one had come from. He jumped off his branch, and caught Naruto in the air as he was falling. He could feel blood dripping on his hands. He landed on the ground, and ordered Sakura to come down there as well. He gently laid Naruto on the ground as Sakura landed.

"Naruto?" Sasuke said. There was no response, Naruto didn't even move. "Naruto!" He said louder. This time, Naruto's eyes blinked half open. His mouth moved, but Sasuke couldn't hear the words. "Sakura!" He turned his head towards the pink haired girl. "Medical Kit! Now!"

Sakura didn't need telling twice. Fighting back tears, she reached into her pack, and pulled out a white box, with a red cross on it. She handed it to Sasuke. He didn't pretend to know how to use half the stuff in the box, but he did know how to patch up a wound. He reached into the box, and grabbed a square cloth. He rolled Naruto over, and inspected the wound.

The kunai had hit Naruto in the dead center of his back. Sasuke didn't take that as a good sign. The wound, itself, was small, but no doubt fatal. If he removed the kunai, he was sure lots of blood would pour out. He debated how to approach it. In the end, he had Sakura quickly remove the kunai as he put the patch over it. Not a lot of blood had escaped, and he was happy about that.

But soon his mood changed.

His happiness was replaced...

By anger.

"Naruto," he said, fists clenched. He stood. How could he have let this happen? How could he have let one of his friends get hurt?

This kunai… he thought twirling the bloody weapon his hand. There's no doubt it came from one of those ninja…He slid the kunai into his holster, then looked down at Naruto. His anger was replaced by pure rage.

"Sakura…" he said quietly. Sakura looked at Sasuke's backside. "Stay here, and look after Naruto. Change the bandage in a little while, but don't leave this spot." He turned to face her, his black eyes drilling into her jade ones. "Protect Naruto with your life."

Sakura wasn't fully understanding. "Wait, where are you going?" Sasuke looked at her, and, for a moment, she thought she saw sorrow in his expression. It was only for a moment, but she was sure of it.

"No one hurts my friends and gets a way with it," he said quietly. "I'm going to kill the person who did this to Naruto."

And with that, he was gone.

Sakura sighed, and took a seat beside Naruto. She was extremely worried, not only for Naruto, but for Sasuke now, too. She glanced at Naruto. She had never seen him look so…helpless before; it kind of scared her. She was also worried about Kakashi. There was no telling what he was doing. Was he okay? She guessed so. He is the copy ninja after all.

There was no telling when Sasuke would come back, so she might as well get comfortable. She pulled a blanket from her pack, and wrapped it around herself. When she looked back at Naruto's sleeping form, lying on the hard ground, she felt a little selfish. She removed his jacket, folded it up, and slipped it under his head like a pillow. There. Now she didn't feel as bad. She wrapped herself in the blanket again, and waited.

-

Sasuke was coming up on the ninja base. He stopped and hid himself behind the same bush he hid behind earlier. He looked threw the bush, taking in all the ninja, and the activities they were doing. He looked around the clearing, trying to find someone who looked like they had been out recently. His gaze landed, and followed two ninja who were fast walking across the clearing, heading towards the largest tent. They stopped outside the entrance.

"Captain!" one said with force. "I did not know you had returned." After saying this, the tent entrance swooshed open, and out stepped a tall, buff man. He held himself proud, and without worry. Sasuke could only guess he was the leader of these ninja. The "leader" smiled.

"Of course, even the leader of this band of ninja has to do his share of patrol." He laughed. "And I even got a little action out of it!" The two ninja looked confused.

"What do you mean, Captain Sarota?" Sarota laughed again.

"As I was patrolling, I ran into, it looked like, three genin. Two had their backs turned, and didn't look like they would be all that welcome. So I threw two kunai at them, one missed, but the other, hit a kid in orange so hard, it sent him off the branch he was standing on!" At this point, Sarota couldn't hold back his laughs. He was actually holding his side. "But that kid's hurt big time! I heard one of them call for a medical kit! It was hilarious!" Now, the other two ninja had joined in with the laughing, and Sasuke couldn't take it anymore.

He sprinted from his hiding place. He had learned something new just now. Not only had this guy hurt Naruto, he had planned to hurt Sakura too. And that he just couldn't accept. He grabbed a kunai from his pouch, and took the first ninja by surprise, slicing his neck in anger. The ninja fell to the ground, dead. The second ninja was ready, taking out his own kunai. After a couple of steel on steel slashes, Sasuke was finally able to get behind the guy, slash at his exposed back a couple of times, and eventually stabbing him. The ninja fell to the ground, motionless. Sasuke stood over the dead body, his bloody kunai held tightly in his hand.

Sasuke looked at the man called Sarota, and held his kunai in a battle stance. "That kid you hurt, is my friend. Now prepare yourself." Sarota didn't though, and, to Sasuke's surprise, his face held no expression of amazement, alarm, or even surprise. He was calm and collected.

"Who are you?" he asked calmly, still not in a battle position.

Sasuke smirked. "I am Uchiha Sasuke, and I'm the one who's going to kill you."

End of Chapter.

A/N: Okay, that one's out of the way. Thanks to all who are reviewing. Anyway, I'm going to start doing this!

(look below)

Next Time: Sasuke takes on Satoro, the mysterious leader of the rogue ninja. Can he avenge Naruto, or will he get beat down? Meanwhile, what's happening with Naruto and Sakura? And what has Kakashi been doing this whole time? Tune in to find out!