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"SSSAASSUUKKEE!" Naruto cried as he soared through the air. He targeted Sasuke, ready to attack and take Sakura away from her captor.

The Uchiha heir rolled out of Naruto's way just in time.

Sasuke would have jumped, but for some reason, his body felt like lead.

Naruto growled and took a stance, ready to spar with Sasuke as Kakashi, Shikamaru, and the others stepped slowly from their hiding places in the surrounding trees.

"AAAAGGHHH!" Naruto cried, running at Sasuke headlong.

Naruto braced for impact.

Sasuke was a trained Shinobi. Naruto knew the last Uchiha could hold his own in a battle.

Not today, apparently.

SMASH!

Sasuke went down like a sack of potatoes when Naruto crashed into him.

It was as easy as knocking over a pile of wooden blocks.

It wasn't even a fight.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as Sasuke fell to the ground, shuddering and shivering violently.

That was right when Naruto and the others heard…..

THUMP!

Naruto, Kakashi, and the rest of the search party looked on in horror as Sakura crumbled too, her body jerking as she convulsed on the grass.

"Kakashi-sensei! W-what's going on?!" Naruto asked with a horrified look on his face.

Something shiny and purple gleamed at Kakashi from the blades of the bright green grass.

Quickly, Kakashi picked it up and inspected it for a moment.

"I don't know! But this bottle must have something to do with it. Hurry, let's….." Kakashi started to say, before he was interrupted by an evil laugh.

"-I see the poor girl from Konoha isn't feeling too well all of a sudden." Orochimaru smirked as he stepped out of the darkness of the thick trees into the clearing.

"Orochimaru!" Naruto hissed.

The jinchuriki was sure that whatever was going on, whatever had happened, it was somehow Orochimau's doing.

Kakashi and the others braced themselves for combat once the snake sannin appeared.

Orochimaru's thin lips parted in a pleased smirk as Sakura's eyes rolled back in her head.

However, the snake sannin's tapered eyes shot wide open when he saw that Sasuke was experiencing similar effects.

Naruto had never seen that look on Orohchiamru's face.

No one had.

It was a look of...fear.

Of defeat…

"What have you idiots done to Sasuke?!" Orochimaru shouted.

"What have we done to Sasuke?!" Naruto snapped. "What have you done to Sakura?!" He shouted.

"I gave Sasuke a powerful poison disguised as a truth serum to kill the girl! The girl only!" Orochimaru roared.

Orochimaru dashed over to Sasuke quickly and began to kick him against the side as if he were spurring him to get up. "Sasuke! Sasuke! Stop flopping around like a fish and snap out of it! Our enemies are here!"

"Hey! Don't kick someone when they're down you miserable—!" Naruto growled, launching himself at Orochimaru.

In all of the chaos, Kakashi thought clearly, reasoning out what must have happened.

"They must have taken it together for some reason…." Kakashi concluded quietly, under his breath.

Naruto growled and kicked at Orochimaru but the snake sannin easily blocked him.

"Stop! Both of you! We don't have time to fight!" Kakashi called.

Naruto ceased his attack.

Orochimaru glanced over.

"I think that Sasuke ingested the toxin too. Orochimaru, tell us how to save them and we'll let you go." Kakashi bargained.

"What?! But! Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto whined.

Orochimaru was right here!

Let him go?!

"Would if I could, copy ninja, but I can't!" Orochimaru snarled. "I stole that poison from someone I used to be ...hmm, close to, I suppose, but I'm afraid she's the only one who knows how to stop its effects! She is its developer, after all!"

No, Orochimaru did not have an extensive knowledge of poison antidotes.

His understanding was basic at best.

Orochimaru normally wasn't trying to save people so it was never an area he had really focused on.

Kakashi listened closely to Orochimaru's words and realization dawned on the copy ninja….

"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted. "Get the others to help you take Sasuke and Sakura back to the village! Hurry!"

"Right, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried.

With help from the others, Sasuke and Sakura were picked up from the grass and carried away back towards the village hidden in the leaves.

Naruto was too shocked to really process what Orochimaru had said.

Naruto was just worried about his friends.

Orochimaru didn't protest while his favorite student was carried off. The snake sannin simply stood peacefully in the clearing, watching them all go with a serious look on his face.

Before he started off onto his path back towards Konoha, Kakashi cast Orochimaru one fleeting glance of both loathing and gratitude.

At least Orochimaru had told Kakashi who he needed to find to save Sakura and Sasuke.

Though the snake sannin hadn't mentioned her name directly, Orochimaru knew from the look in Kakashi's eyes that he had picked up on the hints that he had given.

Once they were gone, Orochimaru frowned.

He was worried.

"I hope you haven't drank away all your abilities, Tsunade." Orochimaru hissed under his breath.

He could care less about the girl, but if Sasuke, his next vessel, was lost because of this…

Orochimaru was not going to be pleased.

Naruto and the others brought Sasuke and Sakura to the hospital while Kakashi made his way to the Hokage mansion in pursuit of Tsunade herself.

Upon their arrival, the medical staff immediately took Sakura and Sasuke to a room and began to administer I.V's and take their vitals.

The medical nins were a bit reluctant to treat Sasuke at first, but once Naruto yelled at them, their hesitations seemed to disappear.

The members of the search party milled around aimlessly in the hospital hallway while Naruto pressed his face up against the glass window of the room, trying to see how his friends were doing.

It seemed like an eternity before he heard two sets of shoes pound down the hallway and turn the corner.

"Kakashi-sensei! Hokage Tsunade!" Naruto shouted with joy as they both approached.

He just hoped they weren't too late!

"Where are they?! Where is Sakura?!" Tsunade cried, her eyes wide with fear for her apprentice.

Kakashi had shown Tsunade the purple vial.

Tsunade recognized it right away as a very old, but very strong poison she had developed when she was scarcely older than Sakura.

Tsunade thought that she had destroyed the recipe…

A long time ago, Tsunade had discovered that the page the poison recipe was written on had been ripped out of her notebook.

She assumed she had burned it in a drunken stupor.

Now she realized that someone had simply stolen it from her…

Someone with black hair and reptilian eyes.

"She's in there! They both are! Ya gotta hurry, Lady Tsunade! They're in bad shape! Believe it!" Naruto exclaimed as Tsunade wrenched the hospital door open and ran into the room.

Naruto pressed his face up against the glass again but Tsunade drew the curtains closed while she set to work.

"Aww! I wanna see what's goin' on!" Naruto roared in anger.

He needed to know that his friends were going to be ok!

"Naruto." Kakashi called from the bench he was sitting on against the wall. "Come sit by me and we'll talk for awhile. You need to let Tsunade and the medical nins do their job, we did ours, for now."

Reluctantly, Naruto pulled himself away from the window with a frown.

He shuffled over and sat down beside Kakashi, knowing there was wisdom in his former teacher's words, just like always.

But that didn't mean Naruto didn't want to see how things were going!

Several hours later, Tsunade stepped out of the hospital room looking exhausted.

That poison…...

How strong and cunning she had been in her youth!

It had taken all of her strength now to win the race against time that the deadly concoction had put into place.

"Well?! Well?!" Naruto asked immediately, jumping off of the bench as soon as Tsunade stepped out.

Kakashi looked up hopefully.

Tsunade swallowed hard, her throat dry from hours without water.

"I think….I think…...we'll, I've done the best I can. We'll just have to wait." She announced tiredly.

Kakashi and Naruto exchanged a worried glance.

Naruto was speechless.

That was it?!

That was all she had to say?!

"Naruto and I will sit here then, until they recover." Kakashi said immediately.

Neither of them would sleep until they knew that Sakura, and Sasuke, were alright.

—-

"Sa….ku…..ra?" Sasuke croaked dryly in the bright, sterile hospital room.

"Sa…..Sasuke?" Sakura rasped in a hoarse whisper.

"W….where…..?" Sasuke whispered.

"Don't…...know…." Sakura replied.

Everything in their bodies hurt.

Their flesh itself ached and burned.

Their minds were hazy.

Where were they?

Why were they here?

Why was every cell in their bodies on fire?

Was this…..death?

"Don't….want to…..die…" Sakura managed to gasp, hot tears of pain welling into her eyes.

Sasuke said nothing in response.

He was a strong Shinobi, rogue or not.

It would be dishonorable for him to show fear in front of an enemy, a teammate, and especially, a woman.

Although on the inside, Sasuke was just as afraid as Sakura.

What if he died without getting revenge on Itachi?

What would his parents say about the things he had done when he saw them again?

What if….?

Sasuke had no good words of response or comfort to offer Sakura. He was afraid that if he spoke, between the fear and the pain, he would end up screaming.

Instead of speaking, he simply reached out and grabbed Sakura's hand, clasping it in his own, entwining their fingers.

The pinkette looked down and her dry lips cracked into a wry smile.

Sasuke…..

She leaned back and closed her eyes as the monitors beeped with her vitals.

Sakura…..

Sasuke did the same, squeezing Sakura's hand as he drifted off.

Was he going to sleep or dying?

The part of Sasuke that hadn't been consumed yet by darkness was glad that whichever it was…

….At least he was beside Sakura.