A/N: Thank you for all of your reviews! Some of you guessed who the men were, and were half correct. So I decided to dedicate the chapter to all of you:

tiffanylicis

.:crimson rose:.

Toast Eating Munchkin (I love your name btw!)

SilkFedora (looooove you! Thanks for the wonderful review!)

Okay, and so this morning I had like an epiphany- if that's the right wording for it- and suddenly saw how each chapter would go, and the ending. So I got really excited and have been writing every day! It's all for you guys, so be sure to REVIEW!


.:Chapter.Seven:.

Naruto frowned, shoving his hands in his pockets as the group walked down the road to the gates of the Hidden Falls Village.

"Hmph. I still think that we could've stuck out without paying… Not like that Juro guy was even awake yet."

Sakura smacked her blonde friend on the back of his head. "NARUTO! We couldn't just leave! That's stealing, what kind of ninja would we be if we stole?"

Naruto frowned (a/n: you know, that face he makes in the anime where he like extends his neck, squints his eyes, and his mouth goes way low. Makes me laugh every time) and mumbled, "The sneaky kind."

Sakura rolled her eyes and rubbed her now clothed arms. She'd traded her usual tank top for a different one with sleeves (a/n: like the one in the movie). Even though there was now cloth on her arms, her shoulders were still bare and cold.

Naruto sighed, looking around as they walked out of the gates, working their way to the woods. Soon the path would disperse and they'd be forced to continue by tree-hopping. And Naruto was tired! He hadn't gotten much sleep last night because this time he actually did sleep on the floor, and that wasn't a very comfortable floor! Naruto hoped that Hinata had kicked Sakura a few times in her sleep. He snickered, thinking how fun it would be to kick Sakura and blame it on sleep. He'd have to try it sometime. Maybe on Sasuke too. Heck he could do it to anyone!

Then his feet throbbed again. Naruto frowned, his feet were killing him! Maybe someone would give him a piggy-back ride! He looked at Hinata.

No, he'd probably squish her.

Then he looked over to his pink haired friend. He knew she was strong enough to hold him, despite her 5'5" stature.

But that also meant that she was strong enough to kill him. Which she would most likely do if he randomly jumped on her back.

Naruto's last choice was the Uchiha in front of him. He knew that Sasuke would do one of two things:

1) Kill him just like Sakura would

2) Just ignore him and try to push him off

Naruto smirked, he hoped Sasuke would go for number two.

Naruto launched himself towards Sasuke. "KYAAAAA- AAAAH!" Naruto hadn't even landed on Sasuke before his second scream came, a scream of pain.

"Naruto!"

"My arm!"

The other three stopped as Naruto collapsed on the ground, a kunai sticking out of his shoulder. Hinata and Sasuke instantly went into battle stance, activating their bloodline traits as Sakura looked at Naruto.

"It's wedged in so you can't move it. Whoever did this knew what they were doing," Sakura said, looking at the weapon. She moved to pull it out, but Naruto screamed in agony.

"There!" Hinata shouted, pointing to a tree several feet away. "Wait a minute," she said. "From the trajectory point, they didn't have a perfect shot at Naruto-kun until he jumped at Sasuke, meaning…"

"They're after me," Sasuke finished, whipping out more kunai.

Something whizzed past Sakura's ear. She looked at the thing on the ground, her eyes widening as she grabbed Naruto. "Explosive tags!" she shouted.

The four jumped away in separate directions, Sakura with Naruto, and Hinata and Sasuke on their own. Sakura brought Naruto's head to her lap as he squeezed her hand.

"Sakura-chan…" he moaned. "It hurts to move it…"

"I know," she whispered. "Try not to move your arm. If I pull it out at the wrong angle, it could be rendered immobile. I need you to stay as still as possible…" She went to grab the kunai from the boy's shoulder, when another kunai shot towards her, grazing Sakura's forearm.

"Idiot!" Sasuke heard someone shout. "We're not supposed to hurt the girl, just Uchiha."

"I heard it too," Hinata whispered, assuring Sasuke that he wasn't imagining things. She scanned the trees, the ambushers still weren't attacking. What were they waiting for? "Sakura," she whispered, running to the girl and motioning for Sasuke to do so as well.

"I'll stay with Naruto-kun. You need to protect Sasuke."

"WHAT?" the other three said at once.

"They're out to kill Sasuke, but they can't hurt you. We need to split up, I'll work on Naruto-kun's arm," Hinata instructed. The three others were in shock.

Since when does Hinata take charge? they all thought at once.

"Did you hear me? Go!" she shouted, pushing the two away, pulling Naruto into her arms.

Sasuke and Sakura glanced at each other, then nodded, running off together.

Hinata smiled, pulling Naruto with her under a tree as she tore off his sleeve, to examine his shoulder better.

"Get it over with."

"What?"

"Just do it! Get it over with," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "I need to help them…"

"Naruto-kun, you'll have to be patient, like Sakura-chan said, one false move and you're arm could be paralyzed. I need to be careful and slow."

"You can't just rip it out?"

Hinata sighed. "No, I'm sorry."

"Well, can we at least get back out? I need to see how they're holding out." Hinata did as her crush asked, scooting them out of the tree so they could see Sakura standing in front of Sasuke, who faintly resembled a recently neutered dog (a/n: incase someone doesn't know what that means, it's basically like snip snip to the gonads). The two were slowly circling around, their eyes constantly circling around the wood for any sign of intruder.

"Very clever, using yourself to protect the boy," a voice said, causing the hairs on the back of Sakura's neck to stand up. "Too bad you missed a spot…"

A shuriken shot down, Sasuke sensed it and pulled Sakura out of the way. It barely grazed her left tricep, and Sasuke cursed. She shouldn't have been hit!

Sakura smirked, performing the shadow clone jutsu. Now there were four Sakuras standing around Sasuke.

"What do you want from Sasuke?" Sakura shouted.

"He's moving in on property that isn't his," a voice answered, shooting several shuriken down, hitting a Sakura Clone, causing it to disappear instantly.

Does he mean… me? Sakura wondered, her mind going back to the previous night.

Sasuke stiffened. So that's what this is about. Damnit, someone must've seen us last night!

Sasuke frowned, he wished he could just chidori the whole forest, that would take care of these annoying ninja. But of course, he couldn't. Sakura would kill him. And Tsunade. And she didn't like him that much as it was already. What was it she was going to say to him the day they left? Maybe warn him about getting close to Sakura? Because well… something like this would happen.

"There!" Hinata shouted, pointing to a tree. Sasuke whipped out a shuriken, throwing it quickly in that direction. Sakura did the same with several kunai. A man fell from the tree, shuriken and kunai sticking out of him in various places. He was alive… barely.

Sasuke and Sakura were about to run over towards the ninja, when another jumped down in front of his body, katana in hand. He looked to be almost the same size of the tree. He was huge, and had muscles so large it was disgusting for Sakura to look at. His black hair was short and spiky, but not the attractive way like Sasuke's, it was greasy and uneven, like he'd just woken up. The man smiled a nearly toothless grin, looking Sakura up and down. The few teeth he had left were yellow and rotted. The look in his beady gray eyes made Sakura want to hide behind Sasuke just so he'd stop looking at her, but she knew not to show fear or weakness. So she just glared and raised her kunai.

"So you're the famous Uchiha Sasuke," the man said, finally moving his eyes from Sakura to Sasuke. "I've heard much about you." He turned to Sakura, his eyes roaming up and down her body. "And you too."

Sasuke glared; he'd had enough. "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

The man smirked as he saw the shuriken coming at him, he used his katana to deflect it. But that smirk turned upside down when he found out that there was another shuriken hidden beneath. Before the ninja could do anything, the shuriken shot up, hitting him in the chest.

It hit his upper left area, close to his heart. Sakura knew this greatly weakened him and she figured she could finish this off.

"Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu!" she shouted, making a hand seal and then grabbing several kunai, each with a small sack of miniature explosives attached to them. She threw all the kunai towards him quickly.

The man laughed as he collapsed to lower to the ground, clutching his chest. "Is that all you've got?"

Sakura smirked, the tags slowly floating to the ground. She threw another explosive kunai, igniting the tags. They all exploded, causing several trees to fall down on top of the two men. Sasuke quickly grabbed Sakura, dropping to the ground next to Hinata and Naruto, laying on top of all of them, seeing as Naruto wouldn't be able to protect Hinata in his state.

Sasuke finally lifted his head once the noise of the explosion and falling trees was gone. The smoke disappeared, and the chunks of tree, ground, and leaves were settled on the pile of rubble just a few feet away from Sasuke's feet.

Naruto groaned, then rolled out from under Sasuke, Hinata following. So now there was only Sakura below Sasuke. And she found that her body wouldn't let her move. The two just stared into each other's eyes, their noses almost touching.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered, her eyes sparkling.

"WHAT THE? THEY'RE GONE!"

Sasuke sat up with a sigh, walking over towards where Naruto was looking through the rubble. Naruto was right, there was no sight of either of the ninja. No blood, clothing, body parts, weaponry, nothing.

"They must've teleported before the rubble could hit them," Hinata whispered, helping Sakura stand.

"Well," Sasuke said, watching Naruto poke rubble with his toe. "I guess we'll have to rest until you can fix Naruto's arm."

Hinata activated her Byakugan. "I'll look for a river we can rest at."


"Ow. Owww. OWWWW. OWWWWWW! SAKURA-CHAN THAT HURTS!"

The medic nin sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead as she continued to work at Naruto's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to do this. I can't just rip it out, do you know how dangerous that is?" Sakura said, biting her lip as she slowly gripped the kunai handle.

Sasuke sighed for the umpteenth time as he threw yet another pebble into the river. He lay back, tucking his hands behind his head, and found himself staring at the pink-haired girl to his left. He watched her eyes shine with worry and maternal instinct, he watched her small hands press into Naruto's skin, he watched her eyebrows furrow in frustration.

Naruto shivered. "I can't believe you're making me sit out here in my undershirt! I'm so cold I can't feel my hair!"

Sasuke sweat dropped.

"You're lucky that you don't have to be shirtless, Naruto," Sakura snapped, glaring at her blonde patient. Then she grinned. "Actually, yes you do. Come on, you think you're cold now? Just you wait."

"What? You can't be serious!" Naruto shouted in protest. Sakura looked at him with stern eyes and he sighed, looking down at his only source of warmth for his torso. "I can't get it off around the kunai!" he shouted suddenly, grinning.

But Sakura smiled as well. She grabbed another kunai, cutting the shirt on Naruto's right side, so she could just pull the shirt out of the way. Hinata's face turned bright red at the sight of Naruto's tan chest and six-pack. It was hard enough for her to handle him in that undershirt, but this! She was sure she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"I-I'm going to go look for… fire wood. I'll build a fire to warm you up, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, standing up quickly. She tugged her jacket around her tightly, looking anywhere but Naruto.

Sakura smiled slightly as she pulled the kunai out a little, but stopping when Naruto groaned. "Arigatou, Hinata-chan. That'll be nice. Sasuke-kun, go help her."

"Hn." Sasuke stood up, brushing the dirt off of his pants and silently followed the Hyuuga girl into the woods, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"Okay Naruto," Sakura said calmly. "I'm going to slowly pull the kunai out. I want you to be as still as possible."

"Okay," Naruto said, clenching his fists to prepare himself.

"This is probably going to hurt."

"Just get this thing out of me."

Sakura nodded, gripping the handle, her other hand placed on Naruto's right shoulder, a few inches away from where the kunai was sticking out. "Okay, here I go…" Slowly, she pulled at the kunai, stopping every now and then to make sure it was the right angle.

"Can't you go any faster?" Naruto hissed, gripping onto his pants with all his strength.

"I-I'm sorry, but if I'm not careful, I do something permanent…"

She started to continue, when suddenly there was a noise in the bushes. It sounded like a growl, but also a grunt. And then they could hear something that sounded like running.

Naruto looked up at Sakura, thinking the same thing she was.

What the hell is that?

Suddenly, a wild boar burst out of the bushes, headed towards Naruto and Sakura. And it looked angry.

Holy shit! That thing's bigger than Gamabunta! Naruto thought. Although their minds were racing, neither shinobi was able to move their body. It was now that Sakura realized she and Naruto had removed their weapons holsters and they were on the other side of the clearing.

Okay let's think rationally, Sakura told herself. There is only one thing to do…

I hear ya sister.

Wait- what?

SASUKE-KUUUUUUUN! HELLLLLLLP! Inner Sakura shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

Sakura shook her head. The boar was coming closer, and while it might not have been the exact size of Gamabunta, it sure was close.

Its dark, beady eyes looked angry. It wanted to kill. And unless Sakura did something quickly, it would.

"Sakura-chan, what should we do?" Naruto whispered quickly, scooting back. Sakura gulped, looking around. No Sasuke to save her this time.

Then she looked down gulping. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted, the urgency evident in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she whispered quickly to the blonde, grabbing on to the kunai lodged in Naruto's shoulder.

"Why- OWWWWWWWWW!"

Sasuke and Hinata dropped the wood they were carrying, racing back towards the clearing. When they got there, their jaws dropped.

Naruto was curled in a ball, clutching his shoulder, muttering curses. Sakura was sitting there with wide eyes, her hands were shaking. And just inches in front of the two was a dead wild boar with a kunai right between it's eyes.

"W-what happened?" Hinata asked, rushing over towards Naruto.

"Y-you said you had to be slow and precise!" Naruto shouted, pointing an angry finger at the emerald-eyed kunoichi.

Sakura shrugged. "Drastic times call for drastic measures. Besides, the kunai was half out. Now come here so I can heal you." Naruto gulped, but allowed the nineteen year old medic to heal him.

Once his shoulder was back to normal, Naruto got another undershirt and his orange jacket from his pack. Sasuke and Hinata re-gathered their wood and made the fire, everyone scooting close to it for warmth.

After an hour, Sasuke decided it was time for them to go. They put the fire out and decided to tree hop the rest of the way. It wasn't long before a new path came into view and after they walked on it for two and a half hours, a certain village came in to view.

Sakura felt her heart drop. This meant that it was almost time to say good bye to her friends. To Sasuke. To freedom. She frowned, but then took a deep breath, turning to Naruto and smiling slightly.

"Let's go. Don't want to keep Ryuu waiting…"


A/N: So they're finally there! What will happen when Sasuke sees Ryuu again? How will Sakura handle being married to someone other than Sasuke? Will Naruto and Hinata ever kiss? All will be answered if you review!

((And I would like to point out that today is Wednesday. I updated 4 days early! I think that deserves extra reviews!))

Oh and the answer to who the men were will be in the next upcoming chapters!