"Hey, he's awake," a voice droned. Naruto's eyelids flickered, then snapped open as they caught the glow from a fire.
"Don't move," a female voice advised. "Your wounds haven't quite closed yet."
The Ninetails fell back against the trunk, willing his eyes to stop blurring and focus on the two people by the fire.
"What do you think, Shika, is he going to be alright?" the girl spoke again.
"He'll be fine, Ino," the lazy voice spoke again. "We got to him just in time. Any longer and the spinehogs' sedative would have proved too much for his system."
"But he was glowing orange when we got to him," a third voice argued. "Wouldn't he have been fine on his own?"
"Dunno," the first voice said dully.
Naruto's eyes finally obeyed him and focused on the three people sitting around the fire. There was a blond girl leaning against a tree, a fat boy sitting by the fire roasting something over it on a spit, and a second young man sitting with his back against a tree.
"Hey, Ninetails. Long time no see," the man named Shika said. Naruto smiled.
"How's it going for you, Lazy Genius?"
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The Panther flew through the trees alone, picking up speed as he went. Time was running out – he had to find the Ninetails fast. If word got to the Snake Lord that ANBU was scouting out his tower, everything would be ruined.
His chokoto was cutting branches out of the way, leaving a trail clear as daylight showing where he had been. His clothing was torn, showing glimpses of the powerful, bleeding body beneath. The wound in his arm had slowly settled down to a slow, sluggish trickle, but he had lost a lot of blood.
If Naruto was injured, they would have to get out of here. As soon as was physically possible.
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"I told you, my name's NOT Lazy Genius," Shikamaru groaned. "It's Stag."
"Not Stagman? Not Stagboy? Not Stagbeetle? Just Stag?" Naruto teased. The girl hit him over the head.
"Baka. Even injured, you can't resist teasing people, can you?"
Naruto rubbed his head. "You can't resist injuring me further, as always, eh, Cat?"
The girl known as Cat winked at him. "I can't believe you remembered my name, Ninetails. It's been a while, eh?"
"Ino-pig," Naruto mumbled under his breath.
"What was that?" Cat snarled.
"Eh, nothing," Naruto said hastily. "Hey, Bear."
"Ninetails." The Bear was busy finishing roasting some nondescript bird over his fire.
"Will you put that thing out?" Stag hissed. "Someone could see that!"
"Like me," a deeper voice growled. "What are you doing with my partner?"
The Cat spun around, a flirting smile on her face.
"Why, hello, Black Panther!" she cooed. The Panther ignored her and strode over to the Ninetails, sheathing his chokoto as he went.
"They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"No, in fact, teme, they saved my life!" Naruto sounded indignant.
"Oh my gosh, Panther – what happened to your arm!" the Cat shrieked.
"It's nothing." The Panther tried to cover his wound, but tottered instead. The Stag leapt to his feet as the Panther bent double, coughing up blood.
"Dude, that's not good. Are you injured?"
The Ninetails rose to his feet and caught the Panther just as the Panther collapsed. "Don't worry, guys, I've got him," he said, looping one of the Panther's arms over his shoulder. "We're supposed to be out of here, anyway. Thanks for everything!"
With a rustle and a grunt, the Ninetails and Black Panther were gone.
"Hmph." The Cat flopped down next to the fire. "And I wanted to talk to the Panther more."
"Ino, you've already tried to copy his name," Shikamaru said, sitting back down again. "Don't follow him around, too. He can't do his work that way."
"But he got hurt!" Ino insisted. "If he'd only let me treat him…"
"You'd only end up flirting with him and his muscles," Chouji the Bear said from over by the fire. "Or doing something worse to him with your mind powers." Ino sniffed.
"Hmph. It's not like YOU have any muscle to speak of, Bear."
"Ino, knock it off." Shikamaru rose. "We were sent here for recon, too, and we have a job to do. Let's split up and meet on the other side of the tower. Don't forget to be wary – you saw what happened to the Panther and the Ninetails. Alright, see you over there!"
The Cat, the Bear, and the Stag split up and set out on the same mission that the Ninetails and Black Panther had just completed.
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"Oh my gosh!" Sakura cried as Naruto came in her door with Sasuke's body over one shoulder. "What happened?!"
Naruto hurried Sasuke into the living room, cleared the table with one sweep of his hand, and laid his partner on it.
"We were attacked," he explained while Sakura grabbed what she needed. "He got the worst of it, I think. I'm still not sure what attacked him.
Sakura winced as she examined the gash on Sasuke's left arm. "Whatever got him got him good."
"I'm sure he gave back as good as he got," Naruto said firmly. Sakura began cleaning out the wounds with warm water.
"Naruto, look in the cabinet next to the sink. There should be an ointment in there that will help."
Together, Naruto and Sakura stitched together what they could. Sakura laid her head on Sasuke's chest, listening to his heartbeat and judging from the echoes in the rib cage what sort of damage had been done.
"He'll be fine," she said when she lifted her head. "He's taken some internal damage, but thankfully, it's not too bad. If we bind his chest and keep him from moving too much, he'll heal."
When Sasuke awoke, his entire chest was wound across with white bandages. His head hurt like hell and his body felt like it was on fire.
"So you're up, teme."
Sasuke turned his head slightly to see Naruto sitting in front of their computer. Immediately, Sasuke tried to sit up.
"What happened? Where are the Cat, the Stag, and the Bear? Where are…AARGH!" He fell back, unable to get upright. Naruto sniggered as Sasuke struggled.
Between them, Sakura and Naruto had managed to tie Sasuke to the table.
"KUSO! What are you doing?!" Sasuke snarled. "Untie me, NOW!"
"Sorry, Sasuke," a soft voice interjected. Sakura emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. "If you want to get better, you have to stay down. Naruto assured me you never would, so I took the liberty and" –she gestured- "tied you to the table."
Sasuke fell back, exhausted. Before he could move, Sakura was at his side, injecting something through a needle into his arm. Sasuke jumped.
"What the-"
"It's a sedative," Sakura said while Naruto sniggered. "It'll keep you down."
Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but black waves of sleep were softly washing over him. His last thought before his eyes closed was: how on earth could I have let those two do this to me?
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It took a full twenty days for Sasuke to heal. By the time he was better, he and Naruto had already formulated another plan to check out the Snake Lord's Tower. Sakura had done her best to persuade them otherwise, but Sasuke would not be convinced.
"It was our mission," he would repeat stubbornly whenever she pestered him about it. "We have to fulfill it." And Sakura knew that when Sasuke was determined to do something, that was the end of that.
The date of the next surveillance was determined when the news returned from ANBU headquarters. Top chemists at ANBU had researched Sarutobi's potion and discovered that it was actually a perpetual youth formula. Naruto stared as the printer spat out page after page of analysis for them to read. Sasuke skimmed the report and came up with some surprising information.
"Sarutobi was dabbling in eternal youth drugs?" he said, confused. "But this drug isn't a take-and-go, you have to keep taking doses…"
"Sorry?" Naruto asked. Sakura took the analysis from Sasuke, read it through swiftly, and gave Naruto the summary which Sasuke was withholding.
"Sarutobi apparently developed a formula that, if taken, would allow the drinker to remain, well…forever young. Immortal, in other words. It halts the aging process, as far as I can tell. Anyway, this drug had to be taken multiple times, once you were on it, you couldn't stop drinking it, or else you'd get old and die. Even if that is a handicap, that still makes this potion absolutely priceless."
"It sure does!" Naruto said, winking at her. "I wouldn't mind some of this eternal youth stuff myself!"
"Baka," Sasuke said, belting Naruto a good one over the head, "it's dangerous. People will kill to get their hands on this sort of thing. That's why we have to be careful with it."
"I thought we didn't have it anymore!" Sakura said, confused. Sasuke pulled something out from under his shirt. Strung on a chain was a small vial filled partway with black liquid. Sakura gasped.
"You KEPT some!! But that's…that's…"
"Illegal, I know, but it might be a valuable bargaining chip," Sasuke said calmly, tucking it down his shirt again. "If someone's desperate to get this, we could set up a trap revolving around this as the bait."
"And that's your master plan?" Naruto sneered. Sasuke turned back to the desk, where he was polishing his chokoto.
"Actually, yes."
Naruto choked on the mouthful of juice from the glass Sakura had just handed him.
"Are you INSANE?!?!" he bellowed. "We go AFTER the bad guys, not give ourselves OVER to them!!"
"Exactly. And that's why they won't suspect this," Sasuke continued calmly. "It's foolproof."
Little did he know how wrong he was.
"Oh, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, finishing the last of his juice, "I finally got you your present!"
Sakura came back from the kitchen, looking interested. "Oh, how sweet. You didn't have to, you know."
"Hey, you're our host AND our friend," Naruto argued. "Sasuke owes you his life twice! Anyway, I got you something you might like."
He pulled something small and flat out of his pocket. "Here it is!"
Sakura stared.
"A gift card to Ichiraku's?"
"That's RIGHT, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered. "And you can take me with you!"
Sakura smiled as she took the card. "Thanks, Naruto. Maybe I will, we'll see."
"Now it's teme's turn," Naruto said excitedly. "Come on, teme, what didja get her?"
Sasuke frowned, still bent over his chokoto. "Naruto, I'm busy."
"But it's Sakura-chan's birthday present!" Naruto whined. Sasuke sighed.
"Hnn. Fine."
He spun around in the swivel chair, landing lightly on his feet. Rummaging in his pocket, he took several steps toward Sakura. Her jade eyes landed on the small black box on his palm. Trembling slightly, she took the box from his hand. It was smooth and velvety. His hand went back to his pocket as he stared down at her, waiting for her to open it. Unable to breathe, Sakura lifted the lid.
"You didn't…!"
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Hmm…what did Sasuke give Sakura for her birthday? Sorry for the short chappie, but I just picked up where I dropped this one off, and I've got to get back in the groove. I'm working on it! lol sorry for the short chappie. I couldn't think of any better names for the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, so there you go. Ladidadidah I'm gonna go write some more now… -wink-