"Forever Entwined"
'Chapter Ten'
The moment the fox knew that Sasuke's team was safely out of the way, he let the Kyuubi chakra bleed into him. He caught a swinging blade, coming at his side, the sparks illuminating his demonic eyes. Growling, he pushed the man off of him and leapt back and up into the air, much like he had before. Focusing on the rush of fresh air around the four men, the fox started to bring them up, dragging them into the air, but he felt a tug of resistance and opened his eyes.
One man had his arms in the ground, earth and stone covering his body. He smirked up at the Hokage, and before Naruto could figure it out, a rush of rock and earth clamped itself around his middle, squeezing the air out of his lungs.
The fox let out a chocked scream as he felt something crack in him, his fingers scratched at the earth, trying to find a hold so he could pull himself out -- but there was nothing. He didn't have time to push through the pain; the enemy was up and coming at him again. He watched as the man leapt towards him, hands already forming seals. Naruto, without thinking, brought his own hands together and yelled out his own jutsu the same time the Rock nin did.
A huge explosion of wind and rock met, the wind tearing through the Rock ninja, shredding them to pieces, while the rock holding Naruto crumbled and broke with him still trapped inside, and burying him as he fell back to the earth, trapping him.
Three rock ninja left.
The group arrogant now that the only leaf ninja was caught under a mass of rocks and soil. They nodded to each other; all had felt the demonic aura.
One man reached for the blonde, tugging him out of the mess of rocks; the other two ninja had their blades to the blonde's throat as if daring him to try something.
"You'll be the new hostage." The apparent leader murmured, his eyes glinting.
Without warning a blade dropped from Naruto's neck and stabbed emotionlessly into the blonde's back.
All the way through; though the ninja was skilled enough to avoid organs; merely wanting to wound the blonde further to ensure his inability to fight back.
...he couldn't win against all three of them.
They didn't want to kill Naruto.
...they knew who he was.
It was unmistakable.
"Hokage-sama." He hissed, the scent of blood filling the air as the ninja drew his blade out, letting the wound bleed.
Naruto fell to the forest floor, feeling the hot blood spill from the wound, and the cold sweat start to take him over. He breathed heavily as the pain crept up from the injuries.
Shit.
He needed to escape. He needed to get out!
As he tried to force himself to stand he felt a twinge of pain stop him, his shin screamed at him, the bone broken.
Few broken ribs, broken leg, stabbed.
Sasuke was going to kill him if he didn't die here...
Panting, the fox tried to focus, to block out the high pitched whine in his head, warning him that he was nearing unconsciousness. Taking in a deep breath, Naruto let out a war cry and quickly pulled out a kunai, swiping at the Rock Nin's neck, severing the jugular and windpipe in one move.
Shit!
The other ninja leapt back as their leader was cut down.
…how did that happen?!
They felt the demonic aura; but the wounds Naruto had, he should be falling. His leg was broken; he wouldn't be able to run after them.
...but retreating wasn't an option.
Naruto was almost dead!
They narrowed their resolve, blades drawn as they moved towards the wounded male.
...screw taking him hostage.
The village would buckle under the fall of their Hokage-sama.
The adrenaline was kicking in, numbing the wounds.
Naruto rolled out of the way of the blades, taking out another kunai as he did. He couldn't roll further than his back, his side wouldn't let him. Instead he slammed the kunai down into the foot of the closest attacker, reaching for a third kunai, Rasengan powering up in his opposite hand.
Quickly sitting up and getting to one knee the fox slammed the kunai under the man's jaw, biting into the soft flesh there, he used enough force that only the hilt of the blade was seen.
Before the last attacker could back away, Naruto lunged, his hand going for the man's face, the Rasengan slamming into the man's skull, killing him instantly.
Naruto had one arm wrapped around his bloody chest, and one outstretched, his palm pillowed against the trunk of a tree. He had his weight off of his broken leg, and his shoulders were hunched over with pain.
His breathing was raspy, crackling even as blood mixed in his lungs, one of his ribs having punctured his lung. The mask was stiflingly hot, making it even harder to breathe, but he couldn't take it off. He was trembling, the cold settling in to his limbs, he was going into shock. He had nothing to try and keep himself warm, nothing to try and staunch the bleeding. Naruto closed his eyes as he felt his good leg give out from under him, his body slouching towards the tree, using it for support as his own body started to give out.
…Sasuke.
I'm sorry…
--
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This was all Shikamaru could think.
He was pinching the bridge of his nose -- hard; Sasuke's team had returned without Naruto. The blonde was still out there on the field in the midst of battle.
What if he was dead?
Shikamaru didn't know what to do, he was at a loss.
…they had to recover Naruto.
In a rush of action the lazy ninja had dismissed Sasuke's team -- they were exhausted; Shinya already admitted into the hospital.
Recovery mission.
It still wasn't over yet.
Shikamaru gathered his weapons; seeking out Neji and Kiba whom were stationed somewhere in the office.
They needed to get Naruto back; and Sasuke couldn't know about this.
Naruto just better not be dead.
--
It had taken the rest of the afternoon to find Naruto at the edge of the forest.
...he had been badly wounded; lost so much blood he felt cold as ice; his body completely broken by the Rock ninja.
It was a miracle his heart was still beating.
The Kyuubi must have had a part in keeping Naruto's near-corpse alive; and Shikamaru was grateful.
Shikamaru, Neji, and Kiba had brought the man back as gently as they could -- running back to Konoha as quickly as they could manage with the wounded blonde. Finally they had admitted him to the hospital; he had underwent transfusions; had been stitched up and his broken bones as mended best they could.
Shikamaru now had the great task of informing Sasuke of his lover's state of being.
...great.
The shadow user was at the door step, he sighed, he didn't want to do this.
Raising his fist, he knocked against the wood and stepped back.
Stupid Naruto.
This was too troublesome.
It was dark.
Two days he had said.
…well, this was the second day.
Where was the retard?
Sasuke frowned as he heard a knock at the door, pulling himself out of bed and making his way down the hall.
...who was it?
Tsunade?
He wasn't supposed to see her until the end of the month. Sasuke was clad in a loose orange sweatshirt -- obviously Naruto's, and a pair of black flannel pants.
He had made his way awkwardly to the door; his ankles bothering him as was his back but he tried to ignore it. A hand was on his middle; slowly opening the screened door a little alarmed to see Shikamaru.
"...what is it?" He said in a low irritated drawl; unsure what to expect, trying to ebb the alarm that sounded in his head.
Why would Shikamaru be here?
…did…
Did something happen to Naruto?
Shikamaru raised a lazy eyebrow at Sasuke's attire.
Since when did he wear orange?
Was he gaining weight?
"Your team just got back from their mission." He started; maybe if he gave the good news first, he wouldn't die so quickly. "They successfully recovered Shinya for the Rock's hide out, but..." He paused and let out a sigh, "There was one injured..." He watched the guarded black eyes, unsure of what to make of them, "Naruto's in the hospital..."
Naruto's in the hospital..?
But…
That meant he was alive, right?
Bastard! He wasn't supposed to get hurt!
Sasuke's fingers brushed over Naruto's necklace that hung around his neck, his dark eyes lost a moment before they glared at the lazy ninja. "He's stable." Sasuke said quickly, almost a statement but the question was in his dark eyes.
Shikamaru shook his head, "Not yet. He lost a lot of blood. No one really knows what happened." He informed. "Shinya and Raito are there too...but they're stable."
Naruto…
He wasn't stable; they weren't positive he was going to make it?
Sasuke's heart felt like it was in a vice; his throat tight.
He had to go there!
Sasuke brushed right past Shikamaru in his awkward gait, forcing himself to move as quickly as possible to the hospital.
He had to see him…
Naruto had to be okay.
Naruto wasn't going to die!
He promised.
Shikamaru easily turned to followed Sasuke, his eyes still following the man. He was worried about Naruto, sure, but there was something about Sasuke that was off as well. "He's gonna be fine." Shikamaru started as they moved down the street, "He's too stubborn to die." He added after a moment. It wasn't like he said Naruto had died, so why the odd emotion in Sasuke's eyes? "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing." Sasuke snapped, though obviously something was wrong. The baggy clothes hid his larger middle thankfully, but it was still a little obvious; if not the idea of Sasuke wearing Naruto's clothes meant something was up. "I just want to see him." Sasuke said in that same clipped tone; though it seemed to waver almost.
…Sasuke hated being stricken with emotion like this -- but he couldn't control it.
He just felt everything with such an intensity he couldn't comprehend it.
The hospital was in view; "What floor is he on?"
"He's in the ICU.." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. He thought that might have been obvious. "Lie to me all you want, but I know there's something going on." He said lazily as they walked into the hospital. It wasn't as crazy as it had been when he had first arrived, things had settled down.
As they moved closer to Naruto's room, they spotted Sakura walking out of it.
"How's the idiot?"
"Stable, but critical..." She answered slowly, her eyes flickering to Sasuke. "He's not awake, but you can go sit with him..." It technically wasn't allowed, but she knew there was no stopping Sasuke or Naruto when one was in the hospital.
Sasuke didn't say anything more to either Shikamaru or Sakura; making his way into the room and avoiding their questioning eyes.
The brunette took up a chair at Naruto's side, his black eyes drinking in his lover's wounded frame.
…Naruto.
The blip of the heart monitor was strong and stable, but he had a lot of things hooked up to him; his body bandaged.
...his ribs were broken it seemed, as was his leg.
He looked rather pale, his breathing labored due to the broken ribs -- Sasuke wondered if anything punctured a lung.
The sight of him hurt his heart; the Uchiha didn't know how to react, his whole body was hurting.
…what if he didn't wake up?
Sasuke reached for Naruto's cold hand, holding it tenderly in his own as his head bowed. "You better not die." He said, his tone not as edged as it should have been -- nearly on the verge of tears thanks to the pregnancy.
The thought of Naruto dying…
Right here, right in front of him...
Sasuke purged that thought from his mind; the blonde would make it.
He had to.
…his family needed him.
--
A/N:
Sort of a short chapter. I just promised I would update this on Tuesday. It's Tuesday and It's updated! Praise me! Praise me I say! Haha. Just kidding.
In other news, for all that don't know, I now have a deviant art account. Check it out, it's my homepage. Kasu0236 is Kareian's ID and BaffledFox is my ID. Go look us up! There's a lot of fan art on there, and some Foolish Hearts fan art.
I might even be making a doujinshi of that fanfiction, and this one, eventually. *gaspshock* I know! So, please visit us on there. Also, please leave us a review, I'd love to know how you guys like this story so far.