Heya everyone! Well, I since I left the last chapter with a cliffie, I worked hard to finish this one as quick as I could so that I didn't leave you guys hanging... So HERE WE GO! 8D

Warnings: ya know, swearing on occasion, supernatural shit, fluffy boy love maybe... yeah.

Disclaimer: I do not owns!

P.S- this is like a really belated p.s note. -_-Uu but uh, sorry for any typos and such in my chapters. All my stuff is un-beta'd...so, sorry for the mistakes. I'M TRYIN'! I'M TRYIN' TO KEEP EM LOW! *sobs*

Kao: GET ON WITH IT ALREADY! I WANT TO SEE UCHIHA SUFFER!

Gamble For Your Life

Itachi groaned and rolled over at the sound of his cell phone ringing. Glancing at the clock, he noted it was going on six in the evening. He frowned. Sasuke should've been home by now, yet he hadn't woken up. He always woke up when Sasuke came home. It was like a natural alarm was set in his body.

Suddenly, he felt anxious towards the phone call, and slid across his bed to pick it up. He snapped it open and put the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, and sighed when he heard Kakashi's voice on the other end. "No Kakashi, I told you I was taking the day off...what?" he paused, his eyes widening as Kakashi went on. "...A demon? At the school?...Okay, but why are we...What?.!" Itachi shot off the bed, his eyes growing even wider as he listened.

His little brother was in danger. Someone, in fact many people, had gambled Sasuke's life in order to gain some stupid wish of theirs.

Itachi felt homicidal.

"I'm on my way over right now!" Itachi called and snapped the phone shut, already reaching for jeans and a jacket. Without focusing, he pulled them on, uncaring of the colour or even if they were inside out. There were way more important things than fashion.

He practically sprinted out the front door, speeding down the sidewalks as he headed to the headquarters. The sky was darkening quickly, and what looked like rainclouds were gathering. As he turned a corner, an ambulance sped past, its sirens wailing as it headed for the hospital. He didn't even stop to think of it, only hurrying on towards the headquarters.

He slammed through the door, panting. "Sasuke!" he called, stomping down the hallway.

"I'm here." Sasuke called back and Itachi turned the corner. The room was in a flurry of movement. Kakashi and Shikamaru were sitting at the computers, websites and pages flickering in front of them at high speed as they searched for something. Lee was sitting with Sasori and Deidara in a corner, surrounded by small wooden dolls and small seals of paper. They were attaching the seals to the dolls, commenting every now and then and talking in hushed tones as they worked diligently.

Ino and Tenten, who was replacing Sakura's position while she was gone, were running around, fetching papers, stationary, answering calls and assisting however they could.

In the middle of the room, Hidan was talking to Kakuzu, Sasuke and Naruto. The two teens were side by side, hands clasped tightly between them as they listened intently to what Hidan was saying.

Itachi stormed up to them. "What the hell is going on now?" he snapped, one hand reaching out to grip Sasuke's shoulder tightly.

Hidan groaned. "We've got a demon on our case now. Kakashi and Shikamaru are looking up all the lore they can on the religion this thing follows, since I don't know if there's anything I'm missing. Right now though, I'm just clarifying with the shrimp if he's seen any signs of the demon at school."

If Itachi was not so high strung over his brother's safety, he may have applauded Hidan for not swearing once during his speech. As it was, he sent a look to his brother.

"Sasuke, have you seen any signs? Anything at all?" he asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "I haven't seen anything strange, but then again I don't know all the signs to look for when it comes to demons, so there is a possibility that I missed something." He said. Itachi's grip tightened, his head swirling with suppressed panic.

"Hey!" Itachi started when there was a hand on his shoulder, and he looked over to see Hidan staring right at him. "Don't worry so much, asswipe. I'm not letting the Shrimp or any other of those shitty kids die." The man said sternly. Itachi let out a sigh, closing his eyes and trying to calm the growing storm of worry in his chest.

"...My brother gets hurt, and I'll show you a wrath greater than Jashin." He said slowly, and his voice clearly showed that he would make ten times good upon his threat. Hidan didn't even retort with how no one could beat Jashin, only slapping Itachi on the shoulder before turning back to the boys.

Itachi grasped Sasuke's shoulder and leant down briefly while Kakuzu spoke to Hidan.

"Sasuke...I know we've only just started the testing and it's still new to you..." he murmured, and Sasuke stiffened, glancing at him. "...But if something starts happening, you don't hold back. You use your eyes as much as you can to stop it. Do you hear me?"

Sasuke bit his lip, feeling Naruto's curious gaze. "...I understand, but I won't use it unless it's absolutely necessary." He confirmed.

Itachi gave his shoulder a bone crushing squeeze before nodding curtly and standing up. He glided over to Kakashi.

"What can I do to help?"

Naruto stared blankly at his dinner plate, his blue eyes unseeing. Jiraiya frowned at him, slowly lowering his fork.

"Hey brat, what's up?" he asked, concern tinting his voice. The blond had come back only a few minutes ago after getting a bus ride home, and he'd been silent and contemplative ever since. It was unlike him and Jiraiya was growing more and more worried. "First day at school not that great?"

Naruto looked up at the mention of school, and something in his eyes made Jiraiya suppress a flinch.

'He looks ready to attack someone.' He thought and hoped that it wouldn't be him.

"School was great. I loved it." Naruto said blankly, his fists clenching on the table. "...Well, right up until I discovered that the students had ended up summoning some fucked up demon that's going to try and kill half the student population, including my boyfriend, and who knows how many victims outside of the school." He finished, growling.

Jiraiya blinked, running the words over in his head before he took a breath.

"...I'm sorry, what? A demon in the school?" he asked, his eyes widening when Naruto nodded.

"Yeah. There's this paper thing going around the school that the students have been using, thinking it's a game. But it's actually a contract for a ritual or something and a demon grants wishes in exchange for a sacrifice. The students write down the name of their enemies, without realizing what they're doing and that person becomes the sacrifice. And Sasuke is sure that his name has been written more than once." Naruto explained, growing more and more restless until he jumped off his chair and paced. "And now we have to get all the paper contracts back before too soon and then Hidan is going to reverse it all and save everyone, but we have to hurry and-"

"Whoa hold on! What do you mean 'we'?" Jiraiya demanded, standing up suddenly. "You're crazy if you think I'm letting you get involved in this demon business. It's dangerous." He said. "You're going to stay home until this stuff is resolved."

Naruto spun around. "I can't! Ji-Dad, Sasuke's name was written! Sasuke's life is in danger! I can't just hideaway while he's out there fighting for his life!" he exclaimed, waving his arms around. "I'm going to help them gather all the papers and reverse this shit!" he stated firmly.

Jiraya opened his mouth to argue, but caught himself and snapped it shut. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in aggravation, huffing out a breath.

"So let me get this straight. There's this demon paper going around the school. Sasuke said his name has been written, and his life is now in danger. The entire crew he works for is working to reverse it. And you, the boy who's greatest fear is the supernatural, are willing to throw yourself into the middle of it to help?" he asked, looking up.

Naruto clenched his fists, turning around and heading for his room.

"You're wrong dad." He said, pausing at the door. "It's true the supernatural scares the shit out of me...but my greatest fear, above even ghosts, is losing a loved one." He turned to send a sad look over to Jiraiya. "And I love Sasuke." He concluded before leaving for his room.

Jiraiya watched his retreating back, groaning. However, once Naruto was out of sight, he let a small smile slip onto his face.

"...I know you do kid. And I'm proud of you for not giving up." He mumbled.

Sasuke stood outside the school's main gates, staring up distastefully at the building. Beside him, Itachi, Hidan and Kakashi were standing with their arms crossed. Kakuzu was getting some things out of the car.

"Okay Sasuke, go to class like usual. Once we've gotten the headmaster's permission, we'll come and get you, Sakura and Naruto. Then we'll all spread out and collect those papers. Understood?" Kakashi said. Sasuke nodded in understanding, narrowing his eyes at the students heading for the gates.

There was a chance one or two of the students he was looking at had written his name and, possibly, ended his life.

'Assholes.' He thought irritably. He was struggling to keep himself calm whenever he thought about the fact that there was a demon chasing his tail. So far, he'd managed to save face around the others, but inside he was fretting and panicking. What if they didn't find them all in time? What if the demon appeared today and claimed him? What if...what if Naruto got caught in the crossfire?

As if summoned by his thoughts, Naruto came jogging around the corner. Running behind him was Sakura, obviously having used the same bus.

"Sasuke! Are you okay? Seen anything strange?" Naruto demanded as he caught up with them, grabbing Sasuke's shoulders and inspecting him. Sasuke smirked at the blond, inwardly touched by how concerned he was.

"Dobe, I'm fine." He replied, prying the blonds' hands off his shoulders and placing a light kiss on his knuckles. Naruto frowned, but let it go, not pressuring him. Sakura came up behind them, offering a small bow to the others.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun." She said. Sasuke nodded in response, and Sakura bit her lip standing a bit off to the side.

"Okay, we're all here. It's time to go. Remember, keep your eyes peeled, and if you see any of those papers, get them as fast as you can. There's no harm in starting the collection early." Kakashi ordered.

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura nodded, already moving ahead to go into the school. Kakashi and the others held back for a moment, waiting for Kakuzu before they too made for the doors.

Sasuke walked in the middle, with Naruto on his right and Sakura on his left.

"So how are we going to convince the students to give us the papers? I doubt they'll believe the truth." Naruto asked, tilting his head to look at the other two.

"Hn. I'll have no problems. If it's a girl, they'll give it to me without hesitation, and I can just intimidate the guys." Sasuke said.

Naruto snorted. "You're so confident. I can almost see your ego expanding." He sneered.

Sakura giggled slightly next to them while Sasuke frowned. She looked up, steeling her features into a serious face. "We can always try to convince them to give them to us. Tell them it's a fake, or make up some crack story about what it really is that will make them not want to do it. If worst comes to worse, buy it off of them." She suggested.

Naruto and Sasuke nodded in agreement. "And if that fails, well..." Naruto grinned. "I'll just do it the K-way!" he nodded to himself.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "The K-way?" he inquired.

Naruto nodded. "Back in the orphanage, Kao would do anything to get something, especially if Kamurou asked for that something. He even resorted to violence if need be. He ended up beating up an older kid to get the basket ball." He explained, grinning at the memory.

Sasuke and Sakura shared a look before shaking their heads.

"Dobe."

"What? It works!" Naruto said defensively. Sasuke smirked, brushing his hand over the blonds' as they walked into the school.

Once they entered, they stopped and looked around, eyeing all the students. Their mission had begun.

"Alright. Remember to keep your eyes out for any demon activity too." Sasuke muttered under his breath, and the other two nodded in agreement before they straightened up. "Let's go."

The sterile smell of the hospital made her nose twitch, and she blinked her eyes open, taking in the hospital room she was occupying. Her normally bouncy red hair was lying limp around her face, a reasonably large section in the front shaved off to make way for stitches and a bandage. If it had been any other girl, she may have mourned the loss of that hair and how ugly she undoubtedly looked.

But Romi could care less about her appearance right now. She blinked wide eyes as she looked all around her, wondering how long she'd been unconscious. Shifting, she tried to sit up and hissed when her face stung from moving her lips and eyebrows.

'Wait...do I even have eyebrows anymore?' she wondered, slowly reaching up a hand. When she touched her face she gasped. Her entire face was wrapped in a gauze bandage but for the area around her eyes and mouth. She felt a few tears well up when she realized just how bad the burn marks must be.

'That's going to become difficult to deal with. I get teased enough as it is, I don't need people mocking some burn marks.' She thought sadly, running her fingers lightly over the gauze padding.

Sighing, she pushed the blankets back to get a good look at the rest of her. Aside from a few bandages on her arms and a stitch near her shoulder, her upper body was fine with a few bruises.

'I guess my face took the brunt of the explosion.' She mused, once again running her fingers over the gauze. Carefully, she slid off the bed, glad that they hadn't hooked her up to anything. The doctors must've known she wasn't in life threatening danger. She stood, taking a deep breath and grimacing at the sterile smell. She made her way to the door and slid it open, peeking out. The hospital was rather empty. Glancing back at the window she saw that it was still quite early. Obviously the staff was just beginning rounds or something.

Not wanting to be stuck in a room with nothing to do, she decided to explore a bit. If she found a doctor, she'd definitely ask about her face and how long she'd be there.

The hallway floor was slightly chilled on her feet, but she didn't mind. It kept her alert. She hummed a random tune as she walked; her hands clasped behind her back and her steps a bit bouncy. Even through the gauze, she smiled. Her optimistic personality wouldn't let her mope around for too long.

The hallway lights overhead flickered, briefly sending the hallway into a dim light with creeping shadows.

Romi paused mid step when the lights continued to flicker. She watched as the shadows in the hall grew longer and shorter rapidly from the light flickering, her smile fading to be replaced with a hesitant frown.

Her eyes focused in on one particular shadow, which didn't seem to be changing shape even as the lights flicked on and off.

"Romi..."

Hey eyes grew wider and she took three steps back, her body beginning to tremble. The shadow she'd been watching before began to move towards her, so very slowly. Her mouth opened in a silent gasp.

There was no figure to cast the shadow, and yet she could see each footstep it made. She could vaguely hear the sound of something clicking on the tile floor.

It sounded like claws.

"W-What..." she stammered, backing away as the shadow got closer. It didn't falter, and Romi felt her heart thrashing frantically in her ribcage, as if urging her to run as fast as she could.

She backed away again, faster and faster as the shadow got closer and closer.

When it was less than five feet away, she spun on the spot and ran as fast as she could back down the hall, her breath coming out in short, panicked gasps.

'What the hell? What the hell?.! What is that thing?' she thought frantically, looking over her shoulder. She whimpered when she saw the shadow growing, looming closer and catching up to her at a rapid pace.

"N-No! No l-leave me alone!" she snapped, fear causing her voice to tremble.

The door to her room came into view, and she ducked into it, spinning around and closing the door as fast as she could.

Right before it reached the edge, there was a loud screeching, and Romi barely withheld a scream when she saw the metal of the door edge bend as if claws had forced their way through a second before the door snapped shut. Panting, she held the door closed, leaning against it. Her eyes were focused on the scratch marks on the door's edge.

"...Okay...Now I'm fucking scared." She hissed.

Sasuke stalked down the halls, his eyes darting from each student to the next. Sakura, Naruto and him had split up to quickly do a run through of the school halls before class. If they saw any of the contracts, they were to make sure they got them no matter what they had to do.

Sasuke continued walking, eyes roving when he spotted a group of girls leaning against the wall. One of the girls was giggling and writing on a piece of paper... 'Shit!'

"Hey! You girls!" he called out, jogging over to them. The girls jumped, startled. Most of them blushed when they saw him, shifting around and looking at him shyly.

"H-Hello Sasuke-kun. What did you need us for?" the girl holding the paper asked. Sasuke pointed to the contract.

"May I please have that. And any others that you happen to have with you, used or otherwise." He said.

The girls looked at each other before turning back to him. "Uh...why do you want them, especially if they used?"

Sasuke grit his teeth. "They're...not games. It's actually all a trick to get people to reveal secrets and then humiliated. I'm collecting them all to put a stop to that." He said quickly, hoping they would fall for his excuse.

He almost smirked when the girls gave awed sounds and quickly shuffled in their bags, withdrawing their contracts.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, thank you! You're a hero!" one of the girls sighed, handing her paper over swiftly.

Sasuke nodded, his eyes briefly glancing at the paper. He stiffened when he saw his name written in the slot, and withheld the urge to kick the girl in the mouth.

'Culprit number one.' He thought bitterly. Once he'd collected the papers, he folded them up and slipped them into his bag, nodding his thanks to the girls and continuing.

'I'm pretty sure most of the contracts with my name belong to girls...And some people wonder why I'm gay.' He thought, eyes darting around for more of the devil paper.

Sakura briskly walked through the halls, looking every which way. She'd found a quick way to get any papers she came across. A boy was standing outside a door, holding a contract while he read it over. Sakura stalked up to him, snatching the paper out of his hand. He let out a surprised yell when she glared at him.

"What the he-"

"I'm confiscating this. It's against school rules. Be glad I'm not reporting you to the principal." She snapped, folding the paper and adding it to the collection in her bag. The boy gulped and nodded, letting her walk away.

She smirked to herself.

At this rate, they would be able to get all of the contracts easily.

Naruto groaned for the tenth time, and glared at the three girls in front of him.

"Come on, ladies! I need those papers!" he insisted. The girls frowned, clutching the papers even closer.

"No way! You're probably just going to tell all your guy buddies about our wishes and humiliate us." The one girl snapped.

Naruto resisted the urge to growl at them. "I promise you that's not the case. But I need those papers for an important reason!"

"What reason?" the other asked, frowning in disbelief.

Naruto fished around in his head, trying to come up with something. He got an idea and hoped to every entity out there they would fall for it.

"Because Uchiha Sasuke is the one who makes those wishes come true, so I'm helping him collect them."

It was like a switch was pressed for soon Naruto found himself surrounded by girls, and not just the three he had been talking to.

"Here! Take mine!"

"Make sure Sasuke-kun gets mine first!"

"No way, mine first!"

"Can he please sign mine!.?"

"Can he cum on mine!.?"

Naruto decided he'd rather face an ancient demon that collected souls than ever face off against a horde of Sasuke-fangirls. His hands were filled with contracts and he quickly folded them up and shoved them into his bag, making bogus assurances that Sasuke would get them and trying not to think of how many angry fans would be after him when they found out they'd been duped.

'Seriously, I thought the kids at the orphanage were crazy. These girls are just psycho!' he thought, once more searching the halls. A lot of the guys he'd come across had willingly given up their contracts, either because they hadn't used them and had no interest, or because they had used them and didn't see the need to keep them. Naruto felt his stomach clench tighter and tighter every time he saw someone's name written in the sacrifice slot.

All those people had no idea what was chasing after them now.

He had to try very hard not to kill the people who handed him papers with Sasuke's name written down.

Sasuke stood in the line, the bell having just rung to signal class beginning. He tapped his foot impatiently and kept his arms crossed.

A hand on his shoulder broke him out of his waiting, and he turned to see Naruto staring at him in concern.

"Teme, are you okay? Have you seen-"

"No, so far nothing. Did you have any luck?" Sasuke cut him off, looking at Naruto's slightly bulging bag.

Naruto sighed, zipping it open to show a large amount of folded papers.

"All I had to do was mention your name and they were forcing them on me. Not that I care, it just makes it easier." He said, zipping it up. Sasuke nodded, showing his own collection.

"Same with me. I got a whole bunch, from guys and girls."

Naruto nodded, feeling more optimistic. "I'm sure Sakura would've gotten a lot too. I have the feeling she'd manage to intimidate people." He said.

Sasuke nodded in agreement, unable to speak because the teacher had arrived.

"Okay maggots, get in class." Anko said, pushing the door open. The students filed in slowly.

As Sasuke stepped through the doorway, the lights flickered.

Sasuke and Naruto froze, their eyes widening in horror as the lights flickered on and off.

"Oh geez. Of all the times to have a faulty light." Anko groaned, pushing past them and flicking the switch on and off, trying to get the lights to work.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the blond, and worried blue eyes met him.

"...Sasuke..." Naruto breathed, fear evident in his tone. Sasuke shushed him.

"It's fine. I haven't seen anything. It's probably just a faulty light." He whispered, trying to reassure himself as much as the blond.

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but the lights stopped flickering and Anko once again ushered them inside.

Naruto went to his seat, on the right side of Sasuke, two seats away. Sasuke sat down slowly, glancing around. He wouldn't deny that he was extremely nervous now. Flickering lights was one sign of demonic presence, according to Hidan. Another would be hearing his name whispered even though no one else would. And the third would be seeing shadows or figures in reflections that no one else could see. There were a few others, but those three were the most tell-tale signs.

Anko launched into her lesson, much like usual, but Naruto couldn't concentrate. He kept his eyes focused on the area around Sasuke, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

"Uzumaki!"

Naruto jumped when a piece of chalk smacked the wall next to his head, and he turned his eyes to Anko, who was seething.

"Kindly stop your ogling and pay attention to what I'm teaching!" she snapped, and Naruto nodded, mumbling a soft 'Sorry Sensei'.

He kept his face forwards, but his eyes continued to dart to Sasuke.

The raven, for his part, kept still, eyes focused forward. He was trying to will himself to relax, telling himself that the lights had flickered due to Anko's constant abuse to them over the term.

"Sasuke..."

His eyes widened, and he sent Naruto a glance. The blond caught his eyes, and the blue orbs widened tremendously, looking panicked. Sasuke half wished Naruto was oblivious to what was happening. He hated seeing that look of fear on the blonds' face.

"Sasuke..."

"Mitarashi-Sensei!" Naruto shoved his hand in the air, waving it frantically. Anko growled and spun around.

"Yes, Uzumaki? What is it?" she asked irritably.

"I, uh..." Naruto fumbled for words. Sasuke blinked, wondering what he was doing.

"Sasuke..."

"I HAVE DIARRHOEA!" Naruto yelled, his voice more frantic. The class stared at him, some students giggling in amusement while others sneered in disgust. Anko rubbed her face, annoyed.

"Okay, you're excused."

"I don't know where the bathroom is!" Naruto said quickly, sending a meaningful glance at Sasuke.

"It's just down-"

"I can take him, Anko-sensei." Sasuke interrupted quickly.

Anko let out a frustrated growl. "Alright, whatever. Just stop interrupting! I have a lesson to teach." She snapped.

Naruto rushed out the room, Sasuke quick on his tail.

"Teme, I heard some creepy ass voice whispering your name back there!" Naruto said as soon as they were away from the class. Sasuke paused, looking at the blond in surprise.

"You heard it too? I thought only the victim was supposed to hear it." He said. Naruto shrugged, his eyes darting around.

"Well maybe it's different with this demon or something. But I know that none of the kids were calling..." Naruto's voice died in his throat as the light flickered again. He was looking back at Sasuke, but his eyes landed on something behind the raven.

Sasuke saw the look of horror on Naruto's face, and felt his own heart race in fear. Sweat trickled down his forehead. The lights kept flickering before they gleamed extremely bright. The boys ducked their heads, eyes burning from the sudden flash.

Through their pained groans, they heard it. A horrible cry, similar to that of a small dinosaur in the old Jurassic Park movies, but with a resounding echo to it. They heard the clicking of claws on tile.

Sasuke knew they had to move. If they stayed put, not only would he most likely die, but Naruto might get injured too. The lights were still gleaming pure white, blinding him. Naruto was clenching his eyes shut, trying to block out the lights. Sasuke peeked through his lashes, barely seeing anything but the blonds' vague outline.

His eyes stung, even from that small opening and he shut them tight, his hand reaching out to try and grab the blonds'.

Naruto suppressed a cry as his eyes burned from the harsh light. He had heard the cry, could sense the thing getting closer. Fear was gripping his chest like a vice, but his heart and soul was demanding he move.

'Move! You have to move! Get Sasuke out of here! Protect Sasuke NOW!' his head screamed.

He grit his teeth and opened his eyes, feeling them burn and water profusely. He held them open, seeing Sasuke's outline. But what made his breath catch was the tall, pitch black figure right behind Sasuke, red eyes shining through the white light.

"NO!"

His body seemed to move on its own, his arms reaching out to grab Sasuke and yank him away from the dark figure and drag him away down the hall. He squinted his eyes to block out as much light as he could while still keeping a firm hold on Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke felt Naruto pulling him away, heard his panicked shout. As he was dragged away by his boyfriend, he turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw the dark figure chasing them.

His eyes felt as if they were on fire before they snapped wide open, his irises spinning red with three black markings.

From his view it was as if a vortex opened, sucking in the light, the demon and eventually him before everything went white before his eyes and the feel of Naruto's hand faded.

Sasuke blinked rapidly, trying to clear the whiteness and find Naruto. He knew he'd activated his Sharingan, but he wasn't sure what that meant. Did he somehow push the demon away? Were they safe?

"Okay, now I'm fucking scared!"

Sasuke blinked and the whiteness was gone. He was once again looking down into another room, but unlike last time, he wasn't floating. And the vision before him was blurred and kept flashing and crackling, like an old tape that was damaged.

He could still faintly feel himself moving, and guessed his body was still running. As if he were on auto pilot or something.

He started looking around, deciding that if he was having a vision about the demon, he would hopefully see something useful. Focusing, he realized he was seeing a hospital room. And a girl was standing by the door, her face covered in bandages and her red hair hanging limply around her face. Sasuke blinked rapidly, wondering why she seemed familiar.

Suddenly the door to the room started banging loudly, as if something was trying to get in. The girl screamed and threw herself against the door, pushing it back and stopping it from opening.

"Fuck! What the fuck is going on?.!" She cried, shrieking when the door was forced open for a second before she managed to slam it shut again.

Sasuke jolted. He recognized the voice.

"..Ru...Ray...Ro-Romi! That's it, Romi!" he called out, remembering her name. He remembered his last vision with the twin girls Kakome and Kagome, and felt annoyed that she wouldn't hear him. But he had to try.

"Romi, please if you can hear me, just hang on! Don't let that thing get you! Keep running, find other people if you can! It is less likely to attack you when there are a lot of people around! Just hang in there! We're going to fix this, I promise!" he yelled.

Romi seemed to think, her eyes darting around the room nervously.

"I-Is someone there? Please, someone help me!" she called out. Sasuke opened his mouth to call out again, hoping perhaps she could hear him this time when the door to the room flew open. Romi screamed as she was knocked backwards.

Sasuke couldn't stop the loud shout of horror that escaped him when he saw the demon swooping through the door.

"ROMI RUN!"

Whether she had heard him, or whether her own fear and adrenaline forced her into action, Romi had already scrambled to her feet and ducked under the demon, sprinting through the door and away.

Sasuke expected the demon to chase after her, but instead it rounded and faced him. He swallowed nervously, and backed up. The images were still flashing and it only freaked him out all the more.

"By midnight tonight, your souls will be mine."

Sasuke let out a loud gasp as he was snapped back to reality in the form of falling down the steps at the front doors of the school. He heard Naruto's cry of pain and knew the blond had fallen to.

Luckily there were only a couple of steps, so the fall was pretty light, but it was enough to jolt Sasuke out of his vision.

He landed on his back, grunting at the harsh impact, and found himself looking up at the bright sky. It was so controversial to the situation he was in, he almost laughed.

Beside him, Naruto landed on his face, groaning. However, soon his head whipped around, his forehead and nose red from the hit he took, and he looked over his shoulder at the school doors.

"Did we lose it?" he asked breathlessly, his eyes scanning the area.

Sasuke did the same, eyes darting left and right, the red irises slowly receding back into the usual onyx. Finally, he sighed and let his head thump back down while he panted for breath.

"Yeah...Yeah we did." He sighed. "...For now anyway." He added darkly.

Naruto huffed and let his head fall back to the ground, his chest heaving. After a moment, he turned his head to look at Sasuke, eyes tired, red and wet from being burned from the bright light inside. "Sasuke what the hell happened to you back there?" he asked.

Sasuke blinked and turned his own head to look at him. "Huh?"

"You were running but it was like you were somewhere else entirely. But then when we got to the first floor you started...well...laughing." Naruto explained, frowning.

Sasuke stared at him. "...Laughing?"

Naruto nodded, his cheek scraping against the ground. "Yeah...well, more like snickering. And it was all hissy and breathy. Kind of like a snake's hiss instead of a laugh." He said thoughtfully.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Sasuke felt a burning pain spike in his shoulder before it spread outwards. He cried out in pain, writhing on the floor and clutching at his shoulder. Beside him Naruto shot up in panic.

"Sasuke! What's wrong!.?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly in fear. Sasuke panted, pressing down hard on the mark on his shoulder. His body shook and he felt bile rising up in his throat, but did his best to suppress it. Inside his head, the frantic hisses of snakes was deafening, drowning out any other sound. His eyes screwed shut in pain as another wave convulsed through his body like molten lava. Through the darkness of his eyelids, he saw flashes of something white. It flickered so fast it was almost like a damaged movie, and nothing was clear.

And then he saw a pair of fierce, pale yellow eyes with black pupils like slits.

"SASUKE!"

The noise, the pain...everything came to a sudden stop as Naruto pulled him to his chest, clutching him close and rocking him slightly. His face was pressed into the blonds' chest and Naruto had his arms wrapped around his shoulders and head, one hand tangling in his hair. He could feel Naruto's lips moving against the top of his head, muttering nonsense in a desperate attempt to help.

Sasuke's chest was heaving as the last remnants of the burning pain receded slowly, going back to the mark on his shoulder before dying down to an empty throb. He felt so tired after it all, and being in Naruto's warm hold wasn't helping him stay awake.

Weakly, he reached up to pat the blonds' cheek.

"Sasuke? Are you okay?" Naruto asked, his voice shaking. Sasuke breathed heavily, his eyes drooping closed.

"...M'fine now...Naru..." he trailed off, sleep claiming him. Right before he shut off completely, he heard his brother's worried voice shouting out to him, and Naruto's voice replying equally.

Oooo...Sasuke just has to deal with so much shit in this story don't he? *smirk*

Kao: I feel sorry for Naruto. He has to sit back and watch the suffering and he doesn't know how to help. That must be killing him.

Kam: I agree. I feel more sorry for Naruto.

Me: *snickers* No Sympathy for the Uchiha then?

Kao/Kam: Nope.

Sasuke: And you wonder why I'm an emo bastard most of the time. Che'.