So sorry for the late update. School has got me really busy, but I WILL finish this story. Don't lose faith in me. I actually have my hard copy finished. It's just a matter of how fast I can type. Sorry again. R&R (I own nothing.)

As Sasuke exited the tent, he glanced at the time. Shock bypassed his flood gates. Naruto should have woken him up an hour and a half ago. Why would the dobe do that? Did he fall asleep? Sasuke immediately vetoed that idea. Naruto was a lot of things, but he wasn't irresponsible. He wouldn't gamble with their lives.

'Huh,' Sasuke thought. 'He's not really a dobe anymore, is he?' More and more, Sasuke found himself using Naruto's name in his head, rather than 'the dobe.'

But that wasn't the point. The point was: why did Naruto do it? Sasuke sighed. He didn't think he would ever understand Naruto. Maybe . . . ugh! He was making his head hurt.

Strangely, thinking about Naruto didn't bother him like it did that first night in the training ground. He had accepted it. Yes, he was gay and yes, he was in love with Uzumaki Naruto so what?

Sasuke sighed again. His acceptance didn't mean anything. Yes, he loved Naruto, but Naruto didn't love him, so what difference did it make? None. It makes no difference at all.

For the first time since he came back to Konoha and to Naruto, Sasuke felt himself falling into depression. Maybe this was why he was captured so easily. One minute, he was sitting in the grass, staring at nothing but empty space and the next minute a face he recognized from photographs was staring back at him, Kammedi Nuzio. But how had he gotten through without tripping Naruto's traps?

Sasuke opened his mouth to yell to Naruto, but he wasn't fast enough. Kammedi flew through hand signs faster than even the sharingan could see. "Forbidden-style: Senses Paralyzer Jutsu." A black mist floated from Kammedi's hand to Sasuke's face and his words were silent before they even left his mouth.

"Sorry mate. But I can't take the chance of your friend in there finding out I'm here." Sasuke struggled with his voice, trying desperately to warn Naruto. "It's no use mate. The paralyzer jutsu will slowly over come your senses. First your voice, then your hearing, your smell, taste, vision, and lastly, your feeling. It will be like floating in the void."

Sasuke struggled to hang on, struggled to warn Naruto, but just as the ex-apprentice was describing it, it was happening. 'I'm sorry, Naruto,' was his last thought before he collapsed.

Nuzio picked up Sasuke roughly and slung him over his shoulder. "I thought Leaf ninja were supposed to be the best," Nuzio remarked before disappearing in a gust of black wind.

Naruto sensed the dark aura emitted from the chakra and sat bolt upright. The chakra disappeared as quickly as it had come and Naruto thought maybe he imagined it, but his instinct told him to check it out.

Horrified, he stepped out of the tent into empty space. "Sasuke," Naruto whispered. The next emotion to hit was blind rage. How DARE that damn Kammedi take HIS Sasuke away from him!

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He wasn't doing Sasuke any good standing here, feeling angry. He needed to get his head in order. 'Okay,' Naruto thought to himself, 'the first step is to pick up camp.'

His hands flew into a very familiar hand sign. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu." Packing was finished in less than a minute. Okay, Naruto needed to find out where Sasuke was, but it was a bad idea to pop up in the middle of Kammedi's camp. Naruto made a few modificationis to the jutsu he and Sasuke used to track Jiraya. He then used the jutsu to track Sasuke's position, but not transport to him. That would put him at a disadvantage. He didn't need any more of those. Kammedi already had his most precious person.

Naruto stashed the camping gear on his way. It would only slow him down. Kammedi was keeping Sasuke six kilometers south of his original camp. If Naruto hurried he could make it there before dawn. He just had to save Sasuke.

Plagued with worry foe his teme, he made it to the river where Sasuke was being held in double time. Naruto wasn't stupid enough to just rush in. He knew Kammedi must have set some traps.

Naruto examined his surroundings. Sasuke was held in a giant bubble filled with water in the center of the river, similar to the prison Kakashi was held in by Zabuza. Sasuke was unconscious and floating on his back in the center. To Naruto, he looked like a fallen angel.

'Sasuke,' Naruto thought. 'Don't worry. I'll get you out of there.' He needed a plan to lure Kammedi Nuzio out in the open so Naruto could get to Sasuke. Naruto created two shadow clones and a blood clone. Naruto had a plan. One of the shadow clones stayed with the real Naruto. He sent the blood clone to a position directly behind Sasuke's prison and had the other shadow clone attack the front.

"Nice try," Nuzio said. He dispersed the shadow clone with one hit. "Now come out you," he looked towards the place where the blood clone was hiding. "We have some negotiating to do for your partner's welfare."

Naruto smiled. His plan was working perfectly. All villains were the same. How it was his turn. All he had to do was not mess this up. He put up an invisibility jutsu as he crept towards Sasuke's prison, just in case the ex-apprentice's attention was not fully devoted to the blood clone. Though it should be, Naruto had put a powerful forbidden genjutsu on it that should hold Nuzio's attention for at least a few minutes be fore he figured it out.

Naruto reached Sasuke's water prison. He touched the edge of the sphere, hoping to find some weakness in the jutsu that he could use to his advantage. He wasn't all together surprised when he found none. He was dealing with a kage's apprentice after all.

So Naruto resorted to Plan B. He coated his arms in the Kyuubi's chakra and reached towards the cage again. He hoped that the darkness in the nine-tailed chakra would counter the prison jutsu.

He breathed a sigh of relief when his arms entered the prison. He grabbed onto Sasuke's hand but received no response. 'Okay,' he thought. 'Here we go.'

Naruto focused on pushing Kyuubi's chakra away from himself to surround Sasuke. He was relieved when he was able to extract Sasuke from the sphere. That relief quickly turned to panic as Sasuke still wasn't roused.

"Sasuke, wake up," he whispered, as he put his hand on Sasuke's forehead. With a gasp, he retracted his had immediately.

The amount of dark chakra that Nuzio somehow forced into Sasuke's body was almost to much. Naruto quickly took out a scroll and hurriedly made the markings for a release on it. When he finished, he placed it on Sasuke's chest.

"Please be okay," Naruto whispered and activated the release. The amount of dark chakra that was released into the atmosphere amazed Naruto. How could Sasuke possibly have survived that?

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