Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Deidara's ending phrase would have been "see?"

Okay. Really. Stop giving me those looks.

Warning:

Violence

Language

Sexual Content

Possible Spoilers

Yaoi

KEY:

"talking"

thinking/talking to kyuubi

kyuubi talking in his mind

'writing'


Last Chapter of B r e a k i n g F r e e...

Sasuke stared at Juugo for a moment before turning away and murmuring something quietly and then darting off into the trees.

Juugo smiled, turning in the direction that Karin and Suigetsu had gone, pleased that his small plan had worked effectively.

After all, it wasn't every day that you heard Sasuke say 'thank you'.


Chapter 12 - "the Will" - Start

He ran.

He ran faster and faster to where that infuriating man was.

He knew the man knew of his oncoming arrival.

After all, a genius such as he should easily be able to pick up a such a menacing chakra filled with disgust, hate and the will to kill.

Especially when he hadn't even bothered to try and mask it.

Especially when the man with the menacing chakra was his own little brother.

Sasuke had run for what seemed like hours before finally reaching the clearing.

Before finally reaching him.

Sasuke paused just outside of the clearing, calming his nerves. He breathed deeply in and out then closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the fight that was about to happen.

He stayed silent and motionless for a few minutes before allowing his eyes to slide open. He stepped out into the clearing leisurely, his shoulders squared and his eyes emotionless. He walked a few feet further before halting and closing his eyes.

"I know you're there, Itachi. Stop hiding." He opened his eyes, his gaze connecting to the almost permanent red of Itachi's Sharingan. Itachi was standing a few yards ahead of him, an unreadable expression on his face.

"We meet again, otouto(1)."

Sasuke's mouth twisted into a feral snarl, the growl unheard so as to keep what little dignity he had left.

Itachi gave a maniacal smile. "What's wrong, otouto? Do you not like being called that? Otouto...?"

"Shut your fucking mouth! You lost the right to call me that when you murdered my family in cold blood," Sasuke said coldly.

"Your family?" If anything, Itachi's maniacal smile grew even larger. "I'm hurt, otouto. They were my family, too, you know." He clutched at his robes right above his heart dramatically.

"Bullshit!" Sasuke yelled. He stopped and breathed in deeply, closing his eyes. "If you had thought of them as family, you wouldn't have killed them," he stated quietly, his voice full of long-suppressed emotion. "And now..." His eyelids slid open slowly, revealing the glassy red eyes of the Sharingan.

"You will suffer the same fate as them."

Itachi's expression wavered for a fraction of a second, Sasuke not even noticing the quick change coming and going. Itachi closed his eyes before speaking.

"It depends on if you have become strong enough, otouto."

Itachi's eyes opened and the fight began.


Before they were even within a 5-mile radius, they could easily feel the ridiculously large chakra signature permeating from their foes. It was awe-inspiring and made them apprehensive at the same time.

They ran into the open field, halting near the edge. In the middle stood a blue, fish-like man with a large, multi-spiked sword heaved over his shoulder. Down on his haunches, a man with an orange swirl mask and only one peep hole was picking flowers and singing loudly.

Karin stepped forward, pushing her red-rimmed glasses further up her nose. She scrutinized the two for a brief moment before nodding sharply.

"Akatsuki members Tobi and Kisame confirmed. It's definitely them."

Suigetsu and Juugo both nodded. Suigetsu stepped up a bit closer and smiled viciously, showing off his razor-sharp teeth. "It seems we have a fight to start, boys," he called loudly to the pair.

Kisame sighed and rolled his neck before readjusting his sword and stepping forward slightly.

"Ne, ne! Senpai(2)! Look at this! Aren't they so pretty?" Tobi held up a small bouquet of flowers in different shades of red and purple.

"Ah!" Tobi fell on his behind abruptly, pointing a gloved finger at a blood-red flower. "Lookie! There's a ladybug! See?" He poked the small bug sitting on a red petal. "I didn't know it was there because... because it bulend.... blen... blended in with the flower! See?" He poked the poor bug again.

"But... you wanna know my secret?" He glanced up deviously from his position on the ground, his visible eye filled with glee. "I found him because..." He giggled, the giggle slowly morphing into a loud and unrestrained laugh at the look on Kisame's face, completely oblivious to their audience.

"I found him because he has black spots."

When Kisame's face had fallen into a look of pure confusion and then changed into utter disbelief, he gave another loud giggle.

"See?" He used his gloved pinkie finger to point to the tiny spots, as if the smaller finger would be able to show each small difference on the insect's body.

"It has black spots! It was really easy to find it, actually! I knew it was there all along! I bet you didn't know! I bet you wouldn't have known even if you had been holding the flowers!"

Suigetsu had become ticked off with the fact that their foe, who was actually rather dangerous, was recounting, in detail, how he found a ladybug on a flower-seemingly without a care in the world. He found it kind of degrading that he had been scared of the man for a moment.

"HEY!" He finally yelled, successfully gaining the attention of the child-like masked man.

"Ara(3)? When did you guys get here?" Tobi tilted his head to the side, imitating a curious puppy. Suigetsu finally snapped.

"What the fuck do you mean 'when did you guys get here'?! You god-damned stupid idiot!" He was about to charge when Karin grabbed his arm and held him back.

"What the-- let me go you stupid bi--" Suigetsu pulled away from Karin angrily, when he was cut off by her.

"Keep your head." She fixed him with a deadly glare to which he just rolled his eyes at. "Besides, don't you want that sword there?" She pointed daringly at Kisame's sword.

Kisame raised a curious eyebrow at the blunt and rather obvious action. "You want my sword, eh? I bet you wouldn't even be able to touch it."

Suigetsu gave an intimidating smirk. "Ha. I'll take you up on that bet. Winner takes all. Loser is sent to the gates of Hell."

Karin snorted. "Ha! Either way, loser ends up as sushi."

Suigetsu and Kisame both glared at Karin who held up her hands in surrender. "Fine, fine. Me and Juugo'll take kiddo there." She pointed to Tobi who had resumed picking flowers.

Tobi looked up and pointed a finger at himself. "Moi?"

Karin rolled her eyes, stalking towards Tobi. "Oui. Tu(4)."

Tobi cocked his head to the side, emanating innocence. "What's that mean?"

Karin had to pummel the urge to twitch at his question. "You'd think he'd be able to figure it out..." she muttered under her breath.

Tobi giggled. "I'm just joking. I know what you said. I study. Toby's a good boy."

She groaned, the groan slowly turning into a fierce growl. "Oh, that is it!"

She shot forward, pulling a kunai out of her thigh-pack and holding it in an offensive position, quickly getting closer and closer to Tobi's position next to Kisame.

Tobi giggled again, this time louder. He stood up and hunched forward a bit before fixing himself into a crouching position.

"Missed me!"

A look of confusion swept across the red-headed girl's face. She was still running in his direction and was going to strike at him in less than 2 seconds. She pulled her arm back for the blow and slashed at Tobi's form to hit...

Air.

Absolutely nothing.

Shock painted Karin's expression, her grip on her kunai loosening. She tensed up and spun around holding the kunai up defensively, hearing a metal clang! He had disappeared and reappeared behind her in less than half a second.

It was a battle of strength for a few moments before they pushed off of each other, sending them in opposite directions. Juugo dodged around Tobi and landed next to Karin, pulling her off the ground.

"He's fast," she murmured. "Really fast."

Juugo elevated an eyebrow slightly. "Really?" He gave a small, laughing smile. "I never noticed."

She rolled her eyes playfully at him. "Yeah, yeah. Just shut up and let's beat this annoying brat."

"Ehh?" Tobi cocked his head to the side. "Can you do it? Do you really think you can do it?" He ignored their widened eyes and looked down, a shadow covering his mask. "Are you strong enough..?" His head snapped up, the Sharingan clearly visible through the hole in the mask.

Before the duo were able to get in defensive stances, Tobi shot forward, his hands forming multiple seals in quick succession before he disappeared completely.

Juugo's eyes widened. "What in the seven hells..."

Without warning, Karin flew backwards landing in a jumbled heap, droplets of blood flying in the opposite direction.

"Karin!!"

Juugo ran in her direction, stopping at her yell.

"Watch out!"

He turned his head to the side to see Tobi a little over a foot away. Tobi giggled maniacally, bringing down the long blade in his hand, successfully slicing a deep cut in the arm that Juugo had brought up defensively.

Juugo jumped back, pulling out a kunai and simultaneously yelling in Karin's direction. "Are you alright?"

Karin had already gotten to her feet and answered, "yeah." She unconsciously held the bleeding wound just under her waist. "It's just a scratch. I think it's time for us to go on the offensive."

Juugo chanced a glance in her direction, a small smile on his face. "Yes. It is."

"Just watch out for that teleportation jutsu of his. Due to all of the commotion I had completely forgotten all about it."

Juugo nodded. "Yeah."

Karin smirked. "Well then," she said, pulling out a short blade with an unforgiving gleam passing through her eyes. "Let's do this."

She shot forward with the blade raised.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the clearing Kisame and Suigetsu were head to head in an old-fashioned sword battle. With their blades offensively clashing against each other, they pushed back from each other, each with a devious grin.

"Not too bad. Jii-san(5)."

Kisame's previous smirk was wiped off his face at the last comment. "'Jii-san? What the hell, gaki? I just recently turned 32... not that it matters..." His expression had turned blank before realization spread across his features. "You don't even need to know that...!"

Kisame rushed Suigetsu, sparing him no time. Suigetsu's eyes widened as he narrowly dodged Samehada being swung horizontally. He swerved around doing a complete 180, adding force to the swing of his own large sword.

For a moment, Kisame's eyes had zoned in on Suigetsu's sword before narrowing in delighted amusement.

"Eh..? Now that I think about it... that sword isn't even rightfully yours, is it? Isn't that Zabuza's sword?"

Suigetsu's smirk returned. "It was. But in case you haven't heard, Zabuza-senpai's 7 feet below. He's dead."

"Tch. I knew that gaki was dead... but to think you took his prized sword..." He smiled bemusedly. "It's useless to go after my sword you know. Virtually impossible for you to use it."

Suigetsu's eyes claimed a questioning gleam as he jumped back a few yards.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Kisame just chuckled in response before charging at Suigetsu.

Without warning, multiple kunai descended from above, a net connected to them in the middle, making him dodge to the side. His eyes widened as his eyes shot to the ground.

He had realized too late.

The ground promptly detonated under Kisame's feet.

The sound earned the attention of Suigetsu's two teammates. Karin and Juugo ran in Suigetsu's direction as he leaned toward Kisame's charred body.

"You see, when you were to busy being all ga-ga over your age, I took the time to set up this trap." Suigetsu pointed at upturned rocks that had burnt paper-notes and a still-smoldering net. "All I had to do was make a clone and have it distract you as I tossed these highly-potent paper-notes at your feet." He pulled a couple of unused ones out of his pocket and fanned them out to demonstrate. "These are brand-new on the market. More than 10 times as powerful as the originals. Definitely a must-have." He mused aloud, re-pocketing the paper slips.

He patted Kisame's still cheek. "I didn't think you would fall for it, but..." He shrugged. "Looks like I over estimated Akatsuki." He gave a feral grin. "Looks like the gaki wins, ne, Jii-chan?" He gave the lifeless body a devious smile before fixing his eyes on Kisame's right hand wrapped firmly around the hilt of the Samehada. He kicked the blue fish-man's hand, making the scaled sword roll out of his grasp before stopping a few feet away.

Karin and Juugo arrived at his side as he stopped next to the sword.

Karin leaned around Suigetsu and whistled at Kisame's body, impressed. "Wow... you got him good didn't you?" She gave a small frown and nudged his lifeless form. "Damn. Looks like it's impossible to make him into sushi. He's likely to be better off as roast-fish."

Suigetsu growled at Karin's ill-found humor and sat on his haunches, reaching for the hilt of the scaled blade. Just as he wrapped his hand around it, spikes protruded from the hilt, embedding themselves into Suigetsu's palm, making him quickly retract it.

"Fuck!"

He pulled his hand close to his chest and cradled it, silently urging the pain to go away.

"Well, now I know what he was talking about earlier. I guess I don't really need another sword..." He stood up from his position on the ground, kicking Samehada back to it's dead owner and silently regarded Juugo and Karin for a moment.

After an awkward silence, Karin bristled. "What is it?!"

"So, how did your fight go? The annoyance dead?"

Juugo's jaw slackened slightly and Karin's eye's widened. She clasped her hands together and quickly formed a few seals.

"Mind's Eye of the Kagura!"

She snapped her eyes shut, her brow furrowing in concentration. Suigetsu and Juugo waited in silence until she slowly pulled her hands apart and let her eyes slip open.

"He disappeared."

Suigetsu's lip curled in disgust. "Well, that's just fuckin' great! Now what?"

Juugo cleared his throat lightly, drawing the two's attention back to him.

"I suppose we head back and do what we can."


Naruto jumped to the next branch, his demeanor becoming more and more like that of an animal. They could feel the different chakras fluctuating up ahead and it was making him anxious.

"Cool down, Naruto. Hastiness invites mistakes."

Naruto glanced in Kakashi's direction, his bluish-purple eyes calculating. He jumped to the next branch.

"Naruto..." Kakashi warned.

Naruto released a heavy breath before nodding. "Alright, Kakashi." His eyes slowly faded back to their cerulean blue.

Sakura and Kiba smiled in Naruto's direction, glad that he was back to his normal, reckless self.

Neji remained silent.

Naruto jumped to the next branch, his foot landing slightly awkwardly on the branch and a loud snap reverberating through the forest. He plummeted to the ground, twisting in the air to land safely on his feet.

His teammates followed quickly after, each calling his name. They landed around him, each taking up separate stances to protect their friend and nakama.

"Damn!" Kiba muttered loud enough for the whole group to hear. "I totally forgot about them with everything else going on."

A figure shot forward from behind a tree, a longsword raised. They brought the blade down, stabbing it into the ground where Kiba had been mere milliseconds before. The figure swung around to face Kiba who delivered a punch in the person's gut, sending them flying past Naruto and knocking them out on a rock.

"Oi!" Naruto shouted. "Watch it! What're we gonna do if we get injured via flying ANBU because you're throwing them around?!" He pointed at the masked figure for emphasis.

"Oh, shut up, Naruto! Like you're any better!" Naruto opened his mouth, promptly shutting it at Kiba's pointed look.

"...Fine." He muttered dejectedly. He pulled out a few kunai, spinning them on his fingers for a moment before throwing them in multiple directions, causing 5 more ANBU to come out of their hiding spots.

He crouched down lowly. "Let's just get this over with." He shot forward attacking two of the ANBU while the rest of the team took on the other three. He summoned a few kage-bunshins, creating minor distractions for his foes.

One of the ANBU disappeared suddenly, causing his stomach to flop forebodingly. Well that can't be good.The other opponent came up behind him surprising him and making him twist around and block the oncoming attack with a kunai and jumped back.

He quickly summoned another kage-bunshin. The other-Naruto heaved the real Naruto over it's shoulder, throwing him at the ANBU as he gathered chakra in his fist. He punched the figure straight in the face, the pale-mask cracking and the person flying into a tree trunk-effectively knocking him out.

He glanced at the rest of his team, watching their fights momentarily. They weren't fairing too well, either. His eyes snapped to his feet when he felt his footing disintegrate. Mud. Shit.

His legs were quickly being pulled underground, deeper and deeper until it stopped at his mid-thigh. He heard a slight chuckle a few yards in front of him.

The missing ANBU stepped closer, a masculine voice sounding from behind the mask. "Doton; Doro Houshi(6)."

The man pulled out a four kunai and chuckled again. "It looks like it's game-over, demon." He threw the kunai at Naruto's upper-body, the small blades travelling at a rapid, sure-kill speed.

Naruto dodged the first three kunai, but the fourth following one was too close behind the others to give him time to dodge.

The last one was headed straight for his heart.

Kit!! Kyuubi's voice resounded through his head.

Naruto smiled sardonically in a split-second.

So this is the end? How pathetic.

He shut his eyes milliseconds before the kunai hit him only to hear a quiet clang.

He stayed still for a few moments, waiting for his demise.

What? I'm still not dead...? He peeked open an eye. Lucky!

He glanced down to his vest, seeing a small rip right above his heart and a glint of silver underneath. His eyes widened as he reached into the pocket, completely ignoring the dumbfounded ANBU in front of him.

He pulled out the object with an awed expression as he stroked the metal. "Damn, even while the bastard's gone, he still ends up protecting me..."

He grinned at the scratched hitai-te before glancing at the ANBU who had recollected himself.

"Che." The man scoffed. "Just a lucky break, for you, huh? I guess you really do have the devil's luck-after all, you are a demon."

Run, kit! Run!! Get out of there, now! Naruto's brows furrowed at his inner-demon's outburst.

The man stepped forward, pulling out a kunai and pulling it back to strike. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized his intention and started struggling against the now-hardened mud. He glanced past the approaching man to see Sakura turn away from her own knocked-out opponent to see Naruto's predicament and stare openly in horror.

"Naruto!!"

The ANBU swung, an unseen grin etched across his face. "Sayonara(7), demon."

Naruto shut his eyes again, absolutely sure about his doom.

Nothing happened.

No pain.

No blood.

And most certainly, no death.

Naruto opened his eyes cautiously only to see the ANBU slump down to the ground, lifeless.

Naruto's eyes widened as he slowly glanced up, his eyes focusing on silver-blue hair.

Suigetsu scowled at Naruto's bewildered expression and cast Juugo, who was standing a few feet away next to Kiba, an annoyed glance. "Why the hell do we gotta help these losers?"

Juugo sent Kiba's opponent flying before turning and regarding Suigetsu. "Because they can help us."

Suigetsu scoffed. "Yeah, right."

Karin growled from where she was next to Neji and embedded a kunai in the throat of her (Neji's) opponent and watched as he crumpled to the ground.

"Yeah, Juugo. These people are the ones that are after Sasuke-sama. How the hell are they supposed to help?!"

Kakashi appeared between Karin and Juugo, startling the red-head. She hadn't even noticed he had beaten his opponent, nor had she been expecting him to appear in front of them so openly.

"Yes." He regarded Juugo and stepped forward in an offensive stance. "Why the hell should we help you?"

Juugo smiled at Kakashi before jerking his head at Suigetsu, who growled before turning back to Naruto and forming the tiger hand seal.

"Suiton; Teppodama no Jutsu(8)." Suigetsu gathered water in his mouth, spitting out bullets of water into the mud around Naruto, loosening it up.

Naruto whistled appreciatively. "Not bad. B-rank water based technique." He heaved himself out of the watery mud and stood up, regarding the awkward atmosphere.

His teammates were in battle stances, ready to fight off the members of Team Hebi.

"It's fine, guys," he spoke authoritavely, his eyes darting to Juugo as his expression saddened. "Let's hear them out."


He had been toying with him ever since the battle started.

The youngest Uchiha growled lowly as their kunai clashed yet again.

This is utter bullshit.

They continued like this for a little bit longer, darting forward their kunai clashing with a surprise attack here and there before Itachi spoke.

"I'm disappointed, otouto. I thought you would have become stronger over the past couple of years, but..." he frowned. "I guess not."

Sasuke growled again, slowly becoming more and more agitated. He was already getting tired. It was starting to become ridiculous.

"It's time we end this."

Itachi shot forward, his hand wrapping around Sasuke's thin neck and began the slow and painful suffocation of his brother.

Sasuke's hands clawed at Itachi's hand, his energy quickly fading.

Dammit...!

Sasuke struggled to keep his eyes open, watching as Itachi reached into his Akatsuki robes and brought out a rather familiar vial.

Sasuke's eyes widened ever so slightly. Isn't that...?

Itachi noticed the change in Sasuke's expression, glancing from the face of his younger brother to the small vial in his palm.

"Ara? It looks as if you recognize this. It seems my subordinate had failed to report some information to me. But I doubt you know exactly what this is."

Itachi gave a psychotic smile, watching as the Sasuke's Sharingan deactivated, his eyes returning to their normal onyx color. The clarity faded from Sasuke's eyes, quickly being replaced by a hazy fog.

"You see, this is a top-secret serum that was developed by some high-ranking medic-nin in the Land of Water. Considering the fact that they deal with water quite a bit, it slowly damages their eyes-and it's become quite a problem for experienced ninjas over there. There isn't any known technology to fix the eyes... so what do you think they thought of?"

Sasuke, who had to concentrate really hard to listen and make sense of what Itachi was saying, thought for a moment. His eyes widened again.

You can't mean...!

Itachi laughed at Sasuke's expression. "Yes... it seems as though you understand now. They developed a serum to be able to remove another person's eyes to use as their own. The serum keeps the eyes working and allows them to adjust to the new body and nerves. And now I'm going to use it for your eyes-so that they can become my own!!"

Itachi gave a maniacal laugh as Sasuke began to black out, his arms falling limply to his side. His eyes grew dull before they finally slid shut.


Naruto had finally managed to convince his teammates that Team Hebi meant no harm.

They were all sitting around in a small opening of trees, Sakura going around and healing everyones wounds to prepare for the inevitable fight to come. She had healed everyone in her team along with Juugo. She skipped over Suigetsu seeing as he growled at her when she tried to approach him.

When she reached Karin, she had smiled sweetly and held out her hand, just below Karin's waist.

Karin smacked Sakura's hand away. "Get your filthy hands away from me! I can heal myself."

The left side of Sakura's mouth twitched along with her eye as she reached forward and grabbed Karin's arm, surprising the red-head. Karin gave the pinkette a questioning look. "Kami. You don't listen do you? Are you thick-headed? I think you are." She pointed to Sakura's hand, still wrapped around her forearm. "Not to mention stupid. I don't need to be healed there. My arm isn't even injured." She sneered at the pink-haired kunoichi.

Sakura's lip twitched again as she raised her other hand up to Karin's arm and promptly snapped it, an audible crack resounding among them.

Karin howled in pain. "Y-you bitch!"

"Ah.." Sakura gave her a worried frown, the expression obviously fake. "It looks like you are injured. I guess I'm going to have to heal it."

Naruto snorted while Kiba broke out into loud guffaws and Suigetsu laughed openly. Kakashi was snickering behind his mask and even Neji was watching the exchange with amusement. Juugo just shook his head. Why didn't it surprise him?

Naruto fixed his gaze on Juugo, immediately sobering up the whole group with his serious expression and stance.

"It didn't work."

Juugo's brow furrowed in confusion, as did the rest of the group around them-totally lost about what they were talking about in their conversation.

"What didn't work, Naruto-san?"

"Juugo... when you said that I could heal Sasuke in more ways than one... I... I just don't believe it. When I met up with Sasuke, I couldn't even help him... I couldn't bring him back..!!" Naruto's eyes had begun to tear up.

Juugo scooted forward a bit, patting Naruto on the shoulder comfortingly.

"Naruto-san, you did help him. Exactly the way I thought you would. You gave him his humanity back. He talks more and is much more merciful. He is more open and friendly. But most of all..."

He fixed a Naruto with a confident gaze, his sincerity apparent.

"You gave him his will to live."


Sasuke's eyes shot open, the fog cleared from them as he ripped Itachi's hand from his throat and jumped away, narrowly avoiding his eyes being gouged out.

It's not over yet. I'll walk out of this and meet him again.

The image of Naruto sleeping peacefully in the clearing danced through his head as he reactivated his Sharingan.

I will live.

-Chapter End-

(1) - otouto - Japanese word for "younger brother"; Itachi used to call Sasuke this when he was a child and still occasionally does.

(2) - senpai - Japanese word, means something along the lines of "upperclassman" and/or for someone who is more experience or has been around longer.

(3) - ara? - Used very often in Japanese, a very childish expression for "eh?"

(4) - "Oui. Tu." - French; "Yes. You."

(5) - jii-san - Japanese word for "old man" or "uncle"; often used to address middle-aged men.

(6) - Doton; Doro Houshi - Earth release; Mud Indulgence

(7) - sayonara - Japanese; "Goodbye"

(8) - Suiton; Teppodama no Jutsu - Water release; Bullet Technique

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