Disclaimer: K. Masashi stole Kiba from me! HE WAS MINE! I SWEAR!

Reminder: No pairings.

Guide to my writing, please note the quotations:
'Naruto talking to people via chakra.'
'Naruto signing.'
Thoughts
"Naruto and Kyuubi talking in Naruto's head."

"The voice so sweet, the words so fair,
As some soft chime had stroked the air;
And though the sound had parted thence,
Still left an echo in the sense."
- Ben Johnson

Itachi and Kisame stared at the smouldering remains of Sound, some parts of the village still on fire while others yet were completely reduced to ash.

"Great. All this way for nothing." Kisame muttered. "What a waste of time."

Itachi said nothing; he merely stepped forward, walking over the charred remains of what must've been an arch at the front of the village. He walked over the burned buildings, looking around. A few bodies littered the streets here or there, and he could see more inside the buildings, burned to a crisp.

"Think the demon was still around?" Kisame asked, swinging his Samehada over his shoulder and scanning the burnt down village.

"No." Itachi said, looking up from the ground where he'd been staring at a bloody corpse. "This either happened to help him escape, or he did it himself as he escaped."

"Hn." Kisame grunted, looking around. The stench of death was starting to bother him. "Where do you think he headed off to, then?"

"Sand." Itachi turned and began walking towards the exit.

"Sand, huh? Why Sand?" Kisame followed, looking around dispassionately.

"He and the Kazekage are friends. Sand is closer than Konoha is, so it wouldn't surprise me that the injured were taken there."

"I guess. Hey, do you think Orochimaru died?" Kisame asked as he caught up to his companion, the two of them walking back the way they'd come.

"I am unsure."

"What about your brother?" Itachi smirked behind the high collar of his Akatsuki cloak.

"He is still alive."

"How do you know?" Kisame asked, confused.

"I can still smell his fear."

"It's gonna be weird." Sasuke insisted as he leaned against the balcony railing, looking over Sand. Sakura was sitting in a chair behind him.

"What is?" she inquired, placing the book she'd been reading aside.

"Being around him and not hearing him yell at me." Sasuke whispered, his eyes following the group of healed ANBU as they walked towards a bar. Naruto was with them. Sakura and Sasuke hadn't wanted to go.

Well, Sasuke knew he wasn't really invited, based on the glares he was getting. He thought maybe Sakura said she didn't want to go just to keep him company—or keep an eye on him. He wasn't sure. He didn't really care. He was glad he wasn't alone. He'd been alone for a long time.

"You get used to it." Sakura said to him, snapping him out of his musings.

"Have you?" he asked, turning to look at her. She held his gaze for a few seconds before looking away.

"No, but others have." She sighed, stretching slightly. "A lot of people haven't, though. But, you deal, and just remember that the one suffering the most is him."

"Is there a chance he'll get it back?" Sasuke inquired, feeling his throat clench at the thought of never hearing Naruto's voice again.

"Kyuubi's been working on it for a year. All we can do is wait, and hope he goes back to being the loudmouth blond we all got used to."

"Yeah." Sasuke whispered.

They sat in silence for a long while, and Sakura was just about to pick her book up again when Sasuke spoke.

"How did it happen?"

"No one knows for sure." Sakura whispered. "Kakashi and Naruto are the only two who do. Naruto won't tell anyone, and he asked Kakashi not to, either. Tsunade-sensei almost sent Kakashi through a window when he refused to talk about it." The ANBU smiled softly as she recalled the memory. "I was so—scared." Her hands clenched against her Jounin pants. "I thought—I didn't think he was going to make it. I thought I was going to lose another teammate." Sasuke winced at this. "You're not going to go after your brother again, are you?"

"I'll let him come to me." Sasuke shrugged. "If I stick close to Naruto, he'll come by himself."

The air was filled with another awkward silence, neither really knowing what to say. Sakura hated the fact that things had become like this between them.

"What's going to happen to me when I get back to the village?"

"I don't know." Sakura admitted. "You'll probably be put on some kind of probation. You'll be watched constantly, and I heard something about you not being allowed to leave the village for a while."

"I guess that's fair." Sasuke said quietly, a little pissed he was going to be controlled yet again. Although this time, he knew he deserved it.

The two sat silently again, Sasuke wearing a frown on his face and Sakura, a thoughtful expression. Sasuke then turned to Sakura, cocking his head to one side as he mused something over.

"What did you mean before?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, confused at Sasuke's question. "What you said about Gaara. What did you mean?"

"Well, you know he had the One-tailed demon Shukaku in him, right?" Sasuke nodded. "Well, Akatsuki captured him—almost got Naruto, too—but we went to get him back. By the time we got there, Akatsuki had already extracted Shukaku from Gaara, and he died. But, we still had his body, and Chiyo-sama used a Jutsu to bring him back to life. I learned it, too." Sakura clenched her fists, staring down at her knees. "I spent almost a year learning it, making sure I got it right. Making sure I knew it perfectly."

"For Naruto." Sakura looked up at Sasuke as he spoke. He was looking over the balcony again, his back leaning against the railing and his arms crossed. "In case Akatsuki gets him and extracts Kyuubi. You want to make sure he comes back."

"Yeah, but I don't want him to know I learned this Jutsu."

Sasuke frowned, turning back to Sakura. "Why not?"

"It comes with a price. To save another person, you must exchange your life for their own."

Sasuke stared at Sakura for a long while, but she avoided his gaze, staring at her knees instead. Sasuke turned his head back to gaze down at Sand.

"Exchange your life for theirs." he said quietly. "Sounds like something you would do." He thought about it for a minute before turning back to her. "Teach me."

Sakura's head snapped up, green eyes locking with onyx ones. "W-what?"

"Teach me this Jutsu." Sasuke shrugged. "I may not have perfect chakra control, but I want to know this Jutsu. I want to help you protect him. And, just in case, I also want to protect you."

Sakura was stunned. Sasuke wanted to learn this hard Jutsu in order to save not only Naruto, should it come to that, but her, as well. This was incredible! Where had the cold bastard gone?.!

"Sure." Sakura finally said. "If you want me to—I will."

"Thanks. Let's go." Sasuke uncrossed his arms and pushed off the railing, heading back inside the room. Sakura stood, following him inside, her book forgotten on the table.

Sasuke breathed hard as he sat strapped to a chair, gagged and blindfolded. He tried not to let it show, but he was terrified. No, beyond terrified. He was pretty sure he was going to die.

The second Sasuke had passed through the gates of Konoha, ANBU had appeared and grabbed him, putting a black bag over his head before forcefully dragging him away. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know how long he'd been there. He didn't know anything, really. For all he knew, he was already dead and suffering in hell or something.

"Hello, Uchiha-san." Sasuke turned his head slightly as he heard the voice, footsteps echoing off the walls. Sasuke recognized his voice, even though he knew he probably wasn't meant to.

Morino Ibiki. Things couldn't get any worse than this.

"I'm going to have to ask you to calm down." Sasuke jerked slightly, the voice coming from much closer than he'd anticipated. Ibiki was concealing his chakra so that Sasuke couldn't pinpoint him. "We're going to have to ensure your loyalty, and the Hokage has requested I find out what, exactly, you did to Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke's breath caught in his throat, and his hands clenched on the armrests of the chair. He was going to be killed for sure when the Hokage found out about all the torture he'd put Naruto through, especially since the blond wasn't around to keep him safe.

Upon arriving at Sand, they'd all spent the first night relaxing and recuperating from their time in Sound. The next morning, Konoha shinobi had arrived to escort Sasuke home. All the ANBU went with him, except Naruto. The Kazekage had requested he stay, so he had. And now, Sasuke was alone in Konoha, his only ally thousands of miles away.

"I am going to insert senbon in your throat." Ibiki informed. Sasuke's breathing quickened again. "This is to freeze your vocal chords so that you won't damage your throat screaming."

Thanks, that makes me feel better, Sasuke thought, shifting in his chair and clenching his fists again.

"Just relax."

You fucking relax when someone tells you they're going to shove needles in your throat! the Uchiha thought angrily.

Sasuke felt the first senbon pierce his skin and his clenched fists tightened even more. He could feel the cool metal as it dug deeper into his skin, entering the muscles around his throat until finally going into his oesophagus. After the first one was through, another joined it, Ibiki moving in a circle around his neck. By the time he was done, it looked like Sasuke was wearing a spiked collar.

"All right, Uchiha-san. Brace yourself, because this is really going to hurt."

Thanks! Sasuke thought angrily before excruciating pain overtook his mind. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. It was almost like someone had ripped open his skull and was grabbing handfuls of his brain, pulling it forcefully out of his head.

Sasuke tried to scream in agony, but the senbons froze the sound in his chest. He was almost thankful, since he knew that he probably would have screamed himself raw.

"All right." Ibiki said as the pain began to dissipate. Sasuke breathed hard, clenching and unclenching his fists, shaking his head slightly. Vaguely, he wondered if this was how Naruto felt while Sasuke had been torturing him. Wanting to scream; wanting to voice his pain, but not able to.

"That was just a small dose to get you used to the pain." Sasuke's blood ran cold as Ibiki spoke these words. His breathing quickened again and a sweat broke out across his entire body. "What I am going to do now is going to hurt more, and last longer. You're in for a rough night."

"Are you sure you should be heading back?" Temari demanded as she watched Naruto get his stuff in order. "You've only been here a day. Gaara was hoping you'd stay for a while longer. Rest a little, you know?"

'I want to make sure I'm there when Tsunade-bachan decides what to do with Sasuke.' Naruto stated via chakra, his back still to Temari. 'I don't want him to be killed or tortured because of what he did. He's a good guy.'

"Good guy." Temari scoffed, crossing her arms and looking away. "Sure."

'Teme is a good guy. He just doesn't know it, sometimes.'

"I'm sorry, what was that? Oh, yeah, I couldn't hear you over the sound of Sakura shrieking for Sasuke to stop." Temari snapped angrily. The blond winced as he closed his bag and stood, turning around to face her. "I say you stay here and let whatever happens to him happen."

'You have to understand, Temari.' Naruto signed with a sigh. 'No matter what he's done, he's still my best friend. Gaara and I had that brutal fight the first time we met, and look how we turned out.'

"You and Sasuke had fights like that, and more of them than you and Gaara have!" Temari snapped. "Besides, Akatsuki is in the area."

'I know, that's why Sakura-chan is meeting me half-way.'

"There's no changing your mind, is there?" the Sand nin sighed, shaking her head.

'You should know me better by now.' Naruto grinned before picking up his bag and hugging Temari. 'Take care. Tell Gaara I'll be back in a week or so.'

"Okay. You're lucky I'm not going to tell him right now, cause he'd never let you leave."

'I know. It's why I love you, and you'll wait until tonight to tell him.'

"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here." She smirked as she ruffled his hair, the blond swatting her hand away irritably before waving and leaving the room.

He left Sand, waving at various people he knew and making his way cautiously to the gate. If Gaara so much as glanced at him wearing a bag, Naruto would be eating sand for the next five years. Almost there. Almost there, Naruto thought as he headed for the gate.

"Where are you going?" The blond jumped a mile high and spun around, his heart jack-hammering in his chest. "'Cause I know you're not leaving to save Sasuke from whatever punishment he deserves." Eyes narrowed at Naruto and the blond winced.

'I'll be back, Kankurou, I promise. I told Temari one week. It's all I need. Then, I'll be back for a month.'

"Gaara's going to kill you." the puppet master informed, crossing his arms.

'Only if he finds out.' Naruto gave Kankurou the best puppy eyes he could muster, which caused the other man to sigh.

"Fine, go. But—be careful."

'Always am.' The blond grinned before turning and bolting through the gates.

He ran as fast as he could, knowing Gaara would come after him personally once he found out Naruto had left. The blond planned on being back to Konoha by that time. All he'd have to do was meet up with Sakura, and then hurry home with her.

Honestly, the blond knew he could make it home safely by himself, but Sakura had insisted on meeting up with him. He'd had no choice but to agree—and hate it. He didn't want Sakura around, just in case he did run into Akatsuki. He was useful to them, she wasn't. He didn't even want to think of what they'd do to her if they captured her. Especially since she's a medic nin only one level beneath Tsunade, the blond thought grimly.

The ANBU Captain travelled for close to two hours without meeting another soul. It was only when he was about to cross the threshold between Wind Country and Fire Country that he skidded to a halt, breathing hard. His hands flew in a seal, Naruto giving control over to Kyuubi.

The fox stumbled as he gained control of his host's body, still weak from all the healing and torture, not to mention the battle with Orochimaru.

"What is it, kit?"

"I don't know, but I feel something's wrong." Naruto replied as Kyuubi walked forward slowly, wincing and breathing hard.

"I can't fight for you today, kit."

"I just wanted to talk to you. Do you sense it?" The Kyuubi paused, narrowing his eyes and listening hard, as well as trying to sense any chakra—concealed or not—around them.

"I feel it."

"Akatsuki?" his host inquired.

"Seems to be. I estimate around two. The Uchiha is one of them."

"Damn. Thanks, Kyuubi-jisan."

"Hurry home, kit." The fox relinquished his control and Naruto stumbled, falling to his knees.

The blond shook his head before forcing himself back on his feet and rushing into the trees before him. He had to get to the cliffs just off of Konoha, where he'd mastered how to summon Gama Bunta. If he got there, he'd be able to climb down and disappear from their radar. From there, all he'd have to do is follow the river until it turned into a waterfall, and then climb back up. He'd be just a few miles away from where Sakura was meeting him.

As he ran through the trees, he tilted his head slightly and almost cursed. He could hear footsteps behind him. They were really close.

Naruto assumed they were Itachi and Kisame, because if Kyuubi sensed Itachi, he was most probably with the shark-man. The two of them were always together, like best friends or something. Only Naruto knew they weren't best friends. Uchihas didn't call anyone their 'best friend'.

Naruto skidded to a halt as a dark figure appeared before him, clad in a black robe with red clouds. A glance behind himself showed that another figure was there, too, holding a large sword. Shit. That meant Itachi was in front of him, so he could use Mangekyou.

The blond turned his head to the side, avoiding any kind of contact with the Uchiha. He could hear Kisame coming closer behind him. He was already low on chakra, not having had enough time to relax and heal, so if the shark-man came too close, Naruto would pass out.

Then again, if Naruto walked forward to avoid Kisame, he'd be walking towards Itachi, which was even more dangerous, because just seeing his fucking toe twitch would send Naruto into a genjutsu.

Brilliant, the blond ANBU Captain thought with a scowl. I walk backwards and I pass out. I walk forward and get trapped in a genjutsu. Decisions, decisions.

"How's it going, Nine-Tails?" Kisame inquired with a smirk as he walked forward, his sword swung over his shoulder. "It's been a while since we last met up with you. Still a mute?" Silence was Kisame's only answer, which caused him to smirk and look past Naruto at Itachi. "Guess so."

'Itachi's still going blind, and you're still ugly. Guess none of us have changed.' Naruto informed via chakra. Both Akatsuki members narrowed their eyes.

"You're coming with us, Naruto-kun."

'Bite me.' Naruto hurled himself to the side, jumping through the trees and running for all he was worth. He didn't have enough chakra to escape, Kyuubi wasn't strong enough to fight, and Naruto himself was already getting exhausted from having to run all day. Things were looking bad. He had to get away now, as fast as he could.

The blond jumped over a short shrub only to widen his eyes as he noticed a steep hill on the other side—the end of which was the cliff-edge he'd been aiming for. Naruto hit the ground hard, rolling down the hill. He breathed hard as he struggled to grab hold of something—anything—but nothing stayed in his hands for long. His breath hitched in his throat as he flew headfirst into the ravine.