Excitement, Suspense, Thrills!

How will our heroes get out of this one? Stay tuned for next chapter, where...

Wait, it is next chapter... Oh shit.

Side note: Figuring out different ways that I can say "Further ado" is getting harder and harder, I fear I may have to give it up one day.

But it is not this day.

Commence further ado.

Chapter 14: Rage and Peace

As Jiraiya stood over the faceless bodies of 3 Grass Genin, he couldn't quite help but feel an ominous sense of foreboding.

Not because of the bodies, he'd seen hundreds, perhaps thousands of those in his day. No, it was because the way they'd been killed was awfully familiar.

After his former teammate had ran away from the Leaf Village, Jiraiya himself had hunted the man for a year or two, trying his best to find his old friend. He'd ventured across the entire continent, through all five of the major nations, and found only hints of the man's presence.

These corpses had been his calling card.

One's missing their faces.

"And you're sure this is him?" An Anbu he didn't know spoke beside him, tilting his head a bit curiously.

"About as sure as I can be." Jiraiya looked back towards the other ninja present, a woman who, to his immense joy, thought that fishnets counted as an actual outfit. "You said it yourself, right? That that mark of yours is acting up."

The girl, Anko, as she had told him, nodded, trying to mask the expression on her face with her left hand. It didn't help all that much, her eyes still gave her away.

She was afraid, and honestly, Jiraiya couldn't blame her.

Orochimaru had that affect on people.

But there was something else in her expression as well, a quiet anger played upon her features, and it sent a small chill down his spine. Going into a fight with those kinds of emotions weighing you down put you at an immense disadvantage.

She couldn't be allowed to go alone, not if they wanted her to come back alive.

"I'll accompany you into the forest, then." Jiraiya spoke, walking towards the edge of the tree line and gazing in. He could make out nothing, though, that was, of course, the point of the place. "You won't complain, will you?"

Anko seemed to ponder that. She clearly wasn't too thrilled about his idea, he imagined she wanted her first meeting with her old master in nearly a decade to be more personal, but clearly the rational part of her mind recognized it as the smarter suggestion, and so she nodded up at him a few seconds later, a grim determination set upon her face.

"Yeah, I'm…" The woman sighed, before giving him what was possibly the weakest smile he'd ever seen. "As ready as I'll ever be."

/-/

Running wasn't going well.

The four of them were galloping through the trees of the forest of death, raining weapons and Jutsu behind them as they went, and yet no matter what they did, they could never quite manage to lose their assailant.

The man was fierce in his attacks as well, and only through a combination of panicked dodging and sheer luck had they managed to avoid being skewered or killed by any of his mass array of Jutsu, one of which was a particularly nasty attack where he launched several snakes out of his sleeve.

Sasuke couldn't quite focus on the man's attacks, though, on account of the girl he was hauling along on his back, who had gone frighteningly still in the past few minutes.

Sakura had taken a hit meant for him, pushing him out of the way of it, and completely foregoing her own safety.

That damned idiot! Sasuke practically snarled, drawing a kunai out of his pouch with his left hand, and throwing it directly at their pursuer, who batted it away with the side of his hand, barely noticing it at all.

Why the hell would she do something like that!?

'Because she's your friend.' A tiny voice in the back of his mind told him what he already knew.

He knew that, of course. He knew why she'd done it. It didn't take a genius to understand. But that didn't mean he didn't want to yell at her, at himself, at the damned bastard who did it to her!

"Alright, so running's not working!" Sasuke looked back towards the other girl with them, who was just now unleashing a few more weapons back at Orochimaru. "Got any more brilliant ideas, whoever you are?"

"Listen, kid!" The girl called back to him; an annoyed expression set upon her features. "I get you're worried about your friend, but there's no need to be an ass!"

Sasuke bit back the retort that came to the tip of his tongue.

"As it stands, running is working a hell of a lot more than fighting would."

"I was able to fight him earlier!" Sasuke couldn't help but exclaim, rage once more bubbling up to the surface.

"And do you honestly think he was taking you seriously!?" The girl rounded on him, practically screaming.

It hurt to admit to himself that no, the man hadn't been taking him at all seriously. Orochimaru had been toying with him. At any time back there, he could've been killed with barely a thought. Deep down, he'd already known that. There'd been something weird about their fight, how the man hadn't so much as drawn a weapon or gone so far as to cast a single Jutsu.

"Alright, fine, I'll admit we can't fight him, but running like this isn't working!"

"I've got an idea!" Naruto shouted beside them, drawing a small object from his pouch, and thrusting it into Sasuke's left hand. "First of all, it's gonna' need some set-up time, and you've got better aim than me."

Sasuke looked down at the item the boy had handed him and saw that it was their one and only flash bomb, an item Zabuza had given them as a sort of 'last resort'.

'Alright, listen kids,' The assassin had told them. 'Sometimes, shit just doesn't work out the way you think it will, happens to the best of us. If you can't kill the problem, and you can't run from the problem, then you'd best use this to get the hell out of dodge.'

He'd have to thank the man later.

Sasuke lit the fuse on the bomb and threw it just ahead of them. The three of them jumped past the explosive just before it went off, letting off a blast of pure white light.

They heard the man behind them let out a sudden cry, and it appeared that even the eyes of a Legendary Sannin were still weak to being blinded, because the sounds of his pursuit faded.

"Let's go!" Naruto called, a small, hopeful smile blooming on his face. "We need to make some distance while we can!"

"Right!" The two of them sounded off.

/-/

Nearly half an hour of running later, Naruto was finally feeling confident enough to let them all stop and rest for a moment.

He was fairly sure they hadn't lost the man, not with how legendary Tenten had said he was, but this was about as good as it was going to get.

"Alright," He began as they formed a tight triangle, sitting back to back so as to always be watching for their pursuer. "My idea is basically to make a crap load of shadow clones, transform them all into us, and send running in different directions."

Tenten looked at him like he was crazy.

"Wait, you can do the Shadow clone?"

Naruto felt like he'd never get tired of seeing the awed expression on people's faces when they said that, but now wasn't the time.

"Yeah, and I can do a pretty mean transform as well, so I think that's our way out."

"That's all well and good, Naruto." His friend spoke up, only taking his eyes off of Sakura's still form for a moment. "But how do you know he won't be able to see through it?"

Naruto gave a small, panicked laugh.

"I honestly don't think it'll work, but it will buy us some space." Naruto looked around the forest, examining everything as he did a full sweep. "At this point, our goal should be to get out of the forest and get help for Sakura as soon as we can."

"When it comes to this exam, I agree with you." Sasuke admitted, his hands balling into fists, his knuckles practically going white. "We don't have a clue what's wrong with Sakura, and if her condition gets any worse, I don't know what we'd be able to do in a place like this."

"The problem, however," Tenten interjected, once more carving a design into the ground around her, in what Naruto realized was a nervous tick. "Is that this place was designed to be confusing as all hell, even Jonin can have problems navigating it. How do you know if you're going towards the edge of the forest, or deeper in?"

To that, Naruto had no answer.

"It doesn't really matter, actually."

The both of them turned to look towards Sasuke.

"Really, we already know that there have to be teachers and examiners in the middle of forst, right?" The Uchiha waited for them to both nod. "At best, we end up at the edge of the forest, and we can make a get-away as soon as possible. At worst, we end up in where we're supposed to be without a second scroll, and explain that we'd like to withdraw from the exam."

"No," Tenten shook her head, expression grim. "Worst, is you accidentally take the longest possible route into the forest, come across a powerful trophy-hunting team, and get yourselves killed by them instead."

"So what the hell would you have us do!?" Sasuke spoke with venom in his words, his eyes hard. "Just sit around and wait for Orochimaru to kill us?"

"I didn't say anything like that, did I?" The girl argued, digging her kunai deep into the earth below her. "I'm just saying that trying to escape from here and trying to head towards the center of the forest might as well be the same thing at the end of the day. You're going in blind either way."

This time, it was Naruto who interrupted, with a confident, snarky laugh.

"Actually, we won't be going in blind."

He stood up, and, raising his hand into his telltale sign, spoke "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

He felt like he'd been punched in the gut as a hundred or more Naruto's popped up around him, and fell to his knees in exhaustion.

"Naruto!?" His friend reached over to help him up, but he held him off, getting a hold of himself a second later.

"I'm fine." He gave the boy his trademarked smile, before looking over towards Tenten and giving her a thumbs-up.

"So, Mr. Shadow Clone," The weapons-user spoke up, as the clones began to change into multiple sets of the four of them. "You said that we aren't going to be blind, why don't you explain for the class?"

Sasuke's eyes widened a second later, and a small smile bloomed onto his face.

"You get their memories, too!"

Naruto's smile mirrored the other boy's.

"Yep! I'll send them off in all directions, and not only will they act as decoy's for us, but they'll also be scouting out the surrounding area! If they find the central tower, or the exit to the forest, they'll disperse and let me know!"

"Well, color me impressed." Tenten gave him a pat on the back, standing up to match the rest of them, and pocketing her kunai. "I honestly didn't think you had something like that in you."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, feeling just a tad bit embarrassed, but couldn't help the small chuckle that bubbled up inside him.

It's nice to be appreciated.

"Well, if I'm being honest?" Naruto spoke, smiling sheepishly. "I just thought of the memories thing a minute ago."

Sasuke gave a small smile at that, shaking his head.

"You're allowed to not tell us these things, Y'know?"

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

"You're insufferable."

"That's my best trait!"

"Alright, you two," Tenten spoke up, putting a hand on both of their shoulders. "Naruto, you ready to execute this plan?"

He gave a nervous smile, but felt his confidence rise the longer he looked at the friends in front of him.

Sasuke, his best friend, who'd always watch his back. Tenten, a girl he'd only just met today, but one he got along with quite well, and Sakura, attacked and injured, who needed their help.

"Yeah," He gave the signal, and his clones charged off into the forest, all going different ways, taking different paths. Hopefully, one of them would find the route that led to their salvation.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

The four of them looked towards the only path that was left unclaimed and charged forwards.

It took barely 30 seconds for Naruto to get some information back from his clones.

"O-Orochimaru's close!" He exclaimed, doing his best not to raise his voice, for fear that it would alert the man.

"How close?" Tenten inquired.

"Judging by how long it took?" Sasuke spoke up, looking rather grim. "A minute out, at best."

The three of them shared a quick look, trying their best to stay upbeat as they continued to jump from branch to branch.

A minute or so later, Another flash of information hit Naruto's brain, though this one was a bit better for his mood.

"He's further away," Naruto couldn't help but release the breath he'd been holding, breathing deeply for a second or two before continuing. "He's probably 2 or 3 minutes out now, we should keep going this way, and only stop if we need to."

"Agreed." The both of them said.

A groan cut through their new cheer like a knife, and they landed on the ground a moment later, all crowding around Sakura.

"Is she alright?" Naruto couldn't help but ask.

"I have no idea." Sasuke admitted, reaching over to her neck to check her pulse. "As far as I can tell, she's… alive."

"Yeah we can see that."

"Listen, I'm no medic, Naruto." His friend sighed out, before taking the girl on his shoulders once more, placing his hands underneath her thighs. "C'mon, we need to keep moving. If she wakes up, great, but we can't afford to stay still with that guy still on our tail."

"Naruto, did any more of your clones bite it?" Tenten asked.

"No, they haven't, not since the last group."

The girl shivered.

"That gives me a bad feeling…"

"Doesn't everything?" Sasuke spoke, a bit of rudeness making it's way into his voice.

While those two argued for a moment, Naruto took a second to examine their surroundings. They were in a small clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees, but, then again, that could've described half of this damn forest.

A small hissing noise pulled him out of his thoughts a second later, and he looked down to see a small, pure white snake looking up at him from the forest floor.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he felt his breathing cease. He reached down towards the snake, picked it up without any resistance, and held it towards his teammates.

"Guys!" He shouted towards them, breaking them out of their argument. "We have to go, now!"

The other two seemed to wonder what he was saying, but only for a second before they too seemed to realize.

The reason why his clones had stopped being killed, the reason why Orochimaru had suddenly gone quiet.

He'd found them.

Tenten took the snake and threw it across the clearing, before grabbing her scroll and slinging it onto her back. Sasuke once more held Sakura, and the three of them dashed back into the trees.

Naruto created a single shadow clone as they jumped forwards, sending it directly behind him.

20 seconds later, it sent back the information he'd been dreading.

"He's right behind us!" Naruto shouted, knowing that it didn't matter if he raised his voice now, the man would have no problem finding them even if he stayed quiet.

"Holy shit…" Tenten muttered under her breath, drawing a kunai out of her pack, with a small paper tag on the end of it, and throwing it into a tree behind her. "If you guys have any more of those flash bombs from earlier, now would be the time!"

An explosion rocked the forest as the girl's paper bomb went off, though he had a sneaking suspicion that wouldn't be enough to kill their pursuer.

"We were only given the one!" Sasuke admitted, grinding his teeth together.

Tenten gave a small, annoyed "tsk", before she reached into her bag and started tying a tag to another kunai.

Naruto sent out another shadow clone, just to gauge their distance to Orochimaru. He waited 5 seconds, quietly praying that the man wasn't that close.

10 seconds…

15…

20…

…

30…?

Are we… losing him?

/-/

Things had not been going to plan, and that angered Orochimaru more than he'd thought it would.

First it was that pink-haired girl, and then then it was those damned kids managing to pull a fast one on him.

As he carved his way through the forest, jumping straight through tree's as thick as boulders with nary a care in the world, he couldn't help but quietly seethe.

As an explosion rocked the directly in front of him, likely a foolish attempt to delay him, he decided to simply ignore it, charging directly inside of it, taking the brunt of the force onto his arms, and coming out the other side completely unscathed.

But charging straight through meant he nearly missed the 10 or so snakes that now charged out at him.

He dodged under them, using his body's better than average flexibility to slink back to his full stature, and stopped just behind his opponent. When he saw who it was, he couldn't quite help the amused smile that blossomed onto his face.

"It's been some time, Anko."

"It has indeed," The girl, no, woman, brought the snakes back into her sleeve, her eyes cold, filled with anger. "My former Master."

He smirked maliciously. Looking at the girl's expression, he knew the battle was already decided. She would barely count as a distraction; he could deal with her at his leisure.

Still, better to take advantage of her while he could.

"How have things been in the Leaf, nowadays?" He asked with a malicious expression, purposefully playing on the girl's already frayed expression. "I've heard Lord Third is growing quiet old, have they finally decided to accept me as the next Hokage?"

A bubbly laugh echoed from above him, and Orochimaru's eyes widened as he just barely dodged a raging fireball, as it burned and coursed across the branch he'd just been stood upon.

"Like we'd ever take someone who's as much of an ass as you."

A man who was practically a giant landed just next to his old student, though he recognized him without even needing to look. How could he not? He'd heard that damned voice practically every day of his life.

"Fancy meeting you here," He couldn't manage a fake smile, not with the anger that coursed through him.

"Jiraiya."

His former teammate shot him a cocky smile, that seemed to infuriate him all the more.

"What've you been up to, Oro? Still ruining people's lives?"

He didn't respond, didn't feel like bothering. The man in front of him was, perhaps, the only person on the whole planet who could still fight him 1 to 1.

Well, that wasn't true, the Akatsuki had a few people he knew not to cross, but those weren't really people, not anymore.

They were more forces of nature.

The 6 faces of the man named Pain, the cold and silent Itachi, and the masked jester by the name of Tobi, who claimed to be of no note whatsoever. Orochimaru saw past that façade, however. The man practically leaked power, and seemed just a bit too good at being in the right place at the right time.

But right now, they were of no consequence, the man standing before him, who had drawn the scroll that he had adorned across his back, and run his bloodied thumb across it, was the only person that mattered.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A massive billowing smoke seemed to engulf the whole forest, though Orochimaru already knew who the man had brought out.

But it would have gone against his entire plan, everything he'd worked all these years for, to accept this duel, and so, while the smoke was still surrounding them all, preventing anyone from seeing anything, Orochimaru let himself sink into the wood below him.

He melted into it, traveling along it as a snake, into the cracks and depths of the massive thing, and into the earth a while later.

He disappeared, content to accept that he would be unable to mark the Uchiha for now.

But he was not content to give the boy up, either.

He'd have that boy in his clutches

He'd have the Sharingan for himself.

/-/

"I can't believe I'm about to say this…" Naruto spoke up about 30 minutes later, completely exhausted, but feeling oddly confident. "But… I think we lost him."

They had stopped for a quick breather, but even now, Naruto's 5 or so shadow clones he'd sent to investigate kept reporting that there was nothing around them.

For some reason, it seemed Orochimaru wasn't following them anymore.

Sasuke deflated on the spot, exhausted from having to fight their pursuer, combined with running with Sakura on his back for over an hour. He set the girl down inside of a small hole in a nearby tree, and, bracing himself up against the inside of the trunk, fell asleep almost instantly.

Tenten gave him a sedated smile as she stood to walk towards the mouth of the entrance.

"I'll stand guard, since someone has to." The girl spoke, though she couldn't hold in the yawn she let out a second later.

"Nah."

"Wha-?"

"I'll stand guard." He smiled up at her, walking out to the mouth of the small cavern to meet her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You're tired, but I'm… well… I've got something that keeps me going longer than most people."

"Naruto, I don't care if you're hooked up to a damned battery," Tenten looked at him annoyedly, her eyes narrowed. "No one can cast a hundred clones, run for an hour, all the while being stressed out of their mind, and just be 'totally fine' afterwards."

He couldn't quite meet her eyes at that one.

"I'll stand guard, Naruto." Upon seeing his expression, she smiled at him. "The nice thing about my techniques, if that they don't take very much chakra on my part. I just have to open up seals. I'm still pretty ready to go."

He couldn't quite hide his own exhaustion, now that he'd stood still for a moment. His adrenaline was finally leaving him, and he felt like he would collapse if he stood for a second longer.

"I-If something happens-"

"Then I'll wake you all up. I promise."

Naruto gave a contented hum at that, falling back against the bark behind him.

It wasn't comfortable, far from it, it was actively uncomfortable. But it was better than nothing at all, he supposed, as he laid back against it, and shut his eyes.

He was asleep in barely a moment.

/-/

"Naruto! Sasuke! We've got company!"

Sasuke was awake instantly, drawing his pack onto his belt and stepping out of the cavern entrance, adrenaline already coursing through his veins as he stepped beside Tenten, who was looking into the forest with a Bo-staff drawn behind her. A second later, Naruto stood beside them, looking a bit tired, but no less prepared.

In front of them stood 3 Genin from the sound village, who he very vaguely recognized.

"So, you're Sasuke Uchiha, huh?"

The one who'd spoken was a boy with spiky black hair, and odd fixtures coming out of his hands. He seemed to be about their age, perhaps a year or two older, and he was smiling in a way that said he had all the confidence in the world.

It seemed oddly fake.

"I am." He felt there was no point in trying to be coy, and with his Sharingan as strong as it was, he wasn't quite sure anyone could hit him.

His teammates, however, weren't protected by his eyes, and so he knew what he'd have to do. He'd take the fire for all of them, in order to protect them. That was the only way.

"Great, that didn't take too long." The black-haired boy held his hands out, and Sasuke felt odd as the very air in front of them began to distort. "Nothing personal, man, but we've got a job to do."

A second later, a blast of slicing wind came straight at him, nearly destroying him where he stood. He was only saved by Naruto, who'd just managed to push them both out of the way as the wind sliced apart the tree behind them. He looked up and saw that Tenten had avoided the blast as well, though quite narrowly, it seemed, as she had a few new cuts on her left side.

"Heh, seems your fancy eyes ain't gonna do you much good against the wind, are they?"

Sasuke gave an annoyed "tsk" but didn't say anything more. It was never a good idea to talk during a fight, despite what Naruto said about it. Oftentimes, when someone was trying to engage you in conversation, they were meaning to distract you, so you'd miss something else.

Sasuke looked around for something, anything he might've been missing.

The girl who'd been standing with them was gone.

"I got her!" A voice called out from behind them, sounding awfully proud of itself.

Sasuke turned to the side, so that he could see both the group of sound ninjas, and the other one, who was walking out of their small cave, dragging Sakura by her hair.

He felt his annoyance with the circumstances explode, a seething rage burning within him, and he took a step towards the girl holding his teammate.

"Let her go."

The girl gave a cocky smile, holding a kunai to Sakura's neck as Naruto inched forward.

"Ah ah ah, no sudden movements." She smirked, eyes glowing with mirth. "Wouldn't want little missy here to get hurt, would you?"

He could feel it once more. The feeling he hated more than anything else in the world.

I'm powerless.

His fists clenched until his knuckles were white, and he felt his eyes give off a dull ache.

"Let. Her. Go."

It was his final warning. He knew he wouldn't stop, if that girl looked at him like that again, like she was above him…

Like he was some little kid…

He couldn't be held responsible.

"Forgetting about someone?"

He tried to turn in time to block the attack, but it was too late. A metal gauntlet struck his back with incredible force, and he felt the air leave his lungs as he fell forward.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called out, swinging a kunai at the ninja before them, but he simple raised his gauntlet, and poured some sort of force out of it.

His friend fell backwards, his ears bleeding. He gritted his teeth and got back up, bringing out a shuriken into his left hand.

Just like I taught him.

"I won't let you hurt my friends!" Naruto called out, throwing the shuriken as he charged inwards.

The teen with the bandages covering his face said nothing, merely batting the weapons out of the air, and answering the assault in kind, swinging his gauntlet again.

It was stopped by a staff, that swung up and into the ninja's face, knocking him backwards.

"Sorry about that," Tenten spoke up, looking apologetic as she stood. "Long-range types are my worst match-up, so I've been having some trouble getting in."

"No problem." Naruto called back, trying to size up the situation.

Enough sitting around.

Sasuke rose slowly, taking deep, concentrated breaths to try and return his breathing back to normal. His back still ached, and he felt a bit of pressure on his ribs as he rose.

He'd nearly forgotten in all the hustle, but he'd broken one on his left side.

"You all seem to be getting rather uppity." The girl from earlier spoke, digging her Kunai into Sakura's neck, and drawing a drop of blood. "Would you mind setting your weapons aside?"

Sasuke said nothing, hell, none of them did.

They were all too busy staring at the purple mist surrounding Sakura, emanating from her like a miasma. It swirled in a double helix, billowing out from a circle that had formed around her.

"W-what the hell!?" The sound girl spoke, backing away from Sakura for a moment as her hostage fell to the floor.

A second later, a design like a tattoo began to burn to life on his teammates skin. It reminded Sasuke of a raging flame, seeming to consume the girl's flesh as it coursed across it.

And then, as if nothing at all had happened, Sakura stood.

"D-don't fuck with me!" The sound girl shouted, running at her with a kunai drawn, and 3 or so senbon in her other hand, small bells tied to the ends of them.

"Sakura, watch-!"

Sakura drew a kunai from her pouch, ducked underneath the girl's attack, and stabbed upwards.

It was as if all sound in their tiny arena ceased. A moment later, the girl from the sound let out a small gasp and coughed up blood.

"W-what the hell…?" The girl looked down, towards where Sakura's kunai was embedded in her chest.

"Hey, Sasuke?" His teammate asked, looking over at him with deadened eyes. "Why are these guys attacking us?"

He couldn't speak. He tried to, and then tried again, but he couldn't force words past his lips. They seemed to stick in his throat like glue, making it harder and harder to breath.

A second later, the girl drew the kunai out, and, in one fell motion, plunged it into the sound ninja's shoulder.

"KIN!" The boy with black hair called out, rushing over to help his teammate, but he stopped as Sakura held up her hand.

"No. Stay there." She spoke, holding her kunai to the other girl's throat, looking horribly calm. "I asked Sasuke a question, but he didn't seem to know the answer to it."

His teammate looked down, at the girl below her who's eyes were wide with terror.

"Why are you attacking us?" She asked calmly.

The girl on the floor said nothing, merely shaking her head as she tried to get his teammate off of her. She pushed on Sakura, flailing wildly with her hands as the pool of blood on her chest grew wider and wider.

"We were ordered to," The same ninja from before, the one with spiky hair, spoke up. "We didn't-"

"Did I ask you?" Sakura spoke, looking the other ninja in the eye.

The boy paled, saying nothing as he reached a hand towards his teammate.

There was something wrong with the look in her eyes, Sasuke thought, as he watched his teammate turn back on the girl below her. She looked too calm, like she had no emotions to speak of.

The abject terror of the girl below her seemed to make no difference.

"W-we were o-ordered to…" The girl, Kin, spoke a second later, her voice barely squeaking out. "Orochimaru told us t-to… Kill Sasuke Uchiha."

"There, do you see?" Sakura said, smiling slightly. "Was that so hard?"

"Oi… Sakura?" Naruto spoke, inching closer to their teammate, his hand outstretched. "W-why don't you get off of her? I mean, I know they tried to hurt us, but-"

"Get off of her? What?" The flaming marks seemed to crawl even further along her skin, down her left arm as she grabbed the sound ninja's hair, raising her head. "These people… these people keep attacking us, keep attacking Sasuke. Why? What did we – what did he – ever do to them!?

She slammed Kin's head back into the dirt, and raised her Kunai above her.

"I'll stop them, I swear! I'm done standing behind you guys while you solve all the problems!" Sakura plunged the Kunai down. "I'll protect you!"

"NO!"

A blast of air knocked Sakura backwards, and the boy from earlier swooped down, grabbing his teammate in his arms.

"Kin! C'mon, I'll carry you, so you have to stay with me!" The boy called out desperately, taking one of the girl's arms and slinging it around his shoulder.

"We're not done!" Sakura called out, throwing her kunai at the two sound ninja.

It was blocked by the gauntlet of the third, who stood between their teammate and his own.

"We're falling back." He called out, taking something from his back pocket and throwing it at their group. As it landed in front of Sasuke, he realized with some shock that it was an Earth scroll. "Consider this our fee for bothering you."

"You think that I'll let you leave!?"

Sakura charged forward, her teeth bared as she practically snarled, but was stopped by Naruto, who stood in front of her with his arms held at his sides.

"Sakura, you've gotta stop, they're just-"

"Out of my way!"

She wouldn't harm Naruto… Even now, he knew it. But a part of him told him that the boy alone couldn't stop her, not how she was now.

He shot forwards, wrapping his arms around her.

"Please, Sakura, just… just stop." He whispered, his feelings a complete mess as he held the girl back.

"Why!?" The girl screamed, eyes wide with fury. "Why won't you let me end them!? They'll only come back!"

There was a part of him, a pragmatic part, that agreed with her. These people would just keep coming back until either of them died. But there was another part of him that shouted, that screamed out, that this wasn't how it should be.

He took Sakura's hand, the one brandishing the kunai, still pointed at her foes, and drew it into his own hands, gently cradling it.

"You know, Sakura…" He spoke quietly, noticing that Tenten had jumped up onto a nearby tree branch, likely watching the three others as they ran away, making sure they didn't try anything. "The two of us never once thought you were weak."

The girl froze, but still didn't take her eyes off the forest in front of her.

"You don't have to prove anything to us, ok?" He gave a watery smile, trying his best to keep composed. "So please… please don't dirty your hands for the two of us."

The girl began to shake, her hand dropping the kunai, which fell to the floor, embedding itself in the dirt.

"But I… I want to protect you guys, too…" The black flames began to subside, raging ever still as they were pulled back into the mark on her neck.

"Then, how about we make a deal?" Sasuke offered, as the tears he'd been holding back finally flowed down his cheeks. "We'll all protect each other, equally."

Naruto smiled, turning towards where Tenten stood and walking over to her.

I'll have to thank him later…

The girl looked up at him with eyes that shone like emerald's.

"A-are you sure… I'm not… not that strong."

"I'd trust you with my life, Sakura." He brought her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her back. "You're the strongest person I know."

Something within the girl seemed to break at that, for she let out a small, pitiful sob. She tried to hold it back in, tried desperately, but couldn't, and as the tears flowed freely down her face, she collapsed into his arms, crying loudly and messily into his shoulder.

"It's ok." He spoke quietly, mirroring what his own mother had once said to him whenever he cried. "It'll all be ok."

She sobbed even louder, openly, as she hugged him tightly.

Maybe it wasn't the best thing for his broken ribs, as they seemed to crack and ache in his chest. And maybe it would've been a bit embarrassing to think about later, with Naruto and Tenten standing just a few feet from them. Maybe it was a bit too personal for people who were supposed to be just friends.

But there was something within him that didn't much care about any of those things, and as the girl continued to cry, to let out all the pain she'd felt, Sasuke kept holding her.

I want to hold onto her like this…

As the minutes gradually ticked by, Sakura got quieter and quieter, until eventually he felt the girl in his arms fall asleep. Gently, he rose, doing his best to try and carry her with him. He stumbled half-way, but Naruto caught him, helping him carry the girl back into the empty tree trunk they'd been in before.

He set her down inside, and felt his own exhaustion take over. They'd only been able to sleep for 45 minutes after being chased by Orochimaru before the trio from the sound had attacked.

He felt his eyes grow terribly heavy.

Perhaps it was a moment of weakness, but he reached down and took Sakura's hand in his own. A part of him simply wanted to be near her, a part he couldn't quite explain.

A minute or two later, he was asleep, still clutching her hand, determined even then to never let her go.

End Chapter 14

My new favorite chapter, I do believe.

I think I just like writing Sakura.

Next up is... well, I won't spoil it. But I will say that our boy's from the Sound Village may be getting some spotlight next chapter, so stay tuned for that.

That's all for me! See you all next week.