Sakura rushed to Sasuke, holding his shoulders as she gasped,

"Sasuke-kun!! Wha-- what--"

He let out a very soft sound of discontent and his head lolled against her shoulder. He had blanched and his eyes were shut tightly, as though he were in pain. She looked at him worriedly, casting a nasty glare at Naruto, when she noticed that his other hand not occupied with the seal was flailing about, his fingers clutching at the air beside Sakura as though he were searching for something. She supplied her hand, and he thread his fingers through hers and held her hand tightly.

Sakura was reminded of the time during their first chuunin exam when Sasuke had been inflicted with the curse seal by Orochimaru. Sasuke had been unable to do anything but let out wretched cries of pain; that time, his hand had held hers so tightly all her knuckles had cracked simulataneously. The same fear from that precise moment flooded through her once more, but she quashed it quickly, knowing it wouldn't exactly help her or his situation.

She squeezed his hand back as reassuringly as she could, and Sasuke started to murmur incoherent sounds against her neck that Sakura could not make out.

That was when Sakura noticed that Hinata was heading towards the entrance they had made when entering the rocky area.

"Where are you going?!"

Sakura exclaimed, sounding a lot more disbelieving than she had meant to because of Sasuke.

Hinata did not say anything and left the clearing back into the forest. Sakura wanted very badly to run to Hinata and drag her back to demand an explanation, but she knew what Sasuke would have said if he had been concious.

Leave her be. She has a right to choose.

She could hear his completely calm and collected voice, and had to agree that Hinata must be going through a very painful ordeal at the moment. Imagine, she thought to herself, a demon-fox posessing someone precious to you to try and hurt you! She must feel like killing Nine-Tails now...

Sakura sighed as she wrapped an arm around Sasuke and pressed her cheek to his, holding his hand tightly with the other.

Naruto snorted, and Sakura had to suppress a very strong urge to strangle him.






"Sasuke-kun...! What's wrong with him? He's shivering!"

It was freezing cold.

Icy waters seeped through his legs, clamming them up and rendering them to an almost useless point.

His hands poorly attempted to soothe the sores in his head. He could not open his eyes - they were still screwed tightly shut with pain...

"It is something he will have to endure. Calm down, human."

The last thing he could remember was a horrible feeling of a huge, invisible hand plunging deeply into him and grasping at his heart-strings before shooting up his spinal cord to his brain, where rough fingers dug into his mind and wrenched it out and away from his body, his physicality bursting out with a howl of shock and pain before letting go of conciousness.

What had happened next was what Sasuke could only describe as falling at what felt like sound-speed down a winding tunnel -- then a numbing darkness had engulfed his vision as he fell with a loud splash and thud into freezing liquid. His headache pounded its last painful chords before finally ebbing away, and Sasuke brought himself to open his eyes.

"....His skin..."

The place was eerily dark, illuminated with a dull, storm-grey light that took a long time for even his sharp eyes to adjust to. Dank walls took residence either side of him, stretching far beyond his sight and into darkness both in front of him and behind. The waters appeared ink-black and felt horribly cold. As Sasuke picked up a leg gingerly to test its mobility, the dark droplets sprinkled onto the surface of the water as he lifted his foot sounded along the cold walls with sinister echoes.

Sasuke had a feeling he had just made a very big mistake - as though he had been on a mission and had just given their position away. He held his breath momentarily, waiting almost for something to happen...

"...His skin is like ice..."

Nothing did.

"Oh no!! He--"

All of a sudden, Sasuke felt like an idiot, balancing on one leg in this alien place.

"Wait a minute... he's breathing again, sorry."

Shaking his head sharply to rid himself of the frozen moment, he shook his legs out. The echoes rid himself of his fear; the sounds did not sound as intruding this time as he splashed water up. His legs seemed to be functioning properly, and taking a deep, shuddery breath, Sasuke made himself move forward.

"Stop worrying, girl. He has to go through this if he wants to bring the boy back."

Each step made watery echoes rebound along the grey walls, but Sasuke moved determinedly on.

According to what Nine-Tails had told him, Sasuke knew he had to be somewhere in Naruto's mind.

He had never particularly been fond of Naruto's way of thinking - especially when it focused on ramen and ramen only - but this place was somewhere Sasuke disliked even more.

The cold, the darkness, the strange, grey formality of it all...

"What do you mean?"

He didn't like it.

Sasuke's peripheral was suddenly enraptured with a black expanse, and his head jerked round as he let out an unstoppable, sharp inhalement of surprise. The blackness seemed to suck him in... He squinted through the gloom, and the image sharpened. He could make out rows and rows of bars, not unlike those belonging to a prison cell. The cell was empty. On the center of the long row of bars was a single piece of paper, and Sasuke could just see what it was... a seal.

"Go through 'this'? Through what?"

'So this is what imprisons Nine-Tails...?'

He thought, and was startled to hear his own voice echo his exact musings across the corridoors, bounding back and forth in the gloom. But Sasuke was in no way prepared, despite the earlier warning, as to what happened next.

....Who is it?

As Naruto's voice strongly resounded along the storm-grey walls, a new-found chill ran through Sasuke's spine, the water immediately growing colder.

"Go through the boy's pain."

The uncertainty plucked at Sasuke's most sensitive nerves, the alien suspicion piercing through his chest, and the three syllables cast an invisible wall between him and Naruto that towered out of sight. The air seemed to thicken and smother with an almost material darkness as the icy waters prickled needle-like numbness in his legs.

Sasuke felt himself grow faint; there was something so huge and he had only caught a glimpse of it - yet here he was, shivering from the cold and his eyes rounding in shock from the effect of Naruto's words. He could feel his eyes rolling into his skull; the cold was almost drowning him, there was no sense in his legs anymore, and there was a terrible ache starting to grind at his brain...

"What do you-- Sasuke-kun?! His teeth are chattering! His face is losing colour too rapidly... oh, this can't be good... oh, God... help...!"

Sasuke suddenly felt the drowning feeling falter to a stop, a warmth radiating from an invisible source at his hands and his neck and spreading through his body. The grey walls slid back into focus, the feeling in his legs returning in a rush with small pin-pricks of pain. He found himself inhaling sharply, unaware of the fact he had been holding his breath ever since Naruto's voice had echoed through.

Confused, Sasuke pressed his palms to his face. A heat spread through his jawline to his neck, where a warmth was already spreading down his back. What was this feeling...? Then, as Sasuke let his arms down, a very faint but familiar scent swept past his nose, and he understood. His eyes softened slightly as he silently thanked her for this uncalled strength. And taking a deep breath, he hardened his resolution and said firmly and clearly,

"Naruto, it's Sasuke."

There was a silence so still only the gently lapping of water against the stone-grey walls could be heard.

"... Hmm."

"What's wrong?"

"It seems that the jounin has triggered something in my vessel. I would not be surprised if this black-haired boy were to return back this instant from the pain."


Without warning, an ear-piercing sound shot through the entire place, ringing and rebounding against the walls and rippling currents through the inky water. The cold slapped against his skin as he pressed his palms tightly to his ears in a futile attempt to block out the explosive sound. He stumbled as his vision doubled and blurred, and slammed against a wall. He regained some composure there, and although the piercing siren continued, Sasuke managed to collect most of himself.

"You're wrong. Sasuke-kun's strong, I know it."

"Whatever you wish to believe, human."


He took a step towards what seemed like the origin of the noise, and the siren grew to a shriller pitch. It was as though his skull was shattering; Sasuke could barely make out what he was doing, but somehow he knew that this was purely Naruto's doing. And that probably meant that Naruto was at the origin of sound...

"Sasuke-kun! Can you hear me? Please don't lose it-- please bring Naruto back--!!"

Sasuke took another step, and he seemed to lose the ability to string coherent words in his head to make thoughts in sentence form. But there was an insistent heat at his elbow, assisting him up, and a comforting warmth pressed to his back. Sakura. Sasuke forced himself another step forward, pointedly ignoring the convulsions of pain this caused.

"He's bleeding!!"

"That is a usual occurence during the Mind Entrance no Jutsu. Humans tend to get immense strain on their mentality, and their bodies try to support the mind the best it can. The results are internal, and thus--"

"I-Is there a chance that-- a chance that he might die?!"

"No."

"Thank God..."

"...However... he might lose his mind in here. And in a way, I suppose that may be worse than death."


Each step brought Sasuke closer to losing himself, but he relied on the heat spreading through him. The heat conquered the icy tendrils trying to stop him, and as Sasuke took another step through the churning waters curling around his legs, the siren stopped abruptly.

His usual eyesight returned; he breathed in deeply, his chest shuddering achingly as he did so. He squinted into the darkness, and saw just the outline of a figure slumped against a dead-end, soft grey glow lighting the smallest features.

"What?!"

"Wait... I think that this boy is about to..."


'....Naruto?'

His voice echoed through the walls questioningly.

"Yes... he's done it. He's reached him."

"Sasuke-kun did it?! Kyaah! I knew he could!"


....What are you doing here?

The voice sounded strange, and Sasuke could not recognise the tones hidden in it. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

'I've come to take you back, of course. You're worrying everyone.'

"Human, I would not celebrate just yet..."

There was a small flicker in the image; a sliver of grey light flashed against Sasuke's vision like lightning before sinking back into darkness again.

Everyone, worry? Sasuke, do you realise what I've actually done?

Sasuke started to say something, but was promptly cut off as Naruto continued,

Haven't you ever done anything you regret so much, but you can't take it back? When you've promised yourself no regrets, but you find out that you've done something no one in their right mind would ever consider doing?!

Eyes flashed at Sasuke, a eerily silver glint to the usually blue eyes. He refrained from biting his lip, and instead reminded Naruto in a cool tone,

'You weren't in your right mind.'

...I...

"Uh oh."

The eyes retreated as Naruto's voice turned soft.

"What is it?"

...I never understood what it meant... to have people close to you... and when I realised what it was like... to-- to be dragged out of my hell into a whole new realm... I always thought that-- I'd-- I'd never hurt or betray my friends no matter... what--

The piercing wail shot the air for an instant, and Sasuke flinched as Naruto's voice continued,

And I never wanted to r-return-- going back seemed so-- too painful, but-- but I... I hurt her. I hurt her, Sasuke, and I can't take it back-- I--

'Naruto, it wasn't you.'

Sasuke said with as much insistence he could muster with difficulty.

No, Sasuke. It was me. I lost to-- to that bastard's will--

'Naruto, it's a full-grown demon fox-- it's not something--'

I've been fighting to control it since I knew I had Nine-Tails in me, and my resolve takes flight the second-- the second he tries to manipulate me to hurt someone precious to me! And-- and everyone--! Damn it Sasuke, I-- I--

"Sasuke-kun?!!"

Suddenly, an enormous force shoved against Sasuke, an inky wave of ice-water crashing against his torso and winding him effectively, the warmth barely clinging to him as Naruto yelled,

I DESERVE TO GO BACK TO THAT HELL!!

And Sasuke saw Naruto's expression, and felt as though everything in him were dropping out. Sasuke's response to seeing Naruto's face in full for the first time since he had entered his mind was so shocking every ounce of warmth and strength left him, and the full impact hit him in form of an immense and invisible burden that weighted his entire self down-- down--

He shut his eyes tightly as the waters swirled and churned against him, knife-like stabs of pain creeping up his spine, the cold clutching at him, pulling him down--

'Naruto, don't--!'

Sasuke's sentence was left unfinished as the icy waters swallowed him up and he disappeared. The light darkened and the waters stilled once more.





He bolted upright as he took in a deep, full breath of oxygen, faint pink and orange hues sliding into focus of a setting sky. He looked around almost wildly, and it took him a few seconds to remember what had just happened and where he was. Naruto - or perhaps he should see him as Nine-Tails - was sitting several feet away, wearing an all-knowing expression, and Sakura happened to be right behind him.

"Thank the girl, jounin,"

Nine-Tails drawled, and Sasuke noticed Naruto had darker features and five fox-tails resting a bit too casually against the rocks.

"Had she not held you from behind you would have been plastered to that tree."

Sasuke looked behind to see a slightly dazed Sakura looking at him uncertainly, her arms wrapped around his middle. He shrugged her off, looking disturbed as he glared at Nine-Tails.

"What did you do?!"

Sasuke seethed through clenched teeth, and Sakura looked surprisedly at him.

"Sasuke-kun?"

He ignored her as he moved towards Nine-Tails, but stopped as he felt something drip onto the dusty ground from himself. His fingers found their way to his ears; a thin stream of warm blood was trickling out and past his jaw to dot the ground in prominent, dark-scarlet stains. As he checked his hands, he saw drying blood crusted around his wrists.

He looked up, and Naruto held up his hands to reveal the center of his palms dribbling with blood.

"I didn't do anything. You backed out."

Nine-Tails said coldly,

"Perhaps in your full presence of mind you might have been able to wake him up properly, but apparently this puts a lot of mental strain on you. Common for humans to get internally hurt... but I am guessing that you have a lot of emotional burdens already. Perhaps it was your mentality that automatically brought you back out."

Sasuke shook his head.

"What I meant to say was, what did you do to him? He's shut himself in. And just now..."

He stopped glaring at Nine-Tails to study his wrists and rub off the drying bits of rusty colour off them, but it was obvious he was hiding something as he went on,

"Just now... I wasn't the one who moved away... Naruto ejected me."

Sakura heard the hurt in Sasuke's voice, and hesitated whether she should move to him or not. His left hand had dropped to his side, looking lost and empty, so she moved forward and slipped her hand into his, loosely clasping his hand. He did not move away, but he did not look at her either.

Recognising the warmth, Sasuke held her hand a little tighter, feeling a need to bask in familiarity for a moment.

Sasuke knew why Naruto had pushed him out of his sub-conciousness the moment he had seen Naruto's expression. It was not something he was used to seeing on anyone's face, let alone Uzumaki Naruto...

He had never seen Naruto ashamed to face him.

The troubled look on his face attracted Sakura's concern, and as Nine-Tails watched Sasuke and Sakura curiously, a diversion in the form of Hinata's return appeared. The leaves rustled as she entered the clearing once more. She was carrying something in her hands as she walked over to the others with a resolved expression on her face.





A/N: Arigatou. *bows* Arigatou. *bows* Arigatou. *bows* Ariga-- *kapow* @_@ Oro... Anyways, I mean it! And Chinese New Year, people. *^^*