Skinless

by Shivvlan

It’s said that beauty is only skin deep, and that to truly know a person you have to look beneath the flesh to the soul within the casing. SasuNaru. Almost Shounen-ai, but maybe just super-good friends.

4. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: By the power vested in me, I hereby declare this chapter disclaimed.

Author Notes: Goddamn it's cold right now. And remember: 'Dobe' is only one letter away from calling Naruto 'dove'.

I'm glad everyone started to like the story so much more after I posted up chapter two – see, I said the chapters got longer… I hope everyone enjoys this chapter too. It's been intriguing to see what everyone thinks is going on, specially when it's something that hadn't even occurred to me; it makes me laugh and look at my story from a new point of view. I love it! ^_^

Warnings: If you've gotten this far, you don't need them.

Chapter Three

They travelled, or rather fled, through the trees for the rest of the night and well past dawn. For that short time small things like pain, hunger, tiredness, the fact that Sakura wasn't waking up, or how Naruto had managed to hit the man attacking Sasuke were forgotten and Naruto led the group on a winding path that focused more on avoiding their pursuers than trying to get to their goal.

Sasuke was following behind Tsukai, who was still carrying Sakura, keeping an eye on their back trail while Naruto ranged ahead, only coming back with small warnings of what directions Sasuke should send Tsukai in before disappearing again.

Sasuke's movements were becoming more and more clumsy as he covered their back trail and the morning wore on and he knew he'd have to stop and rest soon. His arm still hadn't stopped bleeding and he could no longer feel his fingers; it needed to be tended too.

Hastening his pace slightly, Sasuke caught up with Tsukai and began to look around for Naruto; a few minutes later they came across the boy waiting in a smallish clearing.

Naruto's eyes pinned to Sasuke immediately and his gaze seemed to rake over him before he stared fixedly at where Sasuke was now clutching his left arm.

"There's a stream up ahead where you can clean that out, bandage it and give Sakura-chan some water." Naruto stated. "We should be safe for the moment, all the searchers are further west."

Sasuke nodded shortly and, with another concerned look at Sasuke's arm, Naruto began to lead the way to the stream. This time Sasuke took point and wordlessly Tsukai followed behind him.

It didn't take the small group long to reach the stream and immediately Sasuke dropped his pack tiredly beside it and slumped to the ground to rest.

"How's Sakura doing?" He said after a moment and began to rummage in his pack, one-handed, for a clean cloth to wash his wound.

"She's doing fine, she'll probably wake up soon." Tsukai said briskly and set the girl down against a tree, "But your wound…"

Sasuke winced and pulled his small medicinal kit from his pack, "It needs to be cleaned out and bandaged. It hasn't stopped bleeding, it's deep, and it's possible that our back trail can be followed because of it. I'll need your help. …Please." He added.

"Of course." Tsukai sat down beside Sasuke, walking through Naruto, Sasuke noted absently, and dipped a piece of clean cloth into the stream and then began to clean out the wound.

Sasuke kept his expression impassive but he couldn't help the small winces as the blood was roughly washed away.

"Damnit! Be careful." Naruto griped from where he was watching; so close that if he had been solid Tsukai would never have been able to see what he was doing. "I said be careful you stupid old man! What if you damage it worse, that's his arm! He needs that to work properly if you want to live through this!"

Sasuke snorted to himself in amusement then stared down at his arm. "Tsukai-san, how good are you at sewing?" he asked and the man stopped what he was doing to stare at Sasuke suspiciously.

"I can mend my shirt if it rips." He said carefully, "Why?"

"The cut is too deep," Sasuke said evenly, "it can't be left like this; I won't be able to use my arm or my hand. I have the correct supplies but I can't stitch it myself, and Sakura is unconscious. You'll have to do it."

"I…" Tsukai stared at Sasuke's arm, almost in horror, "I'm not sure if I can…"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, "Just try to keep them even and small." He said firmly, "If you mess up too badly it can be fixed by a proper healer-nin after this mission is complete; for now this is all we have."

"Oh… Do…do you have something to dull the pain…?" the old man asked uncertainly.

"Yes, but I can't use it now." Sasuke was already pulling the supplies he needed out of his kit, "I'll need to have all my wits about me if we want to get to our destination alive, or if I'm to keep you alive." He gestured at the needle and medical thread, "Just pretend you're mending your shirt. I'll be fine."

Tsukai took the items carefully, stripping them both from their hygienic bags with hands that only shook slightly and which, thankfully, steadied as he threaded them together.

As Tsukai did that, Sasuke pulled a Kunai out of the pouch on his belt, put the hilt between his teeth and clamped down firmly, then let his arm relax and helped Tsukai push the edges of the wound together.

"Are…you ready?" Tsukai asked tentatively and Sasuke nodded firmly.

"Oi, asshole. Don't pass out." Naruto said, though his voice didn't hold any of the customary hostility that would normally have laced such a comment.

Sasuke didn't even acknowledge the comment, simply closed his eyes and waited for Tsukai to begin.

It hurt like hell. Eyes closed, Sasuke tried to ignore the pain, focusing as much as he could on the Kunai clamped between his teeth and on not making any noise to alert anyone that might be nearby to their location.

Tsukai's first few stitches were hesitant, but after that he focused on trying not to hurry himself (and accidentally making things worse), on keeping his stitches precise and on keeping the wound clean so that he could see what he was doing.

After a while Sasuke had to stop helping to hold the wound shut, or risk damaging himself, and instead clamped his balled up hand tightly against his leg, barely noticing as his fingernails cut four small crescent shaped marks into the palm of his hand. He was aware of Naruto though. He didn't know what the boy was muttering about, his brain far too focused on remaining quite to bother trying to make sense of the words, but Naruto kept up a constant stream of conversation the entire time. Afterwards Sasuke wouldn't admit it, but it had helped.

What seemed like an eternity, but was probably barely half an hour, later, Tsukai tied off the thread and lowered his hand shakily.

"It's…done. Are you…okay?"

Sasuke sat for a moment breathing heavily, then nodded shortly and removed the kunai from between his aching teeth.

"Put…the needle and thread away…clean the arm…and then use some of the…medical cream on it. Then bandage it."

Tsukai nodded and followed the instructions quickly.

"Sasuke?" Naruto was tentative and Sasuke lifted his head to look at the boy who was decidedly see-through at that moment. "Are you okay?"

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow and Naruto scowled at him.

"Don't be such an ass!" the blond growled, "If you pass out, Tsukaki is screwed and we've been here too long, the search groups are beginning to get closer again."

Sasuke nodded, not even bothering to correct Naruto's mistake with Tsukai's name. "I'm fine." He murmured and turned to Tsukai again. "We need to get moving, quickly. Clean everything here up, clean the blood on the ground up as best you can, then get Sakura."

Tsukai nodded and Sasuke pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the stabbing pain from his newly bandaged arm and the fact that his head tried to swim off without him.

But Naruto noticed. "Are you sure you're alright, asshole? I can look for somewhere for us to lay low."

"I'm fine." Sasuke said through gritted teeth and swung his pack up onto his back. "We need to get a move on, we've wasted enough time and the pain will ease in a few minutes."

"Idiot!"

"Hn."

"We can go any time, young man." Tsukai unconsciously interjected into the 'argument' and Sasuke nodded and glared at Naruto.

"Fine! But if you all die and I have to walk home alone I will so track you down when I die and kick your arse."

"Baka." Sasuke replied lightly, too low probably for even Naruto to hear as the boy spun on his heel and led them away from the stream.

It took longer than Sasuke anticipated but after a while the throbbing in his arm died down enough so that he could ignore it. It didn't stop Naruto from constantly hovering nearby though, a scowl on his face to rival one of Sasuke's worst.

Sasuke ignored him for a while and then gestured slightly for the boy to come over. He'd almost forgotten in the 'excitement' from the night before, but now he was determined to figure out how to sense their pursuers.

"What?" Naruto grouched and Sasuke smirked slightly.

"Describe what the enemy feels like." He asked quietly.

Naruto blinked at him, "What?"

"Well, you've been saying that the enemy feels 'strange' and it has something to do with the way they've been hiding themselves, tell me what they feel like."

"Hmmm…" Naruto tilted his head to the side in thought, "Dark. They feel like they're surrounded by darkness; murky pools of it. Like thick, nasty fog."

"Hn. Where is the nearest group of them?"

"That way." Naruto pointed off into the trees, "About a mile."

Sasuke nodded and concentrated, sending his thoughts out to see if he could sense any Chakra in that direction. Unsurprisingly he could feel nothing except for the normal animals, birds and things that were supposed to be there. Sasuke changed what he was searching for. Instead of trying to sense Chakra he concentrated on the electrical feeling he'd felt when he'd sensed Naruto.

Immediately Naruto's presence at his side flashed into his mind, but he ignored it, instead focusing on trying to find an electrical feeling that felt like Naruto had described it. He let his mind roam left and right, further away from where they were with each pass, touching everything that felt even a little like it…

"Baka!"

Sasuke stopped walking suddenly, his eyes flashing open even though he didn't even remember shutting them and stared at the tree he'd almost walked into. Almost, except that for a brief second a hand had been planted firmly in the centre of his chest before suddenly passing through him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto exclaimed and pointed at him, "Pay attention!"

Sasuke ignored Naruto's yelling and rubbed the place on his chest where Naruto had touched him. "I felt your hand."

Naruto stopped yelling and scowled. "Yeah."

Sasuke just stared at him, waiting for him to explain.

"I've been practising all morning," Naruto said grudgingly, "since I hit that guy who almost…almost got you. It's hard to do though. And I can't do it for long." He finished quickly.

"How?" Sasuke demanded and Naruto screwed up his face in thought.

"It's like…like…walking on water. My Chakra doesn't flow like it used to so I didn't think I could control it, but if I concentrate really, really hard and try to keep the pressure even, then I can touch things. …It makes me tired though."

Sasuke just stared at Naruto until Tsukai politely coughed behind him.

"I think Sakura-san is waking up." He said.

With a last, intense look at Naruto's semi-solid form, Sasuke turned to where Tsukai had set Sakura on the ground, her back propped against a tree, and watched as the girl did, indeed, regain consciousness.

"Sakura-san?" Tsukai shook the girl's shoulder gently until she opened her eyes and stared at him blurrily.

"…Tsu...kai-san?"

"Can you walk?" Sasuke said quickly, half with impatience.

Sakura shook her head a little to clear it and looked at Sasuke over Tsukai's shoulder, then nodded. "I…I think so, yes. Where…are we?" She asked as Tsukai assisted her to her feet and helped her take a few steps forward.

"A few miles from where we camped. We're being pursued, you need to move fast." Sasuke answered and turned his head slightly to the left, his eyes scanning the forest, "We can't stay here."

Sakura nodded and motioned for Tsukai to hand her the pack he'd been carrying for her, "I'm fine now."

Sasuke nodded and turned around, his eyes searching out Naruto as he began to walk quickly through the trees again.

"I could sense them less than a half mile or so away, have they moved closer?" he asked quietly as soon as he got close to the boy.

Naruto blinked, "You actually sensed them? I thought you would have been to busy walking into that tree to notice."

Sasuke glared at Naruto in annoyance, "Yes, though not very well. Maybe if I'd had more time to concentrate…"

Naruto snorted in amusement but closed his eyes briefly, "They've moved closer; we should move further east. But not far, there's another group coming."

"Damn…" Sasuke weighed their options. If they kept moving they'd get closer to their destination, but on the very real chance they were attacked again they would be weak, vulnerable. He could tell from a brief look at Sakura that the girl was still woozy, her steps anything but even, and he knew himself to be overtired. His nerves were wire-taunt and, as proved by his almost walking into a tree, his senses weren't up to optimum. They needed rest.

"Naruto, keep a look out for a good place to rest." He said finally, "If we get caught by either one of those groups, I don't think I can get us out again." The confession was grudging, but Naruto nodded without comment and took off into the forest.

While Naruto scouted, Sasuke contented himself with ignoring his throbbing arm and rapidly tiring limbs, and learnt to use his 'new' way of sensing.

It was hard at first, to an extent he almost felt like he was turning his brain inside-out, but it got easier the more he persisted.

Occasionally Naruto checked back, reporting that he hadn't found anywhere even halfway safe yet, or warning about the upcoming terrain, but he quickly figured out that Sasuke was getting a grip on being able to sense the enemy so his trips back became less and less as he searched further afield for a place to lay low.

The sun was dropping rapidly out of the sky when Naruto did come back, his expression set in one of near panic, then sudden confusion as he appeared, as if from thin air, in front of Sasuke and caused the black-haired boy to jump backwards slightly, a kunai raised.

"Naruto?" Sasuke glared at the other boy and forced himself to relax, slipping his kunai back into its pouch.

"Sasuke-kun…is something wrong?" Sakura asked tiredly from a few feet away and Sasuke shook his head.

"Startled." He murmured loud enough for her to hear and finally took in the expression on Naruto's face. "What?"

"Where are they? I swear I felt them here suddenly." Naruto's eyes were darting around, trying to pierce the gathering darkness under the trees.

"Hn. So it worked." Sasuke replied and turned around to face Sakura and Tsukai. "Sit down for a minute." He said and then walked a few feet away where he could talk to Naruto without being overheard.

"What worked?" Naruto demanded, "One minute the nearest group to you was a mile behind you, then suddenly they're on top of you! What the hell happened?"

"Baka." Sasuke rubbed his eyes tiredly and leaned back against a tree, trying to gain as much rest as he could, "I just wanted to see if I could pull off whatever Jutsu those guys are doing. I wasn't sure if it worked though." He paused, "Guess it did."

"Bastard! You could have warned me, I nearly had a heart attack!"

"Thanks for worrying." Sasuke said, amused and Naruto scowled at him.

"So you can do their Jutsu now, can you?" Naruto finally said and glared at Sasuke who was rapidly loosing form, blending into the shadows as the sun dropped lower behind the horizon.

"Yeah." Sasuke closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the tree behind him, "But not right now. I'm out of energy; I need sleep. Did you find somewhere?"

"Yeah, we won't be able to stay there long though; a couple of hours at best."

Sasuke sighed and dragged his much protesting eyelids open again, "Let's go then, so we can make the most of our few hours."

A few minutes later had Sasuke, Sakura and Tsukai quickly wending their way through trees that were growing increasingly close together and foliage that seemed obsessed with trying to hinder their movements. Luckily it didn't take them long to reach the spot Naruto had found and the three dropped their packs in exhaustion as soon as they got there then fell to the ground straight after them.

As soon as he had stopped moving, Sasuke found himself fighting a loosing battle against sleep, but he struggled to keep his eyes open anyway. They still needed to set a watch and a quick glance at Sakura and Tsukai revealed that the two had already passed out from weariness.

"I'll keep watch." Naruto's voice was right beside Sasuke's ear but the black-haired boy didn't even twitch at the sudden sound, his body simply too tired to waste it's energy on something as insignificant as being startled.

"What'll you do if we're attacked?" Sasuke's voice was slightly slurred from exhaustion but he ignored it and tried to get to his feet.

"Wake you up." Naruto said firmly and suddenly Sasuke felt a hand grab onto his good arm and yank him back down. "Now be a good boy and go to sleep. You're the only chance these two have so you have too."

Sasuke wanted to argue. He really wanted to argue. But he couldn't sum up the energy to get anything coherent out of his mouth. He settled for making a wordless sound of annoyance that sounded weak and tired, even to his own ears.

Again right next to his ear, Naruto laughed quietly. "Stubborn idiot."

It really was a losing battle, Sasuke reflected as Naruto pushed him over to land with his head on his pack.

"It's not that cold, so you won't freeze to death without a blanket." Naruto said softly and Sasuke thought he might have felt a ghostly fingertip brush over his forehead, "And don't worry about the watch; I promise to wake you if anything happens, and Uzumaki Naruto always keeps his word…"

Sasuke's brain barely even comprehended the words, his eyelids falling closed of their own accord and his body shutting down on him, plunging him into a dreamless black void.

--

When he woke again the world was still caught in the half-gloom it had been in when he'd fallen asleep and for a confused moment he wondered how he could feel so well rested after only sleeping for a few moments; then his brain came up with a more logical answer. He'd slept all night.

As soon as the thought occurred to him, Sasuke was sitting bolt upright, his arm throbbing at the sudden movement. He looked around.

Sakura and Tsukai were where he'd seen them last, the steady raise and fall of the there chests proclaiming them to still be sleeping soundly. Naruto was nowhere to be seen.

What were they still doing here? Before he'd gone to sleep the night before he had definitely heard Naruto assure him that the blond would wake him, so why hadn't he?

Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, his mind searching the area quickly for enemies, and for Naruto. He found both quickly. Naruto was close by, barely a few meters from the 'camp' and approaching it steadily. The enemy was further off (thankfully), one group was somewhere to the east of them and another to the south.

"How are you feeling?"

Sasuke turned annoyed eyes to Naruto and glared, "It's dawn, why didn't you wake me?" he demanded.

Naruto dropped into a crouch and shrugged, "It was safe enough to stay here and you needed to rest. Even you can't keep up the pace we've been going at with only a few hours sleep here and there. How's your arm?"

"Fine." Sasuke replied curtly and climbed to his feet, moving over to wake Tsukai and Sakura. In truth it was feeling stiff and sore, but his entire body felt like that. Really, all he could do was endure it and wait till the mission was over.

Sakura woke immediately with the touch to her shoulder and sat up to look around alertly as the area they were in lightened. Tsukai was slightly harder to wake, taking a moment of constant shaking to get his attention enough to make him open his eyes.

"It's morning." Sasuke said shortly, explaining the situation, mainly to Sakura, in as few words as possible. "We need to get moving. Get something to eat as we move, as soon as we leave this spot we'll need our wits about us."

Sakura nodded, and covered a small yawn as she and Tsukai followed the orders.

Ignoring Naruto, Sasuke also pulled his pack open and pulled out something to eat, then closed it and slung it up onto his back and quickly began to eat.

Naruto glared at him but as soon as Tsukai and Sakura were on their feet he began to tell Sasuke about the terrain that surrounded them.

It wasn't promising. Ahead of them the forest grew deeper and closer, though they wouldn't have to worry about slogging through miles of undergrowth, since there wasn't enough sunlight or space for it to grow. The forest to the west was likewise impossibly thick, and going back was out of the question. They had only a single choice really. East, back towards the road that was most likely the most heavily guarded area. They didn't have a choice.

"Let's go." Sasuke said after a moment and led the way from their small haven, angling away from where he could feel the groups of searchers moving, hoping to miss the group to the east by moving to the north-east for a while.

Their pace was better as the day brightened around them (as much as it could through the overlapping leaves of the trees above them), much better than it had been when they were so exhausted the night before. They made good time and it wasn't long before Sasuke had to turn them full north to avoid the eastern group that was rapidly growing nearer to them. When they'd left the 'camp' Sasuke had decided to use the enemies own trick against them and he now allowed a small amount of his Chakra to create a nullifying shield around them; though this time he remembered to warn Naruto first.

They managed to keep moving until mid-morning like that but they were soon forced to halt their trek as Naruto and Sasuke once again 'discussed' the terrain and the locations of their pursuers.

"…We can't get around them! They've got us surrounded in front." Naruto stated firmly and Sasuke frowned at him. He wasn't really frowning at the other boy, more at the fact that he was right.

Somehow their enemy had managed to funnel Sasuke and his group into a small space that made it impossible for them to move forward, but Sasuke refused to go back.

"There has to be a way to slip through." He stated, "We can sense them and I can block them from sensing us…"

"They've already figured out that we can sense them." Naruto said, scowling, "They just adjusted they strategy to match that. Going forward is a trap."

"So is going back!" Sasuke growled.

"Damnit!" Naruto slammed his fist at a nearby tree, the punch connecting for a brief moment before passing through and making the boy stagger slightly.

Sasuke sighed and leaned back against the tree behind him. They couldn't go forward, they couldn't go back, and they couldn't stay where they were either. So what could they do?

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke's head snapped up at Naruto's sudden shout and the boy pointed frantically towards the south.

"The bastards have pinned us in!" Naruto exclaimed and Sasuke immediately snapped his senses out and then swore. Naruto was right, while they'd been arguing over the correct course to take another group of the enemy had moved in behind them, effectively boxing them in from all four sides.

"They can sense us." Sasuke stated matter-of-factly, "Or some of them can, or else they wouldn't have been able to do this. We have to get moving."

"What a great idea." Naruto snapped, "But which way?!"

Sasuke didn't even pause, simply pulled his pack more firmly onto his back, checked his weapons and marched back to where he'd left Sakura and Tsukai. "Every direction is equally as dangerous, so we may as well go straight ahead." He said grimly.

And straight ahead they went, though they didn't get far. Barely five minutes into their cautious travelling, Sasuke stopped them then readjusted their direction to head northeast, hoping to slip between the northern group and the eastern one. Luck didn't seem to be with them though as Naruto, who was watching the eastern group while Sasuke focused on the northern one, reported that a section of the group had broken away and was heading straight for them.

"We'll keep going," Sasuke decided, "and get as far away from the main groups as we can. If we only have to deal with small groups then maybe we can slip passed, the further away we get, the longer it'll take them to get other groups to us."

And so they moved, trying not to run and waste their strength as they attempted to slip between the two main groups and avoid the smaller group at the same time.

The entire time Sasuke decided to keep the nullifying Jutsu active, determined to make it as hard as possible for their enemy to find them as he could and he went back to relying on Naruto for their directions as he worked to conserve his Chakra.

It was just past noon when the smaller group finally caught up to them.

Launching themselves out of the trees at the apparently alone and unprepared black-haired boy, this group was slightly different than the ones Sasuke had encountered before. They didn't seem to travel in pairs as the others had and their clothing was a motley hodgepodge of various things. Obviously they were mercenary's, paid to take down Sasuke so that the leader of whoever was after Tsukai didn't loose anymore of his own ninja's.

Sasuke stood still in the centre of a largish clearing and simply watched, a smirk on his face, as the first of the group came flying at him, brandishing weapons that were as motley as their wielders clothing.

A few of them seemed to have enough brains not to trust in the appearance of a smirking, undefended kid standing calmly facing his certain death and those bright ones who suddenly chose to hang back were saved a quick trip to the 'other-side' as all around the parameter of the clearing explosions threw short rains of dirt and dead branches into the air as the first to leave the trees triggered the Explosion Notes that Sakura had carefully set earlier.

There was sudden silence in the forest as those who hadn't been caught in the explosions stopped and reassessed their target. Sasuke simply let his smirk widen and with taunting slowness he drew two Kunai from his belt-pouch and took one in each hand, then moved into a very clear battle stance and waited.

In the end Sasuke and his group had run. Ahead of them, Naruto had found a place where even Sakura on her own could easily defend Tsukai for a while and they had decided to make for it and hopefully get rid of the smaller group that was on their trail. Running hadn't taken much of their stamina and had given them the time they needed to hide Tsukai and Sakura and to set up the area with small traps, like the Explosion Notes.

Sasuke had hoped to take out more of their pursuers with that trick, but he couldn't help but be satisfied with the amount that had been eliminated. Any cutting down of the numbers was a bonus.

"I wish we hadn't had to do that." Naruto said, his voice slightly void of emotion from where he stood beside Sasuke.

Sasuke turned his head slightly to look out of the corner of his eyes at the boy as he waited for the dirt-rain to finish falling. No, Naruto never had liked the idea of having to kill, or of having to win a fight through tricks; but even he understood that in this situation they didn't have a choice.

"They knew what they were in for when they came after us." Sasuke murmured, an attempt at assuaging his own guilt as well as Naruto's.

Naruto stayed silent, his gaze turning to look behind Sasuke, guarding his back as the dirt and dust finally settled, and Sasuke drew his weapons and made himself ready. They hadn't been able to set many other traps and Sasuke hoped that he and Naruto would be enough to eliminate the group that was still left without having to resort to using them.

When a closer assessment of the youth standing boldly in the centre of the clearing revealed that he was still just as alone now as he had been earlier one or two of the men began to inch forward, their eyes now on the lookout for further tricks as they moved forward.

Sasuke remained still, his smirk in place as he watched their nervous looks, then his smirk grew wider as, apparently finding everything to his satisfaction, or simply growing impatient, someone attempted to rush Sasuke from behind. The black-haired boy didn't even turn around and to the complete bemusement of everyone watching the rushing man was suddenly halted in his tracks and thrown backwards to slam into a tree and slide to the ground unconscious.

There was another long silence in which Sasuke met the eyes of every man he could see and then, very deliberately, activated his Sharingan and launched himself into an attack.

It only took Sasuke a few seconds to get to the edge of the clearing and he was pleased to note that in that few seconds a couple of the men who had watched him activate his Sharingan had lost their nerve and fled, some even discarding their weapons in their rush to get away from the apparent demon flinging itself at them.

Unfortunately many more of the men simply tightened their grips on their weapons and soon Sasuke's rush was stopped in a clash of steel and a growl as his first opponent leapt to meet him.

"…Little brat!" the man made a kick for Sasuke's stomach, forcing the boy to leap backwards, then followed him quickly, his weapon, a sword, held firmly in two hands as he attacked. Sasuke ignored him, leaving the man to Naruto's expert care. Instead he leapt back further, dodging a thrown weapon then dived to the right and leapt up into a tree taking out the would-be marksman with a quick blow to the side of the head, then he dropped back out of the tree his kunai leading the way as he landed on top of another man, also taking him out with a well placed hit.

So far so good.

Screams back near the clearing prompted Sasuke to head back in that direction and he was greeted by the peculiar sight of men, eyes wide in fright, flailing about with their weapons, taking out many of their own people as they sort to protect themselves from an apparently invisible menace. In the middle of it all, Naruto was grinning fiercely and threading his way through the group, knocking out fighters as opportunities presented themselves.

Sasuke only had a moment to examine the scene. He felt the movement of the weapon through the air more than he sensed the attack itself and narrowly avoided getting a Shirukin through the neck by ducking quickly and rolling behind a tree. That created its own problems however as his expert reflexes landed him next to a man wielding an axe who had been hiding in ambush.

Sasuke and the man simply stared at each other for a moment, then both dived away from the shelter of the tree, weapons up in defence, sure the other was going to attack. When the man figured out that Sasuke wasn't going to attack he paused, but Sasuke kept on moving, running straight into the foliage and disappearing as the Shiruken thrower from earlier hurled another deadly volley at the space where Sasuke had been and hit the axe-man instead.

There were to many of them Sasuke realised as he paused, his back up against a tree trunk and he sensed the air around him. No matter where he went there were people ready to kill him. Normally he would consider the forest his optimal place to fight; he'd been raised in Konoha and trained in the forests surrounding it, but just as it created places for Sasuke to hide, manoeuvre and attack from, it also created those opportunities for his opponents and there was a far greater number of them than there was of him.

His other option was to go back to the clearing, there he'd have Naruto to safely watch his back and he'd be able to see just about every attack made on him; if his enemy wanted to attack, they would have to come out of hiding; but then he took the risk of being overwhelmed from all sides. Also he'd have nothing to shield himself with in case of distance attacks, he wouldn't be able to stop to think of new tactics, he'd only have time to fight.

Carefully, Sasuke slipped himself out from behind his tree and caught of glimpse of the now near empty clearing. Naruto was dealing with a last few men, but the rest had fled into the forest and were either were still running or had gone into hiding. Other than that the forest was silent.

The only way to draw their enemy out and eliminate them before reinforcements arrived was to make himself a target. Sasuke winced at the poor strategy of it all even as he made his move, running out into the clearing to help Naruto dispatch the last of the braver men who had attacked.

"Are you hurt?" Was Naruto's immediate demand as Sasuke appeared beside him and Sasuke shook his head quickly. He'd yet to take any new wounds and he was careful not to show how much his left arm was paining him.

"If we want to get this over quickly, we need to draw them out." Sasuke said as he rapped a few of the unconscious men on the head again to 'make sure' of them, then pushed them out of the way, his eyes scanning the trees as he moved. "They're to well hidden in the trees."

"They could try to overwhelm us with numbers." Naruto pointed out.

Sasuke stopped scanning the forest long enough to smirk at him, "Have we ever been overwhelmed?"

Naruto grinned, "Uzumaki Naruto doesn't get overwhelmed!" the blond stated loudly.

"Heh. Here they come."

Sasuke lowered himself into a crouch as men began to filter out of the trees, the boys apparently nonchalant clearing of space being too much of a temptation to ignore.

Transferring his second kunai to his left hand, Sasuke dived his hand quickly into his leg holster and took out the first three men coming at him with some well thrown Shiruken, then he moved the blade back and met the next in line with a lightning quick dodge and expert stab in the side that had him down in seconds.

Behind him he could hear the sounds of men in pain as the attackers hoping to catch Sasuke from behind met the same fate as the first who had tried such an attack. He could see fear in the eyes of the men who came at him boldly, from the front. Their attacks were distracted as their eyes flickered uncertainly to the sight of men apparently hurling themselves in various directions then back in time to meet the gaze of the boy with eyes the shade of blood.

Still, still there were to many. Even with those that were defeated, those that had fled and those that hung back with the fear of demons put into them, there were still to many of them. Sasuke sported many shallow, unavoidable, wounds now that, while they weren't anywhere near deadly or debilitating, were proof that the two boys probably wouldn't able to hold out. Not unless they did something to change the tides.

It was about now that Sasuke would have relied on Naruto's Kage buushin no jutsu; it would have turned the tide. But it wasn't an option. That left him with one other.

Sacrificing the weapons he held, Sasuke hurled them ahead of him, catching the next two men running at him in the neck and gut respectively. At the hits the two men pitched backwards slamming into the ones running behind them, making them fall in a tangle of blood and limbs. Sasuke didn't even pause to make sure they were down. Quickly he brought his hands up before him and preformed some of the first seals he'd ever learnt.

"Kanton!" Sasuke finished the final seal and looked up at the approaching enemy as he lifted his left hand to his mouth, "Goukakyu no Jutsu!"

"What the hell?!" Sasuke paid Naruto's exclamation no mind as he gently breathed Chakra through his circled thumb and forefinger.

Instantly a roaring wave of flame rolled out over the men that had been running at him so quickly. Pushing more Chakra into the Jutsu, Sasuke spun himself around in a full circle, singeing the grass around him along with any not fast enough to get out of the way.

When he finally reached the position he'd been in when he began the move, Sasuke ended the Jutsu and evaluated the situation. He'd hit quite a few of the men that had been coming from the trees and many of them had stupidly run into the forest searching for water, while others had simply hurled themselves to the ground, struggling to put the flames out by rolling and smothering them.

Those who hadn't been caught were once again keeping a safe distance.

"You almost hit me with that, asshole!"

Sasuke couldn't help a short laugh as he pulled two more Kunai from his belt pouch and watched their enemy carefully, "Would it have mattered if I did?"

Naruto seethed, "It's the principal of the thing, damn you!"

Sasuke laughed again, a low chuckle as he ducked quickly to catch a Kunai, complete with Explosion Note attached, that had been thrown at him and hurl it back before it could detonate. "Don't worry, I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"Hmph!"

The exploding kunai hit a tree and the people around it scattered as it did what it was supposed to and blasted the tree to splinters, forcing Sasuke drop to one knee and lift his arms to guard against any stray woodchips and branches.

It was in that brief moment of vulnerability that a shadow fell over him and he felt a presence standing directly in front of him. His hands tightened on his weapons and he tensed himself for attack.

"Kakashi-sensei!!!"

Sasuke's head snapped up at Naruto's shout and he stared at the man standing over him.

The man stood, one hand in his pocket and the other held up in greeting, his single visible eye turned upwards in a smile.

"Yo."

"Ka…Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke blinked in shock then his head turned to the side as Naruto started yelling.

"…Hey! Those are our bad guys! What do you think you're doing? We could take them! Damnit! Shikamaru?! Go find your own fight! Argh!"

Everywhere Sasuke looked there seemed to be leaf-nin's appearing, chasing the rapidly dwindling group of mercenary's out of hiding and fighting them where necessary.

Sasuke turned his uncomprehending gaze back to where Kakashi was still standing over him and let his battle senses fade even as they tested the aura before him and confirmed that yes, this was Hatake Kakashi.

"Why are you here?"

From what Sasuke could see of his teachers expression the man seemed to be looking him over for injury's, "I think it would be better to explain when Tsukai and Sakura are around too." He paused, "I gather they're hiding somewhere and you haven't simply lost them."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke watched Naruto suddenly stand up straight and point an accusing finger in Kakashi's direction, "Bastard-sensei! Why are you stealing our fight!?"

Sasuke ignored him, "Hiding." He confirmed.

"Are you injured? Tsunande-sama insisted we bring a healer-nin."

Sasuke shook his head and pulled himself to his feet, finally allowing his muscles to relax and put his kunai away. "Nothing that can't wait."

"Bastard!" Naruto left off his loud ranting over the fight-theft to pin Sasuke with an accusing glare, "Make them look at your arm!"

Kakashi nodded slightly to Sasuke then looked around and gestured for Shikamaru to take over, "We need to talk to Sakura and Tsukai quickly." Kakashi said, his voice unusually serious. A tone that made even Naruto stop talking.

Sasuke paused for a moment then nodded and led the way from the clearing, heading for the narrow cave where he'd left the rest of his group. It took them a few minutes to get there but when they did Sakura bounded out immediately, obviously having been keeping a discreet watch.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?" She paused suddenly, "…Kakashi-sensei?"

"Sakura." Kakashi's eyes moved over Sakura quickly and then moved to the older man stepping out of the cave behind her. "Tsukai-san."

"Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura looked over at Sasuke uncertainly then back again, "Why are you here?"

"Rescuing you, of course." Kakashi smiled, but his eyes fell on Sasuke briefly before he looked back at the girl.

"…Rescuing?"

"The day after you and Sasuke left an urgent message arrived for Tsukai warning him of added danger to his trip home." Kakashi made himself comfortable leaning against a nearby tree and put his hands in his pockets, "We were advised to up the mission to A, or S class and a warning of a certain type of Jutsu was given. The Fifth decided the best course was to send two teams to support you; we've been tracking you for a few days, but couldn't get to you directly till now."

"Oh…" Sakura absorbed the knowledge, "But why are you here, Sensei? Didn't you have a mission?"

"I did." Kakashi's expression grew grave again, "But it was given to another and I was asked specifically to come retrieve the two of you." He paused slightly to look at Tsukai then went on, "There have been some complications, with Naruto."

"What?!" Naruto had been glaring at Kakashi from Sasuke's side, but suddenly he exploded forward towards the older man, "What's wrong with me? What complications? What?!"

Sasuke's eyes had widened but he'd managed to restrain himself from any kind of outburst except for an echoing of Naruto's overly loud question. "What?"

Kakashi lifted a hand and rubbed at the side of his cloth covered nose, "I'm not sure exactly. After you left it seemed like his energy began to leak out of him, at the rate he was going even the fifth wasn't sure if he could survive it. By now…"

The man trailed off as his two students, or rather three students, stared at him in shock.

"Since we left…" Sasuke said his eyes moving to where Naruto was standing deadly still, "Since we left… We have to go back!"

He was suddenly aware of everyone's eyes on him but he ignored them, rushing into the cave quickly to grab his pack and slinging it onto his back as he came running back out again. If Naruto's energy drain had been happening since they left, then it had been happening since Naruto left, getting Naruto back as quickly as possible would stop it.

Sasuke pinned his eyes to Kakashi as he cleared the entrance of the cave, "Now!" he insisted and Kakashi nodded, once.

"Sakura…"

"No!" the word came out sharper than he intended but he ignored it, "We have to move quickly, as quickly as possible. Sakura, stay with Tsukai-san and complete the mission."

"But…"

Sasuke ignored Sakura's protest and began to move through the trees quickly.

"Ahh… Hatake-san! Please, before you go; a word!" Sasuke stopped walking and glared back at Tsukai who had rushed forward quickly. "It'll only take a minute." Tsukai assured Sasuke and pulled Kakashi off to the side to speak to him lowly.

Sasuke chaffed at the delay but held his peace for the moment.

"S…Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned his head to the side and looked at Naruto who was white as the proverbial sheet.

"Sasuke why…?"

"If it only started happening since we left then it's because you left your body." Sasuke said shortly, "Because you followed me, baka!"

Colour flooded back into Naruto features in an instant, "Damnit! I had to follow you, you weren't listening to me and…and you can see me!"

Sasuke scowled at a nearby tree, "I know…"

"Well I know why I have to go back, but why are you?" Naruto demanded.

"Baka!" Sasuke snapped his gaze back to Naruto, "Who knows if simply getting you near your body will help? You need to get back into it and I'm the only one who can figure out how to reverse that Jutsu, I'm the only one with enough information!"

Naruto was silent for a minute, mulling Sasuke's answer over. "What…what if…"

"We'll get there in time." Sasuke stated firmly and went back to glaring at the nearby tree.

"Yeah…" Naruto's voice was a little shaky but gained confidence as he spoke, "Yeah, we will! No stupid Jutsu can keep down the great Uzumaki Naruto, we'll get there and show it just who's strongest!"

Sasuke's mouth tightened slightly and he glared over at Kakashi who had finally finished his conversation with Tsukai and was making his way over.

"Let's go." Kakashi said and Sasuke nodded, taking to the treetops as a faster mode of travel aiming himself at the road. Keeping himself concealed against attacks would be easier now he didn't have Tsukai and Sakura with him so they could afford to head straight for the easiest path of travel and luckily Kakashi let him lead without protest, settling for following close behind and keeping to his own thoughts.

The first stage of their rushed travelling was silent as the sun slowly moved from it's noon position and crept its way across the sky towards evening. The silence was broken briefly when Kakashi suggested stopping for rest, but Sasuke refused, determined to reach the road before he rested.

It was near too, maybe even after, midnight by the time they managed that and Sasuke silently thanked Naruto for making him sleep so long the night before. Kakashi stopped them before they reached the road and settled his self comfortably on a tree branch to rest.

"Sleep." He ordered, "We don't move again until sunrise."

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched but he remained silent and followed the orders, he wouldn't be able to figure out the Jutsu, and its reversal, if he was too tired to think straight.

Following Kakashi's example, Sasuke found himself a relatively sturdy branch and made himself comfortable on it and a moment later Naruto joined him, watching him until Sasuke finally opened his eyes and glared at him, "What?"

"We probably won't have any trouble on the road." Naruto said, "Shikamaru started moving a few hours ago and all the groups after Tsukai went after them."

"Hn." Sasuke made the sound dismissively and closed his eyes again…then opened them to keep glaring at Naruto. "What?"

Naruto fidgeted slightly then shook his head, turning away. "Nothing. Get some rest."

"Hn." Sasuke closed his eyes. It was hard to go to sleep though, when he could feel Naruto's oddly electric aura so close and heavy he almost felt like he was drowning, or suffocating. Sasuke's lips tightened slightly and he tucked his hands under his arms to keep them warm.

"Don't worry, Naruto." Sasuke said softly, his eyes still closed, "We'll start working on the Jutsu while we move tomorrow so we know what we're doing when we get there. You're to strong and stubborn to give in, so everything will be fine."

"Yeah…" The heaviness around him lifted slightly. "That's exactly right. Strong and stubborn, that's me."

Sasuke snorted in amusement then let his mind go blank, settling it for sleep. Naruto didn't have to worry. They would get there in time; even if he had to run without rest for the next few days he would get there in time. Nothing would stop him.

--

They were on the move again before the sun had even contemplated rising. By the time it had poked its head above the horizon, Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto had covered more ground then Sasuke's group had the previous day entirely and Sasuke was determined that they weren't going to stop until night short of Kakashi tackling him to the ground and tying him to a tree.

Luck wasn't with him though and they ended up stopping around midmorning.

"Why are we stopping?" Sasuke demanded the instant he got close enough to Kakashi for the man to hear him.

"I want to scout around a bit." Kakashi's expression brooked no argument, "Stay here."

"But…" The frustrated protest fell on deaf ears as Kakashi quickly disappeared into the foliage and Sasuke had to settle for glaring at the greenery where the man had been.

Scouting, they couldn't afford the time it would take to scout. Intellectually, he knew it had to be done. They couldn't be completely sure they weren't being followed, or that they weren't heading straight into a trap.

But every second they were standing still was a second they should be using to get closer to Naruto, and it wasn't just his own anxiousness that said that. Since they had awakened in the dark hours of the early morning Sasuke had been able to hear Naruto, never more than a step or two behind him, muttering to himself. Sasuke wasn't completely sure what the blond was trying to do, but he figured it had something to do with attempting to sense his body all the miles away back in Konoha. From the increasingly colourful tone to his language though, Sasuke was sure the blonde wasn't succeeding.

"Have you figured out anything about that Jutsu yet?" Naruto demanded abruptly and Sasuke started, turning to look at the boy.

"Not yet." Though not from lack of trying. He'd spent their entire trip that morning analysing what he knew of the Jutsu and only small pieces of it seemed to fit; the signs Naruto had shown him were to inexact for him to figure it out easily.

"What do you mean 'not yet'?!" Naruto said vehemently, "I thought you said you could figure the damned Jutsu out before we got back!"

"I'm working on it, Naruto." Sasuke bit back and found himself locked into a glaring competition with the other boy that was making his eyes water as Naruto's form kept wavering in and out of solid vision.

"Well work faster! What the hell am I going to do if we get back and we can't do anything?!"

"I said I'd figure it out and I will!"

"Oh sure you will, because you're Mister Perfect and Mister Perfect always figures things out, right?"

Sasuke bit back his first retort, and his second. And then for good measure his third. Gritting his teeth he forcibly reminded himself, it wasn't Naruto's fault. Regardless of what either of them said it didn't stop the fact that Naruto's physical body was miles away, dying inch-by-inch and that they had no way of knowing what kind of condition he was in until they actually got there. Naruto couldn't be blamed for lashing out in the only direction it was possible for him to.

Sasuke broke the staring contest and put a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes.

"Naruto…I'm trying. I will figure it out before we get there and not because I'm…I'm perfect. We both know I'm not. I'll figure it out because I have too; I won't let anything happen to you."

"So you say!"

That did it.

"Damn it, Naruto!" Sasuke's hand lashed out and slammed into the trunk of the tree behind them, rushing passed Naruto's head and causing the boy to automatically flinch away heedless of whether the punch would actually hit him or not. Sasuke glared at Naruto from barely an inch away from his face and struggled to keep his eyes on the boy that was a lot more see-through close up, "Do you honestly think I would let anything happen to you?" he said forcefully, "After all this time? After all the missions we've completed together?"

Naruto looked away, scowling. "We're not on a mission now, I'm not that important. Besides," Naruto looked back at Sasuke, a bitter smile twisting his lips, "you'd probably be happy if I died. I'm the most annoying of your rivals, right? If I were gone you could concentrate on training to fight people a bit more worthy of your notice."

"Baka." Sasuke's eyes flashed red with the Sharingan as he gave up on attempting to pick out Naruto's fuzzy form and the boy swam into solidity immediately. He caught Naruto's eyes with his own, and held them. "I would not be happy if you died. I…" he grit his teeth together and tried not to growl. Why did Naruto always have to make things so difficult? They'd been teamed together for four years. They had fought everything from missing-nin's and A-class criminals to summoned creatures and demons, but in spite of it all Naruto still acted as if they were twelve years old, fighting over who had the stronger Jutsu's or who would defeat which foe.

He should have known by now that Sasuke would far sooner chop of his own arm than allow Naruto to get hurt. It made him angry that Naruto hadn't noticed, but what was making him angrier was that because the idiot had failed to see these things Sasuke was having to tell him. Aloud.

"I…" Sasuke tried again then shook his head, "It doesn't matter if this is a mission or not, if you're annoying or not, or if you think you're worthy to be my rival or not. What matters is that it's you. You're in trouble, you need my help and there's no way I'd let you die. Nothing Naruto, nothing will stop me from figuring out how to reverse the Jutsu used on you; no matter what, I won't let anything stop me from bringing you back."

"…Sasuke." Naruto suddenly looked like he was about to burst into tears and Sasuke turned away hastily, taking a few steps and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You won't die, okay? So could we just concentrate on figuring out this Jutsu and getting back to Konoha, instead of fighting pointlessly."

"S…sure." Naruto's voice wavered slightly, "I…I really thought…thought that…" He paused. "Sasuke, th…thanks."

Sasuke let the Sharingan deactivate and fixed his gaze on a patch of grass, "Hn. Baka."

The next few moments passed in a comfortable silence and was only broken by a slight rustle of leaves signalling Kakashi's return.

"Ready to go?" the man inquired lightly and Sasuke nailed him with a fierce glare.

"Find anything?" he asked in annoyance as they began to move again.

Kakashi lifted an eyebrow in amusement, "A trail here and there, nothing in the last twenty-four hours though."

"Hn."

"Do you think he really went scouting?" Naruto said from where he ran behind Sasuke, his tone heavy with sarcasm. "I bet he made us stop just to irritate us."

Sasuke snorted and kept his voice low, "He's worried too. If he weren't then we would have stopped to check the area a lot more often; he's doing the minimum required to get us as much speed as possible…" Sasuke's voice took on a tone of aggravation, "Though he is being annoying about it."

"It's because he's a pervert." Naruto said firmly, "In my experience all perverts are annoying. Just look at the Ero-sennin, or that closet pervert, Ebisu-sensei. Proof, all three of them."

Sasuke snorted and shook his head. You could always tell Naruto was feeling better when he started complaining about how all the teachers he'd had since he left the academy were perverts.

Sasuke let the inane chatter wash over him, paying only half a mind to it as he jumped from tree branch-to-tree branch and put his mind back to the more important problem of the Jutsu.

--

It was nighttime and again Kakashi had stopped them for a few hours rest.

The day hadn't given much in the way of answers to Sasuke and had served only to give him questions, or rather, worries. During the seven days of their mission, Naruto had grown more and more solid as they had progressed, or at least he had at first. Sasuke hadn't actually been paying attention since it hadn't been an issue, but now that he thought about it, Naruto had been slowly loosing his solidity since day five. And it had only gotten worse on day six, when the boy had figured out how to touch solid objects. It had been close to an epiphany when he'd made that particular connection and Sasuke had come very close to plummeting almost fifty-feet to the ground as he lost his footing on the branch he'd been aiming for. Once he'd regained his footing though, he'd had a very forceful talk with the blonde telling him not to do it anymore; unless he wanted to kill himself faster.

The question remained of how much damage he'd done though, and the fact that Naruto's form was steadily growing less solid each hour wasn't helping matters any. In fact, after mid-afternoon when Naruto had disappeared completely for a while, Sasuke had taken to keeping his Sharingan active so that he could keep an eye on the other boy. He probably couldn't afford the energy drain, but he refused to let Naruto out of his sight.

"Go to sleep, asshole."

Naruto's voice startled Sasuke out of his thoughts and he snapped his head around to look at the fuzzy image sitting beside him.

"We'll probably get to the village tomorrow night, right? So this is your last chance to rest."

"Thinking." Sasuke answered shortly and resisted the urge to turn his Sharingan back on so he could see Naruto clearly.

"You can think tomorrow, you'll have all day."

"Hn." Sasuke lifted an eyebrow, "Make up your mind, Naruto. This morning you were yelling at me to figure out how to help you, and now you want me to stop."

Naruto was silent for a moment, "Yeah. But I don't want anything to happen to you just because you were trying to help me." He paused then went on with a bit more bravado, "I mean, it would suck if you fell arse-over-kite out of a tree tomorrow and broke your stupid neck just 'cause you didn't get enough sleep."

Sasuke snorted, "That's something you'd do, dobe."

"Don't call me that, asshole. Gee, I try to show a little concern and you start calling me names. Great friend you are."

Sasuke turned his head away slightly; obscuring a smile he couldn't quite hold back. "Don't worry about me, baka. You should be worrying about yourself."

"Mmm, I know." Naruto's answer came out softly, "But I can't help it. You're such an asshole, always thinking yourself so high and mighty and better than everyone else; you're always running headlong into fights and things without considering anyone but yourself and how am I supposed to help you when you fall on your royally appointed ass when I'm nothing but a misplaced piece of Chakra?" Naruto's voice got more heated, "I mean, if you drop your ass out of a tree tomorrow then I can't even catch you since I'm probably going to suck the last of my energy out of my body and kill myself, and you know what? I wouldn't even think of that if you did fall, because I'd do it anyway so you don't get hurt."

"Hn. I won't fall out of a tree." Sasuke said.

"But if you did-"

"I won't fall out of any trees." Sasuke said again, forcefully, "And if I find myself in danger of doing so, I'll walk on the ground, okay?"

"But…"

"Baka. You worry to much about unnecessary things."

Naruto snorted, "It's never once been unnecessary to worry about you. You always need my help."

"I think you've got that backwards, dobe."

"…Sometimes, maybe. But…we always save each other, right? That's the way we work."

Sasuke made a grudging sound of agreement, "That's the way we work."

"So, even if I died doing it, I wouldn't be able to stop myself; I'd still try and grab you if you fell out of a tree."

"…Then I'll be extra careful not to fall out of one."

"Promise me."

Sasuke looked sidelong at Naruto and meet the completely serious expression being directed at him with one of his own, "I promise."

The smile Naruto suddenly directed at him was radiant and Sasuke sighed, leaning his head back against the tree behind him and closing his eyes.

"I'm going to sleep now, dobe."

"Good!" A pause, "And don't call me that!"

--

Sasuke didn't let them wait for dawn this time. Waking a few hours before that, he let Kakashi know he was up then pointedly started travelling again. A moment later the older man was with him, sparing Sasuke only an amused look before taking point.

They travelled by ground today, the trees near the road having thinned down to the point where trying to use their branches as a road would only be a hazard. They stayed a safe distance from the road, yet remained close enough to it that they could still see it to follow it's path.

Up ahead of him, Kakashi was remarkably alert, trying to make up for not being able to scout much; Naruto was behind him being quiet in a way that was beginning to unnerve Sasuke completely.

They would arrive at the Village today; since they'd started out earlier than expected he hoped to get there before sundown.

He'd made progress on Naruto's Jutsu yesterday, finally; though it was only slight. He'd rearranged a few of the hand movements, using what he knew of Ino's Shintenshin, and it was beginning to make a great deal more sense.

As they moved through the trees, Sasuke bent his mind back to the problem. The sun came up eventually and he was annoyed to notice that above them the sky was becoming overcast and large, heavy looking clouds were heading straight for them. The last thing they needed was rain to slow them down, though it looked like they didn't have much of a choice in the matter, they could only endure it.

The clouds, along with nothing short of a complete downpour, reached them around midmorning and they found their visibility cut down drastically. Sasuke's hair and clothing was plastered to him like an annoying second skin, making it hard for him to move freely and he was coming distinctly aware of the fact that Naruto's eyes were now almost burning a hole through the back of his head.

The blond had been watching Sasuke all morning, but as they'd progressed his looks had become more anxious and to a point resigned, as they moved. Sasuke couldn't say anything to him, the Jutsu was still a useless jumble in his mind that he couldn't seem to completely untangle and despite the rain that was slowing them down considerably he was beginning to get the feeling he might not be able to figure it out before they reached Konoha, not on his own.

The thought of asking Kakashi for help had passed through his mind a couple of times, but Sasuke silently bulked at the idea, the mere thought of trying to explain about Naruto, as if he were a loon, sitting ill with him. But then if he couldn't figure it out himself, most likely his only other choice was to present the entire thing to the Hokage and let her try and unravel it.

But that was a worst-case scenario. Sasuke was determined; he'd promised Naruto that he'd figure out the Jutsu himself and he wasn't going to rely on a 'maybe' that it wouldn't be needed the instant that they arrived home. Naruto was getting to the point where he was fuzzy around the edges, even when Sasuke had his Sharingan active, and that, if anything, spurred the black haired boy to work harder in his task. He wouldn't let Naruto fade out completely; wouldn't let him die from energy loss because Sasuke couldn't figure out the key to the Justu that had sealed him. He wouldn't let Naruto leave him.

"Sasuke! Watch out!"

Sasuke pulled himself from his thoughts in time to come to an abrupt stop, sliding for a distance on the muddy ground before hurling himself behind a tree to avoid the missile he'd barely seen coming at him out of the rain.

"Sasuke."

Sasuke looked quickly at Naruto standing beside him anxiously, then went back to readjusting his thoughts towards the ambush.

He could sense Kakashi somewhere to his left, the man having leapt into a tree the moment he'd noticed the attack. Sasuke couldn't sense anything around him other than Kakashi, which meant that it was more of the nin's who used the Chakra invisibility Jutsu.

Sasuke bit back a curse and closed his eyes so he could concentrate on changing the way he sensed things.

"I didn't sense them." Sasuke realised after a moment that Naruto was babbling at him, "I thought they would have all gone after Shikamaru and you said I shouldn't use my Chakra anymore so I stopped checking the area; I could have got you killed. I…"

"Quiet!" Sasuke snapped and opened his eyes, "It's fine, don't try and sense them, I can do it myself. Just stay out of the way and don't try and help."
He could sense the fighters around him now, there were only ten, barely enough to keep he and Kakashi entertained; but in this rain, and considering they were in a hurry, it could be a problem.

"I don't need to try and sense them, not when they're on top of us." Naruto said, slightly peevishly, "But…"

"Stay here." Sasuke ordered firmly, then quickly dropped his pack and dodged out from behind his tree, finding another to shelter behind almost immediately.

A kunai lodged itself into the new tree as he arrived there and his eyebrow twitched. How could they see well enough to spot him in this weather?

Judging from the positions he could sense the enemy in, they were in pairs again. He focused on the direction the kunai had flown from and sensed two chakras near enough that they were probably the ones throwing them. He had no choice but to take them out first.

Sasuke tensed his muscles then snapped his head to the right as he felt Kakashi's Chakra move abruptly then snuff out. He frowned. He was glad for the help, but it was going to be difficult to move around when the other man was hiding his Chakra. Hopefully they wouldn't injure each other by accident.

Sasuke took a breath and then threw himself out from behind his tree, diving to the left for the next tree along his line to avoid the set of Shurukin that planted themselves in the ground where he'd been standing and then ran for the next, and the next after that; slowly making his way closer and closer to the road as he moved. When he finally got himself in sight of the road he put his back against the trunk of the tree he was behind and quickly raked his soaking fringe out of his eyes. Somewhere in his dodge through the trees his opponents had managed to lose sight of him. Leaning out slightly, Sasuke peered around the side of his covering tree carefully and saw the enemy instantly. They were standing in plain sight in the centre of the road, balancing throwing weapons in their hands as they carefully scrutinized the trees around them. Sasuke pulled back behind his tree and thought quickly. Were they acting as lures? Or was it just easier for them to see, and throw from the open space? Perhaps both.

His breath was coming out in visible clouds of vapour and he focused on changing his breathing to match the conditions as he weighed his options. If he left them, he'd have to watch himself for stray missiles, but if he attacked he might be walking into a trap. And what was Kakashi doing? One set of the double Chakra's had disappeared already, so Sasuke knew Kakashi was being productive, just not where.

He slowly chewed on his lower lip as he thought then sighed and pulled a kunai into his left hand and a Shurukin into the right one. He didn't have time to do anything elaborate, and the conditions and location limited his choice of attack methods. He couldn't use the trees anymore, since they were to thin and by now too wet, so he only had one choice; a straightforward attack.

Minding his footing on the perilous ground, Sasuke jumped from his hiding place, letting loose the Shrukien as he moved and pulling a second Kunai from his leg holster in the same movement.

The two men in the road dodged quickly, avoiding the thrown weapon, and jumped towards Sasuke instantly.

Immediately behind him he sensed two other Chakras move and he cursed, dodging under the swung punch of the first opponent to reach him and then countering with a swift kick to the shin.

The man leapt back from the counter and the second man took his place, drawing a blade from his waist and attacking Sasuke in one smooth, practised movement.

Sasuke barely even had time to breath as he fought the combination of the two men. They were used to fighting together, obviously, and Sasuke was very suddenly aware that this was not a mass attack of inexperienced Mercenary's, or a closed attack where he could take them by surprise, picking them off amongst the trees before they even knew he was there.

The muddy road was working against him as he fought, but it was only that that saved him from having his right hand sliced from his arm as the blade-nin came at him from his blind side and his feet went out from under him, dropping him onto his back.

His opponents looked as surprised as he was when he fell and Sasuke used it to his advantage, kicking the blade from its wielders hand then kicking him in the groin. Sasuke winced at the sound the man made even as he rolled quickly, coming back to his feet behind the second man and knocking him about the head as hard as he could, knocking him over. He paused only to knock the two men out, before he made a beeline for the trees, hiding himself just as the two others he'd felt before made it to their friends rescue, slightly too late.

He'd lost one of his Kunai in the short fight, and had taken a blow to his left arm that had almost made him pass out as it had produced screaming pain from the wound there.

Putting his back against another tree, Sasuke closed his eyes to block out the pain from his arm and worked on sensing the locations of the people around him. He barely even registered that the rain had finally let up and the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds. There were three men left and even as Sasuke regained his breath he felt Kakashi's Chakra appear near the two men now on the road.

Kakashi had been able to work so well, even in all the rain? Somehow, that irritated him a lot.

He didn't have time to dwell on it though. The last man was approaching him quickly, and Sasuke tightened his hand around his kunai before jumping to meet him.

The man was just as wet and muddy as Sasuke now was, but he could make out that the clothes the man wore had been black.

The man aimed straight at Sasuke as soon as he saw him and Sasuke dodged under the first swing, taking a light kick in the side as he spun out of the way.

Sinking his hand into his belt pouch, Sasuke grabbed a hold of one of his last Kunai and, sliding only slighting on the treacherous ground, leapt to attack and scored a cut on the mans shoulder before he slid out of the way.

They both paused to stare at each other, assessing the others possible skills and ability to move around easily given the situation. It was Sasuke who moved first, narrowing his eyes and leaping forward, his kunai crossed in front of him, leading the way.

His opponent dodged left and Sasuke spun in midair, landing close enough to slice the man's arm a second time. Dodging backwards slightly, Sasuke missed being hit with the retaliative blow directed at his face and went down low, kicking the man's feet out from under him.

Changing his grip on the Kunai in his right hand, Sasuke stabbed it downwards but the man rolled quickly, smirking at Sasuke suddenly as he got his feet under him.

"Too bad, kid." The man's voice came out low and then suddenly he disappeared.

Sasuke barely had time to register the signs of the disappearing Jutsu, it happened so quickly.

He didn't even get to take a breath. The feeling of another chakra, one that hadn't been using the Chakra invisibility Jutsu to mask it, appeared behind him at the same time as he heard Naruto yelling defiantly.

He spun quickly, instantly coming nose-to-nose with another man in black, one he recognised from their first encounter with the nin's that could hide their Chakra. His eyes widened in recognition even as the man's fingers moved, forming seals that he didn't recognise but somehow felt ominous as his Sharingan automatically began to analyse them.

And behind him was Naruto. The blond looked furious and he was moving towards Sasuke and his attacker purposefully; getting ready to attack.

Sasuke didn't think, couldn't think. His mind focused on the fact that Naruto was about to throw away what could be the last of his energy to stop Sasuke getting hit by whatever jutsu was about to be thrown at him and his body moved on it's own, doing the first thing that came to his mind, the one thing it had been so focused on for days.

Hands coming up before him, Sasuke quickly formed the seals he'd been attempting to un-jumble barely 30 minutes beforehand. As his fingers formed the seals - Tiger, Horse, Tiger – Sasuke's mind worked, finally putting everything in the right order, finding the key that had made it so difficult to understand. – Cat, Bird, Tiger – The Jutsu wasn't a single Jutsu. – Horse, Cat, Bird – It was two.

"Ninpou!" Sasuke glared at the man in front of him who had paused, staring at Sasuke as his hands finished the final seal to the first half of the Jutsu, "Tamahazusu no Jutsu!"

There was a split second as Sasuke wondered if he should use the second half of the Jutsu, then he stepped forward, his hands performing a second shorter set of seals then he grabbed hold of the mans arms firmly and smiled grimly.

"Spirit Seal no Jutsu!"

For a moment everything seemed to stop, then Sasuke released his hold on the man's body and it slowly crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

Naruto slid to a stop, his eyes going wide, and he stared.

Sasuke's breath came in short gasps as he lowered his hands to his sides and looked down at the ninja's body…then he looked back up to where Naruto was staring; at where the man was also standing at his own feet, staring down at his own body in shock.

"S…Sasuke. You…figured it out."

The ninja's head snapped up at Naruto's voice and he turned to stare at the boy whose expression was turning from stunned to exuberant.

"You figured it out! Take that!" Naruto crowed and levelled his hand to point at the confused man, "Never underestimate the power of Uchiha Sasuke! He may not be as good as me but he's almost as good!"

Sasuke glared, "I'm ten-times better then you, dobe; and you know it." He moved his gaze from Naruto who had ignored Sasuke's reply and was dancing around madly, and looked at the Ninja, then down at the body. Finding out the original Jutsu was half the task done, thankfully the hardest part. Crouching down, Sasuke began to form the same seals as before, this time in reverse, then reached out and grabbed the man's arms, whispering under his breath, "Reversal!"

Instantly the body began to stir and Sasuke stood up and glared at Naruto "We have to go."

"Right! Where's Kakashi-sensei? Let's go!"

"Oi, are you done?"

Sasuke turned his head slightly, then turned around to fully face Kakashi who was leaning against a tree, the man who had so abruptly disappeared lying at his feet.

"Let's go." Sasuke said shortly and glared at Naruto again; who was still half dancing around like a loon. "Baka." He muttered and went to retrieve his pack.

--

Naruto's exuberance had died off rapidly as Kakashi and Sasuke ran quickly, attempting to make up the time they'd lost in the ambush. Sasuke could only guess that their haste had pointed out to the boy that figuring out the Jutsu was only half the problem solved and that they still had to get back to Konoha if they were going to do anything.

And Sasuke was anxious about it. Naruto hadn't actually hit the man who'd attacked Sasuke, but he'd still pulled in energy to do so and the fact that he'd done it was obvious. He wasn't simply fuzzy around the edges now; he was completely see-through and at times distorted. And he looked tired; his breathing was heavy and grew more laboured throughout the day as they moved.

"Naruto." They had managed to keep running for the rest of the day without stop and the sun was beginning to go down. They were close to the village and would probably reach it in the next few minutes. "Naruto!" Sasuke said the name slightly more insistently the second time when the boy didn't immediately reply, no longer caring if Kakashi heard him or not.

"Ah. What?" Naruto was half staggering, his breathing quick and his shoulders sagging as if he were trying to hold up a great weight and failing.

"We're almost there." Sasuke stated and tried to ignore the itch he had in his hands to reach out to try and support the boy's weight.

"Ah."

"Don't stop."

"Ah." Naruto staggered slightly but managed a faint smile, "Same to you, bastard. You look like I feel."

"Hn." Sasuke changed direction slightly, following Kakashi's lead as the man led them out onto the road and towards the giant gates of Konoha village.

They were almost there but Sasuke refused to let himself relax; he needed the anxiousness and the resulting adrenaline that was coursing through his veins if he planned to get any further.

They passed through the gates, thankfully unchallenged, and sped through the village in a blur, taking to the still slightly damp rooftops to move more swiftly.

As soon as he saw the hospital, Sasuke put in a burst of speed and passed Kakashi to get into the building, only stopping his headlong sprint when he reached the front desk. It had occurred to him, as they entered the village that given what Naruto's condition was, he'd probably been moved from where he had been.

Pushing passed the few people that were lined up before the desk, Sasuke leaned on it, his breathing slightly laboured, and demanded: "Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto, where is he?"

"You can't…" The nurse behind the counter began and Sasuke snapped his head up, meeting her eyes with his Sharingan.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?!" He growled again and the woman's eyes went wide and she recoiled from the mud covered boy whose eyes scared her not so much because of the colour as for the slight hint of desperate menace she saw in them.

Her hand shaking slightly, the girl picked up the patient sheet on the desk and flicked through it.

"Uhmm…err… Uzumaki Naruto is in the intensive care unit; second floor, room 408. But you can't…" She stared at where Sasuke had been then yelled desperately after the retreating figure, "You can't go in there he's in isolation!"

Sasuke ignored her and ran his way through corridors he'd gotten relatively familiar with since he'd become a Genin when he was twelve. There had always been someone, normally he or Naruto, who needed to be here from over training, or getting damaged in battles, so he knew his way around most areas.

Out of the corner of his eye Sasuke could still see Naruto and he wasn't quite sure, but the blonde almost looked like he was…better? Sliding around a corner and rebounding off the wall, Sasuke dodged a nurse wheeling a patient down the corridor and, with a quick glare at the sign which hastened to reassure him that yes, it was definitely the Intensive care unit, he took to the stairs, racing up them two and three at a time. Naruto was right behind him.

It wasn't till he reached the top of the stairs that he encountered a problem. As soon as he shot up the last steps he found his path blocked by two Jounin, one of which who put an arm out to stop Sasuke's headlong flight down the hallway.

"You can't be here." The one who'd stopped him said firmly, "Leave, please."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he looked passed the men down the hallway, his eyes running over the numbers on the doors till he found the one with Naruto. "No. I have to see someone."

"I don't care if you're here to see Tsunande-sama herself," the first guard said and pushed Sasuke back a few steps, "this is a restricted area and nobody is allowed here. I warn you again; leave."

"Sasuke, I can just…" Naruto was glaring at the two men blocking Sasuke's path, clutching at his side and breathing hard.

"No!" Sasuke snapped, "Idiot." He turned his gaze back to the two Jounin whose expressions had hardened at Sasuke's emphatic denial.

Both men were standing ready now, prepared to fight Sasuke to prevent him from getting passed them. Sasuke growled under his breath and prepared himself as well; he didn't care who he had to fight, he would get to Naruto's room.

"That isn't necessary." A voice said lazily and Sasuke glared back over his shoulder at where Kakashi had finally decided to catch up and was leisurely walking up the stairs.

"You two stand down. This one is allowed passed." Kakashi ordered and the two men, with a disbelieving look at the filthy Sasuke, stood to the side.

Sasuke raced passed them immediately. He slid slightly when he finally got to the door to Naruto's room and grabbed hold of the door handle to steady himself, then thrust it open and half staggered inside.

There were two people in the room, Sasuke noticed out of the corner of his eye. Iruka-sensei, who had jumped out of his seat the instant the door had flown open; and the Hokage, who was staring at Sasuke in startlement.

Sasuke ignored them both, his eyes moving straight to where Naruto's body was laying on the bed. He was pale, his skin next to translucent and Sasuke guessed the only thing keeping him breathing were the machines he was hooked up too; but he was still alive. He was still alive and Sasuke had got here on time and now he could put everything back the way it should be.

Relief flooded through him suddenly and the tension he'd been in the grip of for days seemed to drain out of him, leaving him feeling weak. Tightening his grip on the door handle for balance, Sasuke took a step forward towards the bed-

-And collapsed into unconsciousness.

End Chapter Three

A/N: …Yeah, I know I said there was only one more chapter till the end, but last night I had a slight brain storming session with my sister and, while it was actually about a different fik (okay, it was for about three different fik's) we ended up accidentally coming up with a new ending for this story that worked a lot better than the one I originally had planned. I rather like this cliff hanger actually //_^

So, this time I mean it, one chapter to go – though it won't be a long one (think about the same length as the prologue).

Want to find out what happens next? Read and Review!!