This is a relatively short chapter. I could've made it longer but it would've just been useless ramblings. Oh, and I have to give credit to my friend. The bear trap was her idea and I love her for it. :D Kowaikage. Go look her up and read her fics. You wont be disappointed. 'shameless advertising' I mean it.

aura-chan the neko-jin – Aww…don't hate Gaara. Well, yeah, I'm pretty mad too, but I'm sure he had his reasons. Still…yeah, I'm mad at him.

Hurricane-rider – WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Yaoilover S – Hehehe…wish they were doing naughty stuff. But that's just because I'm a yaoi perv. Can't let that get in the way of the storyline though……….yet……. 'shifty eyes' And Super Sasuke™ in his Super Cape™ is going off to save his damsel in distress, Neji. Mmm….Sasuke in tights…. Heehee…..and every superhero needs a sidekick…..

sinn – Hehehe…yes…..Neji will squirm……

Eilonwy – I'm not sure what to expect either. I think the whole kidnapping Neji thing only surfaced in my head around chapter 17. And I'm relieved that my story flows smoothy, and especially regarding Chapter 20. I wrote that in broken little sections at work and home and then put them all together hoping that it all worked out.

kawaii kitsune-kun - I was a little in shock with the changes. Took me a while to find my way around. I guess I'm kind of neutral with the whole thing because I didn't have a lot of time to get attached to the old method. It's a little bit of a pain though trying to find which way to go. I had a lot of trouble figuring out how to upload.

Chapter 21: A Helping Hand

Sasuke was going to go crazy. This was the third day that Neji and Gaara were missing from class. No one in Kohana had seen them after the party. Only recently had people organized search parties to look for the two missing boys. There was a lot of speculation that perhaps they had somehow gotten trapped or killed during the storm. Sasuke didn't believe any of it. If anything of that nature had happened, they would have found a body by now. Instead, it appeared that Gaara and Neji had simply vanished without a trace.

It didn't take very long for Sasuke to be convinced that this was somehow Gaara's doing. Neji wasn't the type to spontaneously run off without a warning. And the suddenness of the disappearance was also quite suspicious. Sasuke wished the adults would just take it seriously and begin to see things the way he did.

Gaara's sister seemed to be devastated with the news of her brother's disappearance and spent every bit of her free time with the search parties, trying to find some trace of the redhead or the Hyuuga. Her brother, Kankuro, also went off on his own into the woods to try and track them down. Sasuke didn't trust them at all. The worried and anxious Temari was far too different from the cold and unconcerned blonde that Sasuke had spoken with at Gaara's house a few days previous. Something fishy was going on, and Sasuke was not going to wait around helplessly.

After class on the third day, Sasuke went home and began to pack. He could wait for the rest of his life for the others to try and find the two in the village; Sasuke knew Gaara wasn't stupid enough to stick around had he run away with Neji. Slinging the bag over his shoulder he headed off towards the woods. He had no clue which way Gaara had headed, but there were only so many ways out of Kohana that he could have taken. Sasuke would just have to pick one a pray that it was correct.

Sasuke was passing by Naruto's house when he paused. A mental battle warred in his head and once again he found himself knocking on the blonde's door. Naruto opened it and raised an eyebrow at the pack on Sasuke's shoulders.

"Neji's been gone far too long. I'm going to go looking for him outside the village," Sasuke explained.

Naruto folded his arms. "Well, good luck. You should tell someone so that they don't send out a search party for you as well."

"I'm telling you."

"Okay then. So when should we panic and bring you home, defeated?" Naruto had become especially sarcastic as of late.

"I want you to come with me." Sasuke shut his mouth but the words had already left it. He wouldn't take them back either, he realized, because that was what he truly wanted. Somehow he felt that with Naruto, he would be able to do this. For once in his life, he didn't want to walk the path alone.

Naruto looked surprised and shook his head. "I'm sorry Sasuke, but if you want to go tramp through knee-deep mud looking for Neji, you can go do that. I'm not going to go chasing for him."

Sasuke sighed and looked down. "I understand. Well, I'll see you later, Naruto."

The blonde nin nodded and shut the door.

Sasuke looked at it for a while before turning away and heading out of the village. Not many people were on the streets since the majority had gone out to look. Really, he should have expected Naruto's response. It was a fair one after all. Seeing through Naruto's eyes, Sasuke himself wouldn't want to go around with someone who had rejected him mercilessly to go find the source of the rejection. Naruto didn't owe him anything after what Sasuke had done to him, and there was no reason he should have to help find someone he didn't like.

The Uchiha managed to make it out of the village without taking anyone's notice and headed on a side path apart from the main. Gaara would not be the one to take a main road, or at least he doubted it.

Sasuke had been walking a few hours with no leads or clues that could possibly point him in the right direction. For all he knew, Gaara had gone completely the opposite way. Cursing the inefficiency, Sasuke kept going. He'd travel for a bit longer, and if still nothing turned up, he'd try a different way. It was all based on luck, and Sasuke knew that crappy luck tended to follow him around.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't pay attention to where he was going. It was almost too late by the time he realized his mistake. His foot hit something hard and there was a clank of metal. Sasuke quickly grabbed a kunai and slammed it down lengthwise. The small dagger bent slightly out of shape but stopped the jaws of the bear trap from closing any farther. Sasuke gave a sigh of relief. Had his reflexes not been so fast, the rusted up trap would have definitely taken out his leg.

Although he had successfully managed to keep the trap from clamping down on his leg any harder, he still was caught between the two metal plates. Sasuke tried to yank himself out but froze as he saw the kunai nearly fall out of place. If it did, there was nothing to hold the trap back from completely closing in around the nin's leg and crushing it.

Sasuke cursed and tried to carefully pry the trap apart. If only he had more hands, then he could force the metal open while holding the kunai to make sure that it kept the jaws open.

"Can't you do anything right?"

Sasuke looked up suddenly, tensing for an attack, but then relaxed into a glare. Naruto was sitting up on a tree branch laughing like crazy. "You're only two hours out of the village and already you're in trouble." The fox-nin smirked at the annoyed boy.

"Just stop mocking and help me get out of this trap." Sasuke made himself sound angry, but inwardly he was grateful to see the blonde.

Naruto jumped down and held onto the kunai while he used his other hand to help Sasuke pry the trap apart. The metal gave a resisting screeching sound but finally flew open. Sasuke quickly moved his leg away and rubbed at it to regain feeling.

"Thanks Naruto." The nin cocked an eyebrow. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Naruto shrugged and grinned cheekily. "You asked me to come, and I knew you were going to do something stupid like this. You'd never make it far without me."

"I'll admit that you helped me a little just now, but I am not that bad."

"Could've fooled me."

Sasuke growled but smirked. "Did you tell anyone you left?"

Naruto shook his head. "Only you."

"Do you realize that they'll be sending out a search party for two more missing nin?"

The fox-child waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. With me guiding the way, we'll be back before they even realize we're missing."

"Somehow I'm not reassured," smirked Sasuke.

Naruto smirked back. "Do you want me to go back?"

Sasuke turned and continued down the path. "No. Come on, brat."

The blonde grinned and ran after Sasuke.

Sasuke smiled as he walked ahead, so Naruto could not see it. The blonde really was a good person. He had no obligation to, and still he showed up to help Sasuke after he had been such a jerk to him. Only an idiot would help free the same leg which figuratively kicked him down. The world needed more idiots. Or maybe it didn't.

Naruto was special, and that was something Sasuke could not deny. He had to respect the nin for letting go of his bitterness and resentment in order to lend a helping hand. He was a selfless caring idiot troublemaker. No wonder Sasuke had fallen for him.

"Try not to get into too much trouble. I can only save your ass so many times."

Sasuke smiled at the overly cheery voice of Naruto from behind him, cutting into the quiet of the forest and scaring away a small group of birds. Yeah, that was who he had fallen for.

Yeah, really mushy (sorta) SasuNaru chapter that is short and pointless. In fact the purpose for it can be summed up in one line: The rescue team is on its way. But I figured you guys wouldn't be impressed by a one-liner chapter. ;) Besides, the rescue team may be on its way, but that doesn't mean it knows which direction to go.