Fire: This is chapter 9. Have you reviewed yet?

Sasuke: Don't say it like that!

Fire: Why not?

Kakashi: It's too obvious.

Fire: Then how should I say it?

Sasuke: …

Kakashi: …

Fire: Never mind. Just hand me a review. (holding a hand out to Kakashi)

Kakashi: (pulls a window from the Big Bag of Reviews and hands it to Fire) Why can't you pay me for this? I'm too high-ranking to do a D-ranked mission like this.

Fire: This is a non-profit project. (reads the window) This is a complete act of fandom and I'm just doing it for the fans.

Kakashi: Your superego must be swelling.

Fire: O.o Where did you learn that word?

Sasuke: He's been reading your psychology books.

Fire: Uh…

Sasuke: Just thank the fans for the reviews and go on with the story! We're almost done and I want to kill Itachi!

Fire: Oh! Yeah! (turns to the audience) Thanks for the reviews.

Kakashi: Good. Now the ninth chapter! (pulls up chapter 9) I should be paid for this too.

---------------------------

Chapter 9: Facets of Rain

Under the dull sky of a Yuki no Kuni winter–winter even though it was early spring now–Shizune tried to see her next step in the slippery slush. A few of her ANBU and medic-nin companions had already fallen in the foreign snow, and she didn't want to fall as well. She was the leader of this team. She had to lead by example, and her pride certainly wouldn't allow her to suffer that humiliation.

But, she didn't have to really worry about falling. She had lived outside these village walls. She had been where there was snow. She knew how to manoeuver in it.

And she heard the sound of fighting up ahead. She wouldn't have far to go now anyway. She was going to find out what that ominous chakra was, even if she might be too late.

Naruto wiped the blood that coated his lips from the cough. If the pain hadn't erupted from his lungs, he would have done it. He would have killed Itachi. But if the blood hadn't burst from his body, he would have drowned in it.

The blond clutched at his throbbing chest as he looked around. One. Two. Three. There were only three bunshin left. Itachi had taken them down like they were nothing. He hadn't even used kage bunshin, even though Naruto knew he could have. A former ANBU could definitely use that technique. And as Itachi smashed the last bunshin to the ground in an eddy of smoke and wind, Naruto knew that he was next.

Pain gripped his body as he moved his limbs. That loss of blood had taken more of a toll on his body than he had initially thought. The world spun around him, blurring into a new vision that ended with Itachi catching him as he fell.

Then, there was fire everywhere.

'Katon: goukakyuu no jutsu!'

Sasuke snatched Naruto away as Itachi's hands gripped the jinchuuriki. The younger Uchiha was fast, faster than the ball of fire that flew toward them. As Sasuke jumped away, Itachi was engulfed in flames.

The dark-haired boy thought that he had succeeded. His brother was dead, and he had Naruto back. But as the flames evaporated, there was nothing there. 'Shunshin no jutsu?' Sasuke turned around quickly, knowing well that his brother couldn't be anywhere in front of him. There was nothing in front of him but the flaming crater.

And Sasuke's body crashed into the pavement.

Itachi grabbed Naruto again, this time ready to escape with the jinchuuriki in hand, until he saw that the body on the ground and the body in his hands were kawarimi. He threw the block of wood to the ground before looking around, his sharingan scanning the area for his brother. Nothing could escape his sharingan.

"You can't hide from me, Otouto." Itachi's words were cold as he caught a shuriken aimed at his head. As long as he was calm, nothing escaped him. "I already know where you are." From the direction that shuriken had come from, he had already pinpointed Sasuke's location. He couldn't run with an injured boy in his arms.

"We're not hiding, baka!" Naruto shouted as a thousand shuriken flew toward Itachi from a thousand Naruto kage bunshin.

Itachi didn't know when the blond had time to do it, or if he could maintain something like tajuu kage bunshin, but he had no intention of standing there, an unmoving target. With a single wave of movement, his hands launched a multitude of kunai. The skill of an ex-ANBU taisho sent the kunai and shuriken bouncing off each other. The last shuriken ricocheted toward Sasuke in the shadows, and embedded itself in the wall by the dark head. All thousand shuriken fell in metallic rain to aim at their new target: the thousand Naruto bunshin.

It was the same level of skill that Sasuke remembered from his childhood, and he knew that if his brother had wanted to hit him, he would have. But he didn't. Itachi wasn't finished destroying Sasuke's life yet. As the nine hundred ninety-nine shuriken left in the air ran through nine hundred ninety-nine kage bunshin, Itachi caught the real jinchuuriki in hand.

"Naruto!" Sasuke leapt at the blond shinobi.

"Teme!" Naruto shouted at the air, and Sasuke didn't know whether he was yelling at him or at Itachi. The blond didn't want to be rescued like a weakling. Since their first mission, he had never needed rescuing.

With anger surging through his body, he felt the red chakra of the Kyuubi engulf him. His hands grew coarser as the talons of wild kitsune curled from his fingers to tear through his prison of black cloak and red clouds. Red eyes stared out at the arm that held him, and before Itachi could react, he tore through that arm with his sharpened animal teeth.

Sasuke was surprised for a moment before a smile formed on his face. He had forgotten about Naruto's other form. Now, his brother was really in trouble. Or at least, he thought Itachi would be in trouble, until...

...a shiver ran through Naruto's body and it convulsed in coughs. Blood covered the hand that shielded his mouth from the spasms, but both Uchiha brothers could see that the jinchuuriki wouldn't be able to fight much longer.

"Chikusho!" Sasuke ran at Itachi. If Naruto couldn't fight, then he would have to do it.

But Naruto had no intention of allowing his medical condition to slow him down. Even with his entire body vibrating with pain, the red chakra body of the Kyuubi launched itself forwards. And it ran its glowing red claw through Itachi before Sasuke could lift up a kunai. But of course, it wasn't Itachi. Unlike Sasuke, Itachi could not only see Naruto's planned movements, but he was also fast enough to react to it.

"Kawarimi-des, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he looked around for his brother. He had been so useless in this battle. He really had been away from Konoha and their proposed methods of teamwork for too long. He couldn't even remember how to fight alongside someone other than himself!

'Where is he? Where is he?' Sasuke's red eyes scanned the area, and he saw him before Naruto did. 'There!'

Itachi had hidden himself on the roof of a nearby building. Sasuke launched himself into the air toward him before the nukenin could plan his next move of attack.

Naruto was still occupied with a spasm of coughs, and the red chakra body of the Kyuubi was just waiting, but as soon as Sasuke was in the air, the Kyuubi sensed the movement, looked up and saw Itachi sitting on the roof. With a hideous growl, it stretched a clawed hand forwards at the nukenin, and it swiped at the dodging man...

'Katon: housenka no jutsu!'

...just as fire surrounded him.

Itachi slid back, his feet sending loose tiles to the ground in small avalanches as the fire landed against the building at his side. With two against one, usually he could handle himself, especially since these were only genin, but these were special genin. He would have to capture the jinchuuriki, now!

It was the optimum time for Itachi to have decided that. At that moment, the blond shinobi fell to the ground, the blood and pain that came from his chest overtaking him. He could hold it in no longer. Even the Kyuubi couldn't stop it.

The nukenin appeared behind Naruto, expecting a fight before he could take him away, but instead, the blond collapsed at his feet.

And Sasuke flew at his brother, a kunai in hand. He knew that he wasn't strong enough yet. Even with the cursed seal, he wasn't strong enough to defeat his brother. But he couldn't just let Itachi take Naruto away, even if fighting Itachi meant death. If he was going to die, he was going to die doing something worth dying for. He was going to protect Naruto from this bastard of a man.

Itachi could almost laugh. Naruto was lying at his feet and his little brother actually thought that he was powerful enough to kill him. He never thought that he could come across such a magnificently unusual day. Sasuke couldn't be serious; he was going to lose.

But, Sasuke was serious...so Itachi didn't laugh. The expression on Sasuke's face didn't allow for laughter of any kind, even if it was bitter. So, Itachi allowed a kunai to fall from the sleeve of his torn cloak into his hand. If Sasuke was serious about fighting him now, then he would be serious about killing him now. He would allow his hands to coat with the last blood of the Uchiha.

But as they were about to strike, an array of senbon flew at them. Sasuke and Itachi fell apart to find two needles embedded in Sasuke's arm, and three stuck in Itachi's. Dizziness overcame both brothers, but it was Sasuke who fell first, to the sound of approaching footsteps.

Itachi fell back as his eyes failed to focus. His limbs were growing heavy as he grabbed the jinchuuriki. But his arms had already lost their strength. He couldn't lift the blond shinobi.

With frustration filling his body, Itachi threw the blond to the ground. He had done all this work, all this planning, for nothing. 'It's someone's fault,' he decided as he released his hold over the genjutsu that still vied for victory in the jinchuuriki's mind. 'And it's definitely Kisame's!' It was no use. Even as he was fighting him, all the genjutsu was doing was making the blond's condition worse, even if it kept the boy from killing him.

Itachi vanished before the first medic-nin arrived. The sound of shouting was coming closer, and he knew that he wouldn't be able handle the ANBU which he knew were there. He would have to wait for another day, but eventually, he would capture the Kyuubi.

Even with poison filling his body, crumbling him to the ground as weakness melted his limbs, Sasuke was faintly aware of the presence of others around him. They probably thought he was here to kill Naruto, but he didn't care. All he cared about was how Naruto was.

"Iwashi!" Raidou was calling out in annoyance. "I told you not to run ahead of us!"

Sasuke turned his blurred eyes from Iwashi who loomed over his half-poisoned body. Naruto... He had to see if Naruto was...

The Uchiha's eyes caught onto a growing red patch of snow, spreading out from a darker core, a boy with bright blond hair. Naruto was half-buried in the ground, his heavy limbs glued to the melting snow.

"Na..." Sasuke struggled to see through the white clouds of breath that came from his worriedly open mouth. "Naruto!" The dark-haired boy pushed the medic-nin aside as he felt strength return to his body. Iwashi was a top medic-nin, and he had already taken the poison out. "Naruto!"

Itachi was gone.

And as Sasuke ran forwards, he didn't even notice the rain chipping away the snow

Shizune was running forwards, ahead of everyone, so she was the first to see them outlined in the grey light of winter, two nukenin standing in the snow. Her first instinct was to attack. She could ask questions later. And that was what she did. With precise movements, she pulled the sleeve of her jacket up and launched the needles from the apparatus on her arm.

'Shikomi shindan!'

Usually, the needles were coated with lethal poison, but she had decided on different poison today, a neurotoxin that inhibited the peripheral nervous system instead of attacking the central nervous system. It wasn't fatal, but it was still effective. She had decided on it after worrying about it hitting Naruto or pedestrians by accident. She didn't want to kill innocent citizens.

But as the needles launched at their targets, all five of them hit. She didn't need to worry.

However, as she neared, the cloaked nukenin shunshin-ed away. She had lost a chance to capture him. But there was still Uchiha Sasuke. Shizune turned to see him lying on the ground. They had found Uchiha Sasuke.

"Shizune-senpai, I'm going to remove the poison from Sasuke-san's body," Iwashi suggested as he stopped at her side. He was the first to arrive at the scene, and Shizune was glad. She didn't want to touch Sasuke's bloody body at that moment. Naruto seemed much more seriously wounded.

"Iwashi! I told you not to run ahead of us!" Raidou was yelling as soon as he arrived. "You could have been killed!"

Iwashi opened his mouth to say something when he was pushed aside, and the shouts of the dark-haired boy covered over anything else he had to say. Sasuke was headed for Naruto.

"Don't move, Uchiha Sasuke," an ANBU said, her katana blade laid at the base of his throat.

"Naruto," the dark-haired boy said, knowing well that if he said or did anything wrong, they would kill him. "How is Naruto?"

Kneeling at Naruto's side, Shizune looked up at Sasuke. It didn't seem like a ruse. He looked genuinely concerned for Naruto's health. "He'll be fine," she said slowly as she moved her glowing green hands away. The freshly healed parts of his lungs had ruptured with the intense activity of battle. Even with the power of the Kyuubi healing him, he had to rest. But, it would be best if they could move him to the hospital. "Genma!"

"I already called for a medic-team. They're on their way."

"Just take him inside! The hospital is down the street!" Sasuke couldn't believe that they needed a medic-team. He had thought that they were the medic-team! "Naruto's coughing up blood and you're worried about a medic-team!"

At which Shizune glared at the dark-haired boy. "Urusai!" Shizune snapped at the boy. It wasn't like her to snap at someone like that, but she was under a lot of stress. "We can't move him. It might worsen his injuries." She sighed at her horrible behaviour and decided to explain. "The medic-team will bring a stretcher so we can move him safely."

And even as she spoke, the stretcher came...and soon, Sasuke found himself sitting in the Hokage's office. Everything that happened between the time the stretcher came and the time he found himself sitting in that room was a blur. The Uchiha couldn't remember a thing. All he knew was that he was staring at Naruto's face as they took him to surgery, and he was calling out Naruto's name. But there was no answer.

And he was worried.

When Naruto woke up, he found a bloody mask covering his face. Flecks of blood flew from his mouth at every breath and he faintly remembered what had happened. His blurry mind tried to pinpoint the pieces of memory that had fallen to his feet. Naruto knelt down, his hands grasping at the jigsaw pieces until it was whole.

'Sasuke! Sasuke was here!' Naruto's mind screamed as soon as the image of that dark head filled his mind. 'Sasuke came back! I need to see–' But his weighted arms and unmovable legs refused to rise.

Aren't you overreacting? He's not that exciting, the Kyuubi said coldly. He was disinterested in anything that had to do with the Uchiha. It wasn't as if he was doing anything for him. Let's do something more interesting. The last thing he wanted to do was see the nukenin.

'I want to see Sasuke!' The excitement was still fresh in his mind. After dreaming about him, he couldn't help but want to see him with his eyes, to know what had happened to him while he was away. 'Sasuke's back!'

He left you, remember? He's with Orochimaru now. Even if Naruto was practically jumping with excitement, the Kyuubi refused to allow him to forget it. Sasuke was with Orochimaru, and the only reason why he would return would probably be to test his strength. He probably returned to kill you.

Naruto ignored the Kyuubi as best he could with the kitsune's voice vibrating through his mind. Yes. Sasuke was with Orochimaru, but he was with him now. He came back. And Naruto couldn't help but be happy about that, even if he was still ravaged from the Uchiha's initial betrayal. "Sasuke..." He had dreamt about him for so long. He couldn't just let him go.

He refused to believe that Sasuke had returned to kill him.

End Chapter 9

---------------------------

Fire's English tidbits for those who care:

Grammar and devices. This might be the most important thing to the credibility of an author. Don't worry too much if your spelling is horrible or you can't write a proper sentence. That's not what I mean by grammar and devices. You can still choose to write a story with horrible grammar, or saturated with devices if that's what you want. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read Flowers for Algernon if you haven't already read it. It's pretty short. The whole book is a good example of what I mean. If you're going to write something, you have to know why you're writing it. Oneshots are like short stories. As an author, you must know the meaning of every word and why that word is there. If one word was gone, could your story continue? If not, why? Longer stories aren't the same. If one word was missing, your story might not change, but since the story is longer, the effect is larger too. If one sentence was gone, would someone still be able to understand your story? If you wrote the sentence or the scene differently, will it still have the same effect? When you get to a point where you can understand every part of your story, every word in the story, every syllable, every sentence, then you will have perfected the use of grammar and devices. … That was hard to write. I'm not sure if I explained it properly, but the simple version is that you have to be conscious of everything you write down and know why it's there. If there's a fragment, why is there a fragment there? What kind of effect are you trying to create by doing this? If there is personification, why is there personification there? What kind of effect are you trying to create by doing this? That was repetition—another device—in order to make sure you understand that this question is very important. Remember this question because it will help with conveying what you want to say in your stories. I'm sorry if this was too long. I'm doing my best to explain grammar and devices properly. Well, see you next time for what parentheses are and how to use them.

Fire's babbling:

Sasuke: Your English tidbits are too long.

Fire: Urusai! I don't care what you think!

Sasuke: Yeah, right. I'm the co-writer. I'll kill you if you don't listen to me.

Naruto: Waah! What's going on! Sasuke came back to kill me!

Fire: Uh…I don't think that's it, Naruto.

Sasuke: I can't believe this! Who wrote that!

Kyuubi: …

Fire: Well, that was the ninth chapter. Yes, there's only one more to go, and the epilogue. Remember to review. I want to know what you think, even if it's one word.

Kakashi: That has to be an exaggeration. I don't think anyone's going to write one word.

Fire: There might be an entire essay. I don't mind that too. Just send me an honest opinion and I'll… Hm… I guess I'll just keep writing, unless you want me to write a story for you. That's okay too. I take requests, although it might take a while for the prototype to come out.

Sasuke: It's called a draft, a first draft!

Fire: A draft, yes. Well, see you next chapter, and remember to review!

---------------------------