Disclaimer: I make no money off of this. I bet I could make a lot of money if I could make the characters come to life though...alas...

Kawao wasn't the only one who had strange dreams. Unnerved by his dreams, Sasuke stood in front of the stone that listed the ninja who had fallen in the service of the village. He reached out and gingerly touched one name, shoulders slumped in defeat, head bowed in sorrow.

"That idiot..." he murmured to himself, voice tight.

It was supposed to have been a routine, C-rank mission. The right difficulty for a Jounin and his three little Genin learners.

But why, why did every mission that Team 7 ever went on end up being an A-rank mission or comparable! They had always been lucky, though, making it barely by the skin of their teeth. This time, though, things were looking desperate. The team had been backed up against a long drop to a temptestous fjord, and were hanging on to what position they could get with the tenacity that characterized them. A moment of weariness, a deep wound, and Sasuke found himself looking at Naruto's back as he took a jutsu meant to kill him full-force. Sasuke grabbed him as he fell, and the two skidded to the edge of the cliff, and, with what briefly felt like a weightless moment, started to fall. Sasuke's survival instincts kicked into high gear and he reached out and grabbed at a rock with both hands. He clung on for dear life as Naruto held on just as strongly a few feet down.

"NARUTO!"

Sasuke held on with all his strength and extended his other hand, leaning down precariously, chakra gluing him to the wall.

"Grab my hand!"

Naruto gave Sasuke a crooked smile and reached up. The two's hands clasped and Sasuke yanked Naruto up. Naruto grabbed another handhold and the two began to scale the slippery, trecherous wall together.

'Almost...there...'

Nartuo's foot slipped and Sasuke's muscles screamed in pain as he held up all of Naruto's weight. Sasuke's tired muscles were giving out, and Naruto's hand kept on slipping...slipping...

Sasuke felt Naruto's leave his and he yelled. Naruto twisted in the air, and tried to gain purchase on the wall.

It was at that moment that their opponent fell, and the rocks that were overhanging them both broke into boulders and plummeted downwards. Sasuke gasped and made himself as small as possible, clinging to the wall, but his eyes followed Naruto all the way, and he flinched as though he felt every pebble, every stone that smacked into Naruto. Sasuke yelled again when a boulder slammed into the unconcious demon-bearer, and the last he saw of Naruto was a bright orange splash against dark water and grey stone. He was about to jump in, but found that it was hard enough for him to dodge the stones; he had no intention of dying. He had too much to do...there was still Itachi and...and...Naruto would not have wanted him to die.

Inch by inch, Sasuke made it up to where Sakura and Kakashi were, and abruptly felt Naruto's overwhelming, annoying(comforting, though he would never admit to that), presence abruptly dissapear. It hit him like a punch in the gut, and he saw Sakura's eyes widen and Kakashi walk over to where the ocean was visible.

Naruto...that annoying...boisterous...kind...demon-bearer was...gone?

Sasuke would never say it aloud, but in his mind was the chant, 'no no no no no no...'

'You still have to beat me!' he cried mentally as he went over to where Kakashi was standing, both still breathing hard from the exertion of the battle.

"Naruto is..."

"...gone?"

Kakashi looked over at Sasuke, his one Sharingan taking in the weary, annoyed boy. A small, half-hearted smirk found its way onto his face. "You'll see. He'll be back here in no time, laughing at how much he 'scared' us."

'He'll be back.'

'He has to come back.'

The memory slowly faded into the years, but Sasuke always carried it with him, in some dark recess of his heart where he knew he had cared for Naruto.

He was currently going out with a girl he had met in Hidden Village of Cloud, much to Sakura and Ino's outward dismay.

Of course, he wasn't stupid, nor unobservant. That left them to pursue each other instead of pretending to go after him. He was amused by that, and the brief memory of him catching them kissing one night made him chuckle softly. He let his fingers trace the words,

Uzumaki Naruto

one last time before he turned away, and started to walk back to his lonely quarters in the Uchiha section of Konoha.

---

Kawao meandered along the road happily, humming softly to himself, his eyes a soft orange. He was close to where he needed to be to get work, he could feel it. That would bring him closer to Konoha, and the man he was pursuing.

This was rare, that a desire within him was strong enough to awaken the Fox to help him, to give him energy. He had a feeling that the only way the Fox could experience anything was through him. He and the Fox were close. He felt that the Fox was as amused by him as Kawao was of him. In the beginning, Kawao had been wary of him, some kind of residual fear left over from the time before he could remember. As the days, weeks, and years passed, he and the Fox became as close as a monsterous demon locked inside a very mortal body could be. The Fox taught him how to fight, how to use...what did he call it?...chakra, and healed him. For that, Kawao did what he could to keep the Fox quiet and happy. Overall, it was fair. It had been a little uncomfortable at first, but, with time the arrangement became acceptable to both parties. Kawao turned into the main road leading to the city that within, hopefully, Kawao could find his ticket to Konoha.

Author: everything a little more clear now? Hmmmm...