Notes: Oh-kay! I've been getting requests for angst and fluff and even an intimate scene between the two, but, apparently, I haven't been delivering. I'm so sorry! I'll try and make them better…
He broke left while his partner darted right. Blades flashed in the late evening sunlight and screams ripped into the heavy silence of the air as crimson splashes danced in the fading sky. Two solid thumps brought their adrenaline-hazed minds back to reality. They looked over the bodies and at one another, blue eyes meeting black, faces concealed by their masks.
"Nice," one spoke up, reaching into his hip pouch and getting out a cloth to wipe away the red stains on the weapon's surface. The other pressed a button, located on a special collar he wore around his neck.
"This is Squad Three," he spoke softly. "The South area is cleared."
"Good work," a different voice came out from the ear-clip transmitter the Anbu wore. "Start heading for the nearest checkpoint; there will be transportation waiting for you there."
"Affirmative," he pressed the collar button again and picked up his fallen cloak, wrapping it about his shoulders in a tight flourish. He looked back at his partner, who had finished cleaning his sword. "Hey. We're going back now."
"Good, I'm hungry," the other man hurried over and then fell into step beside the first.
"You're always hungry," came the standard reply. They continued to walk, brown and dead leaves crunching underfoot as they slipped back into the trees and headed silently toward the appointed meeting place. The sun finally fell and the thick tree trunks consumed their full view.
"Sharingan," one blinked and black eyes turned bright red.
"Show-off," the other snorted.
And then, there was the slightest of sounds, one that not even the highly-advanced eyes of Shaingan could fully interpret to the user's mind. It was like a breathless whisper of air, soft and fleeting, like a ghost lover's touch. But what attacked was no ghost: it was a third enemy, one they hadn't been informed of. It came from behind them, and slipped into the Sharingan's blind spot. One whirled to meet the attack and the other started to as well but was pushed aside as a flash of silver gleamed harshly in the deep shadows of the forest. With a sickening noise, hot, thick liquid sprayed along the trunk of a tree close by, and all three stood frozen in shock, two pairs of eyes looking up at the figure of the third who stood unmoving, a long-bladed sword protruding out of the small of his back. It had entered from the belly and pierced through in a straight line of flesh and innards, and most likely, had successfully severed the spinal chord as well. He chocked softly and fell forward on the blade, his mask slipping off his face and clattering sharply against the tree roots between his feet, exposing scarred cheeks and dull eyes covered by unruly spikes of blond hair.
"Made…it…" Uzumaki Naruto tried his best to turn the corner of his mouth up in a grin before he died on the blade. His partner stood frozen as the attacker ripped the weapon roughly from the blonde's stomach and spun around to catch him in his off-guard state. He barely ducked his head and backed away one or two feet, his eyes trying to drift back over to the fallen body but his mind screaming at him that he shouldn't, it wasn't a good idea, he was being attacked and such a distraction was the last thing he needed. But…
"Naruto…" the name spilled numbly from half-trembling lips as the blood-coated sword jabbed at him once more and he abruptly whipped out a small dagger from beneath the white wrist cuff of his arm guards, swinging it in a counter-arc and catching the blade, holding it at bay. He lifted red Sharingan eyes to stare into the cold one's of his friend's killer, who was smiling emotionlessly, trying to force the sword down on him.
"There's no one left to help you," he murmured, throwing all his weight into the attempted guard break. The Anbu stumbled and warning alarms clanged in his head, but he ignored them and stared at nothing, another half of his uncomprehending brain seeing the sword piercing his friend's stomach, coming out the other side, his strong shoulders hunching over, the mask falling to the dark forest floor. And then a burning orange-red light shook him out of his stupor and the sound of a body hitting the dirt told him his attacker was dead.
"What?" he gasped briefly and looked up at his savior, wanting to tell them, scream at them, that Naruto was hurt and he needed help as soon as possible, but then he saw who it was. "Naruto? I thought you were…" he shook his head and strode forward quickly, reaching out to touch the blonde's arm. "Are you oka--"
Again, he barely managed to dodge the attack, this time from his own teammate. "Naruto! What the hell's the matter with you?" his reassurance quickly jumping to anger. "I'm sorry you got hurt, but that doesn't mean--" He attacked again and once more the other Anbu dodged his claws. Claws? His Sharingan essentially short-circuited and snuffed itself out when he finally caught a full-out look at Naruto: his eyes, which were usually the color of the sun-lit sky, burned a fierce flame red, the black pupils skewed into vertical slits--demon eyes; the dual set of scars on either tanned cheek had elongated, giving him what appeared to be staggered whiskers, much like those of an animal; his fingernails had grown instantaneously, becoming almost two-inch-long daggers which gleamed sliver and appeared to be (he didn't want to find out) hard as diamonds and sharp enough to slice through air. Naruto had somehow transformed into the Kyuubi Kitsune--the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.
Oh shit, is what he thought, but what he said was: "Hey, come on. You don't recognize me?" He slowly showed his hands to Naruto first, then reached up and slipped the mask down from his face, uncovering pale skin and dark, almond-shaped eyes. "It's me," his voice took on a slightly pleading note that he himself was unaware of. "It's me: Sasuke."
His statement was answered with a deep growl that emanated from the center of the blonde's chest. It rumbled in the silence of the forest and made Uchiha Sasuke's blood run cold. He doesn't recognize me. That means I'm next. And on cue, the Kyuubi/Naruto lunged for him and he squeezed his eyes shut until he heard a heavy thump. Hesitantly, he opened first one eye, then both.
"I had to use a sleeping jitsu on him," Hyuuga Neji spoke almost apologetically as he pulled the mask away from his slender face. The unsettling white eyes landed on the Uchiha and he lifted one elegant eyebrow. "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"
"He's probably just a little shaken up," Neji's partner slipped out from behind the trees and lowered his mask as well. "It's not everyday you face up against a demon. Especially that demon," Inuzuka Kiba made a displeased face down at the heap on the ground that was his friend.
"That's enough of that for now," Neji spoke discreetly, giving the silent Anbu a cautious side-glance.
"The guys at the transport said you had checked in earlier, but you hadn't shown up, so we came to see what was up," Kiba explained their well-timed rescue. "At least you're not hurt."
"But Naruto…" the slightly-older man let his unmarred brow wrinkle in a frown. "How did this happen?" Then he quickly shook his head. "No, never mind that. We have to get you and Naruto back to Konoha. I don't think our current medical ninja can do much for his condition…"
"Hinata could try!" the man with the blood-red markings on his face flashed an angry glare at his superior.
"We would need someone more skilled in containment seals and knowledgeable in jinkurichi conditions," Neji successfully shut the other man up. "Now, help me carry hi--"
"I'll carry him," Sasuke finally spoke up, sounding slightly mechanical. He felt as if he were watching himself from outside his own mind: he picked up the blond, grimacing slightly at the slowly-regenerating wound gaping in his abdomen, nodded to the other two Anbu, who nodded back and slipped their own masks back on, and followed them through the almost-pitch black collection of trees.
Naruto…what's going on? What happened? I can't help but be happy that you're still alive, but this…is not really you. Maybe when you're home again, I can welcome the real you back.