It's been a while... Happy new year! Let's hope for lots of good things in 2018.

POV's this chapter:
Naruto
Canon Sasuke
Sakura (slight bit of time-skip)

For a previously on - check the previous chapter AN, though what you need to know is mostly that Sasuke is away on his mission and has begun trailing Menma, who is acting very strange.

I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter, and I wonder what you'll think... Ah well, please don't kill me for the cliffhanger at the end *sweats*

Chapter 38: Hit and run

xxx

"And then the little fish swam over to a-"

"Can I eat the fish?"

Naruto took a deep breath, reminding himself that four-year-old kids are not aware of how annoying they are.

"No, you can't eat the fish, Natsuko."

"But why not? It looks tasty."

"It's not. It's actually disgusting."

She wrinkled her nose, grabbing the book from his hands and slamming it shut.

"Then it's boring."

"You're the one that wanted to read it," Naruto muttered, regretting making the trek to the living room just to fetch this particular book for a bedtime story. "Aren't you tired? I really think it's bedtime now."

"No!"

She wriggled until the covers came off, almost managing to escape before Naruto grabbed her and put her back where she should be, with her head on the pillow.

"I want to do fun things!"

"Like what?"

"Climb! Let's climb the mountain!"

He would rub his face in frustration if he wasn't holding her arms down, huffing at her pout.

"It's really late, so we can't. But how about I tell you a story about climbing instead?"

Natsuko contemplated this, no longer struggling. He tentatively let her go again, all too aware of how fast she was. Yesterday she'd made it to the hallway before he caught up, but at least she'd giggled the whole way back because he carried her upside down.

"Is it a good one?"

"Of course! It's the best story ever!"

"Fine," she relented, but it took him three more stories after that before she promptly fell asleep between one question and the next.

Leaving the room quietly he heaved a sigh of relief. Helping Iruka was a good distraction, but he was pretty sure he wasn't cut out for this. It was a lot harder to reason with kids than with enemies, except you knew they wouldn't try to kill you. At least not knowingly.

"She finally fell asleep, huh?" Iruka asked when he ventured into the kitchen and slumped at the table.

"Kids are terrible," he moaned, head falling onto his folded arms. "How do you do this every single day?"

"Practice," Iruka laughed, stirring the soup meant for tomorrow's lunch. "But they seem to like you."

"Yeah, I don't know… yesterday, Mitsuru tried to ambush me five times. He called me target practice!"

"And I'm sure he'll continue with it. He's working really hard to become a ninja, after all."

Naruto picked at a small scratch in the tabletop, listening to Iruka humming under his breath. He wondered, not for the first time, what things would have been like had he grown up like this. Would Sasuke have joined them after his family died? Maybe the two of them would have shared a room, even. Of course Sasuke would act all snotty about it, and not show he was sad. Maybe if things were like that, Orochimaru wouldn't have stolen Sasuke as easily…

"Shouldn't you be getting into bed, too?" Iruka asked, pulling him out of the daydream.

"I guess."

He'd rather not, actually, because it just reminded him that Sasuke was off on that mission, and the bed felt infinite amounts colder without him in it. Still, he dragged himself towards his room, took a long shower, thinking some more about possible pasts.

It wasn't the most fun thing to think about, but at least he had the small comfort that if they managed to become close despite what things were actually like, then they probably would be close if things were better. Then again, they could have ended up like Menma and Charasuke. He wasn't entirely sure what Menma had done, and Charasuke wouldn't tell when Naruto asked him earlier that morning. He'd just claimed he was still busy with Gaara, avoiding the question.

Naruto didn't like it if he were honest with himself, that Sasuke was off on some strange mission with Menma, of all people. He bit at his nails as he tried to reassure himself that nothing was going to happen. Besides, Sasuke could take care of himself. He was the strongest person Naruto knew. He-

It came like a blow, except it erupted inside his chest and spread through his body. He gasped against the pain, clutching at his shirt. When it faded he drew in a shaky breath, realizing that it wasn't his heart beating like mad – it was that connection they shared, the steady beat that always told him when Sasuke was close.

Again – the strength of it staggering. Like someone was trying to punch him through the bed frame, but from the inside. Their connection fluttered violently, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He had to-

The third time had him coughing, rolling out of bed to crawl towards his shoes, pulling them on between shallow breaths.

Come on, Kurama muttered, urging him on. We'd better get going.

The fourth time felt like an earthquake, except the ground was still as Naruto shook, struggling to stay on his feet.

Ready?

Naruto closed his eyes, forcing his chakra to focus and mingle with Kurama's. He aimed for the mark on Sasuke's neck, pictured it clearly in his mind, and-

Between one breath and the next, Naruto flickered out of sight.

xxx

Menma didn't run far, but he ran fast and Sasuke wasn't sure how cautious he needed to be while following. There was also the possibility that Menma wanted to be followed, that he was leading Sasuke towards a trap. Well, what better way to deal with him than to spring that trap?

He activated his sharingan, happy for a chance to try it out now that he could switch it on in its different stages and didn't have to use full power right away. It was enough of a warning in case Menma turned around and came charging.

It annoyed him that there was mostly open fields around them, forcing him to crouch as he ran, but at least it made it easy to follow Menma's path. He could feel the adrenaline starting to flow, all his senses attuning to possible danger. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't missed it, though not necessarily in a good way.

Maybe it was because the past year had taught him the difference between survival instinct and the thrill of a fight, but there was a churning feeling in his stomach accompanying the faint excitement. He wasn't sure what this apprehension was coming from. There was just something slightly off about it, to go back to stealthy running towards a target when he'd spent so much time strolling around in the open.

It should feel like settling into a familiar routine, but maybe it was the fact that Menma was similar to Naruto yet wrong in so many ways that had him unsettled.

Eventually Menma's presence dropped underground, and moments later Sasuke reached a small hill that probably wasn't natural. Sure enough there was an entrance hidden with genjutsu, and Sasuke doubted anyone would discover it unless they were an expert in the field. Apparently the Hyuuga clan members investigating before them hadn't been able to do a detailed search, merely noting down the area where the chakra paths running underground seemed to origin. And now, Sasuke had to do all the dirty work for them…

Well, he could have woken the others up. Too late now, as he cautiously made his way inside the small hill. It was dark inside of course, a steep pathway leading downwards and giving him flashbacks to Orochimaru's many hideouts. Those hideouts were usually lit by torches though, at least if they were being used.

He could hear faint rustling noises from below, but couldn't tell if they came from humans or not. If Naruto or Karin had been here he wouldn't have had to guess whether or not that meant Menma was waiting alone. Really, why did no one think to bring a sensor type to this mission? Just three Uchiha and an unstable jinchuuriki…

Then again, if Menma was the reason for the mission in the first place, bringing Uchiha able to control the kyuubi made a lot of sense.

Slowly he made his way down, hearing Naruto's annoying nagging to not rush headfirst into traps, as if Naruto ever listened to his own advice. Such a hypocrite, really. At least the tunnel seemed stable enough, shaped by what felt like dried, compact earth. It was eerily quiet besides the faint shuffling from wherever the tunnel ended, impatience making his skin crawl. Much to his dismay, he and Naruto were both better at going into a fight head-on, instead of wasting time on all this creeping around.

After what felt like half an eternity the sound changed, indicating the end of the tunnel was near. He kept close to one side, suppressing his presence as much as he could. Sometimes the sage powers weren't entirely cooperative, causing him to leak small bursts of chakra. Not a problem when sparring with Naruto since it was useless anyway to try and hide from him, but now he regretted not practicing more.

He hadn't precisely expected to go on stealth missions in the near future, after all.

The tunnel smelled of stale air, gradually becoming lighter. Those faint shuffling noises increased in volume, like a large amount of people dragging their feet as they walked. Nerves pulled tight Sasuke hesitated by a bend in the tunnel, where enough light reached to let him see most of the ground and walls. Menma was surely close now, but whether or not he laid in wait was impossible to tell. He took a cautious step forwards, leaning to try and see past the bend. He clenched his hands, digging his nails into his hands to keep them from trembling.

Why was he so worked up over this? He'd been in so many worse situations, hadn't felt this reluctant to move since his genin days.

Swallowing down the feeling he eased his head forwards, pressed against the dirt wall. There was more of the tunnel ahead, but the opening was in view – perhaps twenty meters away. Beyond the edge was what looked like a vast open space, the light muted and pale. It left him with two choices, either rush ahead and hope for the best, or hope no one had a view of the opening as he crept towards it.

A more sensible ninja might have chosen the latter option, or even turned back to get the others. Sasuke, however, felt much too annoyed with himself to bother with thinking things through.

One deep breath, Mangekyo at the ready, and he was off.

The opening at the end of the tunnel wasn't much more than a carved-out half circle, but Sasuke jumped above it and held onto the wall of what appeared to be a huge cave. The light came from little gaps in the ceiling above as well as a few fluorescent stripes along the bottom of the walls. Far below him was the source of the shuffling – a mass of white Zetsus, swaying in a breeze he couldn't detect.

The cave itself seemed manmade, the walls smooth rock, stretching out in front of him with no end in sight. Here and there were piles of rocks, interspersed between the mass of white bodies. Sasuke could see their chakra, though it was weak; traces of it pulsating up the walls. This must be what the Hyuuga had seen, but for what reason would they waste chakra like that?

Menma was nowhere in sight, and Sasuke took a moment to consider his options. There was no point in engaging the Zetsu copies unless they attacked, and Fugaku would probably tell him to focus on Menma and gathering as much information as possible. This didn't mean his fingers were void of twitching with the urge to drench them all in fire, see how far the cave stretched in the light of flames.

The presence of this many Zetsus had implications he'd rather not think about, brought with it memories he'd tried to suppress best he could. There was no point in hesitating though, and so he cautiously moved towards the right, following the length of the cave sideways. He couldn't see any traps or guards, everything eerily quiet aside from the slow movements below. His katana felt heavy in its belt, a few beads of cold sweat gathering at his neck. Something much bigger than they'd anticipated was going on, and he didn't like it one bit. Sometimes he wondered if his life was just bound to be like this forever – a long string of shitty circumstances.

The worst part was that he couldn't run, because every small sound he made seemed enlarged in here, every faint thud of his feet like a blaring warning to anyone listening. Maybe he should just burn his way through the Zetsus after all…

When he couldn't see either end of the narrow cave something changed. He froze, ears attuned to the sudden silence. A glance downwards showed that the Zetsus had stopped moving, still enough to be statues. Sasuke held his breath, eyes frantically scanning the area. Nothing, more nothing, then-

A bunch of Zetsus were thrown aside when the kyuubi emerged from between them, scattering like debris. The fox snarled, red tails swishing angrily, eyes narrowed onto Sasuke. This wasn't the same Menma as before, back at the mock tournament. The chakra leaking from the kyuubi felt out of control, hot and heavy and filling the suddenly cramped cave. It took a step forwards, clawed paw crushing white clones underneath it, nails digging into the ground with a crunching noise.

He moved right in time, throwing himself to the left as one tail hit the cave wall, cracks running up and down from the impact area. His heart beat wildly against his ribs, one hand grabbing his katana, the other gathering lightning chakra. He could feel the chakra pulsate through his hand, and when the fox launched again he jumped forward, grabbing onto one tail and letting chakra spike through it. The kyuubi roared and tried to shake him off. Instead he went for the back, landing on soft fur, hoping Charasuke wouldn't be too upset as he drove his sword through tough muscle.

It didn't do much damage. As soon as he pulled out the wound closed up, stitching itself together much like he'd seen Naruto do. He swore, and then the kyuubi – or maybe it was still Menma, somewhere in there – rolled onto its back.

Sasuke had no choice but to run across the heads and shoulders of Zetsu clones, narrowly avoiding their grabbing hands and pointed teeth. Many more of them got crushed under the kyuubi, and Sasuke sent a few fireballs towards it. They were swiped away by tails, snuffed out before reaching the walls.

He was starting to feel like maybe this was a bad idea, after all.

Crouching on a wall he tried to focus, pushing out everything screaming at him to leave, now, and run as far away as possible.

It was new, and utterly unhelpful, with no logic to it. It was probably another side effect after his meeting with Kaguya, and Sasuke gritted his teeth with force because he hadn't felt afraid since he was twelve years old.

Or since he fought Itachi.

Or-

He was interrupted as Menma charged again, attempting to trap him against the cave wall. This time a chidori to the face didn't do any lasting damage, only managed to buy him a few seconds as the kyuubi howled, Sasuke running at top speed towards the beginning of the cave. If he managed to make it back outside he'd have a much easier time, because this cramped space certainly wasn't to his advantage.

However, as fast as he was, somehow the kyuubi was faster. A large paw struck the tunnel's opening, crushing it and part of the wall as well. It was doubtful that the rest of the tunnel remained intact, rubble tumbling down onto the Zetsus below, dust clouds billowing up to hide that part of the wall.

Fine. Sasuke didn't need an advantage. When did he ever have one, anyway? Besides, the kyuubi could probably burst through the ceiling if Sasuke wanted it to, but then the whole cave might be destroyed and all the evidence buried. He needed to finish this quickly, then tie Menma up in a nice little bundle and go back to the inn.

If his hands could just stop shaking…

As the dust clouds dispersed, Sasuke called forth his Susanoo. The massive chakra vibrated around him, forming a powerful shield of purple energy. It made the kyuubi pause mid-step, growling as its red eyes narrowed. Sasuke had opted for a sword instead of bow and arrow, considering the fox was almost within striking distance thanks to their sheer sizes. It bothered him that Menma hadn't said anything yet; any time he sparred with Naruto in kyuubi mode the fox living inside him wouldn't shut up.

"What is this place?" he called, strengthening his grip on the sword, the chakra crackling at the handle. "Some kind of clone factory?"

No answer. Instead the kyuubi stalked closer, until it came face to pointed edge with Sasuke's giant sword. Hatred burned in its eyes like Sasuke hadn't seen in years, but the stare was blank, void of consciousness.

It wasn't hard to break through it, entering the shared mind-space of Menma and his bijuu. Not much was different from Naruto's mind – an echoing, water-filled cage, greenish light glinting off the giant metal bars. However, the cage was open, dark red chakra oozing out of it, enveloping Menma where he lay on the ground. When Sasuke reached out to touch him the chakra swirled up, almost burning him with sudden heat. A low, sinister laugh came from the darkness beyond the open cage, those red eyes blinking slowly at him.

Still, not a single word uttered.

The laughter echoed off the walls, water sloshing around Sasuke's ankles as he took a step back. Was this what Obito meant about the bijuu losing consciousness? Menma had evidently lost all control, had most likely done so already back at the inn. But surely he was still alive with his mind intact…

A deep inhale had Sasuke's skin crawl, and then the kyuubi roared, forcing him out of Menma's mind.

He pushed, the edge of his sword attempting to drive into the kyuubi's snout, chakra pushing back at him. This mission would have suited Naruto just a tiny bit better…

A burst of lightning through the sword managed to snap the kyuubi backwards a few steps, and Sasuke swung a quick blow from underneath, stopped by a heavy paw. If he couldn't think of something better than brute strength he was going to be in trouble…

Still, he swung his sword methodically, trying to find an opening among the tails that tried to reach him. He had a hunch that the kyuubi, for whatever reason, didn't want to damage the cave too much. And if Menma didn't control it, who did? Each time they clashed he felt himself shake, trembling from the effort. It shouldn't be this hard, this heavy… His breath came in quick gulps of air, stolen between one blow and the next, sweat running down his neck. The cave felt sweltering hot, as if the kyuubi's chakra heated the air until it dug into Susanoo's chakra layer, nipping at it until parts of the armor fell off like flakes.

Even the kyuubi seemed to… flake, somehow. When Sasuke concentrated enough to look through the purple there seemed to be dark undercurrents of chakra under the red fur, moving in a pattern of its own. Either way things weren't looking good, though it's not like they were looking terrible.

Again, why was he trembling so much? Gritting his teeth he moved forwards, slowly, ignoring the white clones underneath him. They couldn't do much to his Susanoo, and he didn't like being pressed up to the wall. The kyuubi snarled at him, but his chakra armor held against the barrage of tails. All the plans Sasuke tried to think of seemed useless, leading nowhere. It all seemed like a stalemate, both of them locked in a slow battle of endurance, waiting for the other to give way as they were both unwilling to damage the cave further.

Heart heavy in his throat, Sasuke pulled up his Rinnegan. He didn't expect much but the sage chakra should give him an extra boost, at least.

It had the kyuubi rearing back, ears slick against its head.

Unsure of what was going on, Sasuke eyed the kyuubi warily as it backed away from him, hissing. Perhaps it wasn't the kyuubi itself that reacted to how he infused the sage chakra through his Susanoo? Drawing in a deep breath he channeled more of the sage chakra, made it flow through his sword, lapping like flames along the chakra shaping it. It made the kyuubi growl, claws digging deep into the rocky ground. And-

There.

Near where the kyuubi had emerged from.

A distortion in space and time, a dark pillar previously invisible. It couldn't be anything other than a portal through dimensions, though where it led he couldn't tell.

Maybe that's why it seemed to show up out of nowhere, he thought, drawing towards the right, closer to the portal. He leveled his sword at the fox, kept it at a distance. It seemed to be hesitating now, a shudder rippling through it. A little closer, a little more, and then the kyuubi seemed to realize what he was aiming for, baring its fangs.

Whatever Zetsu clones that hadn't been trampled rushed towards the portal, a white mass of slimy limbs that one after another disappeared through the dark matter. Sasuke's heart was beating too loud now, thudding in his ears, blocking out the rustle of movement. He kept his eyes on the kyuubi, slowly inching closer, breaths more shallow the closer he got.

Almost all the Zetsu were gone now, aside from the ones lifeless on the ground. The cave couldn't have been as large as it seemed, considering how quickly it emptied. Maybe, if he came close enough, he would be able to see into the portal, or get an idea of where it was leading…

As he moved the kyuubi kept up pace with him, belly lowered to the ground and eyes like slits, wary but ready for attack. Sasuke couldn't decide what was better – push the kyuubi through the portal and follow, let it leave and close the portal, or simply destroy it before the kyuubi could step through.

Cold prickles ran down his neck, chakra pulsating through his body. The opening was as black as ever when he glanced at it, no sign of the Zetsus that had already dived through it.

"Where does it lead?" he asked, voice sharp through the echoing cave.

All the kyuubi did was grind its jaw, head twitching towards the oval-shaped darkness. Would it lead straight to their enemy? To a place outside of time and space, like the one Obito had trapped him inside once? Perhaps it led nowhere, simply swallowed you up and never let you out again…

Closer yet, and there were faint noises reaching him through the dark. The sound of running water, wind rustling in trees; he strained his ears to pick up more when the kyuubi roared again, throwing itself towards him.

Conjuring up a wall of Amaterasu flames between them, Sasuke dropped his Susanoo and jumped, chidori shrieking in his hand. He fused as much sage chakra as he could into it, the way he'd seen Naruto do with his Rasengan, and when the kyuubi made the mistake of rushing through the dark flames he aimed for the neck.

Amaterasu did its job – eating away at the kyuubi's fur – and Sasuke used the short moment when the fox reared back to push lightning into the base of its neck.

It worked, for a moment; then the portal burst open with white, and he barely managed to avoid the Zetsu latching onto the fox's limp body. It looked like a long chain of bodies, like Naruto's dumb clone ladders, but his flames were transferred to white bodies that fell writhing to the ground, and as the kyuubi shrunk into Menma the chain dragged him towards the portal.

Sasuke ran, drawing his katana to cut through the chain, but a blast of chakra threw him backwards against the opposite wall. Ears ringing he brushed rubble off himself, Menma's yellow hair swallowed up by darkness.

Shit.

Ignoring the pain pulsating through him he used his Rinnegan to switch places with a limp Zetsu that was closer, stretched his hand towards the portal, and-

Someone grabbed him from behind, grip crushingly tight.

He knew that chakra.

The portal shrunk in front of his eyes, but Sasuke couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

Shit shit shit-

"Don't," Naruto said when he tried to move, the portal disappearing without a trace.

"Idiot," he forced out, body trembling, limbs useless. "You let him get away!"

"Who?"

"Menma!"

Naruto didn't seem nearly as concerned about that as he should, frowning at him instead.

"Are you hurt?"

Sasuke blinked at him. At the lack of answer Naruto proceeded to check him thoroughly, brushing off dirt and clicking his tongue at a small rip in his clothes.

"Were you even listening to me?" Sasuke asked, forcing himself to take deep breaths. "Menma just disappeared into another dimension, don't you have anything to say about that?"

"Well," Naruto said, pausing in his fussing. "Considering I was convinced you were dying, I don't really care about Menma, no."

They stared at each other, and then Naruto took his hand, holding it up between them.

"You don't look in great shape, teme."

His hand was still trembling, less now but visible enough. Swallowing, Sasuke turned his head. He didn't know what to say to that.

"Why would you think that? Why are you even here?"

Naruto shrugged, letting their hands fall down again but not letting go, twisting his fingers with Sasuke's.

"Where are the others?"

"Back at the inn."

"Of course they are," Naruto muttered, surveying their surroundings. "Is that what I think it is?"

He motioned towards one of the lifeless Zetsus, and when Sasuke took a step forwards he realized he was still tense, Rinnegan on full display. Rolling his shoulders he tried to relax a bit, Naruto pulling him forwards to inspect one of the fallen bodies.

"So what happened?"

As Sasuke explained they made a slow search of the cave, finding nothing but rocks and white clones. There weren't even any additional tunnels leading out from the cave or any signs of a camp.

"Alright," Naruto concluded, sitting down on the rocky ground cross-legged. "Menma's gone who knows where, and we'll have to force our way out."

Sasuke waited for any continuation, but Naruto just sat there humming to himself, one hand still gripping Sasuke's.

"And? What are we going to do about it?"

"Oh Sasuke, I am so glad you asked."

He didn't care much for Naruto's smug tone, but then he found himself pulled down on the ground, pushed onto his back. Glaring up at Naruto he was about to object when the idiot plopped down on top of his stomach, all but forcing the air out of his lungs.

"We're not going to do anything until you tell me why you're so upset."

"I'm not upset."

Naruto leaned forwards, but Sasuke bore his eyes into him, holding his ground.

"Sasuke. You're upset. Talk to me."

"No."

Placing his hands on either side of Sasuke's face, Naruto squished his cheeks and mouth regardless of the death glare he got for it.

"I know you," Naruto told him, and this time Sasuke had to close his eyes, groaning. "You were shaking, and you're all on edge. And something made me feel like I'd just gotten stabbed multiple times so just get out with it."

"It was nothing."

He sounded pretty dumb with Naruto still squishing his cheeks, but he didn't really feel like moving enough to push him away. Something inside him was still squirming, kept his heart thudding too fast. The change between his fight with Menma and Naruto's arrival had happened too quickly, left his head reeling.

"I missed you."

Sasuke sucked in a sharp breath, fingertips dragging over dirt.

"Shut up."

"You were supposed to wake me up, you know."

"Well I tried." When Naruto didn't reply he opened his eyes, found him with a conflicted expression on his face. "If you tell me you were dreaming some stupid shit about ramen-"

"I met Kaguya."

Sighing, Sasuke felt something churn in his stomach at those words. Whatever they'd talked about couldn't be good, not with Naruto looking at him like that.

"She said that if you go back home, you'll die."

"…right. Well. Not like that's the first time."

"Sasuke, I'm serious."

"And you think I'm not?"

It was always easy to tell what Naruto was thinking, and right now he seemed torn between hitting him and pulling at his own hair. Sasuke, for his part, still tried to calculate all that had happened in the short time since he arrived at the cave, tried to find some sense in it.

"I really hated being away from you," Naruto mumbled eventually, crossing his arms with a small huff. "I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Fantastic. Are we done now?"

"No."

Glaring at each other, neither made an attempt to move. Sasuke barely managed not to grit his teeth, contemplating just falling asleep instead. He was starting to feel rather exhausted, now that things seemed over and done with. He was just about to tell Naruto to stop being so annoying when he broke eye contact, staring down at Sasuke's chest with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"You were supposed to wake me up and kiss me goodbye."

"I was what?"

Sasuke had heard him perfectly, but he really enjoyed how Naruto squirmed, hands clutching at his t-shirt.

"Supposed to kiss me. Goodbye. Um. Yeah. So you should do it now instead."

"Unless you changed your mind about sticking to me like a leech I don't really see why I should."

Naruto smacked his chest, beetroot red now, strangled noises coming from his throat.

"Don't get smart with me, bastard."

Reaching up, Sasuke grabbed the back of Naruto's neck, bringing their faces close. He could feel Naruto's warm breath wash over his mouth, the hand on his chest sliding downwards to splay across his stomach as Naruto scooted back to sit on his thighs instead.

"It was barely two days," he said, one of Naruto's arms sneaking around his shoulders.

He was supporting himself with one hand, Naruto above him, eyes narrowed as Sasuke gave him a challenging look.

"I've had lots of fun without you," Naruto lied, knees locking around Sasuke's hips.

"Then I suggest you go back right now and leave me to deal with-"

The rest of his words were drowned in Naruto's mouth, lips pressing together hard. He would never admit it out loud, but he'd missed this, too. Letting his fingers slide through Naruto's short hair he opened his mouth, licking at Naruto's tongue until it made him choke. Naruto pushed at his stomach until he fell back down again, caged in by Naruto's arms.

"I hope no one's waiting for you to come back and report soon," Naruto mumbled, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Why are you always talking so much," he sighed, prompting Naruto to capture his mouth again, warmth spreading through Sasuke's cold, tense limbs as he did.

Naruto was always like this; warm and demanding and knowing just what Sasuke needed.

And right now, all he needed was this, was Naruto's body heavy on top of him, fingers cradling his face, mouth working hard to drive him breathless. Still, there was a lingering feeling of dread inside him that even Naruto couldn't suppress fully.

What was he going to tell Charasuke?

xxx

In another dimension, Sakura was busy gathering herbs at the outskirts of Konoha territory, morning sun slowly creeping towards midday. They weren't precisely running out, but she'd been on edge all week and Tsunade had forced her to take a day off.

It didn't help that she couldn't join the search parties for Naruto and Sasuke, though where would they even look? There was no trace, no clues; only Sasuke's katana left behind. She had a personal suspicion that they were stuck in some other dimension, one practice teleportation gone wrong, but they really should have figured out a way to get back in that case…

She ran a finger along the stem of a small plant, basket filled an hour ago. The village wasn't precisely different now, but there was something brewing underneath the surface, mutterings of past betrayals, and could they really know they'd both been forced to disappear?

Naruto's birthday had been… strange, for lack of a better word. People hadn't known what to think, back then. Was he just skipping out on the attention? Had something happened, a secret mission perhaps? Nothing could be said for certain, even now. They were just gone. There was an invisible hole within the village walls, like the lack of sunlight on a cloudy day, making you wonder if the clouds would ever pass.

She ripped the stem from the ground, standing up to stretch her stiff limbs. It was getting colder at last, and she rubbed warmth into her arms, frowning up at the sky through the treetops. Maybe she could find Ino and go for an early lunch…

A small noise made her pause, something above the faint murmur of the nearby stream. An animal, maybe? It sounded again, something between a groan and a grunt. Leaving the basket she crept closer, about to dismiss it as her frayed nerves when it sounded again, accompanied by a pained gasp.

Rushing as quietly as she could she reached the stream, pulling up short. She reached a hand out for support, finding the trunk of a tree, surveying the scene. White Zetsus like the ones from last year's war littered the ground, charred in some places, half-melted in others. And there, just by the sandy patch stretching into the river, feet dipping into the shallow water…

Naruto.

And... we finally get a glimpse of what's going on in canon Konoha! Let me know what you think because I had severe writer's block for this chapter (not the plot, but just writing the fighting scene, sigh).

Anyway! I wish you all the best for 2018, thank you for sticking with me so far! *hugs*

If you want to talk, I'm on tumblr (fangirlandiknowit101) and twitter (katsudonforever)!