Chapter 7

As usual, thanks to everyone for reading! Feedback is always welcome. I have a lot of fun writing this story, and I can only hope that you have fun reading it.

His face was so close to mine Ican almost feel his lips brush mine. My breath rasps out in an uneven pace. My heart smashes against my ribs excitedly. I feel so strange, hot and cold all over at once. My head is spinning violently, I can't tell where up or down are. All there is, is Naruto. And those shocking blue eyes.

The sound of footsteps invade my ears and drag me back into the task at hand. I jerk up right quickly, smacking my skull against his, sending him flying out of the tree with a surprised yelp. My hand shoots out, catching his foot.

"What the hell, Red? I try to kiss you and you try to knock me out." He complains loudly. Too loudly. I pull him up beside me, "Shhh, someone's coming." I warn, covering his loud mouth with my hand.

He's instantly back in the game, he shifts to a crouch, ready to spring. "I hope it's Kiba, so I can have an excuse to fight him." We wait in silence for a few moments until Kakashi runs right under our tree.

"What's he doing here?" Naruto muses out loud. "Only one way to really find out, let's go!" I take off, following the sound of Kakashi's foot falls. I pause at a tree a few minutes later, holding a hand up to warn an approaching Naruto to watch his step. Kakashi looks around, and places a flag on top of a small hill. He quickly takes off again. I crouch getting ready to spring, when Kiba bursts out of the bushes nearby.

"No!" I cry. I change my sights to Kiba and descend upon him, pinning him to the ground. He barely pauses, without much effort he grabs my wrists and rolls me under him, growling fiercely. I growl back at him and push back. For a minute I realise we must be quite a sight, rolling around on the grass growling our heads off. I can't let him win, however, and keep rolling and growling until I see out of the corner of my eye, Naruto is on the hill.

"Damn it," I cry. Kiba must have also noticed, because we both let go of each other and race towards Naruto, who has just pulled the flag out of the ground. "Yes! I got it! Hey, aren't you impress-" with a soft poof, Naruto is left holding nothing more than a handful of leaves. A rope snakes around his ankle and before I can blink, he's hanging upside down.

He struggles wildly, "Hey! Let go! Help me down!" I giggle as I cut him down, Kiba catches him, but lets him down rather roughly. "Too bad. Better luck next time I guess. Hey, Red, next time you wanna roll around like that, come find me again. Haven't had that much fun in forever." Kiba grins at me, and turns around and disappears back into the woods.

Naruto tucks his arms behind his head, and says calmly, "That trap was so obvious. I just didn't want you to get caught in it." I punch him lightly in the side, "Jeez, my hero." He glances at me and grins widely.

I hear another soft poof followed by a shriek of surprise. We don't even have to speak, or maybe he knows I'm about to take off, whatever it is, we're both standing at the edge of a pit almost instantly. Peering down, a dusty and disgruntled Shikamaru is peering back up at us. "I thought I had the flag, how troublesome."

"Let's get him out," I say to Naruto. "Why?" He questions, "If we do, he just becomes another competitor again. Leave him." He turns to walk away.

I throw Naruto into the pit, catching him by the ankles again. "Grab his hands, I'll pull you both back up."

After much complaining, from both boys, we finally got Shikamaru out of the pit. We're all standing around dusting our clothes off, when Saskue bursts past us. He's not quite fast enough, because I see the flag, clutched in his hands.

I take off without a word to either of the boys, only hearing Shikamaru complain. "Are you really going to try and chase her? What a drag."

As I chase Saskue, he glances at me from over his shoulder with a sarcastic grin. "What was that you said about having to catch you?"

That bastard. With a shriek of outrage, I leap at his back, wrapping my arms around his waist, bringing us both down. "Is this the part where you run me over?" I taunt back.

Instantly, we both pop back up on our feet, facing each other. "Bring it Red, I've been dying to see what you can do against me." His eyes flash red as my hands fly into the seals and I try to push myself in his mind. He's better prepared now, and offers a resistance. "Saskue," I purr out loud, "Let me in."

He laughs a hard, mocking laugh, and launches at me. I throw my arms up instinctively to block. He hits hard though, harder than I thought he could, and the blow sends me flying back on my ass. He stands over me, grinning coldly down. He's left an opening though, I throw myself between his legs, leaping to my feet with a Kunai knife, butting him in the back of the head with the end. His turns, fist out and catches me in the chest, sending me flying again. Christ, he's powerful. As I spring back to my feet, his fist is headed towards my face. I catch it, and throw him back, making him stumble. Not before he lets a throwing star fly, catching the sleeve of my shirt and pinning me to a tree. He's got his balance back now, and throws another, pinning the other sleeve. He's cocky now, he slowly approaches me, kunai in hand. Too bad for him, in the heat of battle he let his mental guard down, and I gently push myself in his mind. I plant the hypnotic suggestion that I'm scary. I make myself look menacing, cunning, and frightening. I scowl to complete the desired effect. For a moment it works, and he pauses, his face revealing a split second of true fear. He shakes his head roughly, and mentally strains against me. I push hard against him, but he forces me out.

"That's a useful trick you used there, Red." He gets close to me, leans towards me, tapping his finger by his left eye. "I can see through it though."

I rip my arms free of my sleeves and punch him hard between the eyes, giving it my all, sending him flying back. He dropped the flag. I scoop it up and run before he can recover.

I take off, using all the force I have. It's not long before I can hear him chasing me; catching up to me. His breath is slapping against the back of my neck. I can even feel the ghost of his fingers, trying to clasp onto me. "I'm impressed Red," he huffs. His voice is closer than I expected it to be. I can see the light of the opening of the woods and I give one final desperate push.

The sound of his hands slapping seals together catches my attention. I glance over my shoulder, his hand is cupped before his mouth. Naruto's voice echoes in my head, "Saskue can do fire jitsus. It seems they get stronger every time he breaks one out."

I leap the side, just as a fire ball engulfs the spot I stood before. In my haste to save my own ass, I dropped the flag. He's already picked it up and he's almost reached the opening. I pull myself up and give my last push of strength, I lunge my fingers just brush the material of his shirt, as he enters the opening.

A wave of sadness crashes over me as I stumble out in front of the Sensi's all congratulating Saskue on a victory. I can't even take satisfaction in the fact he's breathing hard. I'm shocked. How could I lose? I was so close. I smack my hands against my thighs in frustration.

I plaster a smile on my face, "Good game, Saskue." He ignores me. A slow anger burns in my stomach. Fuck him.

"Since you're the winner Saskue, why don't you spend the day with the loser, Red, training her?" Kakashi suggest.

"What? Wait! No way!" Saskue and I cry out together, but it's too late because that damn Sensi is already gone.

As the others come out of the woods, I pick myself up and walk away. Not in the mood for the congratulatory atmosphere. Naruto catches up to me. "Did ya see that bruise on Saskue's face? Way to go, Red!" He throws an arm over my shoulder.

I quickly shrug it off, "Not now Naruto, leave me alone." I mutter. He looks hurt, but lets me go, as I trudge off.

That night, lying in my tree, my thoughts torture me. I try and keep them balanced though. I think about the bitterness of my defeat. Losing to Saskue. How close I was. Does that make me weak? I let those thoughts smack around in my mind, until the sorrow gets too heavy and it threatens to drown me. Then I switch to the other extreme. I think about Naruto's arms holding me. His laugh. His lips almost brushing my own. I wonder what it would be like to let him kiss me. Do I love him? I don't know. I let those thoughts cloud my mind until I get dizzy again. Then I switch back. I do this for most of the night, until sleep blessedly numbs my mind for a few hours.

When I open my eyes, I see the sky is grey and cloudy. Perfect, I think, it matches my mood perfectly. I sigh, dropping out of my tree. I slowly make my way to the training spot, dreading meeting a gloating Saskue there.

On my way there, I decide I'll go find Naruto later and apologize for the way I treated him.

Saskue is already there, he couldn't wait to rub my loss in my face I bet. As I approach, he looks up and I stop dead in my tracks. He's smiling at me? Not grinning, not smirking. Smiling. At me? "Uh, hey Saskue. You're here early, huh?" His smile gets brighter. "Hey Akako! Wow, you sure look beautiful today."

This isn't Saskue. He doesn't know my name. He calls me Red. Everyone calls me Red. I don't let the realization show on my face. I keep it carefully blank. Instead I quickly hand seal, watching his eyes. They flash red, but when I try to enter his mind, he's not quick enough to block me out, and I see who he is.

"Twin, I see you're still a master at cloning others. You even mocked his blood line limit superbly. You're acting still fucking sucks, though." My eyes narrow. "Where is he?"

The fake Saskue, Twin, grins at me. "Akako, is that how you greet an old friend?"

"Took you a while to find me. I guess you're as stupid as I've always suspected." My ears are trialing along, listening for the mind of the real Saskue.

Twin glowers at me. "Diablo wants you bought to him alive. But I'm sure he won't notice a few pieces missing. A couple of fingers and toes won't make much of a difference."

Found him! I take off towards Saskue. Diablo must have been truly desperate to send Twin, he gives himself away every time. I reach Saskue within seconds. He's tied to a tree, his mouth is taped over. I reach him, ripping the tape free. "Saskue, when I get you free, run. Find Naruto, keep him safe for me. Please Saskue." I beg.

"Run?! Who do you think I am? Uchiha's don't run." He growls at me. Before I can reply, Twin jumps down behind me. I hand seal quickly, summoning a new jitsu. I throw off the clock that cover my psychic power. I can feel it expand, filling miles and miles around me. The sound is almost over powering, I can hear EVERYTHING. I quickly get over the shock and pinpoint Twin. He has a wall up that would usually block me, but in this state I smash it to oblivion. I fill his mind, I control everything. I make him reach into his pockets and remove all his kunai and throw them out of reaching distance. I find his pain receptors in his brain. Without hesitation, I flood them. He screams loudly, I just press harder, making his brain feel like it will explode. He screams and screams, until he passes out.

I fall to my knees, letting my hearing adjust to normal. I shake my head, that move takes a lot of me. I weakly pull myself up, and force Saskue to look me in the eyes. "Run. I can handle him. He will kill you. This village isn't safe anymore with me here. I have to leave. Tell Naruto…goodbye for me." I swallow back tears.

Saskue surges against his bonds. "RED! WATCH OUT!" I can hear a throwing star slicing through the air towards us. I have time to move, but if I do it'll hit Saskue. I brace myself, covering him.

I don't hear the impact, but I feel it. White hot pain floods my brain, dances up and down my spine, stealing my vision for a moment. I can hear an unpleasant keening, and my throat is ripping. Oh. I'm screaming. I take a deep breath, and my vision clears. I choke. I spit blood up on Saskue's shirt. He looks horrified. I cut his arms free. "Run," I choke out of my burning chest. I hit the ground.

It's dark and quiet for a while. I can hear screaming, battle? Did Saskue stay and fight? Fool. I try to find my legs to get up and protect him but I can't even find my eyes to force them open.

A voice. I know that voice, I struggle to understand it, and something deep in my soul tells me to obey that voice. "Red? Red! Red, oh no, no, no, no. Red, open your eyes, talk to me."

I try to force my eyes open with better results this time. My vision opens up and I can see Naruto. I lift a hand feebly to caress his cheek. "Naruto," I whisper. I choke again coughing hard, my vision gets splotchy. I catch my breath though. He looks so worried. He holds my hand against his face. Why is she so sad? Those beloved blue eyes are swimming in tears. "Red, hold on. I'm going to get you some help. You've lost a lot of blood. I'm going to prove myself to you, remember? Don't go. Don't go and leave me all alone. I don't want to be alone again, not after knowing you. I'll be your hero."

I force air into my tired lungs and try to smile for him. He kisses my palm I don't feel it though, "there's my girl. Keep breathing Red, you haven't even let me kiss you yet. You can't go anywhere yet, I won't let you." His arms lift me, and he cradles me against his chest gently, lovingly. "Stay Red, stay here with me. Don't you know I love you?"

With my last bubble of air, I whisper, "Love…Naruto, you are love."

Those blue eyes are the last thing I see before the world goes blank again.