A Dash to Freedom

Neji moaned, though the unbearable pain that had only moments before consumed his whole being was slowly fading. His while body felt like it was hollow, like it was made out of glass, and would shatter and second, if he moved it the wrong way, or too quickly. His vision, which had been blurred and fading, was coming back to him now, and with it came someone's voice… "Neji! Neji!" He knew that voice… It was so… familiar… Suddenly her face came into view, beautiful as ever, concern and horror reflecting in her eyes. Tenten. No… how could she…? She wasn't real, she wasn't here, he was unconscious, he was dreaming. But then the girl placed her hands on his cold face tenderly, and Neji felt his heart beat faster. She was here! She was really here! … She was here… Slowly, his excitement faded, his heart sinking. Tenten was here… stuck, in the same predicament as Naruto and himself. Neji swallowed, his fear mounting. The same thing that had just happened to him could happen to her… to Naruto… they had to get out of here! Wherever here was...

"Neji!" Tenten gasped, eyes swimming with tears. Neji blinked slowly, confused. Wait… what the hell? Who'd healed him? Not Tenten, as far as Neji knew, only Sakura knew medical ninjutsu. So… who then? Neji closed his eyes briefly, trying to remember what'd happened before the pain had ended. He eventually gave up in frustration. All he could remember was pain, blinding, numbing pain and a gentle finger sliding down his chest and stomach. He shivered at the memory. Tenten noticed this and, whirling around, called over the last person Neji would have ever expected. "Gaara! Come here, I-I don't know what's wrong…" Neji felt his fists ball up as the Kazekage walked over and put an arm on Tenten's shoulder. He glared weakly at the Sand ninja, but a sudden stab up pain in his chest caused his face to contort in agony. "Oh God—!" Tenten gasped, starting forward, panicked. Gaara walked over to Neji's other side and placed a hand on the injured ninja's bare chest. Neji felt Gaara's chakra flowing over and into his body, the pain lessening a bit. Sighing, Neji let his eyes close. He was so tired… He barely noticed when Tenten took his hand in hers.

"What's wrong with him?" Tenten asked, scared.

"Some of his organs are damaged." Gaara said, removing his hand from Neji's chest. "I've healed them the best I can."

"Will he be okay? Is he okay?" Tenten sounded like she was on the verge of a panic attack.

"He should survive, if that's what you're getting at."

Neji heard Tenten's sigh of relief. "Thank you…" She whispered, relieved. There was silence for a moment. "Gaara?"
"Hm?"

"I didn't know you were a medical ninja."

"I'm not—Baki had someone teach me, he thought it would be useful."
"Well he was right… It seems like Baki really cares about you."

"Yeah, he—"

Neji's eyes snapped open as a strange shot sounded from outside. There was a scream of pain, followed by what sounded like Naruto shouting. Tenten and Gaara looked at one another, then at Neji. "Hey, you okay?" Tenten asked softly, squeezing Neji's hand. Too weak to talk, all Neji could manage to do was nod once.

"We have to get out of here." Gaara said, glancing around him warily. As if on cue, Naruto ran into the room, a bleeding girl nearly unconscious in his arms.
"What—?" Tenten gasped.

"She was shot or something," gasped Naruto. He was shaking slightly, and looked freaked out. "I dunno how the guy did it… But we need to go, and NOW." Naruto glanced at Gaara. "Gaara, is Neji fit to be moved?"

Gaara paused for a moment, considering. "Yes. I'll carry him."

"Naruto, she needs medical attention!" Tenten gasped, eyes locked on the blood flowing freely from the girl's stomach. Naruto followed her gaze, flinching when he saw how much blood she was losing.

"I know, I know! But we need to get away first!" He glanced out of the door, then back in. "Sasuke's taking care of the guy. Let's move!"


Sasuke swiftly snapped the man's neck, not even giving him a chance to call for help. Leaving him where he'd dropped, Sasuke grabbed the strange looking device that the man had shot the girl with and stared at it for a moment. He could just go off and save himself, it would be so easy. But… that girl had saved him…. So what, she was the one stupid enough to jump in front of whatever that thing was. Still, something made Sasuke turn around, almost against his will, and sprint back to the others. At the door he met Naruto—still carrying the girl in his arms—, blood drenching his clothes, Tenten, and Gaara, carrying what appeared to be an unconscious Neji. "He's dead." Sasuke muttered, folding his arms and thumbing in the direction of the man. Naruto nodded, his face strained. Sasuke glanced at the girl again. "Let me see her." He said, surprising himself as well as the others. Without a word Naruto handed the girl to Sasuke, who cradled her against him, ignoring the blood that began to flow over his clothes. "Here." Sasuke said, tossing the strange object to Naruto.

"Let's move." He and Naruto said at the same time, glancing at each other in surprise. A second later they were all sprinting silently down the hall, stepsiding the dead man. The reached the end of the hall quickly, and were faced with the decision of going left or right.

"Which way?" Tenten asked, glancing left and right. Sasuke closed his eyes and listened. To the right there was nothing, no sounds whatsoever. To the left there was also nothing… wait… A soft, faint tapping, Sasuke could just barely hear it. Right, then.

"Right." Sasuke said.

"Left!" Sasuke glared at Naruto, who'd answered the same time he had. Naruto glared back just as fiercely. Sasuke felt his old rivalry begin to stir, but quickly reminded himself of his situation. No time to get into this stupid game he likes to play… Gaara and Tenten glanced at one another, then back at the other two. "Why right?" Naruto sneered.

"Because," Sasuke said calmly, if not annoyedly, "I can't hear anything in that direction. Whereas from the left I can here tapping…" Sasuke waited for the argument, for the criticism. Nothing was ever easy with Naruto.

"Okay, well then let's go!"

What? Had he really just said that? Sasuke quickly concealed his dumbfounded surprise and turned, leading the way down the right hallway. Never in a million years had he ever expected Naruto to agree with something he'd said, especially without arguing… He really had grown up. The group raced down the hallway, Sasuke listening for any noise when they came to the next decision. They did this for what seemed live decades. The hallways began to twist and turn. They began to have to choose a way to go less and less, and the hallways grew longer. The girl's blood had completely soaked Sasuke's clothes, but he hardly noticed. If they didn't stop the bleeding soon, she would die. Since when do I care? Sasuke asked himself as they rounded a corner. The answer was obvious. The girl had saved him twice; he was doubly in her debt. Normally Sasuke wouldn't have cared much… but then again, this wasn't what would be classified as normal.

Familiar shots suddenly range behind them, and Sasuke winced as something grazed his side. Shit. Turning his head, he found one, two, three, four guards emerging from two doors, shouting for backup, firing those strange objects at them. Before he could speak, Gaara turned, saw what was happening, and sighed. "I've got it." Immediately sand began to float from his gourd. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the guard's reactions. They looked at the sand as if it were a ghost or something. Had they really never seen something like this before? The sand was pouring quickly from the gourd now, engulfing the men, choking them.

"Gaara!" Tenten shouted as something shot past her head.

"Sand Burial!" There was a sickening squish as the sand crushed the guards, and then silence. Sasuke thought he saw Tenten wince. Great, there went their stealth. I hope no one heard that… Sasuke sighed; of course someone would have…

As if on cue, Naruto's voice broke through his thoughts. "Uh, guys? I think we have some more company."


Naruto reached into a pouch, pulling out a few shuriken. At least six guards had emerged from doors on either side of the hall, and more were coming. It can never be easy, can it? With a flick of his wrist Naruto sent his shuriken flying, each hitting its mark squarely in the throat. Five men dropped like rocks. That left… six. Six guards left. "Hah!" Naruto shouted, throwing a kunai at a guard who was emerging from a door close by. The kunai had no sooner lodged itself into the man's chest when three kunai paper bombs whizzed past Naruto's head. They hit three of the guards before exploding, two of the guards dropping as the knives lodged themselves into their hearts. The third simply glanced at the kunai, which had only caught his arm, and laughed mockingly. With a cry Tenten made the bomb explode, the smug smile sliding from the man's face a moment before he was lost in the small explosion. Three guards left.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, headed for two guards who stood in his way. He'd barely just pulled a shuriken from his pouch, however, when Sasuke leapt from the ground onto the wall, ran a few paces, and snapped his leg into the closest guard's jugular. There was a crack as the man's neck snapped. The other guard stared, shock etched on his face, as the other man dropped to the ground. Naruto took the opportunity to throw his shuriken, which sliced across the other man's neck.

Meanwhile, Gaara's sand was catching up quickly, and soon it was rushing past the group. The Kazekage dispatched of the last guard effortlessly, and the group raced forward. They managed to make it up two flights of steps and down a particularly long hallway—encountering only a few other guards—before alarms began to sound. Surprising the rest of the group, Sasuke stopped at the top of the stairs, laying the girl carefully in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Gaara asked, glancing around them.

"What does it look like?" Sasuke snapped, yanking the girl's shirt up and—ignoring the blood— placing his hands on top of her wound. Immediately they began to flow as chakra flowed from his palms into her.

Tenten gasped when she saw the wound. "It's-It's a hole!"

Naruto nodded, eyes wide. He hadn't even imagined that Sasuke would know anything about medical ninjutsu. He felt his fists ball, his teeth clenching. He'd grown strong, that was for sure. As for the medical ninjutsu… Kabuto must have taught him a thing or two…

When Sasuke took his hands away a few minutes later, the wound had grown smaller, blood clotting around it. Sasuke gently picked her up again, though he doubted she could feel anything—she was still unconscious.

"Let's go."


The lone figure watched, eyes locked on the monitors, as the escaped ninjas made their way through the facility. They were skilled, that was for sure. Dark blue eyes watched as the one in the orange threw strange looking knives at the guards sent to stop them, killing each one. More surprising still was the sand that the red haired boy controlled. Deadly, very deadly. And the agility! The stamina, the combat skills! The black haired boy, even while carrying someone, was able to run on the wall, to propel himself across it and then leap into the air, killing a guard with a perfect kick. Impressive. The Akatsuki had done a fine job in collecting specimens this year… There was something special about these ninja. Very special.

There was a sudden knock on the door, though the figure ignored it. It was so interesting, watching the escaped ninja's reactions to the guns. The icy eyes couldn't help put noticing, as they roved over the monitor screens, the unconscious boy that the red haired ninja carried. The girl in the dark haired one's arms had obviously been shot, but this one… Anger slipped into the director's heart. That boy… either was injured before being transported here—or while capture—, or was in the process of being examined.

The knock sounded again, louder this time, more impatient.

"Come in." The voice purred.

The door opened slowly, revealing two men in strange, black cloaks with red clouds scattered on them. Akatsuki. The taller one, the one who looked like a shark, stepped in first. "You summoned us?"

What a freak, he looks like a fish. "Yes, there appears to be a few ninja who've managed to escape. And since none of the guards can handle them, I figured I needed a little help from people," there was a pointed pause, "who are used to fighting them."

The blue man frowned, yet nodded, folding his arms. Meanwhile, the other member of the Akatsuki stepped into the room.

"What do you think?" The director asked, gesturing towards the monitor screens. "Recognize anyone?"

The man's eyes scanned the screens, stopping to rest on one which showed the group of escapees leaving a staircase and running down a hallway, looking warily about themselves. "Ohohoho, well whattaya know." The blue skinned man said, following his comrade's gaze. He walked over to the monitor, glaring at it hard. "Well isn't this something? You never told me they got your brother." He nudged the smaller man beside him, who seemed to ignore fish boy. "So who got him?" Kisame asked, pointing at the dark haired boy on the monitor. The director was silent for a moment.

"I believe it was Pain."

"Heh, no kidding." Kisame glanced at his partner, then back at the director. "I bet he was a hellavua guy to catch…" He muttered, scratching his neck. If he was anything like his older brother, that was…

"Actually no," the director stood, walking over to the monitors. "Reports say he was fairly easy to capture. Pain said that the boy seemed… distracted."

"What is it you require our assistance for?" It was the first time he'd spoken.

"Ah," Said the director, arms folded. "He speaks." Like Kisame, the director was ignored. "Well, this is what I need… For you two to restrain them." The director pointed a ringed finger at the monitor which displayed the escapee's previous fight. "They are very skilled, and—"

"—Yeah, yeah, we know." Kisame said, brushing off the rest of the director's sentence. The man grasped the hilt of the sword, which rested on his back. "You ready?" He asked his partner.

"Ah, gentlemen?" The director called, sounding slightly annoyed. "Please, keep their injuries to a minimum. Absolutely no fatal blows."

Kisame seemed to deflate a little. "Fine…" He grumbled, heading for the door.

"You know where they are?" The director asked.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll find em'!" Kisame shouted back, already halfway down the hall in his eagerness.

"Oh, and Itachi?" The director called to the man, who was nearly out the door. Piercing, alarming eyes caught the director's icy blues gaze and held it. The director smiled. "It is alright that you'll be fighting against your brother, right? I'm sorry I didn't ask before, how rude of me. I didn't even think of how very emotional this could be for yo—"

"—It's fine."

Such an emotionless voice… The director smiled pleasantly at the young man whose eyes bored menacingly back. "Perfect. Have fun now."

"Of course."


This was so much fun to write! Then again, I've always loved writing action scenes. As stated in another one of my stories, I pretended to be sick and stayed home from school so I could write this! Welll… Okay, so maybe I missed my ride… But my mom's boyfriend offered to drive me to school, and then I pretended to be sick! Not that I'm proud of that or anything, I'm just happy I got this chapter done XD Hope you're enjoying it! If you have any ideas, just lay em' on me! 'Kay, peace!

~MarXno =P