Wow, two updates in one night... I really like this story though, and apparantly my muses do as well! Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Naruto dived for his friend, getting there in time to see Sasuke's eyes snap open and his body spring up, swaying slightly and then steadying. Naruto tried to reign in his heartbeat, staring at his friend in fear. "S-Sasuke?"

The raven-haired jounin turned to look at the blond. "I'm okay, just felt a little dizzy. Don't worry about it."

Naruto frowned stubbornly at that. "Don't tell me not to worry. I think we need to get you back to the village, take you to see a doctor."

Sasuke snorted lightly. "I'm fine, Naruto. Besides, we still have a mission to complete. Come on."

The blond had no time to protest, Sasuke was leaping away through the trees in front of him. Naruto growled softly, springing after his friend as quickly as he could. He managed to catch the Uchiha, grabbing his elbow and yanking him to a halt. "Sasuke, you just collapsed back there! We need to get you to a doctor!"

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed in annoyance. "I told you Naruto, I'm fine." The tone of Sasuke's voice clearly indicated his anger, and the Uchiha yanked his arm away from Naruto, glaring slightly. "Nothing is wrong."

With that Sasuke was moving once more, leaving Naruto growling in anger on the branch. He decided that he was going to just follow Sasuke a little more closely; with how mad Sasuke was getting, there was no way he was going to be able to get him to go back to Konoha. Even out of it, Sasuke was powerful enough to disable Naruto.

It wasn't long before Naruto realized that they were heading in a direction he had never been before. He frowned, now concerned as he continued to follow Sasuke through the rapidly dimming sunlight. "Sasuke!" he called, speeding up slightly. "I think we should head back now, it's getting dark!"

Sasuke didn't seem to hear him, still leaping through the trees at a steady pace. Naruto's frown deepened and he reached out, pulling Sasuke to a halt by his elbow once more. "Sasuke!"

Black eyes were narrow and dazed. "Not so loud, Naruto." Sasuke murmured quietly. "I've got a headache…"

Naruto felt something in his mind sing out. Something was wrong. There was no way that Sasuke had gotten away from that poison unscathed, and this was definitely not like the Sasuke he knew.

The blond looked up as the sun sank below the horizon. "Come on Sasuke, let's get back now. We need to get you to a doctor."

Sasuke shook his head stubbornly, but the movement made him sway slightly. Naruto quickly steadied him concern leaking into his features. Sasuke rolled his eyes slightly as he regained his balance. "Fine, we'll go. But only because it's getting dark."

The Uchiha darted away from him, leaving Naruto to swear under his breath. Even in this state Sasuke retained his nature, and his ninja training made it easier for him to get away from Naruto, no matter how hard the blond tried to keep him in sight.

A few more minutes of jumping through the trees and Naruto blinked as a drop of water hit him in the face. It quickly escalated into a chilly rain, and Naruto swore under his breath once more. "Great, just what we need, freezing rain. As if things weren't bad enough…"

Again Naruto realized that they were heading in directions that he did not know. He growled softly, moving forward to leap beside Sasuke as the Uchiha moved through the trees, ignoring the rain falling around him.

They came to a halt on the ground, the mud squelching under their sandals as they landed. Sasuke was panting slightly, but Naruto was hardly winded. While the Kyuubi certainly gave him a bit more stamina, they hadn't been moving very fast or very long, Sasuke should not have been fazed.

Naruto took a step forward, putting a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke, are you alright? Can you breathe okay?"

Sasuke blinked slightly, looking around him. "Where are we?"

Naruto blinked in shock. "What do you mean where are we? You lead us here, teme!"

The Uchiha turned to look at his friend, and Naruto could see that Sasuke's eyes were dark and dazed, fuzzy. Something was definitely wrong.

"That's it." Naruto grouched. "I'm taking you to the doctor whether you like it or not. Even if I have to carry your ass there."

This somehow snapped Sasuke out of his daze, his Uchiha pride kicking in. "You're not carrying me anywhere, dobe. I told you already I'm just fine, you don't have to---AAAAAAAAAH!"

His statement was cut off as he took a step to the left and the cliff beneath his foot gave way, the dirt softened by the hard, cold rain that was pouring down around them. Sasuke's foot slid, and the resulting fall took him tumbling down the rock, mud, and weed covered slope.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, leaping after his friend. He landed on his feet on the slope, sliding down sideways and coming to a stop at the bottom near where Sasuke had landed.

The Uchiha was still, lying on his right side with his back to the slope he had just fallen down. His clothes were stained with mud, and Naruto was frightened to see splatters of red among the brown.

Naruto fell to his knees next to Sasuke, carefully turning him over. Sasuke let out a sharp cry as he did so, his body automatically curling around his right arm, which he had clamped against his chest. Naruto nibbled on his bottom lip slightly, and then reached forward, gently prying Sasuke's arm away from his chest.

The smaller ninja swore colorfully at that, his eyes clenching tightly shut in pain. His hand hung useless at the end of his arm, which Naruto noted was broken in at least two places. After assessing this, the blond looked for the source of the blood, which he could see staining Sasuke's white shirt.

He located the source at Sasuke's left hip, which was bleeding sluggishly. What disconcerted him the most was the fact that the wound was clearly from a kunai, suggesting that Sasuke had been injured since the fight with the enemy nin. Naruto growled slightly, looking up at Sasuke. "Why didn't you tell me that you were hurt?" he demanded angrily, blue eyes smoldering.

Sasuke glared back at him with as much ferocity, clutching his arm to his chest once more. "It's just a scratch dobe, calm down."

His anger made him rash, and Naruto slapped a palm across the wound, making Sasuke gasp in pain, his body bucking slightly. "This is not just a scratch! Damnit Sasuke, I thought that you would know after all this time with me that you need to let me know when you get hurt!"

Naruto roughly jerked Sasuke onto his feet, but as soon as the raven-haired shinobi's weight rested on his feet he cried out and fell as his legs buckled. Naruto managed to catch him before he hit the ground, hoisting him into his arms bridal style with a sigh.

Sasuke growled at him. "Put. Me. Down."

"And what? Let you break that ankle instead of it just being twisted?" Naruto retorted, leaping away from the muddy bank. The movement jerked a soft sound of pain from Sasuke as his broken arm was jolted, but he managed to keep it from getting any louder.

Naruto sighed slightly, glancing around him for a place to set up the tent he carried in his pack. They were going to have to stay the night out here in the woods, there was no way they were going to be able to make it back to Konoha in this rain, especially with the way that Sasuke had led them off track.

He found a perfect spot beneath a tree not far from where Sasuke had fallen, quickly setting up the tent and getting Sasuke inside. There he made a temporary brace for the broken arm using a few solid pieces of wood and bandages from his pack. He wrapped Sasuke's now swollen ankle as well, then moved on to medicating and bandaging the no longer bleeding wound on his hip.

Sasuke watched this all with smoldering eyes, though Naruto could tell that something was still off. Sasuke's breathing was still a little labored, and his body kept swaying slightly where he sat.

"Stupid dobe…" Sasuke commented as said blond finished with his doctoring. "How come you didn't get hurt?"

"I did, actually. I just happen to heal faster because of the Kyuubi, you know that Sasuke." Naruto murmured, unfolding his bedroll and lying down. "Now get some sleep, we'll need to move fast in the morning so we can get you to a doctor."

"I told you already…" Sasuke griped, unrolling his own bedroll and starting to climb in. "I don't need a doctor."

Naruto watched with burning blue eyes as Sasuke winced upon lying down. "Sure. And I'm the Fourth Hokage."

Sasuke glared briefly at Naruto, but after a moment his eyes drifted shut and he seemed to focus on trying to regulate his breathing, which was still a little rapid and shallow.

No matter how hard he tried, Naruto couldn't get to sleep. He lay there for what seemed like hours, listening to the cold rain pounding against the tent, just staring into the darkness. It wasn't until some time later that he noticed another sound that didn't belong.

The blond rolled over to see Sasuke shivering in his bedroll. The sound had been the Uchiha's teeth chattering. Despite this, Sasuke's cheeks were flushed with color, which worried Naruto even more. He scooted closer to his friend, reaching out into the cold air to lay a hand across the other's forehead.

"Damnit…" Naruto murmured. "Now you've gone and gotten a fever…"

"I-I'm f-fine…" Sasuke ground out, his eyes opening slowly to glare up at Naruto.

The blond rolled his eyes, opening up his bedroll and dragging Sasuke up against his side. "Come here, teme. I'll have to keep you warm so your fever doesn't get worse. Being cold can't help it any."

Sasuke struggled for a moment, but then as Naruto's warmth seeped into his chilled body he calmed down and laid quietly. His last coherent thought was about how warm Naruto was, and then consciousness fled.