I don't own Naruto


The two former sounds sprinted through the trees. Dosu had gone in front, with Kin a short distance behind him.

They had been careful throughout their trip to not run into any of Orochimaru's men. They weren't sure whether or not the order had gone out that they should be attacked on sight as traitors, but they didn't want to take the chance. They would need as much of their energy as possible if they were going to fight Sasuke with his cursed seal.

"He was an idiot for coming out here alone." Shouted Kin. Dosu turned his head as he ran.

"You didn't see them, then?"

"I don't know if you noticed, but I was busy killing someone. What happened?"

"He's chasing after the three from the sand." Her eyes widened.

"By himself! Is he trying to die?!" Dosu shook his head.

"Remember, they aren't trying to kill him, only capture him. That's why we'll need to hurry. If he's already gone when we arrive, then this will be for nothing."

They stopped momentarily, hiding in the trees nearby. They could clearly see that, up ahead, Sasuke had stopped moving. They weren't able to see the sand genin, but they didn't matter. Then, suddenly, one of the other leaf genin appeared, obscuring their view.

"God, he has bad timing." Whispered Kin. Dosu merely watched as the scene unfolded. He could hear them saying something, before Sasuke left. One of the sands had stayed behind, while the other two continued off in the direction they had been before.

"We should hurry." Said Dosu, "These two don't matter."

Kin nodded, and they took off, making sure to remain unseen. They wanted to avoid striking until it was completely necessary.

It was only a short time later that they were forced to stop again, this time through surprise. They had been continuing after the three, only for the girl, Temari, to go flying through a tree in front of them.

What the hell just happened? That wasn't Sasuke. They thought simultaneously. They moved further forward. They peered around the sides of a tree, before their jaws dropped. Gaara, who had been injured shortly before, now had turned into some form of monster.

"Well, what now?" Asked Kin, shaken.

"We watch for now, then we'll decide."

They witnessed as Gaara preceded to attack Sasuke, smashing a tree branch. Sasuke then went to hiding, as the thing taunted him.

Dosu turned to Kin. "It doesn't look like he's trying to capture him."

"But, that's a good thing, isn't it? If Gaara kills him, then we don't have to." Dosu shook his head.

"No. Did you forget why we're here? We need to be the ones to finish him for any of this to matter. So for now, we are going to help him, then finish him afterwards." Kin nodded, before heading out behind him.

Dosu jumped directly towards him, embedding his melody arm into Garra's arm as it blocked the attack. Kin then jumped over him, sending a number of senbon straight down, which were blocked by sand.

"Need some help, Sasuke?" She said mockingly, in no particular direction. Dosu removed his arm and jumped next to Kin, narrowly missing being smashed.

"Didn't you two try to kill me last time?" Asked Sasuke, appearing on a branch on the opposite side of Gaara. "You were still with Orochimaru, last I heard."

"Forget him, this is about survival." Said Dosu, still staring at Gaara.

The beast roared. "You pests aren't important, but if your helping, then I guess that I'll give mother your blood!" It charged towards the two, who narrowly dodged the attack.

They each twisted around, bouncing off of the next branch just before it was destroyed, as well. Then, there was a whistling sound, as Sasuke flew through the air, chidori in hand. Gaara used his own arm to block the attack, only for it to be nearly slashed in half.

Dammit, that was my last shot, thought Sasuke, standing up. Gaara turned to face him. Kin, seeing what she percieved as an opportunity, threw another clutch of senbon. These were blocked once again by the sand.

Gaara lazily turned around, before sending a large number of sand pellets directly at her. Dosu managed to jump out of the way, but Kin stood frozen in place by fear. By the time that she had come around, it was far too late. Dosu watched as the bullets ripped through her, cutting as they went. Her body fell down through the trees, limply bouncing off of a branch. Even from their height, they could hear the thud as she hit the ground.

Dosu turned his attention back towards Gaara. He was now without his partner, against a monster. He had only dodged the last blow by luck, and he knew he was nowhere near fast enough to retreat.

But then, he noticed the marks suddenly appearing over Sasuke's body. Gaara seemed to react to this, instantly charging towards him. He was met midair by another chidori. However, despite the damage it had in it's previous use, it seemed to have very little effect. Sasuke collapsed on the branch that he landed on. Gaara span around, launching himself at the weakened Sasuke.

Dosu watched as these events unfolded, and timed his jump. He punched Gaara before he could reach the collapsed boy. Gaara was sent a few feet sideways, missing his target. Dosu was launched backwards from the force of his own attack, sticking himself sideways to a tree.

Before anyone could move, three figures, two humans and a dog, suddenly appeared near Sasuke's downed body.

"Who the hell are they?" Yelled Naruto.

"That thing is Gaara. The other one appears to be from the sound." Answered Pakkun.

Dosu turned towards the group. The third member seemed to be preoccupied with her injured teammate. "Formerly of the sound." They turned towards him. He noticed their eyes suddenly widen.

He turned back towards Gaara. His sand arm was coming directly towards him. He felt it hit him, and then everything went black.


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