Warning/Disclaimer: No...I don't own Naruto. Language and violence

Come What May

[Unknown Soldier]

Full of fear, ever clear I'll be here, fighting forever

Curious, venomous

You'll find me climbing to heaven

Never mind, turn back time

You'll be fine, I will get left behind

~Unknown Soldier by Breaking Benjamin

Sasuke Uchiha was a busy man. He had clients to defend, paper work to fill out, and bills to pay. On top of that he had another mouth to feed- his daughter. He had been told many times in his life not to become a father- it really wasn't his plan to become one- but when Akane came around it was one of the best things to happen to him.

With a sigh he decided to take a short break from his paper work to scroll through the news section of his tablet. He had gone to work an hour and a half early just to finish up a case so he could hopefully make it to his daughter's performance.

"Prisoners of war still not found," He murmured. Though he was not a fan of the military the article for some reason peaked his interest. Also, he hadn't talked to his brother in a while- maybe the article would tell him the idiot got captured. "Recently put on the missing in action list…Shikamaru Nara…Sai last name unknown…Naruto Uzumaki…Uzumaki?"

Sasuke read the whole article, a frown adorning his face. Why did he feel so concerned? Naruto should have known the risks of going into the military. No, it wasn't Naruto he was worried about, he quickly realized, it was Sakura- the wife Naruto left behind. Sasuke shut down his tablet and busied his mind with work- he couldn't deal with the problems of others, which was ironic because that's how he made a living.

Hours later, Sasuke barely made it out of his office in time. He practically sprinted to his car, trying to get on the road as quickly as possible only to be caught in traffic. He was tempted to just get out of his car and walk, but knew he would never make it on foot either. By time he made inside of the school building the play and school day was over- the bell mockingly ringing just as he had got out of his car.

Oh for the love of God, He groaned inwardly. He walked calmly into the building, weaving through parents and students. First, he checked the classroom and found it empty. Next, he checked the after school day care, however the woman said she had not seen Akane as of yet. With a sigh he checked the last place Akane could be- the nurse's office. He crossed the school and sure enough his daughter sat with the pink haired nurse- talking animatedly about a show she had watched earlier that week.

"Akane," He called, effectively bringing the attention to him.

"Daddy, you're here early," Akane commented, rushing over to her father. She reached up to hug his waist, looking up at him with disappointment. "You missed the performance though…"

"I know, I'm sorry. I really wanted to see it," Sasuke said, running a hand through her hair. "Can I make it up to you by taking you out for ice cream?"

Akane hummed in thought, before smiling up at her father. "I guess so."

"I videotaped it for you," Sakura suddenly said, taking her phone out of her pocket. "I figured you'd want to see it."

"You went to her play?" Sasuke asked, a rare look of shock on his face.

"She asked me to and I was more than happy to go," She replied casually. "I'll email it to you. What's your email?"

Sasuke gave her his business email, looking at her curiously. He could see beneath the carefree look she tried to keep on her face that she was depressed. He looked down at his daughter and tapped her head to gain her attention, saying: "Go make sure you have all your stuff then come back, okay?"

"Okay Daddy!" Akane replied, before rushing off.

Sakura looked at him curiously, wondering what he was planning. "What do you want?"

Sasuke didn't really want to think about how much her cold words stung. "Thanks for video tapping her play."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "A thank you? From you? Are you sick Sasuke?"

Sasuke scowled, stuffing his hands in his pockets- what was with her? When he was cold and insensitive she got mad and when he tried to be even a little nice she looked at him as if he were a criminal. He couldn't win. Suddenly he found himself saying: "I read an article today and found out your husband has gone MIA…a prisoner of war actually."

Sakura's eyes darkened. "That's none of your concern. I don't care what you have to say."

Sasuke shrugged. "All I was going to say was I hope he comes home safe."

Sakura glared up at him. "You don't mean that."

Sasuke sighed inwardly, thinking to himself: I really can't win, can I? Though he would never admit it, (there were a lot of things he would never admit) he knew he was an ass to Sakura and clichély he realized after having Akane and having Karin abandon them how much Sakura meant to him. But, as of that moment, he refused to let her know that, instead he tried to make amends through Akane. "Hn."

He watched as her face flushed a deep red. She stood up, prepared to rip him a new one, but paused when Akane rushed back into the room. Sakura quickly composed herself, flashing the girl a smile.

"I'm ready now! Can we get ice cream?" Akane asked, tugging on Sasuke's arm.

"Sure," He replied. He turned his attention back to the woman he had just angered. "Thanks again."

"Can Miss. Sakura come too?" Akane asked, tilting her head back and forth to look at the two adults.

Sasuke looked at Sakura with indifference. He didn't really care if she decided to come or not- though he wouldn't mind if she said yes. Which she didn't. She told Akane in a gentle voice that she was expected at her second job soon. He watched as Akane gave Sakura a quick hug before urging him out of the office- shouting something about wanting three scoops of strawberry ice cream.

He wanted to keep telling himself that he didn't care about Sakura. It had been years since the two had an actual conversation. Sure, he had told her that he expected her to come back after they broke up…and that Akane needed a mother; the latter could have been taken as a general statement right?

No, He thought, glancing back at the irritated woman. Akane does need someone to look up to. I guess I should be thankful that she was able to bond with Sakura and not someone I knew nothing about. He sighed, letting his daughter drag him to the parking lot, chattering on about how the play had gone. But still…I guess I'm just looking for normalcy. Even if it was years ago, Sakura used to be a constant in my life. That's what it is. I'm looking for consistency- I couldn't possibly still care about her.

The weeks slowly went on in Camp 16. Shikamaru had informed Naruto that Camp 16 was Kabuto's toy- he could do whatever he wanted with the prisoners here. He told him that Fire Country would not be looking for them for another few months- maybe not until after the war; there was just too much turmoil on the battlefield to look for the fallen.

During Naruto's time in the camp- between malnourishment, Kabuto's twisted games, and over all stress- he became insomniac. Nightmare plagued him every night, making him afraid to fall asleep.

"Do you think we'll last long enough for them to come and save us?" Naruto had asked. Both Shikamaru and he knew they weren't getting any sleep that night.

"Only if we fight for our lives," Shikamaru had replied.

"Think we have a chance of escaping?"

"Maybe, I've tried to strategize, however the chances of surviving an escape attempt are slim."

"We have to try though."

"Well…I guess I do have two plans."

The plan took them awhile to put into action. They needed to watch the patterns of the guards that patrolled the area at night, as well as keep a sharp eye out for whenever Kabuto was around. They also needed to covertly observe the fence around them- looking for any flaws. Upon finding none, they knew they needed to go with the second plan that Shikamaru had thought up- stealing the guards' uniforms. Finally, three weeks later on a moonlit night, their plan was ready to put into action.

"Shouldn't we bring others with us?" Naruto asked, pulling a hoodie he had found over his head. "I mean…I'm sure others want to escape too."

"No," Shikamaru replied. "It's too risky bringing others with us."

Naruto nodded, fully ready to head out, before a thought stopped him. He had held off from asking the question in his mind for a while in fear of the answer, but he had to ask now that they were attempting to escape. "Nara…what happened to Hyuuga?"

Shikamaru shrugged, a pained look spreading across his features. "I don't think he ever made it here. I only felt them put you and Sai on the truck. My guess is that they left him behind, because they knew that the biggest disgrace for a captain is to lose his men under his watch." He peaked out the window to check where the guards were. "Did Sai…is he still inside?"

Naruto trembled at the memory of watching his friend fall in front of him. "No."

Shikamaru stayed silent, not knowing what to say. He instead, signaled Naruto to get ready, slowly opening the door to their cabin. The two soldiers crept outside, quickly ducking in between the cabins. They waited for about ten minutes until they heard the footsteps of two guards- they always traveled in pairs. In swift and quiet movements, Naruto and Shikamaru crept behind the two guards- putting them into a choke hold and slowly strangling them until a small pop was heard from their necks.

Dragging the bodies away from sight of anyone looking, the two quickly stripped the guards, pulling their clothes onto their bodies. They went through the process of checking the weapons the guards had and making sure they had a good amount of ammo. Once satisfied, the two moved calmly through the compound, retracing their steps to the exit of the fenced area.

"You two are already off duty?" A fellow guard asked when the two impersonators entered the guard shack. The only way to get to the exit gate was to go through the guard shack.

"Yep," Shikamaru replied, pulling out a paper from his pocket. The paper contained the time the guard was allowed to leave the base. "We're going to head out to the town nearby and get drinks."

The guard scowled in jealousy. "Lucky, I've got another four hours. Have fun."

And just like that, Naruto and Shikamaru were headed out of the gates- freedom just a few feet away from them. They walked in even steps, knowing if they seemed too rushed they would look suspicious. It was a stroke of luck that the base was so big that the guards' hardy knew each other and that the guards never bothered to memorize what each prisoner looked like.

"Shikamaru…" Naruto whispered, as they walked away from the compound. He felt like he could cry, clutching Sakura's picture tightly in his right hand. "We're…we're free."

And just then, the unexpected happened. An alarm, high pitched and soul shattering, rang through the air. They turned around in what felt like slow motion, watching a few guards running out of the guard shack.

"Stop them!" They heard Kabuto shout from somewhere near the gate.

The two Fire Country soldiers began sprinting towards the forested area near them, trying to ignore the gun shots that were being fired at them. However, it proved taxing because of their lack of nutrition- having used much of their energy strangling the guards.

"Shit!"

Naruto whipped his head around to watch in terror as Shikamaru fell to the ground- blood pooling out of leg. Naruto ignored the gun fire around him and forced Shikamaru to his feet- putting one of his comrade's arms around his neck and forcing Shikamaru to keep up on one foot.

"Leave me behind!" Shikamaru shouted in pain, his leg burning.

"Why the hell would I do that? I'm not leaving without you!"

"Save yourself, I'm just slowing you down!"

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Naruto continued to argue, ducking into the forest. He made zigzag paths, never looking back to see if the guards were following them though he did notice that the barrage of gun fire had stopped.

Naruto didn't know how far they had hobbled into the forest or where the guards were, but he knew he needed to get them somewhere safe and get Shikamaru medical attention. He finally decided to stop once he felt they were a good distance away. The blond pulled off the top of the Sound guard's uniform-revealing the hoodie underneath- and began tearing the uniform into long pieces- wrapping it around Shikamaru's wound.

"You should have left me," Shikamaru grunted in pain. "You could have gotten a lot farther."

Naruto sighed, shaking his head. "Nara, you're my comrade. That means that you don't get left behind." he then let out a hollow chuckle. "Besides, I already lost a comrade while I was in that hell hole. I don't think I could take loosing another."

[Author's Corner]

~What is this? A quick update? Yeah, it happens sometimes

~I honestly had fun and struggled at the same time writing for Sasuke. It was a lot easier writing an angry and irritated Sakura then a confused, cold yet warm hearted Sasuke...that's halfly why I wrote in is point of view, thought I'd give myself a challenge. Sasuke pride won't let him admit that he cares for Sakura, yet he know how much Akane looks up to Sakura so he can't just ignore Sakura completely, thus he makes up excuses why he couldn't possibly care about Sakura. Eh, so all in all he's not a total a-hole...just mostly one

~Any who, hope all who read enjoyed!