Sasuke's Demons – To Defend Those That Are Precious

Sasuke was glad when the unbroken countryside gave way to the outskirts of Otafuku City. At almost a day's travel from Konoha, Sasuke's fear had seemingly lent extra stamina and chakra to his legs, covering the distance in just over an hour. Now the lamppost he was leaning against while panting was the only thing, besides his pride, that stopped him from falling over as he gasped for air.

I finally made it. I hope I'm not too late. I have to find Naruto and get him and Jiraiya to leave before Itachi figures out where they've gone. He cast a look further up the street and winced. Great. It happens to be a festival. There'll be so many transients around that I'll never find them. He took a deep breath then started to walk, putting one foot deliberately after the other, letting his body rest slightly to rebuild his chakra reserves.

Approaching the main areas of the city, Sasuke tried not to despair. The streets were filled with a riot of colours, all loud and clashing, that would make Naruto's habitual orange blend into the chaos. The smells from the yatai food stalls did nothing to help Sasuke's tiredness, as his body was craving food to replace all the energy used to get to Otafuku. Walking amongst them to look for Naruto was similar to a mild form of torture, but Sasuke held himself in check. There'll be time to recover later. What matters now is getting out of here alive and in one piece.

"Oi! Kid!"

Sasuke kept walking until someone grabbed his arm. Sasuke spun into battle-readiness, kunai already in hand and sharingan blazing, only to see a stall owner backing off fearfully, transfixed by his eyes.

"Jeez, sorry. Guess you really are a ninja, kid."

Sasuke swiftly holstered the kunai and let his eyes relax. "I'm in a hurry, mister. What do you want?" He tried to keep from using an angry tone, but even to his own ears he sounded worried and almost frantic.

"Just a case that when I saw that," said the man, gesturing at his forehead, "I figured you and your friend were playing ninja or something."

Naruto! "Tell me! Was this a short, dumb-looking blonde kid? Was there some old guy with him?"

The food stall owner nodded. "Now that you mention it, yeah, there was. He made the kid pay for them both."

"Did you see where they went?"

"Yeah, yeah I did. The old guy dragged the kid off that way," he said, pointing down a side street. "Said something about finding a hotel."

Sasuke gave an abbreviated bow. "Thanks!" He took off down the alley, ignoring the protests of the man at his abrupt departure, looking around for a sign indicating a hotel. Obviously I'm going to get lucky with this today. It I hadn't stopped to look around and assess the situation that guy might never have tried to speak to me. Turning a corner, Sasuke found a street full of signs offering comfortable beds at reasonable prices. Shit. Okay, start at one end, work to the other, and hope that my luck holds.

It was at the third one he tried that he got a favourable answer to his question.

"An old man and a dumb blonde kid? They checked in a few hours back. The old man went back out again, but I think the kid is still here."

Sasuke could not believe his luck at finding them this quickly. "What room?"

The owner checked the register with what seemed to Sasuke to be painful slowness. "Ah. Here it is. Room six. First floor, turn left at the top of the stairs and it's the last door."

Sasuke nodded and hurried up the stairs. Naruto is alone here. This is bad. I need to get him, and then get Jiraiya. We don't stand a chance against Itachi without him. He turned the corner, wincing as his shoes squeaked on the floor. This uncertainty is messing with my ability to fight. This is bad. He skidded to a halt at the last door and started to hammer on it. "Naruto! Naruto, hurry up and answer this damn door!"

There were some sounds from within the room, then the door swung open to reveal a confused-looking Naruto. "Sasuke? What the hell are you doing here in Akutaku City? Why aren't you back in Konoha? Did you and Sakura-chan follow me?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Naruto's lack of kanji-reading skills and grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt, speaking in a low, urgent tone. "Listen to me, Naruto. Right now, you're in the deepest trouble I can think of. You have thirty seconds to grab your gear, then we're getting out of here. Now."

Naruto pulled back slightly. "What? Why?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Twenty-five seconds." He took a deep breath and let go of Naruto's shirt. "Move!"

Naruto gave Sasuke a nervous look. What's with him? He's acting like we're in danger… The only times I've ever seen him this freaked was when Zabuza came after us, or that snake-bastard did. Even Gaara didn't make him this nervous. He backed away from Sasuke slowly, then turned and started stuffing the few things he had unpacked back into his rucksack. He estimated it took all of ten seconds to do so, then took a few more to make sure that his weapon pouches were secure and filled. "Okay, now what's going on, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's hand flicked out, using lightning reflexes to grab Naruto's wrist, pulling him out of the room and along the corridor. "I'll tell you later. Where's Jiraiya?"

"Jiraiya?" Naruto frowned. "How do you know Ero-sennin's secret identity?"

"Later. Where is he?" Sasuke almost dragged Naruto down the stairs before exiting the hotel. "Hurry."

Naruto pulled his arm out of Sasuke's grip with difficulty. "What the hell is your problem, Sasuke? Didn't we agree that we were a team and that we'd help each other out? I can't help if you don't tell me what's going on!" He stopped in his tracks, refusing to let Sasuke pull him any further down the deserted alleyway, and folded his arms. "Team-mates talk to each other when they're in trouble, you know."

Sasuke suppressed the urge to strangle Naruto right then and there. "There's an S-ranked criminal tracking you and Jiraiya. He's already hospitalised Kakashi, and who knows what he might do to you when he catches you." He dropped his voice. "If we don't get out of here, he'll kill me to get through to you, and whatever he's planned for you, it's probably worse than death."

"Sasuke…" You'd stand between me and someone who wants me that badly? Naruto hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders, checking that the straps were secure. "Well then, we better find Ero-sennin and get the hell out of here, right? No telling when that crazy will show up." Naruto started for the main street, but was forcibly stopped by Sasuke's hand on his collar as a shadow appeared at the alley entrance.

"It's been a long time, Sasuke."

"Uchiha… Itachi…" growled out Sasuke.

Naruto's mind was whirling as he looked from Sasuke's strained and battle-ready face to the shadowy figure in a cloak, silhouetted by the light. Uchiha Itachi? Another Uchiha? Then why is Sasuke living alone? He paused. Sasuke said he wanted to kill his brother. It was his dream. Is it this man, and why would Sasuke want to kill him? As he watched, Itachi moved deeper into the alley, revealing a face that greatly resembled Sasuke's in shape and colour, if a few years older in appearance. The big difference between them was the two parallel lines along Itachi's face, and the blank air about him. While Sasuke had some emotional range in his expression, it usually favoured irritation or disdain. Naruto found it hard to imagine any expression had ever graced Itachi's stony visage. The biggest proof for Naruto came from Itachi's eyes, red and black with the sharingan, smouldering with intent. This is Sasuke's family, who he wants to kill. Is he also the one after me? A rush of motion, then Naruto became aware of his view being blocked by Sasuke's back as he stood in front of Naruto.

"Naruto, listen to me. If you want to survive this, don't meet his gaze." Sasuke raised his arms in a guard. I'm not letting Itachi take what little I have left from me. At any cost. "This man is a criminal of the worst kind, and one day he'll get what I owe him. But not today." He felt Naruto start to protest. "We're outclassed here. All we can do is escape." And I can't do this alone. I'm not nearly strong enough yet to deal with him.I couldn't even deal with Gaara.

Itachi stopped, still several metres away from them. "I have no interest in you, Sasuke. I'm here for Naruto-kun."

Naruto swore he saw Sasuke flinch slightly before setting his resolve.

"Naruto isn't going anywhere. And definitely not with the likes of you." Sasuke carefully turned slightly towards Naruto, not taking his attention from Itachi. "Naruto. I don't know what you are, but if you really are like Gaara, we need that power now."

"What?!" Naruto felt as if the entire world had done a giant back-flip. Sasuke knows? How could he? The old man was supposed to of kept this a secret, and forbidden it to be talked about. How could Sasuke know? He blinked slightly. And if he knows… why is he standing between me and this guy? Why would he want to protect a demon? "Sasuke… I…"

"You are to come with me, Naruto-kun," said Itachi, advancing slowly. "We require the object inside you."

"Get bent!" snapped Naruto back.

Sasuke tried not to flinch, never taking his eyes from Itachi's advance. Naruto, now is not the time to antagonise our opponents. He saw a flicker of movement in the shadows in his peripheral vision, which warned him that he and Naruto were not alone in their confrontation with Itachi.

"Well, what are the odds?" asked a lazy voice from behind them. "The vessel of the Kyuubi and your younger brother together. Seems like today you can settle both of your affairs with Konoha, Itachi-san."

Naruto turned to look at the speaker, then put his back firmly to Sasuke's, judging the newcomer to be an enemy. He wore the same black coat with red clouds as Itachi, with a bandolier holding a sword taller than his already impressive height to his back. The man's face was oddly blue, with markings across his face that put Naruto in the mind of a fish's gills. A stray band of light in the alley reflected off a forehead protector, and Naruto swore he could see the mark of the Mist scratched out on it, just as Itachi's Konoha mark was. "Who… Who are you people? What do you want from me?" he demanded.

The man put his hand to the hilt of his sword. "Hoshigake Kisame. And what we want is for you to come with us."

"Kisame." Itachi's quiet voice was devoid of all emotion. "What matters here is Naruto-kun. My younger brother is of no consequence."

Naruto felt Sasuke flinch at that. "Not again, Itachi," he muttered. "You're not doing it again." Before Naruto could ask him what he was talking about, Sasuke raised a kunai. "Naruto, the only way out is if we work together. I don't care if what he says is true, we need every advantage we've got." He shifted away from Naruto slightly. And if we're lucky, there's a chance we can get out of here.

Naruto nodded. "Okay. You take your brother, I'll deal with Zabuza's freakier clone here." He was worried when Kisame chuckled slightly.

"You met that young upstart, huh?" Kisame lowered his hand from the hilt of his sword. "Never really liked him anyway. Had no talent beyond killing." He looked slightly beyond Naruto. "Oh, they're starting already?"

Naruto turned slightly, realising that Sasuke had moved away from him. Woah… In the dark alleyway, Naruto had no hope of tracing the exact moves the two brothers made as they fought, although it was clear to him from Sasuke's body-language that he was unable to match Itachi's speed. This isn't good. He turned back to Kisame. And this guy is probably just as tough. Our only chance is going to be if the frog-boss comes and squishes them. Naruto brought his hands together, frantically searching within himself for the red chakra. Come on, you damn fox! If you don't help out, Sasuke's dead! He finally felt the fox's chakra start to respond sluggishly.

Kisame tilted his head. "Oh? His chakra is filling up the alley. So this must be the Kyuubi's chakra." He moved a hand to the hilt of his sword, bringing it round to slice through the air in front of Naruto.

Naruto paused mid-seal as he felt the chakra drain away. I can't feel it anymore. Oh crap. "Come on, damn it!" He moved his hands through the seal sequence but felt nothing. "Why? Why won't it work?"

Kisame returned his sword to his back. "My Samehada can shave and devour chakra, even chakra as vile as that of the Kyuubi's." He turned away from Naruto again. "Oi, Itachi-san?"

Naruto winced as Itachi knocked Sasuke flying into the alley wall, where he collided with a ringing impact. Itachi did not even turn towards where Sasuke was shakily trying to get to his feet, instead looking blankly back at Kisame.

Kisame's voice took on a slightly whining tone. "It would be annoying if he kept using his petty jutsus. Maybe we should just remove his arms?" He kept looking at Itachi and, seeing no disagreement, turned back to Naruto, raising his sword again. "First the arms, then the legs."

Naruto saw Sasuke starting to surge forwards, before his path was blocked by Itachi again. Crap. I can't feel any chakra, and Sasuke can't help me. What can I do now?

"Dynamic entry!"

Kisame darted back away from Naruto as a green blur passed by where he had been milliseconds before. "What's this?"

Naruto blinked. "Fuzzy-brow's sensei!"

Gai turned back to Naruto and gave him a thumbs up. "Good job stalling these guys till I could get here. You go help Kakashi's protégé, I'll deal with this one." He turned back to Kisame. "We have some unfinished business from Konoha."

Naruto paused, then nodded. Sasuke needs my help. This Itachi is far too strong for him to fight alone. He darted round Kisame, noting that the Mist ninja was letting him past by his total inaction. Must be confident that Itachi can deal with us both. Well I'll just have to show him differently. He got up speed and lunged at Itachi's back, yelling. The world turned into a blur of movement, then Naruto felt a sharp impact on his back as he slid down the alley wall. Ow. Okay, maybe he can take us.

"Naruto!" Sasuke skidded to stand defensively in front of him. "Don't be so stupid. Itachi was an ANBU captain before he left Konoha, you're not going to be able to surprise him."

Naruto struggled to his feet. "I know that, jeez." He looked over to where Gai and Kisame were trading blows. "The fuzzy-brow's sensei will deal with the fish-guy, so I came to help you."

"You can help me by staying back," snapped Sasuke, darting forwards to attack again.

Now that he was closer, Naruto could better follow the moves the two brothers were using. It seemed to him that Sasuke was slowly catching up to Itachi, but that Itachi still held a serious advantage. I don't know what to do. Whatever that sword did to me, it's messing with my ability to use chakra, and these guys are going way too fast for me to try anything without it. He started to draw a kunai from his leg holster, then stopped as a shuriken whizzed past his ear, close enough to draw blood, but without causing serious injury. Naruto started slightly. Okay, so even in a fight this Itachi can see that I'm going to try something and do something to stop me. He didn't even look at me. He scowled. It's even worse than when Kakashi-sensei had me fight Sasuke to help him learn his sharingan. Itachi isn't learning, he's learnt. And he's using it to kick both our asses. He got to his feet, leaning against the wall slightly, trying to play at being more injured. And the damn fox can't help me this time. As he watched, Sasuke got knocked back into the wall nearby.

"Damn it, Naruto," growled Sasuke, turning his head to spit blood out of his mouth. "What's taking so long? We need that power of yours and we need it now!" He glared at Naruto for a moment, before turning his attention back to Itachi.

Naruto felt furious at that. "You think I'm not trying?! This isn't like some jutsu, you know, and why don't you try and do something then?"

"I'm the one doing all the work," snapped back Sasuke, not taking his eyes off Itachi. "Now either help, or get the hell out of the way." He darted forwards to try to attack again, but this time, in the flurry of moves Naruto could see, Itachi skilfully deflected Sasuke's moves, even as he seemed to be almost as fast now.

Finally Itachi reached out, with a casualness that was sickening to Naruto, and did something to Sasuke's arm that resulted in a loud crack and a bellow of pain from Sasuke.

"Sasuke!" Naruto started forwards, but stopped as Itachi turned his level attention towards him.

"It seems the diversion is over, Naruto-kun. Now you will come with us."

Naruto felt himself unable to tear his gaze away from Itachi's eyes. These are nothing like Sasuke's sharingan. At least in those, I see that he's human. Eyes that are this cold have almost never been human. He shuddered, taking a step backwards as Itachi advanced while seeming to exude something much colder than the killing intent Naruto had experienced before.

Itachi suddenly stopped his advance, and Naruto found himself suddenly able to break eye contact, to look behind Itachi to where he had seen a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision. There, he saw Sasuke painfully pushing himself up the wall, while holding an arm that to Naruto's eyes seemed to be broken. To Naruto's dismay, Sasuke's eyes seemed to have returned to their normal dark colour, his sharingan deactivated.

"Step away from Naruto, you bastard. You're not done with me yet."

Sasuke… Naruto bit on his tongue to stop himself replying harshly. What good do you think you can do? Your arm's broken, you idiot! You can't fight anymore! You should've run when you had the chance! To Naruto's horror, Itachi turned away from him, back towards Sasuke. "No! Sasuke, run!"

Sasuke just snorted, looking down, then pushed away from the wall to stand, swaying slightly, and look back up again. "I'm done running." From how he said this directly to Itachi, Naruto supposed that there was some commonly understood meaning between the two of them that he could not understand.

As he watched, Itachi advanced on where Sasuke stood proudly. Sasuke attempted a punch, but with his injuries it was slow and Itachi blocked it easily. Itachi then proceeded to beat Sasuke, using violently efficient means that Naruto wanted to turn away from seeing, but somehow could not bring himself to.

Finally, the blows ended with a kick that sent Sasuke crashing into the wall, where he slid down to the ground and coughed slightly, his body trembling.

"Sasuke…" Naruto felt anger, seeing how Sasuke had been battered like a child in an adults grip. He reached for the Kyuubi's chakra again, hoping to use it to avenge somehow, but felt nothing. "Damn it, Sasuke… Why didn't you run?"

Sasuke looked up from under his bangs, as if his whole head almost felt too heavy to raise. "Same to you, idiot. I was distracting him so you could run." From his tone it was clear to Naruto that Sasuke had resigned himself to failure.

Itachi walked over to Sasuke's fallen form and raised him up by his neck, pinning him up against the alley wall. Sasuke coughed weakly, unable to make his battered body move to give even token resistance. He let his gaze move to Naruto's, letting them lock for an instant, then screwed his eyes shut.

"You're weak," stated Itachi. Sasuke seemed to cough slightly, to try to protest, but Itachi's firm grip on his neck stopped any words coming out. "Why are you weak?" He leaned in close, and Naruto had to strain to make out the words over the sounds of Gai and Kisame's continuing fight. "Because you lack hatred."

"Bullshit!" The word practically exploded out of Naruto. "Don't listen to him Sasuke! You think a jerk like that knows anything other than hatred? Did you beat Haku with hatred? What about when you protected Sakura-chan from Gaara? What about that was hatred, huh?!" A pained expression crossed Sasuke's face, then he gasped suddenly as Itachi's hand tightened, the shock forcing his eyes open.

Then he began to scream.

"Sasuke!" Naruto darted forwards, grabbing on to the arm Itachi held Sasuke with, tugging at it furiously. "Stop it, you bastard! Whatever you're doing, just stop!" Itachi suddenly staggered slightly, and Sasuke's screams subsided as Itachi's concentration was broken by Naruto's tugging.

"You are starting to annoy me, Naruto-kun." Itachi brought his arm around, throwing Sasuke into Naruto, knocking them both away from him.

Naruto braced himself for another impact against the wall, then was confused as they collided with something much softer. He looked up, and saw Jiraiya looking down worriedly as he supported both Naruto and Sasuke. "Ero-sennin!"

Jiraiya set Sasuke down carefully out of the way, keeping at least part of his attention on Itachi. "I'm sorry I'm late, Naruto. This should never have gotten so far." He stood up and faced Itachi. "So, is it Naruto you're after, or to settle affairs with the last of your clan?"

Itachi looked away in thought. "No wonder Kakashi-san knew of our plans. You were his source." He looked back up again. "It is an urgent order by our organisation to take Naruto-kun away with us."

"So beating up Sasuke was just fun for you?" demanded Naruto. "You could've knocked him out and taken me away at any time, right? So why… why did you do that to Sasuke?! He wasn't a threat to you anymore!"

"Naruto." Jiraiya put a silencing hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Right now, I want you to stay with Sasuke and keep him safe. I'll take care of the rest with Gai's help."

Naruto nodded, retreating out the way. Ero-sennin is no chump. He'll get rid of this guy and the fish-freak.

Jiraiya raised his hands, starting to flip through a sequence of hand seals. "Ninpou, Gamaguchi Shibari.(1)" He brought his hands to the ground and a pink mass leapt out from under them, moving outwards, up the walls, and even starting to curl over to create a ceiling to the alleyway. "You're out of luck Itachi, Kisame. You're inside one of my frogs' stomachs now. Since you're criminals, no one will mind if I turn you into food for this rock frog."

"Kisame. We're leaving."

Kisame turned away from Gai to look at Itachi, then together they started to flee the transformed alley, chased by Gai.

Naruto glared at Itachi as he passed, moving protectively in front of Sasuke and making a face at the surface of the jutsu. Reminds me far too much of when that snake tried to eat me. The three ninjas moved round a corner, then there was an explosion that rocked the alley. Naruto tried to support Sasuke, watching to shield him from any debris.

Jiraiya darted past. "You stay here, Naruto."

"But Ero-sennin…"

"Stay there." Jiraiya continued on past, on his way to help out Gai.

Naruto strained his ears for any sounds of fighting, but heard nothing until the jutsu was removed, the walls, floor and ceiling returning to normal. They must've escaped, Naruto realised. He turned away from the sounds of an outraged public and focused on Sasuke, giving a winning smile. "Looks like Ero-sennin scared them off. Good, huh?" Getting no response, Naruto bent to look at him. Sasuke… Despite the fact that his eyes were open, Sasuke gave no sign of being aware of anything. His head hung low, and Naruto was sure that the way his injured arm was resting on the ground should be causing him pain, but Sasuke gave no sign of feeling it. "Oi, Sasuke… Give me a sign here, okay?" Naruto shook him slightly, but gained no response. "Sakura-chan will hate me forever if you're not okay, and…" He sighed. And I want to know how you know about the damn fox, and why you don't hate me for it, and why your brother is after me, and a hundred other things. And I can't ask any of them unless you're okay, so just wake up. He looked up as he heard people approaching. "Ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya finished tucking a scroll into the front of his gi, then bent slightly. "Let's take a look at the Uchiha-brat, shall we?" He reached out and tilted Sasuke's head up slightly, frowning at the lack of response. "Come on, you. He's gone now, you don't have to worry." Getting no further response, Jiraiya turned his attention to the rest of Sasuke. "Well he has a broken arm, and probably a couple of ribs too. On top of that, he seems to be catatonic."

Gai sighed. "It's probably the same doijutsu that he used on Kakashi. As far as we can tell, it's part of their kekkei genkai, and a type of genjutsu that has the ability to cause severe psychological damage." He bent to pick Sasuke up gently, resting him across his back. "I'll take him back to Konoha and hand him over to the medical ninjas. They've probably already taken custody of Kakashi, one more victim won't make a difference."

"Kakashi-sensei was hurt too?" asked Naruto. "What about Sakura-chan? Did those guys attack everyone to get to me?"

Gai shook his head. "I don't know, but I don't think so. Kakashi was hurt because he tried to stop them, just like Sasuke did."

Sasuke was hurt… because he stood in the way? Naruto stepped closer to Gai, trembling with rage and looking up at where Sasuke was sprawled. "I promise you, Sasuke, you're going to get over this, and then we're going to go find this Itachi, and make him pay for what he's done to you."

Jiraiya shook his head. "Even if you go after them right now, you'll only get yourself killed. Their level and yours are just too different. I barely managed to make them retreat this time."

Naruto rounded on Jiraiya. "Then what? You expect me to just accept that they did this to… to Sasuke, and that they'll keep coming for me, and that all we can do is run? I won't accept that, and I won't live in fear."

"Naruto." Jiraiya's tone was sharp and his face was serious. "For now, that's all that you can do. Take the fact that both you and he survived as a gift. Next time luck may not be on your side."

Gai sighed. "At times like this, I wish she, the medical specialist, was still in Konoha, and could lend her skills to help Kakashi and Sasuke out of this state."

"That's why we're out looking for her," said Jiraiya. "The third member of the Sannin, our medical specialist and the slug-tamer, Tsunade-hime." He nodded to Gai. "Make sure that the brat gets the help he needs."

Gai nodded. "I shall transport him as carefully as if he was one of my own students. If I fail to take enough care of him, I'll run thirty laps of the Forest of Death."

Naruto stepped forwards. "Don't worry, we'll bring this Tsunade-hime back, and then Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke will be fine." I swear that I'll do this. I owe Sasuke at least that much for defending me.

Gai nodded slowly. "I believe you, Naruto-kun." He bowed to Jiraiya, somewhat awkward from the weight of Sasuke across his back. "We shall await you back in Konoha, Jiraiya-sama." As he walked off, Naruto kept his eyes on the fan emblazoned on Sasuke's back until they turned the corner.

I'll find this medic for you, Sasuke, because I need to know why you'd protect someone that you knew to be the Kyuubi.

(1) Ninpou, Gamaguchi Shibari - Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Bind