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Thanks to my Beta Rikado

Here you all go!

Chapter_23: Sacrificing Pride and More

He was sitting in his office when the world ended.

He was sitting there now, but the world was six months dead.

He had known they would come for him. Even now they searched for the man known as Uchiha Sasuke. They had searched this place a hundred times over and they had not found him. They would not suspect that he had returned to the ruins of his empire. But they were persistent in their searching, because Uchiha Sasuke was dangerous to them.

Even if what he truly was remained a mystery, they would silence him for what he represented. They could not know that he was Hebi. But what Konoha believed he was, was far more dangerous to Akatsuki: a leader of men. He was the old Konoha, the face that all recognized, all worshipped.

It was that worship that had earned him death. In the old world he had put himself on display, for he was safe in the public eye. But that eye had turned suddenly and inexplicably against him. It was content to watch as Akatsuki tore his empire down.

Sound was the first to fall. It was not destroyed, not entirely. But he could not rebuild. Such fantasies were pointless at best.

The method of survival was simple and thus far had been effective. Hide. It was better that the rumors of his death continue to circulate. It was the reason he had not attempted to leave Konoha. He was sane enough to stay in the subterranean level of Sound until Akatsuki had found other goats to slaughter. He was, as ever, a man of infinite patience. It was not as though he were sacrificing much while he waited.

He had nothing but time. And in that time he thought. He thought about what he would do against Akatsuki. He thought about his brother and his vengeance. He thought about escape. He thought about blond hair and blue eyes. He thought about heat and moans and one perfect moment. He thought about the after and realizing he had come dangerously close to trusting someone besides himself.

He did not deny that. But he hated himself for it. And he hated Naruto all the more for it…Kyuubi all the more for it. Kyuubi…Naruto…

He thought about them…him too.

Orphan…killer…intrigue…annoyance…victim…target…

Each could not be without the other. Without one, the second could not exist.

Uzumaki Naruto was Kyuubi. Kyuubi was Uzumaki Naruto. One he valued, the other he sought to destroy. He could not separate them even in his own thoughts.

And he didn't know what to think about that.

.:xXXx:.

The first bullet clipped his shoulder, spinning and dropping him onto the street faster than a stone. The second had shattered his right knee-cap. That one stung.

They found him just as the sun was dipping below the horizon line. Darkness should have meant safety and cover. But now it spelled danger in every lurking shadow.

The Akatsuki were chasing him, forcing him to find escape routes while dodging their never-ending rain of bullets. He was on the defensive, but if the two guys ever wised up, Naruto didn't know if he would survive. He would survive his wounds and heal soon enough, but at the moment he had more pressing concerns; like getting away from Akatsuki and heading back to the hideout.

The steady boom of gunfire was slowly eating away at his stamina. His leg throbbed, but he could feel the muscles and tendons knitting themselves despite his constant leaping bounds which tore painfully it. His shoulder was in much the same condition, but he was worried that the injury would heal with the bullet still inside.

The Akatsuki were keeping him moving and off balance so he couldn't get at them. But he had to turn the tables and soon.

Dusk was looming rapidly. The colorless wash of buildings bled together, grays and blacks morphing and shifting as the night drew ever closer.

Naruto was not bothered by this. He hardly noticed the change beyond a subtle shift in color and the lack of glare from the setting sun. To Kyuubi night was just like a colorless day.

The Akatsuki were not so fortunate. They were still human, with human eyes and senses. And in the blur that had become Konoha's backdrop, neither noticed that their target suddenly vanished from view…until it was a split second too late.

Naruto felt the smooth skin of a neck under his fingers and wrapped his hands tight. His victim's surprised gasp never emerged. It stuck somewhere along his tightly clenched fingers.

The muzzle of a gun poked sharply into his cheek. Naruto pushed himself backwards and away an instant before he heard the weapon's echoing report. The sharp scent of gunpowder hit his nostrils and he felt the bullet whip past his temple. Too close.

Naruto let gravity take him down to the street below. The lamps in this section of the city never worked. He was engulfed in shadow.

Curses and a hail of bullets followed him. It appeared as though the Akatsuki wouldn't give up their prey so easily. Good.

The blond leapt, perching atop one rusted lamp-post. He could see the two men. So far they could not see him. But that could change and probably would the closer they got to him. The position he was in at the moment offered a great vantage point but no cover. He had to get moving.

His new hiding place was not difficult to find. The towering ruins of Southern Konoha offered a myriad of pits, nooks and crannies. He settled in as quickly and quietly as was possible and waited senses alert and ready.

Running footsteps pattered across the gravel from a half dozen buildings closer to his hiding spot.

"You idiot, we had him. How could you lose a guy that had you by the throat?"

Naruto recognized the first voice. It was the big gun man who had faced down Suigetsu all those months ago. The second voice wasn't as familiar.

"You're the sharp-shooter. You should have just shot him instead of playing with your food."

Naruto caught a flash of bright hair and held his breath. It was the blond arsonist. They were only a few feet away from his hole when they stopped.

The blond could have reached out and pulled a few strands of hair if he'd been feeling suicidal. Adrenaline was shielding him from a good portion of the pain. He didn't know what would happen when that wore off.

"I don't know why Itachi likes partnering with you. You're such a nuisance."

A chuckled answer was what the blond Akatsuki received in return. "Itachi and I understand one another. Besides, it's your own fault that your partner got the kabob. You should be more responsible and you won't be in these situations."

"Sasori was a fool." The blond hissed. "He didn't even understand the truth and utter beauty of my craft." The hiss turned into a dark laugh. "It's just too bad he didn't stay alive long enough to witness the triumph of my art. That idiot Hokage was the perfect medium for my creation."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Yeah, he did make a good 'boom'." Agreed Kissame. "It's too bad you couldn't have strapped this guy with a bomb. We might've caught him."

The blonds' answering statement was loud, rude and physically impossible. But it didn't seem to bother his partner much. The tall man simply chuckled and started away.

"Come on, we're not going to find him standing around and chatting like a bunch of old women."

Naruto held his breath, listening to their footsteps dwindle into the distance. The silence stretched long, but still he refused to move. His knee throbbed. He could feel the chunk of metal sitting against the bone. The ache was incredible.

At last the combined agony from leg and shoulder forced him into action. If he didn't get the bullet out now, it wouldn't matter if the Akatsuki were gone or not. He wouldn't be able to move with a slug nestled against bone and joint.

He looked at the wound properly for the first time and his stomach roiled. It was a mess of drying blood and cartilage. The gap, however, was closing fast enough to watch. It was the second time in his life Naruto cursed his powers. The first was after he lost Sasuke.

The blond winced; from painful memory or his shattered knee he didn't want to decide.

He couldn't see the bullet, which meant he would have to dig for it.

Naruto pulled off his jacket and stuffed a sleeve in this mouth. It was better than nothing. The leather would muffle some of the sound at least.

He eased his pointer in gently and nearly bit through the jacket. Pain lanced up his thigh. The nerves screamed as he worked the digit in deeper, but he couldn't stop. If he did, he wouldn't be able to start again.

The pad of his finger met with a hard ridge. It was the bullet. It was then Naruto realized his mistake. He wasn't going to be able to get the fragment out with only one finger. He was going to have to…use another.

Thumb slowly worked into the gap alongside the first. Every millimeter was agony. Fresh streams of blood seeped between the two digits, pooling on the pavement.

Naruto took a deep breath. The pain was going to his head. Thinking was muddled and difficult. He spread his fingers, growling instead of screaming against the leather bunched tightly in his mouth. Then he had a hold. He gripped the metal shard with his nails and yanked it from his torn flesh.

His knee flared once, bright white and hot. And then the adrenaline left him so suddenly his head was spinning. Naruto panted hard, clinging desperately to the wall of his hiding-place. It was out. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the blond was doing a fist pump. At the moment, however, he was trying not to fall over.

His body was shaking. Self-inflicted pain always seemed to do that.

He heard the crunch of gravel underfoot. His eyes jerked up and into the muzzle of a giant gun.

"Well, well, what do we have here? It figures Akatsuki couldn't kill your superhuman butt. Just my luck I'd be the one to find you."

The gun hovered for heartbeats, looking Naruto squarely in the eye. And then it was pulled away and Suigetsu peered down at the superhero. The man grinned and swore.

"I thought I heard that pisser Kissame talkin' over here. I guess I missed him."

"Not by much." The blond said. "It's too bad too. I could have used your live carcass as bait to make my escape."

Suigetsu snorted and glanced around the dark street. "Well, there's no point us standing out in the open, yapping like deaf dogs."

"Speak for yourself." Naruto eased gingerly back into his jacket. "I'm hiding. You're the one standing out in the open."

"Do you want my help or not?" The gunman shot back grumpily. "I could just leave your butt here for the Akatsuki to find when they come around again."

"You think they'll come back this way?"

"Always do."

Naruto winced as he tested his knee. It was better than it had been a few minutes ago. But considering that it had been nothing but hamburger a few minutes ago, that wasn't saying much. Now that the initial adrenaline burst had left his system, the joint ached horribly.

"Fine, but you're going to have to help me get to wherever it is you've got in mind. This leg of mine isn't going anywhere on its own."

At this, Suigetsu's smile turned positively evil. "So the big bad superhero needs my help. Isn't that just precious?"

Naruto growled. "I could always just kill you and take my chances. I don't think your boss would be too surprised if you went missing out here at this time of night."

Suigetsu only grinned wider. "Yeah, and I bet your Mommy told you to be home in time for bed."

The superhuman snorted. "Well actually, someone gave me a curfew. I'm already late."

The bleach blond stopped smiling. "There's someone else out there besides you?"

Naruto's knee and shoulder had quieted some, enough to ease the throbbing in his skull. He peered up at the other man. "Not everyone's as stupid as you. Surviving those bastards only takes a little brainpower."

Suigetsu ignored the comment. "How many others are there?"

"When I left there were five."

"You think they're still alive?"

"They have to be." There was no alternative worth considering, not when his father was with them.

The gunman sighed and slung his gun over a shoulder. "Well, I might as well take you to base. At least Akatsuki won't finish you off. Can you at least stand on your own? Or do I have to do all the work?"

Naruto levered himself upright. The ache came back, but it was bearable. His shoulder was taking longer than he thought. The bullet had ripped out a good chunk along with it. It would heal, but it would take time, more than he'd thought.

"Where are we going?"

Suigetsu wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist, earning him a warning growl, but the glare was nothing compared to Sasuke's.

"Quit being a pussy." The bleach blond said, dragging Kyuubi down the street. "The hideout is just a block down this way."

.XX.

Sound was a wreck. Naruto hardly recognized it for the once monolithic conclave of lights, passion and alcohol. One side of the proud structure was caved in. What had once been seamless black stone littered the ground around them. The second half still stood, mainly untouched, but with a few pieces missing here and there. The effect was still ominous, like the bones of a great creature left to bleach in the sun.

"You stayed here?"

The gunman nodded mutely. "You gotta figure it's the last place Akatsuki's gunna look for you. After they…well, I guess you can see what they did to the place. But they think it's the last place you're gonna hide. So we're pretty safe."

"Who is 'we'?"

Suigetsu was leading him over to the standing portion of Sound. The alley between buildings was a myriad of concrete, exposed piping and garbage. The benefactor wasn't going to rebuild South Konoha. He would let it stand as a monument to 'before'.

The Hebi merc helped them over a largish slab of asphalt pushed high and inclined towards the sky. Behind it was a small space clear, for the most part, of debris. The effect looked natural, though Naruto suspected it was not.

"How many of you are left?"

Suigetsu reached into a crevice in the rock. It had looked real. But a second later Naruto heard a 'click' and a seam appeared in the wall in front of them. The bleached blond eased the door inwards and climbed inside.

"Three of us made it out alive."

Naruto felt himself tense.

"Who?"

The door slide back into place once the superhero had joined Suigetsu. They were in some sort of tunnel. It was made of the same obsidian that structured the rest of Sound. Naruto could see it sloping off into the distant darkness. Beyond that he could hear sounds, muffled by distance and the dampening that came from being underground.

"I asked you whose left?"

But the gunman wasn't listening. Suigetsu was already trailing down the long hallway towards the source of the noise. Naruto had no choice but to follow. He didn't know how to open the door he'd just come in through. So, cursing himself, the blond followed his rescuer.

Progress was slow, but gradually speeding up. His knee was still an unrecognizable mess, but at least it would support his weight now.

The passage opened up into a wide chamber. The glow of LED lights reflected off wall and ceiling while carpet husked underfoot.

It was cold.

But the temperature had nothing to do with the chill that shot down Naruto's spine.

Cerulean met Ebony for the first time in six months.

"Kyuubi," Sasuke's voice was smooth as silk; just the way he remembered it. And just like that every emotion he thought he had shoved down deep inside himself came rushing to the surface, gushing over him like a tidal wave. Love, hated, bitterness, grief, apathy. It was all there…because he was here. He was a fool to think that he would ever be able to forget someone like Sasuke. Maybe, somewhere deep inside, he had always known it would come to this. They couldn't seem to stay away from one another.

It was always going to be Sasuke.

"Yo, Boss," Suigetsu cut in. "I found this little guy in an ally. It looks like he lost his owner. Can we keep him?"

Naruto felt his chest constrict. The Uchiha's eyes were cold. But the man said nothing. He simply continued to stare down the blond as if he believed Naruto were some sort of mirage.

"Actually," Naruto said. "I was out here looking for help, so I was hoping that I could get to keep you." He hadn't meant to give any hidden messages in that statement, but the raven's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"There are only six of us in North Konoha. Not enough to launch any kind of offensive against Akatsuki. And you all no matter how much of a genius your leader is, you can't win against a group like that without more people."

"The plan was to wait them out." The speaker, a man with orange hair Naruto had only seen once before, shook his head.

"But they aren't going to just go away." Naruto said. "Once they establish a base of power, they'll be able to find you no matter where you hide."

"They've already established a base of power." The woman known as Karin replied. She was lying prone on a couch. Bandages encircled her ribcage.

"Ah, how is my invalid doing tonight?" Suigetsu sauntered over to the redhead and began jabbing at her side with a finger. "Still faking?"

Karin slapped at the offending hand. "It's your fault the wound keeps reopening. If I didn't have to pull your butt out of the fire so much, it would be healed by know."

"Don't blame me for your…"

Naruto stopped listening. Irritation overrode his logic and before he realized what he was doing he had turned and yelled at Sasuke.

"These are your people. So tell them to do something besides rot and die. Are you a leader or not? Are you a man? Are you going to fight, or are you going to lie down in this grave you've dug for yourself like the snake that you are?"

Heat rushed to his face the instant the words left his mouth and Naruto took a step back. He had never been so thankful for his mask.

"It's their decision to stay or go." The Uchiha said. "Ask them."

"But Sasuke," Karin stopped bickering and looked up at her leader. "You're still who we follow. You're Boss,"

"Don't be a fool." Sasuke's tone was sharp. "Hebi is no more."

"Sasuke,"

"Go or stay. I am no longer your leader."

Naruto swallowed and cleared his throat. "I…uh, have to get back to the rest of my people soon. It would probably be best to if whoever was coming came along with me. So, if you're coming, then I'm leaving now."

The three former gang lieutenants looked at one another. It was Juugo who answered first. "Wherever Sasuke goes, so do we."

Naruto opened his mouth to argue, but the Uchiha's calm voice smoothly interrupted.

"Juugo, Suigetsu, take Karin up the tunnel. I will join you shortly."

Three heads nodded and without another word, they walked back the way Naruto had come minutes before.

The blond watched them go, relieved more than anything else. He didn't want to come back empty handed. They didn't have the time to spend searching for people who didn't exist. Naruto knew that this was the last of those left alive. There was no one else alive.

He turned to face Sasuke and was met with the muzzle of the gang leader's weapon. The safety clicked off and Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Sasuke…"

"I told you I would kill you."

There was no hesitation in the words, no trace of the care and kindness that had once trebled the raven's voice. His eyes were cold and dark and full of hate.

The image in front of him blurred. The beginnings of tears. It had come to this. Regret mixed with sorrow in the pit of his stomach, making him sick. He might be able to get the gun away from the raven, kill the man before he pulled the trigger. But he wouldn't, he…wouldn't.

The blond closed his eyes and reached up to pull down his mask. He was going to die as Uzumaki Naruto, not Kyuubi.

"Don't touch it." The muzzle pressed against his forehead. "Leave it on."

Blue eyes opened slowly. The raven's face was an unreadable mask of ice. But he hadn't fired.

"Sasuke…" He was still alive. That had to mean something. The implications made his pulse pound, his nerves raw, his mouth move.

"This is bigger than just us, Sasuke. It's bigger than me betraying your trust and you breaking my heart. But if you're really intent on pulling that trigger, don't just stand there and say it. Do it!"

The sound of gunshots reverberated around stone room. They were coming from the entrance.

They moved as one, sprinting for the ramp that led to sound of rapidly exchanged gunfire, vengeance and wounds forgotten for the moment.

They emerged from the secret door to a hail of bullets. The three lieutenants were crouched behind the same chunk of asphalt Naruto and Suigetsu had clambered over. It provided some cover from the rainstorm of slugs pelting down on them.

"Suigetsu." Sasuke spoke over the thunder of gunfire.

"They came out of nowhere." The bleach blond gunman answered. "I knew they were going to circle back like usual, but this time they decided to take a short-cut or something. There are two of them, the one with the big gun I told you about and the arsonist. They've blockaded the exit and I think they saw the door."

"What are we going to do Sasuke?" Karin was propped up on a boulder, her luger peeking through a notch in the rock.

The raven didn't answer. Instead his eyes were searching, looking everywhere, taking in every detail.

"We have to go another way. Can you scale that wall?" It took Naruto a moment to realize that Sasuke was addressing him.

The raven was looking behind them. Sound's high wall towered over them twenty feet in the air. What Sasuke was asking dawned on him a second later. The brunette wanted Kyuubi to carry them one by one up to the top of that building. From there they could all vanish before the Akatsuki had a chance to follow.

Naruto wanted to curse. "I probably could've, if I hadn't been shot. But the wounds are still healing and I don't think I can climb that sheer surface without some hand-holds."

A concussive 'boom' rent the air right next to Naruto's head. A chunk of the wall near the top exploded, leaving a jagged crater behind.

Suigetsu blew the smoke from his still smoldering gun. His grin could have spanned the Atlantic.

"Is that a big enough hand-hold for you?"

.XX.

Karin was the first up, despite her avid protesting. Progress was slow and painful. His shoulder was sore and the wound in his knee had reopened.

Hauling Juugo up to the top nearly killed him.

By the time Suigetsu was standing on top of Sound, the Akatsuki had figured out what was going on. The three lieutenants tried their best to cover their leader's retreat from the roof. Even with it, Naruto knew he didn't have much time.

He landed next to the raven and hissed. His leg was telling him that one more trip up that wall was all he was going to get.

"Come on Sasuke, hold on to me."

The look that he received was unfathomable. It was full of things that Naruto didn't understand, but desperately wanted to. More than anything, the blond wanted to touch this man, to hold him and tell him that he wished he didn't have super powers. For one terrifyingly heart-stopping moment, Naruto wanted to be just a man, with normal love and a normal life.

The raven slipped his gun away and wrapped one arm around Naruto's chest and shoulder. It was almost as if he were saying 'I'm no damsel in distress'.

Naruto grabbed a hold of Sasuke's jacket with his bad arm. He would need the good one for climbing. He'd learned the hard way that he had to trust his cargo to hold on to him by themselves.

He gathered himself and sprang. His leg screamed at him, throwing curses and blistering pain. Naruto grit his teeth and stretched out his hand. Fingers met with textured rock and he clung.

Naruto took a bracing breath and then began to climb. From behind he could hear the 'pop, pop' of gunshots. Akatsuki was trying to hit them before they could escape. Bullets riddled the wall around them. Both Sasuke and Naruto were wearing black, that helped. But all it took was one luck shot.

They were only a few feet from the top. The blond could see Juugo reaching down. If he could just get a little higher, just a little further-

'Boom'

The explosion shook Naruto's fingers loose and he was falling, his feet and hand scrabbling for purchase. His left arm found it and he grasped desperately to it. He paid the price a second later, when the full force of his and Sasuke's weight crashed into his injured arm.

His fingers loosened around the Uchiha's clothing. They were hung suspended. Naruto's good arm was stretched out, holding onto the shirt Sasuke wore. That bit of cloth was all that was keeping the Uchiha in the air.

Bangs and booms redoubled. Some were skittering dangerously close. The Akatsuki were coming closer.

Naruto's body was going numb. It was past the point of pain, slipping into unconsciousness. The strain had taken its toll. The blond forced himself to stay aware, to keep holding onto the wall. He had to keep Sasuke from…

"Naruto," His name. Naruto looked down at the man he loved and his heart stopped.

The gun was pointed at him once more. But the look on Sasuke's face was clear: resolve.

When the man spoke, his voice held no malice, none of the hatred from that day.

"Sasuke…"

"You were right…this is bigger than us."

The gun in his hand leapt once. The slug caught Naruto's hand, forcing it to open, forcing him to let go of Sasuke.

"No!"

Naruto pushed away from the wall to dive after the raven. Hands wrapped around the back of his collar, hoisting him up, away. Not where he wanted to go. No, Sasuke was down there, Sasuke was falling. The Akatsuki was down there. No, no, no.

The wind threw itself into a fever pitch, churning the loose dirt into a dust cloud.

Naruto watched as Sasuke's form was lost in the thick swirling mass as it plummeted earthward.

"Sasuke!"

A/N: Another Cliffy. 'Ducks'. Don't hate me! Please tell me how I'm doing.

Until next time...