I'm sorry for the year-long delay, but life got in the way. There are only two chapters remaining after this and they've already been written. You'll get the next chapter in a week.

Warnings: violence, language, some gore

Oh, and I'm really bad at writing fights, so apologies in advance if the ones here stink. You should also be aware that there is a lack of focus on the names of the techniques, attacks, signs needed for techniques, weapons, etc. That is by choice. The fighting stuff isn't what draws me to the manga/anime so I choose not to focus on it. At the beginning of the story I had a lot more time to research it, but I don't want to do it now.

Posted 1/3/11

Chapter 18: Property

"Damn it, you're heavy,"

Naruto briefly considered dragging Sasuke rather than carrying him over the shoulder, but decided that the disturbed ground from the body would draw more attention than what he was disturbing with his feet. He no longer wore Kabuto's chakra-stealing cuffs, but whatever chakra he'd lost hadn't been replenished yet and he felt weak and out of it. Sasuke hadn't remembered much of the journey here, so he hadn't been able to give Naruto much information on where they were or how to get back to Konoha. When he left the tent Naruto picked a direction at random, hoping to make it to the safety of the trees before he was spotted. He could be walking into a patrol for all he knew, but he didn't have the luxury of waiting for the moon to be higher in the sky and provide better illumination. His senses, normally sharp and reliable, were dulled and Naruto wasn't sure that he could count on them at the moment.

Sasuke twitched suddenly, causing Naruto to almost drop him. Sasuke's skin was hot to the touch, which was fitting considering that the young man was fighting an infection of his own mind. Naruto wondered yet again what he would do if Orochimaru won the battle raging in Sasuke's mind. Would Naruto be willing to let Tsunade kill Orochimaru in Sasuke's body? Would Naruto or Sakura be willing to do it?

Naruto shut that thought down before it could spiral out of control. Sasuke would win. He had to win. He was aware that almost everyone in the village thought he was a fool for still believing in Sasuke after all he'd done, but Naruto didn't care. The villagers couldn't possibly understand that Naruto's bonds were few and very precious. He didn't throw them away when they became inconvenient for him.

"You hear that, Sasuke-bastard?" Naruto said to his unconscious friend, "I don't abandon my friends so you better not give up on yourself."

Sasuke groaned, and his body shook as if he were having a seizure. The movements made Naruto lose his footing, sending both of them crashing to the ground. In the moonlight, Naruto could see Sasuke's face contorted in pain and his eyes moving rapidly underneath the lids. He wished that he could help Sasuke, but this was one battle that Sasuke was going to have to fight on his own. Naruto had been so distracted by Sasuke that he failed to notice the foreign chakra until it was too late and he was being pinned to the ground.

"You are a slippery little bastard, aren't you?" Kabuto said as he looked down on Naruto. "What do you say we finish this once and for all?"

Rage flooded Naruto at the sight of Kabuto's sneering face, and the dullness of his senses was momentarily pushed away in favor of the unmistakable rush of adrenaline and thirst for blood that accompanied the nine-tailed fox's awakening. Instead of suppressing it as he normally did, Naruto cajoled the fox into waking fully. Even if their chakra wasn't mixing the way it should, Naruto knew that having even a little bit of that demon chakra was going to help him survive this encounter.

Naruto maneuvered his right leg between himself and Kabuto and pushed the elder ninja away from him. Kabuto twisted in mid air, landing with the grace of a cat a few meters away. Kabuto was armed with two double-edged kunai, and Naruto didn't hesitate to draw his own weapons.

"You're in no condition to fight," Kabuto said. "Give up now and I'll be lenient."

Naruto chuckled, even though he knew that Kabuto was partially right. "I have no interest in being your guinea pig for the rest of my life," he said and charged towards his opponent.

As expected, Kabuto avoided the direct attack. He didn't see the clone Naruto had conjured, however, so he wasn't prepared for the shuriken that flew at him from behind. Kabuto managed to avoid all but one of the weapons, and that one embedded itself in Kabuto's shoulder. With a growl, Kabuto pulled it out and returned the attack. Naruto shifted to the right and dropped, extending his left leg in a kick. He knew even as he was doing it that his reaction time was slow and Kabuto saw the attack easily. The man grabbed Naruto's leg and flung him to the side. Naruto landed heavily and swayed for a moment before getting to his feet. Kabuto was still where Naruto had left him, but the poison needles he'd thrown were centimeters in front of Naruto. He blocked with his kunai but one managed to strike him in the leg and another grazed his cheek. His hands moved in the familiar signs for his signature technique, but instead of the hundreds of clones he would have normally created he created only 5.

"Low on chakra, perhaps?" Kabuto said with a snicker. "I wonder where it all went."

Naruto grit his teeth and tried desperately to reach whatever chakra he had left. There was precious little of his own left and only traces of the fox's chakra. He had to finish this quickly or else Kabuto was going to end up killing him.

"Go to hell!" Naruto yelled as he and his clones attacked. He had to blind Kabuto enough to get one Rasnegan through. If he could aim it just right, it would only take one.

Naruto and a clone worked on the Rasengan as the other four clones attacked Kabuto. He didn't have enough of his own chakra left for the technique, so he pulled on what he could get from the fox. It was painful and felt as if he were pulling out a bit of his own soul as he did it, but he had no other choice. The ball of chakra in his hand went from blue to red and then finally settled on a purplish-black color. It wasn't very big, but Naruto hoped that the fox's chakra would make it more potent.

The sound of the clones being destroyed called Naruto's attention back to the battle. Three of the clones were gone and the last one looked like he was about to be destroyed. As Kabuto destroyed the last one, Naruto kept careful pace behind the clone that had been with him so that Kabuto only saw one Naruto, the Rasengan hidden by the clone. When they got close enough, Naruto destroyed the last clone himself and reached out with the hand holding the deadly ball of chakra. Kabuto's eyes widened momentarily in surprise as he realized what Naruto had done. Naruto sidestepped Kabuto's first kunai and his Rasengan reached Kabuto's chest at the same time that Kabuto's second kunai buried itself into Naruto's stomach. Naruto pushed through, willing the ball of chakra to do as much damage to Kabuto's chest as it could as he pushed it into Kabuto. The elder ninja screamed as the chakra broke through the chest wall, but he still had enough strength to twist the kunai in Naruto's stomach sideways before pulling it out. Naruto choked on a sudden rush of blood in his mouth, and the Rasengan disintegrated. Both ninja dropped to the ground, Kabuto on his back and Naruto on his side, clutching the gaping wound on his stomach. Warm blood soaked into the fabric of his jacket and out between Naruto's fingers to stain the ground below.

Naruto closed his eyes, exhausted and depleted of chakra. When he opened them again, the moonlight was hazy and tinged with black. He looked to the side to find Kabuto splayed on the ground, his glasses broken and his shirt torn open from the attack. The skin of the chest had been burned cleanly through and Naruto could see broken ribs and other internal organs in the chest cavity. The chest was still moving up and down, however, and Naruto was horrified to find that Kabuto's eyes were open and looking at him.

"Good shot," Kabuto whispered, "but I'm still alive".

With strength Naruto wouldn't have thought possible after such a ghastly injury, Kabuto picked up the kunai he'd dropped, got to his knees and would have stabbed Naruto if not for a kunai that suddenly lodged in Kabuto's throat. Naruto had only a split second to see the surprise on Kabuto's face before the kunai was moved sideways, cleanly cutting Kabuto's head off.

"See how you survive without that."

Naruto blinked stupidly up at the wielder of the kunai that had just decapitated Kabuto and it took him several seconds to recognize the long hair and black eyes staring down at him.

Black eyes…

Naruto grinned, even though he felt as if he was being weighed down by a mountain. "I knew you could do it, Sasuke."

Sasuke's face was pale and he looked like he was going to drop from exhaustion at any moment. He flicked the kunai to get the blood off of it and dropped to his knees. "I've wanted to kill that son of a bitch for a long time," he said.

"Yeah, you and me both," Naruto replied.

He coughed up blood and curled tighter around himself, wincing as the pain spread throughout his body. His vision wavered again, and he could see black along the edges.

"How bad is it?" Sasuke asked.

He reached out to Naruto and lifted the blood-stained jacket and shirt beneath.

"By the look on your face, I take it its bad?" Naruto asked, seeing what little color there was left to Sasuke's face drain away.

"It's bad. You're going to bleed to death if the wound isn't closed," Sasuke replied.

He laid Naruto on his back and unwrapped the bandages around Naruto's leg that usually cushioned the weapon pouch he carried there. He folded some of them up and placed them over the wound, then wrapped the rest of the bandages around Naruto's middle.

"These aren't sterile, but they'll have to do until a medic can see you."

Naruto's mouth, which had been gaping in astonishment at the ministrations, closed with a click at Sasuke's piercing glare. There was no trace of Orochimaru in Sasuke's eyes, and the vile chakra that had tainted Sasuke's was gone. The only foreign chakra Naruto could sense in Sasuke was Naruto's own, which would probably always be there due to the seal.

"The snake is gone, then?" Naruto finally asked.

"He was a stubborn, evil bastard who didn't want to die, but yes, he's finally gone," Sasuke replied.

They let the silence wrap around them until cries of "Kabuto-san! Orochimaru-sama!" interrupted their peace.

"I think we've been found," Sasuke said. "Stay put."

Naruto didn't think he'd be able to move even if he wanted to, so he watched as Sasuke got to his feet to face the ninja that were quickly advancing on them. When the ninja reached them, they stared in horror at what was left of their temporary "leader".

"What happened, Orochimaru-sama?" one asked. "Did the Konoha ninja kill Kabuto-san?"

"No," Sasuke replied, "I killed him. I also killed Orochimaru, and if you don't want to suffer the same fate, you'll turn around and go back the way you came right now."

"You're Orochimaru-sama," the ninja said, confusion clear on his face.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and I'm a former Konoha ninja. I am your enemy and will kill you unless you go back to your village now."

Naruto saw the conflict on the ninja faces as they struggled between the loyalty they once had to Orochimaru in Sasuke's body and the obvious killing intent radiating from Sasuke now. A few glanced between Kabuto's dead body and back to Sasuke and their hands clenched around their weapons.

"Traitor!" one of them yelled, and it was all it took for the whole lot of them to attack Sasuke.

Naruto lost track of the attack, but every ninja that tried to get past Sasuke to Naruto was killed instantly. One of the ninja must have called for reinforcements because after a while there were too many for Sasuke to handle alone. A few broke through and were headed for Naruto. Naruto scrambled to get to a sitting position and dig a kunai out of his weapons pouch. He had it at the ready but never got to use it. Two ninja wearing the familiar green and red Konoha vest were suddenly in front of him. They handled Naruto's would-be attackers and joined the fray. He felt a presence behind him and had the kunai halfway to the person's throat before the all-too-familiar pink hair made him drop his hand.

"Sakura!" he said, relieved to see another friendly face. "What are you doing here?"

"Kakashi and I followed your chakra and found this camp. We were looking around when we felt your chakra again and followed it here." She gently pushed him back on to the ground, lifted his jacket and shirt, and undid the wrappings. She gasped as she saw the wound and immediately got to work. The healing chakra felt warm and soothing, but Naruto couldn't afford to lose consciousness just yet.

"Shikamaru willingly came with you?" Naruto asked, incredulous.

"No, we ran into him on the way," Sakura replied. Her eyes darkened momentarily but whatever thought filtered into her mind didn't make it out. "You've lost a lot of blood," she said instead. "Why aren't you healing?"

"Orochimaru did something to my seal," Naruto said. "I can't reach much of the fox's chakra."

Sakura's eyes drifted to the battle where Sasuke was and she looked like she wanted to ask something but changed her mind.

"There's some poison too," she said softly, talking to herself as she assessed Naruto's injuries. "I need you to relax and let me heal you enough to get you on your feet and out of here," she said.

"We're in the middle of a battle, Sakura, how do you expect me to relax?" Naruto replied.

"A battle that you can't do anything about," she snapped. "Trust your friends to protect you like you'd protect them, now stop fighting me and let me heal you."

She was right; Naruto willed his body to relax and the blackness that had been lying in wait at the edge of his vision finally overtook him.

Kakashi ordered a retreat once the ninja they'd engaged had called for even more reinforcements. Shikamaru had picked up the still-unconscious Naruto and headed for the tree line first, followed by Sakura, Kakashi, and finally Sasuke. Sakura could tell that Sasuke was a bit unsure about whether he should be with them at all, but had come at Kakashi's urging. Once they were sure they weren't being followed, Kakashi called for them to stop so that Sakura could treat the minor injuries they'd sustained, and to give Naruto a chance to wake up. Sakura was working on Sasuke's few cuts when Shikamaru spoke up.

"We can't take him back to the village, Kakashi," the young man said, pointing at Sasuke. "He's already betrayed us."

Sakura tensed and the chakra she was using to heal a cut to Sasuke's right shoulder flared momentarily before she got it under control. Sasuke was the only one that noticed it and he raised an eyebrow in question. Sakura sighed in frustration, not wanting to have this argument yet again.

"That didn't look like a betrayal back then," Kakashi pointed out. "We all saw that Kabuto would have killed Naruto if Sasuke hadn't interfered."

"Sasuke is the reason Naruto was in that position in the first place!" Shikamaru insisted. "Don't you get that?"

"That wasn't Sasuke," Sakura finally said. She got up from where she'd been kneeling beside Sasuke and faced Shikamaru. "That was Orochimaru."

"They're one and the same as far as I'm concerned," Shikamaru replied. His face betrayed nothing, but the clenched fists and set of his shoulders told Sakura that Shikamaru was as tense as a stretched rubber band and ready to snap. She didn't want Sasuke to bear the brunt of that when it happened.

"What if it'd been Chouji?" Sakura asked. "What if Chouji had made some stupid decision, would you have abandoned him just because you didn't agree with his choices?"

"Chouji would never have been so blinded as to turn his back on his friends and family in favor of himself."

The words struck Sakura like miniature blades that tore tiny holes in the very fabric of her being. That old, childish crush she'd had on Sasuke resurfaced for just a moment and she was tempted to scream at Shikamaru for being so cruel. She didn't, because the mature part of her, the one that had felt the sting of heart break when Sasuke had chosen his revenge over her, knew that Shikamaru was right.

"Enough," Sasuke said, coming to stand between Sakura and Shikamaru. "I explained what happened on the way here," he continued, "if you don't want to believe that Orochimaru is really gone this time, that's your problem. What you can't ignore is that your village will be attacked and you need as many capable ninja as you can get."

Shikamaru's jaw clenched in anger, but he didn't dispute the statement. Sakura had been so focused on Shikamaru that she didn't see Sasuke move. When she caught sight of him again he was standing behind Shikamaru with a kunai to Shikamaru's neck. Kakashi and Sakura both pulled out their own weapons, ready to use them if they had to.

"I could kill you right now if I wanted to, Nara" Sasuke said to the shocked and angry Shikamaru. "I won't do it because you're not my enemy. In fact, I could care less about you, but you need to understand something: your village is about to go to war and, even if you don't want to admit it, I'm very good at what I do. Right now you need me more than I need you."

With that, Sasuke let Shikamaru go and returned to Sakura's side. He held out the kunai and Sakura took it from him, wondering when he'd reached into her bag to get it. Shikamaru glared at each of them, his eyes only softening a bit when his glance landed on Naruto. Finally, he addressed Kakashi.

"You outrank me and I have a feeling that you're on Sakura's side. Do what you want, but I won't be a part of it. I'm going ahead to warn the village and inform the Hokage of what's happened."

With that, Shikamaru took to the trees and disappeared.

Kakashi and Sakura stared after him, until a soft voice drew their attention back to their injured team member.

"He cares, that's why he's such an ass," Naruto said. He blinked and stared at them wearily as he slowly got himself to a sitting position. "Look, its Team 7 all together again." Naruto smiled, but there was sadness and weariness in his eyes.

"Yes, idiot, happy reunion," Sakura said, with mock sternness in her voice. "Now let me take a look at that stomach wound before you reopen it and undo all of my work."

She kneeled down and began examining Naruto again. She heard Kakashi tell Sasuke that he wanted to talk and both men moved away so that they wouldn't be heard. She stared at the closing wound on Naruto's stomach until it started to waver. She hadn't realized she was crying until Naruto reached up and wiped her cheeks.

"We're ok, Sakura, don't cry," Naruto said.

"You could have died," Sakura said.

"I didn't die," Naruto replied. "I have nine lives, remember?"

Sakura laughed through her tears. "I thought you had nine tails."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, I have those too."

They were quiet for a moment while Sakura regained her composure. She wiped at her eyes and inwardly cursed her weakness.

"I think it's really ok this time, Sakura-chan. We really have him back now."

Naruto sat up and pulled his jacket down over the wound. He wrapped his arms around Sakura and she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. She wrapped her arms around his middle and leaned into the warmth he'd always offered but she'd been too stupid to notice and appreciate.

"Don't die, ok?" she asked, her voice muffled by his chest. He heard her anyway.

"I won't," he replied.

Sakura didn't make him promise this time, because she'd long ago lost the privilege to make Naruto promise her anything.

As soon as they were far enough away from the others, Sasuke felt Kakashi's chakra rise and had enough time to turn around before Kakashi had him pinned to the ground. Kakashi's hands were on Sasuke's shoulders and Kakashi's knees pinned Sasuke's legs below the knee. The elder ninja's Sharingan was uncovered, and Sasuke suppressed the urge to activate his own Sharingan and counter attack. Minutes passed and Kakashi's eyes never left Sasuke's, making the younger man feel as if his soul was being examined, piece by piece and very slowly, like you would examine soil for that single nugget of gold.

After a few more minutes of searching, Kakashi got to his feet and went to recline lazily against a tree. He kept his eyes on Sasuke as the younger man got to his feet and dusted off his clothing.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Sasuke asked.

"No," Kakashi answered.

Sasuke waited for more, but Kakashi remained quiet. Ordinarily, Sasuke didn't mind the quiet, but this time he really wanted to know what Kakashi had been looking for.

"You don't trust me," Sasuke finally said. "Why didn't you back up Shikamaru when he voiced his objections?"

Kakashi lifted a shoulder slightly in what might have been a shrug in anyone else and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You're our problem and our responsibility, Sasuke. We'll deal with you if we have to."

"Naruto and Sakura won't kill me," Sasuke said.

"I will."

The statement sent shivers down Sasuke's spine. He would have expected nothing less from Kakashi, but hearing the older man state it so calmly made Sasuke queasy.

"Do you feel the need to kill me now?"

Again Kakashi didn't answer for a long time.

"Where are your loyalties, Sasuke?" Kakashi finally asked.

Sasuke frowned as a memory suddenly intruded into his consciousness.

It felt like an eternity since he'd been speaking with Naruto and Sasuke was tired and almost as his limit. Orochimaru was stubborn and hard to kill, and had been stalling for time, hoping that Sasuke would get tired and give up, giving him control of the body. Sasuke eventually realized that he could control the playing field of his mind and he decided to only allow physical combat, no techniques. He'd fought Orochimaru with his fists and the weapons he could conjure up, and Sasuke's youth, speed, and determination gave him the advantage. As Orochimaru lay bloodied and dying on the ground, he'd asked one thing.

"Where are your loyalties, Sasuke?"

Up until that moment, Sasuke though he'd known where his loyalties were. He'd wanted to avenge his clan more than anything else in the world, and therefore his loyalties were to them. That had been taken away from him when Orochimaru had killed his brother, but by then he had been trapped and unable to leave Orochimaru. That is until Naruto had come along and taken him back by force. So where were his loyalties now?

"I can still give you power, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru said, sensing Sasuke's hesitation. "There is still enough of me left and I can still teach you every technique that I know so that you can gain power and never be in the position Itachi put you in when you were a child. You can do anything you want to, and we can rule together."

Sasuke stepped close to the snake and knelt beside the writhing form. He felt sick and angry at himself for ever believing that being with this man was the right thing to do. He'd been stupid, selfish, and promised himself that he would never make that mistake again.

"Enjoy death, Orochimaru," Sasuke said, and dealt the final blow

"Where are your loyalties?" Kakashi asked again, snapping Sasuke out of the memory.

"My loyalties are with them," Sasuke said, pointing in the general direction where Sakura and Naruto were, "not with Konoha or the fire country, but them. They have more than earned that, and if I'm allowed to live, I'm more than willing to spend the rest of my life making sure that they know it."

Kakashi stared at him for what felt like hours, before he gave one short nod.

"Good. Make sure that you remember that, or else I will correct the problem." Kakashi said and started walking back towards the rest of the group.

"I'd expect nothing less," Sasuke said. "You're a pain in the ass, but I'm glad you're around," he added as he passed Kakashi. He didn't turn around to see the older ninja's reaction but Sasuke didn't have to. The slight dampening of chakra was all he needed to feel.

Two more chapters to go. Reviews are loved, as always.