Woo! Chapter 5 is here!

Thanks to all those who have followed and faved this story! :D

Enjoy! :P

Chapter 5

The present Team 7 was a respectable team; all of its members had a good balance of brains and brawn. They tended to take short term infiltration missions, now that the three younger members had matured a bit which was why, when Naruto didn't find Sasuke waiting for him with dinner made, he wasn't surprised and rummaged through the cupboards to find his cup ramen.

He also wasn't surprised to hear the front door open and close, followed by some shuffling a couple of nights later. Standing up, Naruto stretched and called out to the boy, asking if he wanted him to run him a bath.

He was surprised when he got no reply. Sasuke wasn't the most talkative of people but he wouldn't not reply to a direct question. Shrugging, Naruto made his way towards the hall, perhaps he hadn't heard Sasuke's reply. No sooner than he had rounded the corner, a loud chirping noise filled the room and Naruto narrowly avoided being hit by a chidori enhanced fist in the face.

Mind reeling and right arm hanging limply to his side, he retreated to the kitchen taking note that he was bleeding profusely, which was strange as chidori tended to cauterise any wounds made by it. He looked down to see a slash across his stomach. He had been so shocked by seeing that jutsu that he hadn't been able to defend himself properly and hadn't noticed a gaping wound. More importantly, Naruto knew of only 4 people who could use chidori, three of them were dead and the last, the last one wouldn't have used it to try to kill him, would they?

His assailant entered the room and the world around the Hokage stopped.

"I-it's you… W-why-"

He didn't get the chance to finish what he was going to say before he saw the beginnings of a lightning infused rasengan. He didn't move to defend himself against the attack and was thrown back against the wall.

The blow didn't kill him but the blood he could feel rising in his throat probably would. That didn't matter, all that mattered was the other person in the room, black hair shrouding cold eyes, the figure stood still for a moment before disappearing, Naruto would almost believe he had been imagining that they had come to his house, were it not for the red substance leaking from him.

A tear leaked from one of his eyes as he struggled to breathe.

Sasuke didn't bother telling Naruto that he was leaving and he didn't bother telling him when he was coming back. He knew that the elder man had a habit of staying up later at night while he was away and that was why he was surprised by the lack of greeting when he entered the house and the fact that only the hall lights were on.

He was even more surprised by the blood splattered about the hall; taking a shaky breath, he dipped his fingers into one of the pools and noted that the blood was still somewhat warm, whatever had happened, had happened shortly before he had arrived.

Ignoring the flashing images in his head of familiar-but-not-familiar streets covered in blood, he activated his sharingan and made his way to the kitchen, where the blood trail seemed to lead.

The teenager ignored protocol and groped around for the light and recoiled for a moment- when he saw a young man in ANBU uniform standing over the lifeless bodies of his- at the sight of the old man slumped over, his blood covering a wide area of the kitchen floor.

Sasuke rushed over to the blonde haired man, not caring about getting his clothes dirty and scanned him for any signs of life. The relief he felt when his sharingan picked up the smallest of movements of the Hokage's chest and set about doing what he could with what little first aid he could remember.

Breathing shakily, he cursed his tremoring hands as he made the hand signs to make a clone and with it, pulled the larger body into a position he could work with. It would appear that the assailant had used either fire or lightning element attacks as the majority of wounds had cauterised. Knowing that there was not much he could do about those wounds, he sent his clone to get help and turned his attention to the gaping, bleeding gash just below the mess of charred skin on Naruto's upper torso. It registered in the back of Sasuke's mind that the wound would have been caused by a sharp, long blade, perhaps a sword but he dismissed that thought straight away.

Instead focusing on trying to stop the bleeding, Sasuke ripped his shirt off and pressed it down on the injury. For a moment, Sasuke was satisfied that the flow of blood coming from beneath his hands was slowing but then he noticed that the small movement that had signified Naruto's breathing had stopped, presumably because the man just hadn't had the energy to push against Sasuke's hands in order to breathe.

He quickly pulled away from the man before him but Naruto still didn't breathe. Mind blank, Sasuke slowly raised his hands, soaked in Naruto's blood, before his face. Suddenly, his vision had a new level of clarity, but this now increased amount of visual information was only adding to the turmoil in Sasuke's head.

He had killed Naruto, the blood on his hands might as well have been drawn by him for all the good his 'first aid' had done. The teen was so lost in his thoughts that he barely registered being shoved out of the way- whoever it had been probably thought it had been Sasuke that had killed the Hokage, he couldn't bring himself to protest, after all, he had killed-

"…The closest thing to a best friend I've ever had."

-the closest thing to a best friend he had ever had.

The loss was too great, when his father had all but disowned him, it had not felt this bad, at least he hadn't been alone and he had been able to see his siblings when they had come to his house to 'visit the Hokage'. But this, Naruto was dead, he had been the cause-

-but I wasn't the cause. If he hadn't been injured in the first place, none of this would have happened.

Sasuke started to calm down, he could see the logic in the thoughts emerging in his head.

Besides, the Dobe would never let a random assassin do this to him and look at his wounds…. It was someone he knew, someone he would let close enough to allow him to hit him with chidori and rasengan; someone from the village!

"Sasuke."

Sasuke caught himself staring at his reflection on the kitchen window, his sharingan had taken on a new pattern.

Mangekyou sharingan. With this, I could set the village alight; I could avenge Naruto's death by killing the very people who betrayed him, just like they betrayed Itachi-

Sasuke frowned when a muddled image of his middle aged father and a young face he was sure he had never seen before popped up when he thought of 'Itachi'.

"Sasuke."

I only forgave them for Naruto's sake, the ungrateful bastards. Now they all sit in comfort while my best friend lays in his own cooling blood-

"SASUKE!"

He was brought out of his thoughts by a sharp pain across his jaw, he had been punched, it would seem.

"Deactivate those cursed eyes now, boy, if you don't want to be accused of treason!" a harsh voice before him sounded.

Sasuke felt dizzy once he lowered the chakara flow to his eyes to a trickle. He focused on the face of the man before him and balked slightly at the intensity of his father's dark eyes. He struggled when the man clasped both sides of his face, "Stop acting like a child and focus!"

Sasuke's breathing steadied out and he nodded.

"A shadow clone has been sent to the Rocks' house, one of them should be here soon. Fetch clean sheets, Boy, and be quick about it."

As Sasuke rushed through the kitchen door into the hall, nearly slipping on the blood beneath is feet, the tell-tale pink hair of one of Sakura's grandchildren came running through the front door and brushed past the teenager. Sasuke clambered up the stairs as fast as he could and made it to the linen cupboard. Not caring which sheets he took, he grabbed a couple and made his way back to the fallen Hokage.

"He's breathing, but only just…." The medic sighed, "We need to get him to the hospital as soon as we can, he won't hold up like this much longer."

Green eyes surveyed the two Uchiha before turning back to the Hokage, "One of you two will have to carry him, I need to have both hands to tend to him on the way…"

Before Sasuke had the chance to say anything, Itachi stepped forward and made to scoop up the blonde haired man.

"I think it would be best if young Sasuke were to carry the Hokage, Uchiha-sama. You have not been on duty for many years now and-"

"-Do you think I would let myself get to the state where I would not carry someone below my own body weight?" Itachi snarled at the younger man.

The Rock shifted into a defensive stance between the Hokage and the Uchiha patriarch, a glinting senbon making an appearance in his right hand. He motioned to the charred wound he had just been tending to, and said pointedly, "This wound was caused by Chidori."

"I see. Boy, you shall carry the Hokage, you would do well not to drop him."

Sasuke nodded numbly- there was still a chance, a chance that he could save his best friend! He pushed past the man-his father and knelt down, gingerly picking up his best frie-the Hokage. Making sure that the man in his arms was stable, Sasuke nodded to the medic and started their journey to the hospital.

"But… but… why..? Why me? I NEVER ASKED FOR YOUR HELP!"

"I don't know… My body just moved on its own… Idiot…"

Chapter 5 done! :3

Sasuke is obviously having a bit of a bad time at the moment... that's why the 'other' part of him is acting up as much. :')

It might not have been as obvious, but Itachi is the last living person to know chidori. That is why the medic didn't really want him near Naruto. :')