Never Let Go

by Ruinous Crow

Stuck in Konoha, all Edward Elric wants is to get back to Amestris. But when he forms unlikely bonds with Itachi Uchiha and his brother, added to that a crazy kid in orange, will Edward want to leave? HIATUS.

24. XIII

A/n: Sorry for the long wait, but I just wasn't in the mood to write fight scenes. And considering this whole chapter was pretty much fighting, I wanted to wait until I could write a decent one rather than just getting through it. Still am not really satisfied, but I think I've held off this chapter for long enough.

Chapter 13- Burning Brightly

She found Tenten dripping blood and Fugimoto laughing hysterically.

Sakura gasped, her hands going to her mouth in horror as she skidded to a stop. The two kunoichi stood some distance apart, but Fuigmoto looked as impeccable as ever while Tenten… "Oh no, Tenten!"

Both sets of eyes turned towards her, one pair widening with shock while the other shone with unholy glee.

"Oohoo," Fugimoto giggled to the sky, "looks like I'll get one more plaything after all."

Sakura ignored the Iwa nin, rushing up to her newest friend. Tenten looked as if she were about to fall down at any moment, and it was all Sakura's fault. She never should have left the weapons mistress.

Tenten's leg buckled, sending her down to one knee as her inner strength left her. Dismay was plain on her face as she looked up at Sakura. Her left arm hung limply against her side, "Sakura… what are you doing back here?"

"To meet her death, of course," Fugimoto crowed.

"I- I- I… I found that I couldn't leave you, Tenten," Sakura said, hastily wiping a tear from her eyes. Tenten's condition was her fault. All her fault. "M-m-my sensei said that those who break the rules might be trash, but those who abandon their comrades are even worse than trash!"

Tenten let out a sigh, "Your sensei…"

"Well isn't this sweet!" Fugimoto cooed mockingly, putting a hand to her chest, "This really warms my heart!'

Tenten's eyes narrowed, and then she snarled, snapping her head towards the Iwa nin with a furious expression on her face. "Will you shut up!"

A calculating glint entered the older female's gaze, "Is that really the way to talk to the one who has your life in her hands? Although of course, it doesn't look like I'll have to move a finger for your puny life to end."

Fugimoto was right, of course. As soon as Tenten had her outburst, she had burst into a fit of coughs that just wouldn't stop. Sakura fluttered about the girl uselessly, not sure what to do. It was obvious what had happened; she had read so much in books. Tenten had some internal injuries, and she upset them when she got so upset.

"Keep calm, keep calm," Sakura muttered, only just managing to keep the flood of helpless tears at bay. Even her suggestion would be of little help, but she needed to do something. "You must."

Fugimoto hummed in inner amusement, "That's actually quite sound advice, although I have to say, it won't help you in this instance."

"G-go," Tenten choked out, her teeth stained red with blood, "Get away, Sakura."

Her whole body shook. Obviously, she had no chance. Absolutely zero. If Tenten, who was a superior kunoichi in every way, couldn't even land a scratch on Fugimoto, what chance did Sakura have of doing anything?

Still, she had promised herself that she would not abandon her comrades.

"No," she said, surprised that none of the shakiness she was feeling showed in her voice, "I'm not leaving without you."

"Sakura you're—"

For once, Sakura ignored her elder. With a lightning fast motion that even she didn't know she was capable of, Sakura reached into Tenten's pockets, and snatched out the balls she had seen Tenten use earlier. She threw them at the ground as hard as she could, and plumes of grey smoke erupted from them, once again covering the area.

"This again?" Fugimoto's voice rang out through the fog. She sounded bored. "Well, whatever. I'll give you some time, I suppose. You'd better make this chase good, otherwise I might think twice about giving you another chance."

Sakura paid the older nin no heed, though she was inwardly grateful for their chance to leave yet again. Wrapping Tenten's arm around her shoulders, Sakura quickly made for their escape, a surprised Tenten hobbling beside her.

The pink haired girl made a corner whenever she could, because although she knew it had to be hard on Tenten, she also knew that making turns were the best way to confuse an enemy. It was only her photographic memory that was telling them that they weren't going around in circles.

"What was that for?" Tenten muttered as soon as they were far away enough from Fugimoto to speak again. Her voice was still disbelieving, but there was a resigned edge to it that Sakura found reassuring.

"We're getting away together, or not at all." Sakura murmured. She felt as if she were in a dream, doing all the heroic things she would usually only attribute to the older, more experienced ninjas.

"Have you been watching A Ninja's Lover as well?" Tenten murmured in amusement, obviously recognizing the line from the famous scene. And then, she coughed again, and couldn't stop, looking as if she were about to cough away her intestines.

"Don't talk," Sakura said worriedly. It was hard to hold back the tears; even with their odds, Tenten was still trying to make her feel better with jokes and references only girls would recognize. It just showed what sort of person her sempai was.

Tenten just shook her head. "You shouldn't have come back for me."

Sakura bit her lip, "I couldn't leave you to die."

"She's too powerful," Tenten said through clenched fists, "we have no chance. I… I was stupid. I should have…"

She trailed off, a look of half anger, half shame crossing her features.

"Tenten-san, what…?"

"Damn her," Tenten muttered, tears stinging her eyes, "there is one jutsu that I think can defeat her, but she's too fast for me. If only Lee were here…"

Sakura swallowed.

Tenten's eyes widened as she seemed instantly to realize what she had implied, and she hastily shook her head. "No wait Sakura, I didn't mean it like that. It'd be great if Lee were here, because he's even above my level, but even I'm not sure he could stand against Fugimoto."

Sakura could only weakly in reply, "But if Lee-san were here, you wouldn't even be as wounded as you are now."

"Or maybe we'd both be dead," Tenten shot back, "Sakura, you've really impressed me by coming back, despite the fact that we both know your level is nowhere near Fugimoto's. I just wish… I just wish that I could act as the super cool sempai and show off some super cool move that would destroy that devil at the last moment, but I… but I…"

Her finger tightened against her palm until her knuckles were stalk white.

Sakura felt her heart give a thump. Why was Tenten so hard on herself when she had already done so much?

"That's… that's not fair," Sakura said softly. Tenten looked back up at her, confused, but Sakura kept on going. "That's not fair that you're looking down on yourself like that! You're great! You've beaten Sasuke and Naruto at weaponry, and you've held off a chuunin long enough for me to escape. Only I came back. It was always me that messed up, not you! So why are you beating yourself up over this?"

Her voice got progressively louder, even though she didn't notice it at the time. At the end of the rant though, Sakura realized that talking so loudly might not be such a good idea. In fact, it was a downright stupid idea.

"Sorry," the pink haired girl muttered, feeling a spike of worry about whether Fugimoto would hear them or not.

Tenten's eyes had softened, "It's okay. I don't think I deserve all that praise but… thanks. Still, if we keep going like this, we'll both be killed. If you go now, you still have enough time to get away, but if you stay, it'll just become two dead bodies instead of one. I was too arrogant; I underestimated Fugimoto. I thought we could take her if we worked together, but her level is even beyond that…"

Sakura's body shook at the thought of death, but she resisted the urge to run. She had gotten over that obstacle already. She shook her head, thinking back to the numerous missions she had done with Sasuke and Naruto. Even though they had tended to exclude her at those times, making her burn too brightly with jealousy to see what was really going on, now she could see something about them that she never had before. "Teamwork… teamwork can do a lot of amazing things. Didn't you say earlier that you had a jutsu that could even take on Fugimoto?"

Tenten looked down, her body tense. She was obviously still frustrated about that. "Yes, but like I said, it would require her to stay completely still. If it were Lee or Neji, they could probably make the opponent like that, but Sakura, you can't! It's nothing to be ashamed of; what you need to do is escape now and train so that you can be like that in the future!"

Sakura swallowed; again with the talk of escaping. Evidently Tenten didn't think she could handle the situation, and Sakura didn't blame her. Personally, she wasn't so sure she could handle the situation either. "Tenten-san, listen. About that…"

Tenten listened, her eyes growing wider by the second as Sakura outlined her plan, bringing them ever closer to the place where they would set up. After she was done, Tenten took a full minute to stare at the pinkette in sheer amazement, before reality kicked in again.

"No way, that's too impractical. You're counting too much on Fugimoto's arrogance."

Sakura felt a stab of pain in her heart as her plan was rejected; but then again, what had she expected? She nodded meekly, "I… I know, but think back to our conversations with her. Doesn't she seem overly confident? But I understand if you don't want to go through with it; I mean it's risky, and it's really depending on me. I don't even know if I can do it, and if I mess up we'll both die. Ac—actually, maybe it's better if we don't do this after all…"

Tenten's eyes searched her for a long time, before finally softening. "You're not going to leave me, are you?"

Sakura shook her head.

Tenten let out a loud sigh, though for some reason it didn't sound disappointed at all. "Alright then, let's go through with this plan of yours. After all, it's the only thing we've got."

Sakura nodded, determined not to disappoint her sempai. Supporting the other girl, Sakura made for the building she had seen on her way here. They walked silently, each lost in their own thoughts.

To be honest the pink haired girl wasn't sure if she could even do it. She thought she could recall it all, but this wasn't like the Academy tests. As Naruto and Sasuke had shown her so obviously earlier that week, she was far from their level.

A bitter smile crossed her lips. She had learned a lesson that day when 'Dancing Steel Baruna' had defeated them so utterly, and yet she had not applied it. She had a whole week to overcome her weaknesses, and yet all she did was… what? Be depressed, gossip, watch her teammates practice. She certainly did not train as hard as she could have.

They arrived at the warehouse shortly. When they pushed open the doors and let fresh air into the stale building, Sakura was surprised to find that there was actually not a lot inside. The place was nearly bare, with only a few boxes here and there.

A moment later Sakura realized why it was, and couldn't help the stab of indignation go through her. Wave Country had been drained of its resources by Gato, and that was why the once prosperous town now had no wares to fill its storage spaces. Gato was shipping all of it off.

"Sakura?" Tenten breathed, breaking the thirteen year old girl from her thoughts. The elder female's voice was still scratchy, strained from all the walking.

"I'm going to have to let go of you for a while," Sakura apologized, looking back to the older girl.

Tenten semi glared as if offended, and then she grinned and the whole expression fell apart. She shook Sakura's arm off, taking a step back without swaying as her lips curled into a smirk. "Don't worry, I can still stand. Thanks for helping me here, but I can take it from here."

Sakura nibbled her lip worriedly. She saw the faint tremours raking Tenten's body, but she knew she couldn't argue back without offending the girl. Tenten was a true ninja through and through.

She took a deep breath, and nodded. "Alright. Should we get started, then?"

Somehow or another, they finished before Fugimoto found them. Perhaps, as before, Fugimoto wasn't looking particularly hard, but Sakura wasn't going to jinx it by pondering too deeply on it. They had actually been done quite a few minutes before Fugimoto burst in, the sun behind her making her appear as a wraith come to collect her prize.

The warehouse did not look the same as before. Broken plates and tipped over boxes were everywhere, making the ground almost impossible to see. Sakura and Tenten hid behind a few boxes that were still upright, waiting with baited breath for Fugimoto to move.

The chuunin took one look around, and laughed. "Is that the best you can do?"

Sakura felt herself suck in a deep breath despite herself. How? Had they been discovered?

"It's so obvious you're here," Fugimoto sneered, taking a few steps forward and nudging a broken piece of pottery with her toe, "and it's so obvious what you have planned. Did you really think that this would get me?"

As soon as the word 'me' left her lips, Fugimoto kicked the pottery forward at lightning speed. It snagged onto something halfway through the warehouse, and in another instant a dozen kunai flew out from the sides, but they hit nothing but the ground.

Sakura clenched her fists. One trap down.

"It's so obvious what you planned to do," Fugimoto said with a shake of her head, somehow sounding both malicious and extremely disappointed in the same breath. "You have someone wounded, you yourself are not a great fighter, and most importantly, there is broken merchandise everywhere as a result of your failure to clean up after your trails. You rigged the place with traps, didn't you?"

Sakura held her breath. It didn't matter if Fugimoto had figured that part out; as long as she didn't know what particular traps Sakura had, it didn't matter if—

"Oh, and if you think I'm going to go over to those particular boxes you two are hiding behind, you can think again. I know you must have prepared something special for me there. I'll just burn down the place with you two in it; what do you think of that?"

Sakura's eyes widened as Fugimoto easily bypassed the trap that destroyed her without even moving from her spot. And then Fugimoto's words fully hit her.

"No!" Sakura yelled, jumping up from her position and exposing herself. Beside her, Tenten hissed in disapproval, but there was nothing the weapons mistress could do at that moment. Sakura had already revealed where she was. "No, you can't do that!"

"And why not?" Fugimoto asked with a wicked glee in her eyes. "Sure, I would like to torture you two bit by bit, but it looks as if I can't go over there. If you're so insufficient in the other ninja arts, that must mean you have smarts, right? I don't want to chance dying by being overconfident. Besides, watching people burn to death isn't all that bad."

"No!" Sakura screamed, knowing that she couldn't let Tenten have that fate. The weapons mistress didn't deserve it. Screaming for all she was worth, Sakura drew a kunai and leapt towards Fugimoto.

"Sakura!" Tenten yelled out, alarmed. She also sprang up from her position, only to wince and stagger at the sudden movement. Still, that didn't stop her as she tried to move forward. "No, don't, Sakura!"

Sakura ignored her. She wouldn't let it end like this. She couldn't let it end like this. Borrowing a little of the strength of Naruto, she rushed towards Fugimoto, yelling out her fear and hate and not allowing any reason to creep into her mind. Reason would only slow her at this point.

Fugimoto laughed, and bounded forward. The female ninja met her halfway, but Sakura hardly noticed her move. In an instant Sakura felt her wrist being grabbed and twisted behind her back, and before she knew it, Fugimoto had defeated her before she could even start the fight.

Sakura screamed in pain as a cracking noise sounded from her wrist, and it was nothing short of a miracle that her kunai didn't let loose from her grip. A second later her hand was let go, and Sakura just stood there, cradling her wrist with tears in her eyes.

She only had a second's reprieve before she was whirled around to face Fugimoto, who was grinning like a cat.

"Now I've got you," the jounin purred, "honestly I do prefer it being physical like this. Watching people burn to death is all well and fun, but it doesn't quite beat the drawn out screams, wouldn't you say so? I'm so ever glad that you decided to rush out like a good little Konoha nin; now I won't have to deal with your dangerous traps."

Sakura fought down her tears, not wanting to cry in front of this sick female. She screwed her face up in a determined expression, trying to think of how Naruto or Sasuke would act like at a time like this. They certainly wouldn't notice the pain. No, they'd have a witty remark, like…

"You're disgusting," Sakura spat, "it's because of you that kunoichi have a bad name."

The woman's eyes widened, and then they hardened. Sakura hardly even saw the movement, but the next moment she was on the ground, her cheek stinging. She tasted blood on her lips, and she realized that Fugimoto must have slapped her strongly enough to send her to the ground.

"No," Fugimoto said, for the first time sounding something other than utterly insane. "It's because of people like you that kunoichi have a bad name. Honestly, I think I would have a harder time with an Academy student."

Sakura held a hand to her cheek, and turned to look up at the chuunin. And then, she grinned. "Oh really? That's funny, because you've just fallen into my trap."

"What are you—"

Just then, chains sprang up from the ground. Before Fugimoto could even move a muscle they had wrapped around her, stopping all her movements.

Fugimoto had a satisfyingly shocked expression on her face, "This is…"

"A seal," Sakura breathed, sitting up. Her hand was still on her cheek, because the stinging wouldn't stop, but she thought she had the advantage here. "My teammate made it actually, though when I asked to see it I never thought I'd be using it for an operation like this. Tenten here knows how to operate seals, and I happen to have photographic memory. Convenient, isn't it?"

They had first drawn the seal when they arrived inside the warehouse, and then broken the things inside the boxes as camouflage. The broken plates covered the lines for the seal well enough, but they didn't disrupt the seal's function.

Sakura had added other traps in later to further camouflage their real plans, and the rest of the time Tenten had spent teaching Sakura how to activate the complicated trap. They had managed to make it work, somehow.

Seeing as this thing even held against Baruna, Sakura thought it would also work against the chuunin.

However, this was only part one of her plan.

Sakura looked towards Tenten, who had her scrolls spread out already. Her hands were moving through jutsus at a rapid rate, her brow beaded in concentration. She had obviously started as soon as the chains emerged from the ground.

"And then girl?" Fugimoto asked lightly, "What is she doing?"

"A jutsu that will finish you off," Sakura grinned.

Tenten muttered something under her breath, and suddenly spare kunai from her pockets and weapons pouch did the same, forming a semi circle of weapons around her. Light ignited from the steel and wreathed her in a halo of flickering blue flames.

"Sakura," Tenten said tersely, "get out of there."

"Alright," Sakura chirped, and made to move towards Tenten.

Only to find out that she couldn't.

She saw Tenten's eyes widen in horror before she felt it. A taunting pull on her skull, a sharp pain in her head.

Her breath coming in short gasps, Sakura scanned the room for a broken plate, and looked into the reflection. Fugimoto had her hair in her grasp, a cruel smile stretched across her lips. Sakura was still on her knees, not able to move from her spot because of the tight grip Fugimoto had on her. If she tried to fight back, she might inevitably end up freeing the chuunin.

Oh… no.

"Well?" Fugimoto smiled, "Are you going to complete that jutsu?"

Tenten hesitated.

The flaming kunai behind her began to flicker, and Sakura knew that as soon as they were out, Fugimoto would be upon both of them. That jutsu had been their last chance, and they had failed miserably. No, Sakura had failed miserably.

Tenten had played her part perfectly, despite carrying a crippling wound. It was Sakura who got overconfident and had underestimated the severity of the situation; it was Sakura who thought that as long as she had smarts, she didn't need the skills. She should have gotten out of there as soon as possible, instead of gloating to Fugimoto.

One spot of flames disappeared, and with a clack the kunai holding onto the element fell to the ground. The jutsu was nearing its end.

She and Tenten were going to die…

No!

She could not let it end like this!

Sasuke and Naruto, they were always protecting her, while she was only holding them back. It had been like that for the genin exam, had been like that for the fight against Baruna. Well, no longer. Sakura was not going to be the one to drag down Team Seven. She stretched her out her right arm, the one holding the kunai still—

Fugimoto laughed, "What do you think you're doing? I can sense your chakra; you're not nearly powerful enough or flexible enough to do anything with tha-"

—and sliced through her hair.

She didn't wait to see Fugimoto's astonished expression. Sakura instantly rolled out of the way, and Tenten let out a cry of victory. She landed on her elbows and felt heat brush her cheeks, and looked up in time to see a dozen flaming kunai hit the place where she had just been—the place where Fugimoto still was. There was something of an explosion, and Sakura had to cover her face quickly to avoid being blinded by flying shrapnel.

It was only when everything died down that Sakura felt safe enough to lower her hands. Where Fugimoto used to be there was now only billows of smoke, and Sakura was sure that if she looked inside, she'd find the red haired woman's corpse. There was no way she could have survived the attack.

That meant…

That meant that she and Tenten had done it.

They were alive.

Sakura felt a sob escape her throat, though she hadn't even realized she was holding one. They were alive. They were alive! Despite the numerous setbacks and her own stupidity, they had managed to get that one attack on Fugimoto. They had survived an encounter with the crazy Iwa nin and they had made it out okay. Wounded, exhausted, but okay. Could she have asked for a better outcome?

She looked towards Tenten, only to find the girl out cold. But that was expected. After all, Tenten had used up a lot of her chakra for that jutsu, and she had already been wounded. Tenten really was amazing, to pull all that off and with a grave wound to boot. But they had done it. They had done the impossible and—

There was a rumble form within the smoke.

Sakura felt ice flood her veins. No.

But no amount of pleading and denial could change the facts. Fugimoto emerged from the devastation, her clothes torn and her eyes wild. She had survived. Just barely—but survived nevertheless.

They had done nothing after all.

"You. Little. Bitch." Fugimoto snarled, stalking towards Sakura. Sakura could only lie there helplessly, too weak to do anything else. It was all over, all of it. Her final effort had amounted to nothing, and they were going to die. Fugimoto looked as if the goddess of vengeance herself had visited her, and Sakura knew that the Iwa nin was not going to let them go. Somehow, the chuunin had survived, and as the last one standing, it was she who now had the power to dictate the rules. They had not been able to do it after all. Their efforts had been useless. Sakura closed her eyes, not wanting the missing nin to see her tears.

And then, she heard a strange, gurgling sound.

Her eyes snapped open, just in time to see Fugimoto fall to the ground, a kunai sticking out of her throat. What…?

"Ah," a familiar voice sounded in the warehouse, making Sakura sag in relief as she recognized who it was, "I would have thought that she'd put up more of a fight. I wonder…"

She did not hear the sound of footfalls, but in the next instant she was being turned over gently, warm hands pressed against her back. She blinked blearily at the newcomer. It was Kakashi-sensei. He looked a little worse for wear; torn clothing and scratches littered all along his body, but he was smiling. They were safe now.

Or at least, she was.

"Tenten," she gasped out.

"I'll get to it," he promised, "Remember Sakura-chan, we have a first-rate medic on our team. I've already looked at her; Tenten will be fine. So for now, you rest. I don't want a member of my team suffering from too much exhaustion."

The pink haired girl nodded in relief, and finally allowed for her eyes to flicker closed. Darkness was creeping up on her, threatening to take her now that she was not fighting it back. And she did not want to fight it back.

"Oh and Sakura?" The voice was above her now— had Kakashi-sensei stood up? There was a pleased, almost proud note in his voice. "You've done good."

---

Lee was fast. As fast as him and Naruto, he'd imagine. Good. That meant that Lee would not impede him.

Sasuke nodded, about to join in when he noticed something odd about his vision. He was seeing doubles.

The dark haired boy blinked, and blinked again. The odd vision did not go away. Afterimages of Lee and the Grass nin trailed after them, making their movements blurry and hard to make out.

And then, he realized something.

It was not afterimages he was seeing.

In spite of himself, Sasuke gasped. He quickly looked around for a source of reflection, but found none. Inwardly he cursed, but he decided not to dwell on it. It would be pure vanity to do so and leave Lee in danger. Sasuke would have to operate as if what he thought was true.

His Sharingan had advanced.

His heart raced. He had heard about the Sharingan's second stage from many elder Uchiha. Whether they were hoping to get in the good books of his father by helping out the heir to the head of the clan, or whether they truly did not want him to be blindsided when it happened, Sasuke didn't know. He was never more grateful for the favouritism though.

He was not seeing afterimages; he was seeing the movements of the two before they even decided on what they would do. The Sharingan was processing the muscle contractions of his fellow ninja at an unheard of rate and converting that into images of their future states.

To have gotten such ability right during a battle with a jounin was amazing luck.

Sasuke grinned.

The dark haired boy took a minute to access the situation. Lee and the Grass nin had already started a taijutsu battle, but it was obvious by the movements and the amused gleam in the Grass nin's eyes that he was just playing with them. Well, Sasuke would have to change that.

He took a breath, and folded his hands together in a familiar pattern. The movement was so regular to him that it was almost homely, Sasuke couldn't help but think as he gathered as much air into his lungs as he could and then blew.

A large plume of fire erupted from Sasuke's mouth, directed towards where the Grass nin would be in a few seconds' time.

Even in the midst of battle, Sasuke couldn't help but dwell on the implications of what he had just did and what that meant.

There was no turning back any longer. The Grass nin would not save Naruto and the rest after this. Sasuke had just sealed their fate.

The Grass nin's eyes widened as suddenly, a huge fireball appeared in front of him, engulfing his form.

"Yosh!" Lee exclaimed, landing beside Sasuke with a big thumbs up, "That was a most youthful entrance."

Sasuke's eyes didn't leave the area that his jutsu had struck. While it looked to be a direct hit, he did remember that this was a jounin that they were dealing with, and jounins did not go down so easily.

The smoke cleared, and the ninja was nowhere in sight.

Sasuke tensed, and his head jerked up, picking up a movement along the brambles a few meters above the area of impact. Sure enough, the Grass nin was there, standing atop a tree branch with hooded eyes.

"Well truthfully, I could have used that moment to leave," the Grass nin said, something of a cross between anger and amusement in his voice, "but it looks like you guys really want to be tested, huh?"

Sasuke clenched his fists. Lee had been right. This guy was the enemy.

It didn't matter what the Grass nin had offered at first, because now it was obvious that push come to shove the Grass nin had his own interests at the forefront. Even if Naruto were saved by the missing nin, the blond would never forgive Sasuke for letting such a ninja preserve his life.

Sasuke's hands worked. He wasn't one to continue with small talk after a fight was started. "Fire Release: Phoenix Sage!"

Twelve balls of fire dotted around him, and then without warning, went flying towards the enemy nin. They were controlled by his chakra, and with his newly evolved Sharingan, he could direct them to the perfect places.

A confident grin spread across Sasuke's face. There was no way that even a jounin could evade all of them, not with Sasuke's bloodline limit helping him.

The jounin dodged this way and that, but Sasuke's directions to his flames were always one step ahead. In a way after all, Sasuke was able to see the future. He was going to win!

And then, suddenly, the images of the jounin increased to a level that Sasuke had never seen before. Sasuke's eyes widened as his fireballs hit the ground uselessly, extinguishing themselves and completely missing their target.

It took him a moment to realize what had happened. The jounin had just exponentially increased his speed, and Sasuke's control over his chakra could not keep up with that.

The Grass nin didn't give Sasuke much time to think about it. Suddenly the man appeared before him, aiming a kick at his mid section. Sasuke tried to dodge, but his body wouldn't respond in time, and before he knew it he was flying backwards, slamming against a tree.

Sasuke groaned as he slid down the bark, landing on his knees. Even though he had seen the attack coming, there had been nothing he could do about it. He had just found one of the down sides to the Sharingan.

A moment later Lee slammed into the tree next to him, also sliding to the ground. Unlike Sasuke however, the older boy landed on his feet, his eyes still trained on the Grass nin.

"Hm, not bad," the Grass nin said languidly, standing lazily twenty meters across from them. He had his hands in his pockets, and an infuriating smug tone in his voice, "You actually forced me to use some of my real power."

Sasuke snarled, getting ready to charge again when suddenly, his companion's voice interrupted him.

"You are my comrade, yes?" Lee asked, his posture halfway in a crouch and an unusually serious expression on his face.

"What kind of question is that?" Sasuke growled in reply. Couldn't Lee see that did not have time for friendship speeches at the moment? "Yes."

Suddenly, a bright grin spread across the older Konoha nin's face. "Good."

And then, Lee loosened something around his wrist and ankles, and little steel weights came crashing down to the ground.

Yes, crashing down.

Sasuke's eyes grew as wide as saucers as the little things made craters at Lee's feet. His mouth dropped open despite himself, "What…?"

Lee didn't answer. The green clad boy shot off towards the jounin, at a speed that Sasuke hadn't known was possible for someone that wasn't at his Aniki's level. The Grass nin seemed surprised too, if Sasuke read the slight widening of his eyes correctly.

Still, a ninja had to always be prepared for surprises, and the jounin reacted accordingly to Lee's sudden increase in speed. Moving at what would have looked like blurs to Sasuke's normal eyes, the Grass nin leapt off his perch, barely avoiding Lee's kick which snapped the large branch in half. Lee immediately kicked off the tree trunk, shooting off to where the Grass nin had jumped, and the tree groaned in his wake.

By this point Sasuke had finally gotten past his shock at his fellow ninja's speed. After all, ninjas were supposed to expect the unexpected, and the fact that the crazy fourteen year old wearing green tights seemed to be a match for a jounin was not nearly as insane as some of the stunts that Naruto had pulled before.

Of course, it was still a bitter pill to swallow, the fact that someone was still better than Sasuke even with his Sharingan as it was. Nevertheless, he knew when to be appreciative of hidden powers, especially when it was on his side.

Sasuke took a breath, bringing up his hands and getting ready to fire off another jutsu again. By now he had gotten used to the speed that the other two moved at, and he thought he could calculate the perfect place to place his attacks so that it would hit the enemy ninja.

The dark haired boy muttered a few words under his breath, and a bolt of lightning raced towards where the Grass nin was soon to be.

Lee cried out in surprise as the jutsu moved past him, but Sasuke knew that the green clad boy would not be anything but slightly shocked. His movements didn't allow for anything else.

Although Sasuke didn't like to admit it, he had to say that the Sharingan's full potential was brought out when battling in a team. It allowed for the perfect ambushes, as it could read the positions of both the enemy and his teammate at the time that any attack would hit.

Sasuke grinned as his bolt struck true, hitting the Grass nin dead center and making him fly backwards with the force of the strike. The Grass nin hit a tree with a sickening crack before sliding back to the floor again, his body burnt from the lightning.

The dark haired boy nearly cooed in victory, especially when Lee shot him an impressed look, but it looked like the missing nin wasn't done yet.

The Grass nin staggered to his feet, hissing as he held an arm to his side. He had a light smile on his face, but it was tinged with sadness, "You two… if I don't get serious, I might actually get killed." Here, he nodded towards Lee, "It was nice having a pure taijutsu match with you. If neither of us dies here today, we must do it again some time. As it is, I'm afraid my client's wish comes first."

And with that, he moved.

Sasuke's eyes widened, wondering how in the world the other man could move after a hit like that. The scion of the Uchiha had timed it perfectly, and getting hit by a C-class jutsu dead on was no joking matter.

Lee tensed, getting ready for another hand to hand confrontation no doubt, but they weren't what the Grass nin was aiming for. He moved away, out of range, leaving Lee and Sasuke confused for a split second before their eyes widened, realizing what he was about to do.

The Grass nin landed on a tree branch in the distance, his arms spread out before him, "Fire Release: Firestorm!"

Red and orange lighted the skies, flames roaring their triumph as they were released to feast their way through the woods. The air cackled, the sounds of branches snapping and leaves sizzling drowning out the movements of the other ninja. Heat licked the faces of everyone present, and whatever animals that had remained ran from their shelters, their little voices reduced to screeches of pure fright.

Sasuke held back the rage that was bubbling up within him, and swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. The use of that particular jutsu was not only tactically advantageous, but Sasuke knew from the personality of the Grass nin that it had a metaphorical meaning as well.

Sasuke had used three C-class jutsus against the man so far, two of which had been based on fire. The Grass nin had just used an A-class one. It was an obvious slight towards Konoha, and a reminder to Sasuke that there was always someone better than him. The careless destruction to the forest that the flames would cause was also a message: if you play with fire, you'll get burned.

Smoke arose from the surrounding areas, covering the landscape in a thick cloud of grey. The Grass nin could have used this opportunity to escape and Konoha would have been none the wiser, but Sasuke no longer wanted the man to.

Sasuke semi-closed his eyes, reaching out his sense, and trying to make out the shapes of Lee's and the Grass nin's chakra. It took him only the barest of moments, and then he felt a signature flicker to life. It was small, like that of a civilian's, and he might not have felt it if not for the fact that they were isolated out here in the woods.

The dark haired boy frowned, wondering how such a signature could possibly exist, especially when it was moving at such quick speeds.

And then, he felt the other signature. That one was definitely the level of a ninja's. It was also moving at incredibly high speeds, circling the other civilian one. If it wasn't obvious before, there was no doubt now that the two were the Grass nin and Lee, still fighting despite the smoke.

However, the civilian signature seemed to be only reacting to the normal one, meaning that the one with the normal signature knew where the other was. Sasuke gritted his teeth, running towards the general area, his mind racing at the implications.

The Grass nin had said that he was some sort of sensor, which meant that even with the smoke he would be able to tell where Sasuke and Lee were. Then, the fire wasn't just a taunt, but a great strategy too. Unfortunately, he didn't know that Sasuke could do the sensing thing too.

However, if the normal signature acted like it knew where the civilian one was, then that meant that the normal one was the Grass nin, and Lee for some reason felt like he had no chakra. Was it a bloodline limit? Sasuke had no idea what was going on, and that was bad, because it was especially this type of information that could turn the tide in a battle.

Just then, he felt the normal signature shift directions, sudden moving towards… Sasuke.

The dark haired boy's eyes widened, and he made to quickly change the direction of his charge, but he was much too late. He felt something hard slam into his gut, sending him flying backwards. Sasuke's back hit a tree, dispelling the smoke around him for a moment with the force of the impact. His back screamed in pain as the dark haired boy slid to the ground, groaning softly.

He didn't have time to nurse his wounds however, because suddenly a slew of kunai came flying towards him, forcing Sasuke to roll to the right to avoid them. One still sliced through the skin of his upper arm, leaving a small trail of blood in its wake.

Sasuke's eyes widened as his Sharingan caught the Grass nin coming straight towards him out of the smoke, its arms cocked back in a punch. Calculating where the hit would land, Sasuke moved to avoid it, but even then his body was too slow.

The missing nin only managed to skim Sasuke's hip, but the force of the hit was still enough to make Sasuke cry out. The dark haired boy went spinning to the ground, and the Grass nin was on top of him in an instant, before Sasuke could force his body to react.

And just then, a green clad figure came bursting out of the smoke, leg extended in a powerful kick. The Grass nin's eyes widened, and he jumped off of Sasuke, managing to dodge at the last second.

Lee had come to the rescue, occupying the Grass nin once again in hand-to-hand combat. Again, they were even, allowing Sasuke the precious time to push himself back up. He glared at the jounin, ready to help Lee again when the Grass nin suddenly grinned, escaping the last of Lee's attacks and leaping back into the smoke.

"That was most unyouthful!" The green clad boy cried, rushing back into the fray, his form once again disappearing.

Sasuke frowned, and made to go after them, when with a start, he realized that he no longer knew where the Grass nin was.

Sasuke felt his fists clench as he realized that he had unwittingly let go of his concentration in seeking out chakra signatures when the first hit hand landed. Sasuke took a breath, and once again felt around for the familiar warm auras of chakra.

He found the Grass nin and Lee soon enough. Lee was faltering, his earlier advantage in the taijutsu fight lost as he obviously struggled to figure out where the Grass nin was amidst the smoke. It was the worst type of situation to fight in. The smoke obscured vision, the crackling fire drowned out the faint sounds of rustling cloth, and the putrid smell of fire made all other sense ineffectual.

Sasuke put his hands together in the formation of seals that was not familiar to his fingers, but all too familiar to his eyes. He twisted towards the direction of the chakra signatures, and drew in a deep breath, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A huge current of air gushed out from his mouth, and while it was not nearly as big as the ones that Naruto could make, Sasuke thought it to be sufficient. The flames that were dying out suddenly flickered with a new life, fed by the complementary jutsu. That wasn't what mattered, however.

Smoke dispersed as Sasuke's jutsu blew through it, leaving the radius up to Lee's fight completely clear. The green clad nin's eyes only widened slightly in delight before a huge grin spread across his face, and when the genin had a momentary break, he sent a quick thumbs up in Sasuke's direction.

The Grass nin was equally as surprised, sparing a Look at Sasuke before Lee demanded his full attention again. Sasuke only smiled grimly. Now that he could see, his Sharingan was working at full capacity again, and now he could finally be as of help in this high speed fight.

Once again, Sasuke leapt towards the interlocked nins, expect this time he was confident that he was not going to get hit.

Unfortunately, the Grass nin seemed to also know when he was at a disadvantage, because he suddenly made a noise and pulled away from Lee, jumping back into the smoke covered areas. Lee leapt after him.

"Wait, Lee!" The dark haired boy called out, but he was too late already.

Sasuke let out a low growl as he paused, half closing his eyes as he tried to find both people's signatures again. Didn't Lee see it was pure foolishness to go back into the smoke where there was an obvious disadvantage to them? Or did Lee expect him to perform a wind jutsu again?

The Uchiha heir let out a soft sigh. He'd already done four jutsus today, and while he was up for a bit more, he could feel the energy draining from him, especially with his newly transformed Sharingan active. He was tired, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep on going for. His taijutsu was completely outmatched so he couldn't even resort to that to conserve stamina, and Sasuke was worried about what would happen if they didn't conclude this battle soon.

And just then, Lee was thrown out of the covered area, tendrils of darkened smoke trailing after his body as he was flew roughly back into Sasuke's clearing. Just before he touched the ground in what would have been a painful landing however, Lee seemed to wake up, twisting his body and touching the grass with his palms, flipping himself back to his feet, "Ha!"

Gai's student got into a ready position, no doubt aiming to jump back into the fray.

"Lee," Sasuke called out, not wanting to waste another opportunity. The green clad boy thankfully paused, and Sasuke quickened to his side, lowering his voice so that the Grass nin wouldn't hear, "Don't go back into the smoke. Wait for him to come out."

Lee's lips thinned, and for a moment Sasuke was afraid that the other boy wouldn't obey out of pride. Sasuke certainly knew that if he were in the older genin's shoes, he'd never listen to someone younger than him when it was clear that he was stronger.

And then, Lee just nodded, seeming to trust Sasuke's judgment as he gave a large wink, "Yosh! I shall apply what you have learned from your espionage!"

Sasuke felt his eyelid twitch, but decided to accept it nonetheless. The only reason he was letting go of the green clad boy's behaviour was because Gai's student was so strong. If everyone was a little strange when they were strong, Sasuke could accept this.

And just then, Sasuke felt a buildup of chakra from the direction Lee had just been thrown out of, and he realized his mistake.

"Jump back!" Sasuke cried out, just as a plume of fire came rushing towards them. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke leapt backwards, hoping that it'd buy him some time as he hastened through his seals, "Earth Release: Rising Wall!"

He slammed his hands onto the ground, erecting an earthy pillar just in time to block the flames. Fire rushed past the two of them on either sides of his shield, scorching the shrubbery which had not already been destroyed by the earlier fire.

Sasuke had made a terrible, terrible mistake. While he had been right about the fact that he and Lee would fight better in a place that was not disrupted by smoke, he had somehow forgotten that their enemy was not only limited to taijutsu as Lee seemed to be. Along with the Grass nin's speed, he also possessed the ability to perform high level jutsu, and Sasuke had just stupidly given him enough time to carry one out.

The thirteen year old felt sweat dot his forehead as the fire raged on, and his earth shield threatened to collapse. And yet, he held on, until finally, the flames died and with a gasp of relief, Sasuke finally allowed his shield to crumple.

"So you're a sensor too," came the Grass nin's disembodied voice from the direction of his chakra, but that chakra too, was in constant motion, not allowing Sasuke to get an accurate lock on it. "Unfortunately, you're still a few years too early to try and match me."

Sasuke gritted his teeth, hating the judgment that was brought down upon him. He shakily got to his feet, but his breath was short and his strength felt cut. Performing two C-class jutsus that were not his affinity had taken a lot out of him. The first had not been too bad, but he had poured a lot of his chakra into the earth jutsu in able to combat the Grass nin's fire attack. Despite the adrenaline thrumming through his veins, he felt drained. As much as he would have liked to put the Grass nin in his place, he just wasn't sure if he was capable of it at the moment.

"Lee," Sasuke said, his voice low as his eyes flickered to where he sensed the chakra, ready to use another jutsu to defend at a moment's notice. "Go after him."

The green clad boy had gotten his feet too, although Sasuke hadn't seen when. However, Lee wasn't leaving. His voice unusually serious, he followed Sasuke's eye movements, as if trying to keep up with the Grass nin as well. "Can you make that big wind again, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke felt a faint frown trace across his lips. He didn't know if Lee was under the impression that he was made of infinite chakra, because he was not, but if Lee was thinking of a one-hit KO, then Sasuke might be able to oblige him. "Only once."

Lee nodded in reply, "Once is enough."

And then Lee leapt towards the place where Sasuke had been following the Grass nin, not caring for whatever jutsus the Grass nin might have up his sleeve as he once again disappeared into the smoke. Sasuke silently swore at the lack of warning, but all his training with Naruto hadn't been for naught, and Sasuke immediately followed up Lee's actions with his seals, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

The torrent of air cleared the smoke just in time for Sasuke to see Lee cry out, driven back by a wind jutsu. Fortunately, it seemed to be a low class one, and Lee immediately got to his feet, ready to fight again.

The Grass nin only shook his head in disappointment, making for the smoke covered areas again, but Lee had learned from last time, and did not let him. With a war cry, the green clad boy dashed towards the Grass nin, somehow moving even faster than before. Sasuke felt his eyes widen in surprise, and saw the Grass nin's eyes do the same. Lee didn't give them anymore time for a reaction however, because he was suddenly on the Grass nin, kicking him up high into the sky and wrapping his bandages around him like it was some sort of twisted game of making mummy.

And then, Lee dropped him. Or, more accurately, threw him to the ground again. They landed with a crash, sending up a haze of sand.

When the sand cleared slightly, all Sasuke could make out was one lone dark figure standing where the two had landed. He tensed. As much as he would have liked to think it was Lee, they were going against a jounin, and there was a very good chance that it wasn't.

And then, Lee emerged from the sand, wiping his nose with a grin, "That was the Extreme Lotus. Gai-sensei taught it to me. Wasn't it so coo—"

And then, from his right, a great gust of wind came, making Lee cry out with surprise and sending him flying through the air. Sasuke's eye widened, and he quickly followed the jutsu to its source, dread already pooling in his belly because really, there could only be one explanation for the attack.

"I heard what you said back there," the Grass nin said, "and it was obvious that Mr. Taijutsu Expert here was preparing for a finishing move. Normally I wouldn't have worried, but you guys aren't normal genins, are you?"

Lee had hit a tree, but unlike before, he had not spun and flipped himself up to null the damage and get ready for battle again. Instead, he was doing nothing but kneel there, his head bowed and his teeth gritted.

"Hm, I purposefully sent out a wide-range jutsu because I was certain that you would dodge. But… you didn't avoid it?" And then, the Grass nin's eyes sharpened, "Or was it, that you couldn't avoid it?"

Lee gritted his teeth, only able to clutch his arm and glare at the Grass nin in response.

Sasuke's eyes widened. While Aniki had never taught them any forbidden techniques, he'd certainly read about them, and their horrifying consequences.

"Then, it's time to finish this."

Spinning red eyes widened. He saw the handseals that the Grass nin was going through before the jounin even completed them. He saw where the Grass nin was aiming. He saw Lee struggling to get up with a groan, and with the Grass nin's implications all too clear, he knew Lee would not be able to get away in time.

Sasuke started running, even while knowing that his body would seem as if it were in slow motion compared to the other two. Nevertheless, it was faster than him trying to go through a jutsu.

The Grass nin unleashed a torrent of wind at Gai's student, and Lee's eyes barely had time to widen as he felt the air around him shift. The green clad boy looked up, his mouth dropping open at the deadly wind blades, knowing that he couldn't avoid them in his condition.

And then, Sasuke appeared in front of him, arms spread wide to protect the other boy from the worst of it. The winds ripped into Sasuke's flesh, tearing whatever they could find and ripping his body into an almost unrecognizable mess. Finally, the onslaught ended, and Sasuke fell forwards, landing on his knees as he took deep breaths.

It was hard to breath, Sasuke noted, and every breath hurt. A sudden wave of dizziness hit him and Sasuke nearly fell forwards, almost unable to support his own weight in any sense. He felt his Sharingan bleed away, no longer able to hold its form due to the intense energy depletion Sasuke was suffering from.

"Sasuke, you—you—" Lee started, his voice shocked and shaking. He didn't sound anything like the confident genin from before, who had dared to ask Sasuke if he were Lee's comrade, as if that were the only thing stopping Gai's student from winning.

Dimly Sasuke was aware that he was bleeding. Bleeding from a lot of places. His blood washed across his body and dripped to the ground, colouring him red and mixing with the earth to make a muddy cauldron. He felt like breaking out into laughter, but he knew that would just unnerve his green clad partner.

"Wh—why?" Lee gasped out, tears forming in his eyes.

Sasuke closed his eyes. As much as he hated to admit this, it was only the truth. His Sharingan had seen it better than anyone. "You're the one that stands a chance against him, not I. Lee… you'd better not waste this."

And then, Sasuke collapsed.

Lee sat there for a moment, unmoving, and then, he stood, fire burning brightly in his eyes. "Yosh! I won't let you down, Sasuke. Second Gate: Open!"

Sasuke twitched as he felt an unbelievable amount of chakra build up within Lee.

Just… just what was this? Was this the reason that he could feel no chakra from the taijutsu expert earlier? Was it because Lee had been hiding away all his chakra for this moment?

"Third Gate: Open!"

The Grass nin's voice suddenly resonated through the woods, disbelief colouring his voice. For the first time, there was a hint of panic in his voice, "No way, there's no way that you could…"

"Forth Gate… Open!"

Sasuke groaned, and forced his head upwards, despite the indescribable amount of pain that it put him through. He felt an obligation to see this battle through and not just past out in the middle of it all.

And then, Lee shot off towards the Grass nin. Or at least, Sasuke assumed that he shot off.

One moment, the green clad ninja was right there, still behind Sasuke, and the next, he was gone.

From the widening of the Grass nin's eyes, the jounin felt the same. The Grass nin moved to the left, dodging just in time to avoid a powerful crash that sent a tree buckling. All that could really be seen was a poof of white from the impact of what was obviously a hit, and then the tree went crashing down.

If Sasuke were anyone else, his mouth might have dropped open. As it was, all he did was give a pained smirk. He had known that he'd chosen right to conserve Lee.

The Grass nin narrowed his eyes, his right hand positioning itself in an 'open' seal. And then, quite suddenly, he reached out, grabbing onto what seemed like thin air, except that it was really a leg, and the grab stopped Lee's motion for a moment and finally allowing Sasuke to see the figure of his partner.

Lee immediately followed up with another kick with his other leg, forcing the Grass nin to let go as he jumped back to avoid the powerful impact. The two blurred again, and disappeared from sight, only the sounds of their limbs clashing against each other reaching Sasuke.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, and rolled to his back. He knew that he'd be of no use in this fight, so the least he could do was make sure he didn't die. Ignoring the flares of pain in his arms and the cry of his body for him to simply sleep and rest, Sasuke reached into his inner pockets, bringing out a thin slip of paper that Naruto had crafted for him.

Unlike the rest of his clothing, it wasn't covered with blood. Naruto had written a seal on it that would make it repellant to anything, and Sasuke was never gladder for it than now. Bringing the paper to his face, he bit his lip and forced himself to place his thumb on the big black seal situated in the middle of the paper. And then, he sent his chakra towards it, biting back a scream of pain as his body protested about the move.

The paper let out a thin glow, and then, rolls upon rolls of bandages appeared from the seal, nearly smothering Sasuke in the process. Sasuke gritted his teeth, and forced himself up, surfacing from the mess.

Liquid fire seemed to burn through his legs as Sasuke scooted to the nearby tree with his bandages and leaned against it, the contact of the grass brushing against open wounds sending flares of tickling pain through his body. He took a few second to take a few heavy breaths, hoping to abate the spots in his vision before it threatened to darken.

When he felt as ready as he could be, Sasuke got to work.

Aniki had taught them the basics to first aid long ago, and that was what Sasuke set about doing. It was hard tying up the bandages tightly, but Sasuke was not someone who would back down at pain. He knew that he had to endure a little discomfort if he didn't want to die from blood loss, which as Naruto would put it, would be a lame way to go.

Honestly Sasuke would have preferred not to get out the seal that Aniki and Naruto had given him, because it would be a pain to make another one, and he'd planned on saving it for something that was not a C-class mission. Still, he couldn't very well use his shirt, which now resembled a wet towel more than anything from all the blood that it had absorbed.

When he was just about done, he heard something that made his head snap up, and then instantly regret it as another wave of dizziness almost made him topple over.

There was a sudden whoosh of air, as turbulent as a rampaging tornado. And then, five trees went down, a hole shooting through them all before the figure was finally stopped by a sixth tree, the momentum from the throw having finally been dispersed. The figure slid to the ground, landing in a crouch, and it took a moment for Sasuke to realize that it was Lee.

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise. His fellow Konoha nin hardly looked human anymore. There were veins bulging dangerously from the parts of his body that were not covered, and his skin was glowing a deep russet red, as if his body was lit with some sort of demonic inner fire. The look on his face was fierce, and there was something there that told Sasuke that Lee had forgotten about him all together.

Lee let out a primeval scream, standing again and roaring to the heavens. He had obviously not accepted the Grass nin's hit on him, and he was going to show the missing nin that Gai's students were not to be taken lightly, "Fifth Gate: Open!"

And then, he was gone.

The Grass nin barely had time to react before he went flying into the air, a his features just morphing into one of surprise and then, dawning horror. When he reached the climax, suddenly Lee appeared before him, and then, the two disappeared.

A moment later the ground directly beneath the Grass nin exploded in a shower of rocks and gravel, creating a small crater where the ninja had to have landed. If the smoke had been bad before, it was still nowhere near the dust storm Lee had created with his move.

There were no sounds as the dust slowly moved to settle, no movements from within the crater. Sasuke felt his heart give a beat. Why had Lee not emerged yet?

The dark haired boy gritted his teeth, and forced himself to his feet. He staggered over to the crater, trying his best to ignore the stabs of pain his barely bandaged legs were giving him.

Lee had better not have used some forbidden move that took away his life. Lee had better just have been so caught up in his triumph that he simply decided to take a nap. Lee had Better. Still. Be. Alive.

He stopped at the crater's edge, taking deep breaths to steady himself as he looked within the ruins. Lee was there, lying belly first against the carcass of the ground, his skin having turned back to its regular colour and his clothing torn from his heavy fighting. He almost looked as if he were sleeping, his head was turned to the side so that he could still breathe. That is, if he were breathing.

The Grass nin was there too, barely a few feet away from Lee, but Sasuke hardly cared whether he was breathing or not. The point was, he wasn't getting back up.

Sasuke took a step forward, wanting to make sure of Lee's condition, when suddenly he felt his strength leave him. His legs collapsed beneath him, no longer able to support his weight as the last remnants of his non-existent strength bade him goodbye.

Sasuke gasped, squeezing his eyes shut as he toppled forwards, already anticipating the painful collision with the bottom of the crater. And then, a pair of warm arms wrapped around his middle, pulling him back up.

He winced a little as his wounds sent stinging needles through his body at the casual contact, but whoever held him knew what they were doing, and didn't aggravate the wounds more than necessary.

"You've… really gone overboard," an all too familiar voice whispered in his ears. The voice was meant to be joking but coming out as rather choked instead.

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, a startled gasp escaping his lips. No, it couldn't be. Slowly, he turned around, his eyes almost tearing up at the sight of shocking blond hair and the pair of warm golden eyes. Aniki.

The dark haired boy felt himself relax. If it was Aniki, then everything would be alright.

Aniki took a step backward, helping Sasuke steady himself as the blond glanced around, obviously assessing the situation.

Sasuke finally allowed himself to sit down, not minding showing weakness in front of Aniki. The dark haired boy followed Aniki's gaze, knowing what needed to do, but still missing the warmth of his arms nonetheless.

Aniki finally let out a deep breath, putting his hands together in unfamiliar seals, and closing his eyes. Mist suddenly appeared from nowhere, and a light drizzle started in the section of forest, dampening the small pockets of fire still present. Sasuke shivered at the noticeable decrease in heat, finally realizing that in the midst of all the fighting, they had forgotten to attend to one simple problem.

And then, Aniki opened his eyes, his golden orbs weary. Sasuke felt his chest tighten again. Now that he thought about it, Aniki had never required a handseal to create mist, so the reason he had done it now, and so slowly that even Sasuke could follow it, could only be because he had no other choice.

Aniki was running low on chakra, and that was why he was making all these preparations.

Despite Aniki already being tired, he was still the one making sure that others were not suffering. Once again, Aniki was sacrificing himself for others.

The dark haired boy turned his head away, snorting. He really did mean to sound sarcastic, but found that like Aniki, his own voice was rather shaky as well, "I've gone overboard? Like you're much better."

Indeed, Aniki looked worse than Sasuke had ever seen him. His braid had come loose, and was slapped back in a haphazard ponytail that was smeared with blood. Now that Aniki had stepped back, Sasuke could see that he was favouring his left leg, and there was a huge burn on his left exposed arm. There were numerous scratches all along Aniki's body, face included, although surprisingly his clothes were still intact. Well, expect for the missing sleeve of course.

"Are you trying to be cool or something?" Sasuke asked, feeling his throat lump, "Because repairing your clothes with Alchemy won't make us think that you got away from your battle unscathed."

It was so like Aniki, to try and hide all possible injuries from them to prevent them from worrying about him. Sasuke felt a wave of bitterness rise up within him. Didn't Aniki realize that it was only hurting them more, making them worry more?

Even Aniki… even Aniki had been hurt so much.

Aniki let out a laugh, ruffling Sasuke's hair fondly which would have annoyed Sasuke at any other time, but only made him relieved now.

"You always were the difficult one," Aniki said with a shake of his head, before sliding down the crater and landing beside Lee.

"He's not… he's not dead, is he?" Sasuke asked hesitantly.

Aniki shook his head, and then took a kneeling position, his eyebrows furrowing, "No, he's not dead. But he's... in critical condition."

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief as Aniki started muttering to himself about the medical impossibilities that were facing him. As long as Lee wasn't dead, then Aniki could heal him.

And then, Aniki glanced at the figure that was beside Lee, "That one, was he your opponent?"

Sasuke nodded.

There was a dark look in Aniki's eyes, although Sasuke didn't know what for. He turned back to Lee, his voice so soft it almost sounded as if he were saying it to himself more than anyone else, although that made no sense because he had to be informing Sasuke, "He's dead."

Sasuke expected to feel elation at those words. After all, it proved that they could really defeat a jounin if they put their minds to it. But, he felt nothing but a stirring of unease. Looking at the figure of the Grass nin again, Sasuke could hardly believe that the man was no longer alive. Really, he looked as if he were sleeping.

"Aniki," Sasuke began hesitantly, "are you sure—"

And then, quite suddenly, Aniki's head snapped up, the look in his eyes making Sasuke's words die in his throat. He had never seen Aniki look so serious, so horrified.

It only took a moment for Sasuke to understand why. Even he, with his minimal abilities in chakra sensing, had started to feel the oozing black miasma of that evil aura. It made him shiver, it made him want to puke, and it filled him with a wide-eyed horror that he hadn't experienced since that night. Just… just what was this?

Slowly, ever so slowly, Aniki's head turned towards the direction of the docks, his breath a whisper on the winds, "No, Naruto."

---

A/n: Right… so in case anyone's confused (because I admit, I screwed up the timing a little) these three fights happened simultaneously as the Naruto/Neji one. I just didn't want to have it all in one massive chapter, but yes, the ending of the fights coincide with Neji's fall. Because... I just realized that there was no way that Edward could feel the Kyuubi's chakra and just continue with his fight, and leaving Kakashi by himself to deal with Kakazu is just too mean.