I'm going to be posting two chapters today :D yay! I'm sorry that this chapter is short.

Thank you people for the reviews :) it inspires me

DISCLAIMER: Naruto is not mine. Yeah.

Suigetsu's eyes widened as the stranger pulled down his hood, revealing shoulder-length strands of silver hair with a pair of red dots on his forehead. His green eyes scanned the younger teen over, and he smiled politely.

"We meet again, future swordsman of the hidden mist." Sasuke was confused, looking back and forth between his partner and the stranger. He was obviously Kaguya Kimimaro, Sasuke knew that much. He met him when he had joined Orochimaru for a time, and the two only rarely talked. The former mist-nin was a future vessel for Orochimaru, but he was on his deathbed a few days after Sasuke arrived. Apparently Kabuto had cured Kimimaro of his disease later on, but Orochimaru had all his attention on taking the Uchiha as a body instead.

All Sasuke couldn't understand was how Suigetsu and Kimimaro knew eachother.

"K-Kimimaro...K-Kaguya..?" Suigetsu whispered. He was in complete shock. Didn't he die when his entire clan was slaughtered? Or had he escaped? His head throbbed and he clutched it in pain, huffing.

"Suigetsu!" Sasuke held the panting teen close to him when he was about to tumble over. He didn't know what the connection between the two silver-haired teens was, but if it was enough to make Suigetsu lose his cool it must've been important.

Kimimaro's smile faded away as he stood up. "Suigetsu-kun? Are you that surprised to see me? I didn't know I meant that much to you." he began walking towards them, and Suigetsu grinded his teeth hastily with each step. "What is it, Suigetsu-kun? Why are you acting like this?"

Suigetsu couldn't say the answer. Kimimaro had given him the question of 'what is his purpose in life?' He'd given him the quest the try and find his purpose. He'd been the biggest inspiration besides the death of Mangetsu towards becoming one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. But he couldn't find the strength to tell the other approaching man that their by-chance encounter had revolutionized his life.

As Kimimaro got closer, Sasuke put a hand on the handle of his sheathed sword. "Kimimaro, what is your purpose for being here?" he demanded. The Kaguya raised an eyebrow and stopped walking.

"Inquisitive and demanding as always, Sasuke-kun? Very well, i'll tell you why." he shut his eyes calmly and lowered his head in a bow, letting his hair fall over his face. "I came here to Sunagakure to-." Suddenly, Suigetsu shouted and leaped from Sasuke's grasp to tackle the silver-haired man.

"Oof!" they rolled along the floor, with Suigetsu pinning him to the ground. They were covered in sand and dust, and Suigetsu was breathing heavily. They're eyes were locked. Suigetsu's lavender eyes were almost trembling from anxiety, confusion, hurt, and, to his disappointment, even a bit of love. It was a stark contradiction to Kimimaro's calm and stoic green eyes.

K-Kimimaro..." Suigetsu muttered. "...Why?" Sasuke was looking at the two, puzzled. Suigetsu eased his had into the Kaguya's right had sleeve, grasping a bone sword in his hand. A tear was forming in the younger teen's eye. "What purpose do you have now?"

"Heh." It was all blurry; Kimimaro slashing Suigetsu across the chest, Sasuke rushing over the them with his katana drawn, the the sound of bone and steel clashing, and the pound noise of a body hitting the dirt floor.

"Suigetsu!" Sasuke yelled, seeing his companion in a puddle on blood on the floor. He turned his head to his opponent, Kimimaro, who had a blank look on his face.

"My sole purpose is to serve Orochimaru-sama." he said monotonously. Sasuke scowled and pushed forward, channeling electricity into his hands.

"Chidori Nagashi!" Blue thunderbolts erupted in all directions from his body, with Kimimaro hopped back and attempting to dodge the speeding electricity. He took cover behind some sand gourds filled with fruits and they shattered, sending the fruits flying around in the air.

"Hessendan!" with a jump and twirl in the air, Kimimaro threw a burst of finger bones in the shape of bullets at the Uchiha. Sasuke's chidori current knocked some away, but most of them made it past the lightning and either were deflected by his sword or struck the dirt ground. When the current stopped, so did the finger bullets. Kimimaro landed on the ground and stood up to look the Uchiha in the eye.

"So then," Sasuke began. "you came here for me? To capture me for Orochimaru?" Kimimaro nodded, and Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought so..."

"Ugh..." the Uchiha looked over at Suigetsu, who had a slick cut across his chest which was soaked in blood. Sasuke didn't have any skill in medical ninjutsu, and he doubted any sand ninja would divert attention from the aerial fight between Gaara and Deidara to help.

Kimimaro sprinted over to the Uchiha and slashed at him, but Sasuke parrayed and the two were taking stabs at slices at eachother, the both of them expertly dodging. The crunching of the hard bone as it struck Sasuke's steel katana echoed through the empty streets. Sasuke attempted to sweep kick Kimimaro when their swords clashed once again, but Kimimaro jumped up and landed lightly on the flat end of Sasuke's blade.

The Uchiha's eyed widened as Kimimaro made a flurry of thrusted at him, which Sasuke, using his sharingan, was barely able to dodge. They kept coming and coming without exhaustion, and Sasuke twisted his blade from under the sole of Kimimaro's feet, making him lose balance. Sasuke dropped his katana, allowing Kimimaro to fall softly to the ground with the blade, and made a few quick hand signs before bringing two fingers to his mouth.

"Goukakyou no Jutsu!" a giant fireball burst from Sasuke's mouth at Kimimaro, and engulfed the sound-nin. The disgusting sound of burning emitted from the fireball as Sasuke kept it up, and eventually he stopped breathed in and the fireball disappeared, leaving a pile of flames on top of the ruffled robes of Kimimaro behind.

The Uchiha ran over to Suigetsu and knelt over him. The mist-nin's eyes were barely open as they eased over to look at Sasuke. The raven-hiared boy was looking at him in genuine concern, and held two finger to Suigetsu's neck. His pulse was very slow.

"Suigetsu..." Sasuke was lost for words. While he knew that at first, he only wanted the other teen so that he could find and confront Itachi, he couldn't help the small sting in his heart at seeing his part-...his friend dying in front of him.

The purple eyes of the fallen teen glistened somehow, and he grinned weakly, showing off his shark teeth. "What is it, Sasuke? Do I see you caring about me again?" The Uchiha's mouth fell slightly agap at the comment. He remembered how he had taken Suigetsu to the forest and looked over him as he became conscious again.

Suigetsu chuckled quietly at Sasuke's expression. "You wanna know something, Sasuke?" The Uchiha listened silently. He jumped a bit when Suigetsu took hold of his hand with his own. "Do you wanna know why I say I love you?"

"I say I love you because, ever since my brother died, i've been looking for someone to love. I loved Zabuza-san, but he died. I loved Kisame-senpai, but he's far away from me. I loved Kimimaro too, even though we met only once." A few tears began to fall down Suigetsu's cheeks. "But then I saw you. At first, I loved you for how you looked, I lusted you. But then, as time went on, I started to like you less for how you looked and more for who you are. That's why I say I love you..." Suigetsu's eyes began to shut.

"I love you...because you loved me back." the faint whispered escaped his mouth before he became limp in Sasuke's arms.

:0 Sui-chan!

Sasuke: ...

Suigetsu: x-x