Sasuke charged forward, pursuing the trail of blood that had become feeble by now. He was now in the edge of the forest that marked the village's border. He could now sense a sinister chakra far ahead. He silently raced ahead into the forest. If Naruto had gone down without even a fight, the opponent must have been strong. He should be careful. He masked his own chakra.
After a while, he could see a clearing in the midst of the trees. He quietly dropped to a walk, hiding behind the trees. There they were. Naruto was lying on the ground, tied by chakra fed chains. He seemed to be unconscious. The back of a man was visible to him. The man was writing something on the ground around Naruto, with blood. A sealing jutsu? As he watched, the man stopped writing. Blue chakra appeared on the fingers of his right hand. With that, he turned to Naruto and started bending towards him.
"Stop right there!" Sasuke shouted, racing into the clearing and throwing a shuriken to the man's hand. The kunai went straight though his hand, while the blue chakra disappeared. He slowly turned towards Sasuke. His face was covered by a mask, with a hole for one eye. Sasuke stared at the eye. A sharingan?
It wasn't Itachi. Who was this guy? Was this the third one about whom Itachi was talking about on that day? Anger seeped into him, as he tried attacking the man with several shurikens.
"That won't work on me, Sasuke-kun." The man replied calmly, while all the kunais went straight through him.
"Who are you? How do you know me? And what are you doing to Naruto?" Sasuke shouted.
"I am not interested in telling you any of that, not yet. Maybe another time, when you have grown a little and have discovered the full power of your eyes. It would be a waste if I kill you, so it is better if you run now." The masked man told him.
"What makes you think I'm going to run!" Sasuke made several seals with his hands, and an intense fireball engulfed Tobi in its flames. Tobi was still standing there, unscathed, as if he was not there at all.
"You are stubborn. I will have to capture you too if you go on attacking me like that, Sasuke-kun." Tobi extended his hand in front of him and a heavy chain sprang out his palm. Sasuke dodged, appearing behind Tobi in a flash, a kunai aimed at his throat.
Tobi turned slowly, not at all flinching as the kunai went straight through his neck. "Sharingan, eh?" Tobi wondered, looking at the one tomoed sharingan that had appeared in Sasuke's eys. "I should have expected nothing less from Itachi's little brother. But you are still no match for me."
Tobi pointed a finger at Sasuke. A blast of force sent him crashing against a rock. Sasuke fell to the ground, covered in blood.
"Sasuke.."
That was when Sasuke noticed that Naruto's eyes were open, barely. "Naruto! Are you alright?" Sasuke shouted at his teammate.
"I can't move a finger. It hurts.. dammit!" Naruto mumbled. "But thanks for coming, Sasuke." A little smile had lighted up his face. "I never thought you would-"
"Dobe." Sasuke said, with a hint of a smile. "Just hang in there, can you?"
"I'm not that weak, teme. Don't worry about me." Naruto replied.
"Hn.." Sasuke was thinking of a way to defeat this guy. What should I do? Sasuke thought, sweating. This guy is too strong for me. And Naruto is not in a position to fight. Attacks seemed to be useless on this man. If physical attacks did not work, he would have to resort to genjutsu, but he was weak in that. And moreover, he could tell that this guy was far better at it.
The best he could do was stall for time with the weak genjutsu he had. Others will be coming in search of them soon, or so he hoped.
"Hmm... what should I do with you?" The man was saying, studying Sasuke's figure. "I guess I will just have to kill you. Don't take this personally, Sasuke-kun." The next moment, the man was standing in front of Sasuke. Sasuke felt the gloved hands clutching his collars. He strained against them as he was lifted from the ground. The sharingan eye stared into his own eyes.
Now was the chance, Sasuke thought, concentrating on the image of a kunai stuck into the man's sharingan eye.
"What the-" The man gasped, loosening his clutch on Sasuke. Sasuke grabbed the chance to escape his clutch and raced over to Naruto. He reached over and touched the chain binding him. That was when he felt another shock of force, sending him sprawling through the air. He hit the ground with a bone crushing pressure. Sasuke tried to stand up, but the pain was too much. He fell down in a heap.
"Using genjutsu on me with that underdeveloped eye, eh? You are full of surprises.. But it is still too weak. You don't stand a chance of defeating me. I will finish you off now."
The man sent a dozen kunais in Sasuke's direction.
Naruto watched as the kunais flew to the motionless figure of Sasuke. He gritted his teeth in the pain that was binding him. He had to help him, somehow. Suddenly, a figure of a man appeared in front of Sasuke, facing the masked man. The kunais stuck the new figure and stopped.
"Aren't you forgetting something... Tobi?" The figure asked the masked man. The next instant, he disappeared, and a flock of crows flew away from were he was standing. The kunais dropped to the ground.
The masked man, Tobi turned to face the figure who was standing behind him, now.
"So you found out my little plan, eh? Itachi..."
Hehe =D How was that? I wanted to make things a little bit interesting. Reviews? plz... plz.. =)