So...I've been thinking over this for quite some time now...originally, this story was eventually going to lead to Naruto getting pregnant. I don't want to explain how because I've decided on something. This story, Crimson Tears, is going to be a hell of a lot shorter than its predecessor Crimson Eyes is, so here's what I have for you guys:

For those of you who want to read the storyline as it is now, then go to the original Crimson Tears.

For those of you who want to read the storyline where Naruto becomes pregnant, stay here.

Now don't worry, there's still gonna be plenty of SasuNaru in each portion, it just so happens that in this Mpreg edition, Sasuke and Naruto will be slightly more OOC than normal (Naruto because of the hormones, and Sasuke because fuck it, it's my story and I'll do what I want!). The storylines will also be the same up until this point. Each chapter up until this point is the same, as well. Chapter three is where the storylines diverge into their own separate things.

Also, one story may be longer than the other because of the way the plot goes, but I promise it'll still be worth it. The Mpreg edition may take a while for me to a) write the chapters and b) upload them, at least compared to how I'll update this story and my other multi-chapter fics. But bear with me, it just takes time to make a quality product. So again, this story is the NON MPREG EDITION. I repeat, THIS IS THE MPREG EDITION. THIS IS THE SASUNARU FANFICTION "CRIMSON TEARS" WITH MPREG. So yup. Hope ya'all enjoy!

Chapter Three: Quarantine

Three years ago...

Warm wind stirred against the back of Naruto's neck as he sat, cross-legged, on a disc of sand hurtling low over the dunes and hills of the Suna desert. A cocoa-brown robe encased his torso, while a white piece of cloth was wrapped over his head and covered his blonde and red hair, some of which poked out from under the wrap and was plastered to his forehead with the sweat from the pounding heat of the mid-day sun.

Turning his head to the right, the blonde saw Gaara sitting likewise on another sand disc, a long white scarf around his neck as well as a maroon jacket with buckles wrapping around the front, his sleeves ending at his wrists while black pants covered his legs. The former Jinchūriki's eyes were closed, giving the appearance that he was sleeping as they flew. But Naruto knew better. Flying this many people on sand took an enormous amount of focus and chakra control that was, at one point, beyond Naruto's capability.

Glancing to the left, Naruto saw Temari and Kankuro each on their own sand boards; Temari was dressed in a light purple tanktop that was cut off just above her navel while her enormous metal fan was strapped to her back by a strip of leather that hung off of her left shoulder and wrapped around her right hip. A purple skirt that went down to just above her knees left just her kneecaps exposed before her shins were covered with fishnet stockings and shinobi boots that went to her midcalf.

Kankuro was dressed similar to Naruto, in a brown robe that looked innocent enough, if you didn't know that inside of those wraps were hundreds of poison kunai and small puppets that could kill you instantly. He had grown out his hair into a small ponytail that he had tied behind his back, the tips of it reaching the middle of his shoulder-blades while his main puppet was strapped to his back in a similar fashion to Temari's fan.

"Oi, Gaara!" Naruto shouted and returned to looking at his red-headed friend. The only indication that Gaara gave to show he had heard the blonde was a slight nod. "How much farther are we goin'!? We've been flying for six hours!"

"It's been two hours, Naruto," Temari corrected, shouting so she could be heard over the howling wind. Naruto rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to counter the blonde's correction, only to splutter, gag, and cough as a moth flew into his mouth. Hearing Kankuro's baritone laugh, the Jinchūriki spat the bug out and rubbed at his tongue while glaring at his feet. I thought these damn bugs only came out at night, he thought in annoyance.

"It feels like six!" Naruto shouted back to the blonde and finished his spluttering, turning back to Gaara once more. "So, how much farther?" He yelled again, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify the sound. A non-existant eyebrow seemed to twitch above Gaara's left eye, but the redhead didn't move from his position, however Naruto's sand disc began to soften ever so slightly and left the blonde starting to fall to the ground.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto clawed his fingers into the outter part of the disc that was still solid and shook his head as gritty pieces of soil flew into his eyes. "Shit, Gaara! Are you trying to kill me!?" the blonde shrieked, and then loosened his muscles as the disc solidifyed under him once more. Glaring over at his friend, the Jinchūriki could have sworn he saw a smirk on the damn smug jerk's face, but he couldn't be sure, due to the speed they were travelling at.

Sighing, Naruto returned his gaze to the tan and yellow ground below and watched their shadows traveling over the landscape, occasionally spotting a lizard or even the occasional lion or vulture seeming to flash by in a blur of color. At least, it would have been a blur of color, if it weren't for the Kyuubi's chakra...

It almost felt like the sweltering hot temperature of the desert dropped fifty degrees at the the mere thought of the demon fox to Naruto. It was true that the Kyuubi had begun to influence Naruto even when it wasn't in control of his body; for example, his senses were heightened beyond human capacity, and even a trained shinobi would have trouble conditioning their bodies to be able to sense like this.

His eyesight could be compared to, and even said to surpass, that of the Uchiha Clan's Sharnigan, his sense of smell past that of the Inuzuka Clan, his hearing and sense of touch and taste as well. It made him sick to know that he wasn't even fully human anymore...rather, part human, part blood-thirsty man-eating hatred-filled fox.

Naruto seriously doubted that would become a species.

But it has its perks too; if someone planned on ambushing Naruto, he would know well ahead of time and be prepared for them. There was quite the market out there for Jinchūriki's. "Oi, Naruto!" A shout broke Naruto from his musings, his mind snapping back to the present and finding that all four of them were slowly descending downward.

Turning his head in the direction of Kankuro's voice, the blonde blinked as he saw a cave opening come into view just under his own disc, pitch black in contrast to the vast tans and beiges of the desert landscape. "Yeah, 'bout time we landed!" the Jinchūriki yelled back. The cool shadow of the cave soon enveloped his form, and with a sigh Naruto leapt off of his disc when the group was less than nine feet above the ground, dust billowing around his feet once he crouched on the cold stone.

"Show-off," the blonde heard Temari mutter, along with the swish of sand grains fluttering past each other and three pairs of feet touch the ground in succession. Grinning, the Jinchūriki turned to the Wind-style user and stuck his middle finger up at her, the blonde's eyebrow twitching above her eye at the gesture. "You little brat," Temari hissed and stepped forward with her hand on one of the metal bars of her fan, and for a moment Naruto genuinely thought she was going to attack him until Gaara stepped in front of the pair with his back to the blonde.

"Enough," Gaara commanded quietly with a trail of sand leaking from his gourd, wrapping around both Naruto's torso and Temari's, restraining them. "Oi!" Naruto complained and wiggled uncomfortably as the sand tightened. "I didn't do anything!" "You provoked her," Gaara retorted softly, "And she was going to attack you. You would have risen to the challenge, and then this cave would be gone in seconds. Along with the rest of us that don't have a murderous demon inside of us that may roam as it pleases."

Naruto managed to keep himself from flinching at the thinly veiled mention of his lack of control over the Kyuubi, but he couldn't stop the glare that narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at Gaara, who still hadn't turned to face him. "And Temari," Gaara continued as his sand loosened around the pair, "Do not let Naruto get to you. He means no harm in the childish things he does." "Are you defending me or trying to kick me while I'm down," Naruto grumbled and rubbed at his stomach, feeling a very painful bruise forming already.

The comment was ignored, and instead Gaara turned to his brother, who was leaning against one of the cave walls and watching the display with curiosity and amusement. "You and Temari will guard the entrance," the redhead murmured, Kankuro nodding once and signaling for his sister to follow as he went to leave the damp cave. Watching the pair leave, Naruto heard the swish of cloth against stone and looked to see Gaara sitting cross-legged on the stone below his feet.

"Sit," the Kazekage offered. Nodding, Naruto sat cross-legged across from the former Jinchūrki while folding his arms across his lap. For a few minutes, Gaara was silent, eyes closed and breathing even until he finally sighed and opened his sea-green eyes to stare at Naruto. "There was a point in my life, where even resting my eyes could mean the death of everyone around me," the redhead said, his tone flat.

"I am sure it is the same for you now, correct?" Slowly, Naruto nodded. "I...can't force the Kyuubi to behave, nor can I repair your seal. That is beyond my capacity. I can, however, understand. I understand what you are going through. A beast constantly whispering in your head and promising to escape the moment you slip is a...very terrifying thing. I can teach you how to defy it, and how to counter anything it may attempt. But it will require your upmost concentration and desire to succeed. Understood?"

"Yes," Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm your friend Gaara, not some first year student at the Academy that you're trying to scare the shit out of. Tone down the seriousness." Gaara frowned as wind rushed quietly into the cave. "This is serious, Naruto," the Kazekage said sternly. "You of all people understand the damage a Jinchūriki can cause when they are not in control of their Bijuu. This problem needs to end, now, before it becomes something that can only be solved by killing you."

Naruto stiffened at the mention of that. "What do you mean, 'can only be solved by killing you'?" He asked tensely. "Exactly what I said, Naruto. The only way to incapacitate a Bijuu is to kill their host, or them. They will then lie dormant for a period of time before being reborn, and if they are captured before that point then a new Jinchūriki is created for it. I thought Lady Chiyo explained this to you."

"She explained what a Jinchūriki is," Naruto mutter and wrapped his robe tighter around his body, then shook his head. "Look, are we going to train or what." Nodding, Gaara seemed to relax his shoulders. "Close your eyes," the Kazekage demanded, Naruto lifting an eyebrow above his head in confusion. "You're not gonna stab me or something are you," he asked doubtfully. "Focus, Naruto," Gaara snapped and narrowed his eyes dangerously, chakra flaring ever so slightly.

Yelping quietly, Naruto did as instructed and closed his eyes. "Now, focus on your breathing. Keep it even. Slow." "This is meditation, Gaara, not training." "It is training to keep your mind clear and in control. Now shut up and focus."

Sighing, Naruto complied and focused only on his breathing, hearing the wind outside and the small murmurs of Kankuro and Temari, but only distantly as he sat completely still. It was quite relaxing, in all honestly...

Maybe he could just sleep for a few minutes, Gaara wouldn't notice...

A red sea opened before his closed eyes.

Screaming, Naruto's arms flailed as his skin felt as if it were being burnt from the inside out and evil laughter filled his head, pounding like a miner would on stone. Distantly, someone was shouting his name and two others were asking something, but Naruto couldn't even comprehend it all through the haze of pain that was beating him, over, and over, and over...

Something hard connected with the blonde's back, but he couldn't even focus on that dull ache when it was compared to the indescribable torture racking his frame every second, like something was eating him alive and setting him on fire at the same time. Thrashing, something grasped his wrist and he screamed again as the fire in his hand flared, rising up and searing whatever had touched him.

"...Naruto! Open your eyes...! You need to wake up! Wake up!..."

Gasping and feeling tears on his cheeks, Naruto slowly opened his eyes, seeing briefly Gaara's scared face in front of his own before the red substance surrounding his limbs grew in heat and he screamed, he screamed and he closed his eyes and hoped it would all just be a horrific nightmare...

Flailing again, Naruto felt his hand connect with something, then heard the cracking of bone that made his blood run cold despite the heat running in his veins. Opening his eyes again, he saw Gaara now in the other side of the cave, blood trickling from the corner his lips and a pool of crimson forming on the front of the brown robe he wore. "Gaa...ra..." The blonde whispered and tried to step forward, shouting in agony again as the pain rushed his legs and felt like thousands of knives were being stabbed up and down his body.

Hearing Kankuro and Temari rush to Gaara, the blonde curled into a fetal position on the floor and scratched at his face as what he now identified as red chakra burst from his body once more, the temperature in the cave rising to impossible levels and making the pain all the worse.

"Naruto!...Lock it...away...the Kyuubi...controlling...don't let it!"

Screaming and feeling his throat ache, Naruto reached deep inside of himself and found the cage of the demon fox, the doors swung open and the Kyuubi himself pacing around the room and laughing. Groaning, Naruto formed a seal with one hand and whispered one word as an image appeared in his mind, an image of a person dressed in a white shirt and blood red eyes pushing the Kyuubi away...

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke

A whisper on the wind had Sasuke pausing in his run, glancing over his shoulder at the trees in the background. "What's wrong?" Kiba asked from the raven's left. "...I thought I heard someone say my name," the Uchiha said quietly and looked back at the brunette staring at him. "Uh, alright then," Kiba replied and patted Akamaru's flank, telling the white dog to turn around and start running once more. Shaking his head, the Uchiha followed and shifted Naruto's weight in his arms, which had long since grown numb since they had left their camp that morning.

It was roughly half a day's journey from where they had stopped the night before until they reached Konoha, and so far Neji had indicated nothing of how much closer until they reached the village. It annoyed Sasuke, since he was normally the one who kept track of how close or far they were on missions, but he was so focused on Naruto that he most likely wouldn't have done so if someone had asked him to.

"Hey, Neji! How much closer!" Kiba yelled up, seemingly reading Sasuke's mind and asking the question the Uchiha wouldn't have dared ask out loud. "...Half an hour at most," Neji replied quietly, farther up from the two along with Shino at his side. Hinata was bringing up the rear guarding their backs in case they were ambushed by Zetsu. Sasuke heard the Hyuuga heiress sigh in relief quietly, and understood her emotions well. The sooner Naruto got help, the better.

The run didn't take long after that, and soon the wooden gates of Konoha were towering above their heads as they rushed into the village. "Get Naruto to Hokage-sama," Neji ordered Sasuke. "Hinata-sama and I need to find Shikamaru and prepare for the Zetsus." "...I think it's too late for that," Shino observed quietly, and the group skidded to a halt to behold the sight before them.

Entire roads of houses lay in ruins, small groups of shinobi occasionally running up and down the destroyed dirt paths covered in mud and blood. "...Son of a bitch," Kiba whispered quietly as Sasuke's heart fell. "Sasuke, get him to Tsunade-sama, now!" Neji shouted and leapt off with Hinata close behind, the girl looking over her shoulder briefly at Sasuke and nodded slightly before returning to focusing in front of her.

"I'll come with," Kiba said quietly, and Sasuke turned his head to glare at him. "Naruto's my best friend Sasuke," the dog-nin snarled and bared his fangs. "I don't care if you're his, or he's your best friend, or whatever the hell you two are! I'm going to make sure he's okay!" Akamaru growled once as if to affirm Kiba's decision.

Slightly shocked at Kiba's outburst, Sasuke nodded, dumbfounded, and took off straight for the Hokage Tower. As they neared the center of the village, the destruction gradually lessened, but the abandoned feeling was still there as the trio ran past empty shops with doors flung up, objects flung from the shelves inside. As Sasuke ran by Sakura's home, he saw a dinner table in the front window with the silverware still set on the table, ready for use.

Then, entering the Hokage Tower, he ran straight for Tsunade's room and kicked the door in, panting, with Kiba and Akamaru close behind. Looking up, he saw the Hokage sitting at her desk, hands folding in front of her and leaned up against her forehead. Sweat was dripping from her brow and falling down her cheeks like tears, her clothing covered in dirt and drops of blood.

The blonde noticed their presence and looked up, tired hazel eyes first meeting Sasuke's hard onyx and then drifting to the boy in his arms. "You're back," she exclaimed quietly, stepping out of her desk and revealing a long white bandage wrapped around her torso, over her clothing. "What happened here?" Kiba asked as the Sannin approached. "Zetsu attack," she explained quietly while she stopped in front of Sasuke, raising her hand and examining Naruto with her chakra.

"B arrived a day after the first wave. We've barely been fending them off. It seems Obito and Madara have upgraded them a bit..."

The blonde looked up at Sasuke. "I need to get him into a quarantined room in this Tower," Tsunade murmured. "Is that acceptable?" Sasuke nodded once. "Lead the way," he said. The Sannin stepped past him without saying anything and motioned for the Uchiha and Kiba to follow, leading the way down the hall and deep within the Hokage Tower until the warm wooden walls were replaced with hard steel and metal doors, small rectangular windows cut into the front.

Entering a room, Tsunade led them into a space with white walls, and a single medical operating table in the middle of the floor. "Put him here," she ordered and pointed at the surface. Once Sasuke had done so, he stepped back and kept his eyes trained on Naruto's face while Akamaru whined quietly, Kiba hushing and whispering to the dog while Tsunade began to examine Naruto.

And as her hands passed over his stomach, she gasped.

"What is it," Sasuke demanded, fear rushing him as shock became evident on Tsunade's face. "..." Tsunade didn't answer as she continued to hover her hand over Naruto's stomach. "Tsunade, what is it?!" Sasuke shouted and stepped behind the blonde.

"Naruto...Naruto, he's..."

Tsunade paused and seemed to take in a deep breath.

"Naruto's pregnant."