I'm going to stop apologizing since it's not getting us anywhere. The reason, as i just found out, that i haven't been updating this story, is because one, I'm more focused on my YGO story. That, and... i really hate saying this, is because I don't have any inspiration to keep this updated. I find more than half of y'all favoriting this story, but not all of y'all reviewing. To those who do, Thank you. So much. Y'all are really the only ones keeping this story going. I usually don't say i want reviews, that's just bad and showing i am dumb. I don't like authors repeatedly asking for reviews. And I'm not asking for them. I just... Gah, i don't know what I'm asking for. Just ignore me. . But, to Kaigirl16, thank you. If you hadn't sent me that pm, i don't think i would have updated. So, thank you!
Well, enough with my boring stuff, on to the chapter! XD

I do not own Naruto, just my own characters! And also, I do not own a song that I put in here. Holes in the Floor of Heaven by Steve Wariner.

'Thinking'
'
Kyuubi talking'
"Talking"
/Naruto Talking to Kyuubi/

Chapter Seven: The Teme and the Dobe

Two years have passed since that day where Sana got her own last name and a new brother. Her life changed for the better. She now had not only a brother, but three other family members. The day Naruto announced her as his sister, the sand siblings welcomed her to their family with opened arms. She now had a home, a brother and a family who loves her as she loves them.

In those two years that passed, Sana's training went sky rocketing. If she had stayed and lived in the village and took part in being a ninja for them, she would be considered a Jounin for her fast learning, skills and strength. To be exact about how much she improved, if you put her in a sparring match between Temari or Kankuro, she would kick their butts hands down. If they were together and against Sana, that would be a little close, but Sana would still be able to win. If you put her in a match against Gaara or Naruto, she would have a lot of trouble. She was still training on that, but, hadn't been able to beat them. Yet.

During her training, Naruto found out something interesting. Something he had never heard of. Kyuubi, being a powerful demon and has lived many lives, once had heard of one human having such elements. It was so powerful, but so rare, it was almost three hundred years in between the last human who had the 'power', as some ninja likes to call it. Kyuubi was shocked to have seen it, that's why at first, the nine-tails didn't like the girl. Now, Sana's element, is not only one, like how most people start out as, she has two. Hers are Solar and Moon elements. During the day, she can only use the Solar chakra and during the night, she can only use the Moon. Naruto found this a bit challenging, but, he also found it interesting. Gaara found this interesting as well and would sometimes have a sparring match with her. He liked to test out this chakra and see all what she could do. Besides Naruto, (Duh Kyuubi) and the Sand siblings, no one else knew about the rare elements. Well, unless you want to count the many dead ninja bandits she and Naruto had killed because they were terrorizing villages and doing wrong to others, than yeah.

About a month or two after Naruto had made Sana his sister, the girl started to ask a lot of questions. She started to get curious and wanted to know a lot about the blond. Not only ask about the blond, but about Kyuubi. In which, Naruto would have to summon a chibi fox out so she could answer the questions. (Naruto didn't really want to relay the answers back, knowing that fox would make him say something embarrassing). Sana would ask all kinds of questions from the simple things, like did she have any kits, to battle strategy and what would happen to the fox if she and Naruto separated for real. That question was a bit hard to answer.

"Both of us would die," Naruto had answered her in a emotionless voice. When Sana had looked up to her brother, she noticed how stone hard his face was, revealing no emotions. She knew it was not a subject to get on, so she had quickly changed it.

Since the fox and girl had been talking a lot, they began to have formed a bond of their own. Sana would look to the fox for help and advice if she wasn't in the sand to ask Temari or if it was a question Naruto had no idea how to answer. And that wasn't all the bond had done or what it was about. Since Sana had become close to the fox, besides Naruto, that was the only other human to have ever done that, Kyuubi was able to do something no one thought was possible. Naruto didn't even think the fox could do it, and that's saying something. The nine-tailed fox stored some of her chakra inside Sana so when time goes bad, like during a battle, and Sana got hurt, Kyuubi's chakra would start to heal her wounds. Kyuubi took a liking to the little girl. Besides their bond, their liking grew to a loving bond.

For the last two years, besides being a part of a family, Sana and Naruto had been traveling from place to place. They were always restless when they were in the Sand so they went out for a few months then came back for about a few weeks, then right back out. When they were out, they trained a lot. But, that wasn't the only thing. The would go to villages and see if they needed help with anything. To earn money, really. Some people had small jobs like 'can you do this for me?' and stuff like that. The ones that the two siblings were famous for, through out the countries, was getting rid of bandits and bad people. They always caught them and would either kill them (if they were really really bad) or put them in jail. That was how they earned the big bucks. But, Naruto didn't like them paying that much. Whatever they offered, he halved it. It was a good price, even if the people said that was a rip off for him. The blond just wanted to be fair. (That's also why he was famous.)

While out, Naruto also, as I said before, went around and met new friends and reunited with old. He never saw any of the Leaf Shinobi, but he didn't care. Sana got to meet the people and got to learn more about her brother from the stories they would tell her. Stuff from how the blond was like back when he was her age. The place they visited a lot was the Land of the Waves. Sana liked the family there, Tazuna the grandfather, Inari the son, and Tsunami the momma. They all took a liking to the girl, one of the reasons why they visited a lot.

As of now, the thirteen year old girl and a man of twenty-four, were walking down a dirt road, enjoying the suns' rays that hit the back of their necks. The trees along the sides of the road were too far apart to cast any shade. No one else were on the worn road except for them, even though it was around noon-ish.

Sana looked up at her sensi/brother and asked in a normal, carefree voice, "Naruto, where are we going today?" She still wore the same style of clothing and didn't look much different except for looking a bit older and grew a inch or two. Her hands were hanging at her sides and she was walking with a small bounce of impatience. A typical teenager.

The blond looked down at his student before crossing his arms behind his head. "Hm... that, is a good question. I was thinking about going -," He was interrupted when something warm and wet fell on his cheek. He freed one of his hands and lifted it to his cheek. His hand touched the water and then he brought his hand in from of him to just see that it was water.

At the same time, both of the siblings looked up towards the blue sky just as more rain drops came pouring down. They splashed down all around them and on them. The sky slowly started to turn a dark blue, showing that a storm was going to be on it's way really soon.

"I didn't know it was going to rain." Naruto thought aloud. "The sky didn't even have one rain cloud in it."

The rain started coming down harder and some nearby birds that were looking for food on the ground, squawked and flew off. Some squirrels and other small animals ran for cover in some bushes or trees. Soon enough, everything and everyone was soaked, and the rain was only on for a few minutes.

Sana, despite being soaked, continued to look up at the sky. The sun was now hiding itself behind the dark, scary clouds that looked frightening.

"C'mon, lets go find some shelter and hide out from this storm. I can't tell how bad it's going to get." Naruto muttered, tapping the girl on the shoulder. Sana tore her eyes from the sky and nodded.

They soon took to shelter in a small cave not far from the road. The cave went a few yards backs and was big enough to hold only a few people. It was empty with a small pile of bones that looked to small to be human. They looked to be some kind of animal bones that was from someones lunch or dinner a long time ago. In the cave, they made a small fire to help warm and dry themselves. Now, Naruto was leaning near the caves entrance, looking around the forest with his mind lost in thought, while Sana sat hear the fire, sharpening her favorite knife. The knife, was a foot and a half long with a silver blade with specks of sand melted in with it. It was stronger than any metal since it was forged out of kunai metal and sand that Gaara helped make with his chakra filled sand. It was just as strong as a normal kunai, and it would take a long to break the weapon.

Anyways she was sharpening her one of a kind weapon, in long even strokes. The crackling of the fire and the sharpening were the only sounds in the cave, along with the sounds of the rain. After a good while of silence, Sana finally broke it. "Naruto, why does it rain?"

The blond blinked his eyes and looked over to his adopted sister. He thought about the answer for a moment and smiled as he said, "Well, a long time ago, back when I was about your age, maybe younger, a lot younger, I asked one of my teachers the same question." His words lead him to his favorite sensi, Iruka who was like a older brother to him. "He told me it was because there are holes in the floor of heaven."

One day shy of eight years old
Grandma passed away
I was broken hearted little boy
Blowing out that birthday cake

"Holes in heaven?" She stopped sharpening her nice and looked curiously up to her brother. She lowered her weapon and watched him turn to look at her as let his back leaned against the wall of the cave.

"Yup. Right now, Sana, you have some people up there in heaven." As if it were a question, the girl nodded her head to confirm his facts. "Well, your mom and two brothers are watching you. You know that because their tears are coming down from those holes."

How I cried when the sky let go
With a cold and lonesome rain
Momma smiled, said, "Don't be sad child
Grandma's watchin' you today"

Sana's eyes seemed to widen. "Why are they crying?"

"They miss you and wish they could be here with you now." He answered, softly smiling now.

'Cause there's holes in the floor of Heaven
and her tears are pourin' down
That's how you know she's watchin'
Wishin' she could be here now

That got the eleven year old gazing out of the entrance of the cave. She seemed to be starring at something no one but her could see.

The rain continued to fall and the sky was still dark. There were no lightening or thunder sounding, which was weird. It looked like it was around late afternoon almost early evening instead of the afternoon. That's how dark the sky had turned.

And sometimes if you're lonely
Just remember she can see
There's holes in the floor of Heaven
And she's watchin' over you and me

"Naruto," Sana softly said, watching as the man turned to look back at her than the forest. She stood up, leaving her weapon on the sandy floor and stood there looking nervous. "Is it alright if I... play in the um... rain?" She asked, fidgeting and her fingers twirled in the seams of her shirt. She looked down at her feet like she was getting into trouble. She waited for his reply.

Seasons come and seasons go
Nothin' stays the same
I grew up, fell in love
Met a girl who took my name

"I don't see why not." Naruto said.

The girl looked up and nodded her head. "Thank you!" And she ran out of the cave and into the rain.

Year by year we made a life
In this sleepy little town
I thought we'd grow old together
Lord I sure do miss her now

Naruto soon lost sight of her from the underbrush. Then he frowned.

'What is it kit?'Kyuubi's voice echoed around in his head.

"I'm curious," Was all he said before walking out into the rain and trialing after his sister.

But there's holes in the floor of Heaven
And her tears are pourin' down
That's how I know she's watchin'
Wishin' she could be here now

It didn't take long to find her. And when he did, he hid his chakra signature and hid behind a tree, not wanting to be spotted or to interrupt whatever Sana was doing. He crouched low and was glad that there was a bush next to the tree.

The girl was standing in a small little, grassy clearing. The rain was falling through since the trees couldn't shelter it. Sana's face was tilted up towards the sky and she stared at it.

And sometimes when I'm lonely
I remember she can see
There's holes in the floor of Heaven
And she's watchin' over you and me

'What's she doing?'Kyuubi asked, watching with curiosity. Her vessel shrugged as he also watched her with interest.

They continued to watch in a wet silence.

Well my little girl is 23
I walk her down the aisle
It's a shame her mom can't be here now
To see her lovely smile

After a few minutes of doing nothing, the blond then noticed something different. Sana began to cry. It was a bit difficult to tell, with the rain still falling, but he could still tell.

They throw the rice, I catch her eye
As the rain starts comin' down
She takes my hand says, "Daddy don't be sad
'Cause I know Momma's watchin' now"

Tears silently slid down her face and mixed in with the rain drops. Her eyes were closed for a while, but then she opened them and began to speak in a soft, hoarse voice, "Mom," She said. Naruto raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "I miss you too, mom. After you passed... away, he was so horrible to me! I hated him so much. But, you've been with me all this time. Always by my side, trying to comfort me, even though I didn't know." She smiled as more tears spilled over her eye lids. "Thank you. I would never have been scared if I knew you were there. The day before I was freed, it was raining. I think you were trying to tell me something that I now understand. I think you were trying to tell me that I was going to be freed. That I was going to get a new brother." She paused for a minute before a giggle erupted from her chest. "I miss you so much!"

And there's holes in the floor of Heaven
And her tears are pourin' down
That's how you know she's watchin'
Wishin' she could be here now

'Why is she crying?' Kyuubi asked, slightly confused. Never once, has she ever seen this sight.

And sometimes when I'm lonely
I remember she can see
yes, there's holes in the floor of Heaven
And she's watchin' over you and me

"Because, she doesn't want her mom to see her cry about being sad." Naruto explained in a soft, sad voice before he stood up and turned around. He calmly started to walk back towards the cave. He cast his eyes downward as he felt his own, hot tears slide down his already wet cheeks and mix in with the rain.

Watchin' over you and me
Watchin' over you and me
Watchin' over you and me

XxxxX

About an hour later and the rain finally let up. Everything was soaked outside and the sky lightened up to how it normally looked after it rained. A nice gray color. The air was heavily scented of the moist forest, giving it a nice smell of wet oak and pine mingled together. The small of rain also hung in the air. Naruto never mentioned anything to Sana about watching her or anything else. When she had come back twenty minutes after she had left, she sat back at the fire and continued to sharpen her knife. They then had started to talk about where they were going to be headed when the rain had let up.

After packing up all of her belongings and extinguishing the fire, she grabbed her back and stood besides her brother and looked out out the cave and once again into the forest.

"We're going to the Land of Flowers for a while. I helped a few people a year or three ago and we became good friends." Naruto answered. They exited the cave and then started on their way towards their next destination.

Sana nodded, glad that it wasn't raining anymore and that she could stretch he legs after the hour of sitting down. "What did you do for them?"

"Well, I helped them rescue their kid." Sana looked at him with curious green orbs, wanting more. He lightly chuckled. "Well, I was really just passing by the village, you know, I was just traveling around. Well, as I was walking by, I found this little boy stuck far up this tree and couldn't get down. His leg was caught in between the branches. After I got him down and asked what he was doing up there, I found out that his leg was sprained. He was running from a wolf and tripped over a log. Then he had climbed a tree as high as he could to get away from that beast.

"Well, I gave him a lift back to his home and there I was greeted by his family who were worried. They offered me a place to stay and a meal. i stayed there for about three days and got to know them. And I haven't seen the since, so I thought it would be nice to see them again." He finished his small story. "Is that cool with you?"

The girl nodded. "Since it's the land of flowers, does it smell nice there?"

"Yup. Though, the smell clung to me for a few days after I left. I kept getting compliments for all these girls when I went to different villages." He rolled his eyes and laughed.

Before he could say anything else. Kyuubi interrupted him with a mental slap of the face. 'Hey kit, I thought you were going back home.'

/Why would we go home?/ He asked, sending a glare back.

'...' The demon bared its' teeth and lightly growled. 'Gee, let me think, a certain someones birthday is coming up?'

The blonds eyes widen. /Shit! I forgot!/ He took a millisecond to look at the teenager beside him before looking ahead of him again. He frowned and then quickly wiped his face of those emotions just in case Sana decided to look at him.

'That's why I reminded you,' The fox sighed, then asked herself why she was stuck inside this particular human.

"Uh, actually," Naruto stopped walking, causing Sana to stop also and gaze at him. "We need to go back home."

"Why?"

The blond then smiled. "Well, Gaara wanted us to be back for a certain celebration."

"Celebration? What kind?"She asked, her eyes growing excited.

"Uh... I'm not sure. Just something really special." he didn't technically lie to her, he just wasn't telling her all the truth. Sana nodded, wondering what kind of celebration would be going on to have them both have to go home. The two then changed direction and started to head towards the Sand.

Luckily for them, they were only a few days trip from their destination. So, they decided to walk most of the way, saving their energy and chakra just in case someone wanted to attack them. Which wouldn't be the first time. While they walked, Naruto would have his student practice some of her jutsu's and taijutsu. Some of her jutsu's were like all of the other jutsu that you would recognize, but just with different names and looks. Like take the Fireball jutsu. Sana would be slightly different. The shape of it would be more as a oval with orange/yellow fire. But instead of it staying it's shape, it would stay round, but with a few lava looking liquid leaking out. (Bad description, sorry). She had different names for it, but lets not get into that yet. But since the sun was not out right now, neither was the moon, she couldn't rely on her chakra to help preform her jutsu. The only things should could do, was do the simple-est things like shadow clone jutsu. Other than that, she would do the hand signs ans call the names even though nothing would work.

"You're getting really good at your speed for your hand signs." Naruto praised her as she just got done with one of her harder jutsu signs.

The teen beamed. "Well, I should be. You make me practice everyday."

The blond smiled. "Just getting you prepared if we were ever under attack, again. You've only been training for two years. Most people -,"

"- would die with only that much experience." Sana finished in a mocking sort of way. She rolled her eyes, already have heard this speech many times over. "But that isn't a problem for me," When Naruto frowned and raised an eye brow, she continued, "I have you for a teacher who is always preparing me for anything."

'She's been paying attention. And, she's right; you nearly exhaust her with the constant training.' The fox purred.

"I only want you to be able to survive if a Akatsuki member or Orochimaru attacked us." He mumbled, talking to the both of them. He wouldn't say it, but he was really worried about her if they did get attacked by the certain people, so he trained her hard. He didn't know what Sana would be like against a full grown shinobi. That, and since they were always traveling, it was too also keep her mind busy.

Sana was quiet for a moment, watching a blue firefly fly by. "Naruto, why do the Akatsuki want to capture you?" A little distance, another dragonfly appeared, it being red. "You keep talking about them coming after you, even the other dude, Orochimaru. I don't understand." Before the blond could speak, the two fireflies met each other but they didn't do anything to each other except pass one another.

"I figured you were going to as that soon." He sighed before stuffing his hands into his pants pockets. He tilted his head back just a bit as he thought of a good way to explain it. "Well, in a way, you could really blame Kyuubi. She's the reason why they're after me." He then smirked.

'MY FAULT?' Naruto winced but kept his smirk as the fox shrieked.

"How's it her fault? She didn't do anything!" Sana was quick to depend. She furrowed her eye brows and put her hands on her hips.

'Yeah, I didn't do anything!' The fox growled.

Naruto held his hands up in a surrender stance. "Okay, fine fine. She didn't exactly do anything. Just, being alive does it all."

She relaxed her stance but kept her eyebrows furrowed. "Being alive?"

"Yup. Because I have the nine-tailed fox in me, I'm one of the most powerful humans alive. If I was in the Akatsuki's grasp, then they would become invincible. They'll also separate me and Kyuubi." He explained when he got a confused look.

"So what about the other dude?" She asked.

"Orochimaru? Well, you remember when I told you he took other people's body so he could be 'immortal', right?"

She nodded. "He wanted your friend's Sasuke, but before he could take it, Sasuke escaped... or left. Something like that."

"Something among those likes." Naruto agreed. "Well, since Orochimaru lost someone powerful, he needed someone to replace him. Someone with the same power or even more powerful."

"You?"

"Yup, though it's rather disturbing to think about." A chill went up his spine just thinking about his body being taken over from that snake. "So, I'm always on the move, training. If I stay in one place for to long, then they'll have a easier way to track me down and capture me. And since your traveling with me, and my sister," he ruffled her hair, "I need to have you trained in case we see them."

Sana nodded and tried to flatted and smooth her hair down. They continued to walk. The sun was finally coming out of the clouds and settled high in the still gray open space. There was surprisingly no humidity and in its place was a nice breeze blowing.

After a while of silence, Sana grabbed her sensi's arm and clung to him like a little five year old.

Naruto glanced down at her to meet her forest green eyes starring up at him. "What's up?"

"Tell me more about your old village." She pleaded.

He scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "You really like hearing about my past, huh?" He sighed when his sister nodded her head in enthusiasm. "Alright,but where did I leave off last time?"

Sana thought for a minute before replying, "You explained how you trained for three years after you and Sasuke had that fight at the Valley of the End. Then stuff happened and you were going to explain how you really brought Sasuke back."

Naruto thought for a minute and remembered. Then he started with his story.

"Well, this happened a year before I left the village, so about a good five years ago. I somehow gathered some information about the where abouts of Sasuke and went to Grandma-Tsunade so give me permission to go after him. Of course, she refused. So, I kept bothering her about it and wouldn't stop. You know, now that I think about it, I was very persist back then."

'You still are.' Both Kyuubi and Sana thought at the same time.

"After about the millionth time of asking her, she agreed. But, I had to gather a squad. I didn't want one and told her traveling more than one person would look like I was going to force him to come back. She didn't really like my disagreeing with her, but she agreed. Only one one condition. After that day, I had to stop going after him. That took all of my strength to tell her deal.

"It took a few days to find him, even though I had Kyuubi helping me. Without her, I wouldn't have been able to locate him."

'Yeah, so don't you be saying that I'm to blame about shit.' She growled, still upset about his earlier comment.

Naruto rolled his eyes and continued, "I found him traveling alone, later he told me he was on some mission for Orochimaru. I snuck up on him and gave him a surprise attack. We were both surprised. Sasuke that I snuck up on him without him knowing, and me sneaking up on him without him knowing. He always knows. Well, during the surprise attack, I had the advantage. We fought for maybe ten minutes before I knocked him out , giving him a nasty arm wound." Subconsciously, the blond rubbed his chest. Sana noticed, but didn't say anything.

"When we woke up, he was surprised. He thought I was going to drag him back to the village and force him to stay."

"But you didn't." Sana asked, surprised.

He shook his head. "Nah, as much as I wanted to, I didn't. When he woke up, he found me sitting next to the fire."

Flashback:

Naruto was sitting next to a small fire, staring into the flames. His legs were drawn up to his chest ad his arms were wrapped around them. He rested his chin on his arms. In a way, he looked sad. He didn't talk as his raven hair friend woke up.

Sasuke didn't say anything either. He just sat up and looked around the tiny clearing. It was a bit small to make camp, but that would be around three or four people. For just the two of them, it was perfect. He then turned his dark eyes on his blond 'friend' and being as quietly and stealthy, his right hand moved till it came in contact with the hilt of his sword. In anyone's eyes, they wouldn't have noticed nothing.

"I'm not going to fight you," Naruto mumbled loud enough to be heard. He didn't look up or even move for that matter.

Even with those words, the Uchiha didn't relax his grip. "What do you want?" He asked in a chilling voice that would frozen anyone stiff. He glared at the other and waited for his response.

Naruto finally looked up and met the others eyes. His blue colored eyes looked sad but it didn't betray his voice, which sounded normal, just soft, "I just want to talk."

Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes and looked away. His eyes scanned the surrounding area to make sure no one was going to attack them. That, and to make sure they were the only two around. "Right. You're just going to try and talk me in going back to that village. You are so naive, Naruto; it won't work. I am never going back there. I left on a mission. I already told you that."

"I know, but that's not what I came here to talk about."

That caught the young Uchiha off guard as a flicker of surprise crossed his face. But, as quickly as it came, it left and he was back to scowling. He looked back to the familiar blond. "Then what do you want to talk about?" He sneered.

Naruto shrugged before he looked away and stared off into the night sky. From where he was seated, he couldn't see the stars as well. "Don't really know, to be honest. I guess, I just wanted things to be normal again... even if it were only for a couple of minutes."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, dobe, but things will never go back to normal. Not until I kill my brother. Even after, I doubt anything that you are thinking, will come true." He ruined the quiet moment, but Naruto didn't seem to mind.

He ignored his last comment, and questioned, "Is that the only reason why you're staying with Orochimaru? You may be getting stronger, but if you stay there any longer, then you'll never get the chance to kill your brother."

"What do you know?" Sasuke spat. "You don't know anything about this! You don't know what it's like to know that your brother is out there committing a horrible crime! You don't understand why I need to be with Orochimaru to get stronger. You don't even know what it's like to have a brother!" He growled at the last words, ignoring the hurt look the blond gave him. "You don't know anything." His dark eyes turned red with anger.

Naruto's usually happy and bright blue eyes faulted and shown with loneliness and the hurt. "I know. I never knew what it was like to have a family. So what would I know how that would feel?But, you want to know something, Sasuke? I do know what it's like to have a brother. And I know what it's like to lose one too, and it hurts. Back when we were fighting three years ago, I told you you were my best friend. You still are. I won't lose sight of that, even if you call me a fool. I still see you as my brother."

Before Sasuke could yell some snide insult back, a twig snapped. Both shinobi's heads perked right up, alarmed. There conversation they had just seconds ago, seemed more like hours ago as they got to their feet.

"Shit," Naruto whispered. Both men got into a fighting position; Sasuke with his sword out, and Naruto with his kunai. They both started in different directions, having no idea where the enemy or who ever it was was.

'It's a ambush,' Kyuubi warned. Her senses were on full alert as she kicked herself for not being able to sense the people approaching first. 'Two men are going to be coming down on you, so be careful. They have many weapons. And there's at least forty surrounding.'

Just as he nodded his head, his kunai's were above his head and deflected a few other kunai. And the battle began.

He deflected a few more kunai hurled from above before pushing off the ground in one big leap. He surprised two men covered from head to toe in black clothing and gave them both a good punch in their stomachs. As they started to fall towards the earth, Naruto kneed the man on his right in the stomach and punched the other man in the nose, hearing a crunch on impact.

'Ooh, that broke,' He smirked. He watched as the two unconscious forms hit the ground in a awkward away and didn't move after that. The blond then perched himself on a tree branch, getting ready for his next move.

Sasuke had engaged in battle when the clearing erupted with men. At least twenty could be seen, but with the Uchiha's eyes, and sense, he knew there was another twenty surrounding them, waiting. He didn't think about that for long as three men came on him. In one simple movement of his wrist, his sword slashed the men in the stomach and left them falling to the ground dead.

A few more men came on to him, each of them having some kind of weapon in hand. The first man, having a sword, tried to swipe at his face, but Sasuke quickly dodged and killed the man by stabbing him in the heart. The other two, each supporting some form of hammer, tried to attack him on both sides, thinking they had the upper hand. But, little did they know who they were dealing with. Sasuke waiting for the last moment before leaping out of the way as both enemy men had swung where the Uchiha was just standing. Instead of attacking him, the swung at each other, crushing their ribs in the process.

"Fools," Sasuke muttered, landing on the ground a foot from the dead bodies. He didn't get much chance to breath before he was attacked again by at least five people. Each of them wanting to spill his blood.

The men came from all over, gathering in a circle and tried to ambush him. But, with his training, he back-flipped over some, sliced them all over in a few seconds, and started on the others, not once breaking a sweat.

Naruto had summoned five other clones and they each perched on the tree branch with ease. Each and every one of them had a kunai in each hand. Not a second later, they all yelled and pushed off the tree and sailed down to the ground, all taking on their own bad guy.

The real Naruto was battling two on one, but was having no problem. They were easy. He killed one by tossing a kunai at his throat while dodging someone throwing their weapons at him. Noticing the man was now defenseless, the blond smirked.

"You know, when you come to battle, always have more than one weapon." He advised the man when he didn't do anything to defend himself. To say, that man died. Naruto had no time to celebrate or even look around the clearing how many enemies were left. He had a lot more coming at him.

Right when he paroled someones sword from stabbing him in the throat, Naruto failed to block his left side when he was cut on the arm by a flying Throwing Star. "Nn," He grunted, though it didn't hurt that much. The blond had just enough time to kill the man he was blocking before reaching into his pouch on his hip and brought out two kunai. In which, he threw them at the person who threw the stars.

Naruto didn't even have time to check if he killed him before his attention went to someone new.

As quick as a ninja (haha), our favorite blond swung around and crouched low as one enemy ran towards him on one side, and a different one on his other. Just like what happened to Sasuke, these men killed one another.

'I don't understand,' Kyuubi mused, confused by the scene. 'These men are weak, why are they attacking? Did you do anything to them?' She then hissed, half joking the other half not.

Naruto rolled his eyes. /Of course not. Never seen them before in my life./ With that said, he was just leaped off the ground and was about to throw some new kunai's that appeared in his hand when someone collided against him.

A bit shocked, Naruto tried to regain his balance in the air but was unsuccessful when that same person grabbed a hold of his feet and used force to bring him down. He crashed to the earth on his back and had the breath knocked out of him. Before he could regain his breath and get to his feet, he felt something puncture his ankles and wrists, pinning him to the ground.

"Damn it," He cursed just as something came in contact around his neck. He tried not to cry out from the pain. Kunai was what was sticking out of his wrists and ankles, causing blood to gush out around the weapons.

"Naruto!" Sasuke suddenly yelled from across the clearing. He was battling four people at once when he saw the blond go down. Breaking the number one rule for all ninja's, he let himself get distracted. And in those few seconds, the enemy took advantage. They disarmed him, his sword flying out of his hands and landed a few yards from him. Before Sasuke had time to react, the men suddenly seemed to get stronger and faster and were able to throw kunai at him and pinned him against the tree. Some one came from behind and held a sword at Sasuke's throat.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, trying to get out of the situation he was in. As he started to wiggle, he felt this sudden pressure around his neck, pushing downwards.

Suddenly, the clearing came alive with new, alive people. They walked around the bodies and stood with weapons ready. They smirked at the two ninja's.

"Get this piece of shit off of me or I'll kill you!" Naruto threatened, his eyes narrowing. He glared at one of the nearby guys, but all they did was smirk bigger, showing the blond his yellowed teeth.

Sasuke stayed where he was, not moving. He looked around the little area and started to form a plan. Even though this was a easy situation to get out of, he was waiting for the right moment. As his eyes scanned around, he was suddenly looked down at Naruto to the thing around his neck. It was something he never had seen before. There were two two-foot poles on each side of the dobe's neck. Connecting the poles was this red rubber cloth that stretched across his neck. It was lying against his skin. It looked like something a little kid could make in Arts-N-Craft, not at all threatening.

'So why isn't he moving?' Sasuke thought angrily.

No one moved a muscle as someone knew walked into the clearing. As he walked, the people in his way scurried to the sides, almost like they were scared. This new character was wearing tan colored pants and a light blue shirt with no stains or anything. Unlike his clothing, his face was covered in scars, new and old. He was in many, many battles. Hanging at his side was a sword that was still closed. He walked over to Naruto and looked down at him with a smirk.

"Who the hell are you?" The blond growled. "And get this damn thing off of me!" He tried to move his hands but pain was all he was getting so he had to stop moving. From the movement of his hands, the thing around his neck started to admit pressure, causing him to start panting.

Sasuke watched the scene and had to bite his tongue so he wouldn't yell out to his ex-comrade. 'I don't care what happens to him.' He thought angrily, He narrowed his eyes and watched the new person. From the way he was standing and how everyone had moved aside to let him through, Sasuke could tell he was the leader. "Who the hell are you?" He demanded the man.

The leader turned his head over to the raven-haired man and smiled with his yellowed teeth showing. "No one of importance. Well, on the other hand, since I'm about to kill you both, I guess I am important." Though, he didn't introduce himself. However, he looked back at the blond and knelt down to get a better look at him. "Hm..." He thoughtfully said and looked at him like he was some piece of meat.

"What do you want?" Naruto spat. More pressure came down on his throat, but he ignored it and started to thrash around, trying to break free. He didn't like just lying here, wounded. He was a ninja, for crying out loud! He shouldn't be doing this! He should have already gotten out of this and killed all of these men! Tears stung his eyes as he could barely breath.

"I wouldn't move, if I were you," The man advised. "The more you move, the more pressure there is. It'll only stop once the trap crushes your wind pipes and kills you." He stood back up to his full height and kept his eyes on his victim.

Naruto ignored the warning and growled, "Again, what... do you w-want?"

"To kill you, duh. Other wise you wouldn't be in that trap." He rolled his eyes like it was the simplest thing ever. His men chuckled.

"W-why?"

He shrugged. "Because I can. I don't like people so I go around killing them. That, and it's my hobby."

"Your s-sick!" Naruto said, thinking that this was a horrible way to die. Killed by a crazy man, great. He tried to take a big gulp of air as he became light headed.

"Thank you," he said, taking it as a compliment. He took his sword out of it's scabbard and held it over the blond's hearts. "So, any last words?" He grinned.

Naruto looked up at him, glaring.

"How 'bout five," A voice said from behind the man. Confused, the man turned around only to be punched right in the jaw, sending him flying to the ground. "No one, hurts the blond." Sasuke said in a deep, pissed off voice.

The pressure on Naruto's neck continued, even though he took the person's advice and stopped moving. The rubber as it kept pressing down on his skin started to get hot and soon it started to burn his skin. That caused him to whimper softly. As it kept getting hotter and harder to breath, little black specks appeared in his vision. His eyes became glazed over and he could almost couldn't see. His breathing slowed down as it was harder to breath.

Just as he closed his eyes, knowing this was his last, the pain and pressure receded and he felt the kunai plucked out of him. Feeling weak, Naruto tried to get to his feet but couldn't. He was too dizzy. But, that didn't matter. A hand suddenly appeared before his eyes.

"Nice of you to join us," Sasuke smirked, like how he used to way back in the day. He held his hand down.

Naruto took the offer hand and the raven hoisted him up. Once on his feet, he looked around the clearing and noticed it was quiet. There was no living being except for them two standing. Everywhere were bodies and pools of blood. "What happened?" He croaked. His bloodied hand went to his throat, which felt raw and dry.

Sasuke took a step back and shrugged. He flicked his sword to rid of the blood on it before putting it back in it's scabbard. "Most of those men got away." He said in a bored voice. "But I got to kill some, including their leader." He didn't have to point to where the man laid in a broken, bloodied heap across the clearing.

'Man, I must have been out of it or something to not have noticed.' Naruto thought. He nodded his head and started to rub his aching neck. That contraption did more damage than he thought. It hurt like hell. Un-noticed, a pair of dark eyes were watching him.

"How bad is your neck?"

Naruto stopped. He looked over at his ex-comrade. Sasuke actually was concerned on how he was! But, if you were someone other than Naruto, you wouldn't have been able to detect the concern. It was hidden quiet well in his voice. He was just about to answer him when something flickered in the moon light at the corner of his eye. And that something was coming right towards Sasuke at a speed no one would be able to dodge.

"Watch out!" Naruto screamed and pushed his friend out of the way.

Time seemed to slow down as the Uchiha stumbled away. He looked confused but then noticed something. But, right when he noticed it, it had hit Naruto right in the shoulder, right where Sasuke's heart would have been if Naruto hadn't pushed him out of the way. it was a pole that pierced the blond and went deep through the muscle to where you could see it from the back and front.

Time returned to normal as Sasuke caught his falling comrade and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

XxxxX

"You idiot!" Sasuke yelled, throwing a glare over at the blond who was heavily leaning against a tree.

Blood stained Naruto's orange jacket and there was a hole about the size of a quarter in it. He had managed to pull the pole out, holding back a scream from the pain. To stop the bleeding, he pressed his hand against the front wound and ignored the blood that seeped through his fingers.

In his mind, Kyuubi was cursing him, but began to heal the wound before her vessel could bleed to death.

"Why did you do it?" Sasuke demanded and started to pace. The two had appeared high on a tree branch, at least twenty-five feet above the ground. He was pacing from one end of the branch, which stretched out a good distance, to the other, all the while in hearing range of the injured blond.

Naruto shrugged and winced as he said, "Once a comrade, always a comrade."

Sasuke stopped and turned around to meet his eyes. "I am not your comrade. I am your enemy! Why the hell did you save me?"

"You would have died... If I didn't." He mumbled. The skin knitted itself back together. Naruto rolled his shoulders back and got to his feet. The blood was still on his clothes and would be until he washed it out, but, at least all of his wounds were healed. When he stood up, he didn't meet the Uchiha's dark eyes.

Sasuke kept his glare. "Why does it matter if I live or die?" He lashed out. "We're not friends anymore, Naruto. You have to treat me like your enemy!"

"Maybe I don't want to," Naruto said, but it was to soft to be heard. In a louder voice, he looked up and meet his friend's glare with his own, sadden blue eyes that were filled with mental pain, "Didn't you want to kill Itachi? You can't do that when you're dead. And anyways," He forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "S'not like anyone would care if I died."

The glare dropped from his face as the words hit him like a rock. But, before he could say anything, to disagree with the blond, Naruto shook his blond head.

"You don't need to say anything. Not like you would understand."

"Naruto...-,"

"Anyways" Naruto interrupted him, "I need to get back; Tsunade will be expecting me."

"I don't understand," Sasuke frowned, not acting like himself who always understood everything, "Why did you come after me?"

For the first time since they saw each other, the Jinjuriki host smiled. Not his usual trademark signature smile, but one that actually reached his eyes, even if it were filled with pain and sorrow. It was still a smile. "Just to talk with you. I was wanting you to come back, but, unlike the last few times, I'm not going to force you. I just wanted to talk." He shrugged his shoulders once more. "But, that's the only reason why I came. Nothing else."

"You know the answer is always going to be the same, dobe."

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, but it's still worth a try, teme." He turned away from the raven and buried one his hand deep into his pocket. With his other hand, he held it up in a wave/goodbye gesture. "I guess... see you around." He jumped down from the tree without waiting for a goodbye.

Sasuke wiped his face of all emotions, but on the inside, where he could freely express himself without someone knowing, it was all in chaos. Too many emotions were left loose to even try and sort them out. He watched for a minute as his ex-comrade was walking further and further away before turning around on the tree branch and took off jumping to a different tree. 'Stupid dobe,' he thought.

XxxxX

'So you're just letting him go?' Kyuubi growled in an annoyed way. 'After everything you did, you're not going to drag him back?'

Naruto winced a bit. He wasn't used to her just yet, especially with all of the growling. Out loud, he told her, "If I drag him back, he'd just leave again." He was weaving his way through the trees, walking un-normally slow. He didn't feel like running and getting to the village that fast. He wanted to have a few hours to prepare himself for what Tsunade would yell at him.

'So? Three years ago, you didn't care about that. You are a stupid, arrogant human, you know that? You never think things through!'

"That was a few years ago; I've changed." He mumbled. "I don't want to force him back anymore. He's my best friend..." He let his sentence linger in the air, just wanting to drop the subject now. This topic would be brought up again in a few hours and he just didn't feel like talking about it now.

'You're just a worthless piece of shit. You had a plan and now you're just going to drop it like last nights meal. I don't even know why I -,'

"Will you just shut up, you damn fox? I'm tired of listening you insult me! Just drop the subject already! I knew he wasn't going to be coming back, but I still wanted to try. Just drop it!" He yelled, his temper sky rocketing. His eyes started to turn a deep shade of red and immediately went back to his normal blue.

The nine-tailed fox backed off. Not because she was scared, but because of the sadness she heard in her containers voice. She may be an all powerful-vicious demon, but, she did care for her kit in a way other people and demons wouldn't understand.

The blond walked in silence, starting to calm down. He wasn't really thinking about anything, especially about how his day had gone. A mission that failed, even though he knew it would from the very start. He stayed looking ahead, the sun continuing to come up over the horizon. Birds started to wake up and go hunting for their breakfast. A few early squirrels weer already on the forest floor, looking for nuts.

Minutes passed by before Kyuubi cleared her throat. In a soft, normal voice, she said, 'You know Tsunade will be furious.'

"I know."

'You told her you'd try to bring him back.'

"And I was lying." The blond grunted. "I just wanted to talk to him, but she wouldn't have let me go. I'll think of something later that won't blow her top off." He ended the conversation.

The fox twitched and watched him carefully. She was trying to figure out what was causing all of this. Her kit was always loud, overly obnoxious, cheerful. But now, he was the opposite; quiet and sulky. He never acted like this, except for certain occasions.

She was just about to comment on that when her head lifted up so fast. She then hissed, 'We have a follower.'

Naruto stopped walking and tensed up. He already had a kunai in his right hand as he got held it up to his chest in a defending position. "One of those gang members from before?" He looked around himself, being careful to hide his chakra signature, just in case.

The fox shook her head. She was just about to comment on who was coming when she stiffened up and the fur on her back stood up. A figure dropped down from the trees right behind her host and as quick as lightening, held a knife up to his throat.

"Who are you?" Naruto immediately growled for what seemed like the millionth time that day. He was just about to elbow the person in the gut and jump to a safe distance so he could face the intruder and ask questions, or if it came down, to fight him, when the voice stopped him.

"You really off guard today, dobe."

The knife at his throat disappeared and Naruto, not taking any precaution, front-flipped away and turned to face the raven-haired shinobi.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" He demanded, wondering why he came back. He relaxed the weapon in his hand and tilted his head just a bit to the side.

The Uchiha crossed his arms against his chest though he didn't meet his eyes. "I'm going back with you..." He replied, though his voice sounded uncertain and off. It was like he was still trying to decided what to do.

"What?" Naruto blinked, caught off guard. Maybe he miss heard him.

The fox blinked in surprise also. 'That... was unexpected.'

"I really don't want to go back," Sasuke started, "I have to get stronger and the only way to do that is if I stayed with Orochimaru. I have to kill my brother to avenge for my clan and if I go back with you, I won't be able to." His stance matched his voice as he slightly slouched.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he asked, "So why do you want to come back?"

For once, he was speechless. He opened his mouth to answer, but nothing came out. He closed his mouth and frowned.

"What, is the Great Sasuke Uchiha speechless?" Naruto taunted, a bit of his normal self coming back.

"Why are you acting like this?" Sasuke glared now and met his friends eyes. "I thought you'd be happy that I want to go back now."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Naruto layered the sarcasm thick. "Just now, you told me you would rather stay with that snake to get stronger. If you want to get stronger, why come back to Kohona? You said so yourself, that it was holding you back!"

"There's more ways to become stronger! What happens if I actually want to come back?" He challenged.

"Why, so you can betray us again?" Naruto demanded. Their arguing reminded him of the way they used to argue back when they were still apart of Team 7. Back to when they did this on a daily bases. But, of course, this type of arguing was a lot worse and actually had a point to it.

Sasuke stopped to take a deep breath through his nose. In doing so, he started to calm down so he wouldn't lose his temper. He now looked at the blond. "Fine. Forget that I even said anything." He said in that usual cold voice. He turned around and started to walk away.

'Good going, kit.' Kyuubi shook her head.

He ignored her and held his hand up towards the retreating Uchiha. "I just don't understand any of this." He shouted in a confused voice. "Why do you suddenly want to come back after three years? And if I find out that it's because it's a mission for Orochimaru, I swear, I will kill you." His eyes turned a hint of red, meaning his threat.

The raven turned around so fast, Naruto blinked and he was right in front of him. They were so close, they could feel one another breath. Sasuke took Naruto by the shirt and started into his eyes,his own red, but not because of his sharigan.

"Do you think that I am that low? To sneak inside my old village, pretending that I want to stay and then kill you? I may have been with Orochimaru for three years, but I am not that low. I have never been, and never will be." He spoke with such venom in his voice, a snake would have passed out right then and there.

Naruto didn't move or flinch. In a voice similar to the other, he said, "Then why, do you want to come back?" This time, he was expecting a true answer.

The grip on his shirt loosened a bit, "The answer is still unclear to me, so I don't know. But when I know, I'll tell you. Just, something inside me told me to go back with you and to leave Orochimaru, while the other says don't go." His voice softened just a bit and he let go of his friend and took a step back. "Fighting along side you and then you taking that pole... it reminded me of old times."

The blond didn't say anything. He let Sasuke continue.

"Even though I knew you weren't going to die, just the thought made me realize something. I don't want you to die. I know I tried to kill you all those years ago, but I only had one thing in my mind; find Orochimaru to get stronger so I could kill my brother. But, I see that I am wrong. That I have been wrong all this time." He looked away and watched the sun still rise.

The only noise made between the two were their breathing. Other than that, nothing.

After several minutes of silence, Naruto sighed. "It's hard to trust you, you know." He replied truthfully. The raven looked back and met his blue eyes. "For almost four years, I wanted to get you back. Everyday it hurt me and I kept promising myself that I would die, if I could bring you back. I didn't care that you betrayed us, at first. I just wanted you back, just wanted things to return to normal. Slowly, I started to realize everything. I still wanted to get you back, but, things would have been different/ How can I trust you not to leave us again? How can I trust that if something happens, you won't betray us?"

"I don't know." Was what he said. "But I do know that I won't betray you, Naruto."

Naruto just nodded. "And everyone else? if we got into a battle or something -,"

"I'll know where I'll stand." He replied with a gruff. "Geez, where's that blond dobe I used to know and love? You're too... mother like."

The blond frowned and then rolled his blue eyes. "Well, duh, I grew up! What, did you think I'd still be the same kid as before?"

Sasuke gave him a rare smile, giving his answer

End of Flashback:

"Well, after bickering with one another, we started our walk back to the Leaf Village." Naruto continued on with his story.

"What did Tsunade and everyone else say?" Sana asked, so caught up in the moment, with her eyes sparkling from the good story.

The blond smiled. "Well, Grandma-Tsunade was surprised that I actually had accomplished my mission and even more surprised that he came back. Like me, she didn't know whether to trust him or not so she had two ANBU nin follow after him. Ir was that, or being put under house-arrest." He grinned. "And as for everyone else, they didn't know what to do. So, for the first three months, no one really talked to him, except for me, Sakura and Kakashi. He wasn't even allow to go on missions. It was just really weird. Before he had betrayed us, everyone always talked to him, about him, adored him, and then it stopped. No one talked to him."

Sana frowned. "I guess that must have sucked. But, after all that time, everyone started to talk to him again, right? What about Orochimaru? What did he do?"

The blond shrugged. "No idea. Tsunade had everyone prepared in case he decided to show his face, but, we were never attacked. I still don't know if he has attacked yet."

They continued to walk and soon, the trees started to thin out. it wasn't all forest-y. The ground underneath them became sand-y as the grass started to lessen.

"Have you ever tried to go back?" She asked in a softer voice.

"No," He shook his head and turned his eyes away from the path. His voice softened and had a sad edge to it. "If I try to go back, I'd be executed. That's what being banished means. The only people I have seen was Jirayah, and that was a year after I was banished. Since then, I haven't seen anyone."

It was quiet before Sana asked in a serious but soft voice, "Do you miss them?"

He nodded and meant it. "More than you can imagine. I never told them I had left. The Elders," He said the word like it was tabooed, "told me I only had certain amount of time to leave the village before they would send a squad of ANBU after me. So, I went straight to my apartment to pack up and then left. Though, I wish I had said goodbye. I keep regretting that." His shoulders slumped just a bit.

"I wonder how they're all doing..." He mumbled to himself. His heart felt heavy with all of that sadness he feared he wouldn't be able to support it.

They fell into a light silence that lasted only a few minutes. Then, Sana broke it by asking, "How 'bout you send them a letter? Since you can't visit them, why not write them?"

Naruto turned his gaze to her. "Huh... I never thought about that before... But, I wouldn't know what to write. It's been four years."

"And five if you don't." She stated and crossed her arms in a huff. "Just write that you want to see them again so you could catch up with them. Write them to meet you some place about in the middle of our home and theirs. That way, you wouldn't be in the boundaries of the Leaf." She let her arms fall down to her sides ans smiled. She then took off running. Over her shoulder, she called back to him, "I'll meet you at home." And took the lead.

'You know, that isn't a bad idea,' Kyuubi purred. 'I know that you've been wanting to see them again, for quiet some time. So, how 'bout you send them a letter?'

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know."

'You're afraid about what their reactions would be.' It wasn't a question but a clear statement. She knew her kit from inside out and could read him like a closed book.

His shoulders sagged lower and he bowed his head. He could feel tears threatening to form in his eyes. "Kind of," he admitted. "It's just, I left without saying goodbye. I regret not saying goodbye to them. But... uh..."

Kyuubi sighed. 'After the party, send them a letter, kit. It could do you some good and help. Since you can't go to them, meet them half way.' Her voice clicked off so she could give him some privacy to his own thoughts.

'Maybe...' He thought, 'I wonder what they'll do, what their reactions could be...' He could almost picture Sakura punching the living shit out of him and Sasuke... well, he wouldn't be to happy.

Naruto shook his head to clear it and then he rolled his shoulders back. He looked a head of himself to see no one, not even a speck in the distance. That meant Sana was way ahead of him. He took a deep, relaxing breath before he took off running to catch up with her.

XxxxX

Till next time! Whoa, that is a long chapter. Longest I've ever written! 23 pages long! I hope this has made up for my absence. If not... sorry. And, I just wanted to say, I am sorry about Sasuke. The reason for him is stupid and blah, but I just couldn't come up with anything else. Sorry! .'' Please do remember, this is my first Naruto fic.

Replying to some reviews:

Elemental Dragon Swordman: I liked those parts too! The shopping one was funny and I just thought of it at the spot. ^^ I really write this story in a journal and write to it everyday. And when I was writing that part, versus the original, I liked this one better. And the one about inviting her to the family, that is my personal favorite. I felt all warm inside about that 3 Thanks for reading!