Enjoy!


The Long Way Home

Part 15

The Deed

Chapter 4/5

It was all fine to say he was going to fix everything and save Sasuke but when Naruto awoke the next morning after a fitful night of sleep, he sat on the bed in his room, staring at his toes and tried to figure out just how he was going to accomplish this little feat. He supposed that his biggest problem was that figuring out stuff like this wasn't exactly his thing.

Solving mysteries and rooting around for information was definitely more of a Sasuke niche. Unfortunately, since Sasuke was the one he was supposed to be saving that wasn't exactly a help right now.

Well there was one obvious way to go and that was to straight out ask Amaya what evidence she had on Sasuke. And fine, it wasn't the stealthiest way of fact finding ever but it was direct and the direct approach was something he could wrap his head around. Besides, Amaya didn't yet know that he even wanted to help Sasuke. For all she knew he might just be questioning her for his own peace of mind.

Naruto frowned.

Sasuke told him that he was about as devious as a floorboard so Amaya might see through him immediately, but he didn't know what else to try.


After getting dressed and packing up his things he left the Inn and began asking around after Amaya's whereabouts to the townsfolk he met on the street. While doing so he found out a less thrilling piece of information. Sasuke's trial was set for this afternoon. Well, they certainly were efficient, he'd give them that.

It seemed a little odd that the trial would happen so quickly but apparently justice was swift here and he supposed they probably thought it was a kinder method than making the victim wait or the accused languish in jail for too long. Unfortunately this gave him very little time to attempt to find that evidence if it did indeed exist.

At least thanks to the news about the upcoming trial taking place in their town, the locals could point him in the direction of Sasuke's accuser without too much effort since a murder trial was probably the most excitement this little town had seen in years. Thankfully Amaya wasn't staying with friends this time and was therefore a little easier to get to. She had ended up in another Inn, simple, though still a lot grander than the one Naruto had been in.

When she opened her door to him she again flashed that bright beautiful smile at him and this time Naruto made himself smile in return. She didn't seem to notice that it turned out more of a grimace than a smile though.

"Naruto! Oh, I am so glad to see you. You looked positively sick last night, I was so worried about you."

She sounded so sincere and that was the problem. Amaya wasn't exactly the bad guy here. As it turned out, the bad guy was the one he wanted to save which made Naruto feel really guilty about even being here. Sasuke had killed her father, she had every right to want justice for that. And here he was about to do what he had to do in order to deny her that justice just because Sasuke was his friend.

"Yeah it was a bit of a shock," he told her honestly.

"I can imagine," she replied with sympathy. "Please, come in. Reizo is out in the town on business so we have some privacy."

Naruto wondered if maybe he should be out following Reizo rather than trying to weasel information out of Amaya. No doubt the only business he could be on must have had something to do with the trial. But oh well, he was here now, he could always try to find Reizo in a little while.

He stepped into the spacious room and took a seat on a lush couch opposite a rather large picture window. Amaya made herself comfortable next to him, taking his hand in both her own. He let her do it since pulling away seemed too harsh and besides, it was sort of comforting.

"I am sorry you had to hear about this the way that you did," she began. "But I feel a lot better knowing you aren't out in the wilderness with a murderer anymore."

She did sound very concerned about him which was nice, annoying and strange all in one go.

It was always nice to hear that someone spared so much thought about your well being, annoying to think that even if Sasuke was some psychopath he needed sheltering from him as though he couldn't take care of himself and strange because for someone who just found out that their father had been murdered, she seemed way more concerned for his safety than angry or hurt about her father. Of course it could have just been his imagination.

One of her hands reached up to turn his face toward her.

"You've been cut, I saw it there last night. Sasuke did that, didn't he?"

Absently Naruto reached up to the already half healed cut on his forehead. He'd almost forgotten it was there.

"Uh yeah, but we were sparring. You know, like training? He didn't just randomly attack me or anything."

"But he might have in time. Naruto, Sasuke is dangerous. Surely you must know that by now." Well Naruto knew that before, but not in the same way Amaya was implying. Well not recently at least.

"We've been traveling for over three months," Naruto pointed out, "he hasn't tried to kill me yet. Look Amaya, I know Sasuke, he's not really a bad person."

"He killed my father," Amaya reminded him.

"How do you know that's even true?" Naruto asked her.

"Reizo saw him," Amaya replied promptly. "My father left the house and Reizo followed him out of curiosity. He managed to stay out of sight when it happened, but he saw everything."

"And you trust Reizo, right?"

"Of course I do!"

"Okay, so if Reizo is right then it's just his word against Sasuke's? Is that enough to have him charged?"

"We have other... resources," Amaya admitted carefully.

"Like what?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that he is guilty, how can you not understand that?"

"I understand," Naruto told her truthfully. "I get it, I do. And I am really sorry about your father Amaya, you must have loved him a lot. But you're killing someone I care about now"

"You still care about him?" Amaya asked in disbelief. "Naruto he is a murderer I promise you. I can't believe a few moments of indiscretion could brainwash you so."

"Indiscretion?"

Amaya looked down at her hands.

"I know you two have a ah... special relationship. I know you feel close to him because of the things you do together," she looked back up into his eyes, "but it shouldn't cloud your judgment. Put in the predicament you were I suppose it is natural for you to seek comfort wherever you can. But I believe that if you were in that situation with another person the result would have been the same."

Naruto's eyes had slowly been widening the more Amaya spoke. She knew? How the hell could she know? Did she talk to Sasuke, did he say something? Well that was pretty unlikely unless he had a pretty compelling reason to spill the beans. Perhaps she had just worked it out herself. Well whatever the case, he was pretty shocked.

But then what she'd said at the end finally worked itself into his brain and he was just plainly confused after that. Not that it wasn't anything he hadn't thought about before. He had wondered whether he might be in the same weird relationship with another guy if he was forced to spend so much time with them and he was pretty sure it wouldn't have had the same results.

"Think about it," Amaya insisted. "I was tempted twice to ask you to travel with me. Just before I left Adessa, but Reizo insisted I wouldn't be able to cross the border if we didn't have papers for you. I almost asked you again in Saolin. But I didn't ask that first night and then you left to meet up with Sasuke anyway. Just imagine though, if you had left Adessa with me instead of Sasuke we would have had that same chance to grow closer but our connection would have been based off a far deeper affection than your so called friend is capable of. It would have been real as opposed to this forced thing you have with him, I just know it!"

Talk about blown away, Naruto didn't know what to say to anything she had just said. Of course he knew she liked him but this was far more intense than he had imagined.

Could what she have said have been true? Sure he'd thought about being in a situation like this with another guy and he didn't think it would have been the same. But what if he had been with Amaya instead, someone who obviously deeply cared about him and wasn't afraid to let him know how much. Would he have grown so close to her?

He put a lot of thought into it while Amaya sat there and watched his face, eager for some kind of positive reaction. And he even tried to imagine going through the same things with her and how it might have been different. Not just the intimate physical stuff, but the whole adventure so far.

Well it wouldn't have been such a grand adventure for one thing since Amaya mainly traveled from one wealthy friend to the next which was probably a good thing considering he couldn't imagine Amaya enduring the indignity of traveling over the border in a hot metal box, being a part of a brothel heist, trapped in darkness while running from a cave monster, carrying him after Kurama almost gave him a stroke while waking up or anything like that.

Of course she probably wouldn't get into fights with Kurama as much as Sasuke did, put him through torture while high on berries or treat him with nasty disdain because she was too unused to actually being nice to people anymore but that was all pretty mild stuff in the grand scheme of what had happened to them.

Plus if he had left with her he wouldn't be friends with Sasuke now.

It was in just that moment that everything just sort of fell into place in his brain. It wasn't even what they shared physically that made what had happened between him and Sasuke extraordinary. It was a closeness that had only happened because of who they both were and how they pulled through each and every obstacle.

What had developed between them couldn't be replicated with anyone else because nobody else was quite like Sasuke. Superimposing anyone else in his place, no matter if it were a pretty girl who really liked him, would not have had exactly the same results. He might have gotten to know Amaya better sure, but frankly so far, even when she really did seem to care about him, he didn't feel like he would have achieved that same level of closeness with her.

For better or worse.

"I like you Amaya, but Sasuke and I have a history. Sure it hasn't been the best history but that makes repairing the bad stuff between us all the more important. That's what makes it special. He is a pretty unique friend, and that means a lot more to me than you think."

Amaya frowned. "I thought you liked me."

"I do. But you sort of make it seem like I would have latched onto anyone in those circumstances too. That's kinda insulting actually."

"Not just anyone," she said quietly. "Naruto, I meant that if you had been with me. And I can prove it to you. Once we are done with the trial you can travel with us like I planned. We can get to know one another better and I know you will grow as fond of me as I am of you."

"Done with the trial? You mean once Sasuke is dead?" Naruto asked a little put off by the blasé way she had said such a serious thing.

"Well I didn't want it to sound so crass, but yes, once you are free of him you can come to understand how much better it is to be in the company of people who appreciate you. And if you wanted, once I reach my destination you can stay with me. I will need a companion for the difficulties I face there and I believe you would thrive with a true ally to support you."

"You don't need a safety blanket Amaya," Naruto told her. "You said you were happy to be your own person for a while."

"I could always be happier," she replied with a sad smile. "Especially for what is to come."

No matter what, she didn't seem to be able to be dissuaded and Naruto was starting to wonder what he was accomplishing here. Short of outright telling her that he wasn't interested and never would be he doubted she was going to get the message.

She was nice, beautiful and caring, everything he should want but he knew now that he just wasn't interested in her the same way she was in him. He didn't feel that same excitement with her and he didn't feel all that comfortable around her either.

Amaya just wasn't his type. But telling Amaya this would probably make her sad or at the very least piss her off and doubtless wouldn't help him free Sasuke anyway. Sasuke being responsible for her father's death was a whole completely different problem that probably wouldn't be helped by making her any angrier.

"I really am sorry," Naruto repeated. "Look, I better go."

Amaya nodded. "Okay, but please think it over. I mean it Naruto, you have no idea how much it would mean to me if you decided to come with us."

Naruto couldn't think of a worse thing to do actually. As he stood up he even felt slightly nauseous at the thought of travelling anywhere with a constant reminder of Sasuke's death by his side.

"I couldn't do that," he made himself say.

Sure he didn't want to piss her off but he didn't exactly want to lead her on either. Especially when there was no way it would ever work between them even as friends after this. Which Naruto had to remind himself still wasn't her fault. Again, she was just seeking justice for her father, she wasn't evil. But that didn't mean he could make himself feel okay with Sasuke dying either.

"Why not?" Amaya asked, looking up at him with a crestfallen expression.

"I told you I understand why you feel like going after Sasuke is the right thing to do, so I don't blame you or anything, how could I? But like I said, this might result in someone I care about dying and I can't just shrug it off and move on. Being around you is gonna remind me of what happens here too. And I know that isn't fair, but I can't help but feel that way."

Amaya didn't look all that understanding as she stood up beside him with a deep frown marking her pretty features.

"I know that you said you weren't, but it does sound a great deal like you are blaming me," Amaya told him.

"I'm not, really. Besides," he went on giving her a brief smile, "it's not like this is even about you or me. I know you've gotta be feeling down about your dad and everything but Reizo will be with you. It might have been nice getting to know each other more and I'm really happy you thought of what I'd do afterwards, but you've got bigger things to worry about."

Amaya didn't seem inclined to say anymore which Naruto couldn't really blame her for. After all she had to be feeling pretty vulnerable at the moment after hearing about her dad and confessing all that stuff to him and here he'd just kinda blew her off. So he mustered up one more reassuring smile and started toward the door.

"Naruto, wait!"

He stopped and turned with his hand on the doorknob and looked back at her almost desperate expression expectantly.

"What if what happens here does not result in Sasuke's death?"

"Huh?"

She broke eye contact with him and bit her lip for a second as though unsure about continuing.

"Well I know he committed the crime, I told you this. However, I cannot be completely sure that we have enough information for a conviction, we would not know until the trial. I just wanted to know whether you traveling onwards with me is perhaps contingent on whether Sasuke is found guilty or not."

Well that was a wholly confusing way to ask him whether he'd travel with her if Sasuke didn't die. And kinda redundant as well really. Of course if Sasuke was set free he'd travel on with him.

"Uh no. Sorry. If Sasuke is freed then I'd go on with him like before."

"Even after everything I have told you, after everything he has done, after everything I..." Amaya shook her head in disbelief. "I don't understand. Why are you so devoted to him?"

Naruto tried to come up with something that might make Amaya understand everything, so she could see what he saw in Sasuke and realize the importance of his bond with his friend... and failed miserably. It was definitely a hard thing to explain to an outsider looking in. He guessed you just had to be there.

"Because he needs me to be. And I kinda need him too, I guess."

"He doesn't deserve you," Amaya told him quietly after a moment.

Naruto grinned at her, the first real smile he'd managed all day.

"You're right there."

"When this is over, where will you go?" she asked him.

Naruto was about to tell her what their plan had been and where they would travel to but something about her expression sort of stopped him. He didn't yet know how this day might end and telling Amaya where they were going might turn out to be counterproductive. If of course Naruto managed to get Sasuke freed one way or another.

"Straight north," he lied. "It's the quickest way toward the border. Sasuke told me it's the best way to go from here."

Sasuke had previously told him that he was a bad liar, but Amaya just nodded and tried to smile.

"Well perhaps this won't be goodbye forever."

"Uh yeah," Naruto replied uncertainly.

As Naruto left Amaya's room he felt even worse than when he'd arrived.


After his highly confusing and strange conversation with Amaya he attempted to look around town for Reizo. Talking to Amaya hadn't worked at all. Maybe Sasuke was right, he just wasn't devious enough to know how to get people to admit things to him and usually he didn't have to be.

Generally he just had to be himself and he found out all kinds of things. And true, Amaya had been pretty open about how much she liked him, which had been a shocking novelty for him but it had also thrown him a little too much and he hadn't found out as much about the case against Sasuke as he had hoped. He'd actually left his meeting with Amaya with the beginnings of a headache trying to work it out.

He knew there had been openings he had neglected to dig into and he knew that there were key things in what she had said but he couldn't work out just what he should have dug into or what those key things had been. It was just a gut feeling and he now felt useless and stupid for missing it all. Well fine, so delicate questioning hadn't worked. Perhaps some spying might glean better results.

The town wasn't huge by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn't even bigger than the last two towns they'd been to but Naruto still had his work cut out for him trying to spot Reizo anywhere. He thought for a while that perhaps Reizo had already gone back to the Inn but just as he was about to give up he walked around the corner of the local pub to see Reizo standing in front of another man down an alleyway in between two buildings apparently talking.

Naruto had only been in sight for a second before he stepped back out of sight and flattened himself up against the wall. He risked a peek around the side to see that neither men had seemed to notice him thankfully and were still deep in conversation with each other. Reizo looked annoyed but still kept his voice frustratingly low so Naruto couldn't hear him. The other man looked….. Strangely familiar.

He was youngish, perhaps only a couple of years older than Naruto himself with brown hair and a bland relaxed look as though whatever Reizo was annoyed about didn't faze him in the least. It sort of reminded Naruto of a look Sasuke sometimes had...

"Juro!" Naruto hissed to himself.

Of all the people for Reizo to be talking to it had to be a bandit that had attacked him and Sasuke last week on the road. Okay so that was too much of a coincidence, just what the hell was going on here?

Naruto watched them talk for a few more minutes before Reizo grudgingly thrust a small though weighty look pouch at him before turning and walking off in the opposite direction. Juro weighed the pouch in his hand for a few moments before shrugging and thrusting the pouch in his pocket and started walking toward the hidden Naruto.

Naruto ducked back out of sight again and spent a few tense moments listening to Juro's footsteps get steadily closer. As soon as Juro went to step around the corner, Naruto stepped out in front of him, grabbed his collar and forced him back off the street and in between the two buildings that had been giving him and Reizo such privacy. He pushed the stunned bandit up against the wall and glared at him.

Juro grunted with the impact before his eyes widened as he took in the sight of the infuriated person who had him pinned.

"Fuck no," Juro muttered.

"Just what I was gonna say," Naruto told him through clenched teeth. "What are you doing here?"

"Business," Juro replied easily. "You two cleaned us out of a lot of our stash. Someone has to make some money back."

"My heart bleeds," Naruto told him insincerely. "Why were you talking to Reizo?"

"The thing about my business is that people expect a level of discretion. I couldn't possibly..." Juro trailed off as Naruto's eyes narrowed at him. "Yeah, that's not going to work. It's Naruto right? I remember you telling me. I also remember you almost single-handedly taking out the entire band within like a minute. I'll give it to you Naruto, you're by far the scariest person I have ever met but that guy is paying me a lot of money. You might not believe it, but I'd risk even your wrath again for that much money."

Well actually Kurama was the scariest person he'd ever met since Naruto didn't actually remember much about that last fight with the bandits. Not that it mattered since as far as he could tell, Juro was actually telling the truth.

"You've got some pretty screwed up priorities," Naruto told him.

"See, now you sound like my mother," Juro joked in a pretty bad attempt to lighten the mood. He seemed a lot more scared of Naruto than he even let on so Naruto loosened his hold on Juro a little but kept a close eye on him in case the bandit chose to run.

"How much are they paying you?"

"A lot," Juro repeated. "More than you can afford."

"I kinda doubt that," Naruto replied truthfully.

Amaya's family had been rich once upon a time but whatever Reizo had given Juro can't have been all that much. And thanks to his and Sasuke's own foray into the thieves trade they were pretty set for months to come. Unless of course he could make some kind of deal with Juro himself.

"Really?" Juro asked with badly veiled interest. "Well I gotta be honest, if you can top whatever they've given me I'm not above switching sides. Plus like I said, you're pretty scary and scary plus money trumps desperate and less money every time."

Since Naruto had crammed as much of their combined belongings into one bag, he had both his and Sasuke's money pouches with him.

Sasuke generally carried the bulk of it since he did most of the shopping for supplies, leaving Naruto with a small amount of his own so out of the two pouches currently in his bag, one was far larger than the other and definitely heavier than the one Reizo had given to Juro. Naruto took it out now and held it in his hand while Juro looked at the fat pouch and grinned.

"Yep, that would do it," Juro said eagerly reaching out.

Naruto pulled his hand out of Juro's reach.

"I don't know if I can trust you," Naruto told him.

"Hah, you can buy trust with that much money. But okay, I'm a thief and a thief that just turned on their previous employer in an instant but I'm not completely without honor."

"Uh, yes you are," Naruto pointed out.

"Alright, I'm not completely stupid, you can trust that at least. You're paying me and I will be giving my word to someone I know can beat the snot out of me if I betray him. I told you I value money above my own life but it doesn't mean I don't value it at all. And if I can keep both, hey, all the better."

"So you know I'll come after you if you cross me," Naruto told him trying his best to look threatening.

Juro swallowed. "Like I said, not stupid."

"I want information first. I still don't get why Reizo was talking to you."

"We met in Saolin," Juro told him. "We went back their to lick our wounds after the serving you gave us back at the cabin. Nobu the dumb prick was going on and on in the pub about how he was going to get you two for doing that and giving out your descriptions to see if anyone knew where you were heading when that Reizo guy approached us and asked what your names were. Well I didn't know your friend's but I remembered yours alright. So then the guy got real interested and asked if we wanted to make some money. 'Course by this point Nobu was drunk and going on about killing you but Reizo told us that the deal only included hurting your friend and we had to leave you alone. Nobu got angry and ranted till the guy left but I followed him, talked to him and he took me to see this pretty girl and we got to talking."

"You made a deal with Amaya herself?" Naruto asked with a sinking feeling.

"Well she didn't give me her name. Really cute, black hair and green eyes, nice big-"

"Yeah I get it," Naruto cut him off just as Juro started cupping a well endowed imaginary chest. "Go on, what was the deal?"

"So I told her about our run in with you two, and yeah I might have sort of glossed over the part where we tried to rob you and took you prisoner but she was interested to hear how your mate badly hurt a couple of our guys. Funny she wasn't interested in what you'd done even though you'd done the most damage, she just insisted that maybe Sasuke could be blamed for all of it and leave you out of it."

"She told you his name?"

"She told me plenty about him," Juro replied. "She told me that he was a murderer and that we were lucky he didn't kill any of us. She said that he'd committed the murder in another country though and it would be even better if she could prove he'd at least assaulted someone here too."

"I don't get it," Naruto admitted. "They could have hired anyone to tell a story."

"Well no, " Juro replied obviously, "since the Hunters make it so you can't lie."

"What?"

"Yeah, haven't you seen it before? At the trial they do something to you like make a bunch of signs and touch your forehead and afterwards you can't lie. Well sort of."

"I'm uh, kinda new here," Naruto admitted with that sinking feeling again. This was really bad news. Even if he paid off Juro it didn't matter. All they had to do was ask Sasuke and he'd have to tell them the truth. And what was that about signs?

It sort of sounded like some kind of jutsu. But there were no ninja here, in fact he'd never even heard of anyone using anything that sounded remotely like a ninjutsu in this country. Were the Hunters special, were they this country's version of ninja? Even if they were, that was a pretty powerful technique to have. He hoped that was all they could do.

"So why the whole trial? Why not just ask Sasuke if he did it?"

"Well they've had problems with that in the past so they don't ask the accused person straight out. There was this guy they did that to once and even though he admitted it, it turned out later he was innocent. Apparently you can feel guilty enough you can say you did things when you aren't really responsible. So instead they rely on getting a bunch of other witnesses and see if they all concur. The problem is for Reizo and his Lady, there were no other witnesses so they had to prove he was dangerous in another way. They won't even allow him to speak either to say he's guilty or innocent. That's where I come in. From the scene outside the cabin I knew you didn't do everything and I can say he truthfully attacked my friends."

"And what about when they ask you why he attacked them?"

"They aren't interested," Juro said dismissively. "Besides there are ways you can tell the truth without implicating yourself. We had something he wanted and he wanted to steal it from us. That's all I have to say. They won't grill me, I'm a witness, I'm not the one on trial."

"How many witnesses do they have?"

"Well Reizo of course, I was one and then there's you."

"Me?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Yeah. They said they had this knife and that you can probably identify it as belonging to your friend. Reizo said you'd followed your friend here but I bet you never thought you'd be called in against him."

Naruto thought about the knife they'd taken from the scavengers that Sasuke had 'lost' before the border crossing. That put Naruto in a bad position. If he left now, he'd be leaving Sasuke to his fate but at the same time perhaps stopping them from using him as a witness.

"There's no point to you leaving," Juro told him as if reading his mind. "The Hunters told you to come here right? Won't look too flash if you up and leave."

"They told me where Sasuke was being bought," Naruto corrected.

"Yeah well, they didn't invite you out the kindness of their hearts. But hey, so what if you identify the knife? Doesn't prove all that much really."

Juro was right in a way. Actually the only person that could really damn Sasuke was Reizo. Leaving might actually complicate things. Plus he couldn't make sure Juro didn't honour their deal either if he just simply left.

"What other abilities do these Hunters have?"

"Well the truth telling thing is really the only thing I heard about. I mean they're brutal fighters and great trackers but there's nothing mystical in all that. That's just training. I showed them the tracks leading away from the cabin and they just followed your trail."

Well at least that was good news. If things did get drastic Naruto had wondered if they could track and move like a proper ninja but apparently not. If they'd been able to use chakra to quicken their movements they would have caught the pair sooner no doubt and neither of them had been making any effort to cover their tracks much.

Naruto dropped the money bag into Juro's hand to the thief's delight. He might have only slightly hurt Amaya's case by paying Juro off but he had received a lot of important information thanks to their deal as well. So even though it didn't help their situation really at all, the information had been worth the money alone.

"Pleasure doing business with you. No offense though, but I hope never to see you again," Juro told him sincerely.

"Yeah, same."


Naruto wanted to talk to Sasuke but the guards weren't as obliging as they had been yesterday. It wasn't really a surprise since today was the day of the trial, but it was very frustrating. He badly wanted to get Sasuke's take on what Juro had told him and maybe figure out a course of action.

Of course Sasuke might just tell him yet again that he would take care of it himself but not even Sasuke was too proud to understand the danger he was in. It wasn't just simply his word against Reizo's now. Just by being under the truth juts or whatever it was, Reizo's word was going to be heard with a lot more weight since he couldn't lie. Enough maybe to convict Sasuke even without Juro's testimony about the assault against his companions.

Especially if Naruto recognised the knife and could identify it as belonging to Sasuke whether he wanted to or not. But even with the threat hanging over his head that he might contribute to proving Sasuke's guilt he couldn't make himself leave town.

Finding the knife itself and getting rid of it was an option but he suspected the Hunters had the knife by now so it wasn't a real good option. The only real plan he was left with was violence.

This made him regret missing that chance in the field, suicidal or not. Because now with not only all the Hunters lined up to take Sasuke to the town hall for his trial, there were also a handful of guards which made the odds even worse. In fact as he made his way to the jail where a few locals, the Hunters and the guards had congregated, a few of the latter flanked him.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" one questioned gruffly.

"Uh, yeah?"

"You're a witness in the trial. Please stay with us, we will accompany you to the hall."

"Great," Naruto muttered.

Taking all three of the guards out would probably test him as it was. Perhaps he could make a break for it and catch them by surprise. He wanted to wait for a better time but who knew how quickly the sentence might be carried out afterwards, this might be his last chance.

A couple of the black clad Hunters went inside the jail, eventually reappearing with their prisoner, his hands bound in front of him. Naruto had been unable to get real close to the edge of the street they would march Sasuke down thanks to the crowd, but he was sure close enough to see that Sasuke looked like a mess.

The wound in his leg was causing him to limp slightly and he looked like he'd gotten even less sleep than Naruto. Naruto started to feel a little panicked at the sight. If it came to a fight, Sasuke's input would be token at best which made the odds even worse. And Naruto also hadn't forgotten the warning the Hunters had given them, that if Sasuke resisted, he would be killed on the spot regardless of guilt or innocence.

It was at that point that he really started to believe that Sasuke was going to die. This trial wasn't a problem with a solution they could figure out, talk their way around nor even probably fight their way out of like usual. He'd tried to tell Sasuke last night how serious the situation was but he realised now that he hadn't even really believed himself one hundred percent because otherwise he would have felt then like he did now. And right now he felt a deep despair.

As Sasuke was led along the line of curious onlookers and as close to where Naruto was standing as he was going to get with still more than a few rows of people between them, he must have sensed familiar eyes on him because he raised his head, his eyes finding Naruto's in the crowd.

Naruto didn't know if Sasuke could see what he was feeling right now but something dire must have shown because it made his eyes widen and caused him to stop completely in his tracks. His expression looked like he could see his own death in his friend's eyes and Naruto hated himself for a moment for rattling him so badly. But he couldn't look away and he couldn't change his own expression either.

The look felt like it went on for a far longer time than it probably did but soon enough a guard poked Sasuke in the back with a truncheon, urging him forward.

But apparently Sasuke didn't feel like complying right now. He did take one step forward but only to turn and kick the weapon out of the guard's hand. He then threw his shoulder, along with his entire weight into the guard's midsection causing him to topple backwards, taking out another guard and two unsuspecting Hunters bringing up the rear.

For a moment Naruto was too shocked to do much of anything. I mean sure, he had kind of been waiting for an opportunity to free Sasuke after getting that information from Juro and realising how bad Sasuke's odds were of winning. But Sasuke had been so confident last night so it seemed absurd that one little look at Naruto would have caused him to panic and attempt to escape even before the trial had begun.

Had he read what a hopeless case it was in Naruto's eyes, did he understand that Naruto would only look at him like that if he thought all was lost? Well apparently he did because Sasuke seemed very eager now to not even allow himself to even get to the trial.

But Naruto's shock only lasted a couple of seconds and he hit the guard closest to him before making a break to join Sasuke in the middle of a growing crowd of Hunters and guardsmen. A few of the townspeople had shrieked and run off when Sasuke had attacked and Naruto fought against the flow of people to get closer to his friend.

By the time he reached him Sasuke was surrounded and unable to escape but still not yet recaptured, managing to disable most of the guards that got too close to him even with his injury and hands bound. Naruto got to the outside of the ring of attackers, grabbed the shoulder of the closest Hunter, pulling him around and delivering a solid punch almost flooring him in one hit. The next Hunter he went to hit was a little more prepared though and managed to dodge Naruto's next wild swing capturing his arm and turning, forcing it painfully up behind his back.

But no matter, he wasn't really feeling the pain and threw himself backwards in an attempt to throw the Hunter off his feet and either let Naruto go or be trapped under him as both of them went down.

The Hunter chose the latter and Naruto let his own body knock the wind out of the man and a grunt as Naruto's head impacted with his rather harshly after probably bouncing on the ground first. The grip on him went loose and Naruto got back to his feet, fighting off a sudden dizzy wave himself just in time to see one of the Hunters nearer Sasuke lunge forward and strike Sasuke with his sword.

Sasuke had rolled his body to the side but Naruto could see that it had made contact by the way Sasuke staggered and the darkness start to stain the side of his shirt almost immediately. Sasuke managed to dodge a second strike even so but Naruto could see the pain on his face and the distraction cost Naruto his moment to intervene.

Someone tackled him and he hit the ground skidding with one Hunter pinning him down. And even being pinned, Naruto knew he could still recover until another person piled on and grabbed his arms to prevent any further movement.

Held down as he was, no matter how hard he struggled, the best he could do was raise his head and look on in horror as Sasuke was forced to back up, still incredibly outnumbered and even more injured, eyes darting around frantically in a very un-Sasuke like way. And that was probably what really got to Naruto the most. Even in desperate rights, Sasuke was cool and composed, here he looked like a cornered animal who understood he was really going to die right now.

And maybe that's what had made Sasuke snap in the first place. If he saw that even Naruto thought it was hopeless it might have gotten him to think that perhaps fighting was better than just simply being executed.

Fighting was something Sasuke understood, this was something he was familiar with whereas a trial and a quick death was completely and utterly out of his precious control. At least lashing out first gave him some hope and some control over how he died but either way for Naruto all it meant was that he was going to have to watch it happen, unable to do anything to stop it.

So Naruto watched impotently as the guards held him back tightly, restraining him with all their strength. All he could do was watch as more guards ran toward his unarmed friend with their weapons out and ready. Naruto knew in a sudden moment of clarity that this was it.

He was going to be held back and made to watch as Sasuke died. He would watch and there would be nothing he was going to be able to do about it because there was no way Sasuke would let himself be put to death, he would rather go out fighting.

"No, this isn't right..."

Naruto was unaware that he was speaking. It was almost as though the words were coming out with his breath, like a mantra that could somehow magically stop what he knew was going to happen.

"Let me help him. Please. This isn't right."

And then silence.

It was like the entire world went into slow motion and was muted all at the same time. And in his mind all he could hear was a deep, annoyed though resigned sigh.

And then Naruto blacked out completely.


The sting in his side was a distant sort of pain, not even his leg hurt as they closed it on him. He felt nothing but deeply tired and incredibly livid at the entire situation. Someone he always knew he'd be dragged off to race some kind of justice but he never expected it would be because someone saw him as a competitor for someone else's affection.

How fucking stupid? And he was irrationally angry that he would actually die for something like that. And he had known he would as soon as he'd looked at Naruto. Obviously Naruto had found something out that crushed Sasuke's hopes of getting out of this and well, he hated to admit it, but he'd let anger and desperation take over.

He'd seen Naruto fighting as well but he'd also seen Naruto go down and he'd figured that was about that. Truthfully he hadn't wanted Naruto to intercede at all. They probably wouldn't kill him for it, but who knew what the repercussions of such an act would be? It would have been better if he'd taken Sasuke's advice and stayed out of it.

Then out of the corner of his eye he saw a Hunter get flung with such force that it impacted with two of the men standing in front of him. Immediately his eyes whipped over to where Naruto was now standing after having broken free and rolling his shoulders like he was shaking off nothing more severe than a neck ache.

Now unimpeded Naruto strode toward Sasuke with determination. A Hunter broke off from the fight with Sasuke and rushed him but Naruto stepped deftly to the side, catching the arm holding the sword the Hunter had thrust at him and kicking down at the side of the man's knee. Sasuke didn't need to hear it to know that the force of the blow had broken something because the Hunter went down with a loud cry. Naruto didn't even look at the man as he started forward once more.

Sasuke couldn't watch Naruto closely enough to look at his eyes but he'd figured out what had happened pretty quickly and tried not to let the shock of Kurama apparently helping him distract him in any way.

He got focused in his own fight against one of the few remaining Hunters and tried to ignore the abrupt cries of pain and the sounds of flesh hitting flesh as Kurama continued to meet every adversary left out here.

Finally Sasuke managed to land a kick with his uninjured leg that was enough to knock the Hunter back and onto the ground just as his shoulder was grabbed and someone strong spun him around. He had been ready to defend himself but a familiar face twisted into an unfamiliar sneer halted him completely.

"Can you run?" Kurama asked.

"A lot faster than these guys can," Sasuke replied gesturing around at the many fallen guards.

He could hardly believe it. He had just about resigned himself to his fate and had never for one moment actually expected to win against these odds.

"This way."

Kurama jogged off and Sasuke went after him, weaving his way around what was left of the gathered crowd who didn't dare stop him. By chance caught sight of Amaya standing off to the side and watching everything with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. He suddenly smiled, the reality of the escape finally sinking in, and offered her a small wave with his bound hands before losing sight of her in the crowd.


One moment they were running through the dense forest away from the road leading out of town, the next had Kurama stumbling a little and pulling up, looking around with wide surprised blue eyes. When they saw Sasuke stop to look at him curiously he frowned.

"Uh..."

"We escaped," Sasuke told him getting used to Naruto's disorientation after being possessed by the demon. "We're actually still escaping," Sasuke told him pointedly.

Naruto was apparently getting used to Kurama taking over as well and amazingly seemed to take everything in stride.

"You're free?" he asked simply.

"Obviously."

Then Naruto's eyes narrowed just before Naruto drew back his fist and hit him in the jaw. Needless to say, Sasuke hadn't been expecting that to happen and stumbled back a few paces before he could stop, right himself and look back at Naruto with a frown.

"Somehow I thought you'd be happier," Sasuke muttered.

Naruto looked angry for all of two whole seconds before he really took in Sasuke's appearance along with the blood seeping through his shirt and seemed to regret what he had done almost instantly.

"Are you okay?"

"Better than I expected since I'm not dead. Did you ask the fox to do that?"

Naruto seemed confused for a moment before surprised. "I can't believe he actually did it!"

"I'll take that as a 'yes' then."

"Don't take this the wrong way but, why? He really hates you. I mean I tried asking for help but I got the impression that he didn't want to. I'm pretty surprised he changed his mind."

Sasuke wasn't sure how to answer. He knew why, Kurama had told him. But did he want to tell Naruto? He supposed it couldn't hurt. Even if he didn't, Naruto may come to the conclusion Kurama wanted him to without his help. Therefore Sasuke figured Naruto might make better decisions knowing the full score.

"I don't think he has a lot of power left. He thought if he made himself useful you might go back to feeding him nature energy."

"So, not because he wanted to save you?" Naruto asked seemingly already knowing the answer to that question.

"I really doubt it. Can we debate this later, you might not realise this but we just escaped my trial. I suggest we keep escaping."

"Uh right. Are you okay to move?"

"It'll be worse if I can't. We'll cover our tracks and double back a few times before we try and find somewhere to hole up. Just one thing first, why the fuck did you hit me?"

Naruto almost smiled. "I told you I would and I like to keep my promises."

TBC