Sango lowered her head and glowered at the other four shinobi, sighing as she resumed her human form. She wiped a hand across her lips, looking at the red stain in disgust. Leaning to the side, she spit a mouthful of blood onto the floor, snarling irritably. Her eyes rose toward the shinobi, and they flinched.
"If you ever come near my son again..." she whispered, "... this will be child's play compared to what you'll suffer." She cracked her knuckles and leapt forward. Her friends followed. The four screamed, but it wasn't going to help them.
"Thanks, Morino-sama!" said Sakura, eyeing the four bodies who were bound and gagged at her feet. Ibiki grinned.
"No problem. I'll take care of 'em."
"Don't go easy on 'em!" said Tatsumi. Sango leaned down next to one of them.
"You're done for, you know," she said with a bright smile.
"Mmph nnn mphmm mmm mm nngh!" he grunted through the cloth in his mouth. She smiled even wider.
"I'm a what?" she asked sweetly. "I'm not sure my husband would agree, are you?" Before he could blink, she had punched him in the face, still smiling broadly.
"MMM MPH MMR PPHR!" She punched him again.
"How rude, sir!" she mocked. "No need to call me hurtful names. I'm not the one who tried to kill a baby." She grinned.
"Now, now, Sango, don't kill the prisoners," Ibiki chuckled. "If you do, how will I get information?" Sango's friends shivered.
"She can be scarier than me sometimes," said Tatsumi.
"Guy taught her well," said Disura. Sango stood.
"Are you done being violent now?" asked Ruku.
"Of course not! We have a battle to finish! Let's go!"
"Sasuke! Snap out of it!" Naruto cried. Sasuke hissed and lunged at him, spitting black, acidic venom from his sharp fangs. "Uhn! No!" Naruto dodged by a few inches. Sasuke's fangs sunk into the ground before the cliffs of the Final Valley. In an instant, it sizzled and began melting away. Orochimaru's cackling laugh echoed through the valley, carrying over the turmoil that surrounded Naruto.
"Gah! Damn you!" Naruto shouted at Orochimaru as Sasuke struck again. "Sasuke! Wake up!" He dodged the fangs again. Sasuke hissed furiously.
"You can't free him from my chakra, Little Fox," said Orochimaru. "It controls more than his body." A wave of realization struck Naruto like a punch to his stomach.
"The mark!" he thought. "That's gotta be it! But where -" He frantically searched Sasuke's serpentine body for the mark, but the varying green and black scales made it impossible and dizzying. He dodged three bites in rapid succession, cursing under his breath. Sasuke hissed again, and Naruto gasped as he realized where the target was.
There, on the roof of Sasuke's white mouth and visible between his fangs, was the curse mark. As Naruto watched, the mark pulsed red for a split second. Sasuke instantly struck at Naruto again, his fangs biting through the rock with ease. There was no doubt now. Though not a strategist by nature, the answer came easily. And as it did, Naruto realized with a twinge of fear that for Sasuke to be saved, he would not be.
His mind was made up. He took in a deep breath, but it caught in his chest. He drew a kunai with trembling hands. Sasuke lunged at him one final time. A rush of air buffeted Naruto as his comrades appeared in the distance. They seemed to move in slow motion. Shikamaru and Hinata lunged forward to stop him. Naruto leapt toward Sasuke.
"No, you fool!" Shikamaru cried. Naruto's lips twitched in a faint smile.
"Sorry, guys," Naruto thought. "But I promised I'd risk my life for your safety." The distance between them shortened. "And now it's time..." He swung the kunai. "... to fulfill that promise!"
With a sickening squelch, Sasuke's fangs sank into Naruto's arm. He could feel the venom spreading through his veins - it burned like acid. A split second later, Sasuke shrieked and recoiled, hissing as blood dripped from his wounded mouth. Naruto groaned in pain and flinched as the venom spread through his left arm and into his shoulder. His plan had succeeded - Sasuke had bitten straight into the kunai, piercing through the curse mark like a pen through wet paper. Even as Naruto looked on, his scaly form evaporated in a cloud of black chakra, reverting his body to the second state of the curse. He was nearly free.
"Naruto..." Sasuke growled. "Why are you still alive? That poison should already have killed you." Naruto glared at him. His comrades looked on from the side. Shikamaru started to form the sign of Shadow Possession, but Hinata stopped him.
"No..." she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "This is his fight... to save his friend... We have no right to interfere..." Shikamaru clenched his fist and punched the cliff wall so hard that it split his knuckles.
"Damn it all!" he cried. "If we had just come sooner...!" His words halted in anger and grief.
"Unh... Sasuke..." Naruto panted. "I... will... save you!" He stumbled forward as orange chakra enveloped his body. Sasuke formed a black Chidori in his palm, coughing and gasping as he spat blood onto the ground. He was past his limit, too. With one last wave of strength, Naruto formed his fiery Rasengan. "Ky... uubi..." he thought as they leapt toward each other. "Give me... your strength!" Rain poured down from above him.
"Naruto!" Sasuke cried.
"Sasukeee!" With a bright white flash, the two collided, parting the rain around the sphere of dense energy. Seemingly in slow motion, the cloth over Naruto's heart burned away, then the first layer of skin, the second... The same happened to Sasuke as each struggled to drive their hand deeper, deeper, deeper...
Naruto's heart throbbed violently, hurting his chest, as Sasuke's Chidori pierced his ribs. His jacket tore open, fluttering on an invisible wind. Sasuke coughed, blood dripping onto his chest beside the hole under his left shoulder. With a flickering like strobe lights, their jutsu flared out of existence, and they fell.
Naruto felt the wind rush past his face, whipping his hair and clothes and pulling his blood above him in floating spheres. With the last ounce of strength in his leaden limbs, he lifted Sasuke's head into his arms, protecting him from the impact. Sasuke was back to a human form, his eyes blank and lifeless.
"This is it..." Naruto thought. "Three... two... one.." As he prepared for the impact, several strong arms caught him and lowered them to the ground. Shikamaru placed his ear near Sasuke's mouth, then sighed and hook his head. With a blank face, he closed Sasuke's dull, sightless eyes. It was too late; he was gone.
Naruto's eyes clouded over. His mind was numb. This couldn't be real. It just couldn't. Not Sasuke - not Sasuke! Hinata reached for Naruto's hand, but he swatted it away. Though his body was moving, his thoughts had dulled to a red haze; his ears rang with the faint throb of his slowing heart. His plan had failed. Despite his efforts to save Sasuke, Orochimaru had still sealed his fate.
Ga-thump... Ga-thump... Ga-thump...
A hollow, weak drumming pounding in his ears. With trembling limbs, Naruto struggled to his feet. He had no idea what he intended to do - his body moved without his consent.
Ga-thump... Ga-thump... Ga-thump...
His hands reached forward and lifted Sasuke's cold body close to him. A single tear ran down his cheek, mixing with the rain pouring over the unforgiving cliffs. The water flowed down Sasuke's cheeks like tears - tears shed for him, by him, for his memories, his present, his future.
Ga-thump... Ga-thump...
He took slow, staggering steps forward. He had to take Sasuke to - to where? If he wasn't alive, what good would be accomplished by that? Another step, then another. Each second was a day, each movement a lifetime. He had to keep moving. The venom had nearly accomplished its goal; he couldn't breathe anymore.
Ga... thump... Ga... thump...
A weak voice broke into his mind, sobbing as they screamed.
"Narutoooo!"
"Sakura..." he thought.
Ga... thump... Ga... thump...
His legs buckled, and he fell. He and Sasuke crashed to the ground, his arm draped over Sasuke's chest as the life left his body. "I couldn't... save him... forgive me..."
Ga... thump... Ga... thump...
Naruto's last breath escaped his lungs. He was going to join Sasuke.
...