Naruto pursed his lips to keep from vomiting.

This was a rough ride, but it was the only way Sakura said she could carry them while running at any worthwhile speed; slumped over her shoulder like a sack bouncing with each pounding footstep! Two separate servants had confirmed that the redhead, Simon, had set off for town right after they left that meeting. It took enthusiastic convincing to get it from both. Thankfully, there had been no more trouble leaving; bastard already had at least a half-hour lead on them after all that pleading and creeping through the manor.

A short jump or… something knocked the wind out of our hero as Sakura landed a bit harder than usual. He glanced to the right. Sasuki seemed to be holding up okay over on the other shoulder, at least. That was the most important thing. After all, she was the one who actually stood a chance confronting this assassin, he was just there to keep her from bleeding out afterwards and maybe make a distraction.

The hope had been that they'd catch him on the road, where Sakura could help too.

This hope was for naught.

Sakura's frantic bouncing didn't stop pummeling his guts until she practically threw both of them down at the front of the spacious inn. Sasuki rolling with the momentum a solid two loops and landing firm on her knees! Naruto hit the dirt face first. On the bright side, it didn't seem anyone was screaming or panicking inside, that bode well. Especially given all the time it took him to stand up and see straight.

"P-POISON! THE BOOZE IS POISONED! DON'T DRINK!" the young man screamed, pushing his way into the crowded room after his raven. Less then a dozen looked up at him. Less than half of those seemed to hear his words. Why the fuck was this place so noisy?!

"Sakura, hit the wall as hard as you can, as long as it takes," Sasuki commanded, still breathing hard and combing the place carefully just in front of her idiot. The giant didn't hesitate. Beating the entryway around the door to the point wood splintered and the building creaked as the heavy thuds gave way to silence!

"POISON!" Naruto shouted again, breathlessly, before anyone else could break the silence.

No less than half a hundred drinks were thrown aside like they were leaking acid; a chorus of clattering cups and the scratching of chairs and the beginnings of panic began. Then, just as quickly, it was silenced by a yell. This time successfully.

"SILENCE!" the foreign woman with the scary spike warhammer on her right hip demanded.

"Y-yeah! What's the meaning of this?" her husband added from the table, struggling to lift one leg out over the bench to stand and filling the room with his grunts and groans. It irritated Naruto to no end until one cough spat up an alarming amount of white foam. Then one arm came down to try and support his weight as it slipped.

Then, Mayor Choji slumped from his seat to the right, hitting the ground with a hard thud.

A fresh cry of panic rang out as another set of coughs and spazzing was heard.

"I- fuck get the poisoned near me!" Naruto shouted without thinking.

"YES! Into the kitchen with him, he can brew a quick antidote," Sasuki added through gritted teeth, her eyes wide as they stared at him, asking so clearly without a word, really?1? Though he was grateful for the cover, it sent his mind reeling at how he would fake this, especially when so many were staring at him like their lives depended on it. He was saved from speaking at least once again by Karui.

"If you're ill, back there, fine," she declared loudly over the crowd. "But you're watching the back door, and I'm watching the front. Nobody leaves until ALL are searched!" she commanded, making eye contact with the giant hunched over to peek inside; thankfully, Sakura had no complaints about this.

The lurching sound of her steps outside was audible to all the dead silent inside.

Only for a moment, though. Quickly panicked kin and comrades were rushing to get the poisoned into the back and making some noise in the process. Enough to add to the chaos of an already ugly scene, enough to make Naruto even more nervous as more eyes than he could count remained locked on him like some holy cleric.

The kitchen was a mess. So much so that he was still taking in the cluttered craphouse, wondering where to start, when a deep baritone barked by his ear. It made him jump, but Naruto could hardly fault the man for being impatient with a gurgling, limp young woman who was apparently his sister right there in his arms. At least there were plenty of eager hands to help him with his 'brewing'.

This consisted mostly of him standing over a large pot, calling for every and any potential ingredient he could think of that wasn't toxic. This was a grand total of four things, mind you, plus a few specs of dust and other crap he could find in his pockets. Honestly, it was a miracle nobody caught on.

It was a greater miracle and greater relief to the young man that all but three of the bodies piling up around him seemed to be stabilizing. Their breathing evened, in any case, and nobody appeared to be dying. Of course, mayor Choji and two others were already dead. The common denominator seemed to be just how much each of them had drunk. More then three full mugs each.

That made sense, given his extremely limited knowledge of toxins.

Still, it wasn't until he heard a crash that he rushed back into the bar. With the crowd, and especially the ones still upright in the even crampter little kitchen, it took nearly half a minute. It's fortunate that the killer was waylayed by the same problem.

Even slicing and dicing with the two nasty ten-inch knives in either hand. Most were trying to give him room, not all though. Certainly not any of the damn fools who had pushed in ahead of him! The assassin had bounced and weaved three yards through the room, adding two more murdered folk on his soul before Naruto was in a position to do anything.

A third had her jugular opened and her torso thrown across a table, clattering cups as the assassin took another yard! Karui still stood firm by the door, weapon out and braced, just waiting for him to come in striking distance. He didn't see Sasuki.

He had to do something!

Unfortunately, charging blindly into the blademaster's back didn't help much. As a matter of fact, not only did the redheaded fuck spin around and catch his assault, he kicked out a leg and shifted his weight flawlessly. That is, he redirected the blonde idiot's momentum straight into the last obstacle between him and the door.

Karui sucked in a breath as the blonde boy's scalp flew into her gut! Toppling down to the wooden boards below as she was crushed between the door and the beefy idiot who tried to help. She shrieked as one of the blades impaled through her shinguard, burying several inches of steel into flesh and destroying any chance of standing quickly.

All she could do was watch helplessly as her husband's killer threw open the door! The bright light of the outside world flooded the windowless interior like a portal to salvation! It Illuminated his body with blinding light and cast a long shadow behind him.

Naruto only just looked up in time to see Sasuki rise up out of this black silleoute like a demon, yanking herself upright and burying her own dagger in his neck!

And it was over.

He hit the ground sputtering and spitting and spraying his blood everywhere as the hundred odd people crammed in the tavern took in the sight. Nobody did much more than breathe until the spraying stopped. Not until his death was absolutely assured.

It almost felt like the entire room sucked in a deep breath along with our hero. Though this revealed that he had been stabbed in that little trainwreck of a charge he'd attempted, it was only a shallow cut and it wasn't preventing his breathing, so nothing to worry about. Sasuki managed a dazed smile as their eyes found each other.

"Is anyone cut still alive? In need of medical attention?" Karui called, managing to get herself upright with a broom as a makeshift crutch. Naruto kept his mouth shut as silence lingered eerily over the usually bustling building. Unfortunately, this didn't work. "Alright then, come on kid, we'll get you patched up back at the manor," she said, yanking him to his feet even despite the leaking fleshwound in her leg.

Naruto and Sasuki both wracked their brains to think of an excuse. It wouldn't make sense to take him back to their house it was much further. Could they claim Tsunade was a healer or would that just bring Karui back with them? Why the fuck weren't there any healers here in the tavern to deal with this shit?!

Even Sakura looked faintly concerned when she was recruited to carry the injured pair, but she said nothing. Nothing showed on the new widow's face as they were gently lifted and ferried to her home. Not a minute away at the pace they were going, not giving the poor boy much time to think.

Naruto had absolutely no idea how he would explain his already clotted fleshwound once it was examined.

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