Chapter Eleven

He had bumped into Sasuke again, for the fourth time, something he couldn't help, being that it was his first time outside of the village, and he was as twitchy as a squirrel. Both his and Sasuke's hands were resting on their katana, ever alert for some kind of attack that was sure to come, while Sakura tried to conduct a conversation with the outsider man, Tazuna. Every once in a while she would glance back at them, and he wasn't sure if it was to reassure herself that they were still there, or her way of keeping an eye on them. She definitely looked wary enough, something that alarmed him deeply. Did she have some type of plan- what was behind all of the speculative glances she turned their way?

Kakashi-sensei began to linger back, until he was near them, his lazy eye taking every thing in, and that was when Naruto noticed a puddle on the ground, not at all significant by his standards, but They surged forward in his mind to the fore, until They were looking out at the puddle, and he could see two ninjas hidden within.

Naruto blinked rapidly, his eyes feeling like they were about to pop from the force of Them, opened his mouth to speak, but the two hidden ninja exploded into action. Chains flew from the puddle, wrapping around their startled sensei as the two ninja emerged from the puddle.

"One down," one of the half-masked men hissed as both pulled on the chains in opposite directions, ripping Kakashi-sensei to shreds. They cackled in his mind as the two ninja leaped down behind him.

"Two-" the ninja swung their chains, but Naruto ducked, pulling out his katana and swinging it toward one's legs. The ninja jumped over the blade and aimed a kick for his head, forcing Naruto to roll away quickly to avoid his foot. At the same time Sasuke tossed a kunai, catching one of the nin's chains against a tree, then leaped forward as the other abandoned Naruto and raced toward the horrified Sakura and Tazuna, who seemed frozen the moment Kakashi-sensei had been torn apart.

Such a sensation was rushing through Naruto's veins, something he had never felt before, and likely would never understand. Everything seemed so vivid, clear- minute little details were somehow apparent, such as the small scratches and chips along the enemy nin's mask, or how the light glinted off of his katana as he swung it at the mans head. This was all so similar to training with Sasuke, dodging, striking, parrying- except the enemy had a very nubile chain instead of the straight and sturdy katana. The nin managed to wrap the chain around his katana and yanked it from his hands, flinging it far from the battle.

Naruto leaped back as the man swung the clawed chain, felt the pain as it pierced his hand, but he felt no fear. Had They taken it all away? Even now, he could feel Them watching him, a low din of noise in the back of his mind. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Kakashi-sensei had reappeared, knocking down the other nin that Sasuke had been fighting, and his roommate turned to him and tossed a kunai.

The enemy nin dodged the kunai, swinging his chain at Naruto's head, but he twisted about, snatching the kunai out of the air as it passed and swinging it at the nin's throat at he finished the spin. He felt the kunai cut into the man's throat, passing through the fabric that covered his neck, and slicing into the flesh. The man gave a choking gurgle, eyes wide in surprise as blood squirted from his jugular all over Naruto's face. The ninja dropped to the ground, grabbing his throat, twitching several times before becoming still, but Naruto's focus was on something else- or more like nothing at all, as ecstasy ran through him, and once again all the colors seemed to blur together. He could feel the muscle loosen in his body, his headache vanished, and They murmured gently through his head, Their pleasure his, and for once, They did not laugh at him, or hurt him. They were completely satisfied.

-------

"Son of a bitch," The enemy ninja tried to surge to his feet as the other fell to the ground, his blood spurting all over the dirt, but Kakashi-sensei punched the man in the stomach roughly, and he slumped to the ground, momentarily unconscious. Behind him, he could hear Sakura's ragged breaths, and he briefly wondered what she was getting all worked up about- it wasn't like she had contributed to the fight. No, Sasuke had to abandon Naruto to go to her rescue- because he truly doubted she knew anything beyond kunai tossing and the very basics of taijutsu- hair pulling didn't count. And there was a moment of his own to be ashamed of, for when the enemy nins had first attacked, he hadn't been able to move, he had been frozen by the sight of Kakashi-sensei's body being torn apart. Apparently, Naruto didn't have that problem, and had burst into action the moment those two nin had approached him. It had taken Sasuke several precious seconds to get his bearings and come to his companion's aid. It was shameful- very shameful- and he was grateful his father wasn't here to witness his momentary weakness.

Sasuke rushed over to Naruto, who was standing near the body, and he was sure his roommate was probably in shock, having killed someone for the first time- and he almost felt envious of him, having passed that hurdle. He stopped at his side, eyeing the dead ninja- his eyes were still open- looked over at Naruto, and felt an instant chill run though him. There was blood on his companions face, which wasn't anything new beyond the fact that for once it wasn't his own, but it was his expression that chilled him. Naruto was staring off into the the trees, eyes lazy, looking quite sated, and his lips were turned up in a happy smile. It was the second time in two hours he had seen that smile, and it disturbed him, especially at this moment, for though it was a pleasant smile, the look in Naruto's lazy eyes was not particularly friendly as it was bloodthirsty, murderous, or maliciously delighted.

"Hey," he nudged Naruto's shoulder as Kakashi-sensei approached, and Sasuke knew he didn't want the man to see Naruto like this. "Hey! Snap out of it!" he hissed in his ear, and pinched his arm, which caused the look of happiness to fade immediately, and Naruto to turn accusing eyes on him. That was more like it.

Kakashi-sensei knelt down by the dead ninja and turned his body so that he could see the killing wound, and the hitai-ate strapped to his shoulder. "Shinobi from the Mist," he muttered, eye serious as he glanced up at Naruto, who was staring edgily at Tazuna, who had approached along with Sakura and was much too close to him. Naruto promptly moved to his other side, so that Sasuke was between him and Tazuna. Kakashi-sensei turned his eye from Naruto and frowned at the old man as he straightened up. "I was under the impression that this was a simple escort mission, with the possibility of bandits or gangs. But two missing nin from Hidden Mist? We have to have a talk, Tazuna-san. This C-rank mission just moved up to at least B-rank."

As the old man averted his eyes guiltily, Sakura sputtered, "B-rank?! We can't do that! We're not qualified! We-"

Sasuke turned a cold gaze on her- effectively shutting her up, and Kakashi-sensei turned to Naruto.

"Naruto, you've got a cut on your hand that we're going to have to take care of," Naruto, who had been staring at the dirt, lifted his hand, and Sasuke could see angry slashes across the back of his right hand. Sakura gave a slight hiss at the sight of it, but Naruto seemed to lose interest after it was brought to his attention, and his hand flopped back down, a trickle of blood falling from it and into the dirt. Kakashi-sensei shook his head. "It may look like nothing, but the claws of these two men are poisonous- we have to induce bleeding to drain out the poison."

Sasuke looked at Naruto in alarm as the Kakashi-sensei approached, which did not seem to please the blond, who backed away, smoothing his hood down. With the bruising and the blood, he looked even worse now than before. Naruto moved away from them, pulling out a kunai and digging it into the wound, making them all grimace, though his facial expression was set on resigned.

Kakashi-sensei sighed and handed Sasuke bandages from his first aid kit, and Sasuke headed over to the blond, grabbing his wrist and examining the wound, which looked even worse now than before. He wrapped it up, glancing up at Naruto's face every once in while, gauging his expression, which still seemed stuck on resigned and miserable.

"Good job," he muttered lowly, so that the others would not hear him, and Naruto's eyes fluttered in response. When Naruto's hand was all but mummified, they returned to the others; Kakashi-sensei was in the process of tying the surviving missing-nin up and Sakura had retrieved Naruto's blade, smartly handing it to him instead of the blond.

"Thanks for coming to our rescue," Sakura blushed as he handed the blade over to Naruto. Sasuke scowled and looked back at her.

"I hope to not have to do that often."

Sakura's eyes filled with tears as she looked down at the dirt, much like Naruto was doing at the moment, and he noticed that Tazuna was frowning at him, but not with the usual force that he had earlier. The elderly man was looking quite grim.

They moved along for another few hours, surrounding Tazuna and keeping sharp eyes out for another attack. Sakura seemed to have fallen into a dark mood, Kakashi-sensei was more pensive than usual, and Naruto...seemed to be in the midst of one of his headaches again. Sasuke moved closer to the blond, which wasn't much since Naruto was already walking close enough.

"Did you see him?" he whispered, glancing at the others to make sure they hadn't heard as Naruto lifted watery, pain-filled eyes to him in question. "The man you killed. Did you see his ghost?" Naruto glanced behind them in alarm but shook his head. "No ghost?" Naruto shook his head again, rubbing above his brow in pain. Interesting. What made a person a ghost? Under what circumstances caused them to become that way?

They came to a river not too much later, where a man waited uneasily for them on a poorly made dock, his weathered face tight with anxiety. They all boarded the boat quietly, the ferryman admonishing them to be as quiet as possible. Of course, it was then that Tazuna felt it appropriate to tell of why he had lied to them about the mission rank. The cause of the lie was unfortunate, and they all felt bad for the small island country, except maybe for Naruto, who spent the whole trip staring down into the water, eyes blurred with pain, and probably not having heard a word the bridge builder had said. He knew that the blond often suffered from intense headaches, yet he hadn't thought it would be much of a problem on this mission- but if they got into any more battles with Naruto like this...

Or maybe the poison had affected him faster than they had surmised? He eyed Naruto's bandaged hand, and thought that maybe he should check it for unnatural swelling. Would the injured hand hinder him from doing jutsu properly? He wondered if Naruto was capable of doing any jutsu at all, especially after the Kyuubi's chakra running through his system so violently. They should have checked before they had departed.

He nudged his roommate and leaned close to his hooded ear. "Do you think you could perform any jutsu during this mission?"

At first it seemed like Naruto hadn't heard him, but then he nodded slowly as if trying to limit the movement of his head, his eyes shut tightly. Sasuke took his bandaged hand and unwrapped it carefully, Naruto giving no indication that he noticed. He eyed the wound, and Kakashi-sensei leaned back to peer at the hand, his eye narrowing at the sight. Sasuke moved the hand from his view, watching the jounin's expression from the corner of his eye as he re-wrapped Naruto's hand. The wound was already half-healed, no doubt due to the fox, and he hadn't wanted Kakashi-sensei to see that. But it was too late, judging by the speculative look in the jounin's eye.

The boat moved silently along the river, passing through a tunnel and out into a rather nice shore, exposing the forest that rested along the it.

"Welcome to Wave," the bridge builder breathed, and there was sad adoration in his eyes, and even Naruto looked up to blink at his surroundings, his nose crinkling in distaste at the smell of seawater. Tazuna thanked the ferryman as they docked, and quickly headed along the dirt path, closer to their destination. While they had been on the boat, they had seen the large, almost finished bridge that Tazuna was risking all on, and Sasuke had to admit it was pretty impressive.

They headed down a slightly forested path, on one side trees, the other the grey ocean, with its constant chatter from gulls and the rush of waves breaking against the shore. Naruto bumped into him again, and he looked to see that the blond seemed barely lucid, and as he opened his mouth to hiss at him, he saw a flash of white in the bushes on Naruto's right. He tossed a kunai quickly, startling Sakura and Tazuna, and attracting Kakashi-sensei's attention.

"Did you see something, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked nervously, pulling out her own kunai. Sasuke moved toward the bush, peering over it to spot a frightened white rabbit. "Aww," Sakura gushed, picking it up and running a hand through its thick fur. "It's just a rabbit."

"Wrong color...for weather..." he turned to see Naruto squinting painfully at the rabbit, apparently having a hard time forming words, but he didn't miss the narrow- eyed look Kakashi-sensei was giving the rabbit and the surrounding area.

There was a whooshing sound, and Kakashi-sensei shouting for them to duck, and he grabbed Tazuna and dropped to the dirt, feeling a gust of wind rush over them accompanied by a loud solid 'thunk'. Beside him, Naruto was looking much more lucid now, and frightened too. Sasuke looked up from the dirt and spotted a rather large zanbatou embedded into a tree, and standing on it was a shirtless man in striped pants, and bandages wrapped around the lower half of his face. Kakashi-sensei was already on his feet, staring up at the ninja.

"If it isn't Momochi Zabuza, Hidden Mist's missing nin," he drawled as Sasuke got to his feet, the others following along. He pulled out his katana, but paused when Kakashi-sensei held up a hand. "No, stay out of this fight. He's too much for you."

"You're Sharingan Kakashi, yes? Sorry, but the old man is mine." The man's voice was a deep baritone, not that Sasuke cared much, especially as his words sank into his mind. Sharingan? His eyes zeroed in on the back of his sensei's head. Kakashi-sensei had the Sharingan? Impossible, no one outside of the Uchiha clan had that technique- it was passed through the blood and the only way he could have it was if he was a blood relative! Was he?

"What's the Sharingan?" Sakura whispered, her voice trembling slightly. The man looked at her.

"It's said that it gives one the ability to defeat any ninjutsu, taijutsu, or genjutsu- and the ability to copy any technique used against him. In the bingo book its said that you've copied a thousand techniques, eh Copy ninja Kakashi?" The man looked delighted.

Kakashi-sensei lifted the hitai-ate that sat over his left eye, and to Sasuke's shock, it revealed the bloody Sharingan, that was it- clearly, with three pin-wheels.

"You guys stay back and guard Tazuna-san," he ordered, and this was the first time they had heard him sound so serious. Naruto moved reluctantly closer to Tazuna, pulling out his katana, face pained and grim. Sasuke reluctantly backed up in front of the old man as well, wishing he could just fight Momochi Zabuza instead of standing by and watch. He also wanted to ask how the jounin had come about possessing the Sharingan.

The missing-nin darted from the tree, pulling the zanbatou with him and dropped down into the water, reappearing to stand on top of it.

"Ninpou: Mizu no jutsu," and immediately a mist rolled over them, engulfing the missing-nin completely and converging upon them.

"He's gone!" Sakura gasped.

"Calm down," was Kakashi-sensei's assuring reply. "He'll come after me first," but even as he said this, a wave of pure killing intent rushed through them, like none Sasuke ever felt before, and he was sure in the next few moments he would be dead. He was no match for this ninja, not he, not Naruto, and he managed to glance at his blond companion, whose face was twisted in fear and resignation as the mist nin began to list ways to kill them. "Don't worry, Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei's voice cut through the terror, "I'll protect you guys even if it kills me," and the jounin sent him a cheerful look.

Even as he spoke, Zabuza's presence appeared behind them. Immediately Naruto jumped forward, out of the way, but it was Kakashi-sensei that saved the rest of them, shoving them forward while stabbing the missing-nin in the stomach with a kunai. For a second the man froze, then burst into water, at the same time appearing behind the jounin, swinging his zanbatou and cutting the jounin in half. But he too burst into water, and Sasuke knew that Kakashi-sensei had copied the mizu bunshin technique that quickly. Kakashi appeared behind him, kunai to his neck.

"You copied my bunshin, using it to distract me with those pathetic words while you hid out in my mist, watching me," the missing nin chuckled. "Impressive." Suddenly a second Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. "But I'm not that easy."

"We have to help him!" Sakura gasped, green eyes wide with fear, looking over at them. Sasuke agreed, they should help, but he knew they would only get in the way. Rage passed through him. He was still so weak!

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," Naruto rasped beside him, and he turned to see a bunshin pop up next to Naruto. The blond and the bunshin stared at one another for a moment, then the clone nodded and headed for the shore, slipping into the water quietly under the ring of metal against metal. He sent the blond a questioning look.

"He's a mist nin," Naruto rasped. "He'll stay near the water."

Sasuke nodded. Every so often, he forgot that Naruto was actually smart. Just as he finished thinking this, Kakashi-sensei was knocked into the water, and as he tried to surface, the mist nin popped up behind him, chuckling in delight.

"Suiru no jutsu," at his words a bubble of water formed around Kakashi-sensei, lifting him into the air a foot above the water. Kakashi-sensei tried hitting the watery bubble, but to no avail, and judging by the missing-nin's cackle, it was useless. "You shouldn't have fallen into the water, Kakashi. You'll never escape this prison, and while I have you, I think I'll finish off your little troop playing ninja."

Fear came over their sensei's face as he shouted for them to leave. "Get out of here! None of you are a match for him. Escape!" As he shouted a bunshin formed itself from the water, stepping onto land. "Get out of here!" Kakashi shouted. "He has to stay with me to keep me imprisoned, and his bunshin can't go very far from him. So leave!"

Sweat appeared above Sasuke's brow as he looked at the bunshin, to Zabuza, to Kakashi, to his teammates. Sakura was trembling, Tazuna's face was twisted in a grimace, and Naruto's weary eyes were on him, waiting for him to tell them what to do. Like hell he was going to run like a dog with his tail between his legs.

He gripped his katana, and that seemed to affirm to Naruto that they indeed intended to stay and fight, whether it killed them or not. "Guard Tazuna," he ordered to Sakura, who nodded sharply and stood in front of the man just as the bunshin darted forward, kicking Naruto in the chest. The blond managed to bring up the flat of his blade to take the blunt of the force, knocking him back a few feet, and Sasuke swung his blade at the bunshin's head. The bunshin dropped down, avoiding the swipe and coming up with a punch to his abdomen. Sasuke grunted, glared at the water bunshin as Naruto approached with two other clones, and thats when he remembered the one that had disappeared into the water.

"Hey," he gestured his head toward the water, and Naruto turned his head and gazed momentarily at the ocean before he and his clones attacked the bunshin. All were knocked away, though the mizu bunshin had to actually do some work, and as Naruto was pushed back, Sasuke gathered his chakra. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

As the fire engulfed the startled bunshin, the kage bunshin that hid in the water chose that moment to leap out at Zabuza, kunai taking a swipe at the man's arm. The mist nin's eyes widened as he was forced to jerk out of the way, his arm that was buried in the bubble was pulled out, and with a splash, Kakashi-sensei was released.

"Damn brats!" Zabuza snarled, turning to Kakashi-sensei, and immediately their hands began to form identical signs, and shouting, "Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu!"

Sasuke watched in awe as twin dragons made of water rose behind the two ninja and violently crashed into one another with a loud crack. Sasuke's awe turned into alarm as a torrent of water rushed toward them, knocking him back. He rolled with the water, allowing himself to be moved until he grabbed onto a tree and pulled himself up. From where he was, he could not hear what they were saying, but every time the missing nin made a move, Kakashi-sensei copied it, until the jounin appeared behind the mist nin and blasted him with a huge torrent of water, knocking them all back again. Sasuke grabbed onto the tree tightly, muscles straining against the angrier flow of water, until it settled, and he could look up again.

The scene that greeted him was even more startling. Kakashi-sensei had Zabuza up against a tree, ready to land a killing blow, he imagined, when two senbon needles pierced through the missing- nins neck, killing him.

The man dropped limply to the ground as Sasuke approached, and a young muffled voice called his attention to the tree, where a masked ...kid kneeled.

"You are right, he is dead." the kid dropped down next to the dead missing-nin, looking over the body. "I must thank you," the youthful voice said. "I've been waiting for a chance to kill this man."

"You a hunter-nin from Hidden Mist?" Kakashi-sensei asked, and the kid nodded.

"Yes. Finally, my village can clean up this mess." He tossed the man over his small shoulders. "Thank you." He and the body disappeared in swirl of mist.

"What just happened?" Sakura's voice broke the momentary silence, and Sasuke looked around to the see the soaked kunoichi approach with the bridge builder. That's when he remembered his blond companion, and his eyes darted around for him, finally landing on him quite a distance away, simply standing there, hair plastered to his bruised face, looking water-logged and miserable. He had two katana in his hands, and Sasuke realized he must have dropped his own when the first blast of water hit them. He gestured for his companion to approach- really he didn't know why Naruto was standing all the way over there in the first place, and the blond reluctantly limped over to where they were. "Wasn't that kid our age? How could he kill that man so easily?!" Sakura sputtered incredulously.

Kakashi-sensei looked down at her. "In this world, there are kids younger than you that are stronger than me." Sakura gasped, and Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Yes, that was true. Itachi had made anbu captain by thirteen, and he...he knew he would not be able to say the same for himself. Sasuke's fists clenched in silent fury, missing the empty look Naruto sent his way. "We should be getting Tazuna-san home now," Kakashi-sensei suggested as he pulled his hitai-ate down over the eye that carried the Sharingan.

"Yes!" Tazuna dropped his sun hat over his wet gray hair. "You can all come to my place and rel-"

They all watched as Kakashi-sensei dropped down flat into the mud.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screeched, making Naruto jump and look at her in alarm as she rushed to her sensei's side, turning the groaning man over. "Are you hurt badly?" She asked, voice heavy with concern. Sasuke moved to kneel down and examine him, but there were no serious wounds on the jounin beyond a simple cut on his arm. He gestured for Naruto to come over and have a look. Though he wasn't sure why, it wasn't like Naruto was a medic nin or anything- but Naruto knew a lot of seemingly random important facts.

The blond pulled his soaked hood over the his wet locks, shaking from the cold, and blinked miserably down at their sensei's body. Then he spoke. "Does the Sharingan take chakra to work?"

Sasuke's brows rose, and he nodded.

"Must have used too much chakra then," His arms wrapped around his body and he turned and moved away slowly. "He'll recover...in a week or so..." his voice drifted back to them as he moved along their intended path.

"Is he kidding?" Sakura stared incredulously after the blond, and Sasuke sighed.

"Let's get him up." He gripped his sensei by the armpits and Sakura took his legs. "You're place better not be far," Sasuke sent Tazuna a glare, and the man simply grinned in reply.

------------------------

The home in which belonged to Tazuna was over water, on stilts, and the mere sight of it made Naruto pale in horror. Or perhaps it was the armless man pacing mournfully about the house, his stubs tracking blood along the wooden dock. He had tanned skin and dark hair, with dark eyes swollen with tears. He turned as they approached, and his eyes zeroed in on him, and Naruto looked down at the wooden dock.

The first thing they did was get Kakashi-sensei into the house and down on a futon, where he muttered that he would be fine with a few days rest. Tsunami, Tazuna's ill named daughter, at least he thought so, especially living in a village that stretched along the coast, immediately sat them down to eat, which Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna seemed eager to do. He, on the other hand, felt like crawling out of his skin. There was sand in his sandals, salt settling along his flesh, and he was in someone's poorly cleaned house. The very table they sat before had salt stuck within the nooks of it. He needed cleanser-badly.

"Are you alright?" the dark-haired woman asked, and he did not bother looking up at her. "Is he alright?" Her question was directed toward the others.

"He's fine," he heard Sasuke reply, and then she made a inquiry as to why he wasn't eating. He tuned out Sasuke's reply, instead focusing on more serious matters, besides the state of Tazuna's home. Naruto never wanted to be a ninja, never even had much interest in it in general- but Sasuke and the Hokage had forced him along that path, and he mostly blamed Sasuke for this. They had never shown interest in the world of shinobi until Sasuke had shown up, and since then, They had pushed him almost as much as Sasuke had.

And it became increasingly clear, that the longer he stayed on this path, the shorter his life was going to be- not that he expected it to be a long one anyway. Deep down, he was a little bit startled that he was still alive. The Demon Brothers were the first real ninja they had come across, and if it weren't for the intervention of Them, he knew he would be dead already. He wasn't stupid- he could tell what They were doing. They wanted him to want to kill people, to fall into Their bloodlust. All during the trip They kept coming and going from his eyes, making them hurt and hard to see. They wanted to control him as They have for all of his life, and They had chosen Sasuke as Their tool. Perhaps Sasuke's father was right- perhaps Sasuke was wrapped around his finger, just not his finger.

Sasuke nudged him, and he looked up to see that the table had been cleared, and the others were getting ready to rest for the night. Tsunami had apparently laid out three futons next to Kakashi-sensei's, and Sakura was already laying down next to the jounin. Naruto slowly got to his feet and followed Sasuke towards the futons, but he paused when his eyes fell on the window, where the armless man stood looking in, eyes swollen with tears.

They weren't safe.

His eyes darted to all the windows, which were wide open, a clear ocean breeze running through, unhindered. Naruto's eyes widened, and his heart began to thunder in his ears. He shouldn't be here- this wasn't his place. This wasn't where he belonged. His place had covered windows, not opened ones, his place had protection- his place was clean, not contaminated. The man continued to stare at him, his mouth opening and a trickle of blood ran down his chin. Puffs of rust came from his mouth- someone was touching him, and Naruto's eyes darted wildly and connected with Sasuke's dark ones. Sasuke's face had that forced calm he adopted when he was dealing with him, and he gently pulled Naruto to the futon.

The filthy futon.

Naruto shook his head wildly and fled to a corner, the one farthest from the windows, and buried his face in his hands, pulling at his bangs, feeling a headache bloom.

Hours later, someone nudged him, and he moved his hands from his face to see Sasuke crouching before him in the darkness. Behind him, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei slumbered, clearly unaware of the danger they were all in. His eyes darted to the open windows and he bit his tongue sharply as to not make noise.

"Here," Sasuke whispered, and something poked his hand. He looked down to see that it was one of his candy bars, completely normal, and with Sasuke's body shielding him from few, he quickly ate the bar, relieved that no one would see him eat it. When that was done, Sasuke brought over his pack and he pulled out the disinfectant wipes he had stashed at the bottom and wiped as much of himself as he could, and Sasuke did the same. "Is there someone out there?" he asked suddenly, and Naruto's eyes darted to the man at the window. He was still there, still watching him. Naruto shuddered and nodded. Sasuke turned and looked at the window before getting up and closing the shutters, then pulled the curtains together. He cautiously closed and curtained all the windows so that the moonlight was shut out, and finally, Naruto felt a little ease run through him.

Sasuke returned and sat down in front of him, brows pinched together as he frowned down at his pants.

"Kakashi-sensei's last name is Hatake, right?" Naruto nodded. "So how come he has the Sharingan?" Anger was laced in his question, along with confusion and jealousy. "Only the Uchiha possess this bloodline!"

Naruto scratched his scalp- then cringed when he felt salt under his fingers. He felt disgusting. He blinked at the Uchiha miserably, knowing that this was all his fault, and also that Sasuke was apparently not the most observant person around.

"There was a scar on the lids of his eye," Naruto replied, and the Uchiha looked surprised. "it means that his eye has been replaced."

Understanding dawned on Sasuke. "You think he lost his eye and an Uchiha gave one to him?" before he could reply, Sasuke scowled. "What idiot Uchiha would do that? That bloodline is exclusive- he would have gotten in much trouble with the heads of my clan if that was found out. He'd have to have already been dy-" Sasuke cut himself off, instead staring down at the filthy floor.

Naruto went back to wiping himself, and even began to run the wipes through his hair in an attempt to get the salt out.

He silently cursed Sasuke while he did so.

-------

The next day Kakashi-sensei woke to a grim revelation, and he had them gather around to hear it. Zabuza had escaped death, with help from the hunter-nin- who could be either real or fake- though it didn't matter which- it appeared they had less than a week to train and get their bodies in high gear. Sasuke couldn't help but tremble in excitement-he wanted another chance to fight, to prove that he wasn't just some kid playing ninja. Beside him, Sakura looked alarmed and uneasy, and on his other side, Naruto was...staring at the floor, eyes running along the cracks and no doubt lamenting on how dirty the place was.

"What will we doing for training?" Sakura asked

"I have something planned," Kakashi replied with a gleam in his eye.

"Sounds boring," a small voice said behind them, and he turned to see a small dark-haired boy in a hat stare back at them with dark miserable eyes- though he imagined no one could do miserable like Naruto.

"Oh! Hello," Sakura greeted with a puzzled smile, and Tazuna introduced him as Inari- his grandson.

The kid clung to his mother, then said, "They're all going to die."

Sakura frowned as Tazuna sighed. "Inari..."

"What's the point? No one can defeat Gatou, they're just wasting their time." He then turned and went back to wherever the hell he had come from, which was perfectly okay with Sasuke, who didn't want to stay around the little bastard anyway. He glanced to see what Naruto thought of this, but forced down an exasperated sigh when he saw that Naruto hadn't even turned around to see who had addressed them- he was still staring at the ground with the same aggrieved expression on his face.

Yes, no one could do miserable like Naruto.

--------

The next day they stood in the trees, waiting for Kakashi-sensei to arrive, as they usually did, except this time he would have a valid excuse for his lateness. In the meantime, he and Sasuke occupied themselves with their usual warm-up of taijutsu while Sakura did stretches and watched them with silent speculative eyes. He didn't like when she watched them.

There was a rustle of leaves, and they turned to see Kakashi-sensei arrive, one arm occupied with a crutch, but otherwise he seemed okay.

"Alright, so this is where we're going to do some training. But first, I want one of you to tell me what chakra is."

Sakura stepped forward. "Chakra is the energy a ninja needs when performing a jutsu."

"That's correct Sakura," Kakashi nodded. "Can anyone elaborate more?"

Sasuke nudged him, and Naruto grimaced. "Chakra energy has two parts, the body energy that is in each our cells, and spiritual energy gained through training and other experiences. Combining them creates chakra, and by releasing such, one can use a jutsu, which is achieved through the process of performing a seal with the hands. Common seals used are the Rat seal, Ox seal, Tiger seal, hare seal, Dragon seal, Serpent seal, Horse seal, Ram seal, Monkey seal, Bird seal, Dog seal, and the Boar seal. Doing these correctly-"

"Okay Naruto," Sasuke interrupted, and he glanced up to see that the others were staring at him.

"Right..." Kakashi-sensei stared at him more for a second, then smiled. "Ah, Umino-san had some smart students. Now, the most important thing about chakra is that, no matter how much you have, if you don't have proper control over it, any jutsu you create will be weak, or not work at all." Sasuke's brows rose at this. "And by wasting so much energy, you won't last very long in a battle. Not to mention, there may- or most likely will, be a time when you'll be fighting and gathering chakra at the same time, which is difficult. So today, we're going to learn better chakra control."

"How?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"Tree climbing."

"What? What kind of training is that?"

"Well, first off, you won't be climbing with your hands," he walked over to a tree, then walked vertically up it, without use of his hand. Sakura gasped in awe as Kakashi-sensei hung upside-down from a branch. "You'll have to direct chakra to your feet to stick to the tree. How will this help you, you ask? Well, by concentrating a small amount to the bottom of your feet, you learn better chakra control. Learn how to do this properly, and you can do just about any jutsu."

Theoretically, Naruto thought. Some jutsu were simply beyond regular means, beyond simple control. The jounin walked back down the tree and whipped out his book. "Go ahead and pick a tree. Mark each spot you reach and beat that."

Sasuke and Sakura eagerly pulled out a kunai and ran for a tree. Naruto sighed and walked up to one, concentrating chakra to his feet, took a few steps up before stumbling back down. Next to him, Sasuke dropped down from a considerable height, looking peeved and pleased at the same time. That is, until Sakura exclaimed how easy that was, and they both looked up to see her sitting comfortably in her tree, which was no surprise to him, but was apparently for Sasuke.

"Well well," Kakashi-sensei hummed. "That's quite impressive Sakura. Maybe you should be the number one rookie, hmm?"

Sasuke glared and ran for the tree, while Sakura yelled at the jounin to be quiet. As Naruto approached the tree again, They surfaced again from the simple murmur at the back of his mind to right behind his eyes, and he stiffened, feeling his eyes turn to the right, where to his surprise, he spotted the little child Inari behind a tree, watching them. Behind Inari was the armless man, and when their eyes connected, and man made a puffy gasp and fled, disappearing soundlessly into the forest.

"Come on, Naruto," Sasuke urged as he dropped down to the ground again. "You're not even trying. Let's go." Naruto sighed miserably and headed up the tree again, They retreating back to murmurs.

Hours later, they were at the bottom of the trees, sweaty, tired, and he was sure Sasuke and Sakura were hungry. Sasuke had a perpetual scowl on his face, repeatedly glancing up at his marks, unsatisfied, and of course, when he looked at Naruto's which were apparently even less satisfactory, seemed to put him in an even more sour mood.

"I can't believe you guys are still going at it," Sakura panted from her tree, which had all the highest marks. She got up and dusted herself off, looked nervously between the two, then bit her lip as she approached him. Naruto smoothed down his hood and turned to move toward Sasuke.

"Hey Naruto," she reached out to grab his shoulder, but seemed to think better of it and instead brushed her hair out of her face. Naruto looked at her. What did she want? "Um, I...I was just going to say that you should just relax, and um, focus...on the tree. Yeah." Her eyes darted from his and to the ground, then back again, before she turned completely red. "Yeah- well I'm going to go- get something to eat, I mean." she stammered her way away from him, and he watched her go.

Sasuke got up and came to his side. "What did she want?"

Naruto turned to him. "She said to relax and focus on the tree." Sasuke nodded and headed back to the tree. Naruto went to his and tried to relax, but he could not quiet his mind- his mind was never quiet- he couldn't even understand the concept of relaxation and quiet. Instead he focused as little chakra as he could and headed up the tree, actually getting farther than his previous attempts before his chakra stuttered to a halt, and he leaped up and grabbed a branch, swinging himself up and sitting down. His body ached.

Sasuke moved into his tree and handed him a candy bar, and he glanced around for witnesses before he quickly ate it. Sasuke grimaced, then wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Why do you think Sakura could do it so quickly?" he asked, sounding agitated. Naruto folded the wrapper and neatly placed it in his pocket, so he could dispose of it later.

"Because she's female."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Naruto sighed, feeling a headache bloom. "Kunoichi naturally have less chakra than men, so they have better control, which is why most genjutsu masters are woman. It is also why some of the best medic-nins are woman. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, as there is to everything. We have more chakra than Sakura, therefore, more to control."

"Where'd you learn that?"

"Handbook: Everything Ninja."

Sasuke blinked at him, then jumped down from the tree. "Come on, we have a lot to do," he called up at him, and They murmured their agreement.

While Sakura and Kakashi spent the coming days protecting Tazuna as he built the bridge, he and Sasuke continued to climb the tree, until he never wanted to see another tree again.

That night, as the others sat at the table and ate, and Tsunami silently fretted over why he wasn't eating, Sakura commented on a picture that had a person torn out of it. He thought it was stupid of her to bring up- because he'd seen it days ago, and it was clearly none of their business as to why the person had been removed from the portrait, and judging by Sasuke's glare, he felt the same way. But apparently Sakura lacked tact along with common sense, and they were gifted with the story of Inari's father Kaiza, who upon hearing his name, decided to look in the open windows, making his headache even worse. Why hadn't Tsunami kept the windows drawn and closed? Was she punishing him for not eating her food?

"Please," Kaiza whimpered, puffs of grey smoke coming from his mouth, and They became louder. Naruto dropped his head in his hands as Tazuna finished his story, unaware of Kakashi's eye on him, watching as he dug his nails into his scalp.

---------

Sakura was awakened, though she didn't know by what, and she lifted her head from her futon, blinking into the darkness, noticing that the windows were shut and curtains drawn. A sound came, a word, and she turned her head in Sasuke's direction, and spotted Naruto sitting near him, rocking back and forth, his hood drawn low over his face. Indecipherable words drifted from his bruised mouth, and she slowly sat up.

Uzumaki scared her- his uncaring, accusing eyes disturbed her. Sasuke-kun had come to her rescue several time already on this mission, but it was like merely acknowledging her existence was painful for the blond. She'd watched him closely after he had killed that ninja, the Demon Brother, had wanted to see him shaken, horrified, but she couldn't tell when he always looked so miserable. She knew Ino was right though- Naruto wouldn't shed a single tear if something were to happen to her, and she couldn't help feel the surge of resentment that ran through her. And who did Sasuke-kun spend all his energy on?

Naruto stopped rocking, instead looking up at the windows, and even in the dark, she could see the whites of his eyes. She lifted her leg, about to go and ask him if he was alright, when Sasuke lifted his head, blinking blearily at her, then looked behind himself at Naruto. He lifted his hand and rested it on the blond, making him jump, but Naruto seemed to relax, pulling out a small book and leafing through it. Sasuke returned his hand and settled back to sleep.

Sakura lay back down, eyeing the reading blond carefully before shutting her eyes.

She didn't notice the minimal light gleaming against Kakashi's eye as he watched.

-----

The sun had yet to rise, and Naruto's headache was worse than ever, so much that he staggered from the house and across the dock, moving into the trees where he could whimper and howl in pain without anyone hearing him, not over the sound of the crashing surf. They were a cacophony in his head, angry, eager, impatient- all these things at once, so that it felt like his eyes were going to pop from the pressure, and he clawed at his ears as he slumped down into a meadow-like clearing.

He sobbed, wishing he were in the safety of his room, where the windows were covered, where no one would come and bother him. He couldn't stand being out here, being around people, being unclean...

"You're bleeding," a soft voice commented, and he jumped, looking up to see a dark-haired girl crouched near him. Naruto shakily got to his feet, his brain making the world slosh around, until he tripped over his own feet. "Don't be afraid," The girl soothed, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto jerked from it, instead slumping into the tree, rasping for breath and struggling to focus on her. The girls eyes ran over his face and frowned, concern marring her brow. "Did you do that to your face?" her eyes fell on his hitai-ate, that he had tied to his bicep. "Are you a ninja?"

Naruto wiped his face, smearing the blood and suddenly something caught his eye- her calloused hands- something that wasn't really important, except that where the calluses were happened to be similar to all the ones he had, from hold kunai. He blinked rapidly to clear away the tears and took in her face, the long dark hair, and most especially, the array of healing herbs she had in her basket.

"Are you the fake hunter-nin?" he rasped, and watched the gentleness in her face strip away, and both their bodies stiffened. Her dark eyes stared into his pained ones, and a wry smile grew.

"You have sad eyes," She commented, and her body loosened. "I've seen those eyes before, many times." She stood up and walked away. "I suppose we'll see each other again, on the battlefield." Sasuke appeared from the foliage, a frown on his face when she passed, but alarm grew when he spotted him, and he quickly rushed over, kneeling down to examine Naruto's face.

"The headache?" he asked tersely, and Naruto managed a nod as the world seemed to dim to red.

"Hun-nin..." he slurred, and felt Sasuke lift him bodily from the ground, and he thought no more.

---------

Inari had pissed him off enough that he had snarled quite nastily at the little bastard, sick of his constant lamenting over his dead father. They didn't hear his mother bitching about it, but the little moron seemed to want to spread his misery about like a disease. The last thing he needed was the punk to wake Naruto, who had uncharacteristically fallen asleep, and stayed that way past breakfast. This was unusual, because he knew Naruto slept very little, and also because it was a day in which Kakashi-sensei felt they might encounter Zabuza.

They left Naruto behind and followed Tazuna to the bridge, and though they expected something to happen, they were still stunned when they were greeted by the bloody bodies of the employees.

"What the hell?!" Tazuna cried, rushing over to one of the guys, who was rasping for air. "What happened?!"

"A monster," the man gasped.

Immediately a mist rolled in, and they quickly surrounded Tazuna. Sasuke felt a thrill of anticipation rush through him, much more exciting than when he and Naruto managed to successfully stick to the tree.

"Aww, he's shaking," Zabuza's voice drifted mockingly from the mist just as they were surrounded by ten to fifteen Zabuza bunshin.

"Go for it," Kakashi-sensei urged with a smile, and Sasuke grinned as he whipped out his kunai and surged forward, dispatching the mizu bunshin quickly, before they could even move. They splashed to the ground as the mist cleared, revealing Zabuza and his fake hunter-nin.

"Looks like the brat got a little tougher," the missing-nin commented to the younger one. "Looks like you got a rival, Haku."

"I suppose it does..." the masked youth replied and Sasuke felt another thrill of excitement. He badly wanted to fight this Haku person.

"I'll take the masked fake," Sasuke took a step forward. Zabuza nodded to Haku, and the youth disappeared, only to reappear before him, and Sasuke barely got his kunai up in time to deflect the senbon. Haku made another move, swing the needle again, but he deflected it as well. "Don't underestimate me," Sasuke hissed.

"I'd like not to kill you, but that's not going to stop you, is it?"

"Don't be an idiot," Sasuke sneered, and the masked youth brought his hand up, a clear sign that he was gather chakra. With one hand, the masked youth began making seals, quickly, while the other pushed against his kunai. The water about them rose, surrounding them, then took the shape of needles.

"I've got you," he said, and Sasuke concentrated chakra to his feet and legs, leaping up out of the way as the water needles flew towards him. They crashed together with the sound of breaking glass, which he ignored as he tossed shuriken down at the enemy, who leaped back out of the way. Sasuke appeared behind him.

"You're pretty slow," he commented, and swung his katana, forcing the masked youth to block with his senbon, then jump back as the needles broke under the force of the blade. Then he threw a kunai to finish the move, forcing the other to drop to the ground, leaving him vulnerable to Sasuke's kick, which knocked him back several feet. The masked nin got to his feet, having landed near Zabuza.

"Haku, at this rate, we'll be driven back. We can't have that," the mist nin looked peeved.

"No," Haku replied, and the air suddenly seemed colder to Sasuke. "No we can't."

Water rose around Sasuke, and to his surprise, solidified into ice, clear sheets of frozen water, and Haku stepped forward and walked into the ice, his image appearing on every sheet.

"Well now," the Haku images said, lifted a senbon needle, and before Sasuke could move, he was attacked on all sides by needles. He cried out, bringing his arms up to shield his neck and head from fatal hits, and he vaguely heard Sakura calling his name as his body burned up from the cold pain of the needles.

He was in trouble.

--------

Naruto woke with a start- a relieved start- free from the colorful eyes that watched him in the black void. They had said nothing to him, but They had watched for what seemed like eternity, enough to drive him insane, and it was a relief to be away from those eyes. He quickly sat up, realizing immediately that he was alone, and that Sasuke was nowhere in sight. He quickly got to his feet, dizziness rushing through him before the world became stable, and he dug into his pack in search of something fresh to wear. To his chagrin, the only clean thing he found was the black hoodie that Kaori had given to him, and he reluctantly pulled off his sweater.

"What happened to you?" a small voice asked, he jumped and looked around, seeing that he was no longer alone, and that Inari's large dark eyes were staring at him. "Where'd you get all those bruises?" Naruto quickly pulled on the black sweater, grabbed his katana and strapped on several kunai. "They're going to die, you know. All of them." Naruto paused in the doorway, confronted by the man Kaiza, who was no longer weeping, and had a rather determined look on his face. He dropped down to his knees and looked up at Naruto beseechingly.

"Please," his voice was stronger now, but no less pleading. "Please tell them to go to a safe place. Please- it's not safe here."

Naruto glanced back at the boy, who was now accompanied by Tsunami, who gave him a concerned look, probably wondering why he was standing in the doorway.

"Y...you should probably hide out somewhere safe for now. You might be targeted."

The woman sent him a surprised look, then nodded. "We'll stay with a friend," she said, and Naruto moved from the doorway and walked down the dock. Inari was most likely right, they all were going to die, and it would be best if he joined them, because it wouldn't go well if he returned to Konoha alone. He made his way up to the bridge, and immediately the sound of metal assaulted his ears, and he sighed as the bridge came into view. He spotted Kakashi-sensei and Momochi Zabuza fighting to one side, and nearby was a square box-like structure, made of what appeared to be ice. As he walked closer, he spotted Sakura nearing the ice structure, and she tossed a kunai at it. Naruto watched as the hunter-nin appeared in the reflection of the ice, snatched the kunai from the air, and tossed it back at her. She shoved Tazuna out of the way and dodged it; Naruto turned his attention to the ice structure, moving close enough to feel the chill, and to see Sasuke in the middle of it, rising slowly to his feet, bleeding from many superficial cuts.

Naruto took a few steps back from the ice prison and gathered his chakra. "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu." He blew a billow of fire at the ice structure, catching the hunter-nin attention, forcing him to leap back as the nin threw several shuriken at him. The fire hissed against the ice mirrors, but when the smoke cleared, there was no effect. Naruto glanced at his sensei, who seemed torn between fighting Zabuza and wanting to leap to Sasuke's aid. Naruto eyed the structure again before concluding that the jutsu must be canceled by the user, and he reluctantly jumped over the ice walls and landed at Sasuke's side.

Sasuke shook his head. "You probably shouldn't have done that." Naruto shrugged and peered at all the images.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," and several bunshin appeared, each one attacking a mirror, but before they could land a hit, the masked nin leaped from the mirror, a mere blur, and dispatched very one of them before returning to the mirror.

"So you came," he commented from the mirror. "I wondered where you were. It was a nice try with the fire, but you're going to need a higher level than that to melt these mirrors."

The air became filled with senbon, and Naruto lifted his arms to protect his head as he felt the needles sink into his flesh. The attack stopped, and he looked to see Sasuke was also stuck with pins, and he grunted as he removed some of them.

"Tell me," the masked nin seemed to direct his question to Naruto. "What do you fight for?"

Naruto removed a needle from his right arm, and was alarmed when he could not feel any pain, nor move it. He grimaced- a damaged nerve no doubt. He looked up at the nin, feeling another headache bloom. "Nothing," he replied, and there was a minute jerk in the nin's body. Had his reply surprised him? Did he expect more?

"Shit," Sasuke muttered, and Naruto turned to see that Sasuke was staring down at a senbon needle that had pierced his knee, while his other leg trembled under the weight. "Can't move it," he grunted. Naruto lifted his head, and he imagined that the masked nin and his eyes connected for a moment, a clear understanding of each one's intentions.

And things happened rather quickly.

----

Sasuke silently cursed his leg, grabbing the needle that was embedded in his leg with a slippery, bloody hand and tried to pull it out, biting his lip from the pain. At this rate, they were going to lose, and he couldn't stand the mere idea that he would lose to that masked bastard. There was a familiar gust of wind in front of him, smelling of detergent and bleach, and his head jerked up in surprise, immediately spotting Haku lying on the ground. Struggling to return to his feet, and he pulled out a kunai quickly to toss it at the nin, but then he noticed Naruto, who was still standing in front of him, and his eyes traveled up his body, falling on several of the needles, before settling on the ones embedded in his neck.

He dropped the kunai, his hands going numb. Naruto made a gurgling sound, and his legs crumbled under him. Sasuke managed to catch him, grunting at the weight but lowering him gently to the ground, eyes wide, mind going blank.

Naruto's eyes were wide, blood trickling from his nose and mouth, whole body wracked with small spasms. His wide, frightened blue eyes landed on him, his mouth opening and choked words drifted out.

"Mad...they mad...so mad..." the capillaries in his right eye popped -the eye swimming in blood.

"What did you do?" Sasuke wheezed, his whole body feeling numb.

"Just...moved...couldn't help..." and suddenly the trembling stopped and the pain seemed to fade from Naruto's face, leaving him looking momentarily surprised. "So quiet," his voice was more clear now, and his gaze moved to the sky, blood leaking from one eye like tears. "So quiet..." And to Sasuke's silent horror, he stopped moving, stopped breathing, body going limp, empty eyes trained on the sky.

Sasuke blinked several times, his mind having a hard time understanding what had happened. Naruto...Naruto was...dead?

"He landed a blow on me, and didn't even flinch." Haku voice intruded upon his numbness. "Was he precious to you?"

Naruto was dead. Naruto had...jumped in front of him- Naruto had protected him. He had never asked Naruto to do that for him!

"Is this the first time a friend has died?"

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed, feeling the rage break through the numbness. "Shut the fuck up!" He stood up, no longer feeling the pain in his body, could only feel hatred toward the one standing across from him. "I'm going to kill you!"

He raced toward the masked nin, all his rage focused on crushing him, and when he moved, Sasuke could see it, almost predict it, and he dodged out of the way, grabbed the nin and smashed his fist into the masked face with enough force to crack through the mask. The nin staggered back, raised his hands to do a jutsu, but Sasuke was faster, and with a brutal chakra induced kick, knocked the masked nin through the mirrors, oblivious to it shattering around him as he leaped upon the nin, raising his kunai to drive it into the girly face that looked calmly back at him.

"Did he live for you?" he asked, and for a second Sasuke hesitated. "Living was painful for him- he wanted to die. I did him a favor, and he let himself go."

Sasuke's lip curled up in hate. "Fuck you," he spat as he brought the kunai down, burying it into the boy's eye, uncaring that he hadn't tried to stop him.

There was a great surge of chakra behind him, but he only turned and staggered back to where Naruto lay, staring up at the sky. He'd seen that same empty look on his mother's face when he had walked in on them, had seen it on several of his family members. His whole family, gone, Naruto gone...Kaori gone, everyone he knew, dying around him.

Someone was saying his name, but he didn't care. It wasn't important- he felt drained, hollowed out. How long would Naruto have lived if Sasuke had never met him? He'd be back in his apartment, with his books and candy bars, and his pillow, cleaning everyday without fail.

Someone was shaking him, and a muffle of words seemed to make it to his brain.

"...alive Sasuke. He's alive."

What? He looked up to see a very concerned sensei kneeling over Naruto, one arm on Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke looked at Naruto, and the bloody blond was shaking- trembling, face pained. Sakura was standing next to them, along with Tazuna, both their faces pale.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, looking around, and Sakura gave a weak smile.

"Ummm, you defeated Haku." She glanced nervously back at the dead nin's body. "Your eyes were red."

Naruto moaned, lifting an arm to touch his neck, his face the epitome of misery, and Sasuke felt pure relief run through him. Naruto was alive. Then he scowled. "Idiot," he muttered.

--------

Kakashi sat in Tazuna's home, staring down at the pale body displayed before him. Sasuke and Sakura were with Tazuna as he joyfully finished building the bridge, with many eager villagers helping him. Halfway through his fight with Zabuza, Gatou and several of his lackeys had showed up, severing the contract he had made with the missing-nin, and completely diverting his attention from the fight. Zabuza had instead attacked the mogul, killing several of his men and removing Gatou's head from his body, dying shortly after from blood loss.

He'd then rushed to his students' side, expecting to finish off the youth, but found him with a kunai in the eye and Sakura trying to get Sasuke to speak. Said boy had been sitting in front of Naruto, eyes hollowed out and haunted, and when he had seen the state Naruto was in, he hadn't blamed him, and was all too glad to tell him that Naruto wasn't dead.

He'd gotten them all back to Tazuna's place only to find that it had been ran-sacked by two samurai, Tsunami reported, having watched it happen from a neighbor's window where she and Inari had been hiding, via the suggestion from Naruto.

After that, he had stripped the blond so he could remove the needles from his neck and body, and now had time to mull over the overall condition of Naruto's body. As he had imagined, the bruising on his face wasn't exclusive to that area, in fact covering all of Naruto's body, though it was much faded and most likely looked worse days before. Kakashi could count every rib, and map the veins running along his arms. How had he managed to function all this time? He had been pondering the state of Naruto's mind for the last few days, and was going to request a psychiatric evaluation once they reached Konoha, because he had seen behavior that needed some serious professional help, the kind he wasn't qualified for.

He looked up as Sasuke limped into the room and began to systemically shut every window and curtain before coming to the blond's side. "His nose stop bleeding?" Kakashi nodded, eye watching as the Uchiha covered Naruto with a blanket and sat down next to him. For some reason, Naruto's nose wouldn't stop bleeding, enough to make him wonder if there was some hemorrhaging in the brain, a thoroughly alarming prospect, but the trickle had finally stopped an hour ago. "You can leave now," he raised a brow at the boy. "Naruto won't like it...it'll make him crazy, you being right here."

"Define crazy."

Sasuke scowled at him and rested his elbows against his crossed knees, intertwining his hands together and placing his chin on the back of his hands, dark eyes staring down at the blond.

Kakashi got to his feet and headed for the door, pausing to look back at the boys. "He'll be up and about in a week." and as he turned to go, Sasuke's soft reply gave him serious pause, because he knew Sasuke wasn't talking to him.

"Most likely sooner. You'll make it sooner, won't you?"