Restless

Sorry for not getting this out sooner. I wanted to make sure that I had chapter 20 almost completed before posting so I could post that with a day or so later. When you get to the end – well, I think you’ll see why.

I was looking through my chapters, and I could have sworn I had mentioned this earlier, but apparently not: go check out lL0tus’s fics on ff.net, especially “Cat’s Bell: My Pleasurable Doll.” Also check out MissMayumi’s “Doggy Style” on aff.net. Thanks for dedicating it to me MissMayumi! ::feels special::

Also, remember what I said about not following the manga any longer? Well, I couldn’t help but put a few spoilers in here from 367. I can’t seem to get away from it. :-) Enjoy!

Restless

Chapter 19: Restless Deaths Part II


"That is unacceptable!" Sen-san yelled, slamming his fist down onto the table. Tsunade looked livid at his gesture, and a vein throbbed in her temple.

"As I told you last night, at the moment, we are unaware of where they are heading, or what Sasuke's intentions are with Naruto," Tsunade said through gritted teeth. Kakashi stood beside the Godaime Hokage's desk, clenching and unclenching his fist, silently agreeing with Sen-san that the situation seemed unacceptable because Naruto was not safe, but his years of shinobi training told him that all resources had been put into play. Yamato, as well as Sakura and Sai, were waiting to be sent out, just as he was, as soon as they got word back from the group that was currently tracking Naruto. Kakashi turned to look at his team, knowing that they were just as worried about Naruto as he was, everyone hoping that news of his whereabouts would come back quickly.

Both Sakura and Sai had been shocked - or at least, Kakashi thought Sai's features might have been an attempt to show shock - that Naruto had found his family, and even more astounded to find out that he, himself was Naruto's uncle. They were all there, ready to go, but no matter how much the four of them wanted to leave, they wouldn't be able to help Naruto much until Tsunade gave the order. It was difficult for them all to just sit around and wait, and Kakashi felt an extra jab of sympathy for Sakura who had been present and involved in trying to get Naruto away from Sasuke. Fighting her ex-teammate in order to get back her current teammate had clearly torn her heart, but her resolve was clearly for helping Naruto first. He felt an extra surge of liking for her for her difficult choice between the boy that she had claimed to love for so long and the boy that she had once hated, and now seemed to have taking a better liking to.

Kakashi sighed, knowing that he needed to focus on what was going on at the moment instead of reflecting on Sakura’s change of heart. He had a duty to back Tsunade’s decisions and should thus be paying attention to what was said and also add words of comfort to assure the Sen family that Tsunade was indeed doing everything possible. He knew that the Sen family would take his word over Tsunade’s that she was doing everything she could in order to help because they probably looked at him for having similar interests in finding Naruto, being his uncle and all.

Kakashi also knew that Tsunade was in a difficult situation because of him and his little gamble to go against the Council's decision by testing Naruto when they had strictly told him (well, Yamato actually) not to do so. Now they had a stark raving mad, former daimyo plus the current daimyo, in the Hokage’s office with the Council hovering in the back. He couldn’t remember the Hokage’s office ever being so crowded before.

"You are not even certain that he is your great-grandson," one of the Council members said to Sen-san. Sen-san turned to face him, along with Kyohaku, who had thus far been silently standing by her father's side. Both father and daughter looked murderous. The daimyo clearly didn’t like the situation either. Kyohaku walked forward towards the Council member who had spoken. He looked as though he wanted to back up as the woman in front of him advanced threateningly toward him, but either stupidity or his pride had him rooted to the floor.

"I have been haunted by those same blue eyes, those eyes that shadow the Fourth Hokage's eyes, since I gave him up. Do not tell me that I ‘am not certain.’ He IS my grandson," Kyohaku hissed.

"And if you were so haunted by those eyes, how come you never recognized the Fourth Hokage and his eyes?" The Councilman next to her asked haughtily. Kyohaku's eyes flashed to the new speaker before she punched him square in the jaw. Sen-san took that as a sign to punch the first man that had spoken, and then, everyone began moving at once – some to stop the pending fight, others to join in.

Utter chaos would have broken out at that point if Tsunade had not bellowed for peace.

"EVERYONE FREEZE!" Tsunade roared. Kakashi noted that Yamato, Sakura, and Sai seemed to have been as unwilling to stop Kyohaku, Sen-san, and the few other family members that had come with them from pummeling those Council Members that seemed against the Sen Family's interest in Naruto. "Calm down!" Tsunade added upon seeing Kyohaku cracking her knuckles ominously. As he looked at Kyohaku and the elderly Sen-san still looking quite ready to pummel anyone who came in the way of family, Kakashi had a feeling that both Naruto and his older brother hadn't gotten all of their fiery spirit from just his father. Kyohaku definitely passed on some of her fiery spirit to her son and grandson. Also, Kakashi idly wondered why Sen-san had decided to retire when he still seemed to have so much spunk.

Sen Izanami put a calming hand on both her husband and her daughter. Though she seemed the most frail of the family, she also seemed the most levelheaded at the moment.

"I just celebrated by 80th birthday with a great-grandson I never even knew existed. I would love to get a chance to know more about him, but before we go rushing off and try and find him, we need to listen to Tsunade-sama. She has told us that they are searching for clues to determine which way the kidnapper took Naruto. Since Naruto was not immediately hurt upon his capture, I think we can assume that this other boy - Sasuke did you say - will not kill him. From what you have said, they were once friends. Perhaps there is a chance that Sasuke believes that Naruto can help him. Didn't you say, Sakura-chan, that you heard Sasuke say ‘you're coming with me whether you like it or not’ to Naruto? That seems to me as though Sasuke had given Naruto some sort of ultimatum and Naruto declined. Therefore, it appears that Sasuke is hoping for Naruto's aid, even if it is necessary to do so through coercion and force," Izanami said wisely.

Personally, Kakashi strongly disagreed that Naruto was not in any threat of being killed, but the only reason that Kakashi had not rushed after Naruto immediately had been due to the fact that he knew that if Naruto became too much of a burden, it was more likely for Sasuke to kill Naruto than for him to use him for whatever twisted plans he had concocted. It would have been too dangerous to pursue Sasuke than to wait and find him again, and then attack later. There was also the fact that Sasuke could be acting on Orochimaru's orders. If the snake-sannin was involved in any of this then there would be great problems.

However, news had come from a spy network near Sound an hour after Sasuke's initial appearance and Naruto's kidnapping. It appeared that there had been a battle at one of Sound's bases, and that Orochimaru was now dead, and it appeared that Sasuke had been behind it. If the rumors were true, Kakashi knew that Sasuke was an even deadlier foe if he could kill off one of the legendary sannin single-handed.

"Thank you Izanami-sama," Tsunade said, taking a deep breath. "You are not the only ones here who care about Naruto,” Tsunade said, directing this comment at the Sen Family, “There were many shinobi last night that found out just moments too late about Sasuke taking Naruto. They were not able to help apprehend Sasuke, but they will do what they can in order to help find him. Several of his other friends are currently out searching for him. Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino are currently out searching for Naruto as we speak. They are the best tracking team I have ever seen. Kiba and his dog, Akamaru, have the best noses in Konoha. Shino is a bug user that has a bug that is trained specifically to Naruto's scent. That bug will be able to find him and Sasuke no matter what, though it is much slower than Kiba and Akamaru. These two superb trackers are accompanied by Hyuuga Hinata who uses the Byakugan. The Byakugan is an eye technique that allows her to see through solid areas, which will allow her to check for chakra signatures which will aid finding Naruto if he is hidden. Once we hear from them, we will send these four as back up," Tsunade said, indicating Sai, Yamato, Kakashi, and Sakura.

"Why can't they be sent now?" Kyohaku asked, wringing her hands nervously. Tsunade looked as though she was having a hard time not snapping at the slightly older woman.

"Because," Tsunade said slowly, trying and failing, at keep the frustration out of her voice, "the entire purpose of back-up is to send a fresh team to aid in a mission. The group out now will be exhausted from tracking down Naruto, and thus might not be as effective in attempting to return him. This way they will have fresh helpers. If they are sent now, they will not be as well rested."

"Seven ninjas against one boy?" Sen-san asked, incredulously.

"It appears that you are not familiar with most of the shinobi traits and tactics within Konoha, but I am sure that you must have at least have heard about the Uchiha massacre?" Tsunade said. There was a collective intake of breath from the Sen Family.

"Uchiha Sasuke was the only remaining survivor of his brother's slaughter on their family. For reasons unknown to us, Itachi left Sasuke alive. Since then, Sasuke has done nothing but devoted his life to revenge his family by killing his brother. Before Sasuke's departure, he and Naruto were best friends, and it was only after Sasuke learned of Itachi's interest in killing Naruto that he left the village."

"W-wait a moment. This Itachi, the one who killed his entire family, is after Naruto? So, Sasuke could be trying to protect his best friend from his brother getting him?" Inazaki asked hopefully.

"Or it is possible he is using Naruto as bait to lure his brother into the open," Kakashi said, speaking his mind at last.

"These are the two possibilities for why Sasuke has taken Naruto. Until we find Sasuke and Naruto we do not know any more. I assure you we are doing everything in our power to find Naruto. For the time being, you need to leave my office. I have some matters I need to attend to. All of you are dismissed except Team Kakashi; obviously you will need to stay in my office so I can send you out immediately. Everyone else, leave."

Kakashi watched as everyone, especially Kyohaku, reluctantly left the room. Kakashi knew how they felt; they obviously wanted to be present if any information was procured. Now he finally had a good idea of just how desperately Temari and Kankurou must have felt when they waited for news of Gaara when Akatsuki had taken him. Kakashi clenched and unclenched his fist again as he thought of the idea of Sasuke turning Naruto over to his brother, but then he shook his head. No, Sasuke would never willingly give Naruto to Itachi. That was one good thing. Since Sasuke knew that Itachi wanted Naruto, he would make sure to at least protect Naruto from Itachi in the sense that he would not want Itachi to get him.

No, what angered Kakashi most was that it was he himself who had told Sasuke all those years ago as he helped Sasuke train for the Chuunin exams about the fact that Naruto was forever entwined with Sasuke's sharingan. Kakashi wondered, and hoped against hope, that Sasuke didn't know about the mangekyou sharingan. Despite all hope, Kakashi had an overwhelming feeling that Sasuke knew about the mangekyou sharingan, and what was worse was that Sasuke knew that he needed to kill Naruto in order to obtain it.

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

Naruto frowned as he looked at Kabuto. Dokueki was wrapped around Kabuto's right arm, and Naruto was at least pleased to see that Kabuto looked nervous with Dokueki's fangs hovering dangerously near his throat. Naruto slid off of Sasuke's back, now that he was once again back in the happy land of consciousness, and no longer needed to be carried around like a backpack.

"Kabuto is here because he will be able to help me against Itachi," Sasuke explained, answering Naruto’s previous outburst about what Kabuto was doing with them.

"Isn't he loyal to Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, worriedly.

"Orochimaru's dead," Sasuke said.

"D-dead? You killed him?" Naruto said, a large grin spreading on his face as he looked at Sasuke.

"I helped!" Dokueki said, raising her head. "But yessss, Sasuke killed him," Dokueki confirmed.

"And he came along willingly?" Naruto asked as he nodded at Kabuto incredulously.

"Of course I didn't. Why do you think she's here wrapped around my throat? One little slice from her venom, and I'm dead in a matter of minutes," Kabuto said, his voice resigned.

"Do you think I'd be here if I didn't have to be?" Dokueki grumped as she looked over at Naruto. "You're body feelssss so much warmer than Kabuto'ssss or Sasuke'ssss," Dokueki sighed longingly, looking at Naruto.

"Uh, thanks," Naruto said awkwardly.

"So how exactly do you plan on finding Itachi?" Kabuto asked sardonically.

"The same way any good poisonous snake attacks a larger prey," Sasuke said.

"Which is how?" Naruto asked confused.

"Let me explain thissss one," Dokueki said, her grip tightening around Kabuto, clearly enjoying the discomfort she was giving him as he spluttered slightly while choking him a little. "You see, when a somewhat large animal issss bitten by a poisnoussss snake, the snake cannot hope to kill the larger prey immediately. Therefore, it bitessss it and leavessss itssss venom in the animal. Then, all she hassss to do is wait for the animal to stager away, slowly dying assss the snake movessss in for the killing blow, or simply allowssss the animal to suffer as she takessss her time getting to it. If the animal goessss too far away to be seen, a snake can still smell itssss own venom. The snake trackssss the scent to where the animal liesss dying, and then - I devour what I want of it," Dokueki smiled wickedly.

"That's creepy," Naruto said, shuddering.

"But effective," Dokueki said as she stuck out her tongue, wiggling it at him. Kabuto muttered something about having asked about “finding” him, not “attacking” him, but they ignored him.

"Itachi has been weakening for some time now. In fact, he's going blind due to over usage of a particular sharingan technique," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded, remembering Kakashi saying something about that when he had run into Itachi several months before. "We need to fight him, and weaken him even more, and then go after him, and attack him when he believes that we have retreated," Sasuke said, explaining his strategy.

"I still don't understand where I fit into all of this," Kabuto said wryly.

"Nor will you until the last possible moment so you don't go running your mouth if you escape," Sasuke said darkly before turning back to explain the rest of his plan to Naruto. "According to Dokueki's sources, Itachi and his partner will be on the other side of the Northwestern Konoha border. We will travel there tonight, and engage them tomorrow," Sasuke explained.

"So soon?" Naruto asked, surprised. Sasuke turned to look at Naruto.

"Usually you're the one forcing everyone to go faster and get everything over and done with as soon as possible," Sasuke said, frowning slightly.

"I know. That's why I'm surprised that you're the one saying how quickly we're going to do this," Naruto said, grinning widely. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. Of course, Kabuto decided he wanted to put in his two-cents.

"I think that it is too soon. You need more preparation time in order to-"

"Yesss, so YOU think. Sasuke hassss been preparing thissss for agessss, you moron. Why do you think that Orochimaru'ssss dead now, and not Sasuke?" Dokueki said. Kabuto flushed and said nothing else.

Sasuke took in his team, assessing them all. He nodded, seemingly pleased. "Let's move."


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


"What were you thinking?" Tsunade hissed at Kakashi as soon as the room had cleared of everyone except the four shinobi. Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow, not entirely sure what she was talking about. "Why did you go and test Naruto to see if he was related to the Sen family as well?" Tsunade clarified.

"I wanted to check and see if he was related, obviously," Kakashi said, trying to keep the bite out of his voice.

"As much as we would all love for Naruto to know that, didn't you even consider what the council might do to prevent that?" Tsunade asked. Kakashi noticed Sai and Sakura shifting uncomfortably as their team leader got scolded.

"Not all of the council members are against Naruto," Kakashi said in his defense.

"His family does not even know of all the problems that Naruto has gone through. For instance, do they have any idea about the Kyuubi that resides in him? Do they know the ridicule he has endured? His sufferings?” Tsunade asked, now rubbing at her temples, as she continued. “The council is extremely livid at the moment. Not only are they concerned about the fact that the daimyo is now personally involved, but there is also the matter that the we do not know how the Sen family will react when they learn that the Kyuubi resides inside of Naruto," Tsunade said, disgruntled.

"I doubt that that will cause them any alarm, or for them to love him any less," Kakashi said firmly.

"Exactly! They do not know the serious danger that Naruto is in because of the problems with Akatsuki! It wasn't just the council that didn't want Naruto to be tested in front of the Sen Family; it was my decision as well. Think! How will Naruto feel if Akatsuki goes after his new family in order to lure him out and one of them is killed?" Tsunade demanded. Kakashi swallowed, not having thought about that.

Kakashi's silence seemed to bring home the point that he had not considered this idea. Tsunade sighed and continued to massage her temples. "Quite frankly I am surprised at your behavior, and the lack of foresight you had. It’s quite unusual,” she said, sighing. “However, I do not blame you Kakashi. Naruto has gone too long without family, and he has been too obsessed with getting Sasuke back. He had needed a distraction. It is just unfortunate that Sasuke came back for Naruto," Tsunade murmured sadly, still rubbing at her head. Everyone could tell just how worried that even she was about Naruto. “I think you might have also overlooked the fact that I already knew that Minato was his father.”

“W-what?” Kakashi said, aghast.

“Minato?” Sakura asked, confused.

“The Fourth Hokage’s name was Namikaze Minato. Naruto’s mother was named Uzumaki Kushina. The Fourth Hokage and his mother decided that Naruto should take her maiden name to protect Naruto upon his birth from those who would try to use it against the Yondaime. Very few knew that Minato was even married,” Tsunade explained.

"You knew? But why didn’t-" Kakashi began, but was interrupted as the door to the Hokage office was thrown open, and a ninja decoder rushed in.

"Hokage-sama! We have received and decoded a message from the trackers. It appears that Naruto's kidnappers are traveling towards the Northwestern border, heading towards the denser part of the forest!"

"Excellent. Team Kakashi, go with speed," Tsunade said.

"Right away," Sakura said, as she, Kakashi, Sai, and Yamato all jumped out of her window, disappearing in a flash to get Naruto back.

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


After several hours of hard running, Sasuke finally seemed satisfied with their destination. They stopped in the middle the densest forested area close to the Northwestern border.

“We’re going to spend the night here and search for Itachi tomorrow,” Sasuke told everyone.

“Great plan,” Kabuto muttered to himself. Dokueki hissed at him threateningly.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, turning to his friend. "Can we use some of your clones for lookouts? We'll need to be fully rested tomorrow. I don't want either of us to be up the entire night as lookouts, and I don't trust Kabuto enough to let him stand guard."

"Not a problem," Naruto said, as he created twenty shadow clones for watch duty. "I've been working with so many clones that they're rather strong and can do a lot on their own," Naruto said proudly. Sasuke merely nodded.

"Do I still have to baby-sit him?" Dokueki asked sadly as she pointed her tail towards Kabuto.

"I suppose not," Sasuke said, smoothly taking out a syringe with a bluish-clear liquid from his knapsack and unemotionally jabbed it into the side of Kabuto's neck, who tensed, glared, and then passed out.

Sasuke took some rope and began to tie Kabuto up to a tree, using chakra-binding ropes to make it nearly impossible for him to escape under normal circumstances, and quite impossible without help due to the drug Sasuke had just administered.

"Freedom!" Dokueki cried happily as she slithered away from Kabuto and began to slither towards Naruto. "Dear, sweet, warm Naruto," Dokueki practically purred as she slid up Naruto's leg. He tried dancing around her, but she was too fast for him.

"H-hey!" Naruto yelped as Dokueki began sliding up the loose opening of his pant leg, snaking up his leg closer to his thigh and - other things.

"Behave," Sasuke said, grabbing the waistband of Naruto's pants, stretching the elastic, reaching his hand down Naruto's pants, and effectively grabbing Dokueki’s tail and snatching her away before she could begin molesting Naruto. Naruto stood still as Sasuke's hand brushed his balls, and then Dokueki's belly brushed the edges of his happy trail as Sasuke pulled her roughly away from him. Naruto flushed in anger and embarrassment at being treated in such a manner.

"Naruto hassss silky black and orange boxerssss on Sasuke. You should take a look," Dokueki said, grinning despite the death grip that Sasuke had on her. He held her head in one hand, and her tail in the other.

"Dokueki, this is no time for games," Sasuke hissed.

"Time for sex?" Dokueki questioned unabashedly. Naruto blushed harder.

"Do you want me to send you back to your summons’ world?" Sasuke hissed dangerously. The aura around him darkened, and even Naruto stepped back at the enraged Uchiha.

"I'll behave," Dokueki muttered. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he wrapped her around his waist. "Hey! I want to be wrapped around Naruto," Dokueki said indignantly.

"Me too, but now it's time for bed," Sasuke said. Naruto blushed again.

"I'm standing right here you know," Naruto said angrily.

"Well then lie down and get some sleep," Sasuke said.

"Who died and made you king?" Naruto muttered angrily as he rolled out an extra sleeping roll that Sasuke had brought for him.

"Actually, you should have commented on Sasuke’ssss sour mood and asked what Sasuke has shoved up his asssss, which issss nothing. He'ssss probably cranky because he wantssss something up there, though you should have seen how much squirming he did the day after you two did it. You must be large because he looked pained, so maybe he rather wantssss to shove something up your-"

"Dokueki!"

"Behaving now!" Dokueki squeaked. Sasuke looked over to Naruto, willing the blush to evaporate from his cheeks, hoping Naruto hadn't heard her. Naruto didn't say anything, and Sasuke wondered if it was because Naruto had been in as much pain the day after as he had been and therefore could empathize with his pain, or because Naruto really hadn’t heard her. When Naruto said nothing Sasuke decided not to pursue his curiosity.

As Naruto and Sasuke finished rolling out their bedrolls, Dokueki continued to mutter underneath her breath, despite her promise that she would behave.

"Go find one of the Naruto clones to keep you warm if I'm so cold blooded!" Sasuke practically yelled at Dokueki who slithered off happily at this prospect.

"I don't understand why she doesn't go back to her summons' realm, or why you allow her to stay out for so long if you dislike how she acts," Naruto said, his frown hard to see in the dimming light. Sasuke sighed.

"She hates her summons’ realm. She complains about how cold it is there, but I think it's a bit of a ruse. From what I hear, since she is known to be anti-Orochimaru, most of the other snakes target her. I don't want to send her back if the next time I go to summon her, all that comes out is her lifeless body," Sasuke explained.

"Summons can die? I thought that they just ran out of chakra and returned back to their own realm and healed," Naruto said confused.

"Summons can die in their own realm," Sasuke said.

"Poor Dokueki," Naruto murmured as he slid into his sleeping roll. Sasuke turned to ask Naruto a question, only to find that his friend had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the traveling pillow. Sasuke turned onto his side, his eyes staring into darkness.

A knot tightened in the pit of his stomach for the first time since he had began plotting how to get rid of Itachi, a strange fear that he had never known before, or at least, never acknowledged seemed to have decided to manifest itself. Fear that he would fail in his task to kill Itachi on the morrow. Fear that he would be killed. Fear that he would regret how he went about exacting his revenge. He just hoped Naruto would be able to forgive him after everything was over, and understand why he had chosen the path he had.

Taking in a deep breath, Sasuke willed with all his might to rid himself of such petty fears and emotions. He needed sleep. He would only be jeopardizing things more if he were not well rested, his chakra restored, and his body in the best condition it could be in. Using logic to rid himself of his fears, rational and irrational alike, Sasuke finally managed to fall asleep.


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


For the second time in his life, Sasuke fell victim to Naruto's restless sleeping habits.

Sasuke felt the air whoosh from his lungs as Naruto rolled heavily on top of him, bringing his sleeping roll that he was still partially in along with him. Any sleepiness Sasuke might have felt at initially being woken up was gone as he glared daggers into Naruto's blue eyes that stared sheepishly at him. Naruto, for once, had actually woken up on his own after rolling over.

"Dobe," Sasuke said dangerously.

"Heheh, sorry teme," Naruto said as rolled back off of Sasuke, pushing his sleeping roll back down. "I think it's just you. My body seems to move of my own accord in my sleep towards you," Naruto said sleepily.

“More like on top of me,” Sasuke groaned, as the vision of Naruto's body, his warm body that had just been atop of his, woke up other areas of his body. Naruto's comment about his body moving on its own accord sent pleasant images to Sasuke's brain and groin. Sasuke turned over onto his side to continue to glare at Naruto.

"Go back to sleep," Naruto said, propping himself up and then leaning over from his sleeping bag and giving Sasuke a kiss on his mouth.

Both Naruto and Sasuke froze as their lips met. Electricity seemed to shoot through each other at the point of contact of their lips. It had been a simple gesture, a simple kiss. Sasuke’s annoyance and Naruto’s sheepishness vanished, replaced with a dangerous atmosphere.

Somehow, the simple kiss had seemed more intimate than all their other gestures before. Naruto moved away from Sasuke, licking his lips, staring down at Sasuke. Sasuke propped himself up on his elbow, looking at Naruto, who was now sitting up, touching his fingers to his lips as though wondering what had happened.

"Naruto?" Sasuke said, questioningly.

"I-" Naruto said, apparently at an equal loss. Somehow, Naruto leaning over and giving Sasuke a gentle kiss, a loving kiss on his mouth had crossed the two over some boundary. Suddenly the idea of the rivalry that they had had of who would best who seemed so young, so foolish, and much too innocent. Whatever unspoken barrier they had just crossed felt like something much more intimate. Sasuke's heart sped up as he looked at Naruto who was looking back at him with such an intensity that made his whole body light on fire. His arousal throbbed deliciously as he felt a sudden and alarming need for Naruto. A need for Naruto to come to him.

As though Naruto was heeding Sasuke's silent beckoning, he moved as Sasuke did, their lips meeting halfway, crushing mouth against mouth.

Lips brushed against lips in a searing and heated kiss. Naruto parted his lips slightly, and Sasuke's tongue began to slowly trace Naruto's lips back and forth, his movements causing a tingly sensation on both his tongue and Naruto's lips. Naruto moaned into the open mouthed kiss, his hand coming up to play with the hair at the nape of Sasuke's neck, his other arm wrapping around Sasuke, pulling the other shinobi's body closer to his. Pressing closer to Naruto, Sasuke began to slowly probe his tongue into Naruto's mouth, capturing Naruto's tongue and gently running his own over Naruto's, a thrill of feeling starting at his mouth and spreading over the rest of his body.

As Sasuke worked his tongue, he brought one hand up to cup Naruto's cheek, and snuck his hand lower to cup the cheek of Naruto's ass, groping him unabashedly as he raised his body slightly from his sitting position.

"Sasuke," Naruto moaned, breathlessly into Sasuke’s mouth. His fingers roamed along Sasuke's body, feeling Sasuke's warmth beneath the soft fabric of his clothes. Naruto's hands lowered to the thin-corded belt at Sasuke's waist. He gripped his fingers around the belt and used it to pull Sasuke closer to him. Sasuke obliged willingly as he pressed himself heavily atop of Naruto.

Sasuke took deep pleasure in Naruto's eagerness. Sasuke knew he was being slightly rough, but felt that he couldn't help but press his lips harshly against Naruto's, not allowing either of them to breathe, their faces pressed so closely together that they could not even draw breath through their noses. Naruto felt his head begin to swim at the lack of oxygen, and his body felt utterly on fire as he remembered the time that he had entered Sasuke’s body so erotically underwater. His head swam as though reliving the experience, and he felt giddy and lightheaded as Sasuke's warm lips pressed fiercely against his.

Finally, Sasuke pulled away from him. He moved his legs so that he straddled Naruto's sides. He took deep, husky lungfuls of air as he began to tug at his shirt. Naruto fumbled with the corded tie his fingers were still gripping, his hands moving around Sasuke's back where the knot was and began fumbling with the knot to untie it. As soon as Naruto had freed him of the belt, Sasuke pulled the shirt over his head, the sweaty fabric clinging to him as it was drug over his body before he flung it off of to the side. Sasuke leaned back down, his arms propping his body just above Naruto's. Naruto took a moment to admire the way that Sasuke looked wearing just his arm guards on the upper part of his body.

There was a certain wildness to Sasuke being so exposed, yet looking ready to enter a fight at any moment. Naruto's attention was brought back to Sasuke leaning in so close to him. Sasuke's hungry lips hovered close to Naruto's mouth before he slowly slid out his tongue and ran it over Naruto's bottom lip. Naruto moaned, his mouth opening as Sasuke leaned closer, pressing his lips against Naruto's moist ones, his tongue slipping inside Naruto's mouth.

Naruto felt his eyes roll in the back of his head at the strangely pleasurable feeling of Sasuke's tongue caressing, pulling, and stroking his own. He clutched tightly to the cord of rope still in his hands, his body writhing in his pleasure. Sasuke's unusually long, almost snakelike tongue began to actually wrap itself around Naruto's, his tongue moving and stroking Naruto's. The blond haired ninja moaned as he imagined - and remembered - Sasuke's tongue moving like that over his cock. At this memory, Naruto's hips bucked upward unconsciously, pressing his manhood against Sasuke's.

Sasuke grunted as Naruto's movement dislodged his seat from atop of the younger shinobi. He pulled his tongue and his lips apart from Naruto's drug-like mouth to readjust himself atop of his friend. His lover. A glimmer of moonlight shone down upon Naruto, its rays catching Naruto's face, illuminating Naruto's gorgeous features. Sasuke felt a desire to know what Naruto's entire body would look like illuminated in such a way and reached his hand out to unzip Naruto's jacket. He slid the catch slowly down, his eyes greedily taking in the sight of the black-meshed covered chest and stomach beneath him. Naruto bucked his hips against Sasuke's again, but Sasuke merely grinned at Naruto's impatience.

Smirking, Sasuke took a few moments to appreciate how edible Naruto looked with his jacket opened and half hanging off him on the grass. Naruto leaned up, making Sasuke have to lean backwards as Naruto discarded his jacket, leaving him in just his fishnet shirt. Sasuke reached up to Naruto's face, stroking the three lines on each of Naruto's cheeks, staring at Naruto as lust filled blue-eyes met impassioned obsidian-eyes.

Slowly, Sasuke's hand moved from Sasuke's face to the back of Naruto's head. He began to tug at the tie of his Konoha headband when Naruto's hand shot out and stilled his movements.

"No," Naruto said. Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"No?" Sasuke repeated, a smirk on his face, somehow even more turned on by Naruto's sudden fighting spirit. He reached his other hand to try and get at the tie, but Naruto shot out his other hand to stop Sasuke from achieving his goal.

"But I want it off of you," Sasuke said as he ground his hips down onto Naruto.

"N-no," Naruto said unconvincingly as he bit his lip to bite the moan from coming from his mouth.

"Yes," Sasuke hissed excitedly. His hands were outstretched away from his body, Naruto's arms keeping him at bay, but Naruto's state of excitement had left him vulnerable. Before Naruto knew what was happening he was forced back onto the ground, Sasuke heavily atop him, gazing at him with sharingan eyes, his lips set into a predatory grin. Naruto began to get angry, realizing that Sasuke was attempting to overpower him. As Naruto went to kick his legs to dislodge Sasuke from him again, he was thwarted when he felt hands holding his legs and his arms down as well; Naruto was effectively pinned to the ground.

"What the-" Naruto asked, looking around to see the shirtless Sasuke clones around him. Naruto’s eyes widened as he realized that the Sasuke sitting above him had created multiple clones in order to pin him down.

"I copied your shadow clone jutsu. I felt I would need to repay you at some point for you seem quite keen on being seme when you gang bang me," Sasuke said, as he grinned huskily down at Naruto.

"Sasu-" Naruto began, but the rest of Sasuke's name was muffled as one of the clones snatched away the corded belt that he still had held in his hand and wrapped it around Naruto's mouth, causing his words to be cut off.

"Shhh," Sasuke said, as he hushed Naruto. "We both know how loud you are, and we don't want to attract any unwanted attention. Especially not Dokueki," Sasuke murmured.

Naruto tried to yell something at Sasuke that sounded something like, "bastard", "bondage fetish", and "prick" but came out rather muffled. Sasuke smirked as one of his five clones untied Naruto's hitai-ate, allowing his beautiful blond hair to spill more fully around him.

"Fuck," Sasuke whispered huskily, his breath catching at how erotic Naruto looked writhing beneath him in his anger of having his headband removed. Sasuke allotted himself another few moments to stare greedily down at Naruto as the clone that had untied Naruto's Konoha headband walked towards the real Sasuke and tied the band tightly around Sasuke's neck, making it look like a black and silver choker. Naruto stopped his struggling at once.

Naruto had not expected that Sasuke's intent for wanting his headband off would be to wear it. He had initially thought it was Sasuke’s desire for Naruto to dissociate himself from Konoha, but seeing Sasuke straddling him as he wore his black headband, seeing the Sasuke clones all grinning at him so sexily drove Naruto's libido crazy. Naruto moaned into the cord as he watched the clone who had untied his headband flick out his tongue and began to lick the real Sasuke from the edge of where the headband-choker was tied at his neck, down his chest.

Sasuke smirked at Naruto as he watched his blond-haired teammate looking at him so huskily. He clearly remembered the way he enjoyed watching the many Naruto-clones doing erotic things to each other, and he wanted to see if Naruto enjoyed it as much as he had. From the way Naruto had begun to buck his hips against Sasuke's, he took that as a definite yes. Sasuke grinded back, loving the way that pressing against Naruto made him feel. Knowing he wasn't too heavy for him, Sasuke moved his arms so that they were no longer propping himself up. He allowed his full weight to fall atop of Naruto, putting more pressure against Naruto's arousal; his naked, moist chest pressed against Naruto's fishnet covered one. Panting heavily at the exertion their grinding caused, he put his head next to the side of Naruto's face, his lips brushing, caressing, biting, and pulling on Naruto's ear.

"You feel so good," Sasuke said huskily, as he panted into Naruto's ear. Naruto closed his eyes, the feelings coursing through his body overwhelming his senses. He grunted back in response as he moved his hips, the only part of him that he could do so without being held back by a Sasuke clone and picked up his speed and the ferocity of his thrusting.

Sasuke pushed himself back off of Naruto. Naruto, despite the cord in his mouth, growled at Sasuke threateningly, the sound deep and rumbling from the back of his throat. Sasuke smirked, knowing Naruto wanted him as much as he wanted Naruto. He didn't respond to the threatening growl and instead began to undo Naruto's pants. Naruto once again stilled his struggling beneath Sasuke to allow his older teammate to undress him. His pants and black and orange silk boxers came off quickly, followed by several articles of Sasuke’s clothes. The same clone who had untied his hitai-ate began to work at undressing the real Sasuke once Sasuke had finished undressing him.

"Nnn," Naruto moaned at the erotic strip tease of the Sasuke-clone touching Sasuke. Naruto felt about ready to burst at the sight, his exposed, erect member almost aching at the lack of attention it was getting in the open air. As though reading his mind, Sasuke reached his hand down and began to stroke him. Naruto arched into the touch, though he had to fight to keep his eyes from closing at the pleasure so he could watch Sasuke and clone-Sasuke in action. The clone had come from behind Sasuke and had wrapped his hand around the real Sasuke's cock. The real Sasuke also had to fight to keep his eyes open, wanting to watch Naruto, wanting to see him come. Their eyes locked as Sasuke jerked Naruto off, and Sasuke's clone did him.

Eyes still locked onto each other, Sasuke and his clone controlling the jerks perfectly made Naruto and himself come at the same time. Sasuke felt his euphoric release intensify at the triumph at having made them both come at the same time, something that he had secretly wanted since the very first time they had had sex. Naruto's semen spilled out of his body onto his belly and Sasuke's hand, but most of Sasuke's seed landed directly on Naruto's stomach and chest. Releasing his hold on Naruto’s cock, Sasuke slumped forward, his hand coming up lazily to untie the cord at Naruto's mouth, his lips catching Naruto's in a soft kiss, his body smacking wetly against their cum soaked stomachs and chests.

"Fucking teme," Naruto panted out, turning his head off to the side to spit so that he could get rid of the taste of the cord, before his head turned back towards Sasuke, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "You're not wiped out already are you?" Naruto said, smirking. It was Sasuke's turn to growl dangerously at Naruto who merely grinned back. "You're not even using your clones like I do. You used that one to pleasure yourself. I think you like being gang-banged – or maybe you just like having me tied up, or in this case, held down," Naruto said knowingly.

"Urusaizo," Sasuke snarled as he pressed his lips firmly and harshly against Naruto's to forcibly make him be quiet. He could feel Naruto once more bucking against him, but he still had his clones holding him fast. "You're mine," Sasuke murmured against Naruto, who was interrupted as Naruto kissed him fiercely. "I don't want to share you, even with myself," Sasuke said, jealously. Sasuke could feel Naruto smirking back.

"Such jealousy," Naruto said, feeling himself growing hard once more, and feeling Sasuke's own arousal growing again, pressing firmly on his upper thigh. "Let me go. Let me feel you with my hands," Naruto said, in a voice and in a manner so unlike his usual loudmouth self that Sasuke didn't even hesitate to obey. His clones disappeared immediately in five puffs of smoke.

Sasuke once again let his body fall fully onto Naruto's, their wet cocks smacking against each other as the two shinobi began to glide against one another, their bodies slick with each other's sperm as well as their own sweat. The air already smelled heavily of sex, making the love making that much more erotic. Naruto reached up, his hands gripping and groping at Sasuke.

As they touched each other, their eyes locking, they seemed to lose themselves in their lovemaking. They both began to feel light headed with euphoria, and a strange thing began to happen.

Naruto knew that he had been beneath Sasuke, and he could still feel the weight of Sasuke pressing down on him, but suddenly, it was as though he was Sasuke, and feeling his own body pressed against him. Sasuke meanwhile, suddenly felt as though a weight had settled on his body, but he knew that he was still on top of Naruto – wasn’t he?

Time seemed to slow as the ninja on top pressed his throbbing member against the ninja's heated opening. There were no words of consent, no nods of approval, just a look that spoke volumes between the two as the wet cock slid gently in, only going in to the head, and pulling out almost all the way, before slowly pushing back in to the head, and back out again. The slow pace was maddening to them both, but neither was willing to speed up, seeing who would cave in first. Their bodies were so on fire, so entwined, their eyes locked as though able to read everything about each other, it was hard to tell who was doing what. Was Sasuke sliding inside of Naruto, or was Naruto pushing inside of Sasuke? They both panted heavily, so connected to each other that they were no longer sure if they were Naruto and Sasuke, or just one person feeling so many emotions.

Pushing in deeper now, and then nearly pulling out, slickened cock inside the waiting body, going in slowly. The pace never increased as Sasuke and Naruto locked eyes with each other, giving each other long, deep kisses in between every painfully slow thrust, each thrust bringing them closer to the edge. Each sound that they made, each pant, each grunt of pain at the strange intrusion, each moan at the feeling of being inside the other, each hiss of pain turned to pleasure seemed to fill both Sasuke and Naruto, feeling the vibrations of the other's noises as though they were the other.

The pattern never changed. In and out slowly, only going deeper after about a minute of blissful, gliding thrusts. Their speed was slow, steady, and so fucking erotic, until they could last no longer. Hips bucked against hips, as the thrusts became more painful, faster, harder and more pleasurable.

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" They half-screamed half-moaned each other's names into each other's mouths as they came in waves, their bodies wracking with such deep pleasure, pleasure neither one of them had felt before, feeling such a part of the other. They both panted, exhausted after their second release of the night.

Each of them rolled to the side, their chests heaving, still staring at each other. Naruto gulped and Sasuke licked at his lips. No words were needed as they looked at each other. They had read each other's thoughts – they had practically been the other – and they didn't need to say what they already knew.

They loved each other.

An owl hooted off in the distance, and the spell that the two seemed to be in was broken.

"We-uh, we better clean up before Dokueki finds us," Sasuke murmured. Naruto nodded. To anyone else, Sasuke knew that this would have been an offensive comment to be spoken so soon after what had happen, and especially in such a seemingly nonchalant tone, but this was Naruto: Naruto understood.

"We better get some sleep. Big day for you tomorrow," Naruto said, grinning as he wiped himself down with some traveling wipes from his bag.

"A life-changing day."


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

"Aaaaah!" Both Naruto and Sasuke shot up in their bedrolls at the startling scream. Each had risen to his feet, Sasuke looking around with his sharingan activated, and Naruto in a fighting stance, a kunai held at the ready.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked. "Who screamed?"

"I did!" Sasuke and Naruto had to look down to the ground, realizing that it was Dokueki. She looked terribly distressed.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked, his sharingan not finding immediate danger, wondering if someone had attacked the shadow clone Dokueki had been with, though if so, it had been somewhere out of his direct line of sight.

"What happened? What happened?! I could ask that of you two! You had sex and I wassss not here to watch it!" Dokueki wailed, her tongue flitting through the air. "I can smell it still," she moaned sadly. Sasuke reached down, and grabbed her roughly by the throat, and picked her up to hold her at eye level. He pressed his thumb in the center of the line between the hinges of her jaw where it would close off the most air for her.

"You woke us up for that?!" Sasuke hissed, and Naruto felt himself sympathizing with Sasuke's sudden urge to strangle Dokueki.

"I came back because Itachi'ssss over that way," Dokueki gasped through Sasuke's tight grasp on her throat as she pointed feebly with her tail off towards the right. Sasuke's mere shock made him loosen his grip on the snake. He stood frozen in surprise for a mere moment before he dropped Dokueki, not overly gently, but not harshly either, to the ground as he quickly fumbled with putting on the rest of his clothes that he had not bothered to get into after the activities of the previous night as Naruto did the same. Packing up their things in record speed, Sasuke once again grabbed Dokueki and slung her around his waist. For once she had no comment.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, a strange urgency yet breathlessness in his voice, "distract Itachi. I need to discuss a few quick things with Kabuto," Sasuke said. Naruto frowned, wanting to protest, but decided against it. He called back his clones that were out on the border. Their knowledge flowed back into him, and he headed out in the direction where Itachi was.

Sasuke quickly grabbed a vial from his pack that held a milky-white substance in it. He grasped in tightly, and then turned his attention to Kabuto who was sitting almost unconcernedly on the grass, his eyes raised questioningly, unable to move his limbs.

"So it was Naruto-kun that you were sneaking off to fuck," Kabuto said, a disgusting smirk on his face. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, hoping that Kabuto had still been unconscious for their activities the night before. He had completely forgotten that Kabuto had been there, and Sasuke decided to just ignore his comment.

"I need information about the potion that you made for Orochimaru. The one that allows a body transfer to become permanent," Sasuke said. Kabuto eyed him warily.

"What about it?"

Sasuke smiled wickedly. Kabuto felt a horrible fear well up in him. Sasuke looked suddenly insane with the malicious grin that spread over his face; he would never have expected Sasuke to look so frightening. "I need to use it of course."

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

"We're getting closer to them," Kiba informed the two groups as he sniffed at the air as he tracked Naruto’s scent. Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, and Yamato had caught up with Kiba, Hinata, and Shino at an alarmingly fast rate, but they had still had to travel practically through the entire night to catch up to the tracking group. Kakashi could not recall his group ever moving so fast, (especially not without Naruto in the lead, urging them to go at his neck-breaking speed.) Then again, Kakashi mused, Naruto was leading them still, even if it was in a different way; he led them because everyone wanted to find him so desperately.

"Do you think Naruto-kun will be okay?" Hinata asked worriedly, her usually sorrowful eyes seeming even more sad and heartbroken than normal.

"Naruto'll be fine. You know he always has some bizarre trick up his sleeve to keep himself out of danger right at the last minute," Kiba said knowingly. Kakashi kept his eyes ahead of him, trying not to doubt his or Naruto’s capabilities. Kakashi's mind went back to a conversation he had had with Naruto, a conversation that felt like it had happened ages ago.

FLASHBACK

"...that does not mean I should live in fear of someone coming after me. I can take care of myself when I need to," Naruto had said. Kakashi sighed.

"How do I say this? Naruto, I know you can take care of yourself. You've proven yourself over and over again. What I'm saying is I don't know if Sasuke will let you take care of yourself. He wants to protect you because you are someone close to him. He cannot bear the thought of you being lost to him in the same way as his family. I think part of him fears you because you are that important to him."

"Of course he fears me! I'm greater than he is!" Naruto said all of a sudden, laughing proudly. His laughter didn't last long though, and he trailed off awkwardly. "Ne, do you really think Sasuke is that worried about me, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto had moved up on the shingled roof, concentrating chakra to his feet to crouch close to Kakashi. Kakashi turned to him and gave one of his eye-wrinkling smiles.

"I do." Kakashi reached out a hand and ruffled Naruto's hair. "I guess what I'm trying to say, is make sure Sasuke knows you can take care of yourself. You know, you make a lot of people worry now that I think about it. Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, Jiraiya-sama, Iruka, Sasuke, and Sakura. And me of course."

"Nani? You just said that you knew I could take care of myself!"

"Yes, but you still worry me sometimes. Don't you think I can take of myself? And weren't you worried about me when I was in the hospital?" Naruto mumbled "yes." "See? Worry and rationality of prior knowledge of how you know someone will handle a situation differs."

END FLASHBACK

It was hard to take his own advice. He knew that Naruto could take care of himself if he had to, but there was still that little nagging voice in the back of his head that made him fearful of what Sasuke could do to Naruto.

Kakashi felt guilt well up within him. He had let Naruto down. He had let Sasuke down. He had let himself down. He should never have encouraged Naruto and Sasuke's relationship the way he had. It had not been his place to meddle in such affairs. Now he wondered how things would have turned out if he had not tried to persuade Sasuke to work things out with Naruto when they first had that strange nightly encounter due to Naruto's restless sleeping habits all those years ago. Kakashi shook his head. He was distracted. He couldn't let these thoughts cloud his judgment. He was a shinobi and he needed to quell his emotions or he would be no use to Naruto.

"Naruto will be fine," Kakashi said. "He has all of us coming for him," Kakashi added, crinkling his eyes into a smile. The rest of the group turned to look at him, and they all seemed encouraged by this thought.

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

"Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto yelled. The thickly wooded areas were suddenly flooded with several thousand Naruto figures. Tons of orange and black clad clones now dappled the once completely green pine area. Sasuke said to distract Itachi; he figured he could handle that with a few thousand replicas of himself.

Amidst the horde of Naruto figures, the real Naruto balanced himself high up in a tall evergreen, using it as a vantage post. He had henged himself to look like a crow, and sat perched on a branch hoping his disguise would help him against Itachi's sharingan.

"Oho. It appears that we are not alone now, ne?" Naruto heard the voice before he actually saw Kisame jump into the air, his massive sword swinging down wildly, slashing through half a dozen of Naruto's clones. Naruto looked down at Kisame from his hideout and lookout spot.

"You are exerting your energy unnecessarily, Kisame," Itachi's smooth and uncaring voice carried from below him. He saw Itachi seemingly appear out of nowhere next to his Akatsuki partner, his eyes scanning the area around him, his sharingan sorting through the thousands of clones to find the real one.

"I haven't had anything exciting to exert my energy on recently. It will be good to get rid of it," Kisame said as twenty or so clones began to attack. Naruto watched as the clones began to attempt his Uzumaki Naruto combo. Only two clones managed hits before being destroyed with Kisame's massive sword, Kisame clearly gleeful at the attacks while Itachi stood watching with a mask-like expression on his face, his eyes still scanning the area.

Naruto knew that Itachi could cast genjutsu with just a flick of his finger, and Naruto was horrible at getting out of any type of mind attack. He hurriedly shut his eyes, allowing his ears to do most of the work. He knew full well that it was possible that he was already in an illusion. However, he had taken special precautions this time to prevent that and to stop himself from being caught in one for too long. He knew that if he were to get caught, only someone else would be able to snap him out of the illusion. They would have to forcibly pour chakra into his body in order to bring him out of the genjutsu. He had practiced a strategy to fight against Itachi’s genjutsu since he and Itachi had had their last encounter, and he had a strong feeling it would work this time.

"Hello Naruto-kun," Itachi's voice spoke quietly from Naruto's left, and he snapped open his bird eyes involuntarily, seeing Itachi to his right, then cursing himself for giving himself away before quickly snapping his eyes shut again. He hadn’t expected Itachi to find him so fast with so many of his clones and with so many trees.

"Caw, caw, caw!" Naruto crowed through his henged beak. He had decided to henge into a crow on purpose; it was part of his strategy he had been perfecting to defeat Itachi. Itachi himself used crows for his illusions, so he figured that Itachi could use a taste of his own medicine by using them against him. At Naruto's cawing, birds began to flutter from their trees, a mass of birds, crows and other kinds alike, all soaring in the air. In one fell swoop, they came hurtling towards him and Itachi. If Naruto's eyes had been open, he would have seen Itachi hop backwards off the branch, avoiding the birds while throwing several shuriken at them.

Naruto had taken the painstaking liberty of learning birdcalls in order to alert them of danger, and use them to help attack Itachi.

Meanwhile, one of Naruto's clones came up and put his hand on the real Naruto's feathery body, pouring chakra into him. Naruto wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't sure if Itachi had yet succeeded in getting him sucked into an illusion, but he could not afford to ignore the possibility. He knew he needed Sasuke's help to defeat Itachi, and now he desperately wished that he had thought to ask what Sasuke's plan for defeating Itachi was. He felt rather foolish. For months Sasuke had been planning something, yet why hadn't he thought to ask his friend what the plan was. Also, why hadn't Sasuke bothered to tell him?

Below him he could hear the sounds of more of his clones popping out of existence as they came into contact with Kisame's sword.

"NARUTO!" He heard a voice yell, and was surprised to hear not Sasuke, but Sakura hollering his name from below. He didn't have time to sigh in relief before realizing that if she was here, then she and anyone else who was with her was in danger from Itachi’s sharingan (which was an irrational and foolish thought considering that he was in greater danger of it than anyone else was.)

With a puff of smoke, the crow vanished as he quickly switched back to his original form, letting his clones deal with stopping Itachi from attacking him, and jumped down from branch to branch in order to reach the ground where Kakashi, Sai, Sakura, Yamato, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino all stood, shaking pine needles loose from the branches as he hopped down.

"Now this is much better!" Naruto yelled as he landed on the forest floor, looking at all that had come as backup.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked breathlessly as she and the others took up fighting stances as Naruto got into position in the Konoha ranks. Naruto merely grinned and a hefty nod.

"And here I thought we were saving you from Uchiha Sasuke. I guess we got the wrong Uchiha brother," Kiba said, smirking as he surveyed the scene.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, concerned, surveying his nephew, wanting more than a grin and nod for confirmation.

"I can take care of myself," Naruto said, pointing to himself with his thumb in his usual cocky manner. Kakashi nodded.

"Where's Sa-" Kakashi was cutoff as Itachi threw a kunai with an explosive note between the group of Konoha shinobi, making everyone scatter as the tag hissed and blew-up.

"Yamato, Naruto, Sai, Sakura - you deal with Kisame. Kiba, Shino, Hinata - help me with Itachi," Kakashi instructed as he jumped from tree branch to tree branch, grabbing his Konoha headband, and uncovering his one sharingan eye. "Katon: gokyaku no jutsu!" He cried as he blew flames towards the ground and several of the nearby trees. He knew that sharingan users had the advantage in open areas, and by burning down some of the trees nearby he would be creating an opening for Itachi. However, Itachi wasn't the only one around here with the sharingan, and Kakashi wasn’t thinking about himself either. Kakashi could feel Sasuke's presence nearby, and it unnerved him that Sasuke wasn’t coming to join in the fight. Kakashi believed he could lure Sasuke out if they started fighting Itachi. He knew that Sasuke would at least be on their side, if only to fight against his older brother.

"Oi! Why aren't I going after Itachi?" Naruto yelled, finally getting the time to holler as he caught up with Kakashi.

"Do as your Uncle tells you!" Kakashi said, before leaping off in a different direction. Naruto made an angry noise of protest, but he headed off back towards where Kisame was firing attacks from inside an enclosure of trees. Kakashi's use of their relationship had had the desired effect as he hoped it would; obeying orders from a sensei were different then obeying orders from a sensei AND a family member.

"Where are you Sasuke?" Naruto hissed as he created clones to attack Kisame.

Kisame and Itachi definitely had the advantage in the battle. They kept the Konoha shinobi separated from each other, making them dodge different things - kunai, ninja stars, etc. - in order to keep them from forming a plan to go at them all at once. To avoid getting ganged up on, instead of fighting all out, they had clearly picked the more levelheaded approach and fought on the defensive. If Kisame and Itachi could keep their enemies from grouping together, they could slowly pick them off one by one while their enemies became weaker from having to exert themselves to avoid the many kunai, flames, and water techniques that were being thrown at them in order to stop their advance.

It was working extremely effectively as well. None of the Konoha ninja could stay on the ground too long in fear of getting targeted from exploding tags, smoke bombs, ninja stars, shuriken, a blade, and the long distance attacks.

Naruto stood panting in a tree having just avoided Kisame’s sword, followed by a blazing water technique. He gripped his arm where the burning water had seared him slightly, his eyes scanning the battle for an opening or signs of where his teammates were. An explosion in the clump of trees to his right, followed by some loud-pitched curses was probably Sakura. He couldn’t see Yamato, but he could see Sai in another tree located about fifteen or sixteen tress away using his strange art jutsu to create a dragon to attack Kisame. Naruto saw the opportunity he’d been looking for.

"Oi, Sai!" Naruto yelled amidst the blasts of explosive notes going off. Itachi and Kisame were both concentrating even harder on keeping the eight of them separated as another round of explosions went off. "Can your ink creature hold human weight?" Naruto yelled loudly as he heard barking coming from somewhere behind him, no doubt Kiba and Akamaru attacking.

"Yes!" Sai's voice came, hardly audible over the din of the battle, but that was all that Naruto needed to know. Naruto created clones and directed some of them to try to jump onto the back of the inky-black, fake dragon when they could. Sai seemed to have realized what Naruto was thinking, and he pointed for his dragon to soar back through the trees where some of Naruto's clones were. The clones hopped on its back and soared toward Kisame. Meanwhile, Naruto could finally see Yamato who had begun making a long series of seals from close to where Naruto could hear Kisame located. Naruto hopped down to the ground to get a better look as he zigzagged through trees, racing the dragon above him towards Kisame. He arrived in time to see vines shoot at Kisame, but he easily slashed away at them again and again.

"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled, jumping into view, punching the ground around everyone, forcing Kisame to jump into the air to avoid falling into the growing crater caused by the strong kunoichi. Yamato's vines finally wound their way around Kisame's legs as Kisame landed. Kisame slashed through them, but Sakura had lifted a large rock, and punched it. The broken shards of the rock came flying towards Kisame, and as he blocked them from hitting him, Yamato's vines finally snaked around Kisame's arm, making it hard for him to move his sword.

Above Kisame, the black dragon came racing towards him through the tops of the trees, a blue light glowing from the dragon's back.

"Odaima rasengan!" Naruto's clones yelled, as the dragon hurtled forward, two Naruto clones holding a joint, larger than normal rasengan in their hands. Kisame's eyes widened as the ball hit him straight in his chest, an explosion issuing from the contact of the rasengan with Kisame, Naruto's clones popping away as they were disintegrated from the blast.

"YATTA!" Naruto cried enthusiastically from his perch where he had watched the scene. "We killed another Aka-" but his words were cut off as a figure stood in front of him, his eyes widening, as the last thing he saw were red spiraled eyes boring into his own.

Naruto felt himself being lost in Itachi's sharingan, his body going numb as he was thrust into a world of unimaginable pain at Itachi's hands with the mangekyou sharingan.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled. He had joined the battle against his brother when he had seen the smoke rising. He cursed Kabuto for making it harder than necessary to extract the information he needed from him. He rushed towards the clearing where smoke was rising, only just arriving to see the other Konoha ninja, along with Kisame all engaged in battle. Kiba, Shino, Hinata, and Kakashi had seemed more organized than the other team as Kakashi and Kiba attacked at the same time against Itachi. The other two were holding back as "reserves," or as Sasuke guessed, as the two who would help force chakra into someone if anyone got caught in a genjutsu. He saw that Hinata and Shino were holding back from battle as Kiba charged with getsuga while Kakashi was trying to "distract" Itachi.

"Itachi's mine!" Sasuke had yelled as he appeared on the scene, only to see his brother look in his direction and promptly flicker out of sight. "No!" Sasuke hissed, his sharingan blazing at he searched the area for where Itachi was, only to find him in the treetops, advancing on Naruto with his mangekyou sharingan blaring. Sasuke ran towards the two of them.

Sasuke watched as Itachi grasped Naruto by his throat, lifting him so that he was closer to his eyes. Sasuke knew that he would only have mere seconds to act because the sharingan's effects on Naruto could seem like hours or even days in the matter of seconds. However, it was Itachi's distraction with Naruto that gave Sasuke the opening that he needed.

Powering up his chidori, with his sharingan blazing, Sasuke appeared behind Naruto with a kunai in his hand, and rammed his chidori and the kunai through Naruto's chest, straight through to Itachi.

Itachi grunted in pain and surprise. His eyes stared directly into Sasuke’s.

As he stared into his brother's eyes, Sasuke felt anger well up inside him. Itachi still seemed impassive even though Sasuke had just thrust his hand through him. Sasuke withdrew his hand, watching as Naruto's body fell to the side, Itachi having let go of him. Itachi made a sudden move backwards, clutching at the wound in his chest, and then made sure to put enough distance between himself and Sasuke as he hopped to another treetop.

Sasuke's face finally contorted in the slightest of smirks, a deranged expression on his face as he stared at his older brother, noting how Itachi was clutching at his wound, and was breathing somewhat heavily.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed, as she at least, paid attention to the way that Naruto had gone deathly still as he fell from the treetop like a lifeless doll. Sakura screamed again as she caught him in midair, landing heavily on the ground with Naruto’s extra body weight. “Naruto!” Sakura screamed in anguish as she felt but could not feel a pulse. She quickly began uselessly pouring healing chakra into him, meanwhile cursing Sasuke. Sasuke ignored her. He had closed his eyes as though savoring something, reopening them slowly as he revealed his newly changed sharingan.

His newly gained mangekyou sharingan.


Next Chapter: Restless Funerals


Pleaeeeeese don’t hurt me for this chapter ending! ::shouts while running away to hide:: I will update again in about a day or so, I promise! (And all of you who read “Nameless Desires” chapter 7 thought that was a cliffhanger.)

Special thanks to Shizuna_Katja who has begun to translate this fic into Spanish! You can find a link to it on my profile under Favorite Stories, as well as a link to Shizuna_Katja's profile under my Favorite Authors. Thanks again! ~ Jelp