Rose Vines and Kunai

Rose Vines and Kunai

Disclaimer: Second verse same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse! Or should I say verse??

Chapter Two:

Once he could no longer sense Naruto, the jounin shrugged his shoulders and turned to help Sakura set camp so the food would be ready when the pair returned to camp. He had no doubt whatsoever that Naruto would bring Sasuke back with him, although whether he'd be awake or out cold was a toss up. His student had already begun gathering firewood, so he set about building the fire with tinder. Naruto would without a doubt demand something to eat immediately upon arrival. Probably ramen, given just how predictable his appetite was. He wasn't sure about Sasuke, although he'd probably be hungry as well, if he were any judge of teenage boys.

Sakura was wrapped up in her thoughts, wondering how much Sasuke had changed in the last two years. She'd finally gotten over the crush she'd had on him, thanks in no small part to the attentiveness of her friends, and the growing relationship she had with one of her fellow Gennin, Rock Lee. She wasn't entirely sure where it was going, but she liked him enough to give it a try. Sasuke would probably be grateful to just have one less in his fanclub. She was worried about Naruto, in spite of his gregarious attitude, she knew no matter what he said, he was probably still very hurt by Sasuke's betrayal. If nothing else, he would be wary, cautious, but willing to take things at face value. Sasuke had been the only one who understood how lonely Naruto had been, and even though they argued a lot, there was a level of acceptance between them that Sakura could only guess at. Her teammates could work together without even a word to each other, it'd be a look and a nod and they'd be off. It was amazing to watch and now that Sasuke was back it would be that way again. At least she hoped it would.

Setting her armload of firewood next to Kakashi, she sat down and pulled her bag closer to her. After rummaging around for a minute she found a Ramen cup in Naruto's favorite flavor. It was weird, sometimes. A few years ago she wouldn't have cared what kind of ramen he liked, but after working with him for so long, she had finally begun to see what it was Hinata saw in him. He refused to quit, and had perfect confidence in himself, something Hinata strove for. Sure he was still annoying sometimes, and he tended to be a loudmouth, but he was also unfailingly loyal and had more courage than a dozen jounin ninja. Although some might say it was ignorance that made him willing to take on impossible odds. Of course more often than not he succeeded, whatever anyone might say.

"How long do you think they'll be, Sensei?"

Shrugging, Kakashi settled down into a crouch. "That will depend entirely on whether or not they choose to fight over the past, Sakura. I believe they will not be too much longer. Naruto knows we will worry if he's gone too long. And Sasuke is likely anxious to return. I doubt they will fight about it until they get back to Konoha."

Flopping to the side with an exaggerated sigh and setting her head on her bag, Sakura muttered "Meaning they will fight, eventually. I suppose it is too much to ask for them to get along peacefully."

"It always has been Sakura. Relax. It won't take Naruto long to come back," replied the jounin as he lay back, the newest release from the Come Come Paradise series firmly in his left hand. With a sardonic, but accepting glare, the young kunoichi pulled out her water bottle to fill a small pot and set it on the fire to boil against the blonde's return.

_._._._._

In complete silence, a two pairs of dark clad figures watched the pair as they began to relax, at ease in familiar territory. It was their job to collect the “bait” and return it intact to the headquarters. They were uneasy challenging a jounin of the “Copy Ninja”’s level, but they had confidence in their leader’s planning. They had a powder that would incapacitate Kakashi long enough to render his Sharingan useless. The only thing they had to worry about was the shear physical strength the girl had. The Uchiha was only a distraction for the strongest of the group, a simple way of getting the demon out of the way, as even in numbers they were no match for him.

Sending silent signals to the other pair when Kakashi finally fell asleep, the swiftest of them launched himself forward and threw the pouch of powder at the unwary ninja, while the other three moved in more slowly waiting for the drug to do its work. Once the jounin was completely under the influence of the drug the four turned their attention to the young kunoichi who was now crouched protectively over the other ninja’s body, kunai held in readiness at her side and her own chakra trying to overcome the effects of the powder as she performed a jutsu to nullify it. As they surrounded her, a slow frown started to make its way across her face as she tried to guess where the attack was going to come from.

“Be grateful, girl. Akatsuki wants you alive,” were the last words she heard before she was attacked from all sides and knocked unconscious.

:a:b:c:

The closer they got to the camp where Naruto had left Sakura and Kakashi, the more uneasy the avatar got. Something was seriously wrong, he could sense it in the very trees themselves as they whispered to him of something evil lurking in his territory. An even softer whisper was that which told him he was being followed, and even through Kyuubi he could tell whatever it was, it was making the plants very happy to have near. And that was enough to set Kyuubi on edge, since it was most likely to be another kitsune, since few other types of demons could affect plant life in such a way.

Sometimes it amazed him how much he and the kitsune managed to pass along information like that with nothing more than a shift of emotion. Kyuubi was uncomfortable with the presence of another who could manipulate plant life in a manner similar to his, which translated to another kitsune to Naruto. It was strange sometimes, how much the two of them seemed to be merging, more and more of their thoughts were concentric with each others, even down to wording.

Kyuubi of course shrugged the first time he mentioned it, but recently even he had become very quiet on the subject. He was certain it was starting to bother the kitsune. But for now, said fox was keeping his thoughts to himself, and was curled up in the darkest corner of his mind, snoring quietly. Now that the immediate prospect of a decent fight was past, Kyuubi was uninterested in anything that might happen. Naruto thought very quietly to himself that Kyuubi was only painfully bored with being locked up in another's mind, and was looking for any opportunity to make some mischief. It was reasonable, he supposed, after all he couldn’t even imagine what being trapped like that was like. Minutely shaking his head, Naruto looked over at Sasuke and immediately noticed the fierce frown on his face.

“Oi, baka, something wrong?”

“… I’m … not sure. But I can tell something isn’t quite right. Where did you leave Sakura and Kakashi?”

"They're just up ahead. I left them in a clearing after Sensei showed me the note you'd left on Tsunade-sama's desk. They wouldn't have been able to keep up with me once I started drawing on Kyuubi's chakra. I wasn't sure how long you'd stay there," replied the blonde who was easily keeping pace with the Uchiha for once.

Sasuke smirked. He'd have to get the baka to spar with him once they got back to Konoha, he wanted to find out how much skill Naruto had gained in the last two years. He nearly crashed into Naruto's back when his teammate came to an abrupt stop, cursing under his breath. "Naruto?"

"They're gone," he stated tersely before beginning to dart around the clearing trying to discover what had happened. /Baka kistune, are you awake?/

*sighs* /Yes, kit?/

/Sensei and Sakura are gone and I need your nose. Something is definitely wrong. I can't find hide or hair of them./ Grinning at the sudden rush of energy as the world of smells opened up to him again as his other half poured his red chakra into him and he saw the edgesof his vision flicker to purple as his natural energy and the kitsune's merged. Normally he knew this wasn't possible, but he seemed to be an exception to the rules. Nothing ever worked the way it was supposed to with him.

Shifing slightly away from the sudden surge of energy Sasuke glanced interestedly at the other ninja as he began sniffing the air experimentally. Evidently the blonde had gained a number of new abilities from his partnership with the imprisoned fox. Activating his Sharingan, he scanned the area for genjutsus aimed at them and caught a flicker of movement at the edge of the clearing. "Naruto!" he warned.

A low rumbling growl rolled through him and he twitched uneasily at his friend's expression of carefully banked anger. Blatant rage was present in his red eyes as his vision focused completely on the shadow in the trees. "I know Sasuke-teme. I can smell him. And he'd best have a good explanation or I'm gonna let Kyuubi eat him." This was delivered in such a bland, calm monotone that Sasuke had to do a double take to make sure Naruto was still in control of his body.

The soft giggling chuckle that followed hard on the heels of Naruto's statement snapped his attention back across to the figure at the other side of the meadow. "If youwish to see your friends again, you won't kill me." He started giggling like Kankuro as he continued "Well, if you want to see them alive, that is! The traitor and the demon! I'm sure ..." His words were cut off from being heard when Sasuke stepped to the side and hit the jutsu with a fireball.

"Why'd you do that?! He knows where they are!"

"And so do I," growled Sasuke, cutting him off with an angry gesture. "Kuso! I knew that had been too easy! It was a distraction!"

Shaking his head Naurto let Kyuubi recede and took his friend's shoulder. "Tell me what you know."

Shaking off the hand the dark nin took a step away and started pacing. "It was a distraction, though for me or you, I'm not sure. Probably both. Orochimaru let me go. He wanted me to distract you so he could ... collect ... a reason for you to go to his territory. He wants us to fight on his ground, by his rules. He's trapped us. Kuso, I should have seen it!" Burying his hands in his hair, Sasuke took a few deep breaths before turning back to his long time friend and rival. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I should have seen what the snake was planning."

"We'll get them back, Sasuke. We just need to figure out how. As much both I and Kyuubi would like to just rush in there and rip them all to shreds, we both agree that doing so would probably wind up getting Sakura and Kakashi-sensei killed. So, since they're probably expecting us to do just that, we wait and plan. For now, I'm sure they'll keep Sakura and Sensei alive, they need them to lure us into their trap. We have time so come on. Let's go back to Konoha. I'm sure I know a few ninja who'd love a chance to jump in on this," he ended with devilish smirk.

"And while we're at it we can send a message to Gaara, right?" asked Sasuke sardonically with a raised eyebrow.

Laughing, though it was a bit strained, Naruto took off for the trees. "You bet, bastard. I swear, the moment the opprotunity to kill something shows up he's at our doorstep. It's like he reads our minds."

:a:b:c:

Watching from the treetops with a frown Kurama shook his head in disapproval. The kit needed training. It was obvious he wasn't using his full potiential. And the fox on the inside! It was a shock to see a mere red so powerful. "Well?"

/I agree. Approach them. But do it before they leave. I want to see their faces./

Dropping down to the forest floor, the redheaded avatar merely stepped to the side when the blonde nin would have crashed right into him as he rushed past in his haste to return home. Sasuke slid to a stop right before him, dropping into a defensive crouch and eyed the man that had obviously heard every word they had spoken.

"Dobe!" called Sasuke as his friend backflipped to a stop. He had to admit that was pretty damn impressive. "Shit, where'd you learn that?"

"Lee. He was more than surprised to hear me ask for him to teach me. And it gave him the opening he needed to get closer to Sakura after he offered to teach us both his taijutsu." Shifting his attention to the redhead, his eyes narrowed in suspiscion. "Who the fuck are you?" he demanded carelessly, angrily.

Kurama cocked his head and gave the kit a soft glare. "I am someone who can help your particular ... predicament. Use your eyes ... and your nose, kit," he reprimanded him quietly.

The use of a term only Kyuubi used in reference to him brought Naruto up so short he nearly fell over backwards as he straightened up to stare at the visitor in shock, while Sasuke blinked at the redhead. "You ..."

"Are another kitsune? Yes. And I can help you get a grip on your power. I understand what's been happening to you, and I can explain it, if you wish. I am sure you are confused as to the similarity in thought and emotion?" At Naruto's cautious nod, Kurama continued. "Easy enough. The longer you are together in this manner, the more your thinking process and motions will dovetail. It happened to myself as well."

"You mean ... you're like me?" asked Naruto in disbelief, his eyebrows taking up residence in his hairline. He glanced at Sasuke to see what he thought of the situation, and held back a smirk when his partner shook his head slightly in confusion.

"Yes. As a human I am known as Suuichi Minamino. My youkai name is Youko Kurama."

......