Chapter 14 – Redemption

When Tsunade informed Naruto of her decision to send a message to the other Kages concerning Sasuke, his eyes widened and he burst out angrily, "What the hell?"

"We have no choice!" she said, "Think about it. Either we tell them the truth now, or we hide it and they discover it later, making them lose our trust forever!"

Naruto frowned, but didn't reply. She did have a point…

"Can I at least go with the messengers to explain properly?" he finally asked.

"I already sent them."

"Damn you didn't lose any time…"

He suddenly felt very anxious. The other Kages wouldn't react well to those news. He had thought he would have a little bit more time before they learned of this.

"Also I have a mission for you," Tsunade said, changing the subject.

Naruto sighed, "All right, let's hear it."

xxx

Kakashi and Sasuke were training restlessly. They were producing lightning attacks side by side, comparing their powers, and they were fighting each other mostly with simple tai jutsu – because if they were to attack with ninjutsu they might have ended up killing each other. They were both fast and skilled of course, and their friendly matches often ended up in a draw.

"You've improved, Sasuke," Kakashi said at some point, panting as he sat in the grass, taking a break.

The raven was beside him, lying down on his back with an arm under his head.

"I've improved? Compared to what, when I was 12 years old? That's kind of an understatement, Kakashi."

His silver-haired sensei chuckled, "I miss the other, nicer you. He actually used the honorifics."

"Whatever. And it wasn't an 'other me' but rather my mind was playing tricks on me."

"You sure were different."

"Guess I can't argue with that. But enough talking, let's have our rematch."

Kakashi smiled behind his mask as he stood. "Fine by me."

Sasuke smirked, producing a kunai. "Why don't we take things to the next level?"

They continued fighting for hours. At the end of the day Sasuke was exhausted, but he felt good. It was nice training with Kakashi. It brought back old memories. And those were good ones, at least.

When they got back to Kakashi's small house there was a message on the porch. Sasuke picked it up; it was Naruto's handwriting.

Hey guys,

I don't have much time but I wanted to at least leave a note. I'm going to the South with Yamato and Sai to help rebuild a village that was destroyed by some stupid internal war or whatever. I wasn't really listening to Tsunade. I suspect she wants to keep me away from Konoha to make sure you're faithful even when I'm not there, Sasuke. So don't you disappoint me. Just kidding… I know you won't. I'll be back soon, I love you.

Naruto

"Well, I hope he's right," Kakashi said. He had been reading over his shoulder.

"About what? Being back soon, or me not disappointing him?"

"I'll let you guess," he said half-teasing.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I'm not gonna attack anyone Kakashi. Just go talk to Sakura if you need reassurance. She'll tell you how I'm not consumed by hatred anymore and you two can have a blast talking about that."

She walked in the house and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower.

He heard Kakashi say, "You should try not to piss me off, I hope you know that."

Sasuke felt guilty at those words, and he decided he would try to apologize later – maybe.

When they had both showered they ate some rice and fish Kakashi had prepared. They ate in silence, and Kakashi was amused when Sasuke kept staring at his face.

"What?"

"You know perfectly well what, moron. I've never even seen your face before."

Kakashi was quite handsome, actually, and there was nothing wrong with his face. But Sasuke chose not to ask why he was wearing a mask, before he knew his sensei wouldn't answer him anyway. He probably just wanted to have a stupid style or something. Besides, it wasn't like him to ask questions like that – he'd leave that job to Naruto.

"Not from lack of trying," Kakashi finally said. He still had an amused smile on his lips.

Sasuke's lips also twitched at the memory of Naruto convincing him to try to see Kakashi's face.

"Naruto and his stupid ideas."

"You went along with it," Kakshi pointed out.

"I did."

They were silent again after that. But it wasn't awkward; Sasuke just wasn't much of a talker, and for Kakashi it was the same.

After the meal they simply sat in the living room. Kakashi was unsurprisingly reading a hentai book. Sasuke decided to imitate him, more out of boredom than anything. But he realized it was way too hard to concentrate on the stupid love story. He'd rather think about Naruto… Not that his mind gave him a choice, anyway. His thoughts kept drifting to his boyfriend. He was far away now, and Sasuke felt a pang in his heart. Naruto could be in danger at this very moment, and he was way too far to help.

He had been staying always close to Naruto, all those weeks he had been wandering as a criminal. And now, ironically he had been accepted back into the village, yet he couldn't be with him.

"Something on your mind?" Kakashi suddenly asked.

Sasuke snapped out of it, and looked at his sensei. "No, I'm fine."

"Come on, you can talk to me. I'm an expert when it comes to love," he held up his book as if it were relevant proof. Sasuke actually chuckled.

"…Right."

"Seriously, what's the matter? You miss Naruto?"

"How'd you know I was thinking about him?"

Kakashi raised a brow. "Don't take me for an idiot."

Sasuke sighed, "Yeah I fucking miss him. I'm worried about him, I don't like that he's gone and that I have to stay here. Happy now?"

"Don't worry," Kakashi said softly, "you more than anyone should know that Naruto can take care of himself all right."

"I know that…"

xxx

Two days later, at night, Naruto, Sai and Yamato were sitting around their camp fire. They had just finished eating, and they would go to sleep soon. But first, Yamato wanted to say something as the mission leader.

"We have to stay longer."

Naruto sighed. He had anticipated Yamato would say that. Of course, his only wish was to go back to Sasuke as soon as possible to see how he was doing. He didn't like being away from him. It was like a part of him was missing – and it was a painful reminder of all those years they had been apart.

"I agree," Sai said, "these people need us. The village is still a total mess."

"Naruto?" Yamato turned to look at him.

The blond glanced away; Yamato's eyes were creepy.

"Yeah, whatever…"

"Such enthusiasm," Yamato said sarcastically, "anyway, I'll go to sleep now I'm exhausted. Good night guys. We still have a lot of work tomorrow."

Naruot tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He kept tossing and turning and his eyes were wide open as he looked at the starry sky. He kept thinking about Sasuke. What if the shinobi against his return combined forces to take him down? Naruto wouldn't even be around to protect him…

At some point he got up to take a walk in the forest. His fingers brushed against the leaves of the trees as he made his way to a small stream of water. He sat and leaned against a big rock, taking off his green jacket and headband to be more comfortable.

"What are you doing, Sai?" he asked as he sensed his friend's presence.

"Thought you might want some company," he answered as he came to sit beside him.

"I'm fine… You should go back to Yamato."

"He's asleep; he won't even notice we're gone…"

Sai leaned closer and tried to put his arm around Naruto's shoulders, but the latter pushed him away.

"You really need to stop doing that!" he said angrily.

"Naruto let me comfort you," Sai insisted.

"I said I was fine!"

"No you're not. You're a terrible liar."

"Look," Naruto sighed heavily, "I'm worried about Sasuke, and I miss him. There, I said it."

"You really love him, don't you?" Sai asked with a hint of sadness behind the ever emotionless tone.

Naruto glanced away, and didn't reply.

"I'd just like you to consider your other options," Sai continued.

The blond frowned, "What?"

"There are other people, who really like you Naruto. Sasuke is not the best choice."

"Why are you telling me this Sai? My choice is already made. It's always been him, and it will always be, and you know it."

Naruto knew he was being harsh, but he needed Sai to stop being so persistent. He wanted him to move on.

"All right," Sai said slowly, moving away from him. "I guess I'll leave you alone, then."

He got up and walked away. Naruto sighed once more as he glanced at the water. He only missed Sasuke even more now. He needed him – needed to hold him close, to kiss him, to be near him.

Stupid mission, he thought. He really hoped it would be over soon.

xxx

Kakashi and Sasuke were training yet again. It had been five days since Naruto had gone on his mission. Sasuke's only visitors were Suigetsu, Jugo and Karin. But now they were gone on a mission as well. It seemed Tsunade wanted Kakashi and Sasuke to stay at the village though, because she had not asked to see them yet. So they kept on with their new favorite hobby; training together.

Their newest thing was to combine their lightning attacks together to create one even more powerful. It was really quite bad ass, actually, and they were having a lot of fun. They were also destroying a lot of trees – Yamato really needed to come back soon so he could rebuild those.

Sasuke liked training with Kakashi. Those were the only times he could stop worrying so much about Naruto, because he was focused on his chakra, and his attacks. But in the evening it was hard, because he was stuck in Kakashi's house with nothing to do, and way too much time to think.

That night he was restless. He pulled the blanket away and got up from the couch. It was very late in the night and Kakashi was sleeping, so why not sneak out? No one would notice him…

Sasuke knew it was only temporary, but he still enjoyed this little moment of freedom. He stayed away from the middle of the village, instead he walked in the woods separating Kakashi's house from the training grounds they had been visiting for the past five days.

He was only beginning to relax when he noticed there were people following him. Not good – not good at all. They were from Konoha, so he couldn't attack them. He didn't want to risk disappointing Naruto, or worst, losing him. He felt like the blond's love for him was conditional; if he hurt the villagers, it would be over.

They were Anbu members, from the looks of it. There were five of them. They had the advantage; Sasuke was unharmed, and unwilling to use ninjutsu or genjutsu for fear to hurt them and be exiled from the village again.

"What the hell do you want?" he asked, trying to keep his cool.

But it was hard to keep his cool when they quickly proceeded to encircle him. He frowned as he looked at each of them, as if he could read their intentions on those masked faces.

As they closed in on him he could feel his chakra being drained really quickly. What the hell? Was one of them performing a technique? He gathered his strength and jumped up to get away from them. But it didn't work. It was as if his head hit something really hard, and he fell back to the ground with a pained groan. He had no choice now. Even if they would possibly see this as a treat and throw him in jail, he activated his sharingan.

He saw it all. He saw the shield of chakra surrounding them, produced by one of the men. It was draining only him, and redirecting his life force and chakra to the others equally. They weren't from Konoha; these were disguises. How could he have been deceived so easily?

He saw it all, but it was too late. They attacked at once, except for the one who kept up his barrier. Sasuke managed to dodge the first two, but then he felt a blade pierce through his defense. His first reflex was to clutch his stomach to stop the blood from pouring out of the wound. They continued hitting him as he fell to the ground. The last things he heard before passing out were them mocking him.

"I can't believe our plan worked that easily. Guess that guy's really trying to get on Konoha's good side."

"Yeah whatever he's just lucky the Raikage wants him alive. He deserves to die for what he did to the Raikage and his brother."

"Oh don't worry he'll die. Raikage-sama will make it a public execution to show an example to the world. It's the right thing to do. Not like that stupid Hokage…"

"I hear ya. Anyway, let's go…"

xxx

When Naruto came back to the village – finally – he knew something was wrong. Whenever he walked by a friend they were adverting their eyes, as if they were hiding something from him. He walked faster towards the Hokage's building, with Yamato and Sai having a hard time keeping up with him.

When he burst in her office he cut straight to the point, "Tsunade what's going on? I just came back from the mission and everyone's avoiding me instead of greeting me. Did Sasuke do something? Tell me!"

"Calm down, Naruto!" she exclaimed with authority.

On the meantime Sai and Yamato had joined them, too.

"First the mission report, and then I'll talk to Naruto alone."

Naruto let his two friends talk. He clenched his fists as he waited. She was testing his patience, but there was nothing he could do about it. Sai probably noticed he was on edge, because he finished the report quickly.

"I've got nothing to add, Yamato said it all. The villagers are happy with our work and they are grateful to you, Hokage-sama."

"Thank you, that will be all."

Naruto let out a shaky sigh as he waited for Yamato and Sai to leave the room. He looked up at her.

"Please…"

She glanced away, "First of all I need to tell you that all the Kages have agreed to my conditions to rehabilitate Sasuke – all but one."

"Why am I not surprised? It's the Raikage, right?"

"Yes. And two days ago Sasuke disappeared. Most people think he's run away again, but I can put two and two together…"

"He wouldn't run away!" Naruto interrupted her, "I know he wouldn't."

"I know, Naruto," she said patiently, "I just told you, I know better."

"What do you mean?" he asked anxiously.

"I think the Raikage has sent men to either kill Sasuke, or capture him. Let's hope it's the latter."

"How could they… Sasuke's too powerful…"

"My theory is that they tricked him to believe they were from around here. Let's face it, Sasuke hasn't lived here in years. He doesn't know the villagers or the shinobi that well. That's probably why Sasuke didn't fight back."

Naruto's heart sank. She was right…

"I'm going to save him."

To his surprise, she simply nodded.

"My only condition is that you take Kakashi with you, and maybe one or two others. Be careful, Naruto."

"Thank you," he said, and then he was gone.

xxx

When Sasuke woke up he was lying down on a cold, stone floor. He was blindfolded and tied up with chakra sucking ropes and it was just like when Kabuto had captured him all over again. Even if he hadn't been tied up he probably wouldn't have been able to go far; he was badly hurt, and his wound had not been treated. He had lost too much blood.

As he drifted in and out of sleep he could hear some people talking – the guards of this jail, he assumed.

Their conversations always seemed to go back to one subject; the Raikage's brother, Killer Bee. From what Sasuke gathered there was some sort of anti-jinchuriki movement going on, and they wanted to destroy Bee and Naruto so that something like Akatsuki never happened again. And apparently they had managed to capture the eight-tails so far.

He didn't know how much time had passed. But he did know that he didn't have much time before he died of blood loss or infection – and he didn't want to die in such a pathetic way. This was his chance.

So at some point he said, "Let me do it."

He heard them whisper.

"Did he just say something?"

"What the hell? I thought he was unconscious."

"Let's go closer…"

"No! It's too dangerous!"

"Uchiha, you awake?"

"Let me save the Raikage's brother. I can do it," Sasuke said. He managed to sit up, and lean against the wall.

"You expect us to trust you?" a mocking voice said.

"No," he said, "but what choice do you have? They're gonna kill him, right? It's only a matter of time. If I use my mangekyou, I can destroy them in a second. And your precious eight-tails is saved."

"What's a mangekyou?"

"Shut up," another said. "Uchiha, what's in it for you?"

"I just wanna get out of here. I help you, you help me. End of the story."

"We can't trust him…"

"But the Raikage's our friend, we have to help him! This might be our only chance…"

Sasuke heard the door being unlocked. A man approached him. Sasuke could sense his fear.

"I'm not gonna hurt you. Like I said, I just wanna get out of here."

"Don't," another one said from further behind, "it's too dangerous…"

But the man didn't listen, and he took off Sasuke's blindfold. The latter opened his dark grey eyes, and tried to look at the other firmly, fooling him into thinking he was still strong. The truth was, Sasuke had no idea if he had enough strength left to do this. If these anti-jinchuriki assholes were strong enough to take down the eight-tails…

He looked at the others. There were four, and they were all looking at him in fear.

"Just keep me tied up in those ropes for now if you want. That way I can't possibly hurt you. Let's go now."

The man sitting in front of Sasuke looked at one of his friends.

"Can you stay here to keep an eye on this section's prisoners while we're gone?"

He nodded. Sasuke's saviour looked at the two others, and the raven followed his gaze, hopeful.

"It's too dangerous," one of them said for the third time now.

The one beside him was hesitating, "But he's right it could be our only chance to save Bee…"

"We have to tell the Raikage about this first."

"No! We don't have time! You know how stubborn he is. I don't mean to be disrespectful, I'm just stating the facts. He'll wait too long and Bee will already be dead."

"You may have a point…"

While they were arguing the other guy was helping Sasuke to his feet.

"I'm Kiro, by the way," he said, "this is Ren," he pointed at the 'it's too dangerous' guy, "and this is Hashi. We're close friends of Bee, and we want to save him."

"Good," Sasuke said, "I'm not gonna lie to you. I don't care about him. But I have nothing against him, either. When I attacked him back before the war they were Madara's orders, and I had no choice." Now all three of them were looking at him intently, this was his only chance. "But I want to help you so you can help me in return. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes," Kiro said. He let go of him, and Sasuke flinched, but held his ground.

That Ren guy was still hesitating, "How do we know you're not just gonna escape?"

"I'm still tied up," Sasuke said, annoyed.

The third one was staring at him, his eyes narrowed, "And I don't think he'd go far anyway. I mean, are you sure you're in good enough shape to do this?"

"Yes," Sasuke lied.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kiro led him out of the cell, and down the hallway. The two others followed.

"You know where their hideout is?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah," the one called Hashi answered, "but they're guarding it with powerful ninja. No one has been able to go past them."

"What's their fighting style?"

"Fire. We can't get to them. Their flames surround them and somehow they're not hurt by it."

"I doubt they'll survive my flames," Sasuke said darkly. Then he asked, "There's something I don't get. From the way you guys were talking, it seems as if those idiots want to kill the Jinchuriki so that nothing like Akatsuki happens again. But aren't they doing exactly the same thing as the Akatsuki by capturing them?"

"You have a point," Kiro sighed, "and if they haven't killed him yet – and I really hope they haven't – it means that they're trying to figure out how to extract the beast and get its power for themselves, right?"

"Probably…" the two others agreed.

"Then I guess no one's gonna suffer from their loss," Sasuke said.

"I'm starting to like you," Kiro said with a little smile.

They walked out of the building by an emergency exit. It was night, and they went unnoticed. The three started running. The strongest of them was Hashi – the guy was almost as big as the Raikage – so he carried Sasuke on his back to ensure that he wouldn't just escape. It was humiliating, but at the same time Sasuke doubted he would have been able to run that fast with his untreated injury.

"I can't believe we trust a psycho like him," Ren muttered at some point. The others ignored him.

xxx

Naruto and Kakashi had decided to go alone at first, but then Sakura had intercepted them. She had insisted to go with them. She'd had tears in her eyes as she reminded them they were a team, and they would always be.

So here they were after hours and hours of restless running, having finally reached the hidden Cloud village. They went straight to the Raikage's building, even though it was quite late in the night. Thankfully he was still up and working in his office. Actually he looked extremely tired and upset. But Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura weren't here to inquire on the Raikage's health.

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked as soon as they were let in his office.

"In jail! Where he should be," The raikage almost yelled, "Who let you guys in anyway?"

"We're bringing him back to Konoha, and that's final," Sakura said, "you can't just send men to capture someone like that without discussing it with our Hokage!"

"Guys, calm down," Kakashi started.

"This isn't a time to be calm, Kakashi-sensei, I'm sorry," Naruto said.

"For once he's right," Sakura agreed, "Raikage-sama, bring us to Sasuke, please, I'm begging you."

"I'll bring you to him if you want," he said, annoyed, "but it's only so that you can say goodbye. He's gonna be executed tomorrow, this is the only possibility for a rogue ninja and you know it."

Naruto was about to burst out again, but Kakashi put his hand on his arm. The blond looked up at his sensei, and remembered what he had said while they were running. Don't do anything to upset the Raikage. We'll get Sasuke back no matter what.

So Naruto and Sakura forced themselves to stay calm, and followed the Raikage and Kakashi outside the building.

As they walked in the deserted street the Raikage addressed Naruto, although reluctantly.

"I know we're not exactly on good terms, but I thought I should warn you. There's a new group that's after the Jinchuriki out there. No one really knows more details than that, we can only make assumptions…"

"Don't tell me!" Sakura exclaimed in fear, "It's like the Akatsuki all over again!"

"I just thought I should warn you," the raikage said, "They already got Bee."

"What?" Naruto burst out, "we have to help him!"

"Don't you think I tried already? My best ninjas have died trying!"

Naruto swallowed hard. It wasn't a good idea to trigger the Raikage's anger for now. But he would save Bee after they got Sasuke back; he had already made his decision. The eight-tails was a dear friend of his, and the only other jinchuriki left. Naruto couldn't let him die.

As they entered the jail building Kakashi asked, "Why haven't you told the Hokage about this?"

The Raikage was fuming, "I don't trust you Konoha people anymore! Not after you allowed Uchiha to wander around freely!"

"But he wasn't!" Sakura protested, "He was under house arrest…"

But the Raikage wasn't even listening to her. And actually, they stopped short when they saw that a couple of guards were in panic.

"What is it?" the Raikage yelled.

"It's Uchiha… he… he's gone!"

It was as if acknowledging this fact made these men panic even more. And the Raikage's anger seemed to have no limits.

"Where? How? Answer me!"

"Raikage-sama," a calm voice was suddenly heard through all the fuss, "I know where he went. He's with Kiro and two others."

The Raikage took the man by the collar and pushed him against the wall roughly, "Where did they go?"

"Calm down, Raikage-sama," Kakashi said, but he was ignored.

The guard was almost choking. Naruto was about to step in to save him when the Raikage loosened his grip.

He was finally able to talk, "They went to save your brother, Raikage-sama."

Everyone's faces expressed shock and wonder. Naruto and Sakura exchanged a glance.

"Do you think it's true?" Sakura asked him.

"I don't know," Naruto frowned, "but there's only one way to find out."

"Naruto's right," Kakashi said, "Raikage-sama, please lead us to these rebels who captured your brother. We'll see the situation for ourselves."

It took a few moments for the Raikage to overcome the shock, and process the information. Then, unsurprisingly, he started yelling again.

"You fools! It's so obvious he just killed my men and escaped! Guards, go after him, now!"

"Who's gonna stay to guard the prisoners?" Sakura whispered.

"Not our problem I guess," Naruto said in an equally low voice.

As the guards ran towards the exit, respecting the Raikage's orders, Kakashi stepped closer to him and insisted.

"You have to tell us where that hideout is. What have you got to lose? We can help you save your brother."

He growled, and finally complied, "Fine, we're going, follow me."

xxx

"You have to untie me," Sasuke said urgently, "I can tell we're close. I can feel their power."

The three prison guards stopped.

"He's right," Kiro said, "we have to untie him so he gets his chakra back."

"It's too…" Ren started.

"Oh shut up," Kiro interrupted.

Hashi let Sasuke down and used a kunai to cut the ropes. Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut for a short moment, and breathed deeply. He already felt better. His chakra could start replenishing now.

"Thanks," he said, opening his eyes again, "let's go."

They seemed to trust him fully now. They simply let him walk on his own. His whole body hurt, and his wound was bleeding again, but he managed to keep up with their pace. Sasuke only hoped his strength wouldn't fail him. He had to do this. Somehow he knew. It was the right thing to do. It was what Naruto would want him to do.

Damn, the blond was so rubbing off on him, he thought with an almost smile. Here he was, helping people he didn't even care about. But he'd do anything for freedom. And most of all, he'd do anything for Naruto – to have his love, and maybe, just maybe, deserve it.

When they came to a halt he focused on the chakra he had regained. It had to be enough… it had to.

Also sensing their presence their opponents suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere. There were fifteen, maybe even more, Sasuke couldn't be sure.

"What do we do now?" Ren asked urgently, "they already know we're here! If your plan was to make a surprise attack, then forget it!"

"I never said I had a plan," Sasuke whispered.

"What!" Ren exclaimed in fear, "Oh great, we're as good as dead now…"

Sasuke ignored him and walked towards the opponents, activating his mangekyou sharingan. He felt the power fill him, the legacy that Itachi had left him flowing through him, and taking away the pain. He smirked. He could do this. Even hurt, weakened, he was still more powerful than any of those idiots.

"Let's go," Kiro said behind him, and the two others followed reluctantly.

The men in front of them suddenly produced brilliant red flames. This fire surrounded them, protecting them, and Sasuke and the others could feel its heat even though they were still far.

"See that's what we were talking about," Kiro told him, "they're experts at manipulating fire. No one can beat them."

"We'll see about that," Sasuke said.

Suddenly a giant fire was advancing towards them. Sasuke knew the three others had backed away, but he didn't move.

"Amaterasu," he whispered, and watched as the black flames engulfed the red ones.

Then he focused to control the black flames, he used all of his power to throw them at the opponents. It consumed their protection, and it burned all of them as they were screaming in pain. Sasuke was already panting, and his legs were shaking, but he kept sending the rest of his life force and chakra to his black flames. He couldn't back down now.

But suddenly a few more people came out of what Sasuke now realized was the entrance of a cave in the bumpy ground. And the eight-tails was with them. They held him powerless and tied up.

"Stop!" one of the opponents shouted, "We don't want to kill him, we just want his power!"

Behind Sasuke, Kiro hissed, "As if we'll believe you. Extracting the power of the beast will kill him, everyone knows that!"

"If you use the black flames on us he'll die, too!" Another yelled as a last resort.

Sasuke smirked. Apparently they had no idea of what he was capable of. They didn't know to what extent he could control the Amaterasu. He walked towards them, trying to keep his legs from flinching. When he was close enough he concentrated, and produced a wall of black flames around Bee, shielding him. The ones who were holding him pulled away, screaming in pain as their arms were burned completely.

With a pained groan Sasuke sent the rest of his strength into the attack. He fell to his knees as the flames incapacitated the enemies completely. He wasn't sure all of them were dead, but if they weren't, they wouldn't be in any condition to fight any time soon. With his chakra and energy completely drained, the black flames disappeared.

He let himself collapse on the ground. He watched, his vision a little blurry, as the three prison guards ran to Bee. They untied him and hugged him happily. Great, Sasuke thought as he rolled on his side, clutching his ripped off shirt, now he was too weak to go back to Konoha. And these ungrateful bastards weren't even thanking him.

If they sent him back to jail, Sasuke decided, he would kill them. Fuck being nice, he had his limits.

But when he opened his eyes again Kiro was sitting beside him, holding his shoulder.

"Hey are you okay?"

"Yeah just… dying a little but… I'll be fine…"

Great now he was making jokes. That idiot didn't even laugh though. Some people seriously lacked sense of humor.

"We should have brought a medical ninja…" Kiro bit his lip.

Suddenly he looked up, and Sasuke frowned. Bee and the two others had interrupted their happy reunion. They heard a loud growl in the distance.

"Bee! How could you let yourself get captured! You had me worried damn it! You should be stronger than that…!"

The Raikage. How great, Sasuke thought. Now he was going straight back to jail for sure. And now Bee was talking, or rapping, making weird and lame rhymes or whatever. Sasuke tried not to listen. He didn't want it to be the last thing he heard before dying. Kiro muttered something about having to explain to the Raikage, and he got up, leaving Sasuke alone. Not that he cared…

But suddenly another voice was heard, "Sasuke!"

Now that, that was a voice Sasuke wouldn't mind hearing one last time before dying. Next thing he knew he was pulled up in a hug. Naruto, Naruto with his messy blond hair and tears in his blue eyes, with his soft lips kissing him, with his arms holding him tight and his hand brushing his black locks out of his face.

When Naruto looked down his eyes widened in horror. His shirt was stained with Sasuke's blood.

"Sasuke you're hurt!"

The Raikage stepped towards them, "And I'll finish him off!"

Naruto immediately got up and shouted, "You back the fuck off, now!"

Sasuke fell back on the ground, and he would have laughed, except he didn't even have enough energy for that.

In an instant, Naruto was by his side again. He took off his shirt and pressed it against Sasuke's stomach to stop the bleeding.

"How can I still have blood in my body," Sasuke whispered.

"Don't talk."

Bee put himself between them and his brother. "He saved my life! I'm not gonna let you hurt him…"

Sasuke didn't hear the rest of his sentence. The world was slowly fading to black.

"Stay awake!" Naruto said urgently, "I need you to stay awake just a little longer all right? For me…"

"Okay," Sasuke whispered.

"Sakura and Kakashi are on their way. They couldn't keep up with the Raikage and I, but they should be here soon. And Sakura can heal you."

"Okay," he simply whispered again.

The rest of the world stopped existing. There was only Naruto and him, and that was it. It was all that mattered.

…

When he heard a feminine gasp he knew that Sakura was by his side, too. He didn't know how much time had passed. As she healed his body he felt some energy coming back. It wasn't much, but it was enough to keep him alive, at least. When she was done she was weak, as well. Kakashi helped her up.

Naruto locked eyes with him, "Can you stand?"

Sasuke frowned as he looked around him. "Where is everyone?"

"They're gone," Kakashi said, "you were passed out. The Raikage called a truce. He's not gonna go after you again."

"You're safe now, it's over," Sakura said, smiling, as she leaned against Kakashi.

"Come on," Naruto said softly as he helped him to his feet.

He felt a little better now. At least he would be able to walk, maybe even run. It was a good thing; he didn't want to stay in this god forsaken place…

He locked eyes with Naruto, eyes so blue, so caring, so loving, an anchor in the dark – as always.

"I wanna go home," he whispered.

Slowly a smile formed on Naruto's lips. His eyes never left Sasuke's. He nodded ever so slightly, and then wrapped his arms around him. They held each other fiercely, so close, never wanting to let go again.

Author's note: Thanks for the support for this story. Honestly, when I started it, I didn't really know how it would end. This is one of those stories where I just... kinda improvised a little. But I'm glad it ended like this - i hope you are, too.

Actually I had lost inspiration recently, but I realized there was no point in continuing the story for too many chapters. So I decided to write one big chapter to end it while it was still good, you know, I didn't want to drag it on endlessly. I really hope you enjoyed it!

So hey, let's just hope things don't end too badly for Sasuke in the manga. I love this character, and I'm glad I wrote a story about him - although I admit, mine is a little different than Kishimoto's, that's my personal touch I guess. But Kishi's the man, and I can't wait to see what happens with his story. On the meantime, thanks for enjoying this fanfic^^