Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Simple as cake.

Number one of my multiple oneshots! For those of you who requested the ItachixNaruto pairing, that fic will be coming out soon. I was just in the mood for a depressing story today, gomen.

Also, these are the other pairings I will have:

ItachixSasuke

ShinoxKiba

GaaraxLee

KakashixIruka

OrochimaruxJiraiya

SaixNaruto

One of my reviewers complained about me not doing straight pairings, but if any of you want me to do one, I'll do one. I'm here to please:grin: I do like good bit of straight pairings in the anime and manga, I just feel weird writing anything with a girl... dunno why. Probably because I never have before.

Pairing: SasuNaru

Rating: PG-13 because of language and blood

Naruto slammed against a tree, crying out as one of his ribs cracked on impact. His beaten body slumped to the ground and he coughed, blood splattering onto the rocks. His cerulean eyes still held determination even though his body kept falling apart on him, but even he knew that determination would not win him this fight. Not now when he was so low on chakra.

"I-I will not lose!.!" he shouted, pushing himself up and speeding across the rocky valley. His arm flew back and he screamed out in frustration, the rasengan forming in his palm. He would not lose this battle! It was too important! He trained for three years to get stronger, trained without hardly any sleep in order to get where he was now! He was going to get Sasuke back!

Orochimaru watched the boy with cold eyes. He would admit that the Kyuubi vessel was indeed strong, very strong if he had knocked Sasuke unconscious. But in order to take the Uchiha prodigy back, Naruto would have to defeat Orochimaru. And he was a lot stronger than the raven.

"You don't have the strength left to defeat me, Kyuubi," the snake smirked as Naruto approached.

"Ahhh!.!.!" Naruto shoved his arm forward, but his rasengan dissolved before he reached Orochimaru. His eyes widened and he cried out in pain when the former Akatasuki member slammed his fist into his stomach, the arm changing into a snake, its fangs sinking into the skin. His eyes blurred and he fell back as the snake receded.

Orochimaru snorted at how weak the ninja was. It was true that Sasuke sapped most of the strength out of the blond, but even if he hadn't, Naruto still wouldn't have been close to his strength. There was no way for Naruto to win.

"D-Dammit..." the genin growled weakly, his muscles burning from the snake's venom. He turned his head painfully and looked over at Sasuke's body that was lying against a partially destroyed tree, I have... I have to get him back to the village... no matter what... he held back his painful grunts and pushed himself up onto his knees, "S-Sasuke..." he crawled to the best friend and did a few hand seals, his arms shaking, "Kage... Kage Bunshin..." a single clone appeared and it lifted the unconscious raven into its arms. Naruto smiled weakly as the clone ran off with his friend.

"Taking him back to Konohagakure?" Orochimaru smirked.

Naruto forced himself to stand up, bile rising to his throat at the uneasiness he felt tearing at his stomach. He could feel the venom working its magic, but he wouldn't give up. Not yet.

The blond squeezed his eyes shut and held his hands out the same way Sasuke would do when summoning Chidori. Wind began to swirl around his arms down to his hands. The trees in the area began to get sliced away at a sudden gust of pressure coming from the exhausted shinobi.

I only have enough chakra for this plan.. if it doesn't work... he opened his eyes, the blue a deeper shade than before.

Orochimaru laughed wryly and leaped down from the boulder he was standing on, absorbing Naruto's fear with hungry eyes. The shinobi acted strong, but inside, Orochimaru knew he was scared to death. Deep down, everyone was scared of death, even himself.

"Come and attack me, Kyuubi... What are you waiting for? Stalling won't prolong your life for too long..."

Naruto surged forward, his heart beating fast. This was it.

"Rasengan Raikiri!(1)"

The entire area exploded, blood splattering everywhere and dust raising up to the sky.

Naruto flew back, his body slamming into the torn up earth. His leg hit the ground at an odd angle, causing it to break with a sickening "snap". He rolled down into the crater he created hours earlier and when his body finally came to a stop, he threw up, vomit soaking his lower face, neck, and hair. The aching pain he felt in his leg was nothing compared to nauseating stench of his own vomit. He weakly rolled over, throwing up again. Tears sprang to his eyes as the dry laugh of his enemy reached his ears.

"Was that all? I have to say, I expected a tad bit more power," Orochimaru laughed darkly, but he was cut short when clones latched onto his body, When..?.!

Naruto's head fell back, his neck muscles giving out. He looked up at the crystal blue sky and let the tears flow from his eyes, It looks like... I won't be going home... his throat constricted as he spoke, "J-Jibaku Bunshin(2)..." he closed his eyes as the clones exploded, accompanied by Orochimaru's painful cry.

xXxXx

Naruto continued to watch the clouds pass by, waiting for his body to finally shut completely down. He had been lying there for a couple of minutes, memories of the past rushing through his mind. His days in the academy, his accidental kiss with Sasuke...

Sasuke... I'm sorry I won't be around for you to curse it... he smiled with regret, at least I got you back home... that's a lot more important than having the title of Hokage... right? His dimming eyes widened as far as they would go when he heard a few rocks moving a good bit away from him.

"Heh... thought you got rid of me...? I won't go down until I see you dying in my own grasp," Orochimaru snarled, making his way down the crater, most of his skin burned away to show bone. His grabbed the blond by the neck and lifted him up, "You remember this, Kyuubi? 'If my arms get ripped off," he grabbed one of Naruto's arms and pulled hard, the shoulder popping loudly, the flesh being torn, "I'll just kick him to death'," he ripped the arm completely off and licked his bloody lips at the scream of agony the blond let out, "'if my legs get ripped off," he pulled out a kunai and began cutting at one of Naruto's legs, "I'll just bite him to death!" he threw the shinobi onto the ground and slammed his foot down on the bleeding leg, crushing the bone.

Naruto didn't have the strength to scream, so he just stared up at the sky, blood oozing out of his shoulder socket and cut up leg.

"Aren't you going to bite me?" Orochimaru hissed in amusement. When Naruto didn't answer, he chuckled, "then I suppose I can just skip to the part where I cut off your head!" he bent down and placed the kunai by the blond's neck, "I believe your lovely face will brighten up my lair, don't you think, Kyuubi?"

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled sadly, My death is inevitable... but I-- I just want to feel one thing other than pain before I go...

xXxXx

The Naruto clone sat Sasuke against the entrance gates to Konoha, its blue eyes flashing as a message sent from its creator entered his mind. He fell to his knees and looked at Sasuke's relaxed expression. The clone smiled a sad smile and pressed its lips against the raven's.

xXxXx

Naruto's eyes started to fade as the snake began cutting his throat.

A younger Naruto stood before Sai and Sakura, his mind set on rescuing Sasuke, "Even if it means getting torn to pieces, I'm going to take Sasuke back from Orochimaru no matter what!"

xXxXx

Sasuke's eyes opened and his vision began to focus, the Naruto clone the first thing he saw, "N-Naruto?"

The clone smiled, "Welcome home, Teme..." and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Owari

(1) In the recent chapters of the manga, Naruto is learning how to control his wind element. Kakashi mentions that he's going through the same training as Sasuke did when he learned Chidori. Oh, and the rasengan is an incomplete jutsu, so Naruto's trying to complete it. Since this story happens a good while after the newest released chap, I just had Naruto make up a jutsu that mixed the Rasengan and Chidori.

(2) Jibaku Bunshin means Suicidal Exploding Clones

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