Author: Naruko-koi

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update. My excuse: life.

Previously:

"Don't worry." Sasuke said. "I'll protect you. Even if I die."

'No!' Naruko screamed in her head. She wouldn't die like this and she wouldn't let Sasuke die like this either. Without a moment of hesitation or thought she grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled them near the edge of the canyon.

"What the…" One of the mutants shouted, but before any of them could stop the couple, Naruko quickly pulled them over the edge of the canyon.

The mutants ran to the edge and watched them fall into the darkness.

Chapter 21: If We Ever Meet Again

Naruko didn't realize how stupid it was to jump off the side of the canyon until she felt the air whip past her face as she fell. She looked over at Sasuke who had a face of bewilderment that she was sure mimicked her own. Her hold tightened on Sasuke's arm.

Lucky for her Jiraiya had put her through a similar experience and she knew exactly what to do. She bit her thumb and performed the appropriate hand signs feeling the Kyuubi's

chakra gather, "Summoning Jutsu!"

Almost instantly Gamabunta appeared below them.

"What the–?" Gamabunta shouted as he extended his legs to the sides of the cliff catching himself while Sasuke and Naruko fell on top of his head. "Damn it! Jiraiya!"

Naruko sat up and patted his head, "Sorry. It's me again."

"What!" Gamabunta roared so loud the wall of the canyon shook. "I should kill you for summoning me like this again!" He shook his head trying to lose the two annoyances perched atop of his head.

"Whoa!" Naruko yelled as she and Sasuke struggled to hold onto the wriggling toad. "We were being attacked by Orochimaru's mutants and had no other choice."

Gamabunta immediately stopped upon hearing Orochimaru's name. "What? What's going on?"

"We were being attacked, so the idiot over here thought it would be a good idea to jump off the side of a cliff." Sasuke growled at the giant frog. "So if you don't mind getting us back to the top and helping us get rid of those damn creatures we can finally get on with this charade."

"Please." Naruko added quickly. The last thing she wanted was Gamabunta to get angry at Sasuke and throw him over the edge, or worse, eat him.

Gamabunta huffed. The dark haired boy had a temper. If they weren't in their current situation he would show that prick some manners. "Fine. I'll help but–"

Suddenly there were sounds of shouting and explosions coming from above them.

"What the hell is happening up there?" Gamabunta asked.

"I... I don't know." Naruko answered as she looked up. Of course she couldn't see anything. They had fallen down the cliff too far and were a good distance down. They were much further down than when Naruko summoned Gamabunta for the first time. Hopefully the giant frog could get them back to the top.

"Hmph." Gamabunta sighed. "Why don't we find out for ourselves?" He was getting tired from trying to hold them up for so long. He gathered chakra at the bottom of his feet and launched them up from where they hung in the canyon.

One second Naruko and Sasuke were sitting up and the next they were thrown onto their backs from the force the frog used to jump.

A strange noise forced its way out of Naruko's throat that sounded like a choked scream as the pressure from the jump grew and she was forced even harder against Gamabunta. The walls of the canyon flew by them quickly and soon they were at least 100 feet up from where they had jumped.

Naruko looked to the side and felt tears well up from the sight below them. The Uchiha Kingdom's army was fighting off the raid of mutants that had followed them. She sighted some familiar faces: Kiba, Kakashi, and Sakura. They came for them.

"Naruko!" Sasuke shouted. The blonde idiot wasn't paying attention and lost her grip on Gamabunta as they began to fall back to the ground. Said blonde looked at him and her expression quickly changed from surprised happiness to almost comical shock.

"Aaahhh!" She screamed and started flapping her arms and legs as Sasuke and Gamabunta fell further away from her.

Sasuke would have laughed if they were in any other situation and if he wasn't an Uchiha. Instead he grit his teeth as he launched himself off the frog and toward panicking girl. He grabbed her around the waist and gathered chakra at the bottom of his feet. Seconds later they landed softly a couple feet from Gamabunta.

Naruko felt her face flush at the way Sasuke was holding her. Sasuke looked down at her and smirked. Naruko frowned at his cocky smirk and pushed herself away from the raven. "I didn't need your help." She insisted. "I would've been fine."

Sasuke raised and eyebrow. "Oh really?" He asked sarcastically. "And what exactly were you planning on doing? Flap your wings and fly safely to the ground?"

Naruko's chin jutted out. "Of course not. I would've done the same thing you did."

"Oh. And when exactly were you going to do that? You were so panicked that if I hadn't done anything you would have fallen to the ground and hurt yourself."

"I was not panicking."

"Ha! You looked like a chicken that was thrown off the top of a roof."

"I did not look like a CHICKEN!"

"Yes. Yes you did."

"Bastard!"

"Idiot!"

All of a sudden a mutant soldier jumped out of the shadows and ran for the arguing couple. Naruko and Sasuke glared at the roaring monster and punched him before he could attack: Naruko hit him in the gut and Sasuke hit him the face. The mutant flew several yards away.

"Do you mind?" Naruko growled. "We were talking." It was actually surprising how her anger seemed to make the mutants less frightening, or maybe it was because most of the mutants were defeated and there were only a couple left.

Naruko turned to start yelling at Sasuke again when Kiba ran up to them. "We need to head back to Orochimaru's castle. Itachi and Jiraiya have captured Orochimaru."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What? They did?"

"Yeah." Kiba nodded. "But I heard he didn't put up much of a fight."

"He must be up to something." Naruko said as she turned to Sasuke and gave a knowing look. Sasuke returned the look. They both knew that Orochimaru would not be defeated so easily unless he had something under his sleeve.

"We need to get back quickly." Sasuke stated.

Naruko nodded in agreement as they rushed back to Orochimaru's castle. As the headed for the forest that lead to Orochimaru's castle, they passed a couple soldiers capturing the last of the mutants. The mutants tried to put up a fight but they were outnumbered 10 to 1.

Once they approached the edge of the forest Sasuke suddenly gasped and fell to his knees groaning in pain.

"Sasuke!" Naruko shouted as she rushed to his side. The raven was gripping the curse mark while his face contorted in pain. "What's happening?" She asked to no one in particular.

"Maybe it has something to do with Orochimaru?" Kiba responded. He knelt next to the Uchiha whose knuckles had turned white from squeezing his fists so tight.

"Damn." Sasuke cursed himself. He hated being so weak. He mentally cursed the snake bastard as the pain seemed to increase. At this rate he would pass out. Damn.

Just as Sasuke thought he was going to pass out the pain abruptly stopped, causing his to gasp from the sudden relief. As he was gasping for air he felt a cool hand on his forehead. He looked up to see the worried face of Naruko.

"Are you okay?" She asked, shaken. She felt so useless as she watched him nod and try to catch his breath.

Once Sasuke felt he could breathe even again he pushed himself off his knees and tried to stand, wobbling slightly. Kiba and Naruko tried to help him up, but he shrugged them off. Their help only hurt his pride more. "Let's keep moving. We're almost there."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Naruko disagreed, putting her hand on his shoulder. "You almost passed out. I don't think you should go anywhere near Orochimaru for now."

Sasuke shook her off. "I don't need your concern." He answered coldly.

"Look, Sasuke. I know you want revenge against him, but right now I think we should head back to the base camp." Naruko tried to reason.

"You don't know anything." Sasuke glared. "You know nothing about me. In fact, you have no right to say such. As far as I'm concerned I don't even know you anymore. You betrayed my trust by lying to me. I don't know what to believe anymore." Naruko gave him a hurt look and he felt regret swell up inside him. He wasn't angry at her, he was angry at himself for being so weak. Instead of apologizing like he should've, he turned away from her and headed to Orochimaru's castle. He felt Kiba's questioning glance on him, but he just kept moving.

"I'm going to kill you, Orochimaru." Sasuke whispered. 'I won't let you get away with what you've done.'

A/N:

Don't hate meeeee! This update was going to be longer, but I haven't quite figured out what Orochimaru's up to. Any ideas would be much appreciated.

You have no idea how many time I typed Noriko instead of Naruko. Recently I purchased some volumes of my favorite manga From Far Away, and I keep reading it over and over again. It was really annoying. But I suggest it to anyone who is looking for a good read.

The chapter title was based off the song If We Ever Meet Again by Timbaland featuring Katy Perry. I kept listening to it as I wrote this chapter.

REVIEW! It makes me want to update.