Early update! Here's the last chapter!

CHAPTER 3

"Fredrick, you need to calm down!"

"No! That fuck hit me across the face for pointing out that his bitch was a bitch."

"Why are you so riled up about this?"

"Because! I will kill him and his little bitch, too."

"Fredrick! Damn it, there he goes."

~ Naruto ~

I awoke slowly, at a leisurely pace my eyes opened and I took in the dawn light. I heaved a sigh and looked down at the top of Sasuke's head. I wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him closer so that his back was pressing to my front. I kissed his hair and buried my nose in the dark locks. This boy; small, delicate but strong willed; captured my heart. Of this I was sure. It was irrefutable, I loved him.

"I love you." I whispered into his hair. I felt the swell of heat in my chest, spreading until my body tremble with the elated sentiments rushing through my body. I hugged him closer and I knew I was smiling like a fool.

"I love you too."

The reply was soft and I almost didn't hear it. No sooner had the thought registered in my still sleep groggy mind did I laugh aloud and kiss Sasuke's slender neck with chuckles sprouting from the back of my throat and a mumbled 'I love you' settling on my lips.

He turned in my arms and looked up at me, a timid smile on his face. I kissed that smile, slowly, lingeringly. I let my lips move over his at a languid pace. "My mother said that you had a past." I said, leaving the statement open for further elaboration.

Sasuke laughed before saying; "Well you could say that; Minato and Kushina found me when I was eleven, as you know. But what came before that is the scariest."

I held my breath, he was going to tell me. "What happened to you?" I asked, cupping his cheek gently.

Sasuke sighed; "It was my father, he gave me up when my mother died in childbirth, or so my guardian told me. Robert wasn't the nicest of men, he would make me work hard and he beat me when I didn't do things right. He would always leer at me, and leave lingering touches on my body."

There was one day when I ripped the fishing net and tried to mend it on my own so I would not get into trouble, Robert found me, and he beat me within an inch of my life and then tried to rape me. It was then that my screams reached the ears of one of the other fisherman and he slammed to door open, shot Robert in the leg and picked me up and headed off to the nearest hospital. I lost consciousness by the time we got there."

By the time I woke up the man, Edward, was still there waiting beside my bed in the infirmary. When we finally left the hospital Edward took me to his cottage and I lived there for almost a year before Robert came looking for me. It was Edward who told me to run. I took the money he offered and ran as fast and far as I could. I managed to ride out of the town on a carriage that left for Parma. I don't know what happened to Edward."

It was thanks to the old man letting me ride on the carriage that I came even remotely close to Cleveland and your parents. I headed east and ended up hopelessly lost and half-starved by the time your parents found me." He ended his story and leaned forward for a kiss, which I gladly gave him. I relished the feel of his soft lips against mine.

I heard a distant neigh coming from the direction of our house and curiosity got the best of me and I stopped kissing. A gun shot rang through the distance and a scream drifted through the echoes of the gun shot. I stiffened before shooting up and hurriedly tugging on my clothes. Sasuke looked scared when I looked at him and with an underhand toss I gave him his clothes, which he quickly slipped on.

"Stay here. Don't go anywhere and don't make a sound. Wait till I come get you." I was about to turn around when someone crashed through the line of corn stalks. It was Kushina. She was in her nightgown and barefoot.

"Mother! What the hell is happening?" I said while holding my mother's tear stained face. She sobbed hysterically clutching to my shirt and tugging furiously.

"It's Fredrick! He's gone mad; he barged into the house gun raised. He shot Minato because he thought it was you." Kushina looked up at me before turning when another person crashed into the space beside us. In an instant I was in front of her, protecting her with my body.

"Relax, it's me Naruto." Minato panted as he bent over and rested one hand on his knee, the other holding his shoulder. There was blood soaking his nightshirt.

"I managed to grab my daggers, but that's it. Your gun wasn't loaded." He said holding up one of the sheathed weapons. I took it and slipped it into the hem of my pants. I thought better of it and handed it back to my father.

"Just in case. You might need them."

Minato took one of them and handed the other to Sasuke, who took it looking like it was the last thing on earth he'd rather be holding.

"You three get out of here. I'll deal with Fredrick." I said pointing in the direction of the forest behind the cornfield. Minato and Kushina looked hesitant. They probably knew it was for the best, I was the one that had the experience. But they still didn't want to leave their son behind to possibly be killed.

"NO! I'm not leaving you behind," Sasuke said, finally voicing his thoughts. "Naruto we can run together! He will get over it and we can return safely, like nothing ever happened." He ran to me and hugged me, burying his face into the cloth that covered my chest. "You could get killed." He whispered.

"Sasuke, I'll be fine. It's only Fredrick, I can handle one man." I said holding him close and kissing the top of his head. "I've killed many before this, remember?" I added when he looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. As much as I hated to say it, the statement was true. I'd killed plenty of men, so fending off just one was easy. I tipped his head up so that he could look at me but his eyes were closed. Tears leaked steadily out of them and I gently wiped them away. "Look at me." I said, tightening my grip on his chin. He opened his eyes.

"I will survive. I will not die here, at the hands of some man with a petty grudge." I let go of his chin and ran my hand through his hair. "I promise I'll return." I said before kissing his lips again. He kissed back fiercely, tightly wrapping his arms around my neck.

"I have to go." I said when I pulled away. I pulled Sasuke's arms from around my neck and led him to Minato and Kushina. Minato wrapped an arm around Sasuke and they turned to go. There was a broken sob before 'I love you' drifted through the space between us.

"I love you, too, Sasuke." I said and turned and ran toward our house. I was lying when I said I could deal with one man. Not that I couldn't, it was that I didn't know how many men Fredrick brought along with him. He could have enough to overpower me. Not knowing left me at a disadvantage. The first thing I did when I reached the house was take the risk of walking into it. I walked in through the back door and headed to my room. There on the desk was my pack. I opened it hurriedly and pulled out my revolver and the bullets wrapped in cloth. Keeping my ears alert, I deftly loaded the gun and snapped the cylinder back into place.

I made careful strides back into the living room, stepping over the well-known areas where the floor would creak. When I saw that on one was in the living room I walked toward the front door and opening it silently I walked out keeping my eyes open for any movement. I was scared out of my mind, but not for myself. I was scared for the three people I held dearest who were running scared through the forest with an unknown amount of people chasing after them. First I had to get rid of Fredrick.

"There he is!" The man who screamed came barreling at me a shovel in his hands, he raised it high over his head and I shot him in the face. He fell to the ground with a muffled thump and the shovel clanged against the graveled driveway. The other two men that came were a little tougher to get rid of. I kept my gun trained on the one with the rifle. With practiced ease a rolled to one side and avoided to shot that ensued. I aimed and fired and the man crumpled to the ground.

I swiftly turned and positioned my gun vertically, letting the spent percussion cap fall safely from the cylinder to the ground and cocked the hammer. I dodged the pitchfork aimed for my chest and turned kicking the offending weapon from the man's hands. It went flying clanking to a stop at the dirt road. The man put his hands up and whimpered when I pressed the muzzle of the gun to his temple.

"Tell me where Fredrick is." I ground out, pressing the gun harder when the man just sobbed and begged for mercy.

"He's a—after your family! He—he's going after them right now. I—if you don't go now he'll k—kill them!" he stuttered, his trembling impairing his speech. I pulled the gun from his head and the man sighed in relief. I brought the butt of the handle down hard and knocked him unconscious.

"Damn it."

~ Sasuke ~

I ran for my life. Again I was running away from a threat and someone I held dear was left behind to take care of the problem. Only God knew what happened to Edward, and now the same was happening to Naruto. He could be dead. The cornfield came to an end and I thought… that if I left it behind I would be doing the same to Naruto. It was where we were at the epitome of our intimacy. It was a silly thought. It didn't matter if it was the forest or the cornfield.

I was still leaving him behind.

I took in a deep breath and put my faith in Naruto. He would save us and himself. No harm would come to our family. We kept running through the forest and I felt that it was all a dream; I'd never been farther that a few feet into the cornfield. I'd never gone this far before. But I had to be strong. I had to show Naruto that I wasn't weak. I grabbed a hold of Minato's hand, along with Kushina. And I pulled, running faster than I ever thought possible. I felt a strum of energy flowing through my veins and I felt as if I could run forever, as if I could carry the world on my shoulders.

The burst of energy abruptly stopped when I heard hoof beats and I almost fell with the force of the fear that replaced the drive pumping through my veins.

Minato stopped running and faced the horse. He drew the dagger and sliced a large aperture in the beast's leg and it fell to the ground with a pained cry. The man that was riding the horse tumbled to the ground and rolled a few feet before stopping.

Kushina ran over to me and pulled me behind a tree where she cradled my head to her chest. "Shh." She said when my body began to shake with sobs.

"Fredrick, stop this nonsense!" Minato said, he said. I heard a groan and then a grunt of pain.

"Why would even think for a second that I would give up and let my pride be slandered the way it was?" Fredrick said, his rough voice sending shivers of fear running through my body. There was a gunshot and Minato cried out.

"Dammit, Fredrick! If you're going to kill me then do it! Leave Naruto and take me. Leave him and the rest of my family out of it."

I stared at the sheathed knife in my hand. I could very well kill this man.

"No I'm going to kill this bitch. Then I'll kill Naruto. But I'm going to do it while he's here and watching." Fredrick said, then laughed and fired another shot.

"No!" I moved Kushina aside and pulled the dagger from the sheath and flew from behind the tree.

I won't let Naruto die!

I lunged and the sharp point buried itself into the man's leg. Instead of letting go of the blade, like my mind was screaming for me to do, I pulled it down and sliced a deep groove in the man's thigh.

I felt Fredrick grab a handful of my hair and pull me up. He pushed me away and I stumbled across the clearing before landing painfully against a tree.

I felt Kushina wrap her arms around me and pull me closer.

"Naruto!"

~ Naruto ~

I ran back inside to reload my gun. I nearly dropped the bullets all over the floor in my haste to get them into the slots. I snapped the cylinder in place as I ran out the door. I ran down one gap in the stalks. I could see the blanket where Sasuke and I laid the night before. I jumped over it and kept up my strenuous sprint. I knew they had gone in a straight line, not deviating from the path.

My pace increased when I heard gunfire and my breaths came in long draws to keep the oxygen flowing through my body.

I breached the edge of the cornfield and raced over the leaf covered ground. Adrenaline kept my body going, along with drive to protect the ones I loved. The gun in my hand felt heavy but I didn't dare slow down to slip it into the ham of my pants. I slowed when I could see my father's blonde head.

I hid behind a thick tree and waited to see what was going on and where everyone was.

"Damn you little bitch! You'll see what happens to bitches that cross the line."

"Naruto!"

In that instant I twisted around the tree and lifted my gun, took aim and fired. The bullet flew from the barrel and hit Fredrick in the shoulder. The man cried out and almost dropped his gun. He recovered quickly and switched his gun to his other hand and lifted it. I still had my gun raised, ready to shoot.

"Well, Naruto. Nice to see you." Fredrick said a sneer decorating his face.

"Be quiet, you lunatic." I said furiously. "Why are you doing this?" I didn't dare let my eyes leave Fredrick. No matter how much I wanted to check to see if my family was okay.

"You have no idea the humiliation you put me through in that bar."

"That's what this is about?" I asked. Lord, was this man mad?

When I voiced this his face creased with anger and he pulled the trigger. In his anger his aim was off and the bullet hit my shoulder. I was painful, I could barely keep my arm up. But I did and shot him. I didn't see where it landed because I collapsed as soon as the bullet hit.

~ Sasuke ~

"No!" As soon as I saw Naruto fall to the ground fury flowed in thick waves through my body and I ran, despite the fatigue. I grabbed the dagger and pushed the struggling man to the ground and climbed atop him and raised my two hands that gripped the dagger and brought them down with all my might. Again. Again and again. Over and over I plunged the knife into his body, not caring where I stabbed. Blood splattered everywhere, coating my skin in crimson spots.

A hand gripped my shoulder and I screamed. I dropped the knife and it hit the ground with a sharp twang.

"Shh. It's over, he's dead." Strong arms wrapped around my body and I breathed deeply of Naruto's scent, which I could still smell even over the pungent, coppery smell of blood. He pulled me from on top of the disfigured man and held me close. The rush of anger ceased and the exhaustion and fright caught up with me. I gripped Naruto tighter, happy that he was alive.

I felt another set of arms wrap around my body. Minato and Kushina hugged us, and we stayed that way for a while.

But I was happy. No one was dead. Everyone was living and breathing and safe.

~ Naruto ~

The hours spent in the hospital were stressful and painful alike. Extracting the bullets was excruciating, but I had done it before, so I knew what to expect. Minato and I had both lost a lot of blood and had to stay in the infirmary for the last few days of my visit. When the letter came for my return I was still in bed recovering.

I'd had to pack up and leave the next morning.

"You come back in one piece, son." Minato said, patting my back. I kissed my mother's soft cheek and hugged her close.

"I love you both." I said when they each wrapped their comforting arms around me.

I turned to Sasuke, he was crying silently. "I'll miss you." he said.

"Me too. I promise I'll return." I said, caressing Sasuke's cheek. I had to head back to the Harrisburg Camp, per order of Colonel Ahntrum. I hated to leave, but I had to.

"I believe you." Sasuke said and wrapped his arms around my neck. He stood on his toes to kiss me and I laughed before dipping my head to capture soft lips.

Kissing Sasuke one last time I pulled away, turned and mounted Spur, when I looked back Sasuke was wiping his tears with his shirt. "I'll write to you." he said.

"So will I, goodbye Sasuke."

"Goodbye Naruto."

I pulled on one side of the reins and spurred the horse on. As I trotted down the road I felt happy. There was a reason to want to. Survive that is.

And he was waiting for me in the white little house beside the cornfield.

The End

I hope you liked the action! :D I tried real hard on the fighting part :P Sorry if it was gory… I might write an epilogue! I don't know yet what it will be.

REVIEW~! Pleeze…

AkurnaSkulblaka :D