Disclaimer: I don't know why people bother to put these up on a website dedicated to fiction about existing characters. But I don't own Naruto.

Sometimes I re-read some of my own stories, and pat myself on the back. Because, damn, I can be an awesome writer.

Onwards with the story!

Sasuke glared at the group of experiments before him.

He was sent this morning to gather all available test subjects by Orochimaru. Sasuke had hoped that after some sleep, the Sannin would decide against sending a search party for the mysterious source of the now deceased escaped experiment. But no, he was woken up early in the morning—shocked Kabuto again—and was sent to gather the available test subjects.

If he were to call it luck, there were not many experiments suitable for the mission. Most were too badly wounded to be of any use. The bad thing with that, though, other than the situation as a whole, was that Sasuke was given the survivors.

That meant only the worst for Sasuke.

He was put in charge with a combination of either unintelligent but near unbelievably strong, to intelligent and crafty. Altogether, unacceptable.

And to make things worse, all these experiments were loyal to Orochimaru.

Sasuke did not WANT competency when 'searching' for Naruto. He wanted INcompetency!

When he was told that he needed to bring the experiments to track down whatever had attacked the original escaped test subject, he had thought that he could get away with not finding anything. He had expected dumb mutants, half out of their mind. All he would have had to do was set them loose, keep them contained in a small area, and then let them fight. That way, Sasuke could blame the lack of progress on them.

Then, he would have snuck away, ether during the brawl or afterwards, and somehow convince Naruto to return to wherever he ran from.

But now, with a group determined to succeed in their mission, Sasuke knew that his hopes would never come to pass.

He needed a new plan.

Maybe he could lead them all astray. There was a possibility that it could work. After all, Sasuke DID know exactly where Naruto was.

More importantly, though, Sasuke knew where Naruto was NOT. He would be able to lead these experiments in circles for hours.

Then maybe hopefully, they would get frustrated and try to kill each other again. They seemed to enjoy that activity, and Sasuke would enjoy the results.

"Master Sasuke," one of the experiments said.

"Uchiha," Sasuke immediately replied by reflex. He was honestly surprised that some of them could speak at all, but he would not allow it to speak so informally to him.

"Master Uchiha," the experiment amended, bowing a little, "when will be we be leaving?"

"Soon," Sasuke snapped. He still needed to figure out what he was going to do.

The experiment waited patiently for him; a little too patiently.

During Sasuke's stay with Orochimaru, he had never known an experiment to be patient. They could be quiet at times, as well as still, but those were always when the experiment feared for its life. Sasuke had never seen one be quiet and still willingly.

His dark eyes narrowed. Of course the test subject besides him was not willingly waiting for him.

The experiment was most likely ordered to watch Sasuke by Orochimaru.

That would be a major problem for Sasuke. He was being put under surveillance.

It would be hard to lead them in circles this way…

…and it would be impossible to slip away and see Naruto.

There was a slight pang in Sasuke's chest when he realized this. A small voice in his head reminded him that he had promised Naruto that he would see him today. He had technically said if he was able to, but he had every intention of seeing Naruto when he had said it.

Sasuke nearly glared, but composed himself. He refused to give way to anything while he was under surveillance.

He turned back to the experiment next to him and order, "Gather the others. We're ready to leave."

The experiment nodded, and turned to leave.

Sasuke had memorized the compound's layout through his Sharingan, and knew that if the experiment maintained its current speed, then it would take about three minutes to alert the remaining test subjects and return. He also knew that Orochimaru's chamber was close to where the waiting experiments were being held, and that it would take another two minute round trip to pop its head in, for he also knew that Orochimaru never associated himself with the test subjects' quarters unless absolutely needing to for research.

So if the experiment he just sent away took more than four minutes, then his suspicions would be confirmed. He would know for certain that the experiment was sent as a spy of sorts to monitor Sasuke's actions.

It took six minutes.

When it, and the other experiments, arrived, Sasuke simply left. He did not need to worry about looking back to check on them. They would follow, or suffer the consequences.

After they reached outside, Sasuke went off in a random part of the forest that was anywhere besides the direction to Naruto's clearing.

Because he was being monitored, he called out behind him, "I had followed the test subject from this direction yesterday, so we should start here."

The experiments behind him called back various grunts, confirming that they understood what Sasuke had said.

He stopped at a random location in the forest and ordered, "Start searching," while he perched himself on a tree branch.

"Sir, why are you not helping?" the spy experiment asked.

Sasuke fixed it with a glare, succeeding in making it flinch back, before he said, "I need to know what kind of filth I am forced to work with."

The experiment nodded, and continued to search with the others. Most just used their normal senses, but one or two were using their mutations to their advantages.

It was true that Sasuke was using this time to assess what kinds of experiments he was stuck with, but in actuality, what he was really doing was keeping them away from Naruto. He had positioned himself so that his back was to the direction he knew Naruto's clearing was, so that they would work in front of him; in the wrong direction.

He kept this up for about quarter of an hour, until declaring the area thoroughly scavenged, and going for another location further in the forest and further away from Naruto.

He was able to keep up the charade for a while. For the most part, the experiments were amiable. In fact, they seemed almost glad to be doing this search.

They were enjoying being outside without needing to fight or do anything violent, and Sasuke could recognize that. It did not bother him, and to be honest, he was a little grateful for it. With this, he had a sound reason to let the test subjects take their time with an area and not let things get suspicious.

Even the experiment spying on him seemed to be grateful to his allowance of their 'free time'.

He succeeded in wasting much time, hours even. Not that most of the experiments minded, though.

When they had been outside for more than five hours, the spying test subject spoke up once more.

"Sir," it said, "didn't Lord Orochimaru tell you to search as well?"

Sasuke glared at it once more and said, "He told me to supervise you worthless lot."

The experiment took a moment, then said, "We can take care of ourselves."

Sasuke raised his eyebrow, but did not say anything. He did not need to, as one of the larger remaining test subjects had just knocked down a tree.

The experiment speaking with him looked back, then faced Sasuke again and amended, "I can watch them while you search as well."

"Is that necessary?" Sasuke demanded to know, irritated by the experiment. How dare it speak to him in such a way? Here he was, letting these whelps enjoy themselves without demanding that they kill each other, and it was demanding that he do their job for them.

He could not figure out what angle the experiment was working at. First, it was clear that it was working for Orochimaru as a spy of sorts to watch Sasuke. Then, it was clearly enjoying the time outside. Now, it wanted Sasuke to search and end things?

The more Sasuke thought about it, the more the experiment's erratic actions irritated him. Then he realized a possible reason it had 'suggested' that Sasuke join in the search.

Most likely because Orochimaru expected results. The experiment had enjoyed its freedom, but would probably be punished if they found nothing. Sasuke could not be castigated due to his status as Orochimaru's student, per say, and for the fact that he was intended to be Orochimaru's next body. That left this experiment to be the leftover scapegoat.

Sasuke inwardly scoffed. He did not care. But now, it was obvious why the experiment DID care, and it was just as obvious that it would not let this go.

It would probably keep bothering him about this until Sasuke actually left. The theory was proven when the experiment spoke up again, "So are you searching, sir?"

Sasuke set his gaze on the experiment, who looked away sheepishly and said, "Well…you ARE more experienced in tracking than we are…and, you DID find the escapee…"

Sasuke kept his gaze, and then grunted "Hn."

Then he sped off to another tree branch a distance away from where he left the experiments. He had chosen a random direction that was not heading towards Naruto's clearing.

He wanted to see what the experiment who was 'supervising' him would do. He activated his Sharingan, and focused on the area that he had just vacated.

For the most part, the test subjects did what they were supposed to do. They spread out and searched areas with the 'supervising' experiment telling them what to do.

After observing them for over half an hour, and seeing them search two other locations, Sasuke deemed it safe enough to leave and go see Naruto.

Wild Beast

He made sure to take an extremely roundabout route to the clearing on the off chance that he was being followed. But he knew that he was alone because every so often, he would pause and scan the area with his Sharingan, confirming that he was indeed not followed.

When he reached the overturned tree, it was nearing evening. The sun was low in the sky, getting ready to turn orange and leave the horizon.

Sasuke stepped over the tree, and saw that Naruto was dozing in the sun by the small pond.

He could feel his usual stoic expression break as a grin spread across his face. He could not help it, even though he was an Uchiha.

As Sasuke walked closer, Naruto opened one red eye lazily. Then he closed it again, and resumed napping.

Still, Sasuke considered that a small victory.

In the past, Naruto would automatically come charging at him, fangs and claws at the ready.

But today, he was simply letting Sasuke approach him.

Naruto did not even do anything when Sasuke—cautiously—sat down next to him.

Sasuke cleared his throat, causing Naruto to open an eye again.

His red eye could not find him immediately, so Naruto had to lift his head from his arms in order to see Sasuke beside him.

Naruto then gave Sasuke an annoyed look. The Uchiha could just imagine the blonde saying, "What the hell do you want, Bastard?" Though, it would not have been said in an annoyed tone so much as a riled up, loud tone like Naruto was prone to while they were still teammates.

Sasuke smirked and said, "Hello, Naruto. Did you miss me?"

Naruto's expression gave no indication of whether or not he understood what Sasuke was saying, but that did not deter the Uchiha.

"I am sorry that I am late," he continued, "but I got stuck running an errand for Orochimaru.

Naruto's response was to return his head back to his arms on the ground.

"Not so much of an errand, as it is a mission," Sasuke spoke again, wanting to explain himself to Naruto, even though the other probably did not have a clue what he was saying.

Naruto did not reply.

Again, Sasuke felt compelled to explain everything to Naruto. To tell Naruto to leave, even though it was one of the last things he wanted to do; and to say why the jinchuuriki needed to leave. Sasuke needed Naruto to understand the legitimate reasons why Naruto could not stay in this forest.

Leaving would be in Naruto's best interest. The longer Naruto stayed in this forest, the longer he stayed in danger.

Even though Sasuke had successfully kept the experiments from finding Naruto today, that by no means meant that Orochimaru would leave things alone. Tomorrow there would be another search, and another on the next day. Pretty soon, Orochimaru himself would join in on hunting for whatever had burned the escaped experiment.

Sasuke contemplated on how to best word this to Naruto, even though a part of him kept pointing out how useless the effort would be as Naruto most likely had no idea what he was saying anyway.

He was then overcome by the urge to pet Naruto, like he had the other day.

It was a stupid, immature urge, but it was there nonetheless. That voice in his head urged him to do it, reminding him that this would realistically be the last time he could.

Hesitantly, Sasuke raised his hand and placed it cautiously atop Naruto's blond hair.

Instantly, Naruto's red, demonic eyes opened, and he jerked his head upright to face the direction the hand had come from.

Sasuke froze. He kept still, while meeting Naruto's eyes.

After a few tense moments while Naruto regarded him, the blonde returned his head to its original position on his arms and closed his eyes again.

Sasuke exhaled the breath he had been holding. This was a good sign.

He decided to take it as an 'okay' to proceed with his ministrations.

While he ran his hand through Naruto's hair, he thought of the best way to word what he needed to say.

"Naruto," he began, "after today, you need to leave this forest."

Naruto halfway opened his eyes in response, staring listlessly ahead of him. It was not clear whether or not he was paying attention to what Sasuke was saying, or if he even understood the words.

Still, Sasuke continued, "It is not safe for you here anymore. The experiment that came here yesterday—"

He was cut off by a small growl by Naruto.

His eyes widened; did Naruto understand what he was saying?

He decided not to press the issue, just in case his noticing would ruin anything, and continued quickly as if he was not interrupted at all, "—was brought back to Orochimaru's—" another growl, "lab, and he could not identify where the wounds that you gave it came from."

Sasuke waited to see if Naruto would react. But the jinchuuriki did not.

So he continued, "He does not know that it was you, so he sent me out with other experiments to search for you."

Naruto jerked his head to face Sasuke and growled at him.

Sasuke immediately held his hands up in a gesture of peace and quickly said, "But I will not let them find you. I came here of my own volition."

Naruto growled again, but placed his head back on his hands.

Sasuke continued, "I also came here to tell you that it is safest if you left."

Naruto gave Sasuke a sidelong glare, but did not move his head.

"I know you can handle yourself in battle, but pretty soon, Orochimaru will join in on the search for you," Sasuke explained.

Naruto growled when he mentioned the snake.

"I would not be able to protect you if that was the case," Sasuke continued to say, "There is only a small group wandering through the forest today, but tomorrow there will be more, and continuously so until Orochimaru joins in, like I said."

Naruto narrowed his eyes into a deeper glare.

"He wants to study you, and Kabuto even mentioned wanting to…" he had to take a breath before saying, "kill you."

Naruto growled. If Sasuke had to translate, he would venture a guess that Naruto was growling a mix of anger at the thought and arrogance at the challenge.

Sasuke shook his head though, "This is not something you want to invite on yourself. These…people," he was hesitant to use the term since he hardly felt like it applied, "do not play fair. They would ambush you, and do any dirty trick in order to win, and haul you back to the lab."

Naruto growled again.

Sasuke stood up, and kneeled in front of Naruto, so they were facing each other, "Do you understand?" He asked, "You need to leave the forest while you still have the upper hand. You were training with Jiraiya, right?" Naruto blinked slowly through his glare, as if processing the name. But Sasuke continued, "Go find him. No one would bother you then, and maybe you could figure out a way to return to normal."

Naruto blinked slowly again.

Sasuke sighed, and returned to his seat next to Naruto, and ran his fingers through blond hair again.

"You should leave tonight, after I return back to the base," he said with a tone of finality.

Naruto did not reply.

Wild Beast

The two remained next to each other for a quarter of an hour longer. The sky was getting darker, signaling that the sun was about to set.

Sasuke glared at the sky. He wanted more time with Naruto, but he could not afford to stay after dark. Not if he wanted to keep suspicions off himself.

He stopped his petting Naruto. He wanted to say some form of sentimental farewell, but kept himself from doing so. He was an Uchiha, and he would not succumb to his weaknesses.

Plus, he felt like the farewell would be meaningless to Naruto in his current state.

As long as he understood to leave, that was all that was important.

Sasuke was getting ready to gather himself, when Naruto suddenly sprang up on all fours.

He was growling menacingly at the forest.

Sasuke recognized the jinchuuriki's demeanor. It was the same as when the escaped experiment from before stumbled into the clearing.

He stood up as well, taking out his katana.

"Stay here," he ordered softly to Naruto.

Then he dashed out of the clearing. Maybe he could convince the experiments that he had already searched the area.

He slowed down after jumping over the fallen tree, disciplining himself to keep his usual behavior. He would show no reason to suspect him.

After he walked a bit, he saw the experiments rushing towards him.

The fallen tree was still in sight, though!

That was not good.

He glared at them, silently ordering them to stop.

When they did, he barked, "Back to the base." He made sure to make his tone sound annoyed, as if he had invested much time in a fruitless effort.

"No," the spy experiment replied.

Sasuke glared at them with his Uchiha Glare. The ones in the back flinched and tried to shrink a little so they would not be noticeable.

"Back to the base," Sasuke repeated, his tone threatening instead of annoyed this time.

"What's back there?" the experiment opted to ask instead.

"Nothing," Sasuke clipped, "I searched thoroughly, and there is nothing in this forest that could have caused those wounds."

"You're lying!" the experiment screeched.

"Enough!" Sasuke yelled back.

The experiment did not stop though. It turned to the other experiments and shouted, "He's lying! He wants us DEAD!" It yelled a wordless shout, and gestured towards the other experiments.

Then, the other experiments shouted to, and sprang forward to attack Sasuke.

Sasuke was faster than them, though. He quickly used his katana, and charged it with his Chidori, and thrust it into the spy experiment's stomach.

He pulled his weapon out, and turned to the others.

Before he could charge another lightning attack, he felt his arm being scratched,

He turned around, and saw the spy experiment grinning maddeningly at him.

Sasuke spared his arm a glance, and saw blood running from it.

He activated his Sharingan and backed to a tree. He was being surrounded by the experiments, and the one he had stabbed seemed unaffected by his wound.

"Before we left, Lord Orochimaru did some more work on us," the spy experiment yelled with a mad look in his eye, "He got rid of our pain receptors! We are invincible! We have survived! And now we will kill you!"

Before Sasuke could scoff, he heard rustling from the direction of the clearing.

Then he heard a roar.

That caught the attention of all the experiments, and they turned to see what made the noise.

Sasuke looked as well, and saw Naruto crouching on the fallen tree.

Red, demonic eyes were glowing red, and Sasuke could feel his own eyes widening.

He recognized that look.

Sure enough, the beastlike Naruto's red chakra from the demon he hosted began to bubble. The chakra began to envelope the blonde in a shroud with a tail at the end.

The spy experiments eyes widened, and he said loudly, as if from fear, "Is…is that the monster that attacked the escapee?!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed more. Its eyes locked on Sasuke's bleeding arm, and then onto the spy experiment's bloody hand.

He roared again, and Sasuke—along with the other experiments as well—watched in trepid captivation at how the chakra tail expanded into not one, but two tails.

How was that possible?

Then Naruto sprang quickly forwards with a speed that required Sasuke's Sharingan in order to follow the movements.

Surprisingly, one of the bigger experiments jumped in front of the spy experiment.

It did not deter Naruto, though. The jinchuuriki tackled it to the ground and bit into his neck.

Sasuke could see jaws clamp down on the jugular before Naruto ripped out a large chunk of the large test subject's neck.

The Uchiha then snapped back to his senses and charged another Chidori.

The spy experiment noticed this, and jumped backwards with Sasuke at its heel.

Behind them, Naruto moved onto another experiment, clawing at it with fury.

Sasuke did not pay much attention to that at the moment, though, as he needed to kill the spy experiment. Usually, he avoided killing as it was useless and messy, but this time it was required.

He would not let it live and reveal Naruto to Orochimaru.

Sasuke sucked in a deep breath, and performed the necessary hand signals to form his clan's infamous fireball attack.

The spy experiment was dowsed in flames, but it did not seem to mind.

It did turn back at Sasuke, though.

It glared defiantly at Sasuke, as if declaring that it would at LEAST render Sasuke unconscious, and that it would report his findings to Orochimaru.

Behind them, Naruto killed another experiment.

Sasuke glared and leapt forward, brandishing his katana and cutting just underneath the kneecaps.

The experiment fell to the ground and laughed maniacally, "We do not feel pain, Uchiha! This will not slow me down!"

Sasuke merely glared. The test subject was wrong; Sasuke had cut through the tendons. Even though it would not feel it, the test subject would not be able to walk properly, let alone jump or run away.

He needed to finish this quickly, so he rushed forwards and decapitated the experiment.

All the severed pain connections did not save it from losing its head; it was dead.

Sasuke bent down to check its vital signs just to make sure. For all he knew, this test subject could survive decapitation through Orochimaru's experimentation.

There was no pulse. It was dead.

Satisfied, Sasuke turned around to see if Naruto needed any help.

He was not prepared to see the image in front of him, though.

Naruto was covered in blood, but none seemed to be his own. He was surrounded by bodies, twitching or still. There was only one still standing, but Sasuke could see that it would not remain that way for long.

The jinchuuriki was growling, and appeared rather frightening, even to Sasuke. Naruto's fangs were dripping with blood, his eyes were the same shade of red, and the demonic chakra tails were practically lashing out in any direction.

Suddenly, Naruto pounced. He extended a claw—also dripping blood—and the chakra surrounding it expanded and stretched out before it.

The chakra claw grabbed hold of the experiment. Sasuke could see skin burning from being touched with the vile chakra.

Naruto then tackled it to the ground.

He clawed at the chest, but seemingly to take hold as the experiment kept trying to jerk Naruto off its body. That was when Sasuke remembered that these test subjects were immune to pain.

Snarling, Naruto's tails wrapped around the body as well, immobilizing it.

The experiment still thrashed, but only slightly against its burning chakra bonds.

Then, like with the first experiment, Naruto bit into the neck and tore out a large chunk.

The body was still twitching minutely afterwards, so Naruto rose a claw and struck at it; completely decapitating the head.

The body was still.

Naruto bent down slightly, then climbed off the corpse. He made rounds of the other bodies, occasionally using its extended chakra claw to sever the heads of the ones who were still alive.

All was still for a moment.

Sasuke took the time to absorb what just happened.

They had killed the experiments. All of them. Dead.

It was necessary; they had found Naruto, so they needed to be eliminated lest they tell Orochimaru.

The extermination was also needed in self-defense. They had attacked first, so they got what they deserved.

But how would he explain this to Orochimaru? He needed to think of something. Maybe say they got separated and that the test subjects had taken the chance to escape? No, that would not work. One of them was a snitch, after all. Say they had another brawl? Plausible. It would not have been the first time this week.

Sasuke internally sighed in exasperation. This had clearly gone out of hand.

Then he felt something poke against his injured arm.

He jumped a little, and withdrew his arm immediately, thinking it was a surviving experiment.

Looking down, he saw that it was Naruto, looking intensely at Sasuke's injury.

Hesitantly, Sasuke lowered his arm again. He watched as Naruto sniffed it, and then look back up at Sasuke. There was something akin to worry in his red, demonic eyes.

Sasuke smiled a bit in spite of himself. Just the thought that Naruto was worried about him, especially in this state that he was in, made Sasuke feel good.

"I am fine," he murmured to the other, he waved his arm a bit and said, "It does not hurt."

Naruto continued to stare.

Sasuke crouched down so they were seeing eye to eye and asked, "Do you remember what I told you?"

Naruto blinked as a response. Sasuke could not decipher if that was an affirmative or just simply a blink. But he continued anyway, saying, "You need to leave. Quickly. Before someone comes to investigate."

Naruto took a moment. Then he looked back at the copses behind him, and then back at Sasuke. It was almost as if he was silently asking what Sasuke would do about the bodies.

Sasuke said, "Let me worry about that when the time comes. But now, you need to leave."

Naruto gazed sadly at Sasuke.

Sasuke sighed and asked, "Can you show me what direction you came from?"

Naruto took a moment, then slumped his head down. He then started to walk on all fours in a direction adjacent to the clearing he had made his home.

The jinchuuriki looked over his shoulder, as if silently beckoning Sasuke to follow; which he did. The two walked together.

After they had walked for a while, Sasuke was beginning to wonder if Naruto had any idea where he was going. Suddenly, Naruto perked up and began sniffing the air. He then started to bound forwards.

Sasuke ran after him, wondering what made Naruto act this way. Was there an enemy?

He activated his Sharingan. Looking ahead, he saw the trees becoming thinner and smaller. As they ran, Sasuke saw that they were close to the edge of the forest with a small cabin which Sasuke assumed was their destination, so he deactivated his Sharingan.

Since it was within sight, Sasuke slowed down. He could not afford to let anyone see him with Naruto. He was a missing-nin, and Naruto was a ninja of Konoha. Sasuke could not risk other ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village finding him and bringing him back. Not when he was still in the middle of training. There was too much to do, and getting arrested was not something Sasuke could afford.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke had stopped running and stopped as well. He turned around and gazed at Sasuke curiously.

Sasuke shook his head, though, and said, "I need to go back."

Naruto stared at him with something akin to sadness in his eyes.

Sasuke could not help but add, "We will see each other soon, though."

He walked forwards and crouched once more in front of Naruto. He stared into red eyes with his own dark ones and said softly, "I will miss you."

Naruto closed his eyes, and leaned forwards, poking Sasuke's nose with his own.

Sasuke stood up and gestured for Naruto to continue forwards before speeding off in the opposite direction back to the base.

Wild Beast

When he got back to the base, he was greeted with the sight of Kabuto and Orochimaru waiting for him.

Kabuto seemed angry, and yelled, "Where are the experiments?"

Sasuke stared dully at the other, and deadpanned, "Dead."

"What?" Kabuto shouted, fuming. "How?!"

Sasuke did not reply. Then Orochimaru observed, "You have a wound."

The Uchiha looked down at his arm, and then back up to the snake and said, "The experiments started to kill each other again. I intervened, but one got to me, so I left to do my mission and search for whatever caused the escapee's injuries. When I got back, they were all dead."

Orochimaru observed Sasuke, while Kabuto shouted again.

Then Orochimaru nodded slightly, and commented, "We will try again tomorrow." Then, he turned around and went back inside.

Sasuke followed, ignoring whatever Kabuto was blabbering about in his loud tone.

The Uchiha did not care for whatever the assistant spoke of. He had kept Naruto a secret.

Sasuke had kept Naruto safe.

The End

And that was the story!

Phew! Another story finished!

This one was a slight challenge. I knew where I wanted to go with it from the beginning, but my muse just wasn't feeling it after the first few chapters.

I want to thank everyone who read this story! Thank you so much for sticking with me! I love y'all!