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teamwork 3 chapter 7 -- end
I still have to put all the bits I wrote into proper order and I haven't decided yet how best to do that. But at least now I have everything and it's just a matter of shifting things around and writing the connecting bits. Piece of cake! (now that i've said this of course it means something will happen so i'm stuck until february >_>;;)
the part that comes before this.
And, the author note that'll be posted on ffnet with the chapter...
... now if only I could make myself believe it. *fret fret*
plz loev me. T^T
"Stubborn," Sasuke whispered. Maybe he would even survive. Sasuke wiped his hands on his pants and got back up. "Let's move him against that rock to get him out of the open, and then I'll go find Naruto."
They worked in silence. It was quickly done, though, the boy moved as smoothly as possible and a quick Katon to light the fire. Sasuke finished setting up traps with his leftover wire and straightened up.
Sakura was rubbing her stomach discreetly, like she didn't want him to notice.
"Sakura?"
She caught the direction of his gaze and shrugged, looking back down at the redhead kid to avoid his eyes. "It's nothing, just reverse-backlash. I had so much chakra shoved at me for so long and then it just went poof. It feels a little weird."
Sasuke stared at her for a second, not sure he was convinced. "Huh."
She laughed suddenly, dry and humorless. "It's funny. I was so afraid Naruto would become too foxlike. I wasn't scared of Kyuubi at all -- I mean, he was even helpful with the seal, and he would never hurt the mother of his offspring, right? Heh. Heheh."
Sasuke's fingers curled into a fist. He stayed silent for a few seconds, no words coming to his mind -- none that would have been welcome right now. Sakura let out a long, shaky sigh, and watched the brunette girl come back with an armful of branches. Sasuke glanced at the younger kunoichi and then back at his teammate.
"You gonna be okay?" he asked quietly, before the girl came in range.
"...Yeah. Just -- Naruto left before I could talk to him and --"
"I'll talk to him," he assured her.
He wanted to assure her of other things. That it was over now. That things would be okay, they'd just forget and go on. He'd never been an optimist, and he wasn't a hypocrite either, so he didn't.
"We'll be back soon," he added, because that he could promise, even if he had to propel Naruto along via a kick combo to his ass.
If the kid's teammates hadn't been there, watching, he might have convinced himself to touch her shoulder or her hair before he left -- not because he wanted to, he didn't want to touch anyone after this clusterfuck of failures and dead people. But because maybe it would help her, and if it helped her it would be worth forcing himself.
This time around he wasn't sure that his simple presence would be enough to make Sakura's world right again. The root of this was Naruto.
He went back to the river, found their camp again.
Naruto wasn't there. Sasuke felt a spike of -- some feeling he didn't want to think about. He snatched up his pack, Naruto's jacket, abandoned on the bank, and kept moving. He'd come back for the rest afterward. If some other team was laying in wait -- if they'd caught Naruto by surprise... Unlikely, but he didn't have a clue what state Naruto was in.
He went up the river, because the trees and lush grass quickly disappeared once out of the canyon and Naruto would probably want to keep to familiar surroundings.
For a second as he saw the body draped limply over that rock he thought Naruto might be dead too, ambushed and left where he'd fallen. But no, that couldn't happen. Just couldn't. He picked up a rock and threw it; it hit Naruto's perch with a loud crack.
Naruto startled. Good. Something in Sasuke's stomach unclenched. Even though he should have been aware of his presence sooner.
Naruto didn't turn around to check who was there. Not good.
"Naruto." Sasuke's voice came out curt more than weary. He didn't know whether Naruto could tell who was behind him, but that was no reason to keep his back on him that way. It was either as if Naruto wanted to ignore him or wanted to be captured, and either one was unacceptable.
He hadn't felt anything much for a little while, but now he was starting to feel angry.
"Get up," he ordered, voice harsh.
Naruto's shoulders stiffened.
"You left Sakura alone, exhausted, saddled with a bunch of kids. And you're not even getting supplies?"
"... Sasuke, leave off."
"Let me think -- no." Sasuke dropped his things on the bank, walked up the river's surface, and kicked water at Naruto's bare back. It didn't make a big difference to how wet Naruto was; his hair wasn't even half dry and his pants soaked through.
Naruto whirled around so fast Sasuke jumped back into a fighting crouch without thought. His teammate's eyes were Kyuubi-red still, thick fangs in his mouth, cheeks barred with spreading whisker marks.
There was rage in his eyes. Fear, too.
A challenge, in the tilt of his chin.
Sasuke gave an unimpressed snort and forced his burst of temper down. "... Get a hold of yourself, for fuck's sake."
Naruto stared at him for a few seconds, balanced on the balls of his feet like he was thinking of pouncing anyway, but the dryness and lack of fear in Sasuke's voice tipped the balance. He relaxed slowly -- very slowly, still on edge.
Still... not normal. Not right.
Which meant Sasuke couldn't get angry at him either. He'd been calm and steady for Sakura; easy, cradled in the functioning numbness that came from seeing death, from still having to salvage things. He wouldn't have minded blowing off steam on Naruto. But Naruto needed him steady as well, and that was... unsettling, unexpected, but something he couldn't fumble even so.
"Better?" he asked.
Naruto let out a long, shuddering breath and made a conscious effort to unclench his white-knuckled hands. "...Mrgh."
"Naruto." Sasuke paused, weighing his words. They didn't have time for Naruto to have a little breakdown in private. They didn't have time for comfort. Sasuke sucked at it anyway. But being too harsh would have the opposite effect. "... Tell me what's going on."
Naruto's shoulder and arm twitched and his upper lip curled briefly in disdainful irritation. He closed his eyes, still red.
"Status, shinobi," Sasuke demanded, quiet but unrelenting.
"Fuck you, leave me alone," Naruto said, but it came with a groan, more of a plea than a real insult. Sasuke swallowed another flicker of unease. Wrong, wrong.
"You know I can't do that."
Naruto slumped on the spot, sat on the rock with a bone-jarring thump, head and shoulders bowed in what looked like defeat. "Sasuke, just--"
"I'm not leaving," he countered preemptively.
Naruto sighed and started massaging his temples.
"My head hurts," he admitted quietly. "And I'm not. I don't. I..." A deep, bracing breath. "I'm not thinking right."
Sasuke bit his tongue on a 'As if you ever do.' He couldn't have faked the right level of teasing dryness right now.
"I'm so angry," Naruto whispered. "I'm so angry."
He didn't look angry right now. Closer to terrified. Sasuke told himself to relax his jaw before he broke a tooth.
"Alright," he said; it was inane but he didn't have a clue what else to say to that. He told himself to just accept it and move on. "What do you need to keep it under control?"
Naruto flicked a startled look at him through his bangs. "What?"
"The anger. If you could get rid of it, you would. So it's not possible. Alright. But obviously you can control it." He spread his arms a little in demonstration; Naruto hadn't attacked him after all.
"I don't -- " Bewildered, Naruto shook his head. Shuddered, fists clenching and releasing.
"What do you need?"
There was a long moment of silence.
"...No challenges. None at all."
Sasuke gave a cautious nod. "That's... going to be interesting, but alright."
Naruto let out a short burst of laughter and tilted up his head. His eyes were a muddy, intermediate color -- an ugly bruise-purple, still more red than blue. The pupils were thin cat-slices.
"What else?"
Naruto looked away. "... I don't think I can... stay close. So I'll just... I'll take perimeter watch. Okay?"
Sasuke considered it. Someone had to do it, and he didn't think Naruto would want to be too close to the kids and Sakura yet. Anyway, night was falling fast -- he checked the sky. No, evening was pretty much there, the sun had come down almost a hour ago. He hadn't noticed he was losing colors because even when his sharingan wasn't activated his pupils still adapted well, giving him details and movements in stark clarity. But they needed to bunk down for the night. Might as well allow Naruto to calm down by doing something useful that wouldn't let him feel crowded.
"That works. Let's go pick up our things and move the camp."
He caught a scowl on Naruto's face at his words, but the blond inhaled slowly and forced himself to relax. Too much like an order, then? Damn but this was going to get frustrating. He erased a frown from his face and waited for Naruto to move first, to give a signal. He watched the blond unfold, climb to his feet.
They stared at each other for a second, before Sasuke made himself break eye contact and look over Naruto's shoulder. He should have looked down at his feet to seem properly submissive but his every instinct rebelled against that.
"This is just wrong," he commented dryly.
"Heh. Yeah." A pause; Naruto tilted his head, faintly disconcerted. "I don't think I'm gonna like it much in the long run. I want... I want to fight you. It's not -- it's too easy if I don't have to fight you."
"But it wouldn't help if we fought now," Sasuke observed. Naruto let out a strange laugh.
"No. It really wouldn't. I'd eat your face, and then I'd probably rape you. I wish to god I was joking."
"Missing a face might get problematic," Sasuke replied blandly, refusing to be impressed. It was obvious Naruto was hoping he'd be scared off and give him space. As if. "On the other hand, girls would stop sighing after me in the street."
Naruto muttered under his breath, more normal-grumpy than half out of his skin with nerves for a short moment. "Ass."
"Yeah, I guess I'd still have that going for me."
He startled Naruto into laughing, a real laugh this time around.
"Yeah... I guess it is pretty nice," he agreed, almost normal. But he kept chuckling longer than he should have, breathless and slightly tinged with hysteria. "I guess it is. ... But if you try to use it on other people I'll -- I... I'd be pissed."
Kyuubi was still too close to Naruto's mind, Sasuke noted. He'd planned to say something else. More graphic. With more threats. Sasuke nodded soberly. "I wasn't planning on it," he promised, voice quiet. "I've got a boyfriend already."
He smirked a little bit when Naruto's head jerked around at the epithet.
"He's the possessive type, apparently," he said dryly.
They stared at each other for a few seconds. Sasuke only broke eye contact when Naruto's slightly too wide, slightly too wet eyes started to narrow into a bothered stare. There, no more challenge.
"... Damn straight he is." Naruto stepped up to him slowly and bumped his fist against his shoulder in a pretend-punch that wouldn't have moved a civilian in high heels. Sasuke was neither. At this point it was almost closer to a caress.
This was getting embarrassingly sappy. But playing on Naruto's gentler side was the only way Sasuke really saw to counter the way his wilder feelings echoed off Kyuubi's.
This was probably as good as Naruto's mindset was going to get for a good long while, with his chakra still out of whack.
"We should go back to the camp," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets and gazing at the scenery around them so he wouldn't have to really acknowledge Naruto's expression again. It was too embarrassing to see him with no mask on.
"Alright, alright."
They started walking down the river, Sasuke scanning the surroundings for threats, though he kept his body language relaxed and his hands tucked away. Naruto slunk along like a predator vaguely thinking about maybe going for dinner. That was much better than him actively looking around for prey; Sasuke still made a note to look for snacks to shove at him.
He tried to think of an innocuous topic of conversation to keep Naruto distracted, but could find nothing. The only things he was wondering about were Sakura and the half-dead kid and he wasn't going to bring them up.
"Man, I'm so ready to get the fuck off this island," Naruto grumbled, kicking at the surface of the water. "I hate this place."
Sasuke grunted his agreement. "Still need more tokens though. I'm not coming back in six months."
Naruto flinched and looked away. Sasuke berated himself. Yeah, bring up tokens and more teams to kill for them while you're at it. Stupid.
"... Weren't the jounin-sensei supposed to carry some around?" Naruto said after a slightly too long pause.
Sasuke was willing to ignore that in the name of keeping the conversation looking casual. He stepped on the bank. Their camp wasn't too far from there, just after this bend in the river.
"Yeah, but I haven't seen one of them for hours." He couldn't keep his irritation out of his voice. "What the hell is up with that anyway? They should have come running."
"Oh, they'll be around soon enough," said an amused voice, "but we do have a few minutes."
Sasuke froze in his tracks. At his side Naruto had gone stiff with shock. He could feel demon chakra spike against his skin.
A tall, broad-shouldered man stood in the middle of their abandoned camp.
He had a huge sword effortlessly propped up on one shoulder. On the other shoulder was slung a limp body.
That wasn't what Sasuke zeroed in on first, though. It was dark and colors were hard to see, but he knew his skin was slate blue and the clouds on his cloak arterial red.
They came as a pair. It was all Sasuke could think of. They came as a pair.
Itachi.
"Gaara," Naruto choked out.
"It's shameful how little security the hidden villages keep around their demon bearers nowadays, wouldn't you say?"
Kisame took a step forward, distracting Sasuke from the suddenly suspiciously empty space all around them.
"I don't suppose you'll come quietly," he said, and smiled, all teeth bared.
the part that comes before this.
And, the author note that'll be posted on ffnet with the chapter...
-The reason this is so late:
I had a major dilemma over the plot thread this chapter kicks off.
The event at the end was always planned, from way back when I came up with the idea of writing the chuunin test in the first place. I was super excited about it, and in how many interesting ways it would impact Team Seven, and I came up with off-screen background and actions and chronology, and fallout for it, and plot threads that tie into Teamwork 4&5 (yes, I did really plan this far. x.x)...
And then I realized, aw hell, this might not come as a "OH MY GOD D:" but as a "...oh, please."
Because yeah, it might be seen as random and just enough over the top to break suspension of disbelief, just enough to be too much. So I felt really bothered about the possibility, and tried and tried to find plot to replace that event, but no matter what I came up with and how many of my friends tried to help, it didn't give the same results and it broke my poor little heart to have to cut out everything else I'd planned as a result of it. And to be frank... it's a lot more fun for me this way, no matter how likely it is or isn't.
I might lose readers over it (though if I haven't lost you even though I made you wait so long, then I'm not too scared. XD :lovelove: ) but in the end I have to remember something: I write fanfic because I want to have fun with the characters I love (and put them through hell, because I'm evil and it makes me laugh). I'm not trying to sell this as a novel, so maybe I can relax my standards of likelihood a tiny bit and stop putting pressure on myself. And hey, who knows, maybe I'll pull it off. I won't know if I can pull it off if I don't even try, so here it is. I'm trying this. But even if it doesn't work for all of you guys, at least I'm having fun again.
... now if only I could make myself believe it. *fret fret*
plz loev me. T^T
"Stubborn," Sasuke whispered. Maybe he would even survive. Sasuke wiped his hands on his pants and got back up. "Let's move him against that rock to get him out of the open, and then I'll go find Naruto."
They worked in silence. It was quickly done, though, the boy moved as smoothly as possible and a quick Katon to light the fire. Sasuke finished setting up traps with his leftover wire and straightened up.
Sakura was rubbing her stomach discreetly, like she didn't want him to notice.
"Sakura?"
She caught the direction of his gaze and shrugged, looking back down at the redhead kid to avoid his eyes. "It's nothing, just reverse-backlash. I had so much chakra shoved at me for so long and then it just went poof. It feels a little weird."
Sasuke stared at her for a second, not sure he was convinced. "Huh."
She laughed suddenly, dry and humorless. "It's funny. I was so afraid Naruto would become too foxlike. I wasn't scared of Kyuubi at all -- I mean, he was even helpful with the seal, and he would never hurt the mother of his offspring, right? Heh. Heheh."
Sasuke's fingers curled into a fist. He stayed silent for a few seconds, no words coming to his mind -- none that would have been welcome right now. Sakura let out a long, shaky sigh, and watched the brunette girl come back with an armful of branches. Sasuke glanced at the younger kunoichi and then back at his teammate.
"You gonna be okay?" he asked quietly, before the girl came in range.
"...Yeah. Just -- Naruto left before I could talk to him and --"
"I'll talk to him," he assured her.
He wanted to assure her of other things. That it was over now. That things would be okay, they'd just forget and go on. He'd never been an optimist, and he wasn't a hypocrite either, so he didn't.
"We'll be back soon," he added, because that he could promise, even if he had to propel Naruto along via a kick combo to his ass.
If the kid's teammates hadn't been there, watching, he might have convinced himself to touch her shoulder or her hair before he left -- not because he wanted to, he didn't want to touch anyone after this clusterfuck of failures and dead people. But because maybe it would help her, and if it helped her it would be worth forcing himself.
This time around he wasn't sure that his simple presence would be enough to make Sakura's world right again. The root of this was Naruto.
He went back to the river, found their camp again.
Naruto wasn't there. Sasuke felt a spike of -- some feeling he didn't want to think about. He snatched up his pack, Naruto's jacket, abandoned on the bank, and kept moving. He'd come back for the rest afterward. If some other team was laying in wait -- if they'd caught Naruto by surprise... Unlikely, but he didn't have a clue what state Naruto was in.
He went up the river, because the trees and lush grass quickly disappeared once out of the canyon and Naruto would probably want to keep to familiar surroundings.
For a second as he saw the body draped limply over that rock he thought Naruto might be dead too, ambushed and left where he'd fallen. But no, that couldn't happen. Just couldn't. He picked up a rock and threw it; it hit Naruto's perch with a loud crack.
Naruto startled. Good. Something in Sasuke's stomach unclenched. Even though he should have been aware of his presence sooner.
Naruto didn't turn around to check who was there. Not good.
"Naruto." Sasuke's voice came out curt more than weary. He didn't know whether Naruto could tell who was behind him, but that was no reason to keep his back on him that way. It was either as if Naruto wanted to ignore him or wanted to be captured, and either one was unacceptable.
He hadn't felt anything much for a little while, but now he was starting to feel angry.
"Get up," he ordered, voice harsh.
Naruto's shoulders stiffened.
"You left Sakura alone, exhausted, saddled with a bunch of kids. And you're not even getting supplies?"
"... Sasuke, leave off."
"Let me think -- no." Sasuke dropped his things on the bank, walked up the river's surface, and kicked water at Naruto's bare back. It didn't make a big difference to how wet Naruto was; his hair wasn't even half dry and his pants soaked through.
Naruto whirled around so fast Sasuke jumped back into a fighting crouch without thought. His teammate's eyes were Kyuubi-red still, thick fangs in his mouth, cheeks barred with spreading whisker marks.
There was rage in his eyes. Fear, too.
A challenge, in the tilt of his chin.
Sasuke gave an unimpressed snort and forced his burst of temper down. "... Get a hold of yourself, for fuck's sake."
Naruto stared at him for a few seconds, balanced on the balls of his feet like he was thinking of pouncing anyway, but the dryness and lack of fear in Sasuke's voice tipped the balance. He relaxed slowly -- very slowly, still on edge.
Still... not normal. Not right.
Which meant Sasuke couldn't get angry at him either. He'd been calm and steady for Sakura; easy, cradled in the functioning numbness that came from seeing death, from still having to salvage things. He wouldn't have minded blowing off steam on Naruto. But Naruto needed him steady as well, and that was... unsettling, unexpected, but something he couldn't fumble even so.
"Better?" he asked.
Naruto let out a long, shuddering breath and made a conscious effort to unclench his white-knuckled hands. "...Mrgh."
"Naruto." Sasuke paused, weighing his words. They didn't have time for Naruto to have a little breakdown in private. They didn't have time for comfort. Sasuke sucked at it anyway. But being too harsh would have the opposite effect. "... Tell me what's going on."
Naruto's shoulder and arm twitched and his upper lip curled briefly in disdainful irritation. He closed his eyes, still red.
"Status, shinobi," Sasuke demanded, quiet but unrelenting.
"Fuck you, leave me alone," Naruto said, but it came with a groan, more of a plea than a real insult. Sasuke swallowed another flicker of unease. Wrong, wrong.
"You know I can't do that."
Naruto slumped on the spot, sat on the rock with a bone-jarring thump, head and shoulders bowed in what looked like defeat. "Sasuke, just--"
"I'm not leaving," he countered preemptively.
Naruto sighed and started massaging his temples.
"My head hurts," he admitted quietly. "And I'm not. I don't. I..." A deep, bracing breath. "I'm not thinking right."
Sasuke bit his tongue on a 'As if you ever do.' He couldn't have faked the right level of teasing dryness right now.
"I'm so angry," Naruto whispered. "I'm so angry."
He didn't look angry right now. Closer to terrified. Sasuke told himself to relax his jaw before he broke a tooth.
"Alright," he said; it was inane but he didn't have a clue what else to say to that. He told himself to just accept it and move on. "What do you need to keep it under control?"
Naruto flicked a startled look at him through his bangs. "What?"
"The anger. If you could get rid of it, you would. So it's not possible. Alright. But obviously you can control it." He spread his arms a little in demonstration; Naruto hadn't attacked him after all.
"I don't -- " Bewildered, Naruto shook his head. Shuddered, fists clenching and releasing.
"What do you need?"
There was a long moment of silence.
"...No challenges. None at all."
Sasuke gave a cautious nod. "That's... going to be interesting, but alright."
Naruto let out a short burst of laughter and tilted up his head. His eyes were a muddy, intermediate color -- an ugly bruise-purple, still more red than blue. The pupils were thin cat-slices.
"What else?"
Naruto looked away. "... I don't think I can... stay close. So I'll just... I'll take perimeter watch. Okay?"
Sasuke considered it. Someone had to do it, and he didn't think Naruto would want to be too close to the kids and Sakura yet. Anyway, night was falling fast -- he checked the sky. No, evening was pretty much there, the sun had come down almost a hour ago. He hadn't noticed he was losing colors because even when his sharingan wasn't activated his pupils still adapted well, giving him details and movements in stark clarity. But they needed to bunk down for the night. Might as well allow Naruto to calm down by doing something useful that wouldn't let him feel crowded.
"That works. Let's go pick up our things and move the camp."
He caught a scowl on Naruto's face at his words, but the blond inhaled slowly and forced himself to relax. Too much like an order, then? Damn but this was going to get frustrating. He erased a frown from his face and waited for Naruto to move first, to give a signal. He watched the blond unfold, climb to his feet.
They stared at each other for a second, before Sasuke made himself break eye contact and look over Naruto's shoulder. He should have looked down at his feet to seem properly submissive but his every instinct rebelled against that.
"This is just wrong," he commented dryly.
"Heh. Yeah." A pause; Naruto tilted his head, faintly disconcerted. "I don't think I'm gonna like it much in the long run. I want... I want to fight you. It's not -- it's too easy if I don't have to fight you."
"But it wouldn't help if we fought now," Sasuke observed. Naruto let out a strange laugh.
"No. It really wouldn't. I'd eat your face, and then I'd probably rape you. I wish to god I was joking."
"Missing a face might get problematic," Sasuke replied blandly, refusing to be impressed. It was obvious Naruto was hoping he'd be scared off and give him space. As if. "On the other hand, girls would stop sighing after me in the street."
Naruto muttered under his breath, more normal-grumpy than half out of his skin with nerves for a short moment. "Ass."
"Yeah, I guess I'd still have that going for me."
He startled Naruto into laughing, a real laugh this time around.
"Yeah... I guess it is pretty nice," he agreed, almost normal. But he kept chuckling longer than he should have, breathless and slightly tinged with hysteria. "I guess it is. ... But if you try to use it on other people I'll -- I... I'd be pissed."
Kyuubi was still too close to Naruto's mind, Sasuke noted. He'd planned to say something else. More graphic. With more threats. Sasuke nodded soberly. "I wasn't planning on it," he promised, voice quiet. "I've got a boyfriend already."
He smirked a little bit when Naruto's head jerked around at the epithet.
"He's the possessive type, apparently," he said dryly.
They stared at each other for a few seconds. Sasuke only broke eye contact when Naruto's slightly too wide, slightly too wet eyes started to narrow into a bothered stare. There, no more challenge.
"... Damn straight he is." Naruto stepped up to him slowly and bumped his fist against his shoulder in a pretend-punch that wouldn't have moved a civilian in high heels. Sasuke was neither. At this point it was almost closer to a caress.
This was getting embarrassingly sappy. But playing on Naruto's gentler side was the only way Sasuke really saw to counter the way his wilder feelings echoed off Kyuubi's.
This was probably as good as Naruto's mindset was going to get for a good long while, with his chakra still out of whack.
"We should go back to the camp," he said, sticking his hands in his pockets and gazing at the scenery around them so he wouldn't have to really acknowledge Naruto's expression again. It was too embarrassing to see him with no mask on.
"Alright, alright."
They started walking down the river, Sasuke scanning the surroundings for threats, though he kept his body language relaxed and his hands tucked away. Naruto slunk along like a predator vaguely thinking about maybe going for dinner. That was much better than him actively looking around for prey; Sasuke still made a note to look for snacks to shove at him.
He tried to think of an innocuous topic of conversation to keep Naruto distracted, but could find nothing. The only things he was wondering about were Sakura and the half-dead kid and he wasn't going to bring them up.
"Man, I'm so ready to get the fuck off this island," Naruto grumbled, kicking at the surface of the water. "I hate this place."
Sasuke grunted his agreement. "Still need more tokens though. I'm not coming back in six months."
Naruto flinched and looked away. Sasuke berated himself. Yeah, bring up tokens and more teams to kill for them while you're at it. Stupid.
"... Weren't the jounin-sensei supposed to carry some around?" Naruto said after a slightly too long pause.
Sasuke was willing to ignore that in the name of keeping the conversation looking casual. He stepped on the bank. Their camp wasn't too far from there, just after this bend in the river.
"Yeah, but I haven't seen one of them for hours." He couldn't keep his irritation out of his voice. "What the hell is up with that anyway? They should have come running."
"Oh, they'll be around soon enough," said an amused voice, "but we do have a few minutes."
Sasuke froze in his tracks. At his side Naruto had gone stiff with shock. He could feel demon chakra spike against his skin.
A tall, broad-shouldered man stood in the middle of their abandoned camp.
He had a huge sword effortlessly propped up on one shoulder. On the other shoulder was slung a limp body.
That wasn't what Sasuke zeroed in on first, though. It was dark and colors were hard to see, but he knew his skin was slate blue and the clouds on his cloak arterial red.
They came as a pair. It was all Sasuke could think of. They came as a pair.
Itachi.
"Gaara," Naruto choked out.
"It's shameful how little security the hidden villages keep around their demon bearers nowadays, wouldn't you say?"
Kisame took a step forward, distracting Sasuke from the suddenly suspiciously empty space all around them.
"I don't suppose you'll come quietly," he said, and smiled, all teeth bared.
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