It had come quickly, like a rush of wildfire through the dried remains of fall. A call for help, the kind that came when the should-be-routine had gotten terribly out of control. It was the cry that came when last resorts were fully viable options.

“Consider every restriction placed on you voided as of this moment.”

There was a touch of panic to Hyuuga Neji’s voice. A sense of urgency that was carefully masked, detected only because he was far too familiar with the tight control the Hyuuga generally displayed. Sasuke glanced up, curious but not blatantly so. He offered only a guarded look as he rose to his feet, too aware of Konoha’s policies to take this as a joke.

Besides, there was one other piece of evidence that could not be ruled out. Stepping up to the older ninja, Sasuke took the sword that was being offered. Sincerity in the form of a confiscated weapon. He hadn’t seen the damn thing in over a year now.

“And the price?” the Uchiha heir asked. Because freedom never came free, and he was aware that Neji would understand that concept far too well.

The other boy’s mouth tightened. With only a hardened stare, one meant to shut out the worry toeing the edge of visibility, he turned towards the door. “You need to retrieve Naruto.”

* * * *

The briefing he received was practically nonexistent. Just a flurry of words as he prepared for the trip. Snippets of battles that were taking place still, others that had already reached some sort of fragile conclusion. For every piece of fact she offered, Sasuke could see Tsunade drifting further and further from this plane of reality. Her eyes held that distant look, like one trying to listen to the stars despite their eternal silence.

He listened to her, never once discounting her worry, never once displaying his own. From what he had managed to stitch together, the war was taking its toll on the village. Not enough to be a near-fatal blow, but something that was felt nonetheless. He had caught bits of conversation regarding the current political state of the Fire Country during his confinement. Understood too well what Akatsuki’s efforts had had on the surrounding nations despite its ultimate defeat.

But that was merely the way the world went. Peace was too brittle a thing to ever be stamped with forever. And the moment those thin threads began to fray, someone would be waiting with a knife to finish the job. Quick but never painless. In the wake of one major war, another was always brewing. Sasuke knew people were too opportunistic to ever let the chance to snare power and glory slip by when it sprang up.  It was what kept the hidden villages in business after all.

The details, though, were still frustratingly short in coming. A reconnaissance that had run into trouble. Naruto losing control. And the whisper of a rumor that, at one time, Sasuke had seen the caged demon for himself.

As Sasuke strapped a weapons’ pouch to his left leg, he listened as Tsunade talked to Neji. Relief supplies would be coming along with them. Injuries. Exhaustion. Struggle. Just teasers of the situation he was about to throw himself into. But wasn’t that what made this fun? Then there was Naruto himself. . .

“Sasuke. . .”

The Uchiha heir glanced up. She was staring at him directly now, the look in her eyes no longer that of a soul sorting the unthinkable out. Set and expectant, it was the air of someone who understood that nothing was owed but hoped salvation would come nonetheless.

“Bring him back.”

* * * *

By the time they left, the sun was just starting its evening descent. According to Neji, it would take at least thirty minutes to reach the site. More than enough time for the details to fall into place - or at least those that the Hyuuga genius was aware of.

He hadn’t been there. Rather, Neji had been on his way to relieve another group along with Shikamaru. The war front had been quiet lately, all things considered. Skirmishes were still frequent but never escalated into major battle. More like a dispute amongst wolves, lots of growling with a few reminding nips to settle the matter without bloodshed. It was an issue that had worried Shikamaru nonetheless.

Then, the alarm came – a Kiba-less Akamaru. With a note, a wash of red still seeping into the fibers from the bottom left corner, in Sakura’s handwriting. Just a spread of details enumerating the barest of facts. That they had been out on a scouting mission. That an enemy party had been encountered. Large numbers. Akamaru sent to the nearest aid possible. Naruto no longer in control.

After that, Shikamaru had changed course to follow the dog, and Neji had set off for the village. The rest, he said tightly, Sasuke could easily figure out.

“Why not Yamato?” the Uchiha heir asked after a moment of silence. He hit one tree branch hard before bounding off towards another. Over the last year, he had learned enough to know that Yamato was the one who could control Kyuubi. That it was Yamato who always accompanied the blond, who was teaching Naruto how to control the demon so that this sort of situation would never arise again.

Neji clenched his teeth. Eventually, he glanced over at Sasuke. Glared was more like it really. “Because he’s currently lucky to still be breathing. You, Uchiha, were our last. . .best resort.”

That final bit was a concession, and Sasuke knew it. Neji did as well for he immediately faced forward once again and pushed on ahead of the Uchiha heir. Sasuke let the distance remain between them. As difficult as it might have been for the older boy to utter, hearing it had been just as hard.

Since his return to Konoha, things between himself and Naruto had been strained. A world of bitterness that neither of them was willing to pave over.  There had been conversations, things that usually devolved into Naruto shouting and Sasuke holding onto a vicious silence. Though it never it came to blows, they both knew that the only things keeping it from reaching that level were the restrictions Tsunade had placed on them both. Though, the blond had come quite close to punching him one night.

Even now, Sasuke was rather disappointed Naruto hadn’t just let his fist fly.

* * * *

The scene before them was like nothing he had ever seen before. A spread of death that cloaked even the fading embers of the sun’s rays. He estimated that the overall damage zone was a good half a mile from one end to the other. Gouges were carved into the earth, where ground had given way to Sakura’s strength and the Kyuubi’s feral frustration. What had once been forest was completely leveled, trees fallen over and besides one another like bodies mowed down in a senseless charge.

And then. . .then there were the streaks of fire. Patches of brilliant orange-red that flared up under the coaxing fingers of the wind only to die out moments later. Abandoned.  It made the summer air all the more oppressive, constricting and restricting. It was the kind of atmosphere that tried to lull the body into unresponsiveness. Sasuke wiped his forehead with the back of his forearm before glancing over at Neji.

Expressionless, the older boy stood beside him surveying the area. Envisioning everything that might have taken place, all in a matter of seconds, before taking off once more. They were heading east now, guided by the Byakugan. Every step was calculated to get them there faster. There would be no wasted movements. Couldn’t be. Not when they both knew the situation that was awaiting them.

By the time they reached Sakura, the sun was hovering over the horizon. Neji didn’t linger long, however. He took only the time that was needed to sort out necessary supplies before taking off once again with a solemn nod of his head. Sasuke dropped what he had been carrying at the base of a tree marking the perimeter of the battle zone.

For as hard as he had pushed himself to get here, he was no worse for the wear. Just a shimmer of sweat on his brow, a spilling of it down his spine. He could not, however, say the same for Sakura. Her face was lined with dirt; the skin over her knuckles cracked and bleeding. Even now, she seemed to be forcing her breathing into some semblance of regularity. She wiped the back of her hand over a hip, then supplied him with a relieved smile.

“They did send you. . .” she said, quiet and reassured.

But before she could break out any further comments, Sasuke uttered a sharp tch and turned his head to look out over the wounded land. “It’s not like I had a choice.”

There were signs of movement, though not from something he would term human. It looked more like the agitated whipping of a large cat’s tail. Or a fox, as the case was.  A quick flickering of chakra from side to side that finally steadied into nothing a few moments later. Sasuke couldn’t help but feel as though he had been found and figured out. He turned from the scene with another sharp click of his tongue.

“This isn’t the first time. . .”

Sakura shot him a warning look. “You’re not the one out here fighting day after day, Sasuke. Don’t you dare blame. . .”

“. . .that he’s hurt you in this form.”

The pink-haired nin blinked, lips parted but her words shocked into silence. Turning her gaze to her hands, she sighed.  “Shikamaru came. .  .He had us set up a parameter.”

It was an attempt at a truce, an attempt to ask forgiveness that Sasuke brushed aside immediately. Instead, he set his left palm against the tree trunk and stared out through the haze of smoke and settling dust. He could sense Sakura relax a little behind him. Despite it all, somehow the links of trust still bound them. It made him smile, just a little, in spite of it all.

“Kiba and Akamaru are manning the western border. Sai’s to the north. Shino and Hinata have been holding up the eastern edge.” Sakura took a breath, rubbed at her forearm gingerly. She wasn’t really watching him anymore, but seemed to be mulling over the facts. “We’ve been trying to keep him here, but as you can see, Kyuubi. . .Naruto. . .they just keep widening the space! It was already pretty badly destroyed during the fight with those Mist nin, but now. . . “

It was then that Sasuke pushed away from the tree. With the same almost-there smile plaguing his lips, he walked over to Sakura. Breathed out lightly against her cheek before brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face. She stiffened slightly, and Sasuke pulled away with his usual smirk in place.

“That’s why you have me.”

* * * *

If the landscape had been a feast of devastation, then Naruto was its centerpiece. Destruction cased in skin and spun from a wickedly searing brand of chakra. Not that the blond seemed to notice in the slightest. There were gashes littering his figure, blood spiraling down in thin rivulets, dried in other places. The tips of his hair were coated in a fine red hue, spiked with blood and sweat.

But best of all – Sasuke couldn’t help but think this – was the feral glint in those eyes. A look that teased the edge of ferocious, tested the waters of anger. He could understand that look. It was familiar, beautiful in its hate. Unfortunately though for Naruto, it was completely unnatural. For all the comfort he took in those emotions, Sasuke had never once aligned them with the blond.

“Pretty pathetic,” the Uchiha called out. Lips were set in an unforgiving smirk of arrogance. They had played this game for far too long. Sasuke tilted his head to the side as the wind brushed up against him, spilling ash into his hair. So long, in fact, that he knew despite Naruto’s current mental state, the boy would recognize it. “To let that bastard fox take you like that. . .and everyone talks about how strong you’ve become. . .”

Spoken like it could be taken as nothing but a joke – Naruto’s rise in power that was. Truth be told, more than anyone else, Sasuke was aware of Naruto’s potential. Of the things he had accomplished, of the things he could accomplish. Even now, that irritated him. It was the hint of childhood memory manifesting. A need to prove that what was once true then would forever remain true.

He would always be the better.

From this vantage point, only meters from the other boy now, Sasuke could make out the detailed swirl of chakra consuming Naruto’s figure. Not the white-hot press of fire he knew and loved, but still a terrifying sort of heat. The kind that would do more than scald. It would scorch and torture. These were the sorts of fire-breathing creatures that would scar you to the bone.

As Naruto growled at him, Sasuke merely offered a smirk in return. The other boy was studying him, wary but not enough to stall action. Waiting. Wanting to attack. It was a far cry from the suggestion of insecurity that usually sat in the blond’s eyes when they stared at one another. Always asking, despite all attempts at bravado, if this would last, if it would be good enough.

Sasuke took a deep breath and closed his eyes. A final moment of preparation. Then, when the wind had died, the Uchiha heir opened his eyes and readied his stance.

When the blond lunged, it was at a pace far quicker than he had been anticipating. Sasuke was well aware of the Kyuubi’s attributes and what it did to the other boy in these instances, but it wasn’t something he had dealt with in recent years. A fact Sakura had already pointed out – the whole village had been fighting, everyone but him. It was nothing short of a pain in the ass to deal with, but he had managed to overcome the fox once before. Sasuke planned on accomplishing nothing less than that this time around.

He managed to dodge the first attack. Barely. Claws raked against his side, pulling cloth and flesh with them as Naruto pulled away. Fingers instinctively brushed over the wound, considerate as they touched and gathered information. Only three gashes, nothing terribly deep but enough to paint his fingertips a bright red.

There was just enough time for that information to register in his mind before the blond attacked once more. He charged without fear, manner reminiscent of a starved wolf hot on the trail of a rabbit. Sasuke waited, patient, until he saw Naruto’s arm cock back. Then, and only then, did he lower himself to the ground. Swinging around effortlessly on the ball of his left foot, the Uchiha heir swept Naruto’s legs out from beneath him with his right leg. The other boy landed with a hard thud, the remnant of a tree branch giving an awful crack as it splintered under the sudden force.

Sasuke seized the opportunity. With no wasted effort, he was on top of Naruto. Legs straddled the blond’s figure, knees pressing tight against the other boy’s thighs to minimize his range of movement. But the moment their eyes locked, Naruto bucked violently beneath him. Sasuke let loose a low hiss as he recovered his balance and immediately sought to restrain Naruto further.

It was only after the blond had sliced his way down his chest that Sasuke was able to gain some sort of grasp on the other’s wrist. Only one at that as Naruto was using his other hand to push himself off of the ground. Before teeth could find his throat, the Uchiha heir leapt off of the blond, dragging him up by the lone arm in his grasp in the process. He used his momentum to slam Naruto against a nearby tree trunk. Well, most of what had been a tree that was. The wood gave a horrific groan that was matched only by the blond’s scream of rage. More beast than human.

Smirking, Sasuke twisted Naruto’s arm, a painful wrench to the right. An act that was matched in force by the punch that met his face only seconds later. He leapt away from the blond then, ensured that a fair amount of distance was placed between them before he bothered to assess the damage. Nothing cracked, he was certain, but the sudden rush of pain shooting along his jaw wasn’t particularly pleasant.

He had just finished assessing the range of movement in his mandible when Naruto shoved away from the tree with a frightening display of strength. Not that he found it to be fear-inducing, although it was impressive. However, Sasuke didn’t have time to dwell on that level of power,  not with it hurtling at him. But when the blond reached him this time around, it was without any semblance of a fight. It was raw instinct, and Sasuke could only brace himself when Naruto hunched lower and rammed him with full force.

They slammed into the ground hard. Naruto gave a sharp cry of pain. In the process of falling, Sasuke had managed to twist their bodies slightly. Just enough so that the blond took as much of the impact as he did. Even so, he could already feel the searing burn of skin scraped clean off of his arm.  It didn’t stop him though. When he sensed the slight recoil of power in Naruto’s grip, he immediately tossed the other boy onto his back. This time, he wasted no time in trapping both hands high above Naruto’s head.

Beneath him, the blond writhed and jerked. Anything to loosen the hold that had been placed over his body. Sasuke, however, had no intentions of letting go. Not that easily. He settled his weight over the blond’s thighs, then carefully dragged Naruto’s arms down to his sides. Remorselessly, the Uchiha heir crushed those wrists against the dirt and rocks as he lowered his body closer.

A smirk teased at the edges of his mouth. Their eyes locked, each unwilling to look away. And then, Naruto parted his lips, a low breath escaping. “Your eyes. . . “

Sasuke studied the other boy for a moment, unsure of where that comment had come from. The blond was still more fox than boy, and he couldn’t help but attribute those words to the ones Kyuubi had spoken during their first meeting.

“What about them?”

Naruto gave a low growl, one that seemed tainted with laughter. “. . . .not using them.”

At that, Sasuke smiled. A viciously amused smile that knew nothing of guilt. The gesture seemed to anger the boy beneath him, as evidenced by the sudden rough jerk of his body against his own. He waited out the storm, undeterred. Only when Naruto settled back down did he finally reply. “But. . .I am.”

* * * *

It had taken only a moment. The fox knew it, and so did he. The second their eyes had met, this game had been over.

Sasuke traced a finger up along Naruto’s side. The other boy was holding relatively still. Occasionally, there would be a hard thrust upward, but nothing that would dissuade his hands from making a thorough assessment of the blond’s current physical state. Not once, however, did Sasuke take his eyes off of Naruto’s. Even as fingertips touched the ragged edge of a wound. There were several of them marring the other boy’s torso. Self-inflicted, if one could call it that.

The Kyuubi’s chakra reminded him of an opportunistic parasite. Always there and generally of good use, but the moment there was a breach in control, all hell broke loose. It was evident in the heat coursing along the blond’s skin, in the thrashing of that sunfire manifestation of energy all along his figure. Completely unnatural. Sasuke could feel it burning his own skin, a steady means of destruction but not enough to make him stop.

He couldn’t. The only thing he could do was hold himself just far enough away. But none of that mattered. Not when you saw the things he did reflected in Naruto’s eyes. Like staring down the means to your end. The fire-bright hue of Naruto’s eyes was captivating. A vibrant pool of molten dreams.

Fingers, raw and bleeding now, touched Naruto’s face. Pressed knowingly against skin. Coaxing. Sasuke felt his lips part, the ghost of a smile still haunting the corners of his mouth, as he lowered his head.

“You never did stand a chance against me.”