at a resolve

Chapter One

"SASUKE!"

His voice tore painfully through his throat as his body darted forward, his arms quite reaching for something he couldn't see. Everything was clouded in smoke and all he could see were the flames dancing in the air, not so far yet not so near before him either. His feet slipped over sharp edged rocks but he dashed forward anyway, his knees on the verge of collapsing beneath him.

Another loud explosion was heard and Naruto was driven backward by the force, the impact scratching every inch of his exposed skin. But as soon as his body collided with the ground, he pushed forward, at the back of his mind knowing he could not be too late. He shouldn't be, or else.

The smoke cleared as soon as it came but all Naruto could hear was a deafening ringing sound. The explosion just blasted both his ears and both sides of his head throbbed against his failing consciousness. It affected his balance and he kept on falling over, both his good and prosthetic arm barely able to push him up every time his chest met the floor. His ankle and wrist were broken, shoulder dislocated, ears blasted, and mouth dripping with blood. None of it mattered, he had to push through.

When his feet almost slid off over the edge of what he didn't know was a cliff, Naruto knew he was late. He fell to his side and crawled over, peeking while his body trembled in both fury and terror.

"No, no, no," Naruto shook his head, his hands shaking and his vision suddenly spinning. He couldn't have, he couldn't have fallen through that.

That bastard! The bastard was too strong to just fall. No, no, he must have hidden somewhere. Or he was climbing now. Yes, he should be.

He got up and turned his back. Any time now, he would hear Sasuke climbing up, yelling at Naruto for failing to protect himself. Anytime now.

Naruto had never felt so weak before. He was completely exhausted and he was out of chakra. They were caught in an ambush that was carefully planned - completely separate the two when their chakra levels were at the lowest. Sasuke had just joined him after their separation when it happened, an enemy bolted toward Naruto in what seemed like a suicide attack, carrying several explosive devices with him.

Naruto had seen the enemy coming at him but another one had him bound. He closed his eyes in anticipation for the impact but it never came.

Sasuke Uchiha's body just moved on its own, again.

Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs in utter frustration when the bastard failed to show up. Tears welled up in his eyes as he paced restlessly. He wanted to climb down and look for him but he was too scared of what he might find.

Before he started to succumb to fatigue, Naruto started his way down the edge of the cliff. Had he enough reserved chakra, he would be at the bottom in no time. Had he enough reserved chakra, he would find Sasuke in no time. Had he enough chakra they wouldn't have been caught in an ambush in the first place.

Water. An almost endless stretch of water was all he could see when the wind blew and the fog momentarily cleared. Naruto let go.

As he fell into the water, he felt himself burn at the coldness like ice rubbing directly against his skin. He stiffened at the current but he struggled to the surface, air mixed with water filling his airway when he'd succeeded.

With the emptiness enveloping the surface, his eyes were quick to spot it. He was hesitant yet it was as if he was being pulled toward it - something floating, appearing and disappearing as the current moved rather violently.

Then as he grew nearer and it became clear - a black coat draped over a non-moving dark-haired figure,

Naruto felt his hopes sink.

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"No, no, snap out of this," he lightly nudged his friend's head sideways with his knuckle, swearing under his breath that if his friend was fooling around, he would beat him to death and bring him back to life only to beat him to death once again.

What kind of friend pretends to be dead just for the fun of it?

But even though Naruto wasn't a medic, he knew - this was something even the genius bastard he had for a friend could not fake. The water may have washed out most of the blood, but there was still too much of it, coming from his nose, mouth, and a wound just above his abdomen. The person he was accusing of fooling around was pale, and cold, and he wasn't breathing.

"Shit, Sasuke. Please, come on. Wake the fuck up," Naruto whispered as his fingers traveled up his friend's neck, feeling for a pulse. Shit. There was none.

Naruto placed his hand on top of the other against Sasuke's unmoving chest but his arms felt too weak. When he was taught how to do this, he didn't really take it all in, possibly in the hopes that he would never have to do it, ever.

Well, here it fucking was, he had to. And on his best friend. Suddenly, it was raining on his face and it was such a chore to breathe.

Naruto pushed down hard and he felt no resistance. One, he choked. He had to keep going. Two, Three, Four... the first one was definitely the hardest.

He tilted his friend's head backward and he realized he had never seen him so helpless and vulnerable before. Fuck this, he was technically dead. Naruto lifted his chin and their lips joined.

Never in his whole life had Naruto imagined that one day he would be breathing air into his rival's lungs just to keep him alive.