Bound to You (Naruto)

Chapter Nineteen

Orochimaru and Kabuto had gone off on their own to obtain something for their research but thought better than to keep Tsuki in the loop. They left her and Sasuke at their new temporary shelter. It was an underground labyrinth surrounded by dozens of hidden poison wasp nests tucked within various dried mountains of mud and clay.

There was a knock at the door of the bedroom she and Orochimaru were sharing in the new base. "Tsuki?" Sasuke's voice sounded from the other side of the door bringing a small smile to her lips.

She left Yuki curled up atop the bed. He was sound asleep. Without Orochimaru, Tsuki still struggled to fall asleep on her own. What did Sasuke want at this late hour in the evening? "What's wrong Sasuke-kun?" Tsuki asked curiously as she opened the door.

He was dressed and armed, looking ready for battle. Wearing his usual dark pants, white top with the Uchiha crest on the back and the same kind of purple rope around his waist that Orochimaru usually wore. His sword was secured at his hip. Tsuki looked down and noticed he was even wearing shoes.

"Going somewhere?" She pondered.

"I want to train." Sasuke said simply.

Tsuki frowned at this. Orochimaru told her to stay in the base. He had seemed almost worried. Perhaps there were strong foes nearby. "Okay, but we have to stay inside."

"That seems counterproductive." Sasuke shot her a dark look, "I'll just train by myself." He turned to walk away but paused as Tsuki caught him by the back of the shirt.

"No. It's not safe. Orochimaru-sama said we should stay inside." Tsuki attempted to reason with the teen.

"Then stay inside." Sasuke shot before launching a fire-based attack into the air knowing it would hurt her eyes and she'd release her hold on him.

Tsuki lost her grip and gasped in pain as her retinas and her skin burned from the sudden blaze. "Sasuke-kun!" She called in a panic, he'd disappeared. She took off at a run heading toward the base's exit, not caring that she was barefoot or only wearing a simple pale periwinkle nightgown.

Her heart pounded in her chest. She had to find Sasuke! She made it above ground and scanned the dark drylands. They were in the middle of a rocky plain with a few scattered boulders and a field of dried out dying grass due to the lack of rain. Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

"SASUKE?!" She yelled his name in a panic.

Silence.

Tsuki felt her stomach churn uneasily, not that she had expected him to respond anyway as he seemed to be taking the role of rebellious moody teen way too seriously. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on his chakra to see if she could sense it. He'd gotten pretty far. Gathering as much wind chakra as she could behind her to push her onward faster than she'd ever gone before, she took off after the teen.

As she drew nearer to where she sensed his presence she felt a sense of panic as she picked up on the presence of two other beings, two strong beings. In the distance she heard Sasuke yelling something incoherent, he sounded angry and desperate.

"SASUKE!" Tsuki screamed as she dropped into a small patch of forest where she'd sensed his presence. She landed swiftly on a patch of soft plush grass next to the brooding teen.

Sasuke was breathless and gasping for air, blood dribbled from the corner of his lip; he had a deep wound on his side and several smaller ones on his arms and legs. His sword was missing. Tsuki jumped as she sensed someone approaching her from behind with a lethal attack. Rage bubbled up inside of her as she looked down at the teen who was supposed to be in her care, beaten broken and bruised. A strong gust of wind whipped past her as she turned to face her attacker. The wind shrieked in a deafening howl as it tore past her and picked up her would be attacker sending him flying. Her heart pounded unsteadily in her chest as she got a glimpse of his cloak before he'd been uprooted in her gust. A black cloak, with white outlined red clouds, The Akatsuki, one of Orochimaru's many terrifying enemies.