Taming Your Demon (Sealing Series Part I)

The Three Tails Is Captured

"Again you insist on inserting yourself in the middle of something that has nothing to do with you." Sasuke activated his sharingan, dropping out of the branches and thrusting his sword blade down towards Naruto.

Naruto jumped back to avoid being sliced in half. "Sasuke I came to tell you..."

"I don't care what you have to tell me." Sasuke came at Naruto again, stabbing through the heart of a clone who Naruto created in front of himself.

"Sasuke why are we fighting?! Why've you turned your back on the one place where you belong?!" Naruto stopped dodging and creating clones, willing to take whatever blow Sasuke was ready to deal him. "I think about you all of the time. We all do... because we care about you and..."

Sasuke scoffed. "You continue to be as weak as ever. Your soft heart will get you killed."

Sasuke swung the blade again, this time at the throat of his old friend. Suddenly Sakura appeared in front of Naruto, the blade struck her neck, but it did not pierce through the skin. Stopped cold by a layer of chakra that she released from that chakra point. Sasuke scowled.

"Sasuke. Don't. I'm not going to let you do this!" She demanded.

"Sakura." Sasuke removed his blade from her neck. He asked, "now it's your turn to save Naruto?"

"Sakura let me handle this..." Naruto started.

"NO!" Sakura balled up her fists, closing the tenketsu at her neck and concentrating chakra in her right palm. Calmly, she said. "We are going to save you, Sasuke, and you are going to let us."

Sasuke did not respond. He just stared at her like she was an irritating nat.

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" She reached back and struck her fist at Sasuke's chest with full impact. He moved back swifter than her punch. The blow missed by an inch.

Dispassionately, Sasuke looked down at Sakura's fist. "Finally growing a backbone, I see, Sakura."

Sakura opened her fist, so her palm faced Sasuke's chest. The concentrated chakra in her palm struck out at Sasuke's chest with the powerful blow of the punch, knocking the wind out of his chest and sending him flying backwards. He just barely caught himself in time with his feet as he landed against the tree, cracking it in half and toppling it over into the forest.

Panting to regain his breath, Sasuke squatted down on the fallen trunk and leered at his old teammates, anger filling every inch of his face. The curse mark on his neck began to curl up onto the side of his cheek.

Hinata appeared next to Naruto then, hopping down from Sai's beast scroll bird. "What's going on?"

Sasuke's sword began to light up with the sparks of his lightning release as he activated his chidori. He raised his jutsu toward Sakura, ready to blast her off the mountain side. "I told both of you to stay out of it!"

That's when the rest of the cliff exploded as Isobu came back around, targeting the group again with his bijuu ball.

Naruto created a massive amount of clones. The chain of clones dove out and caught Hinata as she fell, surrounding her to take the impact of the hundred foot fall into the water. The other chain of clones tossed Sakura up onto Sai's bird. Naruto grabbed hold of the remaining side of the cliff, avoiding the avalanche of rocks that slid into the lake.

He began to climb up to save the crystal style user and the little boy, but Gozu dove out of the rock, grabbed hold of the unconscious Guren and her little brother and disappeared into the forest within seconds. Sasuke was already gone.

Naruto let go of the side of the cliff and dropped into the water below.

After carrying Hinata out of the water and laying her on the rocky beach of the lake, Naruto put his ear to her chest. He hoped Sakura was around but he could not see any traces of her nearby. Sai must have carried her back to the others.