Another Accidental Kiss

Warm Scents

Sasuke took a deep breath in.

I need to be on my guard. The people who took Naruto could be down there. Sasuke thought to himself, deciding to take a stealth approach. He hopped across a few more trees, trying to be as quiet as possible until he was able to perch himself above the camp. He saw a couple of figures below, about two, surrounding a campfire. There were a few tents around them, one of them being pretty sizable. Sasuke thought about his next course of action.

Maybe I can... sneak up behind the tents, and find some way to distract the two goons by the campfire. He thought, taking the environment in one last time then jumping down behind the tree, sneaking around the camp. Once Sasuke was behind the poorly set up tent, he considered everything on him and around him for distraction. What could he use for a proper distraction that would keep them occupied long enough for him to find Naruto?

"Fuck it." He quietly muttered to himself. He threw a nearby glass bottle extremely hard in the opposite direction, hearing a loud crash. Sasuke instantly hid back behind the tent, peering around it. Both of the goons jumped and took a defensive position. The one closest to Sasuke's tent went to investigate, while the other one seemingly stayed behind. Once Sasuke looked closer, it appeared that the man was asleep.

That's one less ninja to worry about. He thought, swiftly going inside the cloth tent and seeing no one. Sasuke only saw a few blankets, more bottles, and a couple of notes. They were scattered, but he decided to scan a few, just in case they held any information about Naruto.

"A letter to their brother... list of ingredients... progress report?" Sasuke's eyes widened as his eyes glanced across the words, "the fox."

"That's Naruto. There's no way they aren't talking about them." He would mutter, making sure to stay quiet. He read the rest of the letter and found out that Naruto had a bounty on him for a sizable amount. Sasuke sighed. He wondered if Naruto had been putting up a fight with these ninja or had been somehow incapacitated the entire time. Sasuke folded the letter and put it inside his pocket. He crouched down and peered outside of the tent. The goon that had investigated the bottle was now standing up, clearly alerted and on guard. Sasuke bit his lip. He may have made things a little harder on himself. He turned around and got out one of his kunai, slowly and carefully ripping the fabric of the tent so he could escape out of the other end.

Once he was out, he made his way to the other tents. He checked about two more, using the vertical cut method on the backs of them. Once he saw that Naruto wasn't in any of them, or, anyone, he grew anxious and suspicious.

"Come on, please be here. Please." He begged, making his way to the biggest tent. It was in more of a square shape, and was put together well, unlike any of the other ones. Once he listened for footsteps, voices, or snores, he heard that no one was in there. The tent seemed really well lit inside, so he was more cautious.

He struggled to remain quiet, but he got in. There was no one in sight. At first. A tall wooden beam almost as tall as the ceiling of the tent appeared to have hands tied to the back of it. Could it be...?

Sasuke crouched and moved closer. Every step it became more clear who it was. The warm skin. The chipped nails and dirty hands. It had to be. He continued until he went to the opposite side of it.

"Naruto..." Sasuke quietly said, taking a deep inhale in. His joy was short-lived after he was able to fully see Naruto's condition. Cuts. Bruises. Dried and fresh blood. Sasuke knew Naruto healed fast, so these wounds must have been very recent. Sasuke exhaled when he realized Naruto was unconscious.

I know they didn't kill him. They needed him alive, but it doesn't excuse his condition. Sasuke thought, now taking another glance around to make sure no one was in the tent.

How stupid do these ninja have to be to leave Naruto unattended? He thought more, now going around the beam to get Naruto out of his binds. Measly rope. Sasuke shook his head. Naruto could've gotten out of this, so why didn't he? Sasuke used his kunai to cut through it. Naruto's arms fell to the ground. His jacket was no where to be seen. All he was wearing was his regular orange pants, and the ninja seemingly took Naruto's shoes. Sasuke went back around. He stared at his teammate's face. Without thinking, Sasuke's hand cupped Naruto's face. It was warm. Soft. Just like he remembered. Sasuke huffed and reached into his backpack, grabbing the blonde's headband. He gently brushed Naruto's hair out of his face and put his headband on. Where it belonged.

"Found you... Now let's go." Sasuke quietly uttered, trying to pick up Naruto. He was a bit heavy, but it wasn't hard for the Uchiha. He managed to quietly escape out of the back of the tent with his teammate. He readjusted Naruto so now he was on his back. It would be easier to run that way.

Sasuke continued into the forest for a while until he found a proper camping spot, far away from the goons. It was cold that night, so they needed a fire, and if someone saw the smoke, Sasuke would deal with it. He knew he would do whatever it took to protect his... friend. His teammate.

It wasn't hard to get a fire going, but once he did, it was time to decide the next course of action. He wondered what Sakura was doing, and who she told about Sasuke's sudden adventure. Were there ninja coming to look for him? He decided to just sit and take a breath. He had Naruto. Finally. Sasuke turned to look at him.

"Naruto, you..." He huffed, suddenly seeing him shiver. Sasuke bit his lip and tried to think of what he could use to help Naruto remain warm. He didn't have any blankets, but he did have an extra shirt for practice that he had prepared for training that morning. He thought nothing more of it and immediately decided to get the shirt out of his backpack. It was only simply a black t-shirt, but it had Sasuke's scent on it. Sasuke decided to sit close to Naruto to hopefully keep him warm.

The blonde was laying down next to the fire, and Sasuke thought he had successfully managed to keep him warm. The issue now was trying to get him to wake up. Shaking him violently didn't seem to work. Slapping his back or face didn't seem to work, either. What other ways were there that wouldn't seriously injure him more?

"Maybe I should just let him wake up on his own." He said out loud, huffing.

It took Sasuke a while, but he finally managed to be sleepy. He didn't want to sleep to protect Naruto, but it was so hard to keep his eyes open. He had spent so much energy that entire day. His body guided him to lay down next to Naruto.

I'll just... shut my eyes for a bit. I won't fall asleep. He thought, yawning. Sasuke breathed in and out of his nose. He could smell Naruto. It was comforting. Being by Naruto was comforting. It felt safe. Warm. Sasuke felt like it's where he belonged. Being beside his teammate only made him fall asleep faster. Sasuke conked out after three minutes. His body subconsciously got closer to Naruto's, needing more warmth. A few moments later, Sasuke's head would be safely buried in Naruto's chest.

Naruto's eyes would slowly open.