Kei grinned at him. "Excellent! Well, now that we're officially buddies, I guess I should warn you that there's a squad of police coming this way. I saw them earlier. They'll be here in a couple of minutes, really."

Sasuke frowned. "You're not the one who brought them, right?"

"Of course not," Kei laughed. "I just was debating whether or not I should tell you. After all, if I went to the police, they'd arrest me in a second!"

"And why is that?" Sasuke asked, scanning the streets below.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of me!" Kei exclaimed.

"Should I know you?" Sasuke glanced back at him.

"Kei Hamasaki? The guy who once set the record for acts of arson in one night? Burnt down a government office, a police station, two loan offices, and a bank? After I took most of the money of course."

Sasuke's brow furrowed. "You're that Kei? Sorry, but you really don't look like much."

"Well, that's all good with me," Kei said cheerfully. "My innocent appearance helps deflect suspicion!"

Sasuke shot him an incredulous look, and went back to searching below. Then he saw them. A small squadron was a couple blocks down, steadily making its way closer. Sasuke turned back to Kei. "They're getting close. If you're coming with me, let's go. Make sure you keep up." Quickly, Sasuke ripped off his jacket and tied the arms around his neck, forming a sort of sling for his arm. He didn't want it flopping all over the place when he ran.

Sasuke nodded to Kei, took a few running steps, and launched himself to the next rooftop. Thankfully, the sling held. Moving swiftly, he began running on the rooftops, leaping from one to the other like he had on the night of his escape. To his surprise, Kei easily followed, jumping from one rooftop to another with ease. "Am I good enough for you or no?" He teased.

"Hn. Not bad, I guess."

Kei stuck his tongue out. Sasuke snorted and ignored him. For such a dangerous criminal, he acted more like a young child. Somehow, it reminded him of Kaydee. A small lump formed in his throat, but he swallowed it down, not wanting to think of that particular time.

Suddenly, Kei grabbed his shirt and yanked him away from the perimeter of the rooftop, sending him tumbling down. Struggling, he tried to get back up, but Kei held him tightly. "Shut up!" He glared. "Just don't move for a sec."

Sasuke was about to beat Kei into tomorrow, when he heard the voices down below. He stopped resisting and listened.

"So you haven't found a trace of him yet?"

"No sir, sorry. We searched the whole east area, but no sign of him. We were
moving on to the west side right now."

"Alright then, get a move on. He's a dangerous and skilled man to have been able to escape from our premises."

"Yes sir!"

Sasuke scooted forward to peek over the roof's edge. Below him were several officers, at least nine or ten. About half of them saluted to a tall, burly policeman, who nodded. "Get along then!"

They nodded and trotted of to the west, unaware that the person they were after was just above them.

The large man stroked his short stubbly beard. "We'll catch that Uchiha yet," he muttered. "That brat is resourceful, you gotta give him that." He and the rest of his men began walking to the north side of the city.

Sasuke looked back at Kei. "Thanks. If it weren't for you, they probably would've seen me there."

Kei saluted, an impish grin on his face. "At your service, General Sasuke!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Don't make me change my mind about not killing you. I still can't completely trust you yet."

"Hah?!? I just saved your life!"

"Even if they had seen me, I could've taken care of them."

"Yeah, with an arm in a sling and ten guys against you--OW!"

"Shut up, Kei. I'll hit you harder next time."

"Stupid piece of--OW! For gods sake, quit doing that!"

"Shut up."

As the days went by, their relationship remained mutual at best. Sasuke tolerated Kei, while Kei tried his best to "melt the walking ice block".

Even if Kei was childish, Sasuke grudgingly admitted that his being there did decrease the risk of being captured. Kei managed to get his hands on some higher quality infection medicine for Sasuke's arm, which was improving by the day. They scavenged for food, shoplifting enough to keep them satisfied for days.

They slept in different buildings each night while one person sat up to keep watch, one time even bedding down in a bus. However, Kei had fallen asleep on guard duty. They got a rude surprise when they woke up, realizing that the bus driver had driven the bus at night to an area swarming with police. Sasuke still wasn't sure how they'd managed to get out of that one.

Still, having Kei around was like having a second Kaydee, and it definitely made the days drag far less than when he'd been on his own. He knew he was breaking his number one rule again, which was not forming ties with anyone. But he hoped that this time wouldn't end in a tragedy, like all the others.

Sasuke was targeted three more times by people aiming for the bounty on his capture, but no one came close to succeeding. Nonetheless, Sasuke kept an even warier lookout, knowing that there would eventually come a time when he'd need to confront stronger guys.

That moment came sooner than he thought.

Because Naruto came after him again.

*IMPORTANT NOTE!!!* This is NOT going to be a love story between Sasuke and Kei! Kei is just pretty much the guy who substitutes for the role that Naruto would usually have; an obnoxious knucklehead who somehow manages to become the walking ice block's friend.

So please, don't take it like that!