Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own the Naruto characters; Kishimoto has that honor.

A/N: This is a slash fanfiction between Naruto and Sasuke. If you do not like slash, I kindly advise you to not read it.

A/N/N: The concept of this story follows a somewhat similarline to my Inuyasha fic, but because a friend askedme if I couldtwist that idea for Naruto, Iagreed to. Please tell me what you think of this story. I really need some advice and I would appreciate and welcome any criticism for this story. Thanks a bunch!


Back to Where We Were

by: lady-rouge


Chapter 1

Damn.

It was hot and he was late again. He knew that Tsunade-bachan was going to kill him. Sighing, Naruto wiped the small trickle of sweat on his upper lip before increasing his charka into a sprint and running towards the white building in the far distance.

Another mission failed. Tsunade wasn't going to be happy with him. She never was when he came back to Konoha village empty-handed of what she sought. Well, she would have to be disappointed one more time, he thought grimly before slowing to a stop in front of the gate and its two guards.

Seeing him, they opened the door quickly to allow him access.

"Tsunade-hime is looking for you," the man on the left said. "She asked that you come to her office immediately when you arrive back."

Naruto nodded curtly at the guards before entering and once more, began to run towards the white building that began to look more and more intimidating as he came closer to it. He paid no attention to the sound of laughter or shouting as he ran past the children in the park. Nor did he even look towards the ramen stand when the delicious smell drifted into his unsuspecting nose. It was always a test of his will power, a test that had taken him many years to perfect.

Forgetting the dilemma at hand, Naruto smiled sheepishly as he remembered the days when Tsunade-bachan had beat him senseless for not being able to pay attention to her but ramen instead. Giving a little chuckle, Naruto entered the Hokage building and making three left turns, he was in front of a large, majestic oak door where two ANBU guards stood guard.

Giving him a quick nod, they opened the door for him and he entered, giving the regal room that he had seen over and over a quick look. It consisted of many rugs, tables, clutters of paperwork and a huge desk in the center where the now angry Tsunade-bachan was glaring at him with her arms crossed tightly in front of her and tapping a couple of her fingers pointedly on her desk.

Naruto gulped and stepped up to her. "Tsunade-bachan," he said with a small smile. "You're not looking too good," he said with a laugh as he heard the door behind him close. Great, the last and only exit sealed.

"Naruto . . ." she growled at him. "Did you find it?" she asked him with a piercing look.

Taking off his hitai-ate and running his fingers through his tousled blond hair, Naruto shook his head regretfully. "Sorry Tsunade-bachan, but the Hidden Mist Village did not have it."

"Damn." She slammed her hand roughly on her desk. It shook slightly, but stood as proudly as before. "How do you know that the Hidden Rain Village does not have it?"

"The man who received the Curse Seal at Hidden Mist is dead," Naruto said in a flat voice as his eyes took on a grim look. "He was killed in a fight against an old enemy. I'm sure Orochimaru won't be happy that there is one less number in this race."

"Damn, Damn, DAMN!" Tsunade shouted before laying her hand shakily to rest on her desk. "We've only tried six Hidden Villages as of today. We still have three more to go. There's too much to do and so little time. If only we weren't so short on ninjas at this moment, I would tell them to go with you, but as of this moment, we are too low and with what happened with the Akatsuki incident," at this memory, her face clouded up, "we can't afford any more." Her face was full of conflict and turmoil as she finished the sentence and put both hands to still her head and think silently.

Seeing her gloomy state, Naruto put on a smile for her, "Like I said earlier Tsunade-bachan, don't sweat it."

Her head whipped up so quickly that Naruto eyes widened at the thundering look that she flashed him. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT?" she said loudly. "Naruto, this is your life we're talking about here," she said before she stood up and came to him. "If you say that one more time, I swear I will pulverize you within an inch of your life," she threatened as she nearer to him with an outstretched fist.

Naruto ducked his head as she came nearer to him, but before her fist could reach his head, she stopped it and hugged him instead. "Naruto, I will hate you if you do not take these missions seriously. Please," she said in a pleading tone. Relenting, Naruto nodded at her and she gave him a wavering smile.

"Alright," she said in a relieved tone. "Now, for the next village," she said in a formal tone. "I have looked into the Hidden Villages left, and I've decided that maybe it's time the Hidden Village of Sound was checked. It's the farthest one out there on the map and although we've lost connection with them since the Orochimaru incident," she spit his name like it was venom, "they might have it because they are now the most powerful Hidden Village. This," her voice trembled, but she continued, "will be the last mission before the deadline. There is six months left before the vial is of no use, Naruto. You understand? I will have to sacrifice two missions, but I will get two other ninjas to look into the remaining two villages for five months as well."

Naruto nodded grimly at that.

"I want you to be careful because who knows what has happened to the country in these five years. You are twenty-three years old, Uzumaki Naruto," she said sternly. "I trust you to be able to handle yourself in any situation, ne?"

"Of course, Tsunade-bachan," he whined at her. "I'm old enough to handle myself," he said.

"I'm giving you five months to do this mission and no exceptions, Naruto. If I do not hear a message from you when the time limit has arrived, I swear I will come there myself to hurt you," she threatened.

"Hai, hai," he said as he raised his hands in agreement.

"Okay," she said and pulled him into another big hug, "take care, Naruto," she whispered to him. "Don't die on me, now."

Naruto laughed and patted her back before standing up. "I won't. Don't worry about me, Tsunade-bachan. Just make sure you keep Konoha flourishing. I'll be going to Hidden Sound Village now." With a grin at her, he started to step out but the slip of a paper into his hands stopped him in his tracks. Looking at it, his eyes widened and he looked at her for confirmation.

Laughing, she nodded. "Go get yourself a free bowl before you leave. You deserve it."

Nodding, he smiled widely and sprinted off.

After the sound of the doors was heard, Tsunade sat back down in her chair and chuckled softly at the memory of his happy face. He was too easy to please, she thought fondly before her eyes watered. That was why she loved him so much. In the sanctuary of her room, she finally let her tears flow, finally let her strength drop and her fears show. Orochimaru knew how to hurt her the most. Damn him, she thought bitterly. If it weren't for him and his Akatsuki group, the stupid race to find the vial would not be on her mind. But that had been his purpose exactly. He had wanted all the Hidden Villages to be fighting, to be conspiring against each other, to have no trust in each other until the race ended.

At that, Tsunade's stomach rose in panic. It was coming too fast. Six months was not enough time. Not enough at all. But that had also been what Orochimaru had wanted from them, what he had planned along when he had surprised Konoha with an attack, had surprised every Hidden Village with an attack that night . . .

OOO

"Stay calm, everyone," Tsunade shouted over the roar of the burning homes. "They are retreating right now," she said before running towards the front. Whispering two quick seals, she bit her thumb and pressed it firmly to the ground. In a flash, an enormous snail appeared. "Bring the people on the edge of the forest to safety," she shouted. The snail nodded and left.

"Tsunade-hime," a voice yelled.

Tsunade turned quickly and saw one of her high ranked ninjas.

"For some strange reason, they suddenly retreated and disappeared. Should we follow them?"

Letting out a tired sigh, Tsunade shook her head. "No, we need to tend to the injured. We don't have time to play Orochimaru's games."

The ninja nodded and with a whistle, pointed towards the fields and disappeared. The other ninjas present followed in his steps. Tsunade rubbed her forehead tiredly before following them as well, but she had only gone a couple of feet when a moan broke through into her thoughts. Fearing that it was an enemy, Tsunade halted and listened again. The voice came again—from the high grass on her left and she went towards it. Peeking at the high weeds that surrounded the person, Tsunade saw a male figure. Squinting, she saw the blond hair and ran into the grass.

"Naruto!" she shouted before kneeling next to the fallen figure. "What happened?"

"Tsunade-bachan," he said in a hoarse voice. "Don't shake me so much, it hurts," he said with a small chuckle.

"What happened, Naruto? You need to tell me or else I can't heal you," she said forcefully.

"I can't remember," he said with a grimace when she moved his leg gently. "I was fighting when I heard this shout. Figuring it was the villagers, I followed it into the forest, but I couldn't find anyone. As I was about to give up searching, I suddenly felt this gust of wind before I got punched by this force of charka. I was taken by surprise because I never thought anyone would stoop to such a dirty trick and the last I remember . . ." he closed his eyes before continuing, " . . . was a man with the features of a snake bending down to bite me by the hip before I blacked out . . ." his eyebrows furrowed to remember more but he couldn't.

"Orochimaru," she growled angrily. "So that was why I didn't see him in the front of the line. If he came to you personally . . ." Tsunade let out a gasp as she realized what that meant. "Then you had been his target the whole time. Damn him!" she shouted fearfully. "Let me see it," she said before lifting up his shirt a bit and pulling his pants a little down. Her eyes traced the black symbol on his hip and her face turned ashen.

"What is it, Tsunade-bachan?" he said after the silence got too much for him. "Tsunade-bachan?"

"Tsunade-hime!" A voice echoed as it came closer to them. "We have found something!"

Looking up with relief, Tsunade stood up from her position and approached the ninja that had appeared in the area. "What is it?"

"We . . . found this stuck on a pole that was grounded into the body of a dead ninja," he said grimly. "We do not understand its contents though."

"Let me see," Tsunade said before taking the parchment from him and unrolling it. Upon reading it, the paper dropped from her hands and she fell onto her knees in a state of shock.

OOO

Ten villages attacked by Orochimaru and Akatsuki that night of August 12th. A ploy to leave ten people afflicted with his damn curse. A curse, she had found that night, that only had one cure. That bastard Orochimaru had written that he had left the cure in one of the villages, but he wouldn't say which one.

From that night on, the race had been on. Whether or not they believed it, they had become puppets in Orochimaru's sick, twisted game. The villages had slowly drifted apart and the bond of their alliances was slowly deteriorating as the five years ticked by.

Soon, it was going to be six when the time ticked to the date of August 12th this year. That was all the time that he had given them. One survivor, he had written in the parchment, will get the vial and use it. Only one will survive out of those ten that I have chosen to be a part of this game.

"Damn HIM," she half growled, half sobbed as she clutched her head. Out of all the people in the Hidden Leaf Village, he had chosen Naruto. She knew she was selfish, but Naruto was like her brother and she was getting too emotionally involved in affairs that shouldn't be. That was what she had promised to herself in her consideration to be Hokage.

"You won't destroy us, Orochimaru," she said in a fierce whisper to the empty room. "You won't break us."

Naruto could feel the sun shining on his back as he carefully stirred the small fire to life to cook the small fish that he had caught by the stream. He could not ignore the calls of his stomach anymore. It was constantly bothering him so he'd had decided to take a quick break. Positioning the fish on a horizontal line to that of the stick, Naruto strung them together and hung it over the fire that was starting to burn.

It had taken him a week and half of sprinting to get to where he was today. He was close to the border, but at least he was on the inside of the Hidden Village of Sound. It had been really hard to find a way in with all the security and guards, but he had done it. He had carefully surveyed the gates and had realized that the only time he could sneak in was when the guards were switching posts. Although he was sure that he had not been seen, he still felt like there were eyes watching him and his every move. Naruto shook off the foreboding feeling and continued to watch the fire as it cooked his fish into a tasty meal.

Naruto was beginning to feel hot and lazy from watching the fire so he moved from the rock that he was sitting on and opted to lie on the ground instead. Watching the fire flicker lazily in front of him, his eyes began to droop and with the long journey that he had taken, his body gave into to the temptation and before he knew it, he fell asleep.

Little did he know it, but that was the biggest mistake of his life.

TBC