Introductory words from the author: Yo readers! New writer here and big fan of Naruto, which is of course property and creation of Kishi-sensei! This is merely my take on a WHAT IF scenario, in which Sasuke, with Sakura and Naruto's help, realized the truth about Madara (Tobi) and stopped himself before he became a hate-filled one dimensional villain! This picks up after Danzo had been killed by Sasuke, and leads on to a very different Shinobi World War arc. Pairings will also be explored in future chapters! (Come on guys what is an awesome action story without awesome romance action?) That said, I hope to receive your wonderful support, thanks!

=Chapter 1: The Avenger with the raven hair=

Sasuke Uchiha looked down at the body of Danzo Shimura, his face that of utter contempt. At his feet lay the man whom he had been hunting down for the past five days. The man who was one of those responsible for ordering the slaughter of the Uchiha clan. The man who drove Itachi to do what he did. The man whose existence he had wanted to erase completely from the world.

And now, said man was dead. His battered, slashed and maimed body slick with dark red blood, his lifeless eyes closed. 'More like his stolen sharingan eyes' Sasuke thought bitterly, resisting the urge to break down and draw his katana to slash and hack Danzo's body, all the while screaming his triumph for Itachi to hear. No, Sasuke was an Uchiha after all, and it would taint the dignity and honour of his clan even further. Furthermore, the young Uchiha prodigy was feeling more drained than ever, on the brink of chakra exhaustion, his eyes already half-closed, Sharingan deactivated. He wanted more than ever to collapse and rest his screaming muscles, which have been over-exerted during combat and wracked by his reckless use of Susano. Sasuke shook his head irritably. No way was he going to show weakness in front of Madara. Weakness was a sin.

Vaguely, Sasuke heard the masked man in front of him say to him, "I'm going to take his eye. Sasuke, I want you to go back to the base and rest. You've already reached your limit, and the light is almost fading from your eyes." This caused Sasuke to jerk his head up and give Madara a telepathic glare. 'I'm not weak! And stop telling me what to do!' He clenched his fists tightly as Madara chuckled, and fixed him with a cold stare of his own, his lone sharingan spinning lazily through his mask. "Then by all means Sasuke, head to Konoha. I'm sure that in your current state, you would be able to kill everyone in that village with little effort at all."

Madara half-smiled with his eyes, his condescending tone leaving a bitter taste in Sasuke's mouth. Sasuke gritted his teeth in anger but deep down in his tired consciousness, he knew that the damned old fool was right. He was in no condition to fight. "Well, I guess I'll take my leave." Madara said almost happily, stooping down and activating his mysterious space-time jutsu, and with a swirling and swishing of the air, Danzo's corpse vanished, seemingly sucked into the eye hole of his mask. Straightening up, he looked directly at Sasuke, and then directed his gaze to a crumpled form beside the younger Uchiha. "Make sure you kill her before you leave. She knows too much about us."

Sasuke slowly looked at Karin, who was lying in a pool of her own blood, coughing softly and breathing her last. Her glasses had been knocked askew but she still attempted to look up at him painfully from her position on the ground, just metres away from his feet. Just as slowly, Sasuke tore his gaze away and back to Madara but he was already gone. Now completely alone, and with Madara's last order ringing in his mind, he stepped slowly toward the dying girl. Sasuke stopped in front of Karin, his tracker and medic, who had been his teammate these past few months. He stretched out his right hand and started to channel his chakra through it. Just another weakling that needed to be disposed of…

Any hope that Karin had quickly vanished when she heard the tell-tale chirping and crackling of the chidori. She shut her eyes and lowered her head, expecting to feel the deadly attack piercing into her body at any moment, her heartbeat painfully slow and loud in her ears. 'Is this how it is going to end Sasuke-kun? Was I all along expendable to you?' She thought forlornly.

At the same time, Sasuke was preparing to land the final blow, but as the last traces of anger and bloodlust from the previous battle drained from his system, he stopped abruptly, the chidori fading from his hand. Feelings akin to pity and guilt surfaced at some corner of his mind, causing him to hesitate. The dark part of his consciousness raged and screamed at him to kill her, but he didn't. His whole head now clear for the first time in five days, Sasuke's mind only now registered that he was the one who had fatally wounded her with his chidori spear just so that he could finish off Danzo who had been holding her hostage. Dropping to his knees, Sasuke gently cradled Karin's head in his hands, surveying her tear-streaked face, blood slowly trickling from her mouth. He had just practically attacked his teammate in cold blood with no qualms whatsoever, just so that he could exact his vengeance on the enemy. What happened to working as a team and sparing the innocent? If anything, he had just disregarded the honour of his clan and acted like a ruthless killer, nothing unlike what the village had been led to believe of his brother.

As reality hit him in its entirety, Sasuke felt sick. Sick that he had almost gone ahead to do the unthinkable. Sick that Madara was slowly turning him into a monster like the one he had just destroyed. Sick that he had uncaringly sacrificed the girl who had helped him all this while, tracking and analysing his enemies and even saving his life on multiple accounts, who had relentlessly professed her love for him despite his constant annoyance and indifference to her advances. She had stuck by him all this while and he had just casted her aside when his anger got the better of him and in his moment of bloodlust. His throat tight with emotion, Sasuke could say nothing as Karin smiled weakly at him, stroking his face with her bloodstained hand.

"S-Sasuke…" Even near-death, Karin continued to smile, making him contort his face in pain, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill out. "Sasuke…I…"

The raven-haired boy already knew what she was going to say. 'Please don't…' Sasuke thought desperately, but Karin had already said it.

"I-I will always…love you." At that, her hand left his face and dropped to her side, her eyes closing for the last time.

Sasuke blinked furiously as the hot tears came, his shoulders shaking and his body wracked with sobs, just like when he was mourning Itachi's death. Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, he screamed in frustration and slammed his fist on the ground. Clutching Karin close to him, Sasuke sat silent and still for a long time, examining her pale face framed by that wild and fiery red hair, only now noticing the finer points of her features, which were mercifully serene and peaceful in death, but which he had never seemed bothered to pay attention to when she was alive, too caught up and blinded by his rage and vengeance.

"Oh that's tragic, that really is." Madara sneered as he warped suddenly in front of Sasuke. His sharingan never looked more sinister as he gazed down at him. Sasuke looked up sharply and glared at him with such intensity that made Madara a little uneasy. Just a little. "And here I thought you were the invincible avenger Sasuke, killing all who stood in your way? Come on, it's time we…" Madara was cut off abruptly by Sasuke leaping to his feet, drawing his katana and pointing it straight at his orange mask. Madara chuckled again at this turn of events.

"Angry are we?" "Shut up!" Sasuke hissed, rage again twisting his features. Madara smirked as Sasuke's anger returned. "It seems that you didn't finish her off after all…" The ancient Uchiha remarked casually, noting the lack of a second puncture wound on the girl as Sasuke tensed up, his familiar angry chakra and killing intent rolling off his body in waves. "I said, shut up!" Sasuke howled. His susano suddenly exploded into life around him, the giant purple warrior forming into its full combat form instantly, now growing its final third layer of ethereal armour, and enclosing it in a sinister hood-like form. Sasuke's susano roared, echoing his anguish, glaring at Madara and pointing its huge bow and arrow at him. 'Incredible,' Madara thought in nihilistic glee, as shockwaves from susano's violent formation buffeted him, whipping his cloak wildly about,' Sasuke has managed to bring out susano's complete form in just one day. The wonders that his anger and hatred can accomplish! I must push him even further to unlock his true potential!'

However, when susano started to load its giant flaming arrow into its bow and pulling the giant arrow back, Madara stopped his laughter for a moment, his eye widening in surprise. 'He's actually going to attack me? Damn, I'm in no condition to fight here!' Madara tensed and got ready to warp away, but Sasuke suddenly cried out in pain, holding up his hands to his eyes in agony, and susano abruptly disappeared. Staggering backwards, Sasuke gasped in pain once more as his eyes burned, blood flowing freely down his face. His back hit the wall and he half slid down to his knees, still clutching his face. When the pain subsided enough for him to look up, Sasuke was horrified to find his vision severely blurred. Panting heavily, he struggled to stand upright and reached for his katana…only to find it in the hands of Madara. Eyes narrowing, and with one hand on the bridge wall for support, Sasuke glared as Madara twirled his weapon in his remaining hand.

"Foolish little Sasuke," Madara taunted, using Itachi's famous line, "you seriously thought about attacking me? I say, enough of this nonsense and let's return to the hideout." Sasuke gritted his teeth and ground out one word filled with hate. "No."

Madara froze, his eye widening at this…insubordination. Granted, he had never fully expected Sasuke to embrace him like a superior and that Sasuke was prone to his stubborn 'tantrums' but direct refusal of his orders? The ruthless weapon that he had been trying so hard to nurture and control within the palm of his hand was quickly slipping out of his fingers. "Come now Sasuke…" Madara's voice was now icy cold and threatening.

Sasuke in true Uchiha fashion, refused to back down. 'I'm not going to let this old bastard control me any longer! I've been doing exactly what he wanted the whole time and look what he had made me do!' Glowering, he was about to make a retort when Madara made his move. Leaping forward, Madara slammed the hilt of Sasuke's katana into its owner's stomach and as Sasuke collapsed onto the bridge with a violent coughing fit, Madara stabbed the blade through his right hand and into the ground. Sasuke yelled and lashed out viciously with his left foot, but his vision was failing and his body was exhausted. Madara was still almost at full strength and easily jumped to avoid his attack, bringing his foot down as he landed on Sasuke's knee instead, applying enough pressure to make Sasuke cease his struggles, teeth clenched tight against the pain. Madara stepped harder, almost bringing Sasuke's leg to breaking point and Sasuke cried out a second time, his breathing ragged but his eyes still glaring at his mask. Putting his masked face close to Sasuke's, Madara whispered coldly," I told you I would kill you if you disobeyed me…"

"This is my revenge…not yours! I no longer have any intention of continuing this 'alliance' with you." Sasuke raged, chest heaving and almost passing out at this point, summoning all his willpower to bite back any cries of pain. He hated being vulnerable. He hated being at the mercy of others. And most of all, he hated being used, first by Orochimaru and now Madara. Madara's last sentence had already confirmed that he expected Sasuke to just be some weapon of his. Sasuke tried to force whatever chakra he had left into activating his amaterasu. Madara was so close! He could burn him right now straight into the depths of hell! But as great as his hatred was, he simply had no strength left. Sasuke continued to glare at Madara as he stepped back, releasing his leg but leaving the katana impaling his hand.

Madara laughed a sinister laugh. "You truly are foolish Sasuke...I don't think you have a choice in the matter. Perhaps you will better serve me dead." Madara brandished a kunai in front of Sasuke as if to illustrate this last point. Sasuke said nothing as Madara approached, appearing as nothing more than a blur to his eyes, still keeping that defiant glare on his face.

"You need me Sasuke, you need me to give you Itachi's eyes don't you? As you now realise, the light in your eyes is almost gone. You need me to help you restore the glory of the Uchiha clan!" Madara spun the kunai around his index finger, watching Sasuke intently with his blood red sharingan eye.

Haunting whispers of power invaded Sasuke's mind. As much as he hated to admit it, Madara was right. If he was already struggling against Danzo, then he would need the supreme power of the eternal mangekyou sharingan to aid him in attacking Konoha and hunting down the others who were responsible for the massacre. Even at full strength, Sasuke grudgingly realised that he would never be able to take down the whole of Konoha single-handedly. Even if Madara's ways went against everything that he knew the Uchiha had stood for, he needed the power…

Madara smirked. His ace card had been played. Sasuke would never refuse the prospect of becoming stronger. Now, Sasuke would once again be his. Madara watched the younger Uchiha bow his head, his bangs covering his face and casting a shadow over his eyes. He had won again. Madara Uchiha always won.

"SHANNARO!"

Madara reacted instantly and leapt aside as the new arrival slammed her fist into the spot that he was occupying a few seconds ago, with devastating results. Landing gracefully on a pillar, he watched the whole mid-section of the bridge give way and collapse with a thunderous crash into the river below. When the dust and rubble subsided, Sasuke could not help but raise one eyebrow slightly in surprise at the sight before him. She was the last person he had expected to see. Through the settling dust cloud, he could barely make out striking pink hair, a sleeveless red shirt with a white circle in the middle, and short black shorts with a grey mini-apron. He knew this person…

"Sakura?"

=To be continued=

Dum dum dum! My first chapter already has a cliff-hanger! What will Sakura do? Will she be able to save Sasuke? Stay tuned!

PS: I hope this flow of events made sense, and I hope I managed to keep the characters as in-character as possible, not as easy as I imagined haha…and yes, I know I killed Karin off. That's the first twist in this WHAT IF story. It's gonna be full of surprises! Well until next time!