History is such a complicated, flexible thing. That's why it branches in so many different directions; because so many different choices could've been made. In one history, Sasuke Uchiha was able to defect from the village, knock out Sakura Haruno, and leave through the front gate. It would be hours before the village realizes the last loyal Uchiha is gone, and so the Sound Four and Sasuke get a decent head start on their trip to the Sound Village.
You know what we call that? Plot Armor no Jutsu. Oh, sure. Because the village forces are spread so thin after the Sand-Sound Invasion in order to make a good impression on the rest of the enemy nations, they can't even afford to put one decent shinobi at the front entrance. But really, that's just inviting enemy forces to invade, what with such lax defenses.
But perhaps that's a little too harsh. Perhaps Sasuke found a convenient time during the changing of the guard, and that's how he left so easily. Even so, that still speaks of lax defenses. If you keep to one pattern for too long, even the basest of shinobi could work out the schedule after observing the guard for a while.
So we return to the issue of Plot Armor no Jutsu. Sasuke and the Sound Four needed time to get a head start, give Sasuke his powerup, and safely store him in a barrel until the transition was complete. There's no possible way the series can continue without Sasuke Uchiha. No, no. He plays a penultimate role in saving the world – penultimate because after saving it, he threatens to bring about a Revolution and promptly loses to his longtime rival and pseudo-brother, Naruto Uzumaki.
Y'know, the guy the series is named after.
But what if there was a chink in the Plot Armor no Jutsu? What if the guard rotation at the front gate wasn't so lax, happening to stumble upon Sakura Haruno about an hour after Sasuke exited the village? There'd still be a small matter of, ah, catch-up, but it wouldn't be as bad as giving the prissy Uchiha several hours to gain some distance, take his bad meds, and get a power boost.
Let's have a look, shall we?
"That Curse Mark on your shoulder is only a Level One. Those pills will stimulate the Mark and make it a Level Two." Tayuya remarked with a hand on her hip.
"One problem, strengthening the Curse Mark will intensify the harmful effects it has on your body." Sakon added. "Such a rapid change would kill you at once. And so, to ensure you survive the transition to the Second State, we must give your body several hours to get accustomed to it at least. After that, the transition will be complete, and your power may even be equal to ours. Unfortunately, the fact remains that even with all of these preparations, you'll still have to die."
There was a long, tense silence as Sasuke took it all in. A normal shinobi probably would have backed out of this kind of 'deal'… But this is Sasuke we're talking about here, Mr. "Vengeance Must Be Mine".
"So I'm dead, what'll happen after that?" Sasuke inquired.
"Not to worry." Sakon strode over to the young Uchiha, placing the little glass bottle with a single black pill into his hand. "Why do you think my friends and I are here? There has to be a Barrier Ninjutsu to lessen the effects of the transition. Instead of dying, you'll be placed into a suspended stasis of half-death for a while."
Sasuke stared at the bottle, and then up at Sakon incredulously.
"And I'm supposed to trust you guys to make sure I don't die for real?" … Hey, maybe he does have a brain in there somewhere!
"Listen, Sasuke, don't forget who we are!" Kidomaru boasted. "Orochimaru's handpicked bodyguards! If there's anyone who knows about Curse Marks, Barrier Ninjutsu, and all the rest, it'd be us!"
'One thing's for sure… I can't afford to die…' Sasuke popped open the bottle and spilled out the content into his open palm. He determinedly willed Itachi's visage into his mind's eye. '… Not yet.'
"I guess I'm in your hands," Sasuke said aloud, and then popped the pill into his mouth.
… Then again, Sasuke is only known for his moments… The rest of the time he's just a revenge-obsessed moron.
While the Sound Four scrambled to enact their masterplan, that was when the Hidden Leaf Special Mission Platoon struck; the one consisting of Genma Shiranui, Raido Namiashi, Iwashi Tatami, and Shizune Kato. They'd been returning home from a tiring mission, and had received word from HQ about Sasuke's defection. Since they were only just entering the Land of Fire that night, they had to forego rest and commence the search for Sasuke and his suspected new allies posthaste.
They'd literally just stumbled upon the group of enemy shinobi the moment Sasuke popped that black pill into his mouth. It was more of a gut reaction to 'attack now, ask questions later', and seeing as how they were Jonin, they were able to avoid the traps around the Sound Four's temporary camp, so they'd completely blindsided the Sound ninjas.
Shizune hit the redheaded girl in the back of the neck with a couple of poisoned senbon needles. Raido pulled something similar with Jirobo, but slashed into the back of the chubby man's neck with his poisoned kokuto. Genma hit Sakon square in the eyes with senbon spewed from his mouth. And Iwashi beheaded Kidomaru with a fine looking blade.
Amazing what a few Jonin could accomplish against a squad of Orochimaru's finest. Provided they got the drop on the lot of them – which they did. Sakon attempted to call upon his Cursed Mark to fend off the Hidden Leaf Special Mission Platoon, but with the rest of his Squad down, he was tag-teamed, blind, and in just a few moments, dead.
Shizune moved to steady Sasuke, who looked to be in intense agony as he sank to his knees and convulsed.
"Sasuke! Oh no, oh no…" She shook off the panic as best as she could and tried to find out what was wrong with him. A futile effort, she would soon realize.
"It looked like he ingested some kind of drug." Raido commented as Iwashi went around and beheaded Sakon and Jirobo. Ukon had tried to break off and catch the Hidden Leaf shinobi off guard, but his life was forfeit as well.
Only Tayuya was kept alive for interrogation purposes, as Shizune's poison would just keep her under long enough for Inoichi to get into her head.
"Probably related to his Curse Mark, to make it more powerful somehow. Bastards." Genma growled and began storing the corpses into scrolls.
"I won't be able to stabilize him in time! I don't have the necessary equipment!" Shizune's worry clearly shown through. "Whatever he ingested… It's having an adverse effect all over his body! The Mystical Palm technique can't handle all of it. He's… He's dying."
After securing the last corpse, Genma made his way over and calmly placed a hand on Shizune's quivering shoulder.
"Hey… it's going to be okay. It's a shame that someone so young has to die, but he made his own choices. The report said that he left willingly; if he were to live, the only thing awaiting him back in the village would be prison at best. I can think of a few worse things that could happen for desertion, even with his 'privileged' status."
Shizune looked like she was going to reprimand the brunet, but Sasuke's final moments had come, and with one final death rattle, he breathed his last as the transition overwhelmed him. There was a moment of silence out of reverence for the formerly loyal Hidden Leaf Genin, and then the Hidden Leaf Special Mission Platoon returned home.
One thing was for sure, there were going to be a lot of changes in the years to come…
"I see." Tsunade took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and breathed out. "While far from the ideal outcome, at least we prevented the Sharingan from falling into Orochimaru's hands. You guys are dismissed, and due for a few days' rest. Good work.
Genma, Iwashi, and Raido left somberly, but Shizune was asked to stay behind temporarily.
"You're sure his Sharingan can't be harvested?" Tsunade asked of her apprentice. To which she received a negative response.
"They weren't active, milady. They obviously weren't expecting a confrontation so soon, and Sasuke, well… They were trying to strengthen his Curse Mark."
"I see." Tsunade chewed her thumb lightly and looked down at Sasuke's file. The kid was far from a bright ray of sunshine, but he was obviously loved by Team Seven, despite his frigid attitude. That was a meeting that she did not look forward to. "Cremate his body. I don't want Orochimaru to get his hands on him at all."
"Milady?" Shizune asked tentatively.
"That bastard has the Impure World Resurrection technique, Shizune. I don't know all the ins and outs of that Jutsu, but based off of the Forbidden Scroll, it requires the DNA of a deceased person to bring them back. Orochimaru was able to desecrate the graves of the First and Second Hokages; who knows who else he's managed to get? Trust me, we're going to want him cremated and fast."
Shizune stood rigidly as she processed that fact. She nodded firmly, and then swiftly left the room to go do that. Tsunade sighed exasperatedly as she closed Sasuke's file. If she hadn't been so swamped in the duties of a Hokage, Tsunade would have sat the brat down for a long, overdue chat, seeing as how signs of possible defection had been piling up for a while now. His obsession with power and growing stronger was unhealthy; it didn't take an accomplished med-nin like her to figure that out.
She really regretted sending Kakashi out on that mission… Kami knows he was needed, but he was needed all over the place. Not just out in the field, but here in the village, where he could run damage control on his Genin team.
"GRANNY!"
Tsunade massaged her temples as she registered Naruto's muffled, angry voice through the door to the office. Knowing her second apprentice, she was probably with the normally boisterous blond, and that would probably make this meeting go a little easier… After all, briefing them about Sasuke's defection and subsequent death would be a lot harder; Kakashi would be a lot less painful to explain the facts to.
She wasn't disappointed when Naruto and Sakura barged into the room with angry and distressed faces. The Slug Sannin took another deep breath and steeled herself.
'Let's get this over with…'
Author's Note: Honestly, I wanted this to be just another crackfic, having rewatched the beginning of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission lately, but then somewhere along the line, the fic took a slightly serious turn… So here's how it's going to go. For the most part, this will likely seem 'serious'; but there will definitely be crackfic-style moments, because in some cases I simply can't help myself. I liken the style somewhat to the fanfic "The Somewhat Cracked Mind of Uchiha Itachi"; except my style might be slightly reversed from that, as the style in that is mostly crackfic-style, with a little dose of 'serious'.
This will call for a "suspension of beliefs" as I make decisions as we go along. I will try to branch off from the cliché fanmade ideas of banishment, the village's obsession with the Uchiha, etc.; honestly, those normally don't sit well with me. Too hard to wrap my head around, if they're done in a 'serious' manner.
Ideally I want to have fun. Much of the series is all about Naruto and Sasuke's Ashura/Indra connection, and now that's obviously thrown out the window as I do away with Sasuke. Normally, this would probably have an adverse effect on the plot; Sasuke is a driving force for Naruto and co., yadda, yadda, yadda, he's needed to stop Kaguya at the end, yadda, yadda, yadda. I would debate the last one with you, but I won't get into it right now, 'cause I have plans. XD
Do I hate Sasuke? Not necessarily. He's definitely not in my Top Ten or anything, but it's hard to hate a guy after he mellows out from his 'extreme hatred' phase, let alone the adorable kid he used to be. I perfectly understand that he's been through just as much as Naruto, and that I should 'respect' that… But let's be honest. Sasuke gets on everybody's nerves at some point. lol Just a reminder – this is for fun. An experiment with the series in general. There will be crack, and there will be serious. Sakura might have a 'breakdown' at first, but she'll get over it. If there's any 'bashing', it's done in jest, and won't be permanent… except maybe in the case of Danzo.
'Cause if I had to list all Naruto characters from favorite to least favorite… Danzo would probably belong somewhere toward the bottom. I can sympathize with him a little, but he's just so 'grr' a lot of the time, y'know? Like, you wanna punch the guy for all the crap he pulls… XD