Hey guys, guess what? I'm going to cut out a good portion of the original Shippuden!
Why? Because I can! HA! So pretend the whole "OMG TEAM KAKASHI (and Sai) RAN INTO SASUKE! HOLY SHIT!" thing never happened.
Three: Strange
The Uchiha prodigy turned to face the blonde. He looked almost exactly the same as the last time Naruto had seen him (though he was considerably taller). He was wearing traditional sound village clothing; a large, baggy sleeved tunic with an open chest, a katana at his back. Around his waist was an overly exaggerated purple rope, and under that was what seemed to be black cloth used to lessen the tightness of the rope to his skin. Black slacks and sandals were connected at his feet, and a large black cloak hung from the hood over his head down to the hem at his ankles.
"It's been a while, Dobe." The word 'dobe' shook Naruto from his trance.
His expression hardened. "You dare speak as if you've done nothing wrong?" He stared his former teammate directly in the eye. "As if all these years I'd done nothing to get you back? That all the work I'd done was useless!?" Sasuke said nothing. "You dare waltz back here, dressed in your little sound village getup, and act like you betrayed no one?"
"Is it any different than if you had succeeded in retrieving me?"
"Yes, Sasuke, it is different!" Naruto fell into desperation. "You turned your back on me, on Saukra, on Kakashi…on everyone. And now you're so…so…nonchalant about it all?"
"What would I have done had you--"
"That's not the point!" Naruto had by now lunged at Sasuke. Though they had been the same height years ago, Naruto found himself just a few inches under Sasuke. Not that this mattered, because Sasuke now found himself just beside the top of a nearby doorjamb, pinned against the wall and gripping at the hand around his neck. "You betrayed all of Konoha! I will not take that lightly unless you can prove why I should." He hissed, dropping the raven-haired teen after a while.
"Still the same old Dobe." Sasuke said rubbing his throat. To this, he received a swift punch to the face.
"Do not call me that." Shocked black eyes met with stern blue ones. "You have to earn back your respect." Naruto motioned for the other to stand. "And it's going to take quite a while." Sasuke paused before slowly moving to his feet. Once he did, though, he said nothing. Just stared into the eyes of his former teammate. "Why did you come back?"
"I learned of Orochimaru's plan."
"So this was of selfish ideals?" Naruto fought back the urge to punch the taller yet again.
"Of course not." Naruto gave him a look: 'you rotten liar'. "I came back because I realized what wrong I'd done. Instead of finding a way to defeat Itachi, I'd in a way become him."
"Your story keeps changing." Naruto growled.
"It seems to change, but in all honesty there are many reasons I returned. Of both selfish and selfless ideals."
Naruto glared. "I guess I have no choice but to believe you. But one slip up, even one, and I swear to God I'll not rest until you've suffered."
"If I was lying, do you think I'd have let you lay a hand on me?" Naruto knew this was true, but chose not to confirm it. For macho reasons.
"We should go tell Tsunade-baachan."
"Tsunade?"
Naruto took a minor stab at the taller. "If you'd been around you'd have known who she is."
"I know who she is Do—" he stopped himself. "I was under another one of the Sanin. I heard plenty about her." Naruto shot yet another glare. "I just didn't know she was here."
"You talked to Orochimaru so much. I'm surprised it didn't slip." Naruto moved quickly. They walked in silence the rest of the way to the Hokage's office, shooting uncomfortable glances and glares at each other the whole way. People obviously stopped and stared, whispering things like, 'Just like his brother, a complete traitor. We should get inside to safety' and 'I thought Naruto had changed, now he's brought that traitor back…' and things far worse. The door to Tsunade's office was still shut from when he'd slammed it. No one had been allowed in or out, save for Shizune leaving to inform of Naruto's need for a watching eye.
He didn't even knock. Just barged in. Tsunade looked up from her desk quickly, seeing only Naruto thus far. "Naruto, about earlier I--" She stopped when the door was pushed wider. She stared in silent awe at the boy she'd known but never met. He was than she'd seen him in pictures, obviously, but in any other sense he was exactly the same. The hair, the eyes, the face…the astuteness of his features was all the same, just aged. "You're…you're Sasuke…" She stood slowly, taking in the whole of the situation. It wasn't everyday a missing-nin walked into her office, much less one of sane and conscious mind.
"If he really means what he says, he can help us get Sakura back." Sasuke's head snapped in Naruto's direction. "If he's really been training, he's no doubt in good enough shape to face the Akatsuki."
"The Akatsuki!?"
"Don't worry," Naruto said coldly. "She didn't go of her own will. She's not as selfish as you." Sasuke had gotten over his anger now, seeing that Naruto was genuinely hurt. It seemed out of character for the Uchiha boy to be so concerned, but he was swayed by the fact that Naruto felt so strongly about his betrayal.
"Naruto, really, I am sorry. I don't want you to—" Tsunade touched Sasuke's arm quickly so Naruto couldn't see. She shook her head when she could feel the black eyes land on the side of her face. If Sasuke was using the Sharingan, he'd have been able to hear 'Don't even bother right now. Give him time'. She herself wasn't happy with Sasuke, but she wasn't connected enough to him to really have any anger facing his direction. He returned to the situation at hand. "What's going on?"
Tsunade took the opportunity to answer, just in case anything tapped into Naruto's natural (or implanted, more like) bloodlust. "Apparently Sakura's biological father is the leader of the Akatsuki. He won her in a custody battle somehow—Don't ask, I'm confused too," Sasuke's opened mouth closed again. "And we believe she's the centerpiece of a plan they have. We're not sure, but we're looking to find proof."
"Have we already informed Gaara?" Naruto asked, keeping a cool air about him.
"Yes, the Kazekage is on his way." Sasuke's head, yet again, snapped in Naruto's direction.
"You missed quite a bit in your absence." He said dully. "Is he sending anyone?"
"You won't have to worry about that. He is on his way with his siblings, but the rest of his reinforcements are of no concern to you." Naruto rolled his eyes. "All you need to worry about is finding and infiltrating the Akatsuki headquarters. The Akatsuki are very talented nin, so any jutsu you use must be virtually seamless." The both of them rolled their eyes this time, and Tsunade could see why they were such rivals as well as great friends before Sasuke's departure. "Nevertheless, I want you to go in, find Sakura, get her back here, and we'll work with that." Sasuke, despite having been gone, still knew the laws.
"You want us to kidnap her? She's been won in a custody battle, we can't do anything but try to find proof that the leader is unfit as a parent."
"Go change your clothes and I might take your opinion seriously." Sasuke was puzzled. "I won't listen to anyone who even slightly reminds me of my treacherous teammate. It's nothing against you personally. Though Naruto might argue that…" No response from the blonde. "I see what you're saying, but I can't take anything you say lightly while thinking you could still be affiliated with that snake." Sasuke took the hint and stepped outside. He shut the door quietly, then leaned his back up against it to hear what was being said.
"You're letting him just walk away? What if he really is here to terrorize the village again?"
"There would be no point in that. Orochimaru only did that to get his hands on Sasuke."
"But Sasuke could've come back to…" Naruto looked away.
"He could've come back to kill you. To gain the Mangekyo Sharingan." Naruto closed his eyes as if closing them closed his ears.
"I'm not his dearest friend, apparently." He looked back up. "He would've killed me when he left…he wouldn't have left…" There was a heavy silence. Sasuke could almost feel the intensity of Naruto's feelings through the door. There was so much hate…so much grief. It was near unbearable. Sasuke pushed off the door and left, headed toward the Uchiha homes to change his clothes.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, slamming her fist into the side of the blonde's face. Only, she wasn't Sakura. She was…watching Sakura? "Don't be an idiot!" She—no, Sakura yelled, huffing away towards the darkened figure and their silver-haired sensei. Only, the darkened figure wasn't one she recognized. It wasn't just shrouded in shadows or hidden behind something, it was literally darkened. "At least--------isn't so childish!" No name? The black figure turned to look at Sakura and Naruto. It spoke. Apparently Sakura and Naruto could hear it, and rushed forward to catch up, but she couldn't hear it…the Sakura that was observing couldn't hear anything the darkened figure said.
Two knocks shook her from her reverie. Apparently it was morning, but due to the lack of windows in her room she wasn't aware of this. That and she hadn't slept at all that night. Just imagined. So to her, what she'd just experienced was the longest hour of her life. And, for some reason, Deidara and Sasori had disappeared. She hadn't honestly even noticed that they'd left.
"Sakura-sama? You're still in here, right?" Deidara's head poked in. The two knocks, obviously, were from just him. Thank heavens. Sasori at this early must be horror. At least she got the fun one first. "Didn't try to escape? Un."
"I'm still here, Deidara." She said bluntly. At least she'd gotten used to the superiority thing.
Deidara entered. He figured she'd still be decent; he and Sasori left shortly after she fell into a silent trace. She just stared at the ground before her, saying nothing, and they figured that she'd still be there in the morning. If not, just lost in a tunnel not too far away. He walked over and stood at the foot of the bed. Sakura looked away from him. This, oddly, appealed to his better nature. "I'm not all that terrible, you know. Un."
"No, you just go and kill people for your own selfish needs." Deidara took the honesty in that statement with a nod, then argued his case.
"I could turn that around on you. We just have different beliefs is all. Un."
"Your beliefs entail killing people for your own gain?"
"Your beliefs entail saving even the cruelest of souls from death?" Sakura stared at the blonde in awe. "Had Gaara not tried to kill Sasuke-kun? Had he not tried to kill Naruto-kun? Had he not tried to kill you?" She remained silent. "In all honesty, Gaara deserved to die. He was suffering. Un."
"No one deserves to die."
"And that is how our thoughts differ. Though we don't think that people deserve to die, we just believe that all who need to be sacrificed are sacrificed, and those that get in our way die along with them. Un." There really was no point trying to argue beliefs, so Sakura chose to let the discussion end. Deidara, however, didn't see this was a fitting end. "I'm not a terrible person. I've just done things that many people don't agree with is all. I'm only evil by the worlds definition. Un."
Sakura turned and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the opening and slamming of her bedroom door. "Another day, another pointless babysitting job." Sasori grumbled. This time, however, he wasn't in his shell. Just his clothes (the ones worn normally under the Akatsuki cloak) and his puppet body. Deidara also saw it fit to go without the cloak today. They wouldn't be going anywhere, so why bother?
Sakura closed her mouth, planning on holding the thought for later. "Good morning Sasori-danna! Un." Deidara exclaimed, returning to his mischievous self.
"Morning?" Sakura asked, looking around for a clock that wasn't there.
"Yes. Morning. It's been a whole 8 hours since we left you." Sasori said coldly. "I'm sure you'll pass out in about ten, twenty minutes."
"I was up all night?"
"I'd assume so. You're sitting the exact way you were when I saw you last. Un." Sakura finally felt the gripping feeling of tiredness sweep over her.
She nodded. "I see. And neither one of you thought to use a sleep jutsu on me?" She asked this as if it were their duty to make sure she fell asleep. Like a pair of parents.
"And what makes you think we care if you're well rested?" Sasori hissed.
Deidara turned his back to the red-head and fell back out of character once again, just long enough to say, "I'll remember that next time. Un." Sakura nodded again at this odd display of kindness before falling backward onto her bed and into sleep's comforting embrace.
No Gaara in this chapter. But NEXT chapter….omg.
Dokami-San: Yup. You got your answer. But no centimeter-thin scrollbar. Even this chapter isn't as long as I'd hoped it'd be. Guess that's what I get for writing it out in a notebook first, eh?