A/N: OK! Here's chapter two. Any way, I have a few translations to give you. First off, the name of the Jutsu Sasori uses is Jakyou Chuushin no Jutsu, or 'Heathen Heart'. I'm not sure it's grammatically correct. Also, Zen-Naruto means Good Naruto and Ashi-Naruto means Evil Naruto, so yea. I hope you enjoy!
"Ah, so you're the rogue Grass-nin, ne?" Naruto asked from behind his mask.
"Rogue isn't the word I'd use, more like, rebel." The tallest male in the group smirked. "And judging by the symbol on your foreheads, I'd say you are the Black Ops Konoha sent after us, ne?"
"'Black Ops' isn't the term I'd use," Sakura stated. "It sounds too sinister,"
"More like, Assassins," Naruto tilted his head. "Though that sounds just as bad, doesn't it?"
"What ever you want to call yourselves in life, I think you should be more worried about what to call yourselves in death." the six shinobi divided themselves into groups of three, one group going for each ANBU. Among the three who came for Naruto was a single kunoichi. She captured his interest the most as she was the one who seemed to be fighting for something other than for the sake of fighting. He created two kage bushiin, one for each of the male shinobi.
"What is it about you Konoha-nin, you're all so annoying and in everyone else's business," she asked him angrily. He merely humored her by dodging her blows.
"What do you mean kunoichi," he asked.
"All of you are just so annoying and you think you know what's best for everyone!" she said. "You don't know what's best for anyone though do you?"
"I know what is best for this country and your presence is not." he answered back catching her fist in his hand. She jerked herself free.
"You don't know that now do you?" she said. "I may not be good for this country, but maybe this country is good for ME!" she lunged. Through the rain he couldn't be sure but he could've sworn she was crying.
"I hope you-cough-burn in hell," she coughed up blood.
Sakura felt herself being lifted and thrown over the shoulder of a man, through her closed eyes she couldn't see who, but judging by the rigid posture and hard shoulders, she'd bet her apartment it was Juugo.
"Sasuke-sama," Juugo's voice echoed in her ears. "Are you alright to travel just now?"
"Hai," he coughed. "I'm fine,"
"I've bandaged him up just fine, right Sasuke-kun?" Karin's voice made her want to barf, but she couldn't because if she did, she wouldn't be able to open her mouth and rid herself of the vomit. "Your leg was badly cut up," she said. "Especially up on your thigh,"
"Karin, don't touch me." Sakura would have greatly enjoyed seeing Karin's face when Sasuke told her to let go.
"So I'm carrying the demon kid ne?" Suigetsu asked. She heard Water drip as Naruto was lifted off the ground. "Ugh, he smells disgusting."
"He did just blow up a snake," Juugo added.
"Suigetsu," Sasuke's voice,
"Hai,"
"Don't call him the 'demon kid'," Sasuke told him.
"Why shouldn't he? After all he is a demon kid, you called him that yourself," Karin snorted. "That bitch of a kunoichi called him an 'angel', what a joke!"
"He's not a demon." Sasuke said plainly.
"You don't agree that he's an angel do you?" Karin asked in surprise.
"No, but he's the closest thing this Earth will ever see." Sasuke remarked coolly between coughs.
"You can't be serious," Suigetsu asked.
"Don't say anymore-cough-about it," Sasuke's feet splashed in the puddles. "We need to get to the border." he spit on the ground.
Sakura felt Juugo's arm tighten around her waist as he started to move. So, they were headed for Snow, lovely. But, one thing she didn't understand was why Sasuke didn't just kill them then and there, or at least her, after all, he had 'No use for her' anymore. Why was he suddenly deciding to keep her alive?
The group continued through the rain.
"Damn it, let's just stop for the night it's still raining and there's a damned cave right there," Suigetsu hollered to Sasuke who nodded rolling his eyes. They all stopped and went to the cave Suigetsu had pointed out. "Ugh, this bastard is getting heavier by the minute," he let Naruto fall limply to the ground. He groaned.
"Oi, Karin," she looked up enthusiastically at the sound of Sasuke's voice saying her name. "Bandage up the both of them, and Juugo, help her out,"
"Bandage them, what for?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips as her face twisted to a look of disgust. "Why do you even care? They won't be needed much longer anyway,"
"I don't need them to bleed to death, so do it. The nine-tails won't sustain Naruto forever and Sakura can't die just yet." he said.
Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. Earlier, Sasuke had seemed perfectly content with killing the kunoichi. Was it really just a 'heat of the moment' kind of thing? He watched as Juugo tried to set Sakura down as gently as possible. "Oi, Juugo just drop her,"
"No, she's already bled out enough." he said while laying her down. Her expression remained the same as earlier. She had a small smile on her face.
"You're so soft," Karin said as she stripped Naruto of his vest and shirt so she could wrap up his chest and back. "She's just a pathetic little kunoichi who's to love sick for her own good." She remarked disdainfully.
"Karin shut up no one wants to hear you talk about yourself okay?" Suigetsu sat down, leaning his back against the dirt wall of the cave, resting his head against a piece of moss that clung to the earthy surface. He knotted his eyebrows in frustration; however his face relaxed when he removed the blade from his back and leaned back more comfortably.
"Fuck you Suigetsu." she retaliated bitterly.
"The hell you will, I'd rather have her do it," he smiled deviously at the unconscious Sakura.
"Seems only fit that you'd take the whore." she mumbled running a hand through her fire red hair.
"Stop bickering, the both of you," Sasuke snapped. He spoke like an impatient father scolding his two children. They did as they were told. His eyes were focused on the moss that was draped over the mouth of the grotto. Beyond that was a never ending forest of damp trees that radiated a rotten smell like when you pick up a really old piece of bark that's grown into the moss surrounding it on a steamy forest floor.
"Unh," Naruto groaned softly as his unmoving body was tightly bound.
"Oi, Sasuke-sama," Juugo turned his head as a thought entered his mind. "Why are you keeping Haruno-san alive?"
"She's a medic. If anything she could be used as a healer for us." he said flatly. Juugo watched his eyes carefully as he answered. He saw a quick flash of something he didn't recognize that seemed to be aroused by Sakura's name.
"I see," he lifted the bottom of Sakura's vest and shirt so he could get to her wound better. He wiped it down with one of the pieces of cloth Karin had wet just a few minutes before. Had she been able to move he was positive that she would have kicked him for even touching her. He gently but tightly dressed her wound, and pulled her top back down to cover the bandage.
Karin showed no such courtesy to Naruto. He nearly screamed in his sleep from between his barely parted lips when she ripped the piece of snake's bone from his calf and wiped it clean before carelessly tying it up. "For someone who's unconscious he sure wines a lot." She remarked in an annoyed tone.
Sasuke almost smiled. Naruto was still the same as he remembered him when they were Genin. He really hadn't changed much at all in the past four years.
Naruto was asleep but locked inside a dream. He was still fighting the Grass kunoichi. However his battle soon ended when he heard someone scream.
"MOTHER FUCKING-AH!" Suigetsu howled when he dropped the blunt but heavy side of his steel on his foot while riding it of Sakura's blood. The cloth that he had been holding fell into the dirt and the excess serum sloughed of onto the damp soil.
"Suigetsu" Karin started. "Be quiet." she sat down leaning against the back of the cave next to Naruto whom she had haphazardly bandaged. Her hand reached into her bag and she pulled out a rice ball and a full water bottle.
Had he not been so concentrated on his foot, Suigetsu would have made a rude remark.
Naruto found himself unable to open his eyes, not that it would have done him any good, as he was unable to move his eyes. So he listened. What was it that Sasuke felt he needed to kidnap him for? Did it have something to do with his plot for revenge? That was most likely the correct answer to his question. 'Sasuke, what the hell do you want with me?' Naruto tried to force his mouth open but to no avail. He mumbled instead. Attempting to say something along the lines of 'I'm gonna kick your ass as soon as I can move,' He would have glared when he heard Karin laugh.
"Oh great, I think he might be waking up," she said, her glossed lips curling into a smile. "He's trying to talk, isn't that pitiful," She bit into her rice ball.
"Whatever. He's pretty useless like this; he won't be able to do anything." Suigetsu pointed out while massaging his foot. "Wish that damn medic would wake up my foot hurts like crazy!"
"Stop complaining." Juugo said calmly. He spread his cloak over Sakura. "I'm going to sleep so just keep it down," he crossed his legs, laced his fingers in his lap, and rested his chin on his chest, almost immediately falling asleep.
The other two followed suit. Sasuke turned when his teammates were asleep, which did not take long, and walked to the back of the cave, his feet kicking up small clouds of dust. He stood over Naruto, looking down. His face twisted in anger. But, this anger was not directed at the blond shinobi at his feet. He didn't know who he was angry at in that particular moment. He painfully knelt down next to him and looked at his face. He looked rather peaceful. Sasuke soon found himself lifting the younger boy and carrying him over to lye closer to Sakura.
He sat in between the two of them in a pose that they would have called his 'brooding pose'. He heard Naruto mumble something that would have been violent he was sure, if he could have understood it. "Naruto be quiet, I want to go to sleep."
Naruto, not seeing the point in retaliating since he had no power over his body, decided it was safe to do so. He did, however, continue to wonder what Sasuke wanted with him. It was something he would've been much better off knowing.
Juugo was trying not to let the freezing rain bother him. He was carrying the fallen kunoichi he had been defeated by the day before on his back. He had given her his cloak to keep her from getting sick. At some points, he did regret it, because he didn't wear a shirt and was therefore incredibly cold. But he would rather keep her dry. He had respect for her. He knew that she was still trying to save Sasuke from himself, no matter what she had said to him. On some level, he believed that being saved was the one thing Sasuke actually needed.
Suigetsu and Sasuke had swapped out turns carrying Naruto on their backs, as he was much heavier then Sakura. Karin found it rather amusing that Suigetsu discovered Naruto was too heavy for him to carry all the way, when he mentioned that he was also carrying a very heavy sword and that even without the steel Sasuke had a similar problem, she sneered at him and said Sasuke was still injured and was just 'saving his strength'.
"Unh," Naruto moaned as the cold rain tapped on his back, which had no cover other then the thin, disintegrating bandages. The Grass kunoichi's paralysis had not worn off yet. He was leaning limply on his ex-teammate.
"I think we're getting close to the border Sasuke-kun, the rain is starting to turn into snow." Karin informed him.
"I know." he was becoming a little frustrated with the snow flakes getting in his eyes.
"I hate snow," Suigetsu complained. "I'm going to freeze," he held his hood up so it would not fall down again and expose his head to the cold.
"Oh suck it up," Karin spat.
"No I'm really going to freeze." His liquid body could stand, and in fact reveled in the rain, but not snow. He'd turn into an icicle, quite literally.
"Just hold your cloak shut." Karin rolled her eyes in annoyance.
They were headed to a cavernous part of Snow country's border, there they would find another cave, and set themselves up there.
"Kunoichi, if you have something to say, say it." he was getting irritated with the Grass-nin. His bushiins had already taken care of the male shinobi, and Sakura was well on her way to finishing her battle. He slashed her chest and she was brought to her knees. He realized she was only a few years older than him, twenty-one at most. Also, he noticed that she was a genuinely beautiful woman. Her hair was long, and bangs hung over her face. They were uneven, there were more bangs on her left then her right, and the majority of the locks of navy blue hair were tied on the right side of her head. Her eyes shone with a brown, almost red color.
"Let me go," she asked. No asked wasn't the word, pleaded.
She was pleading him with her eyes to let her go. He could think of only one thing to say.
"Why?"
Things at the Akatsuki bases were never particularly warm or cheerful or inviting. But things seemed a shred more agitated than usual as four of them sat on their own sides of a square table. The room was dim. Kisame was leaning back in his chair his arms crossed over his broad chest and his eyes focused on an imaginary bug flying around the room. Itachi and Sasori were having, in the eyes of a child, or Deidara, a staring contest as the Uchiha sipped green tea from a black cup with their organization's insignia on it. Deidara had his hand in the pouches of clay strapped to his upper thighs, working the substance with his hands as a means of relaxing himself in the awkward atmosphere. He was looking back and fourth between Itachi and Sasori's eyes, watching to see who would blink first, as if that would relieve the tension in the room. Sasori was beginning to squint. He could have sworn he saw the corners of Itachi's mouth twitch upward for a split second. The ticking of the clock hanging on the wall was giving Deidara the urge to blow something up. Finally, the abrupt movement of Kisame rising to his feet caused them both to blink.
Sasori looked up at the seven foot shinobi and Deidara released a breathe he didn't know he was holding as the tense fog thinned out a bit. The shark like man flashed a frightening smile as he lifted the Samehada that was leaning against the table and slung it over his shoulder. Itachi stood, turning to push in his chair before continuing on his path.
"Itachi-san, Kisame-san, where are you going," Sasori asked as the two of them stood from the table inside the Snow Country base.
"It's no concern of yours, Sasori-san." Itachi replied calmly as he buttoned his cloak.
"Are you going after the Kyuubi? If you are, than it does concern me." Sasori said in a monotone similar to Itachi's. Deidara smirked.
"How is that exactly," Kisame couldn't help but ask. The pair had their backs to the two other Akatsuki members sitting at the table.
"Simple, the Kyuubi is no longer your assignment." Itachi and Kisame both turned to face him, perplexed.
"What the hell are you going on about Sasori?" Kisame asked angrily, tightening his grip on the handle of the blade he held. "We are the most powerful shinobi in the Akatsuki and we were assigned the most powerful bijuu to retrieve."
"Heh, Sasori no Danna, you didn't tell them yet did you?" Deidara asked, though he already knew the answer. "Sasori no Danna created a new jutsu, and presented it to Leader-sama. It is meant to be used in the capture of the Kyuubi."
"Be quiet, Deidara." Sasori silenced his younger partner. "Leader-sama has given the assignment of capturing the Kyuubi to Deidara and me, seeing as you two have continuously failed to do so, and I have a smoother way of getting it."
"I find this hard to believe." Itachi stated, narrowing his eyes slightly. Deidara felt the tension rise again.
"Believe it, Itachi-san; you've been revoked from the mission. Now hand over any information you may have regarding the Kyuubi's whereabouts." Sasori stood.
"Hn, if Leader-sama wishes it," if Itachi was an emotional person, he would have been angry enough to rip out Sasori's wooden throat. But he wasn't, so he didn't. "My younger brother has captured the Kyuubi container, and plans to use it as bate to lure me in and kill me."
"We received the message from him early this morning in the form of a very cold snake with a scroll." Kisame snorted. "I'm amazed it found us."
"Let me see the note." Sasori put out his hand out.
Somewhat reluctantly, Itachi took a scroll out of his cloak and held it in front of him.
Deidara stood, realizing that he would be leaving very soon with Sasori. He put on his kasa and the chimes jingled softly. He followed Sasori to the door, passing Itachi and Kisame at the same time.
Sasori wrapped his hand around the scroll but Itachi did not let go. He looked up at the taller man with an eyebrow raised. "Sasori-san, I have two things I wish to say to you."
"Hai, what's on your mind Itachi-san,"
"Do not kill Sasuke, his death is something that I and I alone have control over. I'll be the one to decide when and where he meets his demise." His grip loosened slightly as Sasori's tightened. "Also, Sasori-san, if you undermine me again, you will deeply regret having done so."
"Now, Itachi-san, is that anyway to speak to your elders?" Sasori pulled the scroll from the grip of the younger man and put it inside his cloak. He proceeded to walk out the door.
Deidara's eyes locked with Itachi's and he saw the crimson iris take on an unfamiliar green tint as he stepped out the door. A blizzard immediately greeted them. The hatch to the base closed and Kisame angrily slammed his sword near the door frame, nearly snapping the wooden structure.
"What the hell is this all about?" Kisame stalked into the kitchen and took out a gallon jug of sake form the fridge and started to chug it. "I need to talk to Leader-sama about this," he stated between swigs.
"If Sasori-san says Leader-sama removed us from the assignment, then he did." Itachi put two fingers to his temple. "By the way if you drink like a fish, Kisame, that will only further support the idea that you are one," Itachi received a glare as he commented offhandedly about Kisame's alcoholism. He stepped out of the room and went down the hall to his own quarters.
The room was dark, except for one lamp sitting on his desk in the corner. The floors were hard wood mahogany and the walls were painted navy blue. He didn't pick the colors, they just happened to suit him better than the pink walls in the room down the hall. Said room belonged to Tobi, a member who preferred bright colors as opposed to dark ones. He was afraid of the dark, a trait Itachi thought made him inferior to the standards of any good shinobi, let alone an S-class criminal with an Akatsuki ring.
There he sat on his bed and reached into his cloak, pulling out the other half of the note from his brother. He'd given Sasori the part that gave his location, and kept the part that was directed to him and him alone. He read it over again. Itachi smirked. He couldn't love anything, but if he could, he'd just love to do as Sasuke had asked him in his letter. Hell, maybe he would.
The paralysis on Naruto's body had begun to wear off, starting first, in the place it had slowed last, his mouth. "Put me down, you son of a bitch," he said as Suigetsu bound him with ninja wire.
"Sorry, Uzumaki, Sasuke's orders," He laughed as Naruto strained to move and rebel. He purposely slammed his hand on the blond shinobi's back, getting a half growl half yelp out of him.
"I swear if I could move I'd kick your ass and you'd be visiting your brother in hell real soon, Suigetsu!" Naruto threatened as he was hung from the ceiling of the cavern.
"Naruto, shut up," Sasuke moved himself to face the shinobi hanging in the air. Naruto bit the inside of his mouth and spit blood onto Sasuke's face. He wiped it on his sleeve. "What was the point of that?" he asked unenthusiastically.
Naruto responded by spitting at him again. For this he received a sharp punch to the gut, and a little more blood came into his mouth. He cringed slightly but didn't see it as a hit so much as a gain of ammunition.
"Watch it, bitch," Sakura sent a death glare at Karin as she threw her to the ground near Naruto's feet. "Sasuke, what the hell are you trying to do?" she asked from her spot on the cold, hard dirt. She tried moving her arms as the muscles began working again. She was tightly bound in nin-wire as well.
"Sakura, I would have thought you'd have all this figured out by now." He said.
"Oh, right, let me guess." She looked at him with blank eyes. "You plan on using Naruto's Kyuubi as bait to lure in your brother and kill him? Am I right? It seems mediocre enough a plan to belong to you."
"Smarter than you look, aren't you?" his eyes betrayed nothing as he looked into hers.
"Apparently you aren't," she commented, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Well, tell me, now that we're all tied up, what are you going to do now?"
"Now we wait." He said, leaning back against the cold structure that was the wall of the cave.
The rest of Team Hebi assumed their positions in the dark, eating the last of there rice balls and drinking water in an attempt to build up there physical strength and stamina at the last minute. They listened as Sakura and Naruto began to talk casually, seemingly forgetting the predicament they were in.
"Oi Sakura, do you remember last year, on my birthday, how you threw that surprise party for me? You and everyone else jumped out at me when I came home and nearly scared me out of my skin," he snickered. "I asked you for a kiss that year and you broke my nose instead,"
"Heh, someone was going to give you that present you know, but she chickened out," Sakura said laughing.
"Nani? Who! You never told me this before!" he gawked.
"Oh, I can't tell you that Naruto, if you haven't seen it by now well I'd say you're a bit dumb," she smirked.
"Sakura-chan, you're so mean!" he whined.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. Juugo raised an eyebrow. Karin snorted and Suigetsu smirked.
After what seemed like forever and Team Hebi could testify to every event that occurred at Naruto's seventeenth birthday party and every other social affair in Konoha, they all silenced when their ears picked up a soft chiming noise.
The sound of feet padding casually through the snow and the rustling of cloaks and hair graced their ears. Sasuke readied himself for the entrance of the oncoming souls. All eyes were focused on the mouth of the grotto and all muscles were tensed. Just as well, all were surprised and a tad confused, when neither of the two men entering the cave were Uchiha Itachi.
"Who the hell are you," Sasuke asked through gritted teeth. Hands emerged from the sleeves of the Akatsuki cloaks and kasas were removed and tossed aside. Sakura and Naruto gasped, being the first to recognize the two S-class criminals.
"Deidara and…Sasori of the Red Sand, that's impossible," Naruto whispered in disbelief.
"I killed you," Sasuke glared at Deidara, who returned the look with a sneer.
"No, Sasuke, I believe that I killed myself, you merely drove me to it, with your intolerable obsession with killing Itachi." he said.
"I killed you!" Sakura repeated. She'd mouthed the words as Sasuke had spoken them. "Chiyo-sama and I, we fought you, and I killed you! There's no way you could still be alive!" her eyes shown with anger.
Sasuke spared her a glance. He found it hard to believe that Sakura could have killed Sasori, as he was supposed to be even more powerful than Deidara.
"Yes but we Akatsuki have a way of, sticking around." Deidara said.
"Where is Itachi," Sasuke asked, over the fact that two supposedly dead Akatsuki were standing in front of him, very much alive.
"Hm, ah, yes, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame were revoked from the mission of capturing the Kyuubi container. They were unable to do so on the several occasions that the opportunity arose and they failed to complete the assignment," Sasori stated bluntly. "I, however have a very efficient way of obtaining the nine-tailed bijuu."
"By the way, thanks a lot for saving us the trouble of finding him Sasuke," Deidara's eyes focused excitedly on the jinchuuriki in front of him. "You certainly are helpful,"
"You can't take him, he is meant as bait for Itachi and Itachi alone!" Sasuke unsheathed his broken Katana and made to attack, but was easily thrown back by Deidara's fist. Several of the cuts on his torso reopened painfully. Team Hebi rose to their feet.
"You're all very annoying, you know that," Deidara commented. His hands immediately went to the clay pouches on his legs. However, the realization that they were in a small cave kept him from using his mastery of explosives. "Guess I'll have to do this...no there really isn't a hard way is there?"
"I took you out once and I can do it again," Sasuke lunged, blood seeping from his torso and dripping onto the ground.
"Sasuke when will you admit that you did not defeat me, that I took my own life? Now, Sakura, she did kill Sasori no Danna, heh, it appears as though the kunoichi is stronger then you are, ne? Maybe that's why Itachi-san has yet to meet his demise," Deidara unsheathed his own katana and skillfully kept Sasuke at bay.
"Sasori, get back, or I swear to god I'll kill you!" Sakura threatened. She didn't look very threatening, and she knew it. But even if she couldn't carry out her threat now, she would later. This bastard would regret anything he did that was out of line, and she'd make sure of it.
"What do you plan on doing to me, Haruno-san?" he cocked his head to the side. "You'll never be able to defeat me without the help of Chiyo baa-sama,"
"You don't know what I can and will do to you, Sasori-san" she spat.
"Hn, an empty threat," Sasori looked to Naruto. "So, do you plan on saying or doing anything to defend yourself? Or should I just take you now?"
"Heh, even if I wanted to I wouldn't be able to fight you, I'm paralyzed you son of a bitch!" he spat a mouthful of blood and spit at Sasori who took a step back and watched it fall to the ground.
"That was disgusting," Sasori raised an eyebrow.
"Get your ass away from me, I swear I'll, I'll-"
"What, you'll bite me to death? The only part of you that seems to be working is your big mouth, Naruto,"
"If it comes to that, then yes, I will! I'll bite your fucking throat out!" Naruto glared.
"Does that sword belong to Momochi?" Deidara asked with a hint of interest in his voice.
"Hai, it did," Suigetsu lunged and attempted to behead the ex Stone-nin.
"Ah, he was one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Nanajin Shu like Kisame, wasn't he, and he was your brother to, ne?" he asked, swiftly dodging the attack of the over sized sword.
"Yea, 'was' is the keyword!" Suigetsu launched him self into the air.
Sasuke came up behind Deidara as Suigetsu attacked his front. It had finally struck him to activate his sharingan.
Deidara's face took on a look of excitement as the two shinobi came at him. With speed that could almost be compared to the Fourth Hokage, he spun and slashed the both of them. In the limited space, it was difficult to hold a real battle, but he was Akatsuki, and he could manage. Team Hebi however found it a bit more difficult.
Suigetsu raised his sword over his head, and the blade got wedged in the ceiling. He looked up in surprise. "What the hell?!"
Deidara took his chance "You're all too easy to beat! There's no challenge in this," Deidara commented as he tossed several kunai, all with nin-wire attached to the ends. Karin and Juugo, who had been standing by until they were needed were strung tightly together with Suigetsu, who still awkwardly held his sword over his head as he tried to jerk it free.
At the sound of their surprised yelps, Sasori turned around to see what was happening.
Sasuke was getting back to his feet, but very slowly, as most of the wounds on his body were reopened, and very easily at that. The blood loss was slowing him and making him dizzy. He was beginning to see twice as many people as there were in the room.
"Go ahead, Sasori no Danna, I'll keep them back." Deidara held the nin-wires tight in his hand all the while keeping an eye on Sasuke who was struggling to lift himself from the ground.
"Arigatou Deidara-san," Sasori nodded to him and his attention returned to Naruto. He walked closer to him.
Naruto's as well as Sakura's heart pounded. He gritted his teeth. Sasori's hands formed several seals he did not recognize, his wooden hands clicking with the slightest bit of contact. He lifted his hands and moved them toward Naruto's head.
"Get away from me!" blood dribbled from his mouth. Sasori removed his forehead protector and let it fall onto the ground. His left hand formed a seal in front of his chest.
"Jakyou Chuushin no Jutsu," Sasori pressed the palm of his right hand against the bare fore-head of the blond shinobi.
"Don't TOUCH him!!" Sakura screeched. She as well as Team Hebi watched in horror.
The pupils in Naruto's eyes turned into pinpricks of black in an ocean of blue.
Naruto's already open mouth opened wider, and he began to scream. The scream was so raw, and so loud that it echoed through all of their ears and it felt as though their eardrums would bleed.
Naruto found himself standing in the middle of the training area set aside for the shinobi of Konoha. 'How did I get here?' he wondered as he tried to look away from Sasori's eyes. It was only when people started appearing out of thin air that he realized that he was inside the confines of his mind, because they were all people he knew and loved, many of them had never met Sasori, and so there was no way he could have been projecting an illusion into his head. Sasori had put them both into the trance that let them into his mind.
Naruto's sight was red and blurry as he looked at the shinobi in front of him. All around were the people he held dear to him, watching in terror but unable to do a thing for him. He could barely see Sakura and Sasuke, who, in his mind, were but twelve years old, as they screamed for him to do something.
"Naruto! Naruto fight him! Don't just let him hurt you dobe!" Sasuke's voice, much higher then it was now in the real world, called for him.
"Naruto!" Sakura, she's was screaming for him to, and she was crying.
Then, in one excruciatingly painful blow, he felt himself be torn in two. Lying on the ground, he looked up dizzily from his grassy spot to see another Naruto standing with Sasori's hand still pressed against his forehead. The many bystanders looked back and fourth from one to the other. Naruto quickly realized what had happened.
Sasori had somehow managed to…split him, or in other words his heart, into two. The part of him that was on the ground, the one who's point of view he currently maintained, held all of his feeling and emotions, all of them but the dark ones.
The dark half of his heart grasped Sasori's arm. "Sasori-sama,"
Zen-Naruto looked up in terror at Ashi-Naruto as he bowed before Sasori. "What are you doing?" Zen-Naruto hollered. "What are you doing to me?"
"Making you my puppet," Sasori smiled, and Ashi-Naruto stood up again turning to face Zen-Naruto.
Zen-Naruto began to run as his other half chased him. He immediately noticed that Ashi-Naruto was of higher stamina than he was, and he understood that this was because Ashi-Naruto was the half that Sasori wanted to maintain.
"NO!" the ground rushed to meet Zen-Naruto, and consciousness escaped him.
After what seemed like an eternity, Naruto stopped shrieking. Sasori removed his hand from the forehead of the shinobi hanging in front of him. His head dropped and his chin touched his chest.
Deidara stared curiously at Naruto, whose eyes were focused on the ground. Everything was silent.
"Naruto…?" Sakura broke the silence with a whisper as she looked up, fear for him glistening in her eyes.
"Free yourself," Sasori ordered. While he had been casting his Jutsu, he had also destroyed the poison that had kept him paralyzed.
Naruto jerked his arm outward and the wires snapped. He landed on his feet with a thud. "When...do I get to start killing…Sasori-sama…" he looked up at Sasori, his eyes glowing red for a few moments, before returning to the usual blue.
"Soon, Naruto," he smirked.
"Naruto?" Sakura tried again. She had, by this point, become able to move, but she was, however, in to much shock to break the wires that bound her as she climbed to her feet. "Naruto, it's me, Sakura, are you ok…?"
Naruto whirled around and plunged his fist into her gut. She doubled over as the wind was knocked out of her. He made to grab her by the hair.
"Naruto, stop, we're done here." Sasori turned to Deidara, who dropped a kunai into the ground, releasing the three shinobi he had tied together. "Let's go, we have what we came for." The two Akatsuki started walking and were followed soon after, by a limping Naruto.
Team Hebi was to dumbstruck to even try to stop them. Sasuke blinked twice in an attempt to stop himself from seeing double. His vision returned to normal.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed hoarsely after him, but he never looked back.
In minutes, Naruto was gone, and it finally struck her to free herself. She quickly ripped through the wires and ran out of the cave, followed by Team Hebi. When they came out, no one was there. There was nothing but snow. The blizzard was coming down heavily. Sakura tried, but she could not sense any chakra signatures. She was brought to her knees and tears burned at her eyes as they fell. "No, no, no, no, this…it's happening again, not again, no, not again…you can't leave me too…not again…NOT AGAIN!"
Her voice echoed. Sasuke's stomach knotted up.
"NARUTO!" she cried. "Naruto…please, come back!" her voice cracked.
"Stop screaming! They're gone! Screaming isn't going to make him come back!" Karin stated. She soon found herself being thrown back into a cold, fluffy cloud of snow.
"You, you shut your MOUTH!" Sakura glared through blurry vision. "You have no idea what it feels like to lose someone you love, to have them leave you, completely abandon you! It's happening again! Again I was unable to do ANYTHING!!!!"
"Sakura-san," Juugo walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.
She whirled around and threw her arms around his neck, not caring who it was that was holding her. She sobbed into his shoulder and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.
Sasuke stared at her, a bit out of it. He didn't completely understand what had just happened. Not until he saw the expression on her face, tinted pink from the cold, and streaked with angry, miserable tears. He recognized her face because he'd seen it once before, when he left Konoha.
Karin stood again, and she and Suigetsu just looked indifferently at the pink haired kunoichi crying in Juugo's arms. Behind their eyes was sympathy.
"I can never do anything…"
Kisame looked up as the door opened and snow accompanied the entrance of Sasori, Deidara, and…Naruto? "Oi, what the hell is this? You're bringing an outsider to the base …alive?"
Sasori ignored him as did the other two. It had only been a few hours, and nearly everything that Kisame and Itachi had failed to do for years, had been accomplished.
"Naruto, follow Deidara, he'll show you where you can wrap yourself up before you bleed all over the place." Sasori poured himself a cup of hot tea, most likely left by Itachi, and joined Kisame at the table.
"Hai, Sasori-sama,"
Kisame stared at him. Now that was a bit odd. He watched as the two blonds walked down the hall.
"What the fuck did you do to him?" Kisame questioned, His jaw hanging open dumbly. Sasori smelled the alcohols on his breathe.
"I simply made a new puppet." He stated bluntly, sipping the steaming tea.
"OK, so this is our…infirmary I guess you could call it, so fix yourself up good and put on some new clothes, I think Itachi has an extra set over there that would fit you." He pointed to a tall cabinet in the corner. He watched Naruto limp slightly into the room.
"Hai, Deidara." He shut the door behind him.
"Oh sure, it's Sasori-sama but not Deidara-sama, oh no that would just kill him." He muttered as he pushed aside his cloak and shoved his hands into the clay pouches on his thighs. His feet guided him back to the kitchen.
"Hm," Naruto tore the disintegrating bandages form his leg and torso. He didn't even realize that his leg still had a hole in it as he stepped into the bathroom in the back and took a hot shower before re-dressing his wounds. He was rubbing his head with a towel as he walked across the room, clad in only his boxers to find the clothing Deidara had pointed out. The outfit consisted of black ninja shoes, slacks, and a mesh top. It all fit him nicely, as he and Itachi were very similar in size, though Naruto's shoulders were a bit broader. Next, he found a neatly folded Akatsuki cloak. "Heh," he smirked. "I guess this means I'm almost a member,"
He slipped into the cloak and left it unbuttoned. The final touch would be his black fingerless gloves with hidden chakra blades. He took a deep breathe, inhaling the berry scent that radiated from his hair. He had guessed that the shampoo and conditioner he had used belonged to either Deidara or Itachi, as they both had unusually glossy hair. He knelt down to retrieve his kunai pouch from his torn pants and strap it to his thigh.
Naruto exited the room, leaving his bloodied garments on the floor. On his way back down the hallway, he passed an open door, though he paid no attention to it.
He sauntered the kitchen to find four shinobi looking at him. A set of crimson eyes burned into him.
'Those are my clothes,' Itachi thought a smidge irritated. He'd only just come back out of his room when he'd herd the familiar voice of the jinchuuriki he'd been chasing for a little over half a decade.
"What do you think? Could I pull off Akatsuki?" he asked, his face twisted in an arrogant expression. When no one answered he turned to Sasori. "Oi, Sasori-sama,"
"Hai,"
"Do you have my head band?" Sasori responded by taking it out of his cloak and tossing it to him. He tied it around his forehead where it belonged.
"Get yourself some food," Sasori gestured toward the fridge with the hand that wasn't holding his tea.
"Gladly, I'm starving this is my first meal in days, Sasuke wasn't good about feeding me and Sakura," Naruto very speedily got two armfuls of food. On the table, he placed six rolls, ten rice balls, and three servings of salmon.
The Akatsuki members, minus Sasori, watched in disgust and curiosity as his human puppet wolfed down their food. He belched and reached across the table for Kisame's sake, finishing it. Kisame did not look kindly on this, as he was just about to drink more of it himself.
"What the hell you little bastard?" he asked.
"Sasori-sama said to feed myself." He responded simply. "Sasori-sama, I'm tired," he looked up.
The old man sighed. "Hai, I'll show you where you're staying."
"Isn't he underage anyway?" Kisame asked the two who remained with him.
"Who cares, we're criminals, if we followed the laws about drinking, Itachi wouldn't have been able to drink until two years ago and you would've been without a drinking partner, Kisame," Deidara pointed out, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh, yea, I wouldn't have been allowed to drink in a bar for…eight years, since I've been stuck with him since he was thirteen," Kisame nodded in agreement.
Itachi rolled his eyes. Deidara hadn't even been in Akatsuki long enough to remember how long he'd been a part of it and Kisame was just annoying him. It agitated him that they both seemed to talk about him like he wasn't there.
He led him down the corridor once again and opened the door to a very plain room. The walls were white; there was a dresser and a nightstand with a lamp. There was an overhead light that was lacking a light bulb. In the corner was a double bed with crisp white sheets and a baby blue comforter. A single small window was just above the bed, though it was pretty pointless to have as it was frozen and snow was the only sight for miles anyway. He walked in and his bare feet thudded on the hard wood floor. He turned around to face Sasori.
"Arigatou Sasori-sama," he respectfully bowed his head to the older man. He was in his early sixties, though his wooden body gave him the appearance of his fifteen year old self.
"Go to sleep, we're leaving for Fire Country in the morning and we don't need you slowing us down because you're too tired to keep up."
"Hai, Sasori-sama, I understand." Naruto nodded.
"Good," And with that he left the room, closing the door behind him.
A/N: Alright! That's chapter two! OK, well there's actually some plot in this chapter! I'm curious as to how many people wan to know what was on the scroll Itachi got from Sasuke, lol. Also, for those of you wondering what's up with all the flashbacks to Naruto's battle with the female Grass-nin, you'll find out in a few chapters time if not the next one. So, yea, please review!! Constructive criticism is welcome!