A/N: Sorry for da verry late update I've been working on logos and comic books for ppl (yep i draw!) and i beg forgiveness cuz this ain't action-packed, its more reflection on sasu, saku on naru's part in various aspects however this time I promise you action in chapter 5, believe it! XD

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto: No stealing …but we do have our temptations…XD


Chapter 4


nnnnn Sakura POV nnnnn


Sakura opened the note, emeralds scanning the unfamiliar neat script…(1)

The Kyuubi is planning to separate himself from Naruto. The fox only has half a year left to complete this process. If you will agree to meet me, come to Kirigakure. I'll explain the rest later.

Gaara

P.S. I''ll find you so don't look for me.

Sakura's first insticts would have been to report the missing Kazekage but she was too shocked, as well as shaken for her instincts to even react.

What…?

Sakura suddenly began to feel cold, her head was slowly getting dizzy. She clutched the paper tightly, her breathing becoming increasingly irregular.

Kyuubi is planning to separate himself from Naruto…

Those words stung her brain...

What…?

She re-read the note again...and again...and again...

It wasn't that her brain was refusing to register the information, the shock had seeped into her conscience and the more her brain tried to analyze what she was reading, the more numb she felt. She felt her chest tighten, her breathing was becoming dangerously shallow...

half a year left to complete this process…

Ne…what….Kami…?

Half a year..?

Half…A YEAR??

Sakura's conscience screamed those last two words in her head.

Sakura rose from her seat and exited the classroom without a word to the students. She moved quickly in the direction of Iruka-san's classroom. He was currently in the middle of a sentence when Sakura declared: "I'm taking leave off for today." and walked away, down the hall and out the building.

She headed to the only person she knew could help her figure this out...


nnnnn Sasuke POV nnnnn


Sasuke marched angrily through the black gates to Orochimaru's stone-mansion (2), executing release-barrier seals the entire way to the covered entrance. He kicked open the door not bothering to turn the knob, walking past the slightly surprised faces of the Sannin's Sound nins. He turned left in the direction of the hallway.

"Kabuto!" Sasuke yelled through the empty hallway. Sasuke began generating electricity through the tips of his fingers.

"What are you yell-"Kabuto appeared and then disappeared in a whisp of smoke. He was cut off after having to dodge the massive wave of lightning that Sasuke had just swung at him.

"Well good morning to you too!" Kabuto grunted, reappearing to the far left of the Uchiha, needles at hand.

"Explain last night." Sasuke's Sharingan was flicking on and off (3).

"I was...busy." The silver-haired nin smirked at the dark-haired man, adjusting his glasses.

Sasuke growled pulling out Kusunagi, running his chidori through the blade.

"Sasuke-kun…" A cold voice drawled behind him, interrupting his 'moment of truth' . "You really should learn to control your temper..."

Sasuke's eyes scanned the grey-stone wall assessing the damage he'd done with his chidori after having missed Kabuto. The blacked wall bore a huge hole with chunks of stone hanging loosely around the burnt edges. Sasuke smirked inwardly at the destruction, wishing all the more that it was Kabuto instead.

Sasuke turned to face the ill-omened form of Lord Orochimaru. "He sent me to the wrong room." Sasuke glared at Kabuto. "And disappeared afterwards."

"Kabuto had else business to deal with," the pale Nin replied quickly. "You succeeded of course?"

Sasuke took the scroll out and waved it at the Sannin not keeping his glare off the smirking medic.

Something's definitely up...

-Go figure...

Shut up.

"Your training starts tomorrow." Orochimaru concluded, disappearing along with his medical counter-part in a seethe of flames.

Sasuke stood alone in the deserted hallway and quickly made some hand-signs...

There. Now I wouldn't have to pay to fix the damn wall.

Sasuke examined the now-smooth stone- wall he'd smashed earlier and felt satisfied with his accomplishments.

-Something's wrong with you...

Didn't I say to shut up.

The Uchiha continued down to the end of the lone-some hallway, turning right towards his quarters. Sasuke removed the barriers and then sealed them up again-once he was inside. This ritual was always performed in case Kabuto decided to sneak into his room, which he often attempted.

Sasuke threw Kusunagi on the bed along with the stolen scroll and opened the window. The bright sunlight oozed itself into the room, washing away the darkness as well as the low temperature.

Sasuke stood staring out the window for a while, remembering what Naruto had said to him...

I've been searching for my equal...After I kill him I'll know my limits…the last one of my kind and the most powerful without this sin to mark me anymore.

Most of what he said didn't really make any sense….his words were jumbled…no sense at all…

-Hn. Maybe he's finally lost it. Sasuke's inner concluded.

Point taken but what if it was both of them talking to me and not Naruto alone… I'll have to separate what he really said from what the demon-fox was saying…

-And you really think you can do that Uchiha...? Sasuke's inner reeked sarcasm.

Honestly, no.

Sasuke sighed inwardly, removing from the brightness of window and pulled back the blinds, sheathing the room into yet another age of darkness.

The dark-haired nin settled himself in the arm-chair beside the window, mulling over the confused information he had received from Naruto. Sasuke swore bitterly under his breath as he suddenly remembered the reference Naruto had made about Sakura concerning his departure from Konoha.

How did he know about that…?

-He must have followed us...Didn't you sense his chakra..?

There wasn't any damn chakra to sense in the first place!

-He must have learnt to do that one by himself too.

Sasuke ran his pale fingers through his thick black spikes and scowled.

"Sasuke-kun?" a muffled voice outside his room interrupted.

Sasuke growled. What the hell does he want?!

"What?"

"Orochimaru-sama wishes to see you right away." came the barely audible reply. Sasuke could tell the white-haired idiot was smirking at him.

Shit! If it's the genjutsu I cast for the wall earlier…dammit!

Sasuke grabbed Kusunagi and furiously flung open the door, as well as releasing the barriers and sealing them up again as he used a transportation jutsu to get him to the hall on the last floor.

"Nanda-yo?" Sasuke questioned rudely after he entered the room, clearly annoyed. No one interupts his 'alone time.'

Kabuto adjusted his glasses as the Sannin licked his lips, his yellow eyes gleaming rather greedily in Sasuke's direction (4).

"I need your blood sample."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his said master. "Excuse me?"

"I need a sample of your blood, Sasuke-kun." The snake-demon repeated and motioned to Kabuto.

Sasuke's eyes momentarily flicked red before returning to their usual pools of black…

"For what?" Sasuke growled. I'm not some experiment so piss off.

The Sannin locked gazes with the raven, sensing his fear as well as his rage. "I need to make sure your body is compatible for your training concerning the scroll." Orochimaru sneered, "Do you want to die in the process of learning a highly-advanced jutsu, Sasuke-kun? Especially a forbidden one?"

Sasuke observed the man carefully before finally (and famously!) replying…

"Hn."

Sasuke turned to follow Orochimaru into the laboratory (b.k.a. the basement).The medic sound nin smirked in Sasuke's direction. "I'm really looking forward to sticking a needle in your arm and watching your pained expression."

Sasuke merely grunted and flipped the man off .


nnnnn Naruto POV nnnnn


In a teashop not far from Konohagakure...

"And what would you be having today, sir?" A woman asked in a flirticious voice. (spoiler? let me know)

"Tea." The blonde man answered in a monotone, not even sparing her a glance.

"Will that be all, sir?" She asked again in a sugary voice, still hoping to catch his attention. Naruto didn't budge from his position. He continued looking out the window, pretending that he didn't hear her and hoping in vain that she would just go away as a result of his intended silence.

Tough luck.

"Uh, sir?" She persisted again, still patting her brown curls into place.

Naruto locked gazes with the woman before saying or rather growling...

"No."

The woman felt her blood chill at the cold impact his azures emitted and jumped slightly at the rough tone of his voice.

"Well then I'll be right back, sir!" she replied cheerily and with that she rushed off to take care of his order, hoping to never meet that guy again.

A few minutes passed, as the said blonde sighed closing his eyes...

(all quotes based on my memory, don't sue me!)

X-Flashback-X

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! What I like most is ramen, especially the kind at the Ichiraku Ramen shop. What I dislike most is the three minute wait after you pour it in the boiling water. My hobbies are eating ramen and comparing different types of ramen. And my dream...is to become Hokage!"

Three newly promoted genins sat on a balcony overlooking Konoha with their new jounin sensei, currently introducing themselves...

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like -giggle- I mean the person I like...-more giggles-My dream for the future is...-giggle- My hobby is...-muffled fit of giggles- What I dislike most...Naruto!"

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined and then made a face when his rival, the Uchiha-teme's turn came around...

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I hate alot of things and I don't particularly like anything. I have no plans for the furture but a dream that will become a reality. I plan to restore my clan and to kill...a certain someone."

X-End of Flashback-X

Naruto sipped his tea, looking out the window. He saw some children playing tag (or so it looked), until a red-haired boy fell down and began crying while the other boys laughed. Another boy who wasn't laughing stretched out a hand to help him...

Naruto sat watching the scene in a thinking stance...

X-Flashback-X

"Soshite Naruto-kun!"

He paused, cursing himself for stopping. "Haven't you already said what you had to say?"

He turned around slowly, avoiding direct eye-contact.

"Why Naru-kun?"

He could feel his heart more over his soul breaking when she called him that...

"You know why, Sakura-chan. They don't want me until I get this thing outta me. So that's exactly what I'll do."

"The council has nothing against you. They made you an ANBU at sixteen! Isn't that enough?! Why do you want more?!" She lowered her eyes to the floor. "Why is it that you always want more...?" She just wasn't refering to him when she whispered that line.

"After everything, becoming Hokage is all I've got-"

"Really? Is it all you've got?" Sakura's eyes were brimming with tears but not one fell. "And us Naruto-kun? Do I or Sai mean anything to you?"

"Don't make this about you guys! It has nothing to do with you!"

"No! It does!" She turned away from him. "Do you have any idea what this village has sacrificed for you? And here you are making a decision based on a bunch of elders? The Hokage wouldn't let them dare touch you.

"If that's what you really think, then you don't know the council at all..."

She smiled sadly at him."I guess you're just gonna leave then, Naru-kun?"

She was still calling him by the pet name she had given him since they were fifteen...

"Sakura-" Naruto started.

He made the mistake of looking directly into her eyes as he called her name...they were filled with anger and hurt . Her eyes betrayed a confused array of undetermined emotions that only relected those two words. There was more sadness in her emeralds than he had ever seen since Sasuke left...It was killing him, knowing that he had impacted more pain in her heart than Sasuke did and he knew why: He was her best friend and not some past crush.

A dark look crossed the kunoichi's delicate features as she said her last few words to him...

"I'm not going to fight you."

"I'm sorry Sakura-chan..."

"Please, just don't."

X-End of Flashback-X

Naruto ran a pale hand through his signature blonde locks and sighned.

-I didn't want to have to leave her...not after everything...not after Sasuke...

...you know why...

-Do I?

...

-What's the use now? They're all after me anyways...

Only six months left kit...just be patient and this will all be over...


NOTES:

1) In case you're wondering about the whole idea of the letter and yes gaa-kun has neat hand-writing (compliments of me!), as infered gaara left suna for other purposes leaving the council in charge during his absence. No one has heard from or seen him since he left and sakura's the first person to recieve contact (thus, her instincts told her to contact authorities) from him and no this is NOT a gaa/saku moment thing. Oh and btw Kirikagure is the rain village!

2) I just wanted to put in the whole 'creepy snake-man mansion' thing in it even though Oro doesn't own such glories!

3)Uchiha in his pissed-off state. (flicker flicker)

4) Yes plp Oro IS a dirty perv! (licks his lips)

Remy: ne Sasuke-kun, if you help me get reviews, I'll give you the keys to Sakura's apartment… (bound to work!)

Sasuke-kun: Hn. We need reviews. Please support us or she'll stop posting.

Remy: Oi! Sasu-teme! You can do better than that!

Sasuke-kun: What did you call me..?

Remy: err...Sasu-kun.

Sasuke-kun: You didn't call-

Remy: Yeah I did! Sasu-kun, crap I called you Sasu-kun!

Sasuke-kun: Hn. Just give me the damn keys.

Remy: Nope.

Sasuke: What? Why?

Remy: I need at least 10 reviews, and until I get them ( he-heh) you'll have to wait.

Sasuke-kun: Bullshit…I want it now.

Remy: Nu-uh.

Sasuke-kun: If you fan girls don't want to suffer, you'll review.

Remy: Don't scare them away dammit!

;)