I apologize in advance for the ending. I promise you it's necessary!

Enough of the (slight) spoiler...most of this chapter was a lot of fun to write, though looking back on the whole thing, it seems kinda short...ah well. Once again, it just seemed a good place to end it. Be happy I dragged the ending out a bit...I was originally going to cut it off earlier. I'll explain more at the end. Shikamaru is a little bit OOC later on, and Sakura is as well. I apologize. XP In any case, enjoy! Oh, and I always forget if Zetsu refers to "himself" as "we" or "I"...so just because I say so, it's "we".

Chapter 6

"Is that so?" Madara asked, and Zetsu nodded.

"We saw and heard it all," the black half said.

"It seems that Sasuke-kun has screwed up again," the white half said with a grin.

"I knew Sasuke-kun was only in this organization for himself," Madara informed Zetsu. "Why else do you think neither he nor the others in his group were given rings? But now he's not only failed to bring me the Hachibi, he's also failed in bringing the Kyuubi, which he insisted he be the one to capture, and he's let himself get taken by Konoha shinobi..."

"What are you going to do about him?" Zetsu's black half asked.

"Anything we can help with?" the white half added.

"I'll have to think about this for a while," Madara replied, "but I'll come up with something."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Just what are you all planning to do once you take me back to Konoha?" Sasuke asked as he and the others flew on Sai's bird.

"Well, the first thing will be to take you directly to Hokage-sama," Shikamaru replied. "What we do with you next will be her choice."

"Great," Sasuke said sarcastically. "And if she decides that I should be killed?"

"Then that's what-" Shikamaru began, but Naruto interrupted him.

"I'll argue with her until she changes her mind," the blonde said. "I won't let anybody kill you, Sasuke. I don't care what I have to do, I'll do it."

Everyone went silent, not knowing how to respond to that.

"Dobe," Sasuke said after a while. "I don't need you to protect me. You think I'd actually let myself get killed?"

"You did let yourself get captured," Shino pointed out.

"I...she caught me off guard," Sasuke replied. "The Hinata I remember never did stuff like that."

"Yeah, well, she's changed a lot in the past three years," Kiba said. "We all have. And you might want to be a bit more grateful to Naruto, seeing as he's the only one stopping the rest of us from just killing you. He's the only reason you're alive."

Sasuke was silent for another long while.

"Sai, isn't there any way to make this thing go faster?" Naruto asked. "I'm bored."

"Not unless you want to fall off," Sai answered. "There isn't anything to hold onto."

Naruto groaned. "It'll take forever to get to Konoha at this rate!" he exclaimed.

"Be happy we're not on foot," Kiba said with a grin. "The only one of us who could make it back quicker running than flying is Lee."

"I could most definitely do that!" Lee announced. "If you let me off here, I can prove it to you!"

Shikamaru just sighed and put his head in his hands. "This is such a drag," he said, mostly to himself. "I've got three loudmouths to deal with..."

"You know," Sasuke said, "it sounds to me like you guys haven't changed quite as much as you think."

"Hey, shut up!" Kiba said. "You're our prisoner, you shouldn't even be talking to us!"

"Don't talk to Sasuke like that!" Naruto said indignantly. "He was actually fairly nice to me, even though I was his prisoner, so we should be nice to him too."

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said. "I don't need you to defend me. And I don't want the whole world to know that I was decent to you when I should have been completely merciless."

"You damn teme," Naruto growled. "What, you think that your reputation as a total asshole would be ruined if people knew you can be a nice guy? Well guess what? It's too late. I've known for a while that you can be nice if you want to."

Shikamaru sighed again. "This is going to be a long trip."

XXXXXXXXXX

After a day and a bit of travel, the group finally reached Konoha. The bird landed, and then disappeared.

"Okay, Lee, you carry Sasuke in," Shikamaru said. The energetic teen nodded and picked up the protesting Uchiha, carrying him towards the entrance to Konoha. The others followed.

Kotetsu and Izumo both looked up in surprise as the group of shinobi strolled through the village gates. They stood and walked over, standing right in front of the others.

"Whoa, hold on," Kotetsu said, putting a hand out to stop them. "Is that...Lee, who is that over your shoulder?"

Naruto grinned. "I told you guys I'd bring Sasuke back," he said before Lee could say anything. Kotetsu and Izumo just stood there, too shocked to respond.

"We're headed up to the Hokage's office," Shikamaru informed the two guards. They nodded and let the large group pass.

Once they got to the door of Tsunade's office, Shikamaru stopped. "Okay, not all of us can go in there," he said, looking at everyone. "I'm the leader on this mission, so I should be there. Kiba and Akamaru, you take up too much space. Shino...hey, where did Shino go?"

"He took off practically right after we got back, Kiba replied with a shrug. "I figured you would have noticed by now."

Shikamaru sighed. "Well, in any case, Hinata and Lee, could the two of you wait as well?"

Hinata nodded silently. "What should I do with Sasuke-kun?" Lee asked.

"Give him to me," Naruto replied, taking Sasuke from Lee.

The door banged open, and Tsunade stood there, taking in the scene in front of her.

"Ts-Tsunade-sama," Shikamaru said. "How long were you..."

"What you fail to realize, Shikamaru," Tsunade said, staring at the Nara boy, "is that my door isn't soundproof. I could hear you guys talking out here, and I think I need an explanation. Shikamaru, Sai, and Naruto, come in here now...and bring Uchiha Sasuke with you."

The three teens did as they were told, and Tsunade closed the door, then sat in her chair. Naruto put the still bound Sasuke on the floor. Sasuke refused to look at anyone.

Tsunade stared at the four boys in front of her for a long while. "Explanation. Now." She looked directly at Shikamaru. "Why is Sasuke here?"

"Well, Tsunade-sama, Naruto-kun wouldn't let us leave without him, so Hinata incapacitated him and Lee tied him up," Shikamaru replied.

"Didn't I tell you not to listen to anything Naruto said, and to get him back by any means necessary?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, yes, but this was necessary," Shikamaru told her. "Naruto-kun probably wouldn't have agreed to come back without Sasuke, no matter what any of us said, so in a way, I was still following your orders."

The Godaime sighed and rubbed her face. "Naruto," she said, looking up at her favourite shinobi, "how are you? Are you injured?" Naruto blinked in surprise at the question.

"Umm...no, I'm fine," he replied, and Tsunade nodded.

"Good. You may leave, then."

"Hold on a sec," the blonde boy said, "I want to know what's going to happen to Sasuke."

"I haven't decided yet," Tsunade said, "though I suppose the smart move would be to send him to Ibiki and the Interrogation Squad to see what he can tell us about the Akatsuki."

"I won't tell you anything," Sasuke said, looking up at Tsunade for the first time since he was dragged into the room. Tsunade smirked.

"I doubt you'll be saying that for long once Ibiki gets his hands on you," she said. "And if that doesn't work, there's always Inoichi."

"What are you going to do after that?" Naruto asked, and Tsunade looked at him.

"Naruto, what do you think is going to happen? Uchiha Sasuke betrayed Konoha. He joined forces with Orochimaru, an S-rank criminal, and then with the Akatsuki, a group of S-rank criminals. Once we extract all the information we can from him, he'll have to be killed."

"NO!" Naruto yelled. "I won't let you do that, Grandma Tsunade! You can have him interrogated, but I won't let you kill him!"

"You really don't have a say in the matter, Naruto," Tsunade informed the Jinchuuriki.

"If you have Sasuke killed," Naruto threatened, "then I'll...I'll...I'll go hand myself over to the Akatsuki!"

"You will do no such thing!" Tsunade exclaimed, standing up and slamming her hands on her desk. "If you do that, then the Akatsuki will have won, and we can't afford for them to win. Besides, it would kill you."

"That's kind of the point," Naruto said.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "So you would throw away your entire life for this criminal? What about your dreams? You still want to be Hokage, don't you?"

"Sasuke is not a criminal. He's my best friend, and he once said it perfectly; how can I hope to be Hokage if I can't even save one friend?"

"And what about the rest of your friends? Did you even think of them when you made this plan? How do you think they'd feel if you purposely got yourself killed for the sake of one person who probably doesn't even care if you die for him?"

Naruto glared at her. "That's not the point! The point is that I won't let you send Sasuke off to his death!"

Tsunade sighed heavily and sat back down. "What other options are there, though?" she asked. "I can't let him roam free around Konoha, that's too dangerous. It would be counter productive to kick him out of the village again after you guys just brought him back here..."

"Well," Naruto said, "you can let me handle him. Let him live with me, for a little while at least, and I'll prove to you all that he's not the criminal you seem to think he is."

Tsunade was silent for a moment, contemplating it. "You'll take full responsibility for anything and everything he does?" she asked. Naruto grinned.

"Yes, of course!" he said excitedly, knowing he was on the verge of winning.

Shikamaru looked at the Hokage in surprise. "Tsunade-sama, you aren't really thinking of going along with this crazy plan, are you?"

"Actually," Tsunade said, "yes I am. I'll tell you what, Naruto; I will consider what you've said, and in the meantime, Uchiha Sasuke will be taken in for interrogation. You will be notified once that is done and I have made my decision."

Naruto nodded. "Okay."

"Now, Shikamaru," Tsunade said, "tell me the details of your mission."

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Naruto sat in his apartment silently, waiting for someone to let him know of Tsunade's decision. There was a knock at the door, and he practically jumped up to answer it.

"S-Sakura-chan," he said in surprise, seeing the pink haired girl standing there. "I wasn't expecting to see you here..."

"Naruto, you really are back!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. Naruto stumbled backwards a bit, then reflexively hugged her back.

"Umm...so do you want to come in?" he asked, pulling away and looking at her.

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Sure." Naruto led her inside and then stopped.

"Wait, turn around for a sec." Sakura did as she was told, and Naruto hastily cleaned up as much as he could.

"Okay," he said after a couple minutes, "Now you can turn back around."

The pink haired girl turned back around to see Naruto sitting on his bed with a now clear pathway to it. He patted the bed beside him, and Sakura smiled before going over and sitting.

"So...umm..." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "What brings you over here?"

Sakura giggled. "Oh, Naruto, you have such a way with words," she said. Naruto blinked.

"...I do?" he asked, and Sakura giggled again.

"I'm here to see if what people are saying is true," she said. "Everybody's saying that Shikamaru and his team managed to save you and bring you back...I wanted to be sure they weren't joking." She scooted closer to Naruto, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"Umm...yeah...well, it's true," Naruto said. "Here I am, perfectly fine." Sakura smiled and scooted even closer.

"No, you're better than fine," she practically purred, "you're absolutely amazing."

"S-Sakura-chan, what are you doing?" Naruto asked, moving away from her and towards the head of the bed. Sakura just giggled and moved even closer.

"Oh, come on, Naruto, surely even you aren't too dense to see what's going on," she said, making the blonde scoot further away.

"I...I really don't think this is a good idea," he said, and she pouted as she moved closer.

"Why not? Isn't this what you've always wanted?" Naruto tried to move more, but found himself up against the headboard. Sakura grinned and crawled over so she was sitting in his lap.

"Why are you doing this, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he leaned away from her. "And why now? After the thousands of times you rejected me, why are you doing this now?"

Sakura faltered briefly. Very briefly. The smile returned, this time looking rather coy. "Why are you questioning it? Here I am, willingly, the girl of your dreams, and you're not responding the way a normal man would. Is something wrong? Are you sick?" She reached up to feel his forehead. Naruto took her hand and slowly brought it away.

"I'm fine, Sakura-chan. You're the one acting weird. Is everything okay?"

Sakura bit her lip, then looked up, still smiling, only this time the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "Of course it is." She leaned in, and Naruto saw the lips he used to fantasize about coming closer...and closer...

The door opened. Both Naruto and Sakura jumped, and Sakura scampered off Naruto's lap, blushing. Her eyes widened and she gave a small gasp as she saw who was at the door.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" she squeaked out, her blush deepening.

"So I guess Grandma Tsunade decided not to have you killed, then," Naruto said, looking up at Sasuke. Naruto was blushing too, though not nearly as much as Sakura was. Sasuke was just standing at the door, staring between his two former teammates. The surprised look on his face quickly faded to his usual indifferent one.

"Not interrupting anything, am I?" he asked, trying to hard to keep his composure.

Naruto shook his head, glad for a distraction from Sakura's forwardness. "No. Sakura-chan just stopped by to see if I was really back, and she was just leaving now."

Sasuke couldn't help it; his eyes narrowed. "No, no, don't stop on my account, by all means, continue on as I'm sure you'd be more than happy to do." With that, he turned and walked off. Naruto noticed that Sasuke wasn't wearing the Akatsuki cloak any more.

"Sasuke-kun, wait!" Sakura exclaimed and ran after him, seeming to forget all about Naruto, who sighed and just stayed there on his bed.

This has been one hell of a week, he thought to himself.

XXXXXXXXXX

Please don't shoot me! Trust me, I was practically gagging throughout that whole last scene...I can't stand Sakura, and NaruSaku is one of my least favourite pairings (though the worst is SasuSaku...-shudder-) BUT THIS WAS NECESSARY! You'll see why in later chapters...so, please don't kill me, at least not before you get the explanation.

I was going to cut it off when Sasuke walks in, but that wouldn't have given me nearly enough pages. As it is, I was two pages short of my ideal chapter length...whatevs. Anyway, please review! I like reviews...