Chapter Five

What Gets Out Comes Around

"Looks like we're here, guys," Captain Yamato announced when they all came to a halt. The village they came across was a day's journey from the Hidden Sound Village. Sakura gave it a smile at how peaceful it appeared - but was there a surprise waiting in store?

"Yeah, we stop for now," Kakashi agreed, running a hand through his hair. Yeah, we've traveled for two, three days, and we're here. The forest...

It was then and there that she took in the sight of the mountains and the forest at the base, which crawled like great vines over random places to make it look like a work of art. That, and the sun setting to mark their tired state, but as expected, Naruto wanted to keep going since they did arrive at the place. She rolled her eyes, clenching a fist, ready to box him when she wanted to.

"What, when we just arrived?!"

"Naruto." She brought her fist up to show him, to warn him. "We're not kids anymore, or are you ever going to grow? We'll find him."

Sai stepped forward. "Sakura's right. But we rest for now, like Kakashi-Sensei said." He walked in between them and proceeded ahead after both Jonin and former ANBU member, but somehow, Sakura's feet remained planted when Naruto did the same, knowing what he was thinking, and the answer was obvious: we do not go without them. We go together, and that's final.

But there was a tiny part of her that insisted she do this alone. She made that promise. And knowing Naruto, he would push her until he shoved her off the cliff when she would say yes to defying an order.

"We're going to find a place to rest," Yamato called to them, "so you guys get us what we need tonight."

And that means tomorrow we look in the mountains for Sasuke. She just hoped they wouldn't be too late, and he'd already take flight. If he'd take off, where would they look for him next? Sakura wasn't waiting another year for another rape-murder again; it would be too much to bear. She tried to not think about it being full sexual assault; there was no deep look into the psychological aspects, but did any of the victims willingly give in to him...?

Her stomach threatened to churn yet again. That, and it rumbled with hunger. Naruto's did the same, the sound reaching her ears. "Uhhh...I see a fruit stand to start," he said awkwardly, pointing past her.

Behind the stand was a young boy of eight or nine. His family must run this business, Sakura mused as she smiled kindly at him and picked some apples. "Not very busy today?" Naruto was grabbing some random yellow items and grinning at the kid who winked at them - or was it at her, the pretty girl? She saw it in his eyes. But then she felt it slowly slip when she examined his features, at how he was so similar to...him.

"Yeah, we were, but when the day ends, it gets a little less," the kid answered before naming the price. But when she gave him the money, he flinched. Suddenly, the med-nin inside her snapped that it might be something in his body.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked. He nodded, but that wasn't enough. "Can I take a look? I'm in the Medical Corps."

He gave her a curious look. "You're not from around here?" he questioned.

"Yeah, Sakura is one of the best," Naruto commented, slapping her shoulder gently. "Can she have a look?"

Instinct said that she shouldn't force an examination if the boy didn't want it, and he was obviously on the job. But he nodded again and beckoned her to walk around the stand before turning his back to her and pulling his shirt up in the back - and what he revealed made her gasp softly. Naruto's jaw dropped. "Oh, man!" he uttered, slapping a hand over his mouth and trying not to gag.

There were horrendous gashes across the child's back, forming a demonic face with wild hair...and Naruto seemed to recognize it. "Oh, my, Sakura," he gasped. "It looks like..."

Sasuke, her mind finished, unable to speak. The longer she gazed at this creation, wondering who on earth could do something this despicable to a little child - someone cruel and unusual had to do this - but it also begged if the person who did this saw the "Man-Beast of the Wild"... "Please, kid, tell me who did this to you," Sakura said softly, nodding for Naruto to come with her as the boy dragged her by the wrist and pulled her into the small building. He didn't want anyone else to overhear this, which she understood immensely.

"What's your name?" Sakura asked, sitting down in a chair pulled out for her, when the child turned his back to her. The wounds appeared to still be fresh, but slowly healing because of some good herbs. Someone must have treated them for him earlier, but that depended when he got this. A day at most...?

"Name is Ryuu," the boy answered, looking at her halfway. "I went into the forest earlier, but some bandits attacked me. One of them branded me with the face of the Man-Beast of the Wild, but no one knows what it really looks like." He dropped his shirt as if ashamed and turned around to look at her, eyes shining now despite his small fear. "They wanted to sacrifice me to the beast - but he didn't want me."

She bolted in her seat along with Naruto at the mention. "He"...he actually SAW the "Man-Beast" - that means he has seen Sasuke! At this point, she and Naruto had an opportunity to get a lead. The blond was more eager. "Yeah, what did he look like, Ryuu?" he pressed, standing and kneeling before him. Ryuu gave him a pointed look but answered.

"Um...dark-skinned maybe, with these weird-looking wings, wild hair and a mark on his nose - and he was really scary, but for some reason, I wasn't afraid. He took down those guys with these super awesome moves," he said excitedly with a huge grin. "I think one of them that caused an explosion was called Chi-chi..." He struggled around the word, but Sakura and Naruto knew what it was from the top of their heads.

"Chidori?" they said in unison. One of the ninja abilities for those with Fire and Lightning Style...

"Yes! He saved my life, took me back to his cave and cleaned my wounds," Ryuu finished, then sighed when a sad look came over his face. "But he wasn't exactly...completely nice even though he helped me. And he wouldn't tell me his name, either. I just knew he wasn't the monster everyone was saying he was. He even told me he had an older brother like I do."

The hint of Itachi Uchiha caused her blood to boil; the fire was evident in Naruto's blue eyes, and he really did a good job to keep himself together. It was also the story itself which caused the long-lost hope to rise once again within them both.

Our Sasuke isn't a demon, after all. That tortured boy we knew once is still there, inside him. Sakura placed a hand over her heart which began to flutter, threatening to weep through her eyes, and Naruto did the same as he pondered how to finally get to their long-lost teammate who left them in the name of revenge and power.

~o~

He frowned, observing the creature behind the glass, gripping the clipboard in both hands, anticipating heatedly that this damned well better succeed. The thing in his latest experiment had overstepped her boundaries; if she died like the last one, then he would classify yet another epic failure.

Now, that is a term I have not used for years, he thought in bemusement, licking his lips. The worst case scenario was death for this one; Sasuke was one lone fortunate individual to become trapped in the second state and survive, exhausted his powers when he faced off the Kyuubi, his own best friend. Brings back a certain memory when Jiraiya tried to stop me...

"Isn't it funny how interesting fate can make our lives intertwined with each generation?" Orochimaru asked Kabuto who was coming beside him to survey the snarling half-human beast-form before them. "Jiraiya and the Nine-Tails vessel, Tsunade and the sweet-haired little vixen -" He let his smile fade.

"- and finally me and Sasuke-kun."

"But he's gone now, Lord Orochimaru. He is free and slaughtering anyone he takes a year. He's nothing more than a wild animal now. If you don't mind me saying so, you should have killed him instead of setting him free..."

Fool, why kill someone useful to me?! But instead, the Snake Sannin narrowed his eyes and allowed the smile to return. He did not have to answer that to his right hand; Kabuto should know by now. But that wasn't the only reason he had to release the boy who should have been his. The minority of the details made him sneer. He recalled the pink-haired kunoichi who reminded him so much of Tsunade, but in the Forest of Death, she was so emotionally unstable and fiercely protective of Sasuke. Her tears were enough to tell him the depth of her feelings for the boy...

Only a mere phase and nothing more. That's all it is when you are not even old and wise enough to experience a lifetime.

But it only brought him back to the time he allowed Tsunade to have him not long after losing her beloved Dan, before he let her go. After it was all over, a tiny part of his soul cracked when he FELT her pain during their coupling, her sweet and strong body - but he forced it all back together when he allowed her to leave the life of a Shinobi altogether, to escape the pain, but it never made anything better. Orochimaru could never understand how fragile emotion was; he shut it all off a long time ago when he lost his parents.

Emotions tear you apart.

Didn't that girl - Sakura, was it? - come to that conclusion by now? The last time he encountered her and her friends when they came for Sasuke, the snake was only happy to oblige that he wasn't the boy they remembered. He was a beast for Orochimaru to control and study under his thumb. To relish the raging determination in the Kyuubi boy's eyes and the struggling ache in the kunoichi's eyes...but so much like Tsunade. And the boy...he has no true conception of the depth of Sasuke's suffering. He is too much like Jiraiya...

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked softly. "Would a...mate for her be in question? She's apparently in heat, according to the samples I analyzed." He chuckled, thinking just the same thing. Yes, an animal could never be tamed unless another was given to satisfy the bestial hunger of the flesh...humanity depends too solely on basic instincts...

Blood splattered before his vision, bringing him back to the serious matter at hand. The subject had overexerted herself; her body structure and her chakra levels had gone to waste. Orochimaru hissed, baring his teeth. "So...another failure. What a shame."

If there was one strong subject to survive, it was Sasuke Uchiha.

~o~

Candlelight and the splendid feast that had been made by her hand - she harnessed her cooking skills much better thanks to Ino - but it was by no means romantic given the circumstances. Naruto looked like he wanted to gobble it all up but was too sickened even after a few bites of sushi; his face actually turned green. Sai had a blank stare on his face, gazing down at his dish without lifting a utensil. Yamato also ate a bit before giving up altogether, and Kakashi had his arms crossed over his chest, the emotions bottled up well but it was obvious enough.

Sakura found she was no longer hungry either. But that didn't erase it: Sasuke has been living alone all this time, yet he saved a boy's life...

"It still doesn't explain his...condition," Kakashi said when she and Naruto were finished with what Ryuu told them earlier. "Orochimaru...why he released him..."

"Yeah, that doesn't make sense!" Naruto agreed. "Why would the snake do this to him?!" Stupid question. Of course, I want to know, too. But that snake is the least of our problems.

Yamato nodded his concurrence. "Sasuke Uchiha is still the one you guys knew," he stated, and it wasn't even a question, but doubt was present. "Except we can't be too sure if he will resort to aggression when we find him and approach him. We have to be on our guard, and ANBU is ready to strike if we get attacked. He'll be taken back to the Leaf Village, but if he tries to resist..." He trailed off then and there, the unspoken rest in the air, but Naruto broke it with an explosion.

"BUT WE CAN'T JUST KILL HIM!"

Kakashi silenced him. "We must if it's necessary."

As a Shinobi, to kill a former comrade who turned against you is the only choice to make. Do or die...

She tuned it all out the rest of the evening, already knowing it all. When it was time to rest, she was alone with Naruto who was in as much turmoil as she was. He slipped outside with her just as the night blanketed the village and its surroundings - and the mountain which housed the secret that little Ryuu told them earlier before his big brother came in and asked him to get back outside. He hadn't exactly been...pleasant when he saw the duo, but he smiled when he learned they were Leaf Village Shinobi, and thanked Sakura for taking care of his brother after the "Man-Beast" did the job the best he could.

"You don't sound like you disbelieve your brother," Sakura had said, surprised, making him laugh and wave his hand. The boy had looked no older than her own age, and he had to have taken a great responsibility when his parents died, taking in his baby brother.

"Yeah, I didn't think I would. But my brother has never made up stories before. I keep reminding him to never go up there, but does he listen?" His jaw had tightened then. "I wanted to kill those bastards myself, but he begged me not to. Said the 'Man-Beast in the Forest' did the job." He'd rubbed the back of his neck and winced at a tight muscle in the back that she quickly looked at. "Otouto said how lonely and bitter he was, that he didn't deserve anyone around him. But all those things I heard about this guy..." He shuddered and drew his arms around himself, exactly the same way Naruto had done when he saw the body of his long-lost relative and the others before her.

People are always afraid of what they never understand, see for themselves, only hear through others' mouths...but Ryuu wasn't scared of Sasuke.

"Just how are we going to do this?" Naruto asked as they sat on the porch of the inn, for only the night. The stars were twinkling, the moon in full view and casting a glow over the forest out of everything else. Just perfect...

Sakura chewed her bottom lip. Ryuu never told them the location of the cave Sasuke lived in. "I don't know," he'd said honestly. "He covered my eyes because he didn't want me to see and remember." Common sense spoke that he'd done it to protect himself, to make sure no one dared to hunt him down. The last thing Sasuke wanted was a lynch mob. It proved to be a challenge for her and Naruto. This was a great risk they were going to take, because it meant to leave their team here -

"We might get killed by him," she told Naruto, "but I may have an idea." And it was very dangerous, for it also involved splitting them both up and having to try and be stealth, since deep down she did NOT want ANBU involved in her plan.

~o~

Sasuke could never stop thinking about Ryuu when he let the boy go home. He loathed it, detested it, and cursed aloud when he was safe inside his hideout. He was relieved to be alone finally, after cleaning his mess up with burying the corpse of the ringleader of the gang, followed by tying the remainders up and leaving them all for the village authorities to handle.

Best case scenario: they would rave that they actually saw the "Man-Beast of the Wild" and be committed. Not my concern anyway.

"You don't scare me."

You're brave, after all, Sasuke thought as he feasted on a freshly grown apple. The sweet juice intoxicated him.

"You shouldn't be alone. Everyone needs someone."

You do not understand loneliness; you have a brother who protects you when my own should have. You never knew what it was like to be betrayed, to cut off ties for something far more important to survive.

He was going to return the cooking tools he borrowed back to the village when the hour grew later; at this time, he would be stealth with his wings and without watchful eyes of any ninja, because just how many ninja would live in this place? He was the only one - well, former officially and legally - as far as he was concerned.

But as soon as Sasuke wrapped up his used belongings, he raised his head in the direction of the cave entrance. His nose wrinkled as he detected chakra in the distant vicinity. Narrowing his eyes, he growled through his teeth.

"Who dares to trespass my territory at this time of night?" he seethed aloud, grabbing his weapons and strapping them on before taking flight, following the trail of one, given he recognized one form combined with two polar opposites - one menacing presence and the other pure at heart - but the second was something sweet awakening into something far more fierce.

The first...Naruto.

And the second...Sakura.

They are both here. They are alone in this forest - foolish to come alone. They know I am here. His lips pulled back. I won't pretend to know why they are here, and I shall settle this once and for all.

Sasuke decided to save the dobe for last - but WHY? - and found himself hiding in the trees when he discovered that his two former teammates had split up. He furrowed his brows; what were they playing at? Looking down, he saw the figure in the Shinobi cloak billowing in the slight wind. Her pastel-pink hair was cropped like last time when he left the village and she tried to stop him, proclaiming her undying love for him - what did she know about love when they were only kids? - before he had to resort to drastic means to stop her.

Was that why she was here? To tell him she loved him and attempt to bring him home on her own? Konoha was his home no longer; how could he convince her of that?

He found himself looking down at himself. Another dilemma: he did not want her to see him like this. But this was a standstill; he had to get her and the loser off his tail now.

"I know you're here somewhere, Sasuke."

So, she senses my chakra presence. How brilliant.

At this point, he stood from his crouching position and flew down to stand behind her, keeping his distance. When he did, he had a better view of her while her back faced him. The wind sifted through her hair and blew her scent in his direction - woods, fruits and flowers. For a moment, he was captured by the aroma of Sakura Haruno, but he shoved it aside as well as ignored the slight stir in his groin.

"How very perceptive of you, Sakura," he drawled back. At the sound of his voice, she turned around to see him in all his demonic glory.

I'm going to be getting an uploading of the new Microsoft Office after two years of hunting one down, and due to the new system I have, it may not be like the old one I used to have. So, if I don't update the story for a few days or however long, know I am trying to readjust and make this work. Rest assured, I'm trying to make you all happy and won't rest. :) Until then.