That's it for this chapter. I believe I'll only have one more to go before this is story is finished. Never intended for it to be very long so it's no surprise.

Disclaimer: i own nothing

Ch. 6: Konoha Fights

Sasuke spent the rest of the night talking with Naruto and Sakura. Naruto was goofy and energetic as usual. The blonde still dreamed of becoming Hokage, and Sasuke believed he could actually do it if he wanted. Sakura was still hot tempered and brilliant. They had both grown up though and it showed sometimes. Sasuke would never admit it out loud but he had missed them. He had figured out long ago that he had never really been alone. These two had always been their. Supporting him. Caring about him. They had become his family. And that was why he had left. They had been a weakness he couldn't afford.

The three of them fell asleep in Sakura's living room shortly before dawn. They woke up when Sasuke let out a cry of pain. Naruto, who had never seen him transform, panicked. Sakura made him sit still long enough to listen to her.

"Don't worry, Naruto. It's just the transformation. Sasuke said it hurts him very badly to go from one form to another. I think it's because his body is forced into a different shape than before," she explained to her hyper friend.

Naruto let out a breath, "Oh. It just scared me to hear him yell like that. I've never heard Sasuke even acknowledge his pain let alone scream from it."

"Imagine how painful this must be for him to actually cry out," Sakura commented.

Naruto winced. The pain was probably enough to kill anyone else. He glanced back at his friend and saw the wolf lying there on the ground whimpering. Sakura knelt beside him and did her best to soothe him. Naruto took a step closer, "So is he Sasuke or Shadow?"

"I'm not sure. The witch said that he would keep his memories but I don't know what that meant. Shadow never remembered being Sasuke so it could be that. Or it could mean that Shadow will now have all of Sasuke's memories. It could also mean that this will be Sasuke now. I'll let you know when his eyes open."

The blonde grabbed his head, "This is making my head hurt. Couldn't the old woman have just left him as Sasuke? That would have been less complicated."

Sakura chuckled, "I don't think she wouldn't have found that nearly as amusing as this."

The wolf looked up at the two of them with dark serious eye. Sakura smiled at him, "Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?"

He nodded, 'I'll be fine. Remind me to bite that witch when I see her again.'

Sakura chuckled, "I'll remember that."

Naruto looked between the two of them, "Uhh, what's going on?"

"Oh, Sasuke is just being grumpy. He wants to bite the witch," Sakura explained. The wolf let out a growl. Sakura looked at him, "Well what would you call it?" When Sasuke didn't reply she smiled, "See. You are being grumpy."

This time Naruto could guess what Sasuke had said and laughed. Some things never changed and he was happy about that. Sasuke was back. They were a team again. He couldn't wait to have their first mission together. "What now?"

"We get to work. Sasuke has to break his curse and there's probably a time limit that we don't know what is," Sakura replied.

"But he said he couldn't do it?"

"Then we'll help him."

'No you won't,' Sasuke informed Sakura. Apparently he still couldn't communicate with anyone but the pink haired medic. Another part of the witch's match making scheme no doubt. It annoyed Sasuke that he could be as strong as he was but he was still helpless against himself. How could he admit that he, Sasuke Uchiha, was capable of loving someone else? That would mean that he had a weakness. He wasn't allowed to have a weak spot. Part of him was aware that he was fighting the inevitable but he couldn't help it. If anyone ever found out about his feelings for a certain teammate then that teammate would be in danger. Orochimaru and the Akatsuki would both target her as a way to get to him. He couldn't let that happen because, even as strong as he was, he wasn't strong enough to survive Sakura's death. That was the one thing that could destroy him in seconds.

Sakura and Naruto chose to let the subject drop. The day passed normally until an hour or two before sunrise. They were all in Sakura's house talking about what they should do now when Hinata came bursting into the room. "Naruto-kun, Sakura, someone is attacking. It's the Akatsuki. They want Naruto."

"Let's go," Naruto stated.

The three of them rushed out the door. They weren't surprised to see Kisame and Itachi were the ones attacking. Kisame grinned, "There's our fox. Time for you to come with us now."

"I don't think so," Naruto snapped. He didn't waste any time. The blond summoned his clones and prepared to use the Rasengan. Sasuke moved so that he stood in front of Sakura. The wolf released a deep growl. Sasuke was aware that he couldn't use his chakra, but he'd be damned if he'd let Itachi hurt Sakura.

Itachi looked at the wolf that was growling fiercely at them. He shouldn't have been surprised but he was. The older Uchiha recognized the wolf. How could he not? He had spent the last seven years watching over his little brother. Every move he had ever made had been to protect Sasuke. It would be a shame if after all he had been through for Sasuke if he didn't recognize him regardless of the shape he was in. The thought of what he would have to do to his brother was still very painful. Oh well, that would be over soon enough. Sasuke would never had to worry about him again.

There was a loud explosion. The rest of the Akatsuki appeared. Itachi's eyes narrowed but he said nothing. Then the village began to shake with a tremendous amount of force. Everyone looked around for the source. A large snake appeared out of nowhere with Orochimaru on top of it's head. Surrounding the snake were the sound ninjas. The Konoha shinobi felt a moment of panic. Their two worst enemies were attacking at the same times. How in the world were they going to get out of this alive?

Naruto grinned, "Alright. Now we can kill two birds with one stone."

Just like the day of the first part of the chunin exams, Naruto's reckless energy was contagious. His one comment had the entire village of Konoha preparing to fight to the death if necessary. Sasuke decided to help his friend. There were a few advantages to being a wolf. One was everyone was afraid of you even if they were stronger. The other was the sound effects. He released a blood chilling howl that had the hairs on the back of their enemies necks rising. It only helped to encourage the Konoha shinobi.

"You should all give up while you can," Orochimaru stated.

"Let me remind you all of something," Naruto stated with a determined look in his eyes. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I don't quit or back down."

No one was sure who attacked first. All that they were sure about was that a few seconds after Naruto's statement everyone was fighting. The sound of metal slapping against metal filled the air. Sasuke could smell fresh blood and fear. He rushed at Itachi. His brother calmly dodged and their fight began. Naruto glared at Orochimaru as the two circled each other. The fox wouldn't let Orochimaru take his best friend again. He would die first.

To the ones fighting the battles seemed to last for hours. The sun was starting its decent below the horizon. Sakura was fighting with one of the three Pains that were left. She had just landed a fatal blow after at least an hour of fighting with him. She had to give Pain credit for strength. The man was powerful. Before he died the Pain grabbed her arm to hold her in place. She tried to break free but she couldn't. "Sakura, look out!" someone shouted. She glanced up to see a lot of kunai raining down and they were aimed for her. She fought harder to break free. Sakura even tried to take the Pain's body with her but he was too heavy.

Sasuke had turned when he heard the shout. He felt his heart stop at the sight. Everything suddenly began to move in slow motion as he abandoned his fight with Itachi. He had to save her. With all the speed he had he rushed towards her. If only her could use his chakra. He would have been able to move much faster. Sasuke glanced at the sun only a small portion of it was still visible but that was all it took to keep him in this form. Even Akamaru had to have Kiba in order to use chakra. In his wolf form, Sasuke had no way of accessing his so he couldn't use sharingan or jutsus. If only had had told Sakura how he felt. Then he would be in his human form now. He would be able to us his chakra and save Sakura. If only...

The world continued to move in slow motion as Sasuke willed the sun to sink. It did but not in time. At the very moment the sun disappeared, the kunais reach Sakura. Sasuke watched in horror as a could of dust rose around her. There was a howl of absolute pain. Everyone stopped moving and turned to the wolf they had known as Shadow. He was howling and his shape seemed to be changing. Then a man stood there. He wore a white shirt and black pants. A rope was tied at his waist with a sword. There was a collective gasps as everyone recognized Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke didn't hear them. He didn't see them. All he could see was the image of the kunai piercing Sakura. He had been a fool. The reason he hadn't told her how he felt and broke the curse was because he was afraid she would be killed. He chuckled humorlessly. It was ironic that if he had told her the curse would be broken. Then he would have been able to save her. His eyes suddenly turned red with the Sharingan as he turned to the man who had killed her. Madara Uchiha smirked at the angry Sasuke. So this was the boy Itachi had sacrificed everything for to protect. Madara took a fighting stance as he waited for Sasuke to attack. He didn't have to wait long.

No one moved at they fought. Sasuke was fierce. He had thought he was angry at Itachi. That was nothing compared to the rage the boiled in him at that moment. Madara dodged as many of the attacks as he could but Sasuke was fast. It was possible that he was even more skilled that Itachi. Madara decided that this had gone on long enough. He changed tactics so that he was on the offensive. He hit Sasuke with a series of kicks that lifted him up into the air. When he lept up and punched Sasuke's midsection, Sasuke was slammed back down to the ground. For a moment everyone though Sasuke was about to die as Madara activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. Then the dust around Sasuke cleared and they saw that he was standing. Not only that but there was something different about his eyes. Both men made some hand signs but Sasuke was just a second faster but that was all it took. Black flames exploded around Madara and there was no escaping those flames.

Everything was silent as they stared at Sasuke Uchiha. He turned and stared at them with what looked like a six pointed star in his eyes. He turned to Naruto. The blond had just knocked Orochimaru unconscious using the powers of the fox. Sasuke's eyes the turned to Kakashi. The copy ninja had been fighting with Kisame and now the two were just waiting for the same thing everyone else was. Sasuke then looked back down at the ground and simply sank to his knees. The will to fight and live left him as quickly as it had come. He knew he should finish his fight with Itachi but he couldn't find the reason anymore. Avenging his clan wouldn't bring them back. What would be left for him once Itachi was dead anyway? Sakura was gone. That was the one thing that had kept him sane during his years with Orochimaru. She would still be there. He had known that she would forgive him and let him back into her life. But now that knowledge was gone because so was she.

"Naruto." He turned to look at Tsunade and Jiraiya. The hokage smiled, "Go to him. Sasuke needs a friend right now. We'll make sure that Orochimaru is imprisoned."

"What about everyone else?"

"Look around you." He did and saw that only two members of the Akatsuki were still standing. All that was left of the enemy was the underlings. Even tired the Konoha shinobi could handle them. Tsunade shoved him towards Sasuke. "Go. We can take care of clean up."

"What about..."

"Go."

Naruto went. He knelt beside Sasuke but wasn't what he should say. Instead he just sat there and watched his dull eyed friend with worry. He glanced up when Kakashi knelt next to him. The copy ninja placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Hey, Sasuke. Say something."

"Like what? I couldn't save her. What is there to say about that?"

Kakashi glanced back over to the area where Sakura had been standing and his eyes widened. Something wasn't right. His eyes darted over to Itachi and he knew what it was.

That's it. One more chapter...probably...unless I can come up with something else but I don't really have any brilliant ideas. Please send me a review.