The elder Jounin looked at the former Konoha ninja and then looked back at Kioko, his mind trying to find a way finishing this without awaking the darker side of the female Uchiha. Kazuma stood there unflinching, his face rather wicked, which Kakashi contributed his connection with Orochimaru but it also showed that he had begun to be taken over the evil that destroyed his family years before. The gray haired ninja sighed as he realized there was no other way but to battle him. His hand reached up and moved his forehead protector, upward revealing the Sharingan eye. Kazuma smirked and took off in an instant and Kakashi quickly began his search for the sound ninja.

Within moments there was a clash between Kazuma's sword and Kakashi's kunai. At this moment the medical ninja smiled as he allowed chakra to circle around his hand, getting ready to strike Kakashi's inner castals. The elder ninja grew tensed and jumped back avoiding the blow that would have made it harder for him to breathe. Without giving him much time to recover Kazuma continued his constant sword strikes and began his taunting, "What's the matter Kakashi? Are you just going to run away from me?" Once again he swung knocking the kunai out of his hand. Kazuma then lifted his katana and pressed it against Kakashi's throat.

Sweat came down from his face but then he noticed a bit of hesitation in the young boys eyes. All the genin trembled and Naruto growled as he looked like he was about to charge the enemy. Kazuma let out a small laugh and without turning around he stated, "You even try to attack me and I'll kill him." In that moment Kakashi noticed he took his eyes off him, for a brief second and that gave him the opportunity to knock the sword out of his hand and sent it into one of the trees in the surrounding area. Kazuma didn't let this upset him; he just brought out his chakra scalpel and began his attack again.

Everyone around them felt rather hopeless, knowing they couldn't lend a hand to help their sensei. Sasuke looked sighed and looked over at the younger ninja and finally he remembered who this young man was but noticing he was one of the sound confused him to no end. The man he knew was extremely loyal to the village, not to mention his own family. Sasuke was thrown out of his thoughts when he heard a loud bang and when he turned he saw his sensei had been thrown into a large rock. Naruto narrowed his eyes and began to form a fist that broke the skin, "Kakashi-sensei!"

The elder ninja's body was trembling and Kazuma smirked as he stood over him. "You won't be moving anytime soon, Kakashi." He let out a small laugh as he let the chakra around his hands dissipate. Kakashi desperately tried to move as Kazuma began to head over to his tree to retrieve his sword. As he walked back Kazuma looked down a bit looking at his weapon and then back down at Kakashi. The young boy raised his sword up into the air about to bring it down for a fatal blow but Kioko hugged Kazuma from behind. "Don't do it!"

If that wasn't surprising enough Kazuma lowered his sword to his side and backed down. Kakashi looked into the young boys eyes once again and noticed they were different than before. The eyes Kakashi saw were like the ones Kazuma had back in the leaf village. Kioko slowly let go of her friend who took a deep breath before apologizing to the Jounin. Control started to return to the gray haired ninja as he stood up and once again asked for an explanation. "Why did you abandon the leaf village and join Orochimaru?"

Everyone was relieved to see the fighting come to an end between the two shinobi. Kazuma let out a small sigh as he re-sheathed his katana and looked back at Kakashi, who was still looking for an explanation. It took a few moments for Kazuma to find the right words to explain his actions. "Your understanding of the situation is half correct at best. During those simpler days, I was extremely loyal to both the village and my own clan. Before the massacre of the Uchiha clan, Orochimaru had sought me out, learning of my unique abilities from Kabuto. Sarutobi-sama took notice of Orochimaru's interest in me and gave me the mission to keep an eye on Orochimaru. Slowly I gained great Orochimaru's trust and I became a double agent of sorts."

Kakashi listened to the medic's explanation and nodded in understanding. Kazuma knew that the explanation wasn't enough for the silver haired Jounin. He let out another breath as a cooling breeze came over them and swayed his already messed up blondish brown hair. "However, I will not stand here and say that it wasn't all about the mission. I also wanted to go to Orochimaru, on my own accord."

As Sasuke listened to his explanation, he grew increasingly angry, forming a tight fist at his side. Without much warning he growled and began shouting at Kazuma. "How could you freely serve Orochimaru after what he did to her?!" The medic narrowed his eyes as he tried to figure out what the younger Uchiha was talking about. He glanced over at his childhood friend, in utter confusion. "He took advantage of her desire to be free of her memories to get rid of her." Kioko let out a small sigh as she placed her hand on his right shoulder to calm him down.

"He did what? To be honest Sasuke I had no knowledge of this." Kakashi turned his attention to the former anbu captain, waiting for the answer to Sasuke's other question. "At this point in my life the best place for me is by Orochimaru's side. The darkness of my clan has already started to consume me and I…." Kazuma didn't get a chance to finish his statement as Kioko suddenly hugged him, crying in his chest. The Nakamura blinked a few times as he looked down hearing her sobs, "It's not true…. Please Kazu-kun… tell me it's not true." Kioko raised her head and looked into his stunning blue eyes. "Please don't leave me Kazu-kun. I'll fix it… I won't let you fall into the darkness completely!"

Kazuma broke a small smile as he looked back down at his closest friend. "I promised you, remember? I promised that no matter what I would always be there for you and I would never leave your side." With those words Kioko hugged him a great sense of joy coming over her. They remained in each others arms for a few moments before Kazuma explained he had to return to the sound village. With that he began to walk away from the group of ninja. The medic didn't get too far before he was stopped once again, this time by Naruto.

The blonde haired ninja held his arms out straight out and had a rather serious expression on his face. "You're not getting out of here that easy. I made a promise to Sairen to get her brother, Takuya back and I'm not about to go back on my word. That's my nindo my ninja way." Kazuma looked down at the younger shinobi and let out a small sigh as he saw the determination his Naruto's eyes. "You truly are your father's child. Stopping me won't bring back the boy you seek. Takuya is already in the Sound village, though I can't tell you what exactly Orochimaru has in store for him. All I know is that he has a kekkei genkai that he's had an eye on for sometime."

The explanation was enough to make Naruto calm down and it was exactly what Kakashi was looking for to confirm his suspicions about the attack on the village. Before Kazuma could return to his new home he turned back to Kioko breaking a small smile sending a message to her around the lines of everything will be ok. With that he vanished in a poof, leaving the five ninja alone in the damaged village. Naruto looked back at his sensei with a fierce determination in his eyes. "We have to go after him Sensei!"

Kakashi looked over in Kioko's direction noticed the fatigue had taken its toll. They were in no condition to chase after the sound ninja. Kioko lightly rubbed her forehead trying to rid herself of another memory headache. She could sense that everyone wanted to continue on with their mission and she broke a small reassuring smile. "Don't concern yourselves with me… I can manage. We should hurry to the sound village." The silver haired ninja knew better then to argue with the female Uchiha. He simply nodded and gave the signal to move out.

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In no time at all Kazuma had arrived back in the sound village. Before he returned to the hideout he pulled out a small piece of paper and scribbled a message on it before rolling it back up. He snapped his fingers and a large crow appeared on his arm. The medic slid the note in a little carrier that was strapped to its leg. "Make sure that gets to him." At the sound of Kazuma's order the bird took off in the location of the unknown recipient of the message. The dark expression on his face returned as the darkness began to consume him again. 'Orochimaru..... You won't get away with the deed you did to Kioko. I will make sure of it.'

To be continued….