BLURRED SOUND

Sasuke Uchiha met Naruto Uzumaki when he was seven years old; a twist in the time line, and he meets her again five years later during the Chunin Exams – as an Otogakure Genin. SasuFemNaru. AU/AT. Dark Naruto.

CHAPTER TEN
- - MASTER PLAN - -

'Love is not Love which alters when alteration finds' – William Shakespeare.

Sasuke landed on the roof nearest to the barrier on top of the stadium; he wasn't close-up like the ANBU, but he was close enough to see what was going on with a little help from his Sharingan.

The seal was beginning to be a problem now, but he didn't care about the shooting pains he was experiencing; he was trying to read Naruto's lips with the Sharingan, unfortunately it wasn't working. She was too far away for it to be distinct, and he couldn't zoom in like the Hyuugas could with the Byakugan.

He could see what she was doing in spite of that though; there was a confused expression on her face, and she kept looking between the man his clone had found to be Orochimaru, and the Hokage himself. The Third seemed to be yelling something at her, and Orochimaru was yelling too.

Orochimaru lunged towards the Hokage and something seemed to happen to his arms after an attack from the Hokage, and it seemed like to old man was going to win. Something was yelled to Naruto from both of them. Anyone else might have mistaken the tears on her face for real ones stemming from confusion, being torn by two different decisions.

He ignored his own realisation even when she strayed towards the Hokage with a last glance towards Orochimaru. She kept up the act for a few more moments, and then her eyes turned red; she began weaving hand signs in separate hands, before slamming them into the Hokage's chest.

Whatever had happened to Orochimaru was reversed, but he still looked pretty clapped out; the Hokage's injuries also left him without much defence. Naruto took another step closer to the old man, mumbled something, and rammed her clawed hand into his ribcage and tore out his heart.

He didn't remember anything after that, because the spasms from the seal had reached his own heart, and Sasuke fell to his knees on the tiled roof; his vision was blurry, breathing was almost impossible, and the pain from the seal... it had to be killing him vision darkened, and he collapsed.

The last thing he saw was the silhouette of his teacher before unconsciousness claimed him.

Naruto dropped down behind one of the rooftops as her so-called godfather began his discussion with the village elders; she had great difficulty in holding herself back, but she managed it. With any luck, Sasuke would be leaving with her in a matter of days, but she had to stay in control for the moment.

She would be satisfied with killing the old man for now; admittedly Orochimaru had done most of the work, but the final blow had been hers. She didn't mind that though – she wasn't strong enough to battle a Kage on her own just yet, but leaving without feeling his blood on her fingers would have been impossible.

She couldn't believe he had actually believed her little spot of acting, but he had!
That had been such fun!

Watching the hope dying away, realisation his ruse was over when she told him why she'd turned on him, that she was just 'taking an eye for an eye' was the best part! Well almost... Seeing his blood spill from the hole in his chest, feeling the last beats of his heart in her hand... That had been one of the best moments in her life to date.

She had almost turned into her three-tailed state from the sheer joy of the feeling right there and then. Unfortunately almost having his soul sucked out had resulted in repercussions for Orochimaru; she had managed to stop the total damage of his arms, but the Dead Demon Consuming Seal wasn't one she could completely interfere with.

It was a Dead Demon Consuming Seal! Her mother's family had created that seal! She had almost ripped Sarutobi's head off for using it the moment she recognised it, but she had held it in for the sake of playing.

As for Orochimaru, he would be able to use his arms, but hand seals were out of the question. A quick exam after getting him out of the village with his four cronies had revealed that the chakra coils in them were almost completely shot to pieces; it was damage far beyond her or even Kabuto's ability to repair.

The only way to rectify was to find a competent healer, or to switch bodies, and Orochimaru wasn't ready to transfer just yet; for one thing, he'd already said he didn't want Sasuke's body till he was older, and for another there was a time frame for the actual transfer that he'd yet to reach.

Orochimaru had sent her back, telling her to worry more about her mission for the moment; with village security in the state it was, getting to Sasuke would be that much harder. He was right; she'd had to scout the borders of the village for a whole day before she could find a way back in undetected, but she had returned just in time to catch this delightful conversation.

"Tsunade? You want to make her the Hokage? Are you insane? She'll never go for it!" he grumbled to the two old prunes.

So that's what this was about – if that was the case, she'd have to sneak back into the Hokage tower before someone was appointed. Especially if she was going to find out if her suspicions about Sakura really were worth anything. It might just be over thinking on her part, but if she was right... it would definitely be to her advantage.

"Well, since you have already declined the position, she is the only available option!" Koharu snapped.

Urgh, what Naruto wouldn't give to rip her head off right this moment! That woman was one of the people who had turned Sasuke's life upside down, not that he knew it, and she was the one who had... It was that woman who had been in charge of the attack, in charge of making sure her mother and father knew absolutely nothing until...

If there was any way she could choose who she got to tear to shreds when the time came, she wanted that woman! Sasuke could have the whole village when he learned the truth, as long as she got that woman! She felt the Kyuubi's chakra stirring as Jiraiya snapped his head in her direction and quickly stomped it back down. Damn anger...

"Fine, I'll go, but don't expect any results! You know why she's turned her back on this place - you should be more grateful that I haven't done the same."

The woman thinned her lips but said nothing, and turned and walked away from her two companions. The male elder, Homura she believed his name was, decided to put down his own thoughts once she had gone, some very interesting thoughts.

"There is something else we want you to do Jiraiya; we need you to take Sasuke Uchiha along with you on this trip" he informed the toad sage with a bit more tact than his fellow elder.

"Itachi's brother? What for?" Jiraiya asked, his eyebrows narrowing.

"...Sasuke had been marked with the cursed seal, and while he had shown resistance to the seal, he will not show resistance to... Orochimaru's messenger. He is still in the hospital the moment– the medics are having trouble with his injuries..."

Jiraiya frowned in thought, his eyes wandering back to the place where she was hiding, and Naruto smirked; maybe it was time she visited Sasuke...

She didn't like this talk of him being in the hospital and not being healed properly at all though; it had to be the cursed seal... That idiot! Surely he knew it wasn't supposed to be used over an extended period? She'd have to go pasy him a visit.

Really, it was probably a good thing Orochimaru had taken an interst in Sasuke. It made things much easier in general futher down the line if she convinced him to leave with her now, rather than later on. There was something to be said for Orochimaru's 'catch them young' philosophy when it came to choosing his minions.

Just because she didn't plan on leaving without Sasuke for herself didn't mean he wasn't stupid though! He had to start contoling his impulsive side... Then again, it was his impulsive side that would help her win him over in the end, so maybe it wasnt such a bad thing. Even if it was giving her a headache now.

Taking care to keep her chakra signature flat, and thus avoid detection if Jiraiya hadn't already spotted her, Naruto dissapeared from the roof top.

Sakura poked at her breakfast despondently; it had been two days since the Otogakure and Sunagakure villages had attacked, and Sasuke still hadn't woken up from his cursed seal-induced coma.

Of course she had heard the stories about Naruto, about how she had been the one who had killed the Hokage; much as she didn't want to believe it, she had a strong suspicion they were right. Sasuke would be able to confirm it, but he was still sleeping.

What on earth would make Naruto hate the village this much, hate the Hokage so much? The man had been nothing but nice to her when they were kids – he had been one of the few people besides her own family who liked her, talked to her. He'd been like a grandfather to her... But now she had just...

"Sakura, what's bothering you?"

Sakura looked up at her father, who had just sad down with a plate of fried eggs and toast opposite her; unlike her, he was in a relatively genial mood considering the village had just been attacked. Then again, he'd never been very enthusiastic towards his job, especially after her mother and sister had been killed on a mission.

"I was just... I was thinking about Naruto..." she replied to the man, taking a half-hearted bite of her toast.
"Naruto? What for...?" he asked, looking a little surprised.

Sakura wondered if she should reveal what Naruto had told her to her father, but his opinion was never asked so she figured it was safe. He was a regular Jonin. Powerful in his abilities, but not notable like Kakashi-sensei was. He was safe, so she told him.

"Before... Before the match, I talked to her; I wanted to know why she left... Why she was doing all this, and... she said it was because of... She said it was because Konoha betrayed her... I don't know how I'm supposed to think of that..."

Her sentence died away when she caught sight of her father's face; he was shocked by the revelation, but the anger on his face was what surprised her. Why was he so mad? Did he know something? It was the only explanation she could think of...

"Dad...?" she asked a question, but she wasn't certain which question she was asking until he started to haltingly answer it.
"I always did wonder if those rumours were right..." he murmured.

That didn't really explain much; about all she could get from her father's words was that Naruto had, as far as he knew at any rate, been telling the truth when she said Konoha was the one at fault. What they were at fault for, why, when, and specific individuals (if any)were left unsaid.

"What does that mean? She really was telling the truth? Dad, what was she talking about?" she asked, standing up and lining over the table towards him, her expression a little fierce in her eagerness for any sort of explanation.

Her father realised his mistake and sighed a sigh of frustration.

"I wish I could tell you Sakura, but I don't know anything of it myself; I don't want to tell you what I think and have it turn out wrong in the end. You know I'm not fond of this village, and I don't want my opinions to affect yours. All I can suggest is that you try and figure this out yourself" he replied apologetically.

Sakura scowled at him in irritation as he began to mess around with yolk of his eggs on top of the toast; if her mother had still been alive she would have been shrieking some of the foulest language in the village, but Sakura had her father's reserved nature (most of the time anyway). Her sister had been more like her mother.

It was only when Sakura was truly mad that her mother's influence came out, so as much as the mutilation of the food she had made irritated her, she was more concerned with getting a clear answer form her father now that he had sparked her suspicions.

"That's not much help Dad!" she complained.

Her father just smiled at her, his green eyes sparkling with humour.
"I think you'll manage it one way or another – you're smarter than your mother was, and that's saying something" he informed her, before getting up from the table and leaving the room.

Sakura felt like strangling him as he left the room, but as her gaze landed on the eggy mess; her eyes widened at what she saw, and she stared at the doorway her father had just left through.

Was this a hint...? The yolk of one of the eggs had been formed into a yellow globby mess, but if she concentrated on it... It looked like a spiral. A spiral... That couldn't be a coincidence; she was certain she had heard something relevant about spirals before, but she couldn't remember what.

What on earth had she heard? She couldn't really remember – she had learned quite a bit of extra information on Naruto since running into her again, especially since the end of the invasion. Kakashi had told her during her training of Naruto's danger (in terms of being the Kyuubi Jinchuriki) but she didn't think that was it...

This one clue was better than nothing though; sending a silent thanks to her father she headed for the doorway herself, stopping only to pull on her pouch, holster and sandals before darting out of the door. She had to talk to Sasuke, and if she had to wait for him to wake up, then she'd wait all week if she had to.

It took Sasuke a long few minuets to blink himself awake, and when he did he felt like he had been knocked through several walls. Then he remembered he had been knocked through several walls, and with curse seal rebound to boot.

Gradually he began to realise that he was not alone in the room; there was someone close by, in fact, if the heavy presence on his waist was anything to go by they were sitting on him... His foggy mind slowly began to recognise the chakra above him and his eyes snapped wide open.

His first instinct was to push Naruto off of him – he couldn't help it. The last image he had seen of her had been the ripping of the Hokage's heart from his chest, after tearing the head off one of her own supposed comrades. He began to calm a little when he realised she was just healing him, but he couldn't get that image out of his mind.

She had just toyed with the old man, dangling a little smidgen of hope in front of his eyes before stomping down on it and pouncing when he was weakest. Was that the sort of person that Otogakure would turn him into? Naruto was almost like his brother in the way she played with peoples minds...

No matter how much power he could gain from Otogakure, he didn't want it if it turned him into someone like his brother. His brother was the last person he wanted to be like.

She looked him in the eye them, surprise on her face, and he felt his chest constrict at the blatant relief on her face; she looked exhausted. He could tell by the lines of concentration on her face, the sweat on her brow, and the haphazard stands of her hair that had wormed from her hair ties.

She must have been her for at least an hour, it was the only way she could be so tired, but she was still sending green chakra over his skin. He could feel his head getting cleared by the second. She reached one hand out towards his face, only to halt it when he flinched away involuntarily.

She stiffened for a moment and an apology was mumbled form his lips before he even knew it was in his thoughts; how could she switch back and forth like this so easily? Why could she just pick one side or another? He felt this would be so much easier if he just knew why she hated Konoha so much, but she sure as hell wouldn't budge on that.

How could she be the closest person to him, but so far from his understanding at the same time? He couldn't find the line between them any more; she wasn't a mere friend, she was far beyond that, but he couldn't get a better indicator on how much of an enemy she was either.

He couldn't look at her as an enemy; he knew she was – he'd watched her kill the Hokage! - but he just couldn't put her into the same category as Itachi. Naruto wasn't an enemy to him, even though she very much was. Around him, there were times when she was almost her old self... Maybe not totally, but very close.

She wasn't his enemy.

There was a nervous silence between them as she continued to push green chakra through the bandages on his chest, fixing the damage that the cursed seal had done to his body. He absently wondered how she hadn't attracted any attention, but he was more worried about her physical presence.

He didn't dare move; every time her hands moved, brushing his skin or she shifted, it was like a searing current through him; her hands moved up, just below his collarbone and her head leaned in to get a better look at her work; the odd fluxes in her chakra betrayed just how much effort it was taking her.

Naruto had never been good with controlling her chakra well over an extended period of time, and he had assumed it had improved but... was the concentration not from the effort, but from maintaining just her control? If it was so hard, why push herself? There were actual medics here right?

Her face was so close to his; he could hear her laboured breathing from her exertions, feel it on his neck as she concentrated. It was burning him from the inside out, sending scalding frustration through his whole body. It would be so easy to just lean in and kiss her, but he didn't dare.

Naruto stopped, the chakra dissipating into his skin for a final time before disappearing completely, and she let out a breath of exhaustion. Raising her head, her hands still where they had been when he was healing him, she looked him directly in the eye for the first time.

"Are you scared of me now?" she asked.
How could she scare him when he could see the anxiety on her face?

If she hadn't been worried about the reply, then he would have been scared of her. If she'd been worry free, it would have been a sign there was noting left of the Naruto he knew. But she was worried, so even though it was only a tiny fragment, she was still the same in one way.

As long as that one way was still there, he'd never be afraid of her; he may never understand her the same way again, might be shocked by some of the things she did, but he would never be afraid of her.

He should have been, but he wasn't; he didn't understand why Naruto had turned out the why she had, how she could have killed the old man she used to look up to like a grandfather so easily, but he wasn't afraid of her. He knew the Kyuubi had played a large part in her development, was linked into her most basic of desires now, but she didn't scare him. She would never scare him.

He answered her question by closing the short distance between their lips; the burning heat that had turned him to a statue while she had been healing him became a fuel. He tried to avoid the fervour that had revealed the Kyuubi to him, but instead of cooling the fire, it just turned into a blaze.

He linked an arm around her lower back, pulling her further down on him, closer to him as his other hand went to the back of her neck. His tongue smoothed over her lips as they parted, and invaded the wet, heated space, brushing against her own tongue as she clamped her arms around his neck.

It wouldn't go away; the burning need wouldn't go away. It was overwhelming him. He felt hot all over, but it felt different to just an increase in temperature. There was something else, and it just kept growing and growing as he kissed her.

She was so close, and as his lips and tongue moved against her own, the heat of her breath just made it all the worse. He knew his own breath was short... When she shifted to a better position over his lap, something just exploded, because to his horror, he was halfway towards an erection.

His hands started moving, the one on her neck moves towards her rear as the other slipped beneath her orange shirt to the wrappings she wore – or more specifically the ties at the back. Naruto responded immediately, her lips leaving his to trail his jaw, her hands pressing into his shoulders, pushing his back against the pillows behind him.

It might have been the feel of her nails lengthening and biting into his skin, or the wave of addictive heat that shot through him as she pressed against his half hard erection, but something jolted him.

He remember that three tailed form, the ease at which she had torn the head off of the sound ninja that had been attacking him, how eagerly she had ripped the heart from the Hokage's chest, and he pulled back. He couldn't let himself be distracted. He needed answers this time. He'd let it slide last time, more interested in the Kyuubi, but he couldn't let it go this time.

"How could you kill him so easily? He was like a grandfather to you wasn't he? How could you.. toy with him like that? Why didn't you just kill him?" he asked, nut despite the low tone, it wasn't really a question.

Naruto kept her gaze on him, contemplating on how to answer the question; he could tell she wasn't going to completely brush the question aside this time, but there were also things she didn't want him to know about. A lot of things most likely.

"Because that's what he did to me; he was nice on the surface too, but he betrayed my family in the same way he did yours, and seeing him dead was the only thing that comes close to accounting for what he did." she replied bluntly.

That just raised another load of questions; what she mean, the same way he had his family? Itachi had been the one who had killed his family, not the Hokage! What was she talking about? What did the Third do? Was she talking about the Kyuubi? Did it have something to do with that?

Her hands moved to the seal on his shoulder, her hands surrounded in a purple glow before he could ask, distracting him; he could feel the seal reacting to whatever she was doing to it. It didn't hurt, he could just feel it moving. Before he could ask what she was doing though, her head ducked towards his neck and her felt her teeth digging into the mark.

That did hurt, in fact it was excruciating, and it was over before he could full appreciate just how painful it was. Naruto had a frown on her face, and her teeth were just protruding over her bottom lip. He felt the gathering of her chakra and she bit him once again, and he felt the tiny trickle of chakra rushing into the seal.

It was Kyuubi chakra; it was a mere trickle, but the sheer agony of it coursing through his veins was enough to paralyse him; the cursed seal paled in comparison to the pain wrought from the Kyuubi chakra she was deliberately injecting him with. What the hell was she doing?

Before he had a chance to ask, they were both distracted as the door was thrown open; standing in the doorway was a man of about fifty with long grey hair, and his two stunned team-mates. Sakura's face had turned bright red for some reason, but Sai looked... a little ill if he had to place it. He couldn't tell for sure – he really couldn't move at all.

"W-why am I on top of Sasuke like that?" Sai asked, and then Sasuke understood.

Just because he could see it was Naruto didn't mean the others could; how the heck had she learned to layer an illusion like that? That took insane chakra control, and why couldn't he feel the chakra she was using for it? He wasn't really part of it, so wouldn't he have been able to sense it?

"Che, ratted out already. I wanted to have some fun too..." Naruto pouted, the illusion apparently melting away if the stunned looks on his team-mates faces was anything to go by.

The look on the face of the man behind them was what drew him though; he looked like someone had just thrown a paper bomb at him. Sasuke swore the man was actually shaking. His gaze was directed towards Naruto so he must know her, but how? Damn it, when was he going to be able to move again?

"I guess I should say say nice to meet you Godfather mine, but to be honest, it's not really nice to meet you. I don't like being interrupted" Naruto informed the man.

Jiraiya, as he appeared to be called, lunged towards her; Naruto quickly disappeared and reappeared at the window. Now that she wasn't close to him he found he could move again. It also mean that the pain actually seemed to be affecting him, and with a howl he bent forward, clutching the mark on his neck.

"Sasuke! Naruto, what did you do to him?" Sakura demanded as she rushed forward.

Sai disappeared down the hall, presumably to find one of the medics. Naruto remained perched on the windowsill, her eyes on the occupants of the room, particularly Jiraiya. The man's shock seemed to have passed, and anger was the more obvious emotion on his face.

"Well, I just came by to fix what the incompetent medics here couldn't... I'd like to stay and chat but I have business elsewh-"

Her godfather hurled a selection of kunai and shuriken from within his sleeves; and Naruto smirked, not even trying to move from their path. They hit her and she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Update-no-jutsu! Still stuck with college computers - I've had to de-frag and erase half of my hard drive on my old laptop to get it to work properly this week. I hate de-frag. It takes forever, and I still dont have enough space...

I got a bit of everyone ion this chapter - Sasuke is begining to wake up and realise that Naruto is eeeeevil, he just... dosne't care. Yet... Sakura is starting her own research, Naruto's plans are starting to move (including Sakura) and Jiraiya has shown up! I believe it was VaughnTyler and EDelta88 who mentioned him in their reviews, so here he is! He was going in, but kudos to them anyway.

Sasuke's still going to be dragged through the mill a little before starting to stick up for himself (and when I say a little, I mean I'm going to torture him and enjoy it *nyeh heh heh*), especially next chapter. Really, I've have completley and utterly killed Sasuke's character with it all... Argh, I hate writing Sasuke! He's so hard to write outside of canon...

Title is 'Master Plan' by Adam Lambert - I love him. He's the male Lady Gaga, cept better I think... and I think he looks like Sasuke a litte in the 'Whattaya Want From Me' video. Gah, gotta stop fangirling. Ignore that~!

Hope you liked the chapter!
Nat.
xxx