It was very dark when Naruto finally stirred. He had no idea how long he'd been asleep but he felt fully refreshed and rejuvenated…or so he thought. He sat up in bed, the sand sliding gracefully from around his body only to realize that he was still pretty tired.

"You've been sleeping for several hours Naruto." Naruto rubbed his eyes and from the small light illuminating from the candle on his bedside table, he could see Gaara sitting in a chair across the room.

"Oh…yeah I'm sorry," he winced.

"There's no need for an apology. You arrived here in almost half the time which means you must have been traveling at a pretty fast pace."

"Yeah. I was just…the more time ero senin and I had on our hands, the more time I had to dwell on…things. I'm tired of…stuff and I was just ready to get away." Gaara didn't say anything because he still wasn't sure how to best talk with the blonde. Naruto's message, though very cryptic, only confirmed that Naruto was still suffering from Sasuke's departure. Gaara's friendship with Naruto was still fairly new and though Gaara didn't have much experience in the friendship department, he was still determined to find a way to help his new friend. He glanced across the room at Naruto. He had slid back under the sand blanket and was starting to doze off again.

"I'll let you go back to sleep. I just came by to…make sure…that you were alright." Gaara stood to his feet and hurried towards the door.

"Thank you Gaara. I'm glad that…you care," he replied stifling a yawn. Gaara headed out the door without another word.

G--G--G--G--G

"Orochimaru, I'm done for the day," Sasuke huffed. He tossed his kunai knife to the side and started heading back towards the hideout. A moment later, Kabuto appeared next to the entrance of the hideout smirking at Sasuke.

"What the hell is up with you?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh nothing."

"Kabuto, where have you been?" Orochimaru asked. He was just as tired as Sasuke and had pretty much depleted his chakra supply sparing with the boy.

"Oh you know. Just out and about."

"I see."

"Lord Orochimaru, you know I've warned you about using so much chakra from day to day." Kabuto rushed to his master's side to help him back inside their hideout.

"And I told you that I'll do what I want. Besides," he said now lowering his voice, "it's for a good cause."

Kabuto helped Orochimaru to his room where he began checking him out.

"You need to get some sleep. Drink this potion and you'll feel much better when you awaken."

"Fine. Now go check on Sasuke. I can't have him scarring up that precious little body of his," he grinned. Kabuto nodded as he headed out of his master's room to look for Sasuke. He found Sasuke sitting on the floor in one of the corridors staring up at the ceiling.

"What do you want Kabuto?"

"Hey…don't snap at me. I'm only doing what I'm told. Lord Orochimaru sent me to check up on you that's all," he said shrugging.

"You can see for yourself that I'm fine now leave me alone."

"As you wish. I need to go and heal myself anyway. Sparring with one of the legendary sanin can always be a pain," he mumbled.

"Huh? What are you going on about?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I had a run in with an old friend today."

"Who?" Kabuto turned to Sasuke. He used his index finger to push his glasses up on his face to get a better view of the raven haired shinobi.

"Oh! So now you're interested in my day? All before hand you were sending me away like I'm some child that you can order around."

"Whatever. You don't have to tell me. It's not like your day consists of anything important enough that's worth discussing anyway," he smirked. Kabuto could feel his face flushing with anger. He was glad that there wasn't much light. He couldn't bear to give that annoying prick the satisfaction of seeing him pissed off. He only shrugged his shoulders and started back down the corridor.

"Jiraiya can be a pain in the ass. Despite his efforts of hiding the kyuubi, the Akatsuki will find him eventually. It's only a matter of time and when they do, I'll be so relieved. The kid annoys me to no end. If they succeed in killing him it would be one less thorn in my side…and Orochimaru's." Kabuto just laughed as he headed down the corridor. Through the peripheral vision offered by his glasses, he was able to see the horrified look on Sasuke's face.

"HEY KABUTO! WAIT A SECOND."

"Yes?" he answered, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Did he…the old man let Naruto leave the village. Why? Why would they do that if they know he's being hunted down by the Akatsuki? Who better to protect him than the two sanin themselves?" he asked. Kabuto could sense the urgency in his voice and could not help but be amused. To think that the pompous prince belonging to Orochimaru had a soft side just tickled Kabuto to death.

"Well," he smirked. "Apparently they feel like he'll be safe where he's staying. According to Jiraiya, he'll be heavily guarded from day to day on this 'mission' as he put it. I'm no fool so this so called mission seems to be a cover up. At any rate, he's not in the Leaf Village and unless Jiraiya is secretly watching him too then the Akatsuki will find him and kill him. I'm hoping for the latter." I've done well…With that final thought, Kabuto disappeared leaving Sasuke behind with lots of troubling thoughts.

Sasuke just sat in the semi-dark corridor trying to make sense of what Kabuto said. He could not tell if Kabuto was just yanking his chain or telling the truth. The only thing that he was sure of was that it was possible that Kabuto did in fact have a confrontation with the sanin. Kabuto had been out and about for almost two days. If he was fighting with Jiraiya then the story made sense. As for the part about Naruto leaving the village, he knew that Naruto was on a mission that required him to stay in Tazuna Town but he assumed that Naruto would be returning to the Leaf Village soon. I should have found out where he was going. Sasuke pounded his fist into the wall behind him.

"Dammit Naruto! Why are you so stubborn?" Can't you see that I'm trying to protect you? Sasuke stood to his feet and looked around the corridor. He was certain that Kabuto slipped Orochimaru a sleeping potion so he was pretty sure he had time to go investigating. With one last glance around him, he pulled the string to a trap door that led to the outside. Alright Naruto. Let's see where you are hiding.

Kabuto smiled as he watched Sasuke disappear through the trap door. I guess Itachi was right. Kabuto let out a chuckle before heading out the trap door as well. Time to pay Itachi another visit.

AN: For all the people who want Sasuke to live, I had planned on killing him to begin with. If the story keeps going at the direction I had intended originally then he's gotta go. Anyway, now that that's out of the way I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I wrote two over spring break and so here's your last update for a while. R&R