I got SO many reviews from the last 2 chapters I posted!

THANKYOU TO ALL!

And thankyou to my best friend, who just so happens to have an account and I only just found out now -_- haha.

So I hope you guys like this one! (fuck, I say that every single time, ay?) haha.

ENJOYYYYY!

Episode 10 – SUSPENSE, AND A CONFESSION

Sakura had begged Naruto to not leave until she had explained the whole situation to him. Naruto sat there, his eyes not leaving his half-eaten bowl of ramen, which had now gone cold. He never said a word as Sakura told him everything in a hushed whisper, fearing the man and daughter who owned the shop would overhear.

When she had finished, Naruto was still silent.

"Naruto?" she said softly, placing her hand on his, which were flat on the table either side of his ramen bowl.

"Hn… So he's really back, isn't he?" he muttered, his expression unchanging.

They were silent for a few more moments.

"W-why?" Naruto whispered, his voice hinting a tone of sadness.

"I don't really know… All I know is that apparently he isn't working for Orochimaru anymore, and I guess he just came back to warn us," Sakura muttered.

"No, no, no, I got that; it's just that… why would he come to warn us?" Naruto said, a little louder this time, turning to look in Sakura's eyes. His cerulean eyes were wide and plagued with confusion and sadness.

"I-I don't really know…" Sakura muttered to herself, her eyes breaking Naruto's gaze.

Suddenly, Naruto pushed out his stool, turned, and left without uttering a single word.

"N-Naruto? Naruto! Hey, come back!" Sakura called, jumping up from her stool.

Sasuke sat on the cold, hard bench in his jail cell. The small window in the middle of the wall provided little pure light, the rest was artificial.

He rested his head on the brick wall, his head slightly tilted so he could gaze out of the tiny window. The cell was cold, but it didn't bother him. Tsunade had ordered Sasuke to stay locked up until she could figure out two things; Orochimaru's battle plan, and if Sasuke really had returned to save Konoha and wasn't conspiring against them. His weapons were confiscated and stored in Tsunade's office. On the floor was a half eaten tray of poorly prepared food; just enough to get Sasuke by for the next meal.

Sasuke closed his eyes and felt the cool breeze from outside float in every so often. It was so weird to be back home, to where it had all begun. He wasn't really sure why he had decided to help the Hidden Leaf. Well, he did know, he was just surprised at why he had decided to help.

Suddenly, Sasuke picked up the light sound of footsteps echoing of the walls, scraping closer and closer until they grew louder and then stopped.

Sasuke still didn't open his eyes.

"So, you're really here, hm?" a scratchy, familiar voice asked flatly.

Sasuke knew that voice anywhere. He opened his eyes slowly and turned his head to see, yes, none other than Naruto standing there. He was trying to bear cold eyes, but Sasuke could detect the hurt and confusion within them, hands down.

Sasuke said nothing.

"Just had to come see if the rumors were true," Naruto muttered, moving his gaze away from Sasuke to the floor beside him.

Sasuke was stunned to see how surprised and calm Naruto was, but he had a fear that Naruto would snap at any second if he didn't say anything to acknowledge him.

"Hey, knuckle-head," Sasuke said.

Naruto flinched. "Don't you dare call me that," he spat.

A few moments of silence passed.

"Why are you here?" Naruto said, reaching up to grasp one of the iron bars that separated the two former friends.

Sasuke uttered a short 'ha'. "Didn't Sakura tell you?"

"Yeah, she did…" Naruto muttered.

"Well?"

"What I don't get is why you chose to stay here and help, you know? I-I'm really confused, Sasuke," Naruto admitted sadly, still avoiding Sasuke's onyx eyes.

Sasuke sighed. "It's complicated…"

Naruto pressed on.

"Are you going to help us defend the village?" Naruto blurted out, his voice cracking slightly.

Sasuke rose from the cold, hard bench and walked over to Naruto, their bodies about half a meter apart.

I don't remember the last time we were this close to each other without trying to tear each other to shreds, Naruto thought.

"I can't say why, Naruto, but believe me when I say that I am here to help," Sasuke said slowly, gripping the horizontal iron bar infront of his waist.

Naruto's cerulean eyes buried into Sasuke's onyx eyes, which for the first time, showed any kind of honesty or compassion. Naruto suddenly leaned in so their faces were inches apart.

"I'm not ready to forgive you Sasuke, but you know as well as I do when I say that I will put my life on the line to protect this village and the people in it. We are going to need all the help we can get, but—"

Naruto paused; the pace of his eyes transforming from sad to cold and deadly was something to behold,

"—if you so much as put one toe out of line; make one single slip up, or do anything to harm any soul within this village, I will end you myself," he snarled.

Sasuke looked down to see that Naruto had held his hand out, open. Sasuke, without much hesitation, reached out and clasped his hand with Naruto's, briefly shaking it.

"Good," Naruto whispered, his voice and eyes returning to normal. He pulled away, turned around and walked out.

A few days later, Tsunade had figured out a plan of attack minutes before an ANBU op appeared in her office, reporting they had seen sightings of Orochimaru, Kabuto and Kaiya about 15 kilometers from the village gates.

She then ordered Kakashi and Iruka to begin the safe evacuation of the village's people into the secret rooms in the cliff behind the Great Hokage Faces.

An hour later, Kakashi had appeared in Tsunade's office. She shot him an annoyed glance.

"I thought I sent you to go evacuate the people!" she shouted, slamming her hand down on the desk.

Kakashi raised his hand to calm and silence her. "That's all taken care of; Iruka has taken charge of the 50 jonin assisting in the evacuation. All is going according to plan," he assured her in his soft, always calm voice.

She sighed and leaned back into her chair, closing her eyes.

"I have another mission for you anyway," Tsunade said, opening her eyes and leaning forward onto her desk.

"And what's that?"

"Gather all the young ninja; Sakura, Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, Neji, all of them. Pull them aside and brief them on what is to be required of them. Sakura is to avoid any strenuous combat as she will be required to heal any hurt ninja around her. And, you are to keep an eye on Naruto at all times, Kakashi. I've heard that he knows that Sasuke has returned. Though I don't know if they've spoken to each other since Sasuke arrived. Just keep your eye on him," she ordered, her hands clasped in front of her face.

Kakashi nodded. "And what about Sasuke?"

Kakashi was alarmed to find Sasuke missing from his cell. In fears that Sasuke had escaped and was actually conspiring against Konoha, he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, searching for Sasuke.

Before his panic could grow, he spied Sasuke sitting on a tree limb about 500 meters from the jail.

Kakashi leapt up the tree and took a spot next to Sasuke, who was leaning against the trunk, staring off into the distance.

"You okay?" Sasuke's former sensei questioned.

Sasuke didn't respond. Kakashi looked down at Sasuke's lap to see him fiddling with silver, heart shaped locket.

How strange…

"The village is preparing to go into battle. We need you," Kakashi informed, trying not to sound pushy.

A few moments of silence passed; time that should have not been wasted.

"It's all my fault," Sasuke muttered, still refusing to face Kakashi.

As respectful as ever to his former student, Kakashi placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Sasuke, what ever happened up until now is in the past. Don't dwell on it. Right now, you need to focus on—"

"—I can't do this," Sasuke muttered sadly.

Kakashi pressed on. "Sasuke, focus. We need yo—"

"—Don't you get it?" Sasuke replied bitterly. "I can't do this!" he said shrilly, still refusing to meet Kakashi's gaze.

He certainly is as stubborn as ever, Kakashi thought bitterly.

The alarm had sounded across the village that Orochimaru was about 5 kilometers from the village. This time, the news about his presence was graver.

"Lady Hokage," the ANBU black op said hastily as he reappeared in her office. "Orochimaru is 5 kilometers from the Main Gate,"

"What? Five kilometers? He was 15 kilometers away 10 minutes ago!" Tsunade shouted in disbelief.

"He… he has a-an army, m'lady…" the ANBU black op stuttered, flinching at his stutter.

Tsunade's eyes grew wide with shock.

"An army?"

The black op nodded. "It's a clone army, m'lady. Hundreds, no, thousands of clones of the young ninja he had recruited. They… they just appeared out of nowhere…"

Tsunade slammed her fist on the table and shot out of her seat. A stack of papers beside her toppled over onto the floor.

"Alarm your men, now! Alarm all the jonin on defense and offense to spread out to all corners of the village and prepare for battle! We've let Orochimaru get too close to the village walls! And tell them that Kaiya is to be killed on site! Go, NOW!" she boomed, both hands spread out on her desk.

The ANBU black op saluted and immediately vanished in a puff of white smoke.

Tsunade lowered her head and closed her eyes. We underestimated him…

The alarm sounded overhead. Kakashi looked up.

"Come on," he said, standing up and turning to leave. "We're wasting time we haven't got."

"How can I be forced to kill someone that I love?" Sasuke responded miserably, looking up at a stunned Kakashi.

Wow, ay?

Sasuke actually has feelings for a girl! Ha. I was trying to continue on from there, but it was hard and it looked weird, so I thought I'd leave it at that.

What happens now?

Will Sasuke join the fight against Kaiya's thousands of clones?

Will Naruto forgive Sasuke and allow them to fight side by side?

R&R!

Peace, xx