AN: Hey hey HEEYYY! Lol, yea, took a while to update... So sorry! I'm still deciding what to update next and all. I'm having a really hard time with my other story, so yes. If you are a fan of both this one and that one, I owe you a huge apology! Please give me some time.~

I do not own Naruto.

Chapter Eleven

Sasuke grunted and opened his eyes, blinded by the sun for a moment or two. He let out a deep groan and noticed his cheek pressed into something warm and soft.

"Finally awake, eh teme?" Naruto snickered and turned his head to face the other on his back as best he could. The Uchiha lifted his head up and blinked a little, dazed slightly. All he remembered was screaming his head off at Naruto, then darkness.

'I... passed out from yelling?..' He thought and grunted a little, dropping his head again. It was just so warm outside. His body was still so used to the cold darkness of Orochimaru's hideout. This felt like a slice of heaven to him. The boy closed his eyes and adjusted his arms around the blond's neck, but tensed as he was reminded his old teammate was carrying him.

"Put me down..." Sasuke snarled under his breath and into Naruto's ear, which was easily within reach. He watched Kakashi sigh and give him a sharp glare.

"Not that again," he muttered and dropped his head, "You were a lot better when you were asleep-"

"You shut up," the Uchiha ordered, "And you put me down!" The boy finished, inhaling a bit as the grasp under his legs went slack and he fell to earth. The thin boy grabbed his shorts before they slid down his hips and gasped as he fell on his rear, squeezing his eyes shut in pain.

"There. You're down." The blond said and rolled his eyes at his friend's pathetic attempts to get back up. Sasuke snarled and got to his hands and knees. Why was he still so weak?

"Why..." He tried to choke out, flinching as he felt the grey bottoms begin to fall and he snatched his waistband quickly. The shirt's neck hole slipped over his left, bony shoulder and he tried getting it back to normal. Kakashi grimaced at the sight. He was so thin it almost made him sick to his stomach. Orochimaru must have kept him training till the child dropped dead, then allowed him to eat. Sakura was also looking over the gastly sight.

"Maybe... We should eat somewhere?" She stuttered through shaky lips, making Sasuke turn to look at her. Flashes of her wrapped in a towel, dripping wet, returned to him and he looked away quickly. Naruto sighed heavily and scooped the boy up into his arms, turning to his sensei and smiling brightly.

"We should-!... Wait, sensei, we don't have any money..." Kakashi blinked and sighed, seeing Sakura look down and twiddle her fingers together. Sasuke pounded on the blond's chest, bearing his teeth with frustration.

"Cut it out, teme. You hit like a ten year old boy." Sasuke flinched and flushed a bit, sharingan activating for a second. The tan boy gave him a hard glare and cocked an eyebrow as the other's eyes faded back to black, leaving Sasuke panting tiredly. His punching became weak slapping, fist relaxing and becoming an open hand. Sakura wondered if the curse mark was sucking his chakra out, or something of the sort. Either way, the Uchiha was unusually weak. The jounin to her right looked up and down the road with his lone, grey eye.

"Come on, you two. We need to get back to the village," he said and began walking away, "And we need to get Sasuke checked. He doesn't look good at all." The boy glared heatedly at him with dim eyes, anger almost seeping from them. He was really despising the idea of returning to Konoha. He was still weak in comparison to Orochimaru. Even Kabuto still held some sort of authority over him. Not only because he was the snake's lapdog, but because he had an unknown source of strength Sasuke still hadn't found out. He returned to reality as Naruto sneezed onto him, making him cover his face.

"What the hell, dobe!"

"Ugh... Excuse me." The boy sniffled and smiled down at him brightly. Sakura giggled at the two boys as they squabbled until Sasuke simply exhausted himself and went limp in the other's arms.

They walked, and walked, and walked. Sasuke grumbled a few more times throughout the day, complaining about multiple things and obviously trying to make the trip harder than it already was. Kakashi decided that they would sit down in a restaurant and catch their breath. The only thing close enough to what they were looking for was a small bar a little ways down the road. Naruto read the blinking sign out front. There was an outline of a woman kicking her leg out next to the bar's name, which made Sakura grimace.

"Not exactly what we were looking for, but it'll have to do," the grey haired man told his student's, seeing their hesitation, even if Sasuke's face was carefully masked, "Just stay close to me." They headed towards the building, Sasuke being shuffled around slightly to a better position. He wasn't exactly fazed by this environment, sadly having dealt with things of the sort under his old sensei's teachings. He remembered it clearly as one of the most surprising moments in his life. He had finished training for the day and was heading back to his room as usual. As he walked in, he'd immediately noticed the other presence. It had been a female, lying unconscious on his bed with hardly anything on. He had simply stood there, too shocked to move. His sensei had then chosen to appear behind him, laughing at his innocent reaction.

"Sasuke-kun," he had hissed in that overly calm voice, "She is yours. We found her in an assassination mission, and I thought she'd please you wonderfully. Does she not, or are you just too excited to speak?" That laugh had grated the Uchiha's ears and embarrassed him to no end. The boy hadn't replied to his sensei, mind simply shutting down. It, sadly, had gotten his hormones in a frenzy and tied his tongue in a knot. Orochimaru had then pushed him towards the unconscious girl, making Sasuke stumble and catch himself before completely falling onto his bed. The snake had left after that, locking the door from the outside, like always. The boy had looked over the girl with wide eyes, still trying to comprehend what was happening. The red haired girl had been shivering terribly since he'd laid eyes on her, and he had slipped his shirt off and given it to her. Orochimaru had been slightly angered with his reaction towards the 'gift', and taken the girl away the next morning with an annoyed glint in his eyes. Sasuke shuddered at the memory. He was starting to realize just how many twisted tests he'd be forced to go through, but remembered the present as him and the others entered the bar. It was dimly lit and five burly men sat at the counter. Kakashi looked at them for a second and continued towards a booth. Sakura sat next to him, a bit nervous in this environment. Naruto sat down on her other side and plopped Sasuke on the end with a thud. The Uchiha leaned onto the table, pulling the shirt back over his shoulder. Kakashi leaned back and crossed his arms, pulling out his book an diving into it without a sound. The blond two spots away from him sighed and, following his teammate's example, flopped over the table top. The four of them flinched as a man walked over with two other smaller companions, a large frown on his face.

"Ninja from the Leaf Village? What do you think you're doin' here?" The one farthest to the left growled, toothpick migrating to the other side of his mouth and being chewed on unconsciously. The grey haired jounin at the table set his book down and looked them over.

"Just passing through. What is it that you need?" He replied smoothly, eyeing Sasuke as the boy shuffled uncomfortably. Something was definitely bothering him. One of the men snickered and looked at him with a glint in his eyes.

"Your boy seems a little jumpy. You sure you aren't hiding something from us?..."

"Cut the crap, Genji. We know what you're all up to," the middle man hissed and slammed his hand down on the table, making Naruto and Sasuke rattle as it shook under the force, "We see you have a missing nin with you, and we heard turning in criminals brings in quite a sum of money." Sasuke glared heatedly at them, wishing he could pin them with his sharingan. Sakura flinched, surprised that they knew Sasuke's face. Genji, the man nearest Kakashi, drew a sword out from behind him.

"How dare you allow that scum to show his face here, in our village, after what he did! Konoha lowlifes need to stay where they belong instead of dragging their useless asses where they don't!" He barked at them angrily, katana glinting in the dim light. Sasuke didn't move as the man near him slammed his own fist down before the boy, glaring at the Uchiha with bright, green eyes. The boy simply stared forward, not wanting to start anything here. Of course, if he had his chakra that opinion would be completely different.

"Look, we don't want any trouble. We're bringing him back under the Hokage's orders, where he will be punished for his crimes." The black haired boy gave him a worried glance, mouth opening a tad. So that was the plan. No. He would not go through with this. He moved his injured arm under the table and into his lap, other still propped on the table top. Genji pointed his weapon at him, gritting his teeth.

"If that's your plan, why not finish him off right here and now? We all have a good idea of what this punk deserves." The man chuckled, but gasped as the Uchiha launched forward and flipped the katana out of his hands and into his own. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and gave Naruto a stern look. The blond nodded his head and snatched up Sasuke's broken wrist, causing the boy to grunt and drop his weapon to the floor.

"N-Naru-"

"Shut up. What in the world do you think you're doing," the other growled in his ear, grip tightening and making the Uchiha squeeze his eyes shut, "We don't want to fight anyone. Unlike you, we have allies to keep up with and this village is one of them." Genji shakily picked his weapon back up, seeing the boy released from the other's fierce grip. He dropped his head and rubbed his wrist tenderly.

"Fucking brat! How dare you!" The tall male yelled and shook his fist warningly. Sasuke just watched him with furious eyes, but returned to looking down as Naruto jabbed him in the side. The burly man crossed his arms and looked Kakashi over with a questioning gaze.

"If that is so, we'll be waiting to hear of his execution." With that, and one final taunting glare at the thin boy, the three returned to their original seats. Kakashi sighed and glared at Sasuke. The boy looked at him dangerously.

"If you think I'm going to allow your bitch of a Hokage punish me you're completely wrong..." The boy growled behind gritted teeth, stomach grumbling a little. Sakura looked at him worriedly as he rubbed his flat middle.

"Sensei, do we have any money at all? He really needs to get something in his stomach."

"No. Just-" Sasuke stopped as his belly roared once again and he looked away from the three. Naruto sighed and dug around in his pockets, seeing one last time if he had any money at all. His fingers touched something paper like, and a few cold coins. Yes. He was wearing his house pants, which he always carried some extra ramen money in. He emptied his pockets onto the table and counted. Sasuke turned to give the money a relieved look. Though he was not going to say anything, he was starving.

"You don't have to spend anything on me..."

"Oh, trust me, Sasuke. I know that." The blond snickered and gave him a teasing look, making the Uchiha snort in annoyance and cover his stomach again. Sakura rolled her eyes at the pale boy's stubbornness. Yep, back to normal.

Orochimaru stood over the corpse, golden eyes glowing in the dark room. Kabuto stood behind him in silence, knowing better then to speak at this time. That'd surely get himself killed.

"How could this happen." The pale sannin's voice reached the medic's ears, making him straighten himself up and fist his hands.

"It seems as though his old team was here," the younger man replied, looking at Juugo's flattened and twisted gut, "That's definitely the work of the infamous rasengan." Orochimaru's chakra grew dramatically, announcing his furious anger to anyone around him. The grey haired man shivered and found himself to be shivering madly.

"Kabuto...," the snake hissed out, "The curse seal- Sasuke's curse seal. You made it unstable, didn't you?" He ordered and turned on his heel to stand before his right hand man. Kabuto nodded quickly in reply, tensing at the heated stare being shot at him.

"Y-Yes, Lord Orochimaru." He stuttered out through shaky lips, seeing the pale ninja's own curl up into a sinister smile. A deep chuckle rumbled forth from his throat and he nodded back at his medic.

"Then we should be able to track him down with some help from her. You know where she is, right Kabu-san?" Orochimaru smiled and patted the younger ninja's cheek. Kabuto jumped at the sudden touch, being brought out of his shocked stare and focussing back on the sannin. The snake turned and walked into the shadows surrounding them, one last velvety laugh emitting from him. Kabuto dropped his head as he felt the man leave, letting out a sigh of relief and turning himself around to go find the female his lord was asking for.

Sasuke pounced on the meal set before him, feeling slightly bad for using up their last bit of money. He paused a moment. Him? Feeling bad for someone else? No. Preposterous. Sakura noticed the boy stop eating and glare at his almost empty plate.

"Sasuke-kun?... Everything alright?" She asked, mentally slapping herself for using the suffix once again. She really needed to quit that annoying habit. The Uchiha jumped slightly at her voice, black eyes rolling to give her a empty stare. Kakashi had also noticed his student's sudden halting and was, along with his female comrade, wondering what was the matter. Sasuke looked at her for a while, then returned to glaring at his plate.

"I... I don't intend on being executed..." He growled through gritted teeth, fisting his good arm on the table top. Naruto looked at him with an emotionless stare. Was the boy, somehow, saying he feared death? Kakashi sighed and crossed his arms.

"We aren't either, Sasuke. But, all actions have a reaction. Hokage-sama will choose your punishment as she sees fit. We will try our best to persuade her though." The Uchiha let his bangs fall into his face. His gut was in a knot now, knowing Tsunade's would surely give him the death penalty. The things Orochimaru had forced him to do- No. He'd done them willingly, blinded with the power offered to him. The innocent people he had slaughtered. He deserved death. Sakura watched as the boy had an inward conversation, face twisting into pain and anger.

"Everything will work out, Sasuke," she whispered helpfully, giving him a soft smile, " Trust us." The boy lifted his head back up to eye her weakly. Seeing as to how he didn't want to dwell on his fate or Orochimaru's furious voice, he decided to take the female's advise.

Black and white. Everything was black and white around him. The trees, the grass, the bodies. Corpses. Hundreds of thousands of them, all stacked before him in some grotesque mockery of a wall. Sasuke looked up with watery eyes, seeing a small girl at the top. She had pink ribbons in her hair that held her ponytails in place, big blue eyes leaking over her flushed cheeks. Sasuke watched her and began taking a few shaky steps back. The child screamed horribly and fell face forward, soaring to the ground and landing with a sickening crack. The Uchiha shuddered as the child's head split open and blood spilled over the earth. He heard laughter above and raised his head again. He saw himself now standing where the child had once been, eyes blazing with the sharingan. Sasuke froze and began to tremble, seeing the bodies begin to fall towards him. The wall was collapsing and sending corpses down like rain. The boy crouched on the ground and covered his head, shaking and waiting to be crushed. It never came and he looked up, freezing and widening his eyes. The people stood around him, rotting and looking at him with hollow eyes.

"Murderer!" One screeched out and lifted a bloody hand to point at him accusingly.

"Filthy, disgusting, backstabbing murderer!" She continued, stumbling towards him and continuing to point him out with a long, yellow fingernail. The rest began to mutter, pointing at him as well and calling out vicious names. The boy backed up, but found himself to be surrounded. He covered his ears in an attempt to shut out the monotone voices that began to fill his head. They grew louder, growing in confidence and starting to close in. They reached out to grab him and Sasuke once again curled up on the ground, screaming out desperately. His body felt shaking and immediately he thought it was the horrific bodies, letting out another fear laced cry.

"Punishment! Punishment for his sins!" The voices chanted, and Sasuke felt his heart pound in his chest. Fear gripped him and the tears began to fall.

Naruto shook the boy by the shoulders crazily, worried sick. He stopped as the boy finally opened his eyes, staring up at the starry sky above. A thin blanket covered him up to his neck, legs uncovered up to his shins. He trembled and gulped loudly. He'd never felt such fear. It was up close to seeing Itachi's sharingan, even. Chills rattled up his spine and made him clutch the blanket in a death grip.

"Sasuke? You alright?" Naruto whispered softly, having woken up from the boy's shuffling. The Uchiha was, to say the least, horrified. At least that was the look plastered onto his usual calm features. The boy shook his head and gulped in air, still staring into the sky with clouded, black orbs. The blond crawled towards him and sat down in the grass, looking over the frightened boy. Sasuke jumped as he felt a hand brush his arm.

"Hey... I'm... sorry I haven't been treating you very well." The tan ninja began. The thin boy looked at him in confusion. Was he forgiving him?

"N-Narut-to?" He choked out, but all he managed to do was whisper quietly. His nightmare still had him a bit paralyzed. It'd felt so real, like something that would happen. The voices came back to him, filling his head with cruel words. He fisted his hands in his hair and pulled painfully. Naruto saw him and leaned forward, wondering what to do.

"S-Sasuke! What's wrong?" He gasped worriedly, seeing his friend grit his teeth in anger. His dream, perhaps?

"Sakura-chan," the boy called to his pink haired comrade, "Sakura-chan, please!" He pleaded and rubbed Sasuke's arm comfortingly. The boy let out a whimper of fear, shaking and curling up into a ball on his side. Now he remembered his sensei's words. Punishment. He would receive punishment back in Konoha. All those people in his dream- the people he had murdered under Orochimaru's tempting command. He couldn't go through with that. He couldn't die. Not yet, at least. The boy felt a wave of adrenaline pump through his tired muscles and he launched to his feet.

"Sasuke! What's wrong with you!" The blond yelled at him, finally getting Kakashi's attention. The man had been quietly listening to the two boy's conversation, now jumping in since things had changed. He sprinted after the Uchiha, who was running towards the tree line. The boy was still gripped by fear, he supposed. Sasuke panted heavily. He had to get away and back to Orochimaru. He'd be punished severely if he didn't go back. Another shiver rattled up his spine and he lost his footing, leaning into a tree and sliding to the ground weakly. Having been running on fumes, his body now ached with the sudden pressure on it and punished him for using it so roughly. Kakashi approached the Uchiha cautiously.

"Sasuke? What's gotten into you?" He asked calmly, crouching beside him and placing a rough hand on his shoulder. The child gave him and exhausted look, then flinched as his curse mark burned. A chuckle sounded in his head and he doubled over into the cool grass.

'Sasuke-kun... What have you gotten yourself into?' He heard the snake's voice hissed to him. He clutched his mark and gasped. Orochimaru? Here? No, it couldn't be. He couldn't be close by.

'Such a stubborn Uchiha runt.. I thought I taught you better, Sasuke...'

"O-O-Orochimaru?" The boy choked out painfully, mark throbbing horribly. Kakashi flinched at the name escaping the child's quivering lips and quickly carried him back to their small campsite. Sakura and Naruto sat patiently for him, watching him as he set Sasuke down in an open area. The man began to form hand seals, then, like he had back at Orochimaru's base, sliced his hand open. He had put off sealing the Uchiha's curse mark, but now it was evident that he had to. He quickly drew the seals over his student's thin body. He had to pull his shirt off when the grey haired man came to his chest, shivering at the cool breeze. After a few minutes, the seals were in place, along with everything else needed to perform the jutsu. Sasuke choked as pain began to fill him up, the snake's voice echoing in his head. Kakashi ordered his other two students back, forming another long line of signs and finally smashing his palm down on the boy's disgusting mark. Agony. Burning, white-hot pain was erupting from the touch. His muscles became unresponsive, excluding his throat, which erupted screams into the night air. Sasuke had almost forgotten how painful the sealing had been the first time. It felt as if fiery nails were being hammered into his soft, vulnerable shoulder. Kakashi kept steady. If he moved the jutsu would fail, and Orochimaru would surely unleash the curse seal over the Uchiha's weak body. The bloodied marks vanished into the mark, spinning around it and becoming a deep, black barrier. He lifted his hand after they stopped, allowing Sasuke to fall forward into the grass.

'I'm still here, Sasuke-kun... Punishment will come, sooner or later...' The boy heard before passing out with a heavy sigh.

AN: Lol! I apologize if it is not perfect! I did really like Sasuke's nightmare. I've had one like it before, except I wasn't, like, being accused and all. Lol. I don't kill people, as far as all of you know. ;D ANYWAAAYS..

Reviews are oh so adored!

Nat