Chapter Eleven

"What are you talking about?"

Sasuke opens his eyes again to find Naruto and Sakura watching him with looks of immense confusion.

"What do you mean you didn't do what 'he asked you to do'?" Naruto folds his arms. He looks suspicious but Sasuke is positive that his blonde friend has no idea how close he was to death...to Sasuke betraying him once again.

"Sasuke...?" Sakura asks. She looks worried, as if she suspects what's going on. But her tone is hopeful.

The raven sighs in resignation. I'm going to have to tell them one way or another. It might as well be now. "I lied." He begins, bluntly. "I didn't come back to the village for the reasons I said I did."

Naruto nods. "I assumed as much." He grumbles.

"Then...why did you come back?" Sakura asks. She, too, doesn't seem surprised so far.

They knew I had ulterior motives. Sasuke realizes. Then, shifting his weight awkwardly, he looks at the ground. "I came because I was hired to come here. By Madara Uchiha." Before he even looks up, he can see Naruto and Sakura's bodies go stiff. "He wanted me to capture Naruto because he knew you would come to trust me after a while."

"..."

"..."

A long silence passes. No one speaks. No one moves. Sasuke is still crouched beside the dead monster, his arm soaked through with gore. Sakura's eyes are wide with shock. But, as always, it's Naruto who breaks the silence.

"You...you're a member of the Akatsuki?" Naruto's tone is distant, his expression unreadable. He'd never once considered what would happen in Sasuke followed his brother's footsteps and joined the Akatsuki. How had the Leaf Village not been notified about this?

Sasuke nods.

"And...you were planning on capturing me." He continues.

"Yeah. I was."

"But you didn't." Naruto points out. His face darkens slightly. "You chose to help us instead. Why?"

Even though Sasuke didn't have the answer moments before, it's obvious to him now. It's the same reason Naruto never gave up on him. And why Sasuke hadn't been able to finish the job at the Valley of the End. "Because...you're my friend."

"Thank you for everything you've done." Kame says, smiling proudly. "We couldn't have finished the bridge so soon if you hadn't protected us against those bandits!"

Sakura shakes her head. "We were just doing our job. Are you sure you don't want us to send another team out? I mean, what if the bandits return...?"

"Don't worry about us." Says the business woman. "Now that we're not distracted by the project, we're perfectly capable of handing ourselves."

"Alright then. Good luck, everyone!" Sakura calls to the workers. "And good luck to you, Kame."

Kame nods and glances over Sakura's shoulder. "Be safe on your way home. And tell those boys of yours to quit their fighting."

The rosette offers a polite smile before looking to her teammates who are waiting for her by the edge of the woods. "Not sure how good that'll do. Those two have never really gotten along."

"Oh, really?" Kame tilts her head. "They seem pretty close to me..."

Suddenly, Sakura frowns. "Yeah, well...it's complicated. Right now, we just need to get home and sort things out."

"I understand." Kame says. "Goodbye."

"Bye, Kame." After that, Sakura rushes over to where her teammates are waiting. "You guys ready to go?" She asks them.

"Yep."

"Hn."

"Then let's go. Lady Tsunade needs to know what happened. If the Akatsuki really is go to start seriously pursuing Naruto,"-She shudders at the thought-"Then we need to be ready for another attack." Team 7 rockets into the trees without another moment's hesitation.

The trees flash past in a blur as Naruto and his team sprint through the forest. The sun is setting and the sky is already grey. The few stars that should be twinkling, are blotted out by thick storm clouds. Thunder rumbles in the distance. It's going to start raining soon.

"Maybe we should stop for the night." Sakura suggests, having to shout over another clap of thunder. "To set up camp before the storm hits."

"No, we're too close to the village. There's no point." Naruto argues. "Besides, you said it yourself. Grandma Tsunade has to know what we found out." He glances sideways at Sasuke, unsure of what to think about his teammate's confession. Sasuke was planning on killing me...on handing me over to the Akatsuki... Naruto always puts on a strong face in front of his enemies...but in all honesty, he's terrified of the Akatsuki. Particularly Madara Uchiha. The man that no jutsu seems to affect. It's like he's invincible or immortal. Naruto is practically defenseless against him. When the day comes that Madara decides it's Naruto's turn to die...he won't have a way to protect himself. And that thought is terrifying. It shakes him to the very core. But now's not the time to be worrying about something like that...I'll figure

"I guess you're right..." Sakura admits.

But just then-

"I'm dissapointed in you, Sasuke."

The young Uchiha halts instantly, a chill rolling down his spine. Odd that Madara's voice would have such an influence on him al of a sudden... Naruto and Sakura stop too. Evidently, they had heard the ghostly voice as well.

"Madara!" Naruto shouts, angrily. He spins in a full circle, scanning the trees. But he finds no one.

"I thought I could entrust this mission to you. You, of all people, I thought I could trust... Obviously, I was mistaken."

"Why are you hiding, Madara?!" Sasuke barks. "Come out!"

"I'm a little busy right now. I'm only projecting my voice through a vortex, not my whole body. It's like you said, Sasuke. You could not handle the mission I gave you. It's time I take it on myself."

Naruto shivers at the meaning behind that.

"The Nine Tailed Fox will be mine. And Naruto will die. I'll make sure of that, personally." With that, his voice trails off and dissapears entirely, replaced by the growl of far off thunder.