*One Week Later*
Sakura woke up and snuggled closer to Sasuke. Sasuke nuzzled her neck and wrapped his arms around her tighter as he too began to wake up.
"Good morning." Sakura said softly.
"Good morning. How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling pretty good. I'm glad that you are here with me when I wake up."
"Same. It's been a while since we just laid here like this…"
"Too long, if you ask me…" Sakura said quietly.
Sasuke nuzzled into her neck. "I know… But things have been so busy lately. Madara has been showing signs of strength and we have been trying to figure out how to stop him."
"I know… but you two are gone way too long… and when you come back… it's never for very long." Sakura said.
"I know. But this time, we will only be gone for three weeks and then we will be home. Naruto and the other Kage have decided that it would be best to only meet up once a month from here on out since we have finally agreed on a plan."
"Good…"
Sasuke and Sakura sighed when there was a knock on the door.
"Don't these people know that I would like to spend some time with my fiancé?!" Sasuke growled as he got out of bed and left to see who was at the door.
Sakura got up and walked out to where Sasuke was.
"I see…" Sasuke said. "Alright. Thank you for informing me. Tell him that I will be there soon."
"Yes sir." A male voice said.
Sakura stood at the entrance of the room and waited for Sasuke to close the door before she spoke.
"Who was that? And what was that about?"
"Naruto has requested that we head back to the Kage Summit. He said that Gaara has sent him a message stating that they have important news on Madara." Sasuke said quietly.
Sakura looked down. "I see… So how soon are you leaving?"
"Noon."
Sakura looked up at the clock. That was in an hour. "Ok…"
Sasuke walked over to Sakura and picked her up in a hug, kissed her cheek, and set her back down. Then he kissed her forehead. "I promise… I won't be too long. I will write often… And before you know it, I will be home."
Sakura hugged Sasuke tightly. "I don't want you to go…"
"I know Sakura… I know... But I will be back… I promise." Sasuke whispered as he stroked her hair.
After a bit, Sasuke pulled away and kissed Sakura passionately. "Take care." He said as he left.
*At the Village Gates*
"Naruto…"
"Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed. "You ready to go?"
Sasuke looked back towards the village. "…Yea…"
Naruto looked at Sasuke. "You're worried about her… Aren't you?"
"Yea… She was so upset to see me leave again…"
"Hinata was the same way. I almost sent an Anbu to your place to tell you that we were staying for a bit longer…"
"Why didn't you?"
"Madara and the safety of those we love come first. We need to go to the Kage Summit… To protect our families…" Naruto said.
"You're right…" Sasuke replied softly.
*At the Kage Summit*
"Yo, Naruto! I hear you have a mini you… runnin around now fool, ya fool!"
"Old man Bee! Man! It's great to see ya!" Naruto exclaimed.
"So how is the kid Naruto? And how is Hinata?" the Mizukage asked.
"They are both doing just fine! Heh heh! I am the proud father of a baby boy!"
"Congratulations Naruto." Gaara said.
"What did ya name him, fool, ya fool?" Bee asked.
"We named him Haru."
"Haru… a good, strong name…" the Tsuchikage said.
Naruto smiled.
"Alright now, back to business." The Raikage ordered. "We have received important news about Madara's whereabouts."
"And?" Naruto asked.
"From what we have heard, Madara is hiding in one of Orochimaru's hideouts. Our ninja had discovered two weird looking ninja talking about it. But we do not have a clue where any of Orochimaru's hideouts are…" the Raikage said.
"I do…"
Everyone looked at Sasuke.
"I know where they all are…" Sasuke said.
"That's right…" the Tsuchikage said. "You abandoned your village and joined up with Orochimaru for a few years…"
"But what you also seem to forget… Tsuchikage… is that I am also the one who killed Orochimaru…"
"Indeed. A service for all of us… So now you plan to take us to these hideouts?"
"No." Sasuke said coldly.
"What?! Sasuke!" Naruto yelled.
"I can see where he is coming from…" Gaara said.
"What do you mean, Gaara?!" Naruto yelled.
"Sasuke knows that Madara wants to gain as much power as he can before attacking us again… So he chose a location where only certain people would be able to find him… Those certain people include those that are greatly affected by his new Jutsu… He is able to gain more ninja to join his side and with that can put up simple defenses so that if one of Orochimaru's pawns were to show others where to find him, he could simply put an end to the one bearing the curse mark and have his henchman take care of the others who had come with the one ninja…"
Naruto looked at Sasuke who nodded. "It's a trap that he has lain to draw in those who bear the curse mark. He knows that those who do bear the curse mark are the ones that he should fear the most. So he created a jutsu that would become stronger when facing an opponent that bears the curse mark and is louring them in so that he can dispose of them one by one..."
"So until we know how to defeat Madara… we shouldn't make any advances on him…" The Tsuchikage said.
"That would be your best bet…" Gaara said. "First, we must figure out how we are going to counteract this new jutsu… Then, we can attack…"
"Well then let's bring this to an end. And plan for what is coming around the bend." Bee said. "Naruto be getting back to his family, just like we all should be. We gather real soon for another meeting, until then, we prepare for a big home greeting."
"Right! Let's go home!" Naruto said.