AN: I don't own Naruto.
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Previously:"Itachi, what do we do with that Sai guy, yeah?" Deidara asked as he was following team seven.
"I say we kill him, along with anyone else who interferes." Kisame said.
"Do what you please, just stick to the plan." Itachi said as he pursued his brother's team. "I suppose I'll have to force you into getting the Mangekyou Sasuke…"
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Chapter 11 - Broken promise?…
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as she, Sai, and Sasuke were separated from their teammate. The Akatsuki had caught them off guard, and Kisame knocked Naruto off a cliff. As Kisame jumped after his target, Deidara made sure Sakura and Sai were far away from Sasuke with a series of explosives.
"Sakura." Sasuke said as he tried to regroup, but stopped when he sensed the presence of his brother. "Itachi."
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"Sai, we have to get him off his bird." Sakura whispered to her teammate as he summoned an ink tiger.
"Whatever you say ugly." Sai said with a smile. Sai drew a small flock of birds and summoned them to life. The ink birds flew straight at Deidara. At the same time, the Akatsuki member made a another large bird and released it.
"Sai!" Sakura called out when the large bird collided with Sai's small ink flock. An explosion erupted and the two parties flew back from the blast.
"He put explosion tags in the birds." Deidara thought as he was knocked off his clay bird.
"Sakura, hurry up!" Sai called out as he rode on his tiger through the multiple explosions.
"I'm ready." Sakura called out as Sai went straight toward to where Deidara fell.
"Damn that-" but Deidara was cut off when a huge black tiger rammed him into a tree. Before he could move, a huge ink cobra wrapped itself around him and the tree. The Akatsuki member struggled to get free, but the strength of the beast left him immobile.
Sakura then appeared in front of him.
"Say goodbye." Sakura said as she formed a tight fist. Concentrating a large amount of chakra into her right fist, she ran forward and aimed straight at Deidara's heart, but just before she could make contact, someone pushed her aside.
"What the-Neji?!" Sakura said.
"Get down!" Neji yelled. Sai did as he was told, and Neji covered Sakura.
"Art is a bang, yeah." Deidara said before his body inflated and blew up.
Debris flew in every direction, and some trees fell from its force. When everything seemed to settle down Neji got off of Sakura and scanned the area. Sai came from behind a boulder and walked toward the small group.
"That was close." Sai said as he patted some dirt off his clothes.
"Yeah, thanks Neji." Sakura said.
"I'm always here to help you." Neji said as he watched her smile.
"Oh wait! Naruto and Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said panicked. "Neji, can you use your byakugan?"
Neji activated his technique and looked around as Tenten and Lee approached them.
"Naruto's fighting Kisame in the river down hill. Sasuke is fighting Itachi in the forest in the opposite direction." Neji said as his eyes turned back to normal.
"Neji, you have to help Naruto. You can stop his chakra flow before he transforms into the Kyuubi. By the time he gets his fourth tail, it's over." Sakura explained.
"No, we can do it." Tenten said as she took out a small slip of paper. "Kakashi-san gave it to us before we left. He said it would seal the kyuubi."
"Sakura, I'm coming with you." Neji said sternly.
"Neji I-" but Sakura was cut off when the group sensed a large chakra signature approach them.
"He's back!" Sai yelled as the group scattered. A another bird blew up and created a crater right where the leaf nins stood only moments before.
"Neji, Sakura-san! You two help Sasuke, we'll handle the rest." Lee called out as he started to unwrap the bandages around his arms. "Tenten, you and Sai go help Naruto."
"But Lee." Tenten began.
"I'll be alright." Lee assured her as he gave his signature thumbs up. "I promise!"
"Sakura, let's go." Neji said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "We can't waste time."
"But-" Sakura muttered.
"I'll make sure Naruto will be fine, and Lee promised he would be ok. We'll be just fine, I give you my word." Tenten said with a smile. Sakura smiled back.
"Thank you Tenten." Sakura said as she turned to leave.
"Lee, Tenten, Sai. Be careful." Neji said before leaving.
"You know us." Tenten said as her teammate sprinted off. She then turned to Lee, "Don't do anything stupid." Tenten said before giving the green nin a farewell hug. "Let's go Sai!" Tenten said as they ran off toward Naruto.
Deidara was about to go after Sakura and Neji, but Lee kicked him off his bird.
"You're going to regret that, yeah." the Akatsuki member said as he wiped off some blood on the side of his mouth.
"I won't allow you to harm any of my friends." Lee said as he took out a small bottle from his kunai pouch.
"What is that?" Deidara asked as he molded another clay bomb.
"Just some medicine I need to take." Lee said as he unscrewed the small bottle of sake and drank it in one shot.
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"Die you blue bastard!" Naruto said as he clawed at Kisame's right arm. Kisame held his right arm as the wound burned into his skin.
"What the hell?" Kisame thought, but then when he looked at the blond nin he saw red chakra consume his body. "Hmph, the fox is finally coming out."
The Akaktsuki member readied himself as the now single tailed Naruto came charging at him.
"I can't let this control me. I need to go help Sakura-chan and the teme." Naruto thought as he summoned four shadow clones.
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"You are pathetic Sasuke." Itachi said as he attacked Sasuke with inhuman speed.
"Shut up!" Sasuke said as he aimed a punch in his brothers gut.
"Even you should be able to realize that you're going to lose at this rate." Itachi said as he dodged another punch from Sasuke. "I suppose I will have to assist you in getting these eyes." Itachi then activated his mangekyou and landed a punch right in Sasuke's stomach. The younger Uchiha fell to his knees as he spat out blood.
"You truly are pathetic." Itachi then gabbed the back of Sasuke's neck and lifted him off the ground. "What happened to all the potential I saw in you when father was still alive?" At that moment Sasuke's eyes widened at the memory of his deceased clan.
"NO!" Sasuke yelled as his chidori surrounded his body. Itachi couldn't escape fast enough not to be burned. Sasuke then executed an uppercut with his right fist sending Itachi into the air. Sasuke jumped and applied a series of kicks and punches in mid-air. "Lion combo!" the younger Uchiha said as he landed one last kick into Itachi's side as his body connected to the ground. Before Sasuke had a chance to strikethrough his brother's heart with his sword, Itachi used the replacement jutsu and appeared in front of Sasuke, only a few meters away.
"If just bringing back some memories made you react like that. Then what would you do if let's say, I rid another one of your distractions right now." Itachi said.
"……..Sakura, Naruto!" Sasuke thought as the grip on his sword tightened.
"Your attachment to those two are what's keeping you from your dream." Itachi said.
"No they're not."
"Is that so. Right now, the only possibility of you winning against me is if you had the mangekyou, but you're hesitant of getting it because you fear of taking Naruto's life. They're keeping you away from the power, they're forcing you to become a pathetic tool that's used when they can't save their weak selves. By being able to take that one life, you can be free, no more boundaries will come between you and what you want…So, do you still believe that they are saving you from a horrible fate or causing it?"
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"SAI, NO!" Tenten called out as Kisame's sword made full contact with her friend.
"Tenten…get Sai away from here." Naruto said as he tried to suppress the fox demon within him.
"Naruto, you have to wear this seal-Naruto!" Tenten said as Naruto's third tail appeared. "Shit." The weapon master thought as the chakra around Naruto started to boil. The lines on his face darkened and he grew small fangs. His nails were longer and his eyes were no longer sky blue, but as red as blood.
"I need to make this quick." Kisame thought as he kicked Sai's worn body away. Tenten took hold of her unconscious teammate and ran away to take cover. Naruto and Kisame were fighting to the death. Tenten had a hard time accepting the fact that this animal was the ramen obsessed hokage dreamer she knew only hours ago.
Naruto clawed at Kisame as the Akatsuki member tried to defend himself. The shark nin found it almost impossible to land a hit on his opponent. Doing some hand seals, Kisame attempted to trap Naruto in a small prison of water. As the giant ball of water formed around Naruto, Kisame saw that it was a waste of chakra. The Kyuubi's chakra around Naruto turned the water jutsu into steam, and Naruto wore a smile that looked threatening with his new animalistic appearance.
"I can't let this go on. Just one more tail and it's over." Tenten thought seeing that with four tails, she would have no chance of holding his down long enough to place the seal on him. "Sorry Naruto." Tenten said as she took out two scrolls from her kunai pouch. "But I gave Sakura my word."
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"Kakashi, I'm at 112! What about you?" Gai called out as a couple of nins came from behind him.
"Chidori!" The masked jounin said as a huge ball of lightning formed in his hand. The nins all fell to the ground dead as Kakashi and Gai looked for their next opponents. "127." Kakashi said casually.
"Whaaa! As expected from my rival. I will not lose!" Gai said as he knocked out another rogue nin.
"Hopefully they're still alive." Kakashi thought as Gai called out the number 119.
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"How troublesome." Shikamaru said as he gave the plans to his comrades. "Ino, get Shino and Kiba to search for any hidden traps. Also find Hinata wherever she is. We're going for the leader of this army."
"Hai." Ino said as she sprinted off.
"Chouji, Before we can let Kiba and Shino look around, we have to clear the field of these nins."
"Got it, leave it to me!" Chouji said as his body inflated into a giant ball. With rapid speed, Chouji rolled straight at a huge group of rogues, and successfully knocked them in various directions.
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"Neji how much farther?" Sakura asked as the two jumped through the trees.
"Just past that clearing." Neji muttered. The two jumped toward their destination. The trees around them were singed and cut down. From anyone's point of view, a battle to the death was taking place. The silence around them only gave Sakura the worst thought possible, Itachi had already killed Sasuke. Trying to prove herself wrong, she ran faster than Neji and entered a large clearing covered with miniature craters. She frantically looked around, seeing if there were any sign of movement. She found none.
"Where could they be?" Sakura asked as Neji finally caught up to her.
"They were right here minutes ago." Neji said as he looked around.
"Looking for this?" Itachi said as he appeared in front of them. On his side was Sasuke's limp body.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed as she dashed forward. "You bastard!" Sakura said as she an earth shattering kick at Itachi. The elder Uchiha jumped backward only to find himself in perfect range of Neji's Kaiten. Neji spun around, chakra surrounding his body as Itachi was repelled into a tree.
Itachi merely smirked as he watched Sakura frantically heal his brother.
"What the hell are you smirking at?" Neji said in a deadly tone.
"How blind you fools can be." Itachi said as he shook his head from side to side.
"What do-" but Neji stopped in mid sentence when he saw Sakura stab Sasuke with a kunai. "Sakura, what are you doing?!" As soon as she pulled the kunai out of his chest, Sasuke's body soon took form of a log.
"The mangekyou and the replacement jutsu mixed." Sakura muttered.
"You're right little kunoichi." Itachi said as he looked at Sakura's confused expression.
"I couldn't tell that it was only a copy, even with my byakugan activated?" Neji thought in shock. "So this is the level of the mangekyou."
"What have you done to him?" Sakura demanded, he fists clenched at her sides.
"Just gave him a push to getting the power he longed for. He's probably attempting to obtain it as we speak." Itachi said as he started to walk away.
"What do you mean?!"
"Sasuke's going to obtain these same eyes." Itachi's words slowly squeezed her heart until she fell to her knees. "No…no, he couldn't, he wouldn't." Sakura thought. "He told me himself."
Flashback
"Sakura." Sasuke said as they continued walking side by side. "Sakura I-" but Sasuke stopped when he heard voices coming from Sakura's kunai pouch.
"What the hell?" Sakura said as she pulled out Sai's scroll. She opened the scroll only to here someone's voice similar to Neji's yelling "Uchiha?!". Sasuke's scowled she took the scroll from Sakura and ripped it in half.
"Didn't think Hyuuga would be pathetic enough to spy on-"
"Neji wouldn't do that!" Sakura said defensively. Sasuke gave her a surprised look, and Sakura was surprised herself. Why was she so defensive over Neji just then? "I'm sorry, it's just, you shouldn't jump to conclusions."
"Sakura…He's not just a friend to you, is he?" Sasuke said as he looked to the side.
"Sasuke-kun…He's, well…He's…" But Sakura's words slowly trailed off.
"You love him don't you?"
"No, wait…I…I don't know." Sakura said as she looked to the floor. "Sasuke-kun, please. You're not going to go look for power again are you?"
"It's hard for me to keep my promise to you. I'm not sure if I can stay here when I feel like this." Sasuke said as he gritted his teeth.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura said as she watched Sasuke start to walk forwards.
"You don't know what you want, and it's hard to be sure of what I want." Sasuke said as he continued walking with a low steady pace. At that very scene, the memory of when he first left Konoha flooded into her mind.
"STOP!" Sakura yelled as she ran and hugged his back. Sasuke felt her arms wrap around his chest, and her tears on his back. They stayed like that for a few minutes before she spoke again. "What I know I really what right now…is…is for you to stay here with me." Sakura whispered. Sasuke turned around and looked into her tear filled eyes. He seemed to search for any kind of uncertainty in her jade colored eyes. He smiled inwardly when he found none.
"I can say that, that's what I really want right now too." Sasuke said before pressing his lips softly against hers. Sakura was utterly shocked, but soon gave into the light kiss. The two parted and she leaned against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her in a warm embrace.
"Please keep your promise and not look for power." Sakura whispered.
"…Ok." Sasuke whispered back.
End Flashback
Itachi soon turned around and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Sakura!" Neji said as he came to her side.
"I…I thought he gave that up…He-he couldn't be doing that. He couldn't. He promised me. He promised…"Sakura muttered as she slammed the ground with her fist, causing another crater in the clearing.
"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Neji asked.
"Sasuke-kun's going to…going to kill Naruto." Sakura said as her fingers dug into the ground.
"What?!" Neji yelled. "We have to stop him!"
"Why Sasuke-kun…" Sakura muttered.
"Sakura-chan, we have to get out of here now! Snap out of it!" Neji said as he shook her by the shoulders. When she didn't respond, Neji couldn't hold back anymore.
"Why the hell are you like this with him?! Is that power hungry bastard that important to you?! He probably made that damn promise so you wouldn't bother him about it!" Neji yelled. Sakura's eyes were wide with shock. "I-I'm sorry."
"…Neji."
"We should leave now if we want to help Naruto, and even maybe the others." Neji said as he helped her up. "I don't even know why we let him have it so easy after abandoning us the first time." He activated his byakugan. "I don't know how you could let him come back into your heart so easily either."
"Neji, please…Please I love-" but Sakura stopped when Neji sprinted off toward Naruto's direction.
"Why does she love him? How can she love him?" Neji thought as he felt his blood boil. "Damn you Uchiha. I can't allow anything to hurt Sakura so much anymore. If he truly intends on killing Naruto…then I will do the same with him."
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AN: I so damn sorry this update took so long, but I can't seem to find anymore inspiration for this story, so I'll probably end this fanfic in about one or two more chapters…Sorry again. Same thing might apply to my other stories as well. Anyways, thank you for reading.