This took a while to do but… Sai's mission is revealed yet not in the way it was meant to be. How will this effect everyone and will it change everything, will our group of companions be able to survive this?

Disclaimer: I like clouds but don't own one just like I don't own Naruto

Chapter 14: Betrayal

A week had passed since the events at Taki. Naruto was fully healed now which, amazed those that didn't know him. Kimimaro to name one was relived that the boy was ok and was able to relax a little while they remained in the hidden village. After gathering extra supplies and repairing clothing the three of them basically left when Gai came back. They parted ways with squad ten about three days ago heading along the Konoha boarder so that they avoided any patrols. Sai had begun acting stranger in fact he only spoke when someone spoke to him. He remembered the sacrifice Naruto made for him, it brought up bad memories of how his brother died. They had entered a rather sparse wooded area, Sai had remained quiet and was starting to worry the other two. Naruto had taken the lead while Kimimaro swayed towards Sai.

"You've been quieter than usual these past few days."

"I just… back in the fight with the rouge ninja he nearly died for me. Only one other has done that for me but he wasn't so lucky. Just give me some time to think."

They couldn't speak any further since a certain blond shouted back to them. "Come on! Keep up!"

"Again you forgot to say where?" interrupted Kimimaro causing them to all slow down briefly.

"Oops, Wave Country I know a few people there." Naruto smiled at the memory of the people he knew there.

"Then we're going the wrong way." sighed the albino.

"Oh great where are we?"

"Otogakure boarder. We need to turn around then I need to give you a geography lesson."

"Very funny." Naruto jokily crossed his arms in a huff before turning around and going the other 'correct' way.

'This is getting risky I'm not sure I can do this mission anymore. I have plenty of time yet I think Lord Danzo is probably getting impatient now.' Sai mused to himself, for once he was questioning his orders but had no idea what to do.

After a while a magpie was flying above them causing Sai to mentally curse, he saw it fly behind them and stopped causing the others to do the same. There was concern on his face yet he was trying not to show it.

"Wait here! I need to check something out."

He sped off in the direction they had had their backs to, there was a moment of confused silence. Kimimaro had a feeling there was always something else Sai had been hiding and quite possibly this could be what it is. But he saw the look the guy was giving, what has got Sai so wound up? The older teen noticed Naruto was still a little confused so he explained. "There was fear in his eyes."

"I saw it too well we can't let him do whatever this is on his own." said the boy as he went off in pursuit closely followed by Kimimaro although it would appear this could take a while since Sai had gone off the main dirt path.

Sai came to a stop when he entered a change of scenery, a river flowed nearby surrounded by long grass and a field of lush foliage. Although scenery didn't interest him since he could clearly see four shinobi wearing Anbu like masks and clothing, the only difference was that the clothing was a dark blue version. He knew who they were; Root's assassination squad, Forth class strong enough to pose a very big problem. One began walking forwards obviously the captain of the group wearing simply a white mask, he came to a stop then the others did the same. A kunai whizzed passed Sai's face cutting his cheek. "What is the meaning of this?"

"You failed." deadpanned the bear masked root ninja.

"There is still time." cautiously responded the young teen.

"Surrender the demon." said one of the root ninjas which, wore a lion designed mask. There was a brief pause, then several kunai from three different angles flew towards Sai. He double back flipped avoiding the projectiles it confirmed what he had thought.

"You were going to kill me anyway even if the mission was a success."

"Because you've had less reign you were to be executed on your return but this is better." emotionlessly said the captain, it was true Danzo was personally going to kill Sai on his return but that wasn't going to happen now.

"No emotion really does turn us into monsters. Fine I'm glad I failed now." after Sai had said this more kunai flew at him, he managed to dodge most of them but a couple managed to strike him in the right thigh.

"Then you are traitor." was all the captain wished to say as he took the lead in attacking the ex-root 'traitor'. This was a bad situation they had him on numbers and even if their not the best they were still skilled. Each of the four drew their short swords engaging their target. Sai parried the captain but had to break of quickly since the other three took swipe at him. He was now a little off balance though and the captain seeing his opportunity stabbed him through the right side of the chest. The other three were about to finish him off when the bear masked Root ninja was struck with flying bone shrapnel causing him to hit the ground dead, the other two were knocked back by a large gale of wind. The captain seeing this pulled his sword out and jumped backwards.

"You can't even wait for five minutes." an frustrated yet also slightly relived Sai said when he looked behind him seeing Naruto and Kimimaro.

"This isn't the time for your sarcasm. You have a lot of explaining to do after this." was all the Kaguya could say on this as he prepared for combat.

"These guys want a piece of us then lets do this." added Naruto also getting ready to fight there were now three on each side and the real battle was about to begin. The Root ninja threw smoke bombs in unison making them vanish from sight, their targets went into full alert. Several bombs rolled out of the smoke towards the three causing them to jump backwards, the bombs exploded into a large amount of smoke now covering everyone in that area. Sai, Naruto and Kimimaro could still see each other but that wasn't going to last. Just then a jolt of lightening crashed in-between them throwing them away from each other. Naruto flew out of the smoke landing just next to the river and quickly got to his feet when he saw the lion masked Root Anbu going for him. Sai was knocked back into the wooded area smacking into a tree breaking a few ribs in the process, he got to his feet and parried a sword strike. Kimimaro was still inside the large smokescreen somehow stopping himself being thrown too far, he felt a presence in time to dodge another lightening jolt before darting towards the source of the attack. These Root Anbu had been clever separating their enemies so it would now come down to one on one combat.

Sai had to do battle with the captain and was about to strike when he noticed the captains unique battle stance; his left arm was behind his back while the right arm holding the sword was above his head. He hesitated as he remembered that day his brother died protecting him.

"That stance…! You killed him!" furiously shouted Sai which, was echoed and heard by everyone despite how far away they all were.

"He was also a traitor but thanks to you getting in the way he was easier to take down." as soon as the captain had finished he charged forwards.

Kimimaro ignored the sudden raised voice and took note his foe had stopped which, made it harder to located the enemy in this damn smoke. He narrowed his eyes when he saw a bright light in front of him and saw it had begun circling him. A dragon formed of lightening got closer and closer until he could see it surrounding him with its body. Before it could make contact he leapt into the air as, the element dragon followed him and side swiped the teen causing him to hit the ground hard. The lightening creature came plummeting to the ground towards its target. Luckily Kimimaro saw this and dodged it in time, the creature slammed into the ground exploding in a current of lightening. That was too close for comfort, this had proved one thing though the enemy was a ranged fighter and in this smoke he had the advantage since that lighting jutsu could home in on its intended target. To add insult to injury this smoke wouldn't dissipate for a while. Another focused bolt of lightning came towards him but managed to avoid it at least now he had an idea where his foe was. Charging forward darting side to side just in case he was gaining ground on the source of that last attack. The enemy let him do this and a hail of kunai sped towards him. The root ninja had moved away from where he was self assured that this unexpected enemy didn't know where he was. How wrong he was about to be as Kimimaro was flying through the air towards him thrusting his foot forward in preparation to kick him. How did he find the Root ninja, well he may not be proud of it now but was a Sound ninja which, means good hearing among other things. The root ninja managed to get of a lightening jutsu but not good enough as it was tiny in comparison to the lightning. Sure it struck its target but Kimimaro barely flinches as he flew through the air and slammed his foot into the enemies chest. He didn't stop there as bones came out of his foot and leg skewering the unfortunate Root ninja. That taijutsu kick was reminiscent of the dynamic entry he'd been hit with a while back but altered for a Kaguya style finish. One thing was for sure his foe was never getting up again, now all he had to do was focus on which direction the others were through this damn smoke.

Meanwhile Sai was managing to hold on against the Root captain although it was clear who was going to win be it sooner or later. The so called 'traitor' could see that his foe was clearly of Jonin rank which, may have been the norm for a squad like this but was also very bad. Sai was good but not that good so far he had gotten away with a few cuts and had managed to hide inside a hollow tree temporarily. His foe was clearly a close range fighter while he was more the mid to long range type that was exactly the problem he couldn't get a single jutsu off when he was constantly clashing swords or fists. Now he had some time to draw several creations a she finished the captain had found him and threw an explosive kunai onto the hollowed tree causing it to explode. Sai managed to avoid getting blown up via substitution he managed to get some distance and saw the captain heading right for him. Now he finally got a jutsu off False Mimicry: Kitsune Trickery and out burst one oversized fox at least four times bigger than its user. The root ninja halted in his tracks and took a leap backwards making hand seals as he did. The captain finished with the sign of the tiger and spat out a fireball as the ink fox attacked. It hit its target dead on but as soon as it did the false animal busted into nine more normal sized foxes. He made more hand seals and released four fireballs which, made it to its targets reducing the ink creatures down to five. The captain saw that the distance had been closed and avoided being bitten or clawed by leaping upwards onto the top of the tree. The creatures followed but he expected this and imbedded two explosive kunai into the tree. He jumped of the tree as the explosion ignited causing the top of the tree to get obliterated. One of the foxes was taken down and the remaining four scattered, the captain decided to take these creatures down then go for his primary target. He went through a series of hand seal ending with the sign of the tiger he breathed out Fire Element: Dragon Flame. A dragon made of fire surged towards the foxes engulfing them all one by one and then it made its way towards Sai, he managed to release a lion but that didn't last against the dragon as it was eaten in a sea of flame. Sai leapt out of the way and saw the trees behind him burned to a crisp as the jutsu ended. He didn't have time to react further as several more explosive kunai landed in front of him. They ignited knocking him backwards but managed to land quickly although hid starting to feel his injuries more now. As soon a he'd landed he noticed that the captain was gone. Then he cursed, Naruto was the primary target of course why didn't he see that. Forgetting about any of the pain he was in he pursed with all he had to prevent his comrade from being killed.

Naruto was getting a little frustrated at the speed of his opponent he had been stuck on the defensive and it was starting to get to him. Sure he'd outlast him cause of the crazy stamina he's got but still if your on the defensive to much then something goanna give sooner or later. It was goanna be sooner since the Root captain had appeared but unnoticed by the blond. He was shoved back by the lion masked enemy and the captain was now right behind him and was about to bring a downward slash upon him. Sai though it should be impossible if you account for those broken ribs had not only caught up but had managed to get in the way. He was repaid by receiving a horrendous slash across his chest before halting a second slash with a kunai. Naruto had an idea of what was going on but still what just happened?

"I'm returning the favour." simply said Sai before collapsing to his knees, the captain was going to take advantage of this but had to back off when he saw the blonds change of appearance not to mention an air of malice coming off him.

"The strength is returning!" a voice inside Naruto spoke.

'Stay out of this!' he replied to the fox while looking on with crimson red eyes prepared to kill… no slaughter them.

"You called for my power not the other way around." the Kyuubi grinned it had been a while since he could get contact again and now he would see the slaughter that amused him. The Lion masked ninja attacked the blond managing to force him away from Sai whom could not get to his feet at the moment. The captain could see that he was going to complete his mission now, even with the loss of almost all his squad he did not care only the mission mattered. Just as he was about to finish Sai off he was pushed back by a back kick from Kimimaro whom had managed to locate them with perfect timing you could say. His arrival saw him taking charge of the battle with the captain while Naruto had to take on the other Root ninja.

The Jinchuriki had a clear advantage now his 'Kyuubified' self had come into play, he had this guy on speed and strength. Although the boy had learnt to be more careful he wasn't going to charge in like he used. To emphasise this he made seven shadow clones and sent them out to attack, it was a bit unnerving since the Root ninja took out the first three effortlessly with well placed sword strikes, two more quickly followed. But Naruto noticed that the other two managed to not only get behind him but both land blows just before getting taken out. He quickly thought of something then decided to implement it. Again he made seven clones and sent them out then made one more which, held back next to him. A similar process followed in the Root ninjas moves but this time he was ready for the two clones striking him from behind. This was all Naruto needed as while the clones had been attacking he had formed the Rasengan in his hand, the enemy managed to turn around in time to see his end as the spiral sphere ball of chakra was slammed into his chest. The root ninja's chest looked like it imploded on contact but then it slightly exploded in blood covering the blonds arm in the crimson liquid. Oh Naruto couldn't hear the demon fox but the creature was laughing at the display of blood. The Kyuubi was still annoyed though since he could feel his power receding again, he was still feeling the effects of that encounter with that damn seal guarding piece of meat.

The battle with the captain was starting to wind down his battle with Sai and then the arrival of Kimimaro was starting to exhaust him. Yet even if he was to die he was going to try at least one of his targets with him such was what was expected of soldiers like him. He managed to get some distance from Kimimaro and released another ball of fire towards his foe. Seeing that he had gained some time he instantly saw Sai and charged. Sai tried to get to his feet but was to badly injured he accepted his fate and closed his eyes. But the end never came as Naruto had come out of nowhere and slammed a bloody fist into the captains stomach. The last remaining Root ninja had the wind knocked out of him but managed to get away from receiving another strike from the new addition to his fight. Naruto's eyes were no longer crimson but were ice cold, if looks could kill this guy would be dead in the blink of an eye. He attacked putting the captain on the defensive immediately due to the ferocity of his opponent. Kimimaro took advantage of this and made his arm into a bone pike and quickly stabbed the guy through the chest from behind making a bloody mess. Naruto was still pissed and slammed his fist into the guys mask making it crack in the process. They both allowed him to hit the ground and were about to walk away when the captain jerked and tried to get up but his body was failing him.

"Still alive? Not for long." Naruto was fully prepared to kill this guy but stopped since Sai had gotten to his feet.

"Hold! This one's mine." shouted Sai, he limped forwards noticing that the captain was trying to crawl away. Pulling out a kunai he stabbed the captain killing him. Sai let out a sorrowful smile "For my brother."

He then fell backwards but was caught by Naruto whom sat him against a tree. Kimimaro walked towards him looking like he was demanding an explanation.

"You may as well kill me I'm dead either way." remarked the ex-root ninja.

Kimimaro was about to oblige when Naruto threw his arm out shouting "Wait! I want to know what you were up to."

"Very well. I was sent on a mission by the man who instigated your banishment. His name was Danzo…" Sai paused.

"We're not going to get anything else out of him, there is a seal that prevents him speaking further." one of the very few benefits of serving that snake was that he knew many things especially concerning Root.

Sai shook his head before continuing "…On the contrary you need to be older to receive it. My mission was to locate the Kyuubi vessel and utilize him to find Uchiha Sasuke." he paused again feeling like he was going to pass out, he noticed they were waiting for him to continue "When I did I was to kill you both. Yet when I did have the opportunity I couldn't do it. You Naruto… I see the will of the one I called brother in you and my emotions came back because of that memory."

There was an awkward pause before Sai simply said "Danzo won't stand for me now, I'm a dead man so kill me."

"You think your life is that worthless! He used you made you believe your worthless. But to me you are my friend no matter what, someone who is precious." shouted Naruto in response, he was going to let this friend go.

"Precious… thank you Naruto, Kimimaro I understand. Do what you must."

Sai allowed himself to relax letting the soothing darkness of unconsciousness to claim him. Kimimaro glanced over at the blond and sighed before picking up the black haired teen and slinging him over his shoulder. He began to walk closely followed by his friend.

'Your pathetic trusting someone like that' roared the Kyubi but his voice to Naruto sounded like a whisper. He basically ignored the fox.

"However, you try to sugar coat it. He is still part of Root and was meant to kill you." a now very cautious Kimimaro said.

"I believe what he said about changing. If he was going to kill me he would've done it by now. They used him and killed his brother for goodness sake you really think he's going to go back to those guys now?" passionately snapped back the blond.

"Still he lied from the get go and betrayed you." Kimimaro tried to remain the voice of reason but he knew he wasn't going to win this argument. The kid was right about Sai not killing him and he definitely saw that the ex-root ninja save Naruto's life just before he entered that part of the fight.

"I think he wasn't always lying come on you've seen the change." Naruto somewhat quietly said.

"Fine I'll accept that. We need to get him medical aid I know a place not too far from here." the Kaguya still had his doubts but Sai was stuck with them now. It would be a while though until he fully trusted him again. Yet knowing Naruto's way with 'words' and actions it probably won't be that long. For now he had to get Sai medical help luckily he knew where they were and that a certain resistance group was nearby.

Sasuke's Location three days later

News of combat had reached Orochimaru and decided to send Sasuke along with other to check it out. The first report said that the small battle had been very bloody which, is why he sent the boy. This squad he was in was basically body collection this meant that Karin was with him too although he reckoned it was more than chance that she was here. As they made it to the battle field they could see that the bodies were scattered from each other. One of the unnamed ninjas took a quick glance "A battle happened here."

"Really. I didn't notice." sarcastically replied Sasuke, he felt these guys were idiots.

"Shut it boy."

The Uchiha just smirked before going over to where two bodies were closest to each other. It was obvious the dead were Konoha shinobi and it was indicated by Karin that the one responsible were long gone. Aside from Karin not staying away from him there wasn't that much interest in this. Although he focused a little more then frowned at the wound on one of the bodies. The wound was a bloody spiral around the chest, the red head saw the look he was making and gave a similar confused look.

"That wound is not normal." he explained.

"His chest has been torn to shreds in a spiral pattern…it obviously killed him outright." analysed Karin.

The bodies where sealed by the other two shinobi and began heading back, Sasuke was lost though 'I wonder if it's you again. You've got help these guys look like Anbu and there's no way you can take them on your own. Your getting strong but I will be stronger."

I'm so sad I've actually got a badly self drawn map of the ninja world to help me when writing… Anyway next time…it's a mystery all but to me? Lets just say things are about to take another drastic turn.