Chapter 21
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Sasuke and Tobi walked along the pathway in silence. Tobi noticed Sasuke's frown, as if it were glued to his face.
"What is it?" Tobi asked.
Sasuke raised his eyes. "I don't trust you, so let's not get too chatty."
"I never asked you to trust me, but don't forget you agreed to come along," Tobi said.
"I was tied to a chair, this was the better option," Sasuke snapped.
"No..." Tobi said simply.
Sasuke had many questions he wanted to ask Tobi. He did not trust him but he knew he had answers. "Is it true about Naruto being alive?"
Tobi hesitated. Since Sasuke was standing on his left he could not see the one eye, which crept out from the mask he wore. It was as if Sasuke was talking to a giant...lollipop? 'What is wrong with you Sasuke?'
"I don't know if I can tell you that," Tobi admitted. "But he is the weapon we need in order to stop Akatsuki..."
Sasuke feld a tinge of jealousy. "And why is that?"
"We need to remove the jinchuuriki from his body in order to complete the weapon Akatsuki have been...awakening so to speak, then we can use it against them."
Sasuke stopped in his tracks causing Tobi to pause and turn around and face his companion. "You have a problem with that?"
"Hn...won't removing the jinchuuriki kill Naruto?" Sasuke asked.
"Do you have a problem with that all of a sudden?"
Sasuke hesitated. "I take it Naruto is alive?"
"More of a half sleep. We kept him in stable condition," Tobi said, going againat the leader's wishes for that to remain secret.
"What do you mean? Did you kill him?"
Tobi shook his head, he was growing tired of all the questions Sasuke was asking him. "We have been watching him and when we found him dying we began restoring his health."
"That can't be right," Sasuke said coldly, as he remained standing still. "Sakura said she saw his body..."
"Substitution jutsu," Tobi said simply before continuing to walk on. "You can't turn back now."
Sasuke smirked as he walked along again until he caught up with Tobi. "It doesn't bother me whatever we have to do to destroy Akatsuki, even if we have to kill Naruto."
"There is one thing," Tobi said. "The Akatsuki will think you have joined them therefore it is only necessary that you take this..." Tobi handed Sasuke a scarlet ring, one which made Sasuke's blood turn cold.
"Is that...?" Sasuke could feel the chill across his hand as the ring sat there so solemnly in his palm.
"Yes, and now it is yours...for now," Tobi said. "It would suit you better anyway."
Sasuke clenched the ring in his hand until his knuckles turned white. "Aren't you risking a bit much, going against the leader yourself and all?"
Tobi chuckled, which threw Sasuke off guard. "The leader takes oders off of me Sasuke, you are quite naive aren't you?"
Sasuke's eyes widened. "But you're so..."
Tobi paused. "Yes...?"
"Weird..." Sasuke finished hesitantly.
"There are two sides to everyone and i decieve better than any other. You really think Deidara was my sempai? Well, even the rest of Akatsuki thought of me as a hyperactive knucklehead, but that was part of the act," Tobi explained.
'Hn...sounds like Naruto...' Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets. "So, you think you're Madara?"
"I'll let you be the judge of that...when you see what I can do," Tobi said simply.
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13 hours he had been gone. Sakura lay in her bed, unwilling to obide by the morning's law and start the day. She felt little emotion as she stared up at the ceiling, lying on top of her blankets. 'Sasuke...why did you leave...' Sakura knew he wasn't alone. She sensed another chakra nearby and clearly Sasuke didn't want her knowing who it was. She sat up in her bed. 'Naruto...'
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Tobi and Sasuke had approached a cave after a long time of silent walking.
"What I will show you...may shock you Sasuke," Tobi said, as he pushed aside a cave door, which seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Sasuke could feel the ground shake beneath his feet. "What's in there?"
"We have many hideouts dotted around the area in order to ensure if one hideout is found, there will be plenty more. This is just one of many, however, despite the appearence of its simplistic hiding, it is actually our most secure hideout..." Tobi stood by the dark hole.
Sasuke waited.
"After you," Tobi said finally.
Sasuke said nothing as he walked straight ahead, on alert in case it was a trap. When he entered, he was unsure of how to feel.
Tobi stood from behind him. "Feel anything?"
In the room, which surrounded them was a single bed, a light and what seemed to be a life support machine. Attached to many tubes and breathing on an oxygen mask was Naruto Uzamaki.
Sasuke swallowed. "I..."
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