Okay everyone! Arc 2 the Sasuke rescue starts now! I don't own anything! It's all ©Masashi Kishimoto. Okay, my internet was down once again so sorry everyone, but the Tsunade arc and the other episodes in between were waaaaayyyy too long and I didn't want to fit Ryoko into all of that filler. She has been training and I don't want to spoil any surprises, so since we all know what happens (and if you don't go watch the episodes! I'm not doing all the work!) I'm going straight into the Sasuke chase/betrayal! Thanks for everyone's support and reviews over all this time! Seriously you guys don't know how awesome you're all are! Stay cool! And here's Arc 1 Part 2! The Sasuke Arc!

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Ryoko was just returning from training when she ran into Shikamaru and his dad who were on their way to the Hokage's house.

"Hey, Shikamaru, how's it going?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Alright, I guess. How about you?"

"Trying to find some way to kill time since Naruto's gone on his mission with Jiraiya to get Lady Tsunade and Sasuke and Kakashi are out of commission." She replied.

"Why don't you come with us, then?" Shikamaru's dad asked.

With nothing else better to do, she agreed to go with them.

-0-

"I wonder when Naruto's coming back though. The village has been so dull without him." Ryoko said as she followed them up the steps.

"Who knows you might see him when you least expect it." Shikamaru's dad chuckled.

Shikamaru looked up when he noticed that people were coming their way, "Hey! Isn't that Naruto?"

Ryoko jumped to the front of them to see if it were true, "Naruto?"

Sure enough it was Naruto with Jiraiya, Shizune, and Tsunade! Ryoko ran over to hug him and Naruto happily returned the hug.

"What're you doin' here, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto pulled out of Ryoko's hug to look at Shikamaru, "Me? What are you doing here?"

Shikamaru's dad bowed his head slightly to Lady Tsunade, "It's been a long time. Tsunade. Jiraiya."

"Hey. You're Nara, all grown up?" Tsunade asked, "You're taking care of the deer? The horns of the deer around there are for good medicine."

"Yes, Milady."

Shikamaru leaned towards Naruto to whisper to him, "Naruto, who's the lady?"

Naruto covered half his mouth to whisper back, "Tsunade's the new Hokage and she's not a lady, she actually in her fifties!"

Ryoko and Shikamaru recoiled in shock.

"We'll be better go check up on your Sensei and teammate." Tsunade said continuing on her way with Shizune and Jiraiya following after her.

"We'll see ya, Shikamaru." Ryoko and Naruto waved good-bye.

-0-

Ryoko and Naruto followed behind the adults as they walked about the hospital to Sasuke's room.

"Hey, Ryoko…" Naruto mutters, catching Ryoko's attention, "Has Sasuke's condition change at all?"

Ryoko sadly shook her head, "Not really. Sakura's been visiting his room more than I have and every time I go…they're both in a zombie like state. Sasuke's unconscious and Sakura just sits there by his side and stares at him…" She told him somberly. "Kakashi-sensei isn't in any better state but at least his eyes were open."

"But that's all going to change now that Granny's here!" Naruto exclaimed happily as they came to Sasuke's room. Tsunade slide the door open and one by one everyone walked in, startling Sakura.

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed from behind Tsunade, "Everything's okay now! Look who I brought!"

"Naruto…!" Sakura whispered in shock as Tsunade came closer to stand beside Sasuke. Sakura moved out of the way, "Master Guy told me…" Sakura started as she bowed her head, "Please…please help Sasuke!"

Tsunade gave Sakura a kind smile, "Of course. Don't worry." Tsunade faced Sasuke and placed her palm on his forehead and her hand glowed a light green as she started the healing process. The Genin watched on astounded by this.

"He'll wake up soon." Tsunade informed them when she finished healing Sasuke.

True to her word, Sasuke slowly began to wake up. The Genin gasped in shock as Sasuke slowly sat up, although out of it, he was alive and awake!

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, wrapping her arms around him.

Sasuke didn't move or respond to Sakura hugging him the way she was.

"He's really awake…" Ryoko whispered still reeling in shock. She looked at Naruto to see him a little pained, she was about to ask him what was wrong, but Naruto suddenly turned away and left the room with a forced smile on his face.

"Naruto?" Ryoko asked following after him into the hallway, "What's up?"

Naruto shook his head, "Nothing. I'm just happy Sasuke's going to be okay."

Ryoko smiled knowingly, "Naruto…you're really a good guy…Thank you for everything you did to bring Lady Tsunade here."

Naruto gave her a smile, "Ah, it was nothing. So what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to stick around longer with Lady Tsunade to see if she can fix Kakashi-sensei and Lee."

Naruto nodded and ran off, probably in search of Ramen. Ryoko heard Sasuke's room door open and saw that Lady Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune come out of the room.

"Excuse me," Ryoko addressed her politely, "But could you look at two more people?"

Tsunade nodded, "I know who you have in mind and I'm on my way there."

-0-

Kakashi-sensei sat up in his bed with a heavy sigh.

"Getting beat up by just a couple of thugs," Tsunade stated as Kakashi stared into space, "Guess you were human after all…I thought you were a natural."

Ryoko giggled at Tsunade harsh words to Kakashi.

Might Guy however was in a panic state, "Forget him! Please take a look at my pupil, Lee!" He yelled pointing to Lee's room.

-0-

Might Guy and Ryoko stared at Tsunade intensively as she studied Rock Lee's back. Tsunade had a fearful look on her face before she stood up.

"So?" Ryoko asked, "How is he?"

"I'm sorry to say this, but…you're not cut out to be a Shinobi."

Lee flinched when he heard the news while Might Guy tried to laugh it off, "You're not serious are you?"

Tsunade however was very serious, "I found numerous bone fragments lodged deep inside his vital nerves." She informed them, "He's in no condition to perform any kind of mission as a shinobi. Even if he gets surgery…"

Ryoko didn't want it to be true, "Isn't there another solution…?"

"Do I…not have a chance…?" Lee asked shaken.

"I'm the only one who can do the operation. It's lengthy…and there's a big risk involved…"

"Risk?"

"The odds of the operation being a success are 50 percent at best. You'll die if I fail." She stated firmly, "Even if it's a success…you'll be incapacitated for a long time."

The air grew thin as what Tsunade said hung in the air. Lee grew pale as he dressed himself and grabbed his crutch and hobbled out of the room.

Ryoko turned to Tsunade, "Isn't there a way to tip the odds in his favor?"

Tsunade didn't respond so Ryoko took that answer enough and left

-0-

'Man, today is a complete disaster…granted that Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei are feeling better, but Lee can't be a Shinobi anymore?' She kicked a small pebble as she walked past the hospital again, "What else can go wrong today?"

Suddenly she heard a loud explosion followed by the sound of metal tearing.

"What the hell…?" She looked up to see a downpour of water raining on her, soaking her completely. Growling she shook off the water, "Seriously, what the hell?" She looked up to see the back side of on of the water tanks on top of the hospital completely burst open.

"Whoa! What the heck did that?" Then she saw Sasuke jump off the roof and ran off.

"Where is he going?" Not a moment later she saw Naruto as well going in the opposite direction. "Now where's he going?" She flashed jump onto the roof to see Sakura there crying. She ran over to her and asked what happen but Sakura was too choked up to explain clearly.

"You're crying because Naruto and Sasuke got into a fight?" Ryoko guessed.

Sakura shook her head furiously, "Not like this! This wasn't like their normal fights! It was like they were trying to destroy each other!"

Ryoko scratched her head, "Well that's kinda…not good…" She finished lamely, "Look, don't worry about it too much, Kakashi-sensei will sort them out and so will I, you go back to your team."

Sakura nodded numbly.

'Now I've got some sense to knock into certain people…'

(Much later that night….)

Ryoko stood alone near the Konoha gates with her arms crossed. After talking with Naruto and Kakashi-sensei about what happened earlier today, she had a sneaking suspicion about Sasuke's behavior. 'That Orochimaru…I know he's doing this to Sasuke…He's not getting him without going through me first.'

"It's not safe for you to be out here at night."

Ryoko lifted her head to see Sasuke a few feet away from her dressed in his old attire, without his shinobi headband, and his backpack. "I could say the same for you. Where are you going?" She asked gesturing to his backpack.

"None of your business…" Sasuke responded as he made his way around her, "Go back home…"

"Why? So you can run off to Orochimaru and let him use you?" Ryoko asked hotly, turning to face his back, "Seriously, what's the matter with you? Why are you going off to a snake like him?"

"Why should I have to tell you anything?" Sasuke snapped, still not facing her, he didn't have the courage to, if he did, he probably wouldn't have the courage to leave the village or her behind. "Just keep your nose out of my business…it's never been your concern…"

Ryoko almost resisted the urge to scoff, "For as long as we've been teammates and friends it's been my concern…ever since we've been put together on the same squad we've always looked out for no another…the way I saw it our team was a sort of family…Naruto didn't have a family…I didn't have a family…you didn't have a family…even Kakashi-sensei didn't have a family…all we needed was each other…"

The wind picked up slightly, blowing the green leaves in its gentle currents, brushing their hair slightly as a moment of silence fell on them.

"…I don't see it that way…" Sasuke responded, sending a small painful jolt through Ryoko's body.

Cheerful memories of their previous missions and training flashed through their minds, when they were all happy doing things together; eating ramen at Ichiraku's, laying in the open fields under the stars, running wildly through fields, training together by the rivers, watching Naruto getting whopped by Kakashi-sensei…

"What's revenge going to bring?" Ryoko asked him quietly, "If you do kill your brother what will you do then? Killing him won't bring your family back and going to Orochimaru is just as worse!"

"…I know this…I'm going down a path you can't follow." Sasuke told her, "I know that the four of us went through a lot together…and for a while I thought I could take that road instead…but in the end I decided on revenge…that's always been my reason for living…I'll never be like you and Naruto."

Tears threatened to fall from Ryoko's eyes, "You stupid idiot! There's more to life than revenge! Don't let that get in the way of your life! Naruto, Kakashi, and I didn't let that get in our way – don't let it get into yours!"

"This is a new beginning." Sasuke insisted, "This is a new path for us…"

"So you're just going to throw it all away for revenge that won't bring you anything?" Ryoko snapped as her voice quivered as tears slowly fell from her eyes, "After everything we've been through – all the battles - they mean nothing? Don't you understand how much things would change if you left?" She viciously wiped her tears and tried to keep her voice strong, "I swear if you walk away any further…I'll break your legs and bring you back myself!"

Sasuke chuckled when he heard her threat, "You still haven't changed…you're still a stubborn smart mouth…" He slowly turned to face her and even though her tear-stained face shook him to the core he still put on his famous smirk, "You really think you can challenge me?"

"If I said it I obviously meant it." Ryoko told him, clenching her fists. "So…are you still going to walk away or so I have to break your legs? You have…"

Sasuke flashed step and suddenly appeared before her before she could blink. Ryoko gasped when she felt Sasuke's warm breath inches from her face. Her eyes met his onyx eyes…so many emotions flashed through them until they settled on a dull black.

"Ryoko…" Sasuke whispered before pressing his lips against hers. She drew in breath as she looked him in the eyes. Sasuke knew he saw a certain spark flash through her eyes as they shared this kiss. So many things that were never said with words were expressed with this one kiss.

Dizzy, Ryoko pulled back, "Sasuke…?" Her voice quivered with her heart.

"Abruptly Sasuke pulled her into a tight hug and whispered huskily in her ear, "...Thank you for everything…" He kissed her cheek before he pressed a pressure point in her neck.

Ryoko's eyes widen when she felt her body give out on itself against Sasuke, "Sasuke…you fool…" Then darkness consumed her.

Sasuke carried her over to the side of the gate and propped her up against the pillar. He gazed at her unconscious form as he stroke a strand of her hair. He placed a kiss on her forehead before he stood up and continued his journey out of the village with no intention of going back.