Chapter 29: Difference and Reunion

Disclaimer: I'd rather own Ino, Anko and Tayuya, but I don't own anything other than OCs. That means I don't own the Naruto series.

An unbearable well of fear seemingly opened beneath Sakura as a new, extremely rough chakra appeared out of nowhere.

'W-what is this?' she wondered as her heart practically stopped and she felt the pressure of death.

"Hmm, seems my robes couldn't handle the pressure of Kyūbi's chakra and mine pressing on either side," Bān stated as he looked at the rips in his robes. Sakura saw that the top left half of his mask was barely holding on, being cracked up the center of his forehead and to the side under his eye. It was almost like someone punched him in the face and only damaged his mask.

The members of Team Kakashi realized that Bān's robes and mask must hide his chakra since they hadn't felt a scrap of chakra from him before this moment.

As the bridge came apart, Kabuto ran at Naruto with his chakra scalpel, figuring a missing limb or two would slow even Naruto down for a while, if not permanently. He didn't count on Naruto shouting, destroying the bridge with chakra enhanced noise. Both medics suffered from the blast, Sakura slamming her head into the bridge and getting knocked out while Kabuto flew into the forest where Team Kakashi had been hiding.

Yamato quickly stabilized his half of the bridge with mokuton, then noticed Sakura's immobile form sliding down the bridge. 'She must have hit her head,' he thought as he noticed Sai create a giant ink bird. "Sai! Help Sakura!" he ordered, then watched as Sai flew right passed Sakura without trying to help at all. "Damn," he grunted as he created another tree root, snaring Sakura before she fell down into the river far below. "Where's Bān-san? He was just here."

Bān had followed Naruto, watching as the genin battered the traitor around. So far, Naruto had caused quite a bit of damage to the man, even ripping his arm clean off. None of that stopped Orochimaru as he merely spat up a new body, one free of injuries. "Just like Kabuto-kun said before, without that beast, you are nothing at all. Without using that monster's might, you are nothing more than a talentless idiot, not even worthy of the title 'ninja.' It is that weakness that killed Yue-kun three years ago. How long will it take for that weakness to kill that pink haired medic you adore?" Orochimaru asked. Then he became slightly worried as Naruto visibly started showing signs of pain, all while a fourth tail started forming, seeming to hurt as it bubbled into existence.

Naruto's eyes went completely blank as his skin started peeling off, his blood entering the chakra shroud as small wounds started expanding on his his body.

"So much closer to the real thing," Bān said from near Orochimaru as he calmly watched events unfold.

Orochimaru regarded the man. "You seem to know too much, stray Uchiha."

"I'm no stray. I'm an exile, and I know far more about what is going on in this world than you do, Orochimaru," Bān stated as his sharingan flicked between the sannin and the jinchūriki.

"Your name, Uchiha," Orochimaru demanded.

The top left part of Bān's mask fell away, spiky black hair falling out from under it and ending a bit below his jawline. His skin was very lightly tanned. "For now, I'm Uchiha Bān. If you ever learn my real name, I'll need to remove you."

Naruto released an inhuman roar as his chakra seemingly exploded, causing significant damage to most of the surrounding area. Even Sai, who was in the air and a 'safe' distance from the scene found himself falling as his bird was wiped out.

What remained in the center of a very large crater was Naruto, covered in reddish black chakra that showed nothing more than four tails, a humanoid fox-like figure and a blank eyed face with a wickedly jagged mouth.

Orochimaru decided to start first, releasing dozens of snakes from his mouth, which quickly increased to well over a hundred. Naruto didn't even flinch, he just swung his hand and cut them all apart with a massive wind blade. He brought his hands over his head, then slammed them into the ground. Orochimaru, on reflex, jumped away in time to avoid a large pair of chakra arms that nearly ripped him apart. A new pair of arms shot out of the others, following the man like hounds from Hell. The traitor tried to stop them with an extra strong snake, but it started dying almost instantly. The original arms angled down, following the smaller ones to kill the man.

With his options of stopping the arms gone, Orochimaru spat up a body with a snake's tail for legs and used it to get past the chakra arms and into attack range. The punch seemed like a good idea at the time, even as the skin of the Sannin's fingers started to tear away from touching the shroud of chakra, but a mass of of Kyūbi Naruto shaped chakra rising from the reeling body and the accompanying swipe of claws that ripped Orochimaru clean in two said otherwise. Even with the damage, Orochimaru was able to reattach his upper and lower body, though he did get it wrong at first.

Naruto roared as he released chakra from his body, black and white bits of it coming together to form a black sphere before his mouth.

"Well, seems I need to block this one," Orochimaru said, knowing that this particular attack would cause extensive damage, if not death, just from how much chakra he could feel. Before he could move, Orochimaru found himself wrapped in tree roots, binding him in place as they wrapped around his entire body and head, sealing his mouth shut as well. He couldn't use any of his snake enhanced abilities with how he was held.

"Can't have you showing off your mastery of the 'art of run,' Orochimaru," Bān said, his sharingan glowing an inhuman red, "you should avoid more, rather than show off all your tricks. A simple body binding is more than enough to make you even more pathetic than normal. I'm not entirely without mercy, I'll block some of what's to come." Bān walked over to the trapped Sannin. "Mokuton: Mokujōheki," Bān stated as two very thick walls made out of tree trunks rose up before the man and his captive, "this will let you taste a bit of mortality."

Orochimaru didn't get to protest as Bān vanished, then Orochimaru's world was consumed in agony and light as Naruto's tailed beast ball slammed into the pitiful barricade, then him.

When the smoke cleared, Orochimaru was a broken lump of flesh, barely any of his bones or organs undamaged from the blast. It proved to be a partial ruse, as his head burst from the ground, the sword of Kusanagi hitting Naruto square in the heart. As an added measure, Orochimaru pushed him all the way back to the other side of the bridge. Sadly, it didn't mean all that much because the sword couldn't pierce Naruto's shroud.

Everyone moved as Naruto attempted to break Orochimaru's neck by gripping the sword and swinging it. He mindlessly roared at Orochimaru, wanting to destroy him.

"He's willing to lose everything to bring back Sasuke-kun. I don't know whether to admire him or pity him, fighting for what all others would call a lost cause while becoming one himself," Kabuto muttered.

Sakura got up and ran, ignoring Yamato's warning. For some reason, the thought of losing Naruto was extremely painful. The most agonizing thing that kept hitting her was what led up to Naruto suffering while using that power.

The promise he made to her three years ago. Naruto was destroying himself and throwing all he'd worked so hard for, all for her.

"Naruto! Stop it! I'll get Sasuke-kun back, so just stop!" Sakura yelled as she drew closer to the boy, "please come back to me!"

Yamato tried to stop Naruto's movements, but it wasn't enough and he raked a claw ended tail across her left bicep, leaving three shallow wounds that were rapidly draining her strength. It was almost like the chakra was poisonous.

Kabuto moved up and reached for Sakura, but Yamato stopped him. The wayward medic then revealed the plans of him and Orochimaru as he healed Sakura: Konoha ninja were the traitorous Sannin's pawns against Akatsuki, since Team Kakashi had killed at least one and Akatsuki enjoyed interrupting Orochimaru every time they could.

"I've done what I can, your 'companion' is your own responsibility," Kabuto said as he looked towards Naruto, then vanished to go find his master.

Yamato looked and saw Bān coming over. As much as he hated it, he decided this would make things easier. "Bān-san, can you assist me in subduing the Kyūbi with your sharingan?" he asked. He had read the report and knew that, according to Naruto, the Uchiha had forced the fox back.

Bān shook his head. "No, use that famed mokuton to control the beast. That's your role here, ANBU."

Yamato used the Shodai Hokage's technique to force the Kyubi's chakra back using the necklace's power. While Naruto did return to 'normal,' it was clear as day that he wouldn't be able to move right away.

[A small distance away]

Orochimaru's newly remade body was hurting. He had exited his old body and fell to the ground like a corpse. That damn Uchiha truly had made him draw close to death, tasting it even. The Sannin had no chakra left to fight with and his body was aching with an almost deathly pain. To add to it, his current body started to reject him in full force, almost. He swore that he'd rip that bastard's eyes out and keep them as trophies!

The Sannin managed to pick himself up and heard a noise that announced the arrival of that pale boy from Naruto's team.

"I am Danzō-sama's representative, not an enemy. I want to talk to you about some things," Sai said.

Orochimaru couldn't believe it as he retrieved the white snake, the other form of his prized sword. "So that old fool is still breathing... What does he want now?"

"I have a message from Danzo-sama, so please listen-" Sai started.

"Choose your words carefully, boy!" Orochimaru hissed.

"Like I said, this is exactly how Danzō-sama said it, so don't hate me for it," Sai apologized.

Orochimaru smiled, then threw Kusanagi through Sai's body. "Such bad manners. When you speak to a superior, always say it yourself."

Sai came out of the ground as his ink clone fell apart, the double-edged jian changing into a snake and returning to Orochimaru.

[Back with Team Kakashi]

Sakura was healing Naruto, forcing herself through the pain in her injured arm. Despite being mostly healed, the wound still felt fresh and Sakura was certain that it'd leave a scar for the rest of her life. She'd have to cover it up later.

"I can assist you with my chakra, if you want," Bān offered.

Sakura shivered, feeling his vile chakra settling in the air like a poisonous bog. She could barely stand it as a background feeling, to have it flow through her, and into Naruto, never in a million years. "No thanks," she said, then focused on healing Naruto. She remembered the technique Yamato had used to bring Naruto back to his usual self. "Taichou, can you teach me the jutsu you used to return Naruto to normal?" she asked.

Yamato shook his head. "This is a bloodline technique that I artificially received. I'm compatible with the Shodai Hokage's cells and I may be the only one. Konoha would never subject people to what I went through, so there will never be another," he explained.

"I'm still the same... No matter how much I trained, what I can do for Naruto is still almost nothing at all," Sakura admitted as the pain of her own uselessness washed over her.

"It doesn't matter if you can only do little things to help him out. What truly matters is the strong feelings you hold for Naruto," Yamato said. Honestly, you didn't worry over any friend this much. When Sakura gave the man a confused smile, he sighed. "Sakura, you may not realize it now, but to you, Naruto is-"

"Ouch! Anyone get the name of that mountain?" Naruto asked.

Yamato rolled his eyes. 'Naruto, you are the only man who can ruin a mood you are part of! Well, maybe Jiraiya-sama is too.'

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out as tears of relief filled the corners of her eyes.

"What happened?" Naruto asked, then noticed that Sakura was crying. "Did that Sai say something bad again? Like calling you an old hag? Or inhumanly strong? Did he badmouth your forehead? Did he say anything bad about your bre-"

BAM! "Enough Naruto! Only you go on like that!" Sakura snapped. After she re-injured Naruto, she realized that Sai wasn't around. "Yamato-taichou, where's Sai?"

"He is part of Orochimaru's group now," Yamato said.

"What?" Sakura gasped.

"Follow me," Yamato said as he led them to the area Naruto had leveled. Once there, he confirmed what Jiraiya had said before about Naruto entering that state and forgetting all events that occurred while like that. Sakura lied and told Naruto that he'd been knocked out early on.

Sakura noted some of Sai's belongings on the ground. She ignored the scroll, knowing it was probably blank. Instead, she found a book underneath it. "What are Sai's things doing here?"

"Sai was forced to the ground by Kabuto and dropped those. He forgot them, probably due to fear of Orochimaru, or maybe he just left them since they mean nothing to him," Yamato stated.

"How do you know all this?" Sakura asked.

Yamato looked ahead."My wood clone was here not too long ago. It has a radio with it, so it gave me the specifics."

"Can you tell us those specifics?" Sakura was starting to feel an odd coldness creeping up on her.

"Sai was talking with them, then they all left as a group," Yamato said.

"What did they say?" Bān asked. His plan might get messed up if Danzō started something up. He might need to erase that old war hawk.

Yamato shook his head. "They were too far away for the clone to hear anything."

"Was he taken by force?" Sakura asked.

"No, he approached and then went with them of his own free will," Yamato said.

"He might be an ass, but he's no traitor!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura felt her stomach drop. "No, he probably did betray us... Yamato-taichou, do you know about Danzō?"

Yamato nodded. "He stood opposite to the Sandaime in everything."

"Who is this Danzō guy?" Naruto asked, having never met him.

"Danzō is Sai's superior and a person who believed in military power over diplomacy," Sakura explained.

Yamato started putting pieces together and didn't like the disgusting picture that was coming into focus. "It could be that Sai was sent here to further, or start up Danzō's plans. Him coming on this mission could have been a ruse for a secret mission given to him by Danzō that has nothing to do with our own."

"So that little liar was never helping you three, pitifully obvious," Bān stated. And they questioned his place in the team. Well, it wasn't like he was much better, but at least he gave them warning.

"This is all guesswork, but I think that Danzō is going to use Orochimaru to kill Tsunade-sama and take her place by helping Oto attack the village again," Yamato said.

Sakura picked up on his line of thought. "So that people see that we 'needed' the military power he said we lacked, allowing him to enact almost any policies with full support of the people, his own ideal village..."

Yamato nodded. "And because he failed last time, Danzō thinks that Orochimaru will be more willing to listen now."

"He couldn't..." Naruto muttered.

"He was sent to gain Orochimaru's trust and become a go-between. We probably weren't meant to survive," Sakura stated.

"So are we going to kill that child?" Bān asked. Being issued a no-kill order by a Senju's pet was annoying.

"Probably. We need to start following them now. For all we know, they'll start fleeing right after they get to their base," Yamato half suggested, half ordered.

"Let's go! Ugh..." Naruto grunted as he fell over.

"I know we need to go, but Naruto is in no shape to move right now," Sakura said as she helped Naruto up.

"He has enough strength to return to Konoha on his own, so we'll go ahead without him," Yamato stated.

"Kakashi-sensei would never leave one of us behind!" Sakura shouted.

"Sakura-chan. Don't worry, I can make it," Naruto said, breathing quite hard still.

"Me and Kakashi were a team in ANBU, so I know how he is. While I am his replacement, I am not him. I won't protect you because you no longer need it. You'll have to grow stronger than Kakashi and protect the village without him at your side someday. We need to follow the trail now or we'll never get to Orochimaru or Sasuke again," Yamato said, letting the two know how he and the world was.

Sakura thought about it, hating how right Yamato was. "I understand..."

"I'll carry him and feed him some of my chakra. Despite how it is, he should be able to absorb it just fine," Bān said, then hoisted Naruto onto his back. Naruto noted that Bān was wearing armor under his robes, that and the man smelled of ash.

A few minutes later, Sakura nearly fell down and broke her spine, but Yamato caught her first and lay her near a tree. It seemed that the wound Naruto gave her was something that medical ninjutsu couldn't completely heal.

Sakura noticed that Naruto was staring at the wound. "Kabuto got to me with some kind of poisoned weapon, but it only hurts a bit, so don't worry," Sakura lied. The pain was getting worse, as was the weakness in her left arm.

"Sakura-chan, don't go forcing yourself so much," Naruto said.

Sakura couldn't help but smile a bit. Telling her to ease up while he went hundreds of times further than she did. Typical Naruto.

"We'll take a break, since Sakura is pivotal to our mission as our sole medic," Yamato said.

"I'm fine! The trail will go cold if we don't go now!" Sakura protested.

"Rushing will only hurt us in the end. We need to be fully prepared, since we're going into a snake's den soon," Yamato stated.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, Sakura-chan is our overpowered medic, so she needs to rest too."

"Stop going on about my strength like that!" Sakura shouted.

"Naruto, Bān will take Sai's place as your battle partner. Before we go, I'd like to explain the altered battle plans to you," Yamato half lied. Naruto needed to know the truth and Sakura wasn't willing to let him know. Of course, anyone could tell he was lying since Bān wasn't present to hear of the 'plans,' meaning this was something that only concerned Naruto.

While the two male Konoha ninja were talking, Sakura looked at Bān, wondering if he, too, would betray them.

"That chakra that seeped into your arm, it won't go away too easily..." he stated, thinking hard. Bān placed his left hand on Sakura's wounded arm and concentrated, a cold white light surrounding it.

"What are-" Sakura started, but then felt the pain lessen to almost nothing. Her strength was returning as well.

Bān opened his eyes. "I dragged out as much of the Kyūbi's chakra as I could absorb for now, your body can take care of the rest. It isn't medical ninjutsu, so I can't teach it to you." He then turned his attention to Naruto and Yamato, frowning at them. He'd have to talk to Naruto later on, if he could manage it before things went south. The Kyūbi was required for his plans.

"Guys, come look at this!" Sakura called.

"That's Ne ANBU Sai's book, right?" Bān asked after Naruto and Yamato gathered round.

Naruto frowned. "Those drawings look so strange..."

"The center is the oddest," Sakura said as she turned to said pages.

"What is it supposed to be?" Naruto wondered.

Sakura was also wondering that. "These are the only unfinished pages in the entire book."

"Show us the other pages and we might understand these two," Yamato suggested.

Sakura started to explain what she had figured out so far, like how the book was about the boys on each cover. After a few pages, Naruto pointed out that the boy took the weapons and some of the clothes his previous opposite had. Yamato decided that the men facing the boy had been killed and the boy had taken their equipment. Naruto realized the black haired by looked like Sai, while Sakura remembered that Sai had a brother, who must have been the reverse cover's boy.

"We should get going, since my clone found Orochimaru's base," Yamato said as he got up.

[Orochimaru's lair, thirty minutes later]

Sai was surprised when the door was unlocked so soon after Kabuto left, even more surprised when it was Team Kakashi who had done it.

"The wondrous skill of the Hokage's personal ANBU. I should have known that fake corpse wouldn't slow you at all," Sai said with a cheerful tone and a smile, both fake.

"You have some explaining to do!" Naruto shouted.

"You may want to quiet down a bit, unless you want to get caught," Sai warned.

"He's right Naruto," Sakura said, then handed Sai his book, "this is yours, don't drop it again."

"Thanks," Sai said, not lying at all. He felt lost without this little book.

"You're here on Danzō's orders, right? You better tell us the truth about his plans," Sakura said, clenching her fist.

"Konoha's destruction, correct?" Yamato guessed.

"Not at-" Sai started.

Naruto growled as he stepped forward. "Stop lying and smiling like that or you'll be crapping teeth!"

Sai frowned. "Well, you already figured it all out and I can't kill you all, so why lie? Yes, Danzō-sama is planning to have Tsunade killed so he can become the Hokage."

"Start talking," Yamato ordered.

Sai started telling them everything, the plan to ally with Orochimaru, him leaking Konoha's information as well as Danzō's plans to the traitor using his ink animals, everything. He even told them that orders were something he HAD to carry out, that and 'Sai' was just a codename he had been given for the mission, telling them it had no meaning to him. He called himself a tool and a nobody, just a thing to carry out another person's orders.

"Then why is that book so important to you?" Sakura asked. It was the one chink in his story. When he didn't answer, Sakura told him why. "It's because it represents a bond you shared with your brother, something that made you a person due to its importance to you."

"Sorry for intruding, but we looked through it all and found only the middle pages incomplete. From what we saw, your brother and you were supposed to fight in the end," Yamato said, "emotion killing training, Kirigakure's little gift to the world. Various tests leading up to the final one, the one where you killed-"

"You're wrong!" Sai snapped, real anger in his voice, "this book was supposed to be a gift to him, but he died of an illness before I could finish it." Sai looked at the book, the only constant in his life other than Danzō's orders, assassinations and his gear. "We weren't real brothers, but he said he liked my drawings. Ne ANBU is composed purely of battle orphaned children and I drew close to the one I would come to call brother. This book... After he died, I forgot what was supposed to be in the center pages..."

"Come, we need to step outside," Yamato ordered as he led his team and captive out of the lair. Once outside, he restrained the teen with the wood release. "I'm going to leave a wood clone behind to watch over you."

"Time to get back to retrieving Sasuke," Naruto said.

"...You may want to rethink that. I met him not too long ago. It seems he and Orochimaru are always close to each other, meaning you'll probably get torn to ribbons or made into experimental materials," Sai warned, "and even though you, Naruto, see him as a brother, he has cast you all aside like dust on his shoulder. Is fighting Orochimaru worth bringing back a person like that?"

"I used to hate Sasuke, but the more time I spent around him, the more I realized he was a great person to be around. He, more than anyone else, accepted me. Sasuke is my friend and he represents one of the many bonds I wanted over the years," Naruto said.

"To go so far because he was your strongest bond, that could be viewed as idiotic. It'd be far easier to make better, more...wholesome bonds, ones not guarded by a snake," Bān muttered.

"I don't care. Let him try to stop me, I'll still win, even if it costs me all my limbs. No matter what, Sasuke is coming home," Naruto swore.

The others jumped away, aside from Bān. Kabuto attempted to capture the man, but he was basically shoved back as the Uchiha stepped away. "I don't like delusional fools touching me, I tend to dismember them," he warned.

"To think you'd get captured so quickly, they must have been tracking you in a non-standard way," Kabuto said as he steadied himself, then cut Sai loose, "you don't seem to be a willing captive, nor does this feel like a trap, so I'll trust you for the time being."

"If you two get in my way, all bets are off," Naruto said. This particular Naruto proved to be a clone, the real deal standing overhead, finishing a rasengan. He dropped down, intending to crush Kabuto into the ground this time.

"Useless, both you and that jutsu," Kabuto stated as he kicked Naruto away after stepping back.

"Fights aren't over till one person is down!" Naruto shouted.

"Not the fight, your effort. You are the one person I truly pity in this world, mostly since you don't know how time can change a person. Sasuke is no longer the person you knew," Kabuto explained.

"You can say that again. With that curse, everybody changes," Bān muttered, barely loud enough for Sakura to hear him.

Sai used this time to grab Kabuto from behind, restraining him. "What is this?" Kabuto asked.

"As you said, people change, some far faster than others. Of course, there are things that don't change. Naruto, I want to see what they are, these bonds you speak of," Sai said.

Within a few moments, Kabuto was held down in a tree root binding and a wood clone was staring at him. Sai told Naruto that he believed that staying near Naruto might let him truly know what bonds were, as well as why the bond between himself and his brother couldn't be severed by death. Kabuto warned them twice over, telling them that they had no clue as to who Sasuke really was, that and searching for Sasuke would be dangerous because any of the rooms could hold him or a certain snake eager for a fresh victim. Bān kicked him in the stomach to silence him, then Team Kakashi left.

"We'll split into three teams. Me and Sakura, Naruto and Sai while Bān-san searches on his own. If you run into something, anything, flare your chakra. In the case of Naruto and Sai, the seeds you have inside your bodies will react. As for Bān-san, I have no trouble feeling your chakra," Yamato ordered.

The Uchiha tugged at a torn sleeve, bits of his red armor and purple clothing peeking through the tears. "This mask and these robes were meant to hide my appearance and chakra, now they only hide most of my face. If you sense I'm in battle, avoid the area until things calm down."

"Let's get going and complete our mission," Yamato said, then the group scattered into three, Naruto and Sai following the Uchiha for a few moments before shooting down a wide hallway.

Naruto, after checking the last of this level's rooms, suddenly tripped.

"We've already split up, so you rest here while I go a little ways ahead," Sai suggested.

Naruto painfully lifted himself up. "Not now, I'm too close to getting him back."

Sai walked over and pulled Naruto to a wall and sat him down, figuring they could both use a little downtime. "You and my brother are far too similar, both loud, impatient and unrefined. Even your pen... Well, that doesn't really matter right now." He held his book up, looking at his brother's image, wondering if he would look similar to Naruto if he were still alive. "You and him both gave it your all when it came to tasks, both mundane and serious. You really bring up a lot of memories about him..." Sai suddenly remembered and took out his ink and brush, opening to the center page and drew it before he forgot.

"That's..." Naruto began.

"I remember it now," Sai said, then let Naruto see the picture of the pale haired boy and Sai holding hands, a real smile on his face as he looked at the completed picture. "This is our dream, the very thing I wanted to show him."

"Now, Sai, which side is the one you will stand on?" Orochimaru asked as he walked down the hall, standing a small distance from them. He unleashed a pair of snakes from his sleeves, noting that Sai dodged back with Naruto rather than push him into it. "So Konoha's side..."

"Sai! Go and find Sasuke, I'll keep Orochimaru here," Naruto said as he stood between the Sannin and Sai.

Sai nodded. "I'll find him." And he left.

[Somewhere else]

"So this is your lab," Bān said as he walked into the room and started rifling through Orochimaru's collected knowledge. The scrolls had genjutsu covering them, but they were meaningless before the mangekyō sharingan. He quickly scanned through them, using his mangekyō to breeze over them at high speed and permanently commit what they saw to memory. He was searching for specific bits of knowledge.

He found it. "Ah, the Curse Seal... He didn't intend to create them at first, but did it out of necessity... And this, hmm. So that's what goes into them. I can use this information..." Orochimaru really needed to warn Kabuto about leaving important information out. Seems this lab was used by the medic and his master.

He moved on, searching for the man's knowledge of illnesses. What was found was nothing he cared for, mostly the possible weaponization of diseases and such. The man didn't even bother fully deconstructing the viruses and such, making it easier for one to create a cure.

"These fools wasted their time. Had they bothered with healing, just a little bit, the snake would have gotten that brat's bone jutsu," Bān said as he removed his mask for a moment, getting his hair out of his eyes. "Looking any more is a waste of time," he said as he replaced his mask, letting his hair stay outside of the broken section. He grabbed what he needed.

As revenge for Orochimaru and Kabuto's poor choices, he left the room after he filled it with the ever hungry flames of Amaterasu.

[With Team Kakashi, a few minutes later]

Orochimaru, as a certain Uchiha would say it, showed off his mastery of 'the ninja art of run' at the sight of Yamato and Sakura, saying he had to deal with Sai. A moment later, Yamato made a grim discovery: a bingo book. This one wasn't standard, since it didn't contain just missing-nin, but also fully active ninja of other villages. All of them were very much anti-Konoha, meaning they were threats that Danzō, the obvious creator of the book, decided were too dangerous to continue living. He quickly found a page with Sasuke on it and came to the conclusion that Sai's real mission the whole time had been the assassination of Sasuke, Orochimaru's most desired future vessel.

When Naruto protested this theory, Yamato told him that it would be beneficial to such a person. By that point, Sakura's worries increased.

The conversation would have continued, but the need to get to Sasuke before Sai took over. They didn't have to go looking, since Sai's talk of bonds angered Sasuke enough that he blew a hole in the roof of the lair, letting sunlight into it. Team Kakashi ran to the site of the blast from two sides, Yamato's group on one side and Uchiha Bān on the other.

Sakura grabbed Sai, intending to make good on her promise of detaching his head from his body.

"That hair, it must be Sakura..."

She turned and looked, seeing him for the first time in almost three years. "Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto wanted to get there as well and forced himself, in spite of his injuries, to get over to his long lost friend. When he did get there, he saw Sasuke, dyed in Orochimaru's colors and looking more sure of himself than ever. "Sasuke..."

"Naruto as well. Is Kakashi here too?" he asked, then noticed the man was not present.

Yamato stepped up. "I'm filling in for Kakashi-senpai, who couldn't be here. Our mission as Team Kakashi is to bring you back to Konoha."

"Team Kakashi..." Sasuke muttered to himself.

Sai lifted his tantō. Sakura reached out to him. "Don't you dare!"

"That's my replacement. He fits far better than I did, with all his dribble about bonds and such. Piling on more weaklings doesn't amount to much," Sasuke analyzed.

Sakura was stunned at how much ice filled his voice. What happened to him over the years?

"While I was sent here on orders to kill Uchiha Sasuke, I no longer see meaning in them and I will think and act freely. Naruto showed me something I lost long ago, something that mattered a great deal to me," Sai said, "I know next to nothing about you, but Naruto and Sakura-san are chasing after you for a good reason that I'd like to know and understand some day. They don't want to let what binds you three together to shatter, so they are willing to do anything to preserve them."

Sasuke sighed. "And here I thought I completely cut myself off from them. The only bond that matters to me now is the one forged from unbreakable hatred and blood. Too many bonds makes one lose focus on what matters."

"If that's all true, then why am I still alive? Why didn't you kill me?" Naruto demanded.

"It wasn't because I couldn't sever my bond with you, I just didn't want to give my brother the pleasure of me submitting to his will to gain power," Sasuke said.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

"There's no point in explaining anything to you. All you need to know is the only thing that saved you was a whim, just like the one that made me kill that cat," and he was suddenly right in front of Naruto, an arm on his shoulder. "If I remember correctly, you wanted to become Hokage. You'd be so much closer to your goal if you didn't bother with bringing me back to that weak village."

"Sasuke-kun, what..." Sakura half asked. She was afraid of him now.

"Because you let bonds cloud your mind, making you forget to pursue your dream, I'll kill you," Sasuke said as his sword came out of its sheath without much noise.

"If I can't save you, I won't ever become a good Hokage," Naruto stated.

"Stop it!" Sakura shouted, suddenly feeling like a useless thirteen year old girl again.

Sai caught Sasuke's sword arm, halting the blade's movement. "A grab, a good choice of defense in this case," the young Uchiha praised.

Naruto jumped to the side, taking Sasuke's other arm with him to immobilize him. Sasuke noted Yamato coming for him, but freed himself and stopped the man by releasing a chidori from his whole body.

"I'll bring you back myself, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shouted as she ran up. Sasuke turned his blade on her and the only thing that saved her was Yamato taking the blow in her stead, a sheen of lightning coating Sasuke's weapon.

"Wrong choice of defense," Sasuke chastised as he increased the flow of the chidori, stunning the man. "You can feel it, can't you? My sword of Kusanagi cannot be stopped." He turned to Naruto and something happened, something unseen, but it gave Yamato a chance to push the blade back and attempt to capture him. It failed and Sasuke broke the wooden prison, landing on a nearby cliff.

"Sasuke, Orochimaru will never let you get to anywhere near Itachi! He'll take over your body and go into hiding again!" Naruto shouted.

"I'll do anything to kill Itachi, even give my body to that man. All that matters to me is revenge. Even me and Orochimaru working together could never defeat Itachi, but we could if I gave him my body," Sasuke stated.

Yamato was about to take charge, to force the matter, but someone else beat him to it.

"I'll grant your wish and kill you in your brother's stead, suicidal Uchiha."

Sasuke ducked and shot away, avoiding the sword that nearly cut his shoulder open. "You are..."

The attacker rested their sword on their right shoulder. "Akane, Shinku Kariudo. I've come for Orochimaru's head, and yours as well since you truly wish to become his next vessel."

Bān appeared nearby, swinging his wooden blade down on her head, which she blocked with the sheath of her metal sword. "My current mission is bringing that boy back to Konoha, I won't allow you to interfere, Akane," he warned as he increased the pressure.

"Oh, so its you again. I thought you died about forty or so years ago," Akane said with a smirk.

"I'm through with all of you," Sasuke said as he finished some hand seals and lifted his hand to the sky.

Orochimaru appeared, holding Sasuke's arm. "No need for that jutsu, Sasuke-kun."

"Let go of me," Sasuke growled.

"Sasuke-kun, they are helping us with Akatsuki, whether they like it or not," Kabuto said as he appeared as well.

The two sword fighters decided to put their differences aside to end the lives of the medic and Sannin, each rushing at one. Akane went for Orochimaru, her whip sword already extending as she swung it next to her like a chain while Bān decided that Kabuto would look better as a bloody mess, his sword's edge reshaping itself into a true blade of wood.

Orochimaru was never hard pressed when it came to non-shinobi opponents, but this was Akane he was facing down, a living legend. She had, supposedly, been around since the first Shinobi World War and earned the respect of both the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage, a feat none before and after her achieved. Through pure swordsmanship, she cut down hundreds of shinobi and samurai, making villages fear her to no end and making her the first civilian to be listed as an S-ranked threat. She had cursed herself with immortality to end the wars that took her love from her, not expecting her life to extend into the present day due to strife being ever present in the world of shinobi.

It was this same woman who now pressed him back, preventing him from using jutsu and fighting back. Sure there were holes in her attacks and defense, but they closed up so rapidly that Orochimaru had little doubt that they'd close on his limbs with a sharp edge. She also had a habit of stepping on her blade or closing it up, all to redirect it in deadly arcs.

Kabuto was completely overpowered. His opponent knew what Kabuto was going to do and evaded or stopped his attacks with ease and minimal movement. Kabuto found it extremely difficult to keep his eyes off the Uchiha's, since he didn't like the idea of being subjected to a heavy dose of genjutsu eating away at him. The man's taijutsu was something else as well, being on a level that Orochimaru would avoid. Kabuto really started to worry when the Uchiha caught his arm behind the chakra scalpel and broke the bones in it with a loud snap. Seeing how the man did that, Kabuto realized that the Uchiha wasn't even trying.

Sasuke watched his teacher and the medic fight off the hired killers, waiting for a moment to disable them. He never got the chance.

Akane went for a sweeping cut, aiming for Orochimaru's neck. While the Sannin did dodge, he didn't expect her to shift her foot slightly, a blade popping out of her boot and her driving said blade into the gap between the bones of his knee. She broke it off in his leg and swung her whip sword again, taking one of his hands away. With him off balance, she drove the handle of her sword down hard, cracking his collar bone and knocking him down and back. She swept her sword up, preparing to slice the man open.

Bān got tired of it and broke more of his mask off, revealing most of his mouth as he inhaled. Kabuto only got a moment to start dodging, right before a massive fireball tried to eat him alive.

Sasuke was slightly stunned at their show of power, but knew better.

Akane got it first, a curved kunai slashing her chest open as Kabuto burst from the ground like a rocket. She stared forward in mild shock. "When did he-" she tried to ask, then fell over into a pool of her own spreading blood, a legend destroyed. Or, perhaps, a fake? Bān fared much better, deflecting Orochimaru's Kusanagi so it only clipped his mask and caught on his robes as it surged forward.

Bān's face was no longer a mystery as his hair flowed free, the mask ripped off. Kabuto, Sasuke and Orochimaru visibly paled.

"So now you know," the man stated as he confirmed that the mask was gone.

"It can't be..." Sasuke muttered.

The man tore off the useless robe, letting his vile chakra wash over everyone as his blood red armor was fully revealed.

"Uchiha...Madara," Kabuto gasped. How the hell could he still be alive?

Madara sighed. "This isn't the time for my identity to be revealed. Guess I'll need to improvise... Ah, so that's how it is, huh..." He looked displeased at something.

Now Orochimaru was trying to figure out the best way to escape without dying. Sasuke had to live, Kabuto's survival was preferable, but optional. Even with Kusanagi, this was Uchiha Madara, a man that even Orochimaru wouldn't summon up. Swords were mere twigs compared to his might.

Sakura and the others were quite terrified, the repulsive chakra robbing them of everything except the will to live. Sakura, at the age of twelve, nearly lost her mind to the fear Orochimaru instilled in her. Now at fifteen, Sakura was seriously considering a kunai to her heart as a massive improvement to feeling Madara's evil sweeping over her. Sai discovered a new emotion: fear. Yamato knew that, even with his experience and mokuton, Madara was someone who you ran from if you weren't a Kage. As for Naruto, the fox repeatedly shouted at him to avoid the black haired man at all costs!

Just as Orochimaru decided to start running and blow up his hideout in hopes of severely injuring Madara, he felt his body pitch forward slightly as warmth rolled down his stomach. "What?" he gasped, blood splashing out as it bubbled in his mouth. He looked down to see the tip of Akane's sword sticking out his chest. Before he could react, he felt the blade shift slightly, then he was wracked with incredible pain as it was vibrated in his chest, agitating every organ in his torso. The sword cracked from the unusual vibration.

The blade was yanked out, letting Orochimaru fall down to the ground in a heap of pained flesh. Kabuto tried to strike at the attacker, but Madara and, shockingly enough, the torn body of Akane struck at him, forcing him back. "Who are you?" the medic demanded.

The attacker, a young woman, turned her covered head slightly to regard Kabuto. "Someone who loathes you, bitch. It's time you died," she said.

From what could be seen, she was of an athletic build with a b or small c-cup bust and decent hips. Her hair was long, silky, jet black and easily reached her waist at the back, a short and tattered cloak with a hood covering the top of her head as well as obscuring her face with shadow and rag. She had very fair skin. She was 5 feet tall and must have weighed a slight bit over a hundred pounds. Her clothes were quite a sight, being similar in nature to Akane's but black and the jacket possessing two sleeves that were open to expose her shoulders, the coat ending a bit below her waist in what looked like squared off feathers angling away from her stomach, the back of the jacket slit from a bit above the middle of her lower back and going all the way to where the jacket tails ended, at about ankle level on her. She wore a black cut-off shorts with no markings. Her coat had sheathes directly attached to it, being set on a steep angle and lying a bit above her waist. Her feet were wrapped in dark gray bindings, her heel and the fronts of her feet uncovered. A sword as long as she was tall rested on her back. The blade was a very dull red with a thin blade, no hand guard and a bit of a serrated back edge near the end. It didn't looked forged, it looked like it was shaped from glass or something.

Her face couldn't be seen due to the angle of the hood as well as her raised collar, but you could see that she possessed mangekyō sharingan that were composed of four tomoe set so the 'tails' touched an outer ring while the 'heads' touched an inner ring that was a few millimeters from her pupils. That was odd since sharingan were supposed to be three patterns, not four. She had a headband on her head, her right eye covered by the black material. With all of this, barely a quarter of her face was visible.

Kabuto looked at 'Madara' and 'Akane,' seeing them breaking into a black mist that was drawn into the woman who wounded Orochimaru. "This whole time, you, Uchiha woman, have been manipulating everything from the shadows, haven't you?"

"I'm no Uchiha. I hate them with a passion that even Hell can't extinguish," the woman stated as her long nailed, delicate looking fingers curled around the handle of left blade of her hip sheathed swords.

Kabuto attempted to strike her, so that Sasuke could flee with Orochimaru, but his chakra scalpel cut through empty air. The woman appeared beside him and threw him to the ground. Before he could rise, she slammed her foot down on his lower back, hard.

"Who is that?" Sai asked, figuring someone knew.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't know..."

"Where did you get those eyes?" Sasuke demanded. For a WOMAN that wasn't an Uchiha to have his clans' eyes, it felt like an insult to his very being.

"I was born with them, though I doubt they've been active that long. I've had them since my earliest memories," the mystery woman calmly answered.

"I'll be taking them back now," Sasuke said as he drew his sword again. The woman locked eyes with him and Sasuke was subjected to fear far greater than anything he had ever encountered before. The sheer hatred projected through her eyes made him sweat and shiver. When he was released, with him taking a step back while taking deep breaths, he noticed she now had her red sword in hand.

"I'll seal your jutsu," she said, then was gone in a flash of black chakra. Sasuke barely got his sword up in time to catch her reappearing blade, a few inches from his face. She broke the lock by smacking the hilt of her sword into his face, then swung at him again. Sasuke deflected the downward stroke, only to wince when the blade came back up a second later to slice his arm. He jumped back as she swung her sword, throwing his blood off the blade, then she stabbed, her blade shallowly cutting into his leg.

Sasuke panted slightly, holding his arm and barely being able to stand due to his leg nerves being on fire. 'One strike quickly following another, and in opposing directions too. This woman's skill, she's better than Orochimaru.'

"You're...rather fond of critiquing others choices of attacking or defending, are you not?" she suddenly asked.

"Yes, it pays to know when you make a mistake," Sasuke stated.

The woman nodded slightly. "True, you will learn from your failures. As for your performance during our recent exchange..." she paused for a moment, "everything you did was wrong."

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"Attacking me, defending against my attacks, only total avoidance would ensure your continued survival," she answered as she embedded her sword into the ground with a swing, the blade sticking due to its sharpness, drew the damaged whip blade she had given to her Akane clone. Three Orochimaru and two Kabuto appeared, clearly intending to strike at the woman from all possible angles. She figured it wasn't them, just clones or something, but she swung her weapon around hard so it looped around her body like a barricade of blades and gear/chain, then held her free hand in a half ram seal. "Scatter!" she snapped as the core of her weapon broke with a chakra pulse, freed blades flying out to impale what turned out to be a bunch of earth clones. They served their purpose, the three traitors all gathered together.

"We've wasted enough time here, we must be going," Orochimaru said as he waved slightly.

"Sasuke!" Naruto and Sakura called, hoping to delay him.

The woman smirked as she felt the three start to use shunshin. "Doesn't that scar on your side hurt, Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke reacted violently, pushing the sannin and medic away from him. "How did you know about it?" he shouted, his sword held to the woman again. It only started hurting a few hours ago, for the first time since it fully healed.

The woman chuckled a bit. "I figured it would, seeing as how a curse was carried on that hatred filled blade."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What...do you mean? Who are you?" The woman tore the ragged cloak off her head as she glared at Sasuke. He couldn't believe what he saw. "Impossible! I killed you!" he shouted.

It finally clicked in Sakura's head, but Naruto beat her to it.

"Is that you, Yue?" he asked, not believing his own eyes.

A/N~

And the cat came back! Yep, Yue is back. She's also got a much better figure now as well as a new outfit. In case people are wondering, the main inspiration for her clothes was from Sakon no Quasar. I made a few changes, feminizing the outfit and altering it to Yue's preferences.

On other news, next chapter will be the last released for a while. I'll be working on Kyūbi's Kit exclusively, planning that one as I read and write as well as setting everything for this fic up right, such as placing extra bits/mini-arcs into the story, possibly wiping some parts out completely. One thing I will reveal is this: a reunion between Yue and Ino.

And if I made any mistakes, I'll fix them later.

Character Intro-

Name: Uchiha Bān

Race: Clone (shadow clone? Henge)

Age: Unknown

Weapons: wooden sword

Armor: Shinobi armor (ancient)

Abilities-

Sharingan

Fire release

Wood release

Appearance: A perfect replica of Uchiha Madara, even down to his clothing and fighting style.

History: A clone Yue created and used as a puppet for her plans. Until 'Akane' was fatally injured, Bān truly believed he was the real Madara, suggesting that Yue used her mangekyō to influence its thoughts. As to how Yue was able to fully and accurately recreate Madara, right down to his voice, the sensation of his chakra and combat methods is unknown, since nobody alive knows how he sounded or fought.

It is believed that Yue adopted this form while posing as the masked mercenary.

Name: Akane

Race: Human (shadow cloned and henged into by Yue)

Age: Unknown

Weapons: A katana (whip blade in Yue's case)

Armor: None

Abilities-

Master swordswoman

Appearance: See the last chapter.

History: The real Akane was roughly twenty six years old when the first shinobi world war broke out and was seen during both the following wars, being the exact same age. It is true that her skill was high enough to match and, quite often, exceed that of many shinobi, which resulted in her killed well over a hundred ninja during the first war.

As for Yue's time as Akane, it is unknown what was her and what was the real Akane, other than her initial encounter with Naruto in Konoha. Judging by that time, Yue is more than capable of skilled tactical evasion without the use of chakra.

Responses-

The Keeper of Worlds: You were right to put "new" addition when it came to Bān. The Crimson HUNTRESS, Akane, will be brought into far more detail later on.

Sky Zephyrus: According to this chapter, those two were pawns. Actually, Akane plays a much larger role later on. 615... Haven't read it, but I'm guessing its when Sakura turned that guy down and implied she still loved Sasuke. Yeah, she's turned into one of those stupid heroines that doesn't have a clue when a guy has no interest in her. Another interesting note is that Sakura, if I remember correctly, wasn't one of the people 'Kyūbi enhanced' by Naruto.

And in this fic, as Yamato tried to point out before Naruto ruined it all, Sakura already does have feelings for Naruto, they're just buried.

Dragonsatan: Who would want to rape Orochimaru? Well, Bān 'helped' Orochimaru a bit during that fight.

DarkLordK: Stay curious, since more on her will be revealed later.

Narutokurosaki: For that chapter, and episode in the anime if I remember correctly, Orochimaru envisioned himself being obliterated by the sheer killing intent and power of the Kyūbi. It is similar to what Orochimaru did to Sasuke and Sakura when he marked the little prick. (BTW, did I mentioned I despise Sasuke?)

hhh: ….Gooby?

Yuri-Hime-Chan: Combination of factors. While Naruto is strong, the nine-tails is much more powerful. This time around, it was Naruto's lack of strength in the past as well as Orochimaru blaming Yue's 'death' on Naruto. And I do think that Jiraiya tried to sway Naruto from chasing Sasuke, but as we all know, even Jiraiya himself can't leave things alone when it involves Orochimaru. I'm pretty sure that, had he not been more concerned about Akatsuki, he would have taken Yamato's place as Team Kakashi's captain.

Kidloco: Message decoded. First, Akane isn't a hunter-nin, she's not even a ninja, the real one anyway. The Uchiha, well, you know now.

RocketShippingFan: While that little idea does work, and has been used, and Sakura is delusional or she has an issue. Think about it, what teenage girl would continue to love someone who tried to KILL them? Sasuke also, generally, treated her as a bother and, after getting the curse seal, treated her like garbage or a target. She's also been mentored by Tsunade, who knows what it's like to get your heart crushed, and she's still after Sasuke is spite of everything that he's done.

But that doesn't matter because Sakura will still refuse that guy's letter, but she will be thinking of a certain knucklehead ninja instead. In this fic at least.

Super Saiyan Haruno Sakura: Hmm, Sasuke's never been good enough to kill a strong ninja, they just kill themselves or he runs away. (actual fact, look it up)

NaruSaku fan 100: Yamato tried to clue Sakura into her own feelings, but Naruto just keeps ruining the moment! (damn baka!) I need someone else to clue her in now... Hmm, I think I know who.

NaruSaku fan 55: First of all, why is everyone calling her 'Yui?' It is Yue, Chinese for moon and a masculine name. Sakura's feelings for Sasuke are slightly diminished, but not gone. She knows he's violent and sees nothing in killing a 'friend.' This is part of what changes her heart later on.

And while on Yui, I do like the name. In fact, Yui is the name of my favorite To-Love-Ru character, the ever tsundere and 'shameless!' shouting Kotegawa Yui.

Romanomanette: Thanks for the praise, but there are far better fics here, most of which are dead now due to the M-rating scare. Wait until you see how Yue is now.

Silentlinkmit339: A plot twist following another plot twist, which will probably be followed by another. The direction of this fic... Hmm, you'll have to wait and see.