I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to this new chapter of my story.

First of all I would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas (or any other holiday people celebrate) and I hope you all had a great time celebrating. Also I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year next week. Another year gone, I can't believe how fast time goes sometime. Anyway I wish everyone a good year filled with happiness and good luck.

About this chapter; I'm not completely satisfied with it. I had a really hard time writing this one. I don't know what happened but for some reason the chapter seemed good in my head but when I wrote it down it just didn't do. Personally I would prefer to rewrite it completely but after the third time of completely changing it I went with this version. So if it isn't up to par with the usual chapters please forgive me.

Anyway let me know how you feel about it. Enjoy.

AN1:

ATTENTION EVERYONE:

Today (01/01/09) I found a story called Naruto: The Uzumaki Chronicles by Dark Spidey (.net/s/4756137/1/Naruto_The_Uzumaki_Chronicles).

While reading this story I immediately noticed that this author had just about copied everything that I had writen in my first two chapters. He adds some of his own ideas as well but the bulk of the chapters are just copies of my story. I find this very insulting that someone just copies another person's work without any respect to the original writer. I have informed this to the administrators and Dark Spidey himself.

I hope this issue can be resolved quickly and that Dark Spidey will either change the contents of his chapters or delete the story and start over. I'm not doing this to be mean but I feel that as a writer he should have had the respect and common sense not to copy someone's work like that. I'm sure that any other writers out there agree with me on this point.

AN2:

After several PM's with Dark Spidey we have come to an understanding. He has agreed to rewrite his chapters so that they wouldn't use an exact copy of mine. If he follow through with his promise I will of course delete previous AN.

I don't want there to be any misunderstanding about this problem. I don't have any problem with people using the same ideas I have. On the contrary I would like to see what they do with those ideas and maybe they'll inspire me as well. My problem was that he copied WORD FOR WORD parts of my story while adding some of his own ideas. That is not what writing is about. To me writing is putting my own ideas on paper and write my own story even if I use a concept that's already been used. I'm aware that some of my ideas are already done but I do not just copy other people's story word for word.

AN3:

I have also no problem with people who use my own personal created Jutsu if they give me credit for it. I don't care if it's just a small request by PM or mentioning it in a AN in the chapter itself. I try to do the same thing as well. So far I haven't really used anyone else's techniques although some might already been done or resemble them. I'm talking about the exact same technique (how it works, the name, etc..) if you use those exact same technique then I would like to be mentioned as the orginal creator. To make it clear what my orginal Jusu are, I have listed them below.

1. Katon: Ryusei No Jutsu

2. Suiton: Dekishi Dama No Jutsu

3. Katon: Kaen Mushi No Jutsu

4. Katon: Kaen Ya No Jutsu

5. Doton: Chijou No Jutsu

6. Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu

7. Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Tenjou Saidan Kaze No Jutsu

8. Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Kaze Dangan No Jutsu

9. Hiden Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Gingaku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu

10. Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu

I have several more but they haven't been used yet in the story so I can't list them here. Once they have been posted in the story I'll will add them as well.

Chapter 37: Sasuke's defection

The next morning before dawn Kakashi was preparing for the trip back to Konoha; frankly he was glad to leave Wave. Not because he didn't like it here or disliked the people but because he could feel that something bad was about to happen. The tension in the air was noticeable to any trained shinobi; he also felt the tension between the teams. Sasuke's continuous taunting of the others and his arrogant behavior were causing some serious problems. He wished he could say that the rest of the Genin did their share of causing the problems but that would be a lie. He had noticed how much the rest were trying to avoid the Uchiha just to reduce the tension.

He was seriously disappointed in his pupil; he had talked to him once again but just like every time before Sasuke ignored his advice. Kakashi wondered how Sasuke had gotten this arrogant but he knew the answer anyway. Coming from a major clan that was renowned to be one of the best would make anyone feel a little arrogance but because of him being the only one left the village was willing to jump to his every whim. Kakashi shook his head and vowed to try again later on.

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said entering the living room.

"Good morning Hinata; are the others up yet?" Kakashi asked looking up from his book.

"Sakura-chan is almost ready and I heard Naruto talking to Shino." Hinata said before sitting down at the breakfast table. "I bet they're trying to get Kiba get up."

"Alright; we'll leave as soon as everyone is ready." Kakashi nodded.

Upstairs Naruto and Shino were trying to wake up Kiba. So far they didn't have any luck and Naruto was getting annoyed at his teammate so he did the only thing he could think of. He raced to the bathroom and filled a bucket with ice cold water. He winked at Shino who smirked and backed up a little so he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Naruto emptied the bucket on Kiba who immediately jumped up from the bed cursing and yelling at Naruto.

"Guess Kiba-kun is up as well." Hinata laughed. She had a good idea what had made Kiba that angry.

"A bucket of ice cold water will do that to you." Naruto laughed when he came down the stairs.

"Oi Naruto, could you go check Sasuke and see if he's awake yet?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

"Sure thing Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said before bounding up the stairs again.

Naruto knocked on the door of Sasuke's bedroom asking him if he was already up. When he got no answer he silently opened the door and peeked inside but saw nobody so he entered the room. He frowned when he saw that all of Sasuke's equipment was gone and the window was opened. Taking a closer look he saw that the bed was made and no sign of Sasuke could be found in the room. It was like the boy had never stayed there. He quickly went downstairs to inform Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke's room is empty and cleared out of anything that might indicate his stay there." Naruto said. "His equipment is gone and the window was open."

"Hinata, I want you to take Sakura and check out the surroundings. Look for a path or trace of anyone leaving." Kakashi immediately ordered. "Naruto, you and I will check the room again while Kiba and Shino try to find a trace of Sasuke by scent." Kakashi said urgently.

"Hai." Was the only answer that all Genin gave.

Kakashi and Naruto examined the room and come to the conclusion that no struggle or fight had taken place inside the room. This could mean two things; either Sasuke was drugged and unconscious or he left freely. Both of them hoped that it was the former because if Sasuke left freely it would mark him as a Missing-nin. Kakashi peered outside the window but couldn't find anything that resembled a path. Taking Naruto he went downstairs hoping that the rest had found something.

"Alright report." Kakashi said.

"Sakura and I found a path just outside the property that leads south of here." Hinata said. "It looks new perhaps a few hours."

"Great job you two." Kakashi said before turning to Kiba and Shino.

"We found a trace of a second smell in Sasuke's room that's familiar but it's weak." Kiba said. "We can't be 100 percent sure but we think its Kabuto."

This alarmed all of them but especially Kakashi and Naruto as they understood what this meant. If Kabuto was involved than it meant that Orochimaru was the one behind all this. Kakashi bit his thumb and summoned Pakkun and told the summon to hurry to Konoha and tell them of the situation. The dog summon nodded and disappeared in no time.

"Pakkun should reach Konoha within the next few hours." Kakashi said. "Meanwhile we'll follow the trail and see what we can find. Everyone quickly eat your breakfast and prepare for battle."

The Genin didn't need to be told twice and started eating; they would need the energy if they encountered any enemy shinobi. Once they finished eating they quickly prepared their weapons and pouches so they had everything at hand. All of this took at most ten minutes and after informing Tsunami and Tazuna of the situation they left following the trail.

Inside the cave the Oto-nin were also getting ready to depart for their destination. Unfortunately for them they had to travel back toward Hi no Kuni before they could travel to Orochimaru's hideout. They could take another route but that would be the long way around and they all knew Orochimaru wanted them to arrive as soon as possible. None of them wanted to receive his wrath if they made him wait too long.

Kabuto was feeling a bit disappointed that the Konoha shinobi hadn't to notice Sasuke's disappearance yet but he figured it was only a matter of time. He couldn't stall his group any longer as even he wasn't free of being punished by the Snake Sannin. The Sound Four were a pain in the ass but they always got the job done in time and if they told Orochimaru-sama that he was the one responsible for delaying them he would pay the price.

"Alright, let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover and unfortunately we can't just hop through the trees as that would possibly injure Sasuke-kun." Kabuto ordered the Sound Four.

"Yeah whatever dickhead." Tayuya snapped.

"A girl shouldn't use that kind of language." Jiroubou said.

"Shut up Fatso." Tayuya yelled back.

Kabuto sighed and once more wished he hadn't been assigned to this mission. The constant yelling and insulting of each other seriously got to him and he wondered how the four of them worked so well when all they did was insult each other. Glad that this mission was almost over he ordered them to shut up and he motioned them to follow him. While they couldn't hop trees in fear of injuring Sasuke who was still inside the pail they still could run at high speeds.

Kakashi and his team had followed the trail for a few hours now and Hinata had finally been able to find the hiding spot thanks to her Byakugan. She notified the rest and they slowly made their way over there in case there might be some traps. When they entered the cave they quickly inspected it and Kiba told him that he definitely smelled Kabuto and Sasuke. He also found four other scents making the total of five Nin plus Sasuke.

"No sign of struggle or a fight." Naruto said.

"At this point it's safe to say that Sasuke left of his own free will." Kakashi said. "We'll chase them and bring them in for questioning. Whatever happens try to bring Sasuke back alive so he can get a trial and be punished for his betrayal."

"Kakashi-sensei, why would Sasuke-kun leave Konoha?" Sakura asked softly.

"There might be several reasons but since Kabuto and Orochimaru are involved I think it's safe to say that they promised him power." Kakashi said sadly. "Sasuke was very jealous of Naruto, Hinata and you being trained by Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama. If Orochimaru promised him the means to kill his brother Sasuke wouldn't have hesitated."

"I can't believe that idiot." Naruto said loudly. "Doesn't he know what Orochimaru is really after? All he wants is the Sharingan."

"While that is true Naruto, we have to remember that Sasuke has been through a severe mental trauma only a few months ago." Kakashi said."That being said, it doesn't mean he can just betray Konoha without consequences."

"What would those consequences be Kakashi-sensei?" Kiba asked interested.

"It would depend on the investigation and his evaluation." Kakashi sighed. "The best would be temporarily suspended and house arrest while the worst would be execution. But let's not dwell on this now; we need to catch up on those shinobi before they get away." They nodded and took formation before jumping through the trees at high speeds.

In Konoha Tsunade and her council were discussing some village matters and how things were going with the villagers. So far she had been very satisfied with Hideki and the work he had done. He was very good at dealing with the villagers and they had accepted him as their relay to the Hokage. Minor issues were easily dealt with and if there was a big enough problem Hideki brought it up with her. She had to admit that the system that Naruto had thought of was very efficient even though they had to make some adjustments here and there. They were about to finish the meeting when Pakkun arrived.

"Hokage-sama, there's a situation with Team 7 and 8." Pakkun said hurriedly.

"Proceed." Tsunade said fearing the worst.

"Uchiha Sasuke has left during the night and might have been either abducted or left on his own. There were no signs of a struggle and Inuzuka Kiba caught the scent of Yakushi Kabuto." Pakkun reported. "Kakashi and his team are in pursuit and request possible backup."

"Goddammit that stupid Uchiha." Tsunade cursed. "This is Orochimaru's work no doubt about it."

"I fear you're correct Tsunade." Sandaime sighed. "How will we proceed?" Tsunade pressed a button that called the Anbu that was positioned outside her office.

"Get me a medical team with Mitarashi Anko and Yuuhi Kurenai." She ordered and the Anbu left immediately.

"Why the medical team?" Hideki asked.

"I have a feeling that they'll be needed." Tsunade sighed. "Even though Hinata and Sakura are talented they are only beginning to learn Medical Jutsu. If any of them is seriously injured they might not be able to help."

It didn't take more than ten minutes before Anko and Kurenai arrived at the tower and were informed of what had happened. Anko was furious that the Uchiha had left and endangered Naruto like that and it took Kurenai almost five minutes to calm her down.

"Don't you get it?" Anko said. "Orochimaru somehow managed to convince the Uchiha that leaving Konoha was in his best interests and I only see one way to do that."

"Meaning?" Tsunade said interested in Anko's opinion.

"He promised him power; enough power to defeat Naruto and Itachi." Anko answered.

"That could be true." Sandaime said. "Sasuke has always been focused on his revenge and I've heard more than once that he was obsessed by getting stronger."

"Being privately taught by a Sannin would blind Sasuke enough to leave Konoha." Kurenai agreed.

"Alright; the two of you are to lead a Medical team and help capture any shinobi involved in the defection of Uchiha Sasuke." Tsunade ordered. "You are also to apprehend Uchiha Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha so he can be questioned. You leave immediately."

"Hai." Anko and Kurenai said before leaving the office. The told the three Med-nin to meet them at the front gate in ten minutes.

Kabuto was getting aggravated; things were going much slower than he had expected. They were now a few hours away from Konoha and still had more than halfway to go. They were now running though the thick forest that separated Hi no Kuni from the other countries. They had been traveling for several hours and so far they hadn't encountered any shinobi for which he was grateful. Any delay at this point would be disastrous to them. Seeing as the sun was already pretty high in the sky they decided to take a small break and get some rest and eat something. Running out of energy would be very bad as well.

Kakashi and his team were closing in on the Oto-nin according to his and Kiba's nose. Kakashi was a shinobi with extraordinary skills but he let Kiba take the lead since the boy could use the experience. If Kiba made a mistake Kakashi would correct him but so far he had been doing great. Hinata was using her Byakugan to search the area for traps and to spot the enemy. Shino and Naruto were assigned to be their primary attack force while Sakura would be back up in case of an attack.

"I see them." Hinata said making everyone stop in their tracks.

"What do you see Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked quickly.

"They're resting and eating about a mile from here." Hinata said. "There's no sign of Sasuke but there's a big pail with seals that they're guarding. Kabuto is there as well."

"A pail? Is Sasuke inside it?" Kakashi asked.

"I can't see through it." Hinata said sadly.

"Alright let's get closer and we'll try to surprise them." Kakashi ordered.

Slowly they made their way close to the Oto-nin; they had to evade several ingenious traps but none of them had been triggered as far as they knew. When they got close enough Kakashi explained the plan. Naruto was to make several clones and use the 'Henge' to disguise them as the rest of team. While the Kage Bunshins were occupying them the real ones would try to steal the pail away. Naruto nodded and started on his part of the plan. Before they could execute the plan however they had to jump away from their hiding place as dozens of kunai rained down on them.

"Well, what do we have here?" Kabuto said smirking. "Hatake Kakashi, Namikaze Naruto and a few Genin."

"Where's Sasuke?" Kakashi said inwardly cursing that they had been spotted. "Why did you abduct him?"

"Abduct him? Oh we did no such thing." Kabuto said smiling. "Sasuke came to us of his own free will. As to his current location that would be inside that pail."

"Kabuto, don't you think it's kind of dangerous to give them that information?" Kidoumaru asked.

"Come on Kidoumaru; they're just a bunch of pussies." Tayuya said. "Look at them; they're all Genin."

"You would do well not to underestimate Konoha shinobi." Naruto said warning them. "We'll do anything to rescue our comrade."

"You don't get it do you?" Kabuto laughed loudly. "Sasuke betrayed Konoha for power. He's no longer a comrade of yours."

"That doesn't matter." Kiba said. "He's still a shinobi from Konoha and we won't let you have him."

"Then by all means come and take him." Kabuto said getting ready.

"I'll deal with Kabuto." Kakashi said. "You guys take care of those Oto-nins and get Sasuke back."

Kabuto shot forward with a kunai trying to stab Kakashi in the chest but Kakashi had already taken out his own kunai and blocked it. The Sound Four took advantage from the surprised group and grabbed the pail and disappeared into the trees. Naruto cursed and followed them quickly with Kiba and the rest right on his tail. For several minutes they chased the Sound Four and managed to close in on them pretty quickly.

"Shit they're gaining on us." Tayuya cursed.

"I'll hold them down; you guys keep going."Jiroubou said stopping on a tree. "Get Sasuke-sama to Orochimaru-sama."

The rest of the Sound Four nodded at their teammate and continued running at high speed. Jiroubou prepared to stop most the Konoha shinobi and started doing some handseals. When he noticed the group arrived he slammed his hand into the ground and a huge wall appeared in front of them stopping them in their tracks.

"This is as far as you go." Jiroubou said menacing.

"We don't have time to deal with you so excuse us if we don't stick around." Naruto said putting his hand on his sword ready to attack.

"Wait Naruto-kun, Sakura and I'll deal with this guy." Hinata said stepping forward. "You guys go get Sasuke."

"Alright Hinata-chan but be careful. These guys are strong." Naruto said before nodding to Shino and Kiba. They jumped away from Jiroubou who tried to block them in their path but he had to evade a Jyuken punch courtesy of Hinata.

Hinata bought enough time for the rest of the team to get past Jiroubou who easily blocked or evaded her attacks. Hinata was impressed that Jiroubou who was big and large was able to evade her attacks so easily. She knew that this opponent would be the strongest she had ever faced so far but she wasn't alone in this fight either. Sakura who had stayed behind was anticipating Jiroubou's movements and when he evaded Hinata's last attack she nailed him straight in the gut with one of her punches. Jiroubou doubled over and crashed into a tree.

"Good job Sakura-chan, guess that special training with Tsunade-sama really paid off?" Hinata said praising her friend.

"I'm still far from mastering Tsunade-sama's strength but it will have to do for now." Sakura said beaming.

With a scream of frustration Jiroubou jumped out of the rubble and engaged the two girls. They didn't falter and jumped straight into the fight both using their techniques and skills to deal with this opponent. They both knew that Jiroubou was stronger in terms of strength but they had teamwork and were quicker and more agile than he was. While the girls were having the fight of their lives the remaining three were still chasing the Oto-Nins.

"Do you think the girls will be alright?" Kiba asked worried.

"They'll be fine." Naruto reassured him. "They have made some extraordinary progress over the past few months."

Naruto was also worried about them but he had to believe in them. He was sure they could defeat their opponent if they fought together. He focused his thoughts on the Oto-Nins that were still running with Sasuke trying to get to the border. They had to catch them no matter what before they reached the end of Hi no Kuni otherwise they would have to halt their pursuit. Speeding up a little they continued the chase.

Tayuya, Sakon/Ukon and Kidoumaru were cursing as they felt their pursuers getting closer; apparently Jiroubou hadn't managed to stop the entire group. If they didn't act soon than they would have to face all three of the Konoha shinobi while guarding Sasuke which would hinder them. They had to distract them until Sasuke woke up and that would only be in about a half hour. Kidoumaru nodded to his teammates and told them to move on without him.

"I'll delay them a bit more." Kidoumaru said before turning back a bit.

Naruto, Kiba and Shino jumped from tree to tree and so far they hadn't encountered any traps so they just raced on. They jumped through the foliage of a tree only to get caught on a giant spider web that prevented them from moving. Above them Kidoumaru looked in glee that he had managed to catch them all.

"Welcome to my web." He said loudly.

"Dammit; what is this web made of?" Kiba swore loudly trying to cut it with his kunai.

"Don't bother trying to cut my threats." Kidoumaru said. "They're infused with Chakra making them stronger than metal. Now, while I would like to spend some time playing with you I'm afraid that's impossible so I'll just finish you off all three at the same time." He then opened his mouth and a sticky substance came out of it. He grabbed it with his six hands and molded it into the form of a kunai. He threw the six kunai at the same time and the three Konoha shinobi got hit by two each. His smile disappeared however when the three of them popped out of existence making him look around frantically.

Suddenly he saw a shadow appear above him and startled he looked up only to feel a kick connect to his head sending him falling down. Before he could reach the ground however a figure jumped up to meet him in mid air and punched him in the jaw sending him up again. Kidoumaru winced in pain before his eyes went wide when he heard someone shout 'Gatsuuga' and he felt something like a huge drill hit him in the back sending them both crashing into the hard ground.

"Nice one Kiba." Naruto said when the three of them landed.

"Thanks." Kiba said. "He won't bother us again." Naruto was about to response when Shino pushed him out of the way. Several kunai shaped knives embedded themselves into the tree behind him.

"Nice attack but it didn't work." Kidoumaru said while wiping a trail of blood that came from his mouth. "Now it's my turn."

"Naruto, Kiba you two head on." Shino said. "I'll take care of this."

"Are you sure?" Kiba asked but Naruto had already nodded and bounded away and he quickly followed.

"That's very brave of you; you're willing to sacrifice yourself for your teammates." Kidoumaru said not even bothered that Naruto and Kiba had left.

"According to my logic I'm the best placed to defeat you." Shino said calmly.

Kidoumaru didn't say anything and decided to attack. He made some throwing weapons and aimed for Shino who got ready by taking out a kunai. Shino evaded the first three weapons and blocked the last three with his kunai before throwing at his opponent. Kidoumaru didn't even bother blocking it and he just tilted his head to the side easily evading it. Shino's attack wasn't done yet and he quickly went through some handseals before using the 'Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu' making Kidoumaru jump out of the way.

Shino saw him jump away from the fireball just like had planned and leaped towards him hitting him in the chest with his elbow. Kidoumaru felt the blow and winced but used his multiple hands to grab his adversary and flung him into a bush. Shino who was surprised that Kidoumaru had such good use of his four extra arms started making a plan to deal with his opponent.

Meanwhile Kakashi was facing Kabuto who was one of the stronger opponents he had faced over the past few years. He was surprised that Kabuto had managed to stay undercover for such a long time in Konoha. The man obviously had skills and to stay a Genin for so long must have been very frustrating for him. Being undercover was something that not everyone could do and certainly not for such an extensive period of time. Most of them slipped up and made a mistake that blew their cover either by accident or because they got careless. Kabuto however had done neither and this said a lot about his skills.

"I've always wondered who of us was stronger." Kabuto said.

"Did you say something?" Kakashi deadpanned casually

"That might work on people like Gai but not with me Kakashi." Kabuto laughed and he attacked once more.

Kakashi was a veteran shinobi who had fought during the war with Iwa and had face Kyuubi itself so he was no stranger to combat. He knew what kind of fighter Kabuto was; he was a Medic-Nin so he would mostly focus on using the Chakra-scalpel trying to cut muscles and tendons. This was a problem but thanks to his Sharingan he could quite easily evade the blows. Unfortunately, using the Sharingan drained his reserves way too fast and he knew that Kabuto would use that advantage. So for the time being he tried to fight with resorting to that option.

He slapped Kabuto's hand away before throwing out a punch himself trying to nail Kabuto in the gut but he missed. Not giving up that easily he did a roundhouse kick that connect with Kabuto's upper arm momentarily paralyzing it from the blow. Kabuto jumped back and rubbed his arm for a few seconds before he quickly ducked under two kunai thrown by Kakashi. While ducking Kabuto used several shuriken that Kakashi dodged by jumping over them.

"Not bad but you should really hurry up and try to defeat me." Kabuto smirked. "The Sound Four are strong and they won't give up Sasuke without a fight."

"As a former Konoha shinobi you should know just how strong we get when we fight for those we think are precious." Kakashi answered while holding his kunai in front of him.

"Ah but that's where the problems start isn't it?" Kabuto said smiling. "Tell me, how many of those Genin actually consider Sasuke as a friend or a precious person?"

"Sasuke is one of us; it doesn't matter if he's a jerk and arrogant." Kakashi said calmly. "He's still a Konoha shinobi. That's enough for us."

"Do you truly believe that crap?" Kabuto sneered.

"That's the difference between a traitor and a true Konoha Shinobi." Kakashi said. "Someone like you wouldn't be able to understand."

Kakashi wasted no time explaining something Kabuto would never understand and attacked once more with a kunai in hand. Kabuto quickly took one of his own kunai and parried it making sparks when the two weapons made contact. They jumped and ran all over the place trying filling the place with the sound of metal crashing into metal and fiery sparks appearing everywhere. If the fight had been at night it would have made a beautiful but deadly scenery.

Sakon and Tayuya were the only two left to protect Sasuke until he woke up and they knew that they were being followed. It was bad luck that the Konoha Shinobi where of great number so that they could fight each member of the Sound Four and still chase after Sasuke. Not only that they also seemed strong enough to keep Jiroubou and Kidoumaru from catching up again meaning they might be defeated after all.

"How long until Sasuke-sama wakes up?" Sakon asked Tayuya.

"How the hell should I know when that prissy prick wakes up?" Tayuya snapped back in her usual tone.

"Shit; they're getting closer again." Sakon cursed.

Tayuya didn't say anything because she had to dodge dozens of kunai that suddenly rained down on her. She slipped from the tree branch she was landing on and fell down to the ground. Luckily for her she had managed to turn over and landed neatly on her feet. She immediately looked around for her attacker while Sakon landed next to her. Not a second later Naruto and Kiba arrived as well.

"Nice job on the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Kiba remarked.

"Thanks; it's very useful at times like this." Naruto smiled.

"We finally caught up with you guys." Kiba said to the remaining members of the Sound Four. "Give us Sasuke and you might live to see another day."

"Like we would hand over Sasuke-sama to the likes of you." Sakon said calmly.

"Sasuke-sama?" Naruto snorted. "Clearly you have no idea what the guy is like because if you did you wouldn't call him that."

"Sasuke-sama is the precious vessel for Orochimaru-sama." Sakon said sneering. "It's in our best interests to deliver him as soon as possible."

"Well, that's not going to happen." Naruto said smiling. "You see; I made it my hobby to annoy Snake face as much as possible. You should try it once you'll see its great fun."

Sakon smirked and gave Tayuya a small handsign that showed her that she needed to get ready. Naruto and Kiba saw it too and were immediately on guard for an attack. To their surprise the attack came from behind and they only managed to evade because they heard the sound of shuriken and kunai flying through the air. They jumped to the side and it was then that they noticed that something was wrong with Sakon.

"Kiba, didn't that guy have two heads when we first saw him?" Naruto asked shocked that he had missed to notice that.

"Shit, you're right." Kiba said noticing it as well.

Tayuya didn't lose any time and as soon as Naruto and Kiba were distracted by the attack she grabbed the pail and ran away. Sakon had told her that he would delay them so she could protect Sasuke until he woke up. Jumping though the trees as fast as she could she looked back seeing her teammate preparing to fight.

"Shit that girl has Sasuke." Kiba yelled frustrated. "Naruto, go get her. I'll deal with this guy."

"Right but be careful Kiba." Naruto said. "There's something strange with this guy."

"Don't worry about me and Akamaru." Kiba said. "We'll be fine; go get Sasuke back."

Naruto nodded and make a dozen Kage Bunshin so Sakon wouldn't know which one to stop and started chasing Tayuya. He was going to kill Sasuke if one of his friends got injured because of him. He shook his head clear of such thoughts and tried to calm down. He had to stay calm and not let his emotions get the best of him just like Anko had taught him. He couldn't afford any mistakes or slipups if he wanted to get Sasuke back.

Kiba and Akamaru were sizing up their adversary; so far they hadn't seen any techniques but he knew something was seriously wrong with this guy. While Naruto had run off Kiba had lost sight of Sakon for a split second and when he found him again the guy had his second head back. He would have to be very careful about this he realized. Akamaru too could feel something was wrong and told his owner to stay on guard. Deciding that the best defense is an offense Kiba attacked first; he ran towards Sakon and engaged him with Taijutsu.

Kiba had learned a lot from Naruto's way of fighting and though the Inuzuka had their own way of fighting he had managed to combine some techniques. He dodged a punch from Sakon and grabbed it and pulled him closer while slamming his elbow into Sakon's ribs. To his surprise a hand blocked his elbow but what was really freaking Kiba out was that the hand seemed to come out of Sakon's midriff. He quickly jumped back and starred at the strange sight before him.

Sakon smirked evilly and attacked by driving Kiba against a tree so he couldn't back up any more. Kiba cursed knowing that he was in a bad situation but before Sakon could do anything Akamaru jumped from Kiba's jacket and clawed Sakon in the face making him scream in pain. Kiba didn't waste the opportunity and kicked Sakon in the face before using his 'Gatsuuga' to hit him in the chest sending him flying.

"Thanks Akamaru." Kiba said when he landed.

Tayuya was cursing loudly while jumping though the trees. She couldn't believe her bad luck; she was the only one left of the Sound Four and while she was no pushover she was the weakest of them all. She didn't doubt that one of those two Konoha Shinobi was already following her meaning she would have to fight as well leaving the prick she was carrying unguarded. She was about to curse some more when she felt movement inside the pail. She quickly stopped and sat the pail on the ground backing up a little. She saw that the seals that were preventing the pail from being opened were slowly burning up. If she had to guess in a few minutes Sasuke would wake up ready to fight.

"Come on asshole, wake the fuck up." Tayuya yelled loudly.

"You shouldn't shout at people who are just waking up." A voice said. "It tends to make people wake up in a bad mood."

"Shit, so you already caught up with me." Tayuya said looking at Naruto from the ground.

"It's over. My teammates will deal with your friends and we'll take Sasuke back to Konoha." Naruto said jumping from the tree to ground level.

"You seem to think that I'll let you pass without a fight?" the Sound girl said biting her thumb and did some handseals before putting her hands on the ground. Naruto recognized the handseals as a summoning jutsu and prepared himself.

Tayuya loudly said 'Kuchiyose No Jutsu' and Naruto watched in amazement how three giant ogres appeared behind her. It was unlike anything he had ever seen and they looked to be very strong. He wondered how she would fight using them and was shocked when she took out a small flute out of her pocket.

"Let me play you a melody of death for you." Tayuya smirked.

Naruto made two Kage Bunshin and got ready for the attack. As soon as the girl put her flute to her mouth and started playing the ogres started their attacks. Each ogre attacked a Naruto who evaded the attacks. Naruto noticed that the ogres were very strong judging that they destroyed the tree he was standing on with only one attack they were also slower than him. He easily evaded the attacks and took some distance from them.

The ogres were a menace he realized and they kept him from getting closer to the girl effectively protecting her and Sasuke. The girl seemed perfectly calm and Naruto guessed she was very confident in her skills in controlling her ogres. She saw how she smiled and started playing once more. He braced himself for another attack but surprisingly the ogres didn't move an inch. He looked in amazement and shock how they opened there mouths and something white came out. It looked like some kind of Chakra but what really surprised him was that the things had mouths as well.

The tune of her song changed and the ogres shot forward with the white appendixes still hanging out. The real Naruto managed to dodge the ogre that came to him with the two clones weren't so lucky. They got pierced by the white chakra and Naruto looked on as the clones were absorbed. Wondering what had happened he quickly made some few dozen Kage Bunshins and ordered them to attack the ogres while he dealt with the girl who summoned them.

Tayuya smirked as she saw her ogres demolish the clones and feasted on their chakra; the blonde didn't stand a chance if all he did was making clones. On the contrary he would only provide her with extra chakra which suited her fine of course. She guessed the real one was hiding in the mass of clones so sooner or later the ogres would hit the real one or he would be the only one left. Suddenly she heard a loud hissing sound from behind her and she saw that the pail released a thick dark mist from inside. Knowing that Sasuke could wake up any second she used her flute to order her ogres to step up the attacks.

Naruto wasn't hiding amongst the other clones; instead he was sitting just above them waiting for a chance to attack. He had a clone next to him so he could use him in the attack he had planned. He needed to get rid of those things as fast as he could. He too had seen what happened with the pail and he had come to the same conclusion. Sasuke was about to wake up and he would need to stop him. Naruto unsheathed his sword and waited for the precise moment the three ogres were aligned. The clones followed the original Naruto's actions as well. He focused a lot of chakra into the seal of his sword and just then the ogres did what he wanted them to do.

'Tenjou Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' both Naruto's yelled out and just like the time during his fight with Momochi Zabuza a cross made out of wind appeared and cut straight through the three ogres. Tayuya cursed loudly as her summons were destroyed and was about to attack when the pail exploded and Sasuke stood up. Naruto looked at Sasuke and saw that his hair was much longer and white in color; not only the color of his hair was different; his skin was much darker as well. Tayuya and Naruto watched as Sasuke started to laugh loudly before he jumped into the trees and disappeared again.

"Sasuke, what happened to you?" Naruto said out loud.

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope it wasn't too bad but like I said in the beginning AN I had a really tough time writing it. Hopefully the next chapter will be better and back to the usual standard. Expect the next chapter in 3 weeks since next week I have a family reunion and I can't write for a whole weekend. So next chapter in THREE weeks. See you all then.