RACE

Chapter 33

Sasuke was getting used to the burn. Addicted was probably a better word for it. He never had any idea he was so prone to addiction—especially of the painful kind. Severing himself from Hinata should have tipped him off.

Don't think about it.

Things were different. No, no, things weren't different. Things were exactly the same, and that was the problem. He was tired of waiting for the struggle to end. No matter how much Kakashi liked to provoke him, waiting just wasn't something he was accustomed to. That's why he was here now. He had managed to sneak his way past the summit beyond the Hokage peak, and was now looking down at a dizzying height the walls surrounding Konoha.

Even on such a heavily clouded day it was near as colorful as a rainbow. The houses, the structures, the statues, the fields . . . He could even see the areas here and there all around the village that were still under construction. He was glad to leave it. Relieved.

Maybe now he could welcome the dreams of his brother instead of dreading them. Every night since the mark he saw those eyes in his sleep. Despite all his efforts to control these dreams not once could ever say, "I'm coming for you." He couldn't say it because he wasn't going anywhere. Everything he had done since becoming a ninja was assist that God-forsaken village. The village that had done nothing when his family was being slaughtered. Disgusting. What an appallingly useless Hokage. For a village that had no use to him, not even happiness, there was no choice other than to leave it.

That's not true.

"Shut up." He knocked his fist against the side of his head. She was just one of the many. She couldn't help him. He wouldn't want her to if she could. That went for Naruto, Kakashi and Sakura . . . Useless. This curse mark, the power it bottled so clumsily—that's what could help him. It was lava shifting beneath a volcano. He saw in his dreams the power it would unleash If only he allowed it to emerge.

Then why haven't you?

Damn that Kakashi. He'd said it would help—sealing it away; said it would leash the darkness that would kill him.

"It impedes your progress; overpowers your natural chakra and interferes with your body's ability to do what it was meant to do on its own."

"It makes me stronger."

"It makes you dependent. Do you expect to be worthy of her by harnessing such a dark power?"

The poison must have made him more delirious than he thought, because that had been the deciding factor. That one line had crushed him under its impact and actually made him feel ashamed. Him, ashamed!

You were already unworthy of her.

True. Undeniably true. Maybe that's why this was easier than it should have been. Leaving. He had heard the sinister calls in the forest and during the hospital stay, all throughout the mission to Dagarashi Port, and all the way until waking this morning. Now he was finally answering to it.

"I have met your brother. He is stronger than when you last saw him. And he will only get stronger. What about you, Sasuke Uchiha? How can you possibly hope to defeat him as you are? Power is what you need and I have it. Run with me and I will unleash all you that you are."

It was an obvious decision. There was nothing left for him the village. Sakura and Naruto would get over it. Kakashi would find a new pupil. And Hinata . . . Hinata would . . .

Did she win the duel?

What the hell does that matter? Whether she wins or loses, whether her father disowns her, whether that psychotic Sand raccoon drops in and strangles her with his own hands . . . He stopped walking and spun toward the village.

You are pathetic.

How? How could he make this go away? He should have been miles away from the village by now. Was this the real reason he couldn't tap into the seal? No wonder. Sasuke laughed quietly and bitterly. "I am pathetic." That's why he needed this. If he could manage to separate himself from everything that made him weak, everything that made him "Sasuke," he could finally reinvent himself and become the warrior that was capable of destroying Itachi.

But there was a problem. Sasuke knew Konoha would not surrender him so easily. Their attachment towards leaf-bread shinobi was tenacious to say the least. If he knew his teammates at all, they would be on the move already in search of him. If that was the case he couldn't linger. Not for another second.

Then say it.

"Goodbye." Like crushing his old soul between his thumb and index finger. For the second time. "Goodbye, Hinata."

If Sasuke had left any time last night, there was no telling where he could be now. In only three hours Naruto felt like he'd searched the entire village. Sakura was the one to check his apartment and was confused to find it in perfect condition. If there was anything special to take she didn't know it, but one thing he didn't take was the photo album she had given him for his birthday. Well, that and his headband.

It had been on top of his desk in plain sight, neatly folded in a rectangle overtop a group photo of the team. That should have been proof enough of what happened. Naruto held it in his hand now, clutching the metal plate with frustration. He skidded to a stop in the middle of a crossroad and swore. With trees surrounding him on all sides he figured he had to choice but to backtrack toward the training grounds.

Why would Sasuke leave Konoha? It couldn't be that someone was driving him from the village, right? There had to be a clue somewhere, or with someone . . .

Hinata. Of course! She was the only person Sasuke trusted outside of the team. "Dammit, I should have gone to her sooner!" Naruto hissed under his breath. He flew passed the training grounds on his way to the Hyuga estate. He only hoped he remembered where it was. Being so close to the Uchiha estate, it was very possible for him to confuse one with the other from a distance.

Luckily for him he didn't have to travel that far. Hinata came to meet him. She appeared directly in his pathway along with Kakashi and Sakura. "There you are!" Sakura cried with some irritation. But she looked relieved. They all dropped down facing each other. "Did you find anything?" she asked desperately.

"No," Naruto said, shaking his head. His eyes were tight. "I was just looking for you, Hinata-chan. I thought you might know something." She looked at him with regret.

"I don't. I am sorry." Even for a Hyuga her complexion looked sickly. Naruto might not have noticed if it weren't for her injured arm. His eyes went wide when he saw it.

"Hey, what happened?" He approached her with a wave of his arms. "You were fine yesterday! Did you get hurt?"

Hinata didn't answer. Her eyes locked on the headband slung over the valley between his thumb and index finger. "Is that Sasuke-kun's headband?" she asked.

"Huh?" Naruto gripped it. "Yeah, he . . . left it behind." Hinata took it gently in her hands.

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "Did you run into any trouble while you were looking?"

"Huh? Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

"I don't think Sasuke came up with the idea of leaving on his own."

"You mean someone is forcing him out of the village?"

"No, worse. Tempting him." Kakashi turned to Hinata. "Can you find Sasuke with your Byakugan?"

"I've been trying," Hinata said, staring at the metal plate. "He must be too far away for me to see."

"Then how are we supposed to find him?" Sakura put her head in her hands. Hinata gripped the headband and looked up.

"I have an idea."

Even if the Inuzuka house wasn't close by they would have been able to find it no problem. How could they not with all the barking? Kiba was there to greet them at the doors before they could even land. "Hinata!" Kiba greeted with a fanged grin. "What are you doing here? Akamaru smelled you coming and came to get me." He rubbed the little pooch's head.

"Please Kiba, I—"

"And Kakashi's whole squad? Man, this is a surprise. Hey Hinata, how come you didn't tell me about your duel? Shino told me it was today—I was worried! Is that why your arm's—"

"Can I borrow Akamaru?" Kiba immediately snapped to.

"Huh? You wanna borrow Akamaru? Why? Wait . . . something happened. That's why you're all here, isn't it?"

"Sasuke's gone missing!" Naruto cried. "You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No," Kiba replied, taking Akamaru from his jacket, "but I bet Akamaru can find him. Here, Hinata." He handed him to her. "Do you need me to come with you? I'm free all day."

"No," Kakashi said. He slipped a note from his vest and handed it to him. "I need you to take this to the Hokage. Whatever you do, don't open it."

"The Hokage?" Kiba looked at the note with a raised eyebrow. "Oh man, I don't like the looks of this. I don't know what's going on, but you can count on me."

"Good man." Kakashi nodded.

Hinata let Akamaru sniff Sasuke's headband. He sneezed, then barked with a wag of his tail. Once on the ground he ran a few meters, then ran back, yapping for them to follow. "Can you really find him?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Sure he can," Kiba said, grinning. "Never underestimate the Inuzuka clan. Go find him, boy! If you do, I'll give you a lamb bone when you get back!" That pumped him up even more. He barked louder.

"Alright everyone," Kakashi said. "Let's move!" Kiba traveled with them in the same direction until he had to separate from the group. He waved enthusiastically and said, "Make sure you bring the little broody prince back, Hinata!"

"Thank you!" she called, and Akamaru barked. When they finally stopped it was at the base of the Hokage Monument. They had to bend their necks back to look at the stone-cut faces.

"Sasuke went up there?" Sakura asked breathlessly.

"It's the only place in the village he wouldn't have to scale the walls," Kakashi said. "Ever since the attack, guards have been circling the village day and night. If anyone had caught him trying to leave without permission it would have been especially annoying."

"That Sasuke," Naruto gritted. Akamaru continued to bark. Hinata picked him up. "Good boy!" She kissed him behind the ear. "Go back to Kiba-san, now. I think we can take it from here." He licked her chin and whined at their separation, but zoomed away as soon as his paws touched the ground.

"Was it a smart thing to do, trusting a little runt for something this important?" Sakura asked with a stretch of her mouth. "He is just a puppy."

"Well do you have a better idea?" Naruto snapped. Sakura sucked in a breath. He looked up at the summit and began scaling. The others followed him, Sakura a little slower than the others. Kakashi easily took the lead during the climb since Naruto decided to fall behind the group. Hinata's arm worried him, and so he was there to give her an extra hand when she needed it.

Outside of Konoha was all forest. There were a few landmarks here and there—a waterfall, a statue—but it was highly unlikely that Sasuke had stopped at any of those.

"I see something," Hinata said. They all stopped when she did, looking around with haste.

"What is it?" asked Sakura and Naruto. Kakashi had his feet braced apart, his shoulders squared.

"She's right," he said. "Something's coming. Everyone—separate!" Hinata and Sakura took one direction, Kakashi and Naruto the other. Something shot up from the ground, shaking the mountain. At first it looked like a giant snake, but it was different: more teeth, a wider mouth.

"Now what?" Naruto shouted. "The heck's that? A worm?"

"Anything with teeth like that," Sakura whispered, "isn't just a worm."

"There's something inside it," Hinata said. She could see a separate pathway of nodes shifting underneath its skin. "A person."

"Are you kidding me?" Sakura gasped. "Wh-what is it?" Naruto and Hinata recognized the figure well. The impact for them was far greater than it would have been otherwise because they knew who it was. What he was capable of. Orochimaru materialized out of this leech-toothed monstrosity, grinning his terrifying snake grin.

"Long time no see, Kakashi," he said in his perverted slur of a voice. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Orochimaru."

"In the flesh. See you've caught yourself a little pond of fish there. Not very good for bait though, I'm afraid."

"You will not touch a single one of them." He flattened his palm toward the ground. "What do you want with Sasuke?"

"It's not what I want with Sasuke, but what Sasuke wants with me. You didn't think that sorry little village could hold someone like him for long, did you? It didn't hold Itachi."

"Sasuke is not Itachi!" Sakura shouted. Orochimaru didn't even look at her.

"What did you do with him, you freak?" Naruto cried out.

"Ah, Uzamaki Naruto." Orochimaru licked his lips. "A tiny fish who holds a much bigger fish. I see your seal has been removed. Was it Jiriya? Mm, perhaps I should have killed you in the forest."

"Leave them out of this," Kakashi warned. "Tell me where Sasuke is now."

"Or else what?" Orochimaru laughed. "If you want Sasuke then go get him. I'll be at the finish line. If you manage to catch him before he reaches me, you win. So then Kakashi, let's race."

"Bastard!"

A heavy cloud descended upon the mountain. It consumed the trees and Orochimaru. Hinata could see his chakra paths wisp away like a breeze and felt a surge of terror. Sasuke . . . It almost seemed unreal. This . . . this was a nightmare. Sasuke was really leaving; not just her, but the entire village. His sensei, his friends, the academy . . . his home. And that thing, Orochimaru, a true devil. It couldn't be that someone like him had tempted Sasuke out of spite, could it? Kami, what if he wanted to kill Sasuke?

The ground shook. Through the fog they could see the leech raise itself high. There was an unholy shriek that cut through the air, bloodcurdling, teeth-rattling. "The rest of you go!" Kakashi said. "I can handle this." Naruto was of course first to protest.

"But sensei—"

"Find Sasuke and bring him back! I'll catch up soon!" Hinata and Sakura went to join Naruto before he bounded away. As they went Hinata couldn't help but look behind her. If Sasuke really disappears, she thought tragically, he'll feel responsible. He's his sensei, so how could he not? Even if that wasn't so, he cares about Sasuke.

They all did. There were few things they all had in common, but Sasuke was undoubtedly one of them. I've been so blind, Hinata thought with a touch of bitter humor. She was moving in such a fervor she hadn't realized she took the lead. I'll bring you back if it's the last thing I do, Sasuke-kun! Even if you don't love me back.

The further they ran the thicker the trees became. If they traveled and further north they'd be entering the Forest of Death, so naturally they deviated from that path. The Shukaku had left the entire area a wreck. "Something's coming," Hinata said.

"Is it Sasuke?" Sakura asked hopefully, squinting through the fog. Hinata arched her elbow and ducked her head to look behind them.

"No, they're—"

Naruto drew back, grabbing both girls around the shoulders. He pushed his weight as hard as he could, which immediately sent all three of them skidding along the forest floor. On the way down Hinata could faintly hear the thin whistle of something shooting just over their heads. Sakura shot up and slapped Naruto away from her. "What was that for?" she roared.

"Ouch!" He rubbed his shoulder. "Sorry, but—"

Hinata jumped to her feet with her right arm raised high. With a needle protruding from the points of her index and middle finger, she made a downward slash through the air. It cut the entire length of a net—it looked like—which sent it flying in two directions passed Naruto and Sakura. Neither one had seen it coming from the fog, but they heard the whistle of the strings.

"What the hell—so that was a net!" Naruto exclaimed. "Did that snake booby-trap the forest?"

"Hinata, do you see anything?" Sakura asked her.

"A spider," she said. She assumed the Gentle Fist.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji flew in from the fog with two others at his side—three including the puppy.

"Hello, Nii-san," Hinata greeted.

"Are you all right?" he asked, dropping into battle stance at her shoulder.

"Neji?" Naruto was rendered breathless by surprise, but then a happy grin broke across his face. "Kiba and Lee! You guys came too!"

"Couldn't leave my teammate hangin'!" Kiba winked at Hinata. Akamaru poked his head out his jacket, barking in approval.

"As a proud Konoha ninja I never abandon a friend in need!" Lee saluted with a gleam in his eye.

"You looked at the note, didn't you?" Sakura accused with some exasperation.

"Nope." Kiba gave Akamaru's head an affectionate rub. "Akamaru did. He just told me what it said." Sakura blew air out her nose, but didn't look displeased.

"Conspirists."

"The Hokage should be sending a team of shinobi here to drive out Orochimaru," Neji informed. "That means we don't have a lot of time. If Orochimaru is pressured he might just take Sasuke and flee."

"Then we have to find him before then!" Naruto bounded to his feet. Sakura followed.

"Easier said than done." Neji narrowed his eyes. "Right now we have problems."

Something crawled down from the trees. Hinata and Neji could see its glowing pathways through the fog, saw the shape of its limbs and unnatural placement of organs. It wasn't the spider Hinata thought it was. In fact, it wasn't a spider at all. "He can shoot webs," Hinata told Neji. "There are chakra pathways in it."

"I see," said Neji.

"Oh-ho, so we have a couple Hyuga's here," said the creature. "Orochimaru-sama told me about your kind. My name's Kidomaru."

"So Orochimaru told you about us, did he?" Neji said. "Then he also told you how dangerous we are."

"As dangerous as a couple of kids can be." He laughed wickedly, but Neji was unmoved.

"Naruto," he said firmly, "take the others with you to find the Uchiha. Hinata-sama and I will take care of this."

"What?" Naruto looked at Hinata with worried eyes. "Hinata-chan?"

"We'll be all right, Naruto-kun. I promise I'll catch up."

"Good luck, guys," Sakura said with a tilt of her eyebrows, and pulled at Naruto's arm.

"Where do you think you're going!" Kidomaru's cheeks inflated. At first Hinata thought he was going to vomit, but she could see the snarl of chakra that filled his mouth.

"Lee, move!" Neji shouted. Lee reacted at once, snatching Sakura's arm and dashed. Naruto, who had grabbed Sakura's hand out of confusion, was swept along behind them. The net whizzed past Kiba, just barely grazing the fur lining of his collar. Neji and Hinata immediately came to block Kidomaru's path.

"Teamwork will get you nowhere," Kidomaru hissed. "You think I'm the only one Orochimaru-sama sent? Your friends are going to die. And so are you."

"Hinata-sama," Neji said. "Remember what I taught you?"

"Yes."

"Then let do this quickly."

*A/N*

It's been a long run, so I have to answer a question:

No Shippuden.

If I transitioned into Shippuden I could be writing this fic for the next 20 years. That's why it won't happen. It's got to end somewhere, guys. A long time ago I asked you to stick with me to the end. I'm going to keep my promise. Let's see where it goes, shall we?