Section 5: The Demands Are Made

"What should I do? I've been running all over town, but I can't fix anything!" Tsunade stopped in the road in a screeching halt, as Kurenai tagged ran up right behind her with a panicked look on her face.

"Tsunade-sama?! What should we do?!"

Tsunade looked around as the people, who were supposed to be celebrating, ran around in a complete panic. "Damn it... I should have announced a warning... What was I thinking!?" She lashed around and punched through the stone bench next to her in frustration.

Kurenai looked back in concern and compassion, "...Tsunade-sama..."

Tsunade turned her head to Kurenai quickly, "You get these people out of here right away!" She turned her head forward once again, "...I have some business to take care of..."

Kurenai looked at her, aware of what she meant, and nodded in confirmation "Yes ma'am!" She turned around quickly, yelling towards all the people, trying to regain order.

Tsunade looked to the ground in guilt, feeling that everything was her fault. She regained herself and watched as Kurenai god everyone together, leaving down the road with them. She heard a faint yelling under all of the havoc in the village, and turned around to see who it was.

Off in the distance, she noticed Romi, carrying the still injured Shino over her shoulder. She started waving with her only free arm, "Tsunade-sama! Help!"

Tsunade's eyes grew extensive when she noticed the injuries of Shino, drawing her to move towards them quickly. When she came closer to them, she jumped forward and caught Shino from Romi's fatigued arms. "What happened to him?!"

Romi bent down next to Shino and Tsunade, "I... I'm not sure... we were attacked by three ninjas... One was from the Hidden Cloud... and another from Hidden Rock... and I'm not sure where the third one was from... but he was acting strange... I..." Romi began to break down nervously in tears, "What's going on, Tsunade-sama?! Please tell me!"

Tsunade was startled by the additional information she received from Romi. She looked off into space, as she got lost into thought, "Hidden Cloud... they're... trying to invade Konoha... again...?" She looked down to Romi slightly alarmed, "You need to take him somewhere safe..." Tsunade looked away, trying to avoid the question Romi had asked previously.

"Tsunade-sama... please! I'm so confused... why is this... happening...!" Romi clung to Shino's jacket in his defense as they laid on the ground looking towards her in concern.

Tsunade hung her head shamefully, "I... don't even know... I need to find out myself..." She sighed wretchedly, "...I'll find out for you though, all of you." She pops up, and turns back with an expression of liability, "...It's my duty after all, right?" Tsunade walked over to the two, and bent down putting her hand on Romi's shoulder, "...Just stay safe... and I'll do everything I can to make things better!"

Romi smiled in relief, "...Ok Tsunade-sama." She crouched herself above Shino's shoulders, and lifted him to his feet, "C'mon Shino... let's find somewhere safe to be..." Romi dragged the limping Shino off down the safe end of the roadside, as Tsunade watched them off.

Tsunade turned away once they left out of sight, and looked around the destruction of the village. "...It has to be... Orochimaru..." She clinched her fist tightly in anger, "...Looks like I'll have to be visiting you again..." She shot of in a sprint down the road as fast as her feet would carry her.

------

Sasuke ran frantically down the road, lashing his head back and for the between the all of the panicking villagers as they ran towards the exits. He stood motionless, still looking around as sweat rolled down his face, "Sakura... Naruto... where are they?!"

"Eh?! Sasuke! What the hell!" Sasuke turned around quickly to see Kiba pushing through the crowd towards him, "What the hell is going on...!"

Sasuke interrupted him when he came close, by lashing his arms forward, grabbing his jacket and pulling him towards his face in anxiety, "Have you seen Sakura or Naruto anywhere?!"

Kiba looked back in apprehension, "Hey... hey Sasuke! I haven't!" Sasuke pushed him away recklessly and continued pushing his way against the crowd, as Kiba rose back up and turned to him in astonishment, "...what the hell...?!"

Hinata came out of the crowd, being bumped around by the people making the rush for the entrance of town. Every bump she received, she just nervously looked away no matter how much it hurt, "Kiba!"

Kiba looked back and noticed she was in distress, so he blasted trough people towards her, "Hey! Leave her alone you bastards!" He found his way to her, and wrapped his arms around her protectively, "You ok Hinata-chan?!"

Hinata looked up surprised to Kiba's expression, which seemed to have a mature manner in it, one she had never really seen before. She looked down timidly, "...Yes... thank you Kiba..."

Kiba looked down and smiled, "Like I'd let anything happen to you, eh?"

Hinata just looked down again, and smiled happily, "Thank you Kiba..."

------

Naruto and Shikamaru sprinted down the empty street, trying to find out what was going on. People, who chose to stay behind, were closing their doors and windows, locking them tightly in hope that they could be hidden well. Naruto looked around with concern for the village, "...This is bad...! Shikamaru, you're the Chuunin! What good are you?! You don't know anything!"

Shikamaru glared back to Naruto as they continued running, "Oh shut up you ass! I'm doing everything I can!"

They continued to run frantically through the street, and Shikamaru looked around with hopelessness, "This sucks, I need to find who hurt Choji!"

"Don't worry! We just have to keep looking! We'll find them and make them pay, I guarantee it!"

Shikamaru looked back at Naruto in astonishment, "...Since when did Naruto become so calm and collected? He really has changed..." He suddenly sparked a realization, and viciously grabber Naruto's collar, pulling him towards the buildings lying to the side of the road.

"Shikamaru! What are you...?"

Shikamaru slapped his hand against Naruto's mouth and whispered, "Shut up, and keep down!" He looked down the road, so Naruto looked as well out of curiosity.

Naruto saw Naizen rolling along slowly down the road, "...The Cloud nin..." A look of seriousness draped across Naruto's expression, "...what is he doing...? He isn't the bad guy is he?"

When Naizen came close to the two hiding in the alleyway, he stopped rolling forward, and noticeably switched off his chair, "You two can come out now..."

The two shot up in fear, then reluctantly stepped out, looking at each other nervously. They stopped at a safe distance from Naizen, and Naruto broke... no, no... shattered the silence with his obnoxiousness, "Who are you anyways?!"

Naizen looked over, by just turning his head slowly, "... I'm Naizen... from the Hidden Cloud Village... but I'm not sure why that would matter to you."

Naruto pulled back from the answer, and stepped forward with a shaky voice of concern, "You didn't do any of this right man? You wouldn't do anything like that..." Naizen failed to answer and just continued to stare towards Naruto blankly. Naruto looked back frowning sadly, "...Why would you..."

"... I didn't..." Naruto looked back up in surprise, "...I'm not a monster like everyone always think I am..."

Naruto looked back, and smiled happily, "...I never though of you like that..." He flung his fist out energetically, "...I actually always wanted to see you fight! You're probably strong too, hehe!"

Naizen's eyebrows outside his goggles rose up, and huffed in an impressed fashion, "...Well, you guys should be getting out of here though..."

Naruto launched forward, "What?! No way! We're going to find the guys who did this and kick their ass!" Shikamaru stood behind him, shaking his head in disappointment.

"...No... you should just avoid them..."

Shikamaru caught on quickly, "...Damn! Is he with whoever did this?" Shikamaru stepped back nervously, now that he had figured things out.

Naizen jerked his head towards Shikamaru, "...I see you've figured it out... I hope you aren't thinking of doing anything foolish."

Naruto looked back at him in confusion, "What? What are you talking about...?"

"He's with them... he didn't lie, though... he didn't hurt anyone." Naizen glanced back coldly, "... but he knows who did..."

Naruto looked back in surprise, "He's wrong, right Naizen!? Stupid Shikamaru!" Naruto laughs in a naïve fashion.

"We just want Konoha's talon..." Naruto's mouth dropped down in disbelief and confusion. "Yes... I'm aware that my team is heartless, and I apologize for that... but you should just hand it over without incident, and we'll leave..."

Naruto cringed, "What the hell!" He flung his eyes opened, flinging tears of anguish, "What the hell is this talon anyways, why is it important enough to kill people?!"

Naizen looks back at him silently at first, "...No one was supposed to die... but we don't really have a choice if you're village continues to play stupid about the talon..."

Shikamaru shoots forward, "What are you talking about?! We don't have any talon; you're in the wrong place!"

Naizen leans back up and looks back with disappointment, "...I see... Your villagers were never told..."

Both Shikamaru and Naruto looked back in confusion, "...Never told us... what?"

------

Sasuke continued running around through town, "Where the hell are they?! Could they be hurt now?!" The crowd had broken down, as he saw Kurenai herding the remaining people in the opposite direction he was heading.

"Go, go! Keep moving forward, for your own safety!" Kurenai saw Sasuke heading towards her, "Sasuke! You need to get out of here!"

Sasuke stopped in front of her and shook his head negatively while pointing over her shoulder, "No! I've got to see if Sakura and Naruto are ok!"

"No I can't let you, it's too dangerous! We don't know who's causing all of this!"

Sasuke glared back at her, "I'm going no matter what you say..." Sasuke vanished, and appeared back, running across the roof side and past Kurenai.

She watched him leave, and called out ineffectively, "Sasuke! Wait!" She lashed her head between the crowd and Sasuke, being torn between her duties, "Damn it... Sasuke you pain in the ass..." She decided that she couldn't stop him either way, so she headed to finish leading the villagers out.

Sasuke continued on, skipping down the sides of the buildings over the empty road, which was littered with the collapsed stands and abandoned possessions. He looked forward for a sign of what he was looking for, and could see nothing down the stretch, "Shit... where are they? And why am I worrying so much..."

He launched forward, and came screeching to a halt when he spotted three figures in the middle of the road, two heading in his direction, and one standing back. He watched closely, and spotted Shino and Romi sauntering slowly past his hidden perch.

"Who the hell is she again...? Is she some kind of ninja like Shino?" He peered over to the figure standing alone and noticed that it was Tsunade, standing silently as she watched Shino and Romi depart.

Being curious, he wriggled his way around the roof top, to get a closer look towards Tsunade, when he overheard her talking to herself, "...It has to be... Orochimaru..."

Sasuke's eyes widened upon hearing his name, the man who tried to steal his body before, "...Orochimaru..." He felt the rage build up inside of him, almost equaling the amount of hate he had for his brother. He watched her begin to leave, and rose up stunned at her speed, "I've got to follow her!" He followed her closely behind without drawing any attention, "...and stop Orochimaru myself..."

------

Neji and Rock Lee walked around hopelessly, wondering where the killers had gone. Neji specifically looked irritated as Rock Lee slumped down in guilt to their inability to be able to do anything.

Neji tried to take his mind off of the upsetting both him and Lee were in, which brought him to think of Tenten. Images of her and Lee together flashed through his mind, as he turned his head towards the stressed out Lee next to him. He grunted to himself and glared towards him, except he noticed Neji was looking at him.

Lee looked confused and raised his head up questionably, "Neji...? What's wrong? What'd I do?"

Neji looked away and huffed, "...Do you even like Tenten?"

Lee pulled back in shock, "...What kind of question is that?"

Neji shot his head back angrily, "I asked you... do you even like her?!"

Lee looked baffled, "...Of course I do..."

Neji looked into Lee's eyes, and narrowed his in skepticism, "What happened to your thing with Sakura-chan? I thought you liked her?"

Lee looked back forward as they continued to walk, and looked down sadly, "...Yea, but she never liked me, and never would either no matter what I do."

Neji looks at him and chuckles, drawing Lee to look up curiously, "What ever happened to achieving anything with hard work? You feel like you can never get her to like you, so you give up and take the girl you know likes you... rather than the girl you actually like..."

Rock Lee lashed back in horror, taking offense to the comment made, "Neji! How could you say something like that! I'm not with Tenten just because I know she likes me, I really do care about her!"

"So Sakura doesn't matter anymore then?"

Lee looked back at him slightly annoyed, "...What does it matter to you anyways?"

Neji turned his head smugly back towards Lee, "Well you should know that she is a lot like you..." Lee's brows rose slightly in hope, "... She hopelessly liked someone who didn't notice her, so tried with someone she knew would like her." Lee froze up and stood still, as Neji stopped and looked back at him chuckling, "...what? Didn't you wonder why she suddenly liked you?"

"...and I'm assuming she likes you... right?"

"Of course she does! Girls like guys like me and Sasuke... but when they can't get our attention, they go for guys like you and Naruto." Neji closed his eyes and smirked, "People may be able to change fate... but love is a whole different thing..."

"...Shut up you idiot..." Neji opened his eyes in surprise, to see Lee cringing with his fists clinched and tears running down his cheeks, "...You're wrong...That's not how things are..."

Neji looked back and smiled, "Oh c'mon Lee... guys like you and Naruto are the last resort! The girl doesn't want to be alone anymore and they know that you would be with them... but if they ever had the chance with us... they'd drop you and take it!"

"SHUT UP!" Neji dropped back in surprise, "...Tenten... loves me, she'd never do such a thing... and Sakura-chan does care for Naruto and wouldn't either... even if Sasuke came up to her!"

Neji looked back, and laughed arrogantly, "You are very naïve, aren't you Lee..."

From behind a voice started calling to both of them, "Lee! Neji!" Tenten came up running in between them, and latched around there shoulders when she reached them, "...are you all ok, both of you?! You didn't find the guys did you?"

Neji looked towards Lee, and answered Tenten without looking towards her, "...No... We didn't find anyone..."

Lee and Neji continued to glare at each other angrily, while Tenten looked at both of them with concern and confusion, "...What happened...? Are they mad at each other...?"

------

Sasuke kept his following of Tsunade consistently, as the landscape gradually changed. The forests began to change into grasslands as they moved along, and that made it a lot harder for Sasuke to follow Tsunade closely. He reached the edge of a large clearing, and stopped at the edge of the forest as Tsunade continued into and through the field.

Sasuke dropped to the ground, and began to crawl through the tall grass, "Damn it, I'm too slow crawling on the ground like this... but I don't want to be caught."

He became lost after a while, as he took peeks now and then to see if Tsunade was around, until he looked up, and she wasn't there anymore. "What?! Where'd she go?!" He rose up from the ground, and looked around in disbelief, "Damn it! I've got to find her!"

Sasuke broke out into a sprint across the field and found himself approaching a pillar of smoke growing over the horizon. "What is that? It must be Orochimaru's encampment..." He was aware of how dangerous the Sound Country was, so he kept himself alert.

When Sasuke finally reached the outside of the encampment, he nestled himself in between a set of boxes, to relax after the long trip he had taken following Tsunade. When he had regained himself, he looked around at each person who walked by to see if he could spot Tsunade, but a lot of them were wearing robes and cloaks.

In a panic he decided to use his abilities to find out where she was, "Sharingan!" His eyes lit up red, as the three small black marks appeared into his eyes. He looked around at each villager to see their chakra and abilities. He turned his head back and forth till he noticed someone with an obscene amount of chakra in their system.

He sat up, and opened his eyes wide, "That's her!" He noticed it was a figure in a large green robe. So he followed the figure through the crowd slowly, trying not to be noticed.

The figure entered a small building off in the slums of the encampment, which seemed to be run down and desolate. As the figure entered the front door casually, Sasuke made himself up to the windows above in order to find access. He climbed into a small attic which had stockpile sound ninja outfits, head protectors, kunai, and shuriken. He climbed through and made his way over to a small hatch in the floor, which he disengaged, and cracked open cautiously.

Finding it clear, Sasuke flipped down onto a small balcony, in which he nestled himself in the corner peeking into the courtyard of the large room between the banisters. The hatch door quietly shut itself above, and Sasuke peered through anxiously.

He noticed the figure in the robe coming in from his right, as it removed its robe. He smiled as her found himself correct with the use of his Sharingan, seeing Tsunade walking up the center of the ballroom.

"Hello old friend... come to kill me again...?"

Sasuke shot his head towards the direction of the voice, to see Orochimaru in his second form, perched up in a large armchair at the other end of the room. He looked in rage, as he gripped the banister tightly to hold himself back. "...Calm down...!"

Tsunade stopped, and pointed violently towards him, "What the hell do you want from us now?!"

Orochimaru looked back slightly perplexed, "Well... you sought me out..." He smiled in his typical evilness, "...That would be my line in this situation, wouldn't it?"

Tsunade's mouth dropped open slightly, "...What? He looks like he has no idea... but if it wasn't him..."

Orochimaru leaned to his side in his chair, and snapped his fingers, "Oh, I know why you're here... You're wondering why your so called allies are sharing my interest in the destruction of Konoha, right."

Tsunade shot forward, "What the hell do you know about it Orochimaru! Tell me now!"

"Please do not be so demanding! I was getting to it soon enough... I just have some favors to ask of you for the information of course."

Tsunade didn't like how that sounded, so she reacted by taking a deep breath and swallowing nervously. "What do you want...?"

"Humph... I'm sure you are aware of my interests in that young genin of yours, correct?"

Tsunade gripped her fist tightly, "...So you want Sasuke then...?"

Sasuke looked down in surprise as his eyes grew large, as Orochimaru looked back to her slightly bothered, "...Will you let me finish..." Both Tsunade and Sasuke looked towards him in confusion, "...You are correct about my interest in the Uchiha... but I don't want him right now... I want the Nine Tails' boy... that Naruto..."

Sasuke looked down in shock, "...but... why... My chidori... the level two seal..." He clinched his fist tightly in rage, "...and he still wants that idiot!"

"You can't have him..." Orochimaru looked back in disappointment, as Tsunade raised her hand threateningly, "... and you better reconsider your stand on whether you'd give me that information or not..."

Orochimaru chuckled with amusement, "I see you run a hard bargain... as always! Fine... I'll tell you... just remember... that I get what I want, eventually..."

Tsunade cringed in irritation, "Just tell me!"

Orochimaru closed his eyes calmly, "...The Hidden Rock, Cloud, Sand, and Mist... have built an alliance behind Konoha's back, as well as mine... so do not worry about me having anything to do with this..."

"But why?! What do they want?"

"Oh...? Think about it... what do those four countries want from yours?" Tsunade looked back slightly confused, as Orochimaru sighed with a small grin on his face, "...Have you ever heard of the Hidden Village Talons?"

Tsunade's eyes widened as she launched forward, "So that's what it is? Just for Konoha's talon...?!"

Orochimaru slumped in his chair smugly, "I assume so... It seems pretty appetizing to me! I consider you go find Konoha's talon... or Konoha won't have one anymore."

Tsunade panicked, and turned away from him in a sprint, "... I forgot...! I'm so irresponsible! I've got to get back and stop them!" She left the room in a sprint, as Sasuke looked down in confusion, "...Talons? What the hell are those?"

"Now about you..." Sasuke looked down at Orochimaru in uncertainty, to see him looking up towards him, "Uchiha..."

Sasuke's eyes opened wide, drawing him to stand up tall. "...Now what should I do?" He vaulted the balcony down to the ballroom below, and walked himself over towards Orochimaru, "...What do you want."

"...Your friend Naruto is what I seek..." Sasuke cringed with fury, "...Oh... Did I upset you...?"

Sasuke glared back with offense taken, "...Why the hell should I care if you want that idiot..."

"...because he's taking everything from you..." Sasuke looked backing shock and anger, "...first... he surpasses your fighting skill..."

He clinched his fist tightly, "...stop..."

"...then he takes away the attention of you brother..."

"...stop...!"

"...he took away the attention of me as well..."

Sasuke closed his eyes, trying to look away from him, "...STOP...!"

Orochimaru smiled smugly, "...now he's taken away the love of Sakura, hasn't he?"

Sasuke opened his eyes, exposing the Sharingan in his eyes, "...Naruto...!"

Orochimaru began to laugh sinisterly, "Oh my! I've seemed to have struck a nerve with you haven't I? If I were you, I would eliminate the problem..." He smirked suggestively, "...but that's just me... Humph... I'll have the Uchiha kill him, and get the Nine Tails' out of my way... then I'll take the body I deserve..."

Sasuke stood there with his head hung down, and his hair covering his solemn eyes, "...Naruto... the problem...?"