A/N: Hoola, i know it's been a while since and update, and i'm really sorry! I've just gotten started on two major projects that are due for the end of the year sooo...but i think i'm where i want to be in those..so i'll really take it up a notch on my effort to update...wow don't those get old? Sorry!

Warnings: Okay guys! I'm sorry, but if you guys read this warning hopefull there shouldn't be any confusion. The layout of this chapter is similar to Chap 16: Kisame Falls, Roar Itachi, Roar(under existing chapter 17). Where I put a future excerpt at the beginning of the chapter, and the rest was like a flashback.

Disclaimer: If I owned the Naruto series, they would make Naruto's hair a little bit longer, now that he's older and all that stuff. Sorta like Yondaime's, but not neccesarily that long. I really DISLIKE seeing in the anime those lazy animaists, is that a word? Anywho, the drawer people, seeing the sloppy looking spikes Naruto has that looks like a little kid drawing spikes and the back of a dragon. Cm'on! I can understand for the Kage Buunshin No Jutsu, but for Naruto by himself, no other Naruto's runnin around? Stoop being lazy!...Even though i know you guys do work hard to present us with wonderful animation for the Naruto series.

Behind The Smile

Chapter 35: Future Revelations

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"Sakura!" He hollered. A few of the embers from all the fires burning singed his skin. He seemed to be in pain as well, every once and a while bringing up his hand to grasp the area right on the side of his neck. But he didn't care.

"Ino!" he had hollered at the same time. He had paused in shock for a moment at the other name called, but his concerns kept him from questioning. His teeth were grinding together, pushing the intensity of the heat to the back of his mind.

They were both proceeding through the building side by side.

It was then, when they rounded a small corner, that they saw the two figurers for which they had been searching for. One was carrying the other, who had seemed unconscious.

Both the young men made a run for them, swiftly passing through the burning parts of the huge area. Sasuke's speed allowed him to surpass Shikamaru, who was right behind him the whole way. When it seemed like they had finally made it to them, they were forced to stop, both bringing up their arms and leaning back in defense as a burning part of the building fell down right in front of them, completely blocking the way. A small burst sent them falling back to the ground.

Flashback

His Sharingan eyes widened as he looked at the two figures that had just arrived. From his position on all fours, one hand grasping his neck tightly, all Sasuke could do was stare.

Next to Orochimaru, on a nearby rooftop, stood Kabuto. But he was not alone. He was holding a kunai to someone's throat. Pink hair fell over the arm that was securing her slightly above the chest, and her emerald eyes had grown slightly wide as she looked down at Sasuke. She didn't look in a good condition at all. She was beat up and looked exhausted, most likely suffering from a great loss of chakra.

"I recall I told you, you would get a first-hand example of what I do to traitors, did I not? Though, I had changed my mind, seeing as how you and Sakura have made things much easier for me-"

"She has nothing to do with this." Sasuke forced out through his grinded teeth. His stern Sharingan eyes were trained on Orochimaru, the grasp on his neck tightening with each moment.

"Oh, I believe she does, Sasuke-kun. I dare say she is the biggest part, seeing as how she brought you to me." The grin on his face grew even wider.

Sasuke's eyes darted to Sakura.

"Oh no, Sasuke-kun. Not of her own intention." He let out a small chuckle. "So quick to suspect Sasuke-kun, now that's not very nice."

His eyes traveled back to Orochimaru as he chuckled.

(Song: Sasuke,Destiny)

"Now let me tell you this story, Sasuke-kun. If there is any wrong in it, surely both of you can correct me, can you not?" He took a long glance to Sakura, before focusing his snake-like eyes back to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, you were once strong in your resolve and will to obtain ultimate power, for the many reasons you had sought to use it. You gave up your former life, and ended all attachments to former companions. You were relentless, emotionless, doing any, and everything I asked of you. But one unfortunate night, you were reunited with an old acquaintance, one that changed you completely."

He paused glancing at Sakura for a moment. He was purposely speaking at a volume that could easily be heard.

"If your will had been as strong as it had seemed, you would have killed her, would you not? Or was it that you had not so easily severed those meaningless ties with Sakura-san as you thought? You spared her, took care of her in her time of need, if only for a momentary time. While she healed, you had left. Irritated and confused at why you had done such a thing."

His eyes burned with a silent fury as he glared at Orochimaru, this hand that supported his upper body on the ground clenching even tighter.

"You had left, expecting to no longer see her again, to be rid of her for good, yet hoping for a clear conscious at the fact that you gave her refuge and necessary elements for her recovery. But that didn't happen, did it? To your surprise, and to your discontent," He emphasized the word, clearly knowing it did not adequately describe his disposition. "You found that she had made connection with your dear, beloved, brother."

Sakura slightly turned her head, letting out a small, indiscernible but grieving huff as Orochimaru said this. She could feel the ping in her heart as he spoke, spoke of what was going on inside Sasuke while everything happened. She wanted to know how he knew this; she wanted to know why he was doing this.

"Skipping all the unnecessary antics, you and your brother destroyed what was left of the Akatsuki, only to fight each other later. Yet there was more behind this was there not? The annihilation of the Akatsuki only prospered because of yours and your brother's will to protect poor defenseless Sakura. The same woman who had warmed both of your hearts, gave you the will to become better."

What?

She didn't understand. That must have been where he mixed things up. But when her emerald eyes traveled to look at Sasuke, the anger was evident on his face, his unwillingness to look at her, and his inaction to state otherwise what Orochimaru just said.

"Though, it was impossible to forget the emotion that ran between you two sworn enemies, so you fought, wishing to end all ties, put an end to needless suffering.. Though for both brothers, it was for more than just the past, was it not?" He slightly paused in his sentence, noticing something.

"Oh, why are you avoiding Sakura's gaze, Sasuke-kun?" He let out a chuckle as Sasuke's eyes slightly narrowed in speculation.

"It wasn't just your goal that drove you was it? The need to avenge your clan, right all the wrong that you went through. You were angry at your brother for another reason now weren't you?Jealousy drove you to do what you did... Yes, what feelings must you have for someone in order to obtain the emotion of jealousy? For you, Sasuke-kun, the feelings must be great."

"Shut up." Sasuke snapped dangerously. He made a move to get up, but made a barely discernable hiss as the pain in his neck kept him down.

Orochimaru chuckled, his snake-like eyes gleaming with amusement and anticipation.

"Your precious little flower gave you another reason to live, did she not?"

Sakura's eyes widened as she looked at Sasuke; she watched as his head slowly lowered down, in a more so foreboding way.

"She understood you, forgave you. She accepted you for the monster you've become."

"You didn't beleive redemption lied for a fool on such a path as you were. But she showed you otherwise, didn't she? This honorable, and beautiful kunoichi was willing to give up everything for you, she waited for you, waited for a love she thought never to be returned. And because of this, you finally realized how much you adored her, loved her."

It was then that the first tear fell from her face, and onto Kabuto's hand. Her eyes continued to stare wide at Sasuke as this information sunk into her ears.

"Oh, look, Orochimaru-sama, you made Sakura-san cry." Kabuto faked empathy. Orochimaru's grin grew wider as his snake-like eyes observed Sakura.

"What is it, Sakura-san? You didn't know this? Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I just the ruined secret didn't I?"

Countless tears fell from her face one by one, her emerald eyes were trained on Sasuke, who's face was still obscured from view. He was completley still now.

"This truly is the romantic story, is it not? Yet, Sasuke-kun, you left her alone despite this newfound information of yours. You still weren't willing to accept that fact that you loved Sakura all along. That all these years you two were apart, all you thought about was her."

Sakura couldn't hold in the sob, and Sasuke seemed to tense up even more for a moment as Sakura's sob sounded his ears. Though he didn't look up at her, or at Orochimaru, his fists just clenched even tighter.

"I have to admit; I grew very displeased at the fact that you had defied me, and were no longer willing to give your body up to me. But then I realized this would work in my favor. And it did indeed. Thanks to our little flower, I got my hands on a little something the Akatsuki had stored away. And I'll have the destruction of Konoha along with your body, all in a moment's time. Oh, this really has worked out in my favor, wouldn't you agree?"

"..Bastard.." The single word reverberated from deep inside him, rumbling out of his throat dangerously. Full of so much hate, yet muttered in slightly lower pitch than would be a yell.

The seal upon his neck proceeded to pulse slowly, forebodingly.

Orochimaru let out another chuckle, yet it was much more twisted, maniacal.

"Yess..that's it, Sasuke-kun. Make me pay."

Sasuke slowly began to stand up, removing the hand from his shoulder to hang, clenched at his side. It was then that Orochimaru's eyes completely focused on Sasuke as he eyed him warily. The moment lasted all to long as and look of amusement found his face again.

"Come to me, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke was silent as his Sharingan eyes glared calmly at Orochimaru, but his body was shaking, most likely from the complete abhorrence building up inside him.

"Sasuke, don't go near him!" A response to her sudden outburst, Kabuto kneed her in the back.

Sasuke halted from his preparation to move, his cold eyes snapping to Kabuto.

"Hm..now I am familiar with the feeling of annoyance that only Sakura can cause, much like you were, yes Sasuke?…Kabuto." His snake-like eyes traveled to Kabuto as he slightly nodded.

Sasuke's eyes snapped to Sakura as she let out a cry of pain. Kabuto was holding her up by the neckline of her clothing now, and she was hanging limply.

"Shall I do us both a favor and get rid of her?" Orochimaru mocked. Kabuto then briefly released Sakura, only to kick her downwards into a burning building.

"Sa-aaagh." He let out a scream of pain, falling to his knees once again. Orochimaru disappeared, reappearing directly in front of Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes snapped up to Orochimaru.

"Now that's she's out of the way-." Orochimaru abruptly stopped, jumping back onto another rooftop to avoid the kunai that came flying towards him. He looked surprise at the figure that appeared next to Sasuke. Hand still grasping his neck, Sasuke's eyes traveled up to look at the figure adorned in a black cloak, red lined clouds adorning its span.

Discontent was clearly evident on Orochimaru's face as he looked at Uchiha Itachi. There was also a poorly hidden fear mixed in. His face was slightly scrunched up. He obviously had believed Itachi had been killed as well.

Itachi's cold Sharingan eyes were trained on Orochimaru. He looked calm as always, yet there was a deep seriousness to his face.

"Go, Sasuke." He motioned towards the building which he had clearly seen Sakura fall into. Sasuke's serious eyes glanced to the burning building before he stood up, looking at Itachi once again.

"Don't die." He quickly muttered to his brother before making his way towards the burning building.

Kabuto made a move for Sasuke, but Itachi reappeared in front of Kabuto with amazing speed, his fist meeting Kabuto's face. Kabuto managed to ride the punch, executing a back flip before landing on the same rooftop as Orochimaru, who continued to stare at Itachi gravely.

"You're going to take on the two of us?" Orochimaru inquired as if it wasn't clearly evident. Though there wasn't even the slightest hint of amusement, or even questioning for that matter. His voice was grave and slightly perplexed. Perspiration had already begun to adorn his forehead.

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She slowly opened her eyes, only to squeeze them shut once again as a wave of pain rushed over her. She slowly started to push her upper body up from the position on her stomach, holding in a noise of pain as she did so. Her panicked eyes scanned her surroundings, her eyes finding a reason for the immense heat that she was experiencing. It was then that she spotted a figure not to far away from her, partly buried in rubble, and trapped under some more. The dirtied blond hair was what caught her eyes first, leading them to look at the faces' profile.

"Ino!" Holding in a small grunt of pain, Sakura lifted herself up before making her way over to Ino, whose chest and up was the only part of her exposed.

"Ino!" She called to her again, slightly tapping her dirt covered face. She let out a breath of relief as Ino stirred, letting out a small moan. Sakura then immediately moved around the huge rubble on top of her. She looked around quickly, almost panicky at the situation.

"Ok." She muttered to herself as she grabbed the huge metal bar protruding from the rest of the rubble. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a huge breath as she tried to steady herself.

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Two sets of eyes caught sight of an opening in the burning building. One pair was looking on from a leftward direction, the other from a rightward. The sound of their sandals moving along the ground towards it seemed to almost echo.

Right when it seemed the holders of the eyes had made contact with the opening in the side of the building, their movements came to a halt.

Sasuke looked at Shikamaru with a sense of familiarity as Shikamaru looked at him with slight surprise. Sasuke eyed him in speculation, impatiently waiting for the reaction that might have come. But Shikamaru said nothing, eying him for only a moment before his gaze turned towards the entrance which they both and sought. Their eyes met again, though this moment lasted not even a second before their eyes refocused on the opening in the wall, which was more important to them at the moment. Without another glance, they both went for it.

They didn't know the others' reason for going in, but they didn't care.

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Sakura let out a cry as she gave the metal one last push towards the ground. The other end of it came flying up, propelling the rubble on top of it completely off to the side. Sakura then dropped to the ground letting out a small noise from the soreness and relief. She then hurried back up, using her hands to move away the rest of the thin pieces of material. She then proceeded to pull Ino's arm over her shoulders, then moved to transitioning the rest of her body on top of hers.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as she repositioned Ino, scooting her up even higher on her back. Her arms were under each of Ino's legs as she carried her piggy-back style; a task that would have been simple had Sakura not been exhausted and dangerously low on chakra supply.The flames danced in her eyes as she looked around, trying to find any place she could retreat. It was then that she noticed a huge opening that lead into a more spacey part of the building. She would make her way towards it. Though his steps were slow, labored.

"Big..forehead.."

Sakura did not halt in her movement, her emerald eyes were trained ahead of her, the persperation from both the heat and strain created clean lines through the dirt that smeared her face.

"I'm… gonna get you… out of here…" She paused holding in a small noise of pain. ".. I promise you."

End Flashback

Orochimaru seemed tense and hesitant to do anything. It was clearly evident that Itachi's presence did much more than unnerve him. The rate at which he was decaying seemed to increase, along with his anxiety. For a moment his snake-like eyes moved to the area where Sasuke had retreated scanning with great nervousness before they switched back to Itachi.

"So you and your brother have made amends, have you?" It seemed he was trying to delay any type of battle by conversation.

"You have something that belongs to me." Was all Itachi said.

I didn't expect I'd have to use any of them so soon.

Orochimaru slowly brought his hand up along his body, resting them on the scrolls attached to his rope belt. Though he tried to do this discreetly, Itachi's Sharingan eyes easily caught his movements, seemingly knowing what he was thinking.

"You do not know how to control them." Itachi calmly said, his emotionless eyes traveling back upwards.

"Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto warned with worried, grave eyes. Orochimaru eyed him meaningfully for a moment; the two seemed to have an unspoken realization. Orochimaru's frustration seemed to rise as his eyes uneasily looked back to Itachi. Another piece of skin peeled from his face.

My time is running out…

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"Chouji!" Tenten hollared to the shinobi seen a small distance away. Neji stayed silent, eys squinted slighty as he noticed something off about him. Chouji stopped in his on a rooftop,his curious eyes traveling to meet theirs. But he seemed very frustrated. To reduce the time it took for them to get to him, he made his way towards them also. They stopped on the same rooftop.

"Where's Shikamaru?" Neji inquired, he had remembered seeing the two together some time earlier during his fighting. He studied as the expression on Chouji's face changed.

"I don't know, he just booked it, right after he got this weird look on his face. Though," He paused, pointing his finger in the direction in which he had been traveling." He went in that direction, towards that abandoned part of the village, so that's where I'm headed." They all looked on in the direction, which he motioned towards. Their eyes almost seemed weary, feeling a sense of foreboding as they looked at the raveged, burning wasteland of the long forgotten part of Konoha.

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"Naruto-kun!" He glanced to the side at the call, as he dug his fist into the abdomen of the last Sound shinobi in the area. They then widened as he saw who the caller was, his cerulean eyes meeting her pearl. It seemed to go in slow motion as he turned his body to her, just in time to meet her embrace.

"Why did you stay locked up for so long.." Her fists were clenched in his shirt.

Naruto's eyes softened as he pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry." He whispered. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them, letting his now stern eyes wander the area. It was then that the travel of his gaze stopped, slightly squinting as he looked at something from afar.

"..Hinata-Chan…can you use your Byakuugan?" He kept his gaze in place in the distance as he said this, the seriousness and stillness to his voice was clearly evident.

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"Where?" Kakashi inquired calmly, but the suprise and the anxiety at the newfound information was clearly evident. The others looked on at the messenger, all eyes transitioning to the direction in which his fingers pointed.


Thanks for Reading!

Sorry if this chapter is a little shorter than usual, also a little less COOL and LIKEABLE. I'm sorry I'll be honest and admit i was a wee bit lazy on this one. But ums..yea reviews would be greatly appreciated, and motivate me to work harder to get these chapters out even though school is boggin me down?