Welcome back! This is the last weekly upload for a while, and it's a little early. As I've mentioned previously, school is about to get back underway, and I won't be able to post every week. I did want to get five chapters out before then, so here she is! As always, let me know what you think! Normal reminder: I do not own Naruto.
-BB
Deception
"Damnit," Sauske said when they reached Captain Yamato's post for Orochimaru's hideout. "Sauske, what do you know?" Kakashi asked.
"He's not here." Silence followed his statement.
"What the hell do you mean he's not here, you bastard!?" Naruto asked.
"I mean, Loser, that Orochimaru has already left this hideout."
"That's not possible." Yamato said, shaking his head. "He's been on 24-hour surveillance for 4 years." Sauske scoffed.
"It seems that you need to reevaluate your specialty, wood style. Surveillance is not it."
"Sauske." Sakura said scolding the insult towards their sometimes captain. "Save your shit talk for the original members of Team Kakashi, not our additions. They don't deserve it." All five men looked at her in shock. She looked away from Sauske and focused on her blond-haired best friend. "Naruto. Can you use Sage Mode to check Sauske's suspicion?"
"Uh… yeah. Hold on." Naruto slowly looked away from Sakura just in case she turned out to be Orochimaru. Then he began to gather nature energy. He looked towards the building and focused on the chakra signatures inside. His eyes widened in horror.
"Naruto, what's going on?" Kakashi demanded.
"They're… all dead. There are no living beings inside the hideout. He reanimated puppets to keep Captain Yamato busy. Orochimaru has been gone for a year, at least. The building is over grown on the inside. Traps are set everywhere." As Naruto's eyes returned to normal, he looked at Captain Yamato. "If you have detonations set up for destroying this building… we need to use them before we leave. Nobody needs to know what was in there. It's his usual gig... but only we need to know that."
"Why don't we go check it out?" Sai asked intending to move towards the building. Kakashi stopped him.
"Naruto are you saying nothing can get in or out of that building safely?" Kakashi asked plainly. "That's exactly what I'm saying."
"Damnit! How did he get past this team?"
"Tenzou. This was bound to happen. This is Orochimaru we're talking about." Kakashi sighed and ran his hand through his white mop. "I should have followed my first mind and executed him four years ago. I left him alive at the request of Naruto and Lady Tsunade. It's not the first or last mistake I'll make." Kakashi said dryly. "Alright. Tenzou, pack up and make that house disappear. Let the rest of your team know that they can head back to The Leaf."
"Yes sir. Where are we heading?"
"Back to the village, as well. I'm getting Tsunade to send a team of Hunter Ninjas after him. We'll go from there." Kakashi wrote a note, then summoned Pakkun who would beat them there easily. They wouldn't be taking the breakneck pace they did to The Sound Village.
"Yo." Pakkun said easily, glancing at Kakashi, then the others surrounding him. "What in the hell are you doing on a mission, Kakashi?"
"I don't have time to explain. Get this to Tsunade quickly. Let her know we'll be back in the village late tomorrow."
"Understood. Catch ya later." Pakkun disappeared in his usual puff of smoke. Kakashi stood and faced Tenzou, hands in his pockets.
"How far away can you detonate?"
"I can do it from the village, if need be. I placed surveillance seeds all over the building."
"Good. We're leaving after Yamato has finished up here."
"Actually, I think I'll head back out on my own." Sauske said as he walked off.
"No, you won't. You'll be heading back to the village as well." Sauske turned back to Kakashi and rolled his eyes.
"For what? Think he's after me again? That I need protection from Orochimaru?" Sauske said the man's name sarcastically.
"Yes, actually. I wouldn't put it past him. He has a Rinnegan, Sauske." Sauske scoffed and turned completely around to Kakashi.
"Even if he did steal that eye, there's no way it's been implanted in his body. It's a bloodline limit, Kakashi. You were an "exception" to the rule, if you recall. No one else has ever been successful with the Sharingan or evolved versions of it outside of you. Orochimaru does not have the chakra to use one successfully."
"He also has Hashirama's cells."
"So what? His vessel is a white zetsu, which means he's had them for a while. Ever figure out if you were a descendant of Senju, Kakashi? Or of even the Uchiha's? With hair like the Second's, I'd venture to say Senju. That is why you were able to tolerate and use the Sharingan, Kakashi. Not a stroke of luck. Orochimaru doesn't have that. He was able to trace his bloodline."
"Unless you want to die right here you're going back to The Leaf, Sauske. You don't get a choice. I've given you enough of those to last a lifetime." Kakashi said, his voice deadly as it had dared to be since the war. Sauske stepped toward Kakashi, and dare in his eyes, but Naruto stepped in between them, facing Sauske.
"Don't do this, you bastard. I cannot and will not chase after you again. Kakashi has decided. Let it go." Sauske looked at his brother, hating the guilty feeling he had when he looked at this Loser. He saw the undeserved love Naruto had always had for him, but he also saw the resolve. If Sauske ever went dark again it would break his heart, but Naruto would kill him. And even with the Rinnegan, Sauske couldn't take on Konoha. Period. It's not that Sauske wanted to go off on his own, he just couldn't stand to be in the village for long periods of time anymore. He didn't deserve to be. Protecting it from the outside was much more his speed.
"Fine. But we aren't walking. We'll be using the Rinnegan to get back to The Leaf."
Naruto smiled at him and said "Sweet! Captain Yamato lets go take your house down."
"There's nothing for you to do but watch, Naruto."
"Aww, man. Hey, Captain Yamato, I proposed to Hinata before we left, and she said yes!"
"Seriousl- I mean that's wonderful, Naruto, congratulations. Hinata's a sweet girl." Yamato quickly amended his answer at the death glare from the only woman on their team. As Naruto and Captain Yamato walked off, the rest followed.
