Chapter 44
Tsunade, the elders and the shinobi council looked at the boy before them. Said boy was giving them all a look of defiance. It was as if he felt that he was above their judgement. It was starting to piss the female Hokage off.
"So, are you going to defend yourself or just glare at us all day?" Tsunade asked with a clipped tone. Sasuke remained quiet and said nothing. With an annoyed sigh, Tsunade had enough. "Fine, you've made your choice. As of this moment, you are no longer a shinobi of Konohagakure. You will be stripped of your hitai-ate (forehead protector) and be under house arrest. While I think you should be placed in a high-security prison, I was outvoted. Still, don't think that you'll have it easy. You will be watched by ANBU. They have orders to end your life should you do anything stupid." This made Sasuke growl at them but none of the people in the room were concerned.
"Take this 'disgrace' away. Don't forget to take that hitai-ate off him." Tsunade said. The ANBU did as they were told and dragged Sasuke away after taking his hitai-ate. Sasuke continued to glare at everyone in the room until he was dragged out of sight. Tsunade sighed and looked at the elders.
"I'm surprised that you did not help him. From what I know, you two were supporters of his." she said.
"We were never truly supporters. We only wished for his ability and bloodline to serve Konoha. Now we know that he was always a liability. It is a blessing that we caught it before he decided to leave." Koharu said.
"Still, do you think that only four ANBU will be enough to guard Sasuke? We do know just who has an interest in him." Inoichi stated.
"For now, they will have to do it. We are still recovering for the invasion. Either way, we are done here." Tsunade said. The council nodded and began to leave.
XXX
Orochimaru sat down on his throne with little comfort. His arms were burning and it enraged him at how limp they felt. He cursed his sensei and hoped he was in eternal suffering within the Shinigami (Death God). However, he ignored the pain for now. Today was a good day for him because his old village had made things easy for him.
He received a message about Sasuke's situation and it made him extremely happy. This action ended any loyalty for Konoha (Hidden Leaf). Now, all the boy wanted was revenge and it included Konoha. This was the perfect time to gain his prize. So he had his elite force kneeling in front of him.
"It seems that Sasuke needs our assistance. Go and retrieve him, would you?" Orochimaru said.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." the four ninja said before vanishing. Orochimaru could only smile. His objective was within his grasp.
XXX
Naruto was making his way to his old training grounds. He had plans but someone needed him to be there. Curious, he decided to make his way there to find out what was going on. He arrived in minutes and saw someone there.
"Sakura? You wrote me that note?" Naruto asked, jogging up to her.
"Note? I didn't write you a note. I thought you wrote me a note." Sakura answered. Naruto looked at her with confusion. Before he could say anything, a voice called out to them.
"I wrote the notes." The two turned to the voice to see Kakashi. The two frowned when they saw him. Kakashi expected as much. "Don't worry, I'm not going to keep either of you for long. I have a mission to get to but this is much more important." The two looked at each other before looking at the jonin. Seeing that he had their attention, Kakashi took a deep breath before looking at them.
"I am sorry." He said, stunning the two. "I was a bad sensei and an even worse comrade. I don't expect your forgiveness or that you will accept my apology but I feel that you two deserve that at least. I believed that it was my mission to help Sasuke. Because of what he went through, I knew that revenge was on his mind. I wanted to show him that there was more to life than that. So, I focused all my attention on changing his mind. I also thought I was honoring my former teammate, Obito. However, that was just an excuse and you two paid for it." Kakashi took a breath before continuing.
"All I can say is that I'm sorry. Hopefully, with time, I will improve myself as a person, a ninja and a comrade. I make this vow to both of you that I will work on that. That's all I have to say, so I'll be going now." Kakashi turned and was about to leave when Sakura stopped him.
"You're right about not accepting your apology but if you are being serious about this, then know that we'll be watching. We'll see if you're being honest or if you're just saying words." she said. Kakashi looked back to see her serious look and Naruto was nodding. With a nod of his own, Kakashi just vanished. This left the two alone who just looked at each other.
"Do you think that he will change?" Naruto asked.
"Well, I believe in second chances. We'll just keep watch and see if it happens." Sakura said. Naruto just shrugged and began walking out with Sakura following him.
XXX
Four figures watched the villagers of Konoha go along with their business. They stayed in the shadows and just waited for their contact. They arrived in the village three days ago and had to wait four more for Orochimaru's man inside. They, at first, thought it was a trap as it was way too easy to get in but they had not been discovered since. So, they waited until they were contacted so that they could begin their mission.
Their wait would soon be over as a black and white bird landed on the roof. It then merged into the ground and revealed a message. They read the message and began to smile. It seems that they wouldn't need to be in the village for long. They now just had to wait until nightfall, then they could make their move.
XXX
Something was different. Sasuke realized this as he looked out of his prison. His guards would usually show themselves just so that he knew they were there. He had been trying to find an avenue of escape for a week now and he didn't see any way out of the village. However, his ANBU guards were not here and he didn't know why. That's when he felt someone enter his prison. He turned to see four people standing before him.
The tallest one had three tufts of orange hair and slanted orange eyes. The one with six arms had dark skin, black shaggy hair that was tied and black eyes. The female had brown eyes and long pink hair. The final person had two heads that had dark blue hair, green lipstick and marking around the eyes. They all wore different colored tunics that were tied by a purple rope. What interested him the most were the hitai-ate that had a music symbol on the metal. It was the same symbol of those that attacked the village months ago.
"You're from Otokage (Hidden Sound)? That means that you are under Orochimaru's command?" Sasuke asked.
"You are right Sasuke. Orochimaru-sama has sent us to free you from your captivity. I am Seimon no Sakon (Sakon of the West Gate)." the two head man said.
"I am Nanmon no Jirobo (Jirobo of the South Gate)." said the large man.
"I am Hokumon no Tayuya (Tayuya of the North Gate)." the kunoichi greeted.
"I am Tomon no Kidomaru (Kidomaru of the East Gate)." the six armed man greeted.
"We are to escort you to Orochimaru-sama so that he can grant you the power that you seek. You have already been given a taste of that power." Sakon said. Sasuke knew what he was talking about. He remembered the power he felt when he used the Ten no Juin (Cursed Seal of Heaven). It would help with his goals. Seeing that Konoha was hindering that, the choice was easy.
Sasuke made a move toward his bed. He knelt down to the left side and removed the floorboards. Hidden was one of his pouches. He opened it to see several shuriken, kunai and ninja wire that he was able to gather away from his guards. He strapped it to his belt before facing the four.
"Let's go." The four bowed and led the former genin to his destiny.
XXX
Naruto arrived at the tower with his full gear and chunin vest. He was summoned by the Hokage and it seemed to be urgent. He made his way to her office when he ran into Shikamaru.
"You got summoned too? I just knew that today was going to be annoying." Shikamaru grumbled. The two arrived at the door and knocked. Tsunade allowed them entry in the office. When they entered, they did not see a pleased woman sitting behind the desk. She looked at the two seriously.
"Last night, Sasuke Uchiha escaped from his house arrest." she stated. This surprised the two but they did not say anything. "The ANBU guards that were supposed to relieve the other guards found the team of four dead. I am on my way to do the autopsy but we need to get a team together to go after Sasuke and whoever is helping him."
"I understand Hokage-sama. Seeing as we are dealing with probably a group of four and their strength, I would suggest a team of jonin for this mission." Shikamaru said seriously.
"That isn't going to happen. All available jonin are out on missions. So are all available chunin. You two are the only chunin I have that is available. Your mission is to gather a team and get after Sasuke. You are to capture and bring him back or you make sure that Orochimaru does not gain the Sharingan. You better hurry up. Sasuke has about eight hours on you. Dismissed." Tsunade said. The two bowed and made their way out.
"This is really troublesome. So all we have are genin." Shikamaru muttered.
"As much as I would mock you right now, we don't have the time. What we need for this team are two trackers and some muscle. I have my choice of trackers." Naruto said.
"I know someone with some muscle. Get your guys and I'll get mine. We meet up at the gates in thirty minutes." Shikamaru said.
"Full load out Shikamaru. We need to be prepared for what we're about to face." Naruto warned. Shikamaru nodded and the two were off. Thirty minutes later found the two standing in front of their chosen members. Naruto picked up Kiba and Akamaru first before finding Neji who was with Lee. Shikamaru instantly went for his teammate Choji. Now that they were gathered, Naruto got everyone's attention.
"Alright, listen up guys! We are on the clock. As of last night, Sasuke Uchiha left the village. We believe that he had help from ninja that answer to Orochimaru. We are going on the assumption that he willingly went with these guys. Our mission is to either capture Sasuke or make sure that Sasuke doesn't get to Orochimaru. Do you understand what that means?" Naruto asked them. The three genin and one dog looked at Naruto with serious glances.
"Okay, let's get the formation down and let's get going." Shikamaru said. The group quickly explained what the formation was. After a minute explaining, the five shinobi and one dog rushed through the gates. They had a prisoner to retrieve.
XXX
Tsunade looked at the bodies and narrowed her eyes. She was not pleased by what she saw. By just observing the body, she knew that whoever Orochimaru sent, did not kill these ANBU. Upon closer observation, she was able to find out one of the ANBU attacked the others. She found defensive wounds on one of the bodies. The one who attacked then killed themself with his blade.
This only served to annoy her more. She knew these men and she knew that they would never attack each other. Someone or something must have caused this and the only reason that happened was to give whoever infiltrated easy access to Sasuke. She had a traitor within the village. She had to find out who it was or they could do even more damage to the village.
XXX
Sasuke looked at the four ninja with untrusting eyes. They had made good time from the village but they decided to stop. That's when Sakon told him that they needed to finish increasing the power of the Ten no Juin. They then unsealed a large barrel that had several seals around it. That's when Sakon held out a black pill and explained what needed to happen in order for him to reach the next stage. It was the reason that Sasuke was so untrusting.
"So, this will kill me and only through death will I gain my new power?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes, only through this method will you gain that power." Sakon answered. Sasuke looked at the pill before swallowing. If he had to die to gain the power to gain his vengeance, then so be it.
XXXXX
Authors' Notes
Well, here is the new chapter. I'm just glad that I've got this far in the stroy. Either way, enjoy the new chapter.
