Look At Us Now

By ValkyrieWarrior

Disclaimer: I'm currently out of stock with smart, witty disclaimers...but please feel free to check back later.

Summary: After getting back together, Sakura was hospitalized after the effects of the poison started. Just when Tsunade was getting ready to undergo the operation, Sakura had mysteriously disappeared. Now, Naruto is on the prowl for the man he once thought of as his brother. (I'm trying to make the summary short because I will give you guys a huge overview in the last chapter)

Thanks to all that reviewed on the story. I greatly appreciate it.

Also, thanks to templar132, the greatest beta reader ever. I mean, he keeps everything in check. Making sure all is well, that I update within a reasonable time period, and making sure that the chapters are presentable so that you guys could read and comprehend it. Seriously, he is awesome! I don't think this story would be as good without him.

Also, I'm sad to say that after this, I only have one chapter left.

That is it for the AN's.

'thought'

"talking"

Inner self/Kyuubi

Flashbacks

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Previously

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Naruto was trying to control the demon trying to get out of him.

Just then, an ANBU appeared in the room.

"Hokage-sama, we have a problem. Sasuke has escaped." The ANBU told her.

Naruto's eyes shot red in an instant and the room was engulfed in red chakra.

"SASUKE!!!"

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Chapter 12: Redemption Pt.1

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"What do you mean he escaped!?" Tsunade bellowed at the ANBU in front of her.

The unfortunate ninja shivered in fear at her forceful voice.

"What in Kami's name were you doing!?"

The Hokage couldn't believe that ten black ops units couldn't manage to guard one boy. The ANBU, who has been trained and trained again to be professionals in what they do, could not handle one meager ninja. Alright, maybe Sasuke wasn't as scanty as she had thought, but with the given circumstances, you'd think Sasuke couldn't afford, or is even capable, of escaping without much bodily harm to be able to kidnap someone else.

"Hokage-sama...he did not escape on his own," the ANBU told her, "it would appear that someone let him out, there was no way he could have gotten out of there on his own."

The elder women's fury eased a bit. She could feel a migraine coming as she rubbed the temple of her forehead.

The latter statement of the ninja made her mind ease a little, but it also frightened her. It was comforting, yes, because she would have been ashamed to think that the special black ops couldn't conduct such small missions, if you could even call it that considering how low a job of a bodyguard is, but then again when an ANBU guards anyone, it never is a leisurely easy job.

She had suspected that Sasuke would try to escape, that's why she made sure to have a number of ANBUs guarding him, but she did not expect for this to happen.

She also feared what he had said because she knew...it had to be him.

There was only one man who would have gotten him out there, the very same man that placed him back in Konoha. It would explain the ease and swiftness in which it was done. Only a ninja with years of experience and proper training could possibly do such a thing in one easy sweep.

"How long since you found out?"

"Well, judging by the..."

"How long!?"

"About four hours ago." The ninja said inadequately.

Tsunade feared as much. Sasuke was not one to be underestimated, she knew that now, and estimating by how fast he went from the tower to the hospital and back out within three hours and not being noticed only meant that he had probably gotten far by now.

If what the ANBU reported was true, then Sasuke must have gotten Sakura right about the time she told Naruto about Sakura's condition.

"Go, you're dismissed." Tsunade sent the ANBU away.

The woman couldn't help but hope that Sasuke knew what he had done.

The poison in Sakura's body needed to be cured as soon as possible, but now that Sasuke had taken her, Tsunade feared that it was too late to save her.

Not unless Naruto got her back in time.

Flashback...

Naruto's eyes shot red in an instant and the room was engulfed in red chakra.

"SASUKE!!!" Naruto roared throughout the hospital.

Everything in the room went flying as the chakra's power swirled around his body.

Naruto's arms grew bigger, his entire body enlarged, and his canines slowly turned into fangs.

"Naruto calm down." Tsunade tried to pacify the beast appearing in front of her. She didn't want Naruto to make a blind mistake by letting his emotions get the best of him.

Naruto's hair grew considerably longer and his whisker marks darkened.

"Naruto! Stop it, if you want to help Sakura you must calm down!" Tsunade said as she tried to fight the gust of wind.

Naruto growled.

The windows shattered due to the harsh impact of the sudden burst of his chakra. The chairs, monitors, and even the bed started to shake.

"Naruto, you must stop."

Before anyone had the chance to do anything else, Naruto sprinted out the window.

"Naruto!" Tsunade darted to the window, but Naruto was already gone, ensnared by his malicious demon.

"Should we go after him, Hokage-sama?" The ANBU asked her.

Tsunade had nearly forgotten that he was still in there.

"No..." She wanted so much to just go after him herself, but she understood more that this was not her choice to decide for Naruto at this point, "...let him go."

Tsunade knew that only Naruto could do anything else at this point...it was not her battle.

End Flashback.

Tsunade could do nothing more for him at this point. It was no longer in her hands and she knew far too well that it was only his business and no one else's to go after him.

Maybe she had doomed him by letting him go alone...so enraged and blinded by his emotions...but she had something much more than Orochimaru and Sasuke would ever have. She had faith in him.

If there was anything Naruto had made clear to her, it was that he never failed because his intentions remained true and pure, unwavering...and most importantly, Naruto never gave up...because that is his way of the ninja.

'Naruto, bring her back.' Tsunade said hopingly.

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A flash of red tore through the forest.

An animal-like figure on all fours sprinted from side to side, destroying anything that came in its way.

He stopped for a minute to sniff the air.

'Sakura!'

He was getting closer and closer. The scent was so strong he could almost touch it.

It was nearly daylight, the sun was almost shining through. He had been traveling like this for a while now...but he never took one moment to rest.

Time was precious to him and all he wanted was to get to her.

He pulled his nose back down and within a second, the thing was gone, leaving behind destruction with its blight fury.

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"Well, well, now, everything just worked out for the better." Orochimaru maniacally laughed.

In the turn of events that just happened, Orochimaru went from extremely frustrated to jocundly happy. Not so long ago he was on the verge of cutting Sasuke's head off for screwing things up for him...but now, Sasuke managed to redeem his good status with Orochimaru's unpleasant grace.

"Haha," he sniggered, "here I thought you had become pathetically useless."

Uchiha Sasuke stood in front of the devil's zealot. He disdainfully watched as Orochimaru laughed in every way possible.

If there was one thing he hated more than his brother, it was disrespect.

"Just when I thought you couldn't be of anymore use, you pull through for me." The snake hissed out.

Sasuke gritted his teeth.

He hated hearing those words...useless...pathetic.

He ardently loathed it.

He thought by now that he deserved to be treated better, if anything to be treated equally. However, as Orochimaru danced and paraded about chortling how useless and pathetic he was, Sasuke couldn't help but hate him. Of course he had hated him long before, he hated him even when he was his mentor and only friend, but never in a way that made him so angry at himself and...regret what he had chosen to do.

The feeling was all too uncomfortable for him, having never regretted anything in his life, and even if so, he never really hated himself for it. So he decided to push it aside for now and remain focused on the issue at hand.

"So, you have what you wanted, now let us go." Sasuke said at Orochimaru's exasperating words.

Orochimaru stopped his audible musings to give Sasuke an inquisitive look of amusement and frustration.

He became stern and walked towards Sasuke. "Ah, but indeed I have not what I want, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke clenched his fist in aggravation.

"Look, I did what you want, I took Sakura so that Naruto would follow me and come here to you," Sasuke yelled back. "There's nothing more that I need to do."

Orochimaru thought for a minute.

For a moment he thought about letting Sasuke go and disappear with that pink-haired woman...but decided against it. No...it would be so much more fun if Sasuke stuck around the moment Naruto fell for his trap and become a part of him forever.

Orochimaru had seen that Sasuke reacted differently when the Kyuubi vessel was mentioned, to his dismay, he found out that Sasuke was...attached to his next vessel.

Yes, it's there, he could feel it whenever he spoke about the man around him, but whether it was gleaming admiration, seething hatred, or something much more that he could not comprehend, or rather he had never known or experienced, was the question. Was Sasuke indifferent in what they had sealed as their deal?

"No, you're not going anywhere just yet."

"What!? We had a deal, I bring you Naruto and you let me take Sakura!"

Orochimaru was a little ashamed that Sasuke has learned nothing about dealing...especially with him.

"Sasuke-kun...your part of the deal is not even complete yet...is Naruto here?"

Sasuke just couldn't take another minute in there with him and stormed out the room.

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It was at sun up when he finally gave in.

His body was too fatigued to go any further...he had to rest.

Naruto's entire form changed in a second and he became human again.

No longer where his fangs sharp, or his eyes set on killing.

He stumbled upon a little stump and there he rested his head. He panted heavily because after all he has been running for hours.

Naruto placed a hand where his scar was...it was still hurting after all this time.

"Hey."

Naruto's head jerked up at the sudden voice. To his surprise, he saw his beautiful cherry blossom, glowing with pure, unbridled beauty.

"Sakura-chan...how?"

Sakura walked towards him and kneeled down. "How what, Naruto?"

He didn't know whether he was dreaming of her or whether he had gone completely insane...but either way, he wasn't going to fight it.

"You poor thing, you look so tired." Sakura's voice mended the pain of his scar. "Why don't you just rest for a while?"

How her voice just made him want to sleep, to lay down his tired, worn out body for a second. He desperately needed rest...for his own health and her well being.

"But I need to go and find you." Naruto said to her, remembering why he was in such a hurry in the first place.

"Silly...I'm right here. Why are you looking for me?"

Naruto knew now that he was dreaming.

"Sakura-chan...I-, nothing, I don't know why I'm looking when you're here the entire time." He finally gave in, because even if this was a dream or he was hallucinating, this Sakura was just as insistent as the real Sakura. He could argue with her till sun down and the result would always be the same...he would lose and she would get her way.

Sakura smiled. "You work too hard Naruto, just rest for a bit."

Her voice sent him in a trance and, like a baby being rocked to sleep, he dozed off.

"You're going to need all you've got for what's to come, Naruto."

There was a blinding white light and Naruto awakened.

'Just a dream.'

His body, however short that nap was, felt rejuvenated and refreshed.

Naruto got up and prepared to move on, and as soon as he was up, he disappeared into the woods.

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Sakura fidgeted in her sleep.

"Naruto..." she said weakly.

'Even in her sleep she thought about him.'

Sasuke brushed aside her hair.

He sat there looking at her as she restlessly slept.

'But soon you will forget all about him, Sakura.'

All he wanted to do now was just leave with her...to take her as far away from all this so she could forget about Naruto and remember her feelings for him.

In his youth that may have been possible, back when she was his willing servant and would do anything he desired. But, just like everything else in his life, it all died and was lost in their memories. He regretted now that he paid no attention to her, for just shoving her aside and calling her nothing more than a nuisance. But who would have thought that one day he would be wanting her so much...though it wasn't exactly love he felt for her.

"Why do you want her so badly anyway?"

Sasuke had been so busy in his thoughts he didn't hear Orochimaru coming in.

"You could have anyone you want, yet you choose this woman."

"That's exactly why I want her." Sasuke turns around to get up. "Because I can't have her."

This had always been his way. Once he set his mind onto something or in this case, someone, he would stop to no end to get it. Because he couldn't have her now when he could have easily gotten her long ago made him want her. And the more he couldn't get her, the more he wanted her.

"Because she is unattainable."

It was his curse, his burden. Uchiha Sasuke was weak for anything he couldn't get.

It was the reason why he left Konoha, he couldn't get enough of the power he tasted from Orochimaru. It was the reason he wanted Itachi dead, because he could never be as powerful as he is. And it was the reason why he wanted Sakura now, because Naruto has her and he doesn't.

"Naruto..." Sakura said weakly in her sleep.

And because Naruto got her before he did.

Orochimaru laughed, "Well, it would seem that she still loves the boy."

"Not for long she won't."

Sasuke was determined that she would forget all about that stupid fool...soon...soon it will all end.

Sakura grunted in her sleep.

She's not doing well...the poison is getting to her. Her body was cold, her skin pale, and her breathing was heavy.

She needed to be cured now!

Sasuke's expression suddenly changed from the hating look he was displaying just a moment ago.

It altered...transformed to...guilt?

Was it really guilt that he was expressing now? He had never shown such emotions, his very life for the last few years did not allow him to. He was trained, as Orochimaru's pupil and as a ninja as well, to never show emotions, especially guilt for what he had done. He trained his body and mind to never allow himself to show such degrading and pitiful actions...to show human qualities of weakness.

But her sudden outburst of pain and misery cracked his defenses, if only a little.

"Sasuke-kun, I hope you're not getting soft here!" Orochimaru much more demanded of him than asked.

To which Sasuke gave him a glare before walking away.

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Sasuke walked out the room and back into the corridors and into the main chamber.

As he strolled along, all Sasuke could think about was getting the cure from Kabuto, err Orochimaru. Orochimaru had also promised him that the moment he got his new body, he would give him the cure.

However, remembering the memory of when Orochimaru said it made him quiver. The way Orochimaru had said it, the way he looked sadistic and how he was smirking, made the hair on the back of his neck rise.

Orochimaru was keeping something from him.

Whatever it was, Sasuke knew for sure that he would rather not find out.

The instant that he stepped into the main chamber, a kunai came flying in their direction.

He immediately went on standby and tuned towards the area the kunai came from.

Sasuke looked a little ridiculous as his usual battle stance was affected by the abrupt threat that had just happened. He was leaning slightly forwards as if he was about to fall.

"You thought that you could take her away from me and get away with it!?"

Naruto jumped down from where he was standing.

"You have another thing coming!"

Naruto's eyes were full of rage. The blood rush from the excitement of finally catching up invigorated his usually already energized self.

Finally, he was here.

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Back inside the room where she was held, Sakura squirmed in her bed.

She had been shuffling here and there from the moment she arrived.

In her subconscious, she could hear a voice telling her to get up...get up and move!

She could not quite comprehend why her mind was telling her so.

Why?!

She thought hard to remember...but she couldn't. Nothing rang clear as to where she was and why she wanted so badly to get away from it.

What was the last thing she remembered?

She tried to think...to remember...but how could she if she didn't even know what it was she was supposed to be remembering?

Then she heard the faint sounds of something clashing together...and she could faintly see a room as she descended backwards. The sounds were like those of pots hitting the floor in the kitchen.

A vague glimpse of gold and orange...what is that?

And then it started to form...a figure...with golden hair and... an orange body?

No...it was his pants...

"Sakura-chan!"

And just like that...her mind flooded her with memories and she remembered who she was and what happened.

Sakura shot up from her bed.

"Naruto!"

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End of Chapter 12

So, yeah...next chapter is the last one guys.

And I say this now...I'm not very good at writing heavy detailed action scenes...or actually, I'm to lazy to. I don't particularly like actions in sense of brutal none stop punches and endless jutsu wars...so that means if I do try and make it as actiony as possible, don't expect the type that Masashi Kishimoto writes.