Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own this story.

Not So Simple After All

Chapter 6

Sasuke strode through the Sound Village, a triumphant smirk plastered on his face. The Sound nin were all too afraid to oppose him, just as he thought. They wouldn't even try to stop him. The few that did were quickly dealt with.

He watched smugly as they hid in their houses. Did they not know that they would burn inside there? The Sound Village had been built like a compound; so basically, every house that was side by side shared a wall and part of the roof. Since Sasuke had used his Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (Fire Element: Phoenix Flower) on every few houses he saw; even the ones that weren't on fire then would burn down with the other houses. It reminded him vaguely of dominoes, or a chain reaction. The person who designed the Sound Village's layout must have been a complete idiot.

Sasuke now stood before Orochimaru's tower, the stronghold of the Sound. It appeared to be empty. Orochimaru's room was at the very top. All the rest were reserved for others. Sasuke had one on the 8th floor, but he never spent much time there. There were also arsenals, other offices, meeting rooms, and a few special training rooms.

As he ascended the stairs, he came to the conclusion: No one was in the tower except two people. One, being himself, and the other was on the top level.

Finally, Sasuke reached the final door. It was already open for him. He smirked as he stepped into the room he knew only too well. This was Orochimaru's office, and the term "office" is used loosely. It didn't have a desk, pens, scrolls, documentation, or any usual office supplies. It was cold and dark in the room. The only window had the curtains drawn, so the only light came from the open doorway behind him. And even that was dim. The only objects in the room were Orochimaru's throne and a Sound Tapestry behind it. On this simple tapestry was the Sound symbol. On the throne was Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru," said Sasuke, a smirk still evident on his face. His fingers were itching to grab a kunai and begin the battle.

"Sasuke-kun," he answered, "How could you?" Obviously, word had reached Orochimaru already that Sasuke had betrayed the village.

"Well," Sasuke stated, "first you gather a balance of spiritual and physical chakra in your stomach. Then you form the hand seals and—"

"You ungrateful brat!"

Sasuke could just make out Orochimaru as he stood up in a fighting stance. He quickly activated his deadly Sharingan.

Let the battle commence.

It was barley visible at first, but now he could clearly make it out, at least with his Bakuyan. He sped up his pace so he came shoulder to shoulder with Shikamaru. He told him, "There's something up ahead."

"What?"

"Smoke. And a lot of it."

"How far ahead is it?"

"About a couple hours worth of distance. It's straight ahead; so it might be the Sound Village."

"Troublesome…so now the village is on fire…why?"

"You expect me to know that?"

"This better mean less work for me. Neji, relay the news to everyone else on our team. They'll need to know so they can know what to expect when we get there."

"Hai," Neji answered before speeding off.

Shikamaru glanced at his watch. It was only a little after 10:30 a.m. They had been running for quite a few hours now…'What a drag…'

A little behind him was Kakashi, who had just heard the message. 'One surprise after another…What was Sasuke doing now? Was it even Sasuke's doing? There was no way to tell yet, really.'

A flash of pink caught his eye. It sped up until it was in stride with Naruto. Apparently, Sakura had heard about the smoke too.

Sasuke coughed as once again Orochimaru socked him in the stomach. 'Damn it!' The Snake sannin seemed to be hitting his target twice as much as Sasuke was hitting his. He didn't show signs of stopping soon, either.

Sasuke dodged another punch as he launched one of his own. Yes! It landed right in Orochimaru's face!...which then turned to mud…'Damn it! Substitution…'

Darkness shrouded Sasuke again in the tenses atmosphere. 'Now where is he?' His question was soon answered as he felt a breath of wind on his back. Jumping to the side, he heard the 'whoosh' of a katana to his left.

His hands began forming the seals for a fire jutsu just as Orochimaru started towards him again with his katana.

Katon: Goukaryuu no Jutsu (Fire Element: Grand Fireball)

Instantly, fire filled up the chamber. For all the chakra his attack was worth, it appeared Orochimaru had once again evaded it. He saw Orochimaru just in time charging at him with his katana again. 'I can't hit him!'

Sasuke drew his own katana and clashed it against his opponents. 'Maybe a little light would help.' His last fire jutsu had left the Sound tapestry consumed in fire; it and the doorway were the only light sources. Neither was enough.

Sasuke ducked as Orochimaru swung his blade around full force. He attempted to stab Orochimaru's leg, but just then Orochimaru jumped back. But not before the Uchiha planted some explosive tags on his torso.

Sasuke then ran a half circle around Orochimaru and charged with his katana. Orochimaru tried to move out of the way but just then the tags exploded and he was thrown backwards. Sasuke took this opportunity to ram his blade into his back. Orochimaru grunted before he sank to the ground another puddle of mud. 'Damn it! Substitution again! Did I get him or not?'

In the far corner of the room stood Orochimaru, clutching his abdomen. Since when did the Uchiha get so fast? "Oh Sasuke-kun," he called, "I was wondering about your trip to Konohoa. Tell me, how did things go?"

He dodged a launch of shuriken as he took a few more steps towards Sasuke. "I'm guessing you did not obtain the Mangekyou during your stay? Otherwise, you would have used it on me already…"

He paused for a second; he sensed Sasuke was building up his chakra up for another attack. "You'll need it to defeat Itachi. You'll need it to defeat me."

Orochimaru teleported behind Sasuke and rammed his blade into his back to make up for earlier. Sasuke then 'poofed' in to a log…with another explosive tag on it…

This time the explosion took out part of the wall. Orochimaru's eyes locked on the scene taking place outside. The Sound Village was engulfed in flames. Glancing down, he noticed the fire had even reached his tower and was not steadily climbing upwards. Ten minutes, give or take, and the whole tower would be on fire!

He had been going easy on Sasuke when he started; he did, after all, need his body for the transfer. Now, it didn't matter what condition it was in, Kabuto could always heal him later. "Alright, Uchiha, time to get serious!"

"Hey Sakura-chan, did you hear that? The Sound Village is on fire!" said Naruto.

"It might not even be the Sound Village, Naruto," answered Sakura.

"Yeah, but if it is…do you think it was the teme? He was always into fire jutsus."

"I don't know, but I think so. I just don't get why he would burn down his own village. Do you think he's alright?"

"What do you mean by 'alright?'"

"Well, remember when he was using the Cursed Seal?"

"Yeah…"

"He was never himself at that point. He was vicious and mean and…you get it?"

"I see what you're saying, Sakura-chan. The seal might have forced him to go crazy. I mean, I thought he was crazy in our last battle."

"That's what worries me…"

"It'll be alright, I promise! We'll get him back fine…or as sane as possible. I'm willing to do whatever it takes!"

"Good, because I have an idea, and I need your help."

"Sure thing, Sakura-chan!"

"Okay, listen up…I want you to go ahead of the group. You're faster than all of us, so it should be no problem. You can't get lost, the trail is the side of a road."

"What am I supposed to do though?"

"Make your way to the Sound Village. Once you get there, I want you to find Sasuke-kun. We have to find out what he's up to. I don't recommend going into a headlong battle without us, so try not to cause a commotion."

"Okay…"

"Find out what he's doing and radio it back to me. You know, with those earpiece things and mini-microphone."

"Do I fight him?"

"If you have to, I just don't want the whole village after you. So try to keep it discreet. More importantly, if Orochimaru's there, wait till we get there. I don't want you fighting him alone."

"What's the point of all this?"

"Our group is moving too slow. Sasuke-kun would already be there because he's riding that serpent. I'm afraid we won't get there fast enough, but you could. Imagine if we got there too late, we could miss our chance of bringing him home."

"Alright, I'll do it for you, Sakura-chan!"

With that, Naruto raced up to Shikamaru. They exchanged a few words before Naruto raced off, disappearing into the distance. Man, he was fast…but was he fast enough? Sasuke could be dead before he even got there…not that the group had any idea that Sasuke and Orochimaru at that moment were locked in a heated battle…though Kakashi suspected something…and Sakura suspected worse…

Whew! I was afraid I would never finish that chapter. I mean, I did, but...it was sitting on my desk all weekend and I just would not touch it. I got my first case of writer's block during the battle scene, which would explain why it's such a lame battle so far. I honestly cannot write battle scenes, but I can try. I'll remember to not have battles in my next fic, which I have already started. Cannot think of a damn name though. I found a lot of jutsus, I just don't know how to work them into the battle. I'll try harder next time. I wrotemost of this last night. If you are unsatisfied with this chapter, so am I.

Oh yeah, in the next chapter, expect less Sakura. I'm focusing on Sasuke, Oro, and Naruto, since they will be where all the action is. I had a serious need to kill Orochimaru right off, I was feeling really lazy right then. But I already gave Kabuto a pathetic death, I can't possibly give Oro one too.

I'm not sure when my next update will be, but it will be less than a week...I hope.

I cannot thank my reviewers enough! I don't think I would have crammed a chapter in last night if I hadn't read your reviews!

Now, review again. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. (not really) but it does help me write (as proof of last night)