Hey guys I'm back. Sorry I haven't been updating the past few months. I was concentrating on my other stories so I'd be able to focus on this one afterwards. I'll update regularly from now on. Sorry to keep you all waiting.

Sakura felt someone tapping her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Sasuke's onyx eyes bore onto her.

"...Sasuke?" She spoke groggily.

"Get up." He stated.

"Get up?" She thought as she slowly came back to her senses. She sat up at once when everything registered in her head.

"I...I'm sorry Sasuke. I'm up now." She quickly said as she stood up. Sasuke stood up as well and walked into the darker part of the hideout. Sakura quietly followed him by hearing his footsteps.

"Is something up?" She asked from behind him.

"We have a meeting." He answered and they reached a lit up hall. There was a single door at the end of the hall. Sakura could hear voices coming from inside. The two walked towards the door.

"What do you mean Zetsu was killed?" They heard Madara's enraged voice. The two young Shinobis concealed their chakra so that the other Akatsuki members wouldn't notice their presence. They acted on impulse. They concealed their chakra even though no one told them to or gave them the signal.

"It's true Madara. He was defeated by the Hachibi." Kisame said. He never saw Madara this angered. Without Zetsu keeping an eye on things, it will be difficult for them to destroy Konoha.

"Curse that eight tails! And that Zetsu couldn't even spy on him without getting himself killed." Madara kept going.

"Calm down. Yelling like this isn't going to help us solve anything." Kabuto said from one corner of the room.

"Where the hell is Sasuke?" Madara yelled again ignoring Kabuto's words. On cue Sasuke opened the door and he walked inside with Sakura behind him. Madara calmed down seeing them enter.

"Now, here's the plan. Sasuke and Sakura, the two of you are going to the lightning country to capture the Hachibi. Remember Sasuke you failed me once and you better not fail me again." He pointed at Sasuke who just kept on his usual expression.

"Alright, when do we leave?" He asked. Sakura said nothing.

"As soon as possible. Kisame and Kabuto will head for Konoha and I will join them soon." He said. Kabuto smirked.

"Well this should be interesting." He said, fixing his glasses.

"Yeah, just don't get in my way." Kisame pointed his Samehada at Kabuto, showing his shark like teeth.

"You don't have to worry about that." Kabuto said and walked towards them.

"We'll be leaving then." Sasuke said and Sakura quietly followed him. Once they left Kabuto spoke.

"Are you sure you can trust him?"

"I don't, that's why I'm sending him to the lightning country. Sending him to Konoha would mean losing him for good. Better to have him killed than having him against us." Madara said, his one Sharingan eye flashing through the hole in his mask.

Sasuke and Sakura were soon off to the land of lightning. It would take them 24hours to reach there.

"He sure doesn't treat you guys well. Barking orders at you like that." Sakura spoke as they jumped from tree to tree.

"It doesn't really bother me. He's just angry since things aren't going as planned." Sasuke replied.

"But still, it's not like you to get ordered around like that." She said. Sasuke said nothing and just picked up his speed. Sakura took that as a signal to not continue this talk.

They soon reached the desert. They would have to cross the desert in order to reach their destination. The two were running when suddenly a sand storm started picking up.

"Dammit!" Sasuke muttered as they both shielded their eyes.

"Sasuke, there's no point in trying to go while the sandstorm continues. We need to find some sort of cover until it stops." Sakura said.

"Alright, I saw a small cave a while ago. We'll try and search for it." Sasuke spoke. The two were able to find it even through the storm was quite serious. It was a very small cave but it was their only choice right now. The two got in and dusted the sand off their clothes. Sasuke sighed in frustration and sat down against the wall. Sakura sat opposite him. She decided not to speak since he wasn't in the greatest of moods right now. She stared outside and wondered how Naruto and the others were doing. Were they still searching for her? Did Naruto figure out why she had left?

She smiled, "Knowing him he's probably doesn't have a clue."

Meanwhile Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato and Sai had reached the land of lightning. They were introduced with the Raikage.

"I'm glad to see that you have reached here so quickly. We appreciate your help." The Raikage spoke.

"It's an honor Raikage-sama." Kakashi replied.

"So which one of you is the Jinchuuriki?" He asked.

"I am…." Naruto spoke. The Raikage looked at him for a moment. He didn't know the wielder of the Kuyuubi was so young. He chuckled and the leaf ninjas looked at him.

"Very well then. You're quite young there kid. Do you think you can truly control that power?" He asked looking at Naruto.

"I don't think I can. I know I can." Came his reply. He had a determined look on his face as he said that. The Raikage liked his confidence.

"Very well then; you shall be taken to Bee's training island. You'll learn how to control the Kuyuubi there." He said and the four were led to the island where Killerbee always trained. Naruto's training to control the Kuyuubi's power was about to begin.

Night came and the sand storm still hadn't stopped. Sasuke and Sakura had no choice but to spend the night inside the cave. Sasuke had started a fire so they had little light inside the dark cave.

"Sasuke?" Sakura started. Sasuke said nothing but she kept going because she knew he was listening. So she continued.

"Why do you want to destroy Konoha?" He sighed. She waited for him to response.

"It's the elders I'm after." He replied, keeping his eyes on the fire.

"But you do realize the entire village will go against you if you do that, don't you? The villagers aren't just going to sit back and let you destroy its elder councilors." She explained.

"I know that!" He raised his voice a little. "But I can't forgive them for what they've done to Itachi." He clenched his fists at the thought.

"I understand that but Itachi was protecting the village. You want his sacrifice to go in vain? It must've have been extremely hard on him to kill hi-" She was cut off when Sasuke spoke.

"But why him? Why did they have to choose Itachi for their shit? Tell me that Sakura!" He yelled and looked at her. Sakura could see his eyes watering up. She immediately felt bad for starting the conversation.

"Killing his clan, his parents, pretending to be the bad guy just so I would hate him and grow stronger. Why did he go that far for the stupid village and a worthless guy like me?" He had his eyes closed as he said those and opened them when he felt a warm hand touch his shoulder. He turned to see Sakura beside him.

"He did it because he loved his little brother, his village and its people. He knew he would have to sacrifice himself to make sure the things he loved were protected." She gave him a sad smile.

"Do you really want to destroy something he loved and worked so hard for?" She asked. Sasuke was silent as he stared at the burning flames in front of them.

"I already made my decision." He simply said and closed his eyes leaning his head against the rocky wall. Sakura sighed and closed her eyes as well hoping that he will change his mind when the time comes.

Next chapter: Sasuke and Sakura reach the lighting country. What will happen when the two come face to face with Naruto?