Tattered ruins lay everywhere, marring the landscape with jagged rocks and other materials protruding everywhere. Occasionally, a flash of blonde, light pink, silver, or even pale blue blinked here and there, but otherwise, the place was lifeless.
"Where are we headed, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked; her voice tinted with a little fear and nervousness. The towns along the way have all been the same, the after-effects of an unnecessary war. But there was something wrong with this place, like a forbidding spell that keeps wanderers away, and even though no one has said anything yet, they could all feel it lingering in the air.
Well, almost everyone. The paled-haired girl leading the way all this time seemed to be unbothered, and only simply shrugging it off when the others felt uncomfortable.
"Are you ever going to tell us your name? We have to call you something…"
The rest of the group stared at the paled-haired girl, who made no intention of answering. After some time has elapsed, she spoke up.
"No. But you'll know soon. And we're here."
The wind-blown fields soon filled with an audible gasp.
"I'm not going."
That was Sasuke's first reaction when Orochimaru brought up the mission. The only reason he was here was to become strong enough to defeat Itachi, not follow every little mission the snake-headed sannin could come up with to throw Naruto and his fellow companions off track.
Speaking of Naruto, that was another reason to not go. Sasuke was still a little confused where Naruto was concerned. Probably because of all his talk about being friends and brothers and all that stuff. Unfortunately, everywhere Sasuke goes, he could almost always somehow find the annoying and short blonde there, talking and talking and talking. Though Sasuke didn't let any of that show.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, wouldn't give up his plan. He has already plotted down exactly where they'd meet the pesky blonde, what they'd say, and even the outfits that they were going to be in. Of course, the outfit involved the traditional clothing all Orochimaru's subordinates wore, but it also involved black fingernail polish, something picked up from Akatsuki's strange rituals. Sasuke probably wouldn't agree to the nail polish.
"If you defeat Naruto, no one will come to stop you with your pursuit of your brother, or more precisely, your brother's dead body and the satisfying feeling that you were the one who killed him. Think about it."
"I'm still not going." Though the voice contained a little uncertainty. Aha. I'm on the right track.
"You might even meet Itachi himself."
This part was somewhat true. After the warning a few days before, Orochimaru had been especially careful, but to hunt after Naruto would mean going outside, and though there was a chance of getting killed, there was also a chance of meeting Itachi lurking somewhere in the shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to taunt the younger prodigy, or even himself. That wasn't good.
"Okay. I'll go. But I'm not going to be involved in the final killing, if you want him dead. I'm not going to kill anyone but…" Sasuke trailed on. I'm not going to kill anyone but my brother… and you.
"Don't worry. That part is all up to me."
In Naruto's dreams, he often stared at cold, black eyes that stared back at him, so this time, he thought it was a dream as well.
"Ouch! What did you punch me for?" A murderous Sakura glared at Naruto, temporarily forgetting the situation.
"I was trying to see if I was dreaming or not." Naruto responded sheepishly.
"Then why did you punch ME?!"
"Because if I punched myself, it'd hurt."
Kakashi sweat-dropped, but said nothing. He wasn't the only one that didn't understand Naruto and Sakura's thinking, but the others weren't hiding it as well. The pale-blue-haired girl's eyebrows twitched furiously, Orochimaru was fake-fainting, and…
There in the middle of the fields, stood Sasuke. He wasn't faring much better, and Kakashi had a hunch that inside Sasuke's mind, calculations of the degree of moronity both Naruto and Sakura possessed—though mainly Naruto—were going on frantically. But for just a flash, Kakashi thought he saw a brief smile on Sasuke's face. But Kakashi blinked and the vision disappeared.
"Sasuke, I know I've asked this many times, but, are you going to come back?"
"My answer doesn't change, despite how you ask the question."
"Well, then, I guess I have nothing to say."
Shock filled a lot of people surrounding Naruto. Is he going to give up that easily? Orochimaru pondered. It can't be, Naruto! You promised to bring Sasuke back. You can't give up! Sakura, or rather, Inner Sakura, shouted blatantly at Naruto, though he couldn't hear because Inner Sakura's voice only echoed within Sakura's mind.
But it was Sasuke who brought the question up in words. "Do you mean that you are giving up the chase at last?"
"No. I'm not strong enough to defeat you now. But I will bring you back some day. Believe me. I will."
Sasuke was going to respond, but was cut off quite suddenly. By a figure in a black robe, printed with red clouds. Akatsuki's symbolic, well, symbol.
"I believe my predictions were never wrong, now were they, Snaky?"
"Who are you calling Snaky?!" Orochimaru hissed. What he feared has finally come, but with a very bad timing. Maybe if it had been delayed for a few minutes, Naruto would be dead.
"My, my, and I was quite pleased with the nickname. I believe one of your snakes complimented me on it when I went out the other day. It hissed at me like mad."
Without warning, the Akatsuki leader leaped towards Orochimaru, using a very familiar-looking jutsu. It took a while for Naruto to realize it, but when he did, he practically shouted the name out.
"Rasengan!"
The Akatsuki leader, AL for short, stopped and looked straight into Naruto's eyes. Naruto tried to look back, but the AL's face was hidden behind a mask.
"And how would you know my jutsu's name?"
"It's not your jutsu! The person who invented that jutsu would never do something as awful as what you and your group members have done!"
"And exactly what have I done? Would it surprise you to say that I came up with this jutsu myself?"
Naruto would have responded, but Kakashi snatched the opportunity.
"Who are you?"
"I am so disappointed. My own student does not recognize me anymore. But that doesn't matter much, because I'm only here to ask Snaky a question. And if he doesn't comply… well, he will."
And then the AL took off his mask.