Chapter four- Childish Plot

Naruto

I woke up with a smile on my face. Remembering last nights date made me feel nothing but happiness. "She said she loved me!" I said to fill the silence. I happily jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom.

Sasuke

"He'll be awake any minute now…" I looked at my watch. It was a little past 9. I told Sakura he wanted to meet her in the school playground at 11. I chuckled, "Yeah, right."

I waited patiently near the idiot's house. He was so predictable. This would be a cinch. I was only a matter of time…

Suddenly, Naruto walked out of the house with a huge grin still plastered on his face. He couldn't wipe it off. I decided to begin my plan, "Naruto!" I called with a fake expression of emergency.

"Naruto, Sakura's missing!" I said.

The smiled melted off his face, "How do you know?"

"When she wasn't in her usual spot, I checked her house. Her mother hadn't seen her all day."

Naruto became angry, "I swear, if anyone hurt her, I'll rip their heads off!"

It hurt me a little to see him caring so much, but I let the pain slide.

"I found an article of her clothing somewhere outside of konoha. I think you should come with me so I can show you."

Naruto nodded. He didn't even question why I didn't bring it with me, or why I came for his help instead of doing it on my own. He just trusted me.

A part of me began to regret this plan. He was so trusting, much like a child. It would make me feel horrible to misguide him. But the thought of him and Sakura kissing sent my nerves ablaze. The remorse left.

"This way!" I called, headed to Konoha's gate. "Shouldn't we tell Old Tsunade that we're leaving?" he asked. I didn't think he'd even consider it. "She will have to be left in the dark." I said, "Sakura could be in serious danger!" He nodded with a little hesitation. I felt the regret creeping back onto me. But it was quickly shaken off.

He followed me as I exited Konoha. We ran through the woody area until I spotted something pink. "That's Sakura's!" Naruto yelled. I nodded. I put it there earlier when I told Sakura about the meeting. It was a strand of her hair.

"I'll go a little further ahead to see if there are any footprints." I yelled to Naruto. "What do I do?" he asked, holding the hair. "You stay here to see if you find anymore clues." He nodded as I ran ahead. Then I quickly ducked into the trees and snuck back to his area. Safely hidden by the leaves, I raised a kunai to a piece of rope. "I'm sorry, Naruto." I said, a little truthfully, "But I have to win."

Naruto

I scanned the area for any sign of Sakura. All the while, I could only think of how Sasuke knew. Also it wasn't like him to come to me of all people for help. It was really odd…

I lifted the hair and examined it. It was Sakura's all right, but it was weird. It was the only strand of her hair in the whole area. I'm no expert, but I was pretty sure that it was unlikely that only ONE strand of hair would fall out. This whole story was starting to lose its plot.

Suddenly, I heard something snap. A steel cage fell on me before I could react. "Grr…SASUKE!" I growled, knowing it was him. Even though it was a childish plot, I knew it was him.

I heard him move through the trees towards Konoha. "Oh no you don't!" I cried. Quickly I created a shadow clone. "Your not getting away that easily!" we said in unison as the orb formed in my hand.

Tsunade

"Hokage-sama" I heard a voice call. Sasuke entered my office. He was breathing hard as he leaned against the wall.

"What is it, Sasuke?' I asked, putting down my tea.

"Naruto has left the village!" he cried.

I sat up straight, "What?! How do you know?!"

Sasuke stood up and looked me in the eye, "I'm not sure how it started, but he just began going wild. He seemed to lose all sense of reason and just left the village!"

I was afraid of that. "What direction did he take off in?"

"Towards the north."

I stood up, "Thank-you Sasuke. You may leave!"

He nodded and left the office.

I signaled to Shizune, who was in the far corner picking up fallen books. She nodded and dropped the books. She came to my side immediately. "Do you think its Kyuubi?" she asked in fear. I nodded slowly. "But there's something odd about that story." I said. Shizune didn't seem to catch on.

I decided to elaborate, "Sasuke was breathing hard when he came in here, like he's been running. Also he seemed to be tired." Shizune still wasn't getting it. I sighed, "He wasn't sweating, Shizune!" she finally nodded in understanding. I continued, "He also had traces of dirt and leaves on his shoes. His bag of weapons was still unopened from previous usage. He definitely was outside of Konoha. The leaves that were on his shoes were from outside, not inside, Konoha walls."

Shizune and I processed the story thoroughly. Shizune suddenly began to speak, "But I don't think Sasuke knows about Kyuubi. How could he have explained it so well?" I was worried about that too. Maybe the flaws I pointed out were just coincidence. "What should we do?" Shizune asked, worried. I sighed again, "I'm not sure."

Sakura

I looked at the school clock. It was already 12 pm. "Where is that Naruto?" I wondered, gently swaying on the swing. Suddenly, Sasuke appeared from the bushes.

"Sasuke, do you know where Naruto may have gone? It's been an hour since the scheduled time." He just sat on the grass besides me. Then he noticed the bento box on my lap. "Is that for Naruto?" he asked, a little pissed. I nodded. I also had a hot cup of instant ramen for him.

"Well, he left the village." He said suddenly. "What?" I asked, thinking I didn't hear him right. "I sad he left the village." He repeated. I sighed, "he left without telling Tsunade-sama?" Sasuke became tense, "Yes. Just like you guys did last night." Sasuke said childishly. It sounded weird coming from him.

"But I did tell her. I told her before I went to Naruto's house." Suddenly, I remembered something, "How did you know we left last night?" He turned away from me. I knew it. He must have been stalking us.

"I made sure to go to her right after I bought this." I opened a small box to reveal a necklace. It had a hand that seemed to be holding something. Sasuke turned and looked at it. I saw something flash in his eyes, but it quickly left.

I ignored it and continued, "I went to the local gift shop to get it, but the lady was all out. I bought a bracelet instead." I put the necklace back into the box, "Then I remembered a different jewelry store that had just opened up. It was a long way to go, but I had to waste time anyway." I closed the box and put it on top of the ramen. I laughed, "and through all of last nights date, I forgot to give it to him! Isn't that stupid of me?" I smiled as I looked at the box.

"What if he doesn't show up?" Sasuke asked.

I looked at him with a little confusion. Why did he care so much? "Well, if he doesn't show up…I guess he has his reasons."

That got him angry. He stood up and looked at me with fury, "Oh, sure! He has his reasons. But if it were me, it'd be a whole different story! You'd be complaining that I probably stood you up!"

I looked at him with hurt in my eyes, "That's not true. I always waited patiently for you, Sasuke. But you just never seemed to return the feeling."

He seemed to ignore me as he grabbed my shoulders, "I love you, dammit! There I said it!"

He was breathing heavily as his fingers drove deeper into my skin. The pain was becoming unbearable. "Sasuke-kun, you're hurting me!" He only held tighter, "you're mine, Sakura. MINE!"

"Sakura belongs to no one!" a voice called. I turned to see Naruto emerging from the bushes. Sasuke let go of my shoulders and glared at him. "That was a stupid plan, Sasuke." Naruto said, wiping dirt off his clothes. Sasuke growled, "It was not! Tsunade-sama knows you left the village without her consent. With the trouble you'll be in, I think you'll realize who's the stupid one."

Naruto just laughed, "You really are slipping, Sasuke." Sasuke's body tensed as Naruto told what went wrong:

Naruto

(Flashback)

"RASENGAN!" I smashed the ball against the steel cage. It easily twisted and flew apart. Without hesitation, I began heading towards Konoha.

"Naruto!" I heard as I neared the gates. I turned to Kakashi-sensei. He was keeping up with me as he ran through the treetops. "Why were you in that cage?" He asked. I sped up as anger ran through me, "Sasuke trapped me in it." Kakashi appeared in front of me. I stopped before I bumped into him.

"Tsunade-sama thinks you lost control." He said, hinting to Kyuubi.

I shook my head, "No! Sasuke lied to me and told me Sakura was in trouble!"

Kakashi looked back in the direction we left. "That was a pretty childish trap." He said.

I nodded, "Something must be wrong."

Kakashi sighed, "I'm never sure what's going on between you three. It seems I've got the weirdest team of all." I chuckled and nodded. We were definitely odd. "Can you please tell Old Tsunade that I'm fine? I have to find Sasuke." Kakashi seemed a little peeved that he was playing messenger, but he agreed anyway.

I thanked him and headed into Konoha.

(End Of Flashback)

"Then I saw you hurting Sakura and claiming her as property!" I continued. I tightened the band on my head, "She doesn't belong to anyone!" Sasuke removed his headband. The sound resonated through my body as it hit the floor.

"You can't win!" Sasuke cried. Judging by the pained look in his eyes, I realized that he might have found feelings for Sakura after all. But I've been alone too long to give up now. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" I'm not backing down.

Kakashi

I saw swirls of chakra forming near the academy. I had just left Tsunade after letting her know Naruto was all right. I noticed that one of the chakras had a red tint. "Naruto…" I said quietly. I decided to head over there to make sure no one got seriously hurt. "I should be getting paid extra for this…" I muttered as the fight began.

Next chapter, the fight! Hopefully, it comes out well, because I'm not an action writer. But my previous attempts actually came out actiony, so maybe this will too. Until next time, my loyal readers! Huzzah!