Greetings!
Here is the next chapter. I don't have much to say about this one except: enjoy!
Reviews: Thank you to all who reviewed! SpacePirateGirl: thanks for the message. I like your view on reviews. :o) I think it's very healthy.
Warnings: some language, not too bad though.
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Chapter 12: A Crack in the Wall
Morino Ibiki had left his office intent on going home and forgetting about the disastrous day he'd had, but had ended at the front gates of the Uchiha neighborhood instead. He hadn't been to the place in ten years, not since shortly after the clan had been murdered. It had been a gruesome sight back then with the freshly dead bodies and the spilled blood littering almost every open space in the neighborhood. The dilapidated and run-down buildings that marked the neighborhood now, along with the old bloodstains and air of death that surrounded the place, didn't make it any less gruesome.
Ibiki had yet to become head of the interrogation force back then, but he had already been well known for his ability to read people and extract information from them. He had been summoned by the third Hokage to talk to Uchiha Sasuke, the sole survivor of the massacre, and ensure that Sasuke was not an accomplice in the killings. One look at the boy had told Ibiki everything he needed to know: Uchiha had been in shock, and had refused to say much about what happened. This had become a concern for the Hokage, because he'd known Uchiha to be an open and friendly boy. It had taken several attempts, but they'd finally managed to get the killer's identity out of the boy. Ibiki still remembered his surprise, and the Hokage's disappointment, that the killer had been one of their own.
Ironic that I get the details about the massacre I wanted then out of Uchiha when I was interrogating him for something else, Ibiki thought.
Ibiki's mind flashed back to earlier that morning when he'd been conducting the interrogation. The young man had resisted, as had been expected. The level of resistance, however, had not been expected and Ibiki was forced to use unorthodox and risky methods he liked to save for the worst of offenders. He'd ultimately gotten the information he wanted out of Uchiha, but it was the information that he hadn't wanted that had been with Ibiki ever since.
Brother, why did you kill everyone? Please, brother, don't kill me."
The words were those of a child, uttered with the confusion and fear of an eight-year-old struggling to comprehend why his brother had just killed his entire family, instead of the cold, calculating words of an eighteen-year-old traitor that Ibiki had expected. Ibiki had done his best to erase them from his memory, but they kept coming back to haunt him.
He stood in front of the open gates for a few moments, debating whether he should go inside. He had no business here and did not want to run into Uchiha gain, but he had come all this way and was curious as to how different the place was after so many years of neglect. Ibiki stepped into the neighborhood before he could change his mind. The darkness of the place covered him immediately, giving him a feeling of unease that had nothing to do with the desolation of the place.
Ibiki felt faint traces of chakra in the air, as was common after a fight had taken place. He headed in the direction he thought the chakra had originated, and it wasn't long before he was standing in front of the building that used to house the Uchiha clan head's family. The traces of chakra were stronger here, and Ibiki identified one trace as belonging to Watanabe Hiro, an ANBU he'd been on several missions with. Hiro was one of the ANBU currently guarding Uchiha, along with Yamana Shin.
The house that Uchiha Sasuke now lived in by himself was dark, so Ibiki leaped onto the roof to get a better look around the premise. When he landed, Ibiki stepped on something that cracked under his foot. He picked up the object and held it up to the moonlight. His breath caught in his throat when he identified it as a tiger ANBU mask. Ibiki didn't have to search long to find the mask's owner. The man was on his side, but Ibiki had no trouble seeing the kunai sticking out of his chest. He found Shin, the other ANBU guarding Uchiha, towards the back of the house on his stomach with two kunai stuck in his back. The amount of blood surrounding him left no doubt that the man was dead.
Had Uchiha done this to his guards? The ANBU had been taken out quickly, a feat that Ibiki had no doubt Uchiha could accomplish. He wasn't supposed to have any weapons, but that was something Uchiha could easily get around if he so chose.
Fighting to control his anger at the senseless deaths of two good men, Ibiki jumped off the roof and into the inner courtyard of the house. He landed on shards of glass that he quickly identified as belonging to the broken window of the room closest to him. A kunai covered in blood had been imbedded into the soil in front of him and Ibiki kneeled to examine it. He found faint traces of chakra on it; chakra that did not belong to either of the two ANBU. Ibiki made his way to the broken window and peered inside. Fresh blood covered the floor, but there was no one inside. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Ibiki noticed the bloody footprints that led out of the room through the still open door. They were uneven, as if the person that made them had staggered out of the room.
Ibiki took a kunai out of his weapon pouch and held it ready as he turned the corner and came to the front of the room. The footprints continued and then disappeared around another corner. Ibiki followed, careful not to disturb the scene. As he came around the next corner, he saw a man silhouetted against the moonlight. He was staggering with the weight of the person he was carrying.
"Stop!" Ibiki yelled.
The man took a few more steps and then came to a stop.
Ibiki approached the man slowly, and it wasn't until Ibiki was within touching distance that he realized he was looking at Uchiha Sasuke. Once Ibiki had walked around to face the young man, he noticed Haruno Sakura in his arms. She was unconscious and her clothing was covered with blood.
"Did you do this to her?" Ibiki asked. "Did you kill the ANBU?"
Uchiha did not respond. His eyes were glossy and unfocused, as if he were lost in another world and hadn't even realized that Ibiki was standing in front of him.
"Answer me, Uchiha, did you do this?"
Again, there was no response. It wasn't until Ibiki tried to take Haruno from Uchiha's arms that he got a reaction.
"No," Uchiha said, "I need to get her to a doctor."
Uchiha blinked up at Ibiki and his eyes widened when he recognized who he was staring at.
"You can get her to a hospital," Uchiha said and extended his arms so that Ibiki would take Haruno, a stark contrast from when he wouldn't let her go earlier. "She's bleeding too much, please help her."
Ibiki took Haruno from Uchiha and placed her on the ground. He checked for a pulse and was relieved when he found one. He grabbed Uchiha by the front of his shirt and pulled him forward.
"Did you do this, Uchiha?" Ibiki asked once again and the young man shook his head, but did not provide an explanation.
Irritated, Ibiki pushed Uchiha against the wall. Uchiha gasped and arched away from the wall, his face contorting in pain. Ibiki pulled him into the light and turned him around. The back of his shirt was covered in blood and, when Ibiki lifted it, he saw a deep wound between Uchiha's shoulder blades and another one close to the ribcage. They were both still bleeding freely.
"Help Sakura," Uchiha said. "She's going to bleed to death."
Ibiki turned Uchiha around once again so that they were facing each other and released him. The young man wasn't looking at Ibiki; instead, his eyes were on Haruno.
"It looks like you're both going to bleed to death," Ibiki said.
"Not me," Uchiha said as he turned away from the girl, "poison."
Ibiki looked down to where Uchiha was clutching his thigh. He pulled the boy's hand away and cut the fabric with the kunai to reveal a nasty and already swollen wound. What the hell had bitten him?
"Take Sakura," Uchiha insisted, "hurry."
"You'll die if I leave you here," Ibiki said.
"It would be fitting, don't you think, that I die here with the rest of my clan?" Uchiha asked.
"Death is the coward's way out, Uchiha."
Ibiki picked Haruno up and placed her over his right shoulder. He did the same for Uchiha but placed him over his left shoulder. He steadied them with a hand on their lower back and took off towards the hospital.
"Who attacked you?" Ibiki asked en route, having abandoned his theory that Uchiha had murdered the two ANBU when he'd seen the young man's injuries.
"Yakushi Kabuto," Uchiha replied. "He's still alive."
"What did he want with you?" Ibiki asked. "Wasn't he your ally?"
"Orochimaru is dead," Uchiha replied after a pause, his voice soft, almost inaudible. "Kabuto's allegiance was to him, not me. He wanted revenge for Orochimaru and he's going to go after Naruto as well."
Ibiki shook his head. This new generation of brats and their problems was going to drive him into retirement sooner rather than later. He dropped them off at the hospital and would have immediately left if not for the nurse's insistence that he be checked out.
"The blood isn't mine, it's theirs," he said when the nurse pointed at his uniform and took advantage of her shock to make his retreat. He had a report to deliver and another traitor to hunt down.
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Tsunade was beginning to seriously wonder about the security of her village. In the last week, the village had been infiltrated by enemy ninja and a former traitor had come back to life and had apparently had no trouble infiltrating the village either. Never one to believe in coincidences, Tsunade had to wonder how the two incidents were connected. Kirigakure had an alliance with Oto so could Kabuto now be directing their movements in Orochimaru's place?
"How are they?" Jiraiya asked as he entered the room where both Sakura and Sasuke had been placed.
"Lucky," Tsunade replied.
She got up from where she'd made herself comfortable in the middle of the room and drew Jiraiya as far away from the beds as she could manage and still be in the same room.
"Sakura's wound bled heavily and she almost died from the blood loss. Kabuto sedated her to keep her unconscious and unable to heal herself," Tsunade explained. "Sasuke's wounds were a bit more severe, but nothing compared to the snake bite. As arrogant as Kabuto is, he didn't count on Sasuke hanging on as long as he did, or else he'd have taken the snakes with him to keep Shizune from making an antidote. He should be waking up any time soon."
Jiraiya looked towards both youngsters and sighed. Tsunade sympathized. The sun hadn't even risen and she already had a splitting headache.
"Where's Naruto?" Jiraiya asked. "I would have thought he'd be right in the middle of everything."
Tsunade clenched her jaw. "Naruto is not here."
Jiraiya turned to her. "I just said that, Tsunade."
"You don't understand, Jiraiya, your idiotic, hard-headed student is not in the village."
"What do you mean he's not in the village? Did you send him on a mission?"
Tsunade resisted the urge to take her anger at Naruto out on his equally dim-witted teacher. "I sent for him as soon as Ibiki told me about what happened, but he could not be found. Once I was sure that Sakura and Sasuke were both out of danger, I went to look for him myself. He's not in the village."
Jiraiya looked puzzled for a few moments, until understanding lit his eyes. "He went after the three you sent on reconnaissance," he said.
"Exactly. Uchiha told Ibiki that Kabuto was going to go after Naruto next, so you better get out there, find him, and drag his ass back here so we can keep an eye on him. Naruto isn't always rational when it comes to Kabuto, and we can't afford to have him lose control of the fox right now."
They were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a summoned creature making an appearance. They hurried back to the beds to find a very familiar snake coiled on Sasuke's chest.
"I thought the ninja was supposed to be awake to summon a creature," Jiraiya muttered.
The snake turned to them. "What happened?" it asked.
Tsunade shrugged. "What are you doing here?" she countered.
The snake looked from one ninja to the other and then back to Sasuke. "I don't have to answer your questions," it said. "I can talk to Sasuke later."
"Wait."
Tsunade turned to see Sakura struggling to a sitting position. She helped her student until Sakura could sit on her own.
"Sasuke sent him to find Naruto," Sakura said. "We got worried when we couldn't find him."
Both sannin turned towards the snake once again. "You know where Naruto is?"
"Tell me what happened to the Uchiha brat and I might tell you," the snake said.
"First, what is your allegiance to Yakushi Kabuto?" Tsunade asked.
The snake slithered towards Sasuke's feet so that it was closer to them. "My allegiance is to whoever has a contract with me. Right now, the only one in this brat," it replied as it fully extended itself to lie alongside Sasuke. The snake was long enough that its tail reached Sasuke's neck.
"Kabuto snuck into the village and attacked these two," Tsunade explained. "He tried to poison Sasuke, but we got him an antidote in time. He should be fine."
"Where is Naruto?" Sakura asked.
The snake turned to her. "He's close to Otogakure and traveling with a white-haired ninja with one eye."
"Are they injured?" Jiraiya asked.
"The white-haired ninja is." The snake coiled its body once again. "Tell Sasuke not to bother summoning me for a while," the snake told Sakura. "I'm not going to answer," it added and disappeared.
Sakura's shoulders slumped and she lay down once again. "At least he's okay," she said and then turned to Sasuke. "How did he Sasuke get hurt? Is he going to be okay?"
"He'll be fine," Tsunade replied. "I expected him to wake up before you did. What happened, Sakura?"
Sakura's eyes momentarily lost focus as she tried to remember. "I was getting ready for bed when someone came into my apartment. Before I could grab any of my weapons, he'd stabbed me. I don't remember much after that."
Tsunade told Sakura what she knew about the incident, and the young woman became agitated at the thought of Kabuto still on the loose and after Naruto. Tsunade persuaded her to go back to sleep, and it was an indication of how tired she was when she complied. When Tsunade was sure that Sakura was asleep again, she addressed Jiraiya.
"Go after Kakashi and Naruto and bring them back. Ibiki is actively looking for Kabuto, but if you engage him first, kill him before Naruto has a change to confront him again."
Jiraiya nodded and disappeared. Tsunade sighed. No one said being Hokage would be easy, but lately it seemed as if one problem was simply compounded on top of another. Now she had two dead ANBU, two injured jounin, one missing jounin, an injured ex-traitor, and another traitor on the loose. Add that to the possibility of an attack by Kirigakure, and she'd be lucky to pull the village through another week.
She posted two guards outside of the room and sealed it so that she'd be alerted if anyone other than the hospital staff or the guards entered the room. She wasn't taking any chances this time.
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Sakura's eyes opened once she was sure that Tsunade-sama wasn't going to return. She stared at the ceiling for some time, fighting the dizziness that she knew was due to severe blood loss. She touched her side, where she could feel the bandages underneath the robe she was wearing and sighed. She really didn't remember anything other than the surprise at finding Kabuto in her apartment. She'd been brushing her hair in front of the bathroom mirror when he'd attacked her. She'd seen his face, turned to face him, and then he'd stabbed her. She remembered pain and then nothing. Whatever drug he'd given her worked very well, but it had also allowed the renegade med-nin to use her against Sasuke.
She turned her head and stared at her ex-teammate. He was still unconscious, but didn't look as bad as he had after the interrogation. Tsunade-sama had told her that Kabuto had taken her to Sasuke's house where Ibiki had later found them both, but the Hokage hadn't given her many details about what transpired between Kabuto and Sasuke. Then again, Sasuke was probably the only one that knew the details. If history was any indication, whatever happened would stay between Kabuto and Sasuke.
Sakura turned away from Sasuke and wished that there was a faster way to replenish the blood she'd lost so she could get out of bed and do something useful. Shizune had no doubt already given her something to help, but the process would take time. Sakura just hated the feeling of helplessness and vulnerability that came with being a patient. The last time she'd been in the hospital, Naruto had told her that she was a lousy patient. Sakura could still see the look of horror on his face after he'd said it, and he'd fallen all over himself to apologize.
They had been close to Otogakure and had encountered some resistance. The fox had gotten a little out of control, and in the process of reminding Naruto that he was human, Sakura had gotten hurt. She'd been in the hospital for a week, and Naruto had spent almost every waking hour with her. Naruto refused to give up on his guilt no matter how many times Sakura told him that she didn't blame him. His consideration for her, and his desire to take care of her, had been sweet and appreciated, and Sakura had learned a lot about him during that week. Naruto had opened up for the first time since she'd known him, and she'd taken what she'd learned about him as the gift it was.
She doubted that the same could be said for Sasuke, who was too used to putting up walls and keeping people out of reach. Sakura would like for him to trust her, to confide in her, but she wasn't the lovesick child she had been who believed that she could change him into what she wanted. She accepted him the way he was, even if there had to be a wall between them.
"Enough of this," she muttered to herself and slowly worked her way to a sitting position. Her head pounded, and she had to close her eyes until the throbbing died down to a bearable level. She had gotten her right foot on the floor when Sasuke's voice startled her.
"The medic-nins must have spent quite a lot of time healing you. You wouldn't want to spoil their work, would you?"
Sakura turned to meet Sasuke's eyes and was surprised by the relief she saw in them.
"You lost a lot of blood, Sakura; you should rest until it's replenished," he added.
Sakura's cheeks flushed slightly at having been caught disobeying doctor's orders.
"I hate being like this," Sakura said. "I'm no use to anyone and Kabuto is still out there and is going after Naruto."
Sasuke's eyes darkened and he turned away from her. "I know that," he said, his voice cold. "I wasn't strong enough to kill Kabuto, and so I put you and Naruto in danger."
"I didn't mean…" Sakura started to say but stopped herself. Sasuke would take her words however he wanted and nothing she said would change that. She'd at least learned that much from being his teammate. She got her other foot on the ground and shivered at the sudden chill in the room.
Sakura pulled the blanket around her shoulders and stared at the back of Sasuke's head, willing him to turn back to face her. When he didn't, she slumped in defeat.
"I'm sorry," Sakura said when the silence got to her.
Sasuke turned to her then, his eyes wide. He struggled up to a sitting position as well and then gave her his full attention. "What are you sorry about?"
"Kabuto used me as a distraction to get to you," Sakura said. "If I'd been stronger…"
"Stop it," Sasuke said, his voice unusually agitated. "Before you continue to go down that path, let me remind you how this all came about. I left my village and joined with Orochimaru and Kabuto of my own free will. Orochimaru is now dead and I'm still alive. In my book, Kabuto is very much entitled to his hatred for me and his desire for vengeance. It's his involvement of you and Naruto that I disagree with. It's the reason why having people to care about is a bad idea, because all it can bring them is pain at best and an early death at worst."
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise that Sasuke had said all of that, and then they narrowed in anger when the meaning sank in.
"Is that all Naruto and I are to you, liabilities?" Sakura asked, her hands clenched into fists. "Don't you dare belittle us and our abilities and think that it's your responsibility to keep us safe, simply because it makes you feel better about pushing us away. We're ninja, just like you, and have accepted the consequences of that career choice, just like you. We're good at what we do. The fact that you're even here should be proof enough of that."
Sakura's hand flew to her mouth in horror at what she'd said. She opened her mouth to apologize again, but Sasuke's raised hand stopped her.
"You're right," he said, and Sakura wished she had a camera because he actually looked embarrassed. "I'd be a fool not to see how the two of you have grown, matured, and become stronger. I don't think you're liabilities, I just don't know…"
Sasuke trailed off and broke eye contact with her. He shifted on the bed until he was leaning sideways against the headboard. Sakura knew what he wanted to say and was tempted to finish the sentence for him, but this conversation wouldn't mean anything if he couldn't say the words himself.
"I've been pushing you two away for 6 years with absolutely no success," Sasuke said after a long pause. "Why couldn't you have taken the hint and left me alone? Wouldn't your lives have been easier if you had?"
Sakura got shakily to her feet and walked to Sasuke's bed. She sat down next to him, staring until he looked at her again.
"You grew on us, and it just wasn't the same after you left," Sakura said. "Our team, our friendship, was missing a piece and we weren't going to be happy until we got it back. Now that you are back, can we please start over? We're at a different place in our lives and have done away with a lot of our childhood baggage. Would you be willing to give this friendship thing Naruto and I keep talking about a try?"
Sasuke contemplated her request for a long moment before replying. "I will try."
Sakura beamed. "That's all I ask. Naruto is going to be very pleased."
At the mention of Naruto, Sasuke became concerned.
"Your snake came back, by the way," Sakura informed him. "It said that Naruto was with Kakashi somewhere close to Otogakure. Kakashi is injured but Naruto is fine."
"Why would they go to Otogakure?" Sasuke asked.
"Kakashi was sent to do reconnaissance and I think Naruto caught up to him at some point. Tsunade-sama sent Jiraiya after them."
"Let's hope they make it back in one piece."
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Naruto and Kakashi had been traveling for a day and had almost reached the halfway point in their journey. Naruto had suggested that they take a break several times so that Kakashi could rest, but the older ninja had refused to stop. Whether it was because he wanted to get back to Konoha as soon as possible or because Kakashi was afraid that if he stopped he'd be unable to continue, Naruto would never know. Kakashi had been silent the entire journey, which had given Naruto plenty of time to think back to the events of the past few days.
As annoying as Sasuke's snake was, it had said one thing that kept going through Naruto's mind: It's beyond me why Sasuke cares so much, but ever since I've known the brat, this kid has always come up in conversation
Naruto still wasn't sure what to make of the statement. Part of him felt as if he'd imagined the whole thing, or had somehow heard what he'd wanted to hear, because the thought of Sasuke actually caring about what happened to him was a little hard to believe. Sasuke had done everything to alienate Naruto since they'd been put on the same team together, and even though Sasuke had admitted to Naruto at the Valley of the End that they did share a bond, the Uchiha heir had still tried to kill him. Then again, Sasuke had saved his life when he'd been attacked by the ninja from Kirigakure, and the fact that he had sent the snake to him once again, even if it was only to find him this time, told Naruto what Sasuke refused to say or even acknowledge.
A smile tugged at Naruto as he realized that the snake had just given him proof that the friendship they had meant as much to Sasuke as it did to Naruto. Naruto knew better than to ever address it or bring it up to Sasuke, but it made him feel a whole lot better about their chances for rebuilding the camaraderie they'd shared as genin. Maybe they weren't doomed after all.
"What are you smiling about?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto's smile transformed into a grin. "Revelations," he replied.
Kakashi frowned at the non-response but didn't pursue it further.
"It's getting late and we need to stop to eat and rest before we get too sloppy and get ourselves killed," Naruto said, expecting to be ignored as he had been the past five times he'd mentioned it.
To his surprise, Kakashi nodded and left the cover of the trees. Both men landed in a small clearing. The surrounding trees sheltered the area, which would allow them to get a fire going.
"We're just stopping to eat, so don't get too comfortable," Kakashi said.
"Whatever you say, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, earning him a glare from Kakashi. "I'm going to get some firewood."
When Naruto returned, Kakashi had settled himself against one of the trees and was munching on an energy bar. Naruto put down his own pack and went about getting their fire going. The night was getting chillier as it progressed, and neither he nor Kakashi were dressed for the chill. Once the fire was going, Naruto held his hands in front of it and allowed himself to bask in its warmth.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Kakashi asked, pointing at Naruto's discarded pack.
"I'm not hungry," Naruto said.
Kakashi's single eyebrow rose in surprise. "You were whining so much about stopping for dinner."
"Yeah, because you looked like you needed a break," Naruto countered.
Kakashi's face was paler than it had been when they'd left Otogakure, and Naruto was willing to bet his next month's salary, if he hadn't been permanently suspended by his latest stunt, that Kakashi's wound was still bleeding. He waited until Kakashi had finished his energy bar before advancing on his former teacher.
"I need to check your wound again," he said.
"The wound is fine, Naruto," Kakashi insisted.
"Of course it is," Naruto said, "that's why your face is whiter than your hair."
That earned him another dirty look, which Naruto shrugged off. He prepared himself to make Kakashi let him take a look at the wound, when the sound of snapping twigs caught their attention.
"Kill the fire," Kakashi said and Naruto used a water technique to put it out.
The moonlight they were left with wasn't much to see by, as most of it was being blocked by the trees. They both took out weapons and stood back to back. They were out in the open, while whoever had managed to track them down was conveniently sheltered in the trees.
"You know fire techniques, don't you Naruto?" Kakashi asked.
"You should know the answer to that since you were the one that taught them to me," Naruto replied. "What do you want me to do?"
"Use the fire as a distraction," Kakashi replied. "He's south of us, about 5 meters. He's not hiding in the trees, so head in that direction and use the fire to lure him to me."
Naruto nodded and followed Kakashi's instructions, using a less powerful version of Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique to lure the attacker towards the clearing. A yelp and movement to Naruto's left indicated that he'd hit the target, but the man was gone by the time Naruto had gotten to his hiding place. Another yell and the clash of metal against metal signaled to Naruto that Kakashi had engaged the intruder.
"What the hell are you trying to do, burn me?"
The indignant yell from the clearing made Naruto run towards it. He knew the voice, but could not imagine what the man it belonged to would be doing out here. When Naruto had made it to the clearing, he found Kakashi holding a kunai to Jiraiya's neck.
"Why were you sneaking around?" Kakashi asked. "You could have just come to us instead of hiding."
"I didn't know it was you," Jiraiya said. He stepped away from the kunai and Kakashi let his hand drop to his side. "You could have been Kabuto."
The name sent a wave of anger rushing through Naruto.
"Kabuto is dead," Naruto said as he stepped into the clearing. "I killed him myself."
Jiraiya turned to him and there was something in the old man's eyes that made Naruto shiver.
"No, he's not. He was just in Konoha," Jiraiya said and Naruto could tell from the expression on his teacher's face that he wasn't going to like what the man was about to say. "He attacked Sakura and Sasuke before he managed to get away."
"What?" Naruto shouted before he could stop himself. He had to forcibly push the panic and concern for his friends into the corner of his brain that held all of the emotions that got in the way of his job while he was on a mission. He couldn't afford to be panicky and sloppy at a time like this. "Are they okay?" Naruto added, his voice devoid of any emotion.
"Yes, they were found in time and are recovering in the hospital. Tsunade sent me to drag you both back to the village, considering that you shouldn't have even left," Jiraiya said, pointing his kunai at Naruto.
"We need to find Kabuto," Naruto said. "Jiraiya, can you take Kakashi back to the village? He's injured."
"You're not going anywhere," Kakashi said. "We all go back to the village."
"Ibiki is already looking for Kabuto," Jiraiya said.
"Ibiki?" Kakashi asked, his surprise matching Naruto's.
"Ibiki was the one who found Sasuke and Sakura. He reported the incident to Tsunade and told her that he'd take care of the traitor. Tsunade didn't get much chance to argue with him, because he left right away."
"Ibiki hates Sasuke," Naruto said, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "He was probably just offended that a rouge ninja infiltrated the village. He's not going to be able to find him, not like I could."
Jiraiya left Kakashi's side and stopped in front of Naruto. Naruto stared into the eyes of his teacher, unable to remember the last time Jiraiya had looked so serious.
"What's more important to you, Naruto, revenge or your friends?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto broke eye contact first, picked up his pack, and took to the trees, leaving the other two men behind. He'd make sure that Sasuke and Sakura were doing well first, and then he'd go after Kabuto.
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