Greetings!

I'm happy to inform you that this story isn't dead, though I did consider putting it to rest a while back. You see, I don't like writing AU stories. When I started this two years ago, it was only slightly AU. It has since then become very AU and I had reservations about continuing it. Yes, I know, that's what I get for taking forever and a day to finish a story. So after a marathon session of re-reading the entire thing (and fighting the urge to change half of it) I decided that it'd be a shame to kill it. So, here's the next installment.

Posted date: 5/17/09

Chapter 16: Battlefields

They got to Inoue-san's shop in, what seemed to Sakura, the blink of an eye. Kakashi led her to the roof of the building directly opposite the shop, where they found the ANBU Kakashi had left stationed. The woman stood up when they approached.

"Is Uchiha still inside?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes. No one has left since you dropped him off this morning," she answered.

A wave of relief so powerful swept through Sakura, making her almost giddy.

"Ok, you're dismissed," Kakashi said.

The woman looked as if she wanted to argue, but a harsh look from Kakashi kept her from voicing her thoughts. Instead, she nodded curtly and was gone. They jumped down and were at the door to the shop when Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder.

"Be prepared, Sakura. Sasuke might not react well to seeing us," Kakashi said. "He's our friend, but if he shows signs of not being himself, restraining him has to take top priority."

"I understand," Sakura said, though it was hard for her to admit it.

Kakashi entered first. By the time Sakura was inside, Inoue-san had come to the front to greet them.

"Sakura, is something wrong?" the man asked.

Sakura shook her head and gave the shopkeeper a smile. "We were just wondering if Sasuke wanted to go to lunch with us."

Inoue-san returned the smile. "Let me get him for you," the man said and disappeared into the back room. Shortly after, Sasuke emerged, Inoue-san trailing him.

"Kakashi, Sakura, what are you doing here?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura peered into his thankfully black eyes and smiled again. "Hungry?"

"No," Sasuke replied.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" Kakashi said and took a step closer to Sasuke. "You're thin enough as it is, you should come join us."

"Why, so people can refuse to let me into their restaurants?" Sasuke countered.

"What's the matter, Sasuke, afraid of a little rejection?"

Before Sakura could react, Kakashi had a kunai in his hand and had slashed it across Sasuke's throat.

"Kakashi!" Sakura yelled at the same time Inoue-san gasped in surprise.

Instead of blood pouring from the artery Kakashi had just cut, however, there was a pop and a puff of smoke. Kakashi cursed.

"A shadow clone?" Sakura asked.

"A very well made shadow clone," Kakashi said. "Sorry to disturb you," he said to Inoue-san and left the shop. Sakura turned to leave as well, but Inoue-san's voice stopped her.

"What's going on? Why would Sasuke leave behind a clone?" he asked.

"I don't know what's going on, I'm sorry," Sakura said, her heart sinking with the realization that Sasuke, or Orochimaru, had to know that they were on to him and had chosen to deceive them while he fled. She left, too worried to bother paying attention to Inoue-san's concerned words.

When Sakura reached Kakashi, he'd already summoned Pakkun. The pug was sitting on Kakashi's shoulder, sniffing the jounin's vest.

"Can you get Sasuke's scent?" Kakashi asks.

The pug sniffed a bit more before raising his head to stare at Kakashi. "It's a small trace, but I think I can follow it," he said.

"Good. Sakura, let's go."

Sakura followed Kakashi and Pakkun, landing on the appropriate roofs or branches by sheer instinct. In her mind, all she could hear was "Not again, not again." She knew that she didn't have time for recriminations, but she couldn't help but wonder what went wrong. Was the seal not designed well enough? Should she have done it differently? Did Naruto not place it right? Did they not take everything into consideration that they should have? Question after question kept chasing itself in her mind, while at the same time, the fear that Sasuke may not emerge whole from this latest encounter worked its way up from the depths of her soul.

"Shouldn't we tell Naruto?" Sakura said. "His sense of smell is just as good, and he might be able to help find Sasuke."

"They're together," Pakkun said. "I can smell them both."

Sakura missed her footing on the next branch and had to summersault a couple of times to get back to her feet. Naruto and Sasuke being together could either be the break they needed, or it could be a catastrophe.

Pakkun veered off to the right and stopped on the branch of one of the trees. He sniffed around the trunk and motioned to a spot with his paw.

"Naruto's blood," he said.

Sakura kneeled to look at the indicated spot and saw a few, thankfully small, drops.

"They fought here," Sakura said, her voice soft and barely heard.

"Yes, but was it Naruto and Sasuke or Naruto and Orochimaru?" Kakashi asked.

As Sakura got to her feet, something blowing in the wind above her caught her attention. A forehead protector had been pinned to the tree with a kunai. When Sakura leaped up to get it, she gasped as she realized that there was something else with the forehead protector. She cradled Naruto's necklace in her hand and ran her fingers over the green stone, which was dull and lifeless now that it wasn't hanging around its owner's neck.

"Naruto would not have taken this off willingly," Sakura said.

"No," Kakashi sad. "This is a message."

Pakkun spoke before Sakura could say anything. "The scent that I got from your vest stops here," the dog said to Kakashi. "Naruto's scent, however, does not. It's mixed with another scent; one I can't entirely identify, but would guess is Sasuke's."

Kakashi's hands clenched, and when he looked at Sakura, there was no missing the fear in his eyes. They locked eyes for a long moment, and when Kakashi broke eye contact, his expression had become the detached and emotionless one expected of a ninja on a mission. Sakura braced herself for what was to come.

"From now on, we will operate under the assumption that Orochimaru has taken over Sasuke's body once again and has injured and taken Naruto with him. Our goal is to retrieve Naruto and get him back to the village."

"What about Sasuke?" Sakura asked, already knowing, from Kakashi's tense shoulders and clenched jaw that she wasn't going to like the answer.

"If we can capture him, we'll take him back to the village. If we can't, we will kill him."

Sakura gasped. "We can't do that. The body is mainly Sasuke's, Kakashi. We need to give him a chance to fight Orochimaru.

"Sasuke is obviously not fighting back at the moment," Kakashi said, his anger making Sakura take a step back. "Sakura, we know that Orochimaru was planning to attack Konoha along with Kirigakure. When the troops see that they have their leader again, they'll be a lot more willing to sacrifice themselves, which will mean more deaths for Konoha. Do you want that?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Besides, would you be willing to leave Sasuke to be Orochimaru's host yet again? Sasuke was willing to kill himself to keep Orochimaru from taking over again. Now that he has, don't you think we should honor Sasuke's wish?"

Sakura could feel the pinprick of tears in her eyes, but she fought them. She was a ninja, damn it, a well-trained one at that. She would not break down.

"Yes," she finally said, "we should."

"Very well, then. Pakkun, you can still track Naruto, right?"

The dog nodded.

"Lead the way."

Nara Shikamaru was hungry, dirty, and exhausted, and he was looking forward to getting back home. He'd already transmitted what he'd found to the Hokage via Kakashi's clone, so all he was looking forward to now was a hot shower and a long sleep. He was a half day out of Konoha, and if he'd had a little more energy, he'd have made the distance in just a few hours. As it were, however, he was just content to place one foot on the right branch before he fell and broke his neck.

He was fantasizing about what he'd eat as soon as he got back when the pug that suddenly popped into existence beside him made Shikamaru jerk in surprise.

"What the hell?"

"You should come with me," the dog, which Shikamaru recognized as one of Kakashi's ninken said. "Kakashi said you'd just come back from the West, where Naruto's scent is leading us. You might have some information."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the dog, trying to puzzle out what it had said. One piece caught his attention. "Naruto left the village?"

"He was taken," Pakkun replied.

"Who took him?" Shikamaru asked, anger and worry for his friend both rising to the surface.

"Kakashi can better explain that to you," the dog said. "He's close by, so if you follow me, I can take you to him."

Shikamaru continued to stare at the pug, uncharacteristic indecision paralyzing him momentarily. He was in no condition to keep going, but, if their roles were reversed, Naruto wouldn't turn his back on Shikamaru.

"Ok, lead the way."

Two hours later, Shikamaru came up to Kakashi and Sakura.

"Nice job of finding him, Pakkun," Kakashi said, and then turned to Shikamaru. "Since you hadn't returned to the village after your mission, I thought we'd find you around here."

Shikamaru glanced at Kakashi, and his gaze then landed on Sakura. He didn't know her as well as Naruto did, but he'd seen them together often enough to recognize that there were only two people in her life capable of putting that lifeless and detached look on her face. One of them got himself into trouble more often than not and the other one had, until recently, been a traitor.

"Let me guess," Shikamaru said, "whatever happened to Naruto has something to do with Uchiha, doesn't it?"

Shikamaru was looking at Sakura, so he didn't miss her flinch. Damn it, he hated always being right.

Kakashi ended up being the one to tell him what had taken place. When he was done, Shikamaru was furious.

"I knew that bringing him back had been a mistake," he said, and both of his companions glared at him. "I know that Uchiha is important to you two, and to Naruto, but you should have known the risk involved in bringing someone back when you knew there was a possibility of this happening."

"It shouldn't have happened," Sakura said, her voice as sharp as the glare she gave Shikamaru. "Our work was not incomplete. Orochimaru's soul should have been completely destroyed."

"You created a technique, and neither you nor Naruto had any way to know whether it would work," Shikamaru countered. "It obviously didn't, and if Orochimaru is now taking Naruto to the Kirigakure ninja I was observing a day ago, ninja that just recently tried to kill him, there's a very good chance that he'll be dead by the time we get there."

"Don't you think I know that?" Sakura's voice cracked, and the anguish that momentarily crossed her features made Shikamaru feel a bit guilty about what he'd said. "Don't you think that I've already been through the theory a hundred times in my head, wondering what we missed? I don't want Naruto dead any more than I want Sasuke dead. You don't have to understand, Shikamaru, you just have to help."

"I'll help Naruto, but Uchiha can go to hell for all I care," Shikamaru spat, knowing that, if it came down to it, he'd have no problem choosing Naruto over Uchiha.

"Enough," Kakashi said, and even Shikamaru had to react to the elder ninja's commanding tone. "Pakkun is tracking Naruto's scent to the West, and since we know there is a base of enemy ninja in that direction, it's safe to assume that Orochimaru is headed there to reunite with his troops. Tell us what we're up against, Shikamaru."

"It wasn't what I expected, to tell you the truth," Shikamaru explained. "It's a small base, with only about 100 soldiers, plus a handful of scientists."

"What would scientists be doing on a battlefield?" Sakura asked.

"I asked myself that same question, so I went to the tents they had set up to investigate. I'm no expert, but from the experiments I saw, I'd say they were developing biological weapons."

The information hung in the air for a long moment as each ninja contemplated what that meant. Sakura was the first to break the silence.

"Did you see Kabuto there?" she asked.

"No," Shikamaru replied, "but that's not to say that he wasn't there at some point. He certainly has the knowledge for biological warfare."

"Can you lead us there?" Kakashi asked and Shikamaru nodded.

"We'll get there, scope out the territory, and then plan our next move," Kakashi added.

With nods of agreement, the three picked up their pace and hoped to make it before it was too late.

When Sasuke came back to himself, he was mid leap and disoriented. A branch was coming up fast, but he was out of position to land on it properly. He twisted his body and would have made it, if not for the extra weight hanging over his left shoulder. He was only able to touch the branch with his right foot before the weight pulled him down. The next branch wasn't too far below and he landed on his back with a thud. Sasuke hissed in pain before his attention was drawn to the body that hit the branch beside him.

"Naruto," Sasuke said as he realized who he'd been carrying.

The blonde did not respond. His hair, which was no longer being held back by the Konoha forehead protector, stuck to his sweaty face. His black shirt was torn in the front, and the necklace he usually wore was not around his neck. The only visible sign of injury, however, was a bruise on the side of Naruto's face.

"Hey, Naruto, wake up."

When the blonde didn't react, Sasuke tapped Naruto's cheek, but there was still no response. Sasuke performed a quick diagnostic and found that the only thing out of the ordinary was the strange fluctuation of Naruto's chakra.

The last thing Sasuke remembered was being asked by Inoue-san to put an order together for a client. The fact that he was now well outside of the village with an unconscious Naruto could only mean that Orochimaru had taken control of his body, even if only for a short time. Sasuke had managed to keep it from happening the day before, but Orochimaru must have taken advantage of his distraction while he'd been at the shop. Sasuke tried to get past the moment his memory of that morning ended, but there was nothing there. If Orochimaru had attacked Naruto, who else had he attacked?

Sasuke wanted to run away from the village while he still could. He had never run away from anything before in his life, but Orochimaru was different. Nothing had ever made Sasuke feel as insignificant and helpless as the snake had, and the last thing he wanted to do was deal with the insane ninja. If he was destined to succumb to Orochimaru once again, he'd rather do it as far away from Konoha as possible. Maybe then he could finish what he'd started last night in Kakashi's apartment. Not that he wanted a premature end to his life, but if he could atone for the pain he'd caused his friends by finishing what they had started when they targeted Orochimaru, then his life would be a small price to pay.

He glanced over at Naruto, and his friend's face, slack with unconsciousness, reminded Sasuke of when he'd left Naruto near death after their fight at the Valley of the End. Sasuke had felt a little remorse when he left Naruto then, but his need to attain more power and kill his brother had been stronger than anything else. Staying behind to wait for help or taking Naruto back to the village hadn't been an option. Sasuke found that he couldn't make the same decision now, however, even if leaving Naruto meant eliminating Orochimaru. Something was wrong with his friend and leaving him here could be deadly for him. If Sasuke could make it back to the village and get Naruto in safe hands, then he'd come clean about what was happening to him and let Tsunade decide what to do with him.

Decision made, Sasuke picked up Naruto and slung the blonde over his right shoulder. He was gathering chakra in his feet to leap when a voice intruded into his consciousness.

"How noble of you, Sasuke-kun. I wouldn't have thought you capable of doing something so selfless."

Sasuke closed his eyes and forced his mind into that place that had been a refuge for him, but that Orochimaru had tainted and twisted for his own personal use. He found himself staring at the face of the man he'd once thought to be his only chance of achieving his greatest wish and battled the fear and revulsion that bubbled up from deep in his soul. The man looked smug and very much alive. Sasuke stared back at him and realized that his fear was slowly turning into anger. He wouldn't let this man, this monster, hurt his friends again.

"I don't care why you're here or how you survived. This is my body and I'm not going to let you have it again," Sasuke said with more bravado than he felt.

Orochimaru's face contorted into a mockery of a hurt expression. "Was I such bad company?" Orochimaru stepped closer to Sasuke, which prompted Sasuke to take a step back. "I made it possible for you to do great things, my boy. You wouldn't have been able to kill your brother without me."

Sasuke tried not to react to the comment, but a wince escaped his control, which brought a smile to Orochimaru's face. His brother's death, something Sasuke had spent half of his life preparing himself for, was yet another thing that Orochimaru had taken from him.

Orochimaru's smile widened. "You should care about why I'm still alive, Sasuke-kun. After all, you were the inspiration for my survival."

The snake walked a slow circle around Sasuke and held his hands out to indicate their surroundings. "I should thank you. It was you who provided the inspiration that allowed me to store a piece of myself in this pathetic little place. If it hadn't been for this, that irritating blonde nuisance that you call a friend would have destroyed every bit of me. Instead, all he did was forever lock a piece of my soul inside your mind."

Sasuke's mind heard the words, but they barely registered as truth.

"How did I not sense you?" Sasuke asked when he could finally speak. "I should have known…" he broke off, not sure of how he should finish the sentence. The thought that his method of survival had also allowed Orochimaru to survive made him sick to his stomach.

"To put it in terms that you can understand, Sasuke-kun, you weren't looking for me," Orochimaru replied, only too happy to gloat about how he'd again cheated death. "You were so eager to believe that I was dead and you'd finally gotten rid of me that you didn't think to question it. You should have known better than to underestimate me."

Before Sasuke could reply, Orochimaru was standing behind him and had an arm wrapped around his chest.

"You should feel privileged, Sasuke-kun. You and I will be spending the remainder of our lives together."

Sasuke shivered at the cold hand that was slowly tightening around his throat and fought his rising panic. He couldn't lose it, not now, not if he hoped to have a chance of fighting the madman that he had delivered himself to long ago.

Orochimaru returned to control of the body with a grin. Sasuke-kun was remarkably easy to subdue. Underneath all of the bravado and cockiness, Sasuke was just a scared little boy. Itachi did more than enough damage to his little brother to last for a lifetime, and even if Sasuke liked to pretend that he was untouchable, Orochimaru knew how to take advantage of an enemy's weakness.

Naruto lay at Orochimaru's feet, and the sannin grabbed the front of the boy's shirt and picked him up half off the ground. He wanted very badly to snap the boy's neck and get rid of him once and for all before he could cause any more trouble, but Orochimaru needed him at the moment. Naruto had some information that he wanted and Orochimaru knew just where to go to have that information extracted.

Orochimaru picked the blonde ninja up and resumed his journey to the West. It didn't take him long to reach the ninja camp he'd ordered set up. The reaction from the Kirigakure ninja he encountered upon his arrival was deferential, as expected, but Orochimaru breezed past them and headed for the tent where he was sure he'd find the man he was looking for. He wasn't disappointed.

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said as soon as the medic nin had spotted him. "I had expected you to be here sooner."

Orochimaru unceremoniously dropped Naruto at Kabuto's feet. "Sasuke-kun, and that dammed Kakashi, were more trouble than originally expected. Not that I owe you any explanation, Kabuto."

"Of course not, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said. He looked down at Naruto and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"I need you to get some information out of him," Orochimaru replied, "information that those idiots that were sent to 'eliminate' him almost destroyed."

Kabuto actually winced. "Yes, that was regrettable," he replied. "The plans to kill Naruto-kun had been made long ago and the change of circumstances was not communicated."

"It's a good thing that you have more than proven your worthiness and loyalty to me, Kabuto," Orochimaru said."Otherwise, I might think that you were deliberately undermining me."

Orochimaru lifted his shirt and molded chakra, which caused the seal to appear, stark against the pale chest. "This seal is the only thing keeping me from completely taking over Sasuke's body, and Naruto knows how to remove it. Use any means necessary to get that information from him."

Kabuto nodded his understanding. "Some of my more 'persuasive' measures have dire consequences," he said.

"I don't care if he dies," Orochimaru replied, "as long as it's after you have that information."

Orochimaru turned his back on Kabuto and left the tent, barely catching the younger man's acknowledgement. He didn't have time to waste on the details, especially when he knew that Kabuto would be thorough in his interrogation.

Not when there was a war to start.

Please let me know if you're reading. I'd be nice to know if I still have an audience. Until next time!