Hey guys, pretty short chapter. I hope you enjoy.

LEFT BEHIND

Suigetsu jumped from building to building, desperately trying to keep up with Sasuke without being seen by either the Uchiha or the irate blonde who was chasing him. He could hear Karin swearing behind him but soon realised that Juugo wasn't following. No time! He didn't have time to think about Juugo right now. There was something very wrong with the whole situation. Sasuke may trust the masked man who called himself Madara but the former Mist nin was very suspicious of anyone who remained masked even after revealing their identity. He huffed as he jumped a building ducking beneath a clothesline only to tangle his sword. By the time he freed himself, Karin was right behind him and he'd lost sight of Sasuke.

"Fuck!" he swore "Skank, which direction?" he asked

She was worried enough that she didn't even respond to the name calling.

"That way." She said and pointed

The village of Konoha was a mess but as they moved out of the central area, things got quieter. Not for the first time, he questioned whether he should interfere at all. Sasuke was powerful. He had defeated Orochimaru, after all. It had been the only reason Suigetsu had consented to follow him; that and the possibility of winning one of the legendary blades of the Hidden Mist. As they had travelled together he had come to respect the man, even though he considered his reluctance to kill a weakness. He even understood Sasuke's desire to kill his brother though he was sure that there was much more to story of the massacre than Sasuke had told him. Now everything had changed. Suddenly Sasuke didn't want to kill his brother anymore. Because of whatever the masked man had told him, Sasuke now wanted to destroy Konoha.

The man, Madara he said his name was, came to them as they camped near a cave, not five miles away from Konoha.

"I'm going back to the village," Sasuke's brother had said "find me." So that was what they were doing.

Karin thought it was madness. She refused to believe that Uchiha Itachi, mass murderer and S Class missing nin would simply give himself over to the village that would, no doubt execute him. She tried to convince him that it was some sort of elaborate trick to get him to return to his village. He didn't even listen to her. He spent a lot of the trip brooding silently and sharpening his weapons. Sasuke would be a fool to go back to a village that he'd abandoned. Stupid softy village or not, the penalty for desertion was always death. If they went with him, they were almost certainly going to their deaths. It weighed heavily on them all. Sasuke for his part spoke in I's and Me's. He didn't expect them to give up their lives to his quest for revenge but he didn't tell them to go away either. The group spoke less and less as the choice remained unvoiced.

As Juugo roasted a couple of fish and Karin cast longing looks at the Uchiha, Suigetsu realised that he simply couldn't take it anymore.

"Uchiha," he said "If you back, I'll go with you. Your village may be crap but it has some pretty good fighters."

Juugo nodded and Karin lazily commented that she would have to go into Konoha to get supplies anyway since she had to be going south soon. They were all grinning quietly, secretly, when HE showed up. He just seemed to appear in their midst wearing the Akatsuki cloak and that strange swirly mask. After avoiding their attacks effortlessly, he'd begun to talk about the founding of Konoha. It was only a matter of time before he had Sasuke on his back with a kunai to his throat but he just kept talking. As he recounted how Uchiha Madara left the village, he put away the kunai and offered Sasuke a hand. To the Uchiha's credit, he didn't showing anything but anger. Suigetsu had been afraid. None of them were weak, not even Karin. Juugo was the original curse seal bearer yet this man disabled him with genjutsu and taijutsu as easily as they could disable a civilian. Even more than that, he did it without killing any of them.

"Do you want to know more, Sasuke?" he asked "I could tell you everything. After all, we're practically family."

"I have no family."

"Oh really? I thought you had a brother, a homicidal, patricidal, genocidal brother. Don't you want to know why he did it?"

"I already know. He did it to test his ability, to test his strength." Sasuke said

"Do you still believe that? Don't you want to know why he really did it?" he asked and for a second Suigetsu's could swear that the man's eye had gone Uchiha red.

Sasuke saw it too. He nodded. "Tell me."

"Very well," the man said nodding, eye turning black again "Come."

He took Sasuke's arm and they disappeared. When Sasuke returned later, on foot, he was a different man. He spoke to no one but killing intent rolled off of him in waves. Juugo, who'd flipped out when the masked man had appeared was the one to finally ask what had happened. The story the Uchiha told shocked none of them, they all knew the treacherous things villages did to survive. They knew that much had been left out but what he'd said had been enough.

"What will you do?" Karin asked "Are you still going after your brother?"

"No." He replied wearily, seeming much older than his 17 years

"What will you do?" asked Juugo

"Destroy them all. I'm going to destroy Konoha for what they did to my family."

For a moment they were all silent.

"You're not going alone. We said we'd go with you and that's final. I keep my word." Suigetsu said

"Me too." added Juugo

For a long moment Karin said nothing. She seemed to be thinking hard about something till Suigetsu could stand it no longer.

"Welll! You in or not? If you're too chickenshi..."

"I said I was going to Konoha already, you ass! Why the hell do I have to say it again! Do you have fucking amnesia..."

Suigetsu turned away to ignore her ranting. "I'm going for more fish." He said and took a sip of water. Wandering into the woods, he resolved that they would all make it. He'd come to like Team Hebi. They were useful company and he'd spent a long time in that tank.

He watched as Sasuke jumped the wall and felt the barrier as it rose up to cover the village. Even with Karin behind him and Juugo off being crazy somewhere, he felt like he was back in that tank again.

Review?

Additional Note: I'm not sure if I should do this but a reviewer asked a very interesting question. She asked

"From: Anonymous

:this story is good, but where is she getting all these abilities from?"

Her abilities aren't random nor are they all powerful. I have a very good explanation for what they are and how she has them. However, I can't tell you; not yet anyway because it will affect something a little later in the story. I know the story is awefully long but it's not too much longer. It may also require me to simply tell you how it happened Writer to Reader (though a good writer shouldn't have to) but I simply don't know where to put an explanation when it's something none of the characters knows as yet. I know this doesn't answer the question but I will answer it eventually, I promise.