Hey guys! Here is chapter 12 and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

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Sasuke stood behind a cement pillar as bullets rained down around them. He tried to peer around only to get nailed in the face with rock particles that a stray bullet knocked off. Looking over to Naruto, who was crouched behind a neighboring pillar, and their eyes met with understanding. A nod was exchanged and they jumped out from the safety of cover, their guns out and firing. In the heat of the moment, Sasuke couldn't tell if he shot any of them, but afterwards he was positive some of the men lying around them were his kills.

Naruto walked around, occasionally nudging a body with his shoe. There was no way that any of these guys were going to come after them later. A body with long blonde hair caught his attention and his blue eyes narrowed into slits.

"Sasuke, over here." He called to his friend.

The dark haired man walked over to him, gun held firmly in his hand.

"What is it?"

The blonde nodded to the body on the ground. Sasuke was confused as to the significance of the bullet ridden lump of flesh and voiced his confusion.

"Why the hell do I care about this?"

Naruto crouched down and rolled the body over. He grimaced at the amount of blood that was caked on the man's face.

"This is one of the assholes that tried to take Sakura in Konoha."

Having a new found curiosity for what the man looked like, Sasuke peered closer and recognized him as a member of the Akatsuki.

One that he has battled on two separate occasions.

He was the explosives expert and his name was Deidara, if Sasuke recalled correctly.

He also recalled that he was damned annoying too.

Sasuke was mainly a close range fighter, so imagine his irritation at battling against Deidara's long range explosives.

He couldn't get close enough to him to land a hit without getting himself blown up in the process.

Sasuke couldn't help but feel slightly vindicated as he looked at the battered body. That is until he realized what Naruto said.

"One of them? Naruto do you remember what the other one looks like?"

He looked confused for a moment, wondering why in the world that matters, but nodded his head.

"He was a bit creepy. He had red hair like Gaara, but his eyes were as lifeless as a dolls-"

"Naruto focus! Do you see his body anywhere?!"

Both men moved their heads from left to right, eyes scanning for a head of red hair.

They found none.

"Damn."

The Akatsuki ALWAYS traveled and fought in pairs. It was like some twisted version of the buddy system. They never went anywhere alone and that includes their base.

"Naruto we have-" He stopped looking behind Naruto's shoulder at the man behind him, his gun pressed against the base of Naruto's neck.

"No need. I'm here." His voice was devoid of anything resembling human emotion and it sent shivers down Sasuke's spine. His brown eyes were glassy giving him a slight doll-like appearance.

He was worse than Sai was when they met him.

"Who are you?"

"I am called Sasori of the Red Sand."

Sasuke opened his mouth, but was abruptly cut off by the man in front of him.

"I already know who you are, Sasuke Uchiha. No need for introductions."

Of course he knew who he was. It is his uncle who runs Akatsuki after all.

"Going to avenge your partner by killing mine?" Sasuke was stalling a bit, but he didn't really care. Naruto was in danger at the moment and he couldn't take any risks.

If the redhead was the type to roll his eyes, he was positive he would have.

"No, you just saved me the trouble of killing him myself. Him and his insufferable views of art."

Sasuke and Naruto grimaced at each other.

There was no sense of family or friendship among psychopaths.

"Wasn't he your friend? How could you say that about him?!"

Sasuke almost face palmed at the sheer ridiculousness of that statement. Leave it to Naruto to go on a rant about love and friendship at a time like this.

"Now is really not the time for that conversation, you idiot."

Naruto's eyes burned with a righteous fire that made Sasuke bite back a groan.

"It is ALWAYS the time for the friendship talk, Bastard!" He said with such indignation that you'd think what the redhead said was a personal slight against him. Sasuke growled in annoyance. They were wasting precious time on this guy. Sakura could already be dead by now and they could do nothing about it because this asshole was blocking their way.

A shot rang out from the shadows, the bullet knocking the gun from Sasori's hand and sending it sliding across the floor. Naruto took advantage of his shock and swung his elbow back connecting with Sasori's nose. The redhead flew back from the force of the blow, streams of red running out of his nose and down his face. Sasuke walked up to stand next to his friend and crossed his arms, glaring into the dark where the shot came from.

"You could have hit me too, you asshat! Watch where you are shooting!" Naruto yelled in anger at the figure that was walking towards them.

Sasuke snorted. It did cut close to nailing the idiot in the back of the neck.

Sai just gave a fake smile in response.

"I wouldn't have hit you, Dickless. I'm far too skilled for a rookie mistake such as that."

"Either way, it took you long enough to jump in." Sasuke said with an annoyed look at the other dark haired male. He had to say something to avoid a confrontation between the two for now. They can duke it out later after all of this is done and Sakura was home safe and sound.

Sai just shrugged nonchalantly.

" I had to be 100% accurate."

He cut his eyes to the enemy, assessing his strengths and weaknesses.

"Sasuke, you and Naruto go on ahead. I'll take care of him."

Sasuke stood for a moment as if debating if this was a good idea or not. He nodded and motioned Naruto to follow him down the dimly lit hall.

Sai could handle this on his own. There was no need for him and Naruto to stick around.

"You better hurry this along Sai. We don't have time to play around."

Sai gave an unamused glance at their retreating backs before turning to his opponent, who was glaring holes into his skull. With no other weapons, both men readied themselves for hand to hand combat. Sasori was holding himself rather awkwardly, seeing as how he was more of a guns and ammo kind of guy. Hand to hand was definitely not his strong suit and Sai could tell.

This wouldn't take long.

Sai made the first move, feigning a right hook, but dropping into a sweeping kick at the last second. Sasori fell for it and landed hard on the concrete floor, but not before he landed a solid blow to Sai's kidney, making the dark haired man hiss.

He was going to enjoy destroying him.

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Sakura wearily watched as Madara gracefully rose from his chair, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Suddenly she had the feeling that her plan was going to fail and that she was going to die. Her muscles froze as Madara stared her down with the eyes of a predator. She couldn't move as he circled around her, keeping a reasonable distance as he did so.

"So, you've come here to kill me have you? That's presumptuous of you." He said in a calm tone as if he were merely commenting on the weather.

"W-Well, if you would have left us alone then I wouldn't have had to come." Sakura hated how her voice shook, having none of the confidence of earlier. What was wrong with her? She had to snap out of it or else this will be her end and Madara will win.

He snorted and looked down his nose at her.

"As if a little girl like you can do anything against me. You are pathetic and powerless, normally not worth my time, but I need to teach my nephew a lesson. Unfortunately, you are the best way to teach that lesson."

Sakura tensed up at the feeling of his breath on the back of her neck, moving the loose hair at the base.

"What lesson is that?" She whispered trying to regain her composure and her pride.

"That there is no crossing me. I have the absolute power." He said into her ear, his voice low and dark. Madara moved away from her slightly with his arms crossed, watching her reaction to his words. She paled, her green eyes losing their light becoming dull. Nothing pleased Madara more that watching the hope drain from her being.

"That boy has defied me one too many times and it is time for him to learn his place. I tried to teach him a lesson before, but it seems it didn't sink in."

"It was Itachi. You let him believe Itachi was dead, he was the last lesson, wasn't he?"

Madara hummed in reply.

"I see you stumbled on his room then. That's unfortunate for you."

For an older man, Madara was faster than any human had a right to be and in a few short seconds he had Sakura pinned against the wall, his hand holding her up by her throat. Sakura clawed at his hand gasping, trying to pull air into her lungs despite her windpipe being crushed.

"I cannot risk you telling anyone about Itachi. I was going to use you as a hostage, but you have signed your own death certificate." He squeezed the hand that was around her neck and Sakura could feel the pressure of blood building behind her eyes. Darkness was closing in around her vision, making Sakura panic. Even with her vision going black, she saw Madara lean into her ear.

"I can't wait to see Sasuke's reaction to seeing your head on a stake."

Sakura stopped struggling against him, feeling her blood run cold.

Sasuke would be devastated. He would lose himself to vengeance and not even Naruto would be able to pull him back. He'd distance himself from everyone and turn cold as ice. Sasuke would become ruthless and kill everything and anything that got in his way. Even if they were once considered friends.

He would become Madara.

The thought was so repulsive and terrifying, Sakura's mind shut down and her subconscious took over.

Like hell she'd condemn the man she loved to such a fate.

She gripped Madara's wrist in her left hand and with her right she punched his arm where his elbow was, effectively snapping his arm in two and making him drop her.

Madara cursed as he stumbled backwards, holding his now useless broken arm. He had underestimated the little bitch, but he won't be making that mistake again. His narrowed eyes watched her as she drug herself up onto her feet again, swaying slightly as she did so. She placed a hand on the wall to steady herself, her head still lowered so Madara couldn't see her face. There was something different about her, but he could quite figure out what.

Then she looked at him. The green eyes that once showed fear and caution, now had and animalistic gleam in them. There was no semblance of higher reasoning there, almost as if she were running purely on bestial instinct. It was strange and nothing like the woman she was a moment ago. It was almost reminiscent of a demon that had managed to escape from the deepest, darkest pits of hell.

She smiled and Madara couldn't help but think she looked vaguely psychotic.

"You think I'll let you do that to him? That's cute, Madara, but it will be you that dies tonight."

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