Disclaimer: oh, the things I would do if Naruto was mine (sighs). Unfortunately, Naruto is not mine. Just this simple fan fiction.

Welcome Home

It was a little after dawn and, so far, the day was turning hot.

"Irritably hot", Uchiha Sasuke thought as he wiped the running perspire from his face. He had forgotten how hot Konoha was compared to the other lands, with the one exception being-.

"Suna", Sasuke through bitterly. Until recently, Sasuke did not harbor any ill feelings towards the village. One encounter with the Kazekage was all it took for Sasuke to hate him and his land. Gaara of the Sand irritated Sasuke, and things that irritated him had to go. The red-headed kage reminded him of the fool Sasuke had been when he was a loyal member of Konoha.

"DIE YOU TRAITOR!"

Sasuke was brought back to the fight in the middle of Konoha's forest. The Akatsuki had long defeated the small forces securing Konoha's border and had been on their way to the village when they encountered the reinforcements sent to help those in the border.

Sasuke lunched forward to meet a Leaf shinobi. It was quickly made clear to the young Uchiha that his opponent was not a challenge for him. Sasuke thought briefly about sparing the man's life, but in that brief moment, the shinobi decided to insult the Uchiha again. Sasuke's face and aura darkened. Without hesitation or a tint of remorse, Sasuke quickly disarmed the man of his weapons with a relatively simple taijutsu move and then slaughtered the man with his kanata. And that is when the best part of killing his opponent happened for Sasuke.

It was not seeing the man draw his last breath or seeing the light in his eyes fade. It was the blood. The sight of blood flowing from his opponent. The sight of it made Sasuke's eyes narrow and his senses sharpened. He could feel power circulating throughout his body. The sensation made him feel invisible and elevated.

But just as fast as the sensation had come, it passed, and it left the Uchiha wishing for more. He bet that if the shinobi had been stronger, the savoring moment would have lasted just a bit longer.

Sasuke looked down at the shinobi, annoyed he had been deprived of his enjoyment.

"Pathetic", he said and walked over the man's body to find his next opponent.

He surveyed the battle field. Cries of pain and metal crashing were heard from all directions. The two opposing forces were crowded in the forest's clearing. There were more Leaf than missing-nin. But numbers did not matter in this battle. The Akatsuki only took the best and most talented of the ninja world. Leaf had more shinobi in the field, but they were usually fighting in groups against only one member of the Akatsuki.

Sasuke spotted a shinobi that looked like a worthy opponent and was about to make his way to him, when his vision began to blurred. He swayed to the left and tried to stop himself from stumbling. When he regained controlled over his body, he brought his hand before his eyes and tried to focus his vision on it. The blurriness did not stop. This could only mean one thing, and it did not make the avenger happy.

"Not now." Sasuke whispered angrily. He felt something moved beside him and stopped staring at his hand.

"Is something wrong, Sasuke?" Uchiha Madara appeared beside the raven-haired Uchiha.

His voice feigning concern, but Sasuke knew better and ignored him. He was the last person Sasuke wanted to see at the moment.

"Is it your vision again?" Madara asked, not minding Sasuke's silence in the least; instead, he seemed to take pleasure in the young Uchiha's situation. "You should have listened to me and taken-"

Sasuke's head shot up and glared at Madara, ignoring the veil of blurriness "No."

"You will go blind without Itachi's eyes", Madara warned, stepping closer towards Sasuke.

"I told you. Not yet!" And In a fit of anger, the young Uchiha sped past Jugo and began to engage in battle with his selected opponent.

"Not yet", Sasuke repeated in his head, trying to concentrate his mind in his battle, but failing miserably. The damned heat and Madara made sure of it.

There were two reasons why Madara irritated Sasuke more than the current heat or Gaara of the Sand since he was on the topic. One was the abundant amount of patience the older man seemed to possess. Unlike Sasuke, Madara loved to take his time to plan and execute plans. If it was up to Sasuke, Konoha would have been destroyed the moment after he killed Danzo. It was Madara who convinced Sasuke to wait and recover from the injuries he had sustained during the battle with the Sharingan thief.

Sasuke knew Madara had a point, for his powers were not at their peak. He had fought the Kages and then Danzo, not to mention his little run-in with his former team. Seeing Madara's point, Sasuke decided to wait. But thanks to his waiting, Sasuke was now running out of time.

Reason number two why Madara irritated him: his constant harassment of taking Itachi's eyes.

"I can't. Not yet", Sasuke repeated as his new opponent jumped to the air and released a rain of kunai down at him. But the man's attack never hit the Uchiha, for Sasuke appeared behind him and drove a small chidori into the man. Sasuke's lack of a proper vision prevented the chidori from hitting the intended part of the man's body, but the jutsu was still fatal enough for the man to drop to the floor with a thud.

Sasuke closed his eyes and hoped that when he opened them the blurriness would fade. If it did not, he would just have to depend on his other senses. Taking Itachi's eyes right now was out of the question, and the reason did not have to do with him being in the middle of a forest on his way to invasion.

He could not take Itachi's eyes for the simple reason that the ninja world was yet again in another war. War meant blood, and Itachi had hated both. If he took Itachi's eyes, Sasuke would not just be a foolish brother. He would be an ungrateful one and that he could not be. He would not allow his brother's eyes to see blood again. He owed Itachi that much.

Feeling slightly guilty, Sasuke turned away from the sight of blood and activated his sharingan. He needed to end this meaningless battle now and get to Konoha. The light in his eyes was running out, and before it did he needed to fulfill his role in life: that of an avenger. His role demanded he burned Konoha to ashes along with anyone who got in his way, and once he did, he would rebuild it - in Itachi's vision. Sasuke would build a world that was deserving of Itachi's eyes.

"Oy! Sasuke", Saigetsu yelled from across the battle field, a substitute sword for his previous one resting on his bruised shoulders. "I feel a familiar chakra coming our way."

Sasuke turned to the direction of the incoming chakra and frowned. It was not just one chakra. It was more. So much for ending this battle immediately. "Ignore them," Sasuke ordered and to himself said, "It is just the welcoming committee."

ANBU Team Ten was not the only team sent by Kakashi out into the battle field. Along with the newly initiated hunter-nins, two dozen elites were sent out. Among them were a handful of Hyuga, Team Kurenai and the remaining members of Team Gai. The rest of Konoha's Eleven were stationed around the village, helping with civilian evacuation or waiting anxiously to see if the Akatsuki got past their forces, again.

The group raced through the forest, pushing their legs to carry them at a fast pace, swinging from trees, and deeply concentrated on their mission. Kakashi had sent his shinobi with explicit orders. They were to kill, if not, delay the enemy. Kakashi was no fool. He knew his forces could not defeat the Akatsuki. For that, they needed all the other shinobi nations. The shinobi deployed were meant to borrow time for the village to fully mobilize all capable fighters and get the message out to their allies. The second part of his orders: only one team could touch Uchiha Sasuke.

"There are many reasons for Kakashi-sensei's decision. But it all has to do with Naruto", Sakura reasoned as she went over her orders. "He knows that by having us engage in battle with Sasuke, we will prevent him from setting a foot in the village. When he is gone, Naruto will be comforted by the idea that he at least prevented Sasuke from spilling civilian blood." Sakura was now starting to wonder if all along, Naruto had been Kakashi's favorite.

"Damn this heat!" Naruto exclaimed next to Sakura. "That bastard just had to go and pick the hottest day to invade."

Sakura turned to Naruto and noted with surprise how controlled he was, considering their situation. It was not every day that one set out to kill one's best friend. She could not see his face behind the fox mask he wore, but his body language was composed and his chakra stable. Maybe he had truly matured. In the past, a situation such as this one would have driven him to lose his mind and to spout out a chakra tail or two.

"Hey, you two", Neji appeared beside Naruto's left, followed by Sai. "A word."

"What is it, Neji? Do you see the Akatsuki? " Naruto asked without taking his eyes from the front.

"Code names, loud-mouth", Neji said patiently, shaking his head in disapproval. He quietly asked if it was too much to ask for teammates that shared with him the same views on shinobi rules.

"What for? It isn't as if Sasuke won't recognize us the moment he feels our chakra." Apparently, it was too much to ask.

"We still need to follow procedure", Neji sternly reminded him. "And it would do you good to remember to cover your chakra."

"I knew that", Naruto grumbled quietly, but Sakura's sighed as she felt Naruto cover his chakra. Great, Sasuke knew who was coming.

"This is mostly a question for you and Pinky", again Sakura sighed this time in annoyance and defeat. Why in the world did Neji allowed Sai to pick their code names? She suppose it was better than Ugly, but surely there were better code names than physical or attitudinal characteristics.

"I need to know how you are going to take care of Sasuke. There are four of us and one Uchiha." Neji asked. Sakura immediately flinched at the question. The heat in her cheeks rose along with her temper.

"Oh, no, he didn't! That arrogant Hyuga" Inner Sakura fumed from inside Sakura's conscience, jumping to the first conclusion she could think of. "Do you have an idea of what he means?"

"What do you mean, 'how'?" Sakura testily asked, getting what inner-Sakura was referring to and feeling a little insulted by her captain. Obviously, he doubted their abilities. Her abilities since Naruto had proven himself long ago. He did manage to defeat Pain.

Sensing Sakura's temper and quickly understanding why Neji added patiently, "I am not referring to your power. You and Loud-Mouth are the students of two of the Legendary Sannin, but understand this. You two had the opportunity to kill the Uchiha and failed. Now you are having another chance."

Sakura could feel Neji's accusing eyes despite the fact that they were wearing masks. They made her uncomfortable and slightly guilty.

"Naruto said it himself when you three came back from Iron. He cannot kill Sasuke. So how will you take care of him when you can't defeat him?"

Sakura's hands formed into tight fists. She was really getting tired of feeling or other people feeling that she and Naruto were not good enough to kill Sasuke because of their previous relationship with him. She knew it was their fault. Their loyal heart tended to get in the way, but this time they were prepared both mentally and physically. They were ready. They had to be. Sakura opened her mouth to answer, but the voice that responded to Neji's questioned was not her own.

"It's true", Naruto finally spoke up. While Sakura and Neji had exchange words, he had been deep in thought, probably feeling too guilty to talk. "I said all that." He paused, and then continued lowering his voice to a soft whisper, "I said it thinking I would die in battle with Sasuke or by his hand the next time we met."

Neji and Sai were caught off guard. Sakura heard someone behind her fall from a tree branch and a dog yelp in pain, but she ignored it. All her attention was focused on Naruto: the closest person to her in this world. His revelation did not come as a shock to her. She had known of Naruto's plan all along. She was there when he had made his decision and declared it to Sasuke after all. It had been a reason why she had spent many nights during her ANBU training thinking of ways to prevent Naruto from dying.

She was going to lose Sasuke, but she would not loose Naruto. Not if she could stop it. But by the sound of it, it seemed her plan would not need. Naruto's next words hinted it.

"Things have changed. I can't die without taking care of some unfinished business." The happiness and relief that exploded inside Sakura's heart almost made her want to hug her teammate. He said it! He said he wanted to live. Sakura smiled widely to herself. She would still have her friend.

"Unfinished business?" Sai asked curiously. He turned to Sakura to get an explanation about what Naruto was talking about, but she shrugged her shoulders pretending not to know anything. She knew what Naruto's unfinished business was. He had told her about it during their "slumber party" as Sai called it. But now was not the time to tell their teammates about Uchiha Madara and his role in the Nine Tails' attack. It was not the time, and it was not her place.

"After we take care of Sasuke, the other sneaky Uchiha bastard will get what is coming to him. Courtesy of my fits. Cha!"

"Actually, Sai, you and the captain here will hold off Uchiha Madara while Sakura and I take care of Sasuke first. I know it is against orders but…" Naruto trailed off, knowing Neji got the point.

Neji remained quiet for a moment, clearly thinking about what Naruto had just said. Sakura knew that Neji believed that Naruto was special in that sense that whatever he promised to do, he always succeeded at. But Naruto had failed to retrieve Sasuke three times already. It was a gamble to allow Naruto to take on Sasuke with just her by his side. Would Neji trust Naruto again?

Moments turned to seconds. Seconds turned to minutes, until Neji finally spoke.

"Fine", Neji sighed and with a commanding voiced announced, "Team Ten will be divided. You two will take care of Sasuke. Sai and I will make sure the other Uchiha doesn't interfere." He then turned mid-way and warned, "But if you fail, your chance will be mine."

"Don't worry, Captain", Naruto said cheerfully. "Sakura and I have a plan."

"You better", Neji muttered and he left them to check on the other shinobi. Sakura wished he hadn't because in that moment her nerves began to take over her. She could feel her stomach turning in anticipation. The palms of her hands began to sweat. She was on her way to killing Uchiha Sasuke. One of the most talented shinobi Konoha had produced.

Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to Naruto.

"Sakura", Naruto whispered so only she could her. "Don't worry."

"I am not worrying", Sakura snapped a little too harshly. She immediately regretted it. If she was feeling insecure, she wondered how Naruto was feeling at the moment. She wanted to slap herself for having a weak spine, and Inner-Sakura offered to do it. Why in the world could she not keep a hold on the courage she had earlier? Her resolution was still there. Intact. But her courage was fleeting. She was actually scared. Scared of Sasuke and his sharingan. Both capable of taking everything away from her.

"Hey….HEY! Don't you dare back down now", her inner-self yelled furiously at her. "Come on, now it's your chance to show that Uchiha what a true prodigy is made of. Think of the innocents he killed", then inner Sakura added menacingly, "Do I need to show you more memories of Sasuke trying to kill us? Because believe me, I got plenty."

"Earth to Sakura", Naruto said loudly, snapping his pink-haired teammate from her thoughts.

"What?" Sakura said.

"I said that you don't need to worry", Naruto said again.

"And I said I'm not worrying", Sakura repeated.

Sakura heard Naruto laughed at her, "Look, just to stick to the plan we talked about earlier in the village. You and I can't go wrong with my amazing ransengan and your amazing monster strength."

Sakura's fist connected with Naruto's head. The blonde's hands instantly went up to where he had been hit, cringing in pain.

"OWW, SAKURA!"

"Thank you", Sakura said softly. She was touched by Naruto's words to mind too much about the "monster strength comment."

Sasuke was waiting for them. He had been waiting for them the moment he felt their chakra. How could he forget the light and comforting chakra that radiated from his former teammates? In the past, when they were still a team, he liked having them near him, even do he would never publicly admit. Their chakra, presence, and the smiles they gave him made him want to be like them. Happy and naïve about the ways of the world. Obviously he realized their stupid ways would not work out for him, so he turned his back on them.

As Sakura and Naruto's chakra got closer, Sasuke noticed something was off about Naruto's. He could not pin-point exactly what was different about it, but his chakra felt lighter than the last time they faced each other.

"Interesting", Sasuke thought, getting up from the rock he had been resting on. He blinked his eyes, testing them for any blurriness or other signs of his eyes going blind. It would complicate things if his vision was impaired during his battle with his former teammates.

Sasuke saw them. He saw a large group of shinobi appeared from the shadows' of the trees. He could feel the superior power they possessed compared to the one wielded by the current Leaf shinobi in the battle field. Sasuke was not surprised by the difference in power. The new group was made of jonin and a couple of ANBU.

He narrowed his eyes the moment they landed on a particular group of ANBU. They were positioned in front of the group. There were four of them. Three men and one woman. And he knew who they were. Their chakra signatures plus the ridiculous coloring of their hair were all that he needed.

"Konoha's standards have gone down if you two have been made ANBU. But then again, they made Kakashi Hokage, so I should not surprise", he lazily mocked.

Sasuke saw one of the shinobi in the front, wearing a tiger's mask, raise his hand. Finally, no more waiting. Sasuke placed his hand on the tilt of his sword, but all the shinobi did was dropped it down in a signal. The shinobi behind his team dispersed, leaving the four with Sasuke.

"Standards change like people do, Uchiha", Sasuke recognized Sakura's voiced. He noted there was no fear in her voice. No stutter or trembling. It was not like the last time he saw her. This made him wonder if his former teammates had changed their minds about him. Had they realized he would not leave the path that was chosen for him? Sasuke doubted, but he still wanted to make sure.

Sasuke gave them a smirk, "I doubt you two have change. Why did you bother making it to ANBU? To bring me back?" Suddenly, the previous control he had over his patience began to wither away. Anger began to rise within him. He was running out of time and his pathetic, former teammates were blocking his way.

"I told you I won't go back!" Sasuke growled at them and released a stream of chidori towards the ANBU team. The four ANBU swiftly jumped to the air and avoided the fast moving electricity. Sasuke made hand signals for his fireball, but, just when he inhale the air required, he was forced to quickly exhale. He felt his ribs crack against the pressure of someone's fist. He lowered his eyes just to have them widen in surprise.

"Don't be so self-centered", Sakura said. He could feel her smile behind her cat's mask as she added, "Who is weak now?"

Sakura's pleasure of finally landing a blow on Sasuke was short-lived. The second she finished her sentence, Sasuke turned into a log. Sakura and the others wasted no time. They immediately drew back to back and surveyed the field for any sign of the missing Uchiha.

"Now what is going on here?"

Sakura and Naruto's eyes went directly to none other than Madara himself. The orange-masked man stood in front of them. One hand was resting on his waist while the other dropped the body of a shinobi. Sakura narrowed her eyes. It was him, the man responsible for all their misfortunes.

Naruto begin to tremble next to her with fury at seeing the man who was the source of all his misery. Sasuke appeared beside the other Uchiha and glared at the ANBU team, especially at Sakura. Despite their situation, Sakura felt light with pleasure. She had surprised him.

"What is wrong Sasuke? Offended I caught you?" She smirked just like she had seen him do in the past whenever he was pleased with himself.

Madara turned to Sasuke and pointed at them, "Sasuke. It's your teammates." Sasuke ignored the man next to him and continued to glare.

"You!" Naruto growled and took one step closer to Madara. Sakura quickly grabbed Naruto's shoulder, trying to hold him back.

"Naruto! Remember, mission before personal business", Sakura reminded him. She needed Naruto to focus, but it was not working. He trembled more as he tried to contain his fury. She needed to be more persuasive, so she pleaded in a whisper, "Sasuke comes first."

This seemed to work. Naruto stopped trembling, but, instead, became tense. Sakura felt sorry for him. She recalled what he had told her hours before. The pain in his face made her heart swell. Madara was the reason why Naruto had no parents. Sakura was positively sure that if their situations were reversed she too would feel like struggling the man.

"Right, Sasuke comes first", Naruto echoed and created five shadow clones. The clones positioned themselves close to Sakura and Naruto. "Let's do this!"

Team Ten and Naruto's clones ran towards the two Uchiha. Sakura concentrated her chakra to her fist and drove it down to the ground. The ground splinted into pieces of rocks. Sasuke and Madara were forced to jump from their positions to avoid Sakura's wake of destruction. Neji and Sai took the opportunity to attack Madara.

Sakura had no time to see if Sai's attack worked. Sasuke chose that moment to attack her from behind, his sword drawn and threatening to stab her.

"Not this time", Sakura thought. She took a kunai concealed inside her arm guard and blocked Sasuke's attack. The two metals clashed. Sakura met Sasuke's intense, onyx eyes. She felt like she was drowning in the hate and darkness in them.

"You gotten stronger", Sasuke remarked as Sakura struggled with the weight of his sword. It was inches from her face. "But not strong enough to defeat me", Sasuke said and release another chidori current that traveled from his body to his sword. Sakura cursed while she dropped her kunai. She had forgotten one of Sasuke's favorite tricks. She jumped several steps backwards, but the chidori continued following her. There was nowhere to run. There was only place to act.

"Damn! This better work."

Without a moment to loose, Sakura dropped to one knee and placed both her palms in front of her. She forced her chakra to concentrate in her palms. The green chakra erupted from her palms and created a shield at the exact moment that Sasuke's chidori reached her.

The impact of the chidori against her shield almost threw Sakura off, but she put more pressure on her knee and foot, effectively surviving the attack.

As Sasuke ran towards her, Sakura got ready for the attack. She rose to her feet. She sent more chakra to her fist and was about to drive it to the floor when something sped past her.

"Get away from her you bastard!" Naruto and his clones yelled collectively and lunched at Sasuke, each with a rasengan in hand. It seemed they had been busy making the spiral balls while she had been fighting Sasuke.

They ambushed Sasuke, but Sasuke grabbed one of the clone's hands - with the rasengan - and directed it to another clone, which disappeared the moment the rasengan touched him. He did the same with two other clones. Naruto and his last clone jumped at Sasuke with their rasengan. One of the rasengan grazed Sasuke's shoulder, but the other spiral sphere he was able to dodge and flew past Sasuke straight towards Sakura.

It is said that most brilliant plans are created when the person who creates them is in a tight spot, and Sakura's case was not an exception. A thought occurred to Sakura just then. The probability of it working was low, but she took a chance.

Once again she directed chakra to the palm of her hands.

"Please work", Sakura prayed as the rasengan came straight to her. She kept her eyes locked on it and was able to catch it using her hands.

Sakura gritted her teeth as Naruto's jutsu burned her hands, but pushing away the pain, she sprinted towards Sasuke, while maintaining the rasengan alive with her chakra. The burning sensation continued, and she thought at every second that she ran, the jutsu would come outdone or that Sasuke would notice her coming behind him.

"Come on. Just a bit closer", the rasengan made contact with Sasuke's back. He was send flying towards the nearest tree, creating a cloud of dust around him.

"Sakura!" Naruto appeared beside her. His voice containing pure awe at the fact that she had just used his own attack to hurt Sasuke. Sakura too was shocked. Her stupid idea had actually worked. If she continued working on her jutsu, maybe just maybe…

The dust around began to clear and Sakura saw Sasuke was not looking too please. His infamous Uchiha glare became more profound.

"Keep your eyes on him, Naruto", Sakura said weakly as she saw Sasuke get up from the floor. His eyes began to change from black to crimson.

"Those eyes", Sakura felt her heart began to beat faster than before. The palms of her arms started to sweat, but she was not hot. On the contrary, her body was cold with fear. Images of what those eyes had accomplished flashed through her mind.

"Don't be afraid. It just means we pissed him off or he is taking us seriously. Take your pick", Inner-Sakura crackled her fist.

Sasuke touched his mouth with his hand. Blood. Sakura had actually managed to injure him to the point of drawing blood. What's was more was both Sakura and Naruto were keeping up with him. Naruto was not a surprise, but Sakura? Maybe she had become stronger. She no longer was the weakling hiding behind her teammates it seemed.

Sasuke stood up and activated his sharingan for the second time that day. He looked up and saw Sakura standing next to Naruto like an equal. His eyes brows furrowed.

The two people who he had shaped strong bonds with stood in front of him ready to kill him. Naruto. Sakura. His brother. The girl who loved him. They who made him feel happy just by being neared them.

They needed to die.

"So it comes to this. You do intend to keep your promise after all, Naruto", Sasuke said as he recalled the latest promise Naruto made to him.

Despite their distance, Sasuke saw the blonde nod his head, "It seems this is the only promise I can keep, but…" Naruto stopped. Sasuke waited for him to continue. It was the last time he would see his former teammates. The least he could do was let them speak their minds before he killed them.

"You are my friend!" Naruto half-yelled at him. Sasuke raised his brow slightly. Not this again. His friend was going to once again give him the speech he always did whenever he saw him. The speech he always gave about how they were brothers and how he could help Sasuke. But Sasuke was once again wrong.

"And you must die. How could you Sasuke?" Sasuke noticed that Naruto was once again struggling to control himself. "How could you kill all those innocent people?"

Sasuke felt nothing as Naruto continued his accusations. He wanted to avert his eyes, but he forced them to remain in place. Yes, he remembered the faces of all the villagers he encountered. How the mothers tried to frantically protect their children from the Akatsuki, and how they looked at him begging for mercy. Sasuke did nothing to save them. He allowed Madara to do what he pleased. He shut down all his emotions and tried not to compare those massacres with the one of his clan. The only thing he did after all were killed was use his jutsu to destroy the village, so he could pretend nothing ever happened.

But now, Sasuke could not forget. Naruto was demanding an answer, and an answer the Uchiha gave. He could have said nothing at all. But he felt compelled to do so; he wanted Sakura and Naruto to think the worse of him because if they did, it would make it easier for him to kill them.

Looking directly at them, raising his chin slightly, and smirking, Sasuke said, "I did it because I could. I killed them because of a whim."

The reaction he wanted was immediate. Naruto made the first move. He conjured two clones and disappeared. Sasuke felt Naruto's chakra coming towards him. He jumped up to the nearest tree branch to avoid Naruto's fuma shuriken.

"Hey!" Sasuke looked above and was met with Sakura's foot to the face. He collapsed to the floor by the impact. Sakura and one of Naruto's clones followed him.

Once on the floor, they engaged in taijustu. Naruto's clones quickly disappeared since taijutsu was never Naruto's forte. The only ones left were Sakura and Sasuke. It quickly became apparent that Sakura was adept in the art. She avoided Sasuke's attacks effortlessly. While it took effort for Sasuke's to avoid hers. Sasuke was careful to avoid her fist, now knowing the damage they could do.

Sakura lunched at Sasuke, kunai in her hand. Sasuke saw her coming, but in that moment his vision began to blur again. The blurriness made Sasuke reflexes slow enough for him to not fully avoid Sakura's kunai. The kunai slashed the side of his body. Gritting his teeth and furious, Sasuke caught Sakura by her arm, shocked her with his Chidori, and whirled her to the other side of the field.

"Sakura!" Sasuke heard Naruto's voice. He had enough. His mangekyou sharingan swirled to life as he conjured his chidori, and turned to face Naruto. Sasuke's eyes widened momentarily.

Naruto was facing him with another rasengan in hand. His fox mask was no longer in place. Sasuke could see that his cerulean eyes were replaced by a golden-like color, and their exterior was surrounded by red circles.

"This seems familiar, eh, Sasuke?"

"Except this time, you mean to kill me. Isn't right?" Sasuke said, a bit of mockery at the end.

Naruto nodded, "Belive me. I don't want to do it, but you have gone too far. I can't save you", Naruto said softly.

Sasuke was caught off guard and pissed off by Naruto's statement for various reasons. Naruto was giving up on him. He had never seen Naruto give up on anything before. Secondly, he was pissed off that Naruto thought he, Sasuke, needed to be saved. Then, he was pissed off more because that is what he wanted from the very beginning. He wanted his teammates to give up on him.

"Tch, let's get this over with, Naruto. I have a village to destroy, and you're just wasting my time."

Sakura saw them: Naruto and Sasuke. Concentration and determination carved into their faces as they ran with their jutsu in hand.

"No" Sakura thought. This scene had happened before. She was going to lose both if she did not intervene. She got up from the floor and ran. Ran like there was no tomorrow.

There was a tremble; A tremble that almost knocked Sakura off her feet. She looked to where Sasuke and Naruto were. They were still running towards each other, oblivious to what was going on around them unlike Sakura. Something behind them caught her eye. A tree was glowing blue until light exploded from it.

Sakura shut her eyes close, blinded by the light. "What is going on?" She tried to opened her eyes and see what was going on. Initially, it was difficult but she was able to distinguish forms flying from inside the tree.

Sasuke did not notice the tree until he was blinded by the light erupting from it. Even with his eyes close, he could still see light. He felt something fly past between him and Naruto. It had brushed against the tip of the elbow he was using to cover his face. He slowly opened his eyes and saw something pink.

"Sakura?" he monetarily thought when a sharp pain shot throughout his body. He touched the spot where the pain was radiating from and winced. Sakura had done a number on him. Had she poison the blade she used? His thought was distracted by the sound of something heavy falling in front of him.

Sasuke saw the light vanished and tried to see more clearly, but the pain that was currently surging throughout his body brought him to his knees.

"I think is time for us to go, Sasuke", Madara said next to him.

NO!" Sasuke growled trying to get up, and failing. Damn. Sasuke's breathing began to heave. He couldn't leave. He needed to destroy Konoha. If he didn't, Itachi would not be avenged. He had sacrificed everything for this day.

"It is obvious your plan has-", Madara abruptly stopped. Sasuke tried to see what made him stop, but just then he started to feel faint. He struggled to keep his eyes open.

"Now what do we have here", Madara said. The tone of his voice sending shills running down Sasuke's spine. He felt Madara pick something from the ground and tried to see what it was, but in that moment he lost the battle, and unconscious descended upon him.

The last thing he remembered hearing was Naruto's loud voice.

"Oh, no! You are not escaping from me you bastard!"

The blinding light was beginning to fade. Sakura dropped her arm from her eyes and, after her eyes adjusted, looked around. The only members of Akatsuki in the field were the ones lying on the floor dead. Konoha's forces looked around each other, trying to find an explanation for what had just occurred, but it was plainly obvious. The Akatsuki had made a run for it.

"He escaped", Sakura's lips tightened and hung her head. "I let him escape."

"Never mind that", Inner-Sakura reprimanded. "Where is Naruto?"

Sakura quickly spotted him. He was standing on the same spot she had last seen Sasuke standing on. His back was to her. She rushed to his side and upon approaching him; she noticed he was holding something away from him.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked hesitantly, stopping a few feet away from him. His shoulders were shaking. Was he crying? Sakura wondered.

"I am sorry, Sakura. I let him get away", Naruto began. His voice was a mixture of anger and incredulity. Sakura wanted to tell Naruto that is was fine. That she too had let the Uchiha escape, but her teammate continued rumbling on.

"I guess Neji will get his turn now. But you see. I thought it was him. I truly thought I had Sasuke."

Sakura became concerned, "Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"I mean. How many people you know have hair shaped like...like…LIKE A CHICKEN-", Naruto yelled and turned to face Sakura.

Sakura's eyes widened. Over the years, there were numerous times when she questioned her sanity, and it seem those times always involved the youngest of the Uchiha. Who in the right mind would continue to have feelings for a criminal?

But she was not crazy. Sakura always came to this conclusion. But once again, she was questioning her sanity. Maybe, just maybe, she was crazy because how could she explain Naruto holding a child by the back of his cloak, and that child looking like a younger version of Uchiha Sasuke.

"Yep, YOU are crazy", inner-Sakura whispered.

Having lost Sasuke again, the young ANBU return to the village, but not empty-handed. Questions surface about the identity of the child who looks like their lost friend. Who is he and where did he came from? Traditions are retaken, friendships are strengthened, and new obstacles arise.

Next time in HIDDEN-LEAF REVELATIONS: ALLIES

A/N: I wanted to end this chapter in a semi-comical way. I took a long time to update this chapter because I have no experience with fighting scenes. Hope they were to your satisfaction. I loved writing Sasuke. Here he is just a walking contradiction, and his angst!

Just like before, I would like to thank the people who have reviewed, subscripted, and are following me and my story. This chapter was dedicated to you all. Please review and share your thoughts with me. Do you know why Gaara irritates Sasuke? Who do you think the child is? Do you have any guesses to where this story is going? How I am doing with the characters? I welcome with open arms any suggestions on how to improve my story, if you feel it needs improvement. If there are grammatical errors, I am willing to correct them for you.

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