"Speaking current tense"

"Speaking past tense"

'Thinking current tense'

This is fanfic. I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 3: Dazed and Confused – Part 3

Blue eyes turned to ice as Naruto exited the room that was his prison for the last few days to be met with the man responsible for putting him there. Everything that had happened faded into the background. Here was the man responsible for so much of the hurt in his life. The man who continually betrayed him.

Naruto could feel his rage building. However, instead of the evil of the Kyuubi influencing him with its chakra, his connection still hindered because of the drugs in his system, Naruto could tell that the chakra bubbling to the surface was different. Instead of a mountainous volume of fire spewing from a volcano, this chakra was more like a raging maelstrom on the sea, its harsh winds and rough seas destroying all in its wake. Naruto welcomed it.

His right hand snaked out and grasped Sasuke around the throat. Sasuke offered no resistance. Staring into Sasuke's eyes Naruto noticed several emotions: surprise, anger, shock, and acceptance. None of it mattered. All Naruto could think of was protecting Hinata from the man who set about to destroy all that was precious in his life.

Sasuke watched Naruto critically. Only one emotion danced across his eyes. Rage. Sasuke felt Naruto's grip on his throat flex, the individual digits digging into the skin of his neck. Yet the final blow never came. Sasuke was unsure of what was stopping Naruto, but knew that he could not kill Sasuke. It wasn't in the eyes, yet there was something else holding him back.

Sasuke knew from the moment Naruto stepped through the door that only two scenarios were possible. One, Naruto would welcome him back like a brother. Or two, he would kill him. Yet like so many things about Naruto, he found the unexpected. And Sasuke knew then that he couldn't let Naruto kill him, at least not yet. No, he had to make sure that both Naruto and Hinata returned safely to Konoha.

Bringing up his left hand Sasuke batted aside Naruto's arm then slid back two steps into a defensive stance to wait for the next attack. This movement broke Naruto from his inner struggle. Seeing Sasuke adopt a defensive stance Naruto knew then that a fight was inevitable. Then he launched himself towards the Uchiha, his right hand retracting in preparation for the first punch.

Seeing the two move Hinata slid between them, first stopping Naruto's attack with a strike to the tenketsu point near his wrist. The power of the attack now gone, Hinata's hands blurred as she rested her right hand above Sasuke's heart while her left rested on the right side of Naruto's neck. The three ninja stood perfectly still as the quick actions finally registered.

Naruto was beside himself. Why did Hinata stop him? Didn't she realise who this was!?

"No." The sound of HInata's voice made Naruto refocus on her. He stared right into her Byakugan-enhanced eyes, the power radiating from them dulling slightly as they both looked at each other for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

"What..."

Hinata interrupted him. "You can't kill him Naruto, at least, not yet."

Naruto watched as Hinata turned side-on to Sasuke, the two exchanging a quick look, then Sasuke returned to a normal stance and bowed slightly to Hinata, his posture indicating subservience. Naruto couldn't believe it. What the hell was happening?

"Hinata, what is going on?" Worry tinged his voice as his eyes met Hinata's again, this time without the Byakugan, and he noticed a small smile on her lips.

Hinata decided to get straight to the point; details could be filled in later when they had the time. "The Uchiha's sworn a blood oath to me to do everything in his power to help me rescue you."

Naruto was shocked. Switching his gaze between Sasuke and Hinata he knew that what was said was true by the looks on their faces. He still needed to make sure he heard correctly.

"A blood oath?"

Hinata nodded. "A blood oath."

"And this isn't another hallucination?"

Before he could stop himself Sasuke scoffed at Naruto's question, the smirk quickly leaving his face as both Naruto and Hinata glared at him.

"This isn't a trick Naruto." Hinata smiled at her fiancé reassuringly. "Now let's get out of here."

"Finally! I was afraid I'd have to remind you three that we're in enemy territory and they're none too pleased we're here." Naruto jumped at Mantis's exasperated comment while Hinata sighed.

"When did you get here!?" Naruto was getting tired of being surprised.

"I've been here the whole time idiot." Mantis walked over to the other three as he matched Naruto's stare from behind his mask.

"That's enough. We've already spent too much time here, so everything else can wait til later." Hinata turned to Sasuke as she handed a soldier pill to Naruto while releasing the blocked tenketsu point in his wrist. "Lead the way Uchiha."

Nodding, Sasuke started off down the hallway back the way they came. Falling in behind Hinata as Mantis brought up the rear, Naruto quickly digested the soldier pill as strength slowly returned to his body.

Jinzu waited patiently with his team as the three man Konoha team fought its way towards the entrance of the base. The small building his team hid behind offered excellent cover and was situated near enough to the entrance that it was the perfect place to spring a trap. He knew of course that this meant it was easy enough to spot the trap, but was confident that with the continuous fighting the Konoha ninja's would overlook it easily.

Jinzu was in his late twenties, stood at five foot eight inches tall, and possessed a pale complexion and short black hair and eyes. His physique was muscular yet lithe, a combination that allowed Jinzu to excel in taijutsu and water-based ninjutsu because of his strong water element affinity.

Jinzu was a Mist jounin of two years when Pein-sama recruited him for Akatsuki. He was told that because of his ruthlessness and cruel intelligence he was perfect for the organisation and instantly joined the group. Then he met the true leader of the organisation, one Uchiha Madara.

Madara had been impressed with Jinzu's performance on several missions and promoted him quickly. Jinzu was also deeply impressed by the Uchiha. Here was a man who took what he wanted no matter what anyone told him. Here was a man that Jinzu could serve proudly. And Madara let him do whatever he wanted in order to get the mission done.

Jinzu wasn't a sadist or a barbarian, but he wasn't adverse to getting his hands dirty if that meant a successful mission. He was ruthless. This of course meant that certain people found his conduct questionable.

This hadn't bothered him too much as Madara-sama had mainly sent him on solo missions. That had changed though when Madara-sama had promoted him to a senior role. Initially Jinzu had been happy to serve Madara-sama by better by organising security for the Uchiha's personal base.

The promotion meant he was finally being recognised for his excellent skills and intelligence. However, as time passed he noticed that people were starting to question his decisions and behaviour. He moved quickly to silent such views, but it was already too late. His authority was being undermined, so he did the only thing left that he could do. He found several ninja guilty of dissention, and some that were not, and had them punished.

The torture they endured was varied, and at the end of it Jinzu had them lined up in front the rest of the ninja's inhabiting the base. Standing there with all eyes on him, Jinzu then pointed at five random ninja out of those that were tortured and executed them on the spot. They died quietly, staring defiantly into his eyes. The other ninja's that were gathered were also quiet, not one moving to stop him or help their comrades.

At the end of the execution Jinzu ordered the remaining injured ninja's taken to sickbay and for the dead to be disposed of. Everyone moved quickly. Jinzu loved it when a point made was a point understood.

Madara had also commended him on his leadership, but had quietly chided him for so easily killing his own allies. The language that Madara used though was easily deciphered by Jinzu. He could do whatever he wanted, so long as he didn't go overboard. The only thing Jinzu didn't like with his position was that he was forced to lead a four man team.

He had always worked best solo. For some reason whenever he was placed in a team the team either couldn't work with him after several missions, or they all died. Madara-sama had been insistent though, and so he was given a team to lead. To make it worse he wasn't allowed to choose who was to be on his team.

The only person on his team he could tolerate was Todoko. The man was from Suna, a Jounin of excellent skill who used a combination of ninjutsu and genjutsu, did what he was told and kept his opinions to himself.

The second man in his team was Fugutsu Aoshi, and not only was he a medic, a profession that Jinzu believed was for kunoichi only, but he was also from Iwa which meant that Jinzu liked him even less. The third member of his team, the one Jinzu despised the most, was Akera Aiiki, a female jounin also from Iwa. The woman specialised in taijutsu and close combat ninjutsu, a combination Jinzu believed was unsuitable for kunoichi because of their lack of physical strength compared to men.

What made it worse was that the woman had attempted to seduce him, no doubt in an effort to progress higher in rank, and though she was attractive Jinzu dismissed her attempts because she had attempted to seduce him. Stupid bitch obviously thought he was some stupid hormone crazed idiot, which immediately made Jinzu dislike her even more

All in all Jinzu hated his team, and for a brief moment considered questioning Madara-sama's decision, but he knew that if Madara-sama wanted him to have this team he had a good reason for it. It didn't mean he had to like it though.

Watching the Konoha ninja still he thought back to his encounter with his master several minutes ago.

Alerted to the attack on the base Jinzu had first wanted to go to the front lines so that he could see first-hand how the enemy had made it through the defences – he didn't want to reply of information from other sources.

Running out of the security room his team gathered around him instantly on his way to the wall. Already he could hear the sounds of battle, and getting closer to the wall he could see the blur of movement from several ninja. However he went no further as he quickly studied the events that were transpiring. He cursed himself inside his head.

The attack was a diversion, a simple one at that, but because of the intensity of it, and the lack of action for the last two weeks, Jinzu had easily fallen for it. Looking along the wall to the right he noticed the movements of several ninja jumping the wall and disposing of the few defenders left there.

Instead of being angry that his security measures were so easily avoided, Jinzu was impressed by the Konoha ninjas. Turning away from the wall he lead his team back towards the entrance of the base. The buildings prevented Jinzu from arriving before the enemy ninja made it to the entrance, but he wasn't too concerned. Jinzu knew that once the enemy made it inside they would be locked in combat by the roaming patrols he had in place, giving his team enough time to attack the enemy from behind.

That was when Madara materialised before him. Stopping abruptly in front of his master Jinzu bowed slightly, his team mimicking the action.

"Jinzu-san, I need you and your team to stay outside and dispose of these ninja's." Madara's voice was calm as the battle continued around them.

"As you command Madara-sama. But what about the others who have entered the base?" Jinzu was anxious about his question but knew he had to ask if he was to defend the base properly.

"Don't worry about them. Your defences will hinder them enough that once they claim their prize their friends out here will be taken care of which means we will have them surrounded and outnumbered."

"As you command Madara-sama." Bowing again Jinzu watched his leader depart then turned back to the battle at hand.

His plan was simple enough, and it was its simplicity that would ensure it success. All he had to do now was wait.

Whew! That was like pulling teeth :D I honestly thought I would have this done faster, but it wasn't to be. The next chapter should be up faster than this one was, especially since I stopped here cause it seems kind of like the right place to stop (this might change though once I write the next bit). Reviews, comments, error correction welcome. Thanks for reading.