Authors Note: This is my version of Sasuke's defection in this story. It was partially inspired by Andrew Joshua Talon's Naruto: An Alternative Canon his stuff is amazing! Check it out.

Update 1/07/2017: Cleaned up all the countless mistakes (wrote this at like 3 AM on a school night) and added a few scenes that I think elevate the writing.

Night had fallen over the village hidden in the leaf, darkness encompassing the normal jovial village. An overwhelming silence blanketed the area – a far cry from the almost constant sounds of laughter and noise that makes Konoha great. Brooding in a tree, his armor laying in a heap on an adjacent branch and wearing his skin tight body suit, sat Sasuke Uchiha. Susanoo was surprisingly quiet. The usually talkative AI had nothing to add to his host's dilemma. No sarcastic remark, no thorough solution with the unwavering assurance that it'll work, and certainly no words of wisdom.

It was…surreal having his companion for the past 6 years be silent. The constant voice in his head that reminded him so much of Itachi, yet also was so different, had been there since the beginning. Susanoo was there when he mastered the Great Fireball technique, his wide-brimmed hat shadowing his face as he smirked at Sasuke. He was there when he came home to find his brother standing over his parents, cleaning the fresh blood of his blade. Looking back all Sasuke could remember – all he wanted to remember – was how the normally blue-colored AI turned a stark crimson. The look of rage and disbelief and sadness mirroring his own. Susanoo has always been there.

But now…

For the first time in a long time Sasuke didn't know what to do. And it sacred him.

"Father, Mother, what should I do? What can I do?" Absent-mindedly twirling an electro-kunai in his hand, he barely heard the four figures drop in front of him and get into a battle stance. Caught slightly off guard, he recovered immediately as the augmentations he had went into overtime – slowing down everything around him to millisecond levels of speed and increasing his reaction time tenfold. His mind focused and his body became tense as he remembered the training that was routinely beat into him.

"You must always remain calm. Release yourself of all emotions and look at the battle from an objective point-of-view." Danzo said, resting on his cane as he and his students overlooked the copious amounts of chunin exam videos. "What is your opponent wearing? Are there any noticeable weapons? What is their stance? Their posture? Abnormalities? These are the questions you must ask yourself before battle. The answers could mean either an absolute victory or utter defeat."

Four combatants. Three males, one female. Body types; one large, one average, two lithe. Average sized male has two extra sets of arms, a bloodline? Possible. Only one of the four had a sign of their allegiance, a silver headband with a single music note. Sasuke ruled out missing-nins. No discernable weapons, lithe male has medium sized scroll on back. Lack of weapons could be a sign of arrogance. His eyes darted to the scroll for a nanosecond – scroll is relative unknown, have to prepare for either summons or hidden weapons. He gave a slight twitch of his finger. Armor too far to grab and the only piece of lethal equipment is his electro-kunai. His bodysuit could defend against small arms and mild jutsu, but if these guys used higher caliber techniques he could be in trouble. He narrowed his eyes at the four, his mind still working on a feasible plan of attack.

"Sloppy work 23! Did you forget the point of the last tactics and strategy class?" Danzo shouted. A clap of thunder roared above as the blonde-haired eight year old was sent flying into the mud. A silver-haired man relaxed himself as he came to rest from the attack. Danzo looked over the rest of the students with a single critical eye.

"How often will I have to beat this into you?! Never attack an enemy with sudden abandon! A shinobi knows the importance of a plan and strategy. Hubris of your skills or lack of thought only leads to a dead ninja. Thinking. Strategizing. Expecting the unexpected. These are what sets apart a good shinobi from a dead one."

Sasuke took a calming breath and went over the limited information on his opponents. He may not have the near super computer level of processing like Shikamaru, but Sasuke wasn't like Naruto either. Limited defense and weapons was a drawback – he would have to rely primarily on defensive moves until an opening presented itself. Four against one also weren't the best odds, but he was trained for much worse. Nothing he couldn't handle. His normal repertoire of ninjutsu was also not an option. Anything to flashy or destructive could cause unnecessary collateral damage to the village, it also might bring unwanted attention to his location. If he wanted to find out what these four wanted or the reason for their arrival he would have to isolate them for as long as possible. If wanted to control this fight – because a fight was going to happen – he would have to take advantage of any opening immediately and go on the offensive, otherwise he would be forced into a less than savory position.

Sasuke mentally smirked. Training may have conditioned him to remain stoic (that didn't stop Naruto from still being as loud and annoying as ever) but he was still the Last of the Uchiha and that meant knowing he could beat these sound hacks any day of the week.

All of this roughly took place within three seconds of their arrival.

The dark-skinned man smirked at him, starring at Sasuke with arrogance. "Let me introduce myself I am–"

He never got a chance to finish his sentence as Sasuke broke into a sprint, charging the leader as he held his kunai in reverse grip. He lunged at him, slashing at thin air as his enemy was forced to backpedal away from Sasuke.

"Looks like the difficulty of this encounter just got–"

Again the spider man's mouth was forced closed as Sasuke appeared in front of him once more, not giving his enemy any room to counter. His assault was relentless, giving the target no quarter to defend against. He slashed and stabbed away at the man, sparks of electricity spiking off his glowing kunai, casting the fight in a dim blue glow. A slight tingle went across his neck as he sensed a threat from behind. Without missing a beat Sasuke flowed gracefully into his next attack, slashing at the target behind him while hitting his first opponent in the face with a backfist, sending him reeling. His slash however, was halted as the one with the scroll held his wrist in an iron grip. But then, using superior strength, Sasuke turned and leaned in to his opponent pulling him into his back. He smashed the back of his skull against the man, hearing a resounding crack as his opponent let go of his wrist disoriented. Turning back around, he flipped his kunai around to a forward grip and aimed to plunge the knife directly into his enemy. A blur of movement entered the corner of his eye. He flicked the kunai to his next enemy, the weapon making a slight buzz as it sailed through the air towards the large man. The orange-haired beast of a ninja just barely dodged the glowing blade, the weapons sailing under his arm and lodging itself in the tree with a resounding thunk. Sasuke round-housed away the smaller man and was upon the giant in an instant.

He grabbed his arm, hearing a slight crunch as Sasuke's enhanced strength threatened to break the man's wrist, and twisted it. In a blink of an eye Sasuke had raised his elbow and smashed it into the much larger man's arm, breaking it at the elbow with a sickening crack. He then leashed onto his bow, pulling his arm through it as he threw him into his allies. He crashed into the one he kicked away and they both crashed into eight armed man in a heap. Sasuke allowed himself to smirk thinking the fight over. It was then four loud pops resonated through the air. His ears twitched at the noise, whipping his head behind him and seeing nothing but four logs in their place.

"I can see why Lord Orochimaru wants you. You're a main character." Sasuke's eyes twitched at the voice, looking up sharply and seeing his four targets right in front of him mostly unscathed. He did however notice that the one with the scroll was holding his face as blood still came pouring out of his nose and the large one was holding his arm a little too gingerly for it not to be noticeable. Sasuke took a small bit of satisfaction in that.

"Who are you? What is that you want?" Sasuke asked them.

"We are the Sound Four and I am Kidomaru of the East Gate." Kidomaru replied. "The one whose nose you managed to break is Sakon of the West Gate."

"I am Jirobo of the South Gate." Jirobo said, his voice deep.

"And I am Tayuya of the North Gate."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Why have you come to Konoha? What is it that you seek?"

"What we wanted was you. But now? Now I want to kick your ass!" The one with white hair, Sakon, said.

"Humph. So the bleeding finally stopped? You're welcome to try again if you're up for it."

"Don't worry you leaf trash! I'll pay you back 20 times worse than this! That's a promise!" Sakon took a menacing step forward, ready to leap at Sasuke and continue their fight. However he was held back by Kidomaru, holding one of his six arms in front of his comrade.

"Now's not the time Sakon!"

"That's rich coming from you!"

"You'll have plenty of time after we get back to Oto."

"What makes you think you'll leave here alive?" Sasuke asked, once more getting into a fighting stance.

"Because we know what you want and we know you'll come with us."

"Oh and what's that?"

"Power."

Kidomaru smirked as Sasuke's head snapped to the red-head. He narrowed his eyes at her as she stared Sasuke down.

"We know you want power," Tayuya said. "And we know how to get it. Lord Orochimaru offers you power! All the power you could ever want or need. Enough power to destroy your enemies…even Itachi Uchiha."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed for a fraction, a tingling burn at the corner of his neck agitating him. He ruthlessly crushed the intoxicating feeling and outwardly smirked at her. "But everything comes with a price right?"

"That's up to you." replied Sakon. "If you truly consider staying in this pathetic little village a price then sure – it does come with a price. But if you can sever your ties here and remember who you truly are? Then what price are you really playing for this?"

Sasuke stared the four ninja down, arms in front of him and ready to strike. But before anything else could happen a sound reached his ears – the rustling of leaves sounding into the night like a giant bell. His eyes darted to the noise for only a second, but his enemies had already vanished. He relaxed, or at least as much a Senshi could, and stared at the moon their words ringing through his ears like mad ramblings. Sasuke calmly walked back towards the branch his armor was lying on, swiftly putting it on while holding his headband in his hand. He stared at the hitai-ate, the swirling leaf in the center of the glistening metal staring back at him. His gaze was hypnotized by it. He tightened his grip on it, a slight break running through the metal at his hold.

"Sasuke." Susanoo's velvety voice drifted through his head, the AI appearing before him in a casual seiza position.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, his grip still tight on his headband.

"What are we going to do?"

Sasuke didn't reply, still hypnotized by the gleaming silver of hitai-ate. He stared at it for what felt like hours. Susanoo said nothing as he watched his host, the artificial intelligence's gaze unwavering. At long last Sasuke broke out of his trance and stuffed his headband into his armor staring at a tower in the distance.

He needed to see the Hokage.

"Hey Ba-chan you wanted to see me?" Naruto asked as he entered the office of the Fifth Hokage, his burnt orange armor above his black bodysuit. His black hitai-ate was securely wrapped around his forehead, keeping his longer-than-usual messy yellow hair out his eyes. His cheerful smile dropped as he entered, noting the presence of others in the room. "Huh, hey what's going on? Why is everyone looking so serious?"

Surrounding the desk of the Hokage, not caring about the stacks of documents and papers that littered the office, was 5 other SENSHI ninja. Sakura in her dark red armor and her hair in a short bun, Shikamaru in his usual minimalist style by wearing only a light vest and leather enforced pants over his bodysuit, Tenten heavily armed with her bow along her back, Neji in his pure white armor, and finally Kiba with the rather large Akamaru standing beside him.

"Now that everyone's here we can start briefing you on your mission. This is an S-Rank Pursuit and Capture mission, classified not only for the target but the expected resistance and skill level of your opponents."

"Who's the target?" Asked Shikamaru.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

A sudden tension fell over the room. Outwardly nothing changed, the five other ninja in the room showing no outward emotion – except for Naruto of course. He never could pass the emotional neutrality class in the academy. But inwardly? It was as if an atomic bomb had dropped, which wasn't very far from the truth. Shock coursed through every Senshi in the room, a layer of extreme discomfort settling over the area and the very air so thick with apprehension not even Kakashi's raikiri could pierce it. Naruto's face twisted into a series of emotions within seconds, ranging from shock to denial to distraught and finally settling on a look of pure, unadulterated anger. His eyes narrowed to slits, fangs spouting out of his mouth as his whiskers grew darker and frenzied.

"Calm yourself Naruto. Don't let him control us. We're better than that."

Amaterasu's pale yellow form appeared on his shoulder, her elegant kimono and long hair settling behind her. Her soothing voice had a noticeable effect on him, his teeth turning back to normal and his whiskers going back to three thin lines. His eyes, however, were still narrowed into slits and his fingernails were still sharp and shaped like claws. Sakura was the first to break the silence.

"No. I know exactly where this is going and Sasuke would never do that. A senshi would never do that!"

Tsunade gave out a long sigh, rubbing her temple as she fell back into her chair. "Late last night, or early this morning if you prefer, Sasuke Uchiha was seen departing from the west gate with four Oto ninjas. Around eight o'clock this morning a patrolling ANBU unit saw Sasuke and the four ninjas making their way towards the border of Rice Country. We can only assume he has defected from Konoha and is allying himself with Oto."

"What are the mission parameters?"

"Neji!" Sakura shrieked.

"You can't seriously think he would–"

"Lethal force is authorized." Tsunade said, interrupting Kiba. Shocked gasps and cries of outrage – mainly coming from Naruto and Sakura – resounded through the room. She ignored them. "You are to retrieve Sasuke at all costs. Preferably alive. His death is the last, and I mean the very last, resort. That is your primary objective. Your secondary objective is to either capture or eliminate his Sound escort. Capture would be ideal but you are not required to keep them alive. If your target dies your primary objective then becomes the retrieval of the Sharingan and its immediate return. Squad leader will be Shikamaru Nara with Neji Hyuuga as second-in-command. Team medic will be Sakura Haruno with Tenten Bukinagi providing auxiliary support. Naruto Uzumaki will be the battlefield commander. Any questions?"

She was met with silence.

"You have your orders. Move out!"

Neji left immediately, Shikamaru letting him know to meet them at the west gate in 20 minutes. He was soon followed by Tenten and then Shikamaru both leaving to get ready for the mission. Standing absolutely still, haven't not moved once since the briefing, Sakura tried to steady her shaking hands as a bead of sweat began to fall from her brow.

"T-t-tsunade-sama you don't seriously think he would do this right? I refuse to believe Sasuke would just abandon the village – abandon his family – to go to Orochimaru! He wouldn't! He just wouldn't!"

"Sakura you need to calm down. I'm sure that-"

"No! I won't calm down Yomi! Naruto you know he wouldn't right?! You have to believe he wouldn't abandon us like this! You better than anyone should know that!" Tears threatened to break out over Sakura's screaming, all of her training going right out the window the moment she found out who their target was.

Naruto's face held no emotion – a far cry from the usual heart-on-his-sleeve hyperactive blonde. He clenched and unclenched his fist, his eyes shadowed showing nothing to his fellow teammate. Suddenly, as if a switch had been flipped, he held a large grin threatening to split his face with his eyes squinted. He then soundly turned around and began to walk out of the office. Sakura stared at his back in shock until her face contorted into rage.

"NARUTO! HOW DARE YOU–"

"That's enough Sakura!"

The pinketts rant was immediately halted by the authority in Naruto's voice. She's only ever heard this voice once before, right before they went to rescue Lee.

"If Sasuke has defected, and that's a pretty big if, we'll get him back. Even if I have to break every last bone in his body. Even if I have to pull him by his stupid ass hair all the way back. Even if I have to give him a good kick in the nuts to make him understand how stupid he's being. We'll bring him back. Him and Susanoo."

Naruto's head turned slightly, his smile gone replaced with a stony expression as his slitted cerulean blue eyes bore into Sakura's.

"That bastard is our brother. No matter what he says. And we don't abandon family. Not now, not ever."

He then walked out of the door, his footsteps fading into the hallway. Only a minute passed until he poked his head back into the door-frame, staring at Sakura with a smile.

"Come on! You coming or what? We only have 17 minutes left before we gotta meet Shika at the west gate!"

Sakura smiled, wiping her tears away, and giggled swiftly following him out. Giving one rushed bow to Tsunade, she closed the door to her office as their footsteps faded away from the Senju.

Tsunade sighed and slumped back into her chair with a thud. Rummaging through a drawer in her desk she pulled out a bottle of sake, not even bothering to grab the saucer next to it. Standing up she looked out over the large bay windows overlooking the Village Hidden in the Leaves, popping open the bottle and taking a very long swig.

"Sasuke, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Susanoo and I agree Lady Hokage. This is our best and – if we don't want Orochimaru to make any more moves against Konoha – only option."

Sasuke stood in front of Tsunade, dawn just beginning to settle over the village. His face held no emotions but inside, and in his head, his emotions were a hurricane of feelings. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to abandon everything he's worked so hard to have in this village. Most importantly he didn't want to disappoint his team or Dr. Halsey. But this was the perfect opportunity to do this. Maybe their only opportunity. He had to do this.

Susanoo materialized in front of the two, pacing back and forth in the air in front of Tsunade's desk. "I've run the sims Godaime-sama. This is the single best opportunity to get a reliable spy into Orochimaru's ranks. We wouldn't have a much better chance than this, even if he was offering himself to Konoha on a silver platter. Which he is. I say we take it."

Tsunade sighed, something she's been doing a lot these past few days, and starred at the child – solider – before her. She knew he was right. They both were. That didn't mean she didn't like it any less.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you're both right. Are you sure you're up for this? You'll be labeled as a traitor and hunted down like a dog for however long the mission lasts. That is no easy task."

"I'm sure Lady Tsunade. If this is what takes to keep the roots standing firm and the branches staying long then I'll do it. Gladly."

"Is that you talking or something Halsey and Danzo beat into you?"

Sasuke couldn't answer that.

Tsunade sighed and withdrew two scrolls from her desk. "This mission will be classified as a SS-Rank Deep Cover and Reconnaissance. You have three primary objectives: the infiltration and subsequent defection to Otogakure no Sato, the gathering of relevant intelligence and information on the village and its movements, and finally the elimination of the leader of Oto Orochimaru if such an opportunity presents itself. Secondary objectives are the subtle sabotage of Sound plans and village as well as the eventual collapse of Otogakure itself. These two scrolls will have a list of relative safehouses and your contacts to Konoha. Trust no-one but the people on that list."

"I understand."

"No I don't think you do. You will have absolutely zero freedom with anyone from Konoha other than the people on that list. From now until the end of this assignment you will be treated as an enemy of the leaf and will be met with lethal force. Including those of your team memers."

"So I ask you, Sasuke Uchiha, do you accept this assignment and everything it entails?"

There was a long pause in the room, the silence suffocating. Sasuke stared at the headband in his hand before he tied around his head at an agonizingly slow pace. He stared at his Hokage in the eye as he uttered the two words that would forever damn him.

"I accept."