Normal speech

Thought

Kyuubi/Nine-tails/Other big voices

InnerSakura

A/N:

Disclaimer

I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form, but I do own the OCs in this story… :-) This is merely for my, and hopefully everyone else's, enjoyment. Thank you!

Recap:

"I already know that… I'm different from the rest of you… I can't follow the same path as you. Up until now we've done everything as a team, but for what I have to do… I must do it alone. I've already decided on revenge and there's nothing that can be done to change that."

"But…!!"

"I'm nothing like you or Naruto!! I never will be! From here on we take different paths."

Her tears flowed heavily as she tried to convey her feelings to Sasuke, "But… without you… I'll feel just alone as you… I… I LOVE YOU WITH ALL OF MY HEART!!! I DON'T WANT YOU TO GO!!! If… If you were to stay with me… I'd make sure that everyday would be fun! You'd never be lonely… if you'd just stay with me! We'd be happy… I swear! Please…!!"

Sasuke's fists clenched even tighter. For the first time since their debate on his future, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at the distraught Sakura. Even from a single glance, Sakura could tell that Sasuke still hadn't wavered…

"If you have to go then take me with you!! I'll do what I can to help you with your revenge and keep you safe! So please… stay with me," she shouted out of desperation.

Sasuke fully turned and, with a smirk on his face, told her, "You really are annoying…"

He turned to leave and end this conversation once and for all. Seeing this, Sakura took a deep breath. Before she could get out a good scream, Sasuke disappeared. She stopped as she heard his voice gently say her name from behind. She heard one final thing before everything went dark…

"Thank you..."


Desertion

Sasuke made his way out of the village. There he had another run in with the four Sound-nins he had the "pleasure" of meeting earlier…

"We've been waiting for you, Sasuke," Sakon stated politely. "With this decision, you've been declared our new leader. Please, forgive our rudeness earlier, but it was necessary to…"

"I don't care about that. Let's just get out of here," Sasuke said nonchalantly as he and the Sound Four left the village.

"You're supposed to be taking it easy," Yuuki said as she followed after Hinata.

She didn't say a word. She just continued on. It seemed like she was searching for something.

"I think that it'd be best if we took you back to the hospital like Naruto told us," Ryuubi suggested. "You don't seem to be in any condition to…," she quieted as Hinata stopped abruptly.

There the girls had found an unconscious Sakura on a bench. They rushed to her side and checked her before taking her to Tsunade…

"What…!? What happened to her?!" Naruto asked worriedly.

They told him and Tsunade of how they found her all alone. Unfortunately, they couldn't figure out why she was there. This being as good a time as any, Hinata spoke up…

"I think… think she was trying to stop Sasuke…"

"What? Stop him from doing what?" Naruto questioned.

"I… I had a vision… Sasuke was leaving the village with four other people."

"F-Four people," Naruto stammered.

Naruto recalled the scuffle with the Sound Four that he had just informed Tsunade of. She knew how he was going to react so before he could…

"Naruto… I want you and the girls to go and check Sasuke's home. If there's no sign of him, I want you to report back here immediately so that we can make a plan of action," Tsunade commanded.

Without a second thought, Naruto was out the door with the girls lagging behind. All but Hinata that is. Instead she was to see to Sakura while the others investigated and Tsunade planned for the worst.

Naruto and the others arrived at Sasuke's house. It looked like no one was home, but just to make sure Naruto entered and had a look around. While he did that the dragon sisters tracked Sasuke's scent through the village. The freshest led them to the area where they had found Sakura. They followed it and found that it headed out of the village. With no other sign of him, they reported back to the Hokage…

"So it's what I feared. Sasuke's left the village to seek out Orochimaru," Tsunade said.

"What…!? There's no way he'd do something like that. He wouldn't!" Naruto blurted out.

"Then what do you think happened?" Ryuuri chimed in.

"Those guys that attacked him… they must have come back and took him by force," he explained.

Tsunade had her doubts, but she wanted to have a little faith, "Fine… before I completely write it off as a desertion, I'll take into consideration everything and make my decision. So get some rest."

Naruto exploded, "What…!!? We don't have time for that!! We have rescue Sasuke as soon as possible!! Otherwise…"

"I know," Tsunade interrupted. "The intention is to go after them as soon as possible, but I have many other things to consider before sending a team after them. If you want to be a part of that team then I suggest you do as I say and get some rest."

Reluctantly, Naruto left the room. It's all he could do at the moment, though he didn't feel that way. The idea of sneaking out and going after Sasuke danced around in his head. He would have done it too if it hadn't been for the fact that he was already so tired from his earlier fights. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Tsunade had to act fast. She knew that before long Naruto would follow after Sasuke. She immediately demanded for a certain someone to be brought to her…

At the break of dawn, Sakura suddenly awoke with a startle. She found herself on a couch in the Hokage's office and across the room were Shikamaru and the Hokage herself.

"Good to see you awake Sakura," she said. "Now… why don't you tell us about what happened last night…?"

Sakura wasn't sure of what to do. She knew that she had to inform the Hokage of the situation, but she was afraid that it would make it out that Sasuke was a traitor.

"We know that Sasuke Uchiha has left the village, but we don't know the details. We have reason to believe that you were the last one to come into contact with him so we'd like to hear what you have to say…"

Sakura looked like she had something to say but she was hesitant. Tsunade could speculate things just from this but she didn't want to assume the worst.

"We just need some confirmation about what he plans to do. You don't need to worry… we'll bring him back alive," she assured her.

With a bit of relief, Sakura told what she knew. Now all that was left was the assembly of the team that would take on this task…

"Shikamaru…! I'll be giving you your first mission as a Chunin right now. You're to go after Sasuke and bring him back. There's a great chance that you could run into trouble," the Hokage informed him.

"What!? But why him…? Back in the academy he seemed like he was so great. I'm ashamed to say that I actually looked up to him a little, but now all of a sudden…" He was baffled but he had to do as the Hokage ordered. If that's how it was going to be then he would make a few suggestions to make things easier on himself, "If that's the case then I ask for a team comprised of only Chunin and Jounin."

She shook her head and informed him why she couldn't fulfill his request, "Right now most of the higher ranked shinobi other than those that must remain are out on missions. You'll just have to make do with what shinobi you can find… starting with this guy…!"

She grabbed a stapler off her desk and hurled it at the ceiling. Part of it fell and along with it came tumbling none other than…

"Naruto…!?" Sakura said surprised.

"I'm sure that he can be of some use but don't let him get carried away. You're in charge of this mission. Now, the two of you get moving!"

Without hesitation, Naruto rushed to an open window and slung himself through it while shutting it on the way out. Shikamaru watched in disbelief as he couldn't figure out why anyone would go to such lengths just to shave off a minute or two. He looked back at Sakura and the Hokage to see if he was the only one. Sakura appeared to be too upset to even notice while Tsunade gave him a look that said, "Get moving or else…"

With a sigh he left the office and the Hokage tower. On his way down he tried his best to think of possible candidates to acquire to make this mission as easy as possible. Many Jounin were the first to pop into his head followed by a few Chunin.

"This is so lame," he thought. "Everyone that could be a great deal of help during this mission if there's any real danger are either gone or already have other things to do. The only ones left are genin and of them, only Neji advanced far during the exams…"

He broke his train of thought as he noticed someone walking his way. Just the person he was hoping to see…

Meanwhile, Naruto was running all over the village for a sign of anyone that could come along on the mission. He asked many of his former academy classmates, but they all declined for numerous reasons. He was at the end of his rope when he finally noticed that he was being trailed. He knew exactly who and turned to confront them…

"You can't go, you know," he said as a head poked out from behind a building.

"Why? Where are you going? What are you doing?" Yuuki asked.

Naruto clenched his teeth as he said, "That bastard Sasuke…! He's left the village and is heading towards Orochimaru's place."

Yuuki gasped as she was surprised by this. She thought that surely she would never hear that guy's name again. She could have sworn that he had been annihilated by Naruto that time. She was speechless but someone else wasn't…

"Wh-Why would we even care where you're going or what happens to that guy? You two got into a fight the other day," another voice piped up.

Naruto looked up and on the roof were the dragon sisters. Ryuubi looked worried while Ryuuri looked as if she could care less about the situation.

"Yeah, we fought yesterday, but that doesn't mean that I should just turn my back on him and let him make a mistake like this. He's my comrade… my teammate…... my… friend. I have to do what I can to save him!"

Ryuuri took a deep breath before saying, "Fine, but be careful. Don't get yourself killed, not that I care or anything it's just… you tend to do stupid things when your heart's in the right place."

She turned her back to Naruto as he smiled and took off in search of more members to assemble his team. Yuuki was about to follow but was stopped by Ryuuri…

"We can't go along. With us still recovering and you clinging to him, Naruto wouldn't be able to fight properly. We don't have anything to do with this. It's best we just stay out of it since we'd probably just be in the way."

Ryuubi was pleasantly surprised by her little sister's concern for Naruto. Yuuki on the other hand wasn't as accepting. With her cheeks swollen and a sour look on her face, she said, "Since when do you care so much about my brother? I thought you were in love with your sister…"

"Who the hell cares about that idiot brother of yours!!? I was just trying to make sure my sister doesn't follow try to follow him into more trouble and maybe even death!" she stated in an agitated tone.

"Trouble…? Death…?" Ryuubi said softly as tears began to form.

Ryuuri quickly realized her mistake and tried her best to correct it.

Shikamaru had been searching for Naruto. He decided to head to the village gate because, knowing Naruto, he couldn't wait to get on with the mission. It wasn't long before he could hear Naruto's voice. But something was odd. He was a lot louder than usual. It was almost as if he was yelling at someone. Shikamaru rounded the corner and noticed that he was indeed yelling at someone…

"Like I told you, we don't need you on this mission. You'll just be in the way," he shouted.

"Are you dense!? Of course you need us on this mission. We're perfect for it, idiot!"

"We don't need someone that can't handle themselves and their little puppy, 'Dog Breath'! I would rather have anyone other than you on this mission, even that weirdo Shino!"

Shikamaru interjected, "Actually… it'd be best to have him along Naruto. Sasuke's had a head start and Kiba and Akamaru are some of the best trackers this village has to offer, at least at the moment. Besides, we could use all the help we could get."

Naruto was about to argue against this when he noticed the person standing beside Shikamaru. He looked him up and down not missing a single detail from the swirls on his chubby cheeks to his round belly. A look of disbelief and confusion crossed Naruto's face as he tried to make sense of this…

"I thought we were supposed to be building a team of 'excellent shinobi'… These two…"

"Chouji and I have been working together as a team for a long time now. He's the easiest person for me to work with, maybe even in a similar fashion you and Sasuke do."

Naruto understood and was even more fired up to get Sasuke back. The four quickly made their way to the gate as Shikamaru informed them that they had to hurry. If their luck held out, maybe they could find a few more members.

On the way, Naruto picked up on a chakra signature and he quickly pointed out that they would be welcomed to join…

"This is great! With Neji, there won't be a need for the fleabag and his dog," he taunted.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' FLEABAG YOU DAMN DIRTY APE!!?" Kiba retorted.

"Are these two gonna be doing this the entire mission? What a drag," Shikamaru thought as the two continued to bicker.

They soon found themselves explaining the situation to both Neji and Lee. Neji agreed to lend any assistance he could and Lee would have loved to join as well, but…

"At a time like this when I could be of assistance and… I have to sit idly by because of my injuries. This is most unfortunate…"

"Lee, you have other things you have to worry about. Don't let it get to you," Neji told him. "The best thing for you to do now is recover and be prepared for when you are needed most."

Lee nodded in agreement as the newly assembled squad prepared to depart.

"Alright, let's get going. We have to hurry and catch up to Sasuke before it's too late."

"Wait Naruto," Shikamaru chimed in. "You're right, we do have to hurry before we're too late, but I was assigned squad leader…"

"Yeah… and," he challenged.

"It's not really a big deal, but I think you should listen to me here," he contended. "According to what we've heard, there are enemies who, most likely, expect a rescue squad. That means that there may be traps and ambushes. Since we're the pursuers, it could be easy for the enemy to get the drop on us first…"

"So, what strategy do you have in mind for this situation?" Neji questioned.

"We'll decide on a squad formation that's best suitable for countering sudden strikes and whatever else the enemy may think to throw our way. This is crucial because if there're any mistakes… we could all die…"

A small whine from Akamaru was the only sound heard before Shikamaru continued…

"We'll proceed in a single lined formation. Kiba and Akamaru will be first as forward scouts. You're always running around the forests around here with Akamaru so you must know the terrain very well. You've also got a keen sense of smell so it'll be easier to track Sasuke and detect traps. I'll be second so that I can give orders according to the situation behind Kiba, and anyone behind me can see my hand signals. In the middle will be Naruto because of his quick reactions and he'll be able to cover and assist in any directions with the use of his shadow clones. Next is Chouji. He isn't all that fast, but he has a great deal of attacking power. If it comes to it, Naruto, Kiba, and I will create openings and you'll finish things up. And finally, Neji… I'll let you handle the most difficult task as rear scout. With your Byakugan you can always check the squad for blind spots. Kiba will concentrate on the forward position and I'll spread my sight at a wider angle. Naruto will cover the left and Chouji the right. I'll have Neji take care of the entire rear with your Byakugan…"

He paused to make sure there were no objections. They seemed to be ok with it so he asked for an assessment weapons and equipment before he continued…

"Before we head out I have just one more important thing to say… I've never really considered Sasuke a close personal friend or anyone of great importance… but he is a fellow shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. He's our comrade…! This is why we'll risk our lives for him. It's just the way we do things in the Leaf. Even someone like me can't goof off on something like this… I'm now responsible for all of your lives."

"At first it felt a little weird having you barking orders, but just now you sounded like a guy that deserved to be that Chunin title," Kiba stated. "Unlike a certain someone we know," he mocked while jokingly nudging Naruto with his elbow.

"Yeah, yeah whatever… The thing is, I understand why Shikamaru was chosen to lead this mission over me. It's not because of how smart he is. He just said it, 'Sasuke was never a close friend of his'… so it's less likely that he'd make a rash decision that could get everyone killed just to save him. It's no big deal because we all have our roles… and mine is to bring Sasuke back with my own hands!"

"Naruto…" a voice spoke up.

Everyone turned around to see Sakura standing beside Lee. She looked like she had been crying a lot and that she still wanted to. Shikamaru wasn't surprised to see her here but he had to make it clear that she wouldn't be able to take part in the mission. It was for the best.

Tears began to form as she cried, "Naruto…! Please…! Please…! Bring Sasuke back! I couldn't stop him… I couldn't convince him to stay… You're the only one… the only person that can save him now…"

Naruto watched as enough tears flowed from Sakura's eyes to fill a ten gallon hat. He could see how upset she was about this...

"You… you really like Sasuke, huh? I know how you feel. I can understand. Don't worry… I'll bring him back! It's a promise of a lifetime!" he assured her as he gave her a thumbs up and a big cheesy smile.

She was so choked up that she could barely thank him. She remembered all the times that Naruto had been there for her, reassuring her through hard times. From the beginning he had been there for her and even now, at the expense of his own feelings, he would be there once again. A smile finally showed on her face and the team turned to leave. Once again the "Nice-Guy" pose was struck, this time by Lee, to reassure the distressed girl. No matter what happened things would work out.

Sasuke and his "abductors" were now in a clearing a small distance from the Hidden Leaf Village. He watched as they seemed to be preparing for something. Irritated by the delay, Sasuke asked what was going on…

"We've got an important order from Lord Orochimaru," Sakon responded.

"So he is still alive… So, what is it?"

As they surrounded him, Sakon replied, "You… must die...!"

He took out a bottle of pills and tossed one to Sasuke. Before anything else, Tayuya explained the meaning behind this, "Your current 'Cursed Seal' is level 1. That pill will forcefully increase the curse's level to 2. It'll increase the seal's contamination speed and if we do nothing, you will die."

"In order to control the power that comes with level 2, your body needs some time to adjust," Sakon interjected. "When the seal is awakened to level 2, there'll only be a few minutes… until you die! There'll be side effects but our barrier jutsu will reduce them and make it seem like nothing more than a coma."

Sasuke took a moment to think things through. He still had something to do so he couldn't die here. He took the small pill and swallowed it. For a second nothing happened, but then he began choking and clawing the ground as his body tensed up. Right away Sakon summoned a special container. Jiroubou grabbed Sasuke and placed him into the container before he and the others sealed it. They finished with a number of seals that were placed on the container. They were now done with the first part of their order to retrieve Sasuke and could rest easy… for about a minute…

Just as soon as their break began, they were confronted by two Leaf Jounin. Raidou immediately recognized them as the ones that accompanied Orochimaru during the invasion. He and Genma watched as they activated their "Cursed Seals" before they engaged each other.

With a slight breeze, Kiba and Akamaru picked up the scent of sweat and blood in the air. He called the team to a halt and pointed in the direction it came from. Was it the four Sound-nins from before? Who could they have fought out here? To answer these questions, Naruto closed his eyes and focused. He could sense four familiar chakra signatures and Sasuke's fleeing the area and two others that were weakening.

Naruto began heading in the direction of the fight but was stopped by the others…

"What are you doing? We have a mission to complete!" Kiba shouted.

"I'm gonna go check out what happened and see if I can find anything out. They changed their course and are on the move so just go on without me and I'll catch up," Naruto answered as he set off.

"Wait…! Hey shouldn't we stop him…?"

After a sigh, Shikamaru told him, "Let him go for now. In a way this could work out in our favor. If we run into the enemy and engage them in battle, Naruto could be like our trump card and surprise the enemy. We should hurry before they get too far away. Maybe if we move quickly enough we can catch up to them and cut off their means of escape."

With that, the four set off as quick as they could.

Naruto reached the clearing that was once turned into a battlefield around the same time Shizune and another of her teammates arrived. There he saw two Leaf shinobi and the surrounding had been through a lot in such a short amount of time. Shizune rushed to the aid of the two battle weary shinobi but Naruto couldn't take his mind off the damage caused. Entire trees were demolished or had holes punched clean through and there were many pebbles and rocks scattered everywhere, most likely produced from a few smashed boulders. Seeing the destruction, Naruto couldn't help but think of the times he had a chance to stop these four but failed. It wouldn't be the same this time…

"Naruto…!! Give us a hand with these two! We have to get them back to the village as soon as possible," Shizune shouted getting Naruto's attention.

He wasn't sure of what to do. If he helped out here, the rest of his squad could run into the enemy and end up the same way. But if he didn't, the two that had a run in with the Sound-nin could be in serious trouble. He figured that if he just hurried he could help Shizune and make it back in time to rendezvous with his team before it was too late.

He created two clones while Shizune made a couple of stretchers. With them the four quickly but carefully rushed Genma and Raidou back to the village for much needed medical treatment.

"Damn, we keep coming across more traps," Kiba stated.

"Well, at least the enemy doesn't seem to have much time either. I see a lot of rushed work," Shikamaru pointed out while examining the various wires strung about.

As he squatted down to get a better look, he noticed something. While some of the wires could be easily seen, there were more hidden by camouflage. The group came to the conclusion that their enemy must be resting or wounded. Neji activated his Byakugan to see the enemy a small distance away. There he could see them resting next to a container. He wasn't sure but since there was no sign of Sasuke, he assumed that he must be inside.

"As soon as I think of a good strategy in this situation we'll engage the enemy," Shikamaru commanded.

With a plan decided upon, they decided to implement it. They split into two groups and snuck into place. Everything was going according to plan. Shikamaru and Neji had successfully gotten into position a short ways away from the enemy. It seemed that things would go off without a hitch, at least that's what the Leaf shinobi believed. They were prepared to put their plan into action, but…

Suddenly the enemy began moving and in one swift motion one tossed a kunai with explosive tags. The explosion forced both Neji and Shikamaru from their hiding places as they jumped to safety and rolled into danger.

"Wait, wait! We're not here to fight, we're here to negotiate," Shikamaru pleaded.

To disprove this, Kidoumaru yanked out Kiba and Chouji with some wires. Kiba threw a smoke bomb in hopes of concealing his team but…

"What good is a smoke bomb when there's no way you can escape from me…? I've got my wires all over the place," Kidoumaru revealed.

As soon as he finished talking, he and his fellow Sound-nin felt a strange sensation. Shikamaru had captured and immobilized all four with his shadow technique. They were nearly done with their mission. All that remained was getting Sasuke back to the village. A sudden wave of shuriken put a halt to this train of thought as it broke Shikamaru's concentration and jutsu.

"Earth Style: Earth Barrier – Clay Prison!!" Jiroubou countered.

The ground began to break apart as a dome of earth engulfed the four. Trapped, all the Leaf shinobi could do was listen to their captors. Jiroubou offered to "take care" of them while the others went on ahead.

"I'll get us out of here right away," Kiba said, wasting no time.

He tried to force their way out with his technique but the walls were too thick and appeared to be repairing themselves. He tried again with the help of a transformed Akamaru but still got nowhere. Neji used his Byakugan to observe the wall in order to figure out some kind of explanation. He noticed that the walls were laced with chakra but also that there were different amounts of chakra in various parts of the walls. He explained where the most amount of chakra was and the least. Shikamaru took it all in and looked at Chouji who began eating chips.

Shikamaru asked Kiba and Akamaru to give it one more go and for Neji to observe closely. The two smashed and crashed all around but still did no better than the first time. Neji monitored each dent in the walls as they recovered. Certain ones appeared to heal a lot faster than others. From this, Shikamaru wanted to make one more thing clear…

"Hey, listen… I want to talk to your leader!" Shikamaru demanded. "If you just let us go, we won't come after you anymore…"

Kiba was appalled. He tried to get to the bottom of Shikamaru's words but just ended up in a small argument with Chouji.

"Too bad for you that I won't do that. You're all my meal so you won't be going anywhere! Not even begging for mercy will save you now!" Jiroubou replied.

Without another word, Shikamaru took his usual thinking position. He put together everything that had occurred while trapped and finally figured out the weakness of this jutsu. He threw a kunai to the back of the dome where it still hadn't repaired as a marker and told Chouji to go for it…

"Multi-Size Jutsu!!" Chouji said as he expanded his body and began rapidly rolling in that direction.

He collided with the wall and began forcing his way through until it came crumbling down. Soon the entire dome fell and on the other side Jiroubou could see his former prisoners ready to fight.

After helping Shizune, Naruto was now on course to reuniting with his squad. He hurried as quickly as he could. He flew through the treetops and across the terrain in hopes of making it in time before anything bad happened. He finally came to a stop to a clearing that was cluttered with more forest debris. The fighting had already started and he was too late…

End of chapter...

The Leaf squad comes so close to completing their mission but things go awry...

Naruto arrives after the fight for Sasuke has begun, but is it truely too late?

Next chapter: Running out of time...!