Chapter 13
Dripping wet, Sakura made her way out of the shower. Sasuke wasn't far behind her as she walked into his bedroom, a towel covering her exposed skin.
"I'm going to go to my room; I'm not putting these back on." She sneered at the clothes that were now in her hands.
Sasuke couldn't stop the smirk that came over his face.
"By all means have fun walking in the hall with just a towel on."
Sakura glared at him as she made her way to his closet. Pulling it open she pulled one of his white shirts out and wrapped it around her, closing off the opening with one of his ropes.
"Ha, now I won't be walking around in a towel."
"Oh yes and my clothes are so much better." Sasuke stated sarcastically as he pulled on a shirt of his own.
Sakura stuck her tongue out at him.
"Yes they are a lot better, this way I can say you abused me and no one would dare ask any questions."
Sasuke glared at her as she walked over to the door.
"I'll see you at training."
Then she disappeared into the hallway. Sasuke finished getting dressed and then he put his sword on his back.
Everything was becoming so mudded now that he had been with Sakura. He found himself only wanting to be with her, wanting to forget about everything that he had strived so long to achieve. Sasuke's eyes shot wide when he felt the change in chakra around him. Something was wrong with Orochimaru and he was calling to Sasuke.
Hatred filled Sasuke's eyes as he sneered into the darkness of the room. He wasn't going to be treated like a dog that would come whenever he was called. No, this time he would ignore Orochimaru.
He was itching for a fight he knew but there was no way he was going to let Orochimaru think he had been beaten into a dog that did everything his master told him to. No, there would be none of that from Sasuke.
Sakura looked up as he made his way into the training grounds. She was next to him with her hands on her hips.
"What took you so long?"
Sasuke didn't answer as he looked away from her memorizing eyes. Sakura's hands fell limply at her side.
"Sasuke…did something happen to Naruto and Kakashi- Sensei?"
"Not yet."
The color left Sakura's face.
"Not yet?" she then closed her eyes and purple chakra began to swirl around her frame. It grew and intensified as she stretched to the very limits she had.
Sasuke watched as the purple chakra grew so it was completely covering her. Sakura gasped as her eyes flew open.
"The Akatsuki are coming, they're going to take Naruto away, and I can't let that happen. Oh please Sasuke, please go to him."
His heart pounded in his chest as he looked at her pain stricken eyes. Slowly he looked away causing her face to fall.
"You know I can't. Orochimaru would pick up on anything I do and I can't afford for him to discover that I'm truly not loyal to him." Lifting his head he smirked, "Besides I don't care about Naruto. Whatever happens to him happens, I could care less."
Sakura wanted to punch the day lights out of him just then. She pulled her shoulders back and pushed her pink hair, which was getting longer, out of her face.
"If you won't do anything than I will."
"Hm."
Sakura rolled her eyes as she turned her back on him.
"Orochimaru is calling for you; don't you think you should go to him? It might cause him to believe that something else is going on."
Sasuke grabbed her left arm before she could retreat out of the training room. The feeling of his skin on hers caused her heart rate to accelerate. She felt him near her, pressing his mouth close to her ear.
"You'd be smart not to let him catch on to anything. You never know…you might have to deal with me if he found anything out."
Her eyes widened.
'He's threatening me! This isn't good…Sakura you were stupid to think he could ever have feelings for you.'
She allowed her head to fall towards the ground, that action seemed to become accustomed now that she had been made to feel lower than dirt.
She didn't make any reaction as he kissed her on the ear and pulled away from her, letting her arm out of his grasp.
"I realize you can be mean and ruthless but…I can't just stand here and let Naruto get captured by the very people that will kill him. You might not care about him anymore but he still cares about you and that will never change. Even if I have to sacrifice my life I will stop the Akatsuki from achieving their goal."
"Tch. That will go over well. Do you really think Orochimaru would let you even in the clearing with them around? You've become his new obsession so of course he wouldn't let anything happen to you."
Sakura turned so she was looking at his exposed chest.
"I'll fight him if it comes down to it. You're taking too long to kill him; I'll do the job for you."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as she walked towards him. Reaching up she stroked his cheek with her left hand.
"Even though you only want to use me for pleasure like Orochimaru does, I still find myself in love with you. I won't give up on you Sasuke. You still have your soul inside of you, just listen to it."
He jerked away from her swiftly walking down the hall that led out of the training room. Sakura watched as he left but then she smiled. She hit a nerve and that was a good thing.
'He'll come back to me…and to Naruto. We just need to give him time and guidance.'
'Yeah I'm sure you'll give him LOTS of guidance…in bed.'
'Oh shut up! That's not the only thing I'll be doing, I'm not a whore you know.'
Sakura rolled her eyes as she glanced around the room to make sure no one was watching her. When she was sure the cost was clear she vanished in thin air.
Kakashi watched in horror as the fourth tail formed. He gulped and just was able to dodge an attack by Kabuto.
"I've had enough of this." Turning both eyes to Kabuto he grinned behind the mask.
"Let's end this here and now."
Kabuto shrugged his shoulders as he pressed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Bring it old man."
Kakashi ran towards him and then suddenly disappeared. Kabuto looked around him, trying to catch a glimpse of the copy ninja.
He appeared behind Kabuto and tapped him on the shoulder. Kabuto spun around but was met by chirping sounds and blue chakra emitting from Kakashi's hand. With his Lightening blade he threw his arm into Kabuto's chest.
"This is when you die." Kakashi stated through clenched teeth as he yanked his hand out of Kabuto's chest causing blood to splatter onto his face.
As the body fell forward Kakashi turned and scanned the area for Naruto.
Orochimaru glared deathly at Kakashi as he landed beside Naruto.
"It seems you are out your medical Ninja."
There was a growl from Naruto as he took a step forward.
Orochimaru chuckled, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. In just a few moments you will be surrounded by the people that have been chasing you for some time now."
Kakashi glanced quickly around. If what Orochimaru was saying was true than Itachi Uchiha would show himself.
"Naruto you need to get out of here before they appear. We can't afford to have them capture you."
The beast that was once Naruto growled and lunged at Orochimaru, his claws outstretched. His claw hit its mark and Orochimaru went flying. Kakashi began to search through his vest pockets frantically as Naruto neared Orochimaru once again. In the last second he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the small piece of paper and sprung down to stand directly in front of Naruto.
The evil creature's white eyes looked at him curiously at first but then he crouched, readying himself to spring.
Pulling the paper into his hand more tightly he placed the paper on the creature's forehead before he was attacked. Red chakra began to swirl around the four tails and soon the tails disappeared. When he blinked he saw Naruto kneeling before him. His breath was ragged as he tried to catch it. Slowly he brought his eyes up to Kakashi.
"I…what happened?"
Kakashi bent down in order to help Naruto to his feet.
"Don't worry about it. Right now we need to get you out of here before Itachi decides to visit."
Naruto rubbed his head as he tried to catch up to what Kakashi could be talking about. Kakashi's head spun around frantically as he scanned the area.
"Why would he be here though?" Naruto asked as Kakashi jumped into the nearest tree with Naruto at his side.
Kakashi shook his head as he began to jump through the trees.
"Orochimaru must have left some hints that you would be here. We don't have time to save Sakura right now; we need to get you out of here before Itachi shows up."
Naruto suddenly stopped in their retreat.
"No. I'm not leaving Sakura here when things could turn south for her. She needs to get out of there Kakashi-Sensei. I can't leave her there anymore."
Kakashi landed in a brace in front of where Naruto was standing.
"Naruto you need to stop and think for a moment. Sakura is a smart girl I'm sure she's trying to find a way out as we speak. She would want you to get to safety before you tried to save her. You don't want to make her upset, do you?"
Naruto's blue eyes fell at Kakashi's words.
"Kakashi-Sensei…please try to understand…"
"I know you love her Naruto, that isn't something new. The thing you need to understand is that she loves someone else, and she's with that someone right now. Do you really think she'd leave if he showed any sign at all that he had feelings for her? We need to think things through and come up with another plan. If Sasuke has her in his clutches we're going to have to come up with something tricky to get her back."
Naruto's eyes flashed red.
"I swear if the teme is doing that I…I'll have no choice but to smack some sense into him. But there could always be the chance that he really does care about her…"
Kakashi ran his hand through his hair.
"Well…I suppose there is always that chance. But we both know Sasuke and he doesn't seem like the type to have feelings for someone else. All he cares about is getting his revenge on his brother. I doubt he's thinking about a girl right now."
Naruto shook his head.
"You don't really know him Kakashi…I do. He doesn't like being alone but he believes it's the only way to get what he seeks for. He doesn't want to put people through a dangerous mission that he has been striving for his whole life. He left us because he knew how important his ties to us were, to us and to him. They confused him and he couldn't handle the confusion. But—those bonds were important to him, I can't even imagine the pain he must have gone through when he left. Then when we all tried to stop him probably didn't help things. I can only imagine the pain he felt when Sakura declared her love for him," Naruto paused, "but then again I don't understand how he could leave her after that either."
Kakashi pulled his headband back down to cover his Sharingan.
"He probably thought it was the only thing he could do. We can't stay here contemplating what he might have been thinking. The bottom line is we don't know what he was thinking, maybe he truly didn't care and he left just because he could. Who knows, for now we need to go into hiding until we come up with a plan to get her away from Sasuke."
"What has my brother done this time I wonder?" A voice spoke from the darkness. Naruto's eyes widened when he recognized the voice.
Itachi Uchiha stepped out of the darkness followed closely by Kizame.
"He has gotten himself in a world of trouble, joining ranks with Orochimaru." Kisame said with a crocked smile.
Naruto looked between the two men that were assigned to kill him. His shoulders slumped in defeat. Kizame smiled in triumph as he watched Naruto's reaction.
"Looks like the kid isn't going to put up a fight this time around, and there's no "Pervy Sage" to help him."
Kakashi cleared his throat.
"I'll be the one protecting him this time."
"Ah, Kakashi we meet again." Itachi said in greeting.
'This is bad—very bad. The last time I battled Itachi was landed in the hospital for a week, more or less.'
"I wonder if your Sharingan eye has advanced anymore since the last time we met."
Kakashi pulled his headband up once again. 'Having to use this for the second time today is bad enough, now I'm going to have to use that Sharingan.'
"There's only one way to find out."
"No!"
Kakashi stopped midstride and turned to look at Naruto.
"I've had enough fighting. The only way they are going to stop is if I go with them."
"Naruto what are you saying? Are you giving up on Sakura and Sasuke completely?"
Naruto smiled a sad smile at his Sensei.
"No I'm not, because I know that you will save them Kakashi. You'll be able to bring them back home to the village."
"Naruto I can't—"
"Leave Sasuke to Sakura, she can save him from the darkness that surrounds his heart. You, you need to save her. She's strong but we both know that there are times when her strength falters. When she thinks she isn't good enough, you need to be there to help her out of that rut."
Kizame smiled a toothy grin.
"I don't believe my ears, Itachi. He actually wants us to take him out of his misery."
Itachi was looking pointedly at Naruto. His face was emotionless but deep down inside something inside of him was cracking.
"That makes our job that much easier. Come Naruto."
Kakashi bent down in his fighting stance in front of Naruto, blocking him from following Itachi.
"You'll have to go through me first."
Itachi looked up from the ground to gaze into Kakashi's eyes. His Sharingan was active as he took a step forward.
"I was hoping I could get away without a fight this time around. Apparently I was mistaken."
Naruto reached out and placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder.
"Kakashi-Sensei…no more fighting, with me gone maybe the world can finally come to peace. We both know that I'm one of the only ones they need now."
Kakashi straightened up and looked at Naruto with hard eyes.
"If you think I'm going to stand by and just let you give yourself over to them you're wrong. Dead wrong. I won't leave my comrade to die!"
Naruto sighed as he shook his head, a sad smile playing across his lips.
"I can't afford to lose anyone else. Please let me do this, just let me go."
Kakashi set himself in between Naruto and Itachi firmly.
"Sorry Naruto but this is one of the things you can't stop me from doing. I can't stand to lose another one of my comrades either. You think that you and Sakura were the only ones that were affected when Sasuke left but that isn't true. I thought of him as my son…it tore me apart when he left the village in order to follow the snake over there that is standing up," Kakashi motioned with his hand to where Orochimaru had appeared behind them.
Naruto's eyes flashed red as he followed Kakashi's motion.
"Naruto…I will die protecting you if that's what it takes. We will get Sasuke and Sakura back. Nothing can stop us from achieving our goals if we have the guts to never give up."
Naruto's eyes widened at the statement.
"I don't need an Uchiha that is amazing already. Being a real ninja is so much more than just learning Jutsu. The ones that come up on top are the ones that have the guts to never give up! And the boy has those in spades."
Jirarya's voice filled Naruto's head as his eyes faded back into his normal sky blue.
"Kakashi Sensei…"
Itachi glanced at Kisame who grinned in understanding. Bringing his sword off his back he spun it lightly around in his hand.
"I'll cut you all to ribbons!"
Before the sword was able to make contact with Kakashi Naruto stood in the way. With his forearms he blocked the attack, causing pain to surge through his body.
He glared up at Kisame from the place his face was hidden earlier by the huge blade. His eyes were a fierce red as he seethed with new rage.
"Stay away from him; he has nothing to do with this!"
Kisame glanced behind him at Itachi who had the look of indifference. He turned his attention back to the red eyed boy in front of him.
"You going to come with us willingly or should I finish you off and then drag you with us?"
Naruto bared his teeth as he pushed the sword upward so it shot off his arms.
"I'll go with you, but you have to leave everyone else alone."
"No Naruto! Don't you give into them!" Kakashi shouted.
Naruto looked behind him, his red eyes blazing.
"It's the only way all this can end Master Kakashi. I have to do this."
Kakashi started to make his way towards him when Naruto shot a burst of chakra at him, pinning him against the tree.
"I'm sorry Sensei but it's the way it has to be." Turning back to Kisame he lowered his eyes to the ground.
"I'm ready."
Itachi stepped forward in front of Kisame. Looking at Naruto an emotion crossed his face but he quickly hid it beneath the surface.
"Then come Naruto and we'll end all of this turmoil."
Naruto nodded his head numbly as Kakashi tried to get himself out of the chakra grasp that Naruto held him under.
"Naruto!"
The only answer he received was Naruto walking into the darkness behind Itachi Uchiha and Kisame.
A/N: Hey you guys! I am SO SO SO sorry that it took like a month to update this story. Life has been going crazy for both my beta and I. I'm terribly sorry and I hope I can get Chapter 14 finished soon, i have a page so far but I'm kinda at a dead end...so I'm waiting for inspiration to hit. Again I'm terribly sorry. So many people reviewed for the last chapter that I don't have time or space to name them all. Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing my story. Lets go for 10 new reviews before I post chapter 14!! Thanks you guys, you help me to write and i think that's great.
Hope you guys have a great week, I know I won't..bleck school....Oh I bought Twilight on DVD! I'm sure a lot of you people have teehee. Good movie i must say. Anyway, enough ranting, hope you liked the chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought!