I know, I know, It's been a while since I last updated, but I just couldn't figure out how I wanted things to play out.

Anyways I wanted to say thanks for the reviews and encouragement from Midnight Moonfly, Razell, Ballerina With A Purple Pen and Hellotoday. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. The only thing I do own is my OC Nightshade who appears in this chapter.

It seemed like an eternity before the Sound Trio and Naruto fully processed what Sakon had told them.

"I…Is this true? T…this is a joke right?" Kin choked out. Kidomaru shook his head.

"I wish we were, Kin. But we overheard Orochimaru and Kaubto taking about it a few hours ago. He was planning to do it the night before the finals, but for some reason he's decided to speed things up to at least a few hours from now."

I KNEW IT! THAT DOUBLE CROSSING TREACHEROUS SNAKE BASTARD! JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY CLAWS ON HIM, I'LL TEAR HIM LIMB FROM LIMB!

Zip it, Fenrir! You're not helping! Zaku mentally hissed. But a part of him was in agreement with the wolf demon. It was all making sense. It hadn't been a mistake like he had been thinking up to this moment. Orochimaru had given the Uchiha a curse mark on purpose. Nor had it been a slip up that the Sound Trio had known nothing of it. Their job hadn't been to assassinate Sasuke Uchiha, he, Dosu and Kin had been used simply to test out the Uchiha's new power!

What would have happened if I hadn't unlocked Fenrir's power back there?

He shuddered. He did not want to think about that. Instead he focused on the anger and sense of betrayal that was growing inside him. He'd given everything to Orochimaru in gratitude for him taking him off the streets all those years ago. He'd lied, stole, bled, even killed, while all the time believing that he had actually meant something to the snake sannin. But now he knew that he and the others were nothing but pawns, only valuable as long as they were useful. And now it looked like the Sound Trio had outlived their usefulness.

"Why are you helping us?" Dosu spoke up, for the first time since the three sound ninja had entered the room.

"Yeah, that's what I've been thinking too. I mean, isn't it a serious crime for a ninja to go against their leader's orders." Naruto added, causing fear to jolt down Zaku's spine. If there was one thing Orochimaru did not tolerate, EVER, it was disloyalty. Even though Kidomaru, Sakon, Ukon, Tayuya and Jirobo were some of the strongest ninja in the Hidden Sound village, they would very likely be used as the sacrifices in his, Dosu and Kin's places when the Snake Sanin found out that they had helped the Sound Trio escape

"Like we're fucking afraid of death. After all the shit we've been through and the stuff we've done, meeting the Shinigami's going to be a fucking relief. But you guys are our friends, and there's no fucking way we're losing you to that two faced bastard. Not if we can help it." Tayuya cut in with a sad smile and the same determination in her eyes that Kidomaru and Sakon also had and there was little doubt that if Jirobo was here, his eyes too would have that same gleam in them. Zaku and Dosu said nothing, though their eyes betrayed their real feelings. Kin on the other hand had to turn her face away so that no one would see the tears in her eyes. Although the twins and Jirobo were more Zaku and Dosu's friends, Tayuya was like a sister to her and as for Kidomaru, she'd had feelings for him ever since he had defended her from a couple of older male ninja shortly after she had become a genin. She couldn't let him go. Not without telling him what she felt for him.

In fact none of the Sound Trio were willing to let them die for their sake. No matter how willing they were.

"No. None of you are going to die. I don't care if he is one of the sannin. That bastard's not going to kill you guys. Not while I'm still able to fight." Zaku whispered under his breath, his fists gripping the bed sheets tightly. And he meant every word. Because now, he could back those words up. He now had Fenrir's chakra to help him, something that Orochimaru was unaware he had and therefore couldn't block with one of his seals or whatever else the double crossing snake had up his sleeve. It would be a complete shock to him.

"Don't be an idiot! You're no match for Orochimaru, Kabuto or Kimimaro!" Kidomaru hissed. Zaku glared at Kidomaru, giving the three members of the Sound Four a real look at his eyes.

"W…what the fuck's happened to your eyes, windbag?" Tayuya gasped.

"It's a long story, but we think we know what's gotten Orochimaru so nervous." Dosu said and between them, the four genin explained what had happened in the Forest of Death.

"Y…you've got to be shitting me." Kidomaru breathed out after they had finished.

"Wait a minute, you're telling us that Zaku is the holder of the strongest of the Bijuu. Why the hell didn't he show any sign of being a Jinchuuriki before?" Sakon snapped.

"Because Fenrir kept his presence hidden from everyone, including me until the Uchiha snapped both my arms while he was under the influence of the curse seal." Zaku said. None of the Sound elite didn't know what to think. They wouldn't have believed them, but there was denying that Zaku seemed different. And it wasn't just his eyes.

Suddenly both Zaku and Naruto stiffened and growled at the window. A second later, a chubby teen with a Mohawk jumped through the window, followed by a girl with brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and dark amethyst eyes.

"Jirobo? Nightshade?"

"What the fucking hell are you doing here, fatass? You're supposed to be fucking covering our backs?" Tayuya yelled at him. Jirobo scowled at her.

"Will you ever stop swearing, Tayuya, and yes that was my original job but we've been betrayed."

"What do you mean?" a voice that was similar to Sakon's but deeper and more harsher snapped and Naruto bit back a cry of shock as the head sticking out of Sakon's back spoke and moved to his shoulder.

"Don't panic. That's just Ukon, Sakon's twin brother." Dosu quickly explained to Naruto.

"A Sound ninja overheard us planning to warn Zaku, Dosu and Kin about their fate and help them get away and decided to snitch on us. Me and Jirobo tried to stop him once we realised what had happened but we failed. We don't have much time before he sends Kabuto and Kimimaro to kill us and capture the Sound Trio." Nightshade cut in. Tayuya let loose a string of curses while Kidomaru's brain worked overtime to come up with a way out of this.

"Tayuya, Sakon, Jirobo, Nightshade, you grab Zaku, kin, Dosu and the blonde kid and get them out of here. I'll try and throw them off our trail and meet up with you later.

"No. I'm coming with you. I know this village like the back of my hand and I have some experience with throwing people off my trail." Naruto said.

"Me too. You'll need some firepower in case something goes wrong." Zaku said, jumping out of bed and testing his leg. As he suspected, it was perfectly healed.

"Not a cha…"

"Let them come with us, Kidomaru. We're going to need all the help we can get. Plus it'll be easier to get away if we split up." Nightshade interrupted, her voice deadly serious. For a second it looked like Kidomaru was going to argue. But then he shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Alright. Alright! Me, Zaku, the blonde kid…

"My name is Naruto, spider boy!"

"Do you want to come with us or go with the others?" Kidomaru snapped at Naruto, who shut up with a nasty look at Kidomaru."

"As I was saying. Me, Zaku, Nightshade and Naruto will try and keep Kabuto and the others occupied while Jirobo, Tayuya, Sakon, Kin and Dosu will try and find a place to lie low until it's safe. And no arguing!" He shot the last part at Tayuya who had opened her mouth to obviously disagree with the plan.

"Go into the Forest of Death. I know it's dangerous but it's easy to lose pursuers in there." Naruto told the others, speaking from experience as he had used the forest as a hiding place many times during his childhood. Tayuya glared at him but Jirobo nodded with a smile while Sakon stared at Naruto intently as if he was searching for a lie. After a minute, he gave the blonde a curt nod before looking back at the others.

"He's not lying or trying to deceive us. We should listen to him."

"Naruto you don't have to get involved in this. This isn't your fight." Kin said to the blonde as Tayuya took her hand while Jirobo and Sakon placed a hand on each of Dosu's shoulders.

"You're wrong, Kin. It became my fight when that snake bastard threatened the three people that I can truly call my friends. Besides, the others don't seem so bad." Kin smiled before she and Dosu vanished with Tayuya, Sakon and Jirobo.

"Okay. Let's get started. And Naruto…thank you." Naruto just gaped at Kidomaru for a few seconds before breaking out in a smile.

"No problem. Now, we'd better hurry and get out of here. Before we get anymore unwelcome visitors." and with that, he, Kidomaru, Nightsahde and Zaku jumped out of the window and were away from the hospital just as the door to Zaku's room slid open only a few minutes later.

And there you have it!

As for Nightshade, here's a little bit of background on her. She's a Sound nin who holds no love for Orochimaru and those loyal to him, but is a close friend of the Sound Four and Sound Trio and will do anything to help them. She is also the last of her clan and possesses the true form of their Kekkei Genkai. As for more, well you're just going to have to keep on reading!

Ja Ne.