serialkeller: Marked you down for Anko.

MissAzuka: Could you be more specific in how it was horrible? If it was the time gap that bothered you remember that Sound is hidden. (Unlike traditional 'hidden villages' where everyone knows where they are.) If it's something else, please tell me. As I've said before, this is my first story. The only way to improve is for people to tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Also, added Isaribi for ya.

AAG: I shortened your name because I'm lazy. It probably won't be as interesting as you're hoping, but you'll find out this chapter.

Foxstar: I'll probably flip a coin or something. While it is possible for multiple women I would have to alter the story and it probably wouldn't have the same impact.

Felicity Dream: Glad you're enjoying it. I'll leave you as a no-vote for now so you can pick later on if you'd like. As for Sasori... I've got bad news for you. -cough-

Turtleboyz: Thanks. I do still make mistakes but they're usually pretty small. Feel free to let me know if you catch any. I've been lazy on checking my work for awhile now.

Chapter 19

(River Country)

Menma and the Sound Four were leaping through the trees of River Country when Karin spoke up.

"I sense a lot of people to the south." The group stopped so she could focus better. "About ten people. None of them below chūnin level."

"Reinforcements from Konoha?" Kin asked.

Karin shook her head. "Most of them are fighting. Three of them are headed this way, although they're still quite a ways off."

"Lead us to them. If those three are coming to intercept us we might as well turn the tables on them," Menma commanded. Karin led the group towards the approaching trio.

Before long they saw what appeared to be a giant white bird flying in the sky. Atop they could see a man wearing the Akatsuki cloak. Moments later they could see two figures chasing after him from the ground.

"Akatsuki, Kakashi-sensei, and Sasuke," Menma palmed his face. "I thought he meant they were on their way to attack the Kazekage, not that they were literally about to attack him."

As they watched the air around the Akatsuki members arm distorted before suddenly stopped and blowing it off. Moments later the air distorted again, catching the man's other arm. Immediately afterwards Sasuke flew in from the side with a Chidori, lancing through the bird the man was on.

Menma watched as the bird dropped and the man jumped away. "Find the other Akatsuki member. If Konoha is already fighting him, stay hidden and only engage if it looks like they'll lose."

The Sound Four nodded and vanished. While Sasuke and Kakashi were busy with the bird and the Akatsuki member, Menma quickly made a mud clone. "Go find that guy's missing arm. It should have his ring." The clone vanished without a sound.

He then pulled out a scroll and tore a piece off. He quickly drew a seal on the tore piece before turning and writing on the scroll. The sound of fighting reached his ears as he was writing his note. He glanced up briefly to find a curse seal stage two Sasuke smashing the Akatsuki member's face. A Chidori to his heart revealed a clone made out of clay.

Sasuke stood and calmed himself, the curse seal receding. Kakashi walked up next to him followed shortly by Sakura and some old woman Menma didn't recognize.

"Sasori?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura nodded with a small smile. "Yep, we got him."

'Sakura and that old hag killed an Akatsuki member? She's gotten strong.'

"More importantly, where is Gaara?" The old woman asked.

Sasuke shook his head before looking up in a tree where a Kakashi clone carried the dead Kage.

It was then, right as he rolled up the scroll and tucked it away with the seal paper, that Maito Gai appeared in front of Menma while his students appeared in front of the Akatsuki member that had been hiding in the bushes just a few feet away.

"Well done, Neji." Gai said with a smirk as he took a stance.

'Well shit.' Menma stood and analyzed him cautiously.

The Akatsuki member vanished in a blur, dodging projectiles as he appeared next to the remains of the bird that carried him earlier. He bit a chunk out of the bird and chewed the clay before turning to the Konoha ninja with a grin.

"You guys are lucky. I'll show you my ultimate work of art." He started to swell up like some kind of grotesque human balloon. "Art is a bang!"

"Run!" Neji shouted. The Konoha ninja fled back towards Team 7.

'Ugh, bastard. I'll have to flee that way too.' Menma thought as he followed after them. As they fled towards Team 7 he saw Kakashi turn to stare at the explosion. He risked a glance backwards and saw the explosion and the air around it distorting.

Thinking quickly he aimed for Sasuke who happened to be behind and slightly separated from the rest of the group. He grabbed him and drug him backwards, a kunai to his throat.

After the explosion vanished it took a couple seconds for people to realize their mistake and they spun around to find Menma holding Sasuke hostage.

"Orochimaru," Kakashi said in a lazy voice.

Menma didn't respond. He simply stared at Kakashi, or more specifically, his Mangekyō Sharingan. 'I thought the Mangekyō was unique to each user. How does he have mine?"

The Konoha ninja were getting anxious when he Menma stared at Kakashi, unresponsive.

"Where did you get that eye, Kakashi-se-" Menma cut himself off abruptly, realizing he almost gave himself away.

"Why don't you tell us what you're doing here," Kakashi said in reply.

Before Menma could reply his mud clone reappeared. "Looking for these," the clone said, holding up the ring. Menma took the ring with his left hand and placed it in a pocket before pulling out the scrap of paper with the seal on it.

"Sakura, did you really kill the other Akatsuki member?" Menma asked.

"She sure did," Tayuya responded, reappearing a giant scroll on her back and the Sound Four following. "The whole place was smashed to hell with bits of puppets everywhere. We sealed what we could, and found the ring."

"I see. Sasuke, Sakura, you've gotten strong," Menma said, slapping the seal paper on Sasuke's curse mark. "So I'll leave you with a gift."

"One gift from you is more than enough!" Sasuke spat out. Menma flinched. 'Shit. I did sound like him there, didn't I? I need to be careful with those memories...'

After applying the seal Menma placed his hand over it and poured Kurama's chakra into it, burning out Orochimaru's soul shard. Sasuke hissed and grabbed onto his neck at this.

Karin spoke up quietly enough that only the Sound Four, Menma, and Sasuke could hear her. "We should go, I can detect a large group approaching."

Menma discreetly slipped the scroll into Sasuke's pouch and whispered something in his ear before kicking him towards the Konoha ninja. As he and the Sound Four jumped backwards to leave he spoke up. "Follow us if you wish to play with Kurama."

The Konoha ninja that were just about to pursue paused worriedly. "Let them go. We're not in any shape to face Kyūbi right now. Besides, he's not our mission right now," Kakashi told them.

Sasuke stood in a daze. He was vaguely aware of a large group of Suna ninja showing up, as well as Sakura and Chiyo working to revive Gaara. When Chiyo had said she didn't have enough chakra he offered his without thinking.

Afterwards he stood apart from the group. Sakura noticing this approached him with a worried look on her face. "Sasuke? What's wrong? Did he do something to you?"

Sasuke turned to look at her. "My curse seal feels different."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Before... it felt like it was always trying to... devour me. It felt like there was a voice whispering to me. Now that voice is gone. The mark feels... separate? It's hard to explain."

Sasuke turned and stared off in the direction that the Sound ninja had fled. "I don't think that was Orochimaru."

"That was only Menma's body, remember? Orochimaru possessed him."

"Do you remember that scroll I told you about? The one Menma left behind in the compound that night?" Sakura nodded. "He whispered something to me just before he kicked me towards you guys."

He turned towards her and walked past her. As he passed her he whispered, "Be patient."

Sakura's eyes widened as she turned to look where the Sound ninja had fled. She had seen the scroll and had been told about the note. 'Could it be? Menma...'

(Fire Country Border)

"When we get back, make sure to update the bingo books. Sasori and Deidara, I believe it was, are dead," Menma commanded.

"Why bother?" Tayuya asked.

"Because we want them to know that Akatsuki members can be killed. It will also redirect any that had chosen to go after them to other members instead of wasting time. And it will put pressure on them. They'll work harder to catch the remaining members if they hear that they're already dying off," Menma explained as they jumped through the trees.

Menma frowned as they continued. 'Why does Kakashi have the same eye that I do? What was that ability he used?' He let out a sigh. He was going to have to delve into those memories again after all. Hopefully the guy that got sealed in him with Kurama wasn't as bad as Orochimaru.

"Ah! The Akatsuki member from before!" Karin called out.

"Kill him," Menma said.

They made a short detour where Kimimaro landed in front of the man and immediately impaled him in the heart with a bone. Simple and efficient.

"That leaves, what, seven assholes to go?" Tayuya asked.

Menma shook his head. "Seal his body and let's go. I want to get through Fire Country before Konoha finds out we were out here."

(Hidden Location)

"And what of Deidara?" A voice asked.

"He's dead. They took his ring too," an unusual plant-man said.

"It seems Orochimaru is becoming more of a problem than we thought he would," the voice said, turning. "What did you learn, Itachi?"

"Orochimaru is dead," came the monotone reply.

"Zetsu just told us of his movements, Itachi. He is alive."

"You misunderstand. Orochimaru failed his possession attempt and is dead. The Kyūbi jinchūriki is posing as Orochimaru."

"The brat beat Orochimaru? Damn," a large blue-skinned man blurted out.

"It seems he is stronger than we gave him credit for. We will watch him for now. The rest of you, continue to hunt your targets."

The figures vanished one by one. Itachi and Kisame were sitting on top of some pillars.

"So, should we go cut that brat up?" Kisame asked.

"You heard Leader-sama. Observation."

"Ah, c'mon. His base is underground, he won't summon Kyūbi," Kisame whined.

Itachi stared at him blankly. "Fine. We can visit Sound."

"Alright!" Kisame jumped off without waiting for Itachi.

The stoic Uchiha just shook his head and followed after him.

(Suna)

Team 7 had returned to Suna to spend a few days before heading back to Konoha. It was that night when preparing for sleep that Sasuke discovered the scroll that had been slipped into his pouch. Cautiously opening it he found what appeared to be a letter.

Sasuke,

Your curse seal has been altered. Orochimaru's soul shard has been burned out and replaced with Kurama's power. Don't mess with the seal I applied over it, it blocks his influence.

The price for this power is, unfortunately, time. You're limited to stage one unless we meet again and I finish it for you.

Itachi is a part of the group Akatsuki, however he doesn't seem very loyal to them. He was the one that informed us of the attack on the Kazekage. If I find anything else I'll try to inform you.

You had better be keeping that headband safe.

-M

"He actually did it. He killed Orochimaru..." Sasuke breathed out. He put the scroll back in his pouch before falling into the bed.

'I wonder how the others will react when they learn he's alive.'

(Konoha)

It had been roughly 5 days since they rescued Gaara and returned to Konoha. Team Gai had already been dismissed after they reported to the Hokage.

Team 7 had remained behind on Sasuke's request. He had been strangely happy since rescuing Gaara but wouldn't tell them why.

He stepped forward and placed a scroll in front of the Hokage. As she read the scroll her eyes lit up. "Where did you get this?!"

"I found it in my pouch the night we rescued the Kazekage. I assume he slipped it in when he was holding me hostage," Sasuke replied.

The other two members of Team 7 looked at him curiously. Tsunade waved them forward and handed them the scroll to read.

After the two of them finished they felt a weight lifted from their shoulders.

"He's alive?" Kakashi whispered.

"Why didn't he come home?!" Sakura shouted.

Team 7 all fell silent after that. None of them could figure out why he hadn't returned after killing Orochimaru.

"Sacrifice." They looked at Tsunade, who had her hands clasped in front of her. "That brat."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"He sacrificed himself to protect Sasuke from Orochimaru. He's sacrificing himself again to protect all of us from Akatsuki. That giant bomb they dropped on Suna. We don't have something that could protect us from an attack like that," Tsunade explained. "He's taking his jinchūriki status a bit too seriously."

"The power of human sacrifice..." Sakura whispered.

"What are we going to do?" Sasuke asked.

"Nothing." Tsunade held up a hand as they tried to argue. "You will do nothing. I'll have a lot more work to do because of this."

She stared at them silently as they stood there. After a minute she turned her gaze to Sasuke. "You still want him in your clan, right?"

"Of course," was his reply.

"This has given me an idea, if we do this right, it could pave the way for a better future for the Uchiha."

"How?" Sasuke asked.

Tsunade grinned. "Sacrifice. We reveal how Danzō was behind the massacre. Itachi sacrificed everything to follow orders for the village. Menma sacrificed everything to save what remained of the Uchiha."

"That could clear both their names. The village would see them as heroes!" Sakura added.

Tsunade nodded. "I still have some details to work out. That is all for now. You're dismissed."

Team 7 left the Hokage's office happy for the first time in years. Their friend was alive and would be home before they knew it.

End Chapter 18

A/N:

To clarify since I skipped portions. Most of this happened like it did in canon. Gaara had Shukaku extracted. Sakura and Chiyo stomp puppet ass. Chiyo dies to bring Gaara back. Itachi did not use the body clone technique thing and fight Konoha. Kisame and your favorite Akatsuki member of choice did, because those baby fights didn't really matter, but I didn't want Itachi interacting with them just yet.

Girls:

Karin - 2 (5)
Tayuya - 2 (4)
Ino - 1 (2)
Anko - 1
Isaribi - 1

The numbers are omitting the "x or y" votes. If I add a tally for each name of those votes it's the numbers in parentheses.