Chapter 5

Sasuke drummed his fingers idly on his desk. He was glad that while Sakura was sick she was not being thrust into his company. He could finally make plans against Konoha. Madara was stalling. Why, Sasuke wasn't sure of, but he needed to act without Madara. It was time for him to secretly plot against Konoha.

He wracked his brain for a good plan, but was drawing a blank. Every time he would try to think about it, he would think of Konoha and then think of Sakura being a member of the Akatsuki and how unbelievable that was.

If she was that weak when he knew her at twelve how in the world was she even on the Akatsuki? Akatsuki didn't just accept anyone off the streets that had left their village. When they had been on a team together she had had excellent chakra control but that was about the extent of her abilities. Excellent chakra control didn't get you on the Akatsuki.

Had she really been a good ninja the whole time he knew her? Madara didn't show charity to people. So, if she really was a skilled ninja, why hide it?

Her personality was completely different as well. She had gone from love to disdain. Did that make her a hypocrite or a good actor? If a good actor, then which was the act and why was she acting in the first place?

He had to figure out someway to get her to tell him or show him who she truly was. He didn't really care what the answer was, but he wasn't going to able to think about his attack on Konoha without it. Sakura had always been a nuisance to him, and the sooner he got rid of her the better

Naruto sped quickly along the limbs of the trees they were traveling on. He was frustrated to say the least. His team seemed to be moving at a snail's pace. Couldn't they go faster and take fewer breaks? He could go without eating lunch or breakfast, so everyone else should be able to! They were following a lead that the Akatsuki - more importantly Madara - were spotted in the woods west of a very small village just south of Suna. The lead hadn't looked too trustworthy. His hair was greasy, his eyes resembling a weasel, all of his teeth were surprisingly still intact, but looked as though they could fall out any second. His face had been covered in pimples and inconsistent facial hair. To sum him up he looked like a sleazy man.

Kakashi had warned everyone that the lead was most likely fake and to be prepared for some sort of trap. They couldn't rule out the possibility that he was on the Akatsuki's side. Naruto had been so focused on following any lead he wasn't being particularly cautious, so Kakashi's warning flew right over his head.

Naruto's foot landed on a rotted branch. It gave-way under his weight, and he had to react quickly to avoid falling twenty feet down and landing flat on his face.

"Naruto!" he heard Hinata cry from above him. He twitched slightly and grit his teeth. She had been very clingy - he supposed was the accurate word for her behavior - this whole mission. "I'm fi-" he was about to yell irritably back, but a kunai flying in his direction stopped him short.

Hinata had been warning him, not showing concern.

He dove to the side and was blown forward as the paper bomb attached tot he hilt exploded. His ears were pounding as he got back to his feet. He shook his head trying to get a grasp on the situation.

Kiba and Shikamaru had been on the tree that was blown up. Hinata was following Kakashi's directions and going towards where Kiba and Shikamaru had flown. Kakashi had just jumped down to Naruto's side.

"Four o'clock," Kakashi instructed while dropping to a squat to avoid another paper bomb kunai. Naruto managed to grab the hilt and throw back in the direction it had come from. A man jumped up from a bush to avoid the explosion. He landed twenty feet to the left of Naruto and Kakashi and threw two more paper bomb kunai.

"What is with this guy and explosions?" Naruto growled as he and Kakashi dove out of the way again. Naruto flash-stepped behind the ninja and swiped his feet. This ninja was an amateur at best. As soon as the man's back hit the ground Naruto was on top of him with a kunai pressed against the man's neck.

"Why did you attack us?" Naruto demanded. He didn't have to wait for an answer as he spotted the red cloud that the Akatsuki followers pinned to their clothing. Naruto let out a feral growl and began punching the man in the face. "Where are the Akatsuki hiding?"

"We're everywhere," the man managed to get out.

"The real Akatsuki!" Naruto yelled. "Madara. Where is he?"

The man didn't answer so Naruto continued to beat him senseless.

"Where is he?"

"Last I heard their hideout was just north of Amegakure in some cave under a mountain. That's all I know, I swear!"

"Were you involved in Sakura's death?" Naruto demanded. Somewhere in the back of his mind a small voice whispered that Madara had done it alone.

"I-I don't know who that is!" the man shouted as Naruto continued to beat him.

"Naruto!" he heard Kakashi shout, but he ignored him and continued to punch the man. He could feel the familiar tingle of the nine-tails chakra taking over. One little punch from this chakra and the man would be dead, and Naruto would be one step closer to avenging Sakura's death. The nine-tail's voice whispered to him telling him it would be so easy, and Naruto agreed. He could feel the chakra focus into his fist and-

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled. "That is enough." Naruto was thrown off the man by Kakashi. He had a brief thought about pushing Kakashi off and killing the man. He looked at Kakashi and what he saw there made him freeze. Naruto caught a familiar glint in Kakashi's eye that had been there after Sasuke's defect. The same sadness. The same disappointment.

He looked around and noticed his other teammates had returned. Hinata was crying, Kiba looked frightened, Shikamaru concerned.

Naruto looked down at his hands and began shaking.

What was he becoming?

Sasuke walked into his room later the next day only to find the object of his loathing standing and awaiting a command. She was clearly no longer sick and had to go back to following his orders.

Her arms were crossed and she was leaning up against the foot of his bed looking incredibly annoyed. In Sasuke's opinion he was the only one here that had reason to be annoyed. She was probably jumping with joy at the thought of being in his room and in his presence.

The thought made him consider what he had been thinking of the other day. He decided now wasn't the time to act on his plan, but he had to tell her to do something, so he could get her out of his room.

He considered his options. He was about to go train and he needed his weapons sharpened. He could have her do that so he could train his weaponry skills later in the week.

"Sharpen my weapons," Sasuke commanded before walking out the door. The less time he had to spend with her the better.

He heard a sigh before closing the door behind him.

When he returned later that evening he found her lying on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. He looked around for the weapons she had sharpened and only saw two kunai next to her.

"Where are the rest of them?" Sasuke asked. She looked at him and then went back to staring at the ceiling.

"I sharpened two," Sakura said. He could tell she was finding ways to be defiant after the passing out incident. "You didn't specify how many. You only said weapons. I assumed that since it was pluralized you meant more than one, so I sharpened two," with this she held up two fingers.

"Sharpen the rest of them," Sasuke commanded.

"All of your commands become optional after the first so, no," Sakura responded.

Sasuke wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of an annoyed response, so he sat down at his desk and began reading reports that Juugo had sent from the village in Oto they were trying to take over. He wasn't going to let her leave until she did what he wanted either.

A great amount of time spent in silence passed.

"You know," Sakura began and he could tell she was trying to annoy him, "They say your room color says a lot about you," Sasuke vaguely wondered who "they" was. "You don't have one, so that says you don't care about things appealing to the eye. You're boring, an introvert, rarely do anything enjoyable, focused in a way that makes you blind to the things around you... Shall I go on?"

"Do what you want," Sasuke sighed.

"Another command? I'll choose to accept this extra one," Sakura got up and made her way towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"You said I could do what I wanted, so I'm leaving."

"You are to stay until I say you can leave."

"But that would be contradicting your other command, and I choose not to follow that extra command anyway. Remember, they become optional after the first one. Tah!"

Sasuke broke the pencil that had been in his hand. He decided tomorrow would be the perfect time to have her train with him, and he would carry out his plan then.

She would regret this tomorrow.

I'll have a long chapter eventually...

Thanks to LadyMartel4000, xSmittenKittenx, and Ladyrouge214! You guys rawk!

Review? Maybe? Pwease?

The Fuzz