Title: A Demon's Tale
Author: swiftstar85
Genre: Drama/Friendship/Romance
Rating: T for some strong language, violence, suggestive material, and crude humor.
~Chapter Thirteen~
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though I wouldn't mind if I did.
As everyone began running through the base, checking the rooms of each floor, all of the members of Team Seven and seen the sand whizzing above their heads, also checking the rooms before quickly moving on. They all knew that it was a matter of time for Gaara to find Quoi. They just hoped that it wouldn't be too late. Gaara's sand was speeding through the dark corridors, serving as the young Kazekage's eyes. He could see through the grains of sand was doing his best to search the entire base with all of it. He just had to find Quoi before Kabuto did. He, however, stopped short when he found a certain room where his brother was. Using the sand, he pulled it back to look in and found Kankuro snooping through stuff.
Outside the base, Gaara frowned before he let the remaining sand with him swirl around him, transporting him quickly to that room. Once in it and appearing in the middle, he gave his older a look. "Kankuro, what are you doing?" He asked quietly.
"ARGH!!" Kankuro cried out jumping at the sound of his voice and sending papers flying everywhere before whirling around and glaring at his younger brother as he clapped a hand over his chest. "DO NOT do that, Gaara! Damn it! Why do you always have to sneak up on me like that?!" He gasped trying to slow his heart down.
Gaara just shook his head as he gave his older brother a serious look before moving forward a little. "Kankuro, why aren't you looking for Quoi? I thought that was what you were doing!" He said frowning.
Kankuro made a face but then looked around at the room. "Yeah. But something caught my eye as I was going." He motioned to the papers before quickly bending down and gathering them up. "I was hurrying through the dark halls looking for him and I saw Orochimaru come out of this room. I don't even think he noticed me at all because he was in such a hurry. I would've followed him but I checked this room first, just to see what he was doing. All of these papers were out on that desk. You know me. I get kind of snoopy. So I looked at them." he then looked seriously at Gaara. "I think you better have a look at these. They might interest you."
Frowning, Gaara reached out for the papers and took them from his brother before looking at them. Seeing the contents, his eyes lit up in surprise. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. "How in the hell did Orochimaru get a hold of this?! This must be....this information must be false!" He said looking over at Kankuro.
The Puppet Master shook his head as he looked just as serious. "I thought so too. But I think we should check it out anyway. Just to make sure this isn't true. If it is, we have to convince the kid that Orochimaru is too dangerous for him to be around. I don't know if he's there by force or will but knowing you, you're going to want to help him." He told him. And as to whatever they were talking about, Gaara nodded as he rolled up the papers and stuffed them into his sand gourd. He'd have to discuss this with the rest of Team Seven once they finished up with Orochimaru and Sasuke.
Just before anything else could be said, both of them felt a sudden burst of Chakra and not too far away either. Gaara's head jerked around before he gritted his teeth. "It's Naruto! He's fighting!" He told Kankuro before he and Kankuro burst out of the room. They had to hurry, seeing that there was a sinister signature of Chakra near Naruto and it didn't take them too long to find out where they were. They sped through the halls until they rounded a corner where Naruto was standing with Yamato and Sakura, with Orochimaru, himself at the end of the hall, smirking at them. But when he saw Gaara, his smirk was gone. "Well, well." The serpentine ninja said, now longer amused. "Looks like the Kazekage didn't take my warning very seriously. I had hoped you gotten note about the boy."
"I got it. But do you really think I was about to let you touch him anyway?" Gaara asked very darkly as he took careful steps forward until he standing right next Naruto, who glanced at him but then turned his glare back onto the tall thin Sanin standing down the hall.
Orochimaru narrowed his yellow eyes but then he turned slightly away, but kept his eyes on Gaara. "Do you honestly think I'll let you take away my new toy now? I don't think so, sand monster. Your student will soon by mine." He slowly smirked before he stepped back. "But why are you standing here gawking at me? Shouldn't you be looking for him? Kabuto did tell me that you were here and what was going on. I'm surprised that you're not still looking for your little mouse right now but glaring at me. Kabuto, on the other hand, should be with him now, ready to finish what he started and then moving him out of the base. Now, I'll let you all live for now, but do try and kill another Akatsuki member for me. But if you'll excuse me, I have some business to take care of with Sai." he said before he suddenly vanished.
Gritting his teeth, Gaara quickly turned away from the others. He had to find Quoi now!
Groaning, Quoi slowly opened his eyes as he still laid on the medical bed still feeling very dizzy and tired. He knew very well that he was in trouble but he just couldn't find the energy to move, not that he actually could. The straps keeping him down were really tight and starting to make his arms and legs tingle. He had tried to pull his arm free but it felt so heavy and he just couldn't find the strength to doing anything. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, though he was fighting to stay awake.
Hearing movement, he turned his head weakly to see what it was only to see a blurred object enter the room. Frowning weakly he squinted his eyes. "Who......wh-who's......th-there?" He murmured quietly.
Deep down, he felt the fearful shudder shoot right through his spine when he heard Kabuto's familiar "hmm" before he was right next to the boy, picking up the syringe from earlier. The gray haired medic just glowered at the boy on the table as he checked the measurement of the poison in the small glass tube before putting it back down and grabbing a rubber cord. "You are such a pest, Chiquoi. I don't really know why Orochimaru-sama won't just kill you and be rid of you." He stated before tying the cord around Quoi's arm so that the veins would pop out a little. He picked up the poisonous needle again. "But then again, he's probably doing it to spite that stupid monster of yours." he said dryly.
Quoi couldn't really find his voice to reply. He just tried to move his arm but found himself too tired to do it.
Kabuto smirked coldly down at him as he flicked the boy's arm above a vein a few times before readying the needle. "Fight all you want, you snot nose brat. There's really nothing you can do, or anyone else now. You belong to Orochimaru-sama from now on." He told him coldly before starting to move the needle into place. But suddenly, something wrapped around his wrist, something black that made him stop with surprise. "Wha-?" He muttered in surprise when he saw that it was a black snake.
WHAM!
There was a loud crash as something very heavy and metallic crashed very hard against Kabuto's head, causing him to fly off to the side and hit the ground, quite unconscious. The object that caused this happened to be a metallic chair. And holding that metallic chair was Sai.
"I already warned you not to touch him again." The stoic, emotionless ninja said before dropping the chair and looking at the practically unconscious Quoi. He frowned at him before quickly joining his side, all the while waving at his black ink snake to bind Kabuto's wrists, which did so. His attention was mostly on the boy on the bed. He looked him over, checking for any injuries before prying open his eyes and noting how dilated they were. Frowning even more, he glanced around at the table behind him and spied the used up needle and the bottle of sedatives. Shaking his head, he turned back to Quoi and began undoing the straps. "It's all right, Quoi. You're safe now." He told the moaning boy.
"......S......Sai.......?" Quoi moaned trying to look at him but his head couldn't stay up for too long.
The emotionless ninja just nodded as he finally managed to free his arms and legs before lifting him up a little into a sitting position. He then began digging into his back until he found a small bottle. Using his teeth, he pried it open before taking out a small pill and popping it into Quoi's mouth. He had tilt the boy's head back to make sure he swallowed it before turning slightly around and pulled him up onto his back. "Let's get you out of here. But first," His eyes grew very serious as he immediately started out of the room. "To find Sasuke Uchiha."
The ninja in black hurried through the dark halls, pausing only once to look down at tiny black ink mice, which squeaked at him before starting down the hall again. He just watched them for a second before following after them. He followed the mice until he came to a door. Frowning, he quietly opened it and peered inside where he could see a dark figure lying on a bed. And judging by the marking on the back, it was Sasuke Uchiha.
"It'll use the rest of my Chakra but I'll use my Shadow Clone jutsu to search. So we can split up again!" Naruto told the rest of the Team while Gaara had gone back to using his sand to search the base.
It was just moments after Orochimaru had taken off and leaving them to do whatever they wanted. Though, Gaara had immediately sent out his sand to find Quoi. He was really starting to feel the pressure against him while Kankuro was watching him with worry. The older brother knew very well that the younger was starting to get very antsy and very worried. He had never really seen him scared before and he could see the fear in Gaara's eyes as he was having his sand frantically searching for his student.
"Hey, what's this?" Sakura asked as she picked up Sai's brother's book and noticed a new picture in the very center of the book. Her face brightened when she saw that it was the picture of Sai, only this time it was of him holding hands with the white haired boy and they were both smiling.
Naruto turned and looked over at her before he too was smiling and shaking his head. "Sai....He finally remembered...he wanted to show that to his brother. The picture of their dreams." He told her.
"They're both smiling." Sakura said rather fondly as she looked down at the picture with her own smile.
Of course, Gaara really didn't have an interest in what she was looking at. He was too busy looking for Quoi to care. But as his sand was speeding through the base, it halted in the door way of one room. He had caught sight of something in the room through the sand, causing it to draw back and look in. His eyes snapped wide open after seeing what it was and then made him frown. Of course, Kankuro had been watching and he gave him a questionable look. Slowly, he shook his head.
"Sai....." Naruto continued on with the conversation with Sakura. "Once he finished that picture....for the first time, he smiled for real. Straight from his heart."
"This is....." Yamato suddenly spoke up sounding very surprise but horrified.
Now that had Gaara's attention. He opened his eyes and looked over at the ANBU captain, who had Sai's bag in his hand and a small black book in the other. There was a look of surprise on his face, yet he also looked very uneasy. Frowning, the young Kazekage lowered his hand and turned towards Yamato. "Is there a problem?" He asked, seriously.
Yamato turned sharply and looked directly at him with a very stern look on his face before he showed him the book with the others. They all looked to see pictures of ninja in the book. Some of the pictures were crossed out with large black X's though. "This was in Sai's bag....." He began to explain as they looked at it. "This is the book an ANBU member uses to list his assassination targets. A 'Hit List' if you will." he told them.
Gaara's eyes flashed. He knew very well what that meant.
"Why are all of those entries crossed out?" Sakura asked frowning.
Yamato's eyes narrowed a little lazily but didn't get rid of their dark as he began flipping through the pages. "It probably means that the targets have already been eliminated." He informed them.
Frowning again, Gaara's eyes kept on the book in the ANBU's hand, staring at all of pictures of the ninja that had been crossed out. More than half of them were. But still, why would Sai have brought this on his mission? Did he really expect to see one of his targets on it? But as Naruto, Sakura, and Kankuro were pondering the book, he saw exactly what Yamato did and his eyes snapped wide open. 'What.....! No!' He thought with an alarmed look. 'So that's what he was up to!'
On the page right before them, and catching Naruto, Sakura and Kankuro's eyes and they too gawked with shock, was Sasuke Uchiha's picture. He was a target.
"Why.....would Sasuke's face be on....Sai's hit list?!" Naruto asked, though he sounded as if he already had a hint of why.
Yamato's face hardened just like Gaara's as they looked at Sasuke's picture with serious looks. They both knew the answer to that question. "It hasn't been crossed out yet....." The ANBU captain stated, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "So that's it.....it all makes sense now." He glanced up when Naruto looked at him with confusion. He shook his head at the blonde still looking down at the picture. "Sai....his mission wasn't to become a go-between for Orochimaru and Danzo. Not at all. Sai's real top secret mission was...."
"The assassination of Sasuke." Gaara finished very dangerously.
Both Sakura and Naruto looked horrified at their best friend before slowly shaking their heads. Kankuro was just frowning as he took in the information. He didn't like it any more than the rest but he was more preoccupied with finding Quoi instead. He was just wondering why Gaara stopped looking, seeing that he wasn't concentrating any more. Naruto shook his head as he just looked at Yamato and Gaara with disbelief. "That.....that's just not possible! I mean, he just said that he was going to rescue Sasuke! And he really was smiling from his heart! He really has changed! He wouldn't do......!'
Gaara wished he could agree with his best friend but even he was having his doubts now. He knew that Sai must have played them. But still something wasn't really adding up. Sakura agreed with Yamato though as she placed a very dark look on her face. "But if it was all staged just to trick you, Naruto....then......"She was saying.
"Such a tactic would be more than a possibility for the owner of this hit list. Just look. This Shinobi listed next to Sasuke," Yamato stated showing them the picture. "He's a Jounin from Kirigakure that had taken hard line stance in relation to Konoha. So Sai was assigned the task of disposing those who stand to harm Konoha's interest and Sasuke was listed as one of those individuals." He told them.
"In order to reach one's goals....now that you mention it....after I hit Sai he...." Sakura was saying.
Yamato shook his head as he looked around at the three. "Danzo was after what is to become Orochimaru's new body....he intended to take Sasuke out of the picture. And to accomplish this, he attempted to move Sai in near Orochimaru. He didn't betray Konoha after all. He was working for us...in his own militaristic fashion. We need to find Sai now!" He told them.
And as soon as those words were out of his mouth, everyone was bolting in many directions to look for Sai. Both Gaara and Kankuro were running to find Quoi though. They would try and find Sai as they looked for the young boy. But Quoi was their highest priority right now. Gaara sent sand flying through the base, not caring if he attracted attention now. He was starting to lose concentration by worrying so much about his student now. He hadn't really been worrying too much about Kabuto anymore. Not after what he had seen.
"Gaara, why'd you stop looking for Quoi back there for a minute?" Kankuro suddenly asked.
The young Kazekage shook his head as he kept on searching but merely glanced over at his older brother. "Kabuto's out for the count. My sand found him unconscious in his medical lab. Someone attacked him and I'm sure that was where Quoi had once been. Someone now has him but I'm not sure who. But I will find out. Hurry, Kankuro!" He told him before they picked up their speed. But as they did, Gaara's eyes flashed and he tried to stop. He heard Shukaku roar within his head with warning and he knew that there was danger near by. "Kankuro! Stop!" He barked at his older brother.
Suddenly there was a huge explosion that rocked the entire base and caused the walls and ceiling to collapse all around them. Kankuro let out a yell as he came to a staggering halt before falling onto his back and covering his head. Even Gaara nearly staggered but his sand gourd exploded from his back before forming a strong barrier around the two to protect them from the collapse. The sand was what was keeping them from being crushed by the few tons of Orochimaru's base.
"Wh-what.....what was that?" Kankuro coughed as he pushed himself up into a crouch within the sand shield.
Gaara frowned as he tried to concentrate on the Chakra signature he was feeling but then he waved his hands and the sand shoved the stone off of them. They both climbed out of their little nest of sand and stone before looking around. More than half of the base had just been destroyed. And they were only on the edge of the hole in the ground.
'Gaara! Over there! Sai and Quoi are both of there! But someone's with them!' Shukaku roared at his host.
The young Kazekage, of course, bolted in the direction where Shukaku directed him. He heard Kankuro give a shout before hearing him hurry after him. The two of them ran through the large chunks of stone, trying to find where Sai and Quoi were. Gaara's heart was thumping hard against his chest as he tried to feel the Chakra signatures and he nearly came to a halt when he finally found a small clearing. He could see Sai on his hands and knees on the ground, but it actually looked like he was protecting something. He was bent over Quoi. But slowly, he was climbing to his feet while trying to stay standing over him, who wasn't moving at all. For a brief moment, Gaara thought that his student was dead. 'No......' He thought full of dread.
'Don't worry. He's alive. He seems to be.....I dunno. Out cold though.' Shukaku reassured him.
Either way, Gaara and Kankuro was hurrying over to where Sai was standing. They were both giving Sai the darkest looks. They hadn't forgotten so easily that once again he had deceived them, stating that he wanted to help them get Sasuke back and then they find out that he was there to kill him.
However, a flash of pink told them that Sakura beat them to him. They both watched Sakura rush right up to Sai and violently grab the collar of his jacket and glare at him viciously. "YOU! What the hell are you after?!" She yelled at the pale ninja. "How many times do you plan to stab us in the back before you're ha....."
But as she had been yelling, Gaara came to a sudden halt when he sensed someone close by. And that signature he recognized very well. Alarmed, he stopped running before jerking his head upward to see a figure standing in the light of the sun, over shadowing them. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was him.
"Ah....is that Sakura?" came Sasuke's cool voice.
Like Gaara had, Sakura froze with wide eyes before she slowly turned her head upward and she saw him too. Her hand released Sai's jacket and fell somewhat trembling. She looked just as stunned as her red haired boyfriend, and Kankuro who had hurried over and grabbed at Quoi while Sakura had been busy yelling at Sai. He hadn't even noticed Sasuke Uchiha standing on the lip of the crater until he heard Sakura murmur that name. Frowning, he looked up at her then over to where she was looking and then he too froze with Quoi safely in his arms. And even Naruto froze when he had entered the clearing with Yamato. All eyes were now turned upward onto Sasuke as he looked down at them. None of them could believe it.
"Sasuke....." Naruto murmured in wonder before his face slowly brightened.
Sasuke just looked back at him through dark eyes but he stood stone still. "Naruto......so you're here too." His head tilted slightly and his dark eyes met Gaara's. He didn't look too surprised to see him. No, he actually smirked as if he had been expecting him. "And Gaara." His eyes flickered back over to the others and he saw Kankuro. "Kankuro is here? Does that mean Kakashi's here as well?"
It was at that moment Yamato decided to step forward, catching Sasuke's attention. "Unfortunately, Kakashi-san couldn't be here. But I'm here in his place." He stated as he stood Sai, Sakura and Naruto. Kankuro was crouched down behind them still holding Quoi. Slowly, Gaara walked over to stand beside the ANBU Captain and looked up at Sasuke. However, Sai slowly reaching up and pulling out his small bladed katana caught his attention as well as Sakura's. They both looked at him and noted how serious he looked. He didn't look particularly happy for someone so emotionless.
"Sai! I knew it!" Sakura exclaimed, glaring at him.
Everyone glanced over at the pale ninja on the end and their faces hardened. It was no doubt that he was threatening Sasuke, who on the other hand, just narrowed his eyes and looked at them blankly. "So...he's my replacement, is he? He was sprouting some kind of nonsense about protecting the bonds between Naruto and me....one more pansy for the group. Quite the fit I'm sure." His words only surprised the entire lot besides Yamato and Sai. Naruto, Sakura and Gaara frowned as they looked over at Sai.
"It's true that my top secret mission was indeed the assassination of Sasuke Uchiha. But those orders don't matter anymore. Now I want to think and act for myself. Because of Naruto-kun and Gaara-sama, I feel like I might be able to remember something. How I used to feel. Something which I can't help but feeling was very important to me....." He slowly shook his head. "I may not know you all that well....but there's a reason why Naruto-kun and Sakura-san and even Gaara-sama chase after you with so much passion. In order to prevent their bonds with you from breaking. In order to keep them intact, they're doing everything they can. I still don't have a very good understanding of it myself. But you, Sasuke-kun, should know why......" His head somewhat tilted to look over his shoulder to look over at Quoi. "Quoi is safe and unharmed, Gaara-sama. I stopped Kabuto from injecting him. He's only been sedated." He told the young Kazekage.
"Sure, I did know. That's why I severed them." Sasuke spoke up rather coldly, a voice that made all eyes turn upward to him and saw how dangerous he was looking at them now. "I have other bonds I carry. Fraternal bonds, forged through hate. Having too many bonds causes one to lose focus. Weakening their strongest wish, their greatest desire."
There was a long silence throughout the entire crater before Gaara felt his face darkening. He knew who Sasuke was talking about. He knew it was Itachi Uchiha. After meeting the man, himself, he felt that hate. But....he remembered that Itachi had spared his life, almost demanding him to save his former comrade from one of the greatest threats in the world. And he spent the last two months planning a way of respecting his rescuer's wishes, even if he had been apart of the group that tried to kill him. He had wanted to find and save Sasuke from Orochimaru. But now......listening to Sasuke, he knew it was all for nothing. This was Sasuke's choice to be apart of Orochimaru.
"If that's true....." Naruto's voice spoke up, making the red head glance over at his best friend. The blonde's head slowly lowered and he had a very angry but pained look slowly growing on his face. "If that's true.....then why.....why didn't you kill me back then?!" He suddenly yelled, now glaring at Sasuke with anger. "Is that what you call severing bonds?! Sasuke!!"
No one spoke for a very long time as they looked between Sasuke and Naruto but with grim looks. Sasuke, on the other hand, let out a sigh before his eyes closed and he looked impatient. "The reason is simple......and it isn't that I wasn't able to sever my bonds with you....." He went quiet for a minute before reopening his eyes and looking at Naruto. "I simply didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me attain power by submitting to his plans." He said, surprising almost everyone.
"Wh...what do you mean by that?" Naruto asked confused.
Gaara's face darkened as the only answer he could think of came to his mind. His head dipped downward a little but he kept his eyes on Sasuke. "Itachi Uchiha." He growled, getting a few eyes to turn to him.
Sasuke's eyes had been one of them. He narrowed his dark eyes onto the young Kazekage. He looked a little smug but still rather blank as if he didn't care about anything. "There's no need for me to tell you....." His eyes narrowed even more. "The boy told me the truth, Gaara, when I ordered him to tell me about how strong you have become." He received some really surprised but confused looks. And even Gaara had received a few, though his own eyes narrowed a little as if asking Sasuke what he was talking about. "Your so called student told me that my brother was the one who saved your life, not Sasori of the Red Sand." He said coldly.
"........?!?" Everyone looked at Gaara with surprise and alarm, looking to him as if asking him if that was true.
Somewhat forlorn, Gaara's head dipped down lower. He knew it was going to come out sooner or later. He knew he probably should have told Naruto and Sakura sooner though and not find out from Sasuke, himself. He knew this was going to cause a little bit of a reaction later on.
"Gaara, is that true? Was it Itachi who saved you instead of Sasori?" Sakura asked tilting her head with an alarmed look on her face.
Slowly, Gaara nodded but he didn't take his eyes off of Sasuke but dipped his head lower until he was looking up at him barely. He knew he'd better be honest with his friends. "It's true. It had been Itachi Uchiha who spared my life. I don't know why he did it but I will find out. I didn't tell you who it really was at that time because we were all stressed out as it was. But.....before the Akatsuki attempted to extract Shukaku, he did make a request. That I find Sasuke with Naruto and save him from Orochimaru." He said dryly. "And that's what I intend to do. And we will do it together."
Still rather surprised, Naruto stared at his best friend, somewhat frustrated that he hadn't told them the truth. But hearing those last words, he nodded with determination and looked back at Sasuke.
Sasuke just looked dully at them but impatient. He only shook his head. "How stirring, Gaara." His eyes then flickered back over to Naruto. "Still, the one thing I can say to you is that back then.....I chose to spare your life at nothing more than a whim of mine." He suddenly vanished making everyone grow very tense, only to appear right in front of Naruto, looking back behind him. His very speed had even stunned Gaara. He hadn't even seen Sasuke move. Everyone just stared at the raven haired ninja with unease. "Come to think of it...isn't becoming Hokage a dream of yours....?" He slowly lift his eyes and met Naruto's, looking only at him. "If you had the time to go around looking for me, you would have been better off training. Don't you think.....Naruto?"
The back of Gaara's neck prickled and he sensed a threat. Even Shukaku was growling. 'Sasuke.......' he thought gritting his teeth.
"And that's why this time....." Sasuke continued before he reached behind him and grabbed the handle of his katana and pulled it. "You're going to end up losing your life, all at a whim of mine."
Gaara's eyes flashed dangerous and he was already taking the step forward. He heard Naruto say something right back to him but his rage for Sasuke blocked out the words. He knew very well that Sasuke's intention was to kill Naruto and he was not going to allow it. Not his best friend! He watched as Sasuke swung the katana around to stab right into Naruto's back, all the while his sand was now lashing outwards.
But once again, Sai's very own actions stopped him.
The ninja in black had rushed over and caught Sasuke's wrist tightly with his own while giving Sasuke a very dark look. Neither raven haired young men seemed to notice all of the sand swirling around them, looking ready to attack one of them. They were just glaring at each other. "Your choice of defense....quite correct." Sasuke said coldly.
But even Naruto was suddenly moving. He quickly jumped up into the air and flipped right over Sasuke's arm. This only had everyone moving quickly. Yamato was launching wood out of his hand towards Sasuke while Gaara's sand was doing the same, all the while, barking at Kankuro to get Quoi out of the way. He stiffened a little when he watched Sasuke close his eyes before reopening them to reveal the Sharingan. The familiar pinch of unease made him stop from moving. He cursed himself for still letting the Sharingan effect him like it did. Why was he still so weak against the Sharingan?!
Suddenly there was a burst of electricity all around Sasuke, knocking both Naruto and Sai back away from them and even making Yamato, Sakura and Gaara flinch away from them. The electric bolts that Sasuke was emitting was unbearably painful. Gaara's sand swirled around them but seemed to be having a hard time hovering around Sasuke as those Sharingan eyes turned over onto Gaara and a smirk curled on his face. However, his head jerked around when Sakura raced at him, throwing a fist back.
"Sasuke! I'm going to stop you with my own power!" Sakura yelled.
Sasuke only narrowed his eyes before his katana in his hand began to spark with electricity. He was no doubt going to strike her with it. But as Sakura moved too close, Yamato was quickly in between them with his own kunai out to fight him but too many things happened at once. Sasuke's katana sliced through the kunai and penetrated Yamato's shoulder, sending him flying back into a chunk of stone. "Your choice of defense.....quite the mistake." He shook his head before looking over at Gaara, who was glaring at him. "You see, this sword of Kusanagi I hold here is a little special. It's the kind that can't be blocked. Not even by your sand shield." he said coldly.
"I'm willing to take that bet, Sasuke." Gaara said just as coldly as the sand swirled even faster around them. "I won't let you hurt Sakura like you were just about to."
Narrowing his eyes a little, Sasuke turned slightly to stare him right in the eyes but then let his dark eyes flicker over to Sakura then back. He seemed to be trying to figure out something but then his lips curved upward into a smirk. He seemed to have got the idea. "Oh.....I see. So the little weakling wasn't lying. He mentioned that there was something between you two. I didn't actually believe it." His eyes met Sakura's, who was staring at him with horror. "So, you've been playing around with Gaara, Sakura? Or have you really moved on from that night when you said that you were in love me?"
Those words seemed to have stung Sakura a little for she flinched a little and balled up her fists together. She seemed very unsure of how to answer that. "Sa-Sasuke......." She whispered, looking right into Sasuke's dark eyes.
Hearing the way she said Sasuke's name made Gaara's heart clench and he looked right at her, almost painfully. He knew he had heard a little guilt in her tone. 'No.....she's regretting getting with me. She still loves him then.' He thought painfully. 'And....she really said that she loved him that night, didn't she?' He ignored Shukaku's threatening growl.
Sasuke slowly shook his head as he continued to look right into Sakura's eyes. "I never would have guessed that you would have moved on. I always took you as the one who lingered on your feelings for me. Didn't you always want to be with me? Simply amazing. And here I thought you would have waited for me to return for you. How do you know I wouldn't have? After I kill my brother, I still need to revive my clan? How do you know I didn't chose you? But you really surprised me, Sakura. Falling in love with a monster like Gaara?" He said rather coldly. And even the words seemed to lash out at Gaara, making him wince a little.
Sakura's eyes flashed before her guilty look was gone in an instant. She dropped her hands to her sides and she glared at Sasuke, as if his words had offended her. And it was like they did, other wise she wouldn't have glared at him. She merely glanced over at Gaara before lifting her head and glaring at him. "Shut up, Sasuke!" She hissed dangerously, making him blink. "If you think I hold the same feelings for you like I once did, you are DEAD wrong. I love Gaara, got that?! And there is no way in hell I would revive your clan! Any clan I revive is going to be Gaara's!" She told him, making Sasuke's face darkened in though.
But before Sasuke could say anything in reply, he was looking away from her and seeing Naruto now climbing up to his feet.
Once again, Naruto was making a little bit of a transformation. His eyes had flashed to fiery red and the markings on his face turned black. He was turning again and that made Gaara uneasy. 'Oh, not again.' He thought through his unease. But then he noticed the look on his best friend's face changed as if something had happened. And even Sasuke's face had changed. It was like they had just had a surprising conversation. His eyes flashed open with surprise and it took only a second to realize that it wasn't just something that happened between Naruto and Sasuke. It was the fact that Yamato slammed his hands together and had wood shove the katana right out of his shoulder, surprising Sasuke and forcing him back a step. Immediately, Yamato was on his feet. Sasuke, on the other hand, had jumped back up onto the lip of the crater, looking down at them.
"Sasuke! Why don't you get it?! Your body's going to be stolen by Orochimaru anytime now!!" Naruto yelled up at him as he stood up.
There was a brief silence but then Sasuke's eyes narrowed a little down at the blonde. "If it happens, it happens." He simply said in a cool tone. He just shook his head. "You're still quite the kid, Naruto. Revenge means everything to me. As long as I can have my revenge, I could not care less what happens to me or the whole world for that matter. Let me make it clear for you. For both me and Orochimaru right now, killing Itachi would be impossible. But if I am able to accomplish my goals, through nothing more than offering Orochimaru this body of mine......then he can have my life and my after life for all I care."
"That's enough talk." Yamato said as he climbed to his feet, glaring coldly up at Sasuke. "Naruto and Sakura, with the two of you here, I had hoped not to have to resort to any of my cruder methods. But unfortunately, it's time I get serious." He said very coldly.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes just as dangerously at him before he shook his head. "Konoha indeed....I'm through with you......" He then slammed his hands together and formed a sign before shooting his hand up into the air. "Now things end......!"
But someone grabbed him around the wrist, stopping him from doing anything. Everyone was surprised to see that it was Orochimaru, himself. He was looking down at Sasuke rather seriously as if he disapproved of what Sasuke was about to do. "Now, now. There's no need to use "that" Jutsu, Sasuke-kun." He told him. His lips curved upward only a little as if he was amused once again.
"Remove your hand." Sasuke said very coldly, his eyes narrowing dangerously at him.
Then it was right at that time, Kabuto appeared right from out behind a chunk of stone and he looked very annoyed. He was carrying something small and it only took Gaara a moment to realize what it was. His eyes flashed and he jerked around to see Kankuro slumped against the stone, looking pretty much unconsciousness. He had been hit by something very hard but Quoi was no longer in his arms. Kabuto was carrying Quoi, once again. "There you go again....forgetting exactly who it is you are talking to...." The gray haired medic said as he shifted Quoi from under his arm.
"I have no reason to stop." Sasuke said coldly.
"Kabuto! Give my student back!" Gaara yelled, his eyes narrowed dangerously, making Orochimaru and Sasuke glance over at him.
But Kabuto completely ignored the young Kazekage and looked right at Sasuke, his head dipping down. "You know quite well what Akatsuki is up to. We want to have our guests here from Konoha and the Kazekage take care of as many of them as possible." He stated, before using his other hand to dig into the pouch at his waist for something. "If the other Akatsuki members get in your way....your plans for revenge could hit a snag, right?" He asked, still trying to find something in his pouch.
Sasuke gave Kabuto a dangerous look. "That's quite the pathetic excuse....." His Sharingan eyes flickered down at Quoi, who was groaning and starting to wake up. "And why do have the weak brat? He isn't worth the effort, Kabuto." he said coldly.
Kabuto ignored that question as he took something out but it was rather hard to tell what it was from the angle that Gaara was in. He just kept his eyes on Sasuke. Though in truth, it looked like a needle. "But surely you'd allow it if it meant increasing the chances of your revenge even by 1 percent. Right?" He asked, tilting his head.
There was a long silence as Sasuke continued to give him a very cold look before he jerked his hand right out of Orochimaru's grip and lowered it. That was the only answer that Orochimaru needed. The Sanin smirked and nodded before looking down at the group below and seeing how tense they all were as they eyed the needle in Kabuto's hand. It didn't take them too much thoughts to realize that that had to be the poison that Kabuto had intended to inject into Quoi in the first place. "Now then, Kazekage Monster," Orochimaru said as he smirked down at the red head. "I understand that you want your little mouse back, and I would grant it. But I've found myself fond of your precious little boy. You know as well as I do that if you make even the tiniest step towards us, Kabuto would inject the poison into him. I'm going to make it even more clearer to you, that if you do want him to live, you will stop following me. I promise you. I will take very good care of him."
"Orochimaru!" snarled Gaara his fists tightening into balls but he knew that he couldn't move. And neither could the others. They all just watched helplessly as Kabuto took a step back with Quoi, yet waving the needle a little with his own smirk as if taunting them. "Just give him back!" The young Kazekage demanded, even though there was very thick emotion within his tone.
"No, I think not. I think I want to play around with this kid anyway." Kabuto said smirking before holding up the needle full of poison. "And if you come after us again, I think we'll have to give you an example of what might happen." He said before starting to place the needle between his fingers and making ready to stabbing the needle into Quoi.
"Quoi!" Both Sakura and Naruto cried out.
But before the sharp thin metal could even touch the boy, there was a flash of silver and the syringe was cut into two, surprising Kabuto. As well as everyone else.
The medical ninja watched the syringe fall into two pieces before he lift his head and looked over at Sasuke who was holding his katana tightly in his hand, only a residue of the poison on the blade after he sliced through the glass tube. His eyes were very hard as he continued to glare down at the group below but then he slowly lift his head and rose the katana to point at the gray haired medic. "Put the boy down." He said coldly. "We don't need him. He's weak and pathetic. Not even worthy. Orochimaru, the boy is nothing but trouble and if we do take him with us, Gaara will continue to hunting us for him. Even if we kill him. Sooner or later, he'll unleash the One Tail and you will be dealing with that." He slowly turned his head and looked right at Orochimaru, who didn't look pleased. "And we all know that you want to avoid it." He warned him dangerously.
There was a long silence as everyone stared at Sasuke with surprise but then Orochimaru let out a hiss of annoyance and glanced over at Gaara. He knew that Sasuke was right. He knew very well that the One Tailed Jinchuriki would keep hunting for him until he retrieved his student or avenged a possible death. Either way, he had to give the boy up. "Kabuto, drop the child. We're leaving him behind." He said dryly before he seemed to vanish with in smoke, as did Sasuke. Annoyed, Kabuto did as he was told. He literately dropped Quoi right off the long drop off before vanishing just like they did.
Gaara, on the other hand, was rushing forward as fast as he could. He was not going to let his precious student fall and seriously get hurt, or worst. And without any effort at all, he caught Quoi right in his arms, hugging him close to his chest. He merely looked down at his student with concern before hurrying back over to Sakura. "Sakura......!"
With a nod, Sakura was already moving over and kneeling beside the both of them. She placed her hands onto Quoi's chest and began sending her Chakra right through his body. She sent her Chakra through every inch, looking for any traces of poison or infection. She had found the cut on his arm but it was cleaned and well bandaged but as for the rest of him, she shook her head as she looked up at Gaara, who was looking at his student with concern. "He's fine, Gaara. There's nothing wrong with him. There's only a trace of sedatives in his system but they're fading away faster than I've seen. I really don't understand it. But he's safe."
Sai then dug into his pouch and pulled out a small container full of black pills, catching their attention. He just looked right at Sakura. "The sedatives will be gone very soon and he'll wake up. I gave him one of these when I found him." He received very suspicious looks but he shook his head. "Anti-Sedatives, if you wish to call them. The Root ANBU are required to carry them for caution. If a Root member is placed under the influence of sedatives, we are to immediately take one of these. They eat away the sedative serum that is injected into us." he informed them.
Sighing with relief, Gaara slowly nodded before looking down at Quoi's face. He watched him for a moment before he turned his head when he heard Naruto making a sound as if he crying. He just looked at his best friend and watched him then looked at Sakura, seeing the tears in her eyes. "Crying isn't going to bring Sasuke back, you know." Sakura told Naruto but she still cried with him anyway. "I'm here too. We'll both get stronger. Together."
"There's almost another half year left......and three's better than two, obviously." Sai spoke as he climbed to his feet and offered them a smile. It was a fake, but there was something real about it too. "Besides, I'm pretty strong myself, you know." He told them.
"Make that four." Gaara said as he pushed himself to his feet, still holding Quoi close to him.
"Five!" Kankuro growled as soon as he finally came to and kicked himself for failing, once again to protecting Quoi. He had a very vicious and pissed off look on his face. He was very angry that Kabuto had somehow managed to sneak up on him and hit him over the head with a stone. But he wasn't going to tolerate it anymore. "I am so going to kill Kabuto for hitting me and threatening, Quoi. So make me five." He growled again.
Naruto climbed to his feet and faintly smiled as he wiped his tears from his face before looking around at everyone with his cheerful smile. "Heh, thanks a lot, guys." He told them.
Gaara just nodded with satisfaction as he looked up into the sky. His face was hard again but with determination. He was going to end this with Orochimaru and with the Akatsuki. He was not going to allowed anyone getting hurt again. 'Shukaku, you will have your snake meat soon enough.' He thought dangerously to the demon, who only chuckled just as sinisterly as his host.