…Not even Naruto owns Naruto, so I certainly do not own Naruto either…

Chapter 12: A Clash of Titans

What is going on? Orochimaru clutched a hand to his pink-haired head. What is this intense pain?

He felt Sakura's presence assert itself again. The strain made him feel as if his head would split in two.

Orochimaru had been concerned about this very thing. With every body he took, a small portion of the true owner remained. And the more and more he switched, the more and more of the original person that was left behind.

He could sense Sakura, but he hadn't expected her to react so violently within his mind.

She wasn't going to allow him to attack Sasuke.

What was worse, he couldn't repress her emerging soul. Before he knew it, he could clearly hear her voice.

I won't let you hurt Sasuke-kun. The statement held no room for compromise.

Sasuke-kun will make us stronger. You've always wanted to be stronger, haven't you Sakura?

There was a pause, but then her voice returned. I am as strong as I need to be.

But you clearly weren't strong enough to save yourself, let alone your dear Sasuke-kun. He chuckled, inwardly smiling. And since I am allowing you to remain in this body with me, it would serve you well to learn that you no longer have a choice in what we do.

A wave of pain almost sent him to his knees.

You're wrong, Orochimaru. A clear image of Sakura manifested itself in his head. It loomed inside his consciousness, and its eyes shone with an unholy yellow light. You're in my world now.

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Sasuke watched as the snake sannin stumbled and almost fell to the ground. Clearly, Orochimaru was not recovered enough to have all his stamina back. It was a stroke of good luck for the Uchiha.

He waited a moment, unsure of what he wanted to do.

End it now, Sasuke. Kill him while he's weak. It might be your only chance out of here.

And then what? Off to kill Itachi just as he had killed Sakura? Did everyone he ever cared about have to die before this was all over?

He'd come so far. He couldn't fail now. If he gave up, every sacrifice that had been made would be for naught. His entire life up to this point would be meaningless. All the lies, the betrayals; everything would have happened for no reason.

"I am an avenger," Sasuke growled menacingly. "And you will die, Orochimaru."

The weakened sannin looked up through emerald eyes.

The stare was enough to make the Uchiha momentarily doubt himself. In that moment, the predatory gaze in her eyes was gone. She looked just like the Sakura he'd come to know again during the last few months.

The ball of pain he felt in his chest only strengthened his resolve. "This is for Sakura," he said as a current of chidori pooled in the center of both his hands.

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"What's going on?" Kisame asked, his voice hushed and barely audible in the dark room. "Something go wrong with the jutsu?"

Itachi's eyes narrowed and he did not respond to his partner's question. Something very interesting was happening in the next room. It was something he'd only witnessed on a rare occasion and only with those who were hosts for tailed beasts.

Orochimaru waged an inner war within his new host. The sharingan user could see the conflict of chakra within the body. A separate entity was fighting for control.

But was it Haruno Sakura? The Uchiha had never heard of such a thing. He would never have guessed the female healer would have that kind of power. He wasn't even sure it was possible for anyone short of a jinchurinki to be able to overcome that jutsu.

And a jinchirinki would only be able to do it because they housed two spirits within one body. So did that mean that Haruno Sakura…

…no, all the tailed beasts were accounted for.

So what was it that was strong enough to force Orochimaru into submission?

The Akatsuki member smirked slightly. Perhaps the sannin's choice for a new body was more admirable than Itachi had first thought. The pink-haired young woman was full of surprises.

Despite the interest he had in what was going on inside the snake sannin's new head, the oldest Uchiha was also amused that his brother seemed clueless to it all.

It would amuse him immensely if Sasuke killed Sakura before she managed to free herself.

Or better yet, after she had managed to free herself.

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You're only damaging your own body, Sakura. It hurts you as much as it hurts me.

The sannin stepped away from the glowering image of the healer. She was too much like his former teammate, Tsunade, for him to ignore her potential ability to kill him.

It does not hurt me at all, Orochimaru. Her presence suddenly enveloped him, and he found himself unable to escape her fiery gaze.

This was not the same girl he'd held captive for two months.

You are separate from Sakura. He studied the apparition. You are something else entirely aren't you?

The spirit wrapped a hand around him, crushing him, but only to keep him where she wanted him. Yellow eyes were all he could see.

No, you are wrong. Both I and my counterpart are one and the same. We exist within this body as defense mechanisms. While originally born as one soul, we split during early childhood. I was forced into the shadows while my shyer equal dealt with the torment and low self-esteem of youth. Now, due to intense training and conditioning, we have become interchangeable. I spend as much time on the front as shy Sakura. But we can never fully merge again now that we are separate.

The eyes narrowed as if she had smiled. So you see, your soul overpowered my twin, but you cannot overpower me. You would need two souls in order to do that.

This time it was Orochimaru's turn to smile. Well played, disciple of Tsunade. However, we will both die if we cannot reach a compromise. Let me control your body or Sasuke will destroy it.

Then let it be destroyed. I will not allow you to harm him. If I must die to prevent that, then so be it.

The sannin's smile vanished. He had not expected her to willingly take them to their deaths.

He felt the strange 'inner' Sakura's grip on him tighten as Sasuke stepped toward him. This is foolish, Sakura. Why should we both die to save Sasuke?

The words rang true, but now how the sannin intended. Sakura loosened her grip and looked at him with interest. You know, she said, you're right. There's no reason we should both have to die. But I do think one of us needs to leave. A hair-raising laugh filled the space around them. Goodbye, Orochimaru!

Away from Sakura, in the opposite corner of the room, Orochimaru's previous body twitched violently. After a moment, it became motionless again, the life that had once been present long gone.

The movement went unnoticed by Sasuke and the other watchers.

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"S-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura looked up, dazed. A bright blue glow was obstructing her vision. She suddenly realized she was back in control of her own body. Frantically, she searched for any sign of Orochimaru's presence, but the sannin was gone.

She glanced over at the lifeless body across the room. The Snake Master was finally dead.

Before she cast him out, she had wondered what the end result would be. This was the most likely outcome. Because the old body had died during Orochimaru's switch, when she had cast him out his soul had no where to go except back into his old, dead form. Because he had nothing living to hold on to, his soul was released from all holds on the earth and had no choice but to pass on.

But now, as she struggled to stand, she realized she had an even bigger problem to face.

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From his position in a dark hallway, Jiraiya watched as the four Akatsuki he tailed stopped and argued amongst themselves.

He smirked. That's just like Akatsuki for you. All working together without the head knowing what the feet are doing.

But what were they up to? If Tsunade's description of the agreement was correct, they were here to kill Orochimaru. But they certainly didn't act as if they knew where he was.

Jiraiya frowned. Four Akatsuki were more than he cared to take on. Especially these four. But, if he was correct, Tsunade and the rest of the Konoha shinobi should be arriving from the opposite tunnels in just a few moments.

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Sasuke's sharingan eyes narrowed. He stopped his attack momentarily to watch as the battered form of Orochimaru emerged from the wall he'd just thrown him threw. For whatever reason, the snake sannin wasn't using any of his techniques.

But there was something Sasuke had been saving just for a moment like this.

Using minimal chakra to heal herself, Sakura stepped back into the room. She had come to realize that just defending herself until she could make Sasuke see it was really her wasn't going to work anymore. He just wasn't listening to her pleas. The Uchiha was set on killing her, and she couldn't think of anything to say that might bring him to his senses.

In the end, she really had no choice.

"Sasuke-kun," she whispered, "I don't want to fight you. But I won't let you kill me either. I've come to far for it to end like this."

Sasuke didn't reply. He wasn't going to waste more words on Orochimaru. He couldn't allow the sannin to live. Not only would he pose a threat to Sasuke until the day he died, he would pose a threat to the only other friend Sasuke had left.

He'd lost his family. He'd lost his friends. He'd lost himself along the way. And then, when he's regained a small part of that friendship back, Orochimaru had taken it from him.

Naruto was the only person left who believed in him, and Sasuke wasn't going to let him down by allowing Sakura's killer to live.

He summoned chakra to his hand, shaping it into a fine blade. It was a shape manipulation he'd never demonstrated before. This was the technique he'd saved for Itachi. But now, another vermin had need of it.

Sakura's green eyes went wide. She'd never seen anyone other than Yamato and Naruto manipulate an element into different forms.

Her look of surprise faded into one of determination. Remember what Tsunade taught you. Evasion is the priority of a medical ninja. She had the ability to dodge these attacks, she just needed faith in herself—and she needed to forget that it was Sasuke trying to kill her.

Her fists tightened. "Sasuke-kun, please. Look at me. It's Sakura. Orochimaru lost! He's no longer in my body. Please, you have to believe me. Don't you remember what happened with Ino at the chuunin exams?"

Sasuke's unforgiving eyes remained narrowed.

Of course he doesn't. He wasn't there for your fight. And even if Naruto told him about it, he was too focused on himself to remember something meaningless like that.

She sighed and widened her stance. "Of course you don't. You weren't there."

The disappointed tone of her voice puzzled the Uchiha. He didn't doubt that Orochimaru knew Sakura's past memories. But why would the sannin bring up such a pointless memory. Could it be that Sakura was influencing his thoughts somehow?

He'd never realized how much it must have disappointed her that he missed her fight with Ino. That was a momentous event in her development. He hadn't even cared.

He stared at her.

In that brief second, Sakura thought she'd reached him. But as the chakra blade suddenly elongated toward her, she realized she'd been wrong. She was unable to move to either side quick enough, so she dropped to the floor, and rolled toward Sasuke.

In the same motion, she hopped up and swung a leg out, hoping to catch him unaware.

The Uchiha dodged her attempt to trip him. Before she could blink, he was behind her. She could see the blue glow of the lightning sword on the ceiling above.

As Sasuke brought it down, she stepped back against him, causing the jutsu blade to imbed itself into the ground at her feet. As she attempted to spin away, Sasuke's hand firmly gripped her upper arm.

He stepped back, gaining enough leverage to swing by her arm through the air. She landed painfully on her back. Her vision swam and she barely managed to move away as Sasuke's fist hit the floor near her head.

I'll have to trick him somehow! It's my only chance. I can't beat him with speed. A thought flickered through her head. Or can I?

Instead of using her chakra to keep up her stamina, Sakura channeled it into her feet and shoulders. She would use the chakra to increase the speed of her footwork as well as increase the speed of her hits. However, it would diminish the strength she could deliver with each punch.

If she could at least move on Sasuke's level, she had a better chance of staying alive.

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Coming soon: Chapter 13: The Apex

Author's note:

I was going to make this chapter the length of two chapters, but to be honest with you guys, I was so de-motivated after this week's manga, it was all I could do to finish this chapter at all.

For those of you who don't read the manga, STOP HERE.

For the rest of you, is anyone else disappointed with what happened? I mean, I seriously though Kishimoto would do something wonderfully original when it came to Sasuke vs. Orochimaru. I didn't think that Naruto and Sakura would still be in Konoha and Sasuke would just walk in and be like "okay, I'm done with you now." Maybe there's a twist yet to come, who knows. And as good as it was to see more of Sasuke in the manga, for me, it all happened to easily and too quickly.

And it completely nullifies all my story theories.

I sincerely hope that there is more to this new development than manga chapter 343 leads you to believe.

Anyhow, my 'no posting on Sunday' rule is void since it seems to be the only day I've had time to write.