Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Way We Change ❯ Kabuto's Lament ( Chapter 8 )

Chapter Eight

Four days. Four days they had been in Rice Field Country in the area Jiraiya had spoken of and none of the locals could tell them where the Sound base was.

Naruto was sulking angrily in a high tree branch. His broody image would have been rather imposing if he didn't have a fluffy blue fleece blanket wrapped around his shoulders. January in Rice Field Country was cold and snowy. A thin layer of the white stuff dusted the camp like powdered sugar, glistening in the early sunlight.

The ninja were spread out in the forest outside of a small village, to make their presence less noticeable, which was hard considering how many of them there were. First there was the ANBU squad from Suna, plus Gaara and Temari, then a Konoha ANBU squad and Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Jiraiya, and Team Eight (minus Kurenai, who had been on a mission with Asuma and Gai).

The mission was simple: find the Sound base, locate the target Uchiha Sasuke, and capture him without being caught and with as little trouble as possible. As difficult as capturing him might be, their biggest problem at the moment was finding the base to begin with. Jiraiya's initial information had come from the citizens of this particular small town, who had never really liked the Sound shinobi, but even if the townspeople were willing to give information about ninja they had never really considered to be part of their country, they still couldn't provide an exact location. Thus the Sand and Leaf shinobi were left with nothing but spare time while Jiraiya continued to investigate.

Naruto found himself spending most of his free time with Hinata. Their one date had gone very well, despite Hinata's infernal shyness and Sakura's interruption at the end. He found that she was wonderful to talk to once she stopped stuttering, or actually opened her mouth for that matter, which unfortunately wasn't very often. So Naruto took it upon himself to get her to be more forward. No one could tell if he was making any progress or just making it worse with all his attention.

Sakura had her own problems. She and Gaara had barely spoken a word to each other since they'd left Suna. It wasn't because either if them were mad, or didn't want to. It was just... awkward. Every once in a while Sakura would catch him looking at her out of the corner of her eye, but as soon as she did he would avert his gaze. To her chagrin, she found herself doing exactly the same thing. Temari and Naruto noticed this, but if they asked either of them about it, both would say it was nothing.

At the moment Gaara was also perched on a tree limb, mirroring Naruto on the opposite side of the clearing. He didn't seem to mind the cold as much though. He surveyed the surrounding hills from his vantage point with the early morning sun behind him.

Sakura couldn't stand it any longer. She had to talk to him, had to say something, anything, because the silence was killing her, and there was no way she was going to loose a friend over something as stupid as a kiss.

It was anything but stupid, Inner Sakura quipped, grinning as the memory of it resurfaced. Sakura shook her head to clear Inner Sakura's thoughts, fighting down a blush, and leapt fluidly onto the limb Gaara was sitting on. The bough quivered slightly at the impact, sending a shower of loose snow to the ground.

"Gaara..." she said, but was abruptly cut off when a distant thundering sound split the air and seconds later a tremor ran through the earth and up the tree, shaking the branch and throwing off her balance. She almost lost her footing, but in an instant there were hands at her waist and shoulder, preventing her from falling. Gaara's eyes locked with hers for a second before he shifted to look out at the hills. With Sakura's balance restored, Gaara removed his hand from her shoulder to point behind her.

"Look," he said darkly. She turned her head. In the distance a huge plume of smoke rose from the landscape.

"What is it?"

"Looks like an explosion," he said, then quickly removed his other hand when he realized it was still on her waist.

"Gaara!" shouted Temari's voice from the ground. "Was that an explosion?"

"Yes. There's a large cloud of smoke in the distance," he called back.

"Do you think that's the base?"

Gaara and Sakura leapt to the ground where all the other ninja had converged in the main clearing of the campsite.

"It probably is," he said. "It may also have something to do with Jiraiya. He still hasn't come back yet."

"Well then, we've gotta go, right?" said Naruto, clearly anxious. "What are we all standing around for?"

"All right. Let's move out," Gaara commanded. "Even if it isn't the base, Jiraiya will probably be there investigating anyway and we need to contact him."

"Right," Kakashi said leisurely, addressing the Leaf nins. "Everyone grab your weapons. There's no time to pack up camp."

With their orders given, the Konoha and Suna shinobi scrambled and the campsite was empty in a matter of seconds.

--

"Hinata-chan, can you see anything?" Naruto called as they raced through the forest. By now everyone could smell the smoke coming from up ahead. Hinata had her Byakugan activated as she searched for signs of battle.

"There are a whole bunch of chakra signatures moving everywhere," she said timidly. "It's hard to tell any of them apart."

"Shit," Naruto cursed. "What's going on?"

"All right," Kakashi said, finally beginning to sound serious. "This was supposed to be a fast, covert mission, but it looks like that just went out the window. We'll split up, but still try to stay hidden. Keep an eye out for the target but don't engage until we know what's going on. Shikamaru, you're with me. We're going to look for Jiraiya-sama."

That said, Kakashi and Shikamaru took off, Naruto and Sakura dashed in one direction, Team 8 in another. The ANBU teams split into pairs and Gaara and Temari headed off together.

--

There were Sound-nin everywhere, scurrying in all directions. They didn't seem to know what was going on either. Sakura and Naruto slipped from tree branch to tree branch to avoid leaving foot prints in the snow, but with all the seemingly clueless otonin running around on the ground and leaving foot prints of their own, it probably wouldn't matter soon.

"Naruto, look!" Sakura hissed, grabbing his shoulder to bring him to a stop. There, lying in the open, were the bodies of two dead Sound-nin, their blood staining the snow.

"Dammit," Naruto whispered. "What the hell is going on?? Nobody in our group came this way, so who's attacking?"

"Naruto," Sakura whispered hesitantly. "Doesn't it seem now that these Sound guys might be fleeing something?"

"Yeah, but what would they be running from? Maybe Jiraiya?"

"But he wouldn't attack without us, or unless he was forced to, so..."

Just then a shout interrupted them.

"That was Hinata-chan!" Naruto shouted, immediately taking off in the direction of her voice with Sakura frantically following him. They burst into a clearing to find Hinata, Kiba, and Shino fighting several Sound-nins.

"Tsuuga!!" Kiba roared as he and Akamaru slammed into a heavy-set otonin with an ax in his hand. Two of the other Sound ninja were screaming and struggling as swarms of Shino's Kikai insects slowly engulfed their bodies. Another Sound-nin with a long ponytail of dark hair was going hand to hand with Hinata. She seemed to have the advantage with her Jyuuken even if it didn't look like it from the outside. Her opponent was slowing down and a trickle of blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Despite this he smirked when another Sound-nin came up behind her with a kunai raised in his hand, but the smirk disappeared when Hinata swiftly turned and delivered a brutal flat-palmed blow directly to the right side of the man's chest. He fell on his back and didn't get up. In an instant she turned to her previous enemy and struck his neck with two fingers. He crumpled to the ground, seemingly unconscious. The other three shinobi who had been fighting Shino and Kiba were not so lucky, and their broken bodies now lay motionless on the ground.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called. "Are you guys all ok?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Kiba said as he nudged the body of the huge burly otonin with his foot. Akamaru sat near his master with his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"These otonin were apparently running somewhere when they found us. Perhaps they thought we were responsible for the explosion, and so attempted to kill us," Shino said cooly. "We should leave soon before more come."

Hinata was only half listening as she hovered over the body of the shinobi that had foolishly attempted to sneak up on her. Her Byakugan was no longer active and her hands were nervously clasped in front of her.

"I... I didn't k-kill him, did I?" she asked in a hushed whisper. Naruto put a comforting arm around her shoulder and peered into her face. She was too distracted to blush. Sakura knelt next to the body on the ground.

"Hmm... That was some strike Hinata-chan. His right lung is collapsed." Hinata squeaked and clamped her hand over her mouth. Sakura stood and checked the other shinobi Hinata had fought. "This one will live. But the other wont unless the Sound's medics find him within the next few minutes." Hinata looked at her curiously but the pink-haired kunoichi just shook her head. "I'm not going to treat them. I'm a medic, but they're the enemy and we have a mission to complete. The best I can do is give this one a quicker death."

"I'll do it," said Kiba, stepping forward with a kunai in hand.

"No!" Hinata suddenly shouted. "I-I'll do it. I'm sorry Sakura-chan, you're right. I cannot feel sympathy for the e-enemy." She took a shaky breath and bent down next to the otonin who managed one quiet, ragged breath before she reactivated her Byakugan and placed two fingers on his chest. The man stilled completely.

"Right then, let's go. We'll leave the other one for his comrades to find," said Sakura.

They all nodded in agreement. Sakura took one last look at the sound nin and then followed Hinata and Naruto as they continued into the forest.

She had lied. Hinata had actually killed the other sound nin without even knowing, but Sakura knew that Hinata had to overcome her gentle nature when it came to the enemy. It was better that Hinata had consciously decided to end the life of one rather than someone else do it for her, and she would have been too distraught to do so had Sakura told her the truth about the other one.

Naruto looked back at Sakura with a knowing, solemn expression on his face as they ran. She returned it because she knew he had noticed the truth as well. Naruto turned his head again and squeezed Hinata's hand.

--

Damn this is troublesome, Shikamaru thought. He and Kakashi had been looking for Jiraiya among the scrambling otonin when they had been spotted. Now they were surrounded by more than twelve, and it looked like more would be appearing soon.

Kakashi was little more than a blur as he wove left and right through the sound nins, taking out as many as he could while Shikamaru had managed to kill two with his Shadow Sowing technique. Shikamaru cursed again. He was doing his best to hold some of them still with his Kagemane no Jutsu while trying to strangle two others with his shadow at the same time. Shit... I've been using up too much chakra... I can't hold them much longer...

"Haaaaaa!!"

Several orange blurs burst through the trees and three Sound-nin were knocked away like bowling pins. Another pink blur flitted into view as Sakura slammed her fist into one of the shinobi held prisoner by Shikamaru, followed by her boot in the stomach of another. Sakura then raced off to deal with more Sound-nin that had just shown up as Naruto skidded to a halt by Shikamaru, who finished strangling the last otonin in his grip while Naruto defended his back.

"Hey Shikamaru! Have you or Kakashi-sensei seen Ero-sennin yet?" Naruto called over his shoulder as he created another clone to deal with an on-coming attack.

"No. We were spotted by these guys a few minutes ago and we haven't been able to get rid of them. They're everywhere. Where're the others? Have they found the target yet?"

Naruto had to launch a few kunai with exploding tags before he could answer. "Not yet. But me and Sakura-chan came across Kiba and his group a while back. They got caught too but they're ok now and they headed west I think. You should have seen Hinata-chan, Shikamaru! She was awesome!" he cheered with a big grin on his face. Shikamaru smirked.

"Tch. You're lucky. Hinata's nice and quiet, not bossy or troublesome like one woman I know."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, perplexed. "Who are you talking about?"

"Tch. Nobody," he sighed and grabbed three more Sound-nin with his shadow. Naruto created two more clones and leapt away from Shikamaru to tangle with one particular Sound-nin with a sword on his back. After a few minutes of clashing his kunai against the otonin's sword, Naruto finally got the upper hand and slammed a Rasengan into his stomach.

Naruto paused for a second to survey his surroundings. Around him the otonin were slowly dropping in number. Shikamaru was choking the life out of two, Kakashi continued to dart between enemies while reading their movements with the Sharingan and throwing their own techniques back at them, and Sakura was facing off against a scrawny Sound-nin with a love of poisoned needles.

Well, this is really bothersome, Sakura sighed to herself as she dodged more needles. I can't get close enough to land a good punch without risking a hit from one of those damned needles! The otonin came at her again, this time with a poisoned dagger. Big mistake, forgetting your long range weapons. She smirked. They hurtled at each other and Sakura charged her fist with chakra in preparation to take him down... but she never got the chance. The unfortunate Sound-nin was swept up in a wave of sand, never to see light again.

Wait... sand?

Sakura whipped her head around to either side, looking over all the Naruto clones, over Kakashi's blurred figure, over the unlucky Sound-nin who was dying at the mercy of his own shadow, to the outstretched bough of a huge pine tree. Temari whizzed past her to cut down the enemy with blades of wind but Sakura never noticed as her eyes tunneled on the tree limb where Gaara was perched with arms outstretched to direct the sand, his face contorted in a demented sort of euphoria as he crushed several Sound-nin at once.

Gaara and Temari has obviously run into enemies earlier as he was flecked with blood that was surely not his own. He radiated power, death, bloodlust, and at the same time unflinching authority and sureness. A shiver ran down Sakura's spine as he slowly turned his head in her direction.

No... she thought desperately. She couldn't look into his eyes, not when he was like this, when he was full of terrifying glee and mania. But she couldn't help it. He locked eyes with her ...and it was gone. The demonic aura vanished as soon as their eyes met and all that was left was iron will and the urge to protect. She mentally berated herself for her brief panic and smiled at him. He smirked a bit in return.

In less than a minute the last few otonin that had appeared a few minutes ago were dead. Naruto roughly kicked one of the crushed bodies as he gingerly rubbed a lump on the back of his head.

"They were just a bunch of chuunin and genin luckily," Kakashi said as he wiped a cut on his arm with his thumb. Shikamaru leaned over a body with his hands on his knees, panting and gasping for air until he regained his breath. While Sakura gave him a soldier pill and a long drink of water from her canteen, the Sand siblings left again, this time, oddly enough, in different directions rather than with each other. Kakashi and Shikamaru once again headed off in search of Jiraiya while Naruto and Sakura went their own way.

--

They were downwind of the smoke now and it burned their eyes. Naruto and Sakura soon passed the burning wreckage of a building. Through the smoke, sparks, and ash they saw that it was nearly identical to the entrance to Orochimaru's previous base, the one Naruto, Sakura, and Jiraiya had come across years ago while helping the orange-haired girl from the Fuuma clan. There would be no one inside now that everything was in flames.

Soon the smoldering building and its infernal smoke were behind them and they could breath again. Through the trees and bush ahead of them they could see a field, a huge open expanse gently sloping into a hilltop. They skidded to a halt at the edge of the trees when they glimpsed the figure standing in the open.

"Sasuke..." Naruto hissed.

Sakura gaped. Was... was that Sasuke? The hair and skin were the wrong color but... she knew. She knew it was him because she'd seen that aura before, different from Naruto in a fit of rage and fury, different from Gaara when he was taken over by the demon's bloodlust. It was evil, insideous...

...like Orochimaru.

Sasuke was several yards away from them with his back partly facing their direction, dressed all in black with unusually long blueish hair and discolored skin. The muddy snow around him was splattered with blood that had come from the limp body he was hoisting halfway off the ground... a body with glasses and grey hair pulled back in a pony tail.

"That's... that's Kabuto," Naruto whispered hoarsely. Suddenly he clenched his fists and dashed out from the cover of the trees and into the clearing. Sakura made an attempt to clutch at his shirt to hold him back, but in vain, and simply froze in her spot and watched with detached horror.

"SASUKE!!" Naruto shouted angrily as he came to a stop a few yards away. Sasuke stood still for a moment before letting Kabuto's body drop to the ground with a sickening thud. He turned, and now that he was finally facing their direction, Sakura saw the horrible gold and black eyes for the first time.

"Naruto..." he drawled with a small condescending smile. Something about it made Sakura shudder. "Long time no see."

Naruto's eyes darted between Sasuke and the broken, bloody body on the ground. Maybe... just maybe he could foster that tiny hope at the back of his brain.

"Sasuke... were you the one that caused that explosion?" he asked, half fearing and half anticipating the answer.

"Yes."

Sakura couldn't take being on the sidelines any longer and she stepped out of the trees. "Sasuke," she said shakily. He tilted his head in her direction.

"Well isn't this a nice little reunion?" he said mockingly.

"Sasuke," Naruto said sternly, "we came to bring you back to Konoha."

"Of course you did," he sneered.

"Dammit Sasuke! You left Konoha for this place to get stronger and now you just attacked it! Are you coming back to Konoha or not!?"

Sakura could only watch mutely. She had never been face to face with the form he was in now. Tsunade and Naruto had warned her about the second level of the curse seal, about what it could do and what it looked like, but the warning paled in comparison to the real thing. Sasuke's face was sharp and mean, nothing like the way he had been when they were kids.

Sasuke began to laugh, low and mocking. Naruto growled and grit his teeth.

"Konoha?" he scoffed. "No, Naruto. I already told you, I'm not going back to Konoha. I can't get stronger there."

"Then why did you attack this place!?"

"Attack? No, I was simply presented with the perfect opportunity to escape."

"Wh- what?"

"You said it yourself Naruto, Orochimaru doesn't give power away for free." Sasuke held up his flexed bloody fingers. "I've learned a great deal here, but if I had stayed much longer he would have simply taken my body as his new vessel. I still have to get my revenge, Naruto. I still have to kill Itachi."

"Arg... What are you talking about? Orochimaru would just capture you if you tried to escape!"

Sasuke just smiled and said, "I told you. You provided the prefect opportunity for me to escape, the perfect distraction for Orochimaru." At this, Sasuke turned his head to look over his shoulder at the far off hills, and if they listened carefully, they could hear distant booms and crashes."Who better to occupy Orochimaru while I get away... than another Sannin?"

Sakura's eyes widened as everything became clear. "Jiraiya-sama," she breathed. "Orochimaru and Jiraiya-sama are fighting right now. Somehow they got into a confrontation. With him distracted, you could get past the other Sound nin and escape... Even Kabuto..." she trailed off, looking at the body near Sasuke's feet. Sasuke also looked down at it with a little disgust.

"He never did trust me really. Not that he should have..."

Naruto could take no more. He charged at Sasuke, eyes suddenly red and slitted.

"BASTARD!" he roared.

They met in a flurry of fists, arms and legs all moving lightning fast. Sasuke avoided Naruto's blows with deft ease, but the enraged boy kept coming, an intense, powerful fury behind each fist. Sakura stood rooted to the spot as she watched the two boys trade blow after blow. Reddish chakra started to boil up from Naruto's body and form an almost solid shape around him. Sasuke's dark chakra swirled around him as he aimed a Chidori at Naruto's head. Naruto sprung sideways and half blocked it but was thrown back into a thick tree trunk at the force of the blow, temporarily winded.

Sakura unfroze. No! I wont be left behind again. This time I'm gonna help you bring him back Naruto!

She darted forward, whipping out four kunai, and flung them at Sasuke, carefully calculating where they would hit. Sasuke's head jerked to the side. He sneered at the oncoming attack and blocked all four as he charged right at her, bluish chakra crackling to life in his outstretched hand.

No! I've gotta dodge!

Her feet shifted, but too slow. He was too close... too fast... Naruto's shouts were drowned out in the roar of a thousand birds.

And then it stopped. Sasuke stood struggling on the other side of a barrier of sand, his fist caught and buried past the wrist. Gaara was at her side, arms crossed and radiating nearly as much anger as Naruto.

"Touch her," he growled, "and I'll make sure your death is slow and painful."

Sasuke laughed and pulled his hand free of the sand barrier and stood defiantly in front of Gaara.

"Sabaku no Gaara. It's been a long time. I heard you became Kazekage. They must have such low standards in Sunagakure now," he sneered. Then he turned his cruel gaze on Sakura. "What's the matter, Sakura?" he mocked. "Aren't you going to beg me to come back with you? What happened to that declaration of love you made?" Her aghast expression turned to one of anger but he just kept talking. "You certainly keep interesting company these days, eh Sakura? Do you have a thing for demons?"

Sakura snarled and Naruto almost couldn't believe he had heard her make such a sound. He watched, astonished, as she did something he had never seen her do before: she struck out in pure anger at Uchiha Sasuke, the boy she'd chased and pined after for years as a child. Sasuke's gut told him that there was something odd about the fist that was flying at him, something he needed to avoid now.

"AAAHHHHH!!" she screamed as she lunged at him. Sasuke dodged and her fist hit the ground. In a split second the snowy ground upheaved and the earth was split into chunks of soil and rock. "DON'T YOU DARE INSULT THEM!!" she screamed.

Sasuke looked on in slight astonishment at what a single punch had done. Naruto was on him again in a second with another Rasengan. Sasuke dodged and Naruto continued to charge him. Gaara urged his sand forward, preparing to attack the Uchiha.

"No!" Naruto suddenly shouted, seeing the sand in his peripheral vision. "He's mine!"

Gaara stopped. Ordinarily he wouldn't have done so, but this time he understood. This was personal. Naruto had something to prove, and even if Gaara disliked being on the sidelines, he would hold back for his friend's sake. Sakura was about to head into the fray again when Gaara caught her arm. She looked back at him and he shook his head.

"We'll let Naruto fight him for now," he said quietly. "He'll wear him down and then we can help Naruto capture him." Reluctantly, she calmed her tense body and Gaara let go. They stood side by side and watched as Naruto and Sasuke tore up the landscape. Sasuke raced around the small hilltop with Naruto constantly on his heels.

What's he doing...?

"Gaara!" she cried suddenly. "He's...!"

"Damn! I see it too. Naruto! Get out of the way!" he called, but the warning came too late. The five seals that Sasuke had secretly been laying while he ran were activated by a hand sign and Naruto was caught in the five point trap. The explosion let off a deafening boom and half the field was engulfed in the inferno. Gaara threw Sakura to the ground, protecting them both with a shield of hard-packed sand. The explosion outside settled and the sand moved away. Their ears rang as hearing returned.

Sakura frantically searched the devastated landscape, horrified. The trees and grass were blackened and burned, and Naruto and Sasuke were nowhere to be seen.

"Naruto!" she called. "NARUTO!!" There was a groan from somewhere and Naruto stepped out from behind a charred tree trunk, his clothes and hair singed, a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. His eyes were clear blue again.

"Where..." he coughed, "where'd that bastard go?" Three pairs of eyes searched in all directions. Nothing. Sasuke was gone.

"Dammit!" Naruto cursed vehemently as his fists clenched and he stomped angrily. "DAMMIT! He got away!"

"I'm sorry Naruto," Sakura whispered. "I should have seen that trap sooner." He didn't say anything for a while, afraid that he would say something cruel with his rage boiling so near the surface.

"No Sakura... it's not your fault. That... that bastard..."

Voices erupted from the other side if the trees. Kakashi, Temari, Shikamaru, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino ran up to them, all covered in mud and minor bruises and cuts.

"Gaara..." Temari started, but she flinched when he turned his icy gaze towards her. He and Naruto both emitted angry, swirling chakra.

"Naruto, Sakura," said Kakashi. "What happened?" They were both quiet for a moment before Sakura spoke.

"It was Sasuke... he escaped. We don't even know which direction he went."

"Ah." Kakashi said, looking pensive for a moment. "Then the mission is a failure," he sighed. "It's unfortunate, but Orochimaru escaped as well. Jiraiya-sama is close by. He fought him, but he is uninjured.

Naruto grit his teeth and clenched his fist so hard a little blood leaked out from where his fingernails sunk into the flesh. "Dammit! That snake-bastard got away!"

"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata whispered worriedly. Akamaru, who had, until then, been sitting near Hinata's feet, began to sniff at the ground, wandering over to the side of the field that the explosion hadn't reached. He started growling and Kiba looked up.

"Eh? What is it Akamaru?" The huge puppy barked and pointed his nose at the body lying in the muddy grass. "Guys, who is that?"

"It's Kabuto," whispered Sakura. "Sasuke killed him."

"I wouldn't be so sure..." he said, scowling. She gave him a quizzical look and they watched him walk over to the body. They all crowded around it.

Sasuke had certainly done a number on Kabuto. The grass underneath him was muddy from melted snow and soaked in blood. More blood and dirt caked his ruined body and clothes. Rivulets of dried blood ran from his mouth, nose, and from under his hair. There were huge gashes in his abdomen, his legs and arms were all broken, and Sakura could see glimpses of internal organs and bones through the huge wounds.

"I... I don't believe it," she gaped as she examined him closely. "He's actually alive."

Kabuto's mouth twisted into a painful smile and his eyes opened slightly. His lungs must have been punctured with broken ribs as well because he coughed and fresh blood ran from the corners of his mouth when he spoke.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan... I'll be dead soon enough," he said. He coughed again, spraying more blood. "Sasuke-kun made sure of that." Kabuto paused again, taking in shallow raspy breaths. "It seems as if he has gotten away. Orochimaru-sama will be rather unhappy."

Naruto growled and gripped Kabuto's shredded shirt, roughly yanking his torso a few inches off the ground.

"You..." he seethed. "You... and that snake son of a bitch... it's all your fault that Sasuke left! It's your fault he's like this!!"

Blood gurgled in Kabuto's throat and a laugh escaped, a strange sound coming from a dying man. "He has become rather twisted hasn't he? But not all of it is directly Orochimaru's fault."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

Kabuto had to struggle and gasp for more air before answering, "It's... the seal. The power comes at a price."

Naruto gripped his shirt tighter. "What price?"

"His mind. He's slowly loosing himself. After enough time... he wont really be himself anymore." He coughed again, spiting still more blood. "And his body too. The seal causes so much strain... The more he uses it the more it will destroy him, slowly, on the cellular level. But it's not that bad for him yet..."

Naruto looked morosely at Kabuto for a while. Everyone else was also silent. Naruto slowly lowered Kabuto back to rest on the ground. His breathing became even more wizened and labored. The Konoha and Suna shinobi all stood and watched, the only witnesses to his end.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun," he gasped. "If we weren't enemies, I'd like to think we could have been friends." His eyes shifted and peered through shattered glasses. "And Sakura-chan too..." His voice was so quiet now. "Good bye... Sakura." His eyes drifted closed and the nearly unnoticeable rise and fall of his chest ceased completely.

"Good bye, Kabuto-sempai," she whispered.

Whether or not he heard her before he died, Sakura never knew.

--

Naruto disappeared into the trees. The sound of flesh and chakra hitting bark and dirt disturbed the still air as he worked out his frustration. Shikamaru sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets while Hinata looked worriedly in the direction Naruto's angry voice was coming from.

Sakura was in a haze, only vaguely aware of what was going on around her. At some point the ANBU and Jiraiya showed up with one or two unconscious captive Sound-nin. No one was in immediate need of her medical aid so she was content to simply let everyone talk over her head while she just stared at Kabuto's body. Kakashi and Jiraiya were speaking now. There was something about only chuunin and genin, something about the Sound compound being nothing more than an outpost base.

Fabulous.

But when the question of what to do with the body came up, she couldn't stand there any longer. Even if she tried, she couldn't bring herself to hate Kabuto, even if he was a traitor. Sure she didn't like him, but she didn't hate him either. She didn't want to know what they were going to do with his body.

There was too much in her head, too much going on, too much to think about, and she had to be away, somewhere, anywhere else. Only stopping to whisper something to Kakashi, she left as inconspicuously as possible.

Only one other person saw her go.

--

Damn him, she cursed to herself. Damn him.

Sakura stood on the edge of a gully in a large gap between trees with the sun hanging low on the horizon in front of her. Tears slowly leaked from her eyes and her fists clenched in anger. He's gone... God damn you Sasuke. Why did you end up like this...

Someone was behind her. She couldn't tell exactly who, but they weren't hiding. Well... even if they weren't the enemy she still didn't feel like talking to anyone right now.

--

Gaara had been standing behind her for about a minute before she seemed to notice him, but she didn't turn around. From her posture and slightly quivering shoulders he could tell she was crying even if he couldn't see her face. She seemed to be angry too. He could guess why.

But the crying... it bothered him. She was his friend. He had to do something. But what?

What would Naruto do?

Gaara knew what Naruto would do, but he himself had never done it before. He approached her, but even when he was right behind her she didn't turn around. Well if she wanted to be stubborn...

Sakura internaly panicked for a split second when two arms encircled her from behind, wrapping around her shoulders. She hadn't realized the person had gotten that close. She turned her head to the side just as the person leaned against her back and put their chin on her shoulder.

"G-Gaara?" she whispered, astonished. He looked at her sideways.

"I'm sorry," he said blankly.

She was being swallowed, surrounded, by the heat at her back.

"F- for what?"

"That's usually what people say when they want you to feel better."

Her eyes widened a little in disbelief and her chest tightened.

"You..."

"I don't like it when you cry."

She sniffed a little and brought up her hand to wipe away a tear. One of Gaara's thumbs brushed over her other eye.

Of all the people to comfort her... she had expected Naruto or maybe Kakashi, but it was Gaara, the one so many thought was emotionless and uncaring. But right now he wasn't the cold, calculating Kazekage he had to be on missions. He was just... Gaara, her friend, and he was trying to comfort her. Even if he didn't really know how, or wasn't as overt about it as someone like Naruto would have been, he cared enough to try.

"He's gone..." she croaked. "He's dead."

"Kabuto?" he asked quietly while still holding her, slightly puzzled. She shook her head and sniffed.

"No. Sasuke. He may be alive but... the Sasuke we knew is gone. I was so stupid to think that we could convince him to come back." She was sobbing again now. Gaara gripped her tighter.

"Not stupid. Foolish maybe, but there's nothing wrong with wanting your teammate back, to want that... feeling," he said. His face went blank for a moment and his eyes grew distant and unfocused.

He understands... but it's hurting him. She brought her hands up again, gently touching the arms that were wrapped around her.

"Damn him," she cursed. "I wasn't even strong enough to..." She clenched her eyes shut and her fingers grasped his arm tighter. "I couldn't do anything."

Gaara suddenly gripped her harshly, wrapping one arm around her waist. "Don't..." he growled, "...don't you dare belittle yourself because of that bastard." She opened her eyes and looked at him sideways. "You're too strong for that," he whispered in her ear.

Somehow the harsh admonition was better consolation than something sweet and pitying that might have come from someone like Hinata or Ino. She smiled slightly... and realized just how close he was. His whole body was pressed against her from behind, one arm encircling her waist, the other around her shoulders. His face was right next to hers, nose touching her cheek, and his breath warmed her skin in the frosty air.

Something in the atmosphere changed. Maybe Gaara had finally noticed their proximity, or maybe Sakura had fidgeted in a certain way, but it was now apparent that his chest was rising and falling against her back more rapidly than before. She gulped, his breath ghosted across her cheek, and her lips fell open a bit when he nuzzled the junction of her jaw and her neck. Gaara's fingers played at the curve of her waist and at her collar bone. Now both of them were breathing heavily and their body heat mingled and hung in the air around them.

But just when Sakura began to turn her face towards his, he became still. Slowly he unwrapped his arms and stepped back a bit as he half turned his face to peer behind them. Sakura's arms fell to her sides and she turned to look as well. She felt cold.

"He's coming," Gaara said quietly. She didn't have to wait long to find out who. Naruto plodded slowly towards them out of the trees, face set stern and solemn, not at all his usual self. The knuckles on both his hands were bruised and dripping blood.

"Sakura-chan..." His voice was dull and listless.

"Yeah Naruto?" Hers wasn't much better.

"It's... time to go."

She nodded and began to follow Naruto back in the direction of the others, then stopped just as she neared the edge of the trees, looking bak at Gaara. She didn't quite know what had just happened between the two of them, but that didn't matter for the moment.

"Thank you," she said in a hushed voice. He just nodded in return and followed her.

Three days later, when they returned to Konoha, Uchiha Sasuke was officially labeled a Class-A missing-nin.

--------

Well, there you have it, chapter eight. Sorry it took me so long to finish. Anyway, I sincerely apologize if I made Gaara seem mushy or Sakura seem weepy. I also apologize if I made Sakura or Gaara or Naruto seem week for letting Sasuke get away, but that was just the way it had to be. Gaara and Sakura knew Naruto wanted to kick Sasuke's ass by himself, so they were gonna wait till Naruto had worn him down and then they would go in and capture him like they were supposed to for the mission, but unfortunately Sasuke surprised them by laying that explosive trap.

By the way, if I didn't explain it clearly, the trap worked like this: While Sasuke and Naruto were running after each other around the open field like chickens with their heads cut off, Sasuke was quickly laying special seals on the ground too fast for Naruto to see. There were five of them arranged in a pentagon shape, and when all five were correctly positioned, Sasuke used a set of hand signs to activate them and they all blew up simultaneously and created a huge explosion. Naruto was only able to get out of the way by hiding behind a tree and Gaara shielded himself and Sakura with his sand, and while the three of them were taking cover, Sasuke escaped. The field was so big that the explosion didn't reach Kabuto's body.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I will try to get the next one up as soon as possible. It's going to be... >.> ... <.< ...very special. Well, bye for now!

By the way, I considered calling this chapter "Kabuto's Death Gurgle", but figured it wasn't a serious enough title, so I contented myself by at least using the word 'gurgle'. Ugh, had to kill off Kabuto, didn't want to deal with him later.