A/N - Wow, I know! A new chapter for this story after years of neglect! It's about damn time, right?! I kind of lost all motivation for this fic, and I realized at the same time that certain things are kinda screwy with this story, but at the same time, I didn't want to delete the fic and start it over from scratch or something. Sooo...here's another chapter for this old fic!

This chapter gets kind of intense at points. There is character death in this chapter, and you're probably gonna hate me for doing what I did. Just so you all know, it was NOT planned. As I was writing, it all just turned out that way. I feel bad for what I did to those characters, but it was meant to happen. Sooo...yeah.

Anywho, enjoy the new chapter of this long neglected story!

Chapter 4 - Madness

It was late at night by the time Naruto had finished enjoying himself with his friends and loved ones. With Ino and Tsunade, they had gone gambling, which he kind of expected from the two of them. Thanks to his weird luck, he won big, easily making more than enough money to make up for what he had spent earlier in the day. However, to be kind, he gave the two of them a large portion of what he won, which earned him a kiss on the cheek from Ino and a hug from Tsunade.

With Temari and Karin, they had gone out to dinner and then proceeded to go and watch the newest Princess Gale movie. Seeing how well Koyuki was doing brought a smile to his face. However, shortly after the movie ended and they left the theater, a toad appeared before Naruto and handed over a letter. Naruto took it, but it was soon snatched out of his hand by his red-haired fiance. She told him that he could read it later, as he still needed to relax.

The final pair he spent time with was Omoi and C. The three of them had a guy's night out sort of deal at a local bar. They played darts and pool while Omoi and C enjoyed some alcoholic beverages. Naruto wasn't a big drinker, so he stuck to drinking some soda instead.

Now, however, Naruto was in his Kumogakure home and was looking over the letter that Karin had returned to him shortly after he entered. This is so much worse than I thought it was going to be…

"Naruto-sama,

First, let me assure you that I got your new orders and understand them fully. However, that is not what this letter is about.

I'm writing you to inform you about something Sasuke has done. He's reached a new level of crazy, one I didn't think he'd ever reach. He murdered Koharu and strung her up in the center of the village for everyone to see. Sasuke...mutilated her body and wants her to serve as a constant reminder of what's in store for anyone that so much as breathes your name. Sasuke is so paranoid that he believes everyone is against him. We're all scared to even think about you, lest he go off on us. I don't know what else you have in store for him, but please, please do something about him soon! He's too dangerous to be left alone for too much longer.

~Sincerely yours, Tenten"

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. "Damnit Sasuke, you're out of your fucking mind. I hadn't planned on intervening this soon, but I might have to. I haven't even done half of what I had planned yet and you've already gone batshit crazy."

Karin walked up to her handsome fiance and sat down beside him. Taking the letter from his hands, she read it over and frowned deeply after finishing. "Naruto-kun, we're probably going to need to do something about this. The people of Konoha are in real danger now. I know we had planned to torture him more, but…"

Naruto nodded once. "Yep. I underestimated just how far he would take things. I planned to drive him more and more insane little by little, but I never expected this. I'm worried for our friends. With Sasuke being the way he is, there's a good chance that he'll suspect them anyways and he will do something sooner or later to them if given the chance. It looks like we're going to need to assassinate the Sixth Hokage."

"Really? What brought this on?" they heard a voice ask. Looking towards the source of the voice, they saw Ino standing there with the other residents of the house behind her. "What'd he do this time?"

Karin held out the letter for her to take. "Read for yourselves and see. We're going to need to put off our trip to Iwagakure to go and take care of this."

Ino took hold of the letter and, despite the others trying to peek over her shoulder to see it, she began to read it aloud. As she did, their reactions were as Naruto and Karin expected. Shock, fear, and worry were just a few of the emotions that could be read from their facial expressions.

Once she was finished, Ino looked into Naruto's eyes with a scowl on her face. "When do you want to do this, Naruto? And, after we've dealt with him…" Taking a moment to think on what she wanted to say, and more importantly how to say it, Ino eventually decided to just say 'fuck it' and ask. "Naruto...will you become the next Hokage? It was always your dream, after all."

Naruto looked into his fiance's eyes for a moment before looking back at Ino and the others. Shaking his head no, he released a sigh before he gave his answer. "No, Ino, I won't become the Seventh Hokage. I thought after the war and saving everyone more than once that they'd finally accept me enough to embrace my reign as Sixth Hokage. I was wrong, and I honestly feel truly betrayed by those people. They only cared when I was the only one they could rely on. But otherwise, they couldn't really give two shits about what happens to me, so long as they had their precious Uchiha back. I won't become the leader of that village. No, my plans lie elsewhere. I'm going to revive Uzushiogakure and become the first Kage of the reimagined village of the Uzumakis. I'm not sure if I could bring myself to ally with Konoha after the village has been restored. The people of that village can't exactly be trusted, after all."

Ino frowned at hearing this before she nodded once in acceptance of his answer. "I understand, Naruto. Just so long as you're happy, I'll be happy for you. I think it's a real shame though, as the village will need a leader like you to get them through these hard times they're dealing with right now."

Karin shook her head and said, "They'll appoint somebody capable after Sasuke's demise. Well, I hope they will, anyways. If they don't, then the village of Konoha is pretty much screwed."

Tsunade sighed and shook her head. "If Jiraiya was still alive, I'm sure they'd ask him to be their Hokage. Without him though, I think the next person that might be capable of leading would be Kakashi, though whether he's capable of salvaging the mess that the village has become? I don't know."

Naruto shrugged and said, "It doesn't really matter who takes charge. Konoha's actions and their decision to place their trust in a traitorous asshole has really screwed them over. They've lost a lot of allies and, aside from that, Sasuke's choices have done nothing to improve the situation. In fact, he's making things worse. From what I recall of Danzo, I'd say Sasuke's probably an even worse choice for Hokage than he was. Let's face it: Konoha is doomed to disappear in the coming years. Chances are it'll be reduced to a minor village, if not completely destroyed in the coming decade or so."

Tsunade frowned at hearing this, but she couldn't refute his point, as it was quite the true statement. Hanging her head, the Fifth Hokage shook her head and said, "I wish that wasn't the case. Konoha was the village of my grandfather's dreams. He poured his life and soul into that village, as did my great uncle, Tobirama. To think that the people of Konoha could fall so far. If only they had honored the Fourth's wishes, this wouldn't be happening to them."

Karin scowled and said, "From what I understand, the Third should have kept his damn mouth shut and hid the fact that Naruto-kun was the new jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. And he should've punished those who encouraged others to hate and belittle my fiance. They even beat him on occasion! Instead, the Third Hokage tried to convince Naruto-kun to forgive the villagers for their crimes! Face it, he made some horrible decisions when it came to my loved one. He was a terrible Hokage!"

Naruto took his fiance's hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It's all right, sweetheart. It's over and done with. I just do not care anymore. I'd rather just leave the past where it belongs: in the past. Anyways…" looking at the others once more, Naruto said, "The preached about 'Will of Fire' no longer exists in that village. It was snuffed out years ago. Konohagakure is just a shell of its former self. I'll go back to put an end to Sasuke, but I'll never be a member of that village again. After Sasuke has been dealt with, I'll focus all my efforts on my spy network, building a new Uzushiogakure, and dealing with this new terrorist group before they can cause too much harm. Right now they seem like nothing but small fry, but one can never be too careful. Still, if we act fast, we can snuff them out before they become a major threat. Not really sure what to call them though. Neo Akatsuki wouldn't really work, nor would a number of other names I could think up. I suppose it doesn't really matter in the long run though. We'll wipe them out and ensure that the nations remain at peace. For now though, why don't we get some rest? I'll inform A in the morning about our change of plans. He can contact the Tsuchikage and inform him of what's going on."

The others nodded in understanding before watching as Naruto and his soon to be wife left for their shared bedroom. It was obvious to them that Naruto was stressed out over what was happening now. They knew that Naruto had hoped to simply screw with Sasuke until he went insane from paranoia, but Sasuke proved to be even more mentally unstable than they could have predicted. Sadly, they couldn't really predict what would happen after Sasuke's death. Looking at one another, they decided that it was best not to dwell on it. Instead, they each poured themselves a drink and proceeded to begin making themselves piss drunk. Yes, they realized they would have killer hangovers in the morning, but right now they just didn't care. It was best to deal with their stress however they could, and drinking and chatting away the night seemed like a good idea.

Orochimaru & Co.

Orochimaru scowled as he looked around at the enemies that had presented themselves before he and his team. "It would seem we've stumbled across the fools Naruto-kun warned us about. They obviously don't know who they're dealing with."

Kabuto chuckled quietly to himself before activating his Chakra Scalpel technique and glared menacingly at their opponents. "Why don't we teach them just who they're messing with, Orochimaru-sama?"

The Snake Sannin chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. "I agree. Let's show them the folly of their actions." he said before he went on the assault with Kabuto following shortly afterwards. Jugo and Suigetsu both got into the fray as well, the two of them taking on six enemies each.

Naturally, it didn't take long for the group of four powerful shinobi to decimate their opposition, but they each had a bad feeling that things were just going to get worse. After taking a moment to think on it, Orochimaru knelt down beside the obvious leader of the group and began to rifle through his belongings. At first, he didn't find much, but after a bit of digging, he found a few things of note.

First, he found a small pin that was attached to the man's cloak. Looking it over, he frowned slightly and raised it up for Kabuto to take a look at. "What do you make of this, Kabuto?"

Kabuto looked at the pin with a critical eye before noticing something rather intriguing, and more importantly dangerous. The pin contained a small vial filled with some strange substance, and the point of the pin was actually the tip of a needle that would inject this strange chemical into whoever was pricked by the pin's tip. "Orochimaru-sama, we need to get to one of our bases so I can examine this more closely. Whatever's inside this vial is most certainly dangerous. It's best to keep this in a safe place to avoid the risk of us accidentally pricking our fingers on it or something. Based on what Naruto-sama told us before, this is most likely the work of that poison master that was mentioned."

Orochimaru nodded in agreement with Kabuto's assessment before he held up a scrap of paper with only a few numbers on it: 9 & 2. "And what do you make of this?"

Suigetsu took a look at it and scratched his cheek as he thought it over. Kabuto sighed and shook his head. "Don't think about it Suigetsu." he said before looking at the numbers on the paper. "Hmm...perhaps it's part of some kind of code?"

Once more, Orochimaru nodded in agreement. "I believe that's the most likely answer as well. We'll just have to keep this with us and inform Naruto-kun about this. I think it's safe to say that whomever leads this group is a dangerous man, or perhaps a woman. If this group is left alone for too long, they're only going to become that much more dangerous. Most of these idiots seem to be mere cannon fodder, but the ones in charge are obviously more dangerous than we gave them credit for. Come, we need to get to Otogakure soon and examine the contents of that vial. I would like to have a cure concocted before any cases of this particular poison are reported."

Orochimaru's subordinates nodded in understanding before the four of them set off in the direction of their main base in what used to be the Land of Rice Paddies, now known as the Land of Sound.

Tenten

Tenten had done as instructed by her lovable spy master and recruited both Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka (plus Akamaru) for this particular mission. The three of them were all more than eager to get out of the village as Sasuke's insanity was honestly quite frightening. Now here they were, looking at the entrance to a well hidden hideout belonging to this new group of villains.

It had taken a little while to actually find this particular hideout as they didn't quite know what to search for in the beginning. However, Kiba's nose had picked up the scent of a foul concoction of chemicals while Shino's insects had stumbled across a well hidden trapdoor at the base of a rather large tree.

Slowly, Tenten knelt down and examined the trapdoor, looking for any signs of a trap. After a while, she opened it and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing terrible happened. However, Kiba and Akamaru recoiled at the sudden increase in the horrible stench coming from the interior of this blasted hideout. "Ugh! It reeks in there! Are you sure we have to go in there, Tenten?"

The weapons mistress nodded before descending. "Yes, Kiba. There's no telling what might be waiting for us inside, so I'd appreciate it if you and Akamaru would come with me. Same with you Shino." she said before disappearing into the darkness below.

Akamaru whimpered and shook his head. Kiba, seeing this, frowned and patted his best friend on the head. "You stand guard out here, buddy. We'll be back soon, I hope." he said before he entered the hideout with Shino soon following him.

Once they were all inside, they looked around and saw mostly darkness. As they waited for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, they chose to focus on what little they could see. Something peculiar caught their attention and, upon seeing it, Tenten walked over to a table and began looking at the scattered papers on top of it. Using what little light there was trickling into the room, she scanned over the papers for anything that might be of use to them and Naruto.

While Tenten pored over notes, Shino looked around for a possible light source and, upon noticing an unlit lightbulb above them, glanced around for the lightswitch. Upon finding it, he flipped the switch and watched as the room lit up quite brightly. The group of three had to shield their eyes for a moment before their eyes readjusted to the sudden brightness of the room.

Once the spots flashing before her eyes left, Tenten looked down at the papers once again and frowned as she found something troubling. "Guys, we need to let Naruto-sama know about this." she said, holding up a few of the papers and waving them a bit. "This whole hideout is one big testing facility. Their poison master seems to be testing his various poisons here. That in itself isn't that surprising, but what makes it worse is that they collect volunteers for these experiments. People are willingly subjecting themselves to this!"

Kiba scowled at this and, after gagging for a moment, said, "Who the hell would willingly subject themselves to something like that?! Ugh, this smell! It's hard to breathe in here!"

Shino frowned as he walked down the nearby hallway and stopped in front of a door. Opening it slowly, he was surprised when the horrible stench of death hit him full force and began to cough and wheeze before turning and emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground.

Seeing this, Kiba walked over and found he could barely breathe. Still, he peered inside the room and his eyes widened at what he saw. Two people, one male and one female, laid dead on the ground with parts of their bodies clearly more rotten than others. Just from a cursory glance at them, they could see a strange discoloration on their rotting skin and noticed that their hands were eaten away until they were simply bones. Coagulated blood was all over the room as well, looking as if blood had just exploded from their bodies. However, they didn't see any open wounds or anything of the sort, so they couldn't help but wonder just what the hell had actually happened in this room.

Once Shino had recovered, he braced himself as he began opening the other doors in the hallway, finding a number of what he could only assume to be 'test rooms'. Each one was horrible to look at, and the more doors they opened, the worse the stench spread throughout the hideout.

Meanwhile, Tenten continued to pore over the notes, reading more and more about the nature of these experiments, where each test subject was from, their age, gender, and all kinds of other information pertaining to these 'experiments'. The more she read, the more disgusted she began to feel with everything this person had done to these people. She just couldn't fathom why people would actually agree to these 'tests'!

When Akamaru began to bark and growl up above, Kiba's eyes widened and he quickly rushed to the opening and exited the hideout. Looking in the same direction his best friend was looking, Kiba snarled and said, "This is bad. I knew this hideout must still be in use, and it looks like their specialist is here." he said quietly as he watched a woman step into the open and smirked at him. "This is really bad."

"Well, well, well. It would seem some new toys have come to be my new playthings. And lookie here, they're from Konoha! I haven't had such wonderful toys in quite some time. I was looking for someone special to play with, and it would seem they've come to offer themselves to me. I've actually just developed a new 'medicine' I'd like to test out. Do be a good boy and let me have my fun."

Tenten appeared behind Kiba with Shino beside her. Looking into the woman's eyes, Tenten asked, "Who the hell are you? And those poor people, did you do that to them?"

The master of poisons giggled to herself and said, "Who am I? I'm a master of my craft. I paint such a beautiful canvas with my work. They practically beg me to use them to further my art. But if you're asking for a name, then you may call me Suki. However, you won't be leaving here alive, I'm afraid. Can't have you blabbing anything to those friends of yours."

Akamaru whimpered a bit and shook his head. Kiba, understanding what his friend was saying, frowned deeply and said, "This isn't good. We're surrounded. I don't think we can just escape from here. What do we do?"

Tenten frowned as well and prepared herself for combat. "We don't have any choice but to fight. Everyone, be extremely careful. If we're poisoned by her, then there's no telling what will happen. Worst case scenario, we all die horribly painful deaths. I'd rather not have that happen to any of us."

Kiba chuckled a bit and said, "You suck at giving pep talks. But I hear ya. Let's win this and get home safely!" And with that, he and the others prepared themselves for combat against an extremely dangerous foe.

Konoha

Sasuke scowled as he read over the report given to him by one of the Anbu loyal to him. "So, they're leaving the village without permission. If I had to guess, I'd say they're in contact with the dobe. Very well, if they plan to betray the village, and more importantly me, then I'll just have to send a message to them that they can't ignore. Bring Tsume and Hana Inuzuka, Tenten's mother and father, and Shibi Aburame and his wife before me. It's time to send a message to the people of this village that they won't soon forget. Obviously they didn't get the last message, so I need to take more drastic measures."

The Anbu nodded in understanding before leaving to collect those the Sixth had requested. Once he was gone, Sasuke looked at the paperwork on his desk and scoffed. "Still don't understand the point in all this blasted paperwork. I pawn this shit off on those beneath me and I still get more of this senseless crap. They're just trying to piss me off."

Some time later, Sasuke looked at those that had been brought before him with his hands folded in front of him. Rising from his chair, he walked past them and said, "Follow me."

Tsume and the others frowned deeply at this as they watched him walk out of his office. They each had a really bad feeling about this, but they couldn't exactly deny the wishes of their Hokage, no matter how much they hated his guts. So, reluctantly, they followed him out of the office, the Hokage tower, and eventually to the center of the village where the majority of the village stood waiting for something. There, in the center of the village, was an elevated stage big enough to hold each of those that were summoned by the Hokage. Again, reluctantly, they followed Sasuke onto the stage and waited for what was to come.

Sasuke stepped to the edge of the stage and looked down upon his subjects. "I know you're all wondering why I had you called here. I want you to look at those behind me very carefully. These six people are traitors to the village. They were trusted, and yet they have betrayed me in the worst of ways. Well, that's not entirely accurate. You see, their children, and in Hana's case, brother, have been leaving the village without permission. Kiba Inuzuka. Tenten. Shino Aburame. Those three are clearly working for Naruto, and for that, they deserve to be punished. However, seeing as they are not in the village at present, I have decided to use their family to send a message to all of you about what it means to cross me!"

After he was finished, Sasuke turned around with his Sharingan and Rinnegan active before looking at Shibi and used his Amaterasu flames to burn him alive. Everyone was forced to watch and listen as Shibi screamed out in pure agony before he eventually collapsed to the ground, his body continuing to burn while the life, thankfully, faded away.

When he turned towards Tsume Inuzuka, planning to kill her next, he was forced to dodge attacks from the remaining five people that stood on the stage with him. After a brief moment, Sasuke's Anbu loyalists joined him in forcing them back. Once they were restrained, Sasuke turned to Tsume once again and used Amaterasu on her as well, listening with a gleeful grin on his face as she screamed in intense pain.

As Tsume's life faded, he turned to Hana, then Tenten's parents, and finally Shino's mother, lighting each of them on fire with his black flames. By the time the six of them were finished, Sasuke turned around with a sick grin on his face and looked out at his subjects. "Now you see what will happen should you cross me. I'm giving you a new order: as soon as Tenten, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka with his stupid dog get back to the village, capture them and bring them to me. Do so and your lives will be spared and quite possibly rewarded. Now, do try to have a good day." he said before chuckling like a madman as he walked off towards the Hokage tower once again.

Shizune could only stare in horror at what had just happened. Shaking badly, she covered her mouth with her hands as she released a gasp of pure horror. Her legs, unable to support her any longer, gave out and she collapsed onto her knees with tears streaming down her face. "How horrible...Naruto-sama...save us, please."

Kumogakure - The Next Morning

Naruto groaned as he slowly came to. He could feel quite the pleasurable sensation around his member and realized his beautiful fiance had decided to wake him up in quite the wonderful way. So, reaching under the blankets, he began to gently run his fingers through her hair, watching as she bobbed her head up and down along his shaft.

After some time of pleasuring one another, the two of them went to the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast for everybody. However, their mood was ruined when a messenger toad appeared with a letter for Naruto. The thing that caught their attention most, however, was how panicked the toad was. "M-Master Naruto! Sir! It's really bad! You need to read this and then get to Konoha as soon as you can. It's super bad!"

"Calm yourself Kunichi. Give it here." Naruto said before taking the letter from the toad. Reading it over, Naruto began to tremble and, after setting the paper down on the counter beside him, clenched his fists tight before releasing a scream of anger that woke up the others in the house. Slamming his fists into the counter over and over again, he soon felt someone hugging him in an obvious attempt to calm him down.

"Naruto-kun? What's wrong?" Karin asked, clearly saddened by how hurt her husband-to-be was. When he just pointed at the letter, she picked it up and began to read aloud for everyone to hear, as the others had all joined them in the kitchen.

"Dear Naruto,

I have terrible news for you. As per your orders, Tenten left the village with Kiba and Shino in search of that hideout you told her about. Sasuke...found out that they left the village without permission. Shortly after learning this, he summoned everyone to the center of the village to...to deliver a message.

Sasuke had his Anbu bring Tsume Inuzuka, Hana Inuzuka, Shibi Aburame and his wife, and Tenten's parents to him. Because he couldn't punish Tenten's team...he murdered their parents. I know Shibi was one of your spies and that he was dear to you. I'm so, so sorry Naruto-kun! It...it was horrible!

Please, Naruto-sama, return soon and put a stop to his madness!

~Love, Shizune"

Karin dropped the letter and hugged her fiance tight. "I'm so, so sorry sweetheart! Kami, this...how...ugh! I don't even know what to say about this! We need to get moving before he can harm anyone else."

Before Naruto could reply, another toad appeared with Fukasaku and they watched as the elderly toad clapped his hands together before slamming them on the floor, summoning forth Tenten, Akamaru, and the injured Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame. When they got a good look at the two injured members of Tenten's team, they could immediately tell something was terribly wrong.

Looking at Fukasaku, Naruto asked, "What the hell happened?!"

Tsunade, seeing what was going on, rushed to Tenten's side and began to examine the downed Inuzuka first. Meanwhile, Tenten looked into the spy master's eyes with tears streaming down her face. "Naruto-sama, I...we...damn it! We found the hideout, and...and things were horrible! So many dead people. What we found was awful, but what makes it worse is the fact that the poison master you warned all of us about...she was there! Her name was Suki. We managed to kill her, but…"

Tsunade interrupted her and said, "She poisoned them! If we don't act soon, they'll die!"

Ino rushed to Tsunade's side and looked down at the two injured men before she looked at the Fifth Hokage. "Tsunade-sama, we need to get them to the hospital as soon as possible! Do you think we can extract the poison and form that antidote you were working on?"

The busty blonde shook her head and said, "I don't know. It depends on how fast this poison has spread and how much time they have left. Just based on Kiba's current condition, unless we act soon, he's likely to die. Shino's insects seem to be fighting the poison as much as they can, but…" Sighing, Tsunade shook her head and said, "they're fighting a losing battle. They're slowly dying inside of him. We need to hurry."

Naruto nodded and created two Shadow Clones to carry Kiba and Shino to the hospital with Tsunade and Ino quickly hurrying after them. Looking into Karin's eyes, Naruto said, "Go with them, sweetheart. They might need you."

Karin nodded once in understanding before she rushed off to assist Tsunade and Ino save the lives of their friends. Once she was gone, Naruto patted Akamaru gently on the head and offered a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "He'll be okay, Akamaru. We...we have to believe that."

Everyone watched as Naruto walked over to one of the couches in the living room before collapsing on it. He looked broken inside and they were worried about the toll these problems were taking on him. None of them knew what to say, so they simply waited. After a few brief moments, however, Temari got to work cooking up a good meal for everyone as the silence was just killing her.

After a time, Naruto looked at them and said, "We need to go put a stop to Sasuke. I...I really didn't expect him to fall so far into madness that he'd...that he'd do something like this! I should've seen this coming. I should have…"

Karui walked over to him and grabbed his face before kissing him. Pulling back after a moment, she flicked him on the head and said, "None of that. Nobody could have predicted this, not even you. I agree that we need to go kill that prick, but right now you need to rest. We'll leave when you've had the time to calm down. Fukasaku-sama, do you think you could reverse summon us to Konoha when it's time?"

The elderly toad nodded before dismissing the other two toads. Hopping over to Naruto, he looked up at him with a grim expression on his face. "You can't blame yourself Naru-boy. I promise you now, I'll do whatever it takes to help you stop him. For what it's worth, I'm so sorry that things spiraled this far out of control."

Naruto nodded slowly before a look of realization appeared on his face. Looking at the distraught Tenten, he could feel tears streaming down his face as he said, "Tenten-chan."

Tenten slowly turned her gaze to Naruto and asked, "Y-Yes, Naruto-sama?"

Walking over to her, Naruto knelt down at her side and hugged her tight. "I'm so, so sorry. Sasuke...he killed your parents while you were away. He...he murdered them because you weren't in the village."

The weapons mistress went wide-eyed at this and began to tremble in his arms. "N-No...please, no…"

Naruto simply held her tight and let her cry out her anguish at everything that had happened since things went to shit at that hideout. Gently running a hand up and down her back to try and soothe her, he just rested his head against hers and cried alongside her. They didn't know what else to do.

Tsunade

"Goddammit!" Tsunade yelled as she punched a hole clean through the wall. Looking down at her first of two patients, she couldn't help but clench her fists in anger. "T-Time of death...7:52 AM…" She could barely bring herself to say the time and date of Kiba's death. Leaving Kiba's body alone, she hurried to Shino and began her attempt to save him and the kikaichu remaining in his body.

Karin could feel tears trickling down her cheeks as she realized that people close to her fiance were dying. Shibi and his wife, Tsume and Hana Inuzuka, who were always kind to him, and Tenten's parents. Now Kiba was gone, leaving the Inuzuka clan truly without any form of leadership. Hurrying over to Shino, she decided that she wasn't about to let anyone else close to her hubby-to-be die.

After a harrowing battle against the poison Shino had been hit with, they had managed to save his life and even preserved a full ⅓ of the kikaichu still in his body. They had gotten lucky with him, but they all wished they could have saved both Shino and Kiba.

Tsunade slumped down against a wall and closed her eyes. "Naruto-kun...he's going to blame himself for this. He...he sent them on that mission. I bet he never expected something like this would happen."

Karin and Ino nodded sadly and joined Tsunade in sitting against the wall. "Naru-koi...we need to be there for him. He'll be strong for us until he's dealt with Sasuke, but after that? I'm worried about the breakdown he's likely to have after all of this."

"We're just going to have to be there for him. He...he can't shut down for long. We need to erase the monsters that did this to Kiba and Shino from the world. We can't let them cause anymore harm." Ino said, though she honestly felt as if she could break down in tears at any second.

Tsunade took in a deep breath before she rose to her feet and looked at Kiba's body. "We won't lose another friend. We're going to kill Sasuke, and then we're going to hunt down the rest of the members of this organization and make them all pay."

Karin and Ino nodded in agreement as they, too, rose to their feet. "I don't expect Sasuke to play fair. We're going to need to be there to help Naruto-kun do this." Ino said. "No matter what it takes, Sasuke MUST die." The others nodded in agreement with her before they went back to work. Shino may not be in danger anymore, but that didn't mean he hadn't suffered other wounds in that fight. He would need to be on bedrest for some time.

Later that day - Sakura

"How could you do that to them?! What the hell were you thinking, Sasuke?!" Sakura shouted angrily at her 'husband'. Kami how she hated calling him that! "They were innocent! They did nothing to you and they certainly didn't betray the village!"

Sasuke glared deep into his wife's eyes and slammed her up against a wall, pinning her there with his hand wrapped tightly around her throat. "Listen here you stupid bitch! If you weren't pregnant with my child, I'd kill you for daring to yell at me about something so meaningless as the deaths of those peons!"

Before Sakura could reply in some way, Sasuke smirked sinisterly and said, "Besides, since those stupid Naruto lovers left the village without my permission, I had to punish them in some way. What better way than by making them live through what I had to when I was younger? Losing their parents is a good way to make them suffer, but it's just a start. Once they're back in the village, I'll make them watch as I burn their homes to the ground and kill everyone they've ever cared for. Then, once I'm finished with that, I'll kill them for daring to cross me. And when I'm done with it all, I'm going to hunt down that dobe and kill him too! He doesn't deserve to live after everything he's done to me!"

Sakura could hardly believe what she was hearing. Hell, she even began to wonder if her ears were working properly! After a moment, she realized that Sasuke was actually serious and her eyes widened in horror. She couldn't say anything though as he still had his hand wrapped tightly around her throat. You...you insane asshole! She thought to herself, glaring hatefully at her husband.

The insane Sixth Hokage pulled out a kunai and held it mere centimeters from Sakura's left eye. "I suggest you stop doing that if you want to keep your eyes. I may need you alive, but nobody ever said you needed those eyes of yours to give birth. Now BEHAVE!" he exclaimed before letting her go and walking off.

As she collapsed to the ground, coughing and gasping for breath, she couldn't help but begin to curl up and cry to herself. Naruto-kun...we need you. I need you!

One Week Later

Naruto scowled as he stared off into the distance at the village of Konohagakure. Just trying to get this far had been a chore and a half! The blasted Anbu loyal to Sasuke had hounded them numerous times, and as much as they hated it, the team was forced to take their lives.

Looking at his team, he nodded once at them before they began making their way towards Konoha's gates. He had left Tsunade and Ino behind in Kumo to keep an eye on Shino's condition, just in case it might suddenly decline while they were away. With him, he had a recovered Tenten, Karin, Karui, Temari, and Omoi.

Upon reaching the check-in booth, Naruto looked at Kotetsu and Izumo, giving the both of them a nod in greeting. The two of them looked at him with clear expressions of relief. However, they remained silent and simply watched as Naruto strode into Konoha with a clear purpose: to kill Sasuke Uchiha.

Once Naruto and his team were out of sight, they looked at one another and grinned. "'Bout damn time he came back. That psychotic asshole is completely out of control." Kotetsu said.

Izumo nodded and looked in the direction Naruto and company had went. "This is one fight I don't want to miss. What do you say we abandon our posts for a while and watch what's sure to be a one-sided beatdown?"

"I'm game. This should be good." his friend replied. And with that, the duo left their post to go and watch the fight between Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.

Naruto

As Naruto and his friends walked through the village, they noticed people looking at them with eyes filled with hope. Apparently, things had gotten so bad to the point that those who had once worshipped Sasuke now feared him more than any foe that had targeted them in the past. But they weren't what they were focused on. No, they were keeping an eye on the 'hidden' Anbu that were trying to surround them.

After a while of walking, Naruto came to a stop and sighed before summoning forth a dozen shadow clones. Nodding once at them, his shadow clones understood the message before dispersing to deal with their troublesome followers. Once that was done, Naruto continued his journey through the village towards one place in particular: the stadium where the Chunin Exam finals had been held way back when.

Upon arriving at the stadium, Naruto and company weren't surprised when they saw Sasuke waiting for them. Stopping across from his greatest enemy, Naruto glanced around for a moment for any threats to his person, as well as to make sure his friends and loved ones would be safe. It didn't take long to spot those loyal to Sasuke hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike him down if need be.

"So, the dobe comes back. Are you going to try and be the 'tragic hero' again? You should know your place, dobe." Sasuke said mockingly.

Staring calmly into Sasuke's eyes, Naruto released a sigh and shook his head in disappointment. "How far you've fallen, Sasuke. I'm truly disappointed in you. But more than that, I loathe you for everything you've done. You should have been killed a long time ago. I'm honestly not sure why I spared you each of those times. I guess now's as good a time as any to correct my mistakes."

Activating his Sharingan and Rinnegan, Sasuke glared hatefully at Naruto and prepared to combat his foe. "I'm going to keep my word and execute you here and now, dobe. You're lucky I spared you all those times in the past. You were always at my mercy, Naruto, and that hasn't changed. Only this time, I'm done showing you mercy. This time I will kill you, and I'm going to enjoy every second of it!"

"Sure, sure." Naruto said dismissively before glancing at his friends and nodded at them. After they disappeared to deal with any possible threats, Naruto looked back at Sasuke, being sure to avoid looking into his eyes, and said, "Sasuke, you've hurt and killed people dear to my heart. You've committed numerous crimes and threatened the very village that birthed you. Under your short reign as Hokage of Konohagakure, you've managed to turn everyone against you. They've feared you and have taken to staying in their houses most days to avoid your wrath. You murdered...you murdered innocent people! You murdered my friends! I've never enjoyed killing, Sasuke, but I'm going to make an exception this once. I'm going to enjoy every second of this! Once I'm through with you, you'll beg me for death. Now let's finish this once and for all! I'm tired of merely being in your filthy presence."

Sasuke snarled and said, "For once, I'm in agreement with you. Let's finish this. It's time you learn your place at the bottom of my feet. I'm going to make you regret ever crossing me." And with that, the battle was on. Two titans entered the arena, and only one would leave. It was time for this long-standing rivalry to end with the death of one of these combatants.

Soon, it would all be over.

A/N - And that's the chapter! I know it's a lot shorter than most of my chapters, but I didn't want to start the Naruto vs. Sasuke fight in this chapter. I'm saving that for the next chapter. I hope you're looking forward to it!

Sorry again for the long, LONG wait for this story to continue. I'd like to think this chapter turned out pretty well, and I'd like to think I've improved as a writer since this story was last updated as well. Buuut, I guess that's up to you, as the fans to decide.

Anywho, not much else to say. Hope you're looking forward to whatever comes next.