Disclaimer:I don't own Naruto.

Legend:

"Naruto" - talking

'Parents' - thinking

Flashback – Flashbacks

"Kit" – Kyuubi talking

'Naruto' – Kyuubi thinking

Chapter 7: Dealing with traitors

Settling down silently, with his back against a tree, his eyes closed, Naruto was in deep thought.

They had made the way in good time, following Orochimaru, Kabuto and Sai without any problems, if one didn't count a fake corpse left behind to slow them down. Orochimaru had already reached his hidden base and the Konoha team was only about half an hour away when they had stopped, while the terrain still gave them a bit of safety. From Yamato's information the terrain would change to rocky and mostly open, without any real hiding places, so they had decided to stop here and rest, to wait for the cover darkness provided for them, to infiltrate the base of the traitorous Sanin.

Naruto had left Sakura and Yamato, back at their quickly made camp to have a bit time for himself, alone and able to think in silence.

At the beginning as he had settled down with his back against the tree his thoughts had been on the mission, thinking about what was ahead of him, loitering in Orochimaru's hidden base. It wouldn't be easy as Orochimaru was there, along with Kabuto and most likely a lot of other enemies, following Orochimaru's command. Then there was also the factor of Sai and his secret mission from Danzo. Did he really betray Konoha or was it just a ploy to get near Orochimaru for whatever purpose he may have? Naruto had asked himself that a few times already, but he couldn't come to a conclusion as he realized that he nearly didn't know anything about Sai at all.

Then there was also Sasuke. His long lost team mate he had promised to get back to Konoha a few years ago. Now finally he did have another chance to do so, but curiously Naruto's desire to return what had once been his best friend, wasn't as strong as he would have thought it to be. 'Why should I bring a traitor who doesn't want to go back, back?' he asked himself, not knowing what he should think. Blaming it on all the things that happened and the pain that he still was in, his thoughts didn't linger on that for long, before they continued to the next theme of interest.

No, he didn't think about it for long as his thoughts went back to the battle he had fought earlier, his head dropping in shame. While it had been more than a bit positive that he had been able to fight nearly on par with Orochimaru for a bit while in sage mode, Naruto realized that he had made several fatal mistakes.

His only way to stay in sage mode for longer periods of time just wasn't good enough yet, to fight on such a level. Orochimaru had almost instantly seen through his trick of using the clones and went after them. All the Sanin would have needed to easily win the fight was to draw it out a bit more and Naruto would have been nearly defenseless. It would have taken him too long to gather the natural energy himself and clones wouldn't have helped as Orochimaru had already seen through that trick. So all in all Naruto realized that he had to come up with a better way, or at last an improved version really quickly, if he wanted to stay alive with Akatsuki hot on his heels.

And another thing that bugged him was the end of the fight. He had seen the snake move along the snake Sanin's arm, but hasn't treated as threat which had lead to his defeat and almost to his death. How could he have been so dumb as to underestimate the skills of a Sanin? He could beat himself thinking about that childish and dumb mistake, even now.

And because of that he had once again needed the help of the Kyuubi no Kitsune to neutralize all the remains of the poison, which had still been in his body after Sakura's emergency treatment.

But what bothered him even more than all of those things, was the beginning of the fight. 'I couldn't even keep my promise longer than a month' Naruto thought darkly, angry at himself and ashamed by his actions.

While he realized that he hadn't lost full control, by regaining control in the very last second, he still considered it to be a broken promise. He had lost so much of his control that he had only wanted to kill Orochimaru, not caring for anything else around him. He would have hurt one of his team mate's to kill the traitorous Sanin, or maybe even worse.

'"Kill"'

He could still hear that voice in his mind even now, as it replayed over and over again. It terrified him that he had lost control as easily as that, but still maintaining enough to remember his actions and somewhat direct his actions, but not in general. Only his drive to go after Orochimaru had remained of his control and not much more.

'"Kill"'

That voice had plagued him since then, forcing Naruto to remember Jiraiya's dieing form, wondering if the voice had commanded him back then too. The voice also remembered him of his almost broken promise, making his determination to live up to the promise only stronger.

But as he sat there, head dropped in shame and eyes closed, Jiraiya appeared in front of his eyes. '"You know, you will never be able to control the nine tails like that. It is a part of you, even if it's separated from you at the same time. There will be a time when you have to accept that, Naruto."' Jiraiya's words replayed in his mind.

Yes, he remembered it clearly now. It had been while trying to control the demon's chakra when Jiraiya had said that. It hadn't made much sense to him then, but now he finally began to understand his sensei's words. 'Better late, than never' he thought with a smile as he opened his eyes and was surprised to see that dusk had already began to settle. He would have to return to their camp soon.

'Finally, I begin to understand, Ero-Sennin.' He thought as he stood up. 'Yes, finally I understand what you wanted me to understand back then. But that doesn't mean I will break my promise to you again. Today was as near to breaking it, than it will never be again. No matter what, I won't lose control even to this extent again.'

Stretching his arms and legs, Naruto turned his head towards the sky, the first stars already appearing. 'I will grow stronger and I will make you proud, no matter what.' He thought with as much determination as he could, his pain mostly forgotten as he began to make his way back to his two team mate's.

"Here, huh?" Yamato asked his clone as they hid behind one of the larger rocks in the area, looking at the area Orochimaru's hidden base was supposedly hidden.

"The entrance is right below that rock formation in front of us." The wood clone answered.

"Under those rocks" Naruto muttered under his breath, just loud enough that his team mate's would hear it. "Sasuke is waiting."

"Yeah." Sakura said determined to get Sasuke back to Konoha.

Closing his eyes to focus himself, Naruto drew a final amount of natural energy into his system, numbing the pain he still felt for the last time, seeing as he couldn't do it if they started to move. "Ok, let's go then." He said after finishing the process, knowing that he would have to ignore the pain from now on.

"Hold on a second" Yamato said stopping Naruto with his hand, just as the teen was about to move. The other hand he put on the wood clone's back, which soon after began to change forms, until only a small, pill-like something remained in the now flat hand. "You can go after you've swallowed this, Naruto. And here one for you too, Sakura." Yamato said, his other hand containing another of those pills, moving the hand in Sakura's direction. "Even if we end up getting separated with those inside you, I'll be able to locate you immediately."

"What is this?" Sakura asked as she examined her pill closely.

"To put things simply, those seeds are tracking devices. They're a tool of mine that responds only to my chakra." Yamato explained to his two young team mate's. "Those are just the same as the ones that I planted in Sai's clothes and food."

"I see" Sakura said figuring out how Yamato had known the direction they had to go without even the slightest of a problem. "So this is how you were able to track him."

"When did you manage to …" Naruto began to ask, but trailed off as he figured it out.

"Don't you remember?" Yamato said explaining it to Naruto, even though the young blonde had just figured it out. "You know, how I went back to the room before the two of you at the hot springs. Now you two should understand why I went out of my way, using my own money to treat everyone to such a lavish stay at that hot springs resort."

'Of course' Naruto thought as he thought back to that time in the hot springs. Back then he hadn't thought much of it, thinking that Yamato just wanted them to relax a last time before their important mission, but now it actually made more sense.

"Everything was just like Tsunade-sama said. Taking precautions with Sai sure has paid off in the end." Yamato went on.

"Anyhow enough talk. Swallow those now, please" he commanded them, turning serious once again, as his whole attention returned to the task at hand.

"We'll conduct the infiltration in file: me first, then Sakura and Naruto at the rear" Yamato told them already having thought about everything beforehand.

"What's our method of infiltration?" Sakura asked curiously.

"We're taking this by the book, so we'll use a doton technique to approach from within the ground." Yamato answered her, already gathering the necessary chakra for such a doton technique.

"We'll look for Sai first" Yamato said as they moved through the dimly lit corridors of Orochimaru's base, always holding their formation. The infiltration with the doton technique went of without a hitch, only a small wall of rock standing in their way. But even that Problem was simply taken care of by Yamato, as he used his wood to break through it as silent as possible.

"This way" he said as they began to move through the dark corridors, always caution that nobody saw or even heard them.

"Just a little further" Yamato said after a while of moving through the corridors, making his way towards a single closed door.

As they reached the door Naruto used his awareness of the nature to reach out with his senses, trying to sense everything on the other side of the door. It was a simple room he sensed with only one occupant, Sai, he realized already knowing what Sai felt like in the nature from their short time as team mates.

Yamato's and slowly morphed into a key, with which he easily unlocked the closed door and then he proceeded to open the door. "And look who we have here" he said as they entered the room, much to Sai's surprise, which he naturally hid like he had learned to do with all of his emotions.

"The Hokage controlled ANBU, impressive as always. To think that fake corpse wouldn't fool you" Sai said, a fake smile on his face.

"Why don't you tell us about what's going on here" Yamato said calmly as his finger morphed back to normal, the wooden key that had just unlocked the door vanishing as the wood withdrew back into Yamato's hand.

After stepping fully through the door and hearing Yamato's words Naruto moved. His hand instantly on Sai's throat, he pushed the root member back against the wall lifting him up so that his feet staggered in the air, finding no ground beneath them. "You" Naruto whispered in Sai's ear. "Why did you betray us?"

"Naruto!" Sakura said loudly shocked at her team mate's behavior.

But Naruto didn't care, as he continued to hold Sai in the air giving him no chance to breathe. "You're here under Danzo's orders, right? What is that old geezer planning?" he asked his voice filled with venom. As he looked directly into Sai's dark eyes Naruto tried to read the teens emotions into them. The root member was scared, even though he didn't show it openly.

Finally letting Sai down thinking that this was enough for now, Naruto lowered his hand, completely removing it after Sai once again stood on his own feets, as he still waited for an answer. "He's plotting the destruction of Konoha with Orochimaru, right?" Naruto continued to question the cornered root member, after a few seconds of silence in which he let the root member take a few breaths, as he was finally able to breathe again.

"No, actually …" Sai began after a few moments having regained his breath fully, but was cut off by Naruto.

"We already know that all your smiles are fake, so drop them" Naruto said somewhat angry, as Sai had slipped one of his smiles on his face while answering.

"My mission ended in failure the moment you found me" Sai began, this time without a fake smile on his face. "And I'm not going to be able to take care of the three of you by myself, so since you already know so much, three isn't much reason to hide things anymore. Just as you say, we are going to destroy Konoha as it exists today."

Naruto could feel his anger rising as he heard Sai's words, having trouble to restrain himself and keep himself from hurting the traitorous shinobi. "In order to destroy Konoha" Sai continued with his explanation. "I was to gain Orochimaru's favor, thus giving us a chance to ally with him. That was my true mission."

Having heard enough Naruto pushed Sai against the wall with his left arm a kunai already appearing in his other, which he moved at the root member's throat. "Do you even realize what you're saying?" Naruto whispered venomously. "I should kill you now, as a traitor to Konoha." As he said this he pushed the kunai forward by a few millimeters, drawing blood, ignoring the gasp from behind him.

"That's not all …" Sai said from his position forced against the wall and Naruto took the kunai back a bit, giving Sai a bit of room. "I was also supposed to secretly transmit information on Orochimaru to Danzo-sama. In other words I was also assigned a mission of espionage."

"Once Konoha falls" Sai continued after a short pause. "Orochimaru is guaranteed to betray us in the end, after all. My mission was intended to allow us to always stay one step ahead of him. I was singled out due to the special abilities I have. Information that I write in ink morphs into what are like small animals and protecting themselves from harm, they carry the information out to their destination."

Actually having to restrain himself really hard, Naruto remained silent, as he realized that he couldn't harm Sai, as the root member could still proof to be useful. At the very least they could get more information out of him, even though Naruto somehow doubted that the emotionless root member would give it to them willingly or even while being forced. But no matter what, Naruto felt that something wasn't right about all of this.

"If Konoha becomes the stage of battle again, countless people will die!" Sakura spoke from behind him, her voice louder than it should be during such an infiltration. "What you're trying to do is going to have very real consequences, but do you even understand that?"

"I don't really care" Sai answered her trying to sound as uncaring as possible. "I just follow my orders."

"Sai, you're …" Sakura began but was cut off.

"Just to let you know" Sai cut her off, before she could finish her sentence. "'Sai' is a name that was assigned to me merely for the purpose of this mission. In reality I'm nobody. I am nothing more than a tool of Danzo-sama. I don't really exist. As such, no matter what you say to me, it means nothing."

As Naruto heard that his thoughts went back to his first real mission as a ninja. '"I am Zabuza-san's weapon" …"Zabuza has no need for a weak shinobi"' the words echoed through his head. 'Haku' Naruto thought. 'He's just like Haku.'

"In that case" Sakura said breaking him out of his thoughts. "Tell me why you care so much about that picture book in my hand." As she said this, she showed him that she was indeed holding his drawing book in her hand. Sai lowered his head a bit, but Sakura didn't stop. "The two children on the covers, that's you and your brother, right? You carry that because it is the only thing left that proves you really exist, am I not right? You have yet to truly get rid of your emotions, despite what you say. Even for us shinobi, abandoning our emotions completely is impossible."

"Please explain, why would carrying this picture book server to prove my existence?" Sai questioned her logic.

"The reason why you refuse to let go of that book, is precisely because you find yourself unable to forget your existence as someone's brother." Sakura explained. "Do you understand why?" Sakura asked and paused, but didn't see anything that indicated that he would answer her question. "It's because your bonds with your brother are that important to you. The reality is you don't want to erase the bonds that formed between you and your brother."

"Bonds?" Sai questioned confused.

"Sorry to say, but we took a little peak at the contents of that book." Yamato said as Naruto withdrew his kunai fully and moved back a step. "That picture on the two pages in the centre is the only part of the book left unfinished. Judging from the rest of the book, you would end up fighting your brother on those center pages. Sai, I know you were a part of ANBU's roots. And I know that Danzo has given you special training in order to relieve you of your emotions. Training identical to that forsaken tradition, that was once practical in the village of the bloody mist, Kirigakure."

"Sai, your brother was killed by none other than …" Yamato began but was interrupted.

"You're wrong!" Sai cut Yamato off. "I had intended to give this to my brother as a present, but just when I was about to complete it, my brother died of illness. We weren't connected by blood, but he did compliment me on my drawing quite a bit. 'Root' was filled with a great number of children that had been separated from their families due to battles. And of those children I became close to one, calling him my brother. Of this picture book, the picture I wanted to show my brother the most, the one in the center, after my brother died I just can't seem to remember what I was planning on drawing."

Naruto looked at his 'traitorous' team mate somatically, understanding how Sai must have felt, from his own experiences in his early life. Of course he also understood that most of those children must have become orphans due to the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune that was sealed inside of him. But before he could think about it longer, he picked something up and immediately reached out to the nature with his senses, proving his hunch to be right.

"Quick, someone is coming" he warned his team mates and they began to retreat, taking Sai with them. Just as he was walking towards the door, Naruto saw a formal envelope lying on the desk. Walking towards the desk he picked it up, before he exited the room through the door, which Yamato locked up again, by transforming his finger once more into the key from earlier.

On the outside once again, hidden by one of the larger rock formations, the Konoha team was standing, while Sai, restrained by wood, was sitting with his back against the hard rock. "Unfortunately, Sai, we're going to have to leave you here with my bunshin watching you" Yamato said to their 'prisoner', who remained silent.

"Now, to get back to what we came here for" Naruto said, trying to sound determined even if he truly wasn't. He didn't know why but somehow his determination to get Sasuke back to Konoha has weakened in the last few days and weeks.

"It's time to rescue Sasuke." Sakura said more determined than Naruto remembered ever seeing her.

"It'd be better if you gave up now." Sai said, sounding somewhat sad, if that was even possible for the emotionless root member. "I met with Sasuke-kun. Orochimaru is going to be with Sasuke-kun the whole time. If you continue to go after him, the best you'll manage is to be torn to pieces and turned into guinea pigs. Besides, Sasuke-kun said he doesn't even care about you anymore. Sakura-san said that you care for Sasuke-kun as though he was your own brother. And despite that do you really intend to go up against Orochimaru of all people, just for him you're going to put your life on the line to bring him back? But why? It's not like you've been ordered to do this."

"Way back, I used to hate Sasuke." Naruto answered, feeling compelled to do so. "He's the person that, more than anyone else, accepted me and my existence. Sasuke is my friend and he represents the bonds that I waited so long to receive. So that's why."

"Bonds" Sai whispered unbelieving. "Still, that's not much reason, not if it means facing someone like Orochimaru."

"I'm not scared of that hebi-teme." Naruto replied, trying to get the emotions, which he had felt only a month ago, across to the emotionless shinobi. "So even if it means getting torn to pieces, I'm going to take Sasuke back from Orochimaru, no matter what."

Silence hung over them after these words, until Yamato broke it after a few moments. "Once my clone's ready, we're going."

At that very moment Naruto felt someone's presence behind them and a split second later he could already hear the sound of kunais slicing through the air, as they were most likely thrown in their direction. Jumping away, followed by his two team mates, who had realized the threat, too, he avoided the kunai, which hit the ground in front of Sai where they had just been standing.

Just as Naruto came to a stop some distance away, Kabuto landed on the ground before Sai, in between the kunai that hit the exact same area only a few moments earlier. "Sai, judging from your situation, I suppose this means you were captured. Since it doesn't seem you've betrayed us, I'll trust you, for now." Kabuto said as he stood up from his landing position and moved towards Sai activating his chakra scalpel to cut through the wood binding Sai, freeing the traitorous Konoha shinobi.

Eying each other, they remained at their spots. "It's pointless." Kabuto said after a few moments of silence.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto questioned the medic-nin, trying to buy some time as he was already planning the best way to approach attacking him. 'A well placed distraction with a bunshin should be enough' he thought as he waited for an answer.

"Watching you makes me truly feel pity." Kabuto replied. "People change. Sasuke is no longer the Sasuke you used to know."

Hearing this Sai moved and grabbed Kabuto and placed him in a lock, leaving Orochimaru's aide unable to move and unable to get away. "What the …" Kabuto exclaimed in surprise before trailing off only continuing as he realized what happened. "What are you doing?"

"You say people change and here I am." Sai said quietly. "But there are also things that don't change."

"Sai what are …." Naruto began to ask, already over his surprise of Sai's actions. A few minutes ago he had been ready to kill Sai as a traitor and now the very same teen was helping them.

"Bonds." Sai responded cutting Naruto's question off. "I want to see what they're really made of."

"Sai." Sakura whispered letting her emotions show on her face.

"Sai, just keep him still like that." Yamato ordered already gathering the necessary chakra to bind Kabuto with the use of his wood techniques. After Kabuto was safely restrained Yamato quickly formed a single wood clone to watch over their new prisoner while they were infiltrating the base once again.

Naruto looked at Sai about to ask a question, but was cut off by Sai who had already guessed what Naruto wanted to know from his look. "Why is it you place so much value in the bonds between you and Sasuke-kun? What exactly are those bonds you speak of? I decided I need to know the answer to those questions myself." Sai said.

"According to the two of you, I've been unable to get rid of the bonds that formed between me and my brother. If those bonds are so important to me, then I might be able to figure something out if I see the 'bonds' between you and Sasuke-kun. That's all." Sai went on with his explanation.

"The four of you don't know the real Sasuke-kun." Kabuto cut into their conversation, chuckling openly as he talked and continued to laugh for a few moments.

"What's so funny?" Sakura asked her fellow medic-nin, annoyed by his words and laughter.

"Tell us where Sasuke is!" Yamato ordered Kabuto in a somewhat threatening way, not caring what the medic found so funny as he thought it irrelevant for the mission they had come here for.

"He should be done with his training about now and be back in his inner chamber." Kabuto told them honestly. "There are a large number of rooms strewn all throughout the lair. If you end up looking in each as you go, you might find him. Still, if you aren't careful, you might chance upon a snake as well. Orochimaru-sama keeps his quarters in the same area, after all."

"I thank you for being so honest." Yamato said to their prisoner not having expected to receive a reply to his question at all.

"Oh no, you really shouldn't be thanking me." Kabuto retorted.

"You expect us, the hunters to become the prey then" Yamato asked.

"Precisely." Kabuto replied with a smile.

"We will see." Yamato replied before moving away from the captured medic. "Let's go" he said to his team and a second later they moved out, leaving only a clone to watch over their prisoner.

They stopped in the dimly lit corridor of the base, having just entered the same way they had used earlier. "We'll split into two teams to search for Sasuke. Sakura and I will form one, Naruto and Sai the other." Yamato explained to them. "If something comes up, focus your chakra. That will be more than enough to produce a reaction in the seeds I have in your bodies. I'll be there for you at a moment's notice."

Nodding in reply they moved out, each team taking a different way.

Rounding around a corner, followed by another Naruto stopped and reached out with his senses, searching through his awareness of his surroundings if anybody happened to be nearby. Sensing no one Naruto turned around and grabbed Sai's clothes on his upper body and pushed him against the wall, much to the root member's surprise.

"I don't care what you just did up there." Naruto said quietly, his voice lanced with venom. "I don't trust you. You already chose to work against Konoha once, even though you were ordered. If you do so again, I will kill you."

Sai didn't look affected at all, until he spoke up. "Oh jeez. You two are so alike" he said, much to Naruto's surprise. "You any my brother, I mean. Just like you he took on everything he did with everything he had. Watching you brings back memories."

Naruto let a smile form on his lips as he stepped back, releasing Sai as he did so and turned around again, feeling that the root member was telling the truth. He hadn't been able to feel the slightest reaction in Sai's body, which was normal when somebody lied, not even with his senses, which had been sharpened by the natural energy he had gathered before reaching out with them. "Enough wasting time" he said and began to move away, continuing with the task at hand.

After a few steps however he realized that Sai wasn't following him. Turning around he saw Sai drawing In his drawing book, finishing the only unfinished page. "I remembered. I remembered what I was trying to …"

At this very moment Naruto moved, cutting Sai's sentence off and dragging the black haired teen inside the next room, closing the door behind them. "Conceal your presence" Naruto ordered, but it was already too late as the door was blown off its hinges, crashing to the ground.

As the dust settled and the door finally laid still on the ground, Orochimaru was standing where the door had been just moments ago and extended him right arm towards the two young shinobi. A split second and a quick "Senei Jashu" later, two large snakes began to move out of the Sanin's sleeve and flew towards them. Reacting quick Naruto moved and pushed Sai away, out of the first snake's way, but not a second later the second snake wrapped itself around the young root member, having altered its way in mid air, and drew the teen towards the snake Sanin.

"Well then Sai." Orochimaru's sick voice cut sweetly through the air. "Which side do you intend to take?" But even as he asked the young rot member that question, his snake was already wrapping itself tighter around the teen, cutting Sai's oxygen supply off.

Cursing under his breath Naruto stayed still, knowing that he had no chance against the Sanin in his current condition and began to draw the nature's chakra as quickly towards him as he could, hoping to be quick enough to safe his team mate, as drawing in the chakra proofed to be more difficult, seeing that he wasn't surrounded by much nature. Just as Orochimaru was already switching his glance on him, Naruto moved. However already having anticipated this Orochimaru moved to the side, evading Naruto's attack. But what he hadn't anticipated was a clone behind the real Naruto, which followed the Sanin's dodge and cut through the snake with a kunai, freeing Sai before jumping back.

Reacting quickly and out of anger, Orochimaru used another "Senei Jashu" and a snake rushed after them. The clone quickly pushed Sai towards the real Naruto, before it threw itself in the snake's way. The snake bit down, destroying the clone before it withdrew back into Orochimaru's sleeve.

"I'll deal with him." Naruto said to Sai, trusting the young root member, who was barely standing upright, drawing in a deep breath followed by another in order to recover from almost suffocating, seeing that his supply of oxygen had been cut off for such a long time. "You go and find Sasuke."

"Ok. I'll search and rescue Sasuke-kun." Sai finally said, and took off vanishing in the long and dark corridor split seconds later, leaving Naruto alone to face the Sanin until his other team mate's arrived as backup.

"You've come to rescue Sasuke, have you?" Orochimaru asked, obviously amused at the situation. "I'll hand it to you for your guts, but do you really think things will go as you want?"

"Yeah." Naruto said determined, even though he knew that he didn't have a chance against the Sanin right now. "I'll beat you and take Sasuke out of here!" Already gathering the necessary chakra, Naruto moved before the Sanin could do anything and slammed his hand on the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

And in a cloud of smoke a large toad appeared barely fitting in the now rather small looking corridor, blocking Orochimaru from reaching Naruto. As he looked the toad, Naruto realized that he hadn't met this particular toad yet, even if he had spent a while with them, at which time he just hadn't been in the right state of mind to go and meet all the toads, nor able to learn and remember the names of the few he did meet. "Would you be so kind and assist me, Gama-san?" Naruto asked kindly as he began to gather more natural energy so that he could enter the sage mode.

"Hai" the toad replied simply readying itself for combat, a huge shield in its one hand protecting it from most attacks the snake Sanin could throw at it.

Orochimaru for his part stood calmly and merely extended his arm forward, as snakes began to slitter out of his sleeves. Blocking the snakes by moving the shield as much as possible in the small corridor, the snakes merely hit the shield with a dull sound. However the toad overlooked a single snake slithering on the ground and towards the toad right underneath the shield. Only a small distance away now from the toad the snake attacked and launched itself at the arm holding the shield, biting down on it.

Dropping the shield, the toad was unable to defend itself as another volley of snakes flew towards it, biting down on it in different places. Defeated the toad vanished in a cloud of smoke and the snakes began to withdraw back towards their master.

"So what, you're all talk now?" Orochimaru asked Naruto, who merely stood there doing nothing, glad for every second that passed.

Sensing something Naruto quickly stepped to the side, forced to stop gathering the natural energy, a kunai already appearing in his right hand. Moving quickly Naruto spun around and hit his attacker full on the chest, his kunai boring itself deep into his attacker's flesh, who dropped to the ground uneventful and slithered along it for a few meters from the momentum. As he looked down, Naruto saw what he guessed were horns retreating back into the person's body as the skin began to lighten at the same time. 'A cursed seal' Naruto realized quickly as he turned towards Orochimaru and the now on the ground laying attacker, bringing his focus back on his main enemy, Orochimaru. Orochimaru merely smirked as he drew a single kunai and threw it at the downed person, indebting it deep in the man's head, killing the person instantly.

"Kukuku" the Sanin chuckled to himself.

Naruto having enough dashed forward, two clones besides him to force the Sanin to the defense, but the Sanin quickly made a cross through his planes as he destroyed both clones with a well places strike, before moving onto Naruto, hitting him in the stomach, sending Naruto back a few feet.

Naruto dropped to the ground, as the single strike brought back all the pain he had been numbing and trying to ignore all time long. His eyes cast at the ground, Naruto had to force himself as to not throw up, as he was exactly besides the person Orochimaru had killed only moments ago, blood and brain parts welling out of the wounds and mixing on the ground. It was only a boy, maybe a year older than him, Naruto realized as he was forced to look at the corpse.

Mobilizing all his willpower Naruto forced his body to stand upright, already having lost all focus on the natural energy, which had completely dissipated, leaving him powerless against the Sanin. Sighing relieved, Naruto sensed Yamato and Sakura rounding around the last corner stopping just behind him. "Orochimaru again, eh." Yamato observed as he came to a stop.

"I'll let you live Naruto-kun." Orochimaru said simply, not in the least impressed by the three opponents that were facing him. "The more Akatsuki member you can take out, the better. I'm more interested in dealing with Sai anyways, so excuse me." With that said the Sanin vanished right before their eyes with the help of an improved Sunshin no jutsu, leaving the corridor unoccupied expect for the Konoha shinobi.

"Where's Sai?" Yamato asked quickly after the Sanin had left.

"He's looking for Sasuke." Naruto informed them, as he once again numbed the pain as much as possible with the help of natural energy. "We've got to find him before Orochimaru." Stretching out his senses, Naruto searched for Sai's presence, finding it near another one. "Quick." Naruto said as he took off, ignoring the pain as much as possible, followed by his two team mates.

As they run through the corridors everything began to shake, small parts of debris falling down from the ceiling. "What was that?" Sakura asked somewhat frightened.

"It's Sai's chakra." Yamato replied, but Naruto already knew what exactly was happening as he had sensed everything perfectly. Running around the last corner they saw Sai standing in what seemed to be a mostly destroyed room, looking up at something or someone.

Losing no time Naruto dashed forward, already guessing what would expect him when he reached the newly created opening. "Sasuke." Naruto said as he stopped a few feet away from Sai, looking up at his completely changed once upon a time team mate.

"Naruto." Sasuke said simply, his voice carrying no emotions. "And now Sakura, so you came, too." He continued as he saw Sakura appearing behind Naruto, coming to a stop besides Naruto. "Does that mean Kakashi's here as well?"

At that very moment Yamato stepped into the teen's view. "Unfortunately Kakashi-san couldn't be here, but I'm here in his place." Yamato said to the Uchiha, observing him to get as much information on him as possible. "We, team Kakashi are going to be taking you back to Konoha."

"Team Kakashi, huh." Sasuke said simply, observing Sai. "So he's filling in for me then, is he? He was spouting some kind of nonsense about protecting the bonds between Naruto and me. One more pansy for the group, quite the fit I'm sure."

The Konoha shinobi looked at Sai with one eye, surprised by that revelation not having really believed the change in Sai to be real. Naruto for his part closely observed Sasuke as silence fell between them, nobody even muttering a single word.

Bored of waiting Sasuke moved and appeared next to Naruto, who hadn't moved an inch, one arm on Naruto's right shoulder. "Come to think of it, isn't becoming Hokage one of your dreams?" Sasuke asked, taunting the blond haired shinobi. "If you have the time to chase me around, you would have been better off training, don't you think Naruto? And that's why this time you're going to end up losing your life, all at a whim of mine."

Naruto remained motionless, even if Sasuke began to draw his sword, slowly sliding it out of it's sheath. "Like there's any chance someone who can't save a friend could become Hokage. Don't you think Sasuke?" However Sasuke merely grunted in reply.

Moving his sword to attack, Naruto had enough of it and moved, his left hand grabbing Sasuke's attacking arm, while his right hand moved to remove Sasuke's other hand from his shoulder. Free to move again as Sasuke's hand was removed from his shoulder, seeing as it had been holding him in place, Naruto brought his right hand forward intending to hit Sasuke straight in the face.

But Naruto's plan was baffled as Sasuke muttered two words. "Chidori Nagashi." With that lightning appeared all around Sasuke extending several feet away from him, hitting Naruto with full force and sent him flying backwards. Cursing as his body screamed in pain from the impact, Naruto quickly forced himself back to his feet.

In the mean time Sai dashed forward, but was interrupted by a simple swing of Sasuke's sword. Grabbing Sasuke's wrist to stop the attack, Sai made himself an easy target for Sasuke's new technique and he, too, was sent to the ground, lightning running through him.

Remembering her words from years ago, Sakura dashed forward. "Sasuke-kun, I'm going to stop you with my own power" she yelled as she rushed at the Uchiha.

Yamato seeing Sasuke channeling a chidori to his blade acted quickly and intercepted Sasuke, as he swung his sword against Sakura, only to be pierced in the shoulder by the teen's blade as it cut through his kunai like butter. Cursing his stupidity for not realizing the effect, which channeling a chidori through the blade would have, Yamato struggled as he felt the effect of the electricity in his body.

Seeing Sasuke standing in front of his taichou, with his sword in the man's shoulder Naruto acted. Throwing several kunai at Sasuke, Naruto forced his old team mate to back away from Yamato in order to dodge the thrown projectiles. Dashing forward Naruto tried to hit Sasuke, but the Uchiha easily dodged all of Naruto's attempts, seeing them coming with the use of his Sharingan.

Dodging another punch thrown at him by Naruto, Sasuke pushed his sword forward, intending to stab it straight into Naruto's chest. Reacting quickly as he didn't want another sword sticking in his chest so soon after the last, the blonde brought his free hand forward, a Rasengan forming to block the attack. As sword met Rasengan, the chidori empowered sword pierced through the Rasengan's outer layer, making it instable and causing it to explode, sending Naruto flying back violently.

Sasuke for his part was only forced back a few feet, his sword nearly winging out of his grip from the force of the explosion.

Seeing his chance Yamato used one of his jutsus, trying to capture Sasuke. But Sasuke easily cut a hole in the wooden cage that had formed around him and jumped out of what was supposed to be his prison. Landing on the top the Uchiha overlooked the Konoha shinobi which were standing a level beneath him.

"Why don't you get it?" Naruto muttered just loud enough that the others could hear it, as he felt his frustration grow. "Your body's going to be stolen by Orochimaru anytime now!" he continued, his voice growing in strength and loudness.

"If that happens, then it happens" the Uchiha merely replied, looking directly at Naruto. "Revenge means everything to me, as long as I can have my revenge, I could care less what happens to me, or the whole world for that matter. Let me make it clear for you. For both me and Orochimaru, right now, killing Itachi would be impossible. But if I'm able to accomplish my goals through nothing more than offering Orochimaru this body of mine, then he can have my life and my afterlife for that matter."

"That's enough talk." Yamato cut in, as he raised himself to stand upright, ignoring his wound to the shoulder. "Naruto and Sakura, with you two here I had hoped not to have to resort to any of my cruder methods. But unfortunately, it's time I get serious."

"Captain Yamato." Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto could already feel it. Yamato's stance changed and his chakra was growing, as he gathered it to be ready for anything. Yes, he could feel it, Yamato was getting serious. 'Maybe I should have been so, too.' Naruto thought as he observed the scene curiously.

"Konoha." Sasuke said. "I'm through with you. Now things end." With that said Sasuke made a quick hand sign before raising his left arm to the sky, obviously preparing to use a powerful jutsu.

"Now, now. There's no need to use that jutsu, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru said, as he appeared besides the Uchiha grabbing the teen's wrist, forcing him to stop the preparation of the jutsu Sasuke wanted to use.

"Remove your hand!" Sasuke ordered the Sanin.

"There you go again." Kabuto said, sounding a bit berating, standing a bit away from the other two. "Forgetting exactly who you are talking to."

"I have no reason to stop." Sasuke merely replied, his voice free of any emotions.

"You know quiet well what Akatsuki is up to." Kabuto said to the young Uchiha. "We want to have our guests here from Konoha take care of as many of them as possible. Even just one would be fine. If the other Akatsuki member get in your way, your plans for revenge could hit a snag, right?"

"That's a pathetic excuse." Sasuke said.

"But surely, you'd allow it if it meant increasing the chances of your revenge succeeding, by even one percent, right?" Kabuto asked the Uchiha, who began to let his right hand sink down again, as the Sanin removed his grip on the teen's wrist.

"It's time we leave, my darlings." Orochimaru said to his two 'servants'.

Naruto realizing that time was running really short, closed his eyes concentrating fully on the natural energy he had been drawing to him as he listened to their talk. Opening his eyes a second later he was in sage mode, his eyes changed to the yellow toad eyes and outlined with the red marks of a true sage.

Just as his three opponents were about to activate their Shunshin no jutsus, concluding from the chakra he felt, Naruto jumped up, a huge Rasengan forming, intending to slam it into the snake Sanin. Orochimaru however easily dodged together with Sasuke as they jumped back a bit.

Before the cloud of dust, raised by the impact of the Rasengan on the ground, even settled, three Naruto clones formed and went after all three enemies, each with a normal Rasengan in hand. Orochimaru easily dodged the attack, twisting his body out of the attacks way, bringing his knee up, hitting the clone with full force in the stomach and as such destroyed it. Sasuke, too, easily managed to deal with it, destroying the clone with a chidori before it could even hit him, having seen the attack before hand with his Sharingan.

Kabuto however was barely able to jump away, avoiding the Rasengan by mere inches as he jumped towards the snake Sanin. The Naruto clone followed, but was destroyed by a punch in the face from the Sanin, before he could do anything.

Just as the cloud of smoke left behind by the destroyed clone dispersed, wood began to wind itself up the three enemies of Konoha, binding them to the place they stood at. Having had the cover of the dust cloud of the impact earlier and of Naruto's attacks, Yamato jumped up followed by the others, and Yamato acted quickly as he saw his chance and quickly caught their enemies.

But before he could do anything more than to hold them in place, Orochimaru, together with Sasuke and Kabuto, simply faded away, leaving the wood that had them trapped behind.

Naruto closed his eyes concentrating hard he could feel the three of them move away, already way ahead of them. Letting a deep breathe out, Naruto let all the natural energy sip away, as he knew that a pursuit would be futile. As he reached out again, he burned the presences of the three of them in his memory, so he would be able to find them more easily next time should he enter sage mode near to them.

Opening his eyes Naruto looked at the nearly cloud free sky, deep in thought. 'I'm still too weak.' He thought, thinking back to his fights, most importantly his fight with Orochimaru. 'Maybe I should what Yugao-chan said.'

Author's Note (A/N):

Well chapter 7 is finally out. I'm sorry for the long wait, but as I've stated on my profile I went through some kind of writer's block. While I knew exactly what I want to write and even had lots of ideas, I just didn't feel like writing much (blame the good weather, my laziness ...). As such the chapter only grew in very small steps. But now I've finally finished it.

Seeing as the summer is approaching and I like spending time outside, I'm sorry to say that updates will most likely continue to take a while.

Now on to important things like the new chapter:

I'm not entirely happy with how this chapter turned out to be, because I wanted to show Naruto's progress but at the same time Sasuke had to stay with Orochimaru. So I hope you all like how I made that fight turn out.

I've added a new poll in my profile:

With whom should I pair Naruto up expect for Yugao?

The NarutoxYugao pairing won't change, no matter what. Also there will be another female with which Naruto will be paired up later on. Those two won't change, no matter what the poll says. So the question is: should he have a few one-night stands with other females, seeing that he and Yugao won't be in a real relationship for a while at least, or not.

Go to my profile and vote for what you want.

The next chapter is obviously the beginning of Naruto's training. What else I'll put in there will be surprise, so you'll just have to wait and see.

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