Four miles from the Hidden Grass
"Man, that place is depressing."
"You mean the hospital? If so, yeah- I've never seen that many sick patients in a while." Sakura bit her lip uncomfortably. Despite working in the medical field for so long, the sight of people on stretchers never failed to trigger her sympathetic side. "Their medics were barely keeping up..."
"Some of those injuries were brutal," Tenten muttered, her usual cheer absent. "Looked like they'd been hit with Earth Release techniques - crushed bones, internal bleeding. Not clean cuts."
"The skirmish with Konoha ninja deployed as assistance to Kusa devastated their Shinobi since we last pulled back the majority of our forces from their borders." Maito Gai elaborated, boisterous mask nowhere to be seen. Their military base stationed in the land of Grass had been severely damaged by foreign interference. Unfortunately, Iwa Shinobi had managed to kill three Konoha ninjas, hence, Kusa sent their own Shinobi to protect their lands from a hostile occupation. "It's been a while since the Hidden Stone has tried anything like that. The third war killed many upcoming youngsters, and medical ninjas were high among casualties, targeted for their healing capabilities."
"Most un-youthful!" Lee exclaimed although slightly subdued.
"Damn Iwa bastards," Kiba snarled, slamming a fist into his palm mid-leap. "Can't even let a border dispute die without turning it into a bloodbath!"
Akamaru barked in agreement.
Tenten wisely refrained from pointing out that Konoha would've probably done the same.
Kiba scowled. "Ugh, whatever," He huffed, shaking his head. An annoyed expression overtook his straight face. "Man, talking about all this doom and gloom is annoying! Can't we discuss something more… bright, happy… uh… you know…"
"No, Kiba, we don't. Care to enlighten us?" Sakura questioned snidely, an amused smirk on her lips.
The Inuzuka turned to glare at her. "You know what, yeah? I do." Kiba coughed into his fist, adopting a highly aristocratic and formal tone. "Could we possibly indulge in the enchanting art of diverting our conversation towards a topic of a more whimsical and lighthearted nature, perchance? I do so relish the notion of venturing away from the abyss of weighty matters and delving into the realm of frivolous banter, for what joy could compare to the mirthful bliss of—"
"Ok, ok, we get it!" Sakura exclaimed. She turned to the Inuzuka. "I'm sorry for doubting you, your highness."
"Damn right. 'Your Highness' has a nice ring to it, though. Maybe I'll make it official," Kiba boasted proudly.
Neji, silent until now, exhaled through his nose. "The only time anyone calls you 'Your Highness' is when you're blackout drunk and demanding dog food at three in the morning."
"Shut up, white-eyes! You kept your mouth shut for all this time, and now you decide to speak! And for the record, I don't even drink!"
"That's something Naruto would say."
"Huh, you calling me a—!"
"Speaking of Naruto," Sakura spoke loudly, cutting off any more banter. "I wonder how he is doing? What kind of jutsu he's learning, his adventures - they are traveling around the world, aren't they?"
"You're his teammate. You probably know more about him than us." Kiba highlighted.
"I know, but Lady Tsunade hasn't talked much about him. She seems to be somewhat in contact with Lord Jiraiya, but I can't get anything out of her. She's always so tight-lipped," Sakura said, feeling a bit put out. He was her teammate, surely her master could address her concerns.
"Maybe she doesn't trust you? You get angry waaaaayyyy too easily. Might spill something sensitive, you know."
Sakura felt a vein in her head throb. "You're one to talk. Hypocrite, much?"
"I don't ask for classified information, though." Kiba shrugged uncaringly, brushing off her ire. "Besides, I can't wait to rub it in his face that we're all Chunin and he isn't." He laughed, imagining Naruto's jealous reaction.
"That's true." Lee agreed readily. "But, it is most un-youthful to put down a friend just to look better. Friendships are sacred and must not be broken down just for your gain!" He exclaimed with utmost passion.
"Lee!" Proud tears gathered in Gai's eyes at his student's wise words. "Your wisdom may have surpassed my own!"
"Thank you Gai-Sensei, but I have years to go before I can reach your level!"
The tears were now flowing freely, from the Green Beast's eyes to his chin. "Lee!"
"Gai-Sensei!"
"Lee!"
The pair embraced midair as a mesmerizing beach scenery replaced the previous background of trees and shrubs. Somehow managing to suspend themselves for a few seconds, they separated soon after.
Sakura and Kiba shook their heads, amused at such antics. There wasn't a single boring moment when those two were around.
Tenten, used to such enthusiastic performances by her highly energetic teammates, decided to pose another question. "What about him? How do you think he is faring?"
Everyone except Lee understood that reference. "Who is he?"
"Sasuke-kun." Replied the medic of the team, feeling sadness at remembering her crush turned love. She knew that he had betrayed the Leaf, but she still had feelings for her teammate and wanted him to return to the Leaf like old times.
And then perhaps both of them could develop into something more.
"Young Sasuke-kun is under the tutelage of Orochimaru. As terrible as his actions are, there is no denying that Orochimaru is an accomplished Shinobi in nearly all variations of jutsu. If Sasuke-kun availed such an opportunity well, then we should expect him to be far stronger in the next encounter." Gai chimed in with his own two cents.
Neji agreed with that statement. Sasuke Uchiha had been powerful enough to defeat Naruto, someone he, the prodigy of the Hyuuga clan, had suffered a loss against. He wondered how powerful both male members of team 7 had gotten. However, there was another far darker possibility that their team did not seem to consider. "Orochimaru may have already possessed the Uchiha's body."
"Lord Jiraiya has informed Lady Tsunade that Orochimaru's body possession takes three years after taking over a new body. Sasuke is alive." Sakura immediately shot down that suggestion.
"And if it is faulty information? What if it is all just a farce and that the traitor already knew that his teammate was spying on him?" Neji persisted.
Tsunade's apprentice refused to consider such a situation. She, who trained relentlessly for the purpose of chasing down her beloved, only to find out that it was all pointless? Countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears would not be put to waste. "I trust Konoha's spymaster," Sakura spoke with finality.
"She's right. Neji, don't be so negative," Tenten said chidingly.
"I'm being realistic, not negative. I only pointed out another possibility." The Hyuuga prodigy spoke with calm indifference while activating his Byakugan to scout for potential enemies.
"Do not worry Sakura-san, we, as your comrades, will also help you in your endeavor, not just Naruto." He gave a wide smile with sparkling white teeth and a thumbs-up. "So, you can count on us! We haven't trained for nothing!"
Sakura smiled. Lee's enthusiasm was just as infectious as Naruto's. "Thanks, Lee. I'm glad to hear that."
Lee felt his cheeks turn red at her smile. Truly, Naruto's teammate was the personification of beauty. "No problem! Speaking of which, would you like to—"
"Three years ago, since he ditched us and said goodbye without a word, huh? Doesn't seem that long…" Kiba interrupted Lee's confession loudly, knowing that it would end up in a brutal rejection. The poor lad did not seem to get the hint that Sakura was into pretty boys who treated her like she was the mud under their shoes.
Honestly, he deserved a medal for saving this dude from multiple rejections.
"Yup, all of us have trained very hard since then, not just Sasuke," Tenten said encouragingly. "He may beat one of us, but not all of us."
"I don't understand what's important about that pretty b—"
"Keep quiet," Neji cut off Kiba's incoming rant with his assertive command. The affronted ninja opened his mouth to protest but was prevented from speaking his mind by the Hyuuga clan member's next words. "There's someone ahead."
Immediately, the six-man team was on alert. "Neji, can you get us a read on him?" Gai questioned his student.
The addressed individual nodded affirmatively. Straining his Byakugan, Neji examined his target. What he saw blew his mind away…
The target's chakra was powerful, far more powerful than anything he had ever seen; not the current Hokage's, Lord Jiraiya's, or any other individual's inbuilt energy came anywhere close to that person's level of strength. Its potency exceeded even that of the nine-tails chakra he had seen when he first battled Uzumaki Naruto. Every fiber of his being quivered at the thought of facing a Shinobi of such caliber.
That wasn't even counting the sheer volume of chakra present in the oncoming intruder.
And his left eye, he breathed in and out. Hidden behind a transformation jutsu, whatever chakra that eye had, screamed unparalleled strength.
However, what well and truly surprised him was the identity of the oncoming adversary.
"So, what does he look like?" Kiba questioned as he prepared himself for a battle.
"It's him." He spoke with awe and reverence tinged with a hint of dread. He took solace in his perhaps equally powerful teammates.
"Him?! Wow, thanks, Neji! That surely tells us a lot about—!"
"It's Uchiha Sasuke."
________________________________________________________
Truly, the Sage of Six Paths chakra far exceeded his expectations, even blessing him with otherworldly sensory abilities, perhaps even on par with Karin's.
Which was why he could feel—
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
Seven different chakra signatures approached him, all with a sense of eagerness with the sixth one having a very familiar feeling to it.
But first, he needed to test something.
Quickly changing directions and long-distance body-flickering away towards his left, Sasuke attempted to throw them off the trail.
Will they?
Stretching out his senses confirmed that they were not fooled by his misdirection and quickly seemed to figure out his position. This verified the possibility of a sensor or a Hyuuga amongst the team, someone who could scout over long distances.
And of course, due to the presence of Sakura, Sasuke acknowledged the predictable persistence of his former comrades. It seemed that forcing him into submission and obstructing his objectives had become a recurring theme. The bitter irony of the situation was not lost on him, a feeling that evoked a sense of nostalgia tinged with a hint of dark amusement.
Halting his journey, Sasuke perched atop a sturdy tree branch, awaiting the imminent arrival of the Konoha ninja. If it was a fight they wanted, he would gladly grant them their wish.
Finally. They're here.
The two taijutsu masters gracefully landed on opposite sides, the shorter figure positioned to his right and the taller to his left. Sakura materialized in a blur of motion, her visage reflecting a mix of sadness and unwavering determination to capture him.
Casting a glance over his shoulder revealed Neji Hyuuga standing behind him, poised in the traditional Hyuuga gentle fist stance. Behind him, standing on the highest tree branch, was his female teammate holding scrolls in both her hands… he genuinely had no idea who she was.
Lastly, Kiba, if his memory served him correctly, emerged alongside his rather large dog, both positioned diagonally behind Sakura.
"Uchiha Sasuke," the oldest of the squad, spoke. Sasuke's eyes moved to stare at the speaker. "Where is your master?"
"I have never had a 'master'."
Kiba spoke up angrily. "You know damn well what he means!"
Sasuke only gave them a slow blink before cocking his head to the side... slowly. "And what exactly does he mean, Inuzuka?" If they enjoyed wasting his time with this confrontation, he, too, would not hesitate to squander theirs.
Kiba's face contorted into an expression of rage, and he looked just about ready to explode before Neji spoke. "Kiba, enough," Sasuke looked over his shoulder to eye the talker. "Orochimaru, the one for whom you betrayed the leaf, where is he?"
Sasuke ignored the way Neji dismissed his actual motivations for his misconceptions. "The snake is dead."
The rest of the group was taken aback by this revelation as if it were a possibility they had never foreseen.
"Y-you killed him? Why-uh… how?" Sakura questioned her face, the pictorial representation of surprise and shock.
"That can be discussed later," Maito Gai said, interrupting any further conversation. His eyes were as cold as chips of ice. "Uchiha Sasuke, you are a rogue ninja of Konohagakure and are hereby authorized to return to the leaf. Will you comply?"
"If I don't?"
"You will be brought back forcefully."
Sasuke's lips curled into a dark, sardonic chuckle—a reaction that caught his adversaries off guard. He found himself amused by the Leaf's display of hypocrisy. They preached the ideals of the "will of fire," camaraderie, and friendship, only to abandon those principles when faced with a challenge to the status quo. Then there were no words, only a beating until you submitted your will to the higher-ups.
Oh, it wasn't like Sasuke didn't understand their reasons. He had defected from a military force and committed a grievous act of betrayal by aligning himself with the very person who had orchestrated an invasion of their home country. It was perfectly logical. However, Sasuke perceived his betrayal as justice rather than a crime. To him, the massacre of the Uchiha clan by Konoha was a betrayal, a denial of their rights, and a refusal to acknowledge their grievances. He was only returning the favor.
"And what will happen if I surrender and do as you say?"
Gai's lips thinned into a straight line. His face darkened. "That is something the Hokage will have to decide."
"Standard procedure is to execute a traitor, is it not?"
"I will vouch for you Sasuke-kun," Sasuke's lone eye swiveled from the Green Beast to Sakura as she took jumped to the tree branch directly in front of him. "I am the Hokage's apprentice, if it gets down to that I'm sure I can negotiate something with Lady Tsunade."
"I see." Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment. He knew her reasons for wanting him to return to the village. She wanted him to entertain her with a little romance, perhaps as a husband or a boyfriend. It was quite unfortunate that she would find herself disappointed, he thought as he reopened his eyes, one with the three tomoe sharingan, the other with a transformation jutsu that gave the illusion of the basic form of the unique red eye.
"His left eye did not change!" Neji yelled. "We have no idea what's behind that transformation! Be on your guard for any unknown powerful techniques!"
Orochimaru had been a test, a warm-up. But these shinobi? They were weaker. Far weaker. And yet...
A smirk tugged at his lips.
Perhaps I can use them.
The war had been about throwing his weight with the most powerful beings in existence. As such, he needed to gauge his limits, to see just how much control he had over this power. If he could dismantle them without killing them, without even truly trying, then he would know.
There was no time for negotiations...
"Almighty Push!"
The six-man team was sent rocketing across. Solid treetops, bark, and branches were transformed into lethal debris that was sent flying at high speeds across the clearing.
...only a battle would satisfy his old comrades.