After hiding the sleeping Naruto in some bushes nearby, Sasuke and Sakura made their way back towards team alpha. Sasuke glanced back worriedly at Naruto. He didn't like the idea of leaving an unconscious team member behind, even if the biggest direct threat was taken care off. When Sasuke noticed Sakura was about to say something. "Save it. I don't care." He said to her. He was mad at her. She was so irresponsible as a medic towards Naruto!

"But Sasuke-kun, you don't even know what I wanted to say..." Sakura said dramatically.

Sasuke stopped and stopped Sakura as well by holding up his hand in front of her. "I already told you. If you can't get along on a personal level, at least have the decency to do so on a professional level. Your resentment towards Naruto is causing problems for the mission. In the very least you should be aware of that. Naruto was injured. Twice. And both times you ignored it in favour of another teammate due to personal feelings. If this is how you handle teamwork, then I'll be requesting you to be taken off the team. If you had been one of my ANBU subordinates, I would suspend you for that shit you just pulled!" Somehow, he kept an even voice, but it was far from calm.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you." Sakura countered. "Do you even notice how obsessed you act around Naruto? I'm not the only one forgetting the rest of the team in favour of my feelings!" Sasuke was completely unfair right now, according to Sakura. The monster didn't die, so they should happy with just that.

Sasuke growled. "Nothing I did threw the team off balance. You deliberately went out of your way to tell me something that would. It caused a lot of shit and this all could have ended a lot worse!"

"I see. So you showing your feelings, which was hurting me, is fine. Me telling you how I'm feeling, and I'm doing something wrong?" She sneered. "Why can't you see I love you, Sasuke-kun? We can be happy together! Why can't you try to answer my love?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. This was an issue that kept coming up time and time again between them. The girl just didn't get the message. At least Ino gave up after he clearly rejected her. "I did answer you, Sakura. It's you that can't accept 'no' as an answer." Sasuke turned around and ran towards where they were separated from team alpha, leaving Sakura standing alone, hugging herself and near tears. He needed to get away from her before he ended up hurting her. And right now, he didn't care what she did, as long as she didn't get in his way right now.

"Sasuke-kun, you're so cruel..." She whispered, staring after him. She stood there fighting her tears for a while before she turned her attention back in the direction they had just come from as her sadness turned into anger. If Sasuke was too stubborn to listen to her, then maybe she needed to eliminate the cause of his misguided feelings and show him she is the only one for him instead of trying to convince him directly...

Sasuke arrived and joined team alpha alone. From a hiding spot he took in the battlefield. Ino lay on her back a little away from the battle and she looked gently placed. No real surprise there, since that was the main Jutsu she used. Choji was keeping himself up against some rocks and looked pretty beat up, many shattered puppets around him. Shikamaru had a hold on what looked like a young boy, teenager at the most, but Shikamaru didn't have any options for attack as long as he was holding Sasori with his shadow. Right now it looked like he was trying to buy time so Choji had a moment to recover, but it seemed Choji wasn't pulling himself back together all too well. All and all it looked like they had done well and were struggling with the last part of the battle, which was usually resolved by Ino's Jutsu. That left the question, why had Ino not taken over Sasori's mind? If she missed, it only took a few minutes for her to return to her body, so she must have used it not too long ago. But missing was very unlikely if Shikamaru had Sasori in his shadow.

Sasuke jumped out next to Shikamaru. "What's the situation?" He asked.

Shikamaru glanced at him from the corner of his eyes but quickly focussed back on Sasori. "Choji took out the puppets with his Nikudan Sensha (Human boulder), allowing me to grab hold Sasori. There are strings everywhere over the battlefield. The strings are so tight they cut through everything. That's why Choji is out. He couldn't get through the wires and used Nikudan Sensha too many times, so he's near his max. Ino's Shinenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Technique) didn't work, but I'm not sure why."

Sasuke looked at the battlefield again and now that Shikamaru had mentioned it, he did indeed see the gleam of light at it caught on the wires that covered the area like spider webs. They were everywhere. He touched the nearest wire and immediately it cut into his finger, drawing a few drops of blood. Sasuke activated his Sharingan and took the situation in again. He saw the blazing Chakra running through the wires and he saw where they connected to. "The wires run to his heart, not his hands. There's something else wrong. His Chakra flow is off... More like, it isn't there besides the Chakra from his heart." He told Shikamaru.

Shikamaru nodded and winced. The hold on Sasori was beginning to take its toll om him and even though it didn't really look like it, Sasori was putting up a strong fight against his hold. As his Chakra was slowly depleting, so was the time he had to think of something. There was a possibility Ino might wake up before he completely ran out, but that still felt his plan in ruins. "Sasuke, start cutting wires. Maybe there is enough time for you to get to him before I'm completely out. Aim for the heart." Sasuke nodded.

He pulled out a kunai and attempted to cut the first wires. The wires resisted and even managed to dull the edge of kunai. A small current of chakra managed to run through the kunai, giving off a burning sensation that made Sasuke quickly snap hands back. He dropped the dulled kunai and left it smoking on the ground. Okay, then, if that's what it is, then let's beat fire with fire.

Sasuke jumped back a few feet while doing some quick hand signs. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire release: Fireball Jutsu)!" It might be one of the first Jutsus he had ever learned, but it was also one of the most efficient ones he knew for burning stuff down. The large fireball covered most of the area. Within the centre of the fire wires snapped with loud pings, like the strings of a piano snapping, unable to resist the intense heat. It was almost musical with the way they snapped one by one.

Once the fire and smoke cleared, they saw more than half the wires were gone. The length of the wires left lay limp in front of Sasori. Sasori was glaring at the cut wires, but still unable to move. Sasuke did another Goukakyuu no Jutsu, burning away most of the wires and with that clearing a path for him to reach Sasori without resistance.

Carefully Sasuke walked over to Sasori, aware of the fact that a puppet master was able to pull strings even when they were mostly incapacitated. After all, even a twitch of a finger could control a puppet and a flare in Chakra could mean a puppet snapping like a trap. He had only once fought a Puppet Master before and that was a lesson not soon forgotten. His team had been almost wiped if it hadn't been for the last-minute support they got.

Once he stood in front of Sasori, he readied a kunai again, gripping it tight in his hand. No matter how often he did this, there was always something that made him resent the act. Having to do it like this, without a fight and without his opponent in a condition to defend himself, always felt more like an execution, a cold-blooded murder, that the end of a battle.

Sasori struggled to move his jaw trying to saw something, but Sasuke ignored it. A last wish or last words they'd never know. Without remorse he plunged the kunai through the Kanji on Sasori's chest, pushing it in as far as he could before he quickly pulled it out again. There wasn't even a scream. Just silent disbelief as Sasori struggled to look down, to see the damage done, but Shikamaru still hadn't released his grip and Sasori never was able to see the injury that killed him.

Sasori's body moved in small, involuntary twitches. Sasuke jumped back to next to Shikamaru and watched the face and body of Sasori crack and become puppet-like. His eyes turned dull and static, hinges appeared all over his body along with seams and the cylinder in his chest quivered, before falling on the ground in front of Sasori.

Shikamaru finally fully released his Jutsu and let himself fall back, breathing a little heavy. After catching his breath, he made his way to Ino, sitting her up and checking to see if she was alright. He shook her a little, which seemed to help pull her back, because she started moving and soon was able to sit on her own, albeit a little dazed.

Choji joined them, staggering a little as he made his way over. "So, he was a puppet?" He asked.

"Seems like it. I guess only his heart was real." Shikamaru said. "That would also explain why Ino missed. There was no eye contact."

"It was so weird. I was so sure it went right and then it missed, it's like falling into an eternal black abyss..." Ino had trouble shaking the feeling. It was never a good thing to miss, but the element of surprise added to it made the whole sensation a lot worse.

"So, what do we do now?" Choji asked.

"We take the heart and the puppet with us using seals. We're also taking Deidera's head. Then, back to Konoha. Mission complete." Sasuke answered. There was little in his voice that indicated he was talking about decapitation and taking body parts with him. It was more like rounding up a business meeting. Shikamaru, Choji and Ino never joined ANBU, and thus never had any missions that were just to plainly hunt people down, so for them it seemed cruel and ruthless, where for Sasuke it had become almost normal. "Don't worry, I'll do that part." Sasuke said when he noticed the looks on their faces. He grabbed two scrolls and quickly sealed the puppet and the heart away, tucking the scrolls back into a pouch. "Now, let's get back to the others. Naruto is out, so we need to make sure he's alright."

"What about Sakura?" Ino asked, noticing the absence of the pseudo-sister.

"I don't know. We had an argument, because she didn't make any effort to help Naruto when he was injured. I called her out on it." Sasuke said darkly. He didn't feel like delving any deeper into it. He just wanted to make sure his entire team was fine, so they needed to get to Naruto.

When they were about half way back, a sudden bloodcurdling scream echoed through the air, stopping them all in their tracks. Just by the sound of the scream, they couldn't make out whether it was Sakura who screamed or Naruto, but it definitely came from the direction Sasuke had come from. After a shared look, they doubled their speed to get back to the others.

The scene they found didn't get them much more answers. Sakura lay on her side writhing and twisting next to the spot where Sasuke had hidden Naruto, but Naruto was gone. Ino hurried over to Sakura and soon the green glow of medical Jutsu lit up her face. After a few moments of searching, she let it die down again. "She doesn't have any injuries." She concluded, looking down worried at Sakura. "I don't understand what would cause her such pain. It's not physical, at least." Ino looked around a bit lost, like she was hoping to find the answer somewhere around her. Her eyes stopped on a splotch of blood a few feet away, followed by another. And another. And another... A trail of blood was leading away from the group.

"I'm looking for Naruto." Sasuke said, and walked away, following the blood.

"I'll join you. Choji, you stay with Ino and Sakura." Shikamaru said. Choji nodded and went to stand a little nearer to the girls.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan again, scanning the surrounding. It didn't take a lot of time for him to spot the erratic presence of Naruto's Chakra. Sasuke pointed them in the right direction and moved to the area. They ran for a quarter of a mile when the spotted Naruto slumped sideways against a tree. Sasuke landed a little distance away behind Naruto. "Naruto..." He said, but there was no response. Not even a twitch. He could see Naruto breath it was laboured and unsteady, but he was breathing. Sasuke took a step closer and noticed there was a fair amount of blood collected underneath Naruto. The splotches of blood leading to Naruto made it clear that Naruto was the one who had been bleeding, taking away the idea of an unknown enemy being fought off.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said again, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. The light pressure was enough to make Naruto fall over. In response, Sasuke caught him and held him up.

"Sasuke... I..." Naruto said. His voice held little strength. When Sasuke moved him so he would be on his back, he winced visibly and grabbed Sasuke's arm for support. "I don't think Sakura likes me at all..." He said seriously. Shikamaru walked up to them as well and while Sasuke kept Naruto steady, Shikamaru pulled up Naruto's blood-soaked shirt. Three clearly visible stab wounds in three vital spots decorated his chest. They were meticulously placed, with knowledge of vital spots on the human body. His heart, his right lung and his stomach were perforated and Shikamaru didn't understand how Naruto was not only still alive, but also conscious and talking.

"Naruto, focus, what happened?" Sasuke asked with urgency. Naruto closed his eyes for a second and let out a pained groan. He blinked his eyes open again, clearly struggling to focus on his surroundings. "Sakura..." He choked out.

Neither Shikamaru nor Sasuke knew how to respond to that one. Yes, Sakura's dislike for Naruto bordered on hatred, but to actually go so far as to stab him, that was just too much to grasp. Not to mention it was treason unless she had a truly legitimate reason for it, but they already knew there wasn't one.

"Help him onto my back, we need to get to Ino." Sasuke said. They'd have time later to figure out what the Hell happened after Sasuke left Sakura behind to go help team alpha.

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