So, this is a idea that I've been toying around with but never got around to writing it until now. I'm trying out a new style of writing and it's a bit rough around the edges, any comments you can give me to help improve it would be great. :D

This is a sasunaru fic, so if you don't like, don't care, don't read it.

Sadly, I do no own Naruto or any of its characters. Enjoy!

Nothing could have prepared them for this.

It had been the middle of the night when the hokage had sent for the young shinobi. Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, Choji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka looked upon Tsunade with stunned horror. Her eyes were blood shot from crying, her lower lip quivered as she regarded them with her tired jade eyes. She reached for her bottle of sake, already half empty, and pressed it to her lips as if to take another drink. But she held it still, the rim of the bottle pressing against her trembling lips. She forced out a breath and set the bottle on the table.

"I see that you are all here," she murmured softly. Her voice was cracked and damaged from crying and the teams had to strain to hear her. "I have something to tell you."

No one dared to speak. Not once had they seen her is such a sad state. Tsunade turned her attention back to the bottle of sake, looking at it with empty eyes. "Naruto is missing."

The shinobi visibly tensed in the room. So that was reason for Tsunade's distress.

"Missing?" Kiba shouted in alarm, "Like captured?" All eyes were directed at him. He had said the very thing they had feared. Could it be the Naruto is now in the hands of the Akatsuki? Could it be that the goofy, knucklehead ninja was now in the hands of murderous cut throats who wanted to use the for their own end? "Well?"

Tsunade shook her head, "That is one possibility."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, "Possibility?"

Tears dripped down her cheeks. "There is certain evidence that he left by choice," her voice trembled as she spoke.

Kiba's voice grew fierce, "By choice? You don't think he would abandon-"

"You are here to receive a mission!" Tsunade cut in coldly, silencing Kiba. "I have already sent Kakashi ahead to check on the Akatsuki. However, should the second possibility be true, Naruto is most likely searching for Sasuke. That's when you six come in. Find Naruto and bring him back to Konoha." Tears clouded her vision, and she began to shake, "Should he chose to resist consider him a traitor, and you may use force to bring him down."

"Lady Tsunade," Hinata whispered "This can't be what you want. Hurt Naruto?"

Tsunade wiped her tears off her cheek with the back of her hand. "These are not my wishes but he wishes of the council. Nonetheless, this is your mission. Bring Naruto home. No matter what."

The room felt empty. Not empty in a literal sense of course, just devoid of the human touch. The room consisted of one small bed, a bookshelf that held books and scrolls of various techniques and skills, and a wooden table with one flickering candle, dimly lighting the dusky, stone walls. The time of the day was unknown, for this room had no window, perhaps the owner of the room wanted it this way.

The door swung open, and Sasuke Uchiha entered. Upon entering, he let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders dropped slightly , body relaxing from his ridge posture and strong stance. He had just returned from training and his body trembled from exhaustion. He placed his long katana on the table and laid on the bed. Closing his eyes, he focused on breathing and the sound of his heart beating. He laid there for minutes, half-awake, half-asleep. But when does he ever sleep these days? His ears picked up another sound, the soft tapping of someone walking. His body went tense at one, he eyed his weapon, in easy reach sitting on the table. He closed his eyes once more, but he remained ready for an attack at any time.

His door opened. "Orochimaru wants to speak with you." Kabuto said, standing in the doorway. Without even gracing Sasuke with a glance, he turned leaving the door slightly ajar.

Silently, Sasuke groaned, he was tired, sore, and the last thing he wanted to do was converse with that sick man. Still, this was the price for power. Sasuke stretched and shifted off the bed. He grabbed his katana and disappeared into the thick blackness of the long halls, taking his time to reach Orochimaru's corridors.

"You wanted to see me?" Sasuke said coldly. He glared at the sannin seated at the end of the room.

"Yes," Orochimaru's pale lips twisted into a sneer, "I thought you might enjoy this." He shifted his eyes from Sasuke to the door on the opposite side of the room. He gestured languidly with his hand for Sasuke to come closer.

Sasuke's onyx eyes carefully calculated Orochimaru. Few words were exchanged between them, sometimes he wouldn't see Orochimaru for weeks, and on the rare times Orochimaru would summon him, words like 'enjoy' never come up. Still, the sannin's face gave away nothing. Sasuke slowly walked up to the man, standing behind the large, oak chair Orochimaru was sitting on.

"Enjoy what?" Sasuke asked coolly, masking his anxiety

"We will be having a guest," responded Orochimaru pleasantly, "And I thought you might enjoy the company."

Sasuke didn't even bother asking who or what he was talking about. If Orochimaru wanted him to know than he would have told him already, and Sasuke didn't feel up to playing these games. Sasuke felt strained and burnt-out, and sickened by the fact that he takes orders from this man. But he would not let his cold demeanor slip, he would not show weakness. He permitted his eyes to the large door, the same door Orochimaru's eyes bore into. Since the time he had walked into the room, Orochimaru had not taken his eyes off the door.

"OROCHIMARU!"

The scream had come outside the room, echoing off of the imperturbable, stone walls. The bone-chilling, angry scream startled Sasuke, his eyes widen a fraction.

A moment later the door was kicked off its hinges and was sent flying in the air, revealing the intruder. It couldn't be.

Naruto?