Chapter THIRTY THREE

When Gaara's band of sand began to shift and form words, Sasori knew there was something wrong.

Gaara usually gave vague hints of his following plans and actions and expected you to understand what exactly he wanted. Fortunately, Sasori was smart enough, as well as had spent enough time with the younger redhead, to understand what he meant.

Most of the time.

But the words that appeared on his arm then alarmed him more than he was willing to admit.

Orochimaru in Forest.

Of course, there was nothing exact he could gauge from these words, but Sasori knew Gaara well enough to know that the boy would not just send him a status update. From his wording, Sasori could tell that Gaara was not confronting the Sannin, which could only mean that Sakura had relayed the message to him, because there was no way Gaara could be in the same area at Orochimaru and not go fight him. Which in turn meant that Sakura was the one in Orochimaru's vicinity.

This worried Sasori on a few levels, the most obvious being that Sakura and Orochimaru were in the same area.

Who wouldn't be worried by that?

He sighed and glanced around the chaotic battle field. He would have to clear this as quickly as possible, then hopefully group with his companions before something happened.

Even in his fuzzy state, Sasuke could feel the firm limb around his torso. It took him a few seconds to recover from the sudden explosive attack and he struggled to reattach his feet to Sakura's sand wave.

The pinkette's arm did not loosen around his middle and she only let go when Sasuke was sure he could cling on.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Daitoppa." Sakura said. "It appears he is right behind us." He flicked her fingers and her sand moved to do her bidding. Sasuke glanced around at the iron specs, realizing that there was so much more than what she had displayed on the bridge.

In seconds, Sakura's wave was towering over the trees in the area. The girl grabbed his wrist and he found himself sinking into the sand. He landed in an air pocket within. He then felt a tugging feeling in his stomach, like he was falling at great speeds. There was a sudden jolt and Sasuke had a feeling they were now moving through underground.

Sakura glanced around her 360 dome. "In the Forest of Death, Orochimaru was after you." She said. "I too have a past of him being after me."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but did not comment. Instead, he hned in agreement. "We have reason to believe he is after one, if not, both, of us."

Sakura nodded sharply. "Orochimaru was not expecting us in the Forest of Death, but he is sure to have prepared for this." She said. "Unlike Gaara's sand, which is more instinctual, my ability allows we to control magnetism through concentration."

"And concentration can be broken." Sasuke thought back to the unnatural, unheard sound from earlier.

Sakura nodded, then gestured towards the lump of metal in Sasuke's hand. "That thing sends out waves of magnetism that confuses me. Being metal, of course I can jam it, but that is only if I can get to it first."

Sasuke eyed the machine. "Where are we now?" He asked.

"Almost at the arena." Sakura said. "Gaara is aware Orochimaru is after us, and I am sure Sasori, as well as Shisui, know as well."

There was a sudden jerk upwards and when the walls fell away, Sasuke found himself standing beside the arena of the third part of the exams. He quickly scrambled to his feet and drew a weapon.

"Last time, we had the element of surprise and Gaara was with me." Sakura said. "I cannot fight Orochimaru on my own."

Oto shinobi appeared at the huge hole in the walls but Sakura's iron sand got to them before they could even react. The two of them darted back in and was almost instantly met by Kakashi.

"I am not going to question where you were." The Jounin said with a sigh. He glanced over them, as if to make sure they were unhurt, before he nods. "What is it like out there?"

Sakura shrugged. "Orochimaru is after us." She told him curtly. "If he has not stopped chasing us, he will be here soon."

Kakashi stiffened and a second later, a familiar killing intent flooded the arena, freezing most on the spot.

"We brought him back here?" Sasuke asked. "I thought you couldn't fight him."

Sakura nodded, then turned it step towards the Snake Sannin, who had perched himself at the mouth of the arena, a smirk playing on his lips.

Kakashi moved to step in front of her but Sakura raised her hand to stop him. "I cannot." She agreed. "Not alone."

Sasori had been confronted by a handful of Konoha shinobi he was sure he could have taken out by himself but Itachi had interrupted them before he could draw a weapon.

"Sasori, in case you have missed it, Konoha is under attack."

Sasori shot the Uchiha a strange look. "Of course." He said. "I can obviously see it."

"Then why are you preparing to fight the people whom you are supposed to be sided with?"

"They looked like they wanted to chat, you know? With metallic sounds rather than words. I was just going to comply to their unspoken wishes."

Itachi rolled his eyes and hurried over to the leader of the Konoha team. He murmured a few words to him and the shinobi retreated with nothing more but a few extra suspicious glares.

"You saved me." Sasori drawled.

Itachi huffed. "I saved theirs."

Sasori sneered. "That you did."

The Uchiha's hands wandered towards his pouch and Sasori lazily noted that while they were surrounded, no one had made a move to attack them.

It must have been something about Uchiha Itachi and Akasuna no Sasori standing around and chatting like one would about the weather. Sasori followed his companion's example and drew a scroll. "It appears Sakura and Sasuke have had a run in with Orochimaru." He went on before Itachi could panic and dart off. "Gaara is headed there and it appears Hatake Kakashi is with them. We need to get this quickly cleared up, so don't let you brother complex cloud your mind, hm?"

Itachi scoffed and drew a kunai. The action alone seemed to make their opponents wary and Sasori pitied these foolish shinobi who had dared to get in between Itachi and his beloved Sasuke.

He rolled his eyes as Itachi jumped at their opponents with a viciousness he usually reserved for when he was truly angry.

He highly doubted he was needed here.

Here's chapter thirty three~

Darque: Itachi and his brother complex.

Raven:

Darque: We'll get some Sasori fluff soon too, I think.

Raven:

Darque: And some mroe VS Orochimaru fights.

Raven:

Drque: Rae?

Raven: Nothing, ignore me.

Darque: I haven't said anything.

Raven: Just gimme a few more seconds...

Darque: What are you doing?

Raven: Counting my money.

Darque: ?

Raven: We went out for sushi, remember? You eat like a swamp monster.

Darque:...Are you calling me fat and ugly?

Raven: Not to mention, we have a book store visit planned tomorrow, and no doubt you'll want to eat lunch somewhere...

Darque: RAE?

Raven: Oh the horrors, this is not enough. I'll have to go ask for pocket money or something. Bye.

Darque:...At least he's diligent.

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