Sasuke Defects Too

Uchiha Clan District.

Uchiha Sasuke gazed up at the bright moon in the starry sky.

Strangely enough, whenever he looked up at the stars alone, Naruto Uzumaki's figure would inexplicably surface in his mind.

They had only truly known each other for half a day, when Team Seven had first been formed.

Perhaps it was because they were the same kind of people, Sasuke thought to himself.

It was about time...

After one last look at his parents' memorial tablets, Sasuke stopped lingering and headed out the door.

How laughable. He called himself an avenger, yet he still had such unnecessary emotions.

An inexplicable feeling of parting welled up in his heart, and Sasuke hated himself for being so weak.

"Sasuke, where are you going?" Sakura's voice suddenly rang beside his ear.

Sasuke looked over. Sakura, with her long pink hair, stood in the road, gazing at him pitifully. For some reason, the sight of her expression only filled him with irritation.

"..."

After a moment of silence, Sasuke did not answer. He simply chose to walk around her.

"Are you leaving?" Sakura seemed to have expected it. Or perhaps ever since their encounter with Orochimaru, she had felt an inexplicable premonition that Sasuke would leave her.

"Why are you leaving Konoha? Leaving everyone? Leaving me..." As she spoke, Sakura gradually began to sob.

"Sakura, do you remember Naruto?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

"That Rogue Ninja?" Sakura wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. Though the village had yet to officially issue a warrant for Naruto, those who knew the truth understood that Naruto had already become a Rogue Ninja and was no longer a Konoha shinobi.

"A Rogue Ninja..." More and more, Sasuke felt that in all of Konoha, perhaps only Naruto Uzumaki, who had left long ago, could understand how he felt at this moment.

Perhaps for people like him and Naruto, leaving Konoha had been inevitable.

Whether it was the Uchiha Clan or the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, neither fit in with Konoha's so-called "loving family" at all.

"Sakura, goodbye." Sasuke turned to look at her. "Perhaps the next time we meet, I'll be the Rogue Ninja you speak of."

"No, it's different." Sakura shook her head. "You're different from Naruto Uzumaki. He's the demon fox's son. How could someone with no parents to discipline him possibly be like you?"

"What do you know?!"

Sasuke suddenly roared.

Sakura stared blankly at his utterly savage expression. Had she said something wrong?

"...Heh." Seeing her expression, Sasuke laughed at himself.

Of course. How could children like them, with no one to love them, possibly be the same as "them"?

"Sasuke, take me with you." Seeing that Sasuke was about to leave again, Sakura suddenly grabbed him and begged.

"..." Sasuke yanked his hand free.

"Sasuke, if you take one more step, I'll call for help!" Tears filled Sakura's eyes as she threatened him sharply.

She did not understand why, after giving so much, Sasuke still refused to take her with him.

Suddenly, Sasuke vanished from where he stood.

Thud!

After placing the unconscious Sakura on a nearby bench, Sasuke abruptly accelerated toward the agreed meeting place.

Atop Konoha's wall.

The Sound Four, who had once joined Orochimaru in the Konoha Crush Plan, waited there.

When Sasuke appeared in their sight, their feelings were complicated. They were relieved to have completed their mission, but also disappointed that someone else had taken a share of Lord Orochimaru's attention.

"Lord Sasuke!"

The instant Sasuke landed atop the wall, all four dropped to one knee and lowered their heads.

"Lord Orochimaru ordered that if you choose to leave Konoha, the four of us will become your subordinates." Noticing his puzzled gaze, Kidomaru, their leader, explained.

"Is that so."

The carrot-and-stick approach might have been old-fashioned, but it was highly effective.

Seeing the Sound Four, who had humiliated and brutalized him not long ago, kneeling beneath him, even the proud Sasuke could not help but feel anticipation for Orochimaru, who was still far away.

"Let's go."

Time was short. They needed to leave the borders of the Land of Fire before daybreak.

"That's Rōran?"

Looking at the faintly visible ruined tower beneath the moonlight, Naruto was full of surprise.

"A shinobi trained by Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, would not stoop to deceiving her employer." Temari snorted, greatly displeased by his suspicion.

After spending the past few days together, they had gained a preliminary understanding of this Konoha Jinchuriki—no, Naruto Uzumaki.

He was powerful, decent-looking, and packed with strange, unusual knowledge. Though somewhat aloof, he was not cold-hearted. He could even be called kind to others.

Naruto was rather dissatisfied with her behavior of talking back to her employer, but he could not be bothered to say anything more.

Temari, the eldest daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, Sunagakure's princess, came from an illustrious family. She was beautiful, knowledgeable, and powerful—a true noble lady.

Her only flaw was that she had a bit of a young lady's temper.

But that could not be helped. She really was a young lady, and not an ordinary one at that.

In Kankuro's words, there were no fewer than eight hundred, if not a thousand, men who wanted to become his brother-in-law.

From descendants of noble families in the Land of Wind to talented commoners, there was no shortage of them.

"Isn't Rōran a little too close to the Land of Fire?" Naruto asked doubtfully.

The reason he had been so surprised earlier was that just a month ago, he had entered the Land of Wind through the nearby border.

"There's a theory that Rōran declined because it was too close to the Land of Fire and was accidentally drawn into the war between the two countries," Temari said.

"We'll rest here for the night."

"Hmm?" Naruto estimated the distance between the two places. Even taking the longer route, it would take at most ten-odd minutes, right?

"Rōran merely declined; it wasn't destroyed. If we approach the Roran Ruins in the dead of night, be careful not to be treated as invaders by the Roran Residents." Temari spoke irritably.

Though she did not think the Roran Residents could defeat the two monsters in their group, it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

"I'm the employer," Naruto suddenly said. "The kind who paid money."

"So?"

"Be more polite when you speak to the boss."

Temari: "..."

Pfft!

Kankuro silently lit the campfire.

Among the four of them, he had the lowest strength and the lowest status, so over the past two days, he had basically taken care of all the dirty work.

"Kankuro," Gaara suddenly called. "Above us."

"Hm?" Kankuro froze, then looked up to see an eagle circling overhead.

"An emergency message? What happened?" Kankuro's expression changed slightly. He quickly took out a strangely shaped whistle and blew it at an unusual rhythm.

Receiving the signal, the eagle circling above flew straight toward them.

After removing the secret letter from the eagle's leg and deciphering it, Temari and Kankuro looked at each other.

"Do I need to step aside?" Naruto asked from beside the campfire.

"No need. This might have something to do with you too." Kankuro looked at him with a strange expression.

"Uh? Let's hear it." Naruto tossed the thin stick in his hand into the fire and looked at him curiously.

"The last survivor of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Sasuke, has defected. Coincidentally, he fled in the direction of the Land of Wind. Didn't we recently renew our alliance treaty? Konoha has sent us a request for assistance."

After hearing this, Naruto finally understood why Kankuro's expression had been so strange. He himself was a Konoha Rogue Ninja...

"This mission is finished too, so let's get moving." Temari rose to her feet.

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