Naruto's Betrayal: "You Thought Sasuke Was Bad?"

Konohamaru P.O.V.

She stopped. Her fist was just about to connect with my face, but she stopped. My eyes had closed, in anticipation of the impact, but when it didn't come I slowly opened them. Sakura's grip on me loosened, as she stared at something in the distance that was obviously scaring her senseless. She dropped me to the ground below, and I slowly turned and saw what she was staring at. My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open, staring directly at Itachi Uchiha no more than 20 feet from Sakura and I. He was standing and staring at Sakura, an unamused look on his face that slowly curled into a smirk. He hadn't even looked at me before he began to speak, his voice filling me with a fear I had never felt before.

"Sakura... What do you think you're doing? This wasn't part of our plan."

Before I could blink he was right in front of her, her body beginning to tremble as she stuttered out a meek response.

"I... I know I just..."

She looked down at the forest floor, unable to react before a swift kick from Itachi sent her flying at least ten feet in the air before she fell back to the ground with a thud. Sakura barely reacted to what I could only imagine was unbearable pain and fear, simply brushing dirt from her cloak, and looking back to Itachi.

"You just lost control... Again. I have to say, I thought we had taught you better. Then again, you were nothing more than a trial run for our real prize... Naruto."

My fist clenched against the ground as I heard him mention his name. He looked at me in the corner of his eye for just a moment before turning his attention back to Sakura. He swiftly grabbed a kunai from beneath his cloak, and held it close to her throat. She tried her best to hold in a whimper as droplets of blood escaped from her ivory skin. Itachi brought his face close to her ear, whispering something inaudible before there was a loud crash, and the trees surrounding the three of us began to shake. Itachi froze for a moment, before a giant sphere of sand materialized around him. I quickly jumped a safe distance away, looking up in the trees and spotting Gaara, standing next to Hinata who was slowly regaining her footing on the limb of the tree. Sakura was too stunned to move, quickly looking around before spotting Gaara and Hinata. Gaara looked down at her, a small frown appearing on his countenance before looking to Hinata with a nod. Hinata quickly jumped off of the tree branch, spinning through the air and sending hundreds of Air Palms towards the sandy tomb in which Itachi was trapped. The sand began to pulsate from the air swirling inside, before it suddenly burst, covering the surrounding trees in a blanket of golden dust. After the explosion, Gaara and Hinata leaped from the tree branch and down next to me. The Kazekage looked me over and could only slightly suppress the smile on his face.
"Very well done, Konohamaru."

Hinata nodded, the smile on her face quickly turning into a gasp of fear before she jumped to her feet, her eyes beginning to glow.

"ROTATION."

I quickly looked up, seeing Itachi emerge from the sand in the air, and throwing thousands of kunai around him in a rain of steel. Hinata was protecting herself, Gaara, and me from the blades, while Sakura took most of the blades directly. She slumped to the ground as Itachi quickly disappeared into the night, leaving nothing but a crow in his wake. Hinata stopped her rotation and quickly ran towards Sakura with tears in her eyes. She knelt down next to her lifeless body, feeling her wrist and neck for a pulse. As her byakugan faded, she looked back to Gaara and I with haste in her voice.

"She's just barely got a pulse, we have to get her back to the Hidden Leaf."

Gaara nodded, looking sternly to me.

"Take her back. Get her safely to the infirmary and have Lady Hokage send you out with the next group."

Everything in me wanted to protest, but I knew that when it boiled down to taking on the Akatsuki, I was nowhere near as prepared as Gaara or Hinata. I nodded, hugging Hinata before taking Sakura onto my back and beginning to make my way back towards the Hidden Leaf. All I could think about was Naruto, and how he got mixed up with such horrible people. People who were willing to kill even their own if it meant getting their way. After a few minutes of traveling, I stumbled upon the body of the blue guy with the sword. Sand and blood were splattered on the surrounding trees, and his body was mangled to being nearly unrecognizable. It was sometimes hard to believe the power that Gaara possessed, but at least he was on our side. As I approached the gates of the Hidden Leaf Village, I noticed someone standing just outside the walls, leaned against a tree no more than ten feet from the entrance. From a nearby tree branch, I noticed that it was Sasuke, staring up at the sky and mumbling to himself. I jumped down, still holding onto Sakura as I landed. I must've looked worse for wear, because his face actually showed concern for once.

"Konohamaru... Are you..."

He paused when he saw Sakura, a tear forming in his eyes that he wiped away almost before I could see it.

"I-is that..?"

I nodded, clenching my fist.

"I've gotta take her to the Infirmary. Wanna come?"

The raven-haired shinobi shook his head, refusing to look at her or me for the rest of the conversation.

"I don't have time. I'm waiting for Neji to get here so we can head out after Gaara and Hinata."

I nodded, quickly running through the gates and to the Infirmary, leaving Sakura in the first available room before running back out. I saw Neji making his way toward the gate, and I caught up with him and silently began to walk beside him. He looked at me amidst wrapping his arms with tape. His voice was emotionless and cold... More so than usual as he spoke to me.

"Did you see it? Did you see Naruto kill Lee?"

I shook my head, wincing at the thought of how we found him.

"No... We only saw Lee after it was too late... I-I'm sorry. I know he was your friend."

Neji smirked, obviously trying to play off the pain he was in. He continued to focus on his menial task as he questioned me further.

"And Hinata... How is she?"

I smiled a bit.

"She's fine. She and Gaara saved my ass..."

As we reached the gate, Neji looked to Sasuke, who greeted us with no more than an emotionless nod. Sasuke began going over the plan, but Neji stopped him.

"I don't care about what Lady Hokage says about this. I know what should be done... Just like you do, Sasuke."

Sasuke didn't say a word, shooting a quick glance at me before looking back to Neji.

"Naruto is too far gone. He killed Lee. Ruthlessly. And there's no stopping him from doing the same to the rest of us... Especially with training by the Akatsuki. I know Ino wants us to bring him back alive... But if he threatens any of your lives... Especially Hinata's... I will not hesitate to kill him."