I can't believe so much is gone. The Hokage tower—burned down. The Academy—I can't honestly say that I'm actually gonna miss that place—has a giant hole in the middle of it. The hospital…won't be releasing any patients anytime soon. The Uchiha estate—burned to the ground the moment Sasuke entered the village (note to self: ask him about that). Ichiraku's ramen stand…I don't even want to talk about it (sniff). My apartment…

"Oh, shit—I haven't checked on my house yet!"

I started running down the street; trying to get home before I could imagine the worst. And I was so preoccupied by my racing thoughts, that I didn't notice Sakura-chan had crossed my path.

BAM

I was knocked to the ground, and so was she.

"NARUTO" She shook her fist at me angrily and stood up. "You better watch where you're going next time, you idiot!"

"Sa-Sorry, Sakura-chan", I apologized and helped her dust off.

She sighed, "It's Ok. I wasn't really watching were I was going either."

That's when I saw it on the ground: The Book. I picked it up.

"Sakura-chan, is this yours?"

"Huh? No, it's not mine…I found it in the debris."

"How can you be reading at a time like this!?" Not only that, but books are so boring.

She snatched it from me. "Shut it! This isn't a regular book—it looks like a journal, but I haven't read any of it yet." Well, I say if it has pages and you have to read it, it's a book. Anything less is just fancy paper.

"Whose journal is it?"

"I…don't know…. I don't recognize the hand writing. And, for some reason, it looks like the first half of it is ripped clean out." She explained to me as she flipped through the pages.

"Well, maybe you should take it to the lost and found they set up at the front ga—"

"—Naruto! Check this out!" She shoved the open book into my hands and pointed to a passage.

I read it out loud.

"My mission today went unexpectedly. I was just planning on entering the village, warning to the Elders that I'm still alive and what I hope they believe is well. The demon container was just an excuse for me to leave the hide out….' Is this about me…?"

"Well, you're the only jinchuuriki I know…. Do you remember anyone being after you?"

I laughed. "Sakura-chan, who isn't after me?" She hit me for that one.

"Quit joking around!"

"…Well, I know that the Akatsuki…And now that I think about it, Itachi and that fish guy came after me back when the perverted hermit…Jiriaya..."

Sakura-chan put her hand on my shoulder. "When what? When he took you training?"

"No," I shook my head. "Back when he needed to find Tsunade-obaa—aahh!"

"Show the Hokage some respect, dumb ass! So they attacked you when you were searching for her…. Maybe this belongs to one of them."

"Yeah, maybe. Or it could belong to one of those Pein guys, or that blue-haired girl. They were just here and after me. It might even belong to one of those zombie freaks…."

"No…the 'zombies' attacked the fire temple and we caught up to them a few miles out."

"Well, you never know—Shikamaru could have kept the freak's diary as a memento or something."

"Maybe…. Just keep reading."

"…I wasn't actually planning on catching him. But I still wasn't really expecting so many people to be guarding him: Kakashi-kouhai, Asuma-sensei,' See, it says 'Kakashi' and 'Asuma-sensei'."

"Yeah, but if you continue reading, it says 'Kurenai-sensei' and 'Gai-sensei' too. They weren't at either of the fights with Hidan and Kakuzu. Plus, Kakashi wasn't even with Asuma when he fought. And why would they call sensei 'kouhai'—neither of them knew him like that; they couldn't have been his sempai."

"Uh huh…." She had a point. "So that leaves Pein, the blue paper lady, Itachi, and fish man."

"So who do you think it is?"

"I don't know." I turned to her and smiled. "It might not be any of theirs. They could be talking about Gaara or another carrier—you remember the puppet man and bomber chick, right?" That girl was hot.

"How could I forget Sasori…? But that still doesn't explain Asuma and Kurenai." She bowed her head in thought and then snapped it back up. "Wait—chick? Deidara was a guy!"

"A wha—dammit!"

"How can you be so stupid—it's so obvious!?"

"No it's not! He looked like a girl!"

"So did Itachi!"

"Well I just assumed that that ran in his family!"

"Rani in his--Sasuke-kun does not look like a girl!"

"W-well, Deidara wore a belly shirt!"

"And Haku wore a kimono! Don't tell me you thought he was a girl too?"

"…."

"You…you didn't…. Did you?"

I nodded my head.

"You'd think that I guy whose infamous for transforming into a girl would know the difference between a man and a woman!"

"Sa-Sakura-chan, we—we're getting off subject! Let's just keep reading. 'I almost blacked out after fighting Kakashi, so Kisame—"

"—Kisame was the blue guy's name. He was Itachi's partner."

"So this is his…. But…who would have Itachi's diary?"

I thought about it a second before looking up to meet Sakura's eyes. I could tell she knew too.

"Sasuke."

Time to go get some answers.

0123456789

Hope you guys like the first chapter. I know it's shorter than it should be…. And out later than I promised…. But I'll try to update as often as I can. Though, with school starting in just a few days, I can't be sure how often "as often" is.

Oh, and I feel that I should warn you that this story doesn't have a plot...yet. It might get one at some point. Maybe. As far as I know right now, this will just be a bunch of journal entries (some (most) funny, some serious) about life in the Akatsuki that lead up the Great Uchiha Battle (capitalizing the words makes it important).

Please Keep Reading and REVIEW (all caps make it really, really important).