"Sasuke, no! Come back!" Sakura shouted
"No, staying here will just slow me down." Sasuke replied, turning his back to his hometown, the Hidden Leaf village.
"Please, Sasuke! Don't leave!" Sakura pleaded, but Sasuke continued forward without looking back. She knew that his mind was set and that nothing she did would make him change it, but nevertheless, she had to try.
"Sasuke! I'm coming with you then!" Sakura screamed. Not ready to give up yet, she ran after Sasuke, but Sasuke's speed being much greater then hers, he quickly grew out of sight. Sakura crumpled to the ground. She felt tears coming to her eyes and she let them fall. For a long time, she sat there hoping that Sasuke would somehow change his mind and come back. But he never did.
The next day…
"Naruto, you have to get Sasuke back!" Sakura pleaded to Naruto through tears.
"I will, believe it!" he replied with his usual enthusiasm
"Now, Now, hold your horses." Kakashi said
"I'm going to bring Sasuke back, he's my friend!" said Naruto, already running towards the main doors of the village
"Do you even know where he is?" Kakashi asked with the usual bored, lazy look in his eyes while reading itcha itcha tactics.
Naruto stopped dead in his tracks.
"Uhhhh….." he scratched his head
"Exactly, so you shouldn't in such a rush."
"Actually, I have an idea where he might be headed to." said Jaraiya who just returned from his doing his "research".
"What's the pervy sage doing here?" Naruto wondered out loud
"Recently, I found out a bit of information about a place called "The Soul Society". Apparently, that's where the strongest fighters are. Naturally, that's probably where Sasuke's headed."
"I've never heard of that place before." Kakashi replied
"I managed to gather some information about it. Those who live there are called shinigami. They all wield swords with unique abilities. It is said that normal people will collapse after just getting close to them. It's the quite an area to live in."
"If we went there, we'd no doubt be overpowered in a matter of seconds." Kakashi said, closing his book.
"Yes, and normal people cannot get there. You must traverse the Dangai to get there, but to get to the Dangai, a shinigami must open it."
"That's a problem. But if it's a problem for us, then it must be a problem for Sasuke as well, which means we still have some time."
"True…..and meanwhile, we all need to get stronger if we ever hope to bring Sasuke back."
"If I'm to train, I'll need to be alone. Having them along will probably result in them dying." Said Kakashi, finally getting serious
"I'll take Naruto, and I'm sure Tsunade will accept Sakura. She will no doubt make Sakura a strong ninja (if she doesn't get killed first)."
"Now we'll just have to explain all that to those two." Kakashi said sighing
Two hours later….
"I told you a hundred times already! Sasuke is going to the Soul Society where a lot a strong people are!" said kakashi irritably
"Why can't we go right now?!" Naruto complained
"Because to get there you need to traverse the Dangai which only shinigmi can open!"
"This is too complicated! I'm leaving for Sasuke right now!"
"I told you, you can't do that!"
"Ah, I get it!" Sakura said
"Why can't you be as smart as sakura?" Kakashi asked
"We understand the situation now?" Jaraiya asked
"Yes. "
"No."
Jaraiya ignored the one no from Naruto and continued on.
"Naruto, you're going to come with me to help me with my "research". And Sakura you're going to train with Tsunade, assuming she agrees to…."
"What about Kakashi sensei?" Sakura asked
"I'll be doing some training on my own." Kakashi replied
"Aw, why do I have to go peep at girls with you?" Naruto retorted
"Well...and I was thinking of inviting Hinata along too….well, I guess not….." Jaraiya said
"Okay, Okay I'll come along."
"You promise?"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Good. By the way, Hinata just left on a mission with Neji, so they won't be back anytime soon."
"WHAT?! YOU LIED TO ME!I'M NOT GOING!"
"A promise is a promise!" Jaraiya said with a smirk.
"Fine." Said Naruto still steaming with anger
"Sasuke will no doubt be able to reach Soul Society very quickly. Leaving like that, he probably has a plan. We'll probably have around two or three years before he becomes too strong to defeat."
"Right." Said Kakashi
"We meet here on this day two years from now." Jaraiya declared
With that, Kakashi disappeared with a poof and a cloud of dust.
"We're leaving now, go pack your bag. I'll wait for you at the main gates."
"Yes…." Naruto replied as he headed toward his apartment
"I'm off to Lady Tsunade office." Said Sakura as she too ran off
Meanwhile…..Jaraiya decided to take a detour from the main gates. He stepped in front of a sign that said "Hotsprings". He walked in the door, binoculars in his hand.
But he did not notice someone following behind him.