Author's Notes: I'm just trying my hand at multi-chapter stories. I beg you to review and tell me what you like/don't like. Although this story will introduce an OC, I promise you she will not be shipped with any character at all. Tell me what you think, either way. And tell me if you think I should continue or not.

Disclaimer: From this chapter to the end, understand that I do notin any way, shape, or form, own Naruto. Heh, I wish. Because then I would ship SasuNaru like whoa. XD

Revenge and Afterward

Chapter 1:
The Battered Wind Ninja

The sun was setting in the forest, not that it mattered to Naruto. He'd almost found him, had he only been a little quicker. Then maybe he would have found Sasuke. Maybe he wouldn't have been too late.

His heightened emotions were making him jump from tree to tree faster and faster, his heart thumping against his chest.

"Calm down, Naruto." Kakashi said from a few trees behind the blonde. "Next time."

A growl came from deep in Naruto's throat before answering, "Definitely next time."

Sakura gave Kakashi a worried glance before turning her concentration back on Naruto. Kakashi's eye crinkled up in a smile. "Don't worry, Sakura. We'll just re-evaluate our game plan."

They traveled a while longer, Sakura feeling as if her legs were slowly turning to jelly the more she jumped. Finally, Kakashi must have had enough too.

"We'll rest here for tonight. It's nearly the half-way mark." Naruto grunted in response before dropping down to the forest floor. He was standing with his back to his team mates, trying to force himself to calm down.

"Naruto, you want to help me get some water?" Sakura asked, digging the canteens out of her bag.

The blonde turned around, instantly putting a fake smile to his face. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan!" He grabbed the canteens from her hand and began his walk to the stream he'd seen earlier.

Sakura walked back toward Kakashi, who was busy trying to start a fire. She sat down beside him, exhausted and frustrated. "Kakashi-sensei…do you think Naruto will be okay?"

Kakashi stopped what he was doing to face her. "He's frustrated, but I think he'll be okay. It will be his determination that finally draws that boy back, you know."

"Yeah, I guess so…" Sakura said, putting her chin in her hand and staring at the forest floor.

Naruto knelt down by the stream, dipping the canteen into the water, filling it to the brim before removing it and dipping another one, repeating the cycle. He had one for each of them by the time he was done. He heard a rustle in the bushes behind him, and quickly drew a kunai while eyeing the bush cautiously. The rustling grew louder and louder as whatever was making the noise made its appearance.

A small red fox popped its tiny head out, making a whimpering sound.

"Aw, little guy…are you lost?" Naruto asked, sheathing his kunai and leaning down. The small fox crept over, crawling gingerly into Naruto's lap and lying his head down. Naruto smirked and tentatively reached a hand out to pet the baby fox's head. "You're kind of cute, you know."

The bush rustled again, this time producing three more baby foxes and a bigger mother fox. A blonde eyebrow rose slightly at the sight of the mother, not sure of whether this would be a friendly visit or not. To his surprise, however, the mother simply walked over and sniffed her baby before giving Naruto's hand a light lick.

"You…you're alright with me holding him?" Naruto questioned the fox, getting another light lick in response. Shrugging, Naruto continued petting the baby. The others soon started to crawl on him, nipping and licking playfully.

After a while, the mother fox made a 'mewing' sound, causing all of her babies to stop and jump off of him. She made her way to Naruto and took one of his pant legs in her mouth, dragging him toward a clearing. He stood up, not really knowing what else to do, and followed her.

His steps were awkward, not wanting to tramp on the babies as they swarmed around him, still nipping him playfully. The mother fox led him into a part of the forest that had a beautiful view. Flowers bloomed almost everywhere, save for a dirt path that forked before him. Around one very large oak tree was a circle of blue irises blowing slightly in the breeze; a beautiful mixture of blue, green, and red.

Wait, red? Naruto thought. The mother fox nipped at his ankle and walked over to the circle of irises before glancing back at Naruto, expecting him to follow her. He followed to where the fox sat, staring at something red in the flowers.

The tuft of red happened to be hair, hair belonging to a young girl – no older than Naruto himself – lying face down in the flowers. She looked as if she'd gone through a war with the dirt and grime coating her face and body. He suddenly was very happy Sakura had forced him through the tiny bit of medical jutsu training she could get him to sit still for. He felt for a pulse and gave a relieved sigh when he felt a slight lub-lub. Slowly, he lifted her up in his arms, holding her gingerly, and walked her back to where Kakashi and Sakura were waiting. They were not going to believe this one…

Sakura was pacing through the camp, glancing at the direction Naruto had taken.

"Sakura, calm down, please." Kakashi sighed, feeling as if he'd said that a million times that day, to both Sakura and Naruto.

"He's been gone a while, hasn't he?" It was as if Sakura hadn't heard the jounin as he talked, making said jounin shake his head in exasperation. He didn't have time to answer, however, as the sound of heavy footsteps entered the clearing. Sakura raised her head to see who it was, only to have her eyes grow wide at the sight. "Naruto…what…"

"Look what I found." Naruto said, lying the young girl down on his bedroll, which was already laid out. He figured Sakura had done it while he was gone.

"Where did you find her?" Sakura asked, immediately taking a position beside the girl, examining her with medical jutsu. "She's got chakra depletion and exhaustion. She'll be fine in a few hours, I think, but she really should be in a hospital."

"But she will be okay?" Naruto asked, while kneeling beside Sakura.

"Yeah. Where'd you find her?"

"There was a clearing in the woods over there. Some foxes led me to her." At this, his two team mates just raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, there were, like, five of them."

"Nothing you say surprises me anymore." Kakashi said.

"We can't have normal missions with Naruto, Kakashi-sensei. You should realize that by now." This received a glare from Naruto and a chuckle from Kakashi.

"What you trying to insinuate, Sakura?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he spoke.

"Nothing, just that you're unpredictable." She didn't even look at him as she spoke, having since memorized his facial expressions through the years. She did, however, smirk.

It was a few hours later when the young girl woke up, being held on Naruto's back. The wind whipping through her hair showed her just how quickly they were traveling. Feeling her move, Naruto stopped on the next branch before setting her on the tree limb. He turned to face her, seeing a purely confused expression.

"You okay?" He asked as Sakura and Kakashi stopped behind him.

She didn't say anything at first, just trying to make out whom they were and what they wanted from her.

Naruto turned to look at his team mates, confused on what to do next. Kakashi leaned down and tried his hand at it.

"We are ninja from Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. You can trust us; we promise we will not harm you." As he talked, the girl eyed his headband. Slowly, her hands went to her forehead, but there was no piece of metal anywhere up there. Figuring she'd lost it in the fight; she dropped her hands back down to her sides and sighed.

"Leaf Village ninja, huh?" Her green eyes met Kakashi's eye for a moment, the sadness she was feeling almost overwhelming. "Dad always said if I ever met anyone from there I should trust them. I owe it to him to listen…so is that where you're taking me?"

"Yes, if that's okay with you." Sakura smiled.

"Yeah, I don't have anywhere else to go…" Her voice trailed off at the end, cracking as it went. A tear leaked down her cheek, only to be quickly wiped away.

"You want me to carry you the rest of the way?" Naruto asked only to get the waved off as she stood up.

"I think I'm fine. I can feel my chakra's back so I can keep myself going." She was bracing herself against the tree she was sitting against, but she fought herself to stand on her own. Once fully standing on her own free will, she said, "Yup, fine. Let's go."

----

The cave was dark and damp, but it was all Itachi Uchiha had left. The Akatsuki was gone, as was any hope of returning to his village. So he sat now in this damp cave trying to salvage any hope he could find. And, to top it all off, the family's Sharingan legacy was falling around him; he was going blind.

It was said, in those books and scrolls in that stuffy Uchiha archive, that overuse of the Sharingan would in turn make the yielder blind. The use of the Mengekyou would almost double the chances of the side effect. Since Itachi had long since kept his Sharingan activated at, almost, all times and used his Mengekyou on a semi-regular basis, his side effects were coming at a young age. Too young for him to handle. He'd made far too many enemies by joining that group to be at such a disadvantage, such a handicap.

The cave had several candles, most of which needed re-lit every few minutes due to dripping water. He found a small desk, which he had stuck against one wall, and he covered it in scrolls and books he'd killed many people for; all of them pertaining to one topic, the one power he now needed more than ever.

Striking a deal with the devil seemed to be fruitful. Kabuto had his useful points, all of which Itachi expertly exploited. And coupled with the fact he had Orochimaru's power and madness, bringing a small village to its knees would be child's play. The blindness was setting in slowly, and he figured he still had a few more weeks until his handicap became permanent. He was also sure he'd have his new power way before that became an issue.

The eldest remaining Uchiha didn't count on his younger brother becoming strong, however, or becoming an excellent strategist. When the side of the cave came crashing down behind him, Itachi wasn't ready for it, he barely dodged the barrage of people who came crashing in with it. Sasuke stood back, waiting for his team mates to slowly take Itachi down before he dealt the final blow.

But, as everything else in Sasuke Uchiha's life, nothing went like planned. Itachi, still having use of his full Sharingan power, took his team down one by one. Ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu flew unbound in that cave, sending walls and earth flying everywhere. Sasuke formed the hand signs for his chidori, the blue chakra lighting up the dark, damp cave. He went running toward Itachi, getting a vague pang of déjà vu. Said pang of déjà vu caused Sasuke to misplace the blow by a few inches, inches which Itachi took advantage of. Grabbing his brother around the throat, he threw Sasuke toward the opposite wall and teleported himself out. He knew in his head that, in his current state, Sasuke could beat him. But, as always, his brother was too hot-headed to think clearly and made a very calculated mistake.

Sasuke got up, shaking the debris off his clothing and looking around at his fallen comrades. The three he specifically chose because of the power they held had fallen at his brother's hands. Growling deep in his throat, the raven haired teen turned on his heels, making for an exit to this damn cave. He stopped in his tracks, however, when he saw the plethora of scrolls and books lining the one wall. Curious, he walked over to them and began flipping through the pages and unraveling the parchment. One word was repeated several times in each text: Ayamagan.

Over the next few hours, he attempted to decode the text in hopes of understand what his brother was so interested in. This was all in vain, as most of the text was in an ancient language Sasuke had never seen. Sighing, Sasuke ran his hands through his raven hair. He knew what he had to do; he was just trying to figuring out something else to do. But, deep down he knew there was no other way. The only person who could read this was in Konoha.

Gathering up some of the scrolls and books, he stuffed them in a backpack and sighed.

"Guess I'm going home."

So, what'cha think? Two more chapters to get your feel for this story. If, after that, you think I should continue, please let me know. Thanks!