A/N: This story begins around the end of chapter 146/episode 84. If anything in this story becomes confusing, just let me know. :)
I WILL be taking my readers' thoughts and ideas into consideration, so if you have any ideas you'd like to let me know of for this story, I WILL read them and figure things out as I go along.
The room was completely still – now silent, with the exception of the bird-like sounds emitting from what was left of Sasuke's broken Chidori. Naruto was standing not too far away, looking onward almost dumbfounded. He'd never seen one of Sasuke's Jutsu foiled so easily – much less seen a Jutsu of his avoided just by restraining the offensive arm.
He hastily jerked himself from his thoughts the instant he became aware of Sasuke's situation. Realizing this was one time Sasuke needed his help, he hurriedly gathered his chakra, but wound up getting the attention turned on him.
Sasuke inwardly hissed and cursed at himself for getting into this position. Perhaps acting fragile, thus, in effect, worthless, would consequently get him out of this mess – his first thought. Second thought; improbable by any means. Third thought settling on the prospect that it couldn't be that abysmal or dreadfully unbelievable…
Sasuke discreetly bit his lip, hoping Naruto wouldn't botch his plan entirely. He tried his best to still his muscles, mindful that Itachi still possessed a firm grip on his wrist that was inexorably going to be broken if he remained persistent with acting aggressive.
"U-Um…" Sasuke internally cringed at the meekness of his voice, while a voice in the back of his mind reminded him to chastise himself later. "My arm…" He indicated to the arm still held firmly in place with his eyes as soon as Itachi looked back to Sasuke.
"Now you're trying to put on this innocent act?" Sasuke felt his wrist be grasped tighter and winced, backing up slightly. He knew he'd been caught acting – it was obvious. "Although, now that you see the position you're in, I suppose you'll calm down, no?"
Sasuke backed away from Itachi immediately upon having his arm freed. His glare towards his brother had become weak; much to Sasuke's discontentment.
"This certainly isn't getting very far…" Kisame spoke up, his eyes instantaneously re-locating Naruto, who froze almost entirely at the offensive gaze. "Shall we resume what we started?"
"In that case, why don't we take this elsewhere?" Itachi suggested, his gaze on Sasuke, rather than Kisame. "It seems both you and my brother are becoming relatively impatient, and a fight in a hotel hallway isn't going to go over well, is it?"
"Hmm… Itachi-san, are you suggesting we actually fight these two? You know, two-on-two?" He smirked evilly when he saw Itachi give a simple nod. "Oh, come on. That would hardly be a fair fight. They're only little children."
"Yet they both seem quite intent on opposing us."
Kisame thought for only a moment's time before giving a nod in return. "I guess we could always rough 'em up a bit before dragging the Kyuubi brat along with us. I haven't really had much of a fight today, after all."
"Wait, what?!" Naruto gaped, aghast. "We're going somewhere and fighting?"
"What, not up for it?" Kisame smirked, placing his sword back in its place behind his back. "Come on, kid. Besides, it's that or you can lose a couple limbs. Either will go well with me."
Naruto bit his lip, looking incredulous at the very situation. This was not going to be fun – that much he knew for sure.
Naruto looked around warily at his surroundings, being left with no idea where on earth he and Sasuke were being led. Obviously to a place where they would be able to settle things, but the current location the group was in was not at all familiar to Naruto.
He hadn't realized he'd grabbed hold of Sasuke's hand until the youngest Uchiha gave a slight hiss of discomfort. He was behind his brother, rather than behind Kisame, not desiring to be within glancing range of the older Uchiha.
Naruto promptly released his teammate's hand and mouthed a "Sorry" before looking back at the environment.
After traveling a short distance further, Naruto almost didn't hear Itachi inform he and Sasuke that they could stop where they were. He'd been too busy wondering where he was in the village, not recognizing the areas they'd been passing at all after a certain point.
Stopping as commanded, the two waited for the two in front of them, who walked a short distance ahead of them before turning to face them. As soon as eye contact was made between the two opposing sides, Sasuke abruptly felt a knot build up in his abdomen, followed by a voice in his own head that was practically screaming for him to run.
Kisame's smirk grew into a more devilish one as he noticed the apprehensive look in both Sasuke and Naruto's eyes. "You both realize there's no backing out now, don't you?" He yanked Samehada back out almost immediately to emphasize his point. "Itachi-san, I can go all out this time, right?"
"Just don't kill them." Itachi gave a minute sigh before carefully looking over his brother and the Jinchuuriki. They certainly didn't seem any bit capable of defeating he and Kisame, and there would surely be no interferences in their current location.
"I guess there's no point in trying to hold it off…" Naruto also sighed. He let out a low groan when he saw the look on Kisame's face – he was not going to enjoy this.
"Didn't you just say he was staying at a hotel with you?" Asuma questioned Jiraiya after Jiraiya and Gai had rushed into Kakashi's apartment with Jiraiya dramatically declaring that he was unable to locate Naruto.
"Well, yes, but… I figured if I left Naruto's side for a long enough period of time, they would go after him upon realizing the opportunity. I didn't expect him to disappear so quickly."
"And what about Sasuke? He ran out of here in search of Naruto earlier…"
"I'd imagine they took him, too, if he made it in time. I'm sure they're smart enough not to leave any witnesses behind that could be used as a source against them."
"Do you think they've already left the village?" Kurenai asked quietly, unable to keep the worried tone out of her voice.
"We can't say for sure. But it would be best to manage to get a rescue squad together and search for them immediately, on the presumption that by the time we get the squad together, they'll be out of the village by then." Gai announced, just about ready to depart by now.
"If we do that, we may have to do it in secret." Jiraiya cautioned, looking towards Gai with a severe expression. "The last thing we need is for the ANBU to find out about this. If they go out and do manage to find Naruto, he'll likely be confined within the village, kept hidden from outsiders that may be intruders to the village. I understand this would be considered a safety precaution by the ANBU, but it would unquestionably stunt Naruto's growth as a Shinobi. Were he to be found in such a scenario, he would still be too weak to handle his enemies, should they turn out to be Akatsuki. If you truly plan to get a search team together, be absolutely positive that the upper class of the village does not find out about it."
As ready to go as Gai had been, he now wilted and looked as though his ego had been unbearably stricken downward. His appearance only wilted further when Jiraiya continued.
"I'd help with a search team, and probably even include myself in it, but I have to go on a search for Tsunade. I won't be able to do both, and the Councilors already have the belief that I'll be going on that mission."
"…This is all going to be tougher than it has to be, isn't it…?" Gai muttered ruefully.
'The difference in our levels… There's no way this was a fair fight…' Sasuke realized, regretting that he had realized this too late. Naruto was stumbling while struggling to remain standing, and Sasuke himself was barely capable of keeping himself up.
The two looked towards their enemies, desperately hoping they weren't planning to attack again. Although Kisame looked about to, he stopped when Itachi eyed him with a look that told him that it was enough.
Both Naruto and Sasuke felt themselves freeze up when Itachi next looked towards them.
'He's using paralysis Genjutsu?!' Sasuke moved his eyes to Naruto, who had fallen onto the ground both from exhaustion and the offending Genjutsu. It took barely any longer for Sasuke to follow suit and collapse beside him. He looked back up toward Itachi and let out a low growl. "You had this premeditated the entire time, didn't you?"
Itachi merely nodded, and a smirking Kisame moved over toward Naruto in the meantime, yanking the boy upward, who was immediately limp in the older man's grasp. Kisame settled on letting the boy's conscious fade on its own – it wouldn't take much more time.
"We won't be able to just leave you here after this." Sasuke regarded Itachi wordlessly, knowing what he was implying. He reviled the actuality that he needed Itachi to support him in getting back onto his feet and remaining there, but knew he had no strength remaining to change his contemporary situation.
Just prior to losing consciousness, Naruto was set on a single thought: 'Don't try looking for me… Ero-sennin…'
A/N: I know this chapter is short, and it really did bug me when I ended it, but I just needed to get the beginning out of the way. I dearly hope the rest of the chapters, or at least most of them, will be longer. *Huff*