CHAPTER:3Naruto and Gaara at Grass country when Itachi meets up with them again. They're 12, he's 19. He asks if they'd join the Akastuki. Both shrug agree. Takes them to leader and they're offered cloaks. Both are assigned to assasinate someone at the next chuunin exams in Konoha. Both accept. They set off, and Itachi assigned to observe them behind their backs.
This chapter, Naruto and Gaara agree to play Itachi's 'game' and I'm almost to the beginningof the real story...
.
It was a peaceful day in the Grass country. Tall houses and colloms of steam rose into the bright, blue sky, clear of any clouds except the ones that rose as collums of smoke from the busniess buildings. True to its name, fields of long and wavy grass surrounded the village and long shoots of bamboo bloomed inside its walls just before the village itself. Today was peaceful, no need for violence what so ever. Any violence would simply ruin the day.
Which was why Itachi felt out of place as he walked along the crowded streets.
He was on a mission at the moment, and his target had slipped from his grasp. He wondered if he would be punished for taking this long to persue a single target. The nineteen year old grumbled boredly to himself and decided to wait till the night when the streets were less crowded. He looked around and found a bar. Slipping inside, he chose the darkest corner, sliding into the shadows and blending in against the wall. He sat and listened. There were so many drunks here that he wondered if it would thin out or double during the night. Eventually, the sky grew dark, and the men started to leave. Itachi concluded that in Grass it was either bad to be drunk or that dark was just taboo. Whatever the case was, he slid his glass away and left, the bartender watching his back without the drunken gaze of his customers. The darkness here was everywhere. Itachi activated his Shiringan for a fleeting moment and deactivated them. They were no help in this kind of darkness. He shut his eyes and walked on. The sounds of the night guided him where they would have frightened anyone else to death; the whisper of the wind told him that there was an over turned garbage pale to his left, the soft creaking of an old wooden plank told him to keep to his right, and the unmistakable scent of grass told him that straight ahead there was a large field. He drew himself up and disappeared, reappearing on the edge of the field.
Suddenly he ducked as a kunai flew over his head from the left side. He activated his shiringan in time to see the chakara-filled shuriken headed across the field at an invisible target, and then disapear.
Someone was fighting.
He ducked among the long grass, blending in silently and waiting it out. There were a few close encounters when he wasn't sure whether it was bad aim or if they knew he was hiding, watching. Then there was a short grunt and Itachi heard the unmistakable pounding of fists and slashing of some type, possibly from some sort of blade. 'Someone is dead', he thought as he stood up, the thick scent of blood filling the night. He disappeared to the middle of the field and fingered a kunai under his cloak. There was a figure standing in the middle of the field covered in blood, wearing fishnets, a black vest and a red scarf. His hair was flame-red and it was cut short and jagged, and his hands were still clenched in fists. He turned to face the new person and Itachi's eyes widened a fraction.
Gaara blinked in surprise and then turned away, silently dismissing the discovered man as unimportant. Itachi felt the sting of being degraded in such a way and flung a silent kunai at Gaara's back. Something snapped up from the ground and it shattered against the red of a tail.
Itachi's eyes widened as a figure drew itself up from the ground, red chakara swirling around its wounds and sweing the muscle and tissue back together with practiced ease. The soft red faded from the person's eyes and bright blue blinked back at him.
"Itachi--we just keep runnin' into you!"
Naruto laughed at Itachi's face almost-stunned expression. "I thought you smelled familiar. You shouldn't sneak around in the dark like that, we could have easily turned our attacks on you and then you'd be dead and we wouldn't have a friend!" Itachi snorted, wondering silently what the red tail had been and why it looked like pure chakara. "You couldn't have hurt me with a simple attack." Naruto laughed again and leaned on Gaara's shoulder. "What do you think we've been doing, sleeping this whole time?"
Itachi frowned. "So you trained--but how?" Gaara rolled his eyes and Naruto snickered. "You have a real bad memory for someone your age," he snickered as Itachi frowned at them, "you forget already that we have demons in us?" Itachi's eyes narrowed. "That doesn't mean--" He stopped and bit his tongue. 'Wait. Last time, Naruto ... refered to the Kyuubi as 'mother.' That means--'
"--you can talk to them." Naruto nodded.
"Sure! It's like talking to a person, only they have a real sadistic sense of humor."
'You mean the demons, right?'
/Of course. You don't got a sense of humor./
Gaara punched Naruto and Itachi made a face. "Do you randomly attack each other around normal people?" Naruto rubbed his arm.
"Nah, I just made fun'a Gaara-chan. Wasn't nothin bad, just his non-existent sense of humor--" Gaara slugged him again. Naruto held his shoulder and shut up, grinning. The twelve-year olds looked so relaxed with each other that Itachi almost forgot about his mission. Instead, an idea popped into his head, one that he'd tried before, and so he was risking it failing again, but he had to try ...
"Did you two still want to play a game with me? Because my friends are still waiting for enough people to play." Gaara and Naruto looked at Itachi. "... maybe," they said in unison, and fell silent for a moment.
/You should go./
/You told us not to go last time, and then you started having us play lots more with you two. Why do you want us to go now?/
/Because now you're ready to play the game, kiddo./
So you didn't want us to go last time because we weren't ready. Physically or mentally?
Both. You weren't trained nearly enough. You'll need all your skills and more for this kinda game, boys.
/This must be a real good game if you had to teach us whatchadid .../
/Enough! Just accept the offer. Let's play .../
Naruto and Gaara looked at each other and then at Itachi who was waiting.
"Ok. We'll play." Itachi felt something jump in his chest, whether from surprise or relief he wasn't sure but he steeled himself calm with a practiced ease of mind.
"Good. I'll take you to them tomorrow. Meet me here."
The two boys nodded and disappeared, but that wasn't what unnerved him--they'd gone without a swirl of leaves or poof of smoke of sound at all for that matter. They smiply flickered away like a light going off. Itachi made a face and punched the ground; he still wasn't strong enough. Jealously, he cursed as he flitted away to find shelter from the expanding darkness.
.
The morning was clear and crisp, the scent of waffles and udon floating through the air from the village. Itachi stood on the field and looked out over the small houses and wondered if they had lied to him or not. 'I'm being too hasty,' he thought, steeling his muscles and suppressing a yawn, 'I am here rather early. They're probably just waking--'
"--heads up!"
Itachi looked up in time to move as Naruto crashed down where he had once stood, leaving dents in the earth. Sand swept into the holes as Naruto stepped out and grinned widely at Itachi. "Didya miss us?" Itachi's eye twitched. 'You narrowly missed me.' "Where's Gaara?" The other boy appeared behind Naruto in the same fashion they'd left last night--like a flash going on and off, he suddenly flickered to life next to Naruto and put an arm on his shoulder. "Are you ready?"
Naruto grinned at him. "Yeah!" Itachi nodded and he shot off to the edges of the village. Gaara and Naruto hopped along the roof tops, going at leisurely speeds for them and Itachi so that they all made it to the gates with minimal effort. They vaulted over the gates and slipped through the grass without sound. Itachi led them, weaving back and forth, changing his path and feeling more and more confident of their abilities as they coppied his movements, keeping track of his every move.
They traveled in this fashion until midday when Itachi stopped, looking at the two behind him. Where he had expected panting children stood two bored pre-teens, looking at him in surprise.
"Are you tired already?" asked Gaara curiously. Itachi shook his head in wonder.
"I forgot ... We'll travel until you want to stop," he muttered as they took off once again.
Itachi led them through most of the grass country and started into the sound territory when Gaara told them to stop. They paused a moment for Gaara and Naruto to eat some cup ramen, though Itachi wondered where they'd gotten it from. He did feel better, knowing that they did still need to stop and recupperate once in a while. It felt good to know he was stronger than the two demons in means of stamina. After their meal they burned the chopstics and cup until the ashes blew into the wind and disappeared and they set off again, Itachi only a half-step ahead of the other two. They passed through sound, rain and some of leaf before finally arriving at the cloud, and they scaled what appeared to be a huge mountain as Itachi ordered them to. Once at the top, they stopped and Itachi told them to move one of the large boulders to get into a cave.
/Hey,/ cautioned a voice as Naruto rolled back his sleeves, /don't try to move it. Do exactly as I tell you .../
Naruto frowned and, channeling chakara into one point, poked the rock with his finger, and something shuddered before the rock dissolved, the genjutsu cancled. Itachi's eye twitched and he wondered how Naruto could have told that it was genjutsu. Naruto looked at Itachi as Gaara walked over to his side.
"What now?" Itachi shrugged. "We go in."
They walked into the fortress, the cave walls slowly expanding as they walked, the genjutsu on the enterence reappearing as they stepped past the threshold. Naruto blinked, his sight failing in the dim light, and his eyes filled with a soft red glow. He stopped stumbling around and walked straight on like Itachi and Gaara. Itachi wondered at this but didn't have time to express his question as they reached the first guard. Itachi waved to him and the man moved aside. They continued on and walked for a few minutes before they came to a split in the tunnel. Itachi didn't even pause as he took the left. Gaara and Naruto followed him, watching his every move as they pushed on. They met another man along the way and Itachi waved him down, too. Gaara looked at the man and he gave Gaara a nod. Gaara nodded back, not sure what else to do. The three figures saw light ahead and narrowed their eyes as they emerged in a room lit by torches.
"I've returned."
There was a soft chuckle as a tall, muscular man stepped out of the open doorway to their direct right, no headband and a black cloak billowing around him, short brown locks making his dark green eyes stand out. "I see. And you've brought two friends with you. Are they presents to Ryusho for being late?" Itachi narrowed his eyes.
"They're here to join, Makita. Keep your thoughts to yourself while I'm around." The man gave an unsteady glare and turned away, disappearing back the way he came. A figure in black appeared on their left as they advanced, this man with shoulder-length green hair. "Itachi! You brought company. Are they for me?" Itachi shook his head. "No, Ryusho; they want to become members." Ryusho looked surprised and then turned to look sideways at them. "And they're willing?"
"Of course we are," said Naruto, crossing his arms, "and we ain't deaf, either."
Itachi and Ryusho looked surprised at the abrupt statement and then turned to face the middle of the room. "I'll get Akuma and Soujiro. You can inform him." Leaving 'him' unclear to Gaara and Naruto, the two disappeared down seperate hallways and Gaara looked at Naruto.
"You know this could be a trap, don't you." It was more a statement than anything and Naruto giggled. "Duh. That's why I came; I want to know if it was a trap."
Gaara rolled his eyes. "You take this so seriously," he muttered, sarcasm heavy in undertones. Naruto nodded.
"Why should I be worried about these guys?" he asked as Makita walked back into the room, "They're all weak."
The taller man stopped and glared at the two boys. "Hm? You want to prove that?" Gaara looked at him. "Don't challenge us," he said quietly, "we're here to play, not to eat." Makita made a face, pulling out a long, thin sword. "You wanna say that to my--"
"Makita, stand down." The silky smooth voice of an unseen man stopped Makita in his tracks and he hid the weapon he'd pulled out instantally.
"G-gomen nasai, I was out of place." The voice continued. "Yes, you were. Don't harass our newest members like that. You know how precious new members are to us." There was a short rumble and a ledge extended. A man with silvery hair looked over the edge. "Itachi tells me that you two wish to join our ... game," he said, sliding Itachi a look through his soft amber eyes, "is this correct?"
Naruto and Gaara nodded simotaniously. "So how do we play?" The man smiled slyly.
"First, you get a bracelet. Everyone in the game needs a bracelet." He tossed the rings down to Naruto and Gaara, and they looked at the bands, snapping them onto their wrists.
"Then, you get a month for ... rules." Naruto blinked.
"This must be a very complicated game," he muttered as the man continued.
"You will also recieve a mission." He stopped and looked down at the boys who stared back up at him blankly. Irritatidly, he looked at Itachi. "You didn't tell them about missions, did you." Itachi blinked. "I forgot they hadn't grown in villages." The amber-eyed man turned back to the two boys. "Do you know what an assisination is?" Both boys nodded at the word. The amber-eyed man looked less irked with this knowledge. "Fine. Then you will play the part of assasians." Gaara and Naruto shrugged. "Ok. So we kill someone. Who's the person?" The man laughed softly at their manner towards killing another person. Ryusho and Makita, who were present in a corner of the room, shuddered at the hollow sound that echoed through the cavern-like room. "We'll tell you when it's time. First, Itachi and Ryusho will test your strenghts. Makita will figure out what you know about weapons, and only after that will you recieve leave for your first mission." Naruto nodded, letting the information slide across to the Kyuubi.
/Sounds to me like they're testing you,/ growled a voice in the back of Naruto's mind. Naruto flashed the man a grin.
"Ok, where do we start?"
.
Itachi glanced longways at Naruto and Gaara. The two were leaning against the wall, eyes shut and heads bowed. Both had been dismissed and Ryusho had promptly dragged the two demons into a room, and they had sat against the wall and hadn't gotten up since. Ryusho looked at Itachi in wonder.
"We've only been 'ere a few minutes; I think they're sleepin'," he said in soft disbelief, looking at their light breathing patterns. Itachi made a face. "I was once informed that Gaara couldn't sleep." Ryusho looked at Itachi with a raised eyebrow. " 'Gaara' ?" Itachi nodded. "Hiis name, Ryusho." The green-haired man gave an 'ah' of comprehension and gave Itachi a grin, putting a friendly arm around his neck. "Tha's right. I remember now!" Itachi pushed the other man off his shoulder, causing him to fall on the ground. The noise made Naruto raise his head and his eyes flickered open.
"Eh? What's what?" Gaara's eyes cracked open and he blinked, readjusting to the new light of the room. "Hn. Let's go."
Naruto nodded and stood up, stretching and yawning. The two turned to Itachi and Ryusho as the latter stood and dusted himself off, looking at the them with a stern glance.
"All right, play time's over," he said, his voice taking on a serious undertone, "I'll be up first. I'm gonna test yer knowledge of fightin' skills, and Itachi will work with ya tomorrow strictly on genjutsu. We'll have Sojirou work on jutsus with the both of ya, and then Makita can take 'is turn." The man moved his neck from one side to the other and then held his hand out.
"All righ--come at me one atta time." Gaara and Naruto looked at each other.
/Ladies first,/ thought Naruto as Gaara stepped in front of the blonde.
'Shut up.' The irritable teen took off his red scarf and gourd and flung them at the blonde's face, missing the grin that spread over his face. /Make 'im bleed, Gaa-chan./ He turned to Ryusho and disappeared.
The dark-eyed man blinked in surprise as Gaara slammed a fist into his stomach and sent him crashing towards the wall. He flipped over and landed on his feet, making dents in the cave where he landed, and flipped over, shooting after Gaara with a slight smile. 'Over and get him in the back.' Gaara jumped over Ryusho's head in a fluid motion and slammed his foot into Ryusho's back again, sending him flying away again. The man made a grunt and shot back at Gaara, this time blocking his kick with a kick of his own and sending a punch under Gaara's arms and landing a solid connection to his chest. Ryusho waited a moment before withdrawing his hand and blowing on it. Gaara rubbed his chest with a frown, pulling out the crushed remians of a necklace. His eyes narrowed. 'Naruto made this for me,' he thought to himself as he tore the remains off and let the beads fall to the floor, crumbs and string. "Ouch," he muttered, dropping into a fighting stance and launching several punches at Ryusho which were all blocked.
Itachi looked at Naruto, who was holding his friend's gourd. "I thought Gaara's sand always worked for him," said Itachi presently as Gaara flew over their heads, kicking and ducking Ryusho's own kick as the two flew apart again.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but he can call it off--" /Hush! Don't tell him anything else,/ commanded Kyuubi suddenly and Naruto shut his mouth. Itachi didn't notice the abrupt motion and assumed that Naruto had ment only to say what had been said.
Gaara's punches were coming faster now, and Ryusho actually looked as if he were having trouble blocking. In fact, Naruto thought to himself with some pride and surprise, it had been a full minute since Ryusho had been able to retaliate. With a grunt, Gaara forced Ryusho to block with both hands and he slipped past the defences, slamming a fist to Ryusho's gut. The man grunted and flew across the room, crashing in the wall and debris crumbling about him. Itachi rose an eyebrow as Ryusho stood up, dusting himself off with a good-natured laugh. "All right," he said, grinning widely, "I won't hold back neither." He shook his head shortly and unlatched his cape. The cloak fell around his ankles and a cloud of dust rose up from where it dropped into the earth, creating a small crater in the ground. The man stretched his shoulders, jumping back and forth as Gaara rose an invisible eyebrow at the new speed. He lowered his gaze to the ground and put his arms up in front of him, waiting. Ryusho came at him, slamming a fist into a barely-there shoulder that had pulled away as Gaara sensed what the man was aiming for. Ryusho moved around Gaara and shot at his head, Gaara ducking and sending a kick of his own towards the man. Ryusho disappeared and Gaara along with him. There was a clash and something tore, blood splattering on the ground. The sand stirred in Naruto's hand and Itachi's eyes narrowed.
"Don't kill him," he said to the air as Ryusho and Gaara stopped, reappearing and startling him--Ryusho was grinning and cupping his jaw, blood seeping from his mouth. Gaara wrung his wrist, glaring at the man.
"I haven't bled for a long time," muttered the green-haired man, "nor have I ever had that much fun sparring." He spat blood from his mouth and crossed his arms.
"All the same, we'll work on your blocking. If I'd punched instead of kicked on that third pass, you'd be the one bleeding." Gaara nodded, having made that observation himself. Naruto got up and cracked his knuckles.
"All right--my turn!"
Ryusho nodded and they cut to the chase, Naruto dropping and flying forwards at his opponent. Itachi watched in mild interest as Naruto threw a few wild punches and kicks, all effortlessly blocked by the older man, and then narrowed his eyes as Naruto grinned and dove into Ryusho's wide open stomach, a fist snaking between his blocking arm and drove into his chest with a pow!, sending Ryusho into the wall. Ryusho shook his head and got back to his feet, looking at Naruto with a wild gaze. "Wha-hoooooo-ee! What happened? I blocked you but you got me!" Naruto grinned. "Aw, I just got lucky," he said as he jumped up and down and shot at Ryusho again, shooting a fist at Ryusho's chest. Ryusho shot away and Naruto pulled his fist back, never making contact with the wall as he turned 180 degrees and shot after his opponent. Gaara watched the fight with mild interest, catching the slips both made, and then shut his eyes, Naruto jumping away from Ryusho's fist as it slammed into the ground, creating a small crater in the middle of the room. Naruto's jaw dropped. "Woooow!!!" Naruto gasped, looking over the hole and then back at Ryusho who had turned to retrieve his cloak.
"You two are good, but not good enough," said Ryusho harshly from lack of breath, "You'll get cloaks from me tomorrow mornin' and some weights. Itachi, you get them their rooms and size 'em up for me." The green-haired man threw his cloak back over his shoulders and winked at Itachi as he slipped out of the room. Naruto and Gaara looked at each other and then at Itachi. The black-haired shinobi was staring at the two of them, lost in his thoughts.
'... do you think he ever misses his brother?'
/I doubt a day goes by when he's not thinkin' bout his brother,/ thought Naruto with a smile. Itachi was as engrossed in his thoughts as one of his power would ever be, and Naruto cleared his throat, grinning as Itachi looked up out of his thoughtss.
"So? Are we gonna get to see those rooms or are we gonna stand here all day?"
.
"Move over."
"No way--it's freezing out there."
"Then stop squirming."
Naruto made a face as Gaara glared down at him, holding the blanket over them with steady, unshaking hands, keeping out most of the frigid cold air. Naruto fidgeted one last time, squirming between Gaara's arms and shuddering at the warmth. It was freezing in their new rooms, and even after three weeks, Naruto still wasn't used to the almost-Arctic temperatures. /Now I know why they wear those huge cloaks all the time,/ he muttered in his head, snuggling against Gaara's warmth, annoying his red-headed partner, /it's so coooollld .../ Gaara shifted the blanket one more time and Naruto put his cheek on Gaara's shirt, letting out a giggle as Gaara jumped at the contact. "Naruto, hold still," he muttered, grabbing the other boy by the arms, letting the blanket drop, and a fresh wave of cold rushed against them. Naruto shivered and the door opened, Itachi appearing next to them.
"Get up," he ordered, tossing cloaks at them, "we're training."
Naruto jumped at the cloak and threw it on, allowing its billowing folds to trap and warm heat around his body, warmth returning to his fingertips like fire. Gaara took his cloak, throwing it over his shoulders and looking at Naruto with a half-grin. "Next time, you can hold up the blanket," he whispered as they followed Itachi out the door.
They walked along the empty halls and made it to their training room. This was the largest cavern they'd seen so far, and it was enclosed with a jutsu that allowed them to use their chakara to the full extent without being sensed from outside the room. This let Naruto and Gaara practice pulling out the demon's chakara freely, no matter how much energy they pulled out. Itachi walked in and the room darkened as he looked around at the unlit torches. Naruto hopped into the room, and Gaara followed. Itachi shut the door and they were encased in total darkness. With his shiringan, Itachi saw both boys perfectly. Naruto blinked and forced some chakara into his eyes as well as Gaara, and their eyes glowed softly, illuminating what ever they stared at. Itachi clapped his hands.
"Lights off. You'll spar without sight. Close your eyes and I'll fight you one at a time. Whoever doesn't land a punch has to light the room." Gaara and Naruto revved up--from what their demons had told them, Itachi would make trouble for them if they were any better than him in any particular fire jutsu, so neither had performed them well enough yet, and neither wanted to be 'embarssed' by not being able to do what their teacher wanted. Itachi smirked and shot at Naruto.
Naruto heard him coming in time to take a step back but caught a smack to the jaw in the dark as Itachi's fist slipped silently through the blackness. Naruto grunted, keeping the pain to himself, and readied himself. He shut his eyes and listened, smelling around for Itachi. It was one of his more interesting traits--he could usually tell what people were feeling or 'see' their true intentions by smelling them.
/Good. Think clearly. Where will he come from next?/
Naruto felt the air tremble around him and he jumped back as Itachi appeared in front of him, swiping at his head again. Naruto ducked the first punch, threw his arm out to block the second, and the third caught him smartly in the face. Naruto bit his lip and kept on his feet, flipping over and shooting forward, hearing a footstep, a stopping footstep, which meant-- /--he's right--/ Naruto threw a fist and something connected.
/--here!!!/
"Good," said Itachi softly, "but not good enough."
Naruto opened his palm and felt the muscle of Itachi's forearm-he'd been blocked. Cursing, Naruto jumped away from Itachi's spinning kick, following the swishing patterns of his cloak and shooting back towards his invisible opponent with a silent yell. Itachi saw him come and ducked the punch, blocked the kick, leapt away from the third and fourth punches, and then retaliated boredly. "You're blind in the dark without your chakara," said Itachi irritably, "use your chakara and open your eyes." Naruto concentrated some chakara to his eyes in mid air and opened them, slamming his fist into Itachi's open palm with perfect connection. Itachi felt something snap in his hand and told Naruto to stand down. Itachi swung his fist around and then gave Naruto a half-smile.
"You can sit down now, Naruto. Gaara, no chakara. Shut your eyes and let's go." Gaara nodded and shot at Itachi with his eyes shut. Naruto watched with chakara in his own eyes. /... to his left--jump ... Gaara, don't punch .../ He kept these thoughts to himself, but Gaara caught the last thought and didn't punch, throwing his foot up and connecting with Itachi's shoulder. The black-haired boy narrowed his eyes as he flew back, checking his shoulder with his uninjured hand for any breaks, and then smacked Gaara in the face with a right hook, throwing him into the wall. There was a silent thump and Gaara landed on his feet, rubbing his back where the sand had caught him.
"Both of you are blind in the dark. You need more training in case a mission ever reqires you to perform this. We'll work on it. As for your punishment ...both of you landed something on me, so both of you will practice the fire element jutsus."
Gaara's eye twitched and Naruto groaned. "Itachi-nii, I don't wanna!" Itachi rolled his eyes. "You'll do it or you'll sleep outside for a week." Naruto grumbled but made the appropriate seals, and the fire flickered to life weakly at his fingertips, spreading slowly along the air to light the first torch. Gaara followed suit, lighting a single torch with a slow, steady tongue of flame. Itachi frowned and used a water-element jutsu to extinguish the flames.
"That was too weak. Stronger. You'll do this jutsu at your maximum until I tell you to stop."
The boys repeated the process, their fire a little stronger, more intense. Itachi wasn't satafied and had them re-light the torches until they were panting from effort, which took hours. The black-eyed man narrowed his eyes and Naruto shook his hands; they were feeling a little funny. Itachi told him to stop and Naruto fell to his knees, sighing. Gaara stopped as well, looking at his hands. His fingers were still twitching, jerking in the movements needed to form the correct jutsu, tiger, horse ...
Gaara blinked as fire appeared in his hands. "What?! I haven't done ..."
Naruto looked in surprise at his own palms--they'd unconsciously performed the seal without thought as Naruto said the jutsu name in his head and flame had risen in singing tongues from his hands, glaring around the room, falling on Itachi's impressed gaze.
"Good. This is what we'll work on after lunch. I want you to perform jutsus until they're secondary to you. You should think the jutsu in your head and perform the seal with either one hand or mentally. The rest will come naturally to you. For instance ..." he held out his hand and two cups appeared. Naruto blinked.
"Summoning no jutsu," he said softly, and his hands jerked, a cup of ramen appearing in his own hands. He stared down at his fingertips with amazement. Itachi's mouth quirked into a thin line. "You have the chakara and experience of a demon, Naruto. This will all be easier as you go along. These weeks have proven that." Naruto nodded, grinning.
"Cool! So are we done learning the rules yet?"
Itachi blinked. He'd almost forgotten that the two were still playing a game in their minds, waiting for their first turn. They'd been shown all the jutsus that Sojirou knew, they'd choosen the best weapons that Makita offered, and so far, all they'd done with Itachi was taijutsu and physical training and stealth training with weights.
Naruto guessed their cloaks alone weighed a hundred pounds, and their extra weights totaled something around another fifty. Gaara had mastered the extra weight within a week and Naruto within the second week, and both had been increasing the weight as they trained harder. Each day was routine; wake up, stretch, spar, train with Itachi, eat, train with Ryusho and Sojirou, train with Makita, spar each other, eat again, then bed. They skipped breakfast because it wasn't needed. They ate fruit and other healthy things provided in their rooms and usually ramen or sushi, depending on their level of sucess. Naruto always worked harder for ramen and got a platteer of sushi when Itachi or his other teachers felt he wasn't performing perfectly.
Gaara's only motivation was to stay with Naruto. The blue-eyed boy was his only comfort. Itachi and the other Akatsuki were family, they loved or at least cared for him, he was sure, but Naruto had been there first. Naruto had been his comfort when he began to feel emotions that he didn't understand, and he always kept a half-smile on his face. Gaara even began to ease into the habbit of a five-minute nap with Naruto watching him in the middle of the day, and for the first time in his life since he'd ever recalled, he'd begun to know sleep and dreams. Naruto was the only reason Gaara kept training as hard as he did--there was no bloodlust in him, no desire to kill. Gaara only knew that when he looked at Naruto, he felt the need to go on, to exist.
Itachi stood up, stretching his arms. "It should be soon. We've kept you here for three weeks and I think that you're almost ready." Naruto blinked. "Ready for what?" A new voice spoke from the walls.
"Itachi, Gaara, Naruto, report to the main base immeditally." Itachi looked at the ceiling, ignoring Naruto's downcast face and rumbling stomach, "We're coming."
He looked at the two of them. "Perhaps this is it. We'll see what he has to say first. Let's go."
The two boys got up and followed him obediently, hunger forgotten in their curosity.
.
There were six waiting for them in the room; Makita and Ryusho, Sojirou and Akuma, and two twins with long, black hair. Naruto wondered to himself if they were boys or girls. As they walked into the room, the two twins bowed at Itachi and Makita rolled his eyes. Ryusho opened his mouth to say something and a voice interrupted them.
"I'm coming down." The green-haired man shut his mouth and looked at the stone seat to his left. A man with amber eyes and silver hair appeared on it, a white cloak hanging loosely off his shoulders. /His smile isn't nice,/ thought Naruto instantally catching the hidden gleam behind cool amber orbs, /not at all./ But the smiling man stood, waving his arm at the two boys.
"This is your first mission. We hope you'll be sucessful."
Ryusho winked at them. "Yeah--don't die out there." Gaara sweatdropped as Naruto backed into him and away from the grinning man. "D-die?" Makita scoffed. "He's just jokin'," he muttered gruffly, "less likely you'll get caught." Itachi made a face. Makita being sentimental about the boy's health wouldn't be good for his ego. The amber-eyed man looked at the two boys with a thin smile and waved at the door. Naruto caught the twitch of his fingers and the jutsu that revealed the door back to the outside world. He wondered how long it would take him to mimic and use that spell as his own. Gaara and Naruto turned to face the man and bowed as they'd been told to, and then turned to leave. Naruto grinned at Itachi on the way out, and the cold-eyed boy nodded at him shortly, then turned away as they left the cavern.
"Well, that was--"
"--dramatic," muttered the twins, looking at the man sitting on the stone seat. He chuckled and looked around the room. Makita and Soujirou left, Akuma behind them. All three disappeared into a long hallway and Itachi decided that it would be best for him to get back to the training area to tidy it up.
"Itachi."
The voice that called him was the same that had persuaded him to join the Akatsuki in the first place. The voice that caused him to stop was the only one that made him actually flinch. The voice came from behind him. The black-eyed boy looked up, staring straight into his leader's eyes. He dared to stare straight at him, dared to look straight into the eyes of a man that could turn him into a whisp of nothingness without blinking.
"Yes, Yuki?"
Itachi dared to meet the eyes of the most feared and powerful man in the Akatsuki, and for that, he would be punished, decided the man with narrowed amber eyes.
"I have an important mission for you."
Itachi frowned, looking at something other than the gleam in Yuki's eyes. "I am currently on a mission, sir."
Yuki waved a slender hand. "Then I temporarily withdraw you from your mission, Itachi," he said cheerfully, ignoring Itachi's look of outrage, "I have a more pressing matter for you to attend to."
Itachi's mind raced. /I was assigned to gather information on the most powerful people in the existing villages. I've been on this assignment for over six months and NOW he wants to cut me off?/ He cleared his thoughts with a shake of the head.
"Sir, I have an accountable amount of information on hand. Have my findings not met your standards?" The fair-skinned man waved a hand.
"Of course they have. I just want you to do something else for a change. You can work on that aside from this, but I'm putting this mission on the top of your list." Itachi sighed. To agrue further would mean losing the project completly. He bowed. Yuki smiled at the sign of obedience and the twins giggled, slipping next to their leader and sitting on either side of him like pet dogs as Yuki put a hand through one's hair.
"Follow the fox and raccoon; see how they perform. I'll expect reports by eagle every month."
Itachi's eyes narrowed. "I will still be allowed to--"
"Yes, yes," sighed Yuki boredly, "you can still gather information on your other targets. But you'll only do that after I've recieved a full report on our two newest members because you know how much members mean to us. We don't want them to get hurt." Itachi seriously doubted that Yuki thought anything of their health. He probably just wanted him to keep tab of their progress in nin, tai, and genjutsu. Itachi bowed his head and then stood up, heading for the training grounds. Suddenly, something caught mind-/a time limit./ He turned back to Yuki with a lowered gaze.
"Sir. How long will this assignment last?"
The twin to the left giggled. "It's until the next--"
"--chuunin exams in Konoha!"
Itachi could only wonder how they finished each other's sentences and looked at the leader of the Akatsuki as he let go of the twin's hair and stood, eyes slit and teasing.
"Oh, about four years."
I'll try to keep updating, but I don't have internet access at home, I will stress this until it gets across. and ther'es my bad habbit of editing thigns tht I should just be writing instead of writing the next chapters. Sorry! Review (if you will) and tell me what kind of story you wanna see more of--I'll try to work it in . Anything that works with what' I'm already going on ...
Next chapter: Konoha
