"So let me get this strait, Orochimaru took his ring with him when he left Akatsuki, you guys have known where he was, but you were just too lazy to go and get it?"
"Hai."
I groaned and thought to myself, 'great. If there rings mean THAT much to them and they haven't gone to get it, that means... at this rate... Shikamaru-kun will be an Akatsuki in no time!'
We were just passed the Rice Country border when both Itachi and I sensed it.
We both jumped out of the way as exploding kuni came at us. As the sent of the explosive filled the air, I knew who it was.
"Konoha," I whispered to Itachi.
He nodded.
"Akatsuki, you are under arrest," the ANBU man said.
I knew that voice.
"Itachi, he is a Hyuuga, and very skilled. Do not let him touch your chakra points."
"Hai."
The ANBU with a shuriken on the cheek of the mask tossed another kuni.
"She is a weapon's expert, and pretty weak without a weapon. The other one their height is a tai jutsu specialist, and the older one is too, but he also knows how to fight the sharingun. Let me take him and the girl. You deal with the Hyuuga and the other tai jutsu specialist."
"Hai."
I hated to fight Team Guy, they were my friends, but I also couldn't let them take me back to Konoha. I had to be there when the kyubbi was extracted.
So I fought. I took out Tenten first by hitting the same pressure point Sasuke had hit on me. Guy blocked my attacks and tried to get in a hit. I caught it and his eyes got wide.
"There are only two people who can catch that hit. Tsunadae and..."
I smiled and tossed my hat aside.
"Hiya, Guy."
I hit his neck and he slumped to the ground. I came up at Neji's blind spot and hit him, then Lee.
"Let's get going."
He nodded.
-x-
When we arrived at Orochimaru's lair, we were met with a surprise.
Orochimaru was dead.
And his ring was missing.
"Well lovely. How do we figure out who took the ring?" I asked.
"Whoever killed Orochi-bastard has the ring."
I paused mid-thought. Did THE ITACHI UCHIHA just make a JOKE?
I shook my head, ignoring the crack.
"Okay, so, who killed him."
"I'll give you one guess. His name begins with Sas- and ends with -iha."
"Sasuke Uchiha? As in your brother?"
"Hai."
I shook my head.
"Okay, so now we had to track down Sasuke-teme. Where do we start?"
"No idea."
I groaned.
"Great. How long do you think it's been since Orochimaru was killed?"
He glanced at the body, then shrugged.
"About a day or two."
"Which means he could be anywhere. Where is the most likely place he would go if his killing Orochimaru wasn't a complete whim?"
"Assuming he's planning something, I would say the Uchiha family's weaponry supplier in Wind. I assume he believes he's ready to come after me. Which would mean that all we have to do is sit and wait. He'll come to us."
"So, we're going back to the base?"
He nodded.
"Hai."
"But first..."
His eye brow rose and I smirked at him.
"Let's go get some food."
He chuckled, something I would never picture Itachi Uchiha doing.
"Hai, let's eat."