Kakashi, Naruto and Sakura leaped threw tree to tree, neither of them had slept well last night and they had decided to just keep quiet. After many hours they finally found a village just at the edge of the Hidden Leaf territory. Kakashi led his team deeper into the town until he stopped in his trail. Naruto and Sakura looked at him confused.

"I'll look around and see if anybody knows anything." he simply said. "You guys just head to that store over there, interrogate the owners and then wait for me there."

"Yes sir!" they both answered.

Kakashi disappeared in a pile of smoke as Naruto and Sakura made their way to the store. They questioned the owners about anything suspicious involving Akatsuki or Sasuke, but they didn't know anything. Hours passed as Naruto and Sakura sat near the store's front door.

"What could be taking Kakashi-sensei so long?" asked Naruto. "It's been hours!"

"He's always been late." answered Sakura. "But that's why we're going now."

Naruto turned his head and looked at her.

"Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.

"If we wait for him, we might miss our chance." said Sakura as she put on her gloves. "I get the feeling that Sasuke-kun is very close."

Naruto just stared at her. "It still amazes me that she's changed so much." he thought. He nodded in agreement.

"Let's go!" said Naruto as they both exited the village.

Many hours later

Kakashi finally arrived at the store in a pile of smoke.

"Sorry I'm late." he said. "There was this guy who didn't want to answer because he thought that I…uh?"

Kakashi finally realized that Naruto and Sakura weren't there. He opened the store's door, but they weren't inside. He finally noticed a small note attached to the wall with a kunai. He grabbed and read it.

We went ahead to go find Sasuke. We'll be back soon enough.

Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno.

Kakashi grabbed out a scroll, bit his finger and used his Jutsu.

"Summoning Jutsu!" shouted Kakashi.

In a big pile of smoke, three of the Ninken dogs appeared, including Pakkun.

"What's up Kakashi?" he asked.

"I need you to find Naruto and Sakura's scents." said Kakashi.

Pakkun jumped off the larger dog's head and started sniffing the ground. A few minutes later, Pakkun nose caught something.

"I've got them!" he shouted.

"Alright then." said Kakashi. "Lead the way!"

As the dogs ran outside and into the forest, Kakashi followed them.

Meanwhile

Naruto and Sakura continued their way, leaping from tree to tree threw the forest.

"Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto. "We've just entered the Land of the Waterfall. We can't just go into another country like this."

"Just a second Naruto!" answered Sakura. "I see a clearing over there, that'll be as far as we go!"

They finally exited the forest, only to find themselves in a large clearing. There were no trees, just grass and hills. Large gray clouds appeared in the sky, thunder and lightning past threw the skies until at last, it rained.

"Sakura-chan?" said Naruto.

"I was so sure he was close." was all Sakura could say.

"Sakura-chan?" said again Naruto.

"Isn't this convenient." said a voice from behind.

Naruto and Sakura turned their heads only to see that a few feet from them, were standing Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki. Both Naruto and Sakura gasped as they were paralyzed.

"I guess you were right Itachi." said Kisame. "The Nine Tails brat was in the village."

"It doesn't matter anymore." answered Itachi. "Naruto, you're coming with us."

Both Naruto and Sakura replied to those words by taking a fighting position, Naruto had already a kunai in his hands while Sakura tightened her gloves. Itachi and Kisame smirked.

"It's useless to fight us." said Itachi.

He walked closer and closer to Naruto until just a few steps, he stopped.

"It's been a while." said Itachi. "Sasuke!"

Naruto, Sakura and Kisame all turned their heads, a few feet away; Sasuke was standing there with his long sword in his hands.

"Itachi Uchiha!" said Sasuke.

Itachi turned around and starred at him. "You plan on facing me alone again?" he asked. "Then you're asking for your death."

"Not alone!" said Sasuke.

Suddenly, Sasuke's new teammates (Jugo, Karin and Suigetsu) appeared from out of nowhere. Naruto looked at these arrivals and noticed something about Suigetsu.

"Sakura-chan!" he shouted. "That guy's got Zabuza's sword."

Sakura stared at Suigetsu and confirmed that Naruto was right. Itachi, Kisame, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Karin, Jugo and Suigetsu all took fighting positions as lightning flashed threw the sky.

"Leave Itachi to me." Sasuke said to his teammates.

"We'll take care of the shark in that girl." both Karin and Jugo said.

"I guess I'll take care of that Naruto." answered Suigetsu.

Meanwhile, Kisame smiled in delight as he pulled out his sword. "It's been a while since my Shark Skin's done any real fighting." he said, chuckling.

And so, Naruto, Sakura, Team Snake and the two Akatsuki charged into each other as the lighting and thunder flashed, starting a great battle.

--End of chapter--

Sorry it took me so long. I hope you send a lot of reviews, and don't worry. The next chapter involves a whole lot of fighting. Next Chapter is called "A raging storm: Konoha vs. Snake vs. Akatsuki!"