=Chapter 6 – Things That Will Get Me In Trouble=
==The Next Day==
Kakashi rousted all his students out of bed. He'd had the last watch so he was already wide awake, "Wakey wakey rise and shine!" There was much grumbling but soon the genin were dressed and outside on the pier. Kakashi smiled, "Ok students, now since we don't know what our Mist friends or Gato will do now, we need to stay close to the house until Tazuna goes to start work on his bridge, at which point we'll follow him and leave one person here to guard Tazuna's family. So, for today's training," He skipped backwards off the pier and landed right on top of the water, "Sakura, you will be learning how to walk on water. Don't worry, I'll start you off in the shallows."
He walked back up to the pier as effortlessly as if the water had been the pier itself before casually hopping back up onto it, "And Naruto and Sasuke will be learning how to generate chakra blasts from their hands and feet which can be used as a means of propulsion or attack. Technically what Sakura's doing is a more advanced form of this, but I'll be teaching Naruto and Sasuke how to do it wrong before I show them how to do it right since the wrong way will actually be more beneficial to their taijutsu. If any of you are doubting me, just think about your training so far."
The doubtful looks that had settled on Sasuke and Naruto's faces cleared away immediately as they recalled their earlier skepticism. Kakashi nodded, "Very good. Now then, let's get started. All three of you on your toes and force chakra out through the soles of your feet as hard as you can." The genin complied and if any of them were less than fully awake, they weren't after they landed. Naruto in particular flew almost twenty feet in the air and fell to a screaming landing in the lake. Sasuke only bounced five feet in the air, but he landed on the spot where Naruto had been and went through the pier as it collapsed beneath him from the huge force Naruto's chakra had exerted on it. Sakura only bounced two feet, but she didn't fall down until she lost her balance as she landed on a six inch cushion of chakra between the soles of her feet and the pier.
As Naruto and Sasuke dragged themselves back onto the pier Kakashi smiled at them, "Now think about that kind of force loaded into a punch." Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura's eyes all immediately got very wide as they realized where Kakashi was going with this and then Naruto and Sasuke grinned. "Now before we go any further," Kakashi said quickly, "Let's talk about chakra efficiency, meaning how effectively you use your chakra. This is directly related to chakra control, which is a very important aspect of all nin and genjutsu."
"Since Sakura has the greatest chakra control," Kakashi continued, "She is getting more than you two," he looked at Sasuke and Naruto, "out of her jutsu. By my estimates, she has a chakra efficiency of about 80%. This means that she is only losing about twenty percent of the strength of her jutsu due to lack of control. By contrast, you Sasuke are functioning at about half capacity." Sasuke flinched and Kakashi turned to Naruto, "And Naruto, you have utterly terrible control. You are functioning at about a tenth of your chakra's potential." All three genin stared at him and then at Naruto who pointed at the sky, "You mean I could've gone ten times that high?!"
Kakashi nodded, "Yep. Which is why I'm teaching you this exercise. Once you manage to get the hang of expelling your jutsu through various body parts, and apply that knowledge in combat, I'm going to show you and Sasuke how to alter the shape and nature of your chakra. Sakura, I have something very different in mind for you, so I'm going to be showing you how to control your chakra to the maximum efficiency and then we are going to work on increasing your chakra capacity."
He manifested a Shadow Clone, "So let's get to work!"
==Evening, Three Days Later==
The discharge from Naruto's chakra blast punch sent the large log he had been aiming at flying and went on to rip small branches off trees a hundred feet into the forest like a tornado moving through. Sasuke stared as the shadow clone Kakashi had sent to train them while he guarded the house nodded, "Very good. You've got the chakra blast punch down pat. Sasuke, your turn." Sasuke steeled himself and willed his chakra into his hand as he settled into his stance. He shifted his stance and threw the reverse punch with his whole body, mustering less than a tenth the force Naruto had.
He still sent the log skidding backwards and almost toppling over despite having pulled his punch an inch from it as Kakashi had instructed, the same way Naruto had, but it still left him feeling very weak. Kakashi nodded, "Very good. Naruto, you have approximately tripled your efficiency, meaning you only need to triple it again," Naruto groaned slightly, "and Sasuke you appear to be up to 75%." Sasuke looked slightly mortified and Kakashi patted him on the head, "Don't worry Sasuke, nobody expects you to match a Jinchuriki. Everyone knows their chakra levels are beyond human." Kakashi looked over his shoulder, "How ya doing over there Sakura?" Sakura was whirling the beam around her in a standard bojutsu kata while moving on the water and maintaining her control of the beam with the lightest amount of contact she could manage. She was sweating profusely and so focused that she didn't even hear him. Kakashi smiled, "Good enough."
He turned back to Naruto and Sasuke, "Now then, the fun part. Do either of you know my moniker?" Naruto and Sasuke shook their heads and Kakashi smiled, "I am known to many as "the Copy Ninja" because I have used my Sharingan to copy hundreds of jutsu, including a great many trademark techniques that would get me in a lot of trouble if those clans knew I used them, and even more if they knew I have every intention of passing them onto you two and Sakura. However, that is one of the perks of being my students rather than someone else's. So, while we're far away from prying eyes, who wants to learn things that'll get me in trouble?" Naruto and Sasuke stared and then grinned from ear to ear.
Kakashi's grin widened, "Then let's get started." Sakura bounced back up onto the pier panting, "Get started with what Kakashi sensei?" Kakashi looked over his shoulder, "Finished?" Sakura nodded, "I just finished my tenth repetition, but if I go any longer I'm going to hit chakra exhaustion." Kakashi nodded, "Very good. Come have one of these." Sakura walked over and accepted the small pill he handed her, "What is it?" "A mild soldier pill," Kakashi replied, "it's fast acting and will restore a bit of your chakra so you can start in on this new section of your training. Don't worry, it's not a seventy-two-hour pill and you won't be ready to drop when it's run its course, but you will sleep like a rock tonight."
Sakura nodded and popped the pill, "So Kakashi senseEEEI!" Her eyes flew open as the pill took effect and chakra erupted around her in a large glowing blue nimbus for an instant. She staggered slightly with wide eyes, "Whoa…" Kakashi blinked and looked at the container he had taken the pill from frowning, it was supposed to be equal to five percent of his own chakra pool. While hardly enough to be noticeable for him, it should've allowed any normal genin to go full tilt for at least an hour or two after taking it, but Sakura had reacted to it almost like having a 72 hour pill solution injected straight to a major vein.
Better known as a "suicide supercharge", such solutions were weapons of last resort among shinobi in the field due to the issues that could come with stressing the chakra system by applying 72 hours worth of chakra to it. Shinobi could burn out their chakra systems completely if the pill they used was made for someone stronger than them or just tear their bodies apart with the massively increased strength it imparted. If one Chunin took another Chunin's solution, they would probably be ok, but if for example a genin took a Suicide Supercharge meant for a Jonin, it would be equivalent to opening several of the Eight Chakra Gates, the higher the level difference the more damage could be done by the solution. For Sakura to have this strong a reaction to a soldier pill that was only 5% of Kakashi's was mind boggling and highly worrisome. She really has that little chakra? I must've been drastically underestimating her control and efficiency. I've got to burn that chakra out of her or there's no telling what the strain could do to her chakra system…
Aloud he just said, "Hmm, must be stronger than I thought. Well, forget sleeping like a rock tonight Sakura, in fact, just forget sleeping for oh, probably at least twenty four hours. Before we get started, would you like to try what Naruto and Sasuke have been doing?" Sakura still looked like she was on drugs and nodded, her gaze going to the log, "I just punch the log with my chakra right?" "that's right," Kakashi replied. Sakura nodded, "I can do that."
She suddenly moved so fast she blurred and slammed a kick into the log, blasting it with chakra from the arch of her foot. The log went flying almost twenty feet and shook the tree it hit. Sasuke was mortified, Naruto was impressed, and Kakashi was mildly shocked. No way, he thought, "Sakura, I want you to coat yourself in a layer of chakra like you do your beam and then try to pick yourself up with it." A moment later Sakura was glowing and floating off the ground, still on her wild chakra high, "Like this sensei?" Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke all stared in shocked silence as Sakura levitated and seemed to swim like a lazy fish through the air, "Sensei? This is weird, are you sure you gave me the right pill?"
She floated over towards Sasuke like she was in a trance. Her eyes met his upside down and she twisted so that she was right side up before looking at him in a most unnerving way. "What?" Sasuke asked as he started to get very uncomfortable. Before he could protest Sakura grabbed him by the lapels and yanked him into a kiss. She was clearly trying to make it a good one and after a moment Sasuke gave up and started kissing her back. Then Sakura broke off the kiss and floated back away from him a little bit with a slightly confused and disinterested look, "Huh, no fireworks…"
She floated upside down and twisted her way through the air over to Naruto like an eel, "Naruto, does it feel like fireworks in your head when you kiss Hinata?" "Um yeah kinda-?!" Sakura lunged and kissed him the same way she had Sasuke. Naruto looked utterly stunned and Sakura broke off the kiss a moment later. She hadn't tried nearly as hard to make that kiss a good one, but she was smiling at Naruto. She slid around him in the air like some kind of flying snake looking at him, "Mmm…I wonder why…" She twisted and curled up in the air, covering her giggles with her hands, "I get it now! I was trying too hard! Ah well, spark's gone. Guess I'll have to find someone new…" She floated back around Naruto and slapped him on the ass. She grinned slyly as Naruto jumped half out of his skin, "Hinata's a lucky girl, cha?"
She floated away into the forest laughing as everyone else stared after her. Naruto and Sasuke looked at Kakashi, "What the hell did you give her?!" "She's high on having way too much chakra, it's overloaded her system and her senses are probably going crazy right now, not to mention she's got so much energy she has no idea what to do with it. Imagine the craziest sugar high ever and multiply it by a hundred," Kakashi replied, "We're lucky she's so calm. Most people go nuts when this happens and beat themselves to death fighting their way out of whatever situation led to the high."
Sakura meanwhile was floating through the tree tops drinking in the profound beauty of the world. Everything seemed so much more clearly defined, the dying sunlight playing through the leaves of the trees, the myriad scents of the forest as it buzzed with life that she could hear with such curious clarity, and the feel of the cloth and air on her skin…the memory of Sasuke and Naruto's lips pressed against hers…that earned a blush and a faint happy smile.
Inner Sakura meanwhile was running laps around the inside of Sakura's head swearing at the top of her lungs. WHAT THE HELL?! I FINALLY CATCH SASUKE-KUN FOR A KISS AND HE TASTES LIKE CHARCOAL AND SMOKE? AND THEN NARUTO TASTES LIKE RAMEN?! FOR THAT MATTER, I KISSED NARUTO! AND I'M FLYING! WHAT THE HELL DID THAT BASTARD KAKASHI GIVE US?! WAKE UP SAKURA! SNAP OUT OF IT! CHA! HOW CAN YOU BE SPACING OUT AT A TIME LIKE THIS?! Inner then continued to run around in Sakura's head screaming every swearword she could think of. Sakura didn't care, for once she couldn't even hear her Inner Self over the noise outside. Has all this just been waiting for me to notice it? She wondered.
She looked at her hands, I feel so…powerful. Is this what Naruto and Sasuke feel like? I wonder how much stronger I am now… She couldn't explain how she knew her team was coming, but she could feel them. She twisted in the air and saw them walk into the clearing. Kakashi looked up, "Sakura, that pill I gave you was much too strong. The amount of chakra you have right now is taxing your chakra system to probably at least triple what it's used to. We need to burn some of that energy out of your system to make sure it doesn't do any lasting damage. I want you to spar with Sasuke, then Naruto, then me. Ok?"
Sakura mulled Kakashi's words over for a moment and then she grinned, I wonder if I can… she extended her hand towards a log lying on the ground, the same one Naruto had launched into the woods earlier. A stream of chakra flowed out from her hand and wrapped around the log. Sakura tilted her hand and the log rose at her command. A grin stretched across her face, then her control slipped and the log dropped ten feet to the ground. The grin vanished, "Dammit! I almost had it!"
The rest of Squad 7 stared and then Kakashi lunged and caught Sakura as the energy gave out and her ability to fly went with it, leaving Sakura hanging midair with a very Hinata-esque "EEP!" Kakashi looked at her with concern, "Are you alright?" Sakura smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just really," she stopped and yawned, "really tired. Feel kinda dead actually…Sensei, how strong was that pill? Was I as strong as Sasuke and Naruto?" Kakashi thought about it for a few moments, "It's hard to say as you didn't fight them. For now though, let's get you back to Tazuna's and a bed. That kind of strain on your chakra system would make anyone tired."
==Half An Hour Later==
Sakura was sound asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Kakashi sat down next to her and flexed his fingers before flashing through a few seals, "Now let's see what's going on." Naruto and Sasuke watched intently as Kakashi closed his eyes and rested a hand on Sakura's shoulder. He was silent and still for a few minutes, then his eyes opened and he retracted the hand, "How serendipitous."
"What? What's serendipshitus?" Naruto asked quickly. "Serendipitous Naruto, it means lucky. It seems Sakura's chakra levels have hardly grown at all since she was a child," Kakashi declared, "Apparently she's in even worse shape than I thought. I'm amazed she made it out of the Academy with her body in that bad a shape. Thankfully, this seems to be playing to her advantage. Instead of killing her, her chakra capacity has been spurred to massive growth by the relative supercharge that pill gave her. I'm almost embarrassed on her half. That pill was barely enough chakra for one decent sized jutsu but judging from her reaction to it, it was far far more than her usual upper limits." Naruto and even more Sasuke eyed Sakura's still form with a measure of skepticism and disapproval.
"On the upside," Kakashi continued, "Now that her chakra capacity has been kickstarted, it's racing to catch up with her. If she manages to maintain that incredible control and efficiency of hers, then she'll be an extremely formidable asset to the team." That earned a grin from Naruto and a glint of interest in Sasuke's eye.
They sat in silence for a while and then Naruto spoke up, "Kakashi-sensei, I trust your methods and all, I've gotten way stronger and you haven't steered me wrong yet, but if you don't mind my asking, what exactly are we being trained for? Like, what specialties?" Sasuke and Kakashi looked at him in surprise and Naruto looked slightly abashed, "I read about it in one of those books you assigned to me, or my shadowclones did." Kakashi smiled brightly while Sasuke struggled to wrap his mind around the idea of Naruto not only reading, but asking a good question.
"Well," Kakashi said as he sat back and looked at his team, "I suppose it might sound ambitious, but the Sannin are regarded as some of the strongest shinobi alive. Orochimaru's a dangerous madman, Lord Jiraiya's a lecherous pervert and Lady Tsunade has a drinking and gambling problem, but other than that they are shinobi who I'd like to see my students one day equal. I'll even stretch it a little further since we're speaking of hopes and such, I want to train you three to be the shinobi the Sannin wish they were. We'll change things of course, it would be ridiculous to expect you three to perfectly emulate those three, and with the flaws I pointed out, it would probably be a lot better for everyone if you didn't."
"So what do you want us to be like?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi smiled, "Well believe it or not, I've already started training you for it. You Sasuke I'm setting up to be a ninjutsu specialist, much like Orochimaru, but I'd rather you didn't develop an obsession with immortality and forbidden jutsu or become an S-Class missing nin, or talk to people half your age in such a way that everyone thinks you're a gay pedophile." Naruto tried hard not to snigger and Sasuke looked utterly mortified, "No worries there, despite my aversion to fan-girls, I do in fact like girls. After all," he added while pointedly not meeting any gazes, "the Uchiha Clan won't rebuild itself."
Kakashi smiled, "Well good." Then he turned to Naruto, "You Naruto, I'd like to train to be like a better version of Lord Jiraiya. Granted, he is a world class author, probably a millionaire from the sales of his books and a genius in many, many respects, I do have to admit that he is in fact a lecherous pervert and extremely open about it. So if you would, and this goes for you too Sasuke, please comport yourselves with a bit of class when you're out being playboys or rebuilding your clan, or whatever else you wish to call it. Don't worry, I'll help you out with that and find others to tutor you in the things where I may be less than the best choice for teaching you. It will however be necessary since Sasuke will be the Head of the I presume thriving Uchiha Clan, and Naruto will be a Jonin if it kills me and more probably Hokage, not to mention the fact that he's dating the heiress to the most prim, proper and stuffiest clan in the Elemental Nations, for you two to learn some manners and charm as you'll both be dealing with politics. Don't worry, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."
"Anyway," he continued, "Since I'm setting you up to follow Jiraiya Naruto, I'm also setting you up to follow in your father's footsteps since he was trained by Lord Jiraiya. If I can find Jiraiya and talk him into it, you might train under him for a while as well. No I won't be setting you up to study under Orochimaru in person Sasuke, sorry, but that has horrible idea written all over it. Anko Mitarashi on the other hand is Orochimaru's last living student, familiar with his style and a very formidable Tokubetsu Jonin in her own right. She'd be full Jonin if not for the stigma attached to her for being Orochimaru's student. As is, she heads up ANBU's Torture and Interrogations Department alongside Ibiki Morino. She's a good friend of mine and I bet she'd be delighted to tort-er I mean teach you."
Sasuke shot him a mild glare while thinking, Well that explains the affinity for snakes she has…Learning from Anko-nee-chan might not be too bad, it would certainly be nice to see her again…haven't seen her since before…he firmly stopped himself there before he could start thinking about the massacre.
Meanwhile Kakashi cheerfully ignored Sasuke's glare and plowed on along, "And of course that leaves Sakura to follow in the footsteps of Lady Tsunade. Believe it or not, the three of you are already well on your way. We've got a hell of a long way to go, but believe it or not, Sakura is already well on her way to mastering one of the three things Lady Tsunade is famous for." This immediately peaked Naruto and Sasuke's interest, "What?" Kakashi grinned, "Lady Tsunade is famous for her monstrous strength, but a little perk of being the student of the Fourth Hokage and one of Jiraiya's drinking buddies is that I know how Lady Tsunade does it."
Naruto and Sasuke stared as Kakashi paused for effect, "You've watched Sakura train with the beam haven't you?" Naruto and Sasuke had identical expressions of shock and after a moment of shocked silence Kakashi nodded, "Yep, that's what I've been teaching Sakura. Once she's mastered it, she'll have the ability to move or destroy anything she touches. The thing that interested me the most though, was that today Sakura was able to move something without touching it. Never mind that she failed and almost ran out of chakra, I've never heard of Lady Tsunade doing that. I've never heard of Lady Tsunade flying before either. So Sakura may very well surpass Lady Tsunade in that aspect. If so then she may not even need Lady Tsunade's medical jutsu and I might be able to substitute genjutsu in its place. Who knows? Maybe you three will all surprise me even more than you already have and be able to do everything the Sannin can and more!" Kakashi smiled, "So, that's my big dream. Funny, never thought about it before I met you three, and the first day I had you I had to go get therapy to overcome my horror."
Then he chuckled as Naruto and Sasuke sulked, "But really, I'm going to turn you three into strong shinobi. We were interrupted and it's too dark out now, but I am still going to teach you all those things that will get me in trouble." Naruto and Sasuke let grins twitch across their faces at that.
==Late That Night==
"Eh Sasuke?" "Hn?" "Do you think we'll really be as strong as Kakashi-sensei wants us to be?" "Of course we will dobe. Forget the Sannin, we're the Last Uchiha, the Son of the Fourth Hokage and the fangirl who turned out to be alright. What are the odds of a team like that not going on to greatness?"
Naruto blinked and looked over at Sasuke who was lying on his side in his sleeping bag across the room and looking at the wall. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Naruto, "You ever tell anyone I said that, and you're dead. Especially Sakura, I do not want to risk her reverting to her old ways." Naruto grinned, "Yeah, you got it. You're right, she is way better now. Hinata's my girlfriend and that means she's better, but Sakura's still a 10 now." "Hn," Sasuke grunted by way of agreement, "There abouts."
Neither of them were in a position to see and so they never noticed that Sakura had been floating by on her way to get a glass of milk, and neither of them saw her smile with watery eyes before floating on back up the stairs.
AN: That's chapter 6! Yes, Kakashi meant what he said and will be training Squad 7 to follow in the footsteps of, rival and maybe even surpass the Sannin. Yes really, same line up. The twist are those things that will get Kakashi in trouble: Clan secret jutsus, like Gentle Fist, Shadow Possession, Super Expansion, Mind-Body Switch, Fang Over Fang, you know those sorts of jutsu. Go ahead and flame about it all you want if you feel you absolutely must, but Kakashi's ready to deal with it and I guarantee if the wrath of every clan in Konoha can't stop him from doing it (they can't) then neither can you.
On another somewhat off topic note, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually had someone complain that Sakura was de-fangirled too quickly! So fine anonymous reviewer, have it your way. I now present to my beloved audience the first in a series of omakes detailing Sasuke's flight from the fangirls, which will be treated as canon prequel to Shooting Straight, ladies and gents, fans of all ages, I give you…
Sasuke's Great Escapes
==The Beginning==
Sasuke was in the middle of his second year at the Academy that day. He was walking home when he felt the vast multitude of eyes upon him. He stopped and got a sinking feeling as a lot of the sounds on the street behind him stopped. He took a step forward. A great many feet behind him stepped forward. He looked over his shoulder and saw a bunch of girls from his class.
A terrible chill ran down his spine as he saw they were all watching him and he had flashbacks to Itachi running from hordes of girls, the only thing Sasuke had ever seen Itachi run from. Figuring that if Itachi ran from them there must be something very bad in store if he were caught and given his cryptic warning to do the same should he ever find himself faced with a mob of girls following him, Sasuke took a leaf from his beloved older brother's book and took off as fast as he could.
The mob of girls stampeded after him yelling his name as though it were some weird battle cry and Sasuke knew that he had been right. Whatever they wanted, Sasuke wanted no part of and he did everything in his power to shake them, dodging and weaving through the crowded streets as fast as he could, trying desperately to reach what he thought was the safety of the Uchiha District.
As he reached one of the more central squares of Konoha he became aware of a similar stampede approaching down a different street. Sasuke didn't dare slow down to look but a moment later he was yanked off the ground by the seat of his pants and tossed over Itachi's shoulder as Itachi ran as fast as he could. "Welcome to the nightmare little brother! It only gets worse from here!"
Soon Itachi had managed to find them a safe place to hide. The brothers stood there panting. "So Sasuke," Itachi panted, "Now you know, the absolute terror, of fangirls. The worst bit, is that half of them, half are trained, and a lot, a lot of them have Byakugan, which makes them that much harder to hide from." Then one of the horrible girls, this one with bubblegum pink hair, spotted them and squealed "SASUKEEEEE!" and immediately the horde was upon them again.
It took them another twenty minutes and physical disguises Itachi pulled from seals to shake them. The horde of girls searched the square high and low as Itachi and Sasuke sat at the dango shop, clad in sunglasses, hats, ponchos and fake mustaches with small pillows stuffed under their shirts to make them look fat as they hid behind newspapers. Then a girl about Itachi's age who wasn't part of the mob looked over at them and her eyes widened in recognition. She leaned over and whispered, "Hi there weasel-kun."
Itachi was immediately as pale as a ghost and he stammered, "N-now Anko, we can, we can talk about this!" The girl called Anko, who Sasuke noted to be very pretty despite the very scary way she was looking at them, grinned, "Buy me dango?" Itachi quickly waved the waitress over before gesturing to Anko, "Whatever she wants, she gets." He pulled out a bundle of cash and set it on the table. Unfortunately Itachi realized too late that he knew this waitress as she exclaimed, "ITACHI?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE WITH HER?!" Anko grabbed Itachi by the lapels as the eyes of the entire mob landed on them, whispering quickly, "Dango for a year and I get you and your little brother out of this."
Itachi nodded, "Done." Anko promptly kissed him full on the lips, earning shrieks of outrage from the assembled mob of fangirls. Anko stuck her tongue out at them, and it stuck a solid two feet out as she nestled into the crook of Itachi's arm, "Sorry girls! You're not freaky enough for him! He's aaall mine! Anyone who doesn't like it gets a snake up their skirt! In fact, ya know what? SNAKES FOR EVERYBODY! WHEEEEE!" She then sat up and somehow pulled a bundle of snakes out of nowhere before cheerfully throwing them at the mob of fangirls like confetti. The square was almost immediately totally emptied as snakes rained from the sky.
Itachi and Sasuke gaped in amazement as the snakes slithered back to Anko and up her sleeves to wherever she had pulled them from. "I think I'm in love," Itachi declared in numb shock as he stared at the empty square where the horror of his every midday stroll had only moments before been. Sasuke looked at his brother in surprise and Anko grinned as she turned back to her dango, "Keep it in ya pants big boy. That's at a bare minimum ten nice dates, seven wild nights and a whole lot of dango away. Speaking of, another plate!" Itachi blushed slightly and Sasuke just wondered what she was talking about. Whatever it was, he decided, this girl was definitely better than any of the ones that had been chasing them.
AN: Yes, I know that in canon Anko is 6 years older than Itachi. However in Shooting Straight Itachi is 5 years older than in canon. Why? Because I can, and in my opinion every extra year added onto Itachi's age at the time of the Uchiha Massacre makes it more believable, and it is much more believable that an 18 year old was capable of it than a 13 year old like in canon.
I'm sure you're wondering why Itachi opted for running instead of Body Flickering. The answer is that the last time he tried it he was getting away so easily that the fangirls became even more desperate and it didn't end well. So instead Itachi now runs like hell and is able to easily outlast most of them. They usually give up before he gets properly winded. This particular time they had help from Sasuke's newly acquired fangirls and were able to spend less time searching and more time chasing, which is why they came so close this time.