Hey guys

I'm going to try to start moving the story more towards action than explainations starting next chapter.

For now a Little more flashback, and if people remeber chapter 6, then you will get this flashback

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

Chapter 9

"We have accumulated more than 10,000 fighters; more than half of them being bandits, but their cheaper and are fooled once you mention they can steal anything they want from the village. The ninja's that we have accumulated are from the Kaminoke clan, Komoe clan, Shapu clan, Tisu clan, Hari clan, Ura clan, Raion clan and their cousins the Chita clan, and Reza clan. The rest are a bunch of rouges that left their respective villages."

"Good, were almost good to go, there's one last problem that I need to deal with, then we will be free to leave."

"Reed, just so were clear, after Konoha is destroyed, whoever is left of the battle will build the village brand new. It will be better than that sound village that was created years ago; we don't experiment on anyone who wishes to join us" one of the leaders of the rouges said.

Reed looked at him and smiled; it wasn't a happy smile, but one filled with malice, "I don't care what you do after that as long as every single living konoha shinobi and civilian alike are killed; they don't deserve to live after abandoning their ally. Only leave the hokage alive so he can suffer what he failed to protect." Everyone on the table nodded at that.

"By the way, what do you plan to do once we bring the village to the ground? From how much hate you have for it, I don't believe that you will want to live in that village afterwards" The leader of the Tisu clan said.

"I won't live in that place, but since every village will need a leader, I shall name one for that village before my departure, after we bring Konoha to the ground" Reed responded.

That got a lot of the leaders of their respected clans to look at each other anxiously; it would bring their clans to glory.

"For now, just focus on the plan. Afterwards, I'll settle it in some way fair so each clan will have a chance" after Reed stated those words, he got up, and left the room.

Things were proceeding smoothly, and now he had the power to finally extract his revenge. There was just one problem though; the Uzumaki women! Reed didn't know where she was or if she was dead or alive. All he knew was that if the body is not brought back within two weeks, then he'll have no choice but to ignore it as he proceeds with everyone to attack Konoha. He didn't tell the other clan members of a chance that the plan might be revealed because he believed that whether or not Konoha did find out; they wouldn't have the man power to defeat his army. He was Reed Uzumaki, the oldest Uzumaki still living, and not once did he ever care for the glory or fame like the new generation of shinobi; getting his revenge will be enough for him, even if he has to sacrifice a few of his blood, and his men, in order to achieve that long standing goal. Once he got to his room, he looked at the photo with his granddaughters sitting on his lap; in that brief moment he let a tear slide down, then wiped it away. He changed his clothe, and then got to bed. Even if he was still able to fight, his body was old and needed longer rest than the young shinobi. 'It won't be long now. Just two more weeks' and he fell asleep with that thought in mind.

Jiyuna waited until she heard Sakura close the door before opening her eyes. Despite the fever she felt, she could not sleep. The whole fight scene had reminded her of the battle that she and Itachi had once faced that nearly was fatal:

Flashback 8 years ago

She and Itachi had met up again, this time in the land of Rivers in Tanigakure. Itachi appeared to have left his partner somewhere in the village of the mist. When she asked him about it, all Itachi said was, "He has some business there". Jiyuna knew that Itachi didn't like to talk much about what he did, so she left it silent at that. They had gone to eat at a small café in Tanigakure, with Itachi using his hat as a cover in case anyone recognized him. She just wore her usual ninja attire since she technically wasn't a missing-in. Itachi had planned to extract information from the leader of certain whereabouts for future recruits of the S-class group he was in. Jiyuna had decided to tag along since she wasn't planning on doing anything else for the week after visiting her Kaa-san's grave; it had been 5 years since her death. She would talk idle chatter, while he would just listen, until she mentioned going to her Kaa-sans gravestone.

"You're Kaa-sans grave? How long has it been since her passing?" This had caught her by surprise as he usually tends to not ask about her past unless he deems it important.

"It's been 5 years. She died when I was 9 years old."

"How did it happen?"

"She took an attack for me, and the weapon had been soaked with poison. By the time I got her to a doctor, it was too late; her heart had been practically eaten by it"

His face stayed calm and neutral, but his eyes showed of surprise; she always seemed to be able to tell what he was feeling from the look of his eyes. It amazed her sometimes because there were many who were far too scared to look him directly in his eyes.

Itachi looked like he was about to say something, but turned his head away as Jiyuna felt a strong presence nearby. She was about to ask Itachi about it, when an explosion went off. This caused all of the people in the café to run out as ninjas came from the ceiling; the look of their headbands showed that they were from the stone village. There were six of them in total.

"Well now, what do we have here; two rouge ninja, and from the looks of it your Itachi Uchiha" one of them said.

When it comes to fights, Jiyuna's emotions turn more calm and a bit sarcastic, "Technically, you have one rouge ninja; I've never belonged to any village."

"Like it matters, you just talking with this criminal is enough to capture you as well." Another said as he suddenly appeared from behind. Before his attack landed, however, her chains grabbed his arm, and slammed him against the wall.

"You bitch" all five of them started to spring forward.

She and Itachi split, and started handing them separately; three for him and two for her. One was tall and the other was short. The tall one called out one of his rock attacks, while the short one called for a mud one. She made some hand signs, and a water shield appeared, blocking both attacks.

She threw a kunai at the tall man, chakra enhanced, and he moved out of the way, but got cut a bit on the shoulder. The other one sprinted forward, and she pumped some chakra into her feet in order to dash forward, meeting his sword with a sword she wielded. They had just passed each other, with a few seconds pause, until she heard him groan and fall onto the ground; the front had been sliced deeply. Looking at the tall man who landed on the ground, his mouth was bleeding. The kunai that was thrown earlier was laced with poison that kills slowly, but painfully. His body swayed, and he fell on his front.

"W-what's h-happening?" the tall man asked.

"The kunai that was thrown at you was laced with poison; it'll take a while for you to die, but it will be very painful, not that I plan on leaving you to live those next few days" she said, stabbing him in the head.

The level of the two was chunin level; too low to face in a fight. Turning her head to see how far Itachi had gone, it appeared not far at all. She decided to slowly walk there; usually Itachi would finish before her fights.

When she got closer, she started running based on what her eyes were seeing; Itachi was too focused with the stone ninja in front of him to realize their was one reappearing from behind, ready to stab him with a sword. In one swift motion, the sword made a piercing sound, and blood was spilling on the floor. The stone ninja looked so surprised that he didn't react as she threw the kunai at his head; he died instantly.

"Fool, that was pointless" Itachi had come to take a good look, while pulling the sword out; it had pierced the lung. Her vision started blacking out, and she turned to look at his face; the neutral face he usually wore was replaced by absolute horror. Her eyes closed as the world turned black.

The next time she woke, there was a white ceiling and a bunch of mumbling sounds; her head was in such a haze that she couldn't make much of it.

"Quick, her lung is beginning to fail"

"The surgery will need every bit of concentration, don't let anyone come in"

"Just continue the oxygen flowing in her"

Who needed surgery? And why was a gas mask being put on her mouth. She would have gotten up and pushed them away, but not only did her mind feel fuzzy, but her body felt heavy as well.

The gas mask was starting to put her back to sleep, and the only thing she could think of was where Itachi went.

The next time she woke up, her mind was clearer. She felt a sharp pain when she attempted to get up, but she ignored it. It defiantly was a hospital. 'I guess it wasn't my time yet' which left her to one question, what happened?

"Already awake, yet not resting like your suppose to" a voice that startled her had placed a hand on her shoulder, and pushed her back to lie down.

Turning her head, she saw Itachi standing there, with his hand on her shoulder, but what surprised her was his facial expression; it was of relief and exhaustion.

"Itachi, are you alright?" Ever since they had met, he only ever wore the neutral look with sometimes an annoyance or smirk. She didn't have to look into his eyes this time to read him.

"I'm not the one who nearly died, and it better not happen again. Go back to sleep, I'll still be here in the morning" Itachi said.

"But your partner-

"Can wait, my priority right now is your recovery" Itachi interrupted.

She wanted to argue a bit more, but her eyelids were starting to get heavy again. She slowly closed her eyes, as she heard a whisper come out of his mouth, "…..if you were to die, I really think that I wouldn't be able to handle it" it was so soft that she thought she had imagined it, just like she imagined the feel of his hand on hers.

Flashback end

'I guess I really can't keep good on my word to not do stupid actions' Naruto is considered to be one of the heroes in the world. He didn't actually need her help. 'Heh, no matter, what's happened has happened, and it's not as deadly as last time' she laid back down, thinking some sleep might be for the best. As she calmed down, her hearing and other senses sharpened, and before she fell asleep, a loud question "Huh" was heard behind her door.

"….Huh?" That was the response she could give him. His words had taken her by surprise, or more like what he said.

Sasuke just had an amused expression after hearing her response; that just earned him a glare.

"It's been two years Sasuke, of course I look different. You've changed in appearance as well" Sakura said.

"Hn" Sasuke answered, but he kept his eyes on her, unsure of what else to do.

Sighing, Sakura just grabbed one of the chairs nearby, and took a seat near him, "okay, what's on your mind that you're so reluctant to share?"

A little taken aback by her boldness, Sasuke opens his mouth, and then shuts it closed. His eyebrows narrow, then he shake his head.

Sakura wondered what could cause him to even speak the first sentence, let alone contemplate on what to say; how much could Sasuke have changed within the past two years?

"…..Was the past two years on your journey what you expected?" Sakura hesitantly asked.

Snapping his head back at her, he originally was going to give her the usual 'ah' answer, but he remembered that he was supposed to make an effort to converse, especially with Sakura.

"…It was different than my first time, before the war. I saw how the alliance remained intact even after the war. The past two months were spent in the land of waves" Sasuke explained.

Sakura's eyebrows shot up at this; Sasuke not only said full sentences, but he went to the place where the first C rank mission as a team did.

"I saw Inari and his family. They told me of their visit back when Pein had destroyed the village. Did you know they named the bridge after Naruto? The great Naruto Bridge is the name of it"

"No I didn't. It must have been named after we completed our mission back then. Seems that Hinata wasn't the only one who acknowledged Naruto back then" Sakura had a smile on her face as if remembering back then.

"Was it a scary mission that was capable of getting Naruto-oji popular?" the sound of Itachi's voice broke in.

Sakura just turned to him and smiled, "Hai, it was. I, Naruto, and Sasuke-kun were a team when we were twelve years old, and wave was the first C rank mission we did together. It was actually an A rank in reality, but we continued. We didn't want to abandon the city since back then it was being harassed by a criminal. We were barely ninja back then, only a month after graduating" Sakura explained to Itachi.

"Then, how did Naruto-oji have a bridge named after him, was he strong back then as well?" Itachi asked.

Sakura was about to talk, but Sasuke beat her to it, "Back then he was known as the dead-last, a failure, and he couldn't go head to head with me back then. He, however, had a strength that most don't possess; the ability to change a person's perceptive. By convincing one person to be brave, it spread throughout the rest of wave, and they had recovered the courage they once lost. The one who created the bridge understood this, and named it the 'Great Naruto Bridge' in hopes of it remaining strong for decades to come."

Sakura was stunned; not even she knew why they had called it the Great Naruto Bridge. It suddenly occurred to her that not just Sasuke's looks were different; his wall that he always had as a child was mostly gone; the guarded look in his eyes had vanished.

A squeaking noise was heard, and all three of them turned to the sound. A small head had popped from behind the door, "Ni-san, why is the window broken; its cold!"

Hanger, hehe.

For all those clans, their Japanese names, some are animal names, don't remember what the rest were.

Sasuke said in chapter 1 that he was going to try to open up more, so I tried to make an awkward Sasuke while talking, I don't think it worked though.

Cheers everyone, Reviews are helpful