Brothers – Chapter 10: Assessment of Strengths and Weakness
Story Started: August 19, 2007
Chapter Started/Completed: October 6, 2008/October 7, 2008
CCD

A/N: Sorry about my lack of updates. I'm working full time and going to school full time, so I've been working on my original works more than my fan fiction. That doesn't mean I've given up on them, just bare with my limited time for now.

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"How long do you think it will take us to catch up to Kakashi-sensei and Naruto," Sakura asked the next morning as they prepared to go.

"I don't know, but with Sasuke's injuries, I don't want to push too much. If they realize we never met up with them like we were supposed to, protocol is for them to wait until dawn, in case we were delayed, and then come and investigate. If Kakashi uses his hounds, they should be able to find us," Itachi replied as he swung his backpack on his back and pick up his sword off the ground.

"Don't worry about me. I've been through a lot worse. The faster we catch up with them, the faster we can continue the mission," Sasuke said, a little upset over the mention of his injuries.

"You shouldn't push yourself. You'll only make yourself worse and next time I may not help you next time," Sakura said as she glared at the younger Uchiha.

Itachi turned away as he smirked. His foolish little brother had not changed since he was younger. He remembered when he had to carry his younger brother home because he had twisted his ankle trying a difficult target exercise. Sakura was also starting to grow on him. She was firm when it came to being a medical ninja and was good at what she did. However, she did have a weakness in that she cared a great deal for her team mates. He had seen it yesterday when Sasuke was nearly struck. Itachi hoped that it was something that wouldn't hinder the rest of the mission.

"All right you too. We have quite a bit of ground to cover today to get back to the rest of our team and we need to check out the battle site to see if we can find out what they were after. Let's head out, and we are going to take it easy. Let's head out."

"Pakun, how long until we find them," Naruto asked the Ninja hound.

"I can't say for sure. I do smell some blood and explosives, so there was a battle nearby. I can't really be sure if Sasuke, Itachi, and Sakura were involved until we get there," Pakun said.

"You can't tell us anything," the young blond complained.

"Naruto, you are just going to have to be patient," Kakashi said in a slight exasperating tone.

The trio quickened their pace until Pakun came to a halt. The two flipped around on a tree branch and landed next to the ninja hound.

"What's going on, Pakun?" Naruto asked.

"We've arrived at the battle scene."

The two ninja looked down to see a clearing littered with the bodies of shinobi. The jumped down to check out the damage and to see if their comrades were among the fallen. Movement off to the side caused Naruto to throw a Kunai. A shuriken was thrown in retaliation negating the attack. The blond shinobi was about to throw another knife, when he noticed blood red eyes staring back. He took a step back and took in the other features of the man.

"Sasuke!"

"Who else would I be Usuratonkachi," Sasuke replied, clearly upset that his own team mate had attacked him irrationally.

"Where are Sakura and Itachi?" Kakashi asked.

"Right here, Kakashi," Itachi said.

"What happened here?"

"We were attacked, but as for the motivation behind the attack, we're unsure as to what happened," Itachi replied to Kakashi's question.

"Any injuries?"

"We'll all have minor cuts. Sasuke was poisoned and has a bruised rib, but the poison was extracted," Sakura shot off an edited medical report.

"Were you able to get any rest?"

"A little bit, but we had to keep watch to make sure we were not attacked again. Sasuke got more rest due to his injury," Itachi said, "Did you find anything on your end?"

"We did get a tip about heading to the Land of the Waves. The path we took appears to be the path we need to take. This path must have been created as a raider's path."

Itachi nodded in agreement. He looked around at the rogue shinobi that had attacked them and took in everything that had happened. This was going to be a long mission.

"It's about two days travel to the Land of the Waves. Do the three of you feel you can travel for a bit, or would you like to get some rest?"

"I'm Ok," Itachi said as he glances at Sakura and Sasuke.

"I'm fine as well, but I'm concerned about Sasuke," the pink haired teen said.

"I feel fine. You worry too much Sakura. I got more rest than the two of you yesterday," Sasuke said.

"But…"

"Sakura, if I start to feel bad at all, I swear I will say something. Let's not waste any more time here."

"Yeah, let's go!" Naruto shouted.

Kakashi nodded and the six of them took off in a flash.

Night fell and Kakashi's squad stopped to rest for the night. They found shelter in a cave due to the fact that there were signs of rain fall. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke fell asleep fairly quickly leaving the two Jounin awake.

"So Itachi, what do you think of them so far."

"Sasuke and Naruto are reckless, but I've been on the receiving end of it, so it's something I can deal with. I am concerned about Sakura's worried behavior though."

"You mean her constant concern for Naruto and Sasuke."

Itachi nodded.

"I know that you think that it's a sign of weakness in her. We were both in ANBU and know that it's what was ingrained in us. She has seen them try to kill each other on multiple occasions and that is what led her to pursue being a medical shinobi. She sees them as family and her concern is justified. I think she can determine when to hide her concern in battle."

"Yesterday when we were attacked, she froze when Sasuke was rendered immobile by the poison. I had to step in and save him. I realize that she is a powerful fighter, but I wonder if she needs to sit out on the sidelines and work on trying to work on cutting her emotions off in battle."

"I usually use her in a defensive position, but I would like you to observe her a bit more before we decide on a rash decision. I've been working with them since they were Genin, so I know many of their strengths and their weaknesses."

Itachi nodded. Kakashi was currently team leader and his superior. He would defer to his suggestion for now. He was trying to come to get to know more about the members of the team, especially their strengths and weaknesses.

"Earlier, when you mentioned the Land of the Waves, they seemed to get excited. Have they been there before?"

"They had their first 'A' ranked mission in the Land of the Waves. They are probably looking forward to see some familiar faces there."

Kakashi told him what had happened with Gato and Zabuza that fateful trip that happened years before hand. Itachi thought it was a miracle that they survived. Kakashi told him several other stories for a while. Things from the Chunin exams and other missions they went on. They both didn't mean to stay up, but soon it was time to switch a shift.

"Naruto, wake up. It's time for your shift."

"I'm up," a groggy Naruto said as he sat strait up and rubbed his eyes.

Itachi had never seen anyone with so much energy. He climbed into his sleeping bag and watched Naruto head towards the entrance excited to be able to do something for the team. Itachi watched the nine-tailed container as he sat down at the cave entrance and look out into the night. He rolled over and glanced at the sleeping members of his team. He smiled and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

Usuratonkachi – Roughly translated it means 'total moron.' I usually don't use Japanese in my writing, but this is my favorite Japanese word, so I had to do it once. Sasuke usually calls Naruto this in the Japanese version of the Anime