Chapter 10
By: I'm Gay Dammit
The team waited on the bridge a couple of agonizing moments before they heard rustling from the bushes. Angel and the rest stiffened, ready to attack in case it was the Akatsuki. Sasuke had been inching his hands on his pocket for a couple of kunai, when equally red eyes met his own. Sasuke took his chance and threw a kunai swiftly, invisible for the naked eye to see, but it flew. The opponent merely sidestepped in incredible speed, making everyone gasp in amazement except for Angel. The kunai hit the tree behind the man with a thunk.
"Eh?" Naruto suddenly managed. Naruto was beyond any feeling, gazing at the newcomer. He looks exactly like Sasuke!
"Hn." Came a grunt.
"Figures." Kakashi grinned.
"Itachi!" Sasuke confirmed, almost running over his brother to give him a huge bear hug. He's an Uchiha and Uchiha's don't do that so instead, he calmly walked over in front his brother, looked up, gave a small smile and hugged Itachi.
Itachi eagerly wrapped his arms around his little brother, trying to convince himself not to cry in public. He would have to cry later when no one is present. Itachi tightened his hold as if afraid that Sasuke might go away, and leaned his head down.
"I missed you, ototou." Itachi whispered in Sasuke's ear.
"Me too, aniki." Was Sasuke's raspy reply to his brother.
Itachi chuckled softly, a thing he hadn't done in years, and pulled back from the hug. Itachi surveyed his brother. He noticed that Sasuke's face had matured a bit, but looked pretty much the same. Sasuke's height had boosted up slightly but he was still taller and his body, Itachi would have to say that Sasuke's training did his body well.
Itachi tore his eyes away from his brother a moment and gazed at the rest. First his eyes landed on a pink hair, red dress and strong green eyes.
Ah, the Haruno girl. Itachi inspected. He had remembered her during Sasuke's toddler days and during their briefly meetings during battle.
Itachi greeted her with a nod before tilting his head slightly to gaze over Kakashi. Itachi came to the conclusion that the sensei hadn't changed much, considering he still had that vulgar book in his hands. Will he ever put down that book?
He then turned his attention to the ninja who's after almost everyone, Naruto. Itachi had noted that the blonde had abandoned his orange outfit for a tank top and shorts that seemed to be too big. Is that an Uchiha crest? Itachi raised his eyebrow at the shorts, but said nothing. He knew that Sasuke would make his move to finally tell the blonde, but he didn't think it would be that fast. Itachi noticed that the blonde's whisker marks seemed to be darker than he had last seen the container. Not good.
"This is all very lovely of course, but I'm afraid we have to leave before the Akatsuki notices I fled." Itachi said, his arm still on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Give him, Sasuke." Naruto ordered, mentioning the backpack.
"You might want to change into these, aniki." Sasuke suggested as he handed the bag to his brother who took it with a questioning glance. "They're your clothes."
"Right, thank you. I'll just take a second." Itachi said, taking off his Akatsuki cloak and mesh shirt.
"Wah-? Hey!" Naruto exclaimed, turning his head around quickly before blushing. "I think Sasuke meant in the bushes." The muttering blonde said.
"Innocent, Naruto." Itachi smirked in amusement, as did Sasuke.
Itachi then put on a dark blue high collared shirt, much like they used to wear in the Uchiha household, with the big Uchiha emblem on the back and a pair of white pants that fell just above his ankle. Itachi, about to put the cloak and other clothes in the bag, noticed a metal object on the bottom of the bag. His lips twitched slightly to a smile before reaching to the bottom of the bag to retrieve it. He grasped it and held it out in his hands to inspect his old hitai-ate, devoid of any scratch marks.
"You can turn around now, Naruto." Kakashi chuckled. "You too, Sakura."
"Oh, good!" Naruto said, turning around and inspecting the new Itachi. He looks kinda cool. Did all the Uchihas look like that?
"We better hurry and start walking otherwise, we won't be able to give us some distance from the Akatsuki when they find out." Kakashi suggested.
"Kakashi-san is correct. I sense that the Akatsuki will be after us soon." Angel said.
"Let's go then!" Naruto pumped up his fist and started walking, the group following his example.
"How is Konohagakure doing, sensei?" Itachi asked the ninja.
Itachi had remembered Kakashi during his old academy days. He had remembered his classmate who was a student of Kakashi, crying because their team had failed during the first day. Itachi then researched the sensei a bit and found out that Kakashi never passed any of his students, not until, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Itachi used to wonder why he passed the three but now he knows. Quite a strong bunch, I suppose. The Haruno girl may not look much but she's quite intelligent. Akatsuki will definitely have a hard time fighting for Naruto's jinchuriki.
"Konoha is at its best, I suppose. With Naruto and the rest of the former rookie nine, Akatsuki and Orochimaru will probably have a hard time fighting. Especially now that you are here to join Konoha's side." Kakashi said, lifting his head momentarily from the book.
"Isn't Angel going to fight? I am quite certain that even Orochimaru isn't aware of the existence of a guardian, especially Angel." Itachi wondered.
"It's all up to Naruto if Angel will fight or not. But I think that if Naruto forbids her to fight for him, Angel will definitely face the temptation of breaking a rule. And I think, that will be the first rule she'll break." Kakashi answered, burying his head back into his book. "Either way, this might be Orochimaru's final battle against Konoha."
"As well as the Akatsuki's." Itachi nodded, watching Sasuke and Naruto talking. Well, it was more like Naruto doing all the talking while Sasuke was listening and nodding. "Sensei?" Itachi hesitated.
"Yes?" Kakashi looked up once more. "What's the matter?"
"Are they? What I mean to say, is little brother…" Itachi had never stuttered before in his life and cursed himself for starting now. Kakashi smirked.
"Yes, they're already going out." Kakashi said.
"Oh." Itachi muttered. "Sasuke finally made his move, I see."
"The tension between them was something else, I feel like suffocating every time I'm between those two." Kakashi chuckled, remembering all the awkward moments the team had. "I'm glad they finally have each other."
"Hn." Itachi smiled gently, still watching Naruto and Sasuke talking. Naruto had leaned into Sasuke a bit, Itachi noted. He's probably not aware of it. "Mother would be proud."
I wish you were here to see your baby finally trusting someone enough to let him or her love him. Itachi smiled sadly. He would sometimes regret ever killing his family, but every time he would look at Sasuke the regret that was filling his heart would go away because he killed his family for his brother's safety. He didn't want his brother to become like a tool for the clan, like he had been.
"I'm quite certain that Naruto is the cause of that." Kakashi said. "Despite the fact that Naruto didn't had any parents to love or care for him, he learned what those feelings meant when he met Sasuke. He used to be incapable of any emotions associated to love and care."
"They are quite alike and yet so different." Itachi replied, nodding as he did so. "They both wanted acknowledgement when they needed it most but nobody gave it to them. It made them stronger."
"Yes, especially Naruto." Kakashi chuckled, remembering all the times Iruka would run around the village looking for Naruto before he could get into trouble once more. "Naruto did a lot of shit to get attention, he even vandalized the Hokage Mountain once while all Sasuke had to do is nothing and get all the attention to himself. Sasuke hated it and I think that's what made them close. Sasuke was the only other person aside from Iruka and me to truly acknowledge Naruto's true potential as a ninja and a person."
"It's quite a privilege to meet a person like Naruto. A person like him only comes once within a century." Itachi agreed.
Naruto and Sasuke had been playing some odd game that Sasuke didn't fully understand to keep the dobe busy and still, even only for just a few moments. Sasuke was truly trying to understand what they were doing but it seems that only Naruto can make sense of it. Naruto was the one who invented the game in the first place.
"Sasuke, what are you doing?" Naruto frowned and crossed his arms. "That's not part of the game!"
The two teens still unaware of everyone watching them in amusement.
"I don't understand the concept of it!" Sasuke protested.
"Its quite simple, even a monkey could understand why can't you?" Naruto countered.
"A genius wouldn't understand the game even if his life depended on it!" Sasuke bit back.
"Do I have to explain every two minutes?" Naruto asked, exasperated. "Never mind. Let's just play something else."
"Finally." Sasuke muttered, his headache starting to subside. "What do you suggest dobe? And no more of your invented games, it's quite complicated for the normal brain to understand."
"Oi! I don't see you making any suggestions, teme!" Naruto gesticulated wildly, making the rest of the group to chuckle.
"Are they always like this?" Itachi asked Sakura.
"Yeah." She giggled. "Those are their pet names for each other."
"They are quite dysfunctional." Itachi confirmed. Still watching the two decide on what to play.
"You don't know the half of it." Sakura muttered under her breath. "As if going through puberty isn't enough, I had to go through it with those two idiots. The sexual tension was so thick I can cut it with a bread knife. It's quite a miracle we're still alive. Going through puberty with those two was awkward."
"I can only imagine." Itachi smirked.
A moment of silence lapsed the group except for Naruto's constant chatter. By now, the group was quite used by Naruto's babbling that its almost background noise to them. When after a moment Naruto decided that he was tired of talking, he turned to the teen beside him. The raven in question, Sasuke, glanced at Naruto noticing the blonde was staring quite intensely.
"What?" Sasuke huffed.
"Nothing." The blonde bit his lips in curiosity.
"You're a bad liar." Sakura supplied with a smile.
After a while, Naruto and Sasuke fell back to the group so now they were walking with the team 7 on front with Kakashi, Itachi and Angel following them behind.
"I was just wondering." Naruto answered evasively.
"What about?" Sasuke asked the kitsune.
"I was wondering how come you don't look as happy as you should be now that Itachi's here." Naruto said quietly making Sasuke stop. "I hope you're not mad."
"Why would I be mad?" Sasuke smiled softly at the blonde. "I may not look like it but on the inside I feel pretty ecstatic."
"That's good then." Naruto grinned but stiffened afterwards.
The rest of the group seemed to have noticed as they immediately started checking their surroundings.
"I…I…" Naruto started stuttering uncontrollably, he was also shaking. His eyes were frantic in worry and beads of cold sweat starting to form on his face. He seems to be seeing something, like remembering a painful memory all of a sudden.
Sasuke grabbed the boy in the shoulders, gripping him close in worry.
"What's wrong? Naruto what's the matter?" Sasuke asked the distraught blonde. "What's happening? Sensei!"
In a panic, Itachi and Kakashi activated their Sharinggan eyes and looked at Naruto. They don't see anything out of the ordinary; the fox's chakra was even suppressed. Angel closed her eyes and tried to read the blonde's mind.
Akatsuki…I can feel…Is that them?...Orochimaru…I can't…This weird feeling…
Angel disconnected her connection with the blonde's mind and extended the range of her chakra, trying to feel other chakra signatures. She felt her body twitch slightly when her chakra met with a large, angry and bright red chakra signature. What is this?
"Sensei!" Angel snapped in urgency. "It might be Orochimaru!"
"What?" Sakura asked, trying to check the blonde whether he had sustained internal injuries.
Sasuke and Itachi growled simultaneously at the mention of the snake's name. Sasuke furrowed his brows as he stared at the shaking blonde in front of him, still delusional.
"Sas'…ke…" Naruto slurred, bringing up his arms to wrap around the raven's neck. "Sasuke…"
"What is it? What's wrong?" Sasuke hugged back tightly, as if afraid that if he let go, Naruto would start his delusional state once more.
"Oro…chimaru." He gasped, tears edging his eyes. "He's doing… something to me."
"What is he…?" Sasuke cut his sentence short in terrible horror. The blonde boy in his arms had gone limp, pale and cold. "Naruto? Naruto!"
Hearing Sasuke screamed the blonde's name in desperation, Angel instantly went by Sasuke's side and checked for the blonde's pulse. She felt none.
"What…?"
Author's Note: Cliffhanger! Dun. Dun. Dun. Dun. Yes, my exams are finally over and I have my internet back! Finally, the stupid landlady decided to fix the damn thing interfering with my wireless so, from now on I'll have more time to write and post to this story.
Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I just couldn't resist. XD I'm a bastard, I know.