Ch.10 The battle between Leaf and Akatsuki.

By Alicia Hamilton.

Naruto kept pacing around the KazeKage's room he was tired of waiting, tired of wondering when he could go back to the Leaf. Gaara was sitting at the head of the table filling out papers for his village. Temari and Kankuro were standing beside him in case he needed anything.

"Naruto you shouldn't worry so much." Began Gaara. Gaara and Naruto were very good friends. Gaara understood why Naruto wanted to help. The Akatsuki were not only targeting the tailed beasts but they were also targeting his friends.

"Curse Grandma Tsunade, I should be helping them not standing here useless." Complained Naruto who was still pacing back and forth. That is when Neji and Tenten entered the room.

"Naruto stop being an idiot, you being there would only cause more problems." Began Neji.

"Grr… I want to fight the Akatsuki they almost killed Gaara and then they tried to kidnap Hinata!" said Naruto. Hinata was sitting in a chair blushing. She never realized that Naruto cared for her.

"Listen Naruto I would be fighting too if the Akatsuki weren't targeting the Byakugan. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride. You can't always fight the fight, sometimes you have to watch from the sidelines. I know that, Tsunade knows that and you should know that." Explained Neji. Tenten was not sure what to say now that she was well and able to walk on her own so she just stood beside Neji. They belonged together now more than ever.

Naruto put his arms across his chest and just closed his eyes and pretended to stare at Neji. Finally he steamed down and sat down beside Hinata.

"Well Naruto I will send a letter to Tsunade once I hear word that the Akatsuki have given up on the Byakugan." Offered Gaara.

"Thanks Gaara but I'll talk to Grandma when we get back. She hasn't seen the last of me yet. Believe it!" smiled Naruto beginning to feel cocky again.

Tsunade and the many other ninjas were waiting for the Akatsuki to show up and surely they did within time. To their surprise it wasn't all of them only Kisame and Itachi. Tsunade stood to the front with Guy and Kakashi not far behind.

"Well I see we are being welcomed this time, Itachi. Want me to handle them?" asked Kisame. Itachi stayed silent and didn't answer his question instead he looked to Tsunade.

"Where is the ones with the Byakugan?" asked Itachi.

"I'm right here." Offered Hizashi as he stood in the back lines protected by the Anbu ninjas.

"We have no interest in your any longer. We want a fresh young set of eyes. Maybe we'll take your youngest." Smiled Kisame.

"You'll never touch any of my family ever again." Declared Hizashi with pride.

"Itachi and Kisame let it be known the Leaf village will defeat the Akatsuki here and now." Stated Tsunade.

"Hmm" Itachi muttered. Kisame took his gigantic shark sword out of its wrapping. He looked to Itachi waiting for his signal. Itachi nodded and the fight began.

Tsunade punched a hole in the ground and thought she had sent them flying but Itachi already had her in his genjustsu. Guy and Kakashi were focusing on Kisame working together to avoid the sharkskin from his sword.

"Kakashi, let's show him the power of Youth!" smiled Guy as he unleashed 5 gates at once and charged at Kisame. Kakashi used his sharingan to see if Kisame was really Kisame and not just an illusion. Surely enough it was Kisame. Tsunade had fallen for Itachi's Genjustsu and Guy seemed to have a good hand with Kisame so Kakashi went over to help Tsunade.

"Itachi you can't fool me." Stated Kakashi.

"Hmm." Muttered Itachi. That seemed to be all he ever said. Itachi was never very talkative but if anyone stood a chance of defeating him it was Kakashi. Kakashi used his sharingan to make sure Itachi wasn't fooling him and the fight began.

They exchanged jutsus back and forth and the battle seemed to be wearing on the both of them. Itachi dodged each of Kakashi's lighting blades easily and Kakashi was able to avoid Itachi's best move his genjustsu with his sharingan. Kakashi knew it would not be easy to defeat Itachi after all he used to be part of their village. Kakashi had to be cautious and not spend all his chakra on one enemy. Surely the other Akatsuki were not that far off. Why would the leader only send two of them if they really wanted to take the Byakugan. Kakashi knew there was only two ways for them to stop them. They either had to capture them or kill them and Kakashi knew Itachi wouldn't be easy to capture or to kill. This was going to be a long day and he knew this was no time to think about it but he kept wondering what the next chapter in his book was going to be about. He focused his attention back on the fight. Tsunade had gotten out of Itachi's jutsu and was healing some of the other ninjas. Ninjas were scrambling back and forth. They were either taking weakened ninjas from the fight or entering the fight. It was just two Akatsuki members, Kakashi knew this was going to be one of the hardest fights of his life.

Guy kept charging at Kisame, Kisame dodged most of the blows by using his sword to block or simply jumping out of the way, but Kisame knew Guy was a talented ninja. Kisame focused on the adjective. Fight but also distract the enemy. The other Akatsuki were searching the rest of the village for the kids with the byakugan. They would find them if they were here. Kisame and Itachi just had to keep the Leaf ninjas busy long enough to find them.

The morning sun arose before any of them realized it, it had been almost a week since they had come to the sand village. Tenten was sleeping against Neji's shoulder. Hinata was sleeping in her own room by herself and Naruto was out training like usual. Neji had barely slept at all. The thought of him being a father. It was shocking. What would Hizashi say? Would he accept Tenten into their family? Would he be mad that they didn't want until marriage? Neji had so many questions on his mind. The most important one of all was when would the Akatsuki give up on trying to get the Byakugan. They had tried to kill Tenten just to get the Byakugan from him and he had promised he would never let anyone capture her again. He hadn't know about her feelings until then but he promised he would be there for her every step of the way. He cared about her, he still wasn't sure about love but he truly deeply cared for her and he wouldn't abandon her now that she was pregnant with his child. Neji knew he had to take this one step at a time.

Tenten awoke and yawned lightly, she sat up and looked up to Neji. She still couldn't believe she was pregnant. That night they had spent together the night of uncertainly the night of fear and the night of many questions and one answer. Neji cared for her. She had always wondered, they were always together. Neji was probably one of the reasons she was still sane. Lee and Guy were just crazy. She was glad that Neji was part of her team and also a really good looking guy. Neji was dressed in his white shirt and his white pants and the black thing wrapped around his butt. Tenten was dressed in a nice white shirt and dark blue sweats. She seemed comfortable in the clothes the Sand provided for her. Neji was concerned for her, he truly wondered if she was okay. He wanted to punch the Akatsuki in the face for trying to take her away from him. Neji didn't realize it but he had always cared about Tenten, maybe he had just never realized it before. It almost felt natural like he felt at home when he was with her. He reached out and took her hand in his and kissed it softly.

"I'm glad you're okay Tenten." Smiled Neji. Tenten blushed softly. Neji was starting to warm up to her more. Neji was never the one to say much so it was a lot for him to just mutter the words "I love you" in the public eye but she was okay with that she knew it would come in time. She just had to give him time and she knew they would grow closer day by day. She wondered about the ninja back home and how the battle with the Akatsuki was going. She didn't want Neji to have to worry about her or himself any longer. They should be able to go back to doing normal missions and not having to worry about the Akatsuki. She could see in Neji's eyes that he was worried not only concerned for her but concerned for Naruto and Hinata. He wanted them all to be safe even if he didn't say anything Tenten could see it in his eyes, he truly cared about all of them.

Author's Note: Hey guys it's me again. I hope you enjoyed Chapter 10 it's one of my longer chapters and I can see this fanfiction going to at least 15 chapters with the way the fan base is. I'm so glad everyone has liked this fanfiction and supported it. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought it would be interesting for Neji to get captured instead of the typical Hinata thing. Once again thanks for the support please review and comment! Constructive criticism only!

For next time.

Ch.11. Last part of the fight between Kisame, Itachi and the Leaf Village. Nagato realizes they have been fooled and orders a retreat. Neji and Tenten are stuck in the sand together stuck in the same room with Naruto and Hinata. What will happen next?