Okay all, chapter fourteen is here. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks to all my readers for reading, all my reviewers for reviewing and to all of you who added me to your alerts and faves lists and such. I always appreciate it.
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Lost.
Chapter Fourteen – Akatsuki Battle Royale Commences! Trick To The Seal Revealed!
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Sasuke walked into the house, wondering why it was so quiet. "Where are Sakura and Naruto?" Sasuke thought to himself. That was when he noticed Naruto lying on the sofa. Sasuke smirked, and shook his head. He walked over and nudged Naruto a bit. "Naruto. Wake up Dobe." Sasuke said. Naruto stayed still. That was when Sasuke noticed a few cracked pellets on the floor. "Sleep gas? Who would gas Naruto?" Sasuke said to himself. He shook Naruto a bit more, and when that didn't work, Sasuke walked into the kitchen, turned on the cold tap and filled a large glass with icy water. He took the glass of water and threw it all over Naruto's head. The young Jinchuriki yelped loudly and fell off of the sofa.
"What the hell was that for Teme!?" Naruto yelled.
"You've been knocked out with sleep gas. Do you even remember how it happened?" Sasuke asked. Naruto's eyes went wide.
"Sakura-Chan! She knocked me out!" Naruto yelled. He jumped up from the floor and made to run out of the door, when he started to wobble. Sasuke blinked and went to support Naruto from one side.
"Naruto you're going to have trouble walking around too quickly. Even with my help. Sleep gas? Remember?" Sasuke reminded. Naruto nodded. "We need to go and see Tsunade. Hopefully this stuff will wear off before we get to her office. Maybe the fresh air will help." Sasuke added. Naruto nodded and the pair left the house, closing the door behind them.
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Itachi stared at Sakura in confusion. Sakura just stared back at him. "I knew something wasn't right. Tsunade-Shishou hasn't given our team any missions for a while. She'd never send Naruto out on his own yet. So when I found out it was Danzo who'd given Naruto the mission, I knocked Naruto out with sleep gas and left disguising myself with a Henge. I couldn't let him get hurt again Itachi-kun." Sakura said softly. Itachi sighed.
"You thought no one would notice?" Itachi asked.
"Well you're the only one that did." Sakura stated. Kisame smirked.
"Itachi why don't we forget about fighting, after all, you know you can't exactly kill me Itachi, you haven't got the energy." Kisame spat out. Sakura looked at Itachi through a medic's eyes.
"He does seem tired." She thought to herself. "Itachi-kun, what is he talking about?" Sakura asked.
"Nothing Sakura. Go back to the village and get some help." Itachi stated seriously.
"I'm not leaving you to fight alone Itachi!" Sakura exclaimed.
"If you don't go and get help, he might just kill us both. Go and find your father or Tsunade-Sama. Get some back up." Itachi stated.
"What back up?" Both Itachi and Sakura heard a woman speak.
"Konan?" Itachi asked. Konan just jumped down from a tree with a grin on her face.
"Well Itachi, you might as well let the kid stay. After all, Konan and I are perfectly capable of helping you." Pein quipped.
"I want her out of here. She isn't safe." Itachi hissed. Sakura stared at the trio in shock.
"When is a Ninja, Shinobi or Kunoichi, ever safe?" Konan asked. Itachi sighed then took up a defensive position near Sakura. Kisame just smirked at the group, his sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight.
"Well, it looks like I'm going to get a fun fight after all." Kisame stated cheerfully. Pein and Konan took up their own positions as Kisame charged towards them.
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Tsunade stared at Sai, Kakashi acted unperturbed, as Sai handed Tsunade a large notebook. "What is this?" She asked in confusion.
"I have a seal on my tongue, stopping me from speaking as I wish, but the book has everything I know." Sai replied. Tsunade opened the book and as she read, her eyes went wider. She looked at Sai.
"Are you sure about all of this?" Tsunade asked.
"Yes, I'm deadly sure. Naruto is in danger." Sai replied. That was when Naruto walked into the room, being supported by Sasuke.
"Naruto?" Tsunade asked gently.
"Sakura-Chan knocked me out!" Naruto yelled irritably. The group stared at each other in shock as Naruto's words settled over them all.
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Kisame swung Samehade at Konan, who floated away into pieces of paper. She reformed behind him, as Pein used a super-powered fist to punch Kisame in the face. Itachi kept near Sakura. "Itachi-Kun, aren't you going to help them?" Sakura asked.
"At the moment, keeping you protected is my main concern. Pein and Konan can take very good care of themselves." Itachi replied. Sakura watched as the fight carried on.
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"Sakura's gone in Naruto's place. She must have done." Sai shot out.
"Sakura's done what!?" Sasuke and Naruto yelled out.
"I'll explain." Tsunade said softly. "Danzo gave you a mission scroll right?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded. Sasuke and Kakashi stared at Naruto expectantly. "The mission was a fake. I wouldn't send you on a lone mission yet. I'd send you with Sakura, Sasuke, Sai and Kakashi. Or even Itachi. I wouldn't send you alone." Tsunade said gently.
"So Danzo was trying to trick me into leaving the village by myself! Why?" Naruto asked.
"To hand you over to Akatsuki's Kisame. He made a deal with Madara Uchiha, the founder of Akatsuki." Tsunade replied. Sasuke growled angrily.
"So Sakura's walked into a trap!?" Sasuke yelled.
"Did you talk to her about your mission before you were knocked out?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, I told her how I got the scroll from Danzo and how apparently, he'd given it to me from you, so I could go and do a quick mission outside the village. He told me that we didn't have enough manpower for the task so Tsunade was letting me go. She knew it was a lie." Naruto shot out. Tsunade nodded.
"She had no way of knowing that it was Akatsuki she was going to meet." Tsunade replied.
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Sakura watched as Konan used her origami jutsu to cut across Kisame's skin. The shark-like man was bleeding from a numerous amount of deep paper cuts. Whenever he tried to cut into her, she faded into sheaves of origami paper, or Pein stopped Kisame with his own techniques.
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"We need to go after her." Kakashi hissed frantically.
"We have to. She'll be killed all by herself with Akatsuki!" Sasuke yelled. Naruto blinked.
"Itachi isn't here." Naruto said softly. The group in the room stared at him. "Well think about it you guys. If Itachi isn't here, then he wasn't at the house. He would've usually been the first to find me knocked out. After all, he finishes his missions pretty quickly. He comes back home to write his reports. Sasuke shouldn't have been the first to find me." Naruto stated.
"What does that mean Naruto?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke's eyes widened with his own realisation.
"He means that Itachi obviously noticed Sakura sneaking out of the village. He must have followed her. If he hadn't then he'd be here." Sasuke stated. Naruto nodded.
"Exactly. He worries about all of us. He would've been with one of us. Either he would've found Sasuke or Kakashi-Sensei and travelled back home with them, therefore all of you would've found me, or he would've travelled back to the house and therefore found me first. The only explanation is that he's followed, and is with, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed.
"We'd better go and follow him. He'll need back up." Kakashi stated. Sai, Sasuke and Naruto nodded and all four left the office. Tsunade just blinked and let her head fall to the table with a thunk. She wondered exactly how much else she was going to find in Sai's little notebook and she also wasn't sure if she was relieved or not, about the idea that Itachi had followed Sakura out of the village. It was a total mess, and Tsunade could only hope that the group reached them in time, to make sure no one got hurt.
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Kisame was still up against Konan and Pein, when he headed straight for Sakura. Itachi held his position, ready to stop Kisame in his tracks. His Sharingan was activated, as he glared Kisame down. That was when a group of Konoha ninja burst through the trees. Sakura saw Sasuke, Naruto, who still looked a little woozy from the sleeping gas she'd used, Kakashi and Sai, ready to attack. Kisame glared angrily. Even he wasn't able to get rid of that many opponents, and still have the energy to take on a Jinchuriki afterwards, especially the Jinchuriki of Kyubi. He retreated as the group watched curiously. Sakura looked at Naruto, who gave her a curious expression in return. "I'm sorry Naruto. I just didn't want you to be in danger." Sakura apologised.
"I'm not angry because you knocked me out Sakura-Chan. I'm angry because you went and put yourself in danger, all alone. Yeah Itachi saw you and followed you, but what if he hadn't seen you? What if you had been here on your own? Then what?" Naruto questioned seriously. Sakura didn't know how to answer. Naruto bit his lip and started walking back towards the village. The rest of the group followed him in silence.
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Naruto was sat silently on the porch of the Uchiha house. The screen door was open and Itachi could see that Naruto was sat where he and Sasuke had always sat as children. Itachi had taken note of Naruto's quietness for the rest of the day. Even when Tsunade had given Pein and Konan conditional probation to stay in the village, Naruto had stayed quiet. He hadn't spoken two words since he'd told Sakura off earlier that day and he seemed troubled. Itachi went and sat next to the blond teen. Naruto didn't even blink. "Naruto what's wrong?" Itachi asked.
"Sakura could've gotten hurt. It was because I was careless. I let my guard down. I keep forgetting that you can't just let your guard down all the time. Every time things are comfortable I shouldn't just go with the flow. I know better. I should be watching my every move. I should know that people are willing to attack me. It was just luck that you were there and even more luck that Konan and Pein turned up. Otherwise you both could've been killed and it would've been my fault." Naruto said sadly. Itachi ruffled the blond hair gently.
"Naruto you can't anticipate everything in the Ninja world. You've still got a lot to learn. You're still young to the way of the Shinobi life. This isn't your fault. You should have been able to trust a member of your own village. Danzo knew this. He's an old man. He's learnt plenty of lessons. But I can tell you why he will never reach his goals." Itachi said softly. Naruto waited with baited breath. "Because he doesn't let his guard down. To make friends… allies… you have to let your guard down sometimes. You can't just keep to yourself. You also can't keep your guard up with the people that you care about." Itachi added. Naruto turned his head to look into the house. He could see Sakura sat on a chair, looking out of one of the windows. He could also see sorrow on her face. "She thinks that you're angry with her." Itachi said softly. Naruto nodded and walked into the house, leaving Itachi to ponder his own problems.
"You haven't told them." Itachi looked at Pein.
"I hardly told anyone. I will not be the one to burden them." Itachi stated. Pein gave a quirky smirk.
"You can't go on like this forever. Consider going to see the Hokage. She's supposed to be the greatest healer in all the five nations. In fact they say she's the greatest healer to ever exist. If anyone can help you it would be her." Pein said plainly.
"I'll consider it." Itachi replied.
"Don't consider too long." Pein replied. He left the elder Uchiha brother to his own thoughts.
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Naruto sat on the windowsill in front of Sakura. She looked at him sadly. "I just didn't want you to get hurt Naruto. I knew it was stupid. But I was thinking about your safety. I know I could've done better things. I could've gone to Tsunade and told her, but then we never would've found out who Danzo was working for. I…" Sakura trailed off as she looked at Naruto. Naruto gave Sakura a soft smile.
"I keep forgetting that you're all capable of looking after yourselves. I also keep forgetting that I can't be there all the time to protect you." Naruto said gently. Sakura looked at Naruto curiously. "I'm not mad at you Sakura. I would've probably done the same thing. I'm mad at myself. You could've been really hurt today and it would've been my fault because you were trying to protect me. We need to learn to trust in each other's abilities. I also need to learn that I can't do everything alone." Naruto added. "I'm sorry for yelling at you." Naruto finished. Sakura smiled widely and threw her arms around Naruto's waist. The pair hugged happily. Neither taking note of Itachi watching over them. A smile spread softly across his face.
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Sasuke was walking along the village paths. He was angry that Danzo seemed to have escaped. "I'll catch that old bastard if it's the last thing I do." He thought to himself. That was when he caught sight of Danzo, sneaking into an Anbu warehouse building. Sasuke knew what was in that building. All the restricted files. He decided to go after the old man. "He's not getting away." Sasuke thought to himself as he snuck in after Danzo.
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Sai was sat with Tsunade. "So you used the notebook to write everything you know because you couldn't say a word?" Tsunade asked. She knew better then to mention Danzo's name in the conversation.
"That's right. I've only just figured out how to do it. I never knew it would be so simple to get around the seal on my tongue." Sai replied. That was when the pair heard an explosion near one of the restricted Anbu buildings.
"It must be to do with Danzo." Tsunade stated. Sai nodded, as the pair looked out over the village. Smoke was rising into the sky from the spot where Tsunade knew the restricted files building was. The pair left to find out the cause of the explosion.
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Naruto and Sakura had also noted the explosion. Itachi, Pein, Konan and Kakashi were all by their side in what seemed like moments. "We should go and check it out." Naruto said. The others seemed to agree, as everyone left the house at top speed.