Since I haven't been very good with updates lately, I have been working hard to present the next chapters! Please write suggestions in the reviews to help me progress the story! :)

"I don't want to be left behind by you again, Itachi, so I guess I'm going wherever you go..." Sasuke finally said, though his words were hesitant to come out.

"That's great news!" Naruto shouted. "We better head back to the village now; when we were leaving, a bunch of ninja were trying to catch us."

"That's true; though I'm not entirely sure what to do once we get back." Itachi sighed. Considering all things, no one knew about his past, and he had a feeling no one would believe it.

Naruto lost the happy expression on his face. "Like we agreed on before, we can figure that out when it comes."

"I don't think Madara will be very pleased once he realizes I'm gone..." Sasuke mumbled. It was bothersome that there was yet another obstacle preventing the trio from departing the location.

"His goal is to collect the tailed beasts; I doubt that he will come after you. You are a valuable asset to him, but with your allegiance elsewhere, you would be useless for his cause." Sasuke could agree with his older brother's point.

"So... Is that everything we have to figure out for now?" An impatient Naruto asked his fellow villagers.

The brothers agreed in unison. The team was finally able to leave the area and return to the village, but that came with its own troubles...

Lady Tsunade impatiently tapped her fingers on the desk located in her office. It had been hours since Itachi and Naruto had fled, and there was still no word from those in their pursuit.

At long last, relief finally came. "Kakashi! Have you received word from the tracking team?"

The jonin casually responded. "I did; just about an hour ago, around seven AM, the team reported to having seen Naruto and Itachi coming this way."

"Did they capture them?" She asked.

"No. They were told to only monitor their movements. You have to remember that this isn't just an ordinary ninja we are dealing with here; Itachi Uchiha was the pride of the Uchiha clan. However-"

"So what did you find out? All you're telling me is information I already have!"

"Right, I apologize. The team did send word that Sasuke is traveling with them. It seems they are all coming back to the village."

"What does that mean?" Tsunade wondered. "Two rogue Uchihas and Naruto..."

"I'm not entirely sure what is going on, either." Kakashi agreed. The whole situation was very strange; Naruto hated Itachi just as much as the rest of the village, especially since he was the main reason behind Sasuke's defection.

As the two high ranking shinobi continued to discuss possible reasons behind Naruto's action, someone burst into the room.

Speak of the devil, and he will appear: the intruder was none other than Naruto Uzumaki accompanied by the remaining Uchihas.

At this sight, Tsunade rose from her chair. "What exactly were you thinking, Naruto? And what is this all about?" She asked motioning to the other two.

Kakashi analyzed the situation in disbelief. Not only was Sasuke back, but he came back with his brother; the man he despised.

"About that..." Naruto started, "it's a long story..." He didn't know how to explain; having Sasuke in the village was something no one would have pictured for a while, at least, and having Itachi with him was even more of a shocker.

"First off, I want you-" Tsunade said to Kakashi- "to take Itachi back to the prison. And Naruto, we have plenty of time."

"I knew this would happen!" Sasuke hollered. "This is why I didn't want to come!" His reaction was to the hokage's orders to take Itachi into custody.

Kakashi was baffled by his reaction. "Why is this upsetting you so much, Sasuke?" Something wasn't adding up. Not only did Naruto release the missing nin, but now Sasuke was angered by his detainment?

"I thought that this might actually work out somehow, but now I see that was just a childish vision. The people of this village are ignorant." Sasuke growled.

"Take him to the holding area as well, Kakashi. We have no way of knowing that Sasuke is going to run off again."

Itachi wasn't overly pleased with the idea of his little brother being locked up, but thought that might be the best course of action considering Sasuke didn't actually want to be in the village. He glanced over at his brother, who happened to be scowling at Kakashi for approaching him.

"This is ridiculous!" Sasuke shouted. "You're only locking us up because you don't trust the Uchiha clan!"

Itachi wasn't planning on speaking since he was considered an s-rank criminal, but he felt compelled to say something when Sasuke resisted. "Sasuke, it's just a precaution. There's no need for you to get so riled up."

Kakashi and Tsnuade were surprised by his statement. Was Itachi actually defending the hokage's orders to detain him? Nothing in this room made any sense at all.

"But-" Sasuke attempted to refute his big brother's claim, but was cut off.

"Look, Sasuke, we all agreed that we would figure this out as it came, so for now, just go with it. I'll talk to Ganny Tsunade; you need to do what she wants. You are technically a criminal, too." Naruto interrupted. He was well aware that their desired results for the situation were not likely, so he knew that the best thing was to be obedient.

Sasuke clenched his jaw and looked at the ground. "...fine." He stammered before Kakashi lead him and his brother away.

"Now, why don't you tell me what the hell you were doing last night?" The hokage screamed.

Naruto recoiled a bit. "I know it seems crazy, but I had a good reason for it!"

"If this has to do with what Sakura told me about Itachi's backstory, I might as well throw you behind bars, too."

"But that story is true! You saw the way Sasuke acted! If it was a lie, do you think he would have just stood around next to his brother? He would be trying to kill him right now if that was made up." Naruto justified his explanation with evidence.

"Even if that behaviors was odd, we have no way to be sure. Letting an s-tank criminal as dangerous as Itachi Uchiha escape was a horrible plan! What if he had been lying? He could have killed you and taken you to the Akatsuki base!"

"Well, that's another thing in his favor... He didn't take me there, and we both know that he could have! If he was against us, he wouldn't have come back here."

"I'll have to think all of this over, but I do know that what you did was beyond stupid! You're too reckless!"

"I thought about this for hours; it wasn't just a split-second decision. Besides, it didn't end up the way you thought it would. I brought Sasuke back, didn't I?" Naruto was getting angry. Though he couldn't say his actions were questionable, the outcome was a good one, so he was annoyed that Lady Tsunade was yelling at him.

Before the next round of angry words could be exchanged, Sakura entered the office. She stepped inside and saw the two of them staring each other down.

"I'm sorry; am I interrupting something?" She asked sheepishly.

"No; we're done here. Sakura, I'd like you to escort Naruto out. I need time to think over some things." The fifth informed her.

"Yes ma'am." She said. She and Naruto walked out of the large building together. She looked over at her teammate.

"Before you say anything, I already know that what I did was reckless, so you don't need to scold me, too." He sighed.

"Actually... I wanted to thank you." Sakura admitted.

Naruto looked at her with a confused expression. "Thank me? But what I did was stupid, even though I hate to admit it."

"I know it was, but you kept your promise... You brought him back." She smiled at her comrade. He finally put it together as he remembered her plea for Sasuke all those years ago.

He replaced his confusion with his usual goofy smile. "I told you; I never go back on my word! Not ever!"

No one could deny that statement.