Disclaimer: I know a word that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody's nerves...

Summery: A girl who looks strangely like Naruto appears in Konoha, and soon afterwards Naruto is whisked off on another training trip. What does this girl have to do with Naruto's past, and what is her connection to the Akatsuki?

Posted: 12/3

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As the Crow Flies

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"You're swinging it wrong!"

The quartet hiked single file across the extensive dunes of Wind Country, heading in the general direction of Suna. Naruto was situated at the back, practicing with his new sword as they marched. Long and thin, it was by far the most 'whippy' sword he had used and took some getting accustomed to. The intense training, endless hours of walking, heat, and heavy cloths to block the sun were beginning to take their toll on the blond: he was ready to collapse and let the giant scorpions, particularly... irritable resident of the area, have him. Two of his companions, however, seemed entirely unaffected. Kaida, clad in what Naruto now knew to be his father's trademark cloak, was next in line. Happily chatting away to an inattentive victim, she braided the hair of an increasingly annoyed Uchiha. Kisame lead the group and seemed worse off than Naruto; he faintly reminded the Uzumaki of a beached shark. Never the less, he made due by mooching off of Kaida and Itachi for extra water. He also, apparently, was capable of supervising Naruto's training without actually watching him.

"It's still not angled correctly!"

"Well it looks right!"

Muttering darkly under his breath, the swordsman fell to the rear. Snatching Naruto's sword, he held it out in front of him. "Listen closely because I will not repeat myself. See these two long grooves on either side of the blade? These are called either 'blood-grooves' or fullers. I'm going with fullers because they have absolutely nothing to do with blood. The grooves are always done on both sides of the blade and they made a whistling sound when the sword is swung. This is called the tachikaze. Now listen carefully." Holding the sword at an angle, Kisame swung. Straining his ears, Naruto thought he might have heard a faint whistle. "Did you hear that? Good. One whistle means that one groove is making the whistle. Two whistles," he continued, angling the sword slightly, "means that both the edge of the blade and a groove are making a whistle. And three," Kisame swung the sword a final time, "come from the edge and both grooves and signify that the blade is angled perfectly with the direction of the cut. Now keep practicing, making sure there are three whistles."

Kisame stalked back to his place at the front of the line, grumbling about incompetent novices.

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Naruto strolled through the streets of Suna, rereading the shopping list Kaida had forced upon him. After nine days they had depleted all of their supplied. Now they needed more for the remaining travel to the old headquarters and for the time they spent excavating there.

Water... Check.

Beef jerky, salted fish and various dried fruits... Check.

Pocky and instant ramen... Check.

Coffee...

The blond palmed his face. How could he forget coffee? Of all the things... As far as the Akatsuki was concerned, it was a food group unto itself! Still berating himself for his stupidity, Naruto turned around and head back to the grocery store.

Only to knock into a familiar face.

"Oh, sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going..." His voice trailed off as he saw who he'd run into. With a slight smile, he offered the brunette girl a hand. "Is it just me, or have I been running into you and your sister a lot lately?"

Amaya smiled as she took the offered hand. "You have. What are you doing in Suna, anyways? Kaida-nee-chan said you were headed back to the headquarters to do more training."

"We were. But apparently some emergency popped up, and now Satoshi wants us to pick up some things from one of their temporary headquarters south of Suna."

"Really? What happened?"

The blond shrugged. "I really don't know; but it does have something to do with a spy and Konoha. For some reason no one will tell me what exactly happened. I guess they figure I'd do something stupid if I did know."

"Well that's mean. I bet you wouldn't do anything that stupid." Naruto laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. When he gave it any real thought, he realized that he would do something stupid. Amaya giggled at his reaction. "Well, we're in town because it's Temari's birthday; Gaara invited us."

The blond's eyes widened. "Gaara invited you? That's... Wow."

The older girl grinned. "Yeah; it is, isn't it? Actually, I think he wanted to invite you as well, but couldn't find a way to contact you."

Naruto mulled over this new information. Gaara going out of his way to draw more people to an already crowded event. Was this beginning of the apocalypse or something? "Wait... Doesn't his sister mind that he's inviting people to her party?"

Amaya pondered this. "Temari might, but... I think she was so ecstatic about her little brother being social that it just didn't occur to her to object. But he's not exactly inviting a horde; from what I've heard it's just Yukiko and myself." Naruto made a face at the mention of the younger of the two sisters. "Hay, Yukiko-chan isn't that bad. She's a little... outspoken, but I'm sure you two would be fast friends if you hadn't made up your minds to hate each other." Naruto stared obstinately into the distance, disregarding the possibility of him and that... menace being friends. "Oh, how long do you think your mission will take you?"

Naruto turned to look at her in surprise. "It all depends; a few days, maybe a week or two."

The brunette contemplated this. "If you finish up early, will you come back through Suna?" Naruto nodded. "If you're here on the 23rd, stop by the party. It'll be more fun with you there, too."

"Okay, I'll come."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Oh, and Amaya? Don't go back into apprehensive older sister mode again."

Gold eyes widened. "Why not? There's nothing wrong with being a little wary..."

Naruto was silent for a few moments, trying to put his thoughts to words. "The two other times I've met you, you were always on guard, never smiling or laughing. And, well, you have a pretty laugh... and a pretty smile."

Amaya grinned, amused by the blond's awkwardness. "Don't worry; I won't stop laughing or smiling anytime soon."

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Naruto stared at the sand colored mass of stone for a few moments. "So... This is it."

"Yup."

"And the Akatsuki was really stationed here for a while."

"Yup."

"It looks kind of... destroyed."

"You can thank bandits for that," Kisame called from the opposite side of the leveled structure. "Honestly; haven't those people heard of looting without demolish everything in sight?"

"Well I like it!" Kaida announced, staring up at an intricately carved pillar, one of the few features left in tact. "It's... homey."

Itachi, ignoring his companions, began working his way through the ruins. "This is approximately the former location of the records room," he stated in impassively, standing over an unremarkable mound of rubble. "The records we are looking for were kept here. If we want to have most of the debris cleared by nightfall, we must begin working now."

"But Chi-chi-kun," Kaida whined, collapsing on the ground. "We just got here! And I'm tired! Can't we..." Itachi fixed her with an emotionless stare. After a few moments the blond gave up and pulled herself to her feet. "Fine, I'll work. Just don't stare at me like that; it's freaky! You look like a zombie... Or some mindless drone!" With the faintest of smiles, the Uchiha waited for the others to join him.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Naruto inquired as he began tossing stones from the area Itachi had marked off with kunai.

"Files."

"Well I know that! But what kind of files?"

"We are looking for any document that could possibly tell Orochimaru anything about the Akatsuki, our members, or the bijii."

"Aha! So he's part of this catastrophe!"

Kaida looked up in surprise from where she was working. "You didn't know that yet, Naruto-kun? Oh, right. You're a good little boy and don't spy on people!"

Kisame met her withering glare with one of his own. "I wasn't spying on you! I was just going to ask you if you had any Goldfish!"

"What could you need Goldfish for at four in the morning?"

"I WAS HUNGRY!"

"YEAH RIGHT! This is all a conspiracy so you and Daidara can get your hands on..."

The other blond was staring silently at the ruble, contemplating the task at hand. If those two kept fighting, nothing would get done. Kisame was, after all, was the one responsible for removing the particularly large boulders at the top of the pile. And Kaida had enough energy to do two people's work. "Hey, Itachi! How far down do you think this goes?"

The brunet glanced away from a medium sized boulder soaring away from the ruins. "Approximately ten feet. Why?"

"Just wondering..." Forming a half seal to assist in concentration, Naruto focused on his chakra for a few moments before shouting "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With a puff of smoke, the Uzumaki was surrounded by twenty doppelgangers. "Okay, men! Let's have this area cleared by nightfall!" The blonds cheered in unison and got to work, vigorously competing to see who was the most productive. With a half smile, Itachi brought his own hands together, speeding through a series of handseals. Moments later, three brunets stood beside the original.

"Two of you remove those imbeciles from the work area and restrain them. The other comes with me."

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"This is amazing!" Kaida exclaimed as the quartet walked back to Suna. "We didn't even spend two whole days at the old headquarters! We work really fast."

"You mean Itachi and I work really fast. You and Kisame just fought the whole time."

"We didn't not! We helped some..."

"You spent an hour kicking a boulder and Kisame demolished three, leaving the remains for my clones to clear."

"Like I said, some. And we helped retrieve the files!"

"The files were categorized and in file cabinets! They weren't exactly hard to find!"

"That's not the point! The point is that we were leaving Suna three days ago, it takes a little over a day to reach the old headquarters, and we're already coming back! Who knows, maybe it's just me, but I think we worked pretty darn fast."

Naruto let out a sigh. Might as well give up now; no one won arguments against Kaida.

"Baka-chan, shut up. You and Kisame did now work; accept it."

"Sure thing, Chi-chi-kun!"

Okay, scratch that. No one except Itachi won arguments against Kaida. "So, speaking of Suna... Could we stay there for a day or so?"

Kaida peered at her younger cousin suspiciously. "Why? There's nothing special going on there... Wait... You didn't go and get yourself a date without telling us, did you?"

The blond flushed. "N... No, not really. I just sort of... um... promised Amaya I'd go to Temari's party."

The older girl's eyes lit up. "You're going on a date with Amaya-chan? Why didn't you say so?!?!"

"Bu... But it's not exactly a date..."

But Kaida ignored his protests and continued blabbering. "But Temari's party... Oh, yeah! It's her birthday; I completely forgot! I feel so bad; this is the third year in a row! But that means you'll have to get her a present. You can't show up without a gift! And you'll need a suit! Nineteen is a very big deal in Suna, so the party will most likely be formal."

"Why is that?" Kisame asked at random. "Why not eighteen? Or twenty-one?"

Kaida shrugged. "I think nineteen was their Nidaime's lucky number or something. Anyways, the 23rd's tomorrow, right? So we need to march double time so we can get to Suna and get you ready for the party in time! We have to have you there on time; we don't want Amaya-chan thinking you stood her up!"

"It's not a date!!!"

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"You made it!"

Yukiko glared at the blond as her sister practically threw herself on him. What was he doing here? Hadn't Gaara said he couldn't get a hold of the tem... ahem, as he put it, his 'best friend?' How could those two even be friends, let alone best friends? They were completely different! One was quite, composed and polite... most of the time. And the other was... a teme! She, on the other hand... Fine! So her personality was almost identical to Naruto's, but still! And why was her sister being so friendly with him? Amaya-nee-chan wasn't friendly with anyone! She was almost as bad as Gaara! Okay, so she was friends with a few people, but with him... When did this happen?

"Sorry I'm late; Kaida insisted I get a haircut. Apparently having hair covering your eyes isn't appropriate for formal parties."

Amaya grinned. "Don't worry! Judging by your outfit, you had to buy a suit as well. That's not exactly an easy task; it took me three weeks to find this dress." She twirled happily, her gold silk dress flowing elegantly around her. "Plus, you aren't that late; Temari's boyfriend, Shikaru or something, just got here and he hasn't changed yet."

Shocked out of his transfixion, Naruto's eyes widened slightly. "Shikamaru's here?"

"That's his name. Yes, he's here. His team is as well. From what the other guests are saying, the missing-nin they were tracking disappeared around here, so he decided to stop by the party. I don't remember any of his companions' names, but the girl had really long blond hair and the jounin had silver hair."

The blond's mind was reeling. Only one jounin in Konoha had silver hair, and if he was here... Something told him that if Kakashi-sensei found out he was training under Kaida he'd want to speak to her. And if he did... Well, Naruto had a feeling he'd recognize 'Kenji.'

"What's wrong? You look sort of... pale."

Naruto shook his head to clear his mind. "Nothing, really. Just... Can you help me find Kaida? She insisted on brining Itachi along and, well... That silver haired jounin is Hatake Kakashi."

The brunette's eyes widened, comprehension of what that meeting would bring evident in her expression. She nodded. "Of course. And while we're at it, Yukiko... Yukiko-chan, have you been listening?"

"Yes?" the younger girl growled in response, too busy glaring at Naruto to fully register what her sister had said.

"Okay then. Could you help us look for Kaida-nee chan? If you find her, tell her that Hatake-san is here."

Gold eyes lit up. "The Hatake Kakashi is here? The Copycat? YAY!" Silver hair disappeared from sight as the jinchuuriki maneuvered through the crowd.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked in bewilderment, unused to that kind of reaction to his sensei.

"I... think it's the hair," Amaya replied, staring at the spot where her sister had stood moments before. The pair began working their way across the crowded room when a familiar voice stalled them.

"Naruto?" The blond turned to see an uncharacteristic confused expression on a certain pineapple-headed chuunin.

"Hey, Shika," Naruto greeted, waving and grinning sheepishly. When the bewildered expression remained, he cocked his head slightly. "What? Have I grown a horn or something?'

The genius snapped out of his stupor and shook his head. "No, it's just... You look different."

Blue eyes stared down at the brunet. "Well, I guess I got a little taller."

Dark brown eyebrows shot up. A little taller? The blond was now at least a head taller than he was... Wasn't he taller than Naruto last time they met? On top of that, his whisker-esque markings were practically a thing of the past; he looked like an entirely differently person!

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were related to..."

Black eye widened and locked onto the blond as the final corner piece of the puzzle fell into place. It couldn't be! And yet, it made sense. But now that he thought about it...

How could the whole village be so incredibly blind?

The brunet wandered off, for the first time in his life completely baffled.

Amaya watched him leave, contemplating the short conversation. "What was that about? At the end, he looked like he'd discovered some momentous secret."

The blond shrugged. "I've got no idea. But sometimes I think Shikamaru knows more about me than I do."

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Yay! I'm in a very good mood. I spent most of yesterday watching 'Ninja Warrior' or whatever it's called. I have no idea why, but watching guys hanging by their fingers above mud pits is extremely amusing. And, for one of the first times in a long time, Kakashi is kicking ass in the manga! Is it just me, or is life great?

Now, on to other stuff. All that stuff about katana at the beginning of the chapter is true... and almost word for word off of Wikipedia. Sorry 'bout that. I just couldn't find a better way to word it.

THANK YOU!!!!!, Cyber-Porygon and PirateCaptainBo, for reviewing! Kaida is fun, isn't she? And there are still a few more big revelations to come! YAY for smarter-ness! And guess what? Next chapter Naruto gets to go to the library! About Tobi, well... I don't want to spoil anything!

Hasta la vista!

--- Evil Clone Number Seven