This is chapter twenty one of A New Start. So far, a lot has happened. Let's get right into this! I don't own anything except my OC's!
A/N: I know some of these guys are OOC, but I try to keep them as close to their character as I can without making my whole story worthless. xD My story is kinda... OOC but a little canon with some of the plot. Lol. Sorry for all the weirdness.
Ages:
Sakura-23
Sasuke-23
Itsuki- 3
Akari- 2
Itachi- 30
I'm baaack~ With Dei-senpai and the stars: Sasu-kun and Sakura-chan! *hears crickets* Awww.
Deidara *comforts*: Would you like for one of us to read a review?
Me *nod*: Itachi-nii, would you?
Itachi *Stares as Sasuke shoves him forward*: Just one? Hmm... From chapter 11: 'You did amazing with this fan fiction. I loved every moment of it. Are you going to continue this?' from syrifkedzior.
Me *claps*: Yes! I have more ideas planned out! It's sad that I already paired up the children *pouts*
Sasuke: Hn? Already?
Sakura: They're only 3!
Me *Devil smile*: You, my friends, haven't been paying attention. Itachi-nii, inform them while this chapter goes on!
Itachi *shivers*: Gotcha. *Takes the two*
Deidara: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. *snugs* I wouldn't mind changing ownership to my Skittles-koibito, though.
Chapter 21: Plans
Sakura sat with Akari in her lap while Itsuki seemed to know his dad and uncle didn't want to get him hurt, staying beside his mother. "Don't get carried away, Sasuke-kun! I don't wanna patch you up like I had to do after your last spar with Naruto!" She warned, shaking her head slightly at the memory.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the warning as he and his brother took their sides. "Hn. I won't." He promised, seeing his son watching with as much interest as he remembered doing seeing Itachi during a training when they were younger. Taking his sword out, he saw his brother bring out a kunai, a smirk on both of their faces as they charged forward, blocking strikes with their weapons and dodging punches with each meeting. Sasuke handsprang back and knew Itachi would be a great addition to the ranks, even if only for the war. Putting the sword away, he met his brother half-way to Sakura and the kids when Itachi pulled him into a headlock, similar to the ones he gets from Naruto. "Let go." He said, fighting back a grin at the tactic as Itsuki ran up with a huge smile on his face.
"Wow! Itachi-oji good! I wanna be like Itachi-oji!" He declared, grinning as his mom and sister came up.
"Well, you'll have to be a good boy and, when you're old enough, study hard." Sakura said, smiling when Itsuki took his sister's hand and led her back into the house. "He's really starting to remind me of you." She told her husband with a giggle. "He couldn't sit still through the whole thing, bouncing around and even Akari was joining him."
"Not my fault. He does get the impatience from me, I give you that, but everything else, he gets from you." Sasuke shot back, smirking.
"Not true, brother. He gets the looks from you, the eagerness to learn from you. So, not everything from her." Itachi replied, a smirk of his own showing up.
"See? I knew he got the looks from you! He's gonna be a real heartbreaker when he gets older. Poor girls." Sakura truly felt for the girls that would be snubbed out by her son as she put her thinking face on. "Definitely hope he doesn't get that attitude of yours when you were younger." She said, poking him in the chest before following the kids, right before Neji and Shikamaru appeared in front of her. "Geez. I think my senses are low due to being around the kids too long. What's up, guys?" She asked.
"Naruto sent us to retrieve you guys. He said the other Kage are making their way to the battlefield and wanted to be there before them." Neji explained as Itsuki popped his head out of the doorway.
"Neji-oji, you stay for food?" Itsuki asked as his sister popped her head out too.
"No, sorry. I just came to get your kaasan and tousan." Neji informed slowly as Shikamaru bent down to ruffle the boy's head, something almost everyone did due to the purpleness and softness of it.
"But, next time we'll stay." Shikamaru added.
"Ojisan?" Akari chimed in, waving a little.
The two nodded in acknowledgement as Itsuki tackled Shikamaru in a hug and Akari tugged on Neji's sleeve for him to pick her up. "I see these two are getting brighter." Neji commented.
"Yeah. Akari's been saying 'ojisan' ever since Itachi-nii showed up." Sakura said. "You two wanna go see Mushina-baasan?" Getting a nod, she smiled. "I'll be right back, so keep them company for a little bit." She informed, heading inside to change into her outfit.
"Kaasan gone." Itsuki noticed, pouting at the thought of his mom being gone. "Tousan, where kaasan?"
"Kaasan went to get changed." Sasuke explained, closing his left eye and activating the Sharingan with the other.
"Don't you dare use the Sharingan, Sasuke!" Came Sakura's warning.
Chuckling, he deactivated it as soon as she came down. "See, kaasan's right there."
"Kaasan! We go see baasan now?" Itsuki asked.
"Yes." Sakura said as they took the two to Mushina's place, running into Tenten and Ino, who were dropping off Megumi and Tsumio. "Itsuki, play nice with Megumi, Tsumio and Minato when he gets here. And watch your sister."
"Promise, kaasan!" Itsuki said proudly as he led his sister into the house.
"He's saying full sentences already? Geez!" Ino complained as Hinata dropped off Minato and joined them. "This is not fair!"
"Can you blame him, Ino-pig? He has Sasuke's brain and my smarts." Sakura sneered lightly. "He even got Akari to say 'ojisan'."
"Watch it, Forehead, or you'll get it." Ino shot back, smiling.
Sasuke and the others shared an annoyed look as Itachi looked confused and Shikamaru said what all were thinking. "Women: what a drag." Shikamaru's brow furrowed at Itachi. "Isn't this your brother, Sasuke?"
"Yeah." Sasuke explained how Kabuto was involved.
"Well, if everything he told you is true, then it seems this battle will be a lot more dangerous." Neji stated, clearly thinking ahead as they met up with Naruto, Tenten and the others at the gates.
"If everyone's here, we better move out." Naruto said, removing his hat so it hung on his hip, leading them all to the battlefield, meeting up with Gaara, A, Kurotsuchi and Mei. "Sorry I'm a little late, but had a few things to figure out."
"That's fine. We had time to discuss what to do about you and B." A said.
"You are not putting me and Octo-pops back on that island. I'm the sixth Hokage." Naruto said calmly before bumping fists with B. "Yo, Octo-pops."
"Naruto, my man! With you and me, we'll knock them out with a 'bam'. Wheee!" Killer B replied, with his rapping present before greeting everyone there.
"This is something I actually wondered when it would happen." Naruto said, frowning slightly. "I mean, the lack of Kabuto during the last fight three years ago made me start wondering what he was up to. Then when Itachi here told me everything, I just knew this time around, it'll be much more difficult to find a win. Yakushi Kabuto is known to hide whenever something serious is going on. Last time I fought him, I was a genin that had just returned from finding Grandma Tsunade. So, he might have grown stronger in those years." Naruto stared at his hand and clenched it. "This time, I won't let him get away."
"Naruto. We have visitors." Hinata informed, her Byakugan activated as she pointed to the distance.
"Thanks, Hinata. Time to show what the Five Nations can do when teamed up." Naruto said, putting his headband on that he got the first time and slipping on his cloak, soon leading the other Kage to the field, followed by the others.
While they walked, Sakura put on her gloves for good measure, scanning the horizon to see not only White Zetzu, but Black Zetzu. From her guess, she figured around 5,000 for both Zetzus. Tightening her headband, she caught Ino's look and nodded, the two meeting up with Hinata to help her out. When Hinata signaled, Sakura lept up and dove down, hitting a Zetzu with her Cherry Blossom Crash while Ino sent her Flower Bomb towards another six.
Hinata sent a look at her husband, before kneeling down, looking at both Ino and Sakura. "I need your help!" She said as the three charged through the lines, Ino sending half flying back with her kicks, Sakura doing the same with her downward kick, similar to how she used to do when Team 7 finished off an opponent before handspringing to join Sasuke and Naruto, kicking the Zetzus that got in her way and saw Hinata holding her own with her Twin Lion Fist hitting every line.
Seeing Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura teaming up, Kabuto charged towards them, his Chakra blades surrounding his hands. "I let you off easy, kid, that day! Now you'll feel my full power!" He said as he and Naruto clashed.
"I could say the same to you. But, that would mean I'm taking weak insults from someone who got lucky!" Naruto shot back as Kabuto's fist sent him flying into the ground, skidding to a hault short of a tree. Getting up, he wiped his cheek before summoning two clones, which was a signal to his teammates to cover him.
Sakura kicked off, aiming her fists at the ground to make Kabuto lose his footing before dodging Orochimaru. She sent a barrage of punches at Orochimaru, kicking him twice with her left foot and pulled her right hand back. "Cha!" She called, using her full strength to send the snake spinning towards Konohamaru and his team to finish him off before quickly returning to the current situation with Kabuto, who was taking on both Itachi and Sasuke. Looking back, she saw Naruto nod that he was ready and met the brothers' glance, nodding her head as well, getting the two to back off as Naruto shot past her, carrying two Rasenshuriken. What she didn't expect was a couple Black Zetzu surprise ambushing her, which caused her to either duck or take a huge hit. Instead, she charged her chakra into her fist and easily met the Black Zetzu's attack, causing the two chakras to clash and explode, sending her flying into the forest and killing the Black Zetzu.
Noticing this, Itachi sent Konan flying into Sasuke's opponent, Pain, and joined him. "Better go check on Sakura." He said in a voice so low that only another Uchiha could decifer right before using his Fire Ball Jutzu to buy some time. "Now."
Sasuke added his Flame Control before taking off to find his wife, activating his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan to locate her chakra as well as keep his guard up. He found her using a tree as support, rushing to help her stand. "You good to keep goin?" He asked, waiting till she had her feet under her and scanned for any serious injuries.
Sakura blew out a breath and nodded. "Just had the wind knocked out of me. I've said it a few times: it'll take a lot more to take me out so easily. I can still throw a few good punches." She said, nodding as the two returned to Naruto's side, keeping the remaining opponents from his fight with Kabuto. Seeing a way-too familiar red head, she looked bored. "Not you bastard again. Didn't I kill you?" She said, staring down Sasori.
"You must be stupid. I was dead twice by you, but not a third time!" Sasori said as his partner, Deidara, showed up on his side. "Deidara, let's show her what true artists can do." He went to his puppet body as Deidara made his explosive spiders march towards Sakura, only to get stopped with fire as Itachi and Sasuke stood on each side of her. "Itachi... You.." Sasori noticed.
"Sasori. Deidara. You are just puppets to Kabuto. You both know the way to break out of it." Itachi calmly stated, even as he took a fighting stance with his sister-in-law and brother.
"..." Deidara paused and tried to find what Itachi ment while Sasori was already charging at Sakura, who threw something that Chiyo gave her.
"I won't fall for the same trick again, wench!" Sasori said, sending his heart from one puppet to another, sending poison senbons towards Sakura, who guarded with using her kunai to block most of them. When he though he was safe, a lightning blade stuck out of where his new heart was. Looking behind him, he met the Sharingan of Sasuke glaring into him as he realized it was Sasuke's Chidori True Spear that had killed him.
Itachi faced Deidara. "Remember: you want to show off your art!" He emphasize, cutting Zetzu that had started ganging up on him. "Think of a future!"
That snapped Deidara out of the control of Kabuto as he sent his explosive clay at a few Zetzus. "I owe you one, hm."
Sakura sighed as she saw her husband's Chidori hit exactly where she expected it to before standing up and noticing the others had managed to get rid of the others of Kabuto's army, leaving about 25 Black Zetzus and 15 White Zetzus to Kakashi, Guy and Lee to finish off. She saw that even Konohamaru, who was fighting in his first war, was holding his own against the Zetzus but knew if he had to face Kabuto and the other ones, the boy would surely have lost his life if not for Ebisu. Turning her attention to Naruto's fight, she took two steps before dropping to her knees, her body reaching it's limit. Looking down, she noticed that her fight with Orochimaru and a few Black Zetzus had really left their mark on her. A deep cut on her upper arm made her wince without the adrenalin rushing, a few more slash marks were dotting her from her shoulders to her feet. Without the adrenalin, her wounds reopened.
Sasuke and Itachi both rushed to help Sakura stand up, careful of the wounds as they helped her walk to join their friends, who were as battered as they were, watching Naruto and Kabuto going head-to-head. "Come on, dobe." Sasuke muttered, clear concern peaking through his mask as he watched his best friend.
"It's all up to him." Itachi added.
Naruto and Kabuto sent the other sliding backwards, exhaustion showing in both of their expressions. Naruto glanced back at his friends, wife and the other Kage, seeing how beat up they all were. He even saw how beat up Sasuke was and it took a lot to get him like that. Putting a hand to his stomach, he twisted it as if unlocking a gate, in which he did, entering his Tailed Beast Mode. Glaring at Kabuto, he held both hands out and charged up his ultimate finisher: Tailed Beast Ball. "This is for endangering my friends, you bastard! Die! Tailed Beast Ball!" He shouted, firing the rather large ball right at Kabuto, who was shocked into a stupor and destroyed on impact as the ball exploded, eliminating the remaining Zetzus as well.
Sasuke held onto Sakura, anticipating the gusts caused by the ball, while keeping an eye on the form of Kabuto until it vanished from both his vision and the chakra vision. When the winds died down, he quickly deactivated his Sharingan, nearly slumping at how long he managed to keep it up. He nodded at the others, letting them know Kabuto was no more, which gave almost all of them the energy to go and throw Naruto up into the air three times before breaking out in celebration. "I bet Tsunade'll have a field day with all of us."
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. After she gets me, Ino and Hinata patched up, she'll want us running around tending to everyone else. Speaking, I'd better save a trip." She said as she went about using her medical ninjutsu to take care of any strain her stubborn husband put his eyes through. "Well, that should about do it. Good thing you listened to my warning and used the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in a very dire situation." She smiled before blinking at the look in his eyes. Before she could asked, he captured her mouth in what would look like a sweet kiss to anyone looking, but was a very heated one up close.
He pulled back and grinned. "Woman, you are really something else. How in the blazes did I not notice you sooner?" He joked.
Sakura giggled a little and patted his cheek. "Bout time you noticed that. Took you long enough. And I think you noticed me, but never figured I could do so much." She joked back as they watched the celebration going on, her focusing on healing her major cuts while he relaxed beside her. "There. Now that's two less for Lady Tsunade." She laid beside him, shaking her head at a memory. "This almost reminds me of when we went to the Land of Snow, except for Naruto being the Hokage and us being married for four years."
"Hn. The dobe hasn't changed much, either." Sasuke commented right before he flipped out of the way of a Naruto-bullet. "Watch it, dobe."
"Drat. I almost had you, teme. But, I should've figured that you'd never get tackled again." Naruto teased, seemingly back to his normal self. "Whatcha talkin bout, anyways?"
Sakura laughed and shook her head. "Just remembering some of the missions we had as genin, especially to the Land of Snow. But I think the most memorable one for me was when we escorted Condor. That bird didn't like either of you." She chuckled at the memory of the ostrich pecking both Sasuke and Naruto.
"Not my fault! That bird was crazy! I didn't see you help, Sakura-chan." Naruto pouted.
"I was too busy laughing to mind it. You have to admit, looking back, it was funny." Sakura said, grinning at the matching faces of Sasuke and Naruto. "Since you two have no humor, I'll go retell the tale to Hinata and Ino or even Kakashi-sensei." She jeered and went off to join Ino and the others, who finished their celebrations.
Sasuke sighed as Naruto groaned at the threat she gave. "Well, let's get back.. I do have a reputation to hold up." Sasuke said, getting to his feet and helping Naruto back to his own. "Knowing her, she probably will tell them. I'll figure something out."
"Jeez, teme. Surely a little reminiscing won't hurt. Sakura-chan wouldn't really do that." Naruto said, grinning before realizing Itachi wasn't around. "I really wish I could help you tell Itsuki about his ojisan, but I have other things to do." Just as he was about to go to Hinata, Itachi appeared right behind him. "GAH! You really are a Uchiha, Itachi! Scared me nearly to death." Naruto glared.
"Couldn't help it." Itachi replied, bumping his fists behind Naruto's back with his brother's. Naruto stormed off, muttering about Uchihas and stealth. "I think I over did that one." He suggested as Deidara joined them.
"Nah. Dobe is easy to scare. Just ask Sakura." Sasuke said as the two joined up with the others, seeing how Sakura didn't tell the whole ostrich mission story. He still was wondering how he fell for someone who, when they were kids, used to annoy him to no end.
"Hm. I have to say, Itachi. Your little brother can pick them. Now... I should head out and see what I can do." Deidara waved before taking off.
"Ignore that comment. Deidara had an eye for seeing true, erm, art." Itachi said, blinking.
"Hn. Doesn't bother me.. Sakura can hold her own."
Well, I changed up the scene slightly and kept my Deidara-senpai alive! Be warned: the next chapter is a huge time skip... Cause.. I figured to en- *covers mouth*
Deidara: You keep trying to spoil it! But, I do love that you kept me alive~ -3-
Me: I couldn't kill my favorite Akatsuki. My second favorite, Itachi-nii, would be lonely without a buddy!
Itachi: v/.\v That's true. ^/.\^
Me/Deidara/Itachi: Review!