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"Is it okay if we come in?" Sakura and Naruto asked for permission from their hospitalized teammate.
"Sure." The third genin of Team Seven replied to his comrades; being in this place was lonely, so he didn't mind the company.
"How are you feeling?" The pink kunoichi asked her love interest.
"I'm doing better," the young ninja revealed, "I should be released from the hospital in the next few days, but I still won't be able to go on missions for a while."
"I'm sure that you'll be fine in no time!" Sakura cheered with genuine joy; she was extremely glad to hear that her favorite Uchiha was on his way to recovery.
"Yeah," Naruto joined in, "and Sasuke, I wanted to apologize..."
"For what?" The Uchiha wondered; hadn't they hashed everything out when Naruto had come by yesterday?
"You know, for letting you get captured... I should have realized that something was wrong..."
"I already told you that it doesn't matter." Stated the Uchiha.
"What?" Asked a slightly befuddled Naruto. "You never said that."
"Are you being serious? We were talking about that yesterday."
"I think you're hallucinating," the other male genin stated, "I didn't see you yesterday."
"Sasuke, we were on a mission yesterday," Sakura interjected, "we just got back this morning."
"On a mission...?" Sasuke thought aloud; he was on several medications at the current time, so perhaps he had imagined the conversation with Naruto, but after further analysis, the genin concluded that the discussion had been real. "No, I'm sure that I spoke with you."
"I'm telling you, I wasn't in the village then," Naruto stuck to his claim, "so I couldn't have been here."
"If it wasn't you," Sasuke spoke with a perplexed tone, "then who was in here?"
It would be no great feat for any genin, or even academy student, to use the transformation jutsu, but why would someone feel the need to disguise his or herself as Naruto in order to visit a patient at the hospital...?
••••••
"This is such a complex situation..." Lady Tsunade sighed after Kakashi had concluded his speech about the new intel. "However, we have completed our part of this assignment; it is now up to the neighboring villages to deal those men as they see fit."
"Yes, I understand that part," the masked jonin replied, "but I am still concerned about Itachi Uchiha's involvement in all of this."
"After hearing what that boy said about him, I can see why you would feel that way," the woman examined her red nails as she conversed with Kakashi, "but it would be pointless to seek him out in order to learn his motivation for attacking Kazaki Yamada. Besides, he is too dangerous for us to confront over an already resolved issue."
"That is true, but there is one thing you may be overlooking," the copy ninja stated, "all reports that we received before and after Kazaki's murder claimed that Itachi was seen by himself, and according to Master Jiraiya, the members of that criminal organization are always found traveling in pairs."
"So now would be our best chance to finally detain that man," the Hokage could not say this was a bad idea, "but he that all occurred several days ago, so he could have easily reunited with the other members of the Akatsuki, and with the limited intel we currently have on that group, I would not be willing to authorize a mission that could easily result in fatality.
"They haven't provoked us, either, so I don't want to cause unnecessary conflict," the first female Hokage continued to relay her list of reasons, "if their activity becomes threatening to our village, I will take action. However, it would benefit no one to do so at this point in time."
Thinking over her comments, the man responded. "That is a valid argument... Based on the few things we do know about them, it seems that the Akatsuki is quite a formidable group."
"However... I suppose there is a chance that Itachi could still be alone," Tsunade was formulating a plan in her mind, "and passing up the possibility of catching an S-rank criminal would be nothing short of ridiculous... if we able to successfully detain him, he could provide useful information on the rest of the Akatsuki."
"What do you plan to do?"
Lady Tsunade rose from her chair before speaking. "I am going to assemble a team of the Leaf's most talented tracking ninja," she came out from behind her desk, "I would like you to tell Shizune that I need her to compile the reports pertaining to the recent sightings of Itachi Uchiha. We don't have time to waste; if we are going to accomplish anything, this mission must begin immediately."
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