Chapter 25

Jinrou POV

There was an awkward silence. Sasuke continued to stare at me and I couldn't look away. I felt my face heat up and want to hide under a rock so I could shrivel up and die. I bit my lip and my eyes flashed down to my feet. He walked so he was right in front of me. He grabbed my face and made me look at him.

"You love him. Don't you?" He asked quietly. I bit my lip and suddenly had the urge to cry.

"I don't know." I whispered. I looked down and fidgeted with my hands. He sighed and looked away. I couldn't see his expression.

"Lets go back." He said and began to walk away. I followed quietly.

'Hnn, did I miss anything?' Ookami asked yawning as she finally woke up.

'You have no idea.' I said. We walked back to the village and I saw Kakashi sensei with the group who was surprised to keep an eye on me.

"Hi sensei." I said waving a hand in greeting. He looked at me.

"Wow, Jinrou. You've certainly grown up." He said. I smiled.

"Yup, here I am at seventeen." I said. I could see him smile under his face cover.

"And you've gotten much stronger." He commented. I nodded.

"Yeah, I've been training hard." I said with a smile.

"Where are you going to stay?" He asked. I chuckled.

"That's an excellent question." I said sheepishly.

"She can stay with me." Naruto offered. I bit my lip.

'That would be kind of awkward.'

'Are you kidding me?! That's the most awkward thing I can imagine! Apart from you staying with Sasuke.' Ookami chimed in.

"She can stay with me. I have a lot of extra room." Sasuke said.

'You just had to jinx it.' I muttered. They all nodded.

"Yes, that sounds fine." Kakashi said. Sakura looked like she wanted to interject, but was ignored as Sasuke led the way to his big house. We walked in and he showed me to a spare room. I walked in and sat down on the bed.

"I'll be in my room." He said. I nodded and he walked out. I went to go shower. After I was done, I had a towel wrapped around me as I went the familiar way to the laundry room. Once my underwear was clean and dry (it's gross putting on underwear again before washing it) I walked back to my room. I saw Sasuke on the way but I ignored him and kept walking to my room. Once in there, I let the towel fall and began to get dressed. I only had my underwear on when Sasuke walked in. He blushed but I just looked at him with a bored expression.

"Hey." I said as I pulled on my shorts.

"What do you mean 'hey'? You're practically half naked and that's all you say?" He asked crossing his arms. I blinked as I pulled on my tank top.

"Well, do you want me to scream at you and throw everything in reaching distance?" I asked as I began to towel dry my hair. He sighed.

"I guess not." He said as he rolled his eyes. I sat crosslegged on the bed and pressed the towel against my hair to dry it.

"Do you need something?" I asked as I left the towel on my head and stared at him.

"Everyone's going out for ramen and we're going too." He said. I blinked.

"What if I don't want to go get ramen?" I asked childishly.

"Well too bad, because I'm going so that means you're going too." He said and walked out. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a brush. I ran it through my hair until it was soft and smooth. It flowed down and rested comfortably behind my knees. I went out and we both walked out the house.

"You know, you could just leave me." I offered.

"Nice try, but no." He said. I rolled my eyes and we walked to the ramen stand where we used to always go. Everyone was already there. My hair fluttered lightly in the breeze.

"Hi Jinrou." Naruto greeted with a smile. I smiled back and sat down. We ordered what ramen we wanted and began to eat. I smiled blissfully. I missed how the ramen from here tasted. Everyone talked as they ate and I just sat there eating my ramen quietly. I didn't really feel like socializing, I had other things on my mind.

'Do you think Itachi's okay?' I asked Ookami worried.

'I'm sure he's fine.' She said reassuringly. I sighed.

'I'm really worried though. Do you think they were able to make it back okay?' I asked biting my lip.

'They're fine, you did you the jutsu perfectly. The fact that you were so exhausted after is proof.' She said. I nodded.

'Alright, whatever you say.' I said as I finished my ramen. Everyone wanted to walk around so naturally I had to go too. I lagged behind everyone and Naruto walked next to me.

"So Jinrou, how've you been these past years?" He asked making small talk.

"I've been fine." I said as we continued to walk.

~a few days later~

It's been a few days and I've been beginning to warm up to everyone again. We all went out together and had fun. Gaara and I had another match, it was still even. Lee and I had that swim we said we would take have when we first met. Sakura was there when I needed to get away from all the boys. But one thought would often make me stop and think.

Where was Itachi and the Akatsuki?

I would've thought they'd be back by now. I would've sworn they'd come back for me. What's taking them so long? They couldn't of just forgotten about me? Maybe they were still recovering? Yeah, that must be it.

Itachi POV

Within a few days, I was fully healed and able to move. I was worried about my Jinrou. We made a plan to get her back. I wanted her back. I needed her back. We would go in and look for her making sure that no one saw us. When we found her and whoever she was with, they'd keep everyone busy while I went to Jinrou.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" I asked. They all nodded. "Then lets go." I said and we ran out of the house. We jumped through the trees and pretty soon we were at the village. I nodded at them and they nodded back. We went our separate ways to find Jinrou.

Jinrou POV

I was walking down an empty street with everyone when suddenly I could hear someone scream my name. I turned around and someone suddenly jumped on me. I went falling to the floor and huffed. I looked up and saw who it was.

"Konan?" I asked. She grasped me in a tight hug and wouldn't let go.

"Oh Jinrou! We've all been so worried! I didn't know if you were okay or not! The last thing I saw was you passing out! Are you okay?! Have they been treating you right?! They didn't try to torture information out of you did they?! Who do I have to beat up?!" She kept rambling and I patted her back.

"I'm fine Konan. Now let me up before I suffocate." I said. She got up and helped me up. "Where's everyone else?" Just as I asked that, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Lee, and Gaara were all grabbed and held steady.

"Jinrou." I couldn't mistake that suave voice anywhere. I turned around and there he was. Fully healed and as handsome as ever.

"Itachi!" I yelled as I ran to him and jumped in his arms. He hugged me tightly and I nestled myself in his warm embrace. It kills my pride, but I started choking up. "Are you okay? You still aren't hurt, are you?" I asked worried. He nodded.

"I'm fine, thank you." He said and I hugged him tighter. "How are you? Were you treated well?" He asked concerned as he held me at arm's length and inspected me. I nodded.

"Yes, I'm alright." I said. I looked at him and saw he had honest concern in his eyes. I smiled. He put his hand on my head and leaned my head forward. He kissed my forehead and I slightly blushed at the sweet gesture.

"I'm glad. I was very worried about you." He said softly.

"I was worried about you too." I said and looked up at him through my lashes.

"Aw." I could hear Konan sigh at the same time Naruto spoke up.

"Aw man, I'm gonna throw up with all this sappy crap!" He exclaimed and pretended to gag.

"Shut up!" Konan growled as she smacked his head. He yelped and shut up.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked. The ninjas from Konoha were still pinned and the Akatsuki was in the middle of the street. If someone were to walk up or see us by any chance, it would get ugly.