Thank you MS3923 for being my beta :D you're the best!

-oXo-

Chapter 26: Kyuubi festival - Part II

10th of October

He knew who was inside, and he very much liked to hit this man very harshly on the head a couple of times (and that was Naruto being polite).

He didn't even try to be silent; the man was already facing him. His shoulder length hair almost hung into his eyes and a grin spread over his face.

"We meet again, fox-boy."

The man in front of him stormed forward and grabbed Naruto's sleeve. He looked a bit surprised as he noticed that it was empty when he gripped the fabric tightly. He looked up into Naruto's fierce blue eyes. Naruto looked back into the narrow dull eyes of the man that had abducted him, and had been so kind to tell him he'd been poisoned by poison of Ryomaru's family.

Naruto grabbed a kunai and cut the sleeve off. He kicked the man in his face, bringing him down to the ground as he fell backward.

"That's thanks to my visit to you! And that was a small part of my payback."

Naruto turned the kunai into the direction of the grey haired man he had never seen before, having been blindfolded; only recognizing his smell and voice.

"I was just planning to talk to you; to ask you where the boy is," the man said as he wiped off the blood in the corner of his mouth on his sleeve.

Naruto wasn't planning on waiting to attack and jumped forward. The man quickly rolled over and nearly dodged Naruto's kunai that now stuck into the floor. However, the man was not fast enough to stand up, and Naruto kicked him in his stomach. "He doesn't have it anymore," Naruto told the man.

Then he heard two more ninja's coming from outside. As they opened the door, one of the two already started talking before really looking at the situation in the room. The other ninja, however, halted; seeing the man on the floor.

"Ika-san! Apparently the boy doesn't have it, but we saw-" The talking ninja noticed Naruto standing over their boss and quickly backed away. Ika took this chance to get away from Naruto, and hastily ran past the Hunter's henchmen (and his underlings), who still looked surprised when Naruto knocked them out.

Naruto grinned as he knew the man would not be able to outrun him. For a second he disappeared, and with the force of his acceleration he knocked Ika right through the door he had meant to open.

As splinters flew around, Ika made some interesting sound between the air being hit out of his lungs and a shriek. Naruto, with the force he had hit Ika, landed on top of the man. Sitting on top of him, Naruto looked up to see someone else in this room beside him and Ika.

Unconsciously Naruto growled at the man. It was none other than the Treasure Hunter himself. They were in a big hall, which seemed to have been a canteen once.

The Hunter looked down surprised to Naruto and his barely conscious number one.

"What the-?" The Hunter pushed some of his blue hair behind his ear.

Somewhat further away, Naruto saw one of the ANBU that had come in with him. He was fighting six other ninja. Naruto was just in time to see the ANBU pierce one of them though the heart with his sword.

"Long time no see, my precious boy," the Hunter said to Naruto, and Naruto's attention turned back to the sneaky man, who was turning one of his shiny rings around his finger. He appeared to be very relaxed, but even Naruto could smell his fear. He might have been a ninja once, but these days he probably wasn't even worth the fight to Naruto.

"Can't say I'm glad to see you," Naruto told him and slowly stood up. The man named Ika, who he'd been sitting on stirred, and Naruto knocked him over the head. Ika let his head fall on the ground with a soft thud.

The Hunter took out something of his long sleeves as Naruto stood up. "Don't come any closer. I still got that lovely poison we used on you."

Naruto stopped moving forward as he looked down to the poisoned dagger in the Hunter his hand. Perhaps he'd underestimated the man a little bit.

"I came here to get my treasure back, but you will do just fine. I'll just come back some other time to pick my treasure up." Naruto stormed forward, deflecting the Hunter's knife with a kunai. "Lost an arm, I see."

"You haven't seen it around then?" Naruto grinned and pushed the man away, trying to gut him with a swing of his kunai.

The Hunter quickly backed off. "No, can't say I have." He took out anther dagger and started stabbing out to Naruto. One of the daggers came awfully close to Naruto's nose, he had to back off a bit.

"He doesn't have it," a voice suddenly said, and Naruto looked over his shoulder to Ika. He probably hadn't hit him hard enough, though he was not even trying to stand up. He held his hand on his head. "The boy doesn't have it anymore."

The Hunter stopped. Another ninja came up behind him. "We just confirmed that the boy doesn't have it, Hunter-san." The Hunter looked angry. "But we have seen-"

The Hunter silenced the man by grabbing his arm and pulling him away. He didn't want Naruto to know what the ninja knew. And apparently he wanted to flee as he took off with the ninja.

Naruto wanted to follow him, but heard the ANBU behind him scream in pain as a kunai was pushed through his foot, pinning him to the ground. The ninja next to the kunai handling one, held his axe-like sword up, about ready to swing. The ANBU was about to duck and perform a jutsu when a third ninja grabbed him from behind. The other three ninja's lay bleeding on the ground or were knocked out.

"You're going to die!"

Naruto hesitated for a moment; go after the hunter or the ANBU. He noticed the ANBU could not escape, and so Naruto made his decision.

He made a Rasengan on his way over to the Axe-wielding ninja, and hit him right in the chest as he came to a stop in between the big ninja and the ANBU. For all the ninja's around him, Naruto had probably seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Aaargh!" The ninja dropped the axe.

The kunai using ninja wanted to stab him in his foot as well, but Naruto was much faster and kneed him in the face.

In the mean time, the ANBU had gotten himself free from the grasp of the third ninja and used his Earth jutsu, causing the ninja to be covered in mud that dried very fast.

He pulled out the kunai of his foot and hopped over to Naruto.

"Can you catch him?" he asked, referring to the Hunter.

"I can try."

"Go."

Naruto was gone even before he had finished saying the word.

-o-o-o-

"Tou-chan!" Akira screamed as he saw once again shuuriken coming to him, and he fell to the ground, covering his head.

Sasuke took in a breath as he saw the projectiles fly toward his son. Quickly he turned around, on his way to his son to deflect the approaching shuuriken, but two hands grabbed his painful right arm, and twisted it.

"Akira!"

The shuuriken landed, but they didn't hit flesh; they hit the wooden floor instead.

Sasuke violently kicked the man in his gut, and found the chakra to perform a full body Chidori, effectively electrocuting at least three nearby ninja. Which had been a bit disappointing to Sasuke, but the high sound made him lose his control over his chakra.

"Akira," he said as he turned to see his son. He was alright, sitting next to the shuuriken in the floor, his arms around his knees and his head bowed. He was clearly frightened.

Sasuke quickly closed the distance between the two of them, and put his katana away. He lifted up his son, and hurriedly ran away.

Normally he didn't like running away from a fight, but the sound that still sounded through the air made him lose his control over his chakra, and he didn't want Akira to get hurt.

He ran to the direction where he'd entered the building, thinking the entrance Akira had taken was probably guarded. And since he was carrying Akira with his good arm, he wouldn't be able to do a lot with his bleeding right arm.

Instead of walking up the wall, he jumped up, afraid his chakra might not hold them as it was still unstable and they might fall. His injured arm painfully pushed open the window and he crawled through, quickly leaving the building.

He just kept going for a while until he finally stopped on a roof near an ANBU, which he knew was stationed there, and let Akira down.

"Are you all right? Did you evade all shuuriken?" he asked concerned as he looked down to the boy, kneeling in front of him.

Silently tears were falling from Akira's face as he had his head bowed to the ground. "I-I'm so s-sorry," he cried. "I-I..."

"You're not hurt?" Sasuke asked again, only interested in that right now. He tried to find anything wrong with the boy, but he didn't see anything except for the gash on his cheek.

"N-no," he sobbed and then gripped Sasuke's shirt again. "I-I promised... a-and I-I thought, I wanted to be a-a man a-as-" Sasuke tilted his head. "N-Naruto said and I-I I'm s-so sorry!" he sobbed.

"It's alright; you didn't know they wanted to attack you. We should have told you, but I was so afraid." Sasuke put his arm around the small boy.

Akira sniffed. "W-why?" How could his father be afraid?

"I was afraid you might get hurt. You did really great seeing it wasn't Naruto and avoiding those shuuriken."

"They were moving slowly," Akira said and looked up to Sasuke. Glassy teal eyes looked at him.

Sasuke gently took his face in his hand and looked into his son's eyes. Could it be? He smiled and kissed the boy on his forehead.

Akira looked up fazed at his father's action; he'd never kissed him before.

Sasuke stroked his hand through the raven hair, and pressed Akira again against his chest.

"I'm so glad you're safe."

-x-

The Hunter and the ninja's -one of which Naruto had recognized as the third familiar scent he had sniffed earlier, Sako, the man that had put the nails in his arm- had fled into the crowd, and Naruto had lost them. He had found Tsume however, and she said she would see what she could do.

Naruto wanted to go over to Tsunade, but he didn't think it a good idea, so he went looking for a nearby ANBU and told him what had happened. The ANBU would rely the information to the Hokage.

"Thanks." Naruto turned away as the snake masked man disappeared.

He still hadn't found Akira, and that ninja had told the hunter he knew Akira didn't have the object. What did that mean? Had they already caught Akira?

As much as Naruto had calmed down since he'd gotten outside, as much it returned in one second.

"Chikushou," he cursed as he jumped up a roof again. Akira could be bleeding to death, and Naruto had no idea where. He could be everywhere.

All he could hope for now was that Sasuke had been with him.

"Please, let them be alright."

-x-

Sasuke and Akira were walking down the street on their way to the hospital. Akira had finally calmed down, but he couldn't stop saying he was sorry. Finally Sasuke had promised him he would get to the hospital if he stopped saying 'I'm sorry'. His son had agreed.

Holding Sasuke's hand, Akira kept glancing at his bleeding arm. It looked quite painful and it was bleeding quite heavily, but Sasuke acted like nothing was wrong, and kept walking without saying he was in pain.

Akira admired Sasuke for this. He didn't whine or cry, and all Akira had done was cry and try to run away. He wanted to be a ninja, but ninja's didn't cry, right? Akira promised himself to try and be braver from now on. He wouldn't cry anymore.

Akira looked up when he felt Sasuke pinch his hand, and saw him looking down at him. "Don't worry, you did good."

"No I didn't," Akira said softly. "I cried."

Sasuke sniggered and Akira looked up, looking angry. "That's alright, Akira. You're still young."

"But I want to be a ninja. Ninjas don't cry!"

"Perhaps not, but you're still learning to become a ninja." Sasuke looked up again to try and hide a wince from the pain in his arm. "You'll be a fine ninja one day, one that doesn't cry; only once in a while."

"No, no crying at all!"

"It's not that bad to cry, Akira. Just know when is the right moment to do so when you are on a mission."

"When's that?"

"You will learn."

Akira wasn't satisfied with the answer at all, but he kept quiet as he saw Sasuke swing a bit. He looked very pale.

"Tou-chan, are you okay? You look white."

"I'll be fine when I get to the hospital, don't worry."

Akira looked around and saw Sasuke leaving a small blood trail behind. "Tou-chan?" he looked up as Sasuke swayed again. "Tou-chan!" Sasuke fell over.

"Sasuke." Naruto caught Sasuke and helped him stand. "Don't scare us like that!"

Naruto was so relieved when he found the small blood trail and noticed it was Sasuke's, and that Akira was with him. But the further he followed it, the more blood was on the street, and he got worried again.

"Don't push yourself, when you've lost so much blood!" Naruto scolded him, trying to get him better on his good shoulder.

"Is he-?"

"He'll be fine, we're almost there," Naruto reassured Akira.

Quickly they walked on to the hospital.

-x-

"So the plan completely failed?" Tsunade stated as she stood in a hospital room along with Naruto, Kakashi and an ANBU with a cat mask.

Sasuke sat on the bed with a cast around his arm. Since the sword had cut in the bone it needed to heal and grow back together again. Akira sat on the bed next to him, unable to let go of him.

"You could say that." Kakashi looked down to Sasuke and Akira clinging to him. "I can't believe Akira-kun actually got past the two of you."

Akira bowed his head in shame.

"I know. He's very tricky," Naruto said, slightly embarrassed.

"And very smart," the ANBU added.

"Don't encourage him, Yamato!"

Yamato turned to Naruto. "I'm not wearing this mask without a reason."

"Oh, come on, we all know it's you."

"Yamato-san?" Akira asked softly.

Yamato gave Naruto a look, but pulled off his mask nonetheless.

"Sorry," Naruto apologized, grinning.

"So you still got the items?" Sasuke asked. Akira looked up to Tsunade as well when his father spoke to her, and noticed the necklace she was wearing.

"The necklace!" he said, pointing to Tsunade.

"Yes, I'm sorry Akira, but I don't think you can get them back," she said as she held up the small statue.

"Okay." He looked up to Sasuke as if he really didn't care.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked a bit perplexed. Kakashi elbowed him.

"Yes, I got more things from kaa-chan. Hokage-sama can choose whatever she wants," he smiled. "Except for Pom-kun."

They laughed and Sasuke stroked Akira's hair. "What about Pim?"

Akira shuffled and blushed a bit. "I-I... She can..." he looked up to Sasuke. "I want to keep him too!"

The laughing became louder.

"Don't worry Akira-kun, you can keep them, I only would like to have these two." Tsunade smiled at him.

"Okay," Akira said with a small voice as he looked down again, blushing.

Yamato put his mask back on, and together with Kakashi, Tsunade and Naruto he went outside of the room.

"I'm going to send that Hunter a good read," Tsunade said angry, she turned around to face the rest. "I need to take care of a lot of things. Neko-san, you know what to do." Yamato nodded and disappeared with a small 'poof' and some smoke.

Tsunade sighed deeply, looking up to Naruto. "I'm glad Akira-kun is alright."

"Me too."

"Tell me you at least kicked some butt?"

Naruto grinned to Tsunade. "Don't worry about that, you should be thinking up a way to negotiate with that man."

Tsunade stared back into his eyes and smiled at him. She turned away and started walking to the exit of the hospital, Kakashi started following her. "Be gentle with Uchiha, he needs his rest; he lost quite a bit of blood."

"You know I'm not the one out for a good night when my boyfriend is injured." Naruto opened the door and went back to Sasuke.

Tsunade laughed together with Kakashi at what Naruto had told her. "He's getting more open about it."

"He is," Kakashi agreed.

"Oww, you're so cwu~te, Naru-chan!"

"Did you just call me Naru-chan?"Naruto asked.

"Aw, look how adorable he looks when he pouts!" Anko was teasing him once again.

"I'm not pouting, and don't call me Naru-chan."

"Why not? Aren't we close enough?"

"No!" Naruto told her loudly.

"Is it because I'm living with your sensei-"

"Why would I care about who he-"

"But with such a beautiful woman as me-"

"You? Beautiful?"

"I guess gay men can't see."

"What?"

"You only have eyes for other men."

"No I haven't! I hate looking at other men like that!"

"I know Sasuke's here, but… is that what you really thin-"

"Anko!" Naruto crossed his arm over his chest and frowned. "I. Don't. Like. Other. Men!"

Anko stared at him for a moment before finding a new comeback. "What do you think of your Sakura-chan over here then?" Anko grasped Sakura's shoulder tightly and yanked her closer. Sakura had been quietly conversing with Sasuke and Kakashi, and was quite shocked at the sudden pull.

"Anko?" She looked up to the purple haired woman before she was pressed against her chest; almost choking.

"What does that have to do with this?" Naruto asked, looking how Anko smothered Sakura in her breasts.

"You like looking at woman then?"

"I-" Naruto started protesting.

"I know you love Sasuke, but no person in the world doesn't look at someone else's beauty every once in a while." Anko eyed Sasuke's back. "If he'd been a bit older..."

Naruto couldn't stand Anko looking at his Sasuke with those eyes. "Kakashi-sensei is standing right over there!" Naruto pointed to the silver haired jounin. Kakashi looked up at the mention of his name.

"Anko, please, you're killing my student," he said, looking at Sakura.

"Sorry," Anko said as she let Sakura go.

Sakura quickly took a few steps away from her. "Why me?" she asked softly to no one in particular.

"Oba-chan? Are you alright?" Akira asked, standing next to Sakura, pulling at her skirt. Sakura nodded.

Sakura was wondering why she was here again, standing in the garden of Kakashi's and Anko's house. Anko had invited them to come and drink some tea.

Anko continued her 'conversation' with Naruto. "Kakashi doesn't mind me looking at other men, he's so easy." Kakashi just stared at her, blinking slowly.

"Are you certain?"

"He knows I do it, and I say nothing about him reading his little perverted books."

Naruto in fact had nothing to say back at that. "That sounds... reasonable...?"

Sakura eyed Kakashi. "You even read those books when you're around Anko?" Kakashi shrugged.

"I honestly can't even imagine him without it," Naruto said, looking at the small piece of green that could be seen inside Kakashi's weapons pouch.

"Kakashi, you've been seriously degraded," Sasuke told him. Kakashi just looked like he couldn't understand how that had happened.

"You see?" Anko said. "So which woman do you like to look at when Sasuke isn't around, Naru-chan?"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Don't worry, Naruto, she only does this because she had a huge crush on Yondaime-sama." They all looked up to see Kurenai coming closer to the with weeds filled garden. Akane was walking next to her, and immediately Akira greeted her happily.

"Eh?" Naruto eyed Anko as he pulled up his nose. "Ew, that's just..." He took a few steps backward.

Anko had frozen up as everyone stared at her at the given piece of information.

"How do you know?" Anko asked Kurenai.

Kurenai smiled and walked up to Anko, laying her arm around her shoulder.

"You told me so. Don't you remember?" She looked Anko directly in her light brown eyes.

"When?" she asked.

"It's true then?" Naruto asked with disbelief, but was ignored.

"About a month ago, on Sakura's and Sai's housewarming party." Anko's eyes widened. "You were really drunk, and began saying things like 'why did Yondaime had to die' and 'he was so amazing and I liked his blond-' and then I told you I couldn't care less." Kurenai waved her hand as she let go of Anko. "But you ignored me and went on, telling me how beautiful his eyes were and-"

Anko clasped her hand over Kurenai's red lips. "I get the picture. I was drunk." She grinned awkwardly.

"Tou-chan?" Akira was pulling Sasuke's pants, making Sasuke look down. "Wasn't Yondaime-sama very old?" Sasuke just stared at him. To a child of 5 years old, adults were very easily labelled 'old'; especially when he had heard only about the Hokage from a school book during a history class.

"He wasn't old when Anko was younger and still liked him," Kurenai explained.

"But..." Akira looked up to the Hokage monument. Akane beside him did too.

"Anko-san must be old too," Akane told him as an explanation.

"I see. Just like-" They both looked up to Kakashi.

"He is grey after all," Akane whispered.

"It's white or silver if you will," Kakashi told them. "I was born with it." However Akira and Akane weren't paying attention as they were whispering softly to each other. Sasuke smirked and Kakashi narrowed his lazy looking eye.

Naruto had backed away from Anko far enough to be standing between Sasuke and Sakura now. "I don't feel like having tea anymore, let's go home."

"I never knew," Sakura told Naruto as she turned away from Anko as well, like Naruto did. "And that she still-"

"I'm not still in love!" Anko almost yelled, and turned both Sakura and Naruto around. "Kakashi is my man!"

Kurenai nodded behind her. "That was your conclusion last time as well after you told me how much you love him." Kurenai paused. "As well as telling me how and why..."

Silence fell.

"I would have preferred you had kept that to yourself. I think Kakashi wouldn't have minded either."

A shiver ran down Naruto's spine, and Sakura was in a similar state. And Sasuke suddenly thought that this might have been had probably been the reason they had been together in the kitchen that night; and at that thought he couldn't suppress a shiver -that was accompanied with an eerie feeling- either.

The three of them backed away slowly, leaving the beginning forestation that was called the front garden behind.

"Honestly, that was just gro-"

"Wait! What about your son?" Anko pointed to Akira as he stood next to a particular large weed with Akane, measuring who of the two was taller than the green-stem-of-unknown-species.

Sasuke turned around and looked at his small son, just as he came to the conclusion he was smaller than Akane and the piece of weed. Akira looked sadly to the tall weed.

"I think he would like to stay over at your place."

"Are you sure you can leave him behind?" Naruto asked Sasuke, coming to stand against him. "She was just eyeing you not so long ago, and we all know Akira looks almost exactly like you."

Sakura nodded in agree.

"Hn." Sasuke seemed to think this over for a moment. "Akira, let's go."

Akira looked up to his father and then back to Akane. "Bye, Akane-chan. See you next week."

"Bye Akira-kun," Akane waved and hurried back to her mother.

"Why- How?" Anko sputtered and Kakashi walked up to her.

"I guess your teenage love for Yondaime scared them off," Kakashi told her as he put his arm around her waist.

"But…"

"Sorry, Anko, wasn't planning on ruining your party… It's just payback for what you did to my flowers," Kurenai told her.

"I-" but Anko had nothing to say to that. A couple of months ago Anko had visited Kurenai. Things had gotten a bit out of hand -like they tended to do with Anko around- and she had somehow found a way to squash Kurenai's precious poppies.

"Kaa-san, I'm thirsty," Akane reminded her mother again as she had done so before they had stopped here.

"Anko has some tea left; I don't think she'll mind." Kurenai laughed innocently like only she could do, and Anko growled softly.

"Oooh, fine."

-oXo-