Another Chapter

By: Missysillivan

Summary: After winning the battle against Orochimaru, Sasuke and the Konoha Shinobi have gone their separate ways once more. Now, only days later, it has finally been revealed that war is on the horizon and the future of Konoha is looking grim. Strangely enough, Konoha's victory is held in the palm of a traitor and now it's up to a hand full of qualified ninja to find the missing ninja and bring him back to help save Konoha, or else, the grand village will fall. (Main SasuSaku; Minor NaruHina, NejTen) (Some OOC; a lot more will appear in later chapters)

A/N: Ladies and gentlemen. ITS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS STORY!! MY BABY IS A YEAR OLD!! Its absolutely amazing! This is the BIGGEST accomplishment for me. To have such a successful story gone of for a year with twenty-nine chapters and over ninty thousand words is...WOW!! So I dedicate this TO EVERY ONE!! And also, a special dedication to everyone who figured out that Sasuke was talking about Sakura landing in his lap last chapter! God, I'm so happy!! THANK YOU ALL!!

Disclaimer: I don't own. But if I did...there would be some major changes.


Chapter 29: A Long Road Home

Bleeding eyes stayed trained on the village on the horizon as a sharp wind blew past. The familiar presence was made known to him as the blue man came to a halt a step behind him.

"It's all good." He sneered gruffly, resting a hand on his large sword.

"Hn. Very good."

"We meet with that bitch tomorrow morning. What do you say to getting a drink?"

The crimson eyes flickered to his partner before going back to the horizon. "Aa."

"You know, Itachi, those Konoha brats are trying to find your brother. That could poke a hole in the plan."

"I will deal with my otouto, Kisame." Itachi kept a blank look, seemingly unaffected by the new revelation.

Kisame nodded and gave a smirk. "Have you heard about the hokage's apprentice? She's supposed to have surpassed that blonde whore."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "I have. She was kidnapped by Orochimaru and even killed Sasori with that Chiyo woman."

The shark man snickered. "I like her already."

"Hn."

The two men fell in silence until they reached the town and entered a small restaurant. Kisame ordered two bottles of sake for himself before remembering his silent partner. He changed his order to three. The man serving them war wary looking and avoided the duo when possible.

"When do we check in with the boss?"

"Tomorrow; after we meet with Giman-san." (1)


"You know your orders. Are there any questions?"

Not a sound.

"Good. I wish you all luck."

The four teams of Konoha and Suna Shinobi disappeared simultaneously, leaving the two kages to stare at their now empty places.

"You think it will work?"

"We can only hope." Tsunade's honey eyes locked onto Gaara's sea foam ones. "Ultimately, those teams are on their own. We won't be able to send them any help should the need arrive."

"Then we pray the need doesn't come."

Tsunade nodded and turned to look out the large window. "I just pray that in the end, the other kages don't start a war over Rice."

"Hn."

(A/n: This scene refers to chapter 26 when all of the kages were meeting with each other. If you didn't get that, go back for reference.)


She pulled the shall tighter around her body and around her head as the wind began to blow even harder. Despite her quick movement through the crowds, she stayed completely aware of any chakra signatures that were hostile, or didn't belong, and any suspicious looking people. Her thick cotton skirt ruffled around her legs as she maneuvered her way. Even though it was thick and provided some warmth, she was dying for her usual attire.

As the grimy looking inn came into view, she was suddenly getting a weird vibe running down her spine. Never one to ignore her feelings, she took extra precaution as she approached the place.

The door caught several times as she tried to slide it open, until finally, she gave up and just squeezed through the opening. The man sitting behind the counter grinned at this and waved her over as she willed a deep blush to cover her cheeks, keeping her looking as innocent as possible.

"What can I do for you girl?" The man smirked as he licked his lips in a perverse way.

"I'm looking for Mori Giman. He said I was to come to him today to give him something." She murmured quietly.

The man's smirk dropped and he suddenly looked seriously. "I see. Third door to the right on the second floor. Room two-oh-six."

"Thank you."

She quickly shuffled up the stairs and knocked timidly on the door. It was answered a moment later by a man looking to be in his late thirties. He was in good shape and stood fairly tall. However, he was overdue for a shave and a bath and his breath smelt of alcohol.

"What do you want?" He growled aggressively.

"I-I'm sorry for b-bothering you, Mori-san. I have something to give you."

The man, Mori Giman, raised an eyebrow and ushered her into the room while looking up and down the hallways suspiciously.

Once the door was closed he turned his full attention to her. She noted that he looked like he was almost completely wasted. "What is that you have for me?"

She paused a moment and clutched the shall even tighter around her body. "I was told to deliver a message to you. It was: 'Watch your back. The eyes are everywhere.' A man had stopped me on the street and told me where to find you and to tell you." She suddenly ran forward and grasped his forearms; he, being drunk, was slow to react. "Please! Don't kill me! I was just sent to deliver a message!"

Giman tensed considerably and pushed her harshly away from his personal space. "What is your name?" He demanded.

"I-Ishii Keiko, sir." She yelped.

"Hm…If I ever see your face again, I will kill you. Now leave."

The girl left as quickly as possible and raced down the stairs. She didn't give the owner of the inn a second glance as she squeezed out of the still partially opened door and let herself get swept away by the crowds of people.

Several minutes of twists and turns and alley ways, she finally found herself in the better part of town and entered a fancier looking inn without a second thought, but only after assuring herself that she hadn't been followed.

Arriving at the given inn room door, she knocked twice and then entered once the door was opened for her.

She removed the shall and took a seat on the bed.

"The message was delivered."

"Good. Neji, has he acted yet?"

The brunette searched through his byakugan before nodding in affirmation. "Yes. He's leaving the inn right now."

"Good. Shino, is the bug on his body?"

"Hai. I will be able to keep track of him, no matter where he goes."

"Good." The gray haired sannin turned to the only female. "Good acting, Tenten. You even had us believing your performance."

Tenten giggled and gave a simple shrug. "What can I say? I am a girl after all. We're skilled in this kind of thing."

Neji rolled his eyes and turned off his doujutsu. "He is most likely on his way to inform Uchiha Itachi Hoshigaki Kisame of his warning."

"And with that, our plan moves forward." Tenten added. "Now, it's a matter of waiting."

"Hn. I don't think he will go to them about his threat. He's a Konoha Jonin who is currently drunk. More than likely, he just thinks it's an everyday enemy and is just moving inns. He most likely doesn't believe it has anything to do with his connections to the Uchiha or the Akatsuki." The Hyuuga and Tenten both stared at Shino for several seconds before he sighed heavily.

"You're probably right." Tenten stated.

"In either case, we still keep a sharp eye out for him." Jiraiya commanded.

"Hai!"


"We need to stop for the night." Kakashi murmured as they approached a clearing. "This will be the best spot."

"Kakashi-sensei…how far out are we?" Naruto asked nervously, causing his teammates to watch him in surprise and anxiousness. If Naruto was nervous, then something was up.

"We're a good day or so out. We'll leave at dawn." Kakashi replied, apparently aware of the inner turmoil Naruto was going through. "Don't worry. Jiraiya and the others are keeping tabs on their movements."

At this Karin perked up. "Jiraiya…as in the sannin?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "He's been investigating the Akatsuki's movement for some time now."

Karin's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"That information is on a 'need to know basis'." Sakura all but hissed. Just because they were working together didn't mean she had to trust her with everything.

"We'll take the same shifts tonight that we did last night." Kakashi informed everyone.

"Okay." Suigetsu leaned against a tree and took out his bottle of water to rehydrate himself.

"I have a problem with that!" Karin shouted.

"Shut it, wench. Unless you want the enemy to find us." Suigetsu taunted.

"You stupid bastard." The red head hissed.

"He's right." Shikamaru sighed, getting overly annoyed by the two's constant bickering. "We may be in Fire Territory, but there are still enemies hiding out in the forests."

Karin flushed at being called out, and immediately crossed her arms over her chest and pouting her face.

"I'll get dinner." Sakura sighed.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

The medic looked to the large man and smiled at his anxious look. "Sure. I would love the company."

Sakura didn't miss the worried glance Sasuke sent their way as she walked into the tree covering with Juugo. She remembered Sasuke telling her about Juugo's "condition". It was frightening to be alone with him, but, she could tell he was a good soul, just cursed with something he never wanted.

"So where are you from, Juugo-san?" Sakura asked with a smile.

Juugo shrugged. "Around. I don't know exactly."

"That must be hard sometimes. Not knowing where you came from."

"I don't really think about it."

Sakura frowned. "I'm sorry."

"It's quite alright."

"So, what do you like to do for fun?"

Juugo raised an eyebrow at the girl. "I like talking to the animals…" He stopped when he noticed that Sakura had stopped walking. He turned to look at the girl who was gaping at him. "Uh…Sakura-san?..."

"THAT. IS. SO. COOL!" She nearly screamed.

Juugo blanched and let out a sigh. "You're probably the only one who thinks that."

"Well, anyone who thinks that its dumb speaking to animals can just die."

And with that, Sakura demanded to know everything about what it was like to speak to animals as they searched for their evening's dinner.


Shikamaru leaned against the tree, watching as everyone set up their tents for the night. He could already tell that it was going to be a cold night. There was a front coming in from the north, near the Fire Country's large mountains lining the northern borders. He let out a sigh, since when did he become a meteorologist?

A distant voice was heard squealing and Shikamaru mused that it sounded oddly like Sakura. Sure enough, several minutes later, Juugo and Sakura appeared at the edge of the clearing, each caring more than enough fish.

"You'll never guess what I learned!" Sakura continued with her squealing, even after Naruto bounded up to her and demanded she tell him. "Juugo can talk to animals!"

Naruto gaped and pointed at the tall man. "NO WAY! TEACH ME!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and let out a scoff. "You have to learn how to talk normally first, dobe."

Naruto whipped around on his heel and glared. "Shut up teme!"

Juugo walked past the blonde as Sakura got him up to date about what she had learned. Suigetsu snickered, pointing out to Juugo that he just became the Konoha shinobi's entertainment for the rest of the trip. Karin fumed that Sakura was getting an excess amount of attention from both Naruto and Sasuke, even though the latter was dragged into the conversation by force.

Shikamaru smirked. Some things never changed. For one, Sasuke would always have fan girls and two; Sakura will always talk, even if there is no one to listen to her. There was just no shutting her up once she was on a roll.

'Almost as bad as Ino.' He mused to himself.

"Anything interesting you would like to share with the class?" Shikamaru looked up lazily at the Jonin and shrugged.

"Juugo talks to animals and has unintentionally recruited Sakura and Naruto." He yawned in response.

Kakashi chuckled. "That's Naruto and Sakura for you."

"Hey! I wanna eat, damn it!" Karin snapped angrily.

"What?" Sakura looked over to the fuming red head and giggled. "Sorry!"

She moved to the fire and began cooking the fish she and Juugo had retrieved. Once it was all done, everyone sat around the fire for warmth. As Shikamaru predicted, a cold front had come in and the temperature had dropped significantly. Finally, Kakashi demanded everyone get to sleep, except the two on watch; who just happened to be Kakashi and Suigetsu.

Shikamaru stood and went to his respective tent and immediately got himself inside his sleeping bag. The temperature were only getting lower and he, sadly, wouldn't be surprised if it snowed. It was mid-fall and an early winter was being called for.

To him, it only seemed like a minute before Kakashi was shaking him awake for his shift. Begrudgingly, Shikamaru got himself up and moved to sit by the fire to keep himself warm. He heard a distinct slap and Suigetsu hiss out a curse before emerging from Karin's tent with the red head close behind.

"Get away from me, you perve!" She snapped before taking her own seat.

Suigetsu laughed and got in his tent without another word.

Shikamaru watched as Karin tucked her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them to keep the warmth in, all while keeping sharp for any chakra signatures.

"It's rude to stare." Karin bit out.

Shikamaru shrugged. "Nothin' better to do."

"So stare at a tree."

Shikamaru successfully concealed a grin and redirected his attention to the fire. That was the thing about the Nara. If he wasn't cloud watching, he was people watching. It was almost like a past time to him. It had always peaked his curiosity about why people acted the way they did. Sometimes they were just weird, other times, they were too human; all of their fears and feelings being worn on their sleeve for the world to see. Of course he would never admit it out loud. It was more of a…secret hobby.


Nearing the end of the shift, the rain began to pour. When it was time for the shift change, Shikamaru hurriedly woke up Naruto and informed him of the weather change. And just like the night before, Sasuke was exiting his tent before Karin could even lay a hand on the nylon material. Shikamaru retired to his tent and left the two former teammates to their jobs.

Naruto and Sasuke had both taken cover from the rain in the trees. They were still getting wet, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been, had they still been sitting around the now extinguished fire. Sasuke could feel Naruto's cerulean eyes watching his every move, and it was driving him up a wall, figuratively speaking.

"What dobe?" He finally snapped, although, his words just came out tired and defeated.

"Have I ever told you that your hair reminds me of a chicken's ass?" WHAM! "OW! Damn it, teme!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto rubbed the back of his head where he had been hit. However, before he could respond to Naruto's insult, the front of Sakura's tent opened and she emerged with a bundle in her arms. She quickly moved to the tree cover and stood between the two "former" friends.

"What are you doing up?" Sasuke grunted.

"It's raining, and knowing you two, I figured you would need these." Sakura tossed a thermal blanket to each male before wrapping her own around her slim body.

"You should sleep, Sakura-chan. Baa-chan isn't going to be happy if she finds out you weren't following her directions." Naruto stated worriedly.

"I'm fine, Naruto. I just can't sleep." Sakura sighed. Even though she absolutely loved storms, she couldn't sleep through them. And she had been especially touchy about them since she had returned from Sound.

There was a brief silence as Sakura jumped up to sit on a lower tree branch. They watched the clearing, before Naruto chuckled softly to himself. "This is too much like when we were Genin."

"Last time I checked, you two were still Genin." Sakura replied smugly.

Naruto rolled his eyes and Sasuke looked annoyed. Damn technicalities.

"You know what I mean." Naruto sighed.

Sakura closed her eyes and smiled sadly. "Yeah, I do."

"Remember that time we had to drop of a scroll in Mist and it started to hail on us. Kakashi disappeared and we were left on our own for three hours to ride out of the storm." Naruto grinned.

"I remember you pushing Sasuke out into the storm several times." Sakura added in.

"Which I still haven't made him pay for yet." Sasuke glared.

Naruto took a step back and put up his hands in surrender. "How about after we bring down the Akatsuki?"

"Yeah, we can't have the most hyperactive knucklehead dying on us before the fight even starts." Sakura smirked.

"That's not very nice, Sakura-chan." Naruto narrowed his eyes before pulling the blanket tighter around his body while Sasuke materialized on the branch beside Sakura.

She giggled and leaned into Sasuke for warmth. Expecting him to pull away, seeing as though they were in the presence of someone else, and Sasuke didn't do public displays of affection, or touching for that matter, she was surprised when he pulled her into his side and wrapped his arm, and blanket, around her shoulders. She locked onto his almost unreadable gaze and whispered a 'thank you', which he replied to by nodding his head.

Naruto oblivious to it all, sighed, loudly, and leaned back against the trunk of the tree. "The only person who's missing is Kaka-sensei."

"Please, since when has he ever dropped the book just to stand around with us?" Sakura stated blatantly.

"He's probably in his tent right now." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto and Sakura laughed and then a comfortable silence fell over the group. As dawn approached, the skies were still dark and the rain was falling harder than ever. Sakura pecked Sasuke on the cheek and then jumped down to the ground, with Sasuke close behind. They each nodded in understanding and went to wake their respective person.

Sakura sighed as she went to Shikamaru's tent. He was always a pain to wake up in the morning. She kicked the side of his tent and let out a loud whistle. There was a jump from inside of the tent followed by a whiny "Sakura!"

In the background, there was a scream as Karin ran out of her tent. "WHO WAS THAT?"

Sakura stifled her laughter as she watched Shikamaru crawl out of his tent.

"Troublesome woman."

There was a high pitched scream as Naruto got kicked out of Kakashi's tent several second later. Kakashi followed him out, looking murderous, prompting Sakura to place a hand on his shoulder and stopping him from doing anything he would regret later on.

"What did you do?" She asked with a smile.

"Never touch my Icha." Kakashi growled before moving away to put away his tent.

Sakura and Sasuke locked eyes and then Sakura was on the ground laughing hysterically.

"There is something wrong with you people." Karin gasped.

"No, they just know how to have fun." Suigetsu grinned.

Juugo nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the sight of Naruto cowering behind a tree, too afraid to go to his tent and put it away with Kakashi only feet away from him. Sakura had already gotten her tent together and was waiting with Sasuke under the cover of the trees as the rain grew worse. Karin on the other hand, was having difficulties and continued to complain as her hair stuck to her face.

"Hurry up!" Sakura commanded Naruto, who shook his head no. "Damn it, Uzumaki! Get your ass over there and put you tent away!"

Naruto looked as though he was contemplating whether he should face Kakashi's torturous death or Sakura's wrath, and in the end, wisely chose the former.

Sasuke let out a breathy 'dobe' while Shikamaru mumbled a 'troublesome' at the same time. Suigetsu continued to grin, all the while teasing Karin about her hair and white, nearly see through, jacket that she was wearing.

Feeling some compassion for the Oto Kunoichi, Sakura offered her one of her shirts when Karin moved over to the tree cover.

"Why would I wear something so out-dated?" She snapped in response.

Sakura scowled and narrowed her eyes. "Fine. I guess you just like giving males a free peep show."

Karin looked like she was ready to scream, but in the end pulled out her cloak and wore it over her drenched clothing, not carrying if she was uncomfortable.

Several minutes later everyone was packed and dressed in their cloaks, and ready to go. Kakashi led the way, as was usual, and everyone got into a scattered formation. The Jonin informed everyone that it was going to be a long trip and that they would be only stopping for a break every now and then; they would be traveling through the night.


"Break!" All attention turned to the water man, who was leaning up against a tree, looking like he was ready to pass out.

"Okay…I guess a five minute break…" Kakashi announced, pulling out his orange colored smut book.

"Lazy bastard." Karin bit out.

"What ever, whore." Suigetsu smirked as he eyed the pink haired medic who was walking over to her blonde teammate.

Karin noticed and a 'brilliant' idea struck her. A grin crossed over her face and she let out an evil chuckle. Suigetsu heard and shot her a confused, and slightly wary, look before backing away and starting a conversation with Juugo.


"She scares me." Shikamaru stated bluntly, not caring that the only person who could hear him was the Uchiha beside him.

Sasuke smirked. "Hn."

They watched as Karin began laughing manically and talked near silently to herself, almost as if she was planning something.

"We should probably warn Sakura to stay away from her." Shikamaru added.

Sasuke could only nod his head.

(A/n: Okay, I just have to say that this is my favorite scene out of this chapter! This was actually the scene that started the entire chapter. Everything built off of this haha.)


"Have you heard from the others yet?"

Harumi looked up when the blonde spoke. "Nothing. Tsunade-sama said that it was going to take some time. Apparently they haven't gotten a message from Sakura-san's team yet either."

Temari nodded and let out a sigh. "I hate waiting."

"They'll be fine. Its not like Sasuke will tell them no." Ino rolled her eyes and turned to Hinata. "We need to doll you up for when Naruto gets home."

Hinata immediately blushed. "I-I'm sorry?"

"You know…dress you up. You're always wearing such baggy clothes." Ino shrugged.

"Leave her alone, Ino." Temari sighed.

"Temari-san…aren't you supposed to be leaving for Suna today?" Harumi asked timidly. The Sand Kunoichi intimidated her slightly.

"No. My brother and the hokage have to work something out apparently."

"Where's Kankuro been?" Ino asked as she got up to raid the newly restocked refrigerator in the apartment kitchen. Since Sakura had left for her mission, the girls had taken up residence in her apartment to keep Harumi company when she wasn't at the hospital visiting her brother.

"Out with Kiba. Something about cliff diving." Temari shrugged. (A/n: Haha, that was a reference to my story Reasons. Go read it if you haven't. I think it's really good, haha.)

"Ya, I heard Lee was going with them." Ino put in with a smile. "Maybe he'll jump off the cliff and-"

"Don't say that, Ino." Temari snapped. "He may be annoying, but he's still okay…I guess…Neji seems to like to spar with him anyway…well…according to Tenten anyway…"

The girls burst into fits of laughter.

"Now, if only our dear Sakura and Tenten were here!" Temari smirked.

"Then our party would be complete." Ino joined in, giving the older girl a high five.

"You're all crazy." Hinata sighed, getting herself another drink while Harumi nodded in agreement.


"He's on the move." Neji suddenly stated.

"Where?" Tenten commanded.

"He's headed towards Konoha." Neji replied concentrating on where the man was going.

"Where are Itachi and Kisame?" Jiraiya demanded.

"They are at a hotel room. Kisame ended up buying out that restaurant of all of their sake. He's damn near drunk." Neji responded without hesitance.

"Alright. Tenten. Shino. You two follow Giman. Neji and I will stay to watch Itachi and Kisame's movements." Jiraiya ordered.

"Right."

"Hai."

"Hn."

And then they were off.


(1) Giman – translated, literally means deceit

Okay, so the next chapter I promise will be longer. Now, I leave on Thursday (next Thursday) morning to go to Chicago until Monday for my band trip so I won't be able to update until after I get back. On top of that we have STAR testing going on the week we return so I might be a little delayed when getting the next chapter up. Sorry. Until next time!

HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSAY!!

Review, that would the perfect gift for me haha.

iMisSy!