ComeComeParadise: Again, I wanna thank all you reviewers! Lols, you guys know who you are!
And a note to some of my anonymous reviewers:
Charl: Oh my gawsh, I think I love you my Christian brother/sister! Your reviews were most definitely helpful, and I want to thank you for (trying) to send me the link to those sites. Haha, you know, you're right that the people sigh too much! I guess I do that because I'm trying to have more action going on during convos, and since I sigh a lot…I guess I made the characters do the same. But thanks for pointing that out! Thanks for all of your reviews—I seriously took them all to heart. I love you!!!
Ino: Ummm…I'd rather not email anyone. Don't take that personally, I don't email anyone else here too. I love you for reviewing though, and I couldn't help but smile when I read your reviews! It's just that I don't feel comfortable giving out my email address through emailing. Again, please don't take it personally, I still love you! XD
Nicole: XDDDD Thanks so much! I'm glad that you don't think Sasuke sounds OOC!
Phionx's ASH: XD I'm sure that you have a life, hon! XD And believe me, I do try to update. You're not asking too much, either. XD There's never no such thing as asking too much because well…the other person can always say no! Wait, that doesn't make sense…anyways, you never know unless you try, and I'm glad that you did! (whatever that means! XD)
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"Sorry Sakura, but everyone will be working a double shift anyways. Tonight just happens to be your night, that's all. If you need to take any breaks while we're traveling, just let me know."
Sakura shook her head.
"Shikamaru…I'd rather not hold up everyone else if I'm too weak to travel. Besides, if everyone else has to do all this too, then it'd majorly slow us down if they all got to take breaks too, right?"
Shikamaru let out a sigh. He couldn't help but agree with her anyways. She was right.
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"Foolish brother…did you really think that you stood a chance against me?"
There was Itachi, standing over the dead body of a familiar pink-haired kunoichi. The sky was blood-red, and the clouds were black as death.
Sasuke looked down at what was left of his body. He was lying down in a pool of his own blood and was barely able to move. Is this really happening? Sakura! Itachi smirked.
"It hurts just to look at you." The older Uchiha snorted as he kicked Sakura's corpse disrespectfully.
"You were too weak to protect our mom and dad…and after all these years, you're still too weak to protect this pitiful girl."
The long-haired man bent over and examined the body that he just kicked.
"It's a shame; really…she's not too bad looking." Using his kunai, Itachi removed her head from her body. "I think I'll keep this as a souvenir. It'll look perfect next to your head, baby brother.
Sasuke struggled in an attempt to pick himself up, but it was no use; instantly, sharp shots of burning heat and pain shot up through what was left of his body. It hurt too much for him to scream.
"Don't bother trying. This'll all be over in no time." Using the same kunai that he had used earlier to behead Sakura's corpse, Itachi took precise aim at Sasuke's neck and flung the kunai at him.
THOK!!!
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Instantly, Sasuke shot up out of bed. He was trembling violently, and his entire face was soaked with cold sweat. After several minutes of sitting in his tent, his heartbeat became steady as he took in his surroundings. Sasuke felt himself and his clothing.
Oh…it was just a dream…
Sasuke pulled out his bottle of water, and used some of the water inside it to wash his face. Even if it was just a dream, it all seemed so real.The younger Uchiha took a deep breath and exhaled softly. Seeing that there was no way he was going back to sleep, Sasuke silently began to pack his sleeping bag and his belongings. Might as well pack up while there's time…
As he reached over to pick up his bag, the "fake" scroll dropped out of his pocket.
"This is a B-ranked mission, and it isn't to be taken lightly. As we travel, there is always a chance that a powerful enemy will come and try to steal the scroll."
'I guess I'll have to carry this scroll in a better place' Sasuke thought, as he remembered Shikamaru's words.
"Alright guy…and girl…we have a mission today. We are to help deliver a vital scroll to our allies at Sand village. This scroll contains information about the Akatsuki that some members of the ANBU were able to uncover from their recent mission to the remains of Sound Village."
Sasuke looked down at the scroll, which was now in his hands. Info on the Akatsuki… Sasuke clenched the decoy scroll tightly as he placed it somewhere safe on his body. Could it be that this information can help me uncover more information on Itachi? The raven-haired boy continued packing. When he was done he sat still in the middle of his tent. The earth below him was cold, but Sasuke didn't notice—he was too preoccupied in his thoughts. Has the information been right here all along? Sasuke's heart began beating with anxiety, curiosity, and excitement. Information about the Akatsuki…information about the Akatsuki…The words echoed throughout his brain much like the way one's voice echoes throughout an empty hall. The more he thought about it, the more enticing the idea of sneaking a peak at the scroll appealed to him. It was just one peak, after all. Shikamaru shouldn't notice…even if he is a genius.
With that in mind, Sasuke got up and crawled out of his tent. He was greeted by Sakura and Shikamaru, who had been discussing the pros and cons of putting Chouji on a diet. The fire that Sasuke had created earlier was reduced to a tiny flame. They both turned to face Sasuke, and were slightly surprised to find him awake. Before they could say anything, Sasuke beat them to it.
"I woke up. I can't sleep anymore."
Shikamaru and Sakura gave an understanding nod. Someone like Sasuke not being able to sleep is understandable, considering all the possible things he could--and most likely had nightmares about. Sakura shot Sasuke a worried and concerned look before continuing her conversation with Shikamaru.
"Well…think of all the girls that would be interested in Chouji if he were skinnier?"
Shikamaru sighed.
"That would seriously impact his ability to use his baika no jutsu…having a skinny guy rolling himself around wont do any good now, would it?"
Sakura shook her head and wagged her finger at Shikamaru.
"But he's at serious risk for health and heart problems. It's unhealthy to be that size. "
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head and yawned.
"He's a ninja. Look at Asuma-sensei. He smokes eight packs a day, and he's one of the best ninja our village has to offer."
Before Sakura could continue, Shikamaru yawned loudly.
"Mendokuse…this is getting to be too troublesome. We should be waking up the others soon, let's start making breakfast now."
At that, the pineapple-headed tactician got up and began to stretch. Sasuke eyed Shikamaru carefully, and intensely. Feeling like he was being watched, Shikamaru looked towards Sasuke's direction.
"Oi, what is it? Do I have a bug on me, Sasuke?"
Sasuke nodded. "Hn. But it flew away."
Shikamaru eyed Sasuke suspiciously before slipping into his tent to find pre-packaged food. Sakura, who had seen the whole thing happen looked at Sasuke with concern written all over her face. There weren't any bugs on Shikamaru…
Sasuke however, remained oblivious to her concerned glance. He was deep in his thoughts. Shikamaru has the real scroll…and the scroll has the information I need to kill Itachi…I need to find a way to get my hands on it just to take a peak...but how? All of a sudden, Sasuke was interrupted by a hand that placed itself softly on his shoulder. When Sasuke looked up at the owner of the hand, he was met by a pair of brilliant emerald eyes. Were her eyes always this…big?
"Sasuke-kun…are you alright? You haven't quite seemed to be yourself since you joined us earlier…"
Sasuke forced himself to look away. It was hard to lie to Sakura's big, green eyes…but looking away definitely helped make it easier.
"It's nothing…I'm fine."
"Oh…"
Sasuke placed his hand on Sakura's, which was still resting on his shoulder. He flinched however, when he actually held her hands. Were her fingers always this bony? I thought that she became super strong…why are her hands so fragile?
"Stop worrying about me Sakura."
Sakura was taken aback.
"B-but Sasuke-kun—"
"I said stop. Don't bother worrying about me. Just forget about it."
Sasuke squeezed her hand lightly before removing it from his shoulder. He got back up and started towards his tent. He still had to pack his tent, after all. …How am I going to get my hands on that scroll? He paused at untying the string he held in his hands for a moment and paused to think. I have to keep my eyes on Shikamaru and wait for the perfect moment to take that scroll. This scroll may contain information that can help me finally kill that brother of mine.
Part of Sasuke knew that peeking at vital scrolls like the one they were guarding was wrong—after all, he spent several days in the Forest of Death keeping that in mind. The other part of him, however, didn't mind. That part of Sasuke didn't care about the "rules". Besides, if the information in the scroll will help him kill his brother, then he'd be doing Konoha a favor by killing one of its missing nins and wanted murderers. Breaking a simple rule would be well worth that. If he succeeded, he'd be happy, and everyone in Konoha would be happy. And if he didn't succeed…Sasuke refused to let himself think of the other half of that.
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ComeComeParadise Corner:
Whoah! This is probably the fastest that I've ever updated this year! For those of you that asked me to update ASAP, I hope you enjoy reading this chapter! And wow…I'm surprised at Sasuke. (even though I wrote all this that happened) I wasn't really expecting that to happen. I think I made him seem a little psychotic in a way…I guess it has to do with what mood I'm in…but I don't feel the least bit angsty today (or psychotic), so who knows? I want to thank all my reviewers (again) And don't worry, this story is FAR from over! It's kinda weird, I mean, I'm already 36 chapters into the story…and I'm not even close to ending it yet…I wonder how long this story will end up being? Well, every so often I get some plot bunnies here and there, so be on the lookout for short fics in the meantime. XP
Now read on my lovely readers-who-will-review-at-the-end-of-this-chapter, read on! XD
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Sakura watched Sasuke pack up his tent. (She had already packed her tent and belongings long ago) However, despite what Sasuke told her, she still couldn't help but feel worried about him. Something wasn't quite right…and it was tearing her to pieces trying to figure out what it was.
Sasuke…kun…
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Before long, everyone was awake and eating their breakfast, which consisted of an energy bar, fruit, bread, and water. Ino was complaining about the high amounts of calories, fat, and carbohydrates found in energy bars, but after the coaxing of Sakura (You'll burn it all off while we're traveling!), Shikamaru (quit being so troublesome and eat—you need to put on more meat anyways), and Chouji (I eat energy bars and a lot more food than this all the time, and look at me! I came out fine!), she relented and began eating. After everyone was done eating their breakfast, Shikamaru, got up and stretched before giving his orders.
"Alright everyone, if everything goes as planned, and we don't run into any enemies on our way today, we should reach past the halfway-point of this trip. We'll stop for a break at noon, but only if we really need it."
Shikamaru turned around and bent over and began rummaging through his backpack.
"The map should be here somewhere...mendokuse…"
As he did this, Sasuke examined Shikamaru's body from head to toe. Where can he be hiding the scroll…?
Chouji noticed Sasuke eyeing Shikamaru, who happened to be in the worst possible position to be eyed at: bent over with his rear facing the rest of the group.
"Whoah, Sasuke…" He muttered. Ino and Sakura, with their expert kunoichi hearing ability however, (actually, it's the woman's natural ability to hear things that guys don't want them to hear) heard what Chouji said. Before long, there were two large lumps on his head (and no, I'm not talking about his hair), courtesy of Ino and Sakura.
Shikamaru, who had been busy rummaging through his bag and cursing everything he could think of for giving him such troublesome luck, had been oblivious to what had been going on behind his back. When he turned around, and saw everyone, he made a gesture as if he was going to ask what just happened, but instead, shoot his head and went back to saying what he was originally going to say.
"Don't want to know…" he muttered, "Okay, there's the map."
On que, the piece of paper that he held in his hands was unrolled, revealing a map of the five countries.
"We are here." He pointed at the red blob. "By then end of the day, we should reach here."
Shikamaru's finger moved to the outer edge of the red blob.
"Any questions?" Silence…
"Are you ready kids?"
"Aye, aye captain!" Chouji shouted.
Before long, there were two more lumps on Chouji's head added to his collection. (from Sakura and Ino) Shikamaru shook his head pitifully.
"Well then, I guess we're off."
At that, the five ninjas took off. WHOOSH!!!
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The fivesome continued traveling in the smoldering heat for what seemed like weeks…months…years…DECADES. Sakura wasn't sure if the water on her face was from her sweating, or from her crying from the unbearable heat. Ino considered stripping all her clothing before remembering that there were men in her company. (From what she could tell anyway) Shikamaru kept muttering the words "stupid" and "troublesome" under his breath.
Chouji was the worst. All the extra layers of skin that he carried on himself (more commonly referred to as "fat") were seriously getting to him. He felt like he was wearing a bunch of winter coats in the middle of the desert. I think I can, I think I can…ooh, I think I just burned a calorie back there! I think I can, I think I can… If only he could remove all his excess calories and burn them in this desert heat…and maybe make a meal out of them…SNAP OUT OF IT! Now's not the time to be thinking of food! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can of chili—wait, WHAT!?
Chouji sighed. It was useless. Sasuke was the only one of them that managed to maintain a semi-cool composure. The heat made it hard for him to think of the scroll, and instead, it helped him better imagine Itachi burning in hell. A smirk found its way on the prodigy's handsome face. Even though it made him more aware of the heat than he wanted to be, it was more interesting than the rest of his teammates—at the moment all of them were too hot to talk, him included.
"Try not to drink all of your water now!" Shikamaru shouted (the best he could anyways). "The heat will only get worse as we get closer to the Sand Village. We're already in the Wind Country, so you guys'll only have to endure about one more day of hell…that is, assuming that we don't encounter any enemies. Water will be a lot harder to find, so try to conserve as much as you can." Shikamaru paused to take a gulp of water from his water bottle. "It should be A LOT cooler by nightfall. Unbearably hot in the morning, and freezing at night. This is the way the climate works in the deserts around here."
Everyone groaned, and Sasuke found himself groaning with everyone else too. I must not be thinking too clearly…it HAS to be the heat. Sasuke glanced at Shikamaru. He drops his guard every time he yawns and stretches. As Sasuke thought this, Shikamaru yawned and stretched. That means that I'll have several chances if I act fast enough…and If I don't react fast enough, I can always try while he's asleep…
"Are you saying that revenge matters more to you than Sakura…?"
Ino's conversation with him last night was seriously bugging him, and Sasuke found himself replaying her words over and over again in his mind more than he wanted to. Did revenge matter to him more? Honestly speaking, Sasuke found that he still had no idea.
"Revenge wont bring you happiness, Sasuke, but love can and will."
Sasuke stopped himself from snorting. Can it really? He'd lost track of the amount of times and people that have told him that revenge wouldn't make him happy…and among those people, Sakura was one of them. He had been working hard towards this goal of his, and he had been dreaming of the day that he'd be able to finally defeat and kill his brother. How is it possible for one to not be happy once they achieve a goal that they've devoted their entire life to?
A gust of hot air blew by, and Sasuke couldn't help but sigh. There was so much going on in his mind right now that he couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed. Suddenly, a movement alerted Sasuke and brought him back to reality. Shikamaru had removed the scroll from his left pocket and moved it to the third pouch from the left on his Chuunin vest.
Wait…what if this is just a trick for enemies…?
After a while, Sasuke confirmed that it couldn't have been a trick. When he saw the scroll, he sensed that it was the real one, and not a fake decoy like the one he was carrying. That had to be the real scroll…but then, why did Shikamaru make it so obvious when he moved the scroll…? He had to have been trying to fool someone.
Suddenly, an unusually strong and cool gust of wind blew by. While the Chuunins found relief from the heat with this gust, Sasuke and Shikamaru grew suspicious. However, while he couldn't sense any unfamiliar chakra…and even after activating his sharingan and surveying the entire area and confirming that there were no people following them, the feelings of suspicion continued to linger in Sasuke. Shikamaru, however, despite being slightly suspicious at the sudden cool breeze remained calm. If there is an enemy following us, whoever he is, he'll show himself soon enough.
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ComeComeParadise Corner:
Okay, I'm sorry if this chapter was short…and it was…uh, sorry? XD Please don't let that keep you from reviewing my story.
Remember to REVIEW! NO FLAMES ALLOWED!!! WHEEEEEE!!!!!