Really sorry for a late update, but this, isn't exactly what I set off to write when I thought of it…
My original chapter, now looks like it's going to become three separate ones, both to ease writing, and lessen the number of words per chapter.
And point to note, the dark kunoichi thing? It's not for this fic. It's for another one, and I need 9
Well, I did need 9, but I've already got a plan for Sakura, Ino, Hinata/Hanabi, Tenten, a FemHaku if I have no choices, still trying to work how I can get Temari to exude that vibe. so I still need 5 kunoichi to work, people who are preferably about Naruto's age, give or take a few years. People whose characters aren't set by the time Naruto become a genin.
And, I know this ends in a cliffhanger, but I promise, the next chap is coming up really soon, I already have half of it written.
X—X—X—X—X
Without Uchiha Sasuke
Chapter 38
The trees were passing by slower than he was used to, but Uzumaki Naruto relished the slow trek through the Fire Country. The tranquility of their route allowed both of the travellers to let their minds wander, to think and contemplate the future that lay ahead of them and there was nothing more Naruto wanted to do than go home. Their travels, after all, had brought them much closer to Konoha, than they had ever been in the past two years.
"You miss her." Came Jiraiya's voice, a simple statement that brought the younger nin out of his daydreams, a simple statement that both of them knew was true.
Naruto did indeed miss 'her', the only 'her' in his life, the one girl that he had devoted most of his Shinobi life to, the one girl he knew he would devote the rest of his life to as well.
His heart filled with warmth at the memories of their time, especially the love that she had returned even if it had been a little later, something that he was glad she had done, something that he was glad that they had shared.
"It's hard not to." He said, his arms moving up and fingers locking behind his head as he gazed up into the canopy, his face lighting up with a smile at the mere thought of her.
There were times when remembering Sakura was important, where it was the difference between him giving up or quitting, but there were also times that it made him long for her, and now that they were actually within days of Konoha, it didn't help to think of someone he had missed almost every single waking minute for roughly 6 months.
Now, he knew, was not the time to be longing for her, his time with her would come soon, provided he paid his training enough attention for there to be a future, a future that was very much at risk.
A change of terrain, from the forest and into a meadow and the disappearance of the canopy gave Naruto an epiphany that he had never thought he would get, as he found his eyes wandering from cloud to cloud.
He now understood Shikamaru's fascination with them. They were never fixed, never solid, always changing, always morphing, something that no one could plan for, no one could expect, no one could guess. He now knew why they were so interesting to the strategist, they posed him a challenge, to predict the moves of an unpredictable opponent, something so random in its moves and changes as a cloud was.
The epiphany, unfortunately, also brought to the fore of his mind, another group of clouds, this time, a group of missing nin who called themselves the Akatsuki, The Red Clouds.
A scowl formed across the young boy's forehead, his happy reminiscent mood gone and replaced with a more serious and contemplative tone as he recalled his run-ins with the Akatsuki.
It would be safe to say that he had been plagued by the members of Akatsuki since the day they had left Konoha, while in fact, they had been the major reason behind his departure. Their threat to his life, his village and the entire Shinobi world was very real and it was imperative that he be ready for their attempts to kidnap and extract his bijuu, the Kyuubi.
Interestingly enough, he'd been left alone the two years Sakura had spent with them, only one half hearted attempt by the duo that had been assigned to capture him, abandoned at the realization that two chuunin, one with the ability to tap into the Kyuubi's power, along with a legendary Sannin were too much for even two S classed missing nin.
Instead, they had made themselves busy capturing the other tailed beasts and by the time the first two years of their training had gone, the bijuu were down by four of their kind, leaving only five to be extracted.
The Akatsuki duo assigned to him returned the day Sakura had left, two days after they had taken Uchiha Sasuke's head off of his shoulders, an attempt Naruto had been worried was fueled by the death of Itachi's younger brother, but like the ones that came after, they had failed.
That had been the beginning of regular attempts, some even so bold as to attempt to take on both him and Jiraiya at the very same time. Itachi and Kisame both knew that the fact that Sakura was no longer around caused a significant decrease in the battle capability of Naruto's guard and they had meant to take full advantage of it
However, none of them had succeeded, some had even failed barely, and then, after making regular monthly attempts, the duo of Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi suddenly vanished, not a peep was seen of them or heard, according to Jiraiya's spy network.
And that, in turn, had led to the current trek they were on. Jiraiya was worried, and it showed in the silence that accompanied them on their travels. Why exactly he was worried, Naruto still didn't understand too well, but he knew that when it came to your enemy, no news was not good news. In fact, it almost always meant the exact opposite, that there was a plan being hatched.
This worry was the very reason the both of them were walking towards a small village that housed one of Jiraiya's contacts, a village that could be their last stop together for a long, long time.
The slow pace of the trek told Naruto that whatever this informant knew was important. He had been told that as well, but Jiraiya was taking the time to arrange things, in case the informant gave him an answer he didn't like.
Whatever news this man, or woman, had, Naruto's plans depended on it. It would decide whether he'd spend the next six months with Jiraiya, finishing the three years training, or if he would be sent straight to Mt Myobokuzan, to learn the sage arts from the toads themselves. It would decide, if Jiraiya's plans were good to go, or if they needed to be revised and kicked into a higher gear.
"So, do you have anything planned for when you do meet her?" asked the Sannin, a wry smile gracing his wizened aging face, thoughts of new material for his books obviously going through his lecherous mind, unknowingly breaking the contemplative mood his apprentice was in.
"Lots." Replied the younger nin, giving his sensei a smirk of his own, immediately masking all signs of any other thoughts or worries.
"But nothing you can spy on." He added with a wink, and almost burst out laughing when Jiraiya pouted like a child.
The Sannin recovered immediately, scoffing and mumbling something about how the new generation didn't have the drive that made them humans and for all his mischievousness, Naruto could only reply with a sharp retort of "pervert" before the duo relapsed back into silence, both of them enjoying each other's company, for soon they might not be able to enjoy it anymore.
A smile appeared on Naruto's face once again, his hands going into his blissful position behind his head as his eyes gazed upwards once again, studying those very clouds he hoped his friend would be at this very moment.
X—X—X—X—X
The quiet was golden, treasured especially as it allowed Naruto to concentrate on the important stuff, most of his techniques required a lot of focus to learn where one wrong move could spell days spent regenerating damaged limbs or digits, causing delays that Jiraiya would like to avoid as much as possible.
But, as they neared the village, the eerie silence, the emptiness of the streets, told him a different story, a story that almost certainly pointed to danger.
The toad sannin stopped at the very edge of the village, his hand stuffing the scroll he had been writing in, into one of the special pouches he wore, knowing with confidence that it was well on its way to Mt Myobokuzan and the toads.
Naruto stopped beside him, his eyes flitting to the buildings, his eyes perked and listening for any slight sound.
There was none and it made things worse, knowing that these signs were there for them to see. Whoever had caused this silence and emptiness had done a bad job of covering it up or hadn't bothered covering it up at all.
The former argument meant that it had been an inexperience ninja or a group of bandits, but Jiraiya knew better. This particular village was so deep inside Konoha that there would be no need for any involvement of any other Shinobi villages and Tsunade would never order a full wipe out.
Bandits, on the other hand, wouldn't bother cleaning up behind them, and as far as the toad sannin could see, there was no blood nor bodies on the street, there was neither the smell of blood nor the smell of rotting corpses.
This mess, was cleaned up, and that meant that whoever had done this was a professional.
The only question remaining was who, and why?
"Are we going in?"
The question made Jiraiya look at his apprentice, staring into the younger nins eyes before he nodded.
"There is a slight chance that our guy is still alive." He said, telling Naruto, though in not so much words, that the information the person had was essential.
Senses fully alert and with a little bit of chakra enhancement, the two nin set foot into the village, half hoping that their informant was still alive, the other half hoping that whoever had wiped this village clean wasn't waiting for them inside.
X—X—X—X—X
The village, was worse off than they had thought earlier.
Whereas Orochimaru was known to take bodies and live people to experiment on, his forces were never known to take every single person in the village.
Being criminals and missing nin, most of Orochimaru's henchmen tended to leave brutal remains, half to sate their own bloodthirst, the other to cow their prisoners into submission.
This village, however, was just the opposite, empty and deserted, not a single body, not a single drop of blood, not a single sign of a battle.
No one did a job this clean.
Jiraiya's mind whirled through the number of names and faces that could have done this, Danzo the first and foremost of names in his train of thought.
The question was, what was Danzo's interest in this particular village?
"Jiraiya-sama."
The words brought both Jiraiya and Naruto to a stop, not due to the respect that was given with the title, but more due to the voice that spoke it.
The voice that spoke, was the one voice Jiraiya had never expected to hear, the one voice that told him that it was the end of the line for a lot of things.
Sighing, the Sannin turned around to face the speaker and was greeted by a pair of dark ebony eyes, eyes he had met for a long time, until the owner had defected from the village.
"Itachi-kun." He said, as he shot the former Konoha nin a glance, careful to avoid the orbs that could instantly put him in a genjutsu like no other.
A sudden shift in Naruto's stance alerted the Sannin to the presence of Hoshigaki Kisame, neatly placed on a rooftop just a bit to the left of Itachi, a strategic distance away from his partner.
"I guess it would be useless to ask what happened to my informant."
"He went down in a blaze of glory."
The glee he felt at the death of the informant echoed in the voice of the Mist nin, something Jiraiya found odd considering Kisame was a water jutsu user.
Jiraiya forced the thought away, turning his mind to the matter at hand.
It was clear that his informant was dead, it had been said as much. That meant that Akatsuki was aware of him keeping tabs on them, which in turn told him that he needed to change his plans.
It meant that Jiraiya had to take over the espionage himself, keeping tabs on his informants, and sometimes getting the information himself, and that meant that Naruto needed to go to Mt Myobokuzan and into his last step of training, prematurely.
The Toad Sannin turned around, his senses enhanced and aware as he made to leave.
He only managed to get a few steps forward before he felt three more chakra signatures, closer than they shoud be.
Jiraiya cursed himself under his breath for his carelessness, for not being as aware as to feel the signatures as they approached, especially as familiar as the larger one was.
"Orochimaru."
The growl was quiet, but it sparked a rage inside Jiraiya that he had kept suppressed for a long time.
"This isn't a capture attempt, is it?"
He asked Itachi as he turned around, glaring into the Uchiha's eyes with a hatred.
Itachi closed his eyes and shook his head, no attempt to activate his Mangekyo, no attempt to catch Jiraiya in a Tsukuyomi.
The wheels inside Jiraiya's head started turning again, as he analyzed the happenings of the past month.
The attacks had stopped, not long after Jiraiya had last met Tsunade. That would be the same timeframe as the Konoha team arriving in Suna.
Not only had the attacks on Naruto stopped, the attempt that was supposed to happen on Gaara, hadn't happened either. And that left only one possible answer.
Someone in Suna had informed them of the team's arrival, and that, in turn, had told them just how much of their activities Jiraiya knew.
Uchiha Itachi was simply tying up loose ends, ends that could end up foiling Akatsuki's plans, plans that they had set in motion for almost a decade, and if he were Uchiha Itachi, Jiraiya knew that there was only one more loose end to tie.
Him.
X—X—X—X—X
"Go."
The word was spoken softly, yet he heard it.
"What?"
"Naruto, go."
There it was again, that word, asking him to leave, asking him to abandon his teacher of almost three years.
"We can take them."
"It is best you leave, Naruto-kun. There is no reason for both of you to die today."
The berserker rage exploded inside the blonde and his body was moving before he knew it, the red mist engulfing him as he dashed towards Itachi.
His periphery told him Jiraiya was moving too, and Naruto knew that it was towards him, to stop him, but it was Kisame who got there first.
The slice came at chest height, but it came slower than he had expected it to.
Relishing in the power that Kyuubi gave him, the blond ducked under the blade, dismissing the torn chakra cloak he wore, fully focused on the second Uchiha prize in front of him.
It was only when Itachi moved, that he realized how easy Kisame had been, as if he was allowing Naruto to pass, leading him into a trap, but it was already too late.
All it took was the split second of hesitation on Naruto's part to allow Itachi to step in front of him, sharingan orbs whirling.
Next thing he knew, they were in his mindscape, in front of the Kyuubi's cage, Itachi staring deep into the red eyes of the Kyuubi itself.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, I can't allow you to use him this time."
Pain, like he had never felt ripped through Naruto's abdomen as he was propelled out of his mindscape, all senses of his Kyuubi chakra vanishing, his strength immediately leaving him.
Naruto was lucky. He knew he was lucky, when he felt Kisame towering up above him, ready to land the blow that would disable him, knock him out and allow them to finally capture him. He knew he was lucky when a familiar blue orb smashed into the nin from the side, forcing the swordsman to replace himself with a nearby log.
X—X—X—X—X
Jiraiya cursed his luck as he blew the log into pieces.
Of course Naruto would try to attack Itachi, he hadn't felt Orochimaru approaching, his scanning skills were not that good yet.
Now, it was up to Jiraiya to protect both of them, and if Orochimaru and his henchmen turn up, things would get a lot harder for him.
"Are you okay?" he asked his apprentice, who was struggling to lift himself back on to his feet.
"I can't feel the Kyuubi."
"The magic of the Sharingan, it can suppress demons. You need to leave, now, you're of no help to me in that state."
Jiraiya knew the words would cut deep into the boy, to be told that he was no help, for him to realize that his rash actions had put them into a worse spot than before.
"I'm not leaving you."
"Then we'll both die here. The Akatsuki will not only kill a Sannin, but they will also extract the Kyuubi, killing you and coming one step closer to the completion of their plan. This world will cease to remain as it is now."
The silence that came from the boy told him that his words had struck true.
"Orochimaru is on his way."
Jiraiya didn't see it, but he felt Naruto's head whip up towards him.
"One of us, isn't making it out of this alive and I know for a fact that I'm their priority, they, wouldn't give you this much room if it were you they were after."
Naruto hesitated, and Jiraiya knew it was because he had told him about Orochimaru.
"Go. Get to Konoha, summon Pa and ask him to train you in the sage arts. It's the final step in the plan. Tell Tsunade that there has to be a Kage Summit, one village cannot hold the Akatsuki on their own, not when they have Orochimaru's help."
The blond boy stood up, half knowing what his teacher was saying was true, half still not wanting to leave him to die.
"Go. You're the only way I can get this message to Tsunade. Go and I promise they won't chase you."
The blond boy nodded and Jiraiya smiled, a smile that showed the love he had for his apprentice, the one he had spent a good measure of the last past years catching up with.
Jiraiya still wished he had more time, still wished he had gone back to Konoha sooner, wished he had started training Naruto sooner.
A slight gust of wind told him Naruto was moving, the familiar blond mop of hair moving past him and the Akatsuki duo, tears streaming down his face at his helplessness.
Jiraiya felt for the boy, but knew that it was the only way. Only Naruto was strong enough, had enough charisma to lead the rest of Konoha and any other Shinobi against Akatsuki.
Without Naruto, without the Kyuubi, there was no hope.
There was a rustle of a scroll as Itachi unfurled a map of the village, a map Jiraiya didn't know even existed, just as Orochimaru and his henchmen landed in front of him.
Channelling his chakra for his last and final battle, Jiraiya of the Sannin stared at his opponents, with only one thought in his mind.
If he was going down, he wasn't going down without a fight, and if he could, he'd take one of them with him.
X—X—X—X—X
Please note, that the continuation is coming up very soon, maybe not today, but very soon.
REVIEW! Please.