Hello guys! I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Lots of people were asking about Itachi's sickness and you'll all be seeing that rather soon as well as a lil' bit of bonding between Naruto and Itachi, even if it's not too much yet and we'll be getting to meet Fu! Which I gotta say I enjoyed writing.
I will ask if people are still enjoying this story? I know a lot of people seem to have stopped reading-the number of views I'm getting a day has slowed down a lot, as has the number of reviews I'm getting.
Obviously I get that not everyone likes the same stuff, I just wanna know what people think.

Naruto was woken by the sound of coughing and she shifted slowly as she started to wake, lifting her head and turning it to look for the source of the sound.

She frowned to herself when she saw it was Itachi, he was close to the fire, hunched over, his hand was in a tight fist and pressed to his mouth as he coughed-and it wasn't just the type of cough that meant someone was clearing their throat.

It was a cough that seemed to wrack his whole body, rough and raspy and painful sounding. Naruto watched with wide eyes.

He was trying to hold back, to be quiet so that she couldn't hear him-though that was difficult given just how harsh the coughing was.

She shifted slowly and she saw Itachi tense slightly before he hunched over further, another fit of coughing shaking his frame once more.

"Itachi-san are you okay?" her voice was unusually soft and hesitant, and the Uchiha spoke after a moment, once the coughing subsided.

"I'm fine Nohara-san. There's nothing for you to worry about." he straightened up and turned his head so that he was looking towards her. "I simply had something stuck in my throat."

Naruto considered calling out the lie, Itachi looked terrible, his skin looked almost flushed from the exertion from the coughing. There was no way he'd just had something stuck in his throat. His voice was ridiculously hoarse. It was worrying to hear.

But something in his eyes made her hesitate and she stretched instead, "How long was I asleep?"

"Around three hours."

"I'll take my watch now then."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. You get some sleep for a few hours and we'll set off again."

Itachi hesitated before nodding, "I'll sleep." he shifted-and Naruto bit her lip. He probably hadn't even noticed the flecks of blood on his chin.

Something wasn't right, but she didn't know what was wrong and Itachi was hardly going to tell her why he'd been coughing so hard that there had been blood, he'd tried to lie about why he was coughing at all.

She sighed to herself, shaking her head as she watched him settle down, and when his breathing evened out she carefully slipped her coat off and inched towards Itachi's sleeping figure, draping it over him, a concerned little frown on her lips.

He would probably be fine without the extra warmth but she was worried nevertheless, she had to keep him safe and healthy for Sasuke's sake.

Once she'd done that she let herself relax, tending the fire and keeping watch until morning came-and when the sun rose Itachi shifted slowly.

Naruto didn't look at him, she was leaning over the fire already, boiling some water-as much as they weren't healthy instant ramen pots were fast and easy enough to do.

"Nohara-san?" Itachi's voice was croaky as he sat up, the white coat slipping off him as he did.

"Morning Itachi-san." Naruto glanced towards him, giving a small smile. "I'm making some instant ramen pots for breakfast-not the best I know but I didn't want to waste time hunting for anything else or cooking anything fancy since we'll have to head off fairly soon."

"Of course." Itachi caught the bottle she threw at him, raising an eyebrow, "How much water do you have on you?"

"I'm a Fuinjutsu master, half of my body is covered with seals which hold a bunch of different stuff. Just drink the water."

"Yes ma'am." Itachi looked faintly amused as he shook his head, but he opened the bottle and started to drink so Naruto was happy enough as she poured the boiled water into the opened ramen pots and let them sit for a moment, turning fully to face the Uchiha.

"It'll be done in a minute. So, do you have any idea who we might end up fighting?"

"From what I know we'll have to take on two members of the Akatsuki." Itachi explained after screwing the lid back onto the bottle. "Hidan and Kakuzu. They're difficult opponents even for me."

"Oh? That sounds like high praise coming from you." Naruto tilted her head curiously, "So, what's so difficult about them."

"They're both effectively immortal."

"Ah." Naruto blinked, "I can see why that might make things hard."

"Kakuzu uses a Kinjutsu, I'm not sure how it works but I know it has something to do with him stealing his opponents hearts to extend his own life. I'm not sure how it works but you have to destroy all of the hearts I believe."

"Ugh." Naruto pulled a face, "Well that sounds gross. But not impossible, unless he hides his hearts or whatever-"

"Not as far as I'm aware."

"Well if he has them on him we should be able to pull it off right?"

"It is possible." Itachi nodded, "Hidan is perhaps the harder of the two to kill. Mal-nourishment can kill him but that's about all. I've known him get himself blown up before, as long as there are pieces of him to get stitched back up then he'll be able to survive it."

"I see." Naruto grimaced and nodded to herself, "I don't know your skill set that well so working together might not be so good an idea. You take on one and I take on the other?"

"Neither of them will be easy to defeat." Itachi frowned, "How strong are you Nohara-san?" as he spoke Naruto passed over one pot of ramen and some chopsticks, taking her own and starting on their breakfast.

"Strong enough. You said this Hidan can only really die of malnutrition yeah? What about being sealed away?"

"That could work." Itachi nodded, "I presume you wish to handle him then."

"I think it's our best bet." she grinned, "Wouldn't be the first time I've done it and I can prepare in advance."

"Then I will deal with Kakuzu." Itachi agreed, eating his own ramen as they slipped into a fairly comfortable silence.

Once the ramen pots were finished Naruto quickly bagged up the rubbish and sealed it away as she got to her feet, Itachi following her lead, tossing her coat to her, which she pulled on swiftly, ignoring the look he was giving her, resisting the urge to laugh "We'll head the rest of the way to Takigakure today yes?"

"Sounds like a plan." Naruto gave a small grin. "Just let me do one thing-just in case." she summoned two shadow clones. "Right you guys, you know what to do."

"Yeah boss." the two clones took off to find somewhere safe to hide and meditate.

"What was that about?" Itachi's voice was curious as he watched the clones rush off.

"Just planning in advance-a hidden weapon so to speak." Naruto shrugged, "Now, shall we head off?"

"Let's go." Itachi agreed, and together they both took off at a run, leaving behind little more than the remains of a campfire long put out as they ran onwards towards Takigakure.

They ran for most of the day-tossing ration bars and bottles of water back and forth-Naruto was honestly impressed. Itachi didn't have the benefit of the Uzumaki chakra reserves and stamina, let alone the benefit of having the strongest of the bijuu held inside of him but he was holding his own pretty well, he wasn't even really showing that much in the way of signs of tiredness.

He really was a damn good shinobi. She'd known that of course, logically speaking but still, it was impressive to see it in person.

It was late afternoon when they hit gold, so to speak, or more accurately Kurama sensed Chomei.

They'd been taking a five minute break when the fox had spoken up.

"Chomei is nearby brat."

"Directions?"

"Of course."

"Itachi, follow me." Naruto was taking off instantly, racing up a tree and leaping from branch to branch, occasionally dropping slips of paper as she went-and she could hear Itachi following her, branches and leaves rustling in their wake as they moved and Naruto followed Kurama's instructions.

Then they reached a cliff-there was a path going upwards leading to the top of it and Naruto stared at it for a moment before shrugging and deciding to rush up the side of the cliff instead-it would take less time, given the fact that Kurama was Chomei's location as directly above them.

She appreciated the fact that Itachi hadn't even attempted to argue with her-hell he hadn't even asked her why she was taking off, he just trusted that she knew what she was doing. It was a good feeling.

She took a deep breath as she reached the top, pushing herself up and forward, throwing her body onto the path-it was about halfway up the cliff, and there were three figures. Two dark haired men-Jounin if Naruto was judging right, both wearing Takigakure headbands, and a girl, fairly short with mint green hair and orange eyes-she had a hair clip the same shade as her eyes, and she was wearing white and fishnet clothes.

She had something wrapped in red fabric on her back, a cylindrical shape.

Naruto noticed how the two Jounin grabbed her and yanked her behind them, instantly on the defensive, and the girl herself tensed up ready for a potential fight.

Naruto was on her feet as Itachi arrived, landing gracefully beside her.

"Who are you?" that was Jounin 1, as Naruto would call him from now on.

"A friend, you must be Fu-san." that was directed to the mint haired girl, who's eyes widened.

"You know me?"

"I do." Naruto grinned, "Well, I know your name from this guy." she pointed at Itachi with her thumb, "But I know of you-"

"What do you want?" Jounin 2 demanded, "Fu-san-"

"We're here to help." Itachi spoke up, "We have reason to believe that two members of an S-rank criminal organization are on their way to kidnap you Fu-san."

"Because of Chomei." it wasn't a question, but Naruto nodded anyway.

"They're called the Akatsuki. They're hunting down the Jinchuriki to extract them-I still don't know the exact reason why they're doing it but-"

"Give us one good reason to trust you." 1 sounded annoyed.

"Because we're risking our own safety to come and save your asses?" Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Do you need more info or is that enough for you?"

"Who's coming after her?"

"We believe it's two of their members, a man named Hidan and a man named Kakuzu-"

"Wait I've heard of him!" that was Fu, "Maybe we could be friends-"

"Fu-san stop being stupid." Jounin 1 snapped. And Naruto's eyes narrowed. The two Jounin felt somewhat nervous now, she could feel it seeping off of them.

"Hey. Don't speak to her like that."

"Who are you anyway? What's your interest in the matter Konoha nin."

"My name is Nohara Naruto." Naruto shot back-and that made both of the Jounin's eyes widen.

"Wait?" Fu gasped, "You're the one who resealed the Ichibi's Jinchuriki! You're friends with someone like me aren't you?"

"Yes-"

"Stop!" Jounin 2 grabbed Fu's arm, stopping her when she tried to rush forward, and Itachi frowned.

"We aren't the threats to Fu-san's safety. We're simply here to help. Hidan and Kakuzu are dangerous and-"

"And why would you care about the Jinchuriki?" and there was something about how he said the word, as if he meant 'freak' or 'demon' that made Naruto's eyes narrow.

She thought about Gaara, who had been so very twisted and hurt and angry all because of how people treated him just because he was a Jinchuriki. It had broken her heart at the time, made her angry, and the tone that man had used-she really couldn't handle that.

She was lunging before she even realized what she was doing her fist was hitting Jounin 2 in the face.

The man stumbled backwards, his grip on Fu's arm slipping, giving Fu the chance to rip her arm free and stumble forward-and then Itachi had his arms around Naruto's waist and he was hauling her backwards bodily even as Jounin 1 rushed to his comrades side.

"What the fuck-"

"I'm a Jinchuriki you jumped up mouthy piece of shit." Naruto spat the words like they were poison. "So go fuck yourself and your stupid terrified pathetic prejudiced bullshit. She's not a freak or a monster and-"

"Nohara-san! Nohara-san calm down!" Itachi hauled her further back, trapping her against his chest as she snarled towards the two Jounin.

"No! No they can't act like that!"

"Naruto-san!"

Naruto froze, her eyes wide.

It was the first time Itachi had called her anything other than Nohara-san. It was shocking and it was the only reason she stopped struggling.

"You're a Jinchuriki?" Fu's voice broke the sudden silence, and Naruto's gaze swung to the green haired girl-and she could see the hope in her eyes.

"Yes. Yes I am. So please let me help."