Naruto and Neji followed Itachi down a dirt trail towards a nearby forest containing most, if not all, of the herbs Shizune needs. The two boys were excited and happy as could be to be outside and under the sky above.
"Neji, can I trust you to go to the village just outside of the forest to get some supplies," Itachi questioned.
"Sure thing boss," Neji replied. "If I was in a rush to get back." Itachi chuckled a bit, looking back over his shoulder. Naruto looked at Neji then understood what he meant. The young Jinchuriki snapped his head over at Itachi, giving him a stern look.
"Alright, alright, we'll take our time getting back." Neji and Naruto laughed then slapped hands with one another.
"Hey Itachi," Naruto said as he turned his head to the older shinobi, "do you know why Kiba was all angry and didn't want to come?"
Itachi rolled his eyes then shrugged. Despite his lie, Neji and Naruto seemed to buy it. Itachi pulled out the list and started going over it again. Naruto and Neji hurried and stood up on their tip toes to try and read the list as well, unbeknownst to Itachi. The young Uchiha shifted his eyes to the side, catching Naruto and Neji reading over his shoulder. Not only was Itachi confused as to why they were being so nosy, he was even more confounded by the fact that they were looking over his shoulder. Itachi snapped his head, but Naruto and Neji were a split second faster. The black haired shinobi narrowed his eyes while Naruto and Neji walked a few paces behind him, acting casually. Itachi gave a questioning look to the duo before turning back around. Naruto and Neji both grinned widely and turned to each other.
Tsunade sat behind her desk, reading the file that Konan gave her about the Kurosuki family. Konan knew that if anyone, besides herself, would be opposed to working with such ruthless outlaws it'd be Tsunade. The busty blonde finally dropped the file and looked up at Konan with her honey colored eyes.
"I think we could use them," Tsunade replied. Konan's face dropped with horror and outrage. Tsunade casually put the file back on her desk and looked up at Konan, waiting for the protest that was sure to come.
"You're kidding right," Konan shouted, "they're a gang of ruthless criminals!"
"To some we could be seen as ruthless," Tsunade retorted.
"They know what they're doing is wrong! We're trying to bring peace to the world." Tsunade sighed then leaned back into her chair.
"Look, I'm honestly no fan of this gang or their morals either, but they do have a reputation of getting things done. And their leader is one of the former Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. At the very least we could try and negotiate with them if nothing else." Konan sighed and looked away with a sharp glare.
"Very well lady Tsunade…" The blue haired kunoichi turned and walked out of the room. Tsunade sighed heavily before going through another file.
Itachi and Naruto were in the forest, picking through various herbs and plants. Itachi knew exactly what to get, but Naruto had a little more difficulty differentiating between medical herbs and weeds. Neji was keeping look out with his Byakugan active in case if any wandering shinobi happen to stroll through the area.
"What about this one," Naruto asked. Itachi turned his head then rolled his eyes.
"Are you doing this on purpose now? Naruto, that's a bush! Literally, you just pulled a bush out of the ground!" Naruto looked at the giant clump of green in his hand then back at Itachi with an embarrassed smile. Itachi sighed and rolled his eyes before moving back to gathering herbs.
"Are we almost done," Naruto asked, "this is boring…"
"You're the one who wanted to get outside so badly," Itachi sniped.
"Yeah, but picking plants got boring really fast." Itachi chuckled and shook his head.
"Uh…guys," Neji called, "we got a caravan of Konoha shinobi coming in our general direction!"
"Alright," Naruto shouted, slamming his fist into his open hand. In a flash, Itachi grabbed Neji, then grabbed Naruto and ran for a better place to hide. "Hey, what're you doing? Let's go kick their asses!"
"Yeah right, a runaway Hyuga, Konoha's Jinchuriki, and an Uchiha survivor would surely bring attention to ourselves."
"Itachi's right," Neji added, "if even one shinobi got away then he'd report the sighting to Danzo, and then we'd all be in trouble."
"That's why we kick all their asses so that they can't get away!"
Itachi and Neji both scoffed and rolled their eyes. Itachi jumped down in a nearby, thick bush a few meters away from their previous location. They watched the trail as a group of Chunin and Jonin, dressed with dark grey vests and black shirts under them, escorted a few wagons of weapons and supplies.
Itachi watched the shinobi pass by, not daring to move a muscle. One shinobi in particular caught the young Uchiha's attention. A man with silver hair, wearing a mask to cover his face, and eyes as hard and cold as steel: Kakashi Hatake. Itachi's eyes focused in on him, knowing that they'd be in for one hell of a fight if Kakashi found them.
The Jonin suddenly stopped and held his fist up, ordering the rest of the group to stop as well. Everyone remained where they stood, watching Kakashi who was scanning his surroundings. Two younger shinobi suddenly appeared next to Kakashi, bowing their heads to him. Itachi figured they must have been his students at least.
"Kakashi sensei," a young woman with short, dark hair addressed respectfully.
"I want this area scanned," the Jonin stated. The young girl nodded then clasped her hands together.
'This isn't good,' Itachi thought. He hastily casted a quick but very powerful genjutsu around himself, Naruto and Neji to shield them from detection.
"What's the holdup," an annoyed voice asked.
Kakashi looked up, just as a woman jumped on the roof of a wagon. The woman wore a black trench coat over a full chainmail bodysuit, and a dark orange skirt. She had violet hair that was put up into a spiky bun.
"Nothing," Kakashi lied.
"Well your favorite student over here is already getting impatient." Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Anko, then turned back to his student.
The young girl looked around, her vision seeing everything around her. "I don't see anything Kakashi sensei." The masked Jonin looked to his other student.
"Shino, I want you to make sure that Hinata didn't miss anything." The young man nodded then held his arms out.
Itachi looked at the style of clothing the other young student wore and determined that he was from the Aburame Clan. Millions of tiny black dots flew out of the boy's sleeves and stayed still in the air. Itachi slowly reached to his back pouch and pulled out three masks. They were required for everyone in case they needed to shield their identity. He handed one to Naruto and another to Neji.
"When I give the word, we run," Itachi said.
Neji nodded, his face showing hardened resolve, but deep down he was a bit nervous. Naruto's anxiety was more obvious as he nodded once. The tiny black dots slowly started to move in their direction. The three rogues quickly put on their masks and placed their hands firmly on the ground.
"There," Shino exclaimed, snapping his head towards Itachi, Neji, and Naruto's direction.
"MOVE," Itachi shouted. The three of them shot out of the bushes in a flash.
"Track them," Kakashi ordered his students. Hinata and Shino, as well as a third figure from the other side of the wagon, jumped forward in pursuit.
"Go back them up," Anko shouted, turning her head to the side she came from. Three more figures ran out from the sides and went into the forest. "Shouldn't you go help them or something," Anko inquired, turning to Kakashi.
"They can handle themselves," Kakashi replied with a cold, uncaring tone.
"Should we split up," Neji asked, running next to Itachi.
"No, we don't know how many they sent after us." Itachi was digging around in his back pouch before finally pulling out a pair of goggles with tinted lenses. "This should disguise your Byakugan from them."
Neji nodded then took the goggles and put them around his head. Itachi reached into his kunai holster and pulled out a pair of slim, shining sunglasses and slapped them over his eyes. Neji and Naruto gave a disbelieving look to one another before turning back to Itachi. The man had a weird taste for sunglasses for some reason.
Itachi snapped his head, pulling out a kunai. He spun around and deflected a shuriken that was aimed right at him. Neji turned his head, but before he could even lay eyes on his comrade, he saw a fireball coming at him. The Hyuga rogue planted his feet in the ground then sprung himself into Itachi, knocking them both out of harm's way. The fireball exploded once it hit the ground, throwing Itachi and Neji into Naruto. Six figures landed around the trio, two were in tree branches above, two more used other trees as shields, while the last two stood on opposite sides, out in the open.
Neji and Itachi quickly got up and looked at their formation. What was supposed to happen is that they were supposed to attack the ones in the open. Once that happened, the ones in the tree branches would spring a trap, or throw something to cause the enemy to dodge. Once that happened, the shinobi behind the tree would move in and finish the opponent off.
"You all are going down," Naruto shouted as he sprung to his feet. Itachi quickly reached out and grabbed the back of the energetic Uzumaki's collar, holding him in place while Naruto screamed and shouted with protest.
One of the shinobi on the tree branches got a bit impatient then hurled three shuriken at the opponents. Neji and Itachi, still having a hold on Naruto, jumped straight up into the air as not to give their opponents an opening. One shinobi, with a strange device on his arm, sprung forward, going straight for Itachi. Neji looked over, seeing the enemy heading towards Itachi. He spun around with as much force as possible and then struck the Konoha shinobi in the stomach. The Genin cried out with pain before he hit the ground hard.
The three rogues landed on the ground, standing back to back against their opponents. Naruto growled angrily, then forced Itachi's grip off before turning to the shinobi in front of him. Naruto's eyes widened with shock at the face of his enemy. He looked exactly like Itachi, albeit Itachi was a bit older and had longer, duller hair. Naruto tugged on Itachi's shirt, unable to form the proper words.
Itachi turned around then grimaced quietly. He knew what Sasuke's fate was, but there was nothing Itachi or anybody else could do about it, especially now. More Konoha shinobi could be on their way and they didn't have time for a long, emotional speech.
Itachi turned forward, staring at Shino, the shinobi that tried to attack him a moment ago with bandages wrapped all around his face so that only one eye was visible, and another shinobi with spiky black hair that was similar to Kakashi's. Neji meanwhile was standing across from Hinata Hyuga: the heiress to the Hyuga household. Itachi's eyes scanned the area, trying to find the sixth shinobi.
"What're you waiting on," Sasuke asked with a forceful, angry voice, "ATTACK!"
The three shinobi facing off against Itachi ran forward. The older shinobi jumped to the side, distancing himself from everyone. The three shinobi followed after him, just as Itachi hoped. Neji stood still, watching Hinata carefully as she ran at him. The Hyuga heiress thrusted an open palm forward, which Neji batted aside like a fly before thrusting his own palm at her. Naruto looked back to see how his comrades were holding up.
"Don't take your eyes off me," an angry voice shouted. Naruto quickly turned around, then blocked Sasuke's strike with his forearm.
The young Uchiha scowled then swept his leg against Naruto's, knocking the latter towards the ground. Sasuke then threw his fist down as Naruto hit the ground. The blonde grabbed Sasuke's fist with one hand and his elbow with the other. Naruto threw Sasuke over onto his back, rolling on top of him with one hand at his throat. Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist, trying to pry his hand away, but found his opponent's grip surprisingly strong. Naruto threw a punch across Sasuke's face, then another, and another, and kept smashing his fist against his adversary's face. Sasuke moved his head to the side, avoiding Naruto's next punch. The Jinchuriki's fist hit the ground, causing Naruto to wince with pain. Sasuke threw his legs up, throwing Naruto over his head.
Sasuke jumped to his feet then kicked Naruto in the side of the head with all his might. Naruto cried out and rolled over, clutching the side of his head. Sasuke walked up and kicked Naruto in the ribs next. Once again, the Jinchuriki rolled over onto his back. Sasuke bent over then threw a couple of punches. Sasuke then walked around Naruto like a predator. His opponent was on the ground, holding his sides and whining with pain. Sasuke smirked then lifted his foot up, ready to stomp his opponent into the ground. His foot moved quickly, but when it was about an inch from the masked rogue, Naruto's hands quickly caught Sasuke's foot, and held on tightly.
Naruto's eyes sparkled as he chuckled with amusement, "Had you fooled didn't I?"
Sasuke screamed as Naruto stood up, throwing the young Uchiha off the ground and spinning backwards. Sasuke landed with a heavy thud on his chest, but quickly sprung himself up as Naruto's foot was about to smash him into the dirt. Naruto shifted his weight into the foot he used to try and attack Sasuke, spun around on his heel, and threw a mighty punch at the young Uchiha. Sasuke raised his hand up, using his arm to reinforce himself as he caught Naruto's punch. Sasuke's feet skidded back against the dirt, but he held his own. The young Uchiha threw Naruto's arm to the side then threw a powerful straight that connected with Naruto's face. The blonde Jinchuriki flew back, flipping backwards before he landed on the ground. Naruto stared back at an enraged Sasuke, waiting for him to make the next move.
Neji was sliding back as he swatted all of Hinata's strikes away. He managed to hold his anger in, but he couldn't go on the offensive against her without revealing his Hyuga lineage. Neji had been trained in various other taijutsu styles, but none of them would be very effective against the Hyuga fighting style. All Neji could do was go on the defensive and wait for an opening. Unfortunately, with Hinata's skills, there wasn't any room for an opening.
Itachi was on the defensive against his opponents to better understand their fighting styles and abilities. So far though, none of them seemed to be revealing much. The shinobi with bandages all around his face charged forward, pulling his right arm back. Itachi's eyes focused in on the device around his arm. The older shinobi leaped straight up in the air, throwing a kunai with a paper bomb directly below him. The Konoha shinobi jumped away as Itachi landed in a tree branch, taking a moment to look for the sixth shinobi.
'Whoever it is must be for support. They watch for which teammate could use the most help. Whoever it is obviously isn't the strongest of this group. If they could finish off Naruto or Neji by helping either Sasuke or the girl, then they could move onto me…'
Itachi's thoughts were cut short by a pair of shuriken coming for his face. He moved his head back, falling off the tree branch. Itachi managed to grab the branch, spin forward and land back on the branch. He wasn't about to give up the high grounds against a group of unpredictable young punks.
"Sheesh, I figured a member of the Uchiha Clan would've been more of a challenge," Naruto muttered. Sasuke's eyes widened with outrage and anger. The blonde smirked, knowing he struck a cord. "If you're all that's left, then that means rebuilding your clan falls on your shoulders. Honestly, I think your clan is screwed if they're relying on you."
"You…DARE insult my clan!" Naruto chuckled as innocently as possible. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Sasuke charged towards the blonde, eyes flaring with rage.
"Yeah, you've done a splendid job of that so far," Naruto stated quickly before he jumped straight up in the air as Sasuke threw a punch. The Jinchuriki screamed as he kicked Sasuke across the face, sending him spinning to the ground. "Oh man," Naruto said as he landed, "that hurt didn't it?"
Sasuke turned around and got up, ready to continue. There was a rustling in the bush, causing Naruto to spin around as a pair of snakes shot out. The Jinchuriki yelped with surprise as he grabbed the serpents just below their heads. Naruto sighed with relief, but suddenly he saw another figure coming out of the bushes. The blonde quickly let go of the snakes then moved to the side, getting a better look at his opponent. All he could see was a flowing head of long pink hair attached to a slender body. Naruto landed and skidded to a stop as his new opponent turned to him.
It was a young woman with long, silky pink hair, fiercely determined eyes. She wore a red dress, with tight black shorts, and wore her forehead protector around the top of her head. Naruto's eyes were as wide as could be.
'She's…so…beautiful…'
"Are you alright Sasuke-kun," the girl asked, turning to said Uchiha.
"I'm fine," the black haired shinobi snapped. "What're you doing here? Isn't there someone else who could use your help Sakura?" The girl named Sakura looked away with a faint blush. Sasuke turned his head to her, waiting for her response, "Well?"
"That's her way of saying you suck," Naruto shouted, angry that Sasuke was picking on Sakura. The young Uchiha snapped his head around, growling angrily. "What? It's true isn't it?"
"You ignorant little punk," Sasuke seethed, "you think you're so tough don't you?"
"Uh…yeah, that's why I say you SUCK!" Sasuke smirked and scoffed dismissively.
"You have no idea what I'm really capable of. I just didn't feel like wasting my talents on a loser like you." Naruto's eyes hardened a bit. Sasuke got ready to attack, but the older rogue showed up between the two of them.
"We're leaving," Itachi told Naruto. "I can sense that reinforcements are coming."
"Fine," Naruto muttered. Even he knew better than argue.
"No one is going anywhere," Sasuke shouted. "I'll finish you all off here and-," Itachi snapped his head over to Sasuke. The younger Uchiha's eyes fluttered as he fell down as limp as a noodle.
"What the—Sasuke-kun? What'd you do?" Itachi lifted his hand up, slowly extending his finger.
"Hey, there's no reason for that is there," Naruto whispered to Itachi.
The older shinobi sighed to himself, then moved his hand over and pointed to his former opponents. They too were in Sasuke's condition. Sakura growled briefly before looking over to the rogues who were now gone.
Kakashi and Anko appeared behind Sakura, looking around and seeing all of their students lying on the ground and all unconscious. Sakura turned her head, then quickly snapped her body around and bowed to the Jonin.
"I'm sorry, but they got away sensei," Sakura apologized.
"Some student you have," Kakashi sniped mockingly at Anko.
"Hey, she's the only one who's conscious," Anko retorted. Kakashi walked over to Sasuke and looked down at him. "They're under a genjutsu. Even I could tell that without having to study him."
"Did you get a good look at the enemy," Kakashi asked.
"No really," Sakura replied, "they were wearing masks and two of them were wearing goggles or glasses to cover their eyes." Kakashi turned to Anko with a knowing look.
"Oh, sure, just automatically assume its Itachi or Obito. You know lord Danzo is going to want solid proof." Kakashi growled angrily then looked back to the unconscious Genin. "Just let it go big guy. Those three are long gone by now, and we've got to make this shipment otherwise Danzo is going to get really angry." Kakashi nodded then looked to Sakura.
"Break them out of this genjutsu and regroup." Sakura nodded as Kakashi vanished in a blur. Anko gave one last look to her student then followed after Kakashi.
Sakura walked up to her teammates: Dosu and Zaku first and broke them out of the genjutsu. They were obviously less than pleased with themselves having failed to apprehend or stall the enemy any further. The team then released the genjutsu from Hinata, Shino, and Sasuke and headed back to the caravan.
Itachi was pulling his shirt off over his head then lifted his leg up to remove his shoe. "So explain why we're taking a detour to the river," Neji asked.
"One of the Genin we encountered was of the Aburame Clan. They have tiny bugs that do their bidding. One of them might've gotten on us and then they'd be able to track us. If you guys want to go home, I suggest jumping in the river and drowning the little bastard."
"Alright, alright fine," Neji muttered, throwing his goggles in the river next to him. The river had a slow stream, so he didn't have to worry about losing them in the current. "So how long do we have to stay in the river?"
"About five minutes," Itachi replied. The two clansmen looked up, seeing Naruto looking off into the distance as he sat perches on a tree branch. "Naruto, get down here." The blonde shook his thoughts out of his head then turned around.
"Alright!" The Jinchuriki jumped down and removed his shirt and mask. "What're we doing?" Itachi and Neji both raised their eyebrows questioningly.
"If you don't know what we're doing then why'd you take your shirt off," Neji questioned.
"You both have your shirts off," Naruto replied, "And I heard the part about the river, I just don't know why we're doing any of this."
"Safety precautions," Itachi answered. "Just hurry and get in the river." The trio jumped in quickly, making a huge splash.
Naruto's head broke through the stream first, taking a deep breath of air. The blonde looked up into the sky. The image of Sakura was still burned freshly into his mind, and he couldn't get it out of his head. Neji's head slowly came up through the water, his Byakugan active in case if the enemy came in pursuit. Itachi's whole body came up next, as the older rogue floated on his back, looking up to the orange and purple sky as the sun was setting. Itachi looked over at Naruto, seeing that the boy was deep in thought.
"Something wrong Naruto?" The blonde's head shook again, being snapped out of his trance.
"Huh?"
"Is something wrong," Itachi repeated.
"Uh…no, nothing's wrong. Why would you ask that?"
"You look like you're thinking," Itachi replied, cracking a slight smirk. Neji's head then whipped around to Naruto.
"Are you okay Naruto? You didn't hit your head or anything did you?"
"Oh hardy-har-har, you guys are so funny," Naruto hissed sarcastically. "Nothings wrong okay, so stop asking."
"If you're sure," Neji murmured.
The trio soaked in the river for a few minutes before finally getting out. They walked along the nearest dirt trail with water dripping from every part of their bodies as they headed back to the base.
So yeah, I'm not too horribly happy with this chapter. I apologize if it seems rushed, and for the random and possibly pointless fight scene (I say possibly because some may think its worthless). Also I would like to take this time to inform everyone that I'm going to California this Wednesday to visit my girlfriend. Yes, I'm in a long distance relationship, and have been for fifteen months lol. The reason I tell you this is because I don't know how much I'll be able to work on my stories, so if you don't see a whole lot of activity from me, it's not because I've died, it's because I'm busy for once in my life lol. Anywho, thanks for reading and please leave reviews =D