Naruto – The Anime Series

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the great artist Kishimoto does.

A/N: Well, a lot will be revealed in this chapter, I hope certain things won't be disliked. -_-' Well, enjoy!

There Where When Is Now

Chapter 21

The soft rustle of the wind played a fine tune through the leaves of the trees. Until chaotic movement ruined it, making the peaceful sound of the rustle of the leaves disappear. Uchiha Itachi and Hyuga Dareda had what they wanted and were on their way back to where they wanted to be. The Chuunin Exam had ended and they had slaughtered a lot of Hyugas as a distraction to get the ANBU there. They were lucky the Hokage made a wrong decision and sent the Jounins as well. When they arrived in the stadium where the Chuunin Exam was held, the ANBU and he Jounins were in the village of the Hyugas, or still on the way.

The only thing that stood in the way once they got there was the new Hokage. Itachi was pretty impressed by her power. 'No wonder Hatsu and Teri were defeated.'  But Itachi was not one to be taken too lightly either. Sure, Tsunade was legendary, but Itachi was one of the strongest missing-nins. Stronger than Orochimaru, who was skilled enough to take down the Third Hokage..

He really wanted to fight the woman, to see how he would end up, but there was no time. They had to be fast, so he quickly grabbed the unconscious forms of Naruto and Gaara and leaped away. Dareda managed to pick up the unconscious Hyuga Neji and got away from Tsunade as well. 'Truly pitiful to have to run… But once we have our way, we'll be unstoppable… These children are well-trained already and now… we will make them see the harsh reality of life…'

Itachi glanced backwards and shook his head. 'So, he's following us. He has his Curse Seal activated; I can sense its Chakra.' Itachi came to a stop on a tree branch. Dareda also stopped on a tree branch, farther ahead.

"Your little brother, huh?" Dareda noted. "We should be lucky that that Hokage isn't following us."

Itachi nodded and vanished from sight, after putting down Naruto and Gaara and the tree branch. Dareda watched as Sasuke came into 'real' view, since he also had his Byakugan activated. He frowned as Sasuke stopped a little before him and glared at him. "Where is he?"

Dareda shrugged and yawned.

At that time, Sasuke sensed the movements around him. His brother was around him. Sasuke gripped a Kunai and prepared himself.

Dareda looked on amused. 'Heh, that little brat actually thinks he stands a chance now.'

Itachi appeared behind Sasuke and vanished again, evading Sasuke's quick reaction: a kick.  As Sasuke performed the kick, Itachi appeared to his left and punched him straight in the face, down towards the ground.

Dareda smirked as Itachi followed him down. 'Itachi's speed is much higher than his little brother's, that's why the brat doesn't stand a chance.'

As Sasuke landed on the ground on his back, Itachi landed on him, with his knee in his gut. "Sasuke… stay here." And then Itachi knocked him out.

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'Strange… I sense Chakra up close…' Orochimaru thought as he moved from tree to tree, being followed by Hatsu, Teri and Kimimaro. 'Somehow, I think I know who it is…'

"Orochimaru…" Hatsu suddenly spoke up. "Hold up, I sense two strong life forms ahead. The trees will tell me who it is."

Orochimaru smirked. 'Sometimes, it must feel good to be an elite Grass nin…' The four of them stopped at a big tree.

Hatsu walked into the tree and merged with it. Orochimaru, Teri and Kimimaro waited for him to finish and gather his information. It didn't take very long, as Hatsu came out three minutes later. "Well, currently there are 6 Shinobi in this forest. Four of them are knocked down, because I can't sense a lot of energy from them, but the other two have a very high energy… higher than mine." Hatsu turned to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, how strong are you now? Because I think one of the two ahead is Itachi…"

Orochimaru chuckled. "I've gained a lot of strength.. But I simply can not face an Uchiha master yet… We'll have to evade them…"

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Kakashi and Gai appeared in the stadium and had already noticed the Genjutsu that was performed. They jumped down towards Tsunade, who was on her knees in the centre.

"Hokage-sama.." Kakashi whispered. "What happened?" Kakashi asked, looking around and noticed a few people were missing. 'Naruto and Sasuke… they're gone…'

"Itachi… he took them with him." Tsunade whispered as she slowly rose to stand face to face with Kakashi. "He took Naruto, Neji and Gaara.. Sasuke followed them."

Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Which way did he head?"

Tsunade shook her head. "It's no use.. They're already gone."

"They took Neji as well?" Gai asked. "Kakashi, I say we track them down as fast as possible."

Kakashi nodded. "My apologies, Hokage-sama. But they are my students…"

"Mine too, Hokage-sama." Gai added.

Tsunade looked the both of them in their eyes. "Fine, but I still think it's hopeless."

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"It's Orochimaru, Itachi." Dareda said as he had his Byakugan activated and saw past Orochimaru's new 'skin', Kabuto. "They're on the move towards Leaf Village. "

Itachi and Dareda were on their way back again and had sensed some flickers of Chakra in the area around them. 'He might take Sasuke now…' Itachi thought. He shrugged his thoughts off and a sudden grin came to his face. 'But it doesn't matter now… We have the strongest Shinobis with us… We will make them grow..'

Dareda's eyes widened since he never saw Itachi grin. 'Damn, he really looks like a maniac when he smiles..'

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"Who is this brat, Orochimaru?" Teri whined. "We should disguise ourselves already, we're almost in Konoha."

Orochimaru chuckled. "That won't be needed. Those fools in Konoha actually left him unguarded." Orochimaru faced the others. "This boy, is the boy I want."

Hatsu frowned and looked at the boy on the ground. "This little kid? He doesn't seem much at all, Orochimaru. Are you sure this is the guy?"

Teri nodded, agreeing with Hatsu. "Yeah, it seems this brat was defeated here easily. I figured you'd want someone who was unbeatable."

Kimimaro simply watched the boy and saw the Curse Seal on the boy's neck.

"This is Sasuke-kun. He's the survivor of the Uchiha clan." Orochimaru turned towards Kimimaro. "You see that, Kimimaro? He has a Curse seal similar to yours."

"So this means we're not going in Konoha anymore?" Hatsu pouted. "Man, I really-"

"Oy, there are two people heading over here." Teri suddenly interjected. "I wonder who they are?"

Orochimaru smirked and stared ahead. He watched as Kakashi and Gai both landed a few feet away from them. Kakashi looked straight into Kabuto's eyes and saw that it was really Orochimaru he was looking at.

'Orochimaru… I don't know the other two..' Kakashi thought as he immediately revealed his Sharingan. 'This will be a tough battle..'

Hatsu frowned as he analyzed Gai and Kakashi. "Hmm, I don't think these two can really take us on. Teri, I don't feel like fighting, why don't you use one of your moves?"

Orochimaru grabbed Sasuke from the ground and leaped away, followed by Kimimaro. Teri and Hatsu remained standing. Kakashi and Gai both prepared to jump and head for Orochimaru. Teri shook her head and performed a few difficult seals. 'So easy…' Kakashi's Sharingan watched the Jutsu unfold..

"Teishuuha!!"

Kakashi and Gai both fell fast to the ground and blood poured down from their ears. Teri and Hatsu turned and followed Orochimaru. Kakashi and Gai rose from the ground but a few seconds later, to find that their body didn't work as they wished to.

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Somewhere else, in a village far away from Konoha, a few people stood, waiting for something. From the looks of weapons on their backs, on their legs or anywhere on their body, it was very clear these people were missing-nins. After a few moments, a man came out of a small cottage the people were waiting for. The man looked like a very rich man, but it was surprising to see that the man was a little built as well. He started talking.

"I think it's pretty clear to you that we have traitors in our organization… I have gained information that Dareda and Itachi moved out on their own. The same goes for their comrades. Sinobi and Kisame. I want you to track them down and bring them back here. A second thing, I want that Orochimaru dead. I don't care who does what, as long as you do it!" The man barked. "And another thing, it seems there are three people missing, Hatsu, Teri and Mokito. Find them and tell them of this mission."

Before the man, several talented people nodded. Aburame Turin, a very developed bug ninja from the Aburame Clan. She simply turned and slowly walked away. His comrade, Doro Odei followed her. Doro was a very talented Shinobi from the Wind Country. They both disappeared from sight.

Sukumi Tachi had lost his comrade during a mission and had no comrade, but it seemed the leader of the Akatsuki had a few new recruits here… Sukumi analyzed them.

One man was sitting on a boulder and he was… drawing? His right arm was completely covered with bandages and he wore several hitae-ate's.

Sukumi turned his gaze to a pretty female who had markings all over her body, nothing else out of the ordinary, he figured as he continued on to the next person.

His eyes fell on another woman, a little older than the previous and this one had, instead of markings, a lot of scars. Her eyes were covered by smooth silk. 'How the hell can she see?'

The leader of the Akatsuki suddenly came up to Sukumi before he could analyze the other four new recruits. "Tachi… you take Hiraga and Baeda with you." He stated, pointing to the man who was seated on the rock and the woman whose eyes were covered by silk.

The other five new recruits moved out on their own…

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"Ok, we're almost home. Once we are, we'll release the Genjutsu we've put on them." Itachi stated as they slowed down. "From now on, we'll have to train them hard. We don't have any time to lose."

Dareda nodded. "Indeed. I wonder how long it will take before our leader finds out we aren't back."

Itachi simply shrugged. "It wouldn't matter that much… There's one thing, though. A female who considered joining our organization a few months back. I need to look her up, she might be useful for our plans.."

Dareda nodded. "What are her specialties?"

Itachi gazed at Dareda from the corners of his eyes. "She has managed to pull it off to be able to summon more than just one animal… She probably has about a dozen… She's a great asset to the Akatsuki, but… I wouldn't want to fight all of her summons…"

Dareda pondered it for a few moments. "She has more than one summon? That's really amazing…"

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Days went by and the rain reflected the moods of most Shinobis in the Leaf Village. Everyone knew what went down and the Hokage suggested that everyone had four days to decide to take dangerous missions she had in mind. Dangerous…. even for the Jounins. The third day, Jiraiya and Hiashi returned to the village, and both were shocked to hear the news. Jiraiya because Naruto got abducted and Hiashi because Neji got abducted.

In the Hokage's office, Jounins had made their appearance on the fourth day.

Jiraiya had agreed to go on the hunt for Itachi and Dareda so they could take Naruto, Neji and Gaara back. Tsunade had decided to send Hiashi and Gai with him. They all agreed on the dangerous mission.. Baki, the Sand Jounin wanted to join them as well, since he felt it was obligation to bring Gaara back. Tsunade nodded, she had already decided to let most of the ANBU stay here in Leaf Village.

Kakashi decided to hunt for Orochimaru and take Sasuke back. Anko immediately suggested she should go with him. Surprisingly enough, Tsunade agreed as well. With Kakashi and Anko, Asuma and Genma joined them.

In total, Tsunade had two very strong groups who could work together when needed. All of them stood proudly in her office. Suddenly all of them heard sudden movements behind them, outside of the office. Kakashi opened the door to reveal the Genins and Chuunins of Konoha.

"I will get my Sasuke-kun back!!" Ino screamed, while Sakura nodded.

"He might be a pretty grumpy guy, but I'd feel bad if I didn't do anything to get my rival, Neji, back here!" Lee yelled as Ten-Ten was standing beside him, supporting him by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Heh, how troublesome.." Shikamaru whined as Ino had grabbed him on her way towards Hokage's office.

"We also wanted to get our brother back…" Temari and Kankurou stated as they stared at Tsunade.

"I.. also… Naruto-kun.." Hinata stuttered shyly.

Tsunade smiled at their concern. "I appreciate your feelings. However, these missions are very high-ranked. I don't think all of you would be able to handle it."

Gai coughed. "I wouldn't mind it if Lee came with us. But…" Gai turned to Lee. "Hokage-sama is right. In this mission, the chances of getting killed are extremely high. Are you sure, Lee?"

Lee nodded proudly. "Yes sir!"

Gai turned to Ten-Ten. "I am sorry, Ten-Ten. But I don't think you should get involved. I'm not saying you are too weak or too inexperienced. But, I can't let you go with us. It's too much of a risk.."

Kakashi and Asuma were already gazing towards Ino, Sakura and Shikamaru. "The same accounts for you, guys." Asuma suddenly gazed at Shikamaru. "Except for you… We might need that brain of yours, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru stared unbelieving at his teacher. 'What..?! But I didn't even come her on my own. That damn Ino dragged me here!! Oh man!'

Ino patted Shikamaru's shoulder. "Shikamaru! I'm counting on you to take my Sasuke-kun back!!"

Shikamaru groaned and ignored the verbal battle that started between Sakura and Ino. 'This is all too troublesome…'

Kurunai had taken Hinata to a corner and was surprised to see Shino and Kiba with her. "Hinata, this mission is too dangerous, even for the three of you." She gave a quick wink to Shino, which went unnoticed by Hinata, Kiba and even Akamaru. 'Shino is strong enough… but I don't want to hurt Kiba's pride… Shino'll have to sneak away and join them later... It's too bad I have to stay in the village..'

Baki walked towards Temari and Kankurou. "No. I forbid you two to come with me. Train in the meantime. When I come back… I want to see you two stronger."

Tsunade smiled as the teams were formed then.

The team that had as goal to bring Naruto, Neji and Gaara back was consistent of Jiraiya, Hiashi, Gai, Baki and Lee.

The second team whose goal was to bring back Sasuke was consistent of Kakashi, Asuma, Genma, Anko, Shino and Shikamaru.

Tsunade smiled. 'I'm glad there are this many volunteers to bring them back. You really did a good job, Third…'

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Naruto woke up and saw Neji and Gaara stand by his side, helping him up. 'Wha… Where am I?' He managed to stand on his own feet and lazily looked around. The sight that was given to him scared the hell out of him and it instantly made him see sharp again. 'Itachi!!'

Neji and Gaara had woken up before Naruto and were also a bit frightened to find themselves in an unfamiliar village.

"Do not worry.. we won't kill you.. and neither will they.." Itachi spoke up as he motioned towards all around them. Villagers were walking and shopping, doing what they needed to do for the day. "You won't die here."

Naruto's eyes widened as he saw Kisame walk up to Itachi. Neji and Gaara remembered him as well. They were definitely in deep shit here…

"Oy, Itachi, you finally brought them here, huh? What do you want to do now?" Kisame asked, as he grinned evilly at the three Chuunin.

Dareda observed Neji and then glanced towards Kisame. "He wants us to train them, Hoshigaki. Itachi has to leave for a little while, to pick someone up." He explained as he saw Sinobi and Mokito appear. He greeted Sinobi with a friendly nod.

Suddenly, Itachi stepped forward and stared straight at the three Chuunins. He didn't have his Sharingan activated. "Don't be frightened. I will explain now." He sighed before he continued. "I've grown tired of this life and so have these people. I want it all to end and we want to make the three of you stronger, to begin our new organization and live in complete freedom. Never having to be scared of anything ever again. We won't kill you, but we won't let you get away from here either." Itachi paused. "We will make you stronger and you should see all of us as your teachers."

Itachi pointed towards Dareda. "That… is Hyuga Dareda. I'm sure you've heard of him, Neji. He will mostly be training you." He spoke, addressing Neji.

Itachi continued and pointed towards Mokito. "The girl is the youngest of us, very reckless, but… her style is very effective. Her name's Mokito. She'll be training all of you." Itachi paused and looked over at Kisame. "I think you already know Hoshigaki Kisame. He'll mostly be your sparring partner in this. But he'll be teaching you elementary Jutsu's as well…"

"Then we have Sinobi Raidou, a very strong Lightning Shinobi, he'll also be teaching you the art of elementary Jutsu's." Itachi paused and looked back at the three Chuunins. "And me, I will be training you two mostly." Itachi said, staring at Gaara and Naruto.

"Before we begin…" Itachi paused as he performed a few seals and in the meantime divided into three people, thus making two clones. One for every Chuunin before him. "Kuragari Okkanai.." All three performed this same Jutsu, all towards Naruto, Neji and Gaara.

Naruto felt a sudden pain inside his head and fell into a deep sleep. The dreams came immediately. Naruto saw himself as a little child, seeing every single person in his village ignore him and insult him in every possible way. Some slightly older people even beat him up. Years continued and the people started acting even harsher towards him. Every little thing he achieved, where he was proud of, was discarded immediately by other people as they ruined what he had created. The home he lived in was often damaged by stones that were thrown in by people. Naruto was forced to live in fear. And time passed again, this time he already went to school. His fellow students ignored him and insulted him, but Naruto had grown up and learned to shout back. Once in a while he pulled several pranks, even on the teachers, as those also ignored and insulted him. Years passed and… everything was blank…. Everything positive… portrayed as a lie, or something that had never occurred.

Gaara also fell into a deep sleep and in his dreams he was faced by dozens of villagers running away from him while calling him names, like 'Demon', 'Devil' and anything of the like. He grew up with these images, having only one person, his guardian, he could talk to. Throughout the years that followed, Gaara saw how many assassins tried to kill him. Until the only person he trusted also tried to kill him. Years later, he came to know he had a brother and a sister, who both, too, despised him, but tried to hide it, since they were siblings. But Gaara never considered it that way and simply saw the same scared, but cold gazes that they wore every time they looked at him. Years passed again and many times he heard the term Love land on his path through life. That certain word was the only word that could actually hurt him. But he would overcome this threat too.

Neji also found himself falling asleep and facing his dreams… or nightmares.. He saw himself in a training room. His father was screaming in agony as he on the ground, flailing about. The Curse Seal on his forehead was activated by his uncle, Hiashi. Neji cried as he saw his father in pain and looked angrily at Hiashi… And then his father was supposed to save the entire family by giving his life to the enemy. They wanted Hiashi, but they got his father instead. Neji swore revenge on the family, the Main Family. Years passed and he got nothing but disrespect from the members of the Main Family. Neji lived a life where he was as worthless as trash, but he would show them…

Itachi faced the others as the three Chuunins were still on the ground.. 'asleep.' Itachi slowly walked away. "They'll wake up soon. When they do, they'll still be mostly the same, but now they know what has been done to them and would do anything to get what they deserve. It'll be easier to train them this way. Consumed by their own darkness, they will not be able to grasp the ambitions they were following for the Leaf… but they will grasp that what is needed… for themselves…"

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Sasuke awoke as he was put harshly on the ground. 'What…' He rubbed his eyes and sat up. He stared at the strangers before him and noticed that he didn't know any of them. Until he saw the one who was standing right in front of him. Though he appeared to be Kabuto, Sasuke immediately noticed his eyes… 'Orochimaru!'

Sasuke immediately jumped up and went into a fighting stance.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Don't worry, Sasuke-kun. I will not kill you. However, it is up to you now whether you come with me or not."

Sasuke analyzed Orochimaru's sneaky gaze and decided that he really wasn't given a choice..  "Heh, what would you do if I say no?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "Now, now, you don't trust me? I would simply let you go. But, do realize that… if you go back, you won't get stronger, not as strong as you want to be to defeat your brother. But if you come with me, you'll be a lot stronger, possible even stronger than your brother. I simply want to help you and… I got a score to settle with your brother as well…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked at the others. A female and two males. Although both males looked like females, but the absence of a certain chest indicated enough. "If I go with you and I deem myself strong enough, will you let me go?"

Orochimaru stared straight into Sasuke's eyes. "But of course. I already told you that you can trust me. However, when you defeat Itachi, I'll be right at your side…" Orochimaru stated, with a grin plastered on his face.

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TBC

A/N: Well, what did you think? Good enough? It will get darker from now on, but I gave a few warnings in previous chapters. I hope you don't mind that I did this. If you think I did something wrong, tell me. Do you think I shouldn't have allowed Lee, Shino and Shikamaru to go with the teams Tsunade has established? Or one might even think those teams are too big… I considered this as well, but I simply wanted to put the Jounins and Special Jounins in the spotlight some more. I still could use a few ideas for new creative Jutsu's.

Oh, and another thing… The new female in the Akatsuki I created, she has more than one summon, much more even. I already have a few summons, but I want to leave those as a surprise. But I could still use some ideas for Summons as well. The more, the better.

Well, I know this chapter is little shorter than the others, only 4034 words, my apologies, I try to go for the 4500 words each chapter, but I have to move out of my house for four days, so I decided to just load this chapter up and maybe I can find a pc at my friend's place, where I will be staying.. Oh, my friend is, by the way, also an author of Naruto fanfics, he goes by the Author Name 'Hyuga Neji.'

Anyway, the reason for this slightly shorter chapter is that this certain PC I'm on right now, will be disconnected, for four days…. Weird that we simply can't live without Internet…. Well, maybe I'm talking only for myself. Anyway, Gotta go! They're starting on the reconstruction of the house, Buh-bye!!