Chapter 74: Betting on baits
She'd complained about her automatic healing before, and while a part of Sasuke agreed with her take from time to time, another, larger part of him preferred to see her skin revert to its perfect, unblemished state by the time the sun showed up. While he'd always been careful to be as gentle as he could with her, that always went out the window once his mind became consumed by their shared pleasure. His touch just wasn't what anyone could call delicate. Unsurprisingly, Kagome noticed his silent worry after the first time their shows of affection began crossing lines, and even laughed softly at his inability to just ask. She'd smiled while reassuring him that not only was there no need for him to dwell on it, but the girl very much enjoyed the feeling. It would be hypocritical to complain about her reasoning when he felt even more satisfaction when her nails sunk into his skin; still, the Uchiha didn't like the idea of her feeling any after-pain at all. Plus, it was always endearing to see her pout whenever she looked at the marks she left on him.
As if sensing his amusement, Kagome grumbled a little before snuggling closer to him.
Exhaustion gave them both a mostly calm night, but she'd probably woken up after a mild nightmare woke him up. Instead of moving to start their morning, the young man only moved to pull her closer. Oversleeping wasn't a habit either of them indulged in, not even as children, but Sasuke would happily take this chance to chase away the last echoes of his nightmare by basking in the girl's warm presence by his side. Admittedly, the Uchiha was also unashamedly admiring Kagome's sleepy form. Even with how much tension they'd been in since before leaving the village, the Higurashi had only grown more beautiful as time passed. Unlike most kunoichis, the girl managed to retain a soft, gentle image. Delicate features framed the perfect picture of the deceitful fragility an oleander flower used to hide its poisonous thorn that would consume anyone who dared get close to her. Anyone but him…and his brother.
"You won't go back to sleep." Kagome's soft assertion broke his train of thought. "Was it bad?"
"Nothing new…I was thinking…" he said, letting his left hand caress the bare skin of her back and earning a smile in return.
"And to think you were the one in a hurry." Slender fingers trailed a teasing path before she laughed and moved away to sit up. "As much as I'd love to explore those sort of thoughts, we don't have enough time."
His questioning glance was answered with a feather-soft kiss before standing up, lazily slipping on his discarded haori from the floor. Attuned to the girl's movements as he was, Sasuke could see the tension that began to taint her motions as she reached the window of their borrowed room to open it, and it took a lot of willpower not to pull her back to him. Priorities were priorities; they'd find another opportunity to take care of their needs later. Because there was no way in hell that the number of shikigamis rapidly crowding the open space would allow them to have free time. An assortment of birds, butterflies, and several less noticeable insects waited for Kagome to recover the reports. In an effort to muddle how much information the Taishos could get out of them, all of the girl's shikigamis had a planned schedule that would keep them updated without calling too much attention to themselves. Only a handful of specific situations would merit the exceptions that would have the paper dolls rush to the hidden estate all at once. This number of shikigamis, however, made it unlikely for this to be a tip concerning Itachi. After all, his brother had been trying to keep his distance from them.
"Anything interesting?" he asked, sitting up.
"It seems like we've been given an open invitation." Slow steps brought her back to him, and she offered him the reports.. "Someone seems to be flooding every network with the exact same message."
Dark eyes scanned the bundles of notes. Every one held the same rumor. A group of seven had been seen wandering through the ruins of an abandoned ninja compound; more specifically, one of the abandoned compounds that once belonged to the Higurashi clan. Something that not one of Kagome's informants should have any knowledge about. The girl was right. This was a painfully obvious bait for an ambush.
"So, someone who is able to recognize those ruins for what they were is bankrolling the Shichinintai." Sasuke's voice managed to hide the tension that filled him. "How long until you have a working counter?"
"At least a couple more days…but if they are flooding all channels, there's no chance this won't reach Konoha. But more importantly, this was brought by this little darling." Composed mask in place, Kagome motioned for a small brown eagle to land on her arm and handed him a nondescript scroll.
The small piece of paper didn't really look all that different from the rest, but it was the doll what caught his attention. She was very conscientious of the places her shikigamis needed to blend in, but for the most part, the girl enjoyed using vibrant colors for her fake animals. Azure in particular was a favorite of hers, though the boy wasn't sure if that was because she genuinely liked the color or because Itachi always praised the shade of blue from her eyes. From what he could remember, only a handful of dolls were meant to look so plain, and only one could be this important. So, the Kazekage was true to his word. With a deceitfully playful wave, Kagome passed the other piece of paper. Speeding through the few lines of small, scribbled kanjis, Sasuke could feel his frown deepen. No new sightings of the man in the baboon pelt, but it seemed like the man had been seen around some of the seedier parts of Suna on at least 3 separate occasions. Shortly after they killed Orochimaru, no surprise there. After the news of their leaving Konoha, completely unexpected. And finally…sixteen years ago, right around the time when the Higurashi clan was betrayed by the village.
Also to note was that the Shichinintai stopped advertising themselves a week or so after the last time the man was sighted.
"How effective is what you have right now?"
"You know that's not how poisons work." Azure eyes narrowed at him, more out of anxiousness than irritation. "There's also a chance symptoms can react oddly if this isn't all the kekkei genkai can do."
"Let's supposed the circumstances are the same as they were with that pathetic excuse of a shinobi." Some of his own impatience was starting to bleed through his words.
"Ayame-san made it back in less than ten minutes, and we got to them almost immediately." Sitting by his side, he felt her lean into him. "If I had to guess, then a single shot of this counter should be able to give us another ten minutes or so for me to work with. Of course, the sort of jutsu required to get rid of the toxins isn't something I can pull off while moving around."
"Risks were always unavoidable…and it would be rude of us to ignore such a blatant invitation."
Sasuke knew he was pushing her. While her attitude towards the idea of revenge took a drastic turn after finding out the truth, her first priority hadn't changed all that much from when they were children. Kagome wanted to keep him safe. An incredibly unlikely goal, considering the person aiming for his neck was clearly obsessed with the Higurashi clan, and that obsession hadn't faltered for over a decade. No, Sasuke couldn't let that go, which meant the girl would follow, no matter the risk, and it couldn't be riskier than assassinating members of Konoha's council.
"You'll stay within my range." It wasn't even an order; she was only stating a fact.
"Of course."
"Fine…" Closing her eyes, the girl let out a sigh. "We should get clean and tell the others to start packing. If we're going to move, I want to pass by the Izakaya on the way there. It looks like Koyuki-chan received an unexpected guest last week."
His huff was only partly exaggerated, but it got him an amused smile.
Yes, his jealousy was unwarranted, the Uchiha may not be the best when it came to introspection, but even he knew there was no way Kagome could leave his side. Even now, she made sure one of her shikigamis remained hidden within his clothes to check up on him. She needed him to live…just as much as he needed her. Not that it made it having to watch her offer even a sliver of affection to anyone else easier to stomach. Trying to restrict that was pointless; the girl was stubborn as hell, and even if she wasn't, the loyalty of her main informants was the key to their future plans. Besides, according to her it was endearing to see him get jealous over nothing. Considering how much Sasuke himself enjoyed the few times her mask cracked, he couldn't complain.
"And here I thought you liked Koyuki-chan." Old habits had Kagome teasing him to hide her anxiousness.
"She's one of your less annoying pets," he scoffed.
"Right, my bad, she's one of the easiest to tolerate." The Higurashi smiled once more as he pulled her back to him, her hands wrapping around his neck while she responded to his kiss, and he could feel her pressing against him for just a heartbeat before pulling away. "Come on, we need to hurry up if we want to get there before the vultures try to get in our way."
It would be fine; everything would be alright. Because at the end of the day, no matter how annoying this guy was, they were in the same team and working towards the same mission.
That said, this was something Naruto didn't think was even possible, but Sai was more of a pain in his ass than the bastard of his childhood friend. Sure, Sasuke had never been an easy person to get along with. The two boys would often end up squabbling, quarreling, and straight out fighting until Kagome-chan decided that enough was enough and stopped them, and….what was his point again? Oh yeah, how much more annoying this new guy was. For all that his childhood friend was an arrogant jerk, he'd never judged him like the people from the village had. Cerulean eyes landed on his forcefully appointed teammate. It was bad enough to have Kakashi-sensei still stuck in the hospital so the only member of the original team 7; to make things worse, Sakura-chan's temperament wasn't what he'd call soothing.
Kagome would've known how to handle someone like this asshole.
She could always stop fights before they started.
Melancholy threatened to drown him.
The thought of his childhood friends keeping secrets from him still hurt. It hurt a lot. But the undeniable truth was that, despite it all, Naruto missed them.
It was ironic. The blond remembered not understanding why the clan heirs insisted on remaining on the deserted Uchiha compound. But at the end of the day, he went back to the main house as well, but after traveling for a week, he missed the comforting memories that house offered him. Then again, the place became somewhat of a meeting spot with Hinata-chan. Their breaks only overlapped for a few days, but the shy girl had been happy to help him put his thoughts in order. Sharing the details of such a high-level mission was unlikely to be something he was meant to do, but he trusted the Hyuuga. And he couldn't deny the conclusions they reached. Kagome's words and actions in Suna could only mean one thing, his childhood friends still cared about him. Why else would they hunt the Akatsuki if all they wanted was to kill Itachi? In a way, it felt like they were trying to protect him…or Kagome was trying, at least. Because there was nothing, not even his revenge, that Sasuke cared about more for in this world than the Higurashi girl, and the bastard was never one to forgive easily.
In hindsight, Naruto was confident most of the insults from the first part of their confrontation were probably fake. The Uchiha had been trying to rile him up so the blond wouldn't notice the lies . And the Konohan jinchuuriki fell for it like an idiot.
Hook, line, and sinker.
As it was, after what happened at the Valley of the End, Naruto wouldn't be surprised if the hatred Sasuke had claimed became genuine. Dealing with him would be tricky…at best.
His gaze fell back on his newest teammate.
For these past few days, the blond had been biting his tongue in an attempt to not respond to the jerk's insults. Really, how could Sakura-chan think this guy was even remotely like Sasuke?
"Please, stop glaring at me." The toneless voice of his newest teammate interrupted his thoughts with an unpleasant cadence. "Don't make me hit you."
"Every damn thing you say just pisses me off more!" No way, this guy wasn't like the Uchiha at all.
"I don't have any malice towards you."
"Liar!"
His response may have been an overreaction, but he didn't care about it now; he'd held his tongue for far too long.
"I'm just trying to put on that kind of attitude." The smile on the bastard's face was just as unpleasant as his words.
"Aha! So you're doing it on purpose!" Like hell he was going to stay quiet, not when this mission was so damn important. "Why the hell are you here?! All you do is piss people off!"
"Hey, hey!" Yamato-taicho's voice attempted to break the incoming conflict. "Don't say something like that right in front of your captain, Naruto.
"Teamwork and cooperation are the most important things in a team. I thought Kakashi-san already taught you that. Someone like you in a team with the great Kakashi-senpai…what is it with you?" The brunet man glared at him, but the prankster couldn't care less.
"It's because he's not a member of team Kakashi! The other members of my team are Kagome and Sasuke!" Ah…this was his answer, wasn't it? No matter how much he tried to imagine a happy future on his own, those two were always at his side. "You people are…just taking their places; you were only chosen to fill the gaps. And this guy, in particular, is someone I'll never consider a team member!"
He'd beat Sasuke to a pulp for his shitty behavior and endure the hits he'd earned for losing control of the Kyuubi. He'd apologize to Kagome for hurting her and get mad at her for keeping secrets.
He'd found out what they were hiding from him…and make them understand why they were idiots for doing so.
"Well, I'm glad you think of me that way." Man, this asshole just couldn't shut up. Sai was still smiling. "I wouldn't want to be likened to the weak shit-for-brains Orochimaru's clone who only cared about power and ran off to the traitor, betraying Konoha and is even potentially abusing his teammate. Even if the girl was so weak-willed she couldn't stand for herself."
"You bastard…" Fingers dug inside his skin, fists trembling.
Getting just a scolding would be lucky, but tension filled his frame, and his feet began to move on their own. This fucking guy was asking for it, at least one good hit…
A hand in front of him stopped his advance, and his irritation only grew. Was Sakura-chan really trying to intervene now of all times?
"Truly, the most important thing is teamwork," the pinkette said, and Naruto was beginning to feel like he wanted her to shut up too. "Sai…since Naruto doesn't know you all that well, he just said too much. I'm sorry, please, forgive him."
"Mhm, I'm glad at least one of you is reasonable." There was a resigned look on their captain's face.
"Think nothing of it."
Should he go along once more? It was true that regardless of how much of an asshole Sai was, constant conflicts wouldn't help him find his stupid friends.
"Well, that's good," Sakura smiled.
The sound of the hit was almost as shocking as seeing how far Sai ended up at.
"Me, on the other hand…" Frowning wasn't enough to describe the expression on the pinkette's face. "You don't have to forgive me."
"You fooled me completely…that fake laugh before."
"Since you don't seem to know anything about Sasuke-kun, don't talk about things you have no idea of!" The girl was screaming now. "If you badmouth Sasuke-kun one more time, I won't hold back." It didn't escape Naruto's notice she wasn't mentioning Kagome.
"Hehe, gotcha. I won't say anything in front of you. But I'll remember you can use a fake smile like that." The tone of Sai's voice hadn't changed one bit after the punch.
"You've just been hit; why are you acting so cheerful?!" Confusion warred with anger in Naruto's voice.
"A smile's the best way to get out of trouble. Even if it's fake. Amazingly, it fools everybody…" It sounded like the black-haired boy was reciting a fact. "I read that in a book before. It doesn't look like it works here, though."
The tension in the group wasn't going down at all. Because the prankster was almost sure he knew why this guy was so damn annoying.
Sasuke was frustrating because he was a cocky bastard with enough talent to back his arrogance. But the Uchiha was easy to piss off, and if Kagome was close, it was easy to get him to relax and even act happy. As long as you knew what buttons to push, it wasn't hard to get reactions out of him. Sai, on the other hand, just didn't react in a normal way. Now that he thought about it, even though they'd been traveling for a week, not once had the pale boy ever stopped smiling. No matter what was going on. Before his thoughts could keep spiraling, giant wooden pillars supported from the ground, forming a gigantic cage in front of his eyes.
"If you guys won't stop arguing, I'll have to toss you all in a cage. There is no rush to hit all of our targets, so there would be no loss." There was something dark in Yamato-taicho's voice. "As the mediator, here's my proposition: you can spend a day or so in the cage to work out your differences…or we can go to a hotel with hot springs. What will we do?
"You guys don't really know me well either…" Shadows seemed to descend upon the typically calm man's face. "I like being nice and friendly, but…I don't have any problems with ruling by fear either."
It took Kagome's hand tightening around his for Sasuke to not let his face show just how much he wanted to punch the perfectly put-together form of Taisho Sesshoumaru. The silver-haired man was slowly walking behind the overly-enthusiastic 11-year-old girl yelling the Higurashi's name. As if they hadn't been specific about the time-sensitive nature of this whole mess. It took all he had to stop himself from rolling his eyes when Kagome let go to catch the brunette running towards them in a hug.
She'd always been the best one out of them when it came to dealing with children, and this was the one kid that held a special value to the Taisho family despite sharing no blood with the ancestral clan.
"You're leaving already, Kagome-sama?" Disappointment laced every word coming from the kid, some worry too.
"Hmm, we got some interesting information we just can't ignore." Soft tones and gentle words, Kagome was playing the perfect role of a kind older sister. Even continuing to carry the child. "We'll try to get back as soon as possible…you know, I originally planned on exploring the theory a little more, but here." With a playful motion, the Higurashi handed Rin a vial full of clear liquid. "This is one of my own creations. It's a fairly strong antidote for a wide variety of poisons; if you can figure out how I made it and recreate it by the time we're back, we can start practicing some of the more complex medical ninjutsu."
"Y-yes, Kagome-sama!"
"Of course, you already know all the safety precautions, right?" A happy nod answered Kagome's question. "You can get Kohaku-kun to help you too, if you want to, but it won't be fair to ask a teacher."
"Thank you!" The kid was beaming now.
"Everything is perfectly safe for her to handle, even on her own," Kagome placed the girl on the ground and looked up to look at Sesshoumaru.
"So, what do you want?" Sasuke spoke up, annoyance winning his internal battle. No way in hell this guy came here to escort the brat.
His tone earned him a scoffing look from the Taisho heir and the return of Kagome's fingers intertwining with his own in a silent warning. She was working overtime to work with this clan, and the Uchiha knew his bad attitude wasn't helping her in the slightest despite agreeing about the importance of keeping neutral with the family. If Sasuke was traveling alone, he wouldn't care so much about his general safety, but if he could make it so Kagome was just a little bit safer, it would be worth it.
"It occurred to Father that our departure from this estate might happen before your group returns." With carefully telegraphed motions, Sesshoumaru placed a scroll in the Higurashi girl's hands. "If that were to happen, directions to the next location will appear in the scroll. Naturally, it has been keyed to your chakra."
"To be trusted with it is an honor, of course; hopefully, his won't take long."
Biting his tongue as a few more platitudes were exchanged, the Uchiha stood back, nodding only when necessary to keep up the facade of politeness.
Crossing the gates of the Taisho estate was the equivalent of jumping straight into the fire, and Sasuke almost scoffed when the girl's hand closed around his in all too fucking familiar patter that warned him of the eyes that were watching them once more. If he had to guess, the likely culprit was whoever had been stalking them from within Konoha. Otherwise, Kagome would've asked them to stop. They were running into danger, but there was a certain relief now that they were away from that irritating family. Not just because he disliked the interest in the girl that the ancient clan showed, but it also gave him something to do while they bid their time and waited for information on his brother's whereabouts. They couldn't just mindlessly rush to go against the village, but he'd never been the patient type.
Was there any way to gain more time?
Frustration was nothing new in his life. It was just another facet that came with being the firstborn of the Uchiha clan. And yet, Itachi was confident the rate he'd been forced to swallow down his irritation for the last couple of weeks was nothing like what he'd ever experienced.
No…
If he was being honest with himself, this probably started when the news of Sasuke and Kagome leaving the village to go to Orochimaru reached him. Because that wasn't how things were supposed to go. Those two were meant to remain safe within Konoha until they became strong enough to kill him. He'd take the secrets of his family to his grave, and they'd get some sense of retribution and satisfaction and move on. No loose ends. But even if they were to obediently go back to the village, they were now a priority on Akatsuki's target list. Sure, there had never been any way to keep them from getting tangled in the conflict against that person, but being actively hunted was an entirely different problem. Nothing he could do would get them out of it after their intervention in Suna. Those two kept finding new dangers to place themselves in front of. Or maybe he was being a little unfair. If Deidara was to be believed, those two planned to exterminate the whole organization because of who they were targeting. Were they doing this to protect Konoha's jinchuuriki? Had it been a mistake to encourage their friendship with Uzumaki Naruto?
Memories of simpler times rushed at him, and Itachi knew he would've never been able to prohibit them from meeting in secret. Even if he hadn't thought the hyperactive blond was a good influence on Sasuke, the Uchiha prodigy had never been able to deny Kagome anything when she looked at him with those bright azure eyes of hers. Shining full of blind trust in him. Father always complained that he was spoiling them both; but he saw them so little that the genius didn't care. And the girl had noticed that trend, always stepping up to convince him to give into her whims. If he had the chance to go back in time and make that choice all over again, he'd likely pick the same thing.
Which didn't really help him with his current dilemma.
After they almost ruined the Suna Ichibi's capture, his order changed to include getting rid of his younger brother. His claim over Kagome kept her name out of the execution list, but he'd have to be a fool to believe that Kakuzu wouldn't try to capture her and sell her to whatever disgusting bastard was willing to pay. High bidders would jump at the chance. The one thing that soothed his increasing worry was that the promise those two showed as children had been fully realized; each and every time, they shook off their pursuers, leaving even the most well known information brokers blind as they kept disappearing. But it seemed like someone else noticed their talent to vanish from the map and had grown weary of it. There was no way the sudden influx of information that made sure to repeat the Higurashi name over and over was anything but a trap. Now that his orders included taking his brother's life, he'd be forced to go to the ruins.
Which brought up the crux of this whole issue.
Those two had to know it was a trap, but would they respond to it?
Sasuke was impulsive enough to go for it, but only if he could convince Kagome to agree to such a plan. Before, Itachi would've thought the girl wouldn't be so rash as to allow them to leave the village. Things had clearly changed, and his assumptions about their actions were no longer as accurate as they once had been.
Should he try and modify his timeline?
As much as the Uchiha prodigy would prefer it if those two remained safely hidden, Itachi could understand why they'd choose to take the bait. Whoever was behind this was tied to the girl's family, and he'd rather not leave them alone against another potentially dangerous threat. Not when the council was showing no interest in bringing those two back to safety. No…he could not trust the Council, so he'd have to push everything back to deal with this new threat.
"So?" His appointed partner let himself fall on the chair in front of him, carelessly stealing the food that had already grown cold. "Did you manage to find anything different?"
"Every broker has the same information." Blind eyes scanned the pub Itachi had been ignoring until now.
"Hmm," Kisame made a face before shouting an order for some sake. "Think Kakuzu is actually gonna lay low?"
"It was the boss's orders."
"The one thing that guy values enough to defy orders is money, and damn if the price on that girl isn't high." A crimson glare had the blue-skinned rogue raising his hands. "I'm not about to try and take someone you've claimed..though if you want to get to her first, we'll have to move fast."
Keeping an impassive face was harder than he would've liked, but his mind insisted on whirling with every possibility he could think of. Attempting to slow down their progress would look far too suspicious. He'd need to find a way to lose Kisame after nearing the coordinates they'd gotten. Before leaving Konoha, Itachi made sure to go to what remained of the Higurashi compound; if this place was legitimate and the architecture was similar enough, he could figure something out. On one front, at least. A lot of things had changed since he agreed to this never-ending mission, some things remained the same. He loved them more than anything else in this world, of course, and those two always found unique ways to get themselves into trouble.
"Let's go, then."
"Just remember." Kisame's sudden grip on his wrist stopped the young prodigy from leaving. "You can do whatever you want with the girl as long as you can keep her under control."
"I know how to manage her," he said, voice cutting off any remark as he jerked his hand away.
The words threatened to make bile rise in his throat at the implication they carried, but there was no other choice if he wanted to keep the others away from her. On the few occasions he'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with the bomb-obsessed nuke-nin, the blond took the chance to make suggestive comments about her. The only other time he could remember wanting to kill someone so badly was when the girl was almost kidnapped as a child.
"Man, you can be really fucking twisted, can't you?" Kisame's crude laughter grated on his ears.
"Just hurry up," Itachi bit out. There had to be a way to get the monstrous man away from those two. "We may have pests to get rid off."
"Hmph, doing overwork now."
"If it's too much, you can just focus on the Kyuubi." Even as they left his tongue, the Uchiha prodigy hated his words. "He was close to her and my brother as children; if we've gotten this much information, then Uzumaki Naruto will show up to try and get them back to the village."
"Two targets, one kunai…" his partner hummed.
It wasn't quite an agreement, but it wasn't a denial either.
His actions just put Naruto-kun in undeniable danger, but this was the only thing he could think of to get some free space to move around without Kisame breathing down his neck. With a bit of luck, the boy and whatever team was chosen as the jinchuuriki's protection detail would be able to stand up against the chakra monster that was his partner, or managed to run away so Itachi could assess the situation. Worst case scenario, even if the blond ended up being captured, his tailed beast was the last one on the list, and there would be enough time for Konoha to come up with a plan to get the boy back. It left a bitter aftertaste, because what he was doing right now was placing his own priorities above those of the village, but he couldn't feel confident the Council would do anything before this attempt on his two most important people could go on. Because no matter what he said to justify his actions, he'd agreed to be the one to bear all those sins in order to protect them.
It made no difference how vile the role he had to play was; regardless of what kind of atrocities Itachi may need to commit, he would keep them safe.
Impatience was pushing the limits of his constraints and attempting to override his survival instincts and have him jump out of the hot spring.
That most of Naruto's memories involving onsens included fighting with Sasuke and subtly trying to push each other underwater without making enough noise for Kagome to notice them was doing nothing to help brighten his mood. That said, his will to live was still strong enough to keep him sitting and trying to ignore his newest teammate. The blond would be lying if he said he was happy when he first saw their substitute captain. Sure, he'd been relieved to hear that this Yamato guy knew and respected Kakashi-sensei, but he still didn't like how much it felt like everyone had been replaced. Substitute or not, Yamato-taicho was clearly scary when he wanted, and right now, the jinchuuriki very much believed the man capable of locking everyone up in that cage for as long as necessary.
This was probably the only time he'd felt like the whole team fully agreed on something.
"Ahh…for guys, being together like this really makes us feel like companions." Silence followed the brunet's declaration…and Naruto would swear shadows fell on Yamato's face. "Don't you agree?"
"Y-yeah, of course!" The blond jumped out with fake excitement; if he had to lie, so be it.
And here he thought a pissed-off Kagome was terrifying…then again, Naruto supposed there were different kinds of horrifying. Considering their temporary truly seemed set on ruling by fear, the prankster would probably get plenty of chances to decide who was the scarier one.
"Well, well…" Sai's annoying voice reached his ears. "So you really do have one."
Have one…what the hell was this guy even talking about now…
"Don't go looking!" Heat rushed to his face after Naruto managed to catch just where the black-haired bastard looking. "Why are you always going on about penises anyway!"
His irritated yell brought nothing but laughter.
Feminine laughter.
Maybe he'd spent too much around Ero-sennin, or maybe Kakashi-sensei started all this, thanks to his stupid Icha-icha books, but the blond couldn't help the grin that came to his face. It wasn't his fault that all of his teachers up until now were total perverts. And yes, he was willfully ignoring the fact that Iruka-sensei was pretty respectable, and the Sexy no jutsu (as well as its evolved version) were Naruto's inventions, but could anyone really blame him?
"I'm done for now," Yamato-taicho said as he got out of the water. "Bur first, Naruto-kun, there's something interesting I'd like to tell you.
"When Jiraiya-sama was young, he came close to dying once. Six ribs, and both arms were broken, and many internal organs were ruptured…" the man trailed off. "It seemed that the cause was Tsunade-sama's superhuman strength. What he did was…exactly what you're doing now. What do you think Sakura would do?"
That…was something he could absolutely see happening…
Whatever his hasty denial to the implied accusation would be, Naruto would never be sure. The sound of wings flapping in a hurry caught all three people on this side of the hot springs. A messenger hawk landed on Yamato-taicho's rapidly extended arm, offering a sealed scroll and making the blond feel all the tension the hot spring managed to melt hurried to settle once more across his shoulders. Sure, this side of the onsens was empty, but if there was one useful thing he'd learned after traveling with Jiraiya, it was that messages between ninjas were only meant to be delivered when there was no chance of even an accidental sighting.
"Naruto-kun," The substitute captain's voice was firm. "What are the odds of those two would willingly walk into a trap?"
"It…depends, I guess," the blond replied.
"On?"
"If they think it's worth it." Something was going on, and his answers would likely play an important part in whatever this was. "Is Akatsuki…"
"No," Yamato cut him off. "What would make it worth it?"
"Safety…information…Kagome is the one who makes the call on that sorta thing." She was their strategist, after all.
"Our break is over; we're going back on the road. Now." His voice left no room for arguments. "We'll follow our signal path up to a certain point before deviating. Prepare for hostile confrontations with unknown enemies."
"Whoah, whoah, hold on!" Water sloshed around when the blond jumped out once more. "What the hell is going on?"
"Someone appears to be baiting them to a different set of abandoned Higurashi ruins. There's no guarantee they'll show up, but we can't take the risk."
"I…ok." If they took this bait…then, he might actually get to see them soon. The real them and not just one of Kagome's reiki-controlled shikigamis. "Got it."
A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait on this one, but I only noticed now that I made a couple of mistakes and skipped several scenes that were meant to be spread after the whole Suna arc to further both character relationships and world building plus foreshadowing a couple of things but since I wrote those while fighting against burnout thanks to my uni studies (I absolutely love my area, but my schedule was hell and the workload was burying me) so it completely skipped my mind. I tried to add them here but didn't like the how long the flashbacks were and re-wrote this a couple of times trying to insert the necessary info without it sounding like exposition dump and this was the best I could manage within a reasonable timeframe (I reduced my class load but I'm doing undergraduate work so it kinda cancels that out) that didn't require me to go back and re-write previous chapters. Hope it's not that bad. I'll likely add some of those scenes as omakes in future chapters but will still try to retroactively add the info into the proper chapters.
That said, I do feel like the plot is advancing at a decent pace and I'm really looking forward to the moment when shit hits the fan and everything clashes here.
As always, thank you guys so much for reading and any and all review/comment/criticism is greatly, greatly appreciated.