Naruto Fanfiction

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Author's Note: … Oh, remember! This is three years after the time-skip! So yes, all of them are elites! They are very, very VERY strong…

Also, I don't have a pre-reader, man! So if you find mistakes in here, I won't be surprised at all... Sorryyy...

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With the mask off, it was very difficult for the others to stop staring at him. Had they been in the middle of the village, it would have been more vexing on the blonde. The Yondaime look-a-like wasn't really nice-looking as he coldly stared at Sakura and Sasuke.

He had received reports from the Fifth the day before on them. Haruno Sakura had recently become a Jounin, but hadn't really had a lot of missions. Besides not having done a single S-Rank, she also hadn't accomplished many A-Ranked ones either. In that prospect, Sasuke faired a bit better, where he had already accomplished a fair amount of A-Ranked Missions… as a Chuunin.

Uchiha Sasuke was more on solo-missions, however, whereas Haruno Sakura often had to join a team, seeing she was a very talented Medic-nin.

"I suggest you start. We don't have a lot of time before we have to go." Kakashi suddenly said. "The only reason we're doing this, is so we can see whether we can count on you during a mission."

Sasuke sneered at Kakashi and at Naruto. "You two… I'll beat the both of you. I'm only ranked Chuunin because…" Sasuke didn't finish the sentence, as he didn't find it very comfortable to do so. He just hoped the other two figured it out. "I'm better than most of the Jounins here." He ended.

Sakura smiled at him, knowing that the Uchiha didn't like being underestimated. "Me too, Kakashi-sensei, Naruto-taichou."

"Call me Uzumaki-taichou." Naruto corrected.

Sakura frowned. 'I thought he would say 'Just call me Naruto' or something like that…'

"Better get this straight right now…" Naruto suddenly began as he put his mask back on. "We don't have time to overestimate or underestimate each other. Attack with your full power from the start off."

Kakashi nodded. "Indeed. We don't have time to play."

Sakura's left eyebrow twitched and she was sure Sasuke's entire body was twitching. 'These guys are treating us like little children!'

"Tcheh, as you wish…" Sasuke said as he activated his Sharingan and immediately raised it to its maximum. Sasuke was a little perturbed by the fact that none of the two before him were surprised…

This May, Be

- Chapter 1: Knowing

"Hey! Stop that!"

Every slice echoed throughout the cave, he remembered. Drops of blood on the ground increased by the seconds. He felt a certain feeling when he watched his own blood drop to the ground. Was it enjoyment?

"Wha…? How can you be laughing?"

Uchiha Itachi never was an ordinary person. But no one expected of him to be a masochist. Morino Ibiki didn't understand what was going on. All of his torture methods had failed on the Uchiha before him.

"Fine… Though I've never gone so far, on you I can do it." Morino began as he performed a few handseals. "Torture; Nerve Increase!" Ibiki smirked as Itachi's body twitched. "This technique will make you experience pain about a hundredfold. Enjoy this pain, Uchiha Itachi…"

"This feels so familiar…"

---

Sakura clenched her fists and glared at their opponent, the great Hatake Kakashi. Naruto had vanished and reappeared to the far corner of the area, leaning against a tree. Sasuke prepared himself. 'Why is he not revealing his Sharingan?' He thought as he gazed at Kakashi.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he suddenly found himself in entire different setting. Before his eyes, he saw Itachi, his brother, attack Kakashi. 'Damn, this must be Genjutsu!' Though it was harder than usual, he used his Sharingan to get rid of the illusions around him. He swallowed nervously as the battlefield he was in before, was now all boulders and slammed down trees. 'Ah, Sakura and her strength…'

Before his eyes, Sakura was trying to hit Kakashi, but the older Jounin was simply too fast.

"Sasuke-kun! What are you doing!" Sakura yelled. Sasuke moved to intercept a Kunai from Kakashi, but realised he would be too late and was frozen on the spot. The Kunai impaled Sakura's stomach.

Sakura fell to the ground and Kakashi turned towards Sasuke. When the grey head spoke, it was a different voice he heard. "Sasuke-kun! Snap out of it!"

Sasuke opened his eyes to see Sakura in front of him. "You were caught in Kakashi's double Genjutsu…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes to see that Kakashi hadn't even moved an inch. He looked to Naruto to see him write something down in a scroll. Thinking that he was commenting on how easily he fell for Kakashi's Genjutsu, he immediately ran for Kakashi. 'I'll beat Kakashi in front of the dobe's eyes right now…'

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, but followed him, intent on taking Kakashi down as well.

Sasuke's Sharingan was working overtime as he noticed that Kakashi was escaping from him to every direction possible. 'Tcheh! Which one is the real Kakashi?'

Sakura, who didn't have the Sharingan, saw how Sasuke was jumping around Kakashi, but never really touching him or attacking him. 'What is Sasuke-kun doing?'

Kakashi was moving in very high speed, which only Sasuke noticed, but to Sakura, it seemed as if he was standing still. And then…

"What's wrong, Sakura?" She heard from behind. "Why are you not assisting your teammate?" Sakura wanted to turn around but what she saw was not Kakashi. It was Sasuke.

Sakura jumped backwards after a short hesitation and moved her hands together to say "Kai!"

Nothing happened.

Sakura, in mid-air, watched how the other Sasuke was still jumping around Kakashi, trying to catch him. And then, Sasuke paused in his movement and was hit in the jaw by Kakashi's right foot. Sakura landed and wanted to catch the flailing Sasuke, only to see Kakashi move for her…

Sakura immediately rammed her fist in the ground, to cause boulders to surround her. "You really thought that would help?" Sakura yelped before she got grabbed by her shoulder and her stomach met Kakashi's knee.

Blood spurted out of Sakura's mouth. 'How did he get past the boulders?' Sakura thought before she recovered herself and jumped up again. A second later, Sasuke joined her side.

"He's using Genjutsu a whole lot more now…" Sasuke uttered as he nurtured a bleeding lip. "His speed has increased a great deal as well…"

"Not only that… He knows how we fight and he knows our weaknesses, it seems." Sakura added. "We have to work together to beat him."

Kakashi nodded as he was standing behind the duo. "Indeed. I suggest you do it as quick as possible." He said as he already held two Kunais to both their necks. "In a real battle, you two would be down against me in seconds."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Don't underestimate us!"

"I am not. All I am saying is… Do not hold back against me." Kakashi said as he put the Kunais back in his holster. "But, if you think you can defeat me…" He started as he revealed his Sharingan. "Then try to do so, when I'm not holding back either…"

Kakashi jumped back and gave the two time to attack.

Sakura nodded her head in determination. 'All the time he was still messing with us… and now that he revealed his Sharingan, he's even better…'

Sasuke was hesitating in believing what was happening. 'Kakashi was better than me without Sharingan, while I had mine activated… Now he's even more of a threat…'

"Come!" Kakashi warned. "Or I will."

Sakura rushed forward, enraged, while performing handseals. Kakashi looked on, intrigued. 'Curious, doing two Jutsus at the same time…'

Her hands were surrounded by blue Chakra and she stopped a short five meter in front of Kakashi, to put both her hands in the ground. "Doton, Doryou Dango!"

Kakashi vanished even before Sakura could throw the humongous boulder she was lifting. Kakashi appeared beside her, under the boulder. "Now what, Sakura? I'm too close to you to be able to throw this… huge… boulder." He said. He disappeared again as small fireballs were about to hit him. Sakura was still carrying the boulder over her head when she saw that Kakashi and Sasuke had begun a Taijutsu battle. She immediately threw the boulder when she saw an opening seconds later.

Both Sharingan users dodged the boulder.

Sakura performed a single handseal, which made the huge Boulder she had just thrown crack. What happened later was hundreds of small, sharp stones were being thrown all around.

Her second Jutsu hadn't harmed anyone, though.

"Halt." Naruto suddenly appeared in front of Kakashi, who was about to perform handseals. Sasuke and Sakura looked behind them to see the two Suna slash Leaf Jounins standing opposite each other. The duo hadn't even noticed that Kakashi was standing over there…

Sasuke was getting quite infuriated. 'How come the gap between me and Kakashi is still this big?'

Sakura had her eyes slightly widened. 'I can not believe that Naruto is even better than Kakashi… There must be some kind of misunderstanding…'

Naruto turned towards Sasuke and Sakura. "Both of you…" He started. "Haven't even scratched Kakashi."

Kakashi hid his Sharingan again. "Before you begin a fit about how you haven't even tried your best, we did tell you to give it your all from the start. Our impression is low because you did not heed our words."

"In our mission, you will listen to my words. Had you defeated Kakashi, perhaps another test was necessary to see your limits. That would be to spar against me… As it is now, I have seen your capabilities." Naruto said.

"I'm fairly sure you two could have hurt me, had we continued. But that little time was all we needed to know your limits. You are both inexperienced when it comes to confusion." Kakashi explained. "Our mission will give us a lot of confusion. Me and Uzumaki are already used to that, but you two…"

"Act before you think, when it comes to confusion." Naruto said. "There's no time to rationalize, as the enemy will not hesitate to end your life. Hatake could have killed you two about five times in this little spar."

"But this was friendly sparring!" Sakura interjected. "We haven't seen each other for such a long time! Of course we weren't prepared for something this serious!"

Naruto turned his back to her. "Enough. We are to report in the Hokage Tower in two hours. Be there…" With that, he vanished.

Kakashi regarded his two ex-subordinates. "You two have grown." He commented. "But in Suna… we have grown a lot more." With that, Kakashi disappeared as well…

Sakura looked beyond confused. "What's going on? Sasuke-kun, what do you think?"

Sasuke looked beyond angry. "I think… This goes beyond my leaving Leaf… Something happened in Suna."

"So you two got your asses kicked by Kakashi, eh?" A sudden voice came to their ears. "No surprise, really!"

Sasuke and Sakura turned to see a giant white wolf-dog approach them. On top of it sat Inuzuka Kiba. "Haha, suckers!"

Sasuke immediately sent a glare that would throw Akamaru and Kiba through the Hokage Tower. But a glare could only do so much. Kiba jumped off of Akamaru to land in front of the duo. "It's really not surprising. Even I and Akamaru can't defeat that guy. Hatake and Uzumaki, the killer-duo of Suna."

Sakura frowned. "Killer-duo?"

Kiba all of a sudden swallowed nervously. "Ah.. Uzumaki-taichou, I just noticed you…"

Sasuke and Sakura looked all around him, but couldn't see Naruto anywhere. "What are you talking about, Kiba?" Sakura asked, but Sasuke activated his Sharingan. He still couldn't see anything…

"I… gotta go!" Kiba hollered as he jumped back on Akamaru. The giant dog then ran away.

---

Sakura and Sasuke were looking for some of the other Shinobis that had spent time in the Sand and luckily for them, they ran into Lee.

"Lee."

Lee was glaring at Sasuke. "I have no need to speak to you, traitor." He then turned to Sakura. "I'm a little surprised that you can still stand being near to a traitor, but to go as far as actually having a relationship?"

Sasuke's fist was clenching and unclenching. 'This Guy…'

Sakura ignored Lee's comments. "What happened in the Sand, Lee-san?"

"To me? Something called Sense got burned into my being. The Life of a Shinobi is anything but youthful." He said. "You can't hear where you're headed if you laugh too hard." He stated coldly.

Sakura frowned. "This isn't like you, Lee-san."

"The old me was naïve…" Lee responded. "This is me all grown up."

"What happened to Naruto, Lee-san?"

Lee smiled. "You'll have to ask him. For what it's worth; he's the best of the best and he's my eternal rival… He and Hatake-taichou, they're the best Captains one could wish for, though. You should be honoured to work even with one of them."

Sasuke frowned. "That's absurd."

Lee glared at him. "If you insult Uzumaki-taichou or Hatake-taichou even once, I will use your face for punching practice."

"Try me!" Sasuke challenged.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said as she stood between them.

"I don't understand you, Sakura-san." Lee said as he gazed at Sasuke. "All I can say is… Be careful around Uzumaki-taichou. He isn't known for his patience…"

---

Sakura and Sasuke walked into the Hokage Office to see Naruto and Kakashi already inside. "Ah, you two have already arrived." Tsunade said as she saw the two walk in. "Your mission is to find a traitor, a spy and an ally."

Tsunade's expression was very serious. "You will face the Akatsuki… or at least some of them." Tsunade put her gaze on Naruto and Kakashi. "Naruto and Kakashi were a two-man squad in Suna for a short while. They have already encountered some of the Akatsuki several times. Surprisingly, the Akatsuki had to retreat every time…"

"But the Akatsuki was ruined years ago!" Sakura let out with surprise.

Tsunade nodded her head. "Yes, but there are survivors…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and remembered Kiba's words earlier. 'The Akatsuki, all S-Class Criminals, had to retreat from only Naruto and Kakashi?'

"Naruto has informed me that you two need counselling from Morino Ibiki." Tsunade suddenly stated. "I have told Naruto that that won't be necessary. Now, according to the information Jiraiya has gathered, a few of the Akatsuki will be passing through the Caves of the Stone."

The Caves of the Stone, of course, in Earth Country, was on enemy grounds…

---

"Ne, Uzumaki-taichou? Don't we need to know your skills as well?" Sakura asked as they went beyond the Gates of the Leaf?

Naruto, with his mask on, didn't answer immediately. After a second or five, he asked. "Sakura, you are basically a second Tsunade, am I correct? Tell me, do you have many Jutsus?"

Sakura shrugged. "Earth Jutsus mostly. Because of my Strength, those are easy to perform for me. I also came across a Grass Scroll, so I know a few of those as well. And I can Summon Slugs"

Naruto nodded his head. "Sasuke?"

"I've mastered the Sharingan… completely." He stated as he stared at Kakashi's back, as if stating he was definitely holding back during the spar in the morning. "Fire Jutsus are my specialty. I also know Electric Jutsus and can Summon Snakes. What about you two?" He asked, demanding an answer with his glare. Naruto wasn't looking anyway.

"I have also mastered the Sharingan completely, as far as my blood allows, anyway." Kakashi started. "I am specialized in all elements and have surpassed Maito Gai in Taijutsu. I have also become quite talented in Silent-killing and Genjutsu is my favourite strategy…"

All eyes turned to Naruto when Kakashi was finished. "I specialize in time and space Jutsus." He started. "In an all out battle between me and Kakashi…"

"I can barely scratch him…" Kakashi finished.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

---

They were moving in a pretty high pace. He could tell Sakura was forcing Chakra in her legs, while the others didn't have to do so. He himself included.

'So the dobe really has surpassed Kakashi… What does that make me? A weakling?' Sasuke thought bitterly. 'This isn't right. Here we are as Team 7 again, but now, the dead-last is our Captain… This can't be right…'

Naruto was moving with the grace of a real Jounin, no longer were his movements clumsy or imbalanced. Kakashi, slightly behind the masked blonde, was moving in the same way, without so much as a sound. In fact, none of them were making sounds. That also something really new.

Naruto was no longer loud. He was now very collective and only spoke when he needed to. Next to that he had gotten very cold and was probably ruthless as well…

'I swear something must be wrong…'

---

"We will camp out here." Naruto said as he took off both his masks. He walked over to a lake and washed his face with the water.

"We are about halfway." Kakashi reasoned. "So we will arrive tomorrow afternoon, most likely."

Sakura and Sasuke stared at Naruto, who was walking back to the fire Sasuke had created. "Ok, time for complete debriefing… I have no secrets for my subordinates."

Kakashi nodded his head. "Indeed, I was wondering what Tsunade left out."

Sakura was too busy staring at Naruto's face. 'He's matured so much. And it's really like the Yondaime is sitting in front of me! But it's Naruto!'

Sasuke, too, was staring at Naruto. 'The dobe… I knew, with his Chakra Capacity, he would come far…'

"We will come across only two members of the old organization Akatsuki." Naruto explained. "Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi." He then turned to Sasuke, whose fists were clenching and unclenching. "You, Uchiha Sasuke, will face your brother. You will either die by his hands or he will die by your hands."

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "He will die by my hands!"

"Or you by his." Naruto repeated. "Unless you accept help. Otherwise, the chances of you dieing are too high. I don't want to lose a subordinate on my very first mission under the Leaf, so you will obey me when I say you will back Kakashi up while you two capture him."

Naruto's killer intent suddenly grew, making it very apparent why he was the Captain. "Uchiha Itachi is not to be killed, but taken alive." He glared at Sasuke. "Understood, Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke was about to get very enraged, but for the sake of it all, he hesitantly nodded his head once, but one could barely see it. Naruto was sure Sasuke was going to try and kill his brother, anyway…

"Haruno Sakura, you will be my back-up for Hoshigaki Kisame. If you see an opening, strike and end his life." He explained. "Only Uchiha Itachi is important for this mission."

---

Sakura was still awake as everyone was trying to get some sleep. Naruto was keeping watch, stating that he didn't sleep, anyway. Looking at his form, Sakura realised that he really had changed so much…

He was stupid, dumb, clumsy and always… cheerful, full of smiles, always happy. What had happened to make him so… cold-blooded?

That aside, he was so freakishly strong, unlike the idiot who couldn't even perform a single Bunshin. And then his looks… No reason to go there, she figured, as she was already seeing someone.

But still… She couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt shoot through her as she admired his appearance. 'Uzumaki Naruto… Truly the most Surprising Shinobi of all time, right?'

"I suggest you go to sleep, Sakura… We have a busy day tomorrow."

Sakura blushed, being detected awake so easily. "Ah, y-yes, Uzumaki-taichou!"

---

The next day…

"The Caves of Stone are very known throughout the Shinobi World." Naruto started as he led the way. "But in fact, nothing ever happens there. You will not find legendary Genjutsus roaming inside, or corpses that can cast Curse Jutsus on you… But we must be prepared for any Stone Shinobis. Obstacles must be taken care of immediately. Do not alert any other, just confront and end all threats."

Naruto turned to regard Sakura and Sasuke. "I'm sure you two are strong enough to deal with those kinds of threats."

"Do not expect us to help when in danger. We probably have our hands full at the time." Kakashi filled in. "Do not hold any grudges if you die... we won't either."

"But if we can…" Naruto was sniffing his nose, Sasuke noted. "We will try and make your deaths quick and painless."

Kakashi shook his head. "We'll probably save your lives if we can, too…"

Naruto motioned for all of them to stop. "Enemy ambush, a few miles ahead. High ranked Squad from the Stone, eight Jounins." He summed up. "Question… Confront them or go around them?"

Sakura swallowed nervously before she answered. "It is of no importance to our mission, right? So we should try and get around them, I think."

"What about them being Stone Shinobis? As in, them being enemy to Leaf?" Kakashi countered. "They're all high-ranked. Getting rid of them is an advantage for the Leaf."

"And we can question them, too. After we've beaten them down." Sasuke joined in.

"Normally, I would agree, but now…Our mission isto face two dangerous Shinobis and possibly more where they are." Naruto started. "Other than that, we have to confront them on this same day. If these Stone Shinobis take too much of our Stamina, we have to postpone the mission for another day. So I suggest we take Sakura's idea."

The others nodded. "Or…"

Kakashi feared the worst as he closed his eye, not wanting to hear Naruto's suggestion.

"No, too much hassle." The masked boy said. "Let's go."

---

The Caves of the Stones were in sight. The caves were, of course, underneath the biggest mountain Sakura had ever seen.

"Judging by the way you look, you've never been here, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura shook her head. "No. Never. These mountains are amazing!"

Naruto suddenly stopped moving. "Ok, this is where things will get complicated. I warned you about being ready for confusion. The Fifth wouldn't listen to me, but I warned her."

"Uzumaki-taichou…" Kakashi said. "I think they'll be fine."

Naruto regarded Kakashi for a second. "I hope so…"

Naruto turned and stared at Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened as Kisame and Itachi materialised behind Naruto…

---

FLASHBACK!

'Why must I always be the one waiting here?'

Aburame Shino was seated in the Waiting Room of Konoha's hospital. His entire team was injured, himself included, but his injuries were minor. Especially compared to some of his Team Members.

Lifting his head up, as he was staring at his own lap, he saw Uzumaki Naruto approaching him. "Ah, Aburame-dono…" He started. "We meet again."

Shino nodded, while giving a small smile. "I assume you just got back from a mission?"

Naruto shrugged. "Aah, I've been back two days already." He winked. "I came to check up on my subordinate, like you are. How is yours? Or they?"

"They…" Shino sighed as he stared at his lap again. "Inuzuka Kiba is badly injured. Over usage of the Final Technique of his Clan… again."

Naruto chuckled as he shook his head. "That bastard still doesn't know when to stop, eh?"

Shino didn't respond as he continued. "Akimichi Chouji is also badly injured. The causes are, again, quite similar to Kiba's. Ten-Ten is the most badly injured… for protecting me."

Naruto turned a bit serious as he took the seat next to Shino's. "What about Hyuga Hinata?"

Shino stared at Naruto, even more serious. "She passed away, Uzumaki-dono…"

Naruto's eyes widened. His mouth opened up to say something, but he found himself unable to say something…

Shino suddenly coughed wildly and Naruto moved quickly to hold a hand to his shoulder. "Ah, Uzumaki-dono…" Another cough. "You should've seen your face, Hinata-chan's in the toilet right now…"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You bastard… Your sense of humour is too lethal, damn it!"

Shino laughed shortly. "Anyway… My team will be fine. What about yours?"

Naruto shrugged. "Everyone's fine, except for Yamanaka Ino. She's in there, same room as Akimichi Chouji. Her injuries are almost gone; she'll be up and about tomorrow or maybe another day."

"I've heard that Hyuga Neji's and Nara Shikamaru's teams had to cooperate. You know of their situation?"

Naruto shrugged. "Nope. Haven't heard anything." He replied. "I did hear that they've finally figured out something very important. Hokage-same asked me to go fetch a certain someone."

Shino frowned. "Could I ask for elaboration?"

Naruto grinned. "Nope."

END FLASHBACK!

---

TBC

Hehe, the Confusion will hit the reader as well!

Can you figure it out? I challenge you to figure out the plot I have in store for this one!

Greets to all!