Viraten's Note: Bite me. I had mocks and messed up.
The quartet had soon left behind their admirers and was at the edge of the town; what awaited them was wilderness. Yet Kakashi could still not shake the worry that they had been followed despite failing to pinpoint the location of their stalkers after all this time.
They continued for little while longer, until dusk broke. Once again, they found themselves having to camp out the night.
"Hey Naruto, help me set this thing up," Kakashi called. Truth be told, he didn't need any help but was just wary. If anyone was stalking them, he didn't want to take any chances with Naruto, the most irresponsible one of their party. Whilst lost in thought, Naruto stood proudly at his handiwork.
"See, Kakashi-sensei, it was no problem at all!" He proclaimed full of pride.
"Huh?" Naruto's expression dampened at Kakashi's response.
"Have you been ignoring me the whole time!" He shouted angrily. Kakashi sighed.
"Keep your voice down, Naruto, or you'll attract some unwanted attention." At this, Naruto smirked triumphantly.
"Bring it on! There isn't anything that can beat the two of us!" Kakashi sighed exasperated again. Naruto could really go over the top sometimes.
Anko and Sakura had gone in search of a fresh river for a water supply. Yet Sakura had readily gone with Anko for ulterior motives. She observed Anko at every half chance she got, without getting caught.
"What are you looking at?" Ok, so she got caught.
"Uh, nothing, nothing at all!" She waved her hands submissively to emphasize the point.
"Why are you calling me nothing, huh?" The senior woman cocked her head to the side, smirking at the young one's discomfort. Sakura decided she may as well take the direct approach.
"What were you and Kakashi-sensei doing back in the hotel?" She asked shamelessly, her curiosity overpowering her. After all, it's not everyday she learns a new piece of information about her mysterious sensei.
"Why does it matter?" She replied, her tone barely masking annoyance. The curse seal was still a sore subject for her, even if it was no longer sore itself.
"Well, it's just that…well, some people, like Naruto, think that you and Kakashi-sensei were…" she trailed off, the awkwardness of the situation preventing her from further elaboration. It was no matter though; Anko perfectly understood what Sakura failed to articulate upon.
"Oh that!" Anko leaned forward and twisted her neck to one side, pulling down on the collar of her trench coat. Sakura looked over her neck, collar bone and any other exposed skin, at first for some indication of her suspicions, but was disappointed to find nothing. She peered closer to see if there was anything amiss about what Anko was showing her, but found nothing through the net of her clothing or the exposed dermis that was being shown.
"I can't see anything," she complained. At this admittance, Anko pulled her collar back up and grinned.
"That's the point; it's gone. The cursed seal has disappeared." Sakura looked at her dumbstruck for a few seconds before the realizations dawned upon her.
"Kakashi-sensei got rid of it for you!" She exclaimed, eyes full of hope. Anko did not disappoint.
"Yep, that's what he was doing to me in the hotel room."
"So does that mean you're all better?"
"More or less, I'm fine now." Sakura marvelled at how amazing her sensei was, despite having her having advanced so far in the last few years.
"When should we attack? When should we attack?" He repeated, bouncing up and down like a hyperactive bunny. The other man looked at him with demoralizing eyes. The first man stopped jumping up and down.
"You're no fun, you know that?"
"We'll attack at tomorrow morning." The second man finally spoke.
"Awww…gotta wait that long! Why don't we just attack now? Under the cover of darkness we'll be!" He tried to reason. The other man shot him a deadly glare.
"I wouldn't trust the likes of your skills from killing the Kyuubi boy instead of the others under the cover of darkness." The other man did not retort but just stuck his tongue out at him. It was wonder they hadn't killed each other before.
"Is everyone packed?" He asked dully, looking around. He hadn't got much sleep last night; unfortunately he had Naruto's snoring in his ear now as well as that impending feeling of someone following them that he still hadn't managed to shake off.
"Yes!" Naruto exclaimed. The women just nodded. They turned and began to set off, but had to act quickly. Three kunai flew at them, causing all four to have to jump out the way. They quickly found each other again.
"An attack?" Anko's voice was unusually serious.
"Oi, you wimps! Come out and fight us like real ninjas!" At this, the other three formed large sweat-drops on their foreheads. The whole premise of a ninja is to strike from concealment.
Amazingly his technique worked. Two ninjas appeared in front of them. Kakashi recognized those familiar features: the straw hat and the cape.
"Akatsuki," he stated.
"Copy Ninja Kakashi," one of the men replied. He had dark hair with a crew cut. His face was half in shadow and the exposed half portrayed dark skin. His jaw was square and he was shorter than Kakashi, but taller than Naruto.
"You're here for Naruto?" Kakashi shifted his leg, ready in battle stance. Others followed suit.
"Of course!" The other piped up excitedly. His red hair was a mess, tied up uncouthly to the back as a poorly attempted pony tail. His face was much clearer. He had unusually large canines, something that the Inuzuka clan could envy. His eyes were slit-like but his pupils were wide, giving him an odd psychotic look. He was taller than Kakashi but scrawnier.
"You guys are gonna fight us together?" He looked at his partner who barely nodded in acknowledgement.
"Too bad we don't." Invisible to the untrained eye, he pulled out a weapon from his back and swung it masterfully at them. All four ninjas instinctively jumped out the way, and were grateful for that instinct. A sizeable crater had formed where they once stood, courtesy of that man's whip. However, as a result of their good reflexes the team had been split into two: Kakashi and Sakura on one side and Anko and Naruto on the other.
"You make sure the other two don't get in the way. I'll deal with the Kyuubi kid." Before the flamboyant red head could protest, the other man had taken off.
Viraten's Note: Here you are, the 9th chapter. Enjoy.