"Talking"

'Thinking'

Flashback - "Talking"/ 'Thinking'

"Summons Talking"

Chapter 21:

"My name is Serafall Leviathan," Serafall introduced herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Temari and Kankuro shook hands with Serafall, with Kankuro suddenly feeling much better than before Serafall walked into the room. He wasn't actually feeling better at all, but he wasn't going to just lie on the bad with a girl like Serafall in the same room. It would be embarrassing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," Temari spoke. "I'm assuming Daimyo Koyuki, sent you."

"Yes," Serafall nodded. "She explained to me what happened and sent me to help you to return Gaara back to the village, safe and sound."

"I'm very thankful for that." Temari said again, while bowing her head. The other Sand Shinobi bowed as well.

While this was happening, the Leaf ninja were standing near each other, and looking at Serafall. Sakura and Sai in curiosity, as they didn't know her or anything about her. Kakashi looked at her with fear in his eyes, and sweat rolling down his face and mask, while Sasuke, being Sasuke, was leering at her.

Sasuke decided to open his mouth, even though he shouldn't have done it. "Who are you," Sasuke spoke, drawing the attention on himself? Even Kakashi's attention was drawn, and he suddenly got a sense of dread. "Why does Kakashi feel so afraid of someone like you?"

Serafall looked at Sasuke with raise eyebrows. "Someone like me?" She questioned.

"Yes," Sasuke spoke with a smirk. "A teenage girl from a backwater country. I doubt that there is anything special about you, and yet, Kakashi seems to be afraid of you. Why is that?"

Serafall was offended at being disrespected like this, but most importantly, Sasuke disrespected Koyuki's country, and that is unforgivable in Serafall's book.

She narrowed her eyes, lifted her right arm, while pointing it at the side, much to the confusion of the others in the room. Serafall swung her arm from left to right, and in that instant, Sasuke was completely covered in ice from top to bottom. He looked like someone has made a real ice sculpture of him. The best thing about the whole technique though, is that fact that besides Sasuke, no one else is encased in ice. In fact, there isn't even a single ice shard or a drop of water anywhere else in the entire room.

Jaws of almost everyone in the room dropped on the floor the moment they saw this. The only ones who didn't have their jaws on the floor were Sai and Kakashi, and that's only because Sai was emotionless tool and jaw dropping is, in a way, showing emotions. Kakashi on the other hand, knew perfectly well what Serafall can do, and knew that this is nothing.

"W-What did y-you do?" Kankuro stuttered, suddenly getting the feeling that he shouldn't go anywhere near this woman, otherwise, he might have his balls frozen in an instant.

"The boy," Serafall spat, not even bothering to say Sasuke's name, "insulted me, and then even insulted Koyuki's country! That is unforgivable. As such, he should be happy I didn't kill him in an instant, and only encased him in ice."

"H-how dare you do this," Kakashi asked? "Do you even know who you just attacked?"

"I know," Serafall answered with narrowed eyes and dangerous tone of voice. "And yet, I don't care. He is an insolent brat and he has gotten what he has deserved."

"He is an Elite Leaf ninja," Kakashi said. "And a last Uchiha. As such, he deserves everyone's respect."

"Respect is earned and not given, Kakashi," Serafall said. "That brat hasn't done anything to deserve anyone's respect. As for him being an Elite Leaf ninja… well, I guess that means that Leaf has grown considerably weaker in the last few years, if brats like him are considered elite. I remember the stories I heard of the true Leaf Elite's, like the previous Hokage, like the Legendary Sanin, like your own father. Even you and Itachi are the true elite. That brat though, is nothing, and you know that perfectly well, even though you don't want to admit it. Compared to Itachi, he is one big, nothing!"

No one, not even Kakashi, said anything to Serafall's words. After a minute of silence, Serafall looked at Temari and asked for an update.

Once she was filled in, Serafall said. "Well, I can fight against pretty much anyone, but I don't have any skills in tracking. I was hoping that you will have something which will help in tracking down Lord Kazekage and the Akatsuki."

She then learned that Kakashi has already sent his ninja hounds to search for the scent, and that they will inform them as soon as they find something.

After that, Serafall was offered a quarters to rest, but she said she will wait for the news in her quarters on the flying ship she came with.

Before she left to her quarters, Serafall was asked by Kakashi to defrost Sasuke, but she refused and left them to do it themselves.

It took a while for Sasuke to be liberated from the ice in which he was encased, after which, it took him hours to warm up his body as he was suffering from hypothermia. All the while, he was cursing Serafall, and swore he will have his revenge on her for what she has done to him.

Kakashi and Sai have had restless night next to Sasuke, who kept complaining and ranting about what Serafall did to him. Sakura on the other hand, was in the other room, so she was able to rest.

XXX

Unknown by anyone, Team 7 and Serafall are not the only visitors of the Hidden Sand Village at that time.

Naruto, Saeko, Fu and Juvia have also arrived in Suna, and right now, they are in a hotel room, acting as if they are tourists, though they sneaked in without passing through the entrance, which is why no one knows they are there.

Naruto was currently lying on the sofa, while Fu, Saeko and Juvia were seating on the chairs around the desk.

Before they left the Land of Whirlpools, Naruto has decided to change his outfit, as he has worn it for three years, and he thought it was a time for a change. His outfit now consists of a long black ANBU style pants, with red on the side of his pants, going all the way from the hips, down to the ankles. On his upper body, he wears a red sleeveless hoodie which he wears unzipped on the chest area. He doesn't wear anything under the hoodie, so he is showing his slightly hairy and muscled chest, along with his arms with bulging veins. Naruto's, Van Dyke style beard is all but gone now, replaced with long, full facial beard, resembling a Viking. His golden blonde hair is now much longer, and is tied on the back of his head in a man bun. His sword is still strapped on his red colored belt on the left side, while his pistols are in gun holsters attached to his thighs. Naruto still has facial markings, but the lower ones are partly covered with his beard. Naruto's new look is enough to give a woman of any age, wet dreams for a long time.

Juvia and Fu look the same as they did when they arrived in the Land of Whirlpools with Naruto, but Saeko has changed her outfit as well, from what she wore the last time Naruto saw her before his return to the Uzu.

Saeko's outfit consists of a sarashi around the upper chest and a red hakama with a yellow flame-like pattern at the bottom with black highlights, tied by white strings. Saeko's hair is tied up in a high tail at the back. She is also walking bare footed for some reason. (Her look is based on Erza Scarlet's Clear Heart Clothing)

Naruto will never say it out loud, but in his head, he will admit that Saeko is hot as all hell. He will also never admit it, but he is very happy with the fact that all the girls he has run into so far and who accepted to join his cause, are very sexy. This fact though, will eventually give him a lot of trouble when the time comes to restore the Uzumaki Clan's Royal Line, and to choose a girl he likes the most of them all. 'Then again,' Naruto thought in his head while looking at the three girls seating around the table. 'Who says that I only have to choose one? I will be an emperor, I can have as many wives as I want. Of course, convincing them to share me will not be easy, and I will have to be careful not to lose by balls.'

"Hey Naruto," Naruto was pulled out from his thoughts by Saeko's voice. He wasn't surprised by her calling him Naruto, as he has found out that several people in Uzu already know his real name. Some of them are the three girls in the room, along with Tayuya, Taya, Suzumebachi and Isaribi. No one else in Uzu knows his name, and he has decided to leave it like that for now. Of those who know his real identity, he trusts them all with his life and they are his closest companions and all of them are in debt to him since he has, in one way or another, saved their lives. As such, he knows that they are trustworthy, otherwise, Tayuya, who is his biggest supporter and most trusted friend, wouldn't have revealed to them his real name. "Why are we here instead in the Kazekage Tower asking for a meeting with the leaders of the village?"

"Why would we want a meeting with them?" Naruto asked back, getting confused look from the three girls.

"Aren't we here to help them retrieve Gaara?" Saeko asked.

"Yes, we are," Naruto said. "But my plans have changed now that Leaf ninja along with that woman from the Spring Country are here. We will leave them do the job, if they can, while we will follow them from afar and watch and see what happens. We will help them if it's necessary, but otherwise, we will stay behind and only observe."

"But why," Juvia asked? "Juvia thought that this is a chance for the Land of Whirlpools to get a debt owed to them by the Sand Village. If we were to save their Kazekage, we could ask for anything in return."

"That's true, yes," Naruto said. "But I don't want to reveal myself, or you for that matter, unless it's necessary. We came here as I didn't think that the Leaf Ninja will show, and I had no idea that Spring Country has someone as strong as that woman. Since they are here, there is no need for us to do anything… unless of course, something goes completely wrong, in which case, we will have to intervene and do something."

"What if Ichibi is extracted by the time Gaara is found and he ends up dead?" Fu asked.

Naruto looked at her for a moment, and sighed. "Let's hope that doesn't happen," he said. "Besides, there really is nothing we can do at this moment. I don't have any skills in tracking, and my Pesquisa might cover the borders of the Land of Wind, but I won't be able to extend it farther that that, which means that I can't find out where Gaara is. The three of you neither have skills in tracking, which means that all we can do, is wait and follow the others once they leave."

"If Gaara does end up dying," Fu spoke again. "Will you be able to revive him like you did me?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment, before he shook his head. "I doubt it," he said. "I was able to revive you since your souls didn't leave to the afterlife, which means that, unless the same thing happens to Gaara, I won't be able to do anything for him if he dies. So let's hope that he doesn't die."

"I see," Fu said and sighed. She has met Gaara during the Chūnin exams few months before, and he seemed like a good guy. On top of that, he is a jinchūriki just like she was, so she has some connection to him. "I hope nothing happens to him. I don't think he deserves to die like I did."

No one in the room said anything at Fu's wish, but Naruto agreed with her. Saeko and Juvia didn't know Gaara, but seeing as Naruto sees him as a friend, they want to save him as well. Otherwise, if not for Naruto and Fu, the two of them wouldn't have cared about Gaara.

XXX

The next morning, Pakun returned with the news that he has found out where the Akatsuki has Gaara and shows to Kakashi on the map.

Not long after, Team 7 of Konoha, along with Serafall and Chiyo, left the Sand Village and went to the Land of Rivers, where the Akatsuki were in the process of extracting the Ichibi from Gaara. Temari wanted to come with them, along with a pursuit squad, but the council ordered them to stay behind in order to guard the village in case of the enemy invasion, so, they stayed.

Naruto's Pesquisa has far reach, and as such, he and the girls were able to tail the others from the safe distance and not being worried about being discovered nor about losing the tail.

The pursuit went for a while, with Naruto and his group following the other group across the Wind Country all the way into the Land of Rivers.

Suddenly…

XXX

-Earlier-

Inside of the chamber where the Akatsuki are extracting the Ichibi from Gaara, Zetsu had some news for the group. "Our location has been discovered," the black half of Zetsu said. "The enemy approaches."

"Which enemy is that?" Deidara asked.

"A Team from the Leaf village along with two other female ninja," Zetsu's white half said.

"Why would Leaf ninja be coming here," The leader asked, while looking toward Itachi, thinking that he might have some idea.

"I don't know," Itachi said. "But if I have to guess, now that Danzo is the Hokage, he probably sent a team to save the Kazekage, but instead of returning him to the Sand, they are to take him to Leaf, and use him as bargaining chip."

"Yes," the leader said. "Danzo does operate in that way. Who are the members of the Team, Zetsu?"

"It's a Team consisting of Kakashi Hatake, and his students." Black Zetsu said making everyone surprised.

"So, Danzo sent a Sharingan user to get the Kazekage," the leader mused. "Kakashi is infamous, but what is his real skill set, Itachi?"

Itachi shrugged. "Kakashi is a high A-Rank shinobi," he said. "He would have been higher though, it he didn't stop his training. He is arrogant and believes in his skills far too much, even though they are nothing special. He will not be a threat to any of us here."

"What about the others?" The leader asked.

"Bah," Hidan commented in a way only he would. "They are Chūnin. What problem can of group of three Chūnin and one A-Rank Jōnin cause even if they show up here? Sasori and Deidara are more than enough for them."

"You might be right, Hidan," the Leader commented. "What about the other two you mentioned, Zetsu?"

"One of them is Chiyo of the Sand," Zetsu said, and immediately Sasori's eyes widened. "As for the other. It's the Ice Demon of the Spring, Serafall Leviathan."

Everyone's eyes widened the moment they heard that Serafall is with the group. "That can be a problem," the leader said, and thought for a moment. "She is very powerful and would be one of the stronger members if she was a member of the Akatsuki. It's a shame we couldn't get her to join our side. She would have been, very useful."

"What should we do?" Black Zetsu asked.

The leader said. "We will use, that Jutsu."

"I'll go." Hidan said, very eager to fight. "I'll take them on. It will allow me to make up for failing to find a jinchūriki host."

"No," the leader said. "Itachi will go, since he's one of the strongest members and he personally knows the majority of that group. He will also be a good counter with his Fire Jutsu against the Ice Devil.

"That woman is far big of a threat for you Hidan. Among us here, Itachi and I are probably the only ones who can take her in one-on-one battle."

Hidan huffed, but didn't oppose the leader. He knew better than that.

"Even if Itachi can take her one-on-one, he will still have to take on the others as well?" Kisame commented.

"It's not necessary for him to win," the leader said. "He only needs to delay them for a little while."

The others nodded at that, and went back to the pulling the Ichibi from Gaara.

XXX

Team 7, Chiyo and Serafall, found themselves intercepted by Itachi.

'Why the hell is he here?' Kakashi wondered. 'Shouldn't he be in the middle of tailed beast extraction? There is no way that they were able to pull out Ichibi from Gaara so soon.'

"Who is that?" Sakura wondered. She was the only one in the group who didn't seem to recognize Itachi.

Unfortunately, Itachi's appearance only made Sasuke even angrier then he was. "ITACHI!" Sasuke roared and charged at his older brother without thinking.

Sasuke pulled out a Fūma shuriken from the scroll and charged it with lightning chakra. "Lightning Flash!" Sasuke yelled, before he sent it flying at Itachi, who dodged it without any trouble, by jumping into the air and above the lighting covered Fūma Shuriken.

"Foolish little brother," Itachi said to Sasuke with no emotions in his tone of voice. "Even after all these years, you are still not strong enough to fight me. You still lack the hate necessary to fight me."

"Oh, I have enough hate," Sasuke snarled! "I'll show you." Sasuke formed a Chidori on his left arm, but instead of running at Itachi, he pointed the Chidori at him. "Chidori Sharp Spear!" Sasuke said and his Chidori extended like a spear, and pierced though Itachi, who coughed up blood as soon as he was speared.

"How's that?" Sasuke asked with a smirk.

"Not good enough," Itachi said from where he was standing impaled, before he vanished into a flock of crows, much to Sasuke's shock.

"What," Sasuke exclaimed! "What has he caught me in genjutsu?" Sasuke wondered, but before he got his answer, he was kicked in the back of the head by a kick powerful enough to knock him out instantly.

Itachi stood over the defeated body of his younger brother, and looked at him with pity in his eyes. "You don't have what it takes to kill me, little brother," Itachi said quietly enough so that the others wouldn't hear him. "Unfortunately, you are on the path which will only lead to your doom, and not to my defeat at your hands."

Itachi sighed, before he looked at the others. "Did you really think I would be defeated by Sasuke alone, Kakashi?" Itachi asked.

"It's his greatest desire to kill you for what you've done," Kakashi said, while uncovering his own Sharingan. "I cannot stop him from wanting revenge."

"You understand nothing, Kakashi," Itachi said, and confused everyone in the group, including Serafall and Chiyo. "As Sasuke is now, he will never be able to defeat me. I gave him years to train, to improve and then come and try to kill me, but all he did was try to acquire the power in the wrong ways. He even killed his friend… his only friend, in order to get more power and even that has failed.

"Great power comes with great responsibility, Kakashi, and Sasuke has no responsibility. He doesn't have any desires outside of his revenge. He doesn't understand that his thirst for revenge will never make him strong enough to kill me.

"I should have killed him along with the rest of the clan that night. At least if I did that, he wouldn't have caused Naruto's death. An innocent person died because of Sasuke. Not only that, but he has caused a lot of trouble for the Akatsuki with him killing Naruto. I should kill him right now, both to fix my mistake, and so that he won't cause any more problems for the Akatsuki."

"I won't allow you to kill him," Kakashi said. "Also, I want to correct you on one thing. Naruto was NOT an innocent person. He was the reason for the death of so many people in the Leaf. That is something everyone saw, and understood, which is why he was sentenced to the execution before the day comes and he decides to rebel against the village who has allowed him to live and trained him for so long."

"How can you even say that," Itachi asked, showing a hint of anger in his voice? "You know how Fuinjutsu works. You know perfectly well that Naruto and Kyūbi were two separate beings from the start."

"I know that," Kakashi said, surprising everyone. "I never hated Naruto because I thought he was Kyūbi. I hated him for being born in the first place." This brought everyone to a standstill, as none understood why he said that.

Seeing the confusion, Kakashi sighed and explained. "Naruto's mother was the previous jinchūriki," Kakashi said. "When the female jinchūriki gives birth, the seal weakens and there is a possibility that the Biju would escape. And that's exactly what happened that night," Kakashi sneered. "Because of Naruto being born, the seal holding Kyūbi in Kushina, weakened to the point that Kyūbi escaped and caused all that death and destruction. Because Naruto was born, so many people have died. Because he was born, Kushina and Minato died. The two people who I looked up to and saw as my parents, died.

"Do you understand now, Itachi? I always knew Naruto and Kyūbi are separate entities, but the fact remains, that if Naruto wasn't born, all those people would have been alive. If he wasn't born, the only people I considered my family after my father's death, would have been alive.

"As such, I have always hated Naruto from the day he was born and even after his death, I still hate him and wish him to suffer in the pits of hell for all eternity."

There was complete silence following Kakashi's speech. No one said anything. No one knew what to say. The one thing they all had in common though, all except Sai, who was emotionless, and Sasuke, who is unconscious, were the scowls on their faces, and absolute hate toward Kakashi. Even Sakura could do nothing but hate her sensei for what he just revealed.

Sakura could understand that the people hate Naruto if they think that he and Kyūbi are the same entity. They are clueless, and she can understand that, but to know that the two are not the same being, and only hate Naruto because you think his birth is the cause of all the death which happened on that night almost 16 years ago… well, that just shows how bad of a human being Kakashi is, and nothing will change their opinion of Kakashi from now on.

Itachi sighed, but looked at Kakashi with hate in his eyes. "You are a fool, Kakashi," Itachi said. "To think like that about your own sensei's son, is despicable. What the village has done to Fourth's legacy, is so despicable that even if I was a Leaf ninja at this point, I would have become missing-nin, just so I could get away from the vile people who live in Konoha."

Everyone in the group, except Kakashi, were shocked and surprised to hear that Naruto was Fourth Hokage son, as that is something none of them knew. That was one of the facts which was kept a secret by those who new, even after Naruto's death, as they didn't want that news to change someone's opinions about Naruto, as that could potentially cause trouble in the end.

Itachi then gained a dark look on his face. "You have no idea what awaits Leaf Village, Kakashi," Itachi said. "You thought that with Naruto's death, there would be no need for Akatsuki to go after Leaf and its ninja, but the fact that you killed Naruto means that you have deprived us of getting our hands on Kyūbi, and the Leader is not happy about that. Leaf killing Naruto drew the ire of Akatsuki upon Konoha, and the village along with its inhabitants, will suffer for that."

Itachi then fired a very big and powerful Fire Ball at the group of Leaf ninja, along with Chiyo and Serafall.

They all scattered around to avoid the powerful Fire Jutsu, and got ready to fight back.

Sai pulled out his scroll, ink and painting brush, and was about to start his attack, before he was suddenly attacked by Itachi from behind and chopped on the back of his neck, which rendered him unconscious.

Itachi then jumped away from the Ice Spear which was thrown at him by Serafall, and avoided great bodily harm. He then fired another fire attack, at Serafall, but she froze it mid-air. The next moment, Serafall was trapped in a genjutsu.

Itachi went after Sakura next, but he was prevented from taking her out by Kakashi, who created Water Dragon, and sent it at Itachi, who was caught by it, and swept into the distance.

Kakashi looked at where Itachi was swept away, waiting for him to come back, as he knew that Itachi Uchiha would not be taken out by a simple attack like a Water Dragon.

A minute later, and Itachi was still not back, which confused Kakashi, along with Sakura, Chiyo and Serafall, who pulled herself out of genjutsu few seconds after she was caught in it.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, as she looked around, her posture tense, as she was waiting to be jumped at by Itachi. "Where is he?"

"I don't know," Kakashi said. "That attack shouldn't have defeated him. Hell, it shouldn't have even be able to hurt him at all."

"Then what happened to him," Chiyo asked. "Could he be waiting for us to lower our guard?"

"No," Serafall said. "His chakra vanished in an instant, few seconds after he was swept away.

"Could he have been a Shadow Clone all along," Kakashi wondered, knowing that it was possible, though he was not liking a fact that they were all almost taken out by a mere Shadow Clone. If that was the case, then Itachi is much stronger than anyone in the Leaf Village could hope to handle at that point.

"Let's go and search for him," Kakashi said. "We must know what happened to him, because Itachi I know, would never have been defeated like this."

The others agreed, though reluctantly, as they felt that they should continue toward where the Akatsuki is keeping Gaara.

XXX

A mile away from the battle place, Naruto was standing in front of Saeko, Fu and Juvia.

"Why did you do that?" Saeko asked.

Naruto was watching in the distance, where Kakashi and the others are heading toward the place where 'Itachi's' body lay, defeated.

"That wasn't Itachi," Naruto said. "He was using some jutsu to control someone's body and make it look like it was him. I got to hand it to him, it is a useful jutsu, since Itachi was able to use most of his powers. It's a perfect jutsu to use if you want to delay someone and if you have humans to spare for the jutsu."

"That still doesn't explain why you interfered." Saeko said.

Naruto sighed. "Not counting that Serafall woman, the others wouldn't have been able to defeat him, so I interfered and prevented them from losing time. By now, the Ichibi is probably close to being completely extracted, which means that Gaara is close to dying."

The girls nodded. Fu then said. "Itachi seemed to have been one of the people from the Leaf who didn't hate you while you were both there."

"Yes, it would seem so," Naruto said. "I'm surprised, since I didn't know that. I always thought that he hated me because he is with the Akatsuki and was after me for the Kyūbi."

"Do you plan to kill him if you run into him one day?" Saeko asked.

Naruto frowned for a moment. "I don't know," he said. "I will see what happens when I run into him… IF I run into him."

The foursome looked in the distance, at the group of people who have just found the body of the ninja who was used by Itachi's jutsu, until he was defeated by Naruto.

XXX

"Who is that?" Sakura asked with a frown on her face.

"I don't know," Kakashi said. "He is earing Akatsuki robes, and looks like he was in battle, but this is not Itachi."

"I know that man," Chiyo said while looking at the corpse. Everyone else, minus Sai and Sasuke, looked at her.

"Who is he?" Kakashi asked.

"His name is, Yura," Chiyo said. "And he is a Jōnin from the Sand Village."