Are they becoming a real threat?

Disclaimer: This belongs to the series, Naruto. None of these parts are mine and are only written for entertainment purposes.

'Damn you Kisame,' Itachi though as he jumped from a branch to another. 'I'll have to track them alone. We won't be able to complete the mission today, however.'

A vein in his temple throbbed in annoyance, 'I wish I can take both out now.'

He stopped when he realized his prey stopped moving. He looked around and realized he was in a familiar territory. Too familiar for his taste and Itachi circumvented the area and found something what the other two saw and stopped in his spot.

A royal battle between three people, two of which he recognized immediately and a shadow smirk appeared briefly on his lips.

'Let's see how far you have progressed, my little brother,' he thought as he watched the sparring match.

He raised both eyebrows when he saw Sasuke using a jutsu that allowed electricity flow through most of his body. The jutsu singed the girl and Naruto with burn marks. They didn't show pain and instead, redoubled their efforts to get back at him for the painful jutsu. Itachi chuckled quietly, observing the fight that had a mixture of a game and a practice.

'He might actually stand a chance up against me if I don't watch it,' he thought and looked to where his prey is. Nodding to himself, he felt satisfied, and his stomach growled. He sighed as he decided to retreat for the moment. Food was a bigger priority than watching some boring, low-level sparring matches.

'I'll be back in an hour,' he thought, vanishing from the area.

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Orochimaru noticed a commotion up ahead and began slowing down, his assistant followed suit. Without a word, the pair approached the scene and found a three-way sparring match. Or otherwise known as battle royal. Orochimaru smirked, crouching behind a tree as he surveyed the situation.

'Mm, that Naruto seems to have gotten better,' he thought, taking note of his arsenal of jutsu and matured fighting style.

He observed Sasuke and realized that in comparison, Naruto would have received 'Most Improved' award of the year. Curious to know what skills he used to speed up his training, he spoke to Kabuto.

"I'll have to say, that Naruto has gotten better. I wonder how he is doing it," he muttered mostly to himself, gritting his teeth.

"Due to the fight in the Valley of the End, I think it's fair that we are to assume to have no knowledge of him other than what we have known already," Kabuto said. "Maybe if we… get Naruto, along with Sasuke?"

"That's a brilliant plan, Kabuto," said Orochimaru and chuckled, "Only flaw in that is we don't have the means or power to contain both of them in our holdings."

"Then we enlist other villages' help," he suggested.

"Out of question," he said, "They've been proving unreliable."

"You have a point, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto agreed, looking back at the battle.

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Kabuto followed Orochimaru toward Konoha and his master stopped suddenly, signaling to him with a wave to slow down. Without a word, Kabuto scanned the area and saw what Orochimaru had spotted. The team seven was battling it out with their teammates, improving their skills.

He studied the pink-haired girl, her punches sending Sasuke flying backwards, acting as though he was merely a fly.

'What power,' he thought, 'she has an amazing control over her chakra at this age.'

Orochimaru interrupted his thoughts with his comments and Kabuto's suggestions of capturing Naruto along with Sasuke. Once the conversation settled, he continued watching the girl and noticed something that Orochimaru has not. She was having the upper hand over the other two.

'Why doesn't he notice this? She obviously is going to win,' he thought, glancing at him with a frown and looked back at the battle.

Sakura kicked Naruto in the gut, grabbing his shoulders to prevent him from flying into the tree. She kneed him in the gut with her other leg; Sasuke attacked Sakura with throwing three kunai at her shoulder. She ducked, using Naruto as a shield as the weapons impaled into his back. She rolled backward into a ball, sending Naruto flying, using the momentum with her leg. Naruto crashed into the branch and groaned upon impact.

'Damn, she's ruthless. How does he not see her abilities?' he wondered and opened his mouth to comment but Orochimaru beat him to it.

"That girl, she's exceptional, reminds me of Tsunade," he paused, watching the fight and a smirk fell on his lips, "Very interesting…" he muttered.