Chapter 26
AN: Hey guys back for more! I'm glad a lot of people enjoyed last chapter, and I hope I can make this one even better. Anyways, have y'all read KingofSarutobi's 'The Orphan'? He just released chapter fifteen and it is AMAZING. I'm not kidding- and the Gaara fight, while I won't ruin it for you, I feel it was extremely well done and emotional. Go check it out!
The idea for the revised version of the exploding clones is brought to you by TubfullofDishes345. Seriously. I had a completely different idea and story for the chapter today but this was too good to pass up.
Ten Days later…
Sasuke Uchiha looked at the figure of the man he was supposed to hate. He'd grown up hating him, always trying to beat him, to avenge the clan.
And then he heard the truth- Orochimaru killed them. Now, Sasuke was intelligent- some would say genius- so he was sure there was more to the story. But honestly?
He didn't care one bit.
"Nii-san! SAVE ME!" He cried. The first words Itachi heard from his little brother were cries of help.
"Umm…" Was the intelligent reply of the criminal turned hero. Itachi couldn't sense any danger around, and the only ones in the Hokage's office were them, the Hokage and Danzo, and the ANBU…oh. Now he understood. Kitsune was an ANBU, even if he was currently planning his next 'capture the traitor' with the two little hellions he called friends (AN: Poor Sai, it's really only Naruto and Shin- I guess that's why they always say to watch out for who you make friends with!)
"You don't get it! I go to school- they're there! During meals- they show up! No matter where I go they just appear!" Sasuke clutched his head. "Please Nii-san! Make it stop!" Now Itachi loved his little brother, but seeing Sasuke in a manic episode because of the Mascot and his two friends was just too good to pass up.
Hn. Perhaps he spent too much time with Kisame. Though the shark man now ran a fish reserves, protecting the endangered species with the vigor of a man fighting the fourth great shinobi war, he used to be rather…unique in his humor.
"I am sure you over reacting." Itachi assured him half heartedly. Itachi knew Sasuke was completely justified in his paranoia- Itachi was once the victim of Kitsune's complete and undivided attention- but Sasuke took it to a whole 'nother level.
"Nii-san. I'm not. They are everywhere. Before you came back, they were still higher up on my hit list than you!" Itachi sighed, partially in annoyance. Was killing one's clan not good enough for Sasuke to obsess over? Were three children really worth more than he?
"Foolish little brother, what have I told you about hit lists?" If Itachi wasn't number one on this list, then it wasn't allowed to exist!
"You didn't say"
"Fool! Hit lists are not allowed!" Itachi cut him off. "Now favorite lists- especially if I'm at the top of it- are most certainly allowed, hn." Most others in the room, Sasuke included, gave Itachi an 'are you serious' look. Danzo coughed.
"Itachi, now that you're a part of Konoha again… mind explaining why you taught the menace- I mean Kitsune- the exploding shadow clone?! My base is covered in glitter" Danzo fumed. They forbid Naruto from using the jutsu because it was too dangerous. So what did the bastard Shin do?
He taught him how to make them un-dangerous… by exploding glitter and paint!
"Aye- and the ANBU headquarters can't take much more color!" Dragon added.
"Hiashi-sama went into a regressive state when his doll collection received red glitter. He said it reminded him too much of the Uchiha eyes and hasn't stopped rocking back and forth yet!" Flamingo pointed an accusing finger at the Uchiha.
"Hn. I wasn't thinking?" The genius tried. Everyone gave a dead pan look while Danzo cracked his knuckles.
"Try again." He ordered.
With SHL…
"Sempai, what are we going to do? Camp is almost here" Naruto pointed out. The three had set aside their Iruka mission in favor of figuring out how to avoid 'Camp Danzo'. "Hokage-jiji said that stopping a criminal organization wasn't good enough to be exempt" Naruto pouted. Shin racked his brain.
"Brother, you know Danzo-sama was considering letting us off the hook." Sai said while drawing plans for their Uchiha surveillance mission. The boy was too observant, meaning they needed better hiding places.
"Really?! What changed?" Shin asked. Sai sent him a blank look.
"The exploding glitter clones. One of them ruined Danzo-sama's weekly brownies and another went off right as he and Hokage-sama was set to meet with the Daimyo's representative. Now they are certain that our leaders are in fact an item."
"Heh, totally worth it" Shin said without remorse.
Flashback!
"What's wrong, Kohai?" Shin asked a downtrodden Naruto. The boy looked up in their hide out, tears in his eyes.
"Sempai- I'm not allowed to use my exploding clones in the village because they are too dangerous!" He wailed. Naruto really liked the new version of his clones. Shin thought for a moment, then a light bulb went off- a perfect plan for mischief.
"Heh. Never fear Kohai! I just happen to have an idea- we can make them non-deadly. And we do that with…" Looking around he picks up the first thing from one of their traitor stakeouts. "Glitter. They can't ban it if it's non-deadly." Shin said seriously.
"Really?"
"Really. The…Shinigami decrees it."
"Wow! You're awesome Sempai!"
End flashback…
"Even if it was worth it, we still have to attend the camp now" Sai pointed out. Pacing, Naruto arrived at a conclusion.
"We just have to solve a problem both Hokage-jiji and Danzo-jiji have." Naruto declared. Even Shin looked doubtful at that.
"How? You gave away the paperwork fix- what else could they want?"
"Heh- they were crying over that cat Tora last week, remember?" Naruto asked. Both boys nodded, remembering the scene: two war heroes unable to kill one cat. The last five assassins had failed.
"They say the cat is immortal" Sai mused.
"But if we manage to kill it we'd have them in our debt" Shin added. Naruto nodded.
"Operation: kill Tora, is ago!" And with that the three began throwing ideas around.
"Though I guess this means we'll have to put the Iruka and Sasuke missions on the back burner." Shin muttered.
Throughout Konoha, both an Uchiha and Umino felt the urge to jump around singing "I'm free" for unexplainable reasons. They also couldn't help but have a sense of sympathy for the resident demon cat, Tora, for reasons they couldn't explain.
With Tora…
Tora, the immortal cat of the Fire court, was used to murder attempts. Too bad for them, the cat was vicious and unless Tora wanted to die, it wouldn't. How Tora was granted this gift is a story for another day, but said cat couldn't stop the pit in its stomach from dropping for unexplainable reasons. Tora just had the unsettling feeling that moving to Moon country would be wise.
Unfortunately its mistress loved Konoha for reasons Tora couldn't guess.
Perhaps it was just a furball. Besides, not like any one could actually harm me. Tora thought, drifting into another nap.
End! TubfullofDishes345- you rule. Simple as that. When I read your comment I wouldn't have come up with the glitter!
Again, TubfullofDishes345 this goes out to you for being a freaking genius. Have a great weekend guys!