A Single Act of Kindness

Weeds and Vinegar

The young Uchiha couldn't help but to hiss out loud when he had heard the news from Naruto.

The blonde was visibly upset when Iruka told him that he was not allowed to take the exams after getting in the fight with Sakura.

It was bullshit, given the fact that it wasn't Naruto who got in a fight with the girl; it was him who did.

He felt bad for Naruto, of course he did, but...

Sasuke logically knew that Naruto should skip the test. The blonde clearly wasn't ready for it and would have failed anyway. There would be another test next year, and although Naruto had slowly started to improve… He still was weak in ninjutsu and taijutsu; and genjutsu was beyond Naruto's abilities, Sasuke was sure of that.

So, there was no way he would have passed.

All the guilt that Sasuke felt he allowed himself to ignore it.

There was no way it would have worked out for Naruto regardless.

There was no need to feel bad.

It's not like he ruined Naruto's chances in passing even if he had been able to take the test.

There was no reason to feel bad about it.

Naruto wanted to storm off after hearing the news that he was not allowed taking the exam to become a Genin.

It took every ounce of him to stand still and nod his head when hearing that since he got in trouble there would be no way for him to take the test. He'd have to wait until next year. Iruka-sensei gave him a big lecture saying that this only proved he was too immature to become a Genin. That he needed to adjust his attitude and grow up… And it's not like he would have a chance to pass, anyway.

When he had told his friend, Sasuke seemed equally annoyed by the news, but he didn't seem to feel bad about it either.

It was like Sasuke didn't believe in him either.

The blonde just wanted to get out of the Academy. Everything was moving too slowly for him there.

He was tried.

Tired of Iruka-sensei giving him a hard time.

Tired of the kids making fun of him.

Tired of waiting all day to eat.

Tired of not being a Shinobi.

He was tired of waiting for everyone to respect him.

He needed to be a Shinobi now.

Once he got his headband, becoming a Genin, everything would change.

It had to change.

Sakura Haruno loved learning; it was easy to lose herself when it came to her studies. It was almost like a telling friend, always there for her, always ready for the answers, something that would never let her down. Everything she needed to know was laid out in front of her. If she wanted to pass a test or learn a new jutsu, all she had to do was find the right scroll and everything was there for her. Sakura loved learning new things, and that was the best part of becoming a Shinobi, but…

She hated the social aspect of the Academy.

Before she found out that Ino was in love with Sasuke, the two of them had been inseparable. She had to admit that she loved having Ino as a best friend. Ino had a way about her that drawed people in, and it was easy to get swept up by her charm and confidence.

Sakura is a civilian child; both her parents were Shinobi at one point, but were not anymore. She heard a few stories about her parents back when they were active, but now their lives were normal and boring. Sakura always loved hearing the stories about her parents from the past, it was the only time they seemed interesting to her.

Her parents now just nagged at her, telling her to clean her room or to help with the dishes. She wishes she had parents like Ino, ones that would actually teach her taijutsu or ninjutsu. Ones who knew how to be respectful Shinobi.

The Clan children never understood how good they had it. They were like royalty in the village; everyone knew them and their abilities! No one knew the Harunos.

It was really hard for a non-Clan member to enter a Clan, and she knew she had that challenge when it came to getting Sasuke-kun's attention. Ino was a Yamanaka! How could she compete with that? Plus Ino was popular, and pretty, and had a normal size forehead...

Just thinking about it, Sakura brought her hands up to her forehead, moaning softly to herself as she tried her best to cover up her forehead with her hair, as if covering it would make it disappear.

She just had to outsmart that Ino-pig and win Sasuke-kun's heart in another way.

Sakura didn't know how long she had been trying to cover her forehead, but when she heard the door swing open she jolted her head up and turned towards the person entering.

Oh, it was only that stupid Naruto.

She couldn't help herself as she hissed in annoyance, turning her head away from him and making it absolutely clear she wanted nothing to do with him.

Before that idiot would try to get her attention and try in some dumb attempt to talk to her. She never understood that, she never made any kind of gesture that she wanted his attention, and yet he'd always be there trying and it was so annoying!

Now, it looked like he finally got the hint, as he sat on the opposite side of the room than her.

Their detention had started two days ago, but Sasuke-kun hadn't been showing up. She remembered how pissed Iruka-sensei was when he ditched class the other day, and yesterday he had to go see the Hokage for some reason…

Wait…

Today Sasuke-kun was going to be here!

Sakura couldn't contain her happiness at this realization, a blush coming to her cheeks as she tried to hold in a giggle. She couldn't help it as it escaped her lips; finally she was going to have some alone time with Sasuke-kun!

She knew it was that stupid Naruto's fault for making Sasuke-kun mad at her the other day, but she knew that Sasuke-kun wouldn't be mad for long. Sasuke-kun wasn't the kind of guy to hold grudges like that.

He was cool and collected, the definition of awesome. He was the most promising Shinobi in their whole class after all.

Sakura started to style her hair again; she had to try to cover up her forehead before he came. She was so stupid for not wearing any lipstick today. How could she forget to get dressed up today?

Her inner dialogue was screaming at her, "Way to go stupid! Sasuke-kun is going to be here and you don't even look remotely pretty today!"

As if the boy could hear her thoughts, Sasuke-kun entered the room, the door swinging widely as the energy in the room shifted towards him. Sasuke-kun was always that kind of guy; everyone was drawn to him. The boy of her dreams was making her heart skip a beat, seeing him there…

… This was the first time in her whole entire life that she would have a chance to be alone with him.

This was her only advantage over Ino-pig, these next few days could be the start in her and Sasuke-kun's new found relationship! This was the only time she'd be able to spend with him apart of the other girls.

She knew she was suppose be in with the other girls to plan a way to get him away from stupid Naruto, but if she could win Sasuke-kun's heart without them… Then, everything would be worth it. She'd have the man she loves. The other girls would just have to deal with it.

Maybe detention wouldn't be so bad.

Sasuke-kun in his normal fashion made his way to his usual seat, by the window, and sitting right in front of her and as far away from Naruto as he could possible get.

"Yes! About time!" Sakura wanted to jump up and down at the thought, "No stupid Naruto to get in my way this time!"

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered to him, trying to lean closer to him, but their desks were too far apart for her to get close to his ear, "… I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for getting you in trouble. This whole thing is really dumb."

Sasuke-kun turned his head towards her, but didn't turn completely around to face her. His eyes were looking at her, straight at her, and he never looked at her before. Not like this anyway…

Sakura couldn't help but to let her insides melt, getting Sasuke-kun's full attention was rare for anyone to get, and here she was having an actual conversation with him! She was so lost within his dark eyes that she almost missed him say, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing too."

"Huh? What?" She asked, her voice no longer a whisper, "What do you mean?"

He clicked his tongue at her, and turned his head towards the window, ending their conversation.

"What did he mean?" Sakura thought, her head turning to see Naruto looking over at them, eyes blinking widely, and suddenly they were staring at one another, "Sasuke-kun couldn't possibly mean…"

Naruto?

Why would she have to apologize to him?

It was his stupid fault for getting them in this mess to begin with.

Turning away from the blonde, Sakura leaned her head into her hand, glancing behind Sasuke-kun's head. He always was looking out the window, Sakura realized. It didn't matter if it was in the middle of class, or during their lunch break, or any chance he was in the classroom. He always sat in the same spot, staring outside.

Almost like he was searching for something.

"Sasuke-kun is so mysterious!" Sakura squealed in her head, thinking of the new possibilities that were in front of her now that she had this extra time around him.

Yet, something made her stop in her excitement as she had this extra moment to really look at him.

Sasuke-kun almost looked a little sad, staring off into somewhere far away. She tried to follow his gaze, but he wasn't really looking anywhere interesting. The Academy had a wall circling around the building, so there wasn't really anything to look at.

Yet, his eyes were fixated somewhere, intense and deep, it almost felt like as if he was searching for something.

"Hey everyone," Iruka-sensei entered the room, "Let's go outside for your detention, since all of you decided to show up today."

Sakura noticed that it took Sasuke-kun just a little bit longer to pull himself away from the window.

"Alright kids, for the rest of your time in dentition we will be doing light maintenance around the Academy. The first thing I need you all to do is to pull the weeds around the building of the Academy. Don't worry about any of the weeds that are further away, focus on the ones close by. Once you have around the whole building done, come get me and I'll excuse you for the rest of the day."

Iruka pointed to the weeds, patches of green leaves littered around the Academy and had been an eye sore for quite a while. The staff didn't have the time (or energy) to deal with these little projects that needed to be done, and lately most of the kids have been well behaved (minus Naruto, but most his dentitions were just cleaning up the messes that he had created to begin with), and there had been no one to do these jobs.

Now he had three kids, and some light cleaning could finally be done.

Naruto shot up his hand into the air, his usual high energy was absent but not missed as Iruka responded, "What is it Naruto?"

"Do you have any tools for us to use?"

"No, just use your hands."

"But Iruka-sensei..." Naruto bent down to one of the weeds next to his feet, "If you just pull on the head of the weeds they are just gonna grow back, ya know. You have to remove the whole root, and even then you have too-"

"-Then pull the whole thing out with your hands," Iruka cut him off, "Part of being a Shinobi is about figuring things out on the fly. Sometimes you aren't able to get the things that you need but you need to complete the mission anyway."

Naruto stopped, biting his lower lip and turning his gaze away from Iruka. The Chunin guessed that Naruto was still upset about their early conversation about the exam. It felt a little unsettling for Naruto to be so… silent.

It didn't last for too long, Naruto hand thought of something else, his hand shooting back into the air.

"What now, Naruto?"

"Iruka-sensei…" Naruto started, fumbling the the leaves of the weed in front of him, not looking up at Iruka, "What are you going to do afterwards?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, how are you going to stop the weeds from coming back?"

"I dunno," Iruka couldn't help to sigh, letting the frustration of Naruto's questions get to him, "Just pull them again."

"If we don't do something now then they are going to come back," Naruto stated, his eyes still planted on the front weed in front of him, he pointed to the soil, "We'll need something to cover the ground, or something to prevent them from coming back, like some vinegar ya know."

"Naruto," Sakura hissed next to him, trying to keep her voice down, "Shut up and stop asking for more work."

"But..." Naruto looked up at her, "Its just gonna be a waste if we don't do some preventional steps, ya know."

"For now all I'm telling you to do is pull the weeds, just do that for today."

Iruka went to turn around, hoping that all the questions have ended. He only made it a couple of feet before he heard Naruto standing up, walking a few quick steps to catch up to him. He had heard Naruto coming up from behind him, he had known out of the three students that were there that it would have been that one to approach him.

Yet, when something tugged at his wrist, he ripped his arm away, recoiling at the touch. It felt too violent and overly dramatic, Iruka knew, to react to a child touching him.

However, Naruto was not any normal child, Iruka knew this.

Bubbles a guilt hit him when he saw Naruto's hurt expression, but he did his best to shallow them and remain composed, "What do you want?" Venom still hit his tongue when he spoke to Naruto, and that was much harder to hide.

"I-I'm…" Naruto lowered his gaze, his hands stuffed into his pocket and he fumbled with his words, "... j-j-ust tryin'... ta… h-h-h-he-lp."

Now Iruka felt like an asshole. Despite his feelings for Naruto, he had to remind himself that he was still dealing with a child, one that that Hokage had asked him personally to watch over. He was doing a horrible job of that and he knew it.

He just couldn't help himself, despite how much he wanted to try.

Iruka was failing as a teacher.

And in the very dark pits of Iruka's heart… The ones that he had to remind himself to ignore because Iruka had to be better. He knew he had to be, especially around Naruto.

Yet, the pits in his heart, where he spent most of his life trying to fill them up. Giving off light laughs or colorful jokes to those around him to fill the void of being left all alone... Those parts of him that knew that no matter how hard he tried he could never repair.

The pits of Iruka's hearts, the ones that were dug into him the moment his parents died, they could never be filled.

They stayed hollowed and dark within him, and as Iruka grew he was better at hiding it, but they still remained.

Those pits seem to just seemed grow around Naruto.

"Just…" Iruka was ashamed of his feelings, but they were there, and they were strong, and they couldn't just go away so easily, "... Just join the others, Naruto."

Sasuke watched what transpired between their sensei and Naruto, finding the reaction from Naruto's touch filled with too much emotion, but for some reason that wasn't anything new… Iruka didn't hide his distaste from Naruto very well.

No one did, honestly.

Yet, Naruto's reaction to it always seemed fresh, like an open wound, shame oozing out of him freely.

This was all still new to Sasuke, he had never paid attention before. But now, he felt like he had to the bandage for Naruto. The Hokage's message still fresh from the night before entered his mind, asking for Sasuke to watch over the blonde.

He almost seemed to react on instinct, walking over to Naruto and placing a single hand on his shoulder. Naruto flinched at the touch, he always flinched, but the blonde didn't turn around.

Sasuke thought of something to say, nothing could come to mind to help ease his classmate, and every second he stood next to Naruto he could feel the girl's eyes glaring at them. It was something that both of them knew, they both knew what it felt like to have eyes of distaste on them.

Before Sasuke could think of anything to say, Naruto stepped out of his reach, walking towards the other end of the building.

Sasuke watched him walk away.

He may be able to be a bandage at time, but no matter how hard he could press, Naruto's wounds would always turn into scars.

Sakura watched the interaction between Iruka-sensei and Naruto and the weird reaction their sensei gave when around the boy.

No one seemed to like Naruto, not even their sensei.

Not that Sakura cared.

Luckily, Naruto stomped off far away from them, and Sasuke-kun didn't seem like he was going to follow him. Instead, he walked back toward were they were standing only moments ago, and began to pull out the weeds.

Sakura watched as Sasuke-kun pulled the weeds, his reactions hasty and rushed as he threw each head behind him and reached for another. He pulled each planet with unnecessary aggression.

Sasuke-kun wore his emotions well, always giving off the impression of coolness, like he was too cool to go off on a tangent like Naruto always does. Yet, it seemed like that boy was rubbing off on Sasuke-kun, because he was very, clearly, mad. Ripping each weed harshly and throwing it back, taking all his frustrations out on the unwanted plants.

Sasuke-kun stopped mid pull, appearing like he suddenly remembered something. He lowered himself to the ground, closing his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun?" She couldn't help to ask, she wanted to make Sasuke feel better, it's not fair that he was this upset. She had never seen him this mad before, and something in her heart ached for Sasuke-kun.

He glanced over at her, eyes narrowed, but they didn't seem to be directed at her (thank god). Sighing to himself- Sakura realizing that he must be trying to calm himself down- Sasuke-kun glanced down over at the plant, most of the weed that he had just pulled out was discarded behind him, only a single broken stub poked from the soil.

Carefully, Sasuke-kun dug around the planet. Sakura watched him from above as he felt for the roots of the weed, lucky not having to dig far before finding the end the plant, and as carefully as he could pulled the whole plant from the ground.

"Make sure you take the root out too," Sasuke-kun said. Sasuke-kun said something to her! He was showing her how to do something!

Sakura wanted to pass out in sheer excitment!

Smiling, Sakura felt like she was in heaven as she kneeled next to Sasuke-kun, following his instructions as they very carefully worked side by side, pulling the entire weed from the ground.

It was hard work, and this was going to take a lot longer than she thought it would. Pulling the whole plant out despite their sensei telling them something different.

But suddenly, Sakura didn't seem to mind.

Pulling weeds, especially the entirety of the weed was hard work. The sun was starting to set behind them, each of the Academy students working along the side of the school as the temperatures dipped, slowly ending the day ahead of them.

The weather was getting cold, the work was hard, and all Sasuke wanted to do was to fall asleep in his bed and not get up again.

The girl next to him didn't leave his side. No matter how many times he tried to put some distance between them, the Haruno wouldn't budge. He didn't understand her. They were here because he hit her. He hit her and he didn't even think to hold back when he had done it.

Yet, she was willing to sit here next to him and talk to him as they did their work as if it never happened.

Sasuke didn't understand girls.

He ignored her out for most of it, focusing on doing the work as Naruto suggested them to do it despite what their instructor said. Their pace had picked up after hours of practice, but Naruto was quicker at pulling weeds then Haruno and he were, looking over and seeing Naruto from a small distance, they were almost done with the building.

Naruto would glance over at them every now and again, knowing that the blonde must feel a sting of jealousy for having his crush pay no attention to him and instead bothering Sasuke.

Sasuke wished he could switch places.

"Ugh!" The girl from him groaned, digging her heels into the dirt, trying with her strength to pull on a weed that wouldn't budge, "Sasuke-kun… This doesn't want to come out, can you do it?"

"No," Sasuke stood up, walking around her to continue his work.

He wasn't going to waste his time helping someone as heartless as her.

"Here Sakura-chan, let me show you a trick!"

Sasuke lifted his head to see Naruto walking up to them, a bucket in his hand as he smiled brightly at her. Haruno stopped pulling, straighten her back as the blonde approached her.

Sasuke stopped as well, very carefully eyeing the situation before him.

Naruto took the bucket in his hand, half way full with water, and dipped it over the protesting weed, "If ya water the the ground, it makes it easier to pull the weeds out, ya know! Try it now."

Haruno's eyes flashed to his for just a moment, before she looked back over at Naruto and the weed below them. She seemed hesitant as she bent down, gripping the large weed into her hand and giving it a pull. The water seemed to do the trick as the weed slid from under the soil, roots included. The girl beamed at her accomplishment, holding up the root for the boys to see.

Haruno smiled, "I finally did it! Thanks Naruto!"

Naruto smiled, "You're welcome, Sakura-chan!"

Their smile seemed to fit together in that moment and for some reason, Sasuke couldn't help but to let his lips curve upwards.

"You kids are still out here?"

The moment interrupted as the three of them as they turned towards the voice, Iruka stepping towards them, holding a bag in one hand, "I figured you left by now without saying anything."

"We wouldn't do that!" Haruno held out the weed she had just pulled, "It just took a little longer to pull the whole weed out, but we're almost done."

"Okay, just make you don't leave all the weeds out, throw them away before you leave."

The three of them nodded.

It took a moment for Sasuke to realize that their teacher was still standing there, swaying on his foot like he wanted to say something else, but lingered instead. Sasuke turned back to the weeds, finishing out these next few ones and cleaning up the area, they should be done in only a matter of minutes and he could finally go home.

"Um, Naruto," Iruka called out, holding out a bag in front of him.

Naruto looked up at their sensei, eyes wide at being called upon. Sasuke stopped what he was doing and turned around to face them, ready to intervene if need be.

Naruto put down the bucket in his hand, but he didn't dare to walk towards their sensei.

After a moment of awkwardly standing around, Iruka took a step forward, still holding the bag out. It took another full, akward moment to realize that Naruto wasn't about to reach out for him again. There was an understanding in the adult's eyes at that moment, as he sit the bag down in front of his student.

"This is what you asked for correct?"

Naruto glanced up at Iruka, and then at Sasuke, and then at the bag. Sasuke took the first step forward, peering inside the bag.

Vinegar.

The blonde wasn't far behind him, glancing inside the bag and eyes widening at the contents inside.

Naruto hurriedly reached into the bag and pulled out the bottle, examining it. There was something about the way he smiled then, large and bright, full of excitement and acceptance that it was hard to look away from.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka glanced away, a hand reaching behind his head and nervously running his fingers through the back of his hair. He shrugged sheepishly, not sure how to respond to such a bright expression that was all Naruto Uzumaki.

"Vinegar?" Haruno asked, peering around Naruto to see what had him so excited.

"Yeah, vinegar helps kill plants if you pour it on the soil. I think you are suppose to use other stuff too but vinegar alone should be fine since we pulled out all the roots."

"If we pulled out all the roots then why put the vinegar down?" Haruno challenged, but it wasn't in a vindictive way, more that she was just curious.

"Just in case we missed some of the roots, ya know." Naruto beamed.

"Very well," Iruka finally spoke, "Just finish up and you all can go home for the day. I'm heading out, so get home safe."

"Goodnight Iruka-sensei!" Both Naruto and the girl shouted out, waving goodbye to the teacher.

Sasuke looked at the two of them once their teacher was out of sight, "Naruto go around and use the vinegar however you need too, I'll put out the rest of these, and…"

Sasuke was about to say 'you' but glanced over at the narrowing eyes of Naruto. He was mad he didn't use her name before, and knew he'd be mad if he did the same thing now.

He knew her name, and he knew he had to use it.

He just didn't think she deserved it, "Haruno… Pick up the weeds we pulled. Naruto and I will help you when we're done."

Something in Haruno beamed in a way Sasuke didn't understand, "Okay!" She cheered as she walked off to her assigned task.

Naruto lingered however, "Who died and made you boss?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, suddenly not wanting to go home right away, "Wanna get ramen after this?"

Sasuke didn't know that Naruto's smile could get brighter, but it did, it radiated against the setting sun, "Ya bet I do!"

For some reason, in this little moment, the world felt right.

As the last moments of the sun pulled down to the horizon, the stars starting to blink their way into the night sky. The air pausing, allowing the last moments of the day to end and for the night to begin.

There was always something about Konoha. No matter the distance he was from this place, home held a certain nostalgia that lingered in the back of his mind.

He knew he had a job to do, that was why he was here, yet he had plenty of time, years in fact, before he would have to do something about it… But for now, he had come to Konoha to see, for now just observe until the real decision had to be made.

Seeing his old Chan insignia hang in the back of his kid brother's shirt was always the hardest thing to stomach, was always the first thing that caught in his throat when he saw Sasuke in these brief moments in time.

No longer good memories, because everything good was pulled away and everything bad had been pushed forward. It was easy to remember the bad, however it was harder to forget the good.

There were these little moments when Itachi Uchiha made his way into the village to see his kid brother. Nothing made him linger long, just long enough to make sure that Sasuke was alive, well, and happy. For so long it only seemed like the first two (his fault of course), but, now, something had very well changed within Sasuke.

Itachi saw it in the ways only siblings could. He saw the way his kid brother held himself, standing with a straight back and square shoulders, allowing his body to open up and be with the world again, unlike the last time he had saw Sasuke; with his shoulders drawn together and back slightly hunched forward. He saw the way his brother would carry himself in conversations, open and accepting in a way that felt way too familiar to him, knowing that it was something he could ever get back again.

Now, his brother was walking was such ease, engulfed with conversations that if he had realized that Itachi was here, he'd hate himself for being distracted by a life moving forward.

Being distracted and not constantly looking for him was a good thing. Sasuke always did have one eye around every corner before, as if Itachi himself was about to spring out unexpectedly at any moment.

Now Sasuke was relaxed, and as his older brother he was happy that his kid brother was finally starting to heal…

… As an Uchiha however.

With the potential to wield the Mangekyō Sharingan…

The boy was wasting away.

Conflicting sides tugged at Itachi, but he had to swallow them down, force them away because there would be no way for Sasuke to wield those eyes now.

Sasuke needed to feel the deepest despair, drown in darkness to awaken those powerful eyes, and his kid brother needed those eyes. He needed those eyes so he could put an end to Itachi's miserable and failed life.

Itachi watched in the shadows as his kid brother casually talked to a small blonde haired child at his side.

The Jinchūriki of the Nine Tailed Fox.

The only thing that Itachi could think to pass along to his brother one day is to kill. Kill the thing the held the most to you to gain the true power of the Uchiha.

It was a cursed fate.

One that would not work out now.

Itachi needed the Jinchūriki alive.

I am sorry for my late update! I kind of had a hard time writing this chapter, and on top of my life being a little crazy for a while I didn't really have time to really sit down and write this! I thank you all for staying with this story, its a fun and challenging piece for me to write since this is my first Naruto fanfiction. Plus, I am always trying to improve my writing, so, having this story helps me with that.

I just wanted to share a few things... For one, I am not a fan of Sakura... like at all... In fact she is like my most hated anime character of all time... And, I actually really like Iruka's relationship with Naruto, especially how their feelings grow as they grow older in the series... It's a beautiful thing...

But, in this story, Iruka will not have the same relationship with Naruto, and Sakura won't have her same relationship with Naruto or Sasuke either. I try to write them objectively and still in-character, despite my love for one and the hate for the other, so I hope that comes across well. I am not a fan of writing fanfiction to "bash" one character (in my younger days maybe, not so much now), so, I dunno I just wanted to point that out! I did it at the end, rather then the beginning of the chapter so you'd know what I meant without spoilers.

That is why in this chapter Iruka still did something *nice* for Naruto in the end, despite is conflicting feelings towards the boy, and this is also why Sakura did have a slight moment with Naruto... Because I still want to keep true to their character personalities despite the changes of the overall story that will happen since Naruto and Sasuke had formed a friendship much earlier in time. For anyone wondering because I am not sure I have made it all that clear, Naruto and Sasuke are around 10 right now.

Also with Itachi... Due to how his storyline was literally changed in the middle of Naruto, from his original creation being a crazy rouge ninja, to Masashi Kishimoto brilliantly changing his character to what we have today... Killing his Clan for the sake of Konoha... It's great stuff! But, I still want a little bit of that crazy Itachi in there... the one that he kind of tortures Sasuke and tells him to kill his best friend in the beginning of Naruto... So, I am also weaving my way around that.

I'm not really a person to "explain" my writing, but, I kind of felt like it this time! So... there!

If you haven't guessed, this FF is kind of a slow building fic, because I am ten chapters in and still haven't gotten into anything yet! So, thank you all for still being in this with me, and I appreciate all my readers! I also have a Tumblr, which I don't really use, but if you ever want to reach out to me there you can! Its under the same user name as my FF account- Son Akito!