So, thanks to the support from all as always. :) As for Naru hating Sasuke (so it seems), it's just like that because we know he hurt her and their friends for nothing, though you have to ask yourself why it's so goddamned hard to patch things up. I'm keeping true to canon spirit while also trying to make it my own, which is NEVER easy for any of us. No one can really replicate Kishimoto-sensei's hand.

If the loss of Konohamaru wasn't enough, get ready for this one. :'(

Chapter Twelve

Death of a Legend

You really haven't changed a bit, foolish otouto. In fact, you are worse than ever.

But Itachi also saw that Sasuke wasn't as foolish as he thought, since he was indeed aware of Danzo's obvious malice, yet it was like him always to pursue what he wanted no matter the consequences and the cost of his own life. And it was like him to provoke Naru because he wanted to.

And he said he had no interest in the Kutone Blade for himself; he didn't let the hint of its smaller size and greater power than the Kusanagi faze him either. But there was no telling if he hid his true frustration or not.

But when his brother called Naru naïve and female, he finally decided to defend her because he could not bear Sasuke's treatment of her. "Enough demeaning her, Sasuke," he finally snapped. "When will you finally stop being such an impudent scoundrel?"

Onyx eyes flashed red with three tomoe, telling him that the Mangekyo was not obtained, and of course he couldn't kill his best friend - which meant there was still some hope in Sasuke, after all. "And the show of those eyes tells me that you really dare to come before us with weak resolve, which means you don't have it in you to kill your best friend like you claimed you would," Itachi went on, guiltily enjoying this and savoring the sniggering from Kisame, Deidara's snort and finally Naru's grin as she darted back and forth between him and Sasuke.

"You heard him, Sasuke. You know something? I hate you for what you did to me and our friends, but you're here now, and since you're nothing like Orochimaru, maybe you can do something different than turning us over to Danzo. There has to be another way besides getting your precious revenge."

Naru, what are you doing?!

His mask dropped a little to show his surprise that matched that of Deidara and Kisame. But maybe not as much as it did to Sasuke who demanded, "What did you say?"

"I said..." Naru clenched her hands into fists. "...that you can do something with us until you get your revenge. I'm going back home to save my village from Danzo, and these men - including your brother you hate so much - are going to help me. They're honoring their word, and they've done it thus far. It might sound no different than what Orochimaru promised you, but it has nothing to do with power. I'm going to reclaim my home from the wrong hands, get it back to the way it was!"

Birds could be heard overhead, especially the call of a hawk, but not his brother's summons. The wind was picking up, and it caused Itachi's hair to fly into his face; he reached up to push it back, and Naru noticed this but said nothing.

"You're saying I should join forces with you scumbags," Sasuke stated, unimpressed. "Why should I, and what would I really get out of this? I'd say you would try to stop me from killing you when I get the chance." Itachi sighed, shaking his head at this waste of time. They all had to get to the hideout as soon as possible.

"Naru is still your friend whether she claims to hate you, but I know better. You hate me, but I am going to help her. I have no interest in staining my hands with blood except those of Danzo and his followers. As long as I am leader of the Akatsuki, there won't be anything of the sort."

"I have no reason to believe what you say, so I have no idea what you're playing at, Itachi. There is only one thing in the world I want, and it's you dead."

Kisame scoffed and pulled Samehada out, slamming its heavy tip to the earth, causing the ground to rumble a moment and return to normal. "Kid, you're really getting on all of our nerves - especially mine. Itachi, I should just siphon his chakra just for you, and we can all take him without any trouble. Or better yet -" He grinned. "- Princess here can just place a deal." She jerked her head at him in disbelief.

"What are you talking about, Kisame?" And instantly, she could have just slapped her forehead as she realized the hint. "Oh, I get it." She turned her attention back to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, how about this: you and I fight here and now. If you win, then you can just walk away and go report to the old man. But if I win, then you come with us whether you like it or not."

Itachi let himself smirk, and the men seemed to like the idea...except for Sasuke, there was only a gleam in his eyes for the first half of the bargain that was in his own best interests. "Then I accept the challenge, loser."

Loser - that was what he called her when they were young Genin, which was what he still was even after he left the Leaf Village. But sometimes an insult could hide something else. Itachi was no fool to know that.

His eyes followed as two different blades were both drawn, and both crackling with power - the great Kusanagi with lightning chakra and the smaller Kutone with a vivid orange - which would collide and a great fight would begin.

~o~

"How do you like me now, Sasuke?"

The Kusanagi sword was thrown overhead into the trees, having been thrust upon and slammed by the Kutone, the power of two different chakras coming together to get it out of the hands of its owner.

Trading barbs? You got it, because she screamed at him that she resented him - and she half did - for doing what he did, and that she'd all but given up taking him back to Konoha; as well, she was finished craving for his approval in her improvement, because she got everything she needed - and because Itachi was more man than he ever was.

"Why the hell are you defending him, and why is he doing the same for you?" Sasuke shouted back after a heavy drive that nearly knocked Kutone out of her hands. Snarling, Naru countered back with a switch from normal mode to Sage Mode.

"We defend each other because you would never understand anything, like the gullible person you are. There's more to him than you know -"

"NARU!"

Itachi's bark made her stop talking altogether, but what she said struck Sasuke suspicious, yet he didn't ask further and only focused on kicking her butt like she focused on doing to his. I think the other boys are thinking the same...

Of course they are, runt.

Sasuke really was taken aback at her advancement using nature energy, and he got blows to his face as well as slashes to his body that weren't lethal, but enough to let him bleed a little and experience enough pain and shock that he never expected from her. So, in the end, Kutone won and had her opponent up in the trees, as previously mentioned. Now Naru stood over with her baby pointed at Sasuke's bared, sculpted chest shining with sweat - and bleeding a little from his minor wounds, while she barely had a scratch on herself, and her hair was just in way of her eyes.

Her attention fell to the Curse Mark which he had not activated once, maybe not needing it. Seeing that thing made her so sick she wanted to smash and crack the earth. If there was a way to remove that thing once and for all, by force if she had to...

"Well, honor the wish. You're coming with us, Sasuke," Itachi said coldly, striding up to stand beside her. He was curt and not congratulating her, which suddenly made her annoyed. Because you almost blew everything, Naru, Kurama told her. He got her there, but Sasuke HAD to know...except there were also Kisame and Deidara who would have learned Itachi had spied on them and the other Akatsuki, kept them at bay.

She was scared of them betraying him if they found that out.

Sasuke bared his teeth, hissing when he stood up, begrudgingly accepting his hated brother's hand to stand up. "Fine," was all he said, and then he looked up to where his sword had gone - and it was then that Naru sensed others coming their way, jumping down from the trees. There they were, the three Deidara described: the redheaded girl with glasses, the big boy with auburn hair and a Curse Mark of his own, and finally the toothy one with the Executioner's Blade that was once Zabuza Momochi's. Sasuke's sword was in the hold of the flinching girl who shouted that it was heavier than she thought, and that earned sarcastic jabs from the white-haired, snag-toothed guy.

"See, you knew it was, but you had to get it for Sasuke anyway."

"Say that again, Suigetsu!" she snarled back at him, and it was cut off instantly by the big guy who seemed calmer and quieter than the rest.

"Karin, Suigetsu, we're not here to fight amongst each other. Sasuke, what now?"

Sasuke, team leader, regarded them all with just a blink and nothing more. "Juugo, Karin, Suigetsu - we have no choice but to change our plans, betray Danzo and side with my brother -" She heard the hateful spitting of the title in his voice. "- and the Akatsuki...and Naru Uzumaki, my old teammate."

Naru had no idea what to think or feel, but when he called her his old teammate, her guard slowly lowered, but not entirely. It seemed Itachi was doing the same. Both of them were pleased Sasuke agreed, but they weren't going to trust him that easily. Would you do that, Kurama?

The fox grunted and curled to lay down for now. No, of course not. I sense the darkness in his soul which won't be tempered by your light that easily.

~o~

"I honestly do not like this, Itachi," Deidara grumbled. They were all walking on ground now rather than in the air, because it was clear, but as soon as more Konoha Shinobi would be patrolling, they had to take flight immediately. "That brother of yours - he could go toe to toe with me to the point I set off my -"

"No, it will NOT come to that," the Uchiha interrupted harshly. Not yet anyway. Not when we need you.

"I'd love to see one of your own bombs go off in your face."

Naru. You're finally doing it.

Deidara gawked at her in blinking disdain. "What the hell is THAT supposed to mean?!"

"It means," Naru growled, eyes flashing red around the corners, "that you ought to have a taste of your own medicine for what happened to Konohamaru." At the mention of the boy's name, Sasuke and his "friends" all stopped their walk ahead - being in front so the Akatsuki could keep a good eye on them and make sure nothing fancy was plotted - and turned to listen to the exchange that was going to explode.

"Excuse me!" Deidara sputtered. "But if you forgot, Kisame and I had to get the hell out of there so you and your 'boyfriend' didn't miss your backup. What were we supposed to do? Not like they would let US go alive anyway!"

"Because it's just like you anyway," she snapped. "I lost someone who was like a real brother to me, taught him enough of what I was taught, and he's gone not only because that bastard Danzo sent him out, but because you hardly even flinched when you learned who he was - and what's worse is you didn't shed a sympathetic shred when I thought I was in another nightmare!" By this time, she was cringing visibly and trying not to shed more tears, which was something she never cared to learn.

"You care more about your 'art' than you do people. Everything and anything you blow up, you don't care if a life-form is there or not. And spare me the shit that this is the way the world is, because I HATE it all for the way it is!"

She turned her back on the three Akatsuki men and stalked ahead, standing close to Sasuke's stunned group - except his brother barely lifted a brow - and shouted at everyone to get moving before she lost her temper more than she had.

Naru didn't look at them again or even said a word. If any man was wise, including Deidara, they wouldn't try to talk to her in her seething state. Women were a lot meaner than most men gave them credit for.

Kisame grumbled. "Ah, women is all I am gonna say, Itachi," he said so that the livid woman didn't hear. "She really wears her emotions on her sleeve. I wonder if she is gonna learn a real Shinobi never does that."

"Because she's nothing like us in that direction," Itachi stated. "I can't get her to change who she is if I wanted to." Because she's even more stubborn than my brother. She won't change herself and her ideals unless she says so. But she knows how to sway others...most of the time.

Seeing her a distance away from his brother's group made him scowl, especially when Sasuke glanced her way, turning his face only halfway, but she paid him no mind. This Kisame also noticed and sniggered. "Would you be surprised, eh?" he asked. "I bet he doesn't hate her as much as he let on. After all, didn't he consider her a...best friend? The one YOU told him to kill so he could -" Itachi silenced him harshly and quietly before Sasuke could hear.

"Enough of that. I loathe myself for telling him that, because of her."

Because she is fresh air I never thought I would breathe.

Though the breath of air he took now was suffocating his lungs when he saw Sasuke drift away from his group to be beside Naru, because he finally decided to try to talk to her on his own terms. Now the elder Uchiha couldn't help but chuckle in his throat, silently wishing his brother luck while the girl was in her foul mood.

~o~

Oh, Kurama, please help me not kill him here and now.

Don't get your undergarments in a twist, runt.

"Naru?"

"Why are you talking to me?" she snapped, not in the mood. And why would you bother speaking since you tried to kill me? "You heard what I said, so don't even bother giving your side."

He didn't even allow a grimace to show, not that she cared to see. "I wasn't going to say anything like that," he said. "But I have questions to ask you -" Oh, that was what he wanted, was it? Just questions? Naru held her guard up, knowing that he wanted to know what Itachi prevented her from saying.

"Nothing that you deserve, and even if I wanted to tell you, why should I trust you? I was so stupid to think I could call you a brother. Konohamaru was more than you ever would have been, now that I see it all," she stated coldly.

"You honestly hate me that much? What happened to saying you would 'break every bone' in my body if that was what it took?" he asked. "You really gave up on me a long time ago, and did imprisonment make you see that?"

Frustrated, she shook her head once, refusing to look at him and just kept walking. "No. I thought of giving up on you as soon as I heard you got hold of the Sound Village. I wasted all my time chasing after someone who only insulted me, refused to see me as an equal or even encourage me. Konohamaru was my rival like you were, but we acknowledged each other and helped each other get better." Now she jerked her eyes up, glaring at him savagely, and now there was a hint of emotion in his eyes: shock, just like the time he saw Nine-Tails chakra consume her at the Final Valley.

"I lost Pervy Sage, now Konohamaru, and who knows who else. Happy that I get what it's like to lose someone I had a bond with? I even have friends, but who do YOU have? A bunch of old test subjects of Orochimaru's to do whatever you want."

Because why else did he pick those three?

And there was something else: that redhead with the glasses - Naru sensed that there was a chakra pattern so eerily similar to her own, and that same shade of tomato hair which her mother Kushina had...

Sasuke said nothing, but she knew he was absorbing everything she said, and his face grew darker and darker. Behind them, both his team and the Akatsuki could hear their conversation the louder her own voice got. Part of her wanted them to hear.

"And besides, Sasuke, you think after everything, I'd turn my back on my word. Danzo took more than Konoha - OUR village. He's taken the people I love and would die for, and made our home into a shell of its former self. I was forced to watch from my cell in the mouth of his face in the mountain how the people were pitted against each other - especially our fellow Shinobi, divided. Innocents were dying, too, and I wasn't able to lift a finger...until your brother got me out to help."

And at that moment, Sasuke halted in his steps at the same time she did, and behind them, both their sides did the same, all eagerly anticipating what his response would be.

There was nothing but an empathetic air, for the most part, but those on Sasuke's team had no idea how to process all of this. They must not know what it's like to be in my shoes.

Naru observed Sasuke closely, holding her breath and ready to explode if he said something she hated, like he'd done since their days at the Academy - but then he surprised her once again: "You finally understand what it's like to lose ties." The best you can say, as always, you jerk. His gaze adverted for a second, the lids closing momentarily.

"I couldn't care less about the Leaf Village...but I'll help you get it back."

~o~

Naru and Sasuke exchanging words again - but now it ended with his brother agreeing to help her, pleased she finally understood the pain of loss, even if he didn't share her goals.

Sasuke's "friends" watched on, the one with the Curse Mark called Juugo being more sorrowful in the face even if he didn't understand, while Suigetsu just glanced with a form of apathy and Karin was torn between irritation - such as defending the team leader she was obviously infatuated with, based on the dilation of her pupils - and sadness because Sasuke had a friend who never gave up on him but was making him see she wasn't breaking apart.

Itachi shook his head. He chose to speak up now. "Keep moving. Karin, you can sense chakra presences, so is anyone around at the moment?" From the chakra I am assessing as well as the red hair, you must be of the Uzumaki clan, which means you and Naru must be cousins somehow.

"Oh! Um...no. There are no Shinobi at the moment after us -" She stopped instantly. "However, there are two strong ones maybe a mile away. One is very weak but rife with enough left...except they don't have much time left. The other is warm and level, but it's fluctuating like uncontrollable anxiety. It means that one is dying and the other is being by their side."

Naru's eyes bulged; Itachi could see it without being beside her, since it was a common reaction to expect. Then her eyes highlighted on the outside with orange and the minus sign in the pupil, switching on Sage Mode to see who the people were - and her response was harried.

"It's Shizune...and Granny Tsunade."

She bolted forward then and there, but not before saying it was safe to go there, and Itachi and Sasuke followed while the others trailed not far behind. He thought her so foolish to act on impulse like this, though he, too, assessed the lost and now found former Godaime Hokage was the one on the deathbed.

The great group came across what looked like a small medical center. He remembered this place: run by an old woman and her grandson who was the same age as Naru and Sasuke, it was not affiliated directly with Konoha except being on the receiving end of medical supplies. It seemed only fitting that Tsunade and her aide would escape their village and come here.

"Alright, before we go in, we decide who stays out and keeps watch on any Shinobi and sensor types coming in this way," Itachi said to all of them, and the answer was decided in no time.

He, Naru, Sasuke and Karin would all go together, since the redheaded girl had experience which involved being bitten on any part of her body so that the seriously injured would heal, given the near-extinct Uzumaki clan had more chakra than anyone. He suspected Tsunade could refuse, but there was no telling.

He knew the old woman a long time ago, and though she was aware of his "crimes", she didn't treat him as a monster, and her grandson believed otherwise but tolerated his presence for all their sakes.

"Itachi!" Maiko exclaimed when she saw him come in, a broad smile on her wizened and kind face. "It's nice to see you back, and I see you brought friends. I take it you're here to see poor, dear Tsunade." Her face fell then and there. "She is in the back. And don't worry about Ryota; I sent him out, so he will not trouble you for now."

And that was one less trouble to worry about. Now they were all in the room where Tsunade Senju was located, and the sight the group was greeted with caused Naru to cry out, "Granny!"

"Naru!" There was Shizune, sad and smiling at the same time, her eyes shining. Tonton the pig was napping in her lap, but now she was waking up and oinking happily. "Oh, thank God you're alive! And Itachi, you're here!" But when she saw Sasuke and Karin, her eyes narrowed.

"Sasuke, you really have some nerve being here."

Itachi held his hand up. "Never mind, he won't be a bother as long as I am here, Shizune." He found himself looking upon the poor face of the woman who had no strength left to put on her youthful, buxom henge. Her bright hair was now dull and white, stringy even. Her forehead was sagging as her cheeks were hollow, and her lips sinking into her mouth. She took a few steady breaths here and there.

Her frail eyelids were closed in a deep sleep, but then they opened up and looked upon the group. "Itachi...Naru," she rasped, forcing a feeble smile on them. She managed to raise a hand, bony and the skin thinly stretched, fingernails still sharp and red, to extend to them. The Jinchuuriki who was something like a granddaughter to her rushed over and took it, hysterically breathing and put the palm to her cheek.

"Oh, God, Granny, I knew you weren't dead. I have so much to tell you, if only there was more time! Danzo locked me up into his mountain face, he branded Sasuke because he had the right when Sasuke wasn't like that snake, and then Itachi and the Akatsuki got me out..."

She went on to explain that Gaara and his Suna forces were going to help them get Konoha back, and then brought up the Kutone Blade which she now had on her back and mastered with help. All of this made Tsunade smile and not say a word - but then came the topic of Konohamaru Sarutobi's death, accidental by Akasuki's hand and Danzo's fault for sending him out.

"Damn bastard, son of a -" She paused to cough a few times, and Shizune acted instantly, holding Tonton in one arm and reaching for the glass of water that was still on the bedside table. Tsunade took it with her free hand and downed it all until there was nothing left. She cleared her throat and laid back down, sighing with relaxation, then turned darkened amber eyes back to Naru. "I knew you would make it, Naru. I'm very proud of you." Her fragile hand squeezed the smaller but stronger one in her grasp.

Naru swallowed down a hiccup. "T-thank you, Granny. But I'm...I'm sorry it's going to end like this. I wish I'd had found you sooner myself, and we -" She looked up at Itachi, eyes glazed. "- could have gotten you away sooner! Why did Jiraiya-sensei and Konohamaru have to go, and now you?!" She blubbered. "And where were you before now?"

"I was...in a safe place outside the village gates, secured by invisibility seals placed by loyal ANBU, and I was out of it all that time. When I finally came to..." Tsunade paused to take a few breaths, threatening to cough again but didn't. "...Shizune told me she heard of your escape. She even mentioned...you." She turned her eye on Sasuke, showing no trace of contempt, but suspicion. And then her gaze rested on him, Itachi.

"Itachi...you must tell him. Trust him with the truth. That's my last wish to you - and please, take care of Naru."

Sasuke finally spoke up, harsh and unrelenting. "No, Lady Tsunade, you shouldn't give up like this. Karin can heal you if you would let her!" Well, well, you truly do care a little after all, do you?

But the old woman scoffed and waved it off. "Never mind now. I would have said yes if circumstances were different. I did everything I could, and I know that our bet will come true," she said, returning to give Naru her attention. "Naru, you and Itachi stick together and take down Danzo, save our village. And bring his sorry self home once and for all." Her attempt at humor regarding Sasuke ended with another cough, but it was brief. And her last words were this, following telling Shizune that she was also proud of her, loved her like her own child, and to take care of herself, Tonton and everyone.

"Naru, I lost both my brother and the man I loved. Don't you dare lose him - if you find him - just like you lost Konohamaru and Sasuke before him."

Her eyes closed then, for one final time as the last breath left her throat, and Naru broke out into a wail which could belong to a wolf howling. She could have broken the glass windows and fractured these wooden walls.

Tsunade, former Fifth Hokage, granddaughter of the First, veteran medical kunoichi - and the last of the legendary Sannin - died in this hospital bed, surrounded by her aide and loyal ninja pig, a rogue who was actually a faithful Konoha Shinobi even now, and finally the one who long ago betted with her on becoming Hokage someday. With the one who truly abandoned them and his sensor teammate in the background and not being a part of the moment.

Rest in peace, Lady Tsunade.

Itachi felt his insides turn, finally letting Sasuke see his soft side which included a tear falling down his cheek, taking both the younger and Karin off-guard.

See the pain the one you called friend is suffering, Sasuke? See that I have the weak spot that you never saw? And look within yourself to actually feel sympathy for her.

In bringing to life Naru vs Sasuke, I didn't want to drag it on like the anime/manga episodes. Better that and leaving more to the imagination than droning. And the moment when she called him gullible was inspired from "Join Me in Death" by Itaweasel-hime, a tragic love story for Itachi and Sakura. :'(

Does it surprise anyone that Tsunade would appear at last only do die? :'( It was hard to write her death, but I also did so for "Woman of the Snow", the first in my Konoha Kaidan Trilogy.

So, my grandmother was hospitalized, as I might have mentioned before, and therefore I'm slower with my work lately since she had her blood sugar so damned high the day after Thanksgiving.

Anyhoo, review and please wipe your eyes if you have any tissues around. Just what I am doing now as we speak.