Four Years Later
"Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sai Shimura," Iruka called out. Sasuke sat quietly, while Sakura cheered and Ino fumed, and tried not to think about the weakness of his group. Sakura was just plain annoying, and the new guy Sai who'd shown up in class only a few months before seemed like an idiot. Both of them together in his group was almost as bad as having both Sakura and Ino, and he had to squeeze his fists together to keep from protesting. It wasn't like there was anyone else he could suggest. There was no one here strong enough to push Sasuke to get stronger.
After class, he left before either of his new teammates could ask any stupid questions like whether or not he wanted to eat with them. He ignored anyone else who called out to him and went straight to the training grounds, taking out kunai knives and doing his daily ritual. Hit eight targets by bouncing kunai knives off each other, expand his chakra's limits by using fireball jutsu until he nearly passed out, and push his body as far as it could go in attacking dummies. He couldn't wait until their new teacher showed him new techniques he could train in.
"Ah, young Uchiha," he heard from behind him when he was halfway through his regiment and beginning to sweat. He turned and was shocked to find the Third Hokage standing behind him, blowing out a puff of smoke and raising an impressed eyebrow at the number of kunai knives that were in the center of the targets near him.
"Good afternoon, sir," Sasuke said as politely as he could, the image of red, swirling eyes fading from his mind as he drew in a deep breath and made his way over to the leader of Konoha. He was surprised that the Third wanted to talk to him; the Hokage was usually busy dealing with paperwork or his annoying grandson.
"Your training is coming along well, I see. I'm sure you'll be able to impress Kakashi enough for him to take you on."
"Thank you, sir. But that can't be the only reason you came to talk to me, right?" Sasuke asked, wondering just what the Hokage wanted. Nothing significant had happened besides his graduation recently, so the only thing he could think of was that the Hokage had some sort of news abouthim.
"No," the Hokage said gravely, blowing smoke from his pipe into the air. He studied it as if stalling with what he wanted to say. The subject seemed to pain him, so much so that Sasuke got the feeling that whatever it was had to be about more than Itachi.
"I was wondering, Sasuke… When you were younger, did you ever happen to meet a boy named Naruto Uzumaki?"
Naruto… the name sounded familiar, in the way the name of some celebrity that had been mentioned but never seen was. Sasuke searched through his thoughts, trying to remember what he knew about the person the name belonged to. He didn't usually concern himself with anything that didn't have to do with power or Itachi, but somehow the name felt important. Naruto… right! That's why he knew the name! It did involve Itachi.
"He's the kid who went missing the night Itachi slaughtered my clan," Sasuke growled, thinking about how he'd been questioned briefly about what he knew of the other kid after the massacre. It had been mostly passed off as a coincidence and forgotten about—the kid hadn't had any family to raise a fuss—and Sasuke hadn't really thought about it since.
"So you don't know anything about him other than that?" the Third questioned, his voice and eyes intense. It made no sense; what did this Naruto kid have to do with anything now? At that age, it wasn't like he could've helped Itachi in the massacre, and Sasuke couldn't imagine what kind of connection they could've had. Even if his disappearance had somehow been related to Itachi, what did it matter so many years later?
"No," Sasuke muttered, wondering what the hell was going on. The Third nodded, then turned to leave without another word. Before he could get out of earshot, Sasuke quickly called after him then asked, "Why? What's going on?"
"Naruto is…" the Third started, winced, then forged on. "…special. He's not a normal person like the rest of us. You may not have known this, but the Anbu Black Ops have been searching for him this entire time."
Sasuke felt his eyes widen disbelievingly; a kid his own age was so important that Konoha had members of the Anbu looking for him? That was insane! Did this kid have some kind of crazy power no one else knew about? Was it something Sasuke could ever harness and use against his brother?
"We found nothing for years, but apparently he surfaced near the Sand Village a few days ago. Only a few reports saw him, but it was undoubtedly him. I just wanted to confirm that he couldn't possibly have any connection with Itachi, considering the fact that where he was sighted is nearly the exact same place Itachi was last spotted two years ago."
Sasuke froze, gripping a kunai he was holding so hard that the blade cut into his palm. The disappearance could be passed off as a coincidence, but resurfacing in the same spot? Even if it was a few years apart from each other, it had to mean something.
"I see," Sasuke said under his breath, as the Third nodded a farewell and continued on his path. Sasuke faced his targets again, trying to remember what he recalled about Naruto Uzumaki. Precious little, since there wasn't much to recall. He didn't even know what Naruto looked like.
But if this guy was connected to Itachi, he'd have to look into it. With the disappearance and special powers, maybe he was even connected to the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke gritted his teeth and imagined the faceless name as one of the targets in front of him. He leapt up, throwing kunai in the air and bouncing them off each other to hear a satisfying thunk as each of them hit their mark, even the one directed toward a target that moved along a rope when the wind was high like today. Whoever this 'Naruto Uzumaki' was, Sasuke would find the connection between him and Itachi. And if it proved they were somehow working together, Sasuke would kill him too.
Sarutobi let out a long sigh as he collapsed into the Hokage's desk, thinking about the young Uchiha. While he didn't know anything worthwhile about Naruto, it had still been valuable to talk to him to see how he was coming along. He was a brilliant ninja full of promise, but Sarutobi could see a shroud of darkness all around him that no one had been able to pierce with a friendship. It was troubling indeed—he'd have to have Kakashi keep a close eye on that one, lest something like Orochimaru happen.
"Lord Hokage," a deep, familiar voice suddenly spoke, and the Hokage stood up sharply, turning to the figure who had seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Tall, weary, and yet somehow dignified, Itachi Uchiha stood before him, still looking much the same as he had when he'd come to deliver "Mission Complete."
"Itachi Uchiha… I never thought I'd see you here again," the Hokage said, genuinely surprised that the rogue ninja had dared come back into the village. Of course, being the genius that he was it probably hadn't been hard, but the Hokage had thought he'd seen the last of the boy the night he'd killed his own family. No… Itachi was no boy. He was, and for a long time had been, a man.
"I came to deliver some troubling news that's been circulating through the rumour network," Itachi said, cutting to the chase with refined precision. "Orochimaru is planning to make a move against Konoha during the upcoming Chuunin Exams. What you choose to do with this information is up to you, but know that I'll be watching closely to make sure no harm comes to my brother. Orochimaru has already attempted to seduce me to his side, so I have no doubt he'll be after Sasuke next."
With his piece said, it was clear Itachi was about to leave, but before he did the Hokage blurted out the question that had burned his mind since the night of the massacre.
"Naruto Uzumaki… Did you have anything to do with his disappearance, Itachi?"
Itachi was a master of all things, from jutsu to theory to keeping his emotions in check. Especially as a former Anbu Black Ops member, it was very near impossible to tell what emotions boiled in his mind, good or bad. So the question Sarutobi asked wasn't really meant to elicit any response, it was more just a spur-of-the-moment thing. But, for a just second, Sarutobi could've sworn the rogue ninja's eyes flashed red.
Then, without another word, the eldest Uchiha brother disappeared in a flutter of black wings. Sarutobi sat back down heavily in his chair, steepling his fingers on his desk. Evidently something had happened between the Uchiha and the Fourth's son, but Sarutobi couldn't imagine what it could've been. Perhaps it was good that young Naruto had met with one of the most loyal ninjas Konoha had, but Sarutobi couldn't stop a feeling of unease from growing in his stomach.
The Nine-Tails' vessel, Itachi Uchiha, the Akatsuki, Orochimaru, Sasuke's darkness, the Sand Village, and the upcoming Chuunin Exams… What did all of these things coming together mean?
"Gaara! There you are!" Temari called, springing up to the rooftop using her fan as leverage. She landed lightly beside him and reached out to ruffle his red hair, looking out over the village he was watching. "What are you up to, little brother?"
"He was supposed to come tonight," Gaara's raspy voice said quietly. Temari glanced down at him, wondering how he felt about the fact that his tiny blonde friend had stood up him up. Only two years ago, Temari would've been too terrified to get close enough to read Gaara's expression, let alone put her hand on his head like this, but all that had changed when a certain blonde kid showed up and the two pounded on each other.
Dragged out by worry even though they knew their younger brother had monstrous strength, Temari and Kankuro had witnessed one of the most amazing battles they'd probably ever see. The conflict had begun when the small blonde guy had shown up in the Sand Village out of nowhere, hanging around Lady Chiyo's house. Word on the street was that he'd been gravely injured somehow, and some rogue Leaf Village ninja had dropped him off at Lady Chiyo's house without a word to be healed.
Although the Sand Village tried to find and capture the rogue Leaf ninja, no one could bring themselves to tell the Anbu that had come to investigate that the red-eyed ninja had left a kid there. The kid's bright eyes and easy smile were too charming for anyone in the Sand Village to betray him to the Leaf. No one had bothered him; most people had given him space, but one of his walks down the Sand Village's streets had seen him meet with Gaara. They'd stared each other in the eye for a full minute before the blonde kid had stepped forward and whispered something in Gaara's ear. After that, Kankuro and Temari had been forced to follow the two a ways outside of the Sand Village, where they began a fight Temari couldn't even begin to explain.
Even now she couldn't comprehend what she'd seen. Gaara had been no match for the tiny blonde kid with the black nails. Gaara had been left on his knees, coughing up blood, while the other kid frowned down at him as if to say 'Is that it?' Then the kid had done something no one had ever done to Gaara; he'd reached down and offered his hand to help the redhead up.
After that, they'd spoken for so long that her and Kankuro had left, coming back in the morning to find a smile of all things on Gaara's face. The blonde kid had disappeared after that, but every now and then Temari would spot him up on a roof with Gaara, the two laughing as if they had no cares in all the world.
"Maybe he's just late?" Temari said kindly, hoping that was the case. Becoming friends with the blonde kid was the best thing that had ever happened to Gaara; he'd become a totally different person, one with loads more self-control and even some politeness. Tons of people were still wary of him, but others offered him tentative smiles sometimes. It helped that he no longer glared at people as if he wanted to crush them in five bazillion tons of sand, too.
"No…" Gaara said, crossing his arms dejectedly. "There were Anbu Black Ops here last week when he came, and they saw him. He managed to get away, but I don't think his older brothers will be very happy about it. They probably locked him up."
Temari stared at Gaara; that was the first time Gaara had given her actual information about the blonde kid. Who he was and where he came from was a mystery, and the only thing she knew was that he would become (and possibly already was) one of the strongest people in the world. Beyond that, Temari didn't even know if he was a ninja—he didn't have a headband or anything—but she suspected he might be involved with the Leaf Village somehow, considering the lengths he'd gone to hide from the Anbu members who routinely came back to ask if any rogue ninja had wandered through.
"His… older brothers?"
"He has eight older brothers, one older sister, and a man he loves and respects more than anything. I don't think they're all related by blood, but if he considers them family then it doesn't matter."
Gaara's voice was adamant, as if he expected Temari to argue with him.
"Er… okay," Temari said, wondering how far she could push her luck in finding out more about the kid. "But locking him up? That's pretty harsh."
Gaara fell silent for a long moment, watching the sand swirl through the streets. The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, but unlike how Gaara had been about the moon two years ago, he now seemed to enjoy its feel. It was good to see him so stable, especially considering the upcoming Chuunin Exams.
"Things that seem harsh to other people are easy to him," Gaara said softly. "The training he's gone through… I can't even imagine something like that. I don't know how he's still who he is."
"Who is he?" Temari asked, wondering if she'd finally get the answer. After another minute of silence broken only by the wind, Gaara spoke two words and Temari had to stifle a disappointed sigh.
"My friend."
"Is he getting back soon?"
"How many times do we have to tell you we don't know before you get it through your thick skull, hm? No one knows when he's coming back when he decides to go on solo missions like this, hm."
"Haa, you're useless. I don't know why I bother talking to you, Deidara."
"Wait a sec, you little brat, speaking to your older brother like—"
"Sasori?"
"Yes?"
"How long does he have left until he's late?"
"Six hours and three minutes."
"Man, that's a while. Hey, how about you teach me some more puppet jutsu while we wait?"
"Don't just ignore m—"
"Aren't your fingers still broken from the last time we practised?"
"No, they're all healed up."
"The Nine-Tails' power is sure something else."
"You guys aren't going to include me no matter what I say, hm?"
"Alright, I'll teach you some more. Since you can already control one puppet per hand, we'll have to focus on getting it down to you being able to control one puppet per finger."
"Coooool."
"Even though you two are ignoring me, I guess I'll come watch anyway, hm. It's better than just waiting around for Itachi to come back. And besides, if you get bored of puppets, I can teach you some more clay moulding skills, hm."
"Nah, there's no point in learning anymore moulding. Most of your technique is kekkai genkai, so I can only use clay you've already made. Besides keeping some pre-made bombs on me, there's no point in learning any more. It'll take too long in battle."
"Learning how to be quicker is the point, hm!"
"If it gets to the point where I'm bored with puppets, I'll forget Itachi and go back to ask Nagato—er, Pain, if he'll teach me more wind jutsu."
"You know, you've really got to stop calling him Nagato when you're outside of our group, hm. He doesn't want people knowing who he is, hm."
"Are you two coming or are you going to make me wait?"
"Hah, he sure hates waiting. Let's go, hm."
