Naruto: HOLY MOTHER OF RAMEN! SHE'S BACK, DATTEBAYO!
Deidara: OUR SAVIOR!
Icha-chan: Gomen! Its been long, huh?
Deidara: TRY 13 months, dammit, yeah! What the hell?!
Icha-chan: well, for once I understand what Kakashi means when he says 'I got lost on the road of life'…
Naruto: …which means…
Icha-chan: One powerful writers block, horrible schoolwork, family issues and a man in a taco suit, my dear Narutard…
Deidara: Whatever, as long as you are back for good I don't really care for details, yeah. Besides…its been HELL for the past year…Apparently Sasuke has been so sexually frustrated from you not coming up with a new chapter for so long that he decided to take it out on naruto and rock lee…I'm not even sure how rock lee got in here, yeah…
Rock Lee: It was the power of youth!
Naruto: Oh shut up, Lee! Sasuke didn't even beat him as much as he did me….non-stop! FOR THIRTEEN MONTHS, dattebayo!
Sasuke: hn.
Naruto: All because he's got the flames in his pants!
Sasuke: Dobe!
Naruto: eep!
Icha-chan: oh my…I see. I guess he's just as determined about that Goal of his as he was about killing Itachi, hm?
Itachi: Oh yeah. FYI….I'm now Officially Dead…
Deidara: me too…and so is Jiraiya! And Tobi--
Tobi: IS A GOOD BOY!
Icha-chan: err anywho. MUCH MUCH MUCH Apologies to everyone for how…not-updated this story has been…I seriously got so LOST on the road to life X.x and I majorly suck ass. But your comments from the last chapter were much appreciated, and instead of deleting the story I managed to get over the writers block and remember all the things for this story…And now, I can FINALLY present to you….the next chapter for Chasing Sakura!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Duh
--
Chapter Six
Sakura took a seat on the dock, right in the middle of Itachi and Kakuzu. Itachi seemed to stiffen, while Kakuzu casually looked over at her.
"You owe me two dollars."
Sakura raised her eyebrow.
"For sitting next to me."
Sakura continued to stare at him with mild disbelief when a splash caught her attention.
"AH! Come to join us again, pinky?" Kisame questioned with a cocky smirk as he lifted his shades to reveal his odd yellow eyes. Sakura shrugged.
Sakura looked down at the water. She was already wet…why not go in? She looked back up at Kisame's floatie…
"Do you have any more of those?"
Kisame's pointy grin grew larger and he pulled one out of no where it seems.
"One dollar!"
"Deal."
She handed him the bill and looked at the packaged deflated float. Then, she ripped it open and stared to blow it up. Once it was inflated she took off the sweatshirt.
Kakuzu's eyes glinted at the prospect of another possibility to charge money came to mind, but Sakura chose to confront Itachi instead.
"Could you…hold this for me please?" She asked quietly, with puppy eyes. After all, Itachi was still a ruthless S-class criminal, who says he couldn't reject her favor?
Itachi nodded and took the clothing from her hands as she beamed.
"Isn't this Sasuke's…" He trailed off looking closer at the sweatshirt.
"Yeah, he made me wear it." Sakura explained, climbing into the float. Itachi stared at the material, his sharingan spinning slowly.
Foolish little brother…trying to claim her by making her wear your things…I could fry this…I should fry this…
Itachi's wrath towards the sweatshirt went by unnoticed. Kisame held the floatie steady as Sakura settled into it.
"Isn't this brilliant? I decided to sell merchandise for Saving the Whales as a way to get the word out AND make a profit for Akatsuki."
Sakura smiled, while her inner self rolled her eyes. Kisame sure was an odd one…
Sakura began to relax when she felt a prickly feeling at the back of her neck…she looked around, and found the reason for her discomfort lingering a few meters away in the water.
The water came up to his nose as Hidan slowly edged closer to her floatie, a dark gleam in his violet orbs, and no doubt a smirk pulled on his lips from underwater.
Sakura reached her hands out and grabbed onto Kisame's tire float. The shark man raised an eyebrow at her curiously.
"You're not going to tip me over…" He stated firmly, mistaking her actions for ill intensions. Sakura ignored him as she slowly pulled herself behind the blue guy.
Kisame sighed heavily as his body tensed, his big hands clutching to the sides of his floatie as he watched her with narrowed eyes, but his gaze was easily broken when a voice broke through the silence.
"Heeeeeeey." Hidan drawled slyly as he had approached the two, his eyes flickering between them. Kisame, now realizing the real threat, turned his attention to the priest, and growled.
"You little brat, don't you dare—AUGHHHHHHH!" A splash followed as the tube and Kisame flipped over and crashed into the cold lake water. Hidan didn't waste any time as he attempted to do the same to Sakura.
"Sorry babe." Hidan grinned as he lifted the side of the tube, but was surprised to see Sakura was still clinging onto the tire…
Hidan furrowed his eyebrows at the challenge and gave the tire a push as it finally tilted all the way up and flipped over. Sakura's cry was short-lived as the water muffled her voice.
"Ahahaha AHahaha aH!" The laughter died in Hidan's throat as a blue hand clutched it.
"GET THAT DIRTY SMIRK OFF YOUR FACE YOU BRAT! I'LL TEACH YOU FOR MESSING WITH ME!" After that, Kisame entertained himself in various ways as he choked, drowned, and beat the living shit out of Hidan. Kakuzu let out a low chuckle, as he clearly seemed to enjoy watching Hidan suffer by another's hands as Sakura's head popped up from beneath the water.
She held a grim expression as she doggie-paddled her way back to the dock, and climbed up to sit next to Itachi again. The raven haired man watched her, his face emotionless…
"So much for relaxing…" Sakura grumbled, bringing her knees to her chest and crossing her arms over them. She peered over at Itachi, who looked back.
"Did you happen to see where everyone else went?" She asked, her mind going back to her previous thoughts about where her other friends ran off to.
Itachi blinked, and looked over at the shore, where Tobi and Zetsu sat by the edge watching Leader and the Unknown splash around.
"They headed out to eat…" He replied. At least, that's what he had assumed, being how the Kyuubi vessel had screamed for everyone to celebrate the start of the summer break at Ichiraku…
Sakura nodded knowingly. That was so like Naruto…being how it was around dinner time, it was no surprise they would agree easily.
Sakura got up from her place and stretched, before looking back down at the elder Uchiha with a smile.
"Well, I'm going to go. It's starting to get a bit cold out here…" She said thoughtfully. Itachi handed her the sweatshirt, his sharingan gaze giving it a fleeting glare before she took it into her own possession.
"I believe I will go as well. There is no point watching fools splash around."
At this, Kisame had stopped torturing Hidan and looked over sharply.
"Hey!"
His grasp on Hidan slackened, allowing the platinum blonde to scurry away towards Kakuzu.
Kisame glanced over at the retreating backs of Sakura and Itachi. Smirking, he leaned back on his floatie.
--
Sasuke was in their cabin still, lying in his bunk with his arms crossed under his head. It was times like this, when he was alone, that he would think back through his 'past'.
Images from his fight with Itachi flickered through his mind. It was one of the toughest battles he had ever yet to face. He couldn't believe he actually defeated him…
His hand involuntarily reached over and brushed against where his curse mark used to be as his thoughts grew deeper. His brother was truly a genius…superior…he was able to pull out Orochimaru from him, and instantly kill the snake-sannin in less than a minute…it was kind of pathetic how easily Orochimaru was eliminated.
Of course, shortly after that was dealt with, they both ended up depleted of their chalkra and energy…it was those last moments of the fight that Sasuke truly thought Itachi was going to pluck out his eyes…
Sasuke shuddered at the thought, how sick and twisted the Uchiha's past had been…Plucking the eye balls of ones brother to achieve greater power was utterly ridiculous.
Thankfully that wasn't what happened. Sasuke's brows furrowed as he played the last moments in his mind.
Itachi staggered towards him, bloodied and beaten as Sasuke's eyes widened. He was trapped. He had no way of escaping what would happen next. As Itachi's hand drew closer, his eyes widened, bracing himself for the inevitable…only to feel nothing but a small amount of pressure hit the middle of his forehead.
Sasuke starred into his brother's eyes, confusion replacing the fear. Itachi's mouth curved into a smile…such a familiar smile…that smile he use to always give him when he was seven…
"Sorry Sasuke…" Itachi managed to say, his words calm and even, despite his condition. "There won't be a next time…"
Sasuke continued to stare on silently as his brother's hand fell from his forehead. Eyes filled with a mysterious sense of happiness, pride, and relief gazed back into his own before slowly becoming unfocused, as the life drained away from them. His smile faded a bit, but was still there none-the-less. With that, the rain slowed as Uchiha Itachi collapsed on the ground, right by his feet.
Sasuke looked down at his brother with wide eyes, a mix of emotions racing through his mind, before he too fell to the ground as his world became dark.
Sasuke frowned as his eyes focused back to the wooden planks above his bunk. Many questions continued to pop up the more he thought about that fight…Especially with the unexpected last moments that led to Itachi's death.
Why was he smiling? Why did he seem happy that he was dying? Why does it feel like I'm missing something…
It was those last seconds that the Itachi he once knew as his loving and caring older brother had returned…only to disappear forever…
Will I ever understand any of this? Sasuke asked himself…until a light bulb in his head went off. Sasuke sat up, his eyes widened as an idea formed.
Itachi was alive here, and being how he had his memories intact, why not just ask?! Why stop at just the fight, either? Why not get the truth out of Itachi once and for all!
Sasuke gave himself a light smack to the forehead. All this time the answers were right before him. With the questions still fresh in his mind, Sasuke scooted off the bed, and rushed out the door.
It's about time I get some answers!
--
Sakura clenched and unclenched her fists as she walked alongside the elder Uchiha. They hadn't spoken a word since leaving the lake and now an irritating silence was looming over them.
Curse Uchihas and their anti social ways, she thought to herself as she glanced at Itachi, who took no notice of Sakura's stiff being.
"Sasuke…" Itachi muttered under his breathe.
"Huh?"
They both looked ahead where the younger Uchiha was running towards the two, his eyes locked onto Itachi, a determined expression set on his face.
"Itachi!" Sasuke said as soon as he was close. The three stopped in the middle of the pathway, Team Seven's cabin within view.
Itachi raised a dark eyebrow at his brother, waiting for whatever it was Sasuke needed to say. Sasuke's gaze flickered at Sakura's for a split second before returning to Itachi's.
"I need some questions answered…alone."
Sakura ignored the pang in her chest as Sasuke said the words in a bitter and cold demanding tone. She looked away feeling increasingly unwanted. She began to take a few steps away from the two when an arm grabbed her by the hood of the sweat shirt she was wearing and pulled her back.
"What is it that you need answered?" Itachi asked calmly, yet his hand was still grasping Sakura's hood while she awkwardly stood next to him again. She let her head fall downward, her green eyes glaring at the pebbles beneath her feet. She could feel Sasuke's stare on her…she could only imagine his expression…he was probably pissed…
"Alone." He stated pointedly. Sakura mentally flinched. Yep. He was.
"No."
"Why not?"
Itachi now let go of his hold on Sakura and crossed his arms, and amused look reflecting in his crimson orbs.
"I don't feel like it."
Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed as he stared at his brother…what a strange person he has become…or maybe he was this strange all along. The fact that he didn't know Itachi as well as he thought took Sasuke off guard. The raven haired teen shook off his thoughts and glared at Itachi.
"It's about that night…and the fight."
Sasuke noticed the acknowledgement and interest that arose in Itachi's eyes as he said this.
"Go on."
Sasuke then looked at Sakura. Itachi looked over as well, just as Sakura looked up to meet their gaze.
"I'll be going to get changed now…" Sakura stated, once more walking away from the two. Itachi frowned.
"Look what you did, you scared her away." Itachi reprimanded as he snatched Sakura's hood and pulled her back again. Sasuke frowned as well.
"Why do you insist she be here?"
"In case you faint…I don't want to have to carry you back to your cabin…" With that Itachi began to walk to the woods, away from the public view, pulling Sakura along with him. Sasuke gave Itachi a confused look but followed.
Once Itachi seemed satisfied that they were in a good enough place, he stopped and turned his attention back to Sasuke.
"Sakura, you should know of the Uchiha massacre, where I went on a killing spree among my own kinsmen to test my capabilities and then left Sasuke to live a pathetic existence and force him into a quest of revenge on behalf of the Uchiha Clan."
Sakura remained quiet. Of course she knew, she did research on it when Sasuke left, being how she wanted to better understand why he was so determined to kill his brother. She found out the massacre, details, and the only motive Konoha ANBU could find behind it. According to records, Itachi had fallen victim to insanity. Despite this, she was still a bit taken aback at how bluntly Itachi stated it.
Itachi continued.
"And the fight between me and Sasuke, where he killed me."
Sakura nodded slightly, recalling when Zetsu had reported such to Tobi.
"What you probably didn't know was that during that fight, I was able to free Sasuke of Orochimaru's control as well as the Cursed Seal."
That definitely was news. Sakura's eyes widened as her eyes snapped over to Sasuke. Sasuke…is finally free from the cursed sea?l! He is free…from that pain and nightmare…
Sakura tucked the information to the back of her mind to process later. It wouldn't be good if she started to get emotional over that now.
"I want to know the reason you did it." Sasuke said. He was starring his brother down with Sharingan eyes, his fists at his side were clasped tightly.
"Did what?"
"Everything! Why did you choose power over your own family? Why did you remove the cursed seal? Why were you happy to die by my hand?"
Sasuke glared furiously at his brother, his temper having made his face red with anger and frustration. His brother, on the other hand, looked upon Sasuke calmly, emotionlessly as Sakura studied the both of them, wondering if a fight would emerge.
"Well go ahead, Itachi, why don't you explain. The truth." All three turned their heads as a new voice broke through the scene. Sakura and Sasuke gave him a confused looked while Itachi's aura seemed to darken.
The voice belonged to none other than Tobi, the orange masked wannabe Akatsuki, and he now stood above them in a tree.
Itachi turned his full body to face Tobi, a frown sprawled upon his lips.
Sasuke cannot know the truth.
Tobi ignored the displeased look Itachi sent him as he hopped down and stood before them. His attention turned to Sasuke as he moved towards the younger Uchiha.
"You see Sasuke…I am one of yo--!" Right as Tobi had revealed his Sharingan to Sasuke, Amaterasu blasted towards him. Tobi quickly dodged, the flame grazing his shoulder as he did so, and looked at Sasuke. Sasuke's hand automatically went to his left eye, blood dripping in the form of tears. Sakura gasped, noticing the mangekyou in his eye.
Tobi started to chuckle and glanced over at Itachi.
"So you have managed to implant Amaterasu in Sasuke's eye, hmm? Way to think ahead, Itachi…"
Now all eyes were on Itachi as the man gritted his teeth.
"You've told him a false story during the fight, to make sure if he ever met me, he'd not trust me. And then, you even went this far ahead, to protect him if he were to see my sharingan…All to prevent him from learning the truth, Itachi? What a stubborn person you are…"
Sasuke growled.
"What's going on? Will someone explain?" Sasuke barked, his hand wiping away the blood, and his eye returning to its normal state of Sharingan.
"Someone's ready for a history lesson" Tobi commented. Sasuke glared back at Tobi, who then sat down.
"Well, sit, this is going to take a while."
Sakura looked at the two brothers, hesitant. Sasuke continued to glare at Tobi, but he no longer was angry. Instead, Sasuke's curiosity got the best of him and he began to sit down. Itachi didn't budge though.
"Nothing needs to be explained." Itachi said.
"It won't matter, Itachi. The truth would only hurt Konoha's reputation, but lucky for you it doesn't look like we'll be returning to the shinobi realm anytime soon."
Although this was true, Itachi still felt it was unnecessary for Sasuke to learn of the Uchiha's shameful past. Despite this, with the circumstances they were under now, he had to reconsider his opinions…Would it be foolish to try to stop Tobi? With Tobi here, there was about no other choice…if Sasuke wanted to know, he was about to find out now.
Itachi, defeated, sat down and Sakura quickly joined him as Tobi sighed.
"Given up, I see…smart choice. Either way he would have learned. I was seeking him out once he had defeated you, with the condition he happened to be in at the time, it would take no effort to capture him."
Itachi did nothing but glare at Tobi. There's was nothing more he could do.
"My own plans of getting revenge on Konoha are at an abrupt halt. Without the shinobi realm, my goals are useless. So there is no threat in telling the truth, whether or not Sasuke chooses to be on my side is meaningless."
For now, Itachi added. Though, since he himself was present, he would be able to influence Sasuke's decision as well. If Sasuke thought Tobi was right, he could easily convince Sasuke otherwise.
"Well, it all started during a war…"
"HEEEEEEEEEEY TEME!!"
Everyone's eyes landed on an orange clad boy who had sprung out of nowhere from the trees and right onto Sasuke's back. The younger Uchiha let out a yelp, before throwing the blonde off him.
"Ouch!"
"What the hell, Naruto!?" Sakura snapped. The idiot obviously had no idea what kind of major life-changing epic moment was going on before he interrupted. Sakura glanced at Tobi and Itachi.
Itachi looked almost relieved while Tobi…well…the mask kind of hid whatever the man could be feeling…
"BUT THE BONFIRE IS GOING TO START, DATTEBAYO! YOU HAVE TO COME AND START IT, TEMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! HOW ELSE WILL WE ROAST MARSHMELLOWS?!"
The four shinobi gave Naruto blank stares.
"Well, that sounds delicious. Let's go." Itachi stated emotionlessly, taking a hold of Sakura's arm and pulling her along with him. Sakura, kind of confused, let herself be pulled along.
"tch!" Sasuke glared at his brother, stalking behind them and soon the only one left was Tobi…
"Well that's unfortunate…" Tobi said aloud. He sighed and started to get up, walking away to his own cabin. It seems this conversation would have to be finished later…
--
Naruto lead the two Uchihas and Sakura towards a huge stack of fire logs in a clearing. A bunch of thick logs surrounded the pile for a campfire setting.
"Here ya go, teme! Light 'em up, dattebayo!"
Sasuke gave Naruto a sour look.
"Oh come on….how about for Sakura-chan? I bet you'd do it for her, huh?"
Sakura groaned.
"Naruto, you are such an idiot…"
Behind team seven stood Itachi who looked on at the bickering trio with boredom. The older Uchiha backed away from them, slowly walking back to the cabins.
There is nothing I can do. Now that Sasuke knows Tobi has information, he will go back to the pest and demand he tell him all he knows...what could I do to prevent that?
Itachi's question was left unanswered as he almost ran into a tall dark figure. The said object let out a deep chuckle.
"Distracted much?"
"Shut up, Kisame" Itachi snapped, walking past the blue hued man and into their cabin. Kisame only chuckled some more as he followed him inside.
"Do you think we got any locks in this cabin?"
Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"It doesn't take a genius to figure out Kakuzu is already plotting to steal away my money. That bastard…"
"Don't waste my time with such nonsense…I need my rest…speaking of rest, you'll need plenty of it if you expect to do a decent job as a lifeguard tomorrow…"
"Oh yeah…Almost forgot about that…"
Itachi stripped off his clothes and put on a tee shirt and long black sweatpants. Climbing into his bunk, he gave Kisame a smirk.
"Don't forget to wake up at 6 a.m. either."
"…Oh fish sticks…"
--
Icha-chan: End of Chapter Six!
Naruto: LAAAAAAAAAAAME! WE DIDN'T EVEN ROAST THE MARSHMELLOWS YET, DATTEBAYO!
Sasuke: would you stop screaming, dobe? You're making everyone go deaf.
Naruto: Oh, still in a pissy mood, I see. Too bad, Sasuke-teme STILL hasn't gotten any action yet, has he?
Sakura: PLEASE stop talking about that…jeez! –hides face in hands-
Naruto: BUT IT'S TRUE! HE'S ANXIOUS TO REPRODUCE, DATTEBAYO!!
Sasuke: And you just have a death wish!
Naruto: See he admits it! AH! –dodges kunai-
Sasori: Why…why are we in the same anime as these losers?
Deidara: Because they make us look good, yeah.
Sasori: …jeez. Anywho…-holds up script and coughs- Reviews are love. Thanks for reading.
Deidara: Oh, before I forget, danna….I believe one of our readers asked you out, yeah!
Sasori: …in that case…Sorry. I'm dead.
Deidara: tsk tsk tsk, Sasori-no-danna, you are clearly alive and well…
Sasori: ...
Deidara: oh…right…I get it…you're gay!
Sasori: -sighs- yes…that must be it…
Sakura: Thanks again to all the reviewers from last chapter! Here is the long-awaited update! Icha-chan will NOT be repeating the disappearing jutsu again, so please update to give her more of a reason to update faster!
Itachi: that and I won't mangekyou you…
Kisame: And you can get a tee shirt! SAVE THE WHALES, YO!
Itachi: will you ever stop saying that?
Kisame: pft! When pigs fly!
Naruto: ew, why is Tonton here?! -punts pig into air-
Itachi: …well wouldn't you know…
Kisame: …that didn't count.