Wonders and Miracles
Disclaimer: I still have yet to find the legal papers necessary for me to own Naruto. Darn.
Author's Note: I'm so glad everyone's enjoying the story so far and thank you so so much for all the reviews. I'm gonna try to update this story at least twice a week.
Warning: Religious stuff is gonna be all over this story, so if you're gonna get offended, don't tell me about it or don't read it. And if you do tell me about it, don't yell at me.
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"That you may maintain your self-respect, it is better to displease
the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily
please them by doing what you know is wrong."-William J.H. Boetecke
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"They've found us again." Tenten sat with her face in her hands. Her chocolate hair was braided down her back, and when she lifted her head, her caramel eyes were panicked. She was one of the ones that had been caught before, in Paris. Tenten had been one of the lucky ones to escape, a new addition to their group. If Naruto knew anything, it was that while she would fight for her freedom, she might very well not have enough fight left in her.
"Not found." Tsunade corrected, "They just brought in someone else to try their luck. We'll stay here for a week or two; see if this new captain loses any hope."
"That won't be the case." A soft voice spoke from just behind Naruto and Tenten. Both of them jumped a bit and eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and delight at seeing Itachi standing there, his obsidian eyes as quietly comforting as it usually was to them.
Itachi had always been a slender man, even when they'd seen him living with his father. His raven hair was almost always in a ponytail and he liked to wear an odd cloak that he'd found in his travels, one that was entirely black with graceful dusty red clouds on it. Having seen Sasuke so recently and having Itachi in front of him now, Naruto could see the differences a little more clearly. There were lines on Itachi's face that Sasuke didn't have, and a peace to his eyes that Naruto doubted Sasuke would ever obtain. There were a lot of likenesses-Naruto hadn't been lying when he'd told Sasuke that they looked alike- but sometimes he wondered if they'd been close. Itachi certainly seemed to care about his younger brother, but Sasuke seemed to hate the man.
"What's your reasoning for that, Itachi?" Tsunade had long since learned to trust the Uchiha's judgment. Itachi could hear things in his travels that most would never know about until it was too late. Jiraiya was the same, except that the man was currently somewhere in Italy from his last report. He'd said that he wanted to see Venice.
"This new captain, Orochimaru is his name," None of the people assembled missed the slight flinch and fist clenching that Tsunade did, "He nearly eradicated most of the gypsies in Paris. Tenten can tell you, she was there, but he is scarily good at what he does. He loathes all gypsies far beyond the norm. From my observations, Orochimaru is intelligent, methodical and devout in his belief that killing all gypsies is the right thing to do."
Naruto stood up, eyes fiery. "He's just a man though. We should fight him! We have enough knowledge of the city to revolt!"
"Despite that Naruto, he has numbers and power at his command." Tsunade replied.
"So we're supposed to hide here like cowards while he raves the city?!"
Tsunade opened her mouth to answer, but Itachi got there first. "Naruto, Tsunade is right. I agree with you both, but I think a better strategy would be to find out what exactly he has under his command."
"How're we gonna do that?" Kankurou asked from his position leaning on the wall.
Itachi's eyes glanced across the room before settling on Tsunade once again. "Leave it to me."
-?-?-?-?
Itachi stared at his brother's face for the first time in three years. It had matured in his absence, angles sharpening and the childlike chubbiness now flat planes on his cheeks. Sasuke would probably grow to be taller than Itachi at the rate he was growing and the thought made Itachi smile inwardly.
"What're you doing here?" Sasuke hoped his voice sounded angrier than his thoughts.
"Thought you'd be more like your brother, ya know-Someone who actually cared 'bout people like us."
"Why do you think I'm here?"
"Like I'd know! I don't even know how you managed to stay here even for as long as you did. Why would you come back?"
"Because I'm not doing this for me. Is that new captain here?"
Sasuke almost lied and said no, just to spite his brother, but then he remembered that Itachi would have no business with the captain that was his own, and the reason the captain was in town was the gypsies.
"You talked to Naruto and the others?"
Itachi seemed a little surprised. "You know them?"
"Little bit."
"Then you know their predicament."
Sasuke sighed through his nose and replied, "Yeah. He's here. What're you gonna do though? Father has you as a marked fugitive."
"Are you willing to help?"
"What do I have to do?"
"Eavesdrop, something I know you're good at."
-?-?-?-?
Naruto was restless. He'd never been able to stay in one place for very long, even in a place as familiar as their hideout. Shikamaru had suggested finding something to do with his hands when they first moved here. Naruto had found old pain and some bristly brushes in an abandoned room and found himself sitting in front of a wall, brush in hand, painting any scenes that came to mind. It proved to be an excellent distraction and soon the paintings took up an entire wall. A fox crept around one side, tail curling around a city with the word HAVEN written over it in shaky writing. Two panthers, one a little bigger than the other, lounged in enormous trees whose branches stretched across the wall.
Shikamaru came
to sit beside him, observing as color blossomed across the stonework.
Naruto's brush faltered and he looked at the genius. "Are we
gonna be stuck in here forever?"
"Hopefully not.
Itachi'll find a way out of this."
"I know that, but something keeps telling me that this place'll be our cage forever."
"That's the restlessness talking."
We hope it is.
-?-?-?-?
Moonlight filtered through some of the cracks in the ceiling, coming out in varying colors as it passed through the blankets strung around. Naruto sighed and Gaara looked over at him.
"Something wrong?"
"Can't sleep. I'm gonna go for a walk." Naruto replied.
"Don't let the others see you." Naruto smiled slightly at that. Gaara never really protested against plans, simply warned you not to do things.
The blonde nodded and slipped out of the room. The hideout seemed too quiet with everyone asleep. Even sleeping, there was always the sound of someone else's breathing in his own room, so to hear this utter silence felt alien. The clean floors were silent under Naruto's quick feet and he had soon left the hideout.
The blonde had nearly forgotten what fresh air smelled and tasted like. It was so clean and free. The light-skinned people were right about one thing-gypsies didn't do very well inside stone walls. But where to go now with the freedom? He couldn't exactly walk through the streets the way he always did. The new assembly of guards were sure to hang around through the darker parts of the city. There was one place he could go, a place where they really couldn't do anything.
-?-?-?-?
"He's gonna search door-to-door…even the abandoned places." Sasuke reported after returning to his room.
"That doesn't bode very well. The abandoned places are the ones he'll check first." Itachi's eyes were considering some odds in his head before he glanced at the calendar on Sasuke's desk. "It's been almost two days now since Orochimaru got here. I wouldn't be surprised if Naruto had already gotten too restless."
"Would he be that stupid as to go wandering the streets?"
"Probably not. He'll probably have gone to the once safe haven for gypsies in the city."
"The church."