Chapter Seven

"Why the hell isn't this… BOX opening!" Itachi half screamed into the cave. He had been trying for the last hour with every kind of box opening jitsu he could think of.

"It won't open because of the type of lock." Said a deep voice from behind Itachi.

"Hallo Kisame. I wondered when you'd bother to come out and say you were here." Itachi said turning around to face his old Akatsuki team mate.

"Still haven't lost your touch in knowing when you were being watched."

"Well with you, you could burn a hole into someone's back, you just keep staring at them so it's no wonder that I knew you were there."

Kisame scowled at him. "And you're still as smug as you always were."

"Which is just as well otherwise I wouldn't be were I am today."

"And just where are you Itachi. Our leader wasn't please to find you gone one morning. But we knew better than to try to kill you. Though you seem weaker than the last time I saw you."

Itachi suddenly felt a quick flash of fear in his gut. Which he quickly hid with a smirk. "I was hunting Orochimaru. Still am actually."

"What, he too quick for you? I remember when he was still part of the Akatsuki you challenge him just because you were the only person who could defeat him. Or did a pink haired kunoichi soften you up to much, hm?" Kisame immediately regretted his words because suddenly Itachi's fist had slammed into his eye. 'That's gonna bruise' Kisame thought to himself after he hit the ground. Itachi may have lost some stamina but not an ounce of his strength. "Hit a nerve did I Itachi?" Once again Kisame regretted his words, but this time Itachi's fist hit Kisame square in the jaw.

"I'd shut up from now on if I were you Kisame-kun, yeah." A blond girl-looking Akatsuki cloak wearing person said dropping out of a tree.

"Shut up Deidara. You weren't meant to follow me."

"Oh so because I look like a girl I have to stay at headquarters, yeah?"

"You have to stay at headquarters because you are a girl." Kisame once again regretted his words, though it was Deidara who hit him this time, in the other eye.

"Not very popular today are we Kisame." Itachi said smoothly.

"Shut up! He just can't take a joke."

"So you going to tell me what's in this box or what?" Itachi asked turning to Deidara.

"It's your Akatsuki cloak, and also one for Sakura-chan, since she's pregnant our leader is willing to accept her, yeah." Deidara answered.

"Only because she pregnant?" Itachi said warily.

"Also because she one hell of a healer, yeah. But you knew I was going to say than didn't you? Yeah?"

"What ever Deidara. She's not joining and I'm not coming back."

"We could help you get Orochimaru, Itachi." Kisame said before Deidara could.

"If I remember correctly, the last time you tried to help me kill Orochimaru he got away more times than we got to fight with him."

"So we had a few miscalculations, yeah."

"So what, everyone makes mistakes Itachi."

"Not that many, Sasori." Itachi said greeting the last speaker.

"Sasori-danna!" Deidara squealed jumping on to his friend. Sasori pushed him off smoothly and turned to face Itachi again.

"You and your future wife would be a great gain for the Akatsuki. It would give us the power we need to finally defeat Orochimaru." Sasori said.

"No Sasori."

"Please Itachi, yeah." Deidara piped in with his best puppy dog eyes ever.

There was a long pause as Itachi looked from member to member, before he said "Open the box."

Sasori walked over to the box smoothly. He bend down and unlocked it quickly. He stepped back as Itachi stepped forward, opened the lid and pulled out his old Akatsuki cloak and a slightly smaller one which he guessed was for Sakura. He just stared at them for about five minutes before he turned to face Sasori. "I'm going to go back to Konoha and talk it over with Sakura. I'll meet you back here in a week with our decision." Folding the cloaks and placing them in his bag he quickly got out of there leaving them to try and figure out what Sakura's and his decision would be.

"Think he'll say yes, Sasori?" Kisame asked.

"Only if the kunoichi says yes. But if he wants it bad enough…" Sasori trailed off.

"Think he'll be able to convince her, yeah, Sasori-danna?"

"Maybe Deidara, maybe. We'll just have to come back here in a week's time." With that he disappeared in a cloud off smoke, Kisame and Deidara followed suit.

A bit further away Itachi was trying to figure out what he would say to Naruto about why he came back without Orochimaru's head on a silver platter. 'At least I'll be able to see Sakura' he thought.