Chapter 5: Akatsuki

"What do we do?" Naruto asked, turning to Gaara.

"Why are you asking me?" He replied angrily.

"Because you won the vacation, so you're the leader." Naruto pleaded.

"That's a bad excuse," Gaara paused, "But okay."

"Alright," Sasuke looked towards Gaara, "what is it you want us to do?"

"We will eat a little bit, and then we will go to the other side of the island. This island looks dangerous, so don't put you guard down for an instant." He instructed.

"Okay, now let's eat!" Kankuro sat down on the ground and began to scarf down the eatable contents of his hat. Everyone else shrugged and began to eat with him.

After eating for an hour, they decided they were going to leave. Kankuro took the excess items from his hat and put them away where they first belonged. Chouji also had a large amount of food with him, but was saving that for if and when they really needed it. They all got prepared and started their quest. It was late morning by then, and the clouds still hung low. So low, in fact, the fog was so thick they couldn't see 5 meters in front of them.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm totally freaked out!" Sakura latched herself onto Sasuke's arm.

"Get off." He pushed her away unemotionally.

"Shikamaru, I'm scared!" Ino grabbed his arm and quickly received a harsh kick to the shin. She fell onto the ground holding her leg. She looked up at who did that to her, "Temari? Why did you kick me?"

"I had a feeling Shikamaru didn't like that very much." She shrugged.

"She's right," Shikamaru agreed, "that was troublesome."

"Was it necessary to kick me?" She complained.

"No," Temari replied, "but I wanted to."

"Fine, be that way!" Ino yelled, scurrying over to Sasuke, "Sasuke-kun!"

"There are two of them!" He yelled as Ino and Sakura attached to him like leeches. He tried to push them off but they were clamped on tight. He reached into his small beige fanny-pack and pulled out a small transparent glass bottle with a lid that was a cork on a chain, attached to the bottle. He pried the lip off with his teeth and threw the liquid into the air. The spray coved all three of them. Ino and Sakura let go of him instantly.

"It burns!" They screamed. Everyone could hear the liquid burning and sizzling as it hit the girls. As it hit Sasuke, however, it made slight sizzling noises when it landed on the places the girls touched, but no where else.

"What is this stuff?" Sakura screamed, in pain.

"Holy water." Sasuke said, glowing with pride. The fog cleared up above him and shone a bright yellow-orange light that illuminated him.

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped into the light and it was instantly gone.

"Come on, hurry up." Gaara said over his shoulder. He had been in front, leading them, the entire way. Everyone nodded and followed after him.

It had been a few hours now, the sky was getting a little darker and everyone was tired, hungry, and bored. The fog had cleared up by now and the rain had slowed. All seemed calm, but not for long. There was a rustling in the bushes, and then something suddenly burst out.

"A bear!?" Naruto hollered.

"What do we do?" Lee asked loudly. The bear's growling and roaring was loud enough to deafen them.

"Everyone stay clam and-" Sasuke was cut of by Naruto.

"I know what to do!" He yelled.

Quickly he grabbed a bag of Doritos 'Sweet Chili Heat' Chouji had in his hand. He held a chip out in front of him. Out of nowhere, Kiba held up three signs around the chip, one on every side that said 'Bold', 'Hot', or 'Sweet'.

"There are three sides to Doritos' new Sweet Chili Heat," Kiba said to no one in particular, "which will you play with?"

Naruto brought the chip to his mouth and took a bite, "Bold." The walked over to the roaring bear and held his finger up to it, "No, that's enough." The bear didn't stop growling. "It's getting bold out." He said as he tilted his head up and to the side. The bear continued to growl. It swiped its claws across Naruto's chest, flinging him back.

"Uh, there are three side to Doritos' new Sweet Chili Heat," Kiba repeated, "which will you play with?"

Naruto reached back into the chip bag and ate another, "Hot." He ran back over to the bear and waved his arms at it. "It's hot, HOT!" he swatted his back with his hands, "Stop, drop, and roll, stop, drop, and roll!" He fell on the floor and rolled around. The bear roared louder and grabbed Naruto's shirt with its teeth and threw him into a tree. "What's the matter," He said, getting up and brushing himself off, "can't take the heat?"

"Once more!" Kiba commanded.

"Sweet." Naruto ate another chip and strolled over to the bear. He picked up a blade of grass and brought it to his mouth, trying to play it like an instrument. Nothing was happening, however. Suddenly Sasuke kicked the bear in the back of the neck, knocking it unconscious. "Sweet dreams," Naruto petted it, "misunderstood giant."

"Can we just leave?" Gaara asked, irritated.

"Did you guys see the way I handled that bear?" Naruto beamed.

"I-it was great Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly.

"What about me?" Kiba asked, grinning.

"Y-you were okay too, Kiba." She said quietly.

"Hurry up, it's getting late; I can't wait for you forever." Sasuke groaned.

"Coming!" Naruto and Kiba yelled together as they ran to catch up to everyone else.

"Neji," Tenten walked out of the forest dragging multiple branches with her, "I have the branches. Where are you?"

"Here." He said from behind a tree.

She carried them with her and walked to where Neji was. There were many vines all laid out on the ground. She put the long sturdy branched with them, relieved she was no longer supporting the heavy things.

"What do we do now?" She asked.

"I think we should build the shelter on the beach; it's pretty windy here and there are a lot of fallen trees, we wouldn't like being crushed by some would we?" Neji said grabbing some vines.

"Right." She agreed and helped him carry everything onto the beach. The branches and vines were wet because of the rain, but she was already wet so she wasn't so concerned.

After about an hour the shelter was built. They gathered supplies they may need and set multiple traps incase of danger. It was already night and the sky was pitch black. They were both starving and tired. Neji was going to try and start a fire; if he could find any dry logs in the forest. Tenten, meanwhile, kept herself entertained while Neji was gone by scraping a drawing on a rock with a kunai inside their shelter. She grinned at her accomplishment.

"Hello, Neji." She stared at the rock she carved on. It had the caged bird curse seal on its forehead, Byakugan eyes, and a very wide grin; for some reason. "How are you today?" She raised it to her ear, "Really? You think I'm pretty? Thanks." She giggled, "You love me? I love you too!" She brought it closer to her lips and was about to kiss it when a bolt of lightning flashed behind her and she saw the shadow of someone standing behind her. She spun around, "Neji, how did it go? Did you get any wood?" She was nervous and spoke quickly.

"Um, I didn't find any but I got some fruit. I didn't mean to interrupt." He raised his eyebrow questioningly.

"You didn't, I was just, uh, sharpening my kunai!" She held the kunai knife up to him.

"Okay…" He stepped inside and handed her an apple.

"There are apples around here?" She asked.

"Yes," He replied, "along with many others."

"Thank you." She smiled sweetly. He replied with a nod.

They ate for a few minutes and decided to go to bed and hope the others would find them soon. It was freezing cold out and the wind blew harshly. They were still soaking wet and were lying on a bunch of large leaves. It may have been a small and faulted shelter, but it was the best they could do under such circumstances. Neji lay facing the wall with his back to Tenten. He was still wide awake and stared at the wall. He knew she was awake, too, her breathing was uneven and she was moving restlessly.

"Neji," she whispered, "I'm cold."

He knew what she was doing. In his spare time he read romance novels, and he had read enough of them to understand what she was going to suggest. It was always the same: the girl would say she was cold, the guy would agree, and they would resort to cuddling together and sharing body heat.

"Here." He turned around slipped his shirt off and slipped it over her head, "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled, "Are you going to be warm enough?"

"I'll be fine." He spun back over and sighed in relief.

"If you get cold," She whispered in his ear, "This shirt is pretty big…"

"I'm perfectly fine." He said shut his eyes and moved closer to the wall. He shivered, feeling the cold wind blow over him. The thought to himself.

Fate, why do you always put me in such predicaments?

"How far do you think we've gone?" Sasuke asked Gaara.

"I'm not entirely sure; this guy slowed us down a lot so it's hard to be sure." He looked back at Naruto and watched him trip multiple times and drag others down with him.

"Hey, bro," Kankuro looked over at Gaara, "I think we should make camp."

"Why did you call me 'bro'?" Gaara asked.

"I don't know; you're my bro." Kankuro grinned as Gaara sweat dropped.

"Can we please just stop and go to sleep or something? I'm tired." Shikamaru yawned.

"Fine." Gaara clapped his hands together. Sand surrounded everyone and created a very large dome. There was no light inside, however, so Kankuro had to turn on the flashlight he had in his hat.

"I'll go outside and stand guard." Gaara stated, leaving. He sat on the top on the dome, outside, with only a small sheet of sand hovering over his head. He sighed. It was lonely being him, especially because of his insomnia. To pass the time, he would usually sing to himself. And that's precisely what he did, "What is courage? Is it brave? What are lions? I've only seen them in parades. How is love supposed to read, in a footnote of history?" He sang as he looked up at the dark, cloudy skies, "What's a tap on your shoulder, that you're afraid to look over? A soldier's down in a fire fight. No one can look me in the eye." He sang louder, thinking no one would hear, "This is what it means to be alone."

Gaara thought that his dome was soundproof, but that little sheet of sand he used to keep himself dry opened a small hole in the side of the sandy fortress. Everyone sat inside listening to the beautiful music that traveled through the small hole. They knew it was Gaara, but it sounded nothing like him. The dryness of his throat was gone, the scratchiness of his voice, too. His voice was complimented by the soft sound of rain hitting the sides of the dome and the otherwise silence of the night.

"Tear out my heart. Feed it to lions. For this one wish I beg you this tonight, show me no mercy, but spare me my pride. I'm going for a drive." Gaara sang, "And if you find out he's coming home, when I come around the corner. I'll know that it's alright. Just leave me two lights."

The night went quickly. Gaara sang on the top of the sand dome while the others fell asleep listening to his voice. During the night, Gaara had gathered some fruit from nearby; making sure not to stray too far.

"GOOD MORNING KONO- I mean FRIENDS!" Naruto yelled as he woke up. He was never really an early riser, unless someone pushed him awake. This someone was Gaara.

"We have to go soon, hurry and eat breakfast and we'll leave right away." Gaara commanded as he woke the remaining couple of people who had not been awakened by the screaming of Naruto.

Everyone who was awake nodded as they helped wake up the rest. After everyone was woken up they had their breakfast. The fruits were very tasty and very juicy, but Chouji and Kankuro preferred eating their bags of chips and chocolate bars. In a matter of minutes, everything Gaara had collected had been consumed and it was time to leave.

"Why is it so dark?" Shikamaru complained as they began walking.

"Because the sun hasn't even come up yet, and storm clouds are everywhere." Temari explained, sounding drowsy.

"How long do you think it'll take to reach the other side?" Sasuke asked Gaara.

"I don't know; probably not too long." He said looking at the sky.

"I-I could see if I can see them with my Byakugan…" Hinata suggested.

"Great idea Hinata!" Naruto and Kiba said together.

"T-thanks…" She did a few hand signs then forced her chakra to her eyes, creating veins on her temples, "Byakugan!" she looked forward and smiled, "It's not too far ahead; I can see the beach."

"Alright! Nice work Hinata!" Naruto jumped up and down with joy

"Let's hurry and get them so we can go back to the good side of the island; the rain is really heavy here." Ino whined, soaking wet.

"YEAH!" Naruto tried to jump as high as he could, but slipped on a wet rock and fell flat of his back.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata rushed to his aid, "Medicine!" She handed him a small container of medical ointment.

"No thanks Hinata, I'm fine!" He rose to his feet and posed, but was instantly struck by lightning. "Uh…" He managed to groan, "I'll take that medicine now, please."

"Move it, loser." Sasuke said over his shoulder.

"O-okay…" Naruto stood up slowly and followed Sasuke and the rest of them.

It took them about 30 minutes to reach the beach through the dense fog and pounding rain; which only got worse as they reached the beach. They saw a very small hut-like-thing made of wood and vines built on the beach. They heard a small whimper and turned around, only to see Naruto hanging upside-down from a tree by a vine.

"Damn it!" He cursed.

"Get down, loser." Sasuke spat, throwing a kunai knife at the vine, cutting it.

"Look at this thing," Gaara referred to the wooden shelter, "you think they're in there?"

"I believe so!" Lee said hopefully.

Lee grabbed Kankuro's flashlight, ran around the hut, and stopped at the door, which was facing the sea. Lee looked inside and froze, he looked stunned. Only a small grunt escaped his lips before he fell backwards. Everyone looked at each other questioningly, and then ran where Lee was. Sasuke grabbed the flashlight out of Lee's hand and shone it inside. Neji and Tenten were still sleeping. Neji had no shirt, but Tenten had two, and she was spooning him. There was virtually no space between Neji's back and Tenten's chest.

"N-Neji?" Hinata whispered to her sleeping cousin inside the hut.

"Mmm…" He groaned. His eyes flickered and opened. He looked at everyone at the entrance, confused, "What are you all doing here?"

"We came looking for you, and I have to say, I wasn't expecting this." Naruto grinned and laughed.

"What?" Neji lowered his eyebrows. He suddenly felt and arm draped over him. He grabbed it, moved it, and sat up quickly, "Oh."

"Where's your shirt, buddy?" Kankuro mocked.

"Shut it." He growled angrily.

"Neji," Tenten whined, still sleeping, "come back to bed…"

"Wake up." He commanded.

"Hmm?" She sat up and looked at everyone, wiping sleep from her eyes tiredly, "Oh, you finally found us."

"Yes, and if you don't mind, you're going to have to come with us back to the other side of the island; it's much dryer." Gaara said crossing his arms.

"Yeah, okay." Neji agreed, standing up.

"Oh, Neji, here's your shirt." Tenten said handing it to him. He nodded awkwardly and put it on.

They began walking. The rain seemed to be slowing, and the fog had cleared up quite a bit. The sun had risen but the day was still dark, thanks to the clouds. Kankuro was grinning and staring at Neji.

"What do you want?" Neji asked.

"I just wanted to know…" Kankuro's smile grew, "While you were in that hut thing, did you and that girl… You know?" he raised and lowered his eyebrows repetitively.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"Did you… you know…" Kankuro nodded. Neji just stared at him blankly. He whistled, but still Neji didn't understand. He growled, made a noise like an injured cat, thrust his pelvis while saying "ah-oo-gah", fell on the ground, rolled around, and knocked on the ground with his fist. "You know!" Kankuro yelled desperately.

"I have no idea what you're trying to say. Us Hyuga's don't get out much." Neji said still trying to comprehend what was happening.

"Did you… Read her book? Turn on her light? Open her door? Spin her wheels? Rock her boat? Bounce her ball? Pump up her volume? Play her game? Ignite her flame? Love her handles?" Kankuro smiled.

"I still don't know what you're saying." Neji continued to stare blankly at him.

"Did you two have sex?" Gaara said walking past them, clearing everything up for Neji.

"What? No, we only slept together." Neji stated.

"Slept together, huh?" Kankuro winked, "Way to go, stud." He laughed and walked off.

"Hn…" Neji grunted.

Fortunately, the rain had almost completely stopped. Neji, Sasuke, and Gaara were walking in the front, guiding the way; since Neji has his Byakugan, Gaara has his sand, and Sasuke has his Sharingan. The sun had risen hours ago by now. It was late afternoon, but not cold. It was pretty warm, but very dark.

"There's a cave up ahead." Neji stated, using his Byakugan to see farther than the others.

"Should we go towards it?" Sasuke asked.

"Hmm…" Neji inspected it further, "There seems to be inhabitants."

"How many?" Gaara questioned.

"There appears to be 10," He replied, "and they're human, more or less."

"What are you guys talking about up here?" Naruto yelled, running up to them.

"There's a cave." Sasuke informed him.

"Hey guys, they've found a cave!" Naruto screamed at the rest of them. Neji, Sasuke, and Gaara all slapped their foreheads.

"Be quiet." Sasuke commanded.

"Why?" Naruto yelled.

"Because there are people inside and we don't know if they're friendly." He explained.

"Oh." Naruto scratched the back of his head, "So what do we do?"

"Let's go closer." Neji said walking in the direction of the cave. The others followed.

They stood behind a small rock next to the entrance of the cave, remaining hidden. There was a lot of noise coming from inside; it sounded like music and laughing. Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. They heard footsteps coming closer.

"Why do I have to take out the trash?" A male voice said from inside.

"I know I've heard that voice before." Sasuke whispered quietly.

"Because I did it last time, it's your turn!" A second, scratchier male voice stated from further inside the cave.

"Fine!" The first voice sounded annoyed and continued to mutter. The speaker came into view, finally, carrying a black bag of garbage over one shoulder.

"YOU!" Sasuke jumped out from behind the rock and pointed at him. Everyone else came out from behind the rock and looked at the man standing before them.

"Oh," The man looked at him and smiled, "hello Sasuke."

"Itachi..." Sasuke frowned.

Itachi was much taller than Sasuke. His hair was black and done up in a ponytail. He was wearing a black cloak with little red clouds in some areas. His eyes were probably black like Sasuke's, but now they were in Sharingan state; red with three black dots around the edges. He also had deep wrinkles beside his nose that begin near his eyes. His forehead protector had the sign of the Leaf.

"Are you still upset about what happened all those years ago?" Itachi frowned.

"YES! How could I not be?" He fumed.

"The family had it coming." Itachi shrugged.

"So you killed them all?" Sasuke yelled angrily.

"Yes. Now, Sasuke, introduce me to all your friends." He waved to them.

"Itachi," The scratchy voice said coming to the entrance, "who are you talking to?"

"Kisame, this is my little brother I told you about." Itachi pointed to Sasuke.

"Nice to meet you." Kisame grinned.

Kisame seemed to resemble a shark. His skin had a weird blue tint, he had very small beady eyes, and cut-like streaks on his upper cheeks that may have been gills. He was also very tall with deep blue hair. He had a very wide, toothy grin. He wore the same cloak as Itachi did and had a sword wrapped in bandages on his back. His forehead protector had the sign of the Hidden Mist.

"Sasuke," Itachi looked over at him, "this is my partner, Kisame."

"Partner?" Sasuke looked disgusted, "You're gay?"

"What? No, he's my partner in an organization we are in called the Akatsuki. The rest of us are inside, would you like to meet them?" Itachi asked.

"No, I want to kill you!" Sasuke yelled.

"You can't at your current level." He shook his head.

"One day I will. ONE DAY!" Sasuke cried.

"Come on, why don't you tell me all your friends' names, then we can all go inside the cave and meet my friends." Itachi suggested.

"Fine…" Sasuke pointed to Naruto "Uzumaki Naruto," He continued pointing to people as he said their names, "Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Rock Lee, Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Sabaku no Gaara, Temari, Kankuro…" Sasuke bit his lip trying to remember a name.

"Tenten." She said, annoyed.

"Right… and that's all of them." Sasuke stated.

"What about me?" Chouji asked, his mouth full of food.

"Oh, yeah, and Akimichi Chouji." Sasuke corrected.

"Itachi," A very feminine person with a deep voice came out of the cave, "it takes you quite a long time to take out the trash."

"Deidara, this is my younger brother and some of his friends." Itachi said.

Deidara looked very different from Itachi and Kisame. His voice was definitely a guy's, but his appearance was different. He had blonde hair that was covering half of his face and the rest done up in a pony tail on the top of his head. His forehead protector has the sign of the Rock.

"Oh, nice to meet you. Kisame, have you seen Larry?" Deidara asked.

"You mean the bear? Nope." Kisame shrugged.

"Larry? Larry?" Deidara called into the woods.

"Shut up woman, your goddamn bear isn't coming!" A voice said from Deidara's direction.

"I'm not a woman!" He yelled at his right hand.

"What's that… person's damage?" Naruto asked Kisame.

"He looks like a girl, but I'm pretty sure he's a guy. And he has a mouth in each of his hands." Kisame said, annoyed by Naruto.

"Oh." Naruto was a little shocked.

"Anyway, follow me; my friends are inside." Itachi began walking into the cave, followed by Kisame and Deidara. Everyone exchanged glances with each other then followed, cautiously.

They came to a part in the cave where the music was coming from. It was well lit up, lights all around; all different colours. They saw 7 people within the lights. There was a man sitting and praying on a rock, someone playing with puppets, someone with an orange and black mask being used as a footstool by someone who's face couldn't be seen because the lights were far too bright, someone who was smacking at a piñata shaped as a nine tailed fox who's eyes were the only thing visible, someone throwing money and smelling it, and finally there was someone who didn't look like a person at all, they looked more like a venues fly trap with a body; who was line dancing to the music.

"Alright, now," Itachi turned to where Sasuke was supposed to be but there was no one. Itachi looked around and saw nobody. He shrugged, "I guess he had to go." Itachi walked over to the rest of the Akatsuki and began hitting the piñata with a bat.