"Aw, so cute," Kendra whispers to herself. She had woken up not too long ago and found Naruto and Sasuke curled up next to each other, close to the unlit fire.
The sun was just peaking over the horizon when she awoke, meaning it was time for the rest to get up and get moving. There's no telling when Fugaku and his soldiers will find them.
She got up and woke the others, getting grumbles and complaints. She sighed to herself, and rolled her eyes. Naruto and Sasuke were the last ones to awaken, with much difficulty, but they awoken without much of a single complaint.
They packed, got ready, Kendra taking a bath in the watering hole, and started out once again towards a new town. They were oblivious of the group of people several miles behind them and Itachi with his soldiers about a few days behind them.
"I'm hungry," Naruto whimpered, Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"We've only been traveling several hours and you're already hungry?" The raven shakes his head when the blond nods. "Fine. I think I have a loaf of bread in my pack. Can you reach into my pack and find it Naruto?"
The dobe nods and reaches behind the raven for the small pack of food. Looking into the bag, he took out half a loaf and began munching on it, kissing the Uchiha as a thank you. Sasuke blushed as Deidara and Kendra smiled from the other camel.
Sasori rolls his eyes from his horse and goes ahead of everyone, not wanting to see anymore lovey-dovey; too tired to be in any kind of mood.
=^-^=
"Ok everyone, we'll split up and ask questions. But their will be no blood spilt," Itachi commanded to his team, saying the last thing directly to Hidan, knowing his intentions. "Move out!"
The small group split, some in pairs, and began asking questions if they've seen a blond boy come through here. Most of them said maybe, others said no, and a small part said yes.
"Do you know where they are?" Itachi asked a small woman who had said yes.
"I'm afraid I don't. They a couple of days ago," the woman replied, looking a little sheepish.
"They? You mean… he's not alone?" The Uchiha's heart fluttered, hoping that she would say yes and say that his brother was with him.
"Of course not. He came into this village with two other men; one being very handsome. Then he left with them with two more people."
"Two more people?"
"He and those two men left with Deidara and Kendra a couple of days after they arrived."
Hearing this made Itachi's heart stop. Kendra's… alive? But Kakuzu said…He suddenly smirked. I have to thank you Kakuzu, even though it doesn't seem like you to be doing this sort of thing. "Which way did they go?"
"They went out the east gate. They should be getting into the next town by late afternoon today," the woman was completely confused of why the Uchiha was suddenly smirking.
"Thank you for your time miss." He bowed before climbing back onto his horse and riding towards the east gate. People moved out of the way as he rode by, cursing and grunting at him.
He rode as fast as he could out of the town and rode out into the prairie, checking for any signs of them being here. He noticed camel and horse tracks in the dirt and they seemed to be several days old.
Itachi kicked his horse in the sides and rode on the trail, following the tracks. He told his team to split up on purpose; he wanted to find them before anyone else did. He couldn't agree with his father's vengeance and neither did anyone else, even Hidan.
He couldn't believe how long it's been since he last saw his brother. He missed Sasuke, even though they were like arch enemies. But what he truly missed was his blond. Itachi missed her every single day. And now, he would finally get to see her again.
He smirked and kicked his horse to go faster, wanting to catch up to his brother and loved one. By the pace he was going, he should be caught up to them by tomorrow in the early morning.
Surly the group must have rode slowly with all their traveling gear and took brakes whenever they were hungry. That just gives the Uchiha enough time to catch up before his team finds out that he's gone.
But he left right after that woman told him where they were headed, so have enough time. He was prepared for anything; except-
Something suddenly whizzed by his head, barely hitting him in the back of the head. He looked around to see if anyone was there, but saw no one. Before he could go on, something hit him right in the thigh, making him yelp in pain.
The Uchiha didn't have enough to really react before a hail of rocks came his way, hitting him everywhere. He used his arm to protect hid head from the small flying stones, kicking his horse to go on and out of the tall grass.
The horse only bucked him off and ran off without him. Itachi groaned and sat up, wishing that he hadn't when his vision began to swim.
Another rock was thrown straight for his head, but he lifted his hand up and caught it, crushing it in his hold.
"Who ever threw that goddamn rock better get out here before I fucking come in there and fish you out." He growled as he heard a rustle come from the tall grass.
He was surprised to see three boys and three girls come out from the grass, slingshots ready. He could almost chuckle at the sight. Five kids threatening him with slingshots? Puh-lease.
"What the fuck was that for?" Itachi hissed, rubbing his bruised side.
"What's an Uchiha doing here? We saw you come from a mile away and hid, if you want to know," the one with redhair blanched back. "Now answer my question."
"I came running when I heard that Sasuke and Naruto came this way." That earned a rock in the shin. "What the fuck!" The Uchiha hissed and clutched his shin.
"You're not going anywhere," the raven haired girl growled, sticking in another rock into her slinger.
"I have to find them! He's my only brother and they have someone that I haven't seen in years! I must find them!" Another rock to the shoulder. "Would you stop that?!"
"Are you going to kill them when you find them?" The bluenette asks, trying to hold in a smirk at the bruised raven.
"Of course not. I need their help in killing my father," Itachi grumbled, trying to ignore his sore body.
They lowered their slingshots and stared at him in confusion. The little pinkette smiled joyously and struggled against the blond girl's hold. But she stopped when the blond gave the little girl look that clearly said she wasn't going anywhere.
"Why?" The redhead was confused and didn't hide it.
"Because, my father has gone crazy and needs to be put under. Six feet under to be exact. Why are you asking anyway, it's not like you know him."
"Of course we know Naruto and Sasuke. We're from the Village Hidden in the Leaf and Naruto brought Sasuke home about a week ago and they left a few days afterwards," the boy with brunette hair up in a ponytail mumbled.
"Wait, you kids were from Naruto's village?" The raven was truly surprised at this. "What are names?"
"Gaara." Redhead.
"Sora." Bluenette.
"Shikamaru." Brunette.
"Hinata." Raven haired girl.
"Ino." Blond.
"Sakura." Pinkette.
"I'm Itachi. When I entered the last village, a small woman said that Naruto and Sasuke came in with another then left with two more. Who was the one they entered with?"
"Some guy named Sasori. He came and warned Naruto that Fugaku was searching for him and Sasuke. Then he left with them," Shikamaru said, looking a little sleepy. "What a drag."
"We must find the others before my team does."
"Team?" Gaara raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, my father and his group of Samurais had destroyed your village while I just stood by and watched. I wasn't able to do anything and didn't want any part of it. I'm sorry about your hometown," Itachi explained, feeling sorry for the last group of people of the Village hidden in the Leaf. "Then he left and left me in charge of them."
"So you left them in the other city?" Sora asks.
"Yes. Right now, they're probably drinking and getting wasted. So they won't notice that I'm gone for a while. That should give us enough time to find the others."
"Us?" The bluenette hisses, getting from the redhead.
"Not again," he grumbles. "Sora?"
"What?"
"Shut up."
Sora grumbles and crosses his arms.
"When do you think we will reach them?" Ino asks, not wanting to be left out.
"If we travel all day and night, only stopping for a few short brake, we should reach them by tomorrow morning; afternoon in the latest," the Uchiha explains.
"Aw man," Shikamaru groans, letting out a tired sigh.
"We should move out." Gaara stands up, helping the raven up back onto his feet, getting a few hisses.
"We should hurry and not waste anymore time," Sora mumbles.
=!_!=
"So you draw back and thrust forward quickly," Sasuke instructed, motioning for the blond girl to try, handing the sword to her. "Now you try."
"Draw back," she mumbles to herself, drawing back, "then thrust forward quickly." She thrust the sword forward, hitting her target (a tree) dead center. "Can you give me a harder one? The ones you've been giving are too easy."
Naruto chuckles as he watched from his perch on the rock next to the river. Deidara was closer to the training group, keeping a close eye on them. Sasori only mumbled to himself and ate his rice.
"Ok then," the raven grumbles. "Try a series of swings with only moving your feet three times towards your target." He started swinging his sword and took three big jumps towards the tree, hitting it dead center. "Now you try."
Kendra took the sword from him, looking at her surrounding. A few trees with less grass next to a river. Not a very pretty resting spot. Looking back at her target, she took a series of swings and took three steps forward, no where near the tree.
Sasuke smirked, but frowned when she suddenly threw the sword and it hit her target directly in the middle. His mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide.
"How did you… what did you….?"
"It's all about math Sasuke," the blond smirked. "I counted the distance between me and the tree and labeled my speed of when I threw the sword. You only swung because you're used to it and took a chance."
"Don't underestimate Kendra and her math," Deidara chuckled
Sasuke grumbled a curse. "Whatever. Let's get going; we took a long enough brake."
"Aw, come on Sasuke," Naruto whined. "We've been traveling all day. My ass is a little swore."
"Yeah," Deidara agreed. "Why don't we take the day off?"
"You can't be serious?" The raven growled.
"I actually agree them. Let's take the day off," Sasori yawned, lying down on the dirt, his arms behind his head. Closing his eyes, he declared that the conversation was over.
Sasuke sighed in defeat; Naruto walking over to him and telling him to get some rest.
=^-^=
Yay! Finished chapter! Happy late Thanksgiving! Thanks for the reviews!