-AN: I don't own Naruto
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Chapter 3 - New Allie?
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"NEJI-KUN!" Sai, Sakura, and Hinata yelled out in unison. Neji just stood there in pure shock.
"Oi, Neji, you know them?" said a guy with a huge white canine next to him. Neji stayed silent as he stared at the three newcomers in silence.
"I would say yes Kiba. How troublesome." said a guy with a short ponytail.
"Hey Neji! What's wrong?" Tenten said as she waved her arm in front of her leader. A guy who was completely covered in a long gray cloak, and a pair of sunglasses, came forward and told everyone to leave the four alone.
"Why Shino?" A guy in green spandex asked.
"Lee…" Shino glared at him, and Lee took the hint.
"Let's move people!" Tenten yelled out. The small crowd just muttered some crap as they dispersed.
"You're, alive." Hinata said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Well, you got a heck lot taller." Sai said a little jokingly, to lighten the tension.
"How did you three get here?" Neji asked.
"We kind of snuck out of course." Sakura answered. "What…How did you do all this?" She asked looking around.
"Long story…"
"Neji, we know you're innocent. We know Orochimaru's the asshole who framed you." Sai said.
"H-how-" Neji began.
"And I hope you know that we want to help you take him down." Sakura said, cutting Neji off. It took Neji a couple of seconds to let the words sink in. Hinata just ran up to her cousin, and gave him a warm hug. Neji stepped back from the sudden embrace, but then hugged her back. Sakura soon did the same. Sai just stood there, feeling a little awkward. Hinata and Sakura released their embrace as they laughed lightly.
"Shut up." Sai said. He just stuck out his hand toward Neji, and the elder brother shook it. "People might think the wrong way if I hugged you and cried."
"You're the same, even after a decade." Neji said as he led his siblings toward the leaders' headquarters.
Naruto and Sasuke were already inside the headquarters.
"Hey teme." Naruto said.
"What?" said Sasuke.
"What do you think of the newcomers?"
"They're annoying. Especially the pink haired one."
"Sakura? No way, she's cool! Hinata too!…Sai's an ass though."
"Hmph, you get comfortable with strangers too easily."
"Shut up, you're the complete opposite." Naruto said, shaking his fist at the Uchiha.
"I guess we have to wait and see what Neji thinks." Just then the door opened. Naruto and Sasuke saw that it was Neji, along with the three newcomers they met minutes ago.
"Hey Neji, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan!…Sai." Naruto called out.
"Hey Naruto." Neji said, as he sat down on a chair near Sasuke.
"Hi Naruto." Both Sakura and Hinata said in unison.
"Hey baka." Sai said.
"What did you call me!" Naruto yelled out.
"Keep it down Naruto." Neji commanded. Naruto just grumbled to himself, as Sakura and the rest found somewhere to sit down.
"I guess I should clarify everything that's going on." Neji started.
"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.
"These three are my family."
"Wh-what!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled.
"Sakura-chan's my younger sister, Sai-san's my younger brother, and Hinata-chan is my younger cousin." Naruto and Sasuke's jaw were left gaping open.
"B-but, you guys look nothing alike!" Naruto said pointing to Sakura, Sai, and Neji.
"Um, he's my foster brother." Sakura said, hoping that Naruto wouldn't be as confused.
"Me too." Sai said.
"Oh…" Naruto said before calming down a little.
"I heard they were orphans, and that they had no family." Sasuke said as he glared at the newcomers.
"Uh, a-about that…" said Hinata stuttered.
"I told them to say that." Neji said, finishing his cousin's sentence. Sasuke just raised a brow in suspicion. "Let me tell the whole story." Neji just let out a sigh, as Sakura and the rest paid close attention. "Hinata-chan, Sai-san, Sakura-chan, that night I left, Sasuke and Naruto found me when I fell into the river."
flashback
"Hey Sasuke look!" Naruto said, pointing to a boy floating down the river.
"What is it now?" Sasuke said. He looked to where Naruto was pointing and saw the guy floating lifelessly.
"Let's help him out." Naruto said running toward the river.
"Do we have to?" Naruto stopped and stared at him. "Fine whatever." The tow reached the river and dragged the body out of the water.
"Hey he's alive." Nauto said after seeing that the guy was still breathing.
Naruto and Sasuke made a fire, and made sure the soaked survivor was warm.
"He's waking up." Sasuke said, seeing that the guy wasn't asleep anymore.
"Hey, you ok?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah…Thanks." The stranger said.
"What's your name?" Sasuke asked as he added more wood to the fire.
The guy thought carefully, and seeing that his two saviors may be his enemy he just answered, "Neji."
"Any last name?"
"No." Sasuke just glared at him.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto chirped.
"It's nice to meet you." Neji said.
"Where are you from?" Sasuke asked.
"Konoha…What about you two."
"I'm from Konoha too!" Naruto said proudly.
"The Uchiha clan." Sasuke said.
"Uchiha?" Neji asked.
Sasuke nodded, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha."
"I'm sorry for your loss." Neji said, knowing that the entire clan was wiped out.
"Hn."
"So, Neji, why haven't I seen you around?" Naruto asked. "I knew almost everyone there before I left."
"I guess, we just had bad luck in meeting each other." Neji answered.
"You why there's war going on? I can't even go home now. It's all that damn Hyuuga king guy's fault. He started the war. It's because of him I'm living with Sasuke." Naruto said.
"Hiashi, starting the war?…No, but they won't believe me. I guess I can't tell them who I am." Neji thought.
Naruto leaned near Neji and whispered, "Trust me, that teme's a real pain in the ass." Neji smirked.
"I heard that dobe." Sasuke said with his sharing an activated. Naruto gave Sasuke a glare, and the Uchiha glared back. During their little grudge match, Neji seemed to remember the events that took place only hours ago. Memories seem to flood his mind as Neji clenched his head in pain. Naruto and Sasuke broke their gaze when they noticed their new friend's distress.
"Oi, Neji, what's wrong?" Naruto asked worryingly.
"Let's take him home now, the Tsunade could tend to him there." Sasuke said.
Naruto picked up Neji and gave him a piggy-back ride as he and Sasuke headed home. Neji turned to look into the direction of his old home before he succumbed to darkness once more.
End Flashback
"And you can guess how things lead on after that." Neji said, finishing his story.
"I'm glad you had good friends to take you in Neji-kun." Sakura said. "Though, I wish they weren't against the Hyuuga family."
"Thanks!" Naruto said smiling. "Hey, why don't I show you your rooms for the night." the blond said.
"T-thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said, as she and the others followed Naruto out of the building. They headed toward a large green tent just as Tenten emerged from it.
"Hey! I hope you guys got over whatever problem there was, cause dinner's coming up. Choji's making his special barbeque tonight!" Tenten said.
"Thank you Tenten, I'll see you at the table." Neji said. He quickly whispered something to her before she left with a smile on her face.
"Hmph, never really gave it a thought that you would have a girlfriend." Sai said.
"…" Neji just turned a little red.
"Don't worry Neji-kun, she's really nice!" Sakura commented.
"She's pretty too." Hinata said. Neji turned even more red. At this Sai, Sasuke, and Naruto snickered at the blushing knight.
Konoha
Back in the Konoha castle, Kabuto walked through the dark corridors to the main hall. There he saw a man with the same colored hair, leaning against one of the pillars. He wore a light amount of armor, had one eye covered with an old dark rag, and had another rag covering the bottom half of his face. His sword hung loosely against his side, as he read a small book.
"Ah, Kakashi-san. I'm glad you came all the way to Konoha." Kabuto said as he stopped a couple of feet away from his guest.
"Just tell me the job, and I'll be on my way."
"A little bit eager aren't we, Kakashi?" Kabuto asked.
"Nope. I just don't like looking at your ugly ass face."
"What!"
"I'm a mercenary, Kabuto. I don't really have time to waste around. Just tell me the targets, and I'll get rid of them for you."
Kabuto readjusted his glasses before giving Kakashi a small portrait of the young royals: Neji Hyuuga, Sai, Sakura, and Hinata Hyuuga.
"So just four people?" Kakashi asked.
"No, just three. The elder boy on the far right was killed a decade ago. Your targets are these three." Kabuto explained.
"So this painting was made ten years ago? They should be around…"
"Around twenty-two years old." Kabuto said, finishing the mercenary's sentence.
"The girls should be easy to identify, seeing that one has pink hair, and the other has the Hyuuga white eyes."
"Here's a little extra." Kabuto said, giving Kakashi a small pouch of gold coins.
"I suppose I'll come to face with problems on my mission, won't I?" Kakashi said. He put his book away into his pocket, and walked past Kabuto. After a couple more steps, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"He'll get the job done for sure.I'll make sure of it." Kabuto thought as he smirked.
Neji and friends (By now, everyone was introduced…)
"Let's eat!" Kiba yelled, his canine companion barked in agreement. "That's the spirit Akamaru!" Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto sat at the head of the table. Following them was Tenten, Shikamaru, Sakura, Hinata, and Sai.
"This is great Choji!" Sakura complemented.
"Thanks." Choji said, proud of the meal he cooked.
"Hey teme, pass the soy sauce." Naruto said. Sasuke got a small bottle next to him and tossed it carelessly toward Naruto. As if it was a casual routine, Naruto caught it without even looking.
"Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, Sai, after we eat, get some sleep. We'll go on patrol around the territory early tomorrow." Neji stated.
"Sure." Naruto said.
"Hn." Sasuke said.
"Okay." Hinata said.
"Cool." Sakura and Sai said in unison.
"Tenten, take over while I'm gone." Neji commanded.
"Hai." Tenten chirped.
After the meal, the entire camp went into what Hinata could describe as lockdown mode. All lights were off and there was no one in sight. Neji said goodnight and headed toward his tent. Sakura and the rest did the same.
Outside of Neji's tent, someone whispered his name.
"Come in Tenten." Neji said.
"Hey Neji. So you told me that you would tell me who the newcomers are." Tenten said, sitting on a chair near Neji's bed.
Neji took a deep breath.
"Neji, you know that I can keep secrets. I do know that you're the prince after all. If you could trust me with that, I don't know what could be worse."
"It's not that…So many things are going on in my head."
"What do you mean Neji?"
"Sakura-chan and the other two is the family I told you about. The one I lost ten years ago…"
Morning soon came and Naruto, who woke up first, woke up everyone else that was on patrol duty.
"Wake up everyone!" Naruto yelled.
"Shut it baka, we're up." Sai said, as he yawned.
"What did you-" but Naruto was cut off by Hinata.
"G-good morning Naruto-kun." She said.
"Morning Hinata-chan!" Naruto chirped. "Morning Sakura-chan!" the blond yelled out when he saw Sakura sitting up on her bed.
"Hey Naruto." Sakura greeted.
"Let's move people." Sasuke called out, sounding a little irritated.
"Morning to you too, ass." Sakura muttered under her breath.
Neji soon met up with the group and they all headed off into the forest. They traveled on foot for about a couple of minutes before Neji, Sasuke, and Naruto started to describe the landscape. Neji explained the best places to find food and herbs. Sasuke would direct which direction would lead to which lands, and Naruto just described his favorite relaxing spots. Hinata and the rest seemed to have fun during their patrol. They traveled for a couple of hours now. It was nearing the late afternoon and Neji decided it was time to head back.
"Later we'll see what you guys can do in training practice." Sasuke said as the small group walked on toward home.
"I'll like to see what you guys can do too." Sakura said.
"Yeah! I can't wait-" Naruto said but was cut off by Neji.
"Duck!" Neji yelled. Everyone did what he said as two daggers flew right above them, and into the trunk of the tree next to the group.
"Seems like practice will start early today." Sai said to the others as they all stood in a defensive stance.
A dark figure appeared from behind a couple of trees and bushes, and stopped a couple of meters in front of the group.
"What is your business here?" Neji said in a low threatening tone.
"It seems that Kabuto lied. You are alive." The man who had one of his eyes covered with a cloth said.
"Kabuto sent you!" Both Naruto and Sasuke growled out.
"That bastard." Sakura said after the two.
"The one and only." The guy said.
"W-who are you?" Hinata asked.
"Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi, a wondering mercenary." Kakashi said, as he unsheathed his sword.
"You don't look like mercenary. Where are you from? " Sasuke asked.
"I don't know, and I don't have a home. I just told you, I'm a wondering mercenary. You should really pay attention." Kakashi said.
"What are you here for?" Naruto asked.
"I already told you my name, can't that ever be enough for you people?" Kakashi asked. "For a mercenary, he isn't really the bloodthirsty type." Sai thought.
"Damn it just answer me! What are you doing here!" Naruto yelled out.
"Those three behind you." Kakashi pointed toward Sai, Sakura, and Hinata. "I'm sent to kill them."
"What!" Neji hissed.
"Hey, just see yourself as lucky, Kabuto thinks your dead, so I wasn't hired to kill you, just them."
"You'll have to get through me before you touch one hair on their heads." Neji growled out.
"Me too." Naruto said, taking the sword off his back.
"Hn." Sasuke agreed as she unsheathed his sword.
"This is why I probably got paid extra." Kakashi thought before walking toward the small group. Within a blink of an eye he disappeared and reappeared behind them. Everyone was shocked with the assassin's speed, especially Sakura, since he was now right behind her.
"You'll be first pinky." Kakashi said as he lifted his sword up, right above her.
"Sakura-chan!" The others yelled. Kakashi swung his sword down straight above the girls head.
"Shit." Sasuke muttered as he turned around quickly, hoping he could parry the attack in time. But he didn't make it…Because Sakura beat him to it. A loud clash of metal was heard throughout the group. Some strands of pink hair fell onto the grassy floor as Sakura was now at a stand off with Kakashi. The sword was a millimeter away from her skull, and she kept it from advancing downwards by parrying his attack with a small dagger.
"Shannaro!" Sakura yelled out as she jumped away from Kakashi.
"Great, they know how to fight…" Kakashi said before jumping backwards.
"Bastard!" Naruto yelled as he charged toward the one-eyed mercenary.
"Naruto, stop!" Sasuke warned, but Naruto already sliced through Kakashi with his sword.
"Ha, he wasn't so-" but Naruto stopped when Kakashi's lifeless body turned onto a log. "What the fuck! How did he turn into a log?"
"I guess you've never been properly trained before." Kakashi said from a branch of a tree, above the shocked blond.
"That was a replacement jutsu." Sai thought. "But only knights know jutsus…I guess he used to be a knight before becoming a mercenary."
"Naruto, don't just charge off like that! Use teamwork." Neji said. "Sakura-chan, Hinat-chan, and Sai can't handle this. They probably never been in a real fight before. Sakura-chan was probably just lucky when parrying that attack." He thought. Sasuke seemed to think the same thing.
"Hey Saku-" but before Neji could say anything else. Sakura had already started to engage in combat with Kakashi.
"Hinata-chan, let's go!" Sai said as he summoned an ink tiger.
"Hai!" Hinata said as she activated her byakugan. "How did she learn to use her blood limit!" Neji thought. The two went to aid Sakura, as Sasuke, Naruto, and Neji shared the same expression on their faces. They were all astonished. Naruto couldn't take it anymore, he rushed into the fight without another thought.
"Neji come on." Sasuke said as he charged forward. Neji activated his byakugan before running forward as well.
Sakura was shot back and her back slammed against a tree as Kakashi ran straight at her, sword in hand. Sai's tiger came in from the side of the mercenary and rammed him hard with its head. Hinata the got a palm full of chakra and aimed for Kakashi's heart. Kakashi saw her intention and caught her wrist before her palm could make contact. He quickly spun around, while still having a tight grip on the shocked Hinata, and he threw her harshly to the side. Naruto ran and caught her before she could collide against a thick tree.
"Thanks." She muttered as he put her down.
"No problem, but you, Sakura-chan, and Sai should stay back. He's after you three not-"
"Exactly, it's us he's after. It's not fair to endanger you, Sasuke, or Neji-kun." Hinata said, cutting the blond off.
Sasuke sword clashed against Kakashi's as they swung at each other simultaneously. Neji came in from behind Kakashi and attacked him with his pointing and middle finger. Sixty-four strikes were delivered to the assassin's back as Kakashi was shot forward. Kakashi immediately regained his posture as he ran toward Naruto and Hinata. Kakashi made a group of clones as he charged toward the pair. Each clone had their sword extended out in front of them as Naruto and Hinata readied themselves. The first clones attack was blocked by Naruto, and another clone was gone in a puff of smoke by Hinata's attack. Another clone was keeping Hinata preoccupied, as some other clones kept the rest of Neji's group in the same situation.
"Which one's the real one." Sakura thought as she punched through one of Kakashi's duplicates. She then sensed someone behind her. Sakura turned around and swung her sword at her opponent, but Kakashi dodged it. He knocked the sword out of her hands as he executed a punch in her gut. Sakura coughed out blood as she knelt onto the floor. Sakura didn't let Kakashi have a chance to do anything else as she swung her right leg toward Kakashi's ankles. Kakashi jumped upward to dodge her attack. In mid air, Sasuke appeared to the side of him. He thrust his sword forward as Kakashi reached for his own sword on his side. Kakashi was able to barely deflect the attack as Sasuke's cold steel blade cut into his shoulder. Blood slowly started to seep out of the wound, reddening his armor.
Seeing that this Kakashi didn't disappear in a cloud of smoke, Sakura knew he was the real one. Kakashi jumped back away from the two as he sheathed his sword.
"Enough of this." Kakashi said as he gripped his left wrist with his right hand. His left palm faced the ground as it started to form a small ball of electricity. To Sakura it sounded like the chirping of a lot of birds, as the ball grew larger.
The last of Kakashi's clones were destroyed as Neji and the rest stared at what Kakashi had in his hand. The sound of a thousand chirping birds echoed throughout the forest. With Kakashi's other hand, he lifted the cloth covered his left eye away, revealing what Sasuke knew as the sharingan. Sakura and the rest gasped to see that this assassin had the rare and well feared blood line limit.
"Could he be the other Uchiha, Sasuke was talking about? But his last name is different, and only one of his eyes has the sharingan." Sakura thought as Kakashi stared at the small group in front of him.
"How do you have the sharing an!" Sasuke growled out as his sharing an appeared.
Kakashi looked at him. The ball of electricity in his hand started to disappear as Kakashi put his left arm down.
"You're an Uchiha?" Kakashi asked.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke told the mercenary.
"Do you know Uchiha Itachi?"
"He's my brother."
"So you and your brother are the last two Uchihas alive."
"It's that, that confuses me. Now answer me! How do you have the sharingan? And in only one eye!" Sasuke demanded.
"That depends on how your associated with your brother, and the death of your clan."
"In this lifetime, I plan to kill that son of a bitch for what he's done." Sasuke growled out, clenching his fists. Kakashi looked at him in the eye, seeing if he was lying.
Sakura and the rest seemed to be confused. "If Kakashi isn't the second last Uchiha, then who the hell is he?" Sakura thought.
"What the heck are they talking about?" Sai asked the others. Hinata and Sakura just shrugged.
Neji and Naruto knew their friends tragic history, but they remained silent as they paid close attention to the conversation Sasuke was having with Kakashi.
"If your against Itachi, then I am not your enemy." Kakashi said as he placed the cloth over his eye once more. "I too, plan to take his life one of these days."
"Why?" Neji asked.
"He took away someone important to me. In result, giving me this." Kakashi answered as he pointed at his covered eye. Sasuke stayed quiet. "He's almost like me…" Sasuke thought.
"I don't want to fight you." Sasuke said finally.
"Same for me, but unfortunately, I still have a job to finish." Kakashi said, as he looked at Sai, Sakura, and Hinata.
"What!" Naruto yelled out.
"I don't want to, but it's my job." Kakshi said as he unsheathed his sword.
"You're a mercenary for hire right?" Neji asked.
"Yeah." Kakashi answered.
"Why are you asking such a dumb question? We already know that!" Naruto said. Neji ignored him as he continued.
"Can't we just pay you more than what Kabuto paid, to not kill these three?" Neji asked. Everyone stared at the him.
"Hey your right." Sai said.
"How much did he pay you?" Sasuke asked.
"Thirty thousand gold coins, and that's without the extra, but for you I won't include it." Kakashi said. Naruto's jaw dropped.
"Shit." Sasuke and Neji said together.
"T-that's a lot." Hinata stuttered.
"So about ten thousand for each of us." Sai said.
"Hey Neji, how much do we have back home?" Naruto asked.
"The money we can spare is about ten thousand gold coins." Neji answered.
"That's enough to feed the camp for a little over a year." Sasuke said.
"Well I guess we have to use the cash we saved up." Sakura said. Everyone stared at her.
"All those years of saving, and we end up blowing it off to save our asses." Sai muttered as he took out a scroll from his weapons pouch. Everyone stared at the three as Sai summoned another ink tiger. Only this one was carrying a couple of large sacks on its back.
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
"Our savings." Hinata answered as she checked the sacks.
"Crap, we're missing ten thousand." Sakura said. "That's only enough for two of us."
"He could take Sai, then it'll be even." Naruto suggested. Everyone glared at him. "I was just kidding."
"Bad time for a joke dobe." Sasuke told the blond idiot.
"Well if that's it, then I guess I still have a job to do." Kakashi said uncaringly, he gripped tightly onto his sword handle as he came closer to the group.
"Don't you have a heart! How can you call yourself human?" Naruto yelled out.
"I do have a heart, it beats in my chest. Therefore I know myself as a living human, but I don't understand how that has to do with anything now." Kakashi answered.
"That's not what I meant!"
"Hey, wait!" Sakura said. Kakashi stopped his pace and looked at her. "You said you didn't have a home, or anywhere to stay right?" Kakashi nodded.
"Where are you going with this?" Sasuke asked. Everyone else asked the same question.
"Why don't you live with us, until the ten thousand gold is paid off?" Sakura suggested.
"What!" Sasuke and the rest almost yelled out.
"If he live with us, he could make sure we won't go back on our word, plus we can charge him, lowering the price." Sakura whispered to the group.
"I don't like this, but it's all we can do." Neji muttered.
"Good idea Sakura-chan." Hinata said.
"Fine but, if it doesn't work out, I say he takes Sai." Naruto said.
"Asshole." Sai said.
"As I was saying, you could live with us for about five thousand gold, and we pay you the rest off little by little." Sakura told Kakashi.
"Five thousand! It'll take about six months to pay that off, and that's only if Shikamaru finds us the good heists!" Naruto yelled.
"Well then six months it is." Kakashi said. Everyone stared at him. "I'll live with you for six months, in which, during the time, you pay me the other five thousand."
"You just had to say six months, why not two or three." Sai said to the blond.
"Shut up." Naruto said.
"Then it's settled. Six months along with five thousand." Neji said. "But how can me be sure you won't go back on your word? Or alert Orochimaru where our home is?"
"That's a good question, but you know I could of already killed you all, and I still can. At least in you home, you can keep watch over me, plus I would give you my word. I never take back my word." Kakashi said.
"How can we trust you? How do we know you didn't give your word to Orochimaru for me and my sister's deaths?" Sai asked.
"Well, actually…I don't know." Kakashi said smiling. "But I think I can offer my services to gain your trust."
"What are you talking about? Unless you mean assassinating that snake, then we have no need of your services." Sasuke said.
"No, I was thinking of training you guys properly. Especially you two." Kakashi said looking at Hinata and Neji. "I fought a lot of Hyuugas a while ago, and with my sharing an I understood how their fighting styles worked. They were one of the strongest people I killed. You two on the other hand seem to lack almost any knowledge of the basic Hyuuga arts." Kakashi said.
"Shit…" Neji, Sakura, Sai, and Hinata thought, as they looked at Sasuke and Naruto's shocked faces.
"Y-you're…" Naruto stuttered.
"Hyuugas." Sasuke said finishing Naruto's sentence. "You're the kids of that bastard who started the war?"
"Don't you dare say that about father!" Hinata and the rest yelled.
"How can you call that loon your father? He worked with Orochimaru, and then his nephew killed him leaving Orochimaru to……" Naruto trailed off when he realized he was talking about Neji.
"Traitor…And for all these-"
"Shut up!" Sakura yelled cutting Sasuke off. "You don't know shit about what's been really going on!"
"How can I trust a royal! I can't believe I didn't see it before when we found you three at the carriage heist!" Sasuke said unsheathing his sword.
"Wow, wow, wow." Kakashi said, trying to calm the pissed Uchiha.
"Well you trusted one for a decade." Neji said.
"Why didn't you at least tell us?" Naruto said through clenched teeth.
"Would you have believed him?" Sai said. Naruto just glared at him.
"Stop it, please…We shouldn't fight each other. Sasuke, Naruto-kun…" Hinata pleaded.
"I told you that you trusted strangers too easily dobe. These people are just servants and spies for that snake. That's probably why Neji here would never go on missions that involved Konoha." Sasuke said. Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She went up to Sasuke and slapped him hard in the face. The sound of the hit echoed around them. Everyone was dead quiet.
"Ow." Naruto and Sai thought. Sasuke just glared at the girl.
"Do you…have any idea what you're saying?" Sakura said in pure anger. "Well do you!" She yelled. Hinata shuttered at her sister's furious tone. "The fucken truth is that Orochimaru killed our father and framed Neji-kun of the crime. Orochimaru made fools of us all, and don't you ever dare associate us with that snake! You know how it was to have your family murdered, how would you like it if you lived with the murderer who tore you family apart and lied to the entire country! Because we had to do that for ten freaken years!" Sakura started to cry.
"Sakura-chan…" Neji began.
"Do you know how it felt to know that he was just right there, right there, always so close, always watching? Yet you couldn't do anything because you weren't strong enough. To allow him to disgrace the name of your father and Neji-kun? If it's a yes, then go ahead and continue in believing that bullshit he feeds you." Sakura said. Everyone remained quiet. Sasuke just stared at her with blank, emotionless eyes. Sakura broke his graze when she turned around and sprinted off into the forest.
"Sakura-chan!" Sai and Hinata said as they went after her.
"Whether or not you two still trust me, or even believe me, I will always continue to go after Orochimaru. If you want to abandon our friendship, that is okay with me. Even if we aren't allies, we still fight the same enemy." Neji said as he turned to leave. "Tell Tenten and the others goodbye." he said before sprinting off after Sakura.
Sasuke and Naruto stood there as they watched their childhood friend leave their sight. Kakashi strolled up to the two. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "For whatever this tributes toward, they're telling the truth. Orochimaru sent me here to kill the royals so he can take over as king permanently. Neji should have been at the throne by the age of twenty-five. Only two years. Hinata would have been the queen in three years. Sakura and Sai can't rule because of their blood. This is the truth you two." Kakashi said,as he removed his hand from Naruto's shoulder. "You can keep the money, I won't kill them…I actually do have a heart." the mercenary said before leaving toward Neji's direction.
"So teme…Can we just let them go like that?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't answer.
In a tree near the two silent warrior, Kabuto smiled to himself as he replayed the scene he just witnessed in his head. "So Neji's alive interesting…Plus, he's going to be with all his siblings, with me and Kakashi. Good work Kakashi, didn't know you could be such a fine actor."
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AN: Sry it took a while to update… I got lazy, and drunk, and….well would you look at the time! I ran out of excuses! Ahhhhhh, don't kill me!