A/N: Okay love me dammit! . This is like 14 pages in word and was only like 6 hand written! I changed the whole structure of this chapter by typing it up...at first the Akatsuki was gonna be in the middle of the forest but then I made it go with the manga...In the middle of the f'ing city! . This one really frustrated me so I hope you guys like it. Review if you love it, hate it or just want to tell me that your dog is humping the keyboard I don't care.

Warnings: Slight spoiles for current manga time line if you don't like the itty bitty bit I put in there then you don't need to be reading this chapter. We have our first hints of yaoi-ness between Gaara and Lee, and some more Hetero with Kiba and Hinata. And of course we have ninja-swearing. Stressful life, deal with it.

Disclaimer: Okay so if I owned Naruto you'd probably not have such a long series and if it was that long do you think that SasuNaru would only be hints? Think about it...

Story so far: The team has set out on the mission to bring Sasuke home, and after a rocky start with Kiba and Sakura fighting over Naruto's needs the team is ready to meet the Suna team and take down the Akatsuki and bring Sasuke home. Just a day in the life of ninjas.

Chapter 3

Instead of the pleasant wake up that Naruto had experienced a day earlier our blond was met with a sloppy, wet, dog's tongue lapping at his face in every direction.

Thank god I slept with my mouth closed this time, Naruto thought as he closed his eyes even tighter against the assault on his face.

After a second or so he decided it was time to retaliate against the unwanted kisses. He pushed at Akamaru's snout and attempted to get his legs to the dog's chest to help put distance between his face and the excited tongue of the nin dog. Too bad for Naruto that Akamaru was being rather persistent this morning and he was rather groggy from sleeping on the floor. This was not a good way to start off your morning. Or so Naruto silently decided as Akamaru continued to kiss him.

Akamaru was too big for him to fend off when his stomach was empty and his head was still swimming with dreams. The fact that the only thing that Kiba was doing to help was pointing at spots that Akamaru had "missed" really didn't seem like all that much help in Naruto's situation if he were to step back and assess it.

Stupid Kiba's out to get me, was the only conclusion he could draw from such an assault. It made too much sense to Naruto. Then again the only things that made sense to him were absurdities and trivialities.

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Naruto exclaimed holding his hands up in surrender.

When the dog's kisses stopped Naruto opened his right eye a sliver only to catch a minor glimpse of Kiba, The Conspirator, himself before his face was graced with Akamaru's hot tongue once more. Naruto let out a loud groan, surprisingly without opening his mouth at all. The dangers involved with that were too creepy to imagine without cringing. A loud whistle was heard from the front part of the tent and Akamaru allowed Naruto to sit up fully as he made his way over to his master. Akamaru dutifully laid down beside Kiba and laid his head on the boy's lap as he patted his head and scratched vigorously behind furry white ears.

"Told ya he'd come," Kiba bragged bearing bright teeth as he did so.

"You couldn't think of a better way to wake me up could you?" Naruto asked rubbing his sleeping back over his face to rid it of all the dog slobber. "Your mutt's breath smells as bad as yours!" This of course was not a full-hearted insult, only meant to jab at Kiba's pride (and hygiene) as punishment for making him experience Akamaru's loving side.

"Hey! I keep him clean!" Kiba defended. Oddly he said nothing about his own breath, Naruto noticed as he reached his legs as far as he could in the small tent.

"How did Akamaru get in here if it's such a small tent?" Naruto asked yawning half way through his question.

Somehow Kiba understood him perfectly, must be a guy thing.

"He wasn't all the way in, most of his back side was outside the tent," he answered rubbing Akamaru's spine. "Come on, we gotta get ready to go." Kiba shook his dog slightly to wake him from his little nap.

Naruto nodded and crawled over to his backpack to pull out a change of pants. For some reason he could deal with wearing the same shirt for a week straight if he had to, but his pants had to be clean. The habits that develop over the years. After his pants were changed he half crawled, half walked out of the tent and began to disassemble it. It wasn't until it was half way down that Ino came over to him.

Apparently they were going to eat, and then they could start packing everything up. Naruto laughed at his own enthusiasm and rubbed the back of his head in mock embarrassment. He headed over to where breakfast was taking place, seating himself between Sakura and Kiba.

"We will head out once everything is packed up here," Kakashi said in a tone that made it KNOWN that he hadn't slept well. "The Suna team will be at the meeting spot soon and we can't keep them waiting. So everyone get moving." Every word came out with frustration mixed with a bit of bitterness.

If Kakashi's tone hadn't tipped you off, and if you were particularly dense, the fact that the Jounin was trying to rub BOTH of his eyes should have. It didn't really work with the forehead protector covering one, so he abandoned that action and continued to eat and talk strategy with Shikamaru.

"Okay, so once inside we have to make sure that we don't split up, otherwise the enemy will find our weak spots," Shikamaru pointed out before taking a bite of fish. "I think that we should utilize our genin teammates as much as possible, considering we all grew up fighting alongside each other."

Kakashi nodded and put some freeze dried vegetables in his mouth, "Yes but how is that going to cover blind spots? And what about Kiba, neither of his teammates are here."

Shikamaru put his plate down and place his fingers together in his usual 'I'm thinking so back off' position. "Hmm…I think that he should be next to Sakura. With her strength and his raw power, not to mention Akamaru, they should be able to work well together. Plus Sakura's ability to read the enemy so clearly is unbeatable," Shikamaru said keeping his hands together still.

"Hmm…I see what you're saying. How about Lee is backing them up? With his taijutsu mastery that should cover all the area they need to cover," Kakashi added rubbing his clothed chin thoughtfully.

Naruto decided to block the rest of it out, the two of them worked too well together to get into any sort of argument so it was irrelevant for him to listen any further. Their strategy was great, but they still didn't account for the abilities of the Akatsuki. Maybe they were hoping that the skills and strength of the team could over shadow the organization's infamous power. Before Naruto had anymore time to think about what could go wrong on this mission (so unlike the normal Naruto…) Kakashi was ordering his troops to start packing. The blond simply obeyed orders by walking over to his and Kiba's tent and finished what he started.

As he folded the tarp up the same wind from yesterday spread across the wings of his back and made its way to his face again. It was too distracting to ignore, to familiar to brush off. It was almost as if the wind meant to make him feel like he wasn't alone, almost as if the wind was telling him to not give up. The nostalgia that the wind carried made him want to cry. While it felt reassuring it also felt like a taunt.

I'm so close but you still can't catch me…pathetic…Is what Naruto interpreted. He let go of a long held breath, and then finished packing everything up. Just because Naruto wasn't staying still to savor the wind and the memories it carried on its invisible breeze didn't mean that the wind let up any. The warmth still wrapped its welcoming arms around him, persisting more than yesterday. The wind still made him think back to a time when things had been simpler (things were never simple for Naruto), a time when power wasn't priority and friendship was left to rot.

To him power had never taken the spot of friendship, and never would. Power was the result of friendship in his mind. It always would be. Friendship just wasn't the easiest thing for him to maintain. Well not the easiest to maintain with the one he wanted the most to be his friend.

The way Sasuke spoke to him, in that tone that it seemed was only for him. While it was cold and sarcastic, Naruto knew that he was the only one that could make Sasuke react through the mask even if he tried so hard to keep it up 24/7. Whether Sasuke knew it or not or even acknowledged it, their bond was the strongest to exist. It wasn't a thin string; it was more like a rope. At first glance it looks like you can slice through it in a single swipe of your katana, but when you try it's like the bond is made of steel. Impossible to sever one from the other, their steel-rope bond.

The warmth kept him captive, wouldn't relent until a hand on Naruto's shoulder interrupted his trance-like state.

"With the way you were carrying on I thought you'd be the first in the trees," Kiba laughed pointing up to the canopy of leaves above them.

"Guess I was just spacing out," Naruto replied hoping that he didn't seem too out of it.

"That's an understatement!" Kiba corrected helping Naruto stand on his feet. "Now come on, we have to get up there with everyone else. I'll give you a ride on Akamaru's back," he offered and before Naruto could concede or refuse the offer Kiba stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly.

Naruto was sure his eardrums were gonna rupture from all the whistling. From the thickness of the trees Naruto could see Akamaru running towards them in his relaxed dumb-dog trot. Akamaru stopped before them and Kiba pulled Naruto to the back of the horse sized dog and helped him climb on.

"Hold on to my back," Kiba instructed hoping onto the dog's back without any effort.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Kiba's midsection and leaned forward to ensure his safety. Akamaru walked to an area where the trees weren't a thick and leaped into the branches. The team was a few meters ahead of Kiba and his pack (he told them to go ahead, he'd get Naruto and catch up) but it was nothing more than a short jog before Akamaru had them in their appointed spot for the formation. Naruto felt Kiba let out a huge breath of air. His muscles were much less tense now.

"Hey Naruto," Kiba began by turning his head slightly to allow one eye to see the blond.

"Hmmm?" Naruto questioned in an uneven voice as they dipped slightly to a lower branch.

"As hypocritical as I'm about to sound…" Kiba bit the side of his mouth. He really hated going back on his beliefs. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you need to talk about Uchiha," he finished after relinquishing the hold he had on the inside of his cheek.

Bright blue eyes widened, Kiba had been the one to say that Naruto didn't need sensitivity and yet here he was offering it him. This whole mission had to have screwed with everyone's heads because Naruto was sure that Kiba wouldn't be caught dead calling himself hypocritical.

"Thanks Kiba," but Naruto wasn't going to say anything about Kiba's normal behavior because for now he just needed to know that some one was there.

The rest of the trip to the meeting spot was uneventful with few words passed between any of the team members besides a few Are you okay's from Kiba to Naruto. Most of the time the answer was some sort of sarcastic banter, because let's face it, for some one who's not used to riding on a dog's back it can get uncomfortable. After a branch nearly bashed Naruto's face in, he was fully convinced that Akamaru was in fact trying to discreetly take him out. Naruto was about to yell at Kiba for being so careless with his wonderful face (of course his ego wasn't that big but he is rather full of himself) when a clearing in the forest came into view. His jaw snapped shut as the team was instructed to drop down into the clearing.

Naruto climbed off of Akamaru's back as the team steady themselves on the hard earth. The world spun for a minute but Gaara and a bunch of unpleased sand ninjas came into focus. It took a second for the surprise to register in Naruto's mind but when it did he gave the Kazekage a look of confusion. His siblings stood next to him, shooting him looks that said that his confusion amused them more than anything they'd ever seen. According to Naruto's logic it didn't make sense for the Kazekage to be on this mission, yes he was strong but don't Kazekages, I don't know watch over their village?

He shook his head slightly in hopes of lessening his dumbstruck state. No such luck. Kakashi put a hand on his head as he came to speak to the Suna team.

He bowed respectively to Gaara and his team, "On behalf of Konoha I would like to thank you for lending us your help in this mission."

Gaara nodded in acknowledgement, "Of course Kakashi-san, anything to help Konoha after all your village has done for ours." To the last comment Gaara let his eyes wonder to Naruto and then to some one further behind him. Naruto didn't bother looking. He knew he'd just end up making Temari and Kankuro laugh at him.

"If your village ever needs any help, Kazekage-sama" Kakashi began. "Do not hesitate to contact us."

"We know that Konoha would help us out if ever we need it," Gaara replied knowing full well that Kakashi caught the politics in his sentence.

At this point Naruto's head was spinning from all the formalities; he wasn't used to this at all. Gaara was his friend. Kakashi was his teacher to hear them speak as if the other was royalty was just too much for his tired mind.

"We should start moving out," Gaara commanded his team and suggested to Kakashi's. "There's no telling how far Uchiha is by now."

Naruto's stomach turned over, they really didn't know did they? Was their any guarantee that this mission would produce different results than the ones they set up years before?

"Of course," Kakashi answered Gaara, but unknowingly helped Naruto exhale his fears. "We are set up in a basic formation, how would you like your team positioned for the remainder of the travel?"

Gaara, Kakashi and Shikamaru began to discuss formation, battle strategy and team members along with their strengths and weaknesses. The Konoha team made the first move at introduction to the Suna team. Each ninja introduced themselves, so that no one would get their target wrong in the confusion of battle. Kakashi spoke to both Gaara and Shikamaru and scrutinized the Suna team, his suspicious battle veteran side getting the better of him.

This didn't go unnoticed by Gaara, "Kakashi-san I can assure you that my nins are skilled enough to defend and would give their lives for the sake of this mission."

Though he was reassured Kakashi let his gaze linger for a moment on the ninjas but soon turned his mind back to strategizing, "Understood," he said quietly.

As threatening as the Suna ninjas looked Naruto still wasn't sure if they would be enough. It was true that Sunagakure was known for its brutality but what if they weren't up to par on what they needed. He furrowed his brows because he knew that despite his fears the Suna team and the Konoha team would have to be enough.

"Alright, we're moving out now," Kakashi instructed in a voice that carried above the conversations between foreign ninjas.

In order to strengthen team unity and to accommodate the new additions the formation as tweaked. Instead of two side-by-side, it was three with at least one Suna ninja to every two Konoha shinobi. This time Naruto was running with Lee to his left and a ninja named Bakei to his right. Lee was intensely focused on what was ahead of him, which when Naruto followed his eye line he found out that it was the Kazekage himself.

He must be worried about him…Naruto concluded shrugging it off as nothing.

The wind whirred passed his ears, cooling his warm face down as he sprinted through the branches. Suddenly fire chakra tugged at his senses. He recognized this chakra, it was unmistakable. Naruto wanted to reach out and grab the person who held this chakra but he knew he couldn't. While the presence was strong to him he knew better than to think that Sasuke was right next to him. Thoughts like that only lead to a shot of pain and more disappointment.

He slowly slid into a mild depression at realizing that it was more than likely his imagination but something inside of him twisted and then let go. Naruto opened his eyes wider as his determination was renewed. The chakra stuck with him, unrelenting as he let the warmth engulf his soul as he ran faster. He wasn't going to leave empty handed, he wasn't going to leave empty handed, he just couldn't. This time he wasn't, or so he chanted in his head.

After what seemed like days Kakashi motioned for the team to drop into the closest clearing. All the forces fell to the earth below, careful about making noise since they were so close now. They gathered around the team leaders to hear what needed to be said. Kakashi laid a scroll on the ground at lightning speed to illustrate the collaborated ideas more easily.

"The Akatsuki's headquarters is at the heart of this city, we need to infiltrate it as discreetly as possible at first. This is why I am giving each of you this tracking device, put it in your mouth and bite down when you get inside. Each one of them has the ability to sense when another is near, they hum in your mouth when that happens," Kakashi explained as he handed out small black squares that looked like pieces of candy.

Naruto placed it between his cheek and teeth and nodded for his teacher to continue. It appeared that everyone was doing the same when Kakashi looked around to confirm that everyone had one.

"They don't radiate any sort of chakra so the enemy can't sense you because of these," he assured before looking down at the paper on the beaten grass. "Okay this is how it'll work…"

A few tactical technicalities later and Kakashi was putting the scroll back into the pouch he'd produced it from.

"Okay team scatter!" Kakashi called out.

"Scatter," Gaara simply said at the same time as Kakashi.

Naruto bundled his cloak closer to him, this city was awfully cold for it only being November. A full description of the building was given to the team before they parted ways the only problem was finding the damn thing.

You'd think a building with a guy sticking his tongue out on the side would be easier to find than this…Naruto bitterly thought as he kept his eyes darting over every stone building he passed.

The city was a little intimidating. The towers staring condescendingly down on its people would cause most to feel small. But for Naruto it only caused frustration when he looked them up and down and saw no man sticking his tongue out. The people were far ruder here in the Rain country. Already ten people had bumped into him and hadn't said a word. Normally he'd be used to that, considering his childhood, but these people didn't even know who he was much less that he housed the Kyuubi!

Naruto kept a low profile, careful not to let his growing frustration out, plus the minor henge he placed on his face and hair would ensure that no one would recognize him as the Kyuubi vessel, just in case he was wanted or something like that. No one spared him a second glance and in Naruto's book that was a win. He surveyed a building, making sure he didn't look like he was looking at it on purpose.

Not it dammit! He thought walking closer to the center of the city.

After a moment or two of walking Naruto came face to concrete with the Akatsuki's headquarters.

Time to rock…Naruto's mind told him as he dispelled a genjutsu placed on the front of the building, he hadn't reached out to solid wall when he steadied himself, there was a door there.

That's too easy…Naruto thought pulling his hand from the L-shaped handle. This can't be the entrance…he inconspicuously searched the sides for another way in. He knew that the way he'd found was probably wrought with traps. As he walked closer to the back of the building he foot slid across what appeared to be just a paved street.

But the clink of shoe against metal told him that this wasn't the case.

Bingo, he deactivated another genjutsu and saw a steel door that led from the street to the dark confines of the basement of the Akatsuki.

Naruto slowly lowered himself into the impending darkness. Silently he lowered the metal door and allowed his eyes to adjust to the area devoid of light. Once that was done Naruto maneuvered the tracking device to his back molars and bit down hard. The crunching of it echoed in his head but made no sound outside his mind. His tongue was met with the subtle vibrations of the device.

Who would be here already? He questioned his team but continued walking quietly along the walls. It wasn't long before the solid floor changed into sewer water and Naruto had to walk through it to get to whoever was there already.

The sick squish of his sandals made his clean side curl and contort in displeasure. Thank god that side wasn't dominate during missions. If this were the case he'd never get anything done. For him it was all about silencing the many sides of his mind when the situation didn't need their input. The only side that butted in whenever it wanted to was the side that was wildly obsessed with Sasuke's return.

"State your name…" a male's voice growled as a kunai pressed itself against Naruto's throat.

"Naruto," he complied proudly as the man's face came into view.

"How do I know it's you?" the voice asked suspiciously.

"Because I know that you are with Hinata even though she's supposed to be getting married to Neji in the summer," Naruto answered smirking to the dog nin and his companion.

Kiba withdrew his weapon, "Fair enough…" now he was looking to the side guiltily.

"Oh come on, we all know she doesn't love him. Don't look so sour," Naruto whispered punching Kiba softly on the arm.

"Yeah yeah," he replied motioning for Naruto to follow him. "Come on Sakura's around the corner with one of the Sand nins, apparently Kakashi and Gaara already got in here."

"Okay," Naruto agreed and followed him silently.

Both teens were welcomed with restraining arms, "What's your name?" was whispered in Naruto's ear in a hard accent.

"Naruto," this could get tiring.

The hands let him go. Obviously the humming in his mouth was confirmation enough. Naruto turned around to see it was the only kunoichi on Gaara's team. The fire in her eyes made it prevalent that she was from Suna, she was eager to do some damage. While she may have been skilled she looked awfully young to be on the frontlines. Naruto shook that off, if Gaara picked her she had to be something special.

"We have to get moving if Kakashi and Gaara are really already inside," Sakura pointed out walking silently through the disgusting water of the sewer.

Naruto noticed that once he made contact with the others on the team the tracking device stopped humming in his mouth. It stilled for a second and then started back up.

"Which way do you think they are?" the Suna girl asked as her accent bled through.

"Let's try this way," Kiba pointed down the right tunnel in the fork. "We still have the upper hand since the Akatsuki doesn't know that we're here yet."

Sakura, Naruto and the girl all nodded in agreement. It was true, they had gotten in undetected somehow but now they had to find their team. Kiba and Akamaru stopped simultaneously, both sniffing the air briefly before leading the team further down the pipes.

"Team Konoha…" was the lazy drawl they were met with in the dark.

"Ino," a girl's voice replied to the silent question.

"Rock Lee," was the last voice to come.

Naruto lowered his kunai but didn't put it away, on a mission you were constantly being threatened by your surroundings. The three they just found got closer to them and they all began to move closer to whatever would come to them.

"Shikamaru why didn't you say your name?" Kiba asked quietly.

"I figured that you guys would get who I was just by my voice," he answered in equal volume. "No need to do unneeded things."

Naruto could imagine Kiba shrugging in the darkness.

The game of find your team went on for a while in the pipes. The rest were found in the time spent in the sewers, but Naruto felt no trace of that fiery chakra from earlier. It disappointed him a lot but he knew that because they were in the Akatsuki's headquarters that he was countries closer to getting Sasuke than he had been any other time.

"There is a ladder close to here that we can use to get inside," Kakashi informed the team. "But whoever has special observational jutsus, can use them. I'll be tunneling to get to the third floor, so meet me up there."

With his last words Kakashi disappeared into the walls to make his way to the upper levels.

The sand nin that Naruto had been restrained by closed her eyes and melted into the wall.

So that's why she's here, he concluded feeling along the wall for the ladder.

The rest of the ninjas that had no such jutsu had to rely on their stealth to get to the third floor undetected. Sakura was the first to go up, her tracking and stalking skills greatly improved since her Sasuke fan club days. When she was submersed in light Naruto followed. He popped his head out of the ground but saw no trace of Sakura. The remainder of the team followed, each finding their own way to blend into the environment.

Once the whole team had distance between them the tracking device in Naruto's mouth hummed uncontrollably.

I guess the only time it's still is if you're right next to the team, he thought plastering himself against the wall in an empty hallway.

There were members of his team all around him and he couldn't see them. That was a very comforting thought since that was the point.

­­­­­­­­­­­­Naruto caught sight of Kakashi's exposed Sharingan eye as his sensei silently nodded to the team that surrounded the Akatsuki in a central room on the third floor. He nodded back and assumed that everyone around him saw the signal. Konoha and Suna forces were soon pouring out of the floor, walls and shadows. Half of the Akatsuki looked surprised while the rest had already been tensed for battle. Naruto charged at one of the cloaked figures with a chakra fused punch.

The member easily dodged it and sent a half moon kick to the side of his face. The foot connected with his head but didn't deter his spirit. The metallic slide of weapons was barely heard above the din of fierce fighting. Naruto slid on the ground to allow his kunai to sink into the tender calf of the masked man. He hissed in pain and attempted to kick Naruto again but failed when Naruto grabbed his ankle and twisted it to a breaking point.

"Not today," Kiba bit out as he plunged a sharp kunai into the stomach of another member. "I'll be dammed if I break that promise." He was talking more to himself than to the man who slid to the floor.

Kiba didn't have much time to reminisce about promises made in Hinata's room the night before the mission or about the needy kiss that followed it before he was attacked from behind. Naruto tore through the distance to assist Kiba by stabbing an already drawn kunai into the back of the attacker. Screams filled the air along with the sound of flesh being pierced with weapons, or even jutsus. The sounds were coming from all sides, at one point Naruto was positive that they were even coming from above him. But what overwhelmed him more than the noise was the stench of blood and burnt skin filling the room faster than the sounds.

A loud slice of air caught Naruto's attention. He turned to find the source of the sound. It was a man wielding Zabuza's sword.

What the hell?! He wondered as the man effortlessly chopped Kisame in half only to be met with water splashing on the ground.

Naruto's fight eventually landed him closer to the man with the sword, "Who in the hell are you?!"

He looked like he was caught off guard but grinned mischievously, "Suigetsu."

Naruto blocked a punch and followed up with a sweep to the member's feet. Once his opponent was on the ground Naruto stabbed through his hand straight through to the cheap tile flooring.

"Dammit Naruto you can't leave them alive!" Kankuro yelled using one of the knives that Karasu had on his limbs and stabbing it through the man's chest.

Naruto paid no mind to the sand sib and turned back to Suigetsu, "Why do you have Zabuza's sword?"

Suigetsu stopped momentarily to stare at Naruto, "How did you know Zabuza?"

The guy didn't have time to gawk at Naruto as Kisame came back at him. Naruto watched for a second unsure of whether he should be helping this Suigetsu guy or not. He pushed Kisame off and made him stand further back.

"I-I was on the team that was there when he died," Naruto stuttered out.

To this Suigetsu let his filthy thoughts grin lose, "Were you now?" He knew something that Naruto apparently missed.

The man's mouth continued to move but the whole room fell silent in Naruto's eyes. People moved, weapons collided and bodies fell, but no sound could be heard in his mind. The chakra. It was there again! He felt it!

Quickly Naruto tore through the crowd of battling Shinobi, avoiding every limb that flew every way as desperation rose in his chest and spilled out through his throat. He let out a growl as he ran through the thickness of the combat. Soon his body was relieved of the crowd and he stumbled into a hallway. The chakra felt more like a string tied to his heart as he ran through the hallways connected to the central room. It tug at him, urging him to run faster.

Run, Run, run faster dammit! His body screamed as the chakra began to fade.

Naruto willed his body to go faster with the promise of Sasuke being taken home this time. He turned the corner and met with a kick to his face. He stumbled back for a second but rebounded against his assailant. Another kick was aimed for his legs to knock him down but Naruto jumped and sent a kick to the attacker's face. She fell back for a moment to regain her center and came at him again.

"Who in hell are you?!" Naruto demanded making an x-block with his arms to protect himself from a punch.

"None of your damn business!" The red head shrieked trying to land another hit on the blond.

"Look I don't have time to mess around with you!" Naruto replied gripping her wrists and twisting her to face the wall.

"Well you better make time!" she grunted out before she rotated her wrists to counter his grab. The girl got free and began to attack more viciously than before.

"Get out of my way I need to get to Sasuke!!!" Naruto shouted in sheer desperation.

The girl's body went slack for a split second and then tensed up in pure fury. Her relentless attacks increased with more passion and obvious repressed anger coming out in every swipe of her foot.

"I don't have time to deal with you!" Naruto growled in frustration. "I've got to save my best friend!!" He side kicked her stomach, which she left so open.

After a few strangled coughs she came back at him this time wasting no precious moments to grab his arm in a firm grip. She spun Naruto around to face the wall, pressing him so hard into the wall his face began to grate against the rock. Naruto let out a hiss of pain, his pride telling him that it would be better to bite his own tongue off rather than let her know that she was hurting him.

"Let go of me you crazy bitch!" Naruto screamed as he tried to twist out of her grip. The more he moved the more his arm hurt but that didn't stop his squirming.

"You're the fucking reason Sasuke doesn't love me," she growled out through her teeth. "AREN'T YOU?!" In order to make her point known she tightened her hold on his wrist to hear his bones crushing underneath her fingers.

Blood filled Naruto's mouth as he tried to keep from crying out. He shut his eyes tightly to try to block out the pain.

"You're fucking insane!" he yelled, blood dripping down his mouth and splattering on the wall.

If she heard him she made no move to acknowledge it, "You're the one he's after you mother fuc-" her insult was cut short as the weight lifted off of Naruto's back in one swift motion.

Naruto heard a strong punch hit the red head's cheekbone as he turned to see who saved him. Sakura stood across from the woman, covered in blood and breathing heavily.

"Naruto, go find Sasuke!" she ordered glancing over her shoulder momentarily before defending herself from the psycho woman in front of her.

"Thanks Sakura-chan!" Naruto said in a bubbly tone that wasn't suited for such serious missions.

"Get going NOW Naruto!" she screamed grabbing the woman's leg and flipping her backwards.

That was all the encouragement Naruto needed to get his ass moving. He got up, using his good arm to push himself up and away. Once again he ran as fast as his body could handle, kicking every door in the hallway in to see if Sasuke was in there fighting his brother. He started feeling like he'd lost Sasuke all over again when the next door in his way was blown off of its hinges. Smoke came from every edge of the door as it cracked against the adjacent wall and splinted into a million pieces of wood.

Naruto ran into the room only to be greeted with the sight of one kunai digging itself into Itachi's heart and the other buried in Sasuke's stomach. Naruto stood in silent awe, he's just witnessed the death of Itachi. Sasuke's goal was completed and they both knew it as Itachi's blood came out in torrents, soaking and staining Sasuke's clothes. Almost as if in slow motion Naruto watched Itachi fall to his knees, blood matted hair spilling over his shoulders while he landed face first in the dirt of floor with the thud of dead weight. It seemed like the whole world held its breath, waiting for Sasuke to react to what he'd just done.

After a minute Sasuke finally pulled the metal out of his stomach feeling his nerves being severed every so slightly before he doubled over in pain from the battle. Although the only sound was the shocked, labored breath of Sasuke Naruto made no effort to break this silence. Sasuke's pale face lifted as his hands brought themselves to level with his eyes, the crimson blood still running down his skin. They touched his smooth face slowly leaving a trail of blood under his finger tips. He ran his fingers through his hair allowing the stickiness to knot his already messy hair.

Sasuke drew his head closer to his chest. Finally. Finally, he killed Itachi…He avenged his clan. He had completed his life long goal at the age of 16. His shoulders began to shake from the weight of all this news bombarding him at once. He could feel the sensation lifting from his body as he slowly became numb. Nothing felt real and then the quiet shuffling of Naruto's feet stirred him out of his trance.

"Sasuke…" he spoke so softly, too soft a voice to be able to kill.

Sasuke snapped his head forward to look at Naruto, hoping that his face didn't read mental break down. Slowly he stood up and brushed his knees free of dirt making it a point not to make direct eye contact with the blonde.

He led his dark eyes to see Naruto, just not those earnest blue skies he held, "Naruto…" he breathed the name out like it was a secret.

"Let's go home…"

End of Finally

Preview of next time:

Sakura joined in his search for the closest hospital. She pointed to one in the neighboring village, "That's not close enough!" Skikamaru replied, his voice climbing in intensity. Eveyrone realized that they had never seen him display so much emotion, much less let his frustation and anger get to the surface.

A/N: So I'm aware that I changed the last preview I made but it has the same basic concept, you get it. These things are from my hand written copies and you know that those always change so don't get huffy with me!