Yes, I'm back. I am so terribly sorry it took me forever to update. I had some problems I had to deal with before I could deal with this! Anyways, I'm so thankful for the reviews. You guys are amazing, you have no idea how happy you make me feel when you tell me you like what I've written. So... this story is coming to an end... just a couple more chapters. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
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Disclaimer: I do not own the knucklehead, the two emos, or the two annoying ham and cheese girls. I also don't own the anime. It's the sad truth.
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"Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."
[Richard Bach]
-x-
The blonde was headed towards the Hyuuga compound. Yes, this was a rare occurrence. He'd decided to inform Hinata of his relationship status. To be frank, Naruto really couldn't tell whether the girl had figured out his preference yet. She was always hanging in the background, invisible, but he knew she was there. Sakura had told him that Hinata liked him only an hour ago. So Naruto had made it his job to make Hinata's rejection as painless as possible. He knew rejection; he'd been rejected several times by Sakura.
"Hinata-chan? You there?" Naruto shouted at the locked door. His hands fisted in his pockets when a cold swipe of wind brushed past him.
"N-Na-aruto-kun? W-what are y-you d-doing here?" Hinata stuttered from behind him. Her voice was soft and innocent. Naruto winced at the thought of having to hurt her.
"Yep. It's me. Uh, listen. I had to... talk to you about something." Naruto frowned. Hinata raised her thin brows, but led the way towards a secluded place anyways. She stopped underneath the shade of a tall oak tree.
"P-please go o-on." Hinata muttered. She wrung her hands in an act of nervousness.
"Do... do you like me, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked. Her milky eyes widened in shock.
"W-what? E-excuse m-me?" Hinata choked. She took a full step backwards, catching her breath when her back touched the rough bark of the tree.
"You heard me." Naruto said gravely. His normally sun kissed skin was pale to the point where it resembled a blank sheet of paper.
"... Mmm. N-Naruto-kun, I-I... Yes. Y-yes. I-I l-love y-you," Hinata whispered. Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the young girl. "B-but I've realized y-your p-preferences. I-I'm so h-happy I-Itachi-san can m-make y-you smile s-so b-brightly."
Now it was Naruto's turn to stare in shock.
"You have? What?" Naruto asked dumbly. Hinata shook in weak laughter.
"Oh, Naruto-kun. Y-you've always b-been s-so n-naïve." Hinata glanced back at the Hyuuga compound.
"Uhm..." Naruto mumbled.
"I-I have to g-go, Naruto-kun. I-I'll s-see you sometime l-later." And with that, Hinata, the shy girl who hovered in the background, confessed her love and ran away.
-x-
"What's up with her? I don't understand girls." Naruto huffed. He crossed his arms in the childish manner he used so frequently.
"What's wrong with them? Always so deceiving. Sneaky." Naruto muttered under his breath. He was so busy glaring at the rocky surface of the ground that he didn't notice the person walking in front of him.
"Oof! S-sorry." Naruto stuttered. He waved his arms to regain his balance. Oh, great. Another girl. And a girl I know, at that.
"Oh! Hey, Naruto." Ino flashed him a grin. Naruto wasn't sure where this newly improved, 'kind' Ino was coming from.
"Hello, Ino-chan." Naruto nodded politely, eyeing the broken shards of glass on the floor. "Careful." He added as a precaution.
"Yeah... that's a $50 glass vase you broke there." Ino commented, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry. I can pay-"
"Relax, Naru. It wasn't very important anyways." Ino smiled again, but it didn't look as real this time. It looked strained.
"Hey, Ino-chan, you feeling okay?" Naruto asked. His voice was laced with genuine concern. Ino had never been particularly nice to him, but a friend was a friend.
"I-I'm fine." Ino replied. A bit too quickly to be a real answer.
"No you're not." Naruto furrowed his brows, looking the platinum blonde up and down.
"What makes you say that?" Ino puckered her lips in a show of aggression.
"Your smiles aren't real." Naruto answered. Why does everyone have problems?
"Pfft. That's stupid." Ino scoffed. She went inside her family's flower shop and returned with a broom and dustpan.
"You sweep. I'll collect." Ino instructed. Naruto took the familiar object into his hands. He almost felt ashamed. Any other boy his age shouldn't know how to hold and use a broom. However, he'd been cleaning his apartment for as long as he could remember. He started with a slow sweeping motion, but Ino yelled for him to go faster.
"Sorry again, Ino-chan." Naruto apologized. His eyes narrowed when Ino turned in the doorway.
"Not a problem." Ino replied. Her tone was almost icy.
"Will you ever tell me what's wrong?" Naruto asked. The tall blonde didn't move.
"There's nothing wrong." Ino denied. Naruto decided to head home for a nap. It was too early in the morning to be walking around the village with nothing important to do. Sure, he had to go buy some groceries, but maybe he'd ask Itachi to come with him sometime in the afternoon.
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Sleep still had him in her arms when Uchiha Itachi sank onto his bed. Naruto let out a slow sigh, the tips of his hair moving back and forth in the wisp of air. Itachi tapped nervously on Naruto's leg.
"Itachi? You feeling okay? My leg hasn't done anything to you." Naruto raised a blonde brow as he brought himself up to a sitting position. Itachi frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, but casually brushed it off as a yawn.
"Eh? Speak up, 'Tachi." He said. Uchiha Itachi didn't hesitate. Naruto couldn't shake off the feeling of dread filling his empty stomach.
"Sasuke..." Itachi whispered, glaring at the blank wall in front of him. The blonde's heart skipped a beat. Sasuke? What was wrong with Sasuke?
"What? What happened?" Naruto asked. His blue eyes scanned the raven's face, for a clue, for anything.
"Sasuke. He's gone." Itachi said dryly. Naruto could feel a harsh knot in his throat. His smile faded slowly from his face as the information was processed. Gone?
"G-gone? What... what do you mean, gone?" Naruto breathed. Please, please, no. No, Sasuke.
"He... he ran away." Itachi muttered. It hurt that his brother had resorted to something so desperate. How could he not have known his brother was in so much emotional pain?
"Oh, Kami. Oh, Kami, no. Please. Where did he go? Where is he?" The blonde held Itachi's wrist with an iron grip.
"I've gotten word from my an- hm... from a retrieval group that he may have fled to Orochimaru." Itachi replied, albeit dreadfully.
"Who's Orochimaru? What is he doing with Sasuke?" Naruto asked desperately. His mind was jumbled to the point where he could not fully comprehend the information being given.
"I want you to relax, Naru... please. Relax." Itachi soothed, wincing slightly when Naruto's grip tightened further. "Let go of my wrist, Naru. You're cutting off my blood circulation." Itachi added. Naruto complied, making sure to quickly scan the Uchiha's arm for bruises... nothing but the dark outline of a handprint.
"Okay, okay. Relaxed... wait. Why are you here and not out there, looking for him?" Naruto asked.
"I wanted to be the one to tell you and keep you from- Naruto!" Itachi sighed deeply as the visibility in the room dropped to zero. The smoke bomb Naruto had dropped, however, was one of the blonde's own creations. It took Itachi an extra two minutes, 14 seconds than usual to figure out the dynamics of Naruto's escape plan. Smoke bomb. Window. Shut window. Roof tops. Gates. Ambush guards. Trees. Shadow clones. Find Sasuke. Bring Sasuke home. Suffer Itachi's wrath. Itachi Uchiha, however, was always one step ahead of the blonde, and before Naruto could reach the gates, Itachi had tackled him from behind, being careful to not hurt him.
"I'm not a girl, Uchiha. I can take a scratch. Now let me go! You can't stop me from saving my best friend!" Naruto kicked frantically in an effort to escape. Unfortunately, Itachi's body mass was almost double the size of his.
"I know, I know. I'm just asking for two minutes. Just two minutes of your time." Itachi soothed. The Uchiha couldn't deny, however, that he didn't want to have to waste these two minutes of precious time. He wanted to find Sasuke, bring him home, strap him in bed, and the next morning beat some sense into him. Such a feat was impossible when you had to take care of an explosive blonde.
"No! Let go!" Naruto thrashed again, making it just that much more difficult for the patient raven.
"Stay still, Naruto. I want to explain a few details first." Itachi found his voice rising in volume for every second the blonde fought.
"You let go right now! I have to go save him!" Naruto cried. Tears that had pooled at the corners of his eyes flowed in steady streams down his flushed cheeks.
"You're not the only one who wants to save him! He's my younger brother, Naruto. I've lost him, and I have to find him. He's no one's responsibility but my own. I neglected to acknowledge his feelings, and you have absolutely no idea how worthless I feel, Naruto. My Otouto hates me now." Itachi's voice reached a critical point. It fell into a hopeless hushed whisper. Almost immediately, Naruto stopped moving. He froze on the spot.
"I'm listening." Naruto whispered. He couldn't help but to wince when a drop trailed down his neck. It's not raining. It's Itachi. My sweet Itachi is crying.
"Sorry," Itachi breathed, "Now listen. You are to stay with me at all times, in my sight. Don't jump into a fight unless necessary. And most importantly, if you see Sasuke... don't rush him."
-x-
Itachi had only just knocked out the two guards at the gate before two young genin came running at him.
"Itachi-san, Itachi-san. Is it true? Is Sasuke-kun really gone?" Ino and Sakura chorused. The two were so rattled by the news that they didn't realize they were actually speaking to each other.
"Ino-chan, Sakura-chan... I really have to get going. Naruto and I will explain it all later."
"You're going to bring Sasuke-kun back, aren't you? Please, let us come with you." Ino whispered. Her long bangs were tucked neatly behind her ear, but her face showed her sick worry. Soft blue eyes weren't sure of what emotion to show. Sakura looked almost as bad as Ino did.
"Girls," Itachi began, but was cut off by his blonde boyfriend.
"Yes. Yes, come. The more the merrier, right?" Naruto's voice pitched at the end, expressing his desperation.
"Please, Itachi-san. Please... I... I couldn't... if he... Sasuke-kun!" Sakura burst into tears, carelessly falling to her knees in an act of vulnerability. Ino, however, stayed strong. She defied the stereotype she had been given. "Drama Queen."
"He doesn't realize how much he's impacted me." Ino whispered. Her voice was rough and shaky.
Itachi had to admit he was touched by these words, and quickly ushered the girls ahead of him. He decided to explain the exact details of the retrieval on the way. He'd already wasted too much time. Naruto's fingers brushed his own, and an unvoiced message passed between them. You're not alone.
"Let's move!"
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The group of four kept a steady pace, making sure to hide their chakra signatures. Trees flew past them, blurring into beautiful greens. Ino kept her gaze in front of her, ignoring the presence of her companions. She took in the rays of sunlight filtering through the leafy canopies of the trees. A blurb of shadow here, a light patch there. Sasuke always liked those. Why did you leave?
"Do you remember how Sasuke would always get this look on his face when he was angry? Almost like he was sucking on a lemon. I used to make fun of him for it." Ino said. It was painfully obvious she was speaking to herself, but another three sets of ears tuned in. The blonde began to hum a song, blinking far too many times than necessary.
"Ino-chan?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Ino replied after a minute of silence.
"We're okay." Naruto's voice echoed through the emptiness of the forest.
"Yeah. We're okay." Ino agreed. She really didn't know what to make of their situation. Just an hour ago, Sasuke had visited her house, insisting on giving her something. She didn't get anything. Just a hug. Just a simple, meaningless hug. Or so she had thought. It had been a good-bye in his eyes. Not even Naruto had mentioned receiving a good-bye from Sasuke. Maybe Ino was special.
"When we find him, I'm going to beat him so hard he'll never walk again." Naruto growled. He heard Sakura whimper at the mere thought. Naruto sure knew how to create visuals.
"I-Itachi-san? Do you have any idea where he could be?" Sakura asked. She seemed like a defenceless wreck. If they got ambushed, she would probably fall to her knees in tears, begging for mercy.
"He's with Orochimaru, I assume, so he would be at one of his hide outs. The closest one would be in Sound. Sasuke has to make it to Sound in exactly 7 days, as he is Orochimaru's next vessel."
"Vessel?" Naruto asked. Itachi watched the limp blonde curls at the back of his neck bounce in stride with his leaps.
"Orochimaru uses a forbidden technique that enables him to transfer into another body. After his current body gets too old, of course." Itachi answered.
"How can you say that so easily? That's sick!" Sakura's mouth hung open in silent disgust.
"I've dealt with worse. And mouth..." Itachi started, and his sentence was finished by the blonde.
"Closed. You'll swallow a fly." Naruto turned his head so he could send Itachi a teasing glance.
"Hn."
"O-oh. Sorry." Sakura's cheeks flushed in embarrassment, To Itachi, it was almost amusing that whenever Sakura blushed, the pink wasn't nearly as bright as her hair.
"Itachi-san? What's this Orochimaru guy's background?" Ino asked. It seemed she had returned to her normal self.
"Well, for starters, he abandoned Konoha." He let the information sink into the genin's brains. It was Naruto who reacted first.
"A Konoha ninja? No... What? Why?" Naruto gasped. Itachi couldn't hide the smirk on his face. Naruto could always be counted on to be a source of entertainment, even in the worst of situations.
"Yes. He's one of the legendary three Sannin." Itachi waited again for his ever curious blonde to ask who the Sannin were.
"Who are they?" Naruto asked.
"Well, they reign from Konoha as well. Their names are Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. They all possess excellent ninja skills. Tsunade is known as the world's greatest medical ninja and is the granddaughter of the first Hokage. Jiraiya is a well known sage, as well as a writer of... uh... novels. Orochimaru has committed several crimes against Konoha and other villages. He conducts experiments on human beings, and uses forbidden Jutsu. He wants to gain immortality. The three were named Konoha's "Legendary Three Sannin" in the Second Great Shinobi War, by Hanzo, the former leader of Amegakure."
"You sure seem to know a lot about them." Ino muttered. Her brows were furrowed in a state of intense concentration. Had it not been for Naruto, who had been beside her, and his quick reflexes, Ino would have slammed head first into a tree. After a series of embarrassed apologies, the duo continued on their way. Itachi couldn't deny the fact that he'd chuckled softly. Yes, it wasn't a time to be cracking jokes and laughing... but what else could he do? Itachi was in such distress, that he didn't know what to do with himself. He also wanted to avoid worrying the genin further, Naruto especially.
"How long will it take to get to Sound?" Sakura asked.
"5 and a half days, if we hurry and take short breaks." Itachi replied. He wouldn't mention that his Anbu team and himself had made it to Sound in an easy three days.
"You know everything, don't you, 'Tachi?" Naruto said in awe. Itachi glared at him.
"That's a dangerous statement to make, and I've told you that several times before." Itachi reprimanded. A hurt look passed over Naruto's face before he answered in as much cheeriness as he could summon, "Then stop being so smart!"
Itachi shook his head in disappointment. Sometimes the blonde could be such an idiot.
"Hey, Itachi-san? How long have we been travelling?" Ino questioned. Her light blue eyes held a strange calmness that made his skin crawl. The calmness made her look as threatening as a psychotic serial killer.
"Don't kill us." Naruto muttered for only Itachi to hear. So it seemed the blonde wasn't such an idiot after all. He had picked up on it only seconds after Itachi had. The Uchiha looked up at the soft blue of the sky for an answer. The sun had moved about an inch to the right since the last time he'd checked.
"I would estimate four hours." Itachi said in a velvety smooth tone. Ino nodded slowly in understanding. The rest of the day was painfully silent, with pinches of conversation here and there on Naruto's behalf.
When it was finally time to rest up for the night, Itachi became aware of the tension in the air. He automatically quickened his stride so he could be closer to Naruto. He was playing the favourites game, and he knew it.
"Alright, team. Let's get a good night's sleep, so we'll be energized for tomorrow. Ino and Sakura will bring back water; Naruto will set up the tents. I'll go get fire wood. Scatter!"
-x-
Itachi didn't know what made him scream. He didn't know why he'd run off without the genin. He didn't know why he was the one to find Sasuke. He didn't know why he couldn't beat some sense into his brother. He didn't know why he let his guard down when he thought Sasuke's barrier was finally broken. He didn't know why his brother said he hated him. He didn't know why Sasuke stabbed him. Once, twice, thrice. He didn't know why he didn't bother to stop him. He didn't know why Naruto had fallen to his knees when he saw the bloody mess they'd made. He didn't know why his favourite blonde was crying, or when Sasuke finally came to his senses. He didn't know why his mission failed. He didn't know why he failed his brother. Worst of all, he didn't know why he'd failed Naruto.
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That's some deep stuff there. Haha, hope you liked it. See you guys in about a week or two! I promise to update on time this time.
Reviews:
In The Mix: Aww, yeah. I've felt left out so many times. Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I completely overlooked that. Very good point indeed! I made sure to fix it in this chapter. Hope that's good? And actually, Itachi already knew. He's part of Anbu, so I would think he'd have been told or had noticed by now the odd amount of chakra and the fact you can see it. Thanks for reviewing!
Saya420: My faithful reviewer who has been here since the beginning! I'm so glad you're still reading. Haha, I actually had it written down in my calendar. All of my friends think I'm a loser.
Sweetyamiyugigirl: Yeah, I want them to be friends too, but I'm not really sure how to go about it. Haha, poor Sasuke. He made an irrational decision this chapter. Silly Uchiha. Well thanks! I tried to make him a bit different than most other authors make him. Oh, he means how the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha about 13 years ago? Naruto blames himself for the deaths.
Narutoyaoifan: Haha thanks! I really try to be. Yeah, I liked that part too. Kiba needs a kick in the face every once in a while.
Gue77: Thank you so much! I'm really sorry about that. I just had this problem going on, and it was kind of messing me up. Anyways, I'm all good and ready now. I promise to update sooner!
Sesshomarubaby18: Okay! Thanks for reviewing!
Orannis4: I totally didn't realize how submissive I made Naruto until you pointed it out. I'll try to give him back the freedom of choice he has in the Manga/Anime. Maybe he's just influenced by friends and the like. Thanks for reviewing!