Why hello there. I'd just like to take this opportunity to say...
THAT I'M BACK! It's been a very long time since I've been on here, or written chapters for that matter. It makes me a bit guilty to have practically abandoned this story, but at least its gonna continue again, right?
Suigetsu: v_v You've left me waiting for like ten months!
Sasuke: We've been getting pretty impatient...
Me: ^-^" My deepest apologies you two!
Suigetsu: *pouts*
Me: Well, I guess I should just get on with this o.o
Bells began chiming throughout the town as it turned to sunrise. Three figures were approaching, their supplies on their backs. Their hair was blonde, pink, and white if you went from left to right. The blonde had a forlorn expression in his tired face, his spiky hair seeming to droop with his mood. Meanwhile, the pink haired girl had a head of silky and healthy hair, which framed her bright cheeks. Her green eyes were filled with determination, while she was clothed in a red top, black gloves, boots, and a grey skirt.
Finally, the third one had tall spiky hair of an ivory colour. He had a neutral look on his face; neither serious or relaxed. A black mask of cloth covered most of his face, save for the area around his right eye. He wore a jounin jacket over a long-sleeved black shirt, along with baggy blue pants and black fingerless gloves.
As they approached the village, the gray haired one turned his head to look at the blonde. "Naruto, we're getting closer to the River Country." The blonde didn't make a sound.
"Naruto..." the pink haired girl whispered, concern on her face. "This entire thing has affected all of us...but you need to-"
"NO SAKURA!" Naruto shouted at them, anger in his eyes. They both stopped to look at him. "You don't understand!" His fists were clenched. "Sasuke would've never done what he did unless someone forced him too!"
The masked man sighed. "Sasuke openly and willingly slaughtered several anbu above Konoha's rooftops. He also had his sharingan activated and was carrying someone else too. I doubt he was being controlled."
"I bet it was that white haired guy who was controlling him, Kakashi!" Naruto sounded more and more angry. "I should've watched Sasuke! I should've been with him to keep him from that guy! I SHOULD'VE BEEN A GOOD FRIEND!" The blonde burst into sobs and fell on the ground. His two companions watched him with pity.
"..."
Suigetsu was running around frantically, narrowly avoiding the jabs and slashes from Kagura's sword. "Get back here, you little brat!" Her aqua eyes filled with annoyance. "I told you a million times to NOT touch my swords!"
"I didn't even touch them!" Suigetsu whined, dodging a narrowly fatal swipe. "I was just looking at them damnit!"
"Looking at them?" Kagura got even angrier. "SO THAT MEANS YOU WERE TOUCHING THEM WITH YOUR EYESIGHT, YOU BRAT!"
"Tch..." Sasuke shook his head at the twos' antics, hopping from tree branch to branch with Chiyo and Tanaku. Suigetsu and Kagura were speeding along beneath them in the underbrush, causing several birds to fly off in fear of their screams and shouts. The Uchiha looked over at Tanaku. "Can't you control your partner?"
Tanaku laughed at the thought. "My little sister has always been a nuisance. Don't worry, once she gets used to your friend she'll most likely cool down."
"Most likely?" Sasuke questioned. "What about the off chance that, perhaps, she doesn't 'get used to him'?" Suigetsu started screeching about a skunk that he tripped on.
"Child," Chiyo began. "you can rely on me in that, should Kagura hinder out chase, I will discipline her where Tanaku cannot." The old woman began her senile cackling again, causing Sasuke more annoyance. When he set out to find Itachi he didn't exactly expect to be stuck saving a Kage with a crazed grandma and a duo with completely opposite personalities.
"True, Chiyo-baasama." Tanaku commented as her laughing subsided. "If it helps you feel better, Sasuke, they are actually going faster than we are with their current set of goals." Sasuke smirked. If by goals he meant Suigetsu's will to survive and Kagura's will to severe his limbs, then Tanaku's statement was pretty accurate.
"Why can't you calm the fuck down?" Suigetsu cursed as he stumbled again over a helpless forest creature. Kagura's actions is exactly why he didn't like girls. They were completely unpredictable and have a horrible temper. Really, what kind of sane person would attempt to kill someone for glancing at a pair of swords that are in plain sight?
"If you say another goddamn cuss word in my fucking direction I'm going to rip you to fucking shreds you annoying little prick!" How nice, Suigetsu thought. She proceeds to threaten him for saying bad words, with bad words. This Kagura made perfect sense. He wondered how exactly she was a shinobi for Suna and not a patient in a mental asylum?
The forest began to clear up as they entered a spaceous section of grass and rock. Sasuke was the first to hop down to the ground, looking up at the sky. Several hours had passed since Gaara was kidnapped, and the sun was barely above the horizon. Amazingly, they had already gotten on the trail of Akatsuki. Apparently, the group was heading to the River Country. Whether or not this was the actual Akatsuki Hideout or just a base, Sasuke was unsure.
Suigetsu was getting exhausted, having run for his life for the past few hours. Those hours felt like days, and his legs literally felt like jelly. He collapsed on the soft grass and held up his hand high. "I give, I give. I promise I won't look at your-AUGH!"
Kagura had landed on him and grasped him in a painful tackle, holding him in a headlock. "YOU BETTER PROMISE, BECAUSE IF I EVER FIND YOU BEING A LITTLE BITCH AGAIN, YOU'LL REGRET IT!"
"Calm down, sister." Tanaku said as he approached the two. She looked up at him and reluctantly let of Suigetsu, who's face was a faint purple. The mist nin breathed in a much cheerished gust of air, falling back into the grass with a huff.
"Whatever." Kagura pouted, crossing her arms. "He started it anyway." Sasuke stopped next to Tanaku, with Chiyo following behind. At the rate they were going, they would reach the River Country very soon. Eventually, with their numbers, they could overwhelm the Akatsuki members and retrieve Gaara. However, this is only if there aren't any other ones. In the worst case scenario, he might even run into...
"You two are the strangest pair of brother and sister I have ever seen." Chiyo chuckled. "The older brother is calm and conformed, and his rambunctious little sister with a bad temper stubbornly obeys his every request." The two scoffed at her description of them, Tanaku frowning and Kagura explaining several jumbled things at once.
Suigetsu looked up from the grass at them all. Chiyo was cackling again. Kagura and Tanaku were defending themselves. Sasuke was staring into space. They were all such a strange group...Wait, what? Suigetsu took a doubletake of Sasuke.
The normally stoic and expressionless Uchiha was dumbstruck, staring out past the mist nin with eyes of surprise. Suigetsu turned to see what he was looking at, and his mouth fell agap.
"And whenever he does his-" Kagura stopped talking when she noticed Sasuke and Suigetsu. Tanaku and Chiyo noticed them too, and the three of them all looked in the direction they were looking. Standing in the distance, the orange sun illuminating his silhoutte, was a man in a black cloak. Dotted on the cloak, were red clouds.
:O Next chapter coming later today!