And here's Chapter 21. I had to write this one quick before I lost the idea. Hope you like it. Readers, Reviewers, Thank You...Disciples of Babylon by Dragonforce.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Naruto kept his eyes locked on Itachi, not willing to let him have a crack at harming the populace. He'd have to let everyone else worry about Sasuke and the rest of the Akatsuki, granted there were nowhere near as many now. That did not mean that their strength was lessened.
While Itachi was keeping him busy, Kisame, Zetsu, and Tobi were moving to free Sasuke and he couldn't allow that. He had warned them of the dangers of leaving him alive. He should have killed him when he had the chance. He would never leave a job that needed to be done in the hands of others ever again when he could just as readily do it.
Itachi eyeballed the staff in Naruto's hand and let his own slip to his sword's hilt. He was nothing if not cautious…or was it paranoid?
"When did you get the staff, Naruto-kun? That's a unique way to summon it."
"I don't kiss and tell, Itachi. Now get the hell out of my way."
Naruto made to run around the Uchiha and found his way blocked.
"I can't let you do that. Believe me, Naruto-kun, I don't want to rescue Sasuke. He's already messed up my plans enough. But it's not my choice."
Naruto twirled his staff in his hand and spread his legs slightly, ready to run forward.
"What plans?"
"I've said enough. Now show me what I want to know."
Naruto ran forward, swinging his staff for Itachi's temple, and the Uchiha jumped to the side. Naruto used the momentum to carry himself around in a spin and lashed out for Itachi's legs. Itachi jumped over the staff and flipped backwards.
As soon as his feet had touched the ground Itachi rushed forward and pulled his sword from its scabbard. Naruto brought his staff up and blocked the blow that was aimed for his shoulder. The two weapons shook with their wielders effort and Itachi quirked his eyebrow.
"A staff made from chakra conductive wood? That is definitely different, Naruto-kun. Perhaps you can tell me which one of you sent the forest after us in Suna?"
Naruto pushed Itachi back and thrust the pointy end of the gnarled staff toward Itachi's chest. The Uchiha bent backward and backflipped away. Naruto formed the Rasengan in his right hand and ran forward, attempting to catch Itachi with it. The missing nin dodged to the side and watched as Naruto flew past him and the Rasengan impacted the soil, sending chunks of dirt and debris flying.
Naruto spun immediately and thrust his staff upward, blocking another attempt to behead him. Something felt wrong. Why wasn't he hearing any screaming? Why hadn't he seen Temari since this all started?
Where the hell was the platform?
Naruto blocked another thrust and snarled, lashing out and continuously spinning his body until he caught Itachi in the side, sending him flying. He cursed himself for a fool.
Genjutsu…his one glaring weakness. Itachi had caught him the moment he locked eyes with him. How could he be so stupid? He thought he had come so far and it took Itachi to make him feel like an academy student again.
Unfortunately for Itachi, he wasn't twelve anymore. He wasn't fifteen anymore. He could break genjutsu on his own.
It was just going to hurt like hell.
Itachi watched as Naruto formed a Kage Bunshin and handed it the staff. His eyes grew wide when the clone brandished the staff and clubbed Naruto in the jaw as hard as it could…and the genjutsu melted away, revealing everyone standing in the same spot. Naruto dismissed the clone and grabbed his staff again, before setting his jaw back in place.
"I hate genjutsu. I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill your brother. No more hiding, Itachi."
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Temari, who hadn't noticed Naruto being put in such a subtle, suggestive genjutsu turned her head when she heard the name 'Itachi'.
"Naruto? Itachi? Oh shit!"
The crowd all turned when they heard her shout and a boom rang out over Konoha. She turned back to the stage to see Kisame and Tobi fighting several Konoha jounin. Pein and Konan were nowhere to be found. Sasuke was still down on his knees, Anko and Ibiki having joined the fray. He was trying to struggle to his feet. She couldn't let the bastard get away.
"Naruto, take care of yourself! I'm going to secure the prisoner!"
Naruto didn't look back at her, but nodded his head in affirmation. Temari ran for the stage, already pulling her fan from her sash. Naruto kept his eyes locked on Itachi, the real Itachi, who still had his cloak on.
"What do you need Sasuke for, Itachi? Why does Akatsuki need him?"
The Uchiha shrugged and remained impassive.
"I have no idea. I was only told to retrieve him. I'm not privy to every plot or desire of my master. And you still haven't answered my question."
"And you haven't answered mine. I guess we're at an impasse."
"I guess we are."
The two glared at each other for a moment before running forward, wood and steel meeting each other.
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Temari made it to the stage just in time to watch as Kisame was pushed back by a group of ANBU and Tobi was being detained by Kakashi and some other jounins. Temari leapt up beside Sasuke and pushed him back to the ground, setting her knee into the small of his back.
"You just sit tight, Uchiha. You aren't going anywhere except Hell today."
The gag in Sasuke's mouth had somehow loosened itself in the tussle. Lucky for Temari. Now she got to listen to his mouth.
"You see, bitch? Someone came for me. I knew they would."
Temari, not in the mood for it, pressed harder into his back and growled.
"Yeah, your brother and his buddies came for you. Don't act so damn smug."
Sasuke tensed underneath her and immediately began to struggle.
"He's here? He's here! Let me go! Take the seals off and let me fight him! I have to avenge my clan! He's so close!"
Temari was about to knock the boy in the head with her fan when she saw something coming her way out of the corner of her eye and thrust her fan forward, blocking the kick that had been aimed for her head. She was knocked off of Sasuke's back and onto her butt.
"Hello, pretty lady! Tobi's a good boy!"
Temari blinked and used her fan to come to her feet as Kakashi and Sakura landed on either side of her. Kakashi eyeballed the Sharingan wielder and raised his headband, revealing his own Copy Eye.
"Tobi. It's not a pleasure to see you again."
"Aw, that wasn't nice. Tobi was having fun visiting you people. Tobi's been a good boy lately, so if you'd just hand Sasuke over, Tobi can go back to being a good boy again."
Sakura stood in front of Sasuke, ready to punch.
"Not a chance, freak."
"…you guys are mean…"
Kakashi opened his Sharingan eye and slid into a taijutsu stance.
"Who are you and why do you have the Sharingan? Why do you need Sasuke?"
Tobi's mood seemed to darken for a moment before the lightheartedness came back.
"Tobi can't tell you that. But, Tobi can tell you that you need to move."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, ready for anything.
"Why should we do that?"
"So Tobi can get Sasuke?"
Sakura growled and jumped at the orange-masked ninja, barely missing him.
"Not a chance!"
Kakashi turned to Temari before leaping after Sakura.
"If you see an opening with this guy, take it. I have a hunch that he's the most dangerous one out of this group."
Temari nodded and opened her fan all the way, revealing all three moons. She needed to wait for the right moment to release her resistance seals.
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Naruto ducked under another sword stab and kicked out towards Itachi, narrowly missing the Uchiha's groin. Itachi leapt backwards and glared at the blonde.
"That was a dirty move, Naruto-kun."
"Says the asshole who killed his whole family."
"I had my reasons."
"I'd love to hear them if you surrender."
Itachi stopped for a moment, as if debating with himself on the merits of surrender, before lunging for Naruto and locking weapons with him once again. Itachi's face was a mask of neutrality as he leaned forward to whisper in Naruto's ear while the two battled for dominance.
"My reasons will become clear enough in due time. My time is up. I've detained you long enough. We shall see each other again soon."
Naruto froze as Itachi stepped back and sheathed his sword. He looked from the hilt to Itachi's face, stupefied.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Itachi pulled his cloak closed and buttoned it up again.
"I have not found any satisfactory answers to my queries and we have not gotten anywhere with this fight. I have detained you long enough. We shall meet again."
Itachi shunshined away and Naruto spun immediately to the stage, his eyes widening in horror as he watched Temari get stabbed in the stomach by a kunai by Tobi.
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Kakashi and Sakura were doing a good job keeping Tobi at bay. The annoying Akatsuki member kept phasing in and out of Sakura's punches and Kakashi was afraid to use his Mangekyou for fear of accidentally maiming a comrade. Temari stood over Sasuke, periodically kicking him so that he'd stay down. She simply couldn't find an opening and she knew if she removed the seals, she would attract attention.
Kakashi called Sakura back and they squared off against Tobi again.
"Sensei, I can't hit him. He keeps disappearing. It's like when Naruto and Kiba tried to hit him that one time. What's his weakness?"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and kept them trained on the swirl-masked ninja.
"I don't know. But he has chakra, he can't keep it up forever."
"Of course I can. Tobi has lots of chakra. Let's avoid the fight and you hand over Sasuke."
Kakashi edged back to Sasuke slightly and pulled out a kunai.
"I think not. Why do you want him?"
"Tobi can't say. That would make Tobi a bad boy."
Kakashi tried to run a plan through his mind but nothing was coming. There wasn't enough information, there wasn't enough time. They couldn't let Tobi get his hands on Sasuke. If he got away, the cycle would continue and they'd never have any peace.
But no matter what they tried, Tobi always just dodged, or phased out of existence, or deflected the blows. He was untouchable. After nearly five minutes of back and forth, Tobi got bored apparently and decided enough was enough. After dodging another blow from Sakura and a kunai stab from Kakashi, he turned to see what the others were doing.
Kisame was laughing, a maniacal grin on his face, as he fought the ANBU. Itachi and Naruto were crossing weapons and the blonde wasn't going anywhere. Tsunade and Jiraiya were busy with Zetsu, who was infuriating Tsunade by popping up here, there, and everywhere. They'd been at this long enough.
Tobi waited for Sakura to come for him again and instead of phasing out or moving aside, he kicked her in the gut as hard as he could, sending her rocketing through one of the market stands and skidding into a building. Kakashi, while he feared she was hurt, tried to press the advantage while Tobi was offbalance.
The two began to exchange blows, neither landing decisive hits. Tobi dodged a stab to his throat and jabbed at Kakashi's arm.
"You're very good with that eye, Kakashi-san, for it being implanted."
Kakashi knocked the blow aside and ducked as Sakura flew over his head, throwing a punch at Tobi's head, which he let pass through him.
"You seem very well-schooled in the use of Sharingan as well. I did not think that there were other users besides the Uchiha brothers and myself. Perhaps you can tell me how you got yours?"
Tobi flinched and that was enough for Sakura to finally land a decisive blow. He flew into the side of a building and crashed through it, exploding out the other side. Sakura clenched her fist and the leather groaned as she grinned.
"Finally got him!"
She couldn't savor her moment, however, as Tobi appeared before her, the massive, hateful aura coming from him stifling everyone. Sweat poured off her in rivulets. She hadn't been this scared, this petrified, since that time she met Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. The single Sharingan that Tobi had exposed was spinning madly.
"I'm tired of playing. Get out of my way."
Before Sakura could reply, he backhanded her hard enough to snap her head around backward, sending her flying through several buildings before she skidded to a stop, barely missing Ichiraku's. Kakashi yelled out to her, but had to defend himself as Tobi was upon him. He couldn't remember being this helpless in forever.
Tobi finally was able to block a kick Kakashi threw and landed a roundhouse kick to Kakashi's head, knocking the Copy Ninja back. He appeared before Temari instantly, wanting to take advantage of the moment.
"Tobi would appreciate it if you would move."
Temari grimaced and let her hands settle over the seals, releasing them. The rush of wind blew the dust in the air away and ruffled Tobi's cloak, making it flap violently. The orange mask cocked to the side.
"What was that?"
Temari, now feeling much, much faster and more flexible, just put her fan behind her back, ready to swing it forward.
"None of your damn business. Now get lost."
"Sorry, can't do that."
Tobi ran forward and lashed out with a kick that Temari blocked with her fan. He was surprised at the speed with which she blocked, especially since the weapon was very heavy. The blow made him stumble slightly and she pressed the advantage, snapping the fan shut and swinging it with all her might at his head, watching with displeasure as it passed right through him.
Sasuke began trying to get to his feet again and she jumped backward, stomping on his back and taking the air out of him, before leaping into the air and thrusting her fan downward towards Tobi's head. It was no use; she just couldn't land a hit on him. Tobi, it seemed, suddenly had a revelation. He twisted his head to look back at Naruto, who was locked up with Itachi again, and the smirk could be felt in his voice.
"I thought you looked familiar. We may not be after the Nine Tails jinchuuriki today, but I can still leave him a present. Killing you will be a nice note for him."
He leaned over and picked up Kakashi's discarded kunai and ran forward, thrusting at Temari's vitals. She blocked frantically, trying with all her might to avoid being stabbed. She couldn't watch over Sasuke and Tobi at the same time, however, and backpedaled right over Sasuke, who was struggling to get up again, and lost her footing.
Tobi took advantage of her loss of balance and jammed the kunai into her gut. Temari gasped in horror and looked down to find it buried to the hilt. She fell to her knees, holding onto the metal and trying not to panic. She had to keep a level head in all of this. She felt herself fall backwards to the floor and took deep breaths.
She hated the feeling of helplessness and feared death. If she died, what would become of Gaara? Of Kankurou? Of Naruto? She had only just begun to enjoy her life with him. Fear began to creep into her, but she fought it valiantly. She rolled her head to the side and watched as Tobi picked up a bound Sasuke, threw him over his shoulder, and turned to her, mirth in his voice.
"Tobi had fun playing with you, pretty lady, but now he has to go. Thanks for babysitting Sasuke-kun for us."
Temari couldn't reply at the moment and Tobi knew that. Maintaining her cool was more important at the moment if she wanted to live. He had not gotten a very good stab at her, but without treatment, she would die in time. He adjusted Sasuke to a more comfortable position and was about to make the signal for them to leave when power seemed to explode into the air and plantlife suddenly erupted from the ground around him, thorns and brambles of all kinds, with beautiful blooms.
Time stopped it seemed as he turned to the source and found a blonde man, illuminated by a green aura, a staff in his hands stretched out toward him. For the first time in a long time, Tobi, no, not Tobi, Madara felt anxiety and a touch of fear.
The young man looked incredibly pissed…
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Naruto had seen Temari get stabbed and his whole world seemed to stop. He watched her fall and struggle to stop Tobi. He felt proud and afraid for her in the same moment. But her life was in danger and he couldn't allow that. His own anger, not the fox's seemed to billow from within him, and he felt the essence of his power, the 'green', bubble up. A green aura began to surround him and he knew what he had to do.
He was going to kill Sasuke and then the rest of them.
He thrust his staff forward and called forth the most horrible briars, brambles, and thorns he could think of to deter the masked ninja. The offending plantlife burst from the ground and surrounded the man. Tobi looked back to Naruto and reached out, touching one of the thorns, pricking his finger and holding it to his face as the blood turned black.
"Poison. Very clever. I did not know that there was another who possessed the Mokuton bloodline. I'll take great pleasure in killing you, child. You're a descendent of my most hated enemy and revered friend after all."
Naruto snarled and ran forward, the thorns moving aside for him as he began to swing on Madara. He could care less about the mysterious man's motives at the moment. He wanted revenge for what he had done to Temari. He needed to end this quick.
Madara saw that this situation was not advantageous and decided that retreat was a better option. He humped over Naruto and let loose with a Katon jutsu, burning a hole in the plants and leaping through before it could close again. Naruto howled in frustration and hurried after him.
"You're not getting away!"
Tobi felt the winds whip around him and turned his head to find Naruto gaining on him. He figured the boy must have done something similar to Temari and then remembered what Itachi had told him of his fight with Sasuke. The boy was incredibly fast. Retreat was the best solution.
As if on cue, all the Akatsuki were by his side, and he tossed Sasuke to Kisame. The fish-man caught him deftly and they continued to run. Naruto turned his head to see if anyone was following him and was happy to find that no one was and Tsunade was knelt down beside Temari. Good. No one else needed to see this.
The Akatsuki members increased their speed and were outside the gates within seconds, running through the trees in the direction of Amegakure. They felt a hurricane force wind behind them and as they entered a clearing, they found Naruto standing with his staff, his eyes showing a cold fury.
"I know I can't kill you four. But if I can't kill you, then I'll kill Sasuke at least. He's not going free today."
Kisame laughed and shrugged his shoulder, making Sasuke bounce.
"There's four of us, kid, and only one of you. What makes you think you have a chance?"
"Because I'm not alone."
Naruto formed the handsigns for Kuchiyose no Jutsu and Tsubasa appeared under him, shooting the blonde ninja into the air. The Akatsuki looked on in awe at a summon that had never been seen and Tsubasa glared down at them, baring his teeth.
Ah, a full meal. Greens, sushi, and meat with orange sherbert on the side. What shall we do here, Naruto?
Naruto looked down at the four, still in a silent fury.
"Kill them all if you can. Especially the bound and gagged one."
And what are you going to do?
"The same thing you are. I'm going to try to kill them."
Naruto leapt off Tsubasa's head, straight for Kisame and swung his staff at the man. Kisame leapt aside, still holding Sasuke on his shoulder. Naruto landed hard and took off after the fleeing Kisame. The other three started to chase him but Tsubasa suddenly appeared in front of them, his teeth set in a grim sneer.
Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. My young ward has business with the fishy one. And it's about damn time you showed up, Sanzoku.
The three turned to find a small red panda panting slightly behind them and Zetsu chuckled.
"It's just Naruto's pet rat. He can't do anything."
Sanzoku snarled and his fur stood on end.
Let's see what I can do when I rip your face off, plant boy.
The three Akatsuki watched as the red panda began to grow in size, until he was nearly half as big as Tsubasa. He stomped on the ground, creating a small tremor and growled.
By your leave, Tsubasa-sama, I want the man-plant.
Take him, child. I'll take the others.
The two raccoon summons leapt into battle, nearly squishing their opponents.
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Kisame looked behind him fearfully. Naruto was gaining quickly and it seemed that the plantlife was closing in on him. The light ahead meant a clearing was coming up and Kisame pumped more chakra into his legs when he felt a stinging sensation and looked down at the arm holding his sword. There was a vine with huge black thorns wrapped around his lower arm. The blood seeping from the scratch was black.
Poison.
He pulled his arm free of the vine and increased his speed with more urgency. If this brat got a hold of him…
He burst into the clearing and stopped dead in his tracks. Before him stood Naruto, his blue eyes burning with a cold fury, his staff held in his right hand. The blonde glared at him and pointed his staff.
"Put him down, Kisame, and step away. He has to die."
Kisame grinned and hefted his sword.
"Sorry, brat. You know, I can't do that. The boss would kill me if I let Sasuke die."
Naruto didn't say anything. He simply looked at the ground and sighed. His head snapped up and he was upon Kisame, swinging his staff with all his might. Kisame blocked the blow with his sword and parried every blow. Naruto suddenly leapt back and jammed his staff into the earth in front of him. Kisame, ready for a jutsu, put his sword in front of him.
"What are you doing, brat? Trying to call up the fox? That won't work, you know."
Naruto glared at Kisame and put his hands together as if in prayer.
"I know that. That's why I've decided to let my own power take care of you. Know in your death that nature claimed you, Hoshigake Kisame."
Kisame's beady eyes widened as the forest seemed to come alive and he dropped Sasuke on the ground, swiping every which way with his sword, cutting branches, vines, thorns, brambles, grass, anything that got near him. He suddenly saw why Itachi was so interested in Naruto again…it was this power, a power that drew on nature. It was all around them, all the time, so he had no need to create unless he wanted to.
He commanded plant life. As Kisame was drawn further and further away from Sasuke's bound form, he began to panic. He couldn't fail his mission, what would they do to him? Sasuke had to come back with them. He frantically began to cut his way back to the boy as Naruto made his way toward the Uchiha.
Kisame let out a roar and hacked his way through, just before the briars parted and let Naruto through. He snatched the boy off the ground and shouldered him again before starting to slash through the plants again. He finally made a hole in the wall and burst through, running for Amegakure, fear lending wings to his feet.
Naruto watched as Kisame ran, not believing he had slashed through his wall of plants and grit his teeth. He couldn't let him get away. He roared in frustration and ran after Kisame, and threw his staff like a missile. It flew through the air and struck Kisame in the back, imbedding itself. The missing nin let out a gargled cry and fell to his knees, dropping Sasuke in the process. The Uchiha rolled and bounced several feet away and stopped with a grunt.
The vines began to creep over Kisame again and he yanked the staff from his back and began to panic, hacking and slashing at them again, Sasuke forgotten in a moment of self-preservation. Naruto directed the most poisonous vines to pick Sasuke up. His gag had come loose at some point, and he screamed when some of the thorns entered into him, their poison spreading quickly as he was lifted into the air.
Sasuke felt the sting of the poison as it entered his system and came to the conclusion that he was going to die. No vengeance, no reviving his clan, no more living…all because of his former best friend. His anger grew more and more as the poison coursed through his veins and he finally noticed the branch that had been hovering over him, the end of it sharp as a senbon needle. He screamed out to the world as it descended upon him.
"DAMN YOU, UZUMAKI NARUTO! DAMN YOU TO HELL!"
A wet squelching sound cut through the clearing and all eyes turned to find Sasuke impaled on the branch, it having gone through his heart. His eyes had gone wide in shock and blood dripped from his mouth as he stared into the forest. Naruto just turned away, not wanting to look at what he'd done, but soon wished he hadn't as Tobi's fist found its way to his face, knocking him into a tree. The masked ninja, having somehow gotten away from the summons, began to pummel him into the bark.
"You little bastard! All that planning, all that time, wasted because of your insignificant self-righteousness!"
Naruto couldn't move as Tobi overwhelmed him, landing blow after blow. Whenever Naruto struck back, the man phased that body part out of existence as if subconsciously, and continued to pound away. The vines worked to save him, but couldn't get a grip on the Akatsuki member. Tobi heard a bloodcurdling scream behind him, but spared it no notice. It was inconsequential at the moment. Naruto was starting to lose conciousness, when he heard a scream from several familiar voices.
"Naruto!"
"Tobi!"
Boss!
Naruto! Get away from him!
Madara turned his head to find Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the two huge summons running his way and slammed Naruto's head against the tree, leaning down to his face, and whispered.
"You're lucky I can't take you now. I need you alive, child, so stay that way for a little while longer. Heal yourself and we'll meet again. You won't stop my ambitions. Now, take a nap."
Naruto's eyes rolled back in his head as Madara slammed his head into the trunk again and leaped away to follow the others. Kisame had slipped away at some point, probably helped by Zetsu or Itachi. Tsunade skidded to a stop beside Naruto and slapped him on his cheek.
"Come on, brat, stay with us! We healed Temari, she's fine, so you can't let her see you like this!"
Naruto struggled to remain awake and tried to focus his vision. He had been careless when he allowed Tobi to get that close. He coughed up blood and pointed to a tangle of thorns in the middle of the clearing.
"Sasuke's…over there. I was able to get him…at least. Baa-chan…we gotta…talk when I…wake back up."
She had begun to run her hands over him, healing his internal injuries, noticing with great satisfaction that the Kyuubi was already working with her. Jiraiya gingerly pushed the thorns aside, careful to not touch them, and fished out Sasuke's body. The blood oozing from it was thick and blackened from all the poison.
"I've got the Uchiha, Tsunade. He's deader than a doorknob."
She nodded and kept healing Naruto. The boy had fallen asleep under her ministrations and she smiled down at him.
"That must have been hard for him, having to do that. No matter what he says, I know it must have hurt."
Her eyes widened and she snapped her head around to Jiraiya.
"What about Orochimaru?"
Jiraiya shrugged and looked down at the body he was dragging behind him.
"I dunno. He must have died with Sasuke. We'll never know."
Tsunade picked up Naruto in her arms and Jiraiya handed Sasuke over to one of the ninjas that had accompanied them. The mood was somber as they marched back to Konoha. Jiraiya walked up beside her and looked down at Naruto. Tsubasa called out to them.
Are you going to take him to the hospital?
She shook her head and smiled down at the blonde in her arms.
"No. I'm going to take him to Minato's house and put him to bed. The way the fox heals him, he'll be up in a matter of days."
Very well. When he wakes up, tell him I would like to speak to him as soon as possible. Sanzoku, watch over him.
Yes, Tsubasa-sama.
The giant summon disappeared in a large poof of smoke and Sanzoku crawled onto Jiraiya's shoulders, back to his small size again. Jiraiya didn't even notice and glanced at Tsunade again.
"What about Temari? It'll take her a little longer to heal up, even if you did heal most of the damage."
Tsunade grinned and kept walking.
"We'll put them in the bed together. It's big enough that they won't disturb one another…unless they want to."
Jiraiya grinned.
"Now who's the pervert?"
"Shut up, you old goat."
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Naruto awoke to a familiar sensation of arms wrapped around him. His eyes opened slowly and he glanced around the room he was in.
Familiar curtains, check. Familiar paint, check. Familiar furniture, check. Familiar head of blonde hair laying across his chest, complete with the familiar smell of gardenias?
Check.
He smiled down at Temari and listened to her breathe. After watching her get stabbed, it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard. He adjusted his arm underneath her and found it was asleep. She yawned suddenly and her big teal eyes opened and locked onto his.
"Hey you. Welcome back."
He smiled down at her and blinked sleepily.
"Same to you. How are you?"
She nuzzled into his chest more, her grip on him tightening.
"I'm fine. I'm just fine."
She gasped when his arms locked around her and he pulled her to him, squeezing her tightly.
"Don't you ever do something like that again, do you hear me? Don't you ever scare me like that again."
The misery in his voice broke any disagreement she was about to make and she simply kissed him on the lips and hugged him harder.
"You either."
You two are so cute like that.
Temari growled at Sanzoku, who lay at the end of the bed, his tail twitching back and forth happily.
"And you know how to ruin a mood."
It's what I do best. I'm happy to see the two of you up and well. I'll leave you alone now. Rest and recover. There is much to do when you are back to full health.
"Thanks, plushie."
Just rest. We'll exchange barbs later.
Naruto and Temari nodded and he wrapped his arms back around her, pulling her close. They lay like that until they went back to sleep, unaware they were being watched. Sanzoku walked out the door and looked up, nodding to Tsunade as he walked between her legs and down the hall. Tsunade shushed Shizune and Sakura and ushered them away.
"Let them have their time. We'll talk to them later."
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Itachi watched as Madara destroyed part of the Akatsuki base in a fury, blowing things up, cutting walls, and generally wreaking havoc. Finally, the man stopped, as if remembering something and whirled around to face Itachi.
"What was that scream I heard while I was beating the jinchuuriki?"
Itachi looked at his sword and then back to Madara.
"That was Orochimaru breaking free. I found him trying to exit Sasuke's body while I retrieved Kisame. I trapped him in the genjutsu of my sword, in a world where he'll dream forever. He is no longer of consequence."
Madara nodded and sat down on a nearby rock.
"Good. That's one nuisance taken care of. But this is a setback. We needed Sasuke for our plans and now we'll be set back. A third Sharingan would have been useful."
"I still don't see what use he would have been."
Madara scoffed and put his chin in his hand.
"You wouldn't. Now leave me. I wish to be alone."
Itachi bowed and exited the room, leaving Madara to his dark thoughts.
'You're so lucky, Uzumaki. So, so damn lucky that I need you alive for the moment.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto and Temari walked into the Hokage tower after two more days of rest, feeling much better than they had. Naruto had some things to discuss with Tsunade that bothered him…and find out what the populace thought of Sasuke's death.
They walked past several ninja, all who smiled and bowed at them to them. They returned the gestures and continued on down the hall to the stairs. Neither one knew why they were commanding such kind looks beyond the normal reasons.
Tsunade's secretary ushered them in immediately and shut the door behind them. Naruto turned when he heard the click and heard Temari squeal. He spun to find her hugging Gaara, the Kazekage not looking very amused. Tsunade watched the scene with amusement as Naruto walked forward and bowed to the two.
"Kazekage-sama, Hokage-sama."
Gaara sighed and pried his sister off of him while glaring at Naruto.
"What have I told you about that title?"
Naruto grinned and shrugged and Gaara closed his eyes as he sat down in a chair.
"It doesn't matter. Now, I've heard several things from Tsunade about your stay here. Why don't you enlighten me further?"
Naruto cleared his throat and took Temari's hand in his.
"Well, it started like this…"
...you thought I was going to be predictable, didn't you? Thought ol' Sasuke was going to get away scott free, huh? Not in my story, you little kiddies! Biggest curveball of the story! Let me know what you think!
(And don't tell me that he died in a crappy way. Not all deaths are noble or grand.)