Hello people! Sorry for taking so long to update, but I've been working hard on my drawing portfolio for the AP exams so I haven't had too much time to write. Anyways, thanks to Mizu Hime, lovingo0Kawaii0oGirl, Rika-chan14, ruler of dragons, Valinor's Twilight, marimo head's lover, Hibiki-chan, iluvmitsukake, Mayan, Madeline Cullen, Lyris88, Princesa de la Luna, ForeverInTheMoment, tru-viet, GBAgentOtaku, Hinase Akanoma, and uchiha black for reviewing. Please review, reviews make me happy and a happy author means a good story and happy readers. Now on with the story!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Rei and my other OC's so don't sue me!
Chapter Fifty-Two
Sasuke frowned as he walked trough town. He had been summoned by Kakashi and was on his way to meet him. As he walked he thought about his encounter with Rei earlier that day. He knew he had been harsh, but he was still upset about what happened. In spite of that he knew he had to talk to her, but he just couldn't bring himself to it. Looking at her hurt and he didn't want to feel anymore pain. Still, every time he thought about her he wished he could fix things, but he wondered if she would listen after what had happened.
He sighed and tried to clear his head, but he could never really stop thinking about her. He cared too much about her. He decided that he would just talk to her later that day and apologize to her. He supposed that swallowing his pride was worth it if he could get back someone so important to him.
Rei sighed as she walked to the ramen shop. She decided to have some ramen to try to lift her spirits. After seeing Sasuke she had felt more alone than ever. She supposed it was fair for her to feel that way. After all, she didn't really have anyone else in Konoha. She arrived at the ramen shop and smiled as she saw Naruto sitting there with a mouthful of ramen. Just the person she needed to make her feel better.
"Hello Naruto-kun!" She said happily.
"Hi Rei-chan!" He said.
Rei sat next to him and ordered some ramen.
"So, how is training going?" She asked.
"It's alright, I've been training hard."
"You better be."
Naruto laughed and Rei smiled as she picked up some chopsticks and got ready to eat.
"How is Sasuke-teme doing?"
Rei stopped with her chopsticks halfway to her bowl. Naruto gave her an odd look. She composed herself and gave him a grin.
"He's as moody as ever."
Naruto looked at her for a moment before replying.
"What's wrong Rei-chan?"
Rei was surprised to hear that, but she guessed she made things too obvious.
"Nothing, I guess I'm just a bit bored now that Okoru and the others left."
"When did they leave?" Naruto asked curiously.
"They just left this morning. They've stayed here for too long already. Their sensei will kill them when they get back." She said with some amusement.
Naruto grinned.
"Rei-chan, you're so mean."
Rei just laughed and ate her ramen. As they ate she sensed someone approaching. She turned around and saw Jiraiya standing there.
"There you are." He said looking at Naruto.
"Perverted hermit!" He said with a mouthful of ramen.
Rei had to grin at Naruto's nickname for the sage.
"I've been looking all over for you."
Naruto seemed surprised to hear this. He looked at Rei and she grinned.
"I better go Naruto."
Naruto frowned slightly and she smiled.
"I'll see you later."
She stood up and looked at the hermit.
"It' was nice seeing you again mister hermit."
He smiled and she just grinned and left.
She began walking towards her home, but as she walked she passed some strange people wearing similar uniforms. Something about their chakra made her uneasy and she waited until she had passed them before glancing back at them. As she looked at their matching black cloaks with red cloud prints she felt like she had seen them before. She frowned and continued walking trying to remember where she had seen them.
When she was about to reach her home she stopped abruptly and a feeling of dread spread through her. She turned around and ran back the way she came as fast as she could. She had suddenly remembered why those men were so familiar.
She thought back to the time she spent with Orochimaru. She remembered asking about an old cloak she had found when she was younger. She had just arrived at the headquarters and she was trying to get used to the place when she had tripped on it while walking around in a particularly dark room. When she looked down she found a black cloak with red clouds printed on it wrapped around her feet. Orochimaru found her and smirked in that wicked way of his.
That day he had told her about the old organization he had previously been a part of. According to him its goal was to gain control of the tailed beasts. It was this fact that alarmed her as she had recently found out that Naruto had the Nine Tailed Fox inside of him.
If her suspicions were right the two men she had seen earlier were after Naruto. She hurried towards his home. As she got there she found Sakura climbing down the stairs of the building Naruto lived in. She stepped in front of her startling the girl.
"Sakura, have you seen Naruto?"
"No, what's going on? Sasuke-kun just asked me the same thing and then he left in a hurry."
Rei scowled. If Sasuke knew what was going on then he probably went after Naruto. If he got involved he could get hurt. She cursed and left. She then recalled Naruto talking to the hermit at the ramen shop. She hurried to it and asked the man if he knew where they had gone. Apparently they were headed to a town not too far from Konoha. She thanked the shopkeeper and left.
While she ran she thought about Sasuke. She was worried about him, maybe even more than she was about Naruto. At least Naruto had the hermit to protect him, but Sasuke was alone. Still, she knew that worrying wouldn't help and so she focused on getting to the town ahead.
Soon she had made it to the town. Unfortunately, the town appeared to be popular among travelers as it contained many inns. She groaned as she ran to the nearest one to begin her search. She just hoped she would be able to find her friends before it was too late.
She ran around the town for a while looking for any sign of Naruto, Sasuke, or the hermit, but she had no such luck. She paused for a moment after checking yet another inn and froze as she felt a strange chakra nearby. She could also feel Sasuke's ckakra. She hurried towards the place as she was worried about Sasuke. The strange chakra she felt made her uneasy.
She reached an inn and saw a hole in a wall. She could see Sasuke, Naruto, and the hermit. The two men she had seen back in Konoha were also there. She ran upstairs and froze when she saw Sasuke being thrown against a wall by a dark haired man. When she looked at the man closely she noticed that he also possessed the Sharingan. She was surprised at the great resemblance between the man and Sasuke.
"Rei-chan!" Naruto said surprised.
Rei looked at him and was glad to see he was alright. The hermit glanced at her before looking back at the two opponents. Rei looked back at Sasuke and saw him looking back at her. He was badly hurt and she glared at the man she knew was Itachi as he made his way towards Sasuke.
She took out a kunai and ran towards Itachi. She was aware of the stupidity of what she was doing. After all, Itachi was an S-class criminal while she was still a Gennin. However, she couldn't just stand by and watch Sasuke get hurt. She could hear Naruto calling out to her, but she ignored him.
As she got closer the other man whom she recognized as a wanted criminal from Kirigakure stepped in front of her. He swung his sword and she barely managed to dodge. She received a nasty injury on her arm. She flinched, but continued running. However, Itachi merely dodged her attack and kneed her in the stomach. She was sent back to where the others were. Naruto went over to her and she stood up shakily.
She watched as Itachi slammed Sasuke against the wall at the end of the hallway. She wanted to help, but she knew she was too weak. Suddenly Sasuke started screaming. She scowled and glared at the man torturing Sasuke. Naruto stood next to her watching as well. Rei turned to the hermit.
"You have to do something!" She said desperately.
Naruto growled and charged forward successfully avoiding the sword of Itachi's partner. The hermit made some hand signs when Naruto charged forward. She was surprised when she saw a strange kind of material covering the hallway.
"Naruto, don't move!"
Naruto listened to the hermit and froze. The two criminals began running away, trying to outrun the rapidly spreading attack. They turned the corner and she turned to the hermit.
"Don't worry, they won't get away." He said confidently.
A moment later tehre was a loud noise from where the two men had run off to. Jiraiya ran to see what had happened and Rei and Naruto followed. There was a whole in the wall with black flames around it. Itachi and the other shinobi were gone. Rei left Naruto and Jiraiya and hurried to where Sasuke was. He was unconscious and from the look on his face he was suffering. She frowned and just sat there with Sasuke ignoring the screams of Jiraiya and the familiar voice of master Gai.
Rei had decided to go back to Konoha with master Gai and Sasuke. It was important to get Sasuke to the hospital and she also had to get her injuries looked at. Naruto was going to travel with the hermit to look for someone named Tsunade. She didn't really know who that was, but it appeared that she would be able to help Sasuke and Kakashi, who had also been injured by Itachi. Still, she was worried and this was evident to Naruto as he looked at his friend.
"Don't worry Rei-chan. I promise I'll be back soon and then Sasuke and Kakashi will get better."
Rei grinned at Naruto.
"Yeah, well you better be back soon and you better be stronger by then."
Naruto laughed and Rei smiled. She walked up to him and hugged him.
"Be careful you idiot." She said.
Naruto was surprised but he smiled. She let him go and he grinned.
"Don't worry Rei-chan. I'll be fine!"
Rei sighed and smiled before leaving for Konoha.
Rei sighed as she sat next to Sasuke's bed. He hadn't woken up or even moved since they had gotten back. She had checked on Kakashi and he was in the same condition. Apparently Itachi had used the Mangekyo Sharingan and there was nothing that could be done for now. The only one that might be able to help was Tsunade. She sighed and leaned back in the chair. She just hoped Naruto would return soon.
She stood up and with a last look at Sasuke she left. She was still worried about Sasuke, but there was nothing she could do for him. Instead of just sitting around staring at him she could train and get stronger so that if Itachi returned she would be able to at least put up a fight.
She still felt bad about how weak she had seemed back there, but she knew she shouldn't have expected anything better. She left the hospital and began to walk home but as she walked she thought about Itachi and the organization Orochimaru had mentioned to her long ago. In truth she knew nothing about those things, but then again she had never bothered to ask the snake bastard to go into detail about his past. She had always thought that the less she knew about him the better.
Even as she thought this she knew he had mentioned the name of the organization before, but she just couldn't remember. There were a lot of things that she couldn't remember from the time she spent with Orochimaru. This was one of the reasons she had to be so careful all the time. She knew Orochimaru had many subordinates most of which she couldn't remember and so she had to be wary of the people she met. As far as she knew anyone could be a spy for Orochimaru.
She arrived home and lied down on her bed. She flinched at the pain on her arm from the injury she had received earlier. Her stomach also hurt from the blow she had taken. She sighed and decided to rest for the remainder of the day. She would need her rest as she would train hard until Naruto returned. She didn't want to see her friends get hurt again and so she would get stronger in order to protect them. She wanted to protect Naruto, the villagers and Sasuke, even if he was still upset with her. Before she fell asleep she made a note to herself to fix things with Sasuke when he woke up.
End Chapter Fifty-Two
Hope you guys liked it and again I'm really sorry for taking so long to write this but I've been drawing and playing the piano for most of the day and I can't feel my hands. Anyways, please review, reviews make me happy. I'll try to update soon. Sayonara!