Hey Vegeta, what does the website say about the number of hits this story has gotten.
Its over Nine THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAND...actually it just hit ten thousand. Wow, I never expected 10,000 hits from this story to be honest with you, I thought I would crash and burn, but thanks to you guys, there's still some story ideas in my head, so I just hope this support keeps on coming.
Detailed note at the bottom.
"I did what you asked me to Itachi"
They were at a local dango shop in the wave, and everything was overpriced, compared to Konoha at least.
"The poverty here is really going to be a problem Kisame" Itachi said as he ate another Dango. Kisame merely sneered.
"This is not something funny Itachi, why the hell did you want me to seek out Zabuza anyway?"
Itachi smiled, "It'll leave Sasuke and Naruto free to deal with Deidara and Sasori"
Kisame's eyes widened. "You can't possibly-" he began but he was promptly stopped by Itachi.
"I don't expect them to last more than five minutes, but I think five minutes will be more than enough"
Kisame was puzzled, Itachi had been acting this way ever since he had met him, and so this should not really be any different for him, but for some reason something about Itachi was not rubbing Kisame the right way.
"Five minutes, Itachi, they will die"
Itachi smiled. "Oh no, my brother has a long life...longer than mine" he added, almost as an afterthought.
Kisame sneered. "Well, if you take care of yourself, maybe you'll live longer. Have you taken the medicine"
Itachi let out a small chuckle. "Tsunade of The Sannin couldn't cure me now Kisame, surely I am dying"
"So by manipulating your brother to face Sasori and Deidara, you are compensating for something?" he asked, in an incredulous tone of voice.
"Don't worry, Naruto and Sasuke will have back up"
Back up, Kisame thought to himself. What kind of back-up.
-x-
"Kakashi, do you realise how dangerous this is right now?"
"I thought the Akatsuki were above all this?"
"Obviously they aren't"
So a criminal organisation was after Naruto, and for some reason Kakashi was not surprised by this, not even one bit. Maybe being the disciple of one of the most respected and feared ninjas had rendered him immune to all this kind of stuff.
"Kakashi, are you listening" Jiraiya asked him.
He nodded, at this point there was not much he could do. "What's your source Lord Jiraiya?"
Jiraiya was silent, he had told Kakashi that the information was strictly confidential. Perhaps inside information.
"Anyway Sasuke has knocked Naruto out, we don't have to worry about him being there at the bridge tomorrow"
Jiraiya looked at Kakashi, who eye-smiled. "I don't know why he did that Lord Jiraiya, maybe it was to one up him or something, but it works, I will deal with him personally when the time comes"
"Or" Jiraiya said as it suddenly hit him. "He knows about what is going to happen tomorrow."
-x-
At The Great Wave Bridge
Sasuke was trapped in the ice mirrors again, his Sharingan was probably the only reason he was surviving, Sakura was with Tazuna while Kakashi was engaged with Zabuza. Kakashi needed to take care of that swordsman quickly, those cloak guys could show up anytime.
Since he was in the ice mirrors, he failed to observe a clay spider creep up inside them, as he was evading the ninja who had trapped him inside them.
-x-
Sasori looked on at the scene unfolding in front of him. The copy ninja Kakashi, maybe the option of being able to capture the Jinchuriki was not going to work out.
"Deidara, its the copy nin" he said slowly, "Be careful."
"Master Sasori" Deidara said smiling. "Don't worry, I'll test the abilities of the Jinchuriki myself, with the help of my artistic abilities"
-x-
Itachi and Kisame were looking on at the battle going on the bridge. Suddenly Kisame's blade let out a growl.
"They're here"
-x-
Kakashi realised that a Kunai was no match for Zabuza's cleaver, he had to do something else, something drastic.
"Zabuza, you are really honored I think, because you get to see my only original ability in action" Kakashi said smiling when he noticed his opponent's eyes widen in a combination of shock and fear.
"Lightening Style: Lightening Cutter"
He charged towards Zabuza with lightening in his hand.
Somewhere else, Haku realised he had to hurry.
Itachi saw Haku leave, the mirrors, this was Sasuke's chance.
-x-
"Master Sasori" Deidara said smiling. "Don't worry, I'll test the abilities of the Jinchuriki myself, with the help of my artistic abilities"
"Art- Art is immortal Deidara, you have no idea what art is."
Deidara laughed. "Master Sasori, you of all people should know. While you might be a really arty creator of puppets. My art- is an EXPLOSION"
BOOM.
-x-
Naruto woke up with a jump. Had he overslept, one look at the alarm clock told him everything that he needed to know. Damn it, he had overslept.
He rushed downstairs, only to find Pervy Sage sitting on the dining table, casually drinking tea as two bandits were tied up beside him, both unconscious.
"Gato's men, don't worry"
"Pervy sage, I overslept, what the hell do I do? I have to go-"
"You are not going anywhere" Jiraiya said, "I have something I want to teach you, it was your father's technique"
Naruto perked up, but it did not convince him.
"NOW, I AM ON A MISSION SAGE, WHAT IS THE IDEA HERE?"
Jiraiya laughed. This was gonna be tough.
-x-
BOOM.
The explosions went off, just as soon as Sasuke had managed performing a substitution, he was glad he did that because as soon as he materialised, he saw that the whole mirror contraption was smoked. I could have died, he thought. Are they here?
-x-
What was that?
Kakashi was confused, he had just seen something creep up close to him and explode, causing him to veer off direction with his jutsu, but he had survived. The other two were not so lucky. Zabuza had his arm come off, while Haku who had borne the brunt of the explosion was dead.
"That's all they got. Hn"
Kakashi whipped around, only to see that the intruder was a blonde, and Kakashi recognised him instantly.
"You are-"
"Save it, Copy Kakashi" the ninja said smiling. "If I here another person call me terrorist bomber again, I will lose it. I am an artist, wasn't that explosion beautiful?"
What was this guy on? What was he trying to say? He looked at this man's uniform, black cloaks with red clouds. Akatsuki.
-x-
"Its time, Itachi, do you think he'll live through it?"
"He has to"
Apparently that was all Kisame was going to get from Itachi at the moment, the guy was too stoic for his own good.
"The jinchuriki isn't around Itachi, looks like Sasuke at least partially succeeded"
Itachi smiled, but Naruto was the least of his problems at the moment, he was more concerned about other things right now.
-x
"Oh Sh-" Sasuke thought as he saw his sensei being jumped by a blonde guy, with hair similar to Naruto's. And the cloak. This was one of the men Itachi had talked about. So now he had to survive against these people, what the hell was happening, this wasn't making any sense to him anymore.
"Sasuke" said Kakashi, calmly. "Focus"
That was incredibly kind of him, Sasuke thought, sneering. He had never been in as many life and death situations as Kakashi. Who the hell did this guy think he was, telling him to focus, did he expect Sasuke to actually hold his own, what was the masked nin thinking.
"Oh what a shame" said the blonde man, smiling and nonchalantly swallowing some clay, as if he did this everyday. "The jinchuriki isn't here, what a shame" he continued. The blonde man let out a huge sigh. "And to think I went upto c3 for these pushovers"
Pushovers. Who the hell did he just call a pushover. Sasuke's blood began boiling, he was almost tempted to charge at this man, but he figured that since the target was Naruto, waiting it out would be better.
"Wait" said another voice coming into focus. This man was covered in a cloak from head to toe, and seemed to walk with a limp. "Its that Sharingan Kakashi Hatake, son of Konoha's White Fang" he said, laughing. "Just imagine how pissed the Zombie Combo will be if we kill him and take the bounty for ourselves."
The blonde man began laughing. "Oh Master Sasori" he said in between gasps "You don't speak much, but when you do you always crack me up" he continued, laughing away as his attention suddenly turned to Sasuke.
"Ah, the splitting image of his brother, Itachi Uchiha" he said looking at Sasuke, for some reason the name Uchiha was spoken as some sort of a guttural snarl. Almost animal like.
"Still holding grudges eh, Deidara?" the other man asked him.
"I swear to you Master Sasori, he will die by my own hands, I will avenge my defeat, and show him what true art is. True art is not the fancy designs in his eye."
Sasori turned towards Deidara, obviously trying to pacify him as Deidara began chewing up some more clay, he soon fashioned some kind of a clay bird.
"Deidara, hold your temper" Sasori said, his tone giving away the dire situation Sasuke and Kakashi were in right now.
"I will however get some practice by killing his brother first" Sasuke flinched. This man was coming for him.
"Sasuke Uchiha, congratulations, you get to see my art in action today"
Sasuke began crawling backwards, Kakashi who was incapacitated and was helpless to do anything. Looks like this is it for me. Sasuke thought, gulping.
The clay birds (the man named Deidara had made some more) all began flying towards Sasuke.
"You see Uchiha, my art is an-"
"Explosion"
BOOM.
-x-
The smoke cleared and Deidara lay there, incapacitated. His clay birds were gone. Somehow Sasuke had been saved, but how the hell did that explosion occur. Who had done that?
Kakashi sighed. He was getting old now, maybe he was going senile.
He fainted.
-x-
"Genjutsu" Kisame said incredulously. "Itachi, surely that is cheating" he said, smiling as though he already expected the answer.
"That is the way of the Shinobi" Itachi said, calmly.
"But still, you know, maybe I wouldn't have been so worried" Kisame said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"You know Kisame" said Itachi, a small grin on his face. "You sure are sensitive for a shark guy"
Kisame's face fell, "Oh man, why does everyone make fun of my skin"
Itachi however did not pay any further attention to Kisame, he was focused on Deidara and Sasori.
"So, not only did the Jinchuriki didn't show up, even Itachi Uchiha managed to get wind of our wherabouts" Sasori said, preparing himself to battle. Itachi slipped into his own stance.
"You want to fight me Master Sasori, surely you are not as foolish as your partner?" Itachi asked him, Sasori grinned.
"He might be reckless, but he gets the job done. Just like me" Sasori said smiling.
"Well, whatever you had to do, you couldn't get it done this time Sasori. Leave."
Sasori smiled. "Can I take my partner? Or is that something you are planning to capture, you know, for bounty purposes?" Sasori asked him.
"Take him"
Sasori smiled and murmured something that sounded like good. Soon, he took Deidara, and placed him between the tale of his protective puppet, and left.
"Sasuke" Itachi said slowly, "you wanna know the truth? Because you survived, I'll give it to you"
-x-
"I MISSED THE FIGHT!" Naruto shouted, for the fiftieth time. "Oh man, COME ON. PERVY SAGE THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
It was a week after the incident at the bridge, the men in cloaks had not bothered them since, and yet Sasuke was feeling uneasy. The missing nin from The Mist, Zabuza and Haku had both died, and Zabuza's sword had gone missing. Too bad, he had wanted it, he thought it would be impressive to have had the weapon while defeating Itachi, but now it seemed as though everything was backwards. He didn't know what he wanted, even now, Itachi had more control and influence over him.
Jiraya scowled. "Shut up idiot, I was teaching you a very important Jutsu"
"OH SCREW THAT JUTSU" Naruto said, almost tearing up. "Sasuke and Sakura took him on alone, oh MAN"
Sasuke tuned out Naruto. He had seen the person responsible for his family not existing anymore, apart from his own clan who brought about their doom, Danzou Shimura was another town elder like the others who had suddenly become a thorn in Sasuke's side. However Itachi had told him to hold his anger, and not do anything till he told him so, however Itachi did tell him to ask the Hokage and that the Hokage would provide all the help Sasuke needed.
Should he have hated his village for killing off his clan, or like his brother just accept it as something that needed to be done. He looked around observing the faces of Naruto, Sasuke hated to say this, but he would have missed his presence if anything had happened to him. So for now, as long as Naruto and even Sakura were here, he could bear all his feelings and the hatred. Maybe it would go away some day.
His immediate concern was shutting Naruto up, Kakashi was unaware that Itachi had shown up as he was unconscious at the time, the only person who knew was Sasuke. And now he had to get Naruto to shut up.
"NARUTO" he shouted, something completely unlike him. "Can you shut up, you should be glad you didn't fight You would have died" he said, grinning.
This pissed Naruto off more. "HEY, WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN IDIOT, COME ON"
Kakashi giggled, while Jiraya scowled. "Kid you better give what I teach you some respect, come on, it's not a child's play"
"You had me pop a water balloon Pervy Sage"
"Don't call me that, and anyway its not like you did it anyway, you couldn't even pop a water balloon"
Upon hearing that, Naruto sweat dropped. 'Oh man that was low' he thought to himself.
"Anyway" Kakashi said, "let's go home people"
And just like that, the five Shinobi left The Land Of Waves.
-x-
"Ah ha ha ha" a short and portly man said, "This is wonderful, just wonderful, what do they call this Shiro?"
The man named Shiro looked at the sword that his master was carrying.
"One of the tools of the Legendary Seven Swordsmen, Zabuza Momoichi's Zanbatou"
"This will fetch a lot of money won't it?"
Shiro nodded. "Plenty master"
-x-
Meanwhile in Konoha, Team 8 had assembled in the Hokage's office.
"Ah, welcome people" Sarutobi said as they walked in, Hinata with Kiba and Shino in tow.
"Good day Lord Hokage" Hinata said, bowing down. Sarutobi smiled.
"I have a mission for you guys, its in The Land Of Waves, and is C-Ranked. Kurenai, you think they are ready"
Kurenai did not say anything. she just nodded.
"Good, your job is to take out Gato"
-x-
Phew, that was tough. I am setting up the next few arcs, and guess what, they are not the Chuinin Exam Arc. I haven't decided what to call the new story line yetm but I think the name 'The Antique Collectors Arc' sounds swell. What do you think. To put it without spoiling, Jiraiya's spy network will find out about an auction which involves some antiques. Featured items will be Zabuza's blade, and surprise surprise...I won't tell you yet, read the next chapter. If you manage to guess what the other item is..PM me and I'll give you a shout out. I think being called a clever guy on this story would be pretty good lip service, don't you think?
Sorry about the late update man, I was having too much fun.
And now, Omake time.
"What the hell is this?"
"Hello Kakashi sensei" Naruto said smiling at him.
"What is this Naruto, what kind of a CD is this"
"Why this is one of your own Bowie sensei" Sakura said smiling. "This single is called Under Pressure, you know, I'm sure you remember"
Kakashi sweat dropped.
"You are a 1970's Glam Rock Sensation David Bowie" Sasuke said, in a monotone which had Sakura and Naruto staring at him.
"What, you guys were channeling Naruto Spoof Comedy Abridged Parody Yada Yada Yada show right?"
Now it was Naruto and Sakura's turn to sweat drop.
"I told you already" Kakashi said in a melodic tune. "I'm not David Bowie"
Silence.
And then Sakura spoke.
"This Omake scene sucks, I can't believe the writer is making me do this"
"Hn. This is too bad for an Uchiha, if I were to act on a proper script, I'd win a Golden Globe" Sasuke said smiling.
"That's nothing. Bullshit such as The Tourist and Burlesque was nominated for a Golden Globe too Sasuke, I'm winning the Oscar"
"Hey, don't insult Burlesque Naruto, I loved that movie" Kakashi said, trying to defend the movie.
Naruto stared at him for a couple of minutes. Kakashi shrugged as if to indicate 'What'. Naruto shook his head in disappointment.
"But Naruto, remember, the popular opinion never prevails in the Academy Awards, since the show is called Naruto, you are the most popular character, which means you won't win. The winner will be-" Sakura said, pausing for a while.
"Shino" all of them said at once.
Shino Aburame walked in, having heard the whole thing.
"Sometimes, you can end up hurting people's feeling Team 7" he said, in a regretful tone as he left.
"Oh man" Naruto said. "Now he's gonna sulk"
Everybody sweat dropped.
-x-
I know I know, Read and review people, good or bad, I need it all, when you review I'm glad, cause I need to stand tall.
I suck at poetry. But tell me if I sucked just as bad on this story. I know that I sacrificed the action, but I swear to God I'll put in tons of fight scenes in the next arc. I promise.
The next chapter is not in the continuity of the story as it introduces Hinata, so if you want to return to the original story, SKIP TO CHAPTER 8
Also check out my latest fic, Its A Mad Mad Mad World. It's gonna be a parody of self inserts, and I need y'all to give me an honest opinion. Every situation in that story is like an Omake in this story turned up to 11.
Stay tuned, more updates in the next(?) week, hopefully.