Hello, my little dawggs, what's happening? Well, here's another chapter, hot and ready to go. Anyways, about my Lee vs. Sasuke thing. It is now a tie. Please people, I can't keep our favorite emo kid and strapping young Gai junior out of the story for long, so please, I need you, my pups, to figure this out. All righty then. Peace out!

- Nate-Dawgg73

He's running as fast as he can go. He considers himself unbelievably lucky to escape from a fate such as he as falling. He jumps from tree to tree. All of a sudden, he hears that dreaded sound. His eyes widen, his heart rate quickened. 'Oh no!' That cursed sand cocoons itself around his body. His Sharingan swirling with great intensity, adrenaline causing it to spin even faster.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I'm afraid you won't escape that easily." Sasuke's face was the only thing not covered in sand. Finally, he starts to black out, the last thing he sees is the Kazekage's cool, emotionless eyes.

The Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village wasn't very busy at all today, surprising enough to her herself. She had absolutely nothing to do. She strolled through the village, whistling her favorite tune and waving to passing people.

"Lady Tsunade!"

"Hmmm, oh, what is it, Shizune?" Tsunade asked, a little distracted.

"Our shinobi have spotted the Kazekage about ten miles from our border. They will most likely be here by tomorrow evening."

"Ah, finally something to do! Shizune, have you seen Naruto anywhere? I've been meaning to talk to him, but I can't seem to figure out where he's gone."

"Well, have you tried asking Hinata or Sakura? Or maybe Lee?"

"Hmmm, no I haven't, but that's a good idea. Want to come with me?"

"Sure, not a very busy day at all. By the way, I saw Naruto running out of the tower like someone was trying to kill him. What was that all about, anyway?"

The Slug Mistress smirked. "Hehe, well, guess what? Our little Naruto likes somebody."

"Really? Who? I thought he liked Sakura?"

"Not any more. He likes someone who's basically the exact opposite of himself. Someone who has the same ninja way as him. Someone who.."

"OH MY GOODNESS, NARUTO LIKES HIN...!"

"Shut your face, he doesn't want anyone to know yet!" Tsunade scolded, holding a hand over Shizune's mouth. "Anyways, yeah he does. Speaking of liking, I heard a little somethin' somethin' going on between you and Iruka.

Shizune blushed. She turned and scowled at her leader. "So what? We are adults, we can do as we please."

"Hahahahaha, well, please, don't get prego on me!"

"Lady Tsunade!" They continued to walk on, Tsunade holding her sides with laughter.

Meanwhile, in the forest, miles away from Konoha, Kankuro's stomach could be heard throughout the whole area. "DAMMIT! Why is your freakin' stomach gotta be so loud?"

"Jeez, come down, sis." He leaned over and whispered into Gaara's ear, "it's someone's time of the month."

"What was that, you little shit?"

"Nothing, just important brotherly business for brothers and not sisters, because we brothers are better than the single sister here."

"Oh right, yeah. Gaara is probably a lot better than me, but you? Kankuro, I wouldn't even need my fan to whoop your scronny, little carcass all over this forest."

While the two siblings continued to duel, Baki made his way to Suna's Kazekage. "For Kami's sake, how in the world do you put up with them? Oh wait, I did too. Man, they seem like they are never not fighting."

"I learned to just ignore them."

"Ha, well, I don't know how you do it, but you're luckier that I am."

"How are we on supplies?"

"Good. We should be, at this pace, make it to Konoha before dusk tomorrow."

"Good. I'm actually looking forward to seeing all our friends again."

"Oh, and one more thing. Matsuri lagged behind a bit. She ate some rotten blueberries and now she's not feeling so well."

"Hn," muttered Gaara.

Lee was training with Gai when Tenten and Neji ran up to them. "Hey, have either of you seen Naruto? We can't seem to find him."

"Naruto? Of course not! We've been training since before dawn. We won't ever quit! Will we Lee?"

"Absolutely not Gai-sensei! Gai-sensei, should we help look for Naruto?"

"You know what, we will help. However, since I have my old students with me again, we should play a little game. The first one to find Naruto wins. Now, on your mark, get set, " he took off a little early, "GO!"

"Hey no fair, you cheater!"

Shino was about to talk to them, but they bolted before anyone could say anything. 'Hmmm, so they can't find Naruto. Where is that idiot?'

Naruto woke up face down in the dirt, hands and feet tied. "Ugh, what the hell?"

"Ah, I'm glad your ok Naruto. I thought I might've went a little too far with my genjutsu."

Naruto knew that voice. It belonged to a very bad person. The person who caused Sasuke to leave in the first place: Itachi Uchiha.

"Relax, relax. I'm not here to hurt you. I want to help you."

"What do you want? Untie me!"

"Not until you hear me out. Listen, Uzumaki, I've had it with the Akatsuki. They screwed me for the last time. You know of how some of Konoha's own council wanted me to assassinate my whole entire clan, right? Well, Sasuke doesn't. And since he's coming home, it's time to make things right. For both of us."

Naruto was speechless. Sasuke really didn't know. "But what if we tell him and he ends up hating the village?"

"I figured you'd say that. You see, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not the one to issue the order. He was blackmailed by an unknown person to issue the mission. If he ever told anyone, he would surely die. When people found out, rumor has it the unknown was going to kill Sarutobi. But he never had the chance. Some people believe it was Madara Uchiha or maybe even Orochimaru. I don't believe so. When Sarutobi died, a was given to Kisame by a stranger. It said that I was a traitor. I've known of the letter since Kisame received it, but they haven't taken action until now. So I am no longer an Akatsuki member. I am a missing nin hunted by other missing nin."

Naruto laid there, silent as death, still as water on a wind free day. He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all, why would the person say Itachi was a traitor? Why would the Akatsuki just now banish him? "What are you here for?"

"To rejoin my village."

Hinata sat in her garden, tending her flowers. Her father sat on a bench to her left, looking at old pictures. "Haha, Hinata, this one was when me and your mother had our first date together." he said pointing to the top picture on the page. Hinata stoop up to look at the picture.

"I really do look like her. Tell me again how you two met?"

"Haha, well we were both the same age as you when we met. She was awe striking. I knew I would marry her one day. I did and I had two beautiful young daughters who inherited their mother's awe striking beauty." With a tear in his eye, he flipped a few pages over. He pointed to a picture of him and Hinata's mother at the hospital. "Oh, how I miss her. I act strict and hard, because I am just trying to hide the pain. This is the last photo me and your mother ever took together. She had gotten injured and had to be operated on. She went to sleep," he now had tears welling up in his eyes, one sliding down his cheek, "when she passed away, my heart turned toward hatred and strictness. I'm so so sorry for treating the way I did Hinata. Please, would you ever forgive me?"

"Of c-course I can f-father." She had tears in her eyes, too, and was now letting them drift on out. She hugged her father and he gripped his daughter.

"Hinata, do what your heart tells you, not what anyone else tells you. If you like someone, you do what you feel is right. I'm sorry, but I have a meeting to attend. I will show you more pictures later." He stood up, smiled at her, and walk to his meeting.

Hinata sat on the bench, breathing easy. A life-long burden had just been removed from her shoulders. She had already told someone she loved them and she thought it was about time she knew what he thought. She ran to room to grab her hoodie. She burst out the gate, searching for Naruto.

Meanwhile, Itachi had untied Naruto and was sitting on the ground, meditating as he called it. "If you want to come back unharmed, I need to take you as a prisoner. Have any rope?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, you should know that. You were just tied up with it."

Naruto sneered at him. He picked up the rope and walked over to Itachi. "All right, get up." Itachi did so. He turned and looked at Naruto. He held out his wrists as Naruto knotted the rope around his arms, torso, and around his neck for good measure.

"Are you sure no one will get suspicious?"

"I don't have a damn idea! Let's go. Don't talk at all." He pulled the rope to move Itachi along.

"Hey, Hinata! Wait, Hinata! It's me, Ryoko!" screamed a joyous Inuzuka.

Hinata skidded to a halt, just barely stopping in time not to hit an old woman. "Oh, hey Ryoko. How are you?"

"Awesome. Me and Shino have matching outfits for the festival, so I'm psyched!"

"Cool. Hey, have you seen," she could feel herself turning red as she talked, "Naruto anywhere?"

"Hmmm, can't say that I have. You smell him today, Akita?" Akita barked a low bark. "Sorry, we haven't seen, heard, or smelled him at all today."

"Oh, well that's ok. Anyways, I have to find him. Let me know if you see any sign of him. Bye."

"Ummm, bye..."

As soon as Hinata turned around, a crowd started yelling. Some were shouts of anger and hate. Others were shouts of gratitude and pride. She ran over to the edge of the mob. She had to push her through the masses of people, but when she got to the front she gasped. There walked Naruto holding a rope. Attached to the end was none other than the infamous Itachi Uchiha.