Angelvan 105: I thank you for the support you've given me, it's really motivated me to update fanfic and not drop it. It warms my heart make someone happy.

Recap: The exams end and the operation to destroy Konoha starts off with a big bang, Sakura's skills improve while Itachi searches for Gaara.

Also, I forgot to mention this last chapter, but bold=tailed beast

Chapter 14: Scum

Itachi eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the dimness of the room. "..." Hearing the sound of footsteps approach, he placed one hand on his sword.

Two dark figures loomed over him, creating a heavy shadow. Immediately figuring out who they were, he changed his position and kneeled down. "Why have you taken me out of battle, my team depends on-"

*clank*

"No longer are you to be associated with Team seven. They can carry on without you, as Anbu you are tasked with assisting the Hokage."

"With all due respect, sir. The Hokage will die. What I am asking you is to approve my assistance for the nine-tails Jinchuriki so he won't not perish. After all, he is the Leaf's greatest weapon."

"If you believe he's the Leaf's greatest weapon, then you must have some faith in the boy, correct?"

"Your mission is to scour Konohagakure for any sound-nin spies, and if you manage to find one, bring them to the interrogation corp. After that, you'll be able to assist your 'friend'.

Itachi stood up. "The entire village? That will take a considerable amount of time-"

"Actually, it won't," Although mostly silent, the other figure finally spoke up. "Lucky for you, I specialize in covering large areas."

XxxxxXxxx

Together, Itachi and Danzo's subordinate, Sai walked out in the open where the invasion still took place. Homes still destroyed and leaf shinobi still fighting off the traitors.

Sai got a scroll and a container of ink. "So, Itachi, I would like to know a little bit more about yourself. We'll be on a team from now one, won't we?"

"Just knowing my name is enough, I have no information I'm willing to share."

He stroked several lines on his scroll. "Is this how you treated your old teammates?"

"Super beast imitating drawing technique!" The large bird from Sai's drawing came to life and escaped out of his scroll.

"What an interesting technique. Is this creature tangible, perhaps?"

Sai boarded his ink bird. "Think of it as a real bird."

"I see." Itachi as well boarded the ink bird and it took off, soaring into the pastel, blue sky.

OoO

"...Itachi, I'll be back."

"Where are you going?"

"The rats I set off earlier have found something incriminating."

"Incrimanting, as in what?"

"Well...nothing I'm willing to share." Sai jumped off his bird and scoured through the deserted alleys of Konoha. As quickly as Sai jumped off, five minutes later no less, he jumped back on with one of his rats in hand. "The business I've had is taken care of."

"Hey, anything else you want me to know about you?"

"..."

"Hm, I guess you're the silent type."

"Have you found any sound-nin yet, Sai?"

"None."

"Then there's no reason for you to be talking."

"Well, you're definitely a boring charact-"

Itachi grabbed Sai and jumped off the bird, he set Sai down on a tree limb as Sai's bird blew up. 'That was too close.' He slid out a newly repaired sword as a sound-nin came flying towards them, once he got close enough, Itachi thrusted his sword through the sound-nin's abdomen.

"Oh Itachi, you did it! That was gre-!"

Without a word, Itachi rammed the sword hilt into Sai'd stomach. "So tell me, where's the real Sai?"

A clump blood splattered onto Itachi's back. With his cover already blown, he turned back into an enemy sound-nin.

"H-How did you even..."

"From the second you said you hadn't found any sound-nin, when even an academy ninja could've sensed such presence."

"I asked such a rhetorical question merely to check. Now, I will ask again, what have you done with my partner?"

"I ain't tellin' you shit!"

Itachi slid his sworn back into the compartment. "Then I'll just have to find him myself." He got out some rope and wrapped it around the sound-nin, he then lugged the sound-nin onto his back.

"Itachi!"

Itachi dropped the sound-nin and turned around to face his partner. "So you're back? Did you get the information you needed?"

Sai held up one of his rats. "Everything's complete," He walked up to Itachi. "basing from your condition, you've been ambushed?"

'Yeas I can't tell, this Sai isn't an imposter.' "I have, but that's been settled. Shall we continue our search?"

"Of course."

"And from now on, I'm following to wherever you go."

OoO

Having a second bird already created, Itachi and Sai were back in the air in no time. After a while of flying, Sai spoke up. "Itachi. This is our last section, once we report back and you can do whatever you have-"

"There you are!"

Itachi held out his arm and a small, brown dog clamped onto it. "I've been searching for you all over Konoha."

"Hm? What's going on?" Sai asked.

"It's one of Kakashi's ninja dogs; Pakkun." He explained. "Can I ask, how well is the seventh division holding up?"

Pakkun stopped biting Itachi's arm and sat down on the bird. "First, you'll answer my question. I get that you're an Anbu now, but to leave without saying anything?"

"Someone kidnaped me and brought me elsewhere. I was then assigned a mission and I strictly followed said orders. Now can you answer my question?"

"When we couldn't find you, Naruto and Sakura assumed you'd died, so what they really need right now is for you to come."

"If that's the case, then Sai, you'll just have to complete this mission...without me."

"So you're just going to abandon the mission?"

"Well then..." Itachi stood up, he took off his Anbu mask, it made a soft noise as the mask settled down by his foot. "...you'll just have to call me scum."

"What are you even talking-"

Sai looked all the way back, Itachi and Pakkun were both suddenly gone,mthe only thing left was his Anbu mask. Sai picked it up the mask and held it in his hand. 'You know Itachi, you're a very interesting person. Looks like your story has only yet to unfold...'

XxxxxXxxx

'...I remember how it was to be like you..'

'...I used to hate everyone, I couldn't understand who I was or why everyone hated me so much.'

'When I finally understood I had the nine-tails demon inside me, the villagers seemed even more hateful than ever. It was so...painful, it created a void.'

'But...'

'I remember all the people who've filled that void in my heart.'

"Why do you even care, huh?! You're too perfect to even notice me!"

"Hm. That's strange because I always thought we were equals."

'And now I have people who acknowledged my existence, it made me so happy. So now I don't care about all the cold stares I still get, because I'm not alone anymore! That pain I felt long ago...it kills me to think of how I used to be. And if I were still alone, if those people hadn't come into my life, then...I'd probably...I'd probably be just like...'

'You.'

XxxxxXxxx

'This is it! I just can't...I just can lose to this guy.' Naruto got a kunai knife and wrapped a paper bomb around it, after that, he weaved several signs to his famous jutsu. "Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Naruto and four other shadow clones jumped off from the branch and formed a completely new tactic. "Let's do this! Brand new technique! UZUMAKI NARUTO: CLONE BODY SLAM!"

Gaara extended his claw and grabbed three of the clones. The last clone pulled up Naruto by the collar. "GET READY!" He then flung him at Gaara, Gaara used his other claw and reached for the incoming Naruto.

"One more time! Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Gaara's claw grabbed the clones while Naruto flipped to the back of Gaara, he gripped his kunai in hand. "KURAEE! HIDDEN LEAF ANCIENT TAIJUTSU SUPREME TECHNIQUE!" Naruto stuck his kunai in Gaara's one-tail covered butt. "1000 YEARS OF PAIN!"

"..."

"...shit."

Proving useless, Gaara swiped his tail at Naruto making him fly off. 'Boom.'

The kunai planted in Gaara's butt exploded, hopefully destroying him once and for all. 'He went for my weak spot...this isn't good.'

'The only thing is...I'm going to hit this tree!' Just before Naruto could crash into a tree, however, he landed in someone's arms. 'Huh? Who is this?'

"Hey, Naruto. You did really good, huh?"

"...a...h..." Slowly, Naruto turned around. "...is it..."

"I'm really proud of you!"

Nothing could describe the feeling Naruto had, all of the sadness, his regrets, everything suddenly lifted. The person who he thought died was here right before him.

"Are you...crying?" Itachi asked.

"Shut the hell up!" Naruto quickly wiped the tears and snot off of his face. "You're a fucking idiot, Itachi!"

"Huh-"

Naruto gripped his fist and pounded Itachi in the stomach as hard as he could. "Don't ever do that to us again! You scared Sakura so much!"

"Naruto...both you and Sakura, I want you to run as far away as you can. I'll handle Gaara from now on because, if I'll never be able to live with myself if I lose everyone precious to me...again."

Itachi smiled. "You and Sakura are a vision of my dream, and that's something I wish to protect, no matter what happens."

("'My dream is to protect someone precious to me, I've always believed you are strongest when you're fighting to protect someone precious.'")

("'Is that even a...question? You helped me realize who I was fighting for, Naruto. Team seven is precious to me! And now...I finally found a reason to live!'")

Itachi's bright smile was enough to give Naruto all the strength he needed. "I told you before, we are a team and we fight...TOGETHER!" A swirl of chakra formed around Naruto. "And now that we have each other to protect, we'll be at our strongest!"

"If that's how you truly feel, then I have the perfect strategy."

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

OoO

Sai went back to Danzo's office, all the sound-nin were at the interrogation corp and checked in. "Your mission, sir, has been fulfilled." He reported.

"...Why isn't Itachi present with you?"

"Because, Itachi of the Uchiha clan is...scum."

OoO

"Full power! Multi-shadow clone technique!"

Hundereds of clones surrounded Gaara, although the kunai weakened him, it wasn't enough to truly to beat him. Temari stared at Naruto in amazement. '...how in the hell...'

"Alright everyone! Let's do it!"

The clones jumped down at the same time to attack Gaara, one by one they battered down Gaara, beating him up like crazy. With one final punch Gaara lost it, Shukaku finally erupted from him and towered the forest.

'Now that Gaara's gotten to his tailed beast form, it's time for me to begin.' Itachi disappeared into the forest.

Now that Shukaku was out, the second phase could begin. "..." 'Lets do it! Let's protect Sakura!'

"Summoning technique!"

Under Naruto's feet, a giant red toad appeared, Gamabunta realized he was summoned and his giant yellow eyes peered on the small spiky blonde. "You again? Whaddya want?"

"Yeah! It worked! Hehehe!"

Gamabunta's eyes now laid on Shukaku. 'Whoa...that's...hm, I remember this guy. Shukaku of the sands, right?'

Shukaku swayed his tail. 'This Uzumaki kid sure is the character. What a fun guy!'

"Alright! Come on out, Itachi!"

Out of nowhere, Itachi came out of what was left of the forest and landed onto Gamabunta's head. "What in the...another runt, who are you?!"

"My name is Itachi Uchiha."

"Oh, Fugaku's kid, huh? What's up?"

"I'll tell ya' what's up!" Naruto smashed a fist into his palm. "We're going to beat the crap out of this guy!"

"...I ain't doin' that."

"WHAT?! But wh-why?!

"Last time we met, you said you're making me your underling! A boss' someone who helps an underling when he's in trouble, not the other way around!"

"I mean, you could've been my underling, and all, but we haven't really exchanged Sakazuki yet so..."

"But-but, I can't drink Sake, I'm not 20 yet!"

Unexpectedly, Gamakichi hopped on and plopped onto Naruto's spiky blonde hair. "Oi pops, just hear the little guy out for a sec', after all I was saved by 'em!"

'Did he just say...pops?!'

"Gamakichi?! What're you doing 'ere?"

"Long story short, I wanted to have some fun, but then this weird ol' raccoon guy comes along, and he bullies me around."

"In that case...hey, I'll tell you what., Naruto, how 'bout I let you become my grunt and I'll teach you all about the family."

"Whoa! So he's really your pops?!"

"Yup!"

"Alright then," Gamabunta clamped on his pipe. "Let me in on this plan of yours, Lil' Itachi."

OoO

'Itachi's training was useless for me, huh? After all of that, I'm still here while Naruto still protects me.' A mass of thoughts had collected and swarmed in Sakura's mind. 'Your only wish was to protect me, that's why you trained me, didn't you? Even after you've died, I still can't even do that for you.'

'When Pakkun had told us you're chakra disappeared suddenly Naruto and I were more than just devastated. We couldn't believe, after everything, you died on us, my mind had completely stopped. Now that you're gone, I don't even know how we can go back to the way things were. I don't even know if I can go back to normal.'

OoO

'Please forgive me. Just once more, I'll use your power...Shisu.' Gamabunta jumped towards Shukaku, he got out his katana and held the blade near Itachi. "You ready?"

"Amaterasu!" Mystical black fire spewed out of Itachi's mouth and cloaked Gamabunta's sword.

"Toad's blade: Black fire slash!"

Just barely, the blade missed and merely etched a proportion of Shukaku's body. 'This one-tails is good...'

'Heh, he barely even scratched me what a-' Seconds later, the black flames engulfed Shukaku's tail. "Holy fuck!" He tried putting out the flames with his claw, but rather he just lit his claw on fire. "...! The hell?!"

"The Amaterasu Flames can never be put out unless by user's command."

"Then I just have to give it up." Before the fire spread too far, Shukaku's tail and arm simply fell off. '...looks like I'll have to live without that for a while.' "This has been a blast so far!" Gaara held a still hand sign while he rose from the one-tails' head. "You have my thanks, I've been entertained for the most part."

'So he's out already? Then it's time for the last step.' A giant orange skeleton built up around Itachi and formed a humanoid creature.

"Spell of the fake sleep!"

Gaara passed out and the tailed beast took full control. "Yahoo! Time to party!" Shukaku cracked opened his jaw and bent down, a ball of chakra began forming.

Naruto squinted his eyes at the raccoon. "What's he doing?!"

"Tailed beast bomb. Hold on tight, we're going to jump!"

"Ok!" Naruto pointed to a section left of them. "Just don't land near Sakura-chan!"

'Sakura...chan?'

"Hey pops, that's the kid's number one!" Gamakichi explained.

"...huh? Well, if you say so. Let's go!"

Gamabunta pushed himself up into the air, just dodging the tailed beast down. Whisk in mid-air, Itachi loosened his fingers, releasing the arrow. His arrow glided through the air, it pierced straight through Shukaku and the lower half of him exploded.

"WHAAAAAAAAAT?"

Making sure to miss Sakura, Gamabunta landed behind Shukaku.

Itachi stood up. "I'm going to get Sakura and get rid of the black flames, you two finish it up from here."

"Wha- how?!"

"We'll pin him down using a transformation technique so you can get close enough to personally deal with that brat."

"Pin him down?!"

"I'm just a toad so I can't personally do that, but something with fangs and claws could." Gamabunta started propelling towards Shukaku. "I'm not so hot with transforming techniques, so I'll lend you my chakra and you'll be will!"

Naruto got into position. "Something with fangs and claws like ummm, maybe like an...ummm."

"Here we go!"

Gamabunta turned into the nine-tails fox demon; Kurama. He used his giant jaw and clamped down into what was left of Shukaku's body. Using his claws, he grabbed the one-tails and pinned him to the ground.

"GO NARUTO, NOW!"

OoO

Itachi found Sakura restrained to a tree by Gaara's claw. Just as he was about to pull out his sword, the sand fell apart on its own, signifying Naruto had beaten Gaara. 'For the most part...Sakura seems ok.' Itachi picked up Sakura and held her close to him, despite being unconscious, her lips curled up the instant she fell into his arms. "Sakura...-"

"Hey Itachi!" Pakkun came out of nowhere and landed on the tree limb they were on. "The battle, it's finally over, Naruto beat Gaara!"

OoO

Gaara and Naruto were directly across from each other both completely exhausted, and beaten to a pulp. Neither could lift a finger.

"Naruto. That's enough."

Slightly turning his head, he saw Itachi's feet.

"Sakura's ok, Naruto. She's ok because of you."

"Is that...so?"

Temari and Kankurō as well appeared, they guarded Gaara in a last attempt to protect their little brother.

Gaara heavily sighed. "No...that's enough."

Kankurō looked back at Gaara. 'I never seen Gaara so beaten up like this before.' "I understand." He picked up Gaara and placed him on his back. "Let's go." Him and Temari jumped away silently.

"Temari...Kankurō."

"Yea, Gaara?"

"Thank you for...everything."

"O-oh no problem!"

"Yeah!"

OoO

Itachi pulled Naruto up heaved him onto his back, without much struggle, he went off to get Sakura.

"...Hey Itachi..." Naruto suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"I'm really...I-I'm really happy you...came!"

"Stop talking, you're wasting chakra."

"No, I just want you to know...that I'm really happy because when you came...I was so much stronger and you helped me protect...Sakura. You're-!"

"Just rest, Naruto." 'Everything I've done has only made them grow closer to me...I have to...stop that.'

A/N: This chapter so far's been a blast to write, next chapter I can finally take off to my favorite arc of part 1!