I honestly do not own Naruto. Honestly.
Chapter 9: Actions speak Louder than Words
"Tsunade's ninjas are becoming more of a problem then I had anticipated." The Akatsuki leader flipped Deidara's ring over in his hand. "Perhaps we should focus our efforts once again on Konoha. Unfortunately the Kyuubi holder's abilities have grown substantially. And there is the matter of the Uchiha boy."
He fixed his gaze on an expressionless Itachi.
"It is time to take care of those things that should have been finished long ago."
The gathered Akatsuki nodded.
"We need the nine-tails as well as the last remaining ring to awaken the statue. And without the statue… we cannot achieve world domination."
Only Tobi was foolish enough to interrupt. "But the other demons…we've yet to track some of them down as well. Why go after the fox before the others?"
"We need to obtain the fox's container before he acrues any more power. And since both he and the ring are probably in Leaf village… we may as well kill two birds with one stone."
"But we don't know for sure that the ring is there…" The masked Akatsuki said.
"It's there." Itachi said quietly. "Why else would we have encountered the shinobi in Orochimaru's lair?"
"They said they were only there because of us."
"Tobi, you need to learn to read people better. Perhaps you misconstrued what my younger brother told you and Deidara."
"There is nothing of value hidden in this place"…
"Damnit!" Tobi clenched his fist.
"We'll jump a head in our plan," the leader continued, "and eliminate Konoha first. But don't be fooled. Two sannin yet live and fight for that place. Not to mention the skilled ninja's assigned to hunt us."
He turned his face to the enormous statue. Soon all the pieces of the puzzle would come together.
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Itachi sat within the seclusion of his own quarters.
Little brother, I may have to kill you yet. But first, you may have to watch your friends die.
It had been years since the oldest Uchiha had joined Akatsuki. But he remembered the day like it was yesterday.
They had asked for a demonstration of his loyalty—and that had played into Itachi's hand perfectly.
Entrance into Akatsuki had only been a cover for the slaughter of his clan. It was something he knew he had to do all along—ever since he found out the truth about the descendants of Uchiha Madara.
He had to end the cursed bloodline, the gaining of all his power had been pure icing on the cake.
But he had left someone else alive.
Sasuke—who he hoped one day would have the power to face him—and kill him. Then the line would end with Sasuke and Itachi would finally be free of the life he had lived.
But now he was worried.
He had not anticipated Sasuke's rescue from Orochimaru. Even if his brother had died, it would have been better than the slow redemption he was finding with his old friends. The young Uchiha was starting to care again.
And no matter how far in the future… if it was even in the future… Itachi could not let Sasuke revive the clan.
Perhaps if I kill those he cares the most about, he will be resigned to die himself…or at the very least he will not let anyone become close to him again!
Itachi's eyes narrowed in thought.
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"Kakashi, what is the purpose behind this meeting?" Tsunade leaned back in her chair, arms folded in front of her chest. She glanced back and forth between the two impassive faces in front of her.
"I think you need to ask Sasuke that." The copy nin's lazy gaze remained forward.
"Sasuke?" The Hokage raised her eyebrow.
Sasuke fixed Tsunade with uncaring eyes and remained silent.
"Alright," she sighed. "Out with it. I've got enough trouble going on without having to settle things whenever an argument pops up within team 7!"
"It's not an argument, Hokage-sama. It's a question of loyalty."
Tsunade stared hard at the former ANBU. "Out with it." She repeated.
"Orochimaru's ring…"
"Is none of your business." Sasuke interrupted.
"None of my business!?!" The silver-haired ninja grabbed a hold of the Uchiha's throat, pushing him up against the wall. "When you deliberately endanger a teammate and put an entire mission at risk—I'd say that's my business!"
Sasuke's face remained stoic and he made no move to defend himself.
"That's enough!" Tsunade's fist slammed down on her desk sending tremors rippling through the palace. "Kakashi!"
He released Sasuke.
"He put it in Sakura's kunai pouch. And unwittingly almost into Akatsuki hands."
"First," she frowned, "you should have more faith in Sakura than that—"
"—and second…I already know about what happened."
"Y-you know?"
She nodded and held up the piece of jewelry for him to see. "Sasuke brought me the ring early the next morning after you returned."
"Your judgment is off, Kakashi." Sasuke's voice was cool. "I seem to remember that happening to you every so often."
Kakashi did not reply.
"I think there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed here." Tsunade shook her head. "Team 7 is the strongest team I've got. Don't make me split everyone up because you guys can't learn to get along."
"Now get out of here, both of you." She waved them away. "I've got a ton of paperwork to do."
They bowed politely and exited the central office.
Out in the hallway, Kakashi paused, trying to think of the proper apology. "Sasuke…"
"Forget it," the young man faced him. "You feel betrayed after all the time you spent training me. It bothers you that you favored me and I walked away." He shrugged. "It is no more or less than I would expect if the situations were reversed."
"It's just… Sakura of all people…" The copy nin rubbed his head. "Why…"
"Kakashi—I do not feel the need to explain this to you…but because you will not leave it alone… I could think of no where else that such a powerful token would be safe. You cannot argue that Sakura is as far away from evil as someone can get."
"You could have given it to Tsunade before we left."
The Uchiha shrugged. "Again, I had my reasons. I trust this is the last we have to speak of it."
Kakashi stared, dumbfounded as he watched Sasuke walk away. He has changed… still as arrogant as ever…but he's certainly changed.
He stood there a while longer, wondering if he was the only one who had seen something wrong with Sasuke's actions.
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Sakura and Naruto sat in companionable silence while they ate.
Normally, Naruto would have killed that silence with tons and tons of garble, but today he had a lot on his mind.
Sakura, too, was deep in thought and hadn't even noticed the unnatural quiet.
Why would Sasuke plant that ring on Sakura? Naruto was puzzled. The only answers he came up with made him furious and that only made him more quiet. That bastard…no.. no.. Sasuke would never hurt Sakura…but he did try to kill us once…but he's changed now!
The thoughts swirled endlessly through his head.
Damnit! Just when I thought things were back to normal! He stood abruptly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I have to go talk to Sasuke."
"Naruto…" she gave him a worried look. "Please don't. Let's just move on, okay?"
"No, no, I need to find out what the hell is going on! I hate being in the dark!" He gulped down the last of his ramen. "I'll see you later, Sakura-chan."
"Naruto," the voice from behind him surprised the Kyuubi-boy.
"Sasuke! I was just coming to talk to you." Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"I know. I came to talk to you too—both of you."
Sakura stared at her food, chewing methodically. She had not spoken to Sasuke since their mission.
The Uchiha took a seat, Naruto plopping down on the stool where he had previously been sitting.
"I did not mean to put either of you in harm's way." Sasuke began. "I knew Akatsuki could not be allowed to gain possession of Orochimaru's ring." He looked over at Sakura. "I put it where I thought it would be safest."
"With Sakura!" Naruto almost hit the ceiling.
The pink-haired shinobi glared at him, waving her fist menacingly. "What's wrong with me!?! Don't you think I could take care of it!?!"
"Sakura-chan…" the blond looked sheepishly at her. "I was just surprised that's all…"
Sakura looked away from them, gripping her chopsticks to the point of splintering them.
Sasuke continued. "I thought I should explain to you two at the very least. But I'm not here to ask for forgiveness."
"Well, hey," Naruto grinned. "We're all friends here. Sasuke, after all we've been through… this is a minor thing. It's already forgotten about." He gave him a thumbs-up.
But they both looked, wide-eyed, as Sakura shoved her bowl across the counter and stood. "I'll see you guys tomorrow." She didn't look at either of them. "Tsunade wanted to show me a new technique today."
"S-sakura-chan?" Naruto didn't get to finish. She was already out of the restaurant.
Sasuke didn't watch her go. He simply stared at the counter as Naruto downed another bowl of ramen.
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Five cloaked figures scanned the boundary of Konoha village. They had been here before—one of them had even lived here.
They had a few days, probably no more than three, before their masked chakras were sensed by someone.
But three days would be enough to tell them what they needed to know.
And at the end of that time, they would begin the gradual destruction of the Hidden Leaf.
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Coming ASAP: Chapter 10: The war begins
Well, I've yet to take that day off I keep mentioning, but FYI it is coming. Beware!