…Alas, Naruto, I know thee well, but ye are not mine…
Chapter 20: Leaving Empty Handed
Kakashi stood over the young man's hospital bed.
His eye regarded Badejiru lazily.
"I am sure you'll be glad to know the Tsuchikage will live."
Strange ice-blue eyes looked up at him. "A monster I may be, but my father has done more evil than I can even imagine."
"That is the way for Kages." Kakashi said. "Sometimes what they do for the good of everyone is not what they should have done at all."
The boy laughed painfully. "A person who kills someone they love cannot be excused by their title."
Kakashi didn't reply. He couldn't be sure who Badejiru was referring to, but he had a good idea.
The copy nin heard a creak behind him.
How long had Sasuke been standing there?
The Uchiha approached them.
He looked coolly down at the other young man.
Kakashi bowed. "Goodbye, Badejiru. Perhaps we can meet again in the future, under better circumstances."
Sitting up, the Kaku host bowed as well.
Kakashi left the room.
"You wanted to see me?" Sasuke's gaze pierced into him.
"There is something I need to know."
"Hn. So you brought me here to waste my time?"
The Kage's son returned his frigid stare.
Sasuke turned to leave.
"Sasuke…Do you …love her?"
The Uchiha froze in his tracks. He hadn't considered that as the source of Badejiru's hostility toward Sakura.
He turned back to the bed.
The other young man was looking down at his hands. "I want to know if that is truly what I saw." He looked at the sharingan user. "Because I have never seen it before."
"Is that why you attacked Sakura? Because you like her!?!"
"I don't know why." Badejiru shook his head. "That is why I need to know your answer to my question."
Sasuke was silent. He should have been angry. But, instead, he felt oddly sorry for the man before him.
He turned and walked to the door.
But before he walked out, he quietly said, "Yes. And if you ever try to harm her again, I will kill you."
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"There is no changing your mind?
Rokuku shook his head. "My decision stands. Earth Country will not join with you."
Jiraiya's face was expressionless. "It bothers you that Naruto is the nine-tails."
"Konoha is already too powerful for my liking," The Kage replied. "I would not leave myself defenseless against Akatsuki or the other countries."
"And Badejiru? He will not come of his own will?"
"He is my son, and he will respect my order."
"He is a son who clearly hates you." The sannin said. "Perhaps you are not protecting yourself as well as you think."
He looked at the man's heavily bandaged neck.
"Jiraiya, I wish you and your teammates luck. But that is all I wish you. Know that we do not part this place as friends."
The Toad Sage nodded. "We have stayed past dawn anyhow. It is time we left."
The two men bowed respectively, and went their separate ways.
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Team 7 was quiet as they left the city, each brooding on their own thoughts.
Not even Naruto wanted to break the silence.
Sakura looked over her shoulder at the slowly shrinking hidden village. Can we do this without the seven-tails? She looked up at Naruto.
He never failed to surprise them, just like he had done yesterday on the roof. She smiled to herself.
Naruto would find a way.
The blond saw her looking at him and grinned. Her own smile widened.
Yes, if anyone could, Naruto would find a way.
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Saruwatari yawned, pulling off a layer of her long cloak.
Spreading it gently on the ground, she eased her body onto it, almost half asleep before her head hit the cushion.
"Sakura, you should sleep." She yawned again. "We're almost to the border of Earth country." Another yawn.
"I will," The pink-haired medic walked by. She smiled as the old Raiju woman began snoring softly.
A few feet away Sasuke rolled his eyes. "As if Naruto isn't bad enough," He growled, sitting back against a rock. "At least the rest of you are somewhat quiet."
Sakura sat down next to him. "Sasuke-kun, we can't all be as prefect as you."
"Hn."
He frowned, not knowing if she was joking or not.
"Perhaps we should take a moment to discuss the next part of our mission." Kakashi tossed his own pack onto the ground. "From here on out, the danger increases substantially."
Jiraiya nodded. "Hachimata is an unsealed demon. We should assume that conversation with her is out of the question—at first."
"At first?"
The sannin nodded at Naruto's question. "I think the best way will be to stay on the defensive. More than likely, she'll attack without asking questions. If we can wear her down enough…stay alive long enough…it might promote her interest."
"Seems like we're putting a lot of faith in the fact that she will bother with us at all." Sasuke said. "Are we going to have to entice her to fight?"
"It's unlikely. Both Hachimata and the Kyuubi loath humans. Even if she doesn't see us as a threat, she will want to kill us."
"Naruto, Sasuke," Kakashi looked at them. "That move you pulled on the roof the other day… what exactly were you doing?"
"I asked Sasuke to enter my mind and suppress the demon fox enough so that he wouldn't take over me completely." Naruto explained. "It allowed me to change, but I still had some of my own thoughts to fall back on."
"Some of them?" Jiraiya looked puzzled.
The blond nodded. "I don't remember everything, but I was still in control."
Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.
He turned to Jiraiya. "Do you think Naruto could achieve another tail with Sasuke's help?"
The sannin frowned. "Perhaps. But it's a high risk. What I've seen of four tails is bad enough. If we lost control of him with five… he might even die."
Saruwatari sat up. "Hmph. What a foolish idea. You are forgetting that Naruto is not the only bijuu here."
"We thought you were sleeping," Sasuke looked at her. "It sure sounded like it."
She looked at him indignantly. "Who could sleep with you all yammering over there. Besides, clearly my input is needed before you all go and do something foolish."
"But Saruwatari," Sakura said. "You said yourself that your hold over the Raiju is not very good. If you were to transform you might completely lose control."
"I don't need to transform to still be powerful. You assume that because Naruto wasn't trained to use the Kyuubi, that I do not have access to the Raiju. This is not the case. As a shinobi, I was specifically trained to tap into that power without changing. As I demonstrated when we first met."
"You think that along with Naruto you can help keep Hachimata busy?"
She shrugged. "It's worth a shot. We may all end up dead, who's to say."
Naruto almost choked on the bread he was eating. "Hey! Speak for yourself!"
"Alright," Kakashi stood. "Let's get some rest. The Land of the Waterfall is the last stage of our journey. We should all be ready."
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Itachi smiled to himself as they walked away.
That could have been much, much worse.
He cradled his injured arm. It did not cause him much concern.
"Kisame, let's find a good spot to watch. I think I'm going to enjoy this."
The blue man smiled.
"It should be a first-rate show."
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Coming soon: Chapter 21: Behind the Waterfall