I know it's been two months and I'm really sorry, I'm really really really sorry. But good news! It's christmas holidays now! And you can expect a new chapter under a month! For now just enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Clearly I do not own Naruto XD

Rescue Shura

Without knowing, Sasuke had unconsciously let himself fall asleep while watching Sakura and when he woke- she wasn't there. Panic had rushed through his system faster than energy. "Sakura!" he cried as he shot up from the wall, black spots danced in his vision and his head started to spin. He stumbled backwards before falling back to sit on the floor like a child that stumbled. "Sasuke...!?" an alarmed voice sounded from the opening of the cave before the footsteps made their way to his side.

He recognized those footsteps, as well as the faint scent of grass that lingered around Sakura. He let himself calm down and his vision cleared up along with the slowing of his breathing.

Sakura was checking his pulse for abnormalities then his eyes. "I'm fine, Sakura" he assured her briefly brushing her hand away. "What happened?" she asked him. "Nothing" Sasuke dismissed it irritably, realizing how hopeless he is without Sakura. Sakura sighed "Don't strain yourself"

Sasuke leaned back on his hands then glanced at Sakura, it seemed she was halfway wrapping up the wound at her side when Sasuke woke up. Sasuke noticed that her left hand didn't seem to be moving and she was having a hard time wrapping the bandage.

He sat up straight and took the bandage roll from Sakura's hands which seemed to be smeared in her own blood. "Let me" he said, just barely managing to get those words out of his mouth. Sakura obliged and lifted her shirt higher so it's easier for Sasuke to wrap the bandages.

The more Sasuke looked at her wound, the angrier her got. He wanted nothing more than the life of the bastard that dared wound Sakura like this but as he got angrier he felt a heavy feeling in his chest. Because he knew, he was the bastard that dared. He secured his work with a tight knot before Sakura pulled her shirt back down. "Does it hurt anywhere else" he asked her. Sakura shook her head "Not particularly" she smiled sheepishly before standing, her hand was still motionless "What happened to your arm" he asked.

"O-Oh, I accidentally paralyzed my shoulder from the spinal cord" said Sakura. Sasuke's eyes narrowed just slightly. "I see..." He knew.

"I-It's only temporary so..." Sakura's voice trailed off. "Don't worry about it. Right?" he said, standing up and dusting himself. Sakura looked up to meet his eyes. "But every time you say that only makes me worry more" he whispered in a hoarse tone. Sasuke lifted his hand onto her cheek "You were crying again, when I was asleep" he said. Sakura bit her lips and lowered her head, she rubbed her eyes "Just a little" she said.

Sasuke bent down over and pressed his lips against Sakura's. The kunoichi blinked her eyes dreamily and made a reluctant face when Sasuke pulled away. "We'll have to leave soon and find the brat before that creep decides to do something" said Sasuke.

Sakura nodded and trailed after him to the opening of the cave. Sasuke turned back to look at her "Get on" he told her. Sakura looked at him. He had his knees bent and his hands behind him. Realizing what he wanted to do, Sakura shook her head "There's not need, I can move on my own" she said. "I can sit here and argue with you for the whole day, Sakura." said Sasuke with a brow raised.

Sakura pouted, he was right. Once Sasuke has his mind made up he's going to get it, whether you want it or not. She approached him sheepishly and picked up her arm, hooking it over Sasuke's shoulder before wrapping the other one around his chest, leaning forward nervously to get lifted off her feet. She let out a surprised gasp and held on to Sasuke with her one moving arm.

Sasuke shot through the waterfall, it was dawn. They had been asleep for over 8 hours, surprising how a little exhaustion of chakra can do to your body. Sasuke activated his sharingan and tried to trace the leftover traces of chakra that the corpse shinobi might've left.

Sasuke sighed when he had no luck. "Sakura can you feel anything?" he said, She shook her head "I don't sense any chakra nearby" said Sakura. "Of course, didn't expect that creep to be left so open" mumbled Sasuke, he looked around and sniffed the air. They'll have to do the tracking the basic way.

He caught small whiffs of the decaying flesh of the corpse shinobi but not enough to trace them. He stood on the branch where the scent is strongest then checked the markings, the friction and force scrapped off the bark and it seemed to be headed towards east. Sasuke kept on in that direction, just following the marks of nature and reassurance of the right path by the smell.

Orochimaru sat in his chair with an arm propped up on the armrest as Kabuto worked on his experiments. Shura stood at his side, eyes blank and staring straight forward. "Won't be long now" he chuckled, stroking her hair with his long fingernails. His slit eyes widened "I'll make sure you completely destroy Konoha this time" he grinned and intertwined his fingers.

"Kabuto, it seems we have visitors" said Orochimaru all of the sudden. Kabuto looked up from his work and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose "I'll send the hounds on them"

Sasuke activated his sharingan on a boulder, there was no doubt about it. There was a seal on it, now all he has to do is try to decrypt the code on it and learn how to deactivate it. "Sasuke, they're here" Sakura whispered next to his ear. Sasuke's brows furrowed "Tch"

If they attacked now they would be a at a huge disadvantage, but then again if they were being attacked by Orochimaru's experiments that would mean they're on the right track. "Sasuke, put me down and keep them busy. I'll deactivate the seal" said Sakura.

Though Sasuke would be faster at decrypting the code with his sharingan, but Sakura couldn't possibly be in any shape to keep anything busy at the moment. He had no choice but to oblige, jumping off the branch they were on and landing near the boulder, he set Sakura down and leapt off into the forest to meet his attackers.

Sakura lifted her sole usable hand to the boulder, lighting it up with her chakra. A sudden burning sensation brushed her fingertips and she drew back. There was a protection barrier around the seal, looks like she'll have to destroy that first before she could decrypt it. This is the disadvantage of not having the Sharingan, you have to make physical contact with the seal to be able to figure it out.

Sakura lit her fist and landed a hard punch, directly confrontation is usually the first thing to try. The barrier flashed and lashed out violently. Sakura pulled her hand back, then looked down at her motionless hand and sighed thinking what a huge handicap it was for her, she couldn't even form seals like this.

She thought for awhile then pushed her palm at the barrier, sparking it up once more. She concentrated her chakra all to the palm of her hands and felt as the burns start to decrease, it was working. Her chakra was slowly pushing the protection barrier back.

She watched as a paper seal could now be seen, her hands went closer and closer to it and with a pinch of her fingers and a tug of her hand she took down the seal's barrier. She had to thank her mentor for the gloves if not her hand would've had the skin scorched off her by now.

Sakura stepped closer to the boulder and placed a hand on the boulder, she channeled her chakra through it, trying to locate the seal on it. When she found it on the other side of the boulder, she began to rearrange the symbols in her mind, trying to turn them into words. In a matter of minutes she has broken the code, memorized it and all she has to do now is to deactivate it.

There was just one problem.

To deactivate the seal she'll need both her hands to form the necessary seals, she'll have to think of some other way she could break it. The code was 'North Snake, West Tiger, East Horse, South Dragon' meaning that she was supposed to form those seals to locate the link seals to deactivate the parent seal.

And since she can't form the seals, she might as well try an manually locate it first before she thinks of how she could channel her chakra to them. It didn't take her very long to locate them since it was practically spelt out for her on the code. She focused on each of the seals and took out four kunais. she only had once chance at it.

If she misses it then they will have no way to deactivate the seal from the inside. Sakura made sure to calculate it properly, she had 1 second and a half to pump different element chakras into each of the four kunais with only one hand. Not only that but each of the kunai has to make contact with only a 2 millisecond difference.

There was no room for mistakes. Then again she could just wait for Sasuke, but since when does Sakura rely on people.

She gripped her kunais by the loopholes and gathered her chakra in her feet, then pushed herself off the ground. She flipped so that her head was downwards then she spun. In one swift moment the kunais took off in a clockwise order. Landing exactly where Sakura aimed.

Sakura flipped back and landed in a not-so-perfect landing. She stumbled backwards and looked to see if she had succeeded. When the boulder had not moved like she had expected it to, she stepped up towards it. That lingering chakra sensation was no long there, it must've worked but it looked like she'll have to manually move the boulder. She clenched her fist, and with a hard punch she reduced a whole boulder to rubble. The thunderous roar of destruction caught Sasuke's attention and he finished binding another corpse shinobi to the tree with his sharingan controlled wires before leaping off in Sakura's direction.

His heart tightened when he heard a scream from where he left Sakura. He skidded to a stop as he entered the clearing in front of the cave. His shoulders heaving and eyes widened.

Meanwhile...

"It seems that they have broken through the defenses. Orochimaru-sama." said Kabuto, standing at Orochimaru's side. The snake man gave a grin "Yes... so it seems" he chuckled slightly. "Shall we prepare to transport?" asked Kabuto. "No, I have a better idea"

In the tunnel towards the lab, Orochimaru sat waiting patiently for his attackers. Amidst the darkness he caught sight of pair of glowing red eyes before a blur of white and black came for his head with the kusanagi. However Sasuke had found it suspicious that Kabuto hadn't jumped out at him, instead he found a small figure, holding a kunai shooting out in front of Orochimaru.

Shit.

He had barely caught himself before he sliced the little girl in two. Shura stood confidently with her blank red eyes staring forward. He withdrew his sword and jumped back when Shura took a swing at him with her kunai. "Oh? I see you're well again, Sasuke-kun" said Orochimaru. "Bastard" he spat, eyes glaring a hole through Orochimaru who was careful not to meet eyes with his sharingan or else he'll be trapped in a genjutsu without realizing it.

"I'm very happy that you've come to visit me but I have no time to play at the moment" chuckled Orochimaru."You can play with this little monster"

Sasuke's eyes widened when Shura had suddenly charged at him, moving swifter than any ordinary 10 year old. She was definitely being controlled. Sasuke dodged her attacks but at the same time he scanned the room for the missing person- Kabuto. He must be the one controlling her actions, if he kills Kabuto then the jutsu should stop. He dodged a swing from Shura and then attempted to leap past her to go find Kabuto only to be surprised by the swift motion of Shura's arm that sent him pummeling into the wall behind him.

When he looked back again Shura was surrounded by a massive glow of red chakra. The look in her eyes was primal and her hair floated around her. Did she just growl? Sasuke's eyes widened as he lifted his kusanagi, blocking off Shura's sudden attack. Her kunai pressing down of his sword- she was winning. The look in her eyes showed that she was no longer ordinary. Then again her usual look wasn't any more ordinary.

Sasuke gritted his teeth when the sudden force pushed his kusanagi to his face, the clashing metals began to shake as Sasuke tried to push back. "Juha Reppu Sho! (Beast Tearing Gale Palm)" Sasuke saw a wave of blue chakra in the shape of a clawed hand chasing Shura off of him. He got back on his feet and looked over at his savior. "You're late, idiot"

Sora twitched, swinging his clawed hand dangerously close to Sasuke's face who stood there fearlessly. "Says the dickhead that can't hold his ground with a kid" Sora replied. Sasuke glared at him, his hands aching to take a swing at the other guy's head. "Oh? What's this? Another troublemaker" said Orochimaru.

Sora took a look at Orochimaru and a shiver went up his spine. "Hey Sasuke, what's with the long haired queer with the makeup that looks like a pedophile" said Sora, taking a step backwards. "You just perfectly described Orochimaru. Congratulations" said Sasuke, he raised his sword and widened his legs. Sora gave him a confused look "Wha?"

Sasuke lowered his head and mumbled "How's Sakura" Sora imitated Sasuke and replied "She's in position"

"Play with the kid, I'll take down Orochimaru" said Sasuke in normal tone. Sora didn't delay any further, once Sasuke went for Orochimaru, Shura acted. Only to be intercepted with Sora. "So you're the dweeb that Sakura wants me to meet" he smirked and Shura growled, her nose creasing in a primal growl "Not very friendly, are you"

Sasuke swung his sword at Orochimaru, slashing his chair in half; only his chair. Sasuke spun around almost immediately, slicing off the snakes that were launched at him and then using his Chidori Nagashi to wrap around the snakes as it trailed them back to Orochimaru. When he stabbed into the user, Orochimaru shed through the skin and lunged his extended head at Sasuke- much to Sasuke's disgust. With a quick motion of his hand Sasuke cut through the head with ease and proceeded to find the real Orochimaru.

Wasting no time after he spotted the creep, he flung a few kunais at the camouflaging snake man, sending him out of his hiding, he continued to dodge Sasuke's kunai. Sasuke threw a fresh bunch at him. He side stepped them but his eyes caught side of the passing kunai and his slit eyes widened before the explosive tags attached to the kunais exploded.

Sasuke cursed under his breath, knowing that his target had escaped. He turned back to Sora and saw his clashing beast chakras with Shura, their fingers intertwined and pushing against one another. Although it seemed like Sora was holding back, afraid that he wouldn't be able to control himself if he used anymore chakra. His eyes were red and slit like Naruto's when he uses his Bijuu chakra but Sora's control of the bijuu's chakra is even worse than Narutos.

Sasuke didn't want to take any chances with him after this is done. He heard a familiar crack of a punch, he jumped out of the way as Kabuto came crashing through the wall. He smirked.

Sakura stepped out from the hole through the wall that she had just sent Kabuto through, panting and holding on to her motionless arm. She glanced at Sasuke and smiled tiredly at him. Shura's eyes began to revert back to normal and her chakra died down. Sora's grip loosened and he let go of her, struggling to push his chakra back into himself, groaning and wincing as he did.

Shura swayed and fell forward only to be caught by Sora.

"Did we do it?" said Sakura. Sasuke looked around, Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen and Kabuto was laying motionless through a wall. "Yeah I think we did pretty well"

Flashback

Sasuke felt his blood run cold when Sakura's scream sounded through the forest, he ran to her as fast as he could, breaking a few branches in the process only to stumble into the clearing he had left Sakura in and find her in the arms of another man. For a moment Sasuke though it would've been better if Sakura was being held hostage by an enemy when he came face to face with Sora.

Sakura in fact wasn't screaming, she was squealing as Sora swung her around like a child. Claiming to have missed her. "Look who we bumped into, Sasuke" she said as Sora set her back on her feet. Sasuke was instantly at her side, tugging her towards him and eyes narrowing at Sora who snorted. "As possessive as ever, Sasuke" he said.

Sasuke smirked and raised a brow "There's nothing wrong with being possessive of your own girlfriend" he said in mocking tone. Sora scoffed "So you finally ask her out, you've just earned yourself a pair of balls, Sasuke. You're a man now" said Sora, slapping him on the back.

Sasuke punched him on the head. "What the hell was that for!?"

"My hand slipped"

Sora twitched and grabbed him by the front of his shirt "You picking a fight?!"

Sakura pushed them away from each other "Sasuke, do you have to start and argument with everyone we know?" said Sakura. "Hmph"

"Oh right, where's Naruto. I didn't see him around" said Sora. This reminded Sakura of the main reason why they were here. "Actually, Sora-kun. We're on a mission, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei are currently hospitalized so we were sent out without them" said Sakura, her tone seemingly got more depressed as she spoke.

"What a coincidence, I'm investigating something. Chiriku said there were a bunch of troublemaking shinobi killing ANBU and other shinobi" said Sora. "Then you're after the same guy we're hunting" said Sasuke. "No way!"

The plan was to get Sakura through Orochimaru to hunt down Kabuto when he least expected it and Orochimaru was caught in Sasuke's genjutsu the moment he caught side of his sharingan in the darkness and Sakura was able to slip through his defense like she wasn't there at all, however Sasuke had to deactivate it because pushing it any further and Orochimaru was going to notice it. You can't underestimate someone who's been trying to get his hands on the Sharingan his whole life.

The plan worked out fine, except for the fact that Orochimaru had gotten away.

Sakura turned back to look at Kabuto only to find him gone. She ran to the hole in the wall, his chakra had completely vanished. Sasuke gritted his teeth "We lost them again" he said. They were so close. But something tells Sakura that they were being deceived, she figured she'll think about it later. For the moment she could move her other hand slightly, enough to restore Shura's fatigue and calm her heartbeats before they headed for the Fire temple.

It didn't take them more than half a day. Now with Sora carrying Shura and Sakura latched onto Sasuke's back they travelled twice as fast because of Sora and Sasuke's unspoken competition.

By the time they reached their destination both males were panting their souls out.

"I told you not to go that fast." said Sakura, pouting as she took Shura from Sora's back. Sasuke didn't answer, just glared at Sora. They seemed to be having a mental conflict with each other regarding who won the race. Sakura just sighed and brought Shura into the temple where they were greeted by the head ninja monk, Chiriku.

"I heard from the Hokage-sama that you were coming. Did you run into trouble? I didn't have the chance to warn you about the rogue shinobi around these areas" said Chiriku. "Oh them" Sakura gave a nervous laugh "We took care of that" she said with a smile. Chiriku raised an eyebrow "I see" his eyes trailed to Shura "And that must be our new member" he said, offering to take over but Sakura insisted on holding on to Shura. At least till they get to the room.

"I've already set up her room in the temple. You may rest there with her as well. Since you've been here before feel free to roam around for time being" he said, leading Sakura to Shura's new room. "Thank you"

For the next few days Sakura and Sasuke stayed over at the Fire temple after sending a kite back to the village, informing Tsunade of their safety. She would surely pass on the message to their teammates. Shura stuck closely to Sakura for the most of day one but after Chiriku introduced her to the other members of the temple, including Sora. Her child curiosity got the best of her and she began to explore on her own. Surprisingly the stoic faced girl adjusted quickly to Sora's loud and vulgar ways.

Sakura then decided that it was okay for them to leave. She gave Shura and pat on the head as she said goodbye. "I'll come visit you when I can" she said. Shura didn't say anything but nodded. She didn't seem as bothered about Sakura leaving as she would a few days ago. Now she just waved and watched as Sakura disappeared into the forest with Sasuke.

Along the way Sakura let out a heavy sigh, Sasuke glanced at her "What's wrong?" he asked. "I'm just thinking that the Uchiha Manor would be so lonely without Shura now" said Sakura. "I don't like kids." said Sasuke. Sakura halted in her tracks, standing still on a tree "E-Eh? Sasuke doesn't like kids" she said. Sasuke looked back at her "I hate them" he replied firmly before jumping off. Sakura looked down "O-Oh..." she fidgeted a little before catching up with Sasuke.

It didn't take them long to journey back to the village, they took up one and half days to travel back, resting every six hours. They were at the village gate by dawn, they approached the gate and strolled through, Izumo and Kotetsu who were standing on guard greeted them and told them that they weren't expected to arrive till the day after tomorrow.

They headed straight for the hokage's tower to do their report since Tsunade is not usually in the office till 9, they figured that they would finish off the report and leave it on her desk rather than wait till later. however they were surprised to see Shizune walking down the corridor and headed straight for Tsunade's office with her tea. "Shizune-senpai?" Sakura called out to her, snapping her out of her concentration on the teacup.

"Sakura, Sasuke-kun. You're back early" said Shizune. Sakura rubbed the back of her head meekly "It seems so, is Tsunade-sama in?" she asked. The dark haired woman nodded "She's just debriefing someone" she said, her eyes trailed to Sasuke who stood a little behind Sakura. "You can come in, I think she's almost done" said Shizune, knocking the door and opening it. "Tsunade-sama, there's someone who would like to see you" she said, holding the door for Sakura and Sasuke.

Sakura and Sasuke obliged, when they stepped in they were immediately greeted with the stares of the Hokage and a pair of onyx eyes. "Nii-san?" said Sasuke, eyes meeting his brother's. "Welcome back, Sasuke. Sakura" he said, greeting the two younger ones. "Well you two are early. Itachi, you may leave for now, You'll leave first thing tomorrow" said Tsunade. "Yes, Hokage-sama" Itachi gave a curt nod at Tsunade and turned, shoulder brushing with Sasuke as he passed. "I'll see you later, Sasuke" he mumbled quietly to Sasuke.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, well he was secretly glad that his brother wasn't going to leave till tomorrow morning but then again, not like it matter. They never hung out like normal siblings, unless you consider sparring to your deaths a sibling bonding event.

He smirked as he heard the door close. Sakura felt the mood lighten and bounded over towards the desk. For some reasons Tsunade seemed less enthusiastic, she was never really enthusiastic about her work but she wasn't as dead as seemed now. The look on her face told Sakura not to ask, so she just let it go for now. "I read your Intel about Orochimaru and his escape with Kabuto. Well done getting Shura to the Fire Temple safely" she said.

Sakura told Tsunade about the corpse shinobi and what it made Sasuke do, the Hokage looked genuinely disturbed and so did Sasuke, considering he was the one that attack and wounded Sakura, however his teammate never mentioned her more serious injuries, she merely stated that it was a 'few scratches and bruises' and refused to go into any deeper details. After she had finished her side of the story, there wasn't much Sasuke needed to explain except for the small things he noticed in Orochimaru's lab and the experience he felt when he was in a rampage.

Tsunade's brows furrowed as she listened "This may turn out to be more troublesome than expected, we will have to send a team out to hunt Orochimaru if he continues to pose as a potential threat to Konoha" said Tsunade, she sighed and looked up at Sasuke and Sakura "You may leave now, good work on the mission" the hokage said "And I'm glad you managed to return safely, rest well"

Sakura smiled at her mentor and bowed respectfully before leaving the office with Sasuke.

As they walked down the steps of the hokage tower, Sakura felt a familiar chakra waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. "Ah!" she cried out all of the sudden. "I forgot I have to get to the hospital she gasped, alarming Sasuke a little. He sighed in relieve when it was nothing, he was about to offer to go with her to the hospital but she cut him off "Meet you back home in the evening, Sasuke" she said, leaping down the remaining stairs and running off, but not before greeting Itachi.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and wondered why was she rushing for, but immediately understood when he came face to face with his brother. The two Uchihas stared at each other with their equally stoic faces before Itachi smiled "What to take a walk with me, Sasuke?" he asked.

Sasuke snorted and just walked past him, not even bothering to reply as he knew his brother would understand- must be an Uchiha thing. The two boys strolled the streets of waking village, just focusing on the route in front of them. It seemed quite unusual for the both of them as usually they would end up breaking into a spar after the silence or they would continue to ignore each other.

"So how's your progress with Sakura" Itachi started. Sasuke snorted "Aren't we talkative today" said Sasuke. "Is it wrong to be wondering about your little brother's love life" chuckled Itachi. "That's an invasion of privacy" huffed Sasuke. "You don't have to be shy about it, Sasuke. You can tell your dear brother anything" said Itachi. Sasuke twitched "I don't have anything to tell you"

He glanced over at Itachi, his brother's face was a light smile, but something about it made you feel like you were being mocked. "And to think you used to run up to me and begged me to play with you, you've changed Sasuke" said Itachi feigning sadness. When Sasuke didn't flinch he smirked "I wonder how Sakura would react if she knew all your baby secrets, her view on you would definitely change" Itachi chuckled, almost darkly.

Sasuke froze and glared at his brother "Don't. you. dare" he said through his gritted teeth. "Oh? Are you perhaps, threatened by this? Are you not confident of your relationship with Sakura? That she'll leave you because your big brother decides to leak your little toddler secrets to your beloved?" mocked Itachi. Sasuke was quick in drawing his kusanagi, a normal shinobi wouldn't have seen it coming, but Itachi was far from normal and had already dodged before Sasuke managed to pull out his sword.

"Tsk, tsk. Temper Sasuke, temper" said Itachi, standing just outside Sasuke's kusanagi range. "Did you request to walk with me just to mock me to no end, nii-san" said Sasuke, sliding his blade back to its sheath and pushing it down with a loud clank. "Partially" said Itachi, walking towards Sasuke. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and they continued walking "Then what's the other part" said Sasuke, it was more of a demand than a question. "Just doing some catching up, have you realized that we've never actually hung out like siblings." said Itachi. Sasuke scoffed "That's cause you're always busy with your ANBU missions" said Sasuke. "Indeed" said Itachi, there was a pregnant pause before Itachi spoke again "Are you still a genin, Sasuke" Itachi asked all of the sudden.

"Yeah"

"Why don't you request for a promotion, I think we both know that your skills are well above that of a genin's" said Itachi. "I'm fine as I am, Tsunade acknowledges our team's skills so it doesn't matter" said Sasuke. "You're just fine with it because you're able to remain in the same team as Sakura" said Itachi. Sasuke smirked "Hn, maybe"

"How is it that you, a stoic, boring, crude and evil person managed to end up with such an innocent, kind hearted, and well-loved girl of the village" said Itachi. "Jealous?" Sasuke stated simply. Itachi chuckled.

"That mission" Sasuke began. "What kind of mission are you being sent on tomorrow" said Sasuke. "Oh, that" Itachi's voice had become evidently less enthusiastic. "It's a mission with Jiraiya-sama" said Itachi, but that was the only thing he was willing to disclose from the subject, Sasuke didn't push him about it ; it must've been a classified S-rank mission if it's with Jiraiya.

The next morning, Itachi was ready to leave the village all over again, but this time he felt like he didn't want to leave, he didn't want to leave Sasuke, or the village. He looked at the clock, it was 4:30 in the morning and he was already due to leave in another thirty minutes.

He met up with the white haired sannin at the gate and greeted him with a nod. "Couldn't sleep?" asked Jiraiya with a chuckled "Sorta" he said. Jiraiya chuckled again "Just stick with me kid, you're going to be fine" said Jiraiya. "Old men should stay home and read their books" mocked Itachi with a smirk. Jiraiya laughed "One day, I will" said Jiraiya, he glanced over at a nearby tree "I'll let you say your goodbyes"

Itachi's eyes traced Jiraiya's glance "Sasuke"

Sasuke was leaning against the tree on a branch, arms crossed and his expression was un-amused like always. "I'll kill you if you don't come back" said Sasuke. Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Worried for your big brother now are you?" said Itachi. "Tch, whatever"

Itachi was content, he set off with a new found confidence. He was going to come back, or else his dear little brother was going to kill him.

Next Chapter

"Are you worried?"

"I thought you told me you were going to be honest with him"

"Nine years"

"It would've been better if you two idiots killed each other"

"Men are such barbarians"

yes I know that Chiriku was supposedly killed by Hidan and Kakuzu but I didn't want him dead D: If Asuma survived, so can he :D

I had great fun writing this chapter, especially the brotherly affection towards the end. Heeee~ Reviews are welcomed in any form of shape! And you might just get a cookie! MIGHT! REVIEW AT YOUR OWN RISK!

ALRIGHT SEE YOU GUYS NEXT CHAPTER

Sorry, I forgot to turn off the caps lock. XD

Oh right, before you go, just another question.

Which voice actor of the Naruto series has the sexiest voice?