Here's the new chapter. I decided to cover the Suna arc first, as I don't have much planned out for it.


They managed to arrive at Suna within a day. They could see bodies being transported in body bags, and the destruction of several parts of the village. But for the most part, it was surprisingly intact. She tried to analyze what she could see. Some of the damage seemed to be caused by explosions, similar to what some from Iwagakure we're capable of. She'd know, she'd gone up against one of them during the Chunin Exams herself.

They were quickly briefed on the situation by a Suna Jonin named Baki, as Kankuro and Temari stood by in full gear. However, just as he was about to finish, an old woman and an old man showed up. They approached Baki to ask about something, but all of a sudden, the old woman looked in their direction with wide eyes, and sped towards them, or rather, Kakashi with unbelievable speed, especially considering her age. She said something about getting revenge for what the white fang did as she ran forward. As the one closest to Kakashi, she intercepted the attack and pushed the attacker back.

Before the old woman could continue, the old man by her side informed her of the obvious, that her sensei was not the white fang. The old woman laughed it off, but she was still pissed. Baki greeted her, and said "Lady Chiyo. I'm glad you're here, but these are our allies from Konoha. No need to continue hostilities."

That took her by surprise. Was this old lady really one of the Honored Siblings of Suna ? Chiyo then realized her mistake and laughed it off with an apology. Chiyo then announced that she would be joining the mission as Suna's representative in place of Temari and Kankuro. While Baki protested the decision, he relented after he realized Chiyo was not asking.

And so they set off again, in search of the Akatsuki members, following the few trails left behind. Pakkun, Akamaru and Kiba took the lead, as they went out in search of a kidnapped Kazekage, with an old woman in tow.

When they were close to closing in on their target, Hinata suddenly gasped as she saw ahead with her Byakugan. She muttered "Uchiha...". Could it be ? Was Sasuke up ahead ? But it didn't seem to be the case from Hinata's expression. And soon enough, they were able to see just who Hinata had seen. For in front of them was Uchiha Itachi.


Hmm. He wondered how he should handle this situation. From what information Tsunade had shared about Sasuke's defection, he knew that Itachi wasn't necessarily against Konoha. But he also knew that Itachi was a tough opponent who couldn't exactly hold back here. But, it didn't make sense for Itachi to be here in person either. Maybe this was a clone ? He also knew that Team Asuma also knew some of the details of Sasuke's defection, and probably weren't the best choice to fight Itachi given their history with Sasuke. It was possible that they would let out more than necessary, which was risky when they were in the presence of a Suna shinobi. And so, he came to a decision as they closed in on Itachi.

"Asuma, your team will follow Pakkun and continue to follow the trail. Keep your radio active and guide us to the final location you reach. My team and Lady Chiyo will take on Itachi." When it seemed like they were about to protest, he doubled down and said "This is an order." They eventually relented as they followed Pakkun. Itachi let them pass. He felt a little bad about it, but it was the best choice in the situation.

Once they crossed, Chiyo advised they use the typical front-back strategy, which he shut down. "No, he has a special sharingan, so that might not work." He'd investigated the Uchiha hideout, and learned of the secret of the Mangekyou. He himself had gained access to that power during one of the most painful moments of his life. He continued speaking "But that eye comes at a cost. Tell me, Itachi, just how much of your eyesight have you lost ?"

Itachi's eyes widened as he understood his meaning. He kept talking "By the way, Sasuke left the village, after killing Danzo. Quite a pair of brothers you are. But, I suppose it doesn't matter now. Let's begin this fight, shall we ?"

He hoped he hadn't revealed too much. Itachi had gone quiet and solemn during the conversation, and he suddenly responded with a genjutsu. He himself had no problem with it, and as expected, Sakura and Chiyo were able to break out. Kiba and Choji struggled, but escaped with the help of Sakura and Chiyo. He called out for Sakura to help, as he closed in. Itachi launched a massive fireball, which all of them were able to dodge. He dug a hole underground to escape, and created a clone to continue ahead. As his clone grappled with Itachi, who made eye contact with said clone, he had Sakura go ahead. Once Itachi was cut down, he dispersed the clone and recieved the memories. In it, he had a simple conversation with Itachi:

Itachi said "So this is a clone, eh."

He inclined his head as he responded, "so is yours."

As Itachi chuckled, he asked, "So what are you going to do next, Itachi ?"

Itachi's face went dark as he muttered, "I wonder...", in a low voice that sounded somewhat lost. And now, despite everything the man before him had done, he found himself feeling sorry for Itachi Uchiha.

And that was the end of the memories. That always jarred him. He wondered how Naruto could handle the memories from all those clones. He watched as Itachi's body eventually changed into the form of a very different man, who Chiyo said was from Suna. So that was how they'd managed to infiltrate the village.

He radioed ahead to Team Asuma, and moved ahead with the rest of his team.


As the clone died, he opened his eyes and got up. He looked around for a moment. Kisame was asleep. So was tomoe, but perhaps she was just pretending to be. Kakuzu had of course died at the hands of Yagura. He'd originally come here to pick up Kisame who'd been sent to help out, and continue traveling together, but his plans had changed. He started walking away from where they'd set up camp, as he gathered chakra. Kisame called out to him. When he looked back, he saw the blue-skinned man sitting up with one eye half open, who then asked "Where are you going ?"

He turned back around, and as he disappeared in a flock of crows, answered "I'm going to pay a visit to my little brother."


A/N

Hey guys. I hope you enjoyed that. It took a while for me to write this out. I originally wanted to have Team Asuma have more interactions with Itachi, but it didn't really work that well with what I wanted. I do want to try to give them a few moments to shine later on though, and have some stuff planned out for that purpose.