"He was there. He was right there." Sasuke spoke. "And he walked away without so much as a scratch."

"I'm not going to lie, I was kind of expecting you attack him." Naruto said.

"I hate him. I despise him. But I'm not stupid enough to think that I can fight him as I am now." He spat the word out like poison.

Jiraiya grunted in acknowledgement. "Say what you will about him, he did earn his S-Class title. If nothing else, his strength and skill should be respected."

"That will make it all the more satisfying when I feed him his own eyes."

Jiraiya glanced in his direction. "You have a morbid imagination, kid."

"Which mostly only comes to the surface in Itachi's case." I noted.

"Which is understandable." Sakura muttered. "After everything he did? It's hard to imagine somebody not hating him."

Both Naruto and I nodded.

Even Jiraiya agreed, although he didn't show it.

A moment passed in silence, before Sasuke spoke, his voice significantly lower. "I need to get stronger."

"To kill your brother?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yes."

"Great. Why else?"

Sasuke looked up, an expression of confusion on his face. "What?"

"Why else do you want to get stronger." Jiraiya elaborated, turning to him. "Because I can tell you now Sasuke, living for the sole purpose of killing your brother isn't any way to live at all."

He straightened up, as serious as I have ever seen him be. "You've got your best friend," His hand came down, messing up Naruto's hair. "And your girlfriend here," Sakura blushed, her entire face burning red in an instant, while Sasuke squawked, causing Naruto to grin. "With you. Don't be an idiot and disregard that, friends are some of the most important things you'll ever have in your life."

Sasuke seemed to slump. "But, then..."

"I seriously ponder on why having friends and killing your brother need to be mutually exclusive. Get strong to protect your friends, and to kill your brother."

"Exactly." Naruto nodded. "'Sides, even if you did abandon us to focus on killing your asshole of a brother, I'd just punch you in the face until you came back to your senses. I'm your friend, it's my job to stop you from making stupid decisions."

Sakura slowly, hesitantly, nodded. "I haven't known you as long as Naruto, nor do I know you as well as he knows you, but... I still consider you a friend. And I will punch in the face if you're being stupid."

Jiraiya sniggered, before laughing out loud.

"Oh yes, you've got two good friends right there."

His laughter gave way to a sigh, the grin on his face turning into a small, remembering smile.

"You three... you three are going to go far in life." He leaned back against the wall, his eyes closing for a moment.

"Naruto, if I were to, hypothetically, offer you an apprenticeship, what would you say?"

Naruto looked at Jiraiya, a small grin on his face. "I'd say; 'Not without Sasuke and Sakura'."

"Hmm." He nodded. "Sasuke, if I were to, hypothetically, offer you an apprenticeship, what would you say?"

"Hypothetically, I would say; 'not without Naruto and Sakura'." He leaned back.

Jiraiya nodded. "Sakura, if I were to, hypothetically, offer you an apprenticeship, what would you say?"

She hesitated slightly longer than Naruto and Sasuke. "Not without Sasuke and Naruto."

Jiraiya grinned, his eyes opening as he looked at the three of them.

"Good. Pack your bags brats, we're heading to Tanzaku-gai."

All three stood up, quickly leaving to get prepared. It wouldn't take them long, they hadn't unsealed that much.

"You really see something great in them, don't you?"

"Those brats... Any one of them, and they'd be great. But together? Now, that's going to be a sight to see."

I returned to Konoha not long after I left, greeting Shikaku as I came in.

He waved at me, before holding up a bottle.

An empty bottle, I realised.

"Has it been a week already?" I asked. I looked right, at the calendar on the wall, and noticed that yeah, it had.

"Apparently."

"Huh. I had completely lost track of time." I shook my head. "Either way, I'll be back soon."

"Don't want to deprive Yoshino of her Sake." Shikaku nodded, sagely.

I nodded.

I slipped into a Corridor of Darkness, my form already beginning to change.

I slipped out of the shadows near the border of the Land of Earth, a fair distance away from the shop that I normally visited.

And, almost immediately, I noticed the mass of people inside, many of which were holding... unsavoury emotions in their Hearts.

A quick glance told me that the shopkeepers were feeling apprehensive, cautious, and the beginnings of fear.

Right.

I moved quickly, getting closer, and noting the rising fear, as well as anger.

"And we'll be taking the girl, too."

For an instant, I paused.

Yeah.

I teleported.

The man who, even now, was reaching out to the terrified clerk, didn't even have time to blink before I grabbed his wrist, forcefully stopping him in place.

"No."

I bent his hand backwards, a loud cracking sound mixing with the scum's simultaneous cry.

"None of that."

He gave a scream as I bent his arm back more, breaking his Radius and Ulna.

"Shame on you."

I lifted the man into the air by his arm, before throwing him back into one of the other bandits -Bandits? Mismatched clothes, terrible postures, growing fear, little chakra, no training. Definitely bandits.- in the room.

I turned around.

"Are you alright, Miyako-san, Kasai-san?"

They didn't get a chance to answer, as one of the bandits promptly thrust his sword into my back.

I turned around, completely ignoring both Miyako's gasp of horror, and the sword that was still stuck in my back.

"I'll give you credit, you're smart enough to attack a foe while their back is turned." I grabbed his head, lifting him up into the air. "You are not, however, smart enough to realise just how terrible of a decision that this was."

I slammed him into the ground, applying just enough force to daze him, as opposed to crushing his skull against the wood.

For a moment, I bemoaned the fact that I didn't have ability to use the Sleep spell.

Oh well.

I guess I just have to beat them unconscious with my bare hands.

What a shame.