Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Winter Release	By : Cepheus Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1260 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 24
- 25
Thanks to all of you once again ^^
To know some are still following this� makes me happy ^^

StarsOfYaoi: last
chapter might have seemed not so in tune with the ones before it, but it�s
mostly because I started writing it after three years, and because it would
work better read together with the previous ones, actually. I am also sorry for
the scene that kind of equals with the manga, but that needed to be part of the
plot, as Sai is rather important in the incoming chapters�
That
said, please enjoy.
��
Rating: M (or is it higher?)
Summary: Kyuubi�s secret out. Akatsuki
attacking. Fighting for strength, and falling for your ex�best friend�s older
brother. Maybe Naruto will have to deal with more than he imagined�
Warnings: yaoi, boy x
boy relationship, angsty, torture, and
such. Mental torture as well. Flames will be used to warm up food. OC warning
as well.
Disclaimer: Not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does.

�Talking�
�Thinking�
�Flashbacks, memories, dreams�
��

Winter Release
Chapter 25: Teamwork

He didn�t understand.
Naruto truly couldn�t understand
�and he was trying. Oh, he was
trying.
Team Kakashi (and Sai) had been
walking towards the borders of Hi no Kuni for the last three hours, an idea of
Kakashi who had wanted to try and build some sort of teamwork going between
Sakura, Naruto and their new teammate, Sai, but things had not progressed as
their Jounin leader had hoped.
Naruto had tried to hide his
dislike for the dark haired shinobi, but it had been quite useless, because
every time Sai opened his mouth to speak, Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch in
deep distaste.
Every word coming out from him was
wrong �even a mild comment about the scenery was taken as a direct insult, and
it had taken Sakura more than one slap on Naruto�s head to return the blond
teen to reason.
Not that Sakura didn�t have a hard
time with Sai herself �the teen somehow managed to get under her skin with an
ease that shocked her.
Even Kakashi, who was
diplomatically blocking both parts when the discussions grew too heated, was
growing tired of all the bickering.
�What does this guy have? He�s got nothing on Sasuke!� Naruto kept throwing glances at
Sai, expression darkening more and more. �He�s
just an emotionless freak! What if he looks� a bit like Sasuke? It�s not a real
resemblance anyway, and their attitude is completely different!�
But at least, if Sai kept irking
Naruto that much, it could keep him reassured that he was nothing like Itachi,
either. Sai was not Sasuke, nor Itachi. Which was good.
�All in all, it�s just his hair colour, and his eyes. But there again,
they are nothing alike..�
�What is it?�
Shaking himself out from his
thoughts, Naruto grunted as he realised he had been staring at Sai again, and
now the dark haired teen was glancing at him expectantly.
�Please stop staring at me� Sai
requested, still looking blankly at Naruto. �It is rather inconvenient, and
keeps your attention away from our surroundings. You truly are weak and
defenceless, it seems�.
Naruto stepped forwards, glaring
�There! There! This is the kind of bad attitude that makes me so pissed off!
What is with you and this sudden malice? Do you even act normally at all,
instead of go out of your way to try my patience?�
�It is not my intention to anger you,�
Sai tilted his head, but his expression didn�t change. �I am simply trying out
such a behaviour to see what reactions I could get�.
Naruto growled loudly and stared
off in the distance, trying to ignore him. He couldn�t focus on this stupid
idiot that he didn�t even want in his team �what was important was Sasuke.
�Once we get Sasuke back, you�ll
get chased away from this team �we don�t need you, team Kakashi doesn�t need
you� he muttered, huffing out and breathing out his anger. �You�re just filling
in for him, it�s not like I can consider you one of us!�
�Naruto�� Sakura felt a
wave of sadness hit her.
She knew what Naruto was saying,
and to a level, she was feeling the same thing as well; without Sasuke, this
team lacked something. It was emptier. Sasuke was, despite everything, one of
them. Part of the team, and an important part, at that.
But at the same time, Sakura knew
that she couldn�t go against Tsunade�s orders. It was important to keep up a
good fa�ade as long as this Sai was with them, and if they were to go along
with it, it wouldn�t be long.
She hoped Naruto could understand
that, too.
�Naruto,� Kakashi shut his book
close and stared at him, ignoring how Sai�s eyes flickered to him. �This is not
what I taught you�.
His tone was so cold that Naruto
froze, looking at his sensei in shock. �Kakashi�sensei��
�Teamwork is essential for a good
team, Naruto. Even if at start you cannot work together, you have to strive to
be able to. There might be times you are paired up in a mission with someone
you cannot stand �yet, you have to work together until the mission is
accomplished. If you cannot do that, you�re not worth becoming a Chuunin, let
alone a Hokage�.
Naruto backed away from Kakashi,
and closed his mouth shut, paling.
�But��
�I remember a time when all you
could do as Team 7 was bicker and fight,� Kakashi continued, still pining
Naruto down with his glare.
Naruto winced and looked away. It
was true, though. And at first Sasuke, himself and Sakura had been a horrible
team. They had not worked together at all, and it took Kakashi all he had to
make them click.
So maybe�
Glaring at Sai, Naruto inwardly
rejected the idea �this was not Sasuke. How could they get along?
�Teamwork is what matters now,
Naruto,� Sakura intervened, placing one hand on his shoulder and looking at his
eyes. She tried to convey her feelings to him, and Naruto hesitated before
nodding slightly in answer.
�I�m sorry� he muttered. Though he
wasn�t directing his words at Sai (he meant them for both Kakashi and Sakura),
the dark haired shinobi shrugged and stared at him.
�It is not a problem what you think
of me, in the end� Sai replied, clearly untouched and uncaring. �I wouldn�t
want to be compared to someone who betrayed Konoha and ran off to join
Orochimaru. That person is weak and unsure, and ended up falling to the allure
of power� and truth to be told, I do not care in the least of what you might
think about me, either�.
�You bastard!� Naruto growled,
feeling his anger boil again.
It was clear that Sai knew what to
say for it to hurt the most; Sasuke�s betrayal� Naruto could understand Sasuke,
but Sai couldn�t. Sai didn�t know Sasuke at all� he didn�t know of the pain of
having your older brother completely erase the whole family.
He didn�t know of that stone, of
the Mangekyou curse, of the pain and the feeling of not being strong enough to
extract revenge�
Sai didn�t know Sasuke, but Naruto
did.
He knew what Sasuke had felt, and
in a way, he was also guilty, because if Sasuke ever happened to know what had
happened between the brother he hated so much and the friend he sacrificed to
his goal of revenge, Naruto knew that he would be devastated.
If their friendship mattered so
much that Sasuke had felt it strong enough to use it as means towards the
Mangekyou Sharingan, then it meant something of it was still living in Sasuke�
because Naruto was alive.
Because Sasuke had not killed him,
in the end. Not even the second time he could have.
Sai knew nothing, he could not
speak of these things as if he understood.
�You have no rights to talk like
that about him!� pupils turning into slits, Naruto stepped forwards, ignoring
Sakura�s hand still on his shoulder. �Someone like you� you know nothing!�
Sakura stepped forwards, blocking
him off and tilting his head towards Sai. �Please forgive Naruto for what he�s
said. You�ve been with us for a short amount of time, and we have yet to get to
know you�.
�Sakura�chan!�
�It is not a problem� Sai smiled
again, and Naruto felt a chill run down his back.
The more Sai smiled, the more
Naruto remembered the photo of the Uchiha family he had seen back in the Uchiha
mansion. With little Sasuke holding onto his brother�s hand, and Itachi�s
smile�
Itachi�s smile, just as empty as
the one Sai was doing now�
Sakura�s fist slamming into Sai�s
face shook Naruto out from his thoughts, and he widened his eyes in shock,
staring as Sai rolled away on the ground, before lifting himself up again.
�Saku��
�Yet, you also do not know us, nor
Sasuke�kun, so refrain from speaking until you know what you�re getting into,�
her expression was serious, green eyes darkened in anger, and it caught
Naruto�s attention and breath away.
Did he have that same face when
talking about Sasuke?
�Become strong,
Naruto, because we will be seeing each other again, and that day will be the
last for our friendship. Now you�re not even worthy of my attention�.
Facing each other after Naruto had
managed to get out from the Akatsuki�s lair �Sasuke had changed, but he there
was something unchanged underneath that. That Sasuke was�
�I won�t be holding back next time
you speak ill of Sasuke�kun,� she threatened the other teen, moving into an
attack stance.
Sasuke had done wrong, yes �he had
abandoned his friends, his team, his village� yet they were still up to protect
him, because if they didn�t show at least this much friendship towards him,
what would happen when he came back?
Shunned away?
Naruto would not allow that to
happen, and neither would Sakura.
One way or the other, Sasuke was
still one of them.
Focusing on Sai in front of him,
that same person that he couldn�t help but feel angered at, Naruto was almost
horrified to see he was still smiling, lips stretched upwards even now that
Sakura had punched him.
How could he still force that smile
on? What was Sai?
�You can�t be cheerful after having
been hit, shit� he grumbled, confusion and anger mixing together inside him.
�Are you incapable of feeling, or something?� �Shouldn�t the punch hurt, if anything? Sakura�chan�s
fists hurt like hell!�
Sai glanced at him, wiping a small
trail of blood from his mouth, and� his eyes were once again void of
everything. If Naruto had truly needed to find a difference between this guy
and Itachi, that was it; Itachi looked empty, yes, but Naruto had learned to read
between the lines, and he�d soon be able to see that something was burning
beneath the surface� be it lust, or the anger Naruto had been the cause of (�What�s under the mask?�).
But with Sai�
There was nothing inside that
Naruto could grasp at.
Was it just that he didn�t want to
search?
�To get out of trouble, smile.
There is nothing as dangerous as a smile,� Sai stated, as if reciting from a
textbook. �With a fake smile, a person can still trick others into believing
anything they want to� that is what I�ve read in a book once. I thought I could
try this theory out, but it looks like I�m not good enough for it to work on the
likes of you�.
Naruto had the sudden urge to back
away from Sai.
He couldn�t understand him �reading
things in books and wanting to try them out? Did he mean acting? Or did he
mean�
In that moment, Naruto had the
sudden image of a puppet, held by strings, fingers of wood clacking together as
Sai turned fully towards him, ignoring what Kakashi was saying (�Sakura, I thought you would restrain
yourself, you�re no better than Naruto��), ignoring Sakura�s angered stare,
and just �looking at him instead.
Eyes void of emotion, unlike those
of Sasuke, unlike those of Itachi.
�Who are you?!� stepping forwards
and surprising both Sakura and Kakashi, Naruto grabbed the hem of Sai�s shirt,
holding him closer. �� what are you?�
Sai leaned forwards, smile yet to
disappear from his lips, uncaring if he was being threatened.
�You have no name,� he breathed
out, loud enough that Naruto could hear, but soft enough that he had to strain
his ears to, �you have no feelings, you have no past. You have no future. All
that exists is the mission�.
Naruto backed away, cheeks flushing
then turning pale.
Recited words, yet finally, for the
first time, something close to an emotion had flickered into Sai�s tone,
colouring it.
�Naruto �enough is enough!� Kakashi
moved forwards, grabbing the blond shinobi�s shoulder and yanking him away from
Sai, not having heard what the dark haired teen had said, but fearing it had
been just another insult, as Naruto�s face confirmed. �I told you to behave�
you�re no twelve years old anymore, and I expect you to keep reign of your
emotions for the duration of this mission�.
Sai�s face had returned once more
to its emotionless state, blank eyes looking at the Jounin, and Naruto forced
his heart to slow down again.
There was something he had to
understand about this Sai, too, even if he didn�t like him, and it was better
to follow Kakashi�s suggestion for the moment, at least until he managed to
understand if Sai was a threat for the team or not.
�I� I understand, Kakashi�sensei�
he muttered, shrugging the older shinobi away from him.
�Well then,� the silver haired
man�s eye turned upwards, clearly relieved (at least on the outside) �we�re
almost to the border, let�s continue for some more, and then rest for the
night��
��
Entering one of the many rooms of
the hideout, Sasori looked around, locating Deidara close to one of the
weapons�cupboards, working on refilling his explosive tags� pouch.
�I have received a message from
Orochimaru�s lackey�.
There was a soft shuffling, then
straw blond hair shifted in his direction. �Is that so, un?� standing up,
Deidara cracked one shoulder and moved closer to the other figure, who was
still clad in his outer wooden shell. �That little boy� Sasori�danna, what did
he say?�
With a grunt, Sasori flickered the
message towards his partner, and the other grabbed it with one hand, the tongue
flickering out to taste at the paper.
�No trace of poison, un� he
murmured, a small smirk on his face. �Ah, that is� quite interesting. He�s
requesting another meeting, so soon after the last one� un, it�ll prove to be
interesting!�
Grunting in reply, Sasori turned
around again. �If you are finished with preparing yourself, I will go meet
Leader and then we will leave�.
�Eeh? Do
I have to come, too?� Deidara looked put off by the situation, and pouted,
clenching a small amount of clay in one hand. When he opened his fingers again,
a small clay bird was standing there. �I used quite a lot of my arsenal when retrieving
the Ichibi Jinchuuriki� I haven�t had enough time
replenishing it, yet� un�.
Flashing a disappointed gaze at the
many explosives he still had to store into his cloak and body, Deidara let his
lips shift into a pout.
He hadn�t had enough fun lately,
with the stupid little demon�holder running away like he had done, and Leader
not allowing them to give chase, and now he had to follow Sasori to see that
other useless puppet�kid, without even half of the usual amount of weapons�
�Move� Sasori growled, leaving the
room.
He was followed by a loud whining
noise, to which he paid no attention to.
If young Kabuto had contacted him
to request a meeting, it meant that Orochimaru had gathered some information he
wanted to share with them in hopes to channel Akatsuki�s attention somewhere
convenient to him, allowing him to roam free elsewhere.
The Scorpion of Akatsuki knew of
Kabuto�s new allegiance, but also knew how to read between the lines. If
Orochimaru had something worth knowing, Sasori would easily distinguish what was
important in the lies and half�truths Kabuto would feed him.
The snake might have taught Kabuto
everything he knew, bringing him up to be the perfect spy, but nothing he knew
could ever beat even a single member of the Akatsuki.
Sasori didn�t quite care about it
�Sasori cared nothing about most things, after all� but if it proved to be a
hindrance for Akatsuki, the Leader would demand him to dispose of their former
comrade, and having been paired up with Orochimaru, Sasori would surely be
allowed to have the main part in that.
At least that �killing the old
snake� would bring some excitement.
A low chuckle reverberated through
the shells of Sasori�s cover, echoing strangely down the corridor, the last of
its vibes swallowed by the darkness, just as haunting as his expression, hidden
beneath the wooden mask, was.
As he finally entered in the main
hall where the Leader was residing, he noticed someone else already present;
Sasori stared with no interest as Uchiha Itachi stood in front of the seat the
Leader was on, silently listening.
Itachi�s eyebrow twitched slightly,
probably out of annoyance, and Sasori inwardly wondered how long the young man
would stand to be in the presence of their Leader.
Clashing against each other, Sasori
had no interest on which would gain the upper hand, but only of which one of
them he could use as his next puppet, which one would linger forever, turned
into a wooden doll for him to kill with.
Just like others had�
Itachi�s eyes narrowed, their
crimson colour spinning around, then he turned around and left, unmindful of
Leader�s lips curling in disdain as he exited the room, and Sasori took the
opportunity to stare at the dark haired shinobi as he left, noticing how his
forehead was wrinkled in annoyance.
He could feel the tension almost
like a jolt on his arms, even though they were not of real skin and flesh
anymore, and the crackling of chakra in the air was symptom of a barely avoided
conflict.
Yes, he had surely been reprimanded
by Leader for something.
That meant Leader was in a good
mood.
Curving his body forwards, Sasori
slid inside the room, allowing the darkness of his surroundings to hide the
effective shape of his outer cover as he stopped right in front of his Leader,
looking up at him.
To his eyes, the figure of the
Akatsuki leader appeared unfocused, almost blurry between layers of darkness
that seemed to curl and twist around his frame, leaving nothing to be seen
except those white eyes, that had the power to make even Sasori shiver with�
something.
�What is it?� deceptive, low
�Leader was looking at him, staring straight through him, without seeing him.
As unsettling as it was, the
Leader�s blindness had yet to be an impediment to him, and Sasori was deeply
aware of that; the Uchiha kid surely knew that as well, yet that had not
stopped him from opposing their Leader again and again.
Whether he had a death wish, or he
knew his own limits and strength, Sasori didn�t know, nor did he care in the
least.
As the Scorpion explained the reason
he was there, he observed the way the man�s lips twitched slightly in amusement,
more of a sneer than a real smirk.
�I see� after a long pause, Leader
tilted his head to the right. �For Orochimaru to willingly try to contact us�
the information you will gather from this meeting will definitely be
interesting. It might be that Orochimaru is still going to be of use to us�.
With a small gesture of his hand,
the Leader turned around, taking a few steps towards the centre of the room,
away from Sasori.
Taking this as a sign of dismissal,
the Scorpion retreated, still not taking his eyes away from the other man.
�Do not kill him�.
Sasori grunted in displeasure at
the Leader�s last command, but nodded his consent and shifted backwards and
away from the other man.
Leader was still careful with his
actions, it seemed.
As for the two remaining
Jinchuuriki, well�
Everything would come with time,
Sasori thought as he moved out of the room. There would also be time later to
extract some sort of amusement from Orochimaru� the thought was satisfying
enough to appease him.
Behind him, the darkness shifted
back in place again.
��
Sliding down into the onsen�s
water, Naruto threw grating glances around, muttering under his breath and
shifting until he was completely submerged up to his mouth.
They had successfully reached the
borders of the Hi no Kuni, probably slower than they could have had, and
Kakashi had deemed it better to stop for the night instead of continuing some
more �probably because of the friction between Naruto and Sai, that was still
palpable.
Naruto hoped that a good bath could
relax his sore muscles and allow him to stop thinking about the prick �who, unfortunately,
was standing next to him, and was keeping his eyes on the surface of the water.
The heat warmed his body up, and
Naruto closed his eyes, ignoring both Sai and Kakashi and forcing his body to
relax.
Kakashi, true to his self, was
covering his face with a towel, keeping just his eye out, and whilst usually
Naruto would have gone a long way just to see what was underneath the towel,
now he didn�t care.
�I�m going to see Sasuke again,� he thought, feeling the water gently lap against his
body �Kakashi�sensei said we shouldn�t
fight unless provoked, but I don�t think Sasuke is going to stay put� besides��
Once again, Naruto found himself
thinking about someone else �Itachi.
Despite the fact that he had other
things to worry about, mainly seeing the snake bastard and Sasuke, Naruto
couldn�t stop the thoughts still lingering through his head.
He hadn�t seen Itachi in� a long
while.
Not that he was missing him or
anything, or at least he hoped he wasn�t� but he found himself strangely more
worried about finishing this mission and going back to Konoha.
Visiting the Uchiha compound again
had to be postponed because of this mission, and now he felt antsy about it �as
if something was going to happen, and he wouldn�t have enough time to search
for�
For what, exactly?
Itachi was not as important as
Sasuke! Why was he messing up with his priorities like this?!
�Damn it! It�s not that I want to see Itachi again!� shaking his head, Naruto tried to
concentrate on Sasuke, but both of them were melting together in his mind
�black hair and crimson eyes� and he could not relax.
Yet, if he stretched his
imagination a bit more, he could almost feel the smoothness of silken hair
through his fingers.
There were still so many things he
wanted to find out about Itachi. Reasons, answers� would them help next time he
met with the older Uchiha heir? Understanding him� what could he possibly have
to offer, in any case?
Had Itachi acted differently with
him? He could not know. It was foolish to even hope that Naruto, in some way,
interested the older shinobi; he wasn�t even sure why he was hoping to interest
him.
Naruto had already felt what it
meant to be under the interest of a deathly ninja, and that had not ended well
for him.
�It�s not like I want Itachi to be like Zabuza,
in the end� right?� Naruto
fidgeted again, lazily shifting in the water. �Even if I understand why he killed his family� I can�t expect Itachi
to regard me as an equal, either way.�
�Naruto? Is everything ok?�
Startled out of his thoughts, Naruto
jumped up from the water, waving his arms at Kakashi and smiling. �O�of course,
Kakashi�sensei!�
�You seemed awfully quiet, though�
the silver haired Jounin observed, a flash of worry in his visible eye.
�Ha! I�m perfectly fine, I was
just��
�Hmm� so you do have something between your legs�.
Turning around in a flash, Naruto
glared at Sai, who was staring right into his face, that empty smile almost
mocking him.
�Why do you always have to think about penises?! Who are you, a
pervert?! Don�t go looking, damn it!�
Standing out from the water, Naruto
raged against Sai, who remained completely neutral despite having a naked
shinobi screaming at him, until Kakashi had to forcefully grab Naruto around
his waist and push him back into the water.
�I�m off, be nice kids� he chanted
after a while, �or you will have to face a very angered Sakura when you get out
from here�.
Naruto froze and glanced at the
division between the male side of the onsen and that of the females. Loud
giggles had reached his ears when he�d yelled against Sai, and now he felt
embarrassment and a vague sense of impending doom.
�S�Sakura�chan��
Kakashi left the onsen, and it was
only after Naruto let his body flop back into the water that he realised that
the only other person in there was Sai.
Stiffening, Naruto shuffled away
from him, stealing glances at the motionless dark haired shinobi. As he picked
up the noises of the females splashing on the other side, he realised that
maybe this was the perfect moment to inquire more about what Sai had said to
him.
�Say,� he paused. Those black eyes
were now on him, awfully penetrating, and he suddenly didn�t know what to say.
Sai pissed him off. Truly. He
didn�t remember if Sasuke had pissed him off like this back then, nor if Gaara
or Neji had managed to annoy him just as much� but the thing was, he didn�t
want to be friends with this guy.
�But I have to get along at least until Sasuke is back with us �hopefully
enough, really soon� with that
thought, even ignoring Sai�s attitude and words could be bearable.
�Are you going to keep staring at
me, or are you going to use what little brain power you possess to make your
mouth work? It seems quite the easy feat, considering how much you talk during
the day�� Sai trailed off.
Naruto twitched, but managed to
keep himself from retaliating or attacking the other.
�This �the way you speak, as if you
cannot feel anything, as if you�re�� he didn�t know how to explain it. �What
you said before, about how only �the mission� exists��
�That is how I have been trained,�
once again, Naruto was able to see a slight change in Sai�s eyes. Something
small, but it was there. �Are you not going to ask what this is about?�
Growling in the black haired
shinobi direction, Naruto shrugged. �What is the point? You�ve joined my team
because of the Council, you�re not going to tell me about your private life or
your �mission� just because I ask�.
Besides, Tsunade had already
explained that maybe Sai was there to dispose of the Uchiha. Naruto wasn�t
going to tell the other that he knew of that, though.
�It is not that I have a private
life. I have no life outside of my mission,� Sai explained. �You seem to be
bothered by it far more than you should. This is why you�re so weak�.
�Stop saying I�m weak. I just don�t
understand it,� he shook his head,
sliding back down in the water, not looking at Sai as he spoke. It was easier
not to get angry at him if he just kept his eyes somewhere else. �How can
someone be unable to� feel?�
�I don�t understand your fixation
with the Uchiha kid either,� Sai replied. �Why care so much about someone who
hurt you and betrayed the village you serve for? Isn�t it better to let him
go?�
�He�s my friend. I will do anything
to make him come back to Konoha� Naruto grumbled, bringing his knees up to his
chest. �Besides, I don�t serve my village. I love my village. There is
difference�.
�In the end, if you die for your
village, whether you do it out of loyalty, out of servitude or out of love, you
still die�.
Naruto stilled, and didn�t look up
when he felt Sai lift himself from the water and walk away.
As the sliding door closed behind
him, the blond shinobi was left to wonder if Sai, with all his comments about
being unable to feel, would even understand if he�d told him that all that
mattered, in the end, was how you were remembered.
If you died out of love, out of
loyalty, like the Third and the Fourth had died �it was with admiration you
were remembered.
Love created more love. Loyalty
tightened bonds of loyalty.
What kind of memory could there be
if you were trained to die? Other than duty, what teaching, what example would
be left for others if there was no feeling in the actions you did?
That true shinobi had to cut
themselves from their feelings?
Without feelings, a great ninja was
simply an empty vessel, and wasn�t the greatest strength brought forth by
wanting to protect something?
Naruto sighed. He didn�t feel quite
as angry at Sai anymore.
��
Two figures advanced quickly
through the forest, similar to shadows hiding in the darkness of the night with
a clear direction in mind.
Fast, without stopping, the two
moved on.
�On the move again, feels good to
be finally doing something, hah, Itachi�san?�
Kisame inwardly sighed when the
only answer he got was a soft, disinterested hum. Once again, he expressed his
irritation by stomping down on the closest tree, leaving a dent shaped as a
foot on its bark.
�Stop doing unnecessary things,
Kisame,� Itachi didn�t even look at him, eyes fixed on the path in front of
him. �Dispose of the tree now, we are to leave no traces of our passage�.
Kisame winced at the obvious
mistake and stopped, fingers coming up in a seal; water surged up from nothing
to envelop the tree in a jutsu, the shinobi muttering
under his breath as he did so.
After the Leader called in Itachi,
the Uchiha shinobi had been in a bad mood, and Kisame, whilst doing nothing to
attract Itachi�s attention, had still taken the brunt of his irritation; having
one of his members clearly disregarding his actions and coming close to openly
attack him was preposterous for the Leader, and he would soon have to take
precautions towards the Uchiha man.
After all, and Kisame knew this
very well, Itachi didn�t do well under someone�s control, no matter who this
person could be.
He just didn�t want to be caught in
the middle of whatever show of power was going to happen between the two of
them.
As it was, though, Itachi was still
part of the Akatsuki, and the moment he would stand up to end this was still
distant. Kisame tried to take solace in the thought that by then he would have
enough of a warning to get away before things got too far.
In the meanwhile, Leader�s orders
were quite clear �move to Konoha to keep an eye on the Jinchuuriki.
Maybe Akatsuki still didn�t know
what to do with the remaining two Bijuu that they
could not yet extract, but if there was a way to get around that, they needed
to keep the vessels intact and alive, and the Kyuubi host had the nasty habit
of getting himself in rather dangerous situations all the time.
Not that Kisame cared. All he
wanted was to be able to kick someone�s ass for a bit.
�What about the spy?� he asked
loudly, jumping on top of a rock and quickening his pace to reach Itachi. �Did
something happen to him since we didn�t receive the monthly report?�
The dark haired shinobi didn�t turn
around, grunting in reply, but right when Kisame had given up on receiving an
answer, Itachi spoke, voice low and glacial.
�Our main spy has been killed
during a mission,� he stated, cloak flapping around when he jumped particularly
high to avoid a fallen tree. �I will have to resort to the secondary spy�.
Kisame frowned. �We have a
secondary spy?�
Crimson eyes sharply looked towards
him, and Kisame abruptly backed away, not wanting to further enrage Itachi.
�I planted a second spy our last
trip to Konoha, over three years ago�.
Lifting one eyebrow, Kisame fell
silent, deciding that asking for any more information would get him killed.
Itachi inwardly appreciated the
following silence, scanning the surroundings with his Sharingan active.
Straining his eyes continuously with his Doujutsu weighed down on his sight,
but he was utterly uncaring about it.
They were approaching the village
quickly, and his attention was solely focused on the Jinchuuriki; of his
mission, Itachi cared nothing. His interest was on the person hosting the
demon, and not on the demon.
It would be the first time meeting
with the blond teen ever since their failure to extract Shukaku from the
Kazekage, and the dark haired shinobi idly wondered what he would find. The
Kyuubi�s chakra would have healed him of the horrible wounds he inflicted on
his own body to escape, of course, but what about that inner fire? If Itachi
had to be truthful with himself, he was even curious as to what the blond kid was doing.
Was he still as obsessed over his
little brother as before?
His sparkle of interest was still
there, and despite his annoyance at the Leader, he was satisfied the mission to
go back to Konoha to spy the Jinchuuriki had been assigned to him.
The image of that kid, eyes burning
in anger and defiance as he held up the fallen Kazekage on his back,
tail�shaped Kyuubi chakra twirling around his battered yet still standing frame
sent a small shiver run down Itachi�s back.
An occasion to see how that leaf
was doing, if anything, was a priority in his mind.
The remaining of the trip was done
in silence, the sound of their footsteps the only sound echoing in the night,
and when they finally got over the surrounding wall, and the few taller
buildings of the village appeared in front of them, Itachi stopped running,
feet coming to a soft halt.
Kisame missed his tempo, advancing
a few more steps before screeching into a sudden stop, hunched forwards; he
turned around, grimacing, and was about to speak up again when he noticed
Itachi flashing his hands in a series of seals.
Swift, fluid movements, then a
small burst of chakra, so low even Kisame had trouble picking it up, and
Itachi�s eyes flaring a deeper shade of crimson, giving the shark�man an eerie
feeling of foreboding.
�He�s coming,� he murmured, hands
disappearing once again inside the sleeves of his cloak.
Motionless, the two Akatsuki
members waited in the darkness, observing the shadowed faces of the past Hokage
on the giant mountain above them.
Somewhere in the village, a pair of
eyes snapped open in response to the call.
��
�We are here,� Kakashi unrolled a
map and pointed at a spot close to the borders of the Hi no Kuni.
Sai, Naruto and Sakura leaned
forwards.
They had rested for a good part of
the night and had prepared to leave at the early hours of the morning, making
their way Westwards for some time. The landscape didn�t seem that different, as
both Hi no Kuni and the neutral area were similar in geography, and so far they
had not encountered anyone, either.
�We have been travelling through
the unclaimed territories for a while �I want you all to keep paying attention
to your surroundings. Anything out of place� and I mean anything� will be reported to me. There are rogue ninja scouting
ahead, and part of our mission is to retrieve information on them as we move to
the location of Orochimaru�s hideout� Kakashi put the map away and looked
closely at Naruto�s face.
The teen had been strangely calmer
during the morning, restraining himself from looking at Sai and ignoring his
jokes, and Kakashi felt rather proud of his student.
Even when Sai had spent the ten
minutes of rest to draw, attracting Sakura�s attention, and the two talked a
bit without malice, Naruto hadn�t commented at all, simply listening to their
short exchange with a small frown. Kakashi hadn�t paid attention to what they
said, other than a passing comment about a hand�sketched book belonging to
Sai�s brother.
Still Naruto had been decent, and it
was a step forwards� Kakashi was not going to force things through.
He noticed Naruto�s eyes harden up
at the mention of Orochimaru, though, and inwardly sighed. �That�s all. Let�s
continue�.
They continued exploring the forest
and the meadows, and Kakashi made them slow down the pace twice, eye scanning
the foliage as they moved through the trees for any kind of trace.
Tsunade had been rather explicit
about the extent of danger that rogue shinobi scouting the borders were, and
that she didn�t think they were just missing�nins,
and Kakashi was not about to wave away the Hokage�s feeling like this.
Konoha was slowly returning to its
previous strength after years of hard work, and if some other Elemental Country
was trying to look for ways to invade, then it was not a matter to be taken
loosely.
Scattering away from each other,
Team Kakashi and Sai explored carefully a good few miles, but only found some
carefully�hidden traces that were older than two, three days.
Signs of camping for a small group
of three people that looked made by civilians on the surface was actually a
clever cover for a ten�man team, and only Kakashi�s summon of Pakkun managed to
tell them exactly what had happened there.
Other than that, nothing looked out
of place; even the small, ancient shrine dedicated to the Ta no Kami that they passed on their way was untouched and
silent.
�Shouldn�t we continue on,
Kakashi�sensei?� after a good four hours, Sakura was starting to feel antsy.
Their cover mission had been going on
for too long in her opinion, and the location of Orochimaru�s secret hideout
was still far enough for her to be rightfully worried; Sasuke was so close, finally, and she was brimming with
energy.
At her side, Naruto looked equally tense,
unable to understand the reasons why they were still sticking around close to
the borders.
Kakashi turned to look at the two,
senses stretched to include Sai, who was using that pause to lazily trace
abstract patterns on his notepad.
�There is something wrong,� he stated.
�What? Why?� Naruto moved forwards,
eyes wide �there is nothing here! Maybe the missing�nins
that were found around here before have finally gone back to wherever they
belong� why are we wasting time checking their old traces, then?�
�Exactly because of that,� he
replied, shaking his head. �There is nothing here to warrant an inspection.
Ninja mapping the borders to keep control on a country� it�s normal. By the
reports we received, there should have been something that attracted enemy
shinobi here, and traces of their passing by should have been sniffed up by
Pakkun, yet� nothing�.
�A diversion?� Sakura looked
around, suddenly alarmed. �But for what?�
Kakashi once again shook his head.
�There is nothing we can do, at
this point. I will send a report to Tsunade�sama, and then we will continue on�
he stated. �Just keep your eyes open�.
The three younger ninja nodded, and
as Kakashi wrote down a small note and gave it to one of his summoned dogs, Sai
stood up and pushed his papers and scrolls back into his bag.
�Let�s continue onwards,� Kakashi
ordered.
They moved away, running through
the forest at a good pace; unnoticed behind them, a small black lizard,
dripping lines of ink from its body, slithered quickly under a bush, moving in
direction of Hi no Kuni.
�There is still some time before we
reach the hideout,� the silver haired Jounin commented as they proceeded
forwards. �We can�t prepare a plan without having observed the location, but it
won�t be bad if we prepare ourselves for what will happen�.
�If Orochimaru, Kabuto and
Sasuke�kun pass through to their next lair, and we can�t provoke a fight, how
do we go about it?� Sakura asked, glancing at Sai and trying to be
inconspicuous.
�We need to create a diversion and
try to separate them in groups. If they have a storage room, they will surely
need to collect a few things from there, so we can stage a robbery,� Kakashi
looked back at them. �If we manage to at least separate Sasuke from Orochimaru,
some of us can keep the Snake occupied, and the rest��
�Will talk some sense into Sasuke�s
thick skull� Naruto completed, a smirk on his lips. He clenched a hand into a
fist. �Leave that to me and Sakura�chan!�
The pink haired Kunoichi smiled at
Naruto�s determination, her fists tightening as well. �We�ll take him back this
time!�
Sai turned his emotionless gaze to
the blond shinobi. �I find incredibly hard to believe that simply because of
some weaklings demanding his return, Sasuke will think back about his revenge
and just follow you back to Konoha like a puppy�.
Naruto glared at him, but his lips
were still fixed in a smirk.
�Don�t underestimate us �we devoted
our training to that sole purpose, and we will not give up on him� he exchanged
a fond look with Sakura.
This was something nobody would understand,
in the end; Shikamaru and Kiba had more than once demanded to know why he was
still so fixed on the younger Uchiha, why he kept striving so hard to get him
back� they had stopped asking after a while, because his answer never changed,
yet they still didn�t understand.
�He�s part of Team 7, and we�re not
complete without him. What kind of shit would we be if we were to abandon a
friend in need?�
Sai looked unconvinced (not that
his face ever showed anything at all) but did not comment, whilst Kakashi hid a
proud smile under his mask.
A mere second later, the Jounin
shifted his pace to move from his position in front of the group back to
Naruto�s side; the blond teen glanced at him and nodded, his senses stretched
out. Kakashi looked at Sakura, who was already cracking her knuckles, then at
Sai, who had his brush twirling through his fingers, face still blank.
They had all felt it �the flicker
of chakra alerting them of an ambush.
�Prepare yourselves, we�re about to
be attacked� Kakashi murmured, hand inconspicuously lifting the hitai�ate from
his eye. The Sharingan flared out, giving him a distorted look of the forest,
chakra fluidly indicating him where a few of the opponents were.
As soon as he did that, a sea of
kunai rained down on their heads.
�Let�s go!�
��
StarsOfYaoi: I promised you things would
happen, did I? well, things are going to happen. I hope you liked it ^^
Doujutsu � special techniques of the
illusion and hypnotic type, using eyes.
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Winter Release