Suffocate

Chapter 5: Course of Action

By: Innocent Attraction

Characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

Sasuke slowly walks the winding streets of Konoha. It's near midnight, but his mind wasn't going to let him sleep. He was too worked about what had happened to Naruto. He could still see Narutos' face, riddled with pain and grief. The fear that illuminated in his eyes. It was too much for him. He never wanted to see the person that meant everything to him like that again. He had to figure out a plan; anything that might stop Itachi from ever hurting them again. The thought of his own attack weakened him enough. Narutos' attack made him more self-sure this was the only choice he had. He just didn't know that he could think of something himself. He had to talk to someone. Stepping into an apartment building, he walks up to the front desk to check the names of peoples' apartment numbers. Finding the name he needed, he walks to the stairs and heads to the top floor. Once he's there, he searches for the door number. At the very end of the hall way is door 52. He knocks on the door hard, trying not to disturb anybody else near him but trying to awake the person that lived inside. He sees the door handle move. When the door is cracked open, he knows that they're home. "Sasuke, what are you doing here this time of night?"

"Kakashi-sensei, I need to talk to you about Itachi. It's important," Sasuke responds. "I need to figure out a way to stop him before it happens again."

Smoothing back his messy, silver-colored hair, Kakashi lets his student in. The apartment, surprising to Sasuke, is neat and tidy. Things are put away in an orderly manor, it smelled like lavender…with a hint of burnt pizza, and the only thing that frankly didn't surprise Sasuke was the porn movies, magazines, and books that lined a cupboard next to the T.V. Sitting on the couch with Kakashi next to him, Sasuke explains himself. "Look I know my brother is a strong ninja. But I can't let him do this to me or Naruto again. It's sickening how I've let him bother me for so long. I need a way to stop him. Any way. I thought you might be the person to come to for help.

"Well I can't say my brain is exactly ready for planning at…11:58 at night. I was in the middle of a nice dream to say the least." From the expression on Sasukes' face, Kakashi stopped himself from continuing with describing about his dream. "I don't think I'm the best person to ask, but seeing as how you're so concerned for Narutos' safety, I suppose I could help as much as I could."

Startled by that remark, Sasuke immediately begins to blush. "It's not just for Naruto for your information. It's for him and me both. I can't defeat him alone. I'm not as powerful as him, but if I think of a good plan, I could stop him from attacking me again. It's not fair for me to sit around and let myself be completely riddled with fear while Itachi gets to reek havoc in my mind. I can't do this alone though."

Seeing the determination in his eyes, Kakashi agrees with Sasuke. "At least you realize you aren't strong enough to defeat him entirely. Not only having the mangekyo sharingan and a master of nin-jutsu, he's incredible with tai-jutsu as well he's quick on his feet and with his hands. He could kill you if he wanted to." Sasuke frowns a bit. "But if you could think of a plan that would limit his use of his eyes, then you could weaken him a bit. But you can't do this alone."

Sasuke nods. "I've already figured that out. I tried to protect Naruto by myself and look what happens; he's taken to the hospital for the same reason I went."

Kakashi smiles. "It's rather funny to see him like this. Sasuke's never been this protective over anyone. And he's trying to cover up the fact that he might actually like Naruto more than a friend. He doesn't want to admit it to himself that he might love Naruto. Charming," Kakashi thinks. "Look Sasuke, I don't have a plan right this minute. It's late. Meet me tomorrow at the training grounds though. I'll have something then or we'll work something out. I'll discuss this with Hokage as well."

"I wish you wouldn't get other ninjas involved in this, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke says. "The whole town already is looking at me in fear. I surely doubt the other ninjas would be fond in me trying to set up a plan to attack my brother."

"We can't handle this by ourselves, Sasuke. ANBU black-ops will know more tactical plans on how to. Hokage will probably have more ideas or plans for us to use if we can't think of anything. There are other ninjas in this city willing to protect you. I know Iruka would give his life for Naruto. I'm sure he would for you as well. Now get some sleep. I want you to meet me there at 8:00."

Exiting the room, Sasuke walks down the hall with his hands tightly packed in his pockets. He exit's the large building, making his way to his house. "I guess I'm alone in this situation. Kakashi wants to get others involved. No one else needs to be. This is my problem. They can't fight him. I have to."

Tsunade taps on her desk, waiting for Kakashi-sensei to come down to her office. He awoke her in the middle of the night just to ask if he would meet her in the morning. Of course he was late though. It was a trait that annoyed Tsunade more than anything. "Shizune, get me my tea at once," she screams.

Shizune, nearly falling over Tsuandes' pig, quickly runs into the room, sitting the freshly made jasmine tea on her teachers' desk. She backs away, hoping the tea would satisfy her mistress and calm her bad temper. Then again, the bad temper was part of Tsunade frankly no one would ever be able to change. Shizune had grown accustom to it ever since she started training with her. "Apparently she didn't get much sleep last night. She's crankier than normal, and normally she's a bit cranky anyways. Oh I hope she doesn't throw another ninja threw the door like she did yesterday." "Is there anything else you need, my lady," Shizune asks politely.

"Yes. How about dragging that horrible Kakashi Hatake here. He's over an hour late. For something important he wanted to tell me, he sure doesn't make it seem that important."

Shizune smiles nervously. Just then, Kakashi opens the door and walks through the office. "Sorry I'm late. My alarm didn't go off at the right time this morning. It's nothing to fret over though." Seeing Tsunades' upset face, he knew he was in for a few minutes of being nagged at. "Judging by the expression on your face, you don't look too happy."

"Oh I love getting woken up in the middle of the night. It's the reason I live; to have Kakashi leap through my window and wake me up, telling me something important about Sasuke and to meet with you later. I love those kinds of mornings." Tsunade pauses, fixing her long blond hair. "Now, let's get down to business. Why did you need to speak with me?"

"Sasuke came over to my house. He said he needed help planning an attack against Itachi or a way to at least keep him away from him and Naruto both. Those boys are at risk for an attack at any time. Itachi is sly; he could easily sneak back into the city without ever being detected by anyone and attack them again. He could kill them and not make a sound. This is serious, Hokage. We have to help my team."

Tsunade turns her chair away from Kakashi. This was a persisting problem occurring. She was briefed on Itachi and the Akatsuki by Jiraiya before she ever took the job. He warned her of Itachis' strength and power, even warning her about the connection he had to the leaf village. It surprised her a bit and even made her a bit anxious. She turned back around to Kakashi. "I've thought about that for a while. You must understand the circumstances, Kakashi. Itachi Uchiha is a powerful ninja. I'm sure you're aware of that. You've fought him before." Tsunade pauses. "But there isn't very many ninjas in this town that could fight him and not get killed or end up in the hospital."

Kakashi seemed a bit surprised by this. He knew that would probably be the case though. Itachi was a formidable opponent. Taking him on would be a definite visit to the hospital…or worse. "What about Jiraiya? He could protect them for now while we think of a course of action to take?"

"He's out of town, gathering information at this point. He should be back tomorrow though. I'll discuss this matter of business with him tomorrow. For now, there isn't much we can do. We'll have ANBU black-ops guard watch the outer gates of the village as well as Naruto and Sasuke. Itachi won't attack them if they're protected by a multiple number of black-ops. He wouldn't risk attention to himself."

Kakashi nodded, but he wished Tsunade would try to do more. She was leaving him in the dark without a light to guide his way. But at this point, he knew there wasn't much the village could do at this point. He felt a bit defeated. He wanted to have an answer for Sasuke on what to do. As he was about to leave, Tsunade calls his name once more. "Do not let Sasuke or Naruto know about the ANBU black-ops watching them. Lord knows what Sasuke could possibly be thinking right now."

Kakashi nods. "I figured she'd drop that on me. Sasuke wouldn't take that news likely. But for now, at least the threat of another attack is postponed for a while."

Sitting against the trunk of a tree, Sasuke sat in the shade, trying to avoid as much of the suns rays as he could. It was hotter than normal. He felt a bit of sweat drip from his cheek. "He's late…again. He probably went to meet with the Hokage about our little chat last night. Figures." When Kakashi came into view, Sasuke stood up and walked over to him. "Any good news to share with me?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I don't have anything planned at this point. Nor does the Hokage. With the village still trying to rebuild and other ninjas looking out for Orochimaru, I don't think we have much choice but to go alone with this one. But I'm not letting you do this by yourself. I'll help as much as I can."

Sasuke smiles. He knew if he ever needed someone to help him, Kakashi would try his best to be there. "I hope this can work out." "Kakashi. How are we going to do this anyways? Itachis' strong. We've made that point clearly. But he's like every human being; he has a weakness."

A light bulb suddenly turns on in Sasukes' head. "His eyes. As much as he shows them off, they use a large amount of chakra. My father explained both forms of sharingan and drilling me on how the mangekyo sharingan, although powerful, uses a lot of chakra. If he uses that enough and doesn't kill us, we might be able to attack him while he's weak."

Kakashi was surprised that Sasuke had picked up on that. He knew himself that the sharingan used an incredible amount of chakra up. Judging by how much Itachi used his sharingan, he knew at some point, he'd run low on chakra and not be able to make hand signs anymore. Plus he also knew Kisame wasn't with him. It would create a bigger disadvantage for Itachi. "I think I might have a plan. But we have to find a way out of town with the ANBU black-ops interfering us. They're surrounding the gates of the village."

Sasuke nodded. He was more than satisfied about the way this meeting was going. "Don't think you've weakened me for good. I'm coming after you, Itachi. You'll regret ever laying a hand on Naruto."

On the outskirts of town, Itachi rests against a tree. His forehead is dripping with sweat. His body is weak and dehydrated. His chakra levels were low from using his sharingan. He was wounded from fighting ANBU the entire night. "Apparently, I've got the village in an uproar from the recent attack against Sasuke and Naruto. I don't know why they keep sending ANBU after me. They should know by now that it's useless."

Standing up, he checks to make sure there isn't anyone around. Jumping down from the tree, he walks over to a small creek and takes a drink. The water is surprisingly clear and clean, a brisk cool taste greeting his lips. He looks back towards the village. "Hmm…pathetic. I don't have any plan to try to even stop me. Pitiful. They have enough information on me. Why they don't use that for their own good is beyond me."

Leaping back into a tree, Itachi climbs to the top and stares at Konoha. "Then again, maybe they know the risk of Sasuke is something they should pay close attention to. They don't even know what I'm really after." He devilishly smiles. "My plan isn't even to try and kill anyone. They'll never guess what my true intention is."

The End