Chapter 48

Sakura was making her rounds at the hospital. It was a position that was offered to her after the invasion. Haku came to her with the position from the head doctor. It didn't take her long before she accepted. She gained a thing for the medical field and wanted to learn more. She was just an observer but she made a vow not to be one for long.

She turned the corner and entered one of the rooms that she was assigned to. When she looked up to check who it was, she was surprised to see Kurenai and Asuma. They were being checked over by the doctors and they looked beat up.

"Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei, are you alright?" Sakura asked worriedly. The two looked at her and were surprised to see her. Before they could say anything, the main doctor spoke up first.

"I'm sorry Sakura but they need our attention. You can check on them later." the doctor said. Sakura just nodded and stepped outside the room. The door closed on her but she couldn't help but wonder what happened to the two. She also wondered if there was anyone else hurt.

X-X-X

Naruto was sitting on his bed reading. He was in the hotel room, which Jiraiya got them. He would have been training but the pervert got distracted by some really pretty girl. Knowing that he would be by himself for a while, he decided to continue his studies into Cursed Seals. In truth, he wished that he didn't have to learn about this after he read the first few pages of the art. However, he wanted to be more prepared just in case that jerk who left him the jutsu would try again. Still, he hated this art and he made a promise to himself that he would only learn this to break such seals.

His studying was interrupted by a knock on the door. This made him smirk because it meant that the old perv must have gotten shot down already and was depressed. He sealed up his materials and went to answer the door when he saw his seal on the door. It was glowing a very bright red. It meant that who he thought was at the door was not who he expected. Naruto decided to beat a hasty retreat and darted out of the window. He did this just as the door was kicked in.

Kisame and Itachi entered the room to find no one. Itachi observed the room and saw that the window was opened.

"It seems that he knew that we were here. Follow Kisame and bring him back, unharmed." Itachi ordered. Kisame just smirked before going after Naruto. Itachi decided to search the room a bit as he had concerns as to how Naruto knew. That's when he checked the door. Looking behind it, he saw a glowing seal that was red.

"Interesting," Itachi mused. That's when he felt a familiar chakra. He stepped out of the room and looked toward the end of the hall to see Sasuke. The boy was snarling at him and his Sharingan was blazing. This did not worry him in the slightest and he just faced him.

"It's been a while Sasuke." Itachi said.

"Five years, five years since you killed every one! Five years after you murdered my mother and my father! For all those years, you told me that I needed hatred to defeat you! That I needed hatred to gain your eyes! Well, I gained that hatred!" Sasuke exclaimed as he activated the Chidori without hand seals. "And now, I'm going to use that hatred on you!" Sasuke roared as he charged at Itachi who just waited for him.

X-X-X

Kisame was starting to get annoyed with this chase. So far, he caught the brat a total of five times. That only got him blinded by leaves three times and his hands burned twice. He swore that he would find this brat and shave his damn legs off for the aggravation. That's when his eyes caught sight of three more views of the brat and sighed. He took off after them.

From under a cloak, Naruto revealed himself and let out a sigh of relief. That guy was crazy strong. He took out his clones like they were nothing. Then there was that blade of his. He knew that sword was one of those famous swords of the Hidden Mist. He needed to find the pervert and fast. That's when he heard an explosion. He looked up to see that it was coming from the hotel that he and Jiraiya were staying at. Naruto was worried and decided to double back, creating a few more clones for that guy to chase.

He arrived just as the other guy had someone against the wall. He got closer just to see that it was Sasuke. He wondered why he was here until he heard the older man say something about making him experience something bad. It sounded like he was about to place a genjutsu on Sasuke. Judging by how beat up he was, he would not survive whatever jutsu he was planning. He quickly did hand seals and slammed his hands on the ground.

"Item Transfer Jutsu!" Naruto said. The stream of seals traveled toward Sasuke. Itachi saw this when Sasuke suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a bomb. Itachi jumped back just as it exploded, covering the hallway in a thick smoke. Naruto smirked and was about to grab Sasuke and run only to turn into the swordsman who was chasing him.

"You've sent me on a merry chase brat but the chase is finally over. I'll give you points for your creativity. I haven't been this annoyed in a long time." Kisame said.

"I'm surprised Kisame that he gave you such trouble." Naruto turned to the other voice to see Itachi step out of the smoke. He then looked at Naruto. "It seems that our information has been clearly wrong about you. However, I am going to have to insist that you come with us Naruto." Naruto cursed under his breath and tried to figure something out. Sasuke stood up and glared at Itachi.

"Stop ignoring me! I am your opponent!" Sasuke shouted.

"I have no interest in you Sasuke. My mission is Naruto's capture. Should you get in the way, I will do what I planned earlier." Itachi said. Sasuke snarled and was about to attack again when the hallway began to change. They all saw that the walls, floors and ceilings were turning pink. It was also kind of squishy.

"Naruto, don't move!" a voice said. Itachi looked down the hall to see Jiraiya with both of his hands on the ground. The woman he hypnotized was right by him. The blond looked at the old man and let out a sigh of relief.

"Cutting it kind of close there Pervy Sage!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Don't call me that!" Jiraiya shouted. He turned his attention back to Itachi and Kisame. "Well now, I didn't think that the Akatsuki was moving around so soon. If you think that you're getting Naruto, then you have forfeited your lives to the Rock Lodging Toad." That's when Itachi noticed that the flesh was moving, attempting to wrap around him.

"Kisame, it is time to go." Itachi said. Kisame wanted to argue but he also noticed that the flesh was wrapping around his sword. He quickly freed it and his foot before taking off with Itachi.

"You won't escape!" Jiraiya shouted and the flesh began to chase the two. He waited for them to be crushed only to hear an explosion. Jiraiya quickly moved to see what just happened. Naruto followed and the two saw a hole. The hole had black flames in a circle around it. Jiraiya was really surprised by this.

"That shouldn't be possible. The Rock Lodging Toad is a fire breathing toad. Fire shouldn't have any effect on his oesophagus." Jiraiya said.

"Really?" Naruto asked with surprise. He then looked at the flames. "Maybe these flames are different from any other flame?" Jiraiya didn't reply and pulled out a scroll. He sealed the fire up and planned to investigate it further. Jiraiya disengaged his jutsu and the flesh was disappearing. It was all gone soon and everyone was safe.

"Naruto!" The blond turned to see an angry Sasuke storm up to him, holding his wrist. "What the hell did you think you were doing?! Itachi was mine! I didn't need your damn help!"

"Oh yeah, you certainly had him on the ropes." Naruto said sarcastically. This enraged the boy greatly. Using his good hand, he quickly whipped out a kunai and tried to stab Naruto in the face. This surprised the blond who wasn't prepared for it. Lucky for him, Jiraiya was there. He caught the boys' wrist and quickly slammed Sasuke against the wall, holding his wrist that held the kunai.

"Have you lost all sense kid? You realize that you just tried to commit murder right?" Jiraiya asked calmly.

"I don't care! I will kill him just as I am going to kill Itachi! They are both my enemies!" Sasuke shouted. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes before adding pressure to Sasuke's wrist. This caused him to cry out and forced him to release the kunai. That's when Might Guy arrived and looked at the situation with concern. Seeing him, Jiraiya looked at him seriously.

"Guy, restrain this ninja." he ordered. Guy didn't know what was going on but he obeyed. He took Sasuke from Jiraiya before restraining him with ninja wire. Sasuke struggled all while glaring at Naruto. The blond just looked back at him with a mixture of emotions. While he knew that Sasuke hated him, he did not expect it to be like this. Even now, as Sasuke glared at him, he could see the hate in his eyes. This really concerned the blond but he would not be caught unaware again.

If Sasuke considered him an enemy, then he would do the same.

X-X-X

Kin rushed at the wooden dummies. She flicked her wrists and unleashed several senbon that connected. The needles hit the small targets that were placed on several weak points. Kin continued to run as two shinobi jumped into her path. Kin did some hand seals and disappeared. The two shinobi waited for her to reappear only to have their world turn into a hazy blur. They were also sinking into the ground. It took them a while before they dispelled the genjutsu. Kin continued her path and reached the bell that was at the end of the room. With a tug, she rang it.

A masked shinobi appeared on the training ground and made their way toward her. They faced the girl before giving her a nod. Kin could only smirk smugly at her victory. Watching from above, the ANBU captain stood along with the elders.

"So, has she proven that she can be trusted?" Koharu asked.

"I would say that she has earned my trust, along with Komachi. However, her reasons are mostly because of the girl's skill with senbon. She's eager to train her. The real test will come when she is paired with a team." the ANBU captain said.

"We will have to go through the list of reserves that we can pair her up with. All the genin teams are full." Homaru said. The captain nodded when they were interrupted by another shinobi.

"What is it?" Koharu asked.

"Might Guy has returned with Sasuke in tow and restrained. He is taking him to the prison as we speak." the shinobi said. This surprised the three and wondered what the hell happened.

X-X-X

Shikamaru did a seal and his shadow shot out. Adding more chakra, he split the shadow in two, then four, then eight. It was his limit however as he got really tired. He stopped his technique and sat down on the grass. He hated doing this but it kept his mind off this thing with Naruto. Still, he couldn't believe that he was training instead of watching clouds. Either way, he needed to distract himself and this was actually helping.

As he rested, Shikamaru picked up another scroll. It had a technique that he was also learning besides clan techniques. It was another barrier jutsu called the Three-Seal Barrier. It would be a great barrier to learn in case he needed to protect his team's campsite or to create an escape. His father would give him this scroll and he was really glad that he had a friend who taught him basic sealing.

Shikamaru sighed and got back to work on the two new jutsu. He was still a bit annoyed doing this and he, of course, blamed his friends.

X-X-X

Naruto struggled as he held a water balloon in his hand. He was growling as he tried to swirl the water that was within. With a frustrated sigh, Naruto decided to take a break. He was at this for an hour. Jiraiya noticed this and looked up from his research.

"You done already kid?" Jiraiya asked humorously.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Pervy Sage! I'll get the hang of this in no time!" Naruto exclaimed.

"You've just started learning the Rasengan. You aren't going to get it so quickly. It took the Fourth Hokage three years to actually create." Jiraiya explained.

"Well, I'm going to be the best Hokage in the Leaf Village's history. So don't worry about me Pervy Sage, I'll get this down without any problem." Naruto boasted and got back to work. Jiraiya chuckled at the blond but he was happy that it looked like he was okay. He believed that he was still thinking about the Uchiha kid trying to kill him or the Akatsuki that was after him. He saw the look on his face when he explained it to him. He wanted the boy to talk to him about everything but he threw himself into his training. For now, he would allow it but he was going to get the blond to talk. He needed to let his emotions out with everything that was on his plate.

Jiraiya kept watch as Naruto continued to attempt to burst the balloon.

X-X-X-X-X

Authors' Notes: Hey everybody, sorry about the wait. i have no excuses. I hope that you are all safe and healthy. Please enjoy the new chapter.