Naruto finished. Am not amused. I stopped working on this fic because Sasuke kept becoming more and more of an idiot that I really wanted to kill him off- a few other characters came under that heading as well, but I restrained myself, just barely. We won't even get into my issues with the way things ended …

On that note, made a slight mistake on last chapter- Kakashi has already taught Sasuke the Chidori (used it against Gaara during the invasion) but because it'd been so long, I'd forgotten- will eventually correct that, when I get a chance. And then I waited so long for this chapter that I changed my plans for it, and don't feel like editing this chapter anymore than I already have, so I have a second reason to edit the last chapter.

Once again, ALTERNATE UNIVERSE, and NO PAIRINGS (yes, I've seen the 'official' pairings, but I'm writing about 12/13 year olds who have no idea how their future will go. Deal with it.)

Looking for Tomorrow

They had known that Naruto's promotion to Chunin would mean he would occasionally take missions without them.

That did not make it any easier when the messenger hawk came in at breakfast with a summons for Naruto, notifying him he was wanted at the Hokage's office for a briefing about a mission.

"Does it say how long?" Sasuke asked, gripping his chopsticks a little harder than necessary.

"No." Naruto wolfed down his food, and went to grab his gear. Sasuke stared at the uninformative scroll.

While he was a little jealous Naruto had made it to chunin without him, something in him clenched at the idea he wouldn't be able to go with Naruto and watch his back. He didn't want to lose another brother … he'd just gotten used to Naruto!

"I'll see you when I get back, okay? Don't brood too much." Naruto said with a grin.

"Don't do anything stupid." Sasuke crossed his arms, and Naruto gave him an odd look before grinning again.

"I'll tell you what I can when I get back, okay? Watch out for Sakura and Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto then launched himself into a run.

"Just come back, idiot." Sasuke muttered, watching him disappear out of sight.

"WHAT?!" Sakura yelled when they met at the bridge. "So soon? I didn't get a chance to make him a first-aid kit!"

" … Given that he can heal, I don't think that's a problem …" Sasuke glared at the ground, until a hand on his head made him look up.

Kakashi's visible eye glittered with amusement. "Getting stronger means accepting there are some things you won't be able to do or even like. It's rather annoying." And Kakashi was honestly furious, because now that possessiveness was raging over the fact someone was taking one of his cubs without him knowing where they were going.

He'd known this possessiveness was going to be a problem, just like he'd known that Jiraiya would try and take on Naruto the instant the old man thought he could do so without raising much suspicion.

Kakashi still had two cubs to look out for, he'd have to focus on that. "That said, I'm going to give a choice, would you like to train today, or would you like to take the day off?"

"Train, of course!" Sasuke looked indignant. "I don't care what Naruto is doing, I'm not going to let him show me up!"

"Shannaro!" 'Rose' declared, before Sakura took over with a hand to her temple. "I really need to work on this, training would be good."

"Bzzt! Wrong Answer." Kakashi chuckled at their looks. "Remember: Sakura, you still need to rest, meditation if you can't, Rose and you need to work a few things out, I think, and you're only going to be doing basic jutsu and chakra excercises until you heal. Sasuke, the same, Chakra control exercises until you're sure that cursed chakra is under your control. Strenuous training will have to wait until you find your balance."

"It was a trick question." Sakura groaned.

"Hokage-jiji, you look awful." Naruto's blunt greeting had Sarutobi's old teammates sniffing in disgust and Jiraiya struggling to keep a straight face.

"Your opinion is noted, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi barely managed to keep from coughing, "I know you've met Jiraiya, he's requested your help on a mission to bring back the remaining Sannin back to Kohona before Orochimaru gets to her."

"Yosh!" Naruto grinned, and Jiraiya smirked.

"Let's go then, day's not getting any younger." Jiraiya was relieved that Naruto had already packed, and the two could leave immediately. As they left the village behind, Jiraiya brought up the second reason he had requested Naruto. "How would you like to train on our way?"

"Like what?" Naruto asked, and Jiraiya smiled.

"Summons for one, I hold the toad contract, they're useful allies in battle." Jiraiya left off the offer of sealing, unsure if Naruto had the concentration for that.

"Like Kakashi's Dogs?"

"Similar, but these are stronger. There are two types of contracts for summoning, the lesser one for animals you yourself have bred and trained, the other, greater, is for animals that exist on a separate plane of existence." Jiraiya explained. "Kakashi has a lesser contract, he raises his own summons, The Toad contract is a greater summoning contract, as such, they are rather selective on who gets to summon them."

"Oh." Naruto didn't quite understand that, but he had something else on his mind regarding training. "Ero-sennin, do you know anything about sealing?"

Jiraiya almost missed a branch. "I'm a seal master, I'll have you know."

"Could you teach me? Sasuke said I'm part of a clan with a sealing specialty or something, he found pictures of my mother, Uzumaki Kushina."

"That's not a name you should use lightly." Jiraiya managed, stopping because this conversation was not one to have while running.

"I know that, but how am I going to learn anything about her or my family if I don't ask questions?" Naruto found the excessive secrecy a little annoying. What was the point of not telling him anything about his parents if Uzumaki Kushina had been in Bingo books as an A class threat when she was a chunin? "I don't get why I can't know anything about my family if everyone else does!"

Jiraiya had to think fast on that one, it was clear that now Naruto knew a little about his family, he'd want to learn as much as he could. And he had Kushina's temperament, so it would be safer if Jiraiya did give him some answers. "Ah, I suppose that is a little excessive. The old man just wanted to protect you for as long as possible. Since you're a chunin, though, I suppose I can tell you more about your mother … as a sealing master, I was interested in learning some of the exclusive Uzumaki seals, and she did show them to me." Mostly by hitting him with them when he'd done or said something she didn't like, and especially during the last few months of pregnancy when her emotions had run rampant- him being their child's godfather had not spared him any of her wrath for whatever slight she perceived.

"Really? Thanks, Ero-Sennin!" Naruto beamed, and pulled out a beginner's book on seals. "Kakashi-sensei only knows the basics, but I'm a little confused by the words they use."

"You're a more tactile learner than a book learner, brat. Forget the book, I'll show you the basics."

Back in Kohona, Kakashi was supervising Sakura and Sasuke on a D-rank mission he'd picked out that wouldn't compromise Sakura's healing.

That said, cleaning a pond was still rather difficult, Sasuke's curse seal interfered with his usual chakra, and Rose was clearly irritated by the limits that Kakashi had imposed.

A familiar surge of Chakra nearby had Kakashi straightening. It was so faint, but he recognized Asuma's wind chakra easily.

"Sensei?"

"Finish the mission, there's something I need to check."

Reluctantly, Sasuke and Sakura watched their sensei leave, a shiver of foreboding going down their spines, before deciding to clean the pond as fast as they could.

"Sasuke, I've been thinking … if we focus on specializing our training, we might have to split up the team to become apprentices, or at least, I'll have to add an apprenticeship on to our regular training and missions, and Naruto will have to find a sealing master to train under."

"I've thought about it too." Sasuke grimaced. "There's no helping it, but we can make all of us a team for missions, that's what the previous version of the Ino-shika-cho team did, so we'd have to take them together, it'd just be some training we'd be apart. Besides … have you noticed that Sensei's been acting differently?"

"What do you mean?"

"Before he got turned into a dog, he was a lot more relaxed about our training. Now, he's actively helping us decide how to train to meet our goals." Sasuke shrugged. "I didn't really notice before, but he was tense when he heard us report about Orochimaru," Sasuke couldn't describe the realization that somehow, in some way, Kakashi had changed in a way that made Sasuke feel less like 'the last Uchiha' and more like 'Student of Hatake Kakashi', "Nevermind."

"Yeah, I think you're right." Sakura, however, caught on to what her emotionally suppressive teammate was trying to get across. "But we've all changed, too, it's not just Sensei."

When they finished, the sight of Anbu and other jonin's flocking in the direction Kakashi had gone made them follow, they barely were able to intercept their Sensei being admitted into the hospital, though none of the jonnin seemed to pay attention or notice them as they followed.

"It was Uchiha Itachi and another missing nin, Hatake said he's going after Uzumaki." A Jonnin noted, and blinked as he thought he saw someone leave through the door. He didn't give it any mind, until much later when news that Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura had left the village.

"You should have stayed behind." Sasuke noted as they ran.

"Right, and how are you going to track down Naruto before your brother gets there?" Sakura huffed. "You don't even know where Naruto's mission was going."

"You're still healing." Sasuke couldn't lose Naurto just yet, and he also couldn't lose Sakura- Team 7 was his family now, and the thought of losing them to his bastard brother left a sick feeling in his gut. He wouldn't survive losing both of them, he knew that, but Naruto gave him something to hold onto that he hadn't had in such a long time, even though he couldn't but a name to it.

"I can still do Taijutsu." Sakura retorted, summoning Pakkun who was less amused by their plan of going after two S-class nin.

That said, he wasn't going to let these two get killed for their idiocy, and even helped them shave some time by pointing out there were only two villages on their route, and only one had hot springs.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Sasuke retorted.

"He's traveling with the toad sage, the man is an incurable pervert." Pakkun rolled his eyes.

They got there the next morning, both out of breath, and in too much of a hurry to ask Pakkun if he could scent Itachi anywhere nearby.

"Guys, what are you-?" Naruto managed as Sasuke pushed past, already checking the room's defenses.

"Where's Jiraiya?" Sakura asked, slamming the door behind her, almost getting Pakkun's tail.

"He left with a waitress, what's wrong?"

"My brother's after you, because of that furball." Sasuke explained, tense. That was the only reason Itachi would go after Naruto, as far as he knew, and the hokage had warned them that people would kill Naruto to get a hold of the beast. "He took down Kakashi-sensei, he's still alive, but we've got to get you out of here."

"Sakura, you're not supposed to be doing anything strenuous!" Naruto kept his swaying teammate from falling.

"I'm fine, Naruto, if there are any traps you think will delay him …" Sakura suggested. A knock came at the door, and Pakkun gave a low, almost inaudible growl.

"Just a minute you stupid old man!" Naruto called out, and grabbed a seal he'd been working on, giving Sasuke a nod, and gesture for Sakura to hide behind the door. "Did you forget your wallet again you damn moocher?" He opened the door, and got a good look at a black and red cloak. "If you're collecting for something, I'm not interested."

That got a laugh out of the blue-skinned shark guy standing behind the person that resembled the mangled family photos Naruto had seen. "We're here to collect you, brat."

Itachi shifted, and Naruto activated the seal, a flash and a loud bang accompanied smoke, Sasuke charged, Chidori slamming into something that skinned his hand and knocked him into a wall. The smoke cleared, and Sasuke snarled as he spotted Itachi's hand around Sakura's throat. Naruto had torn clothing, and the sword the blue-skinned guy was carrying had slightly shredded bandages revealing … scales? Sasuke took it all in a second, before shoving himself up to attack Itachi, who suddenly released Sakura stepping back as Rose kicked out with a cry of Shannaro!

"A split personality … useful in blocking my sharigan, but not by much in your weak state." Itachi noted, and Rose tumbled as she landed, snarling as she grabbed the wall to keep upright.

"Leave her alone Itachi!" Sasuke grit his teeth as he tried to call up Chidori again- whatever that blade was, it had done damage to the chakra coils in his hand, this would be the last time he could make the chidori for today, and he'd have to use some of the cursed seal chakra to do it. "You're not taking anymore people away from me!"

Itachi turned to face him as Naruto backed up to join Rose, red chakra leaking around him as he glared at the two missing nin.

"It's been a while, little brother. Think you're strong enough to defeat me?"

"I'm not an idiot." Sasuke retorted. "I know I can't, but I'll die before you take them from me!" There was a miniscule twitch in Itachi's features, Sasuke would later wonder if he imagined it, before he used to the curse seal to fuel the Chidori and charge his older brother, intent on getting him away from Naruto and Sakura.

Itachi directed the chidori into a wall, but Sasuke noted with some satisfaction that it still scorched his brother's sleeve, if not his arm- then he made the mistake of looking defiantly into Itachi's eyes.

"Orochimaru's cursed seal." Itachi's voice echoed in the expanse lit by the red moon. Sasuke shifted, trying to find him. "How did you get this?"

"What do you care?" Sasuke snapped, still trying to locate his brother as the world shifted around him, the only constant the red moon.

"I suppose I don't." Itachi's voice sounded behind him, but Sasuke whirled to see nothing.

Think, teme, it's a weird genjutsu, but it's still genjutsu. It was almost insulting to hear Naruto telling him to think, but Sasuke remembered what he'd been doing before coming to this world. "You're not getting Naruto or the Kyuubi."

Water rippled nearby, forming into Itachi- or it was just an illusion of him, given his mouth didn't move with the voice. "How do you know about the Kyuubi?" Itachi sounded surprised, and Sasuke smirked.

"I'm on his team, you think I wouldn't have been told?" Sasuke could only get a kunai to form, he couldn't access his chakra. "Or that I couldn't put two and two together when he used its chakra?"

"You're still too weak." Itachi dismissed, and Sasuke tensed, even as he heard Sakura's voice yell 'Deflection!' "You can't save him, and you're no match for me."

"I already told you that, Itachi." Sasuke tightened his grip on the kunai. "But I can stall you for time."

"Time moves differently here." Another illusion formed, still not speaking. "Tsukiyomi can compress days into mere moments- Hatake was tortured for days in this technique." The first illusion shifted, and Sasuke was shaken to see his sensei trapped and being stabbed. "I have all the time in the world, little brother."

The illusion of Kakashi screamed, and Sasuke cried out before he realized that was what Itachi wanted. It's an illusion, It's not real! "I know Sensei's in the hospital!"

"I'm impressed, you're still trying to hold onto reality … would you like to see what we want with Naruto? The girl isn't important."

An illusion (but it was so real!) of Sakura, torn and bloody and dead fell into his arms, a short distance in front of him, Naruto, just as torn and bloody was on the ground- but still alive, Sasuke could see his eyes dulled with pain and the odd coloring of this red world- surrounded by nine shadowy figures, of which he could only recognize Itachi and the shark man. Blood red chakra was suddenly being pulled from Naruto, and Sasuke cried out when he did, completely forgetting this was an illusion.

It took days before Naruto suddenly fell to the ground, limp, and Sasuke heard a thump next to him, eyes widening at the sight of Kakashi's bloody body, and feeling Sakura's blood coating his hands.

Sasuke fell to the ground, terrified, unable to realize that it had been an illusion and only regaining some sense when familiar chakra brushed him as an enraged Naruto charged.

He didn't see Jiraiya or Maito Gai arrive either.

"Sasuke?" Sakura questioned, and he blinked, not really hearing her squeak in surprise as he pulled her into a hug, one hand checking her pulse. This was real, this was reality.

"Oi, Are you two okay?" Naruto asked, hand landing on Sasuke's shoulder. He was real and still alive, and yelped as Sasuke pulled him into the awkward group hug. "What the hell, teme?"

"Sensei's in the hospital, right?" Sasuke managed, still not letting go.

"Yosh, he's alright." Maito Gai pulled all three back into the rented room while Jiraiya muttered something under his breath. "You're all alright too, you stalled long enough for me and Jiraiya to get here."

"What did they want with Naruto, anyway? He wouldn't work for them." Sakura shifted so she was more comfortable in Sasuke's hold.

"They plan on extracting the kyuubi from him." Sasuke said, startling the two adults. "Itachi showed me what would happen … it would kill him." He tightened his grip on Naruto. "I couldn't stop it." His eyes started burning.

"… I was aware of the organization, and their goals." Jiraiya sighed, taking in the group. "I doubt they'll try again." He added, but Sasuke just looked at him with eyes full of unshed tears. " … Maito Gai, I assume you're here to reclaim the two genin."

"That was the mission." Gai agreed, uncharacteristically somber.

"I think you'll have to accompany them as they come with me, if that's not too much trouble … I don't think they should be separated just yet." It might slow them down a bit, but Jiraiya knew better than anyone the need to make sure one's teammates were alive. The Uchiha child would not take separation from his teammates well right now.

Besides, maybe this would help get Tsunade to listen.

I think I have another chapter left before epilogue … we'll see. I still plan on adding to his series, but due to my less than impressed view of the ending. I hate it when characters are randomly added with no foreshadowing whatsoever!