Never Leave Me - Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or it's characters, only the triplets.
MAJOR SPOILERS! If you're not up to date (mostly) on Naruto then you may experience confusion.
You Have Been Warned!
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“Any leads?”
“Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki cover their tracks well.” Karin sighed and placed a hand on her protruding hip. “They bounce all over the map.”
“I didn’t get much out of that bounty collector.” Suigetsu murmured before chugging his bottle of water.
“Juugo?”
“The animals gave me information similar to Karin’s. There is one spot though; the birds say they don’t like the chakra emanating from a place in Hidden Rain.” The tall reddish-brown haired man muttered, looking as if he was actually talking to the three birds perched on his arm. He glanced up at their leader over the empty fire-pit, watching his reaction carefully.
After a moments’ pause to absorb the information Sasuke glanced up and around at his companions. “We’ll head toward Rain in the morning. Karin, Juugo, scout the area. Suigetsu, gather firewood while I look for food.” He stood and left, expecting the other three to do as they were told.
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“This is where you last encountered Sasuke and Orochimaru?” Anko kicked a chunk of debris out of her way, glancing around the crater with calculating eyes.
“Sasuke did this?” Ino chirped.
“I disturbed his beauty rest.” Sai smiled at the blonde girl.
Shikamaru huffed at the joke and headed down the hallway leading into the crater.
“Watch out for snakes!” Anko called after the lazy genius.
“We should at least stay in groups of two.” Ino explained quickly before hurrying after her teammate.
“Do you really think there will be a clue to their location here?” Sakura asked. She paused to stare at the ground; a dried bloodstain marred the tanned earth. It was Yamato’s blood from when Sasuke stabbed him in the shoulder. Her mind flashed to the look of pain on Naruto’s face when Sasuke disappeared with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Naruto.
Kakashi watched the pink haired girl. “Sakura, are you sure you can do this?”
“For Naruto I will.” Her fists tightened and her eyes hardened. “I may end up punching Sasuke at least once though.” She threw a fleeting smile at the masked man before running off down the hall as well.
Sai hurried after her.
“I’d say she loves him.” Anko smirked.
“Sakura loves Naruto like a brother. Naruto loves Sasuke.” Kakashi explained with a heavy sigh.
“Can you love someone that constantly breaks your heart on purpose?”
The copy-nin looked up at the purple-clad woman, bewildered at her insight and the oddly serious look on the rambunctious woman’s face. “Naruto is the most surprising ninja.” Kakashi shrugged.
Anko sighed loudly, crossing her arms. “You really don’t know women, Kakashi.”
Kakashi shuffled around the crater, quirking an eyebrow at the statement. “What do you mean?”
“You really think Sakura just sees him as a brother?”
Kakashi opened his mouth to respond when the four teenagers came rushing back.
“Shikamaru found something!” Ino cheered excitedly.
“It’s a map of Orochimaru’s hideouts.”
Anko clapped the pineapple-haired boy on the back with a grin. “Open it up, let’s see.”
They all crowded around as Shikamaru opened the scroll.
“There are a lot.” Sakura huffed moodily.
“Two of you hold it out against that wall.” Anko ordered, pointing at a crater wall.
Shikamaru and Sai did so, looking slightly confused.
Anko whipped out a kunai and threw it at the map. “Ladies and gentleman, our next destination!”
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“So Sasuke, what do you plan to do after you’ve killed Itachi?” Karin asked as she fluttered her eyelashes at him a bit.
“Can we take a break?” Suigetsu grumbled from his spot beside Juugo.
Juugo glanced down at him, but he was otherwise ignored.
“I supposed I’ll stick with my original plan of restoring the Uchiha clan.” Sasuke mumbled reluctantly to try and placate the girl.
“Do you plan to return to the Leaf?” Suigetsu asked.
There was a moment of silence. Karin smiled charmingly at the Uchiha while the other two males watched his back critically, waiting for an answer.
“No.”
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“We’ll split into teams of two and fan out, look for clues.” Anko announced. “Shikamaru and Ino, Sakura and Sai, and Kakashi is with me.”
Anko dragged Kakashi off in one direction while Shikamaru took the lead in another.
“Let’s go this way.” Sakura gave Sai a curt nod and turned down the last corridor.
An hour into their search Sakura and Sai paused as they turned down a corridor. There was an open doorway with blood spattered in the threshold.
They stepped into the room and with one look Sakura let out a scream.
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As soon as Naruto was aware his arms were bound he jerked awake. His arms were chained to the wall in the corner of a dank, dark cell. He lay on an old mattress that seemed worn and slightly damp. He shifted, trying to get comfortable.
“I see you’re awake, Naruto-kun.”
Naruto squinted into the darkness at the shadow that was talking to him.
“Why am I still alive? Kyuubi is still here.”
“It would seem the Fourth Hokage’s seal is much more complex than we’d first thought. It is impossible to extract Kyuubi from your body without killing both of you.”
“Guess what we discovered about your body, Naruto-kun.” Itachi’s voice drawled from the foot of the mattress.
Naruto shivered. They knew.
“The right combination of genes could do for a very powerful Shinobi in the future.” The other voice added. Naruto could practically see the smirking faces leering down at him, and he shuddered.
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“What happened?” Kakashi asked. All four had turned and raced towards Sakura’s scream.
The green eyed girl was pressed against the wall, her eyes tightly shut as she eased her own breathing. She lifted a shaky hand and pointed into the room where Sai stood.
Anko stepped in first. “Orochimaru…” She gasped.
“That thing is Orochimaru?” Shikamaru asked.
Ino tried to help her friend calm down as she listened to Anko and the boys talk.
“This is Orochimaru’s true form.” Anko explained, kicking the head of the beast rather roughly. “Whoever did this must have unnerved Orochimaru with his strength to have forced him into his true form.”
“What does this mean? Where is Sasuke?” Ino asked.
“Not here.” Anko shrugged.
“He listened.” Sakura whispered with a faintly happy smile on her face.
Ino rubbed her friend’s shoulders. “Sakura?”
“Sasuke. He listened to Naruto.”
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Iruka stood at the sink, washing the dishes obsessively to rid his mind of worry, which wasn’t working. There was a sharp tug on his pants leg and he glanced down to see Rin looking up at him with large doe-eyes. He dried off his hands quickly and picked the young girl up. “What’s wrong, Rin-chan?”
“Where is mommy?”
“Mommy is on a very important mission.” Iruka smiled at the girl.
“Is he looking for daddy?”
Iruka wandered into the living room to see Daisuke and Ginji rolling around on the floor. “Aunt Sakura and Uncle Kakashi are looking for your daddy. Mommy was sent on a different mission that only he could take care of.”
“Not ‘Uncle’ Kakashi! Kakashi-jii-san!” Ginji exclaimed, climbing off his brother who had given up pretending to fight him.
“Jii-san?” Iruka asked, perplexed.
“Only jii-sans have grey hair. He must use a genjutsu like Tsunade-baa-sama.” Ginji squinted his eyes in thought.
Iruka chuckled.
“Will mommy be home soon?” Rin asked.
“I don’t know how long the mission will last, but mommy will be home.”
Chapter 5