Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Closer ❯ Chapter 42

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Reiko freed himself from the ropes finally and tore the one off around his ankles before running down the hall barefoot and sliding the door open.

“…protect Reiko!” He heart throbbed when he hear his mom‘s cry. He latched onto her chakra signature and let it guide him to where she was.

“Ino!” Naruto called out and Reiko ran to the wooden prison bars that kept Naruto in place, and pressed his face against them only to see that there was nothing in the wooden bonds on top of the roof anymore.

“Mom!” He screamed hoarsely, looking frantically around for any trace of her. He reached his sensors out the furthest they could go but there was nothing. There wasn’t any sign of her! The wooden bars shrank away and Naruto grabbed his arm. “Where is she? Where is my mom?”

His tear filled green eyes met pained dark blue ones and Reiko read the answer in them. “I’m sorry Reiko.” He said softly. Reiko shook his head. She was gone? Truly gone? “But we’ll get her back. I promise!” Naruto said, squeezing his shoulder. He pushed Naruto’s had off of him harshly, glaring at the older blonde through tears.

“How? How are you going to get her back?! Do you even know where she is? What happened? Who took her? Why didn’t you stop them!?” He demanded in a shrill watery voice that didn’t sound like his. He felt so cold inside, so lost and scared. There wasn’t a moment in his life when he felt so alone. He had always been by her and even when he wasn’t, he always felt her near him through their mental bonds. But there was none of that now. There was only them, the ones who didn’t save her! He didn’t want to be around them he was so angry and hurt.

For the first time he desperately wanted his dad. He wanted Sasuke.  Cool and calm Sasuke who would have protected her from whoever took her. But he was gone too he thought numbly. There was no one left for him now. He broke his heated gaze from Naruto and stalked back inside. He didn’t go far though, just slumped against the wall so he could hear them on the other side as he tried to calm himself.  He had to take few deep breaths to stop himself from sobbing and cradled his head in his hands, between his knees.

“The masked Akatsuki guy, Madara Uchiha. There’s absolutely no trace left.” He turned his dull, gritty eyes to the roof where could spy Kakashi standing next to the swirling wooden jutsu. Madara Uchiha? Who was he? That guy who helped Itachi that night? He was the only masked man he knew about. But why would he take his mom? “The Transportation jutsu…it’s such a troublesome jutsu.”

Reiko rubbed his eyes to clear his tears. There was no use in crying right now, he thought dejectedly. He had to think and try and find a way to get her back. “Kakashi- sensei, what he was saying…” Naruto began.

“It’s dangerous to believe his story.” Kakashi said quickly, jumping down to stand in front of Naruto.

“But if it’s true, Sasuke is—”

Curiously, Reiko perked his ears and stood up. “Sasuke is what? What story?”

There was some hesitation. “The one about Itachi and the massacre.” Naruto finally said looking down at him with a troubled frown.

“Naruto, I know how you feel, but you must not be impatient.” Kakashi said, sliding his headband over his eye to hide his Sharingan. “For now, we’ll keep what Madara said to ourselves…”

“But it is true.” Reiko said softly. He regretted saying it for a second but then pushed the feeling aside. He was fed up. Fed up with keeping so many secrets. He let Ino and Itachi have their chance, and look what happened! She was captured and Itachi was in the winds and he was left alone. He felt their shock permeate the air and felt some of his troubles lift from his shoulders.

“W-what? You know about it?” Naruto kneeled on one knee in front of him grasping him by the shoulders. “It’s true then? That’s why Sasuke is going to kill Danzo?”

Reiko nodded. “Sasuke is at the Kage Summit?” Yamato asked incredulously. “If he attacks Danzo there, he’ll be declared as an international criminal!”

Reiko hesitated on what he was going to say next, but ….he came this far. “Itachi is alive.”

The following astonishment hit all three of the older ninja’s like he had expected it too. They looked down at him with wide eyes, speechless. “H-how?” Kakashi recovered first. Well, he didn’t really recover, but he managed form words and move his mouth. “How is that possible?”

“My mom used her Body and Soul Exchange jutsu that day. The day Sasuke and Itachi fought.”

“That thing she used on Asuma-sensei?” Naruto asked looking up at Yamato, then sliding his gaze to Kakashi.

“I thought they confiscated her body scroll.” Yamato sounded suspicious.

“I don’t know about that, but I know that Itachi is alive. He’s the one who’s been training me. Before we came here to talk with Naruto, we met with him.” He said, folding his arms. The soft falling snow kissed his nose and caught in his eyes lashes. “He’s planning something, but hasn’t told me or mom.”

“Then…can’t he talk to Sasuke?” Naruto asked. “Everything would come to an end of they talked and Itachi explained his choice to Sasuke. Maybe Sasuke will stop with his revenge against Leaf!” Reiko sighed regrettably, feeling so very sorry for the idea that Naruto had. His mom thought the same thing. He wished it would be that simple, but Sasuke was sticking to his plan despite the fact that Itachi was alive.

“Mom asked the same thing, but Itachi said it wasn’t the right time. And she wouldn’t talk Sasuke out of going after Danzo because she doesn’t like him too.”

Kakashi frowned. “Danzo might not be the ideal candidate for Hokage, but he’s done a lot of things to keep Leaf Village safe and secure. Things that other people couldn’t and wouldn’t do.”

Reiko shook his head. “That’s not why she wants him gone. She wants him gone because of Naruto.” At his questioning look he explained. “If Danzo is Hokage he’s just going to use you as a weapon Naruto. You won’t have any freedom and you wouldn’t be able to go after Sasuke anymore.” He turned to Kakashi. “Tell me, how much would he do to keep that title? Even if he was outvoted, would he just step down quietly?”

Kakashi and Yamato exchanged looks. “Do you know how many he has in Root? With the village the way it is, with jonin and chuunin spread thin, it would be the perfect time for a takeover. Things like that always happen when there is a power vacuum.” Yamato admitted.

“But what can we do? If Itachi won’t meet with Sasuke and Ino taken by Madara, then what?” Naruto asked.

That was a good question. “Maybe…”

“We won’t use you to lure Sasuke to us.” Naruto said firmly, reading his thoughts. “That would put you in danger and Ino said I’m to protect you.” He ran a troubled hand through his hair, shaking some snow from it. “I…need to think about all of this.” He said and jumped to the roof, away from all of them.

“Hey! What the hell?! Look at what you’ve done!” The remaining three turned to a furious looking older man with a fur lined coat with a thick neck cuff. Reiko looked around and saw that people were beginning to gather around the building to gawk at the massive hole on the inn.

“That’s why I hate ninja.” The inn owner muttered glared at Yamato’s apologetic smile.

“I-I’m sorry. I’ll make sure it’s repaired.” He said bowing a little. Reiko was reminded of the time that the new BBQ place opened back in Leaf and Choji ate a whole bunch of meat. They stayed late, until he had his fill and when they left the BBQ owner and his wife were fuming for having to stay open so late. Asuma had to fervently apologize like Yamato was doing. Reiko looked up and felt Naruto’s chakra calming and new power gathered inside of him like a fresh breath of air. So when he meditates, he goes into Sage mode huh?

Yamato went about repairing the wall with a wood jutsu. More people surrounded him to watch. Reiko shivered and rubbed his arms free of goosebumps. “You should go inside and get warm. I don’t want to face Ino’s wrath if you get yourself sick.” Kakashi murmured to him, nodding to the inn. So he left back inside and sat cross legged in front of the hearth to warm himself. Now what? What could he do now? His thoughts were in turmoil. The more he thought of his mom, the more he worried about her. If Tobi or Madara (whatever his name was!) wanted, he could just kill her to get her out of the way. But he didn’t think the Akatsuki man would do it. He wanted Sasuke to stay on his side and killing his mom would only work against him. But kidnapping her would be bad too. Sasuke was going to be so angry with him! Reiko’s lips lifted in a satisfied sneer. Maybe mad enough to kill him? One could only hope.

He stared into the flames before he straightened his back. Shikamaru and Choj! He had to get word to them about Itachi’s eyes. Shikamaru would know what to do for sure! Quickly, he dove for his bag propped against the wall and took out his white scroll. He glanced down for just a second before grabbing his black scroll as well. Maybe Itachi wasn’t too far away and he’ll come? He pulled out two strips of paper from his storage can and wrote the notes on them. He glanced up and looked around him to make sure he was alone before biting his thumb and summoning a white pigeon and a black crow. He rolled the notes and slipped them in their holsters around their little legs. The window was stuck for a second, but he managed to pry it open and send the birds on their way.

“Please, get there fast.” He whispered to them and watched both birds disappear in the distance.

“Reiko.” He spun and saw Kakashi looking at him with folded arms. “You’re not keeping anymore secrets are you? You know whatever it is, you can tell me. No one wants Sasuke back more than Naruto. And I was Sasuke’s teacher so I worry for him too.”

Reiko shifted his eyes away. “There is nothing really, if there was then I would tell you.” He murmured looking into the flames.

“Who did you send word too if that’s true?”

“To Itachi and Shikamaru and Choji.” He admitted truthfully.

“Shikamaru and Choji? They know that Itachi is alive then?” Kakashi sounded surprised.

Reiko shifted his eyes back. “Yes, they were there when she did that jutsu. They know everything.”

“And Asuma?” He prodded.

Reiko shook his head no. “They thought it would be better for him not to get involved. He has his own family to worry about now. My grandpa doesn’t know too, neither does Shikamaru’s and Choji’s dads.” He assured him. But sooner or later, they were going to find out. He didn’t know how much secrets he was keeping until he was saying it all out loud.

“I see.” Kakashi squatted in front his him, his one eye staring steadily at him. “No matter what we’ll get your mom back okay? I know this must be hard for you, being apart from her.”

Tears burned his eyes but he blinked them back and nodded. “I trust Naruto.” He whispered.  Kakashi’s eye turned up in a smile.

“I trust him too.” Reiko’s eyes shifted to the roof, where he felt Naruto. “How long is he going to be up there?”

Kakashi stood up. “Meh, who knows? I should tell him to come down though.” Reiko looked to the left. “There are people coming.” He said, feeling them enter his sensor range. “It’s…Sakura?”

Kakashi left outside and Reiko followed. “Naruto. Come down now.” He called out. Reiko stayed out of sight for the moment. He could make out Sakura’s chakra signature easily and picked up on Kiba’s too. But the other two, he didn’t know well enough to know who they were. He placed his back against the wall and peered out through the window that Yamato had repaired.

“Sakura? Sai, Kiba and even Bush Brows?” He heard Naruto say. What were they doing here?

“Why did you all come here?” Kakashi asked them.

“Naruto.” Sakura called out. “I need to talk to you.”

Naruto jumped down and dusted the snow from his head. “What about?”

Reiko moved closer to the window. “Naruto…I love you.” The ten year old blinked a couple of times in astonishment. What? He could feel the shock from her confession ripple across everyone present. Lee, Kiba and Yamato’s eyes were comically wide with astonishment. Naruto was staring at her with disbelief.

“W-what did you just say Sakura?” He sputtered out. “I think I heard wrong. Could you say it again?”

From his place, he saw a blush steal up Sakura’s cheek. “I said…I love you Naruto.” Naruto just stood speechless in front of her. All of them didn’t know what to say or do. “I said Sasuke doesn’t mean anything to me anymore.”

Reiko’s breath caught in his throat. Sasuke? Sakura…likes Sasuke? How? When? What? He thought back to all the times he talked with Sakura, about all the times Sasuke ever came up. There were times when his mom would tell him not to bring him up if they went to see her at her house, or the hospital. Was it because she knew? She knew that her best girlfriend had feeling for his dad? Did Sasuke know? “I must have been crazy to carry a torch for him for so long. Even after he and Ino…” She shook her head and forced a smile. “Listen carefully when someone confesses her feeling for you!” She scolded playfully. Reiko could hear the shy strain in her light tone and frowned.

He could feel Naruto’s chakra darken a bit. Sense some anger in his chakra aurora. His bright blue eyes narrowed and he took a step back. “But why? What for!?” Naruto demanded. “This isn’t the place to be joking around. It’s not funny Sakura.” He bit out angrily. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing really!” Sakura said a little too quickly which only increased his and Naruto’s suspicions. Why would Sakura say something like that if she didn’t mean it? That was a mean thing to do to anyone! And if she was lying, then she really had a thing for Sasuke? He didn’t know how to feel about that. Overall he liked Sakura. She was smart and nice and always got into playful arguments with his mom. She was usually the one who kept Naruto’s head in the game, scolding him if he goofed off too much. She was the Hokage Tsunade’s apprentice and showed him a few things with medical ninjtusu.

“I just woke up.” Sakura continued. “Why should I love a rouge ninja who’s a criminal? I’m not a child anymore. I can face reality. I know he will never love me back. He has Ino and Reiko. They are his family. So Naruto, you can forget about that promise you made to me. You can stop chasing after Sasuke, all right?” Promise? What promise?

“What’s going on?” Yamato took a step forward but Kakashi stopped him.

Naruto stared at her with the upmost seriousness, even Reiko felt a little nervous looking at the usually carefree blonde. “Sakura, did something happen? This is all so sudden.”

“Nothing happened!” Sakura defended. “It’s obvious why I fell in love with you.”

Naruto didn’t look convinced and Reiko wasn’t buying it either. What was she thinking? What did happen for her to say these things? Sakura moved and Reiko ducked under the window and went to the other side to see what she was going to do. He heard the snow crunching under her feet and she lifted her arms and hugged Naruto. But he didn’t hug her back.

She spoke so softly he had to strain his hearing and activate his Sharingan to read her lips. “Sasuke just keeps on getting further and further away from me. But Naruto, you’ve always stuck by my side and cheered me up. Naruto, I finally realized your true self. Even that time with Pein, you returned when you were needed most. The hero who protected the village.  Today, everyone in the village admires you and I’m simply one of them now. You used to be a prank-loving loser and now you’ve become a wonderful person and I’ve witnessed it all first hand. Meanwhile, Sasuke keeps adding to his crimes and breaking my heart. I should have given up on him a long time ago, when I learned about Ino being pregnant. But I couldn’t let go, not like I should have. I was blind, but I see you now Naruto. I’m able to be close to you like this. You comfort me. I care about you from the bottom of my hear—“ Reiko watched as Naruto grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.

“Cut it out Sakura.” He said with a little shake. “This joke isn’t funny at all!”

Sakura looked at him, her chin quivering. “Why are you so upset? I’m just telling you that I like you now instead of Sasuke.” She insisted.

Liar, Reiko thought his anger rising to meet Naruto’s. “I hate people who lie to themselves!” Naruto spat, his fingers clenching Sakura’s cloak. Sakura grew upset, telling Naruto that she was the one who decided how she feels and that he should worry about himself for once and not Sasuke.

“It’s not about that promise anymore.” Naruto said when Sakura asked him to come back to the village. He would have to ask what promise they were talking about. It must have been pretty serious for Sakura to keep bringing it up. “I kind of understand more now about why Sasuke has become obsessed with revenge and is causing so much damage. Sasuke loved his family and his clan. Because his love was so deep, it’s hard for him to forgive.”

Reiko bit his lip. Would Sasuke ever forgive Itachi? When he thought of someone killing his parents, killing Sasuke and Ino he felt dark bitterness smother him. That’s why he was wishing that Tobi would die, for taking him mom away from him. He could never forgive someone who hurt her.

“If he was so devoted, why would he join the Akatsuki after defeating the unforgivable Itachi?” Kiba asked, lowing his chin and staring hard at Naruto. Reiko heart sped up. Would Naruto tell them that Itachi was alive? If he did, what would happen? He could tell that Kiba and Sai had no love for Sasuke. But he didn’t want any more secrets. He would have to leave that up to Naruto and the others because he didn’t particularly trust all of his mom’s friends when it came to Sasuke and Itachi.

“That’s…not how it went down.” Naruto said sadly and then took a breath, opening his eyes and peering up at Sakura’s group. “It doesn’t matter, even if there’s no promise between us anymore. I personally want to save Sasuke.”

Kiba whispered something to Sakura but she just stepped on his toe before pivoting on her heel. “Forget it! I’m going back.” She said, stopping in the snow. “Let’s go, Kiba, Lee, Sai!” Reiko silently watched them leave. That was it? It didn’t feel like it was the end. Reiko left the window and slid the door open, stepping out into the snow with his warm cloak about his shoulders. She was going to do something…he could feel it.

“What’s up with her? Does Sakura really have feelings for Sasuke?” He asked Naruto.

Naruto’s shoulders slumped. “I thought she was over him, but recently, I’ve come to find out that she still loves him.” Naruto sighed. “Back in the Academy days, Sakura and Ino were the best of friends but when Sakura found out that Ino might like Sasuke she told them that they would be rivals from now on. In the beginning, Ino didn’t even like Sasuke.”

Reiko nodded, remembering his mom telling him that story. Tch, you couldn’t tell these days the way they were constantly groping at one another. “She told me about it. That Sakura stopped being her friend when she thought she liked Sasuke. But they made up didn’t they?”

“They did but it’s hard for girls to give up their first love. Sakura’s been harboring those feelings for Sasuke for a long time.” Reiko decided that he didn’t like talking about Sakura liking Sasuke. In the end, she would only get hurt by it. She said it herself. Sasuke chose Ino. And they had him. They were a family. Even he didn’t think that Sakura would try and break up a family. But still, her actions right now were suspicious.

“Still, I think she might be up to something. She left to easily.” He said glancing at her footprints in the snow.

“She is.” They all glanced behind them to see Sai.

“Sai? Why are you still here?” Naruto asked, pausing at the door he was about to enter.

“It’s a clone.” Kakashi told him.

Sai’s clone looked as blank faced as the real Sai and gave Reiko a look over not portraying any kind of emotion before turning his attention back to Naruto and the others.“I’m going to tell you the real reason Sakura came here.”

“What do you mean Sai?” Yamato asked. He knew it. Reiko listened carefully.

“Sakura didn’t come to confess her love for you. The Konoha 11 came to a consensus and I’m here to inform you.”

“Consensus? About what?” Reiko asked. Naruto put a hand on his shoulder to quiet him.

“I thought it was strange.” Naruto murmured. “She was hiding something after all.”

“I came to understand her feelings. Why Sakura couldn’t bring herself to tell you.” Sai said with a distant look on his face.

“The consensus.” Reiko demanded.

“The Hidden Leaf will deal with Sasuke. Every one of your comrades is committed to that and will act accordingly.” Sai said evenly.

Naruto sucked in a breath. “Sakura agreed to that? Why would she?”

Reiko heard Shikamaru’s voice in his head. He told them the same thing, just when he and Ino were about to leave. At the time, Reiko was just as flabbergasted by it as Naruto was. But after, when he thought about it he understood Shikamaru’s reasoning. “Naruto, think about what you said to me and my mom that day.” Reiko broke into Naruto’s ramblings and pushed him away from Sai. “That day when you were going to talk with Pein. What did you tell my grandpa? What did you say to the Raikage when you were begging him to lift the kill order on Sasuke?” Reiko demanded heatedly.

Naruto paled. “What? You saw that?”

“You said you wanted the cycle of revenge to stop. Think about it. I don’t want Sasuke to die, but we can’t let others interfere with Leaf problems. If someone other than Leaf kills him, then me and Ino would go after them. If we die, then Shikamaru and Choji would go after them and if they die, their parents will get involved. It’s the same on the other side too! You have to understand this Naruto. Shikamaru is right to gather everyone and tell them that Leaf has to deal with Sasuke on our own.”

“But to kill him…!” Naruto protested.

“They won’t. Shikamaru is giving us a chance and it’s our only one. That’s why we can’t fail. Sakura is just going a step further and is trying to spare the others from it.” Reiko looked at Sai. “She’s going to try and kill Sasuke herself isn’t she?”

He gave a single nod. “It’s my assumption as well. Sakura does love Sasuke and she doesn’t want to see him fall further and further into darkness. She cares for Ino as well, but she doesn’t have much faith that she will bring him back.”

Not alone she can’t Reiko thought. He looked to the sky, wondering if Itachi got his message yet. Then, he felt someone approaching and he looked expectantly to that direction to see three new people. People who he never seen before but from the surprise rolling off of the others, it seemed the others knew who they were.

There was a tall blonde girl with dark blonde hair pulled into four spiky ponytails. In the middle, there was a smaller red head with a huge gourd on his back. Reiko could tell he was very skilled and had an immense chakra deep inside. And the last one on the right was a man with purple face-paint on, dressed all in black. From their headbands, he understood that they were Sand ninja from Wind Country.

All three of them stared openly at him. Reiko frowned. “What? Is there something on my face?” He touched his cheek distractedly.

“Your…eyes.” The red head said in amazement. “You have a Sharingan. Who are you?”

Reiko paled a little. He forgot he had them activated. It was easy for him to switch back and forth between the world of color and the red and black world without a second thought. He thought of changing them back, but then fervently changed his mind. They already saw them and besides, he promised that he wasn’t going to live in the shadows any longer. Let more people see them he thought defiantly. Let them know that there was another Sharingan living in the world. No matter what Sasuke and Itachi did, they were his family and he wasn’t going to be ashamed of the fact.

“Uhh…” Naruto began but Reiko jumped in.

“My name is Reiko Yamanaka.”

The tall blonde girl narrowed her eyes. “Yamanaka? You look a lot like a girl I know from that clan.”

“Ino?” He asked, a little smile creeping up on his lips.

She studied him. “Yeah…do you—“

“She’s my mom.”

He heard Yamato gasp behind him. “Reiko!” Naruto admonished loudly.

There was so much shock and surprises today Reiko mused, watching the Sound nin’s eyes widen.

“W-what? But how? If Ino is your mom and you have a Sharingan then…”

“Sasuke is my dad.” Reiko finished for her. Naruto slid a hand hard over Reiko’s mouth with a nervous laugh.

“Kids and their stories! Ahahaha!”

The red head locked eyes with Naruto. “But he’s not lying. There was no waver in his chakra when he said that.”

Reiko pried Naruto’s calloused hand from his face. “I’m not lying!” He said, stumbling from Naruto’s desperate attempts to quiet him again. “You guys need to stop with that too! I won’t be a secret any longer!” He yelled.

Kakashi held up his hands. “All right all right. Calm down. Please, this is a story for another time. Why are you here?”

“If Sasuke Uchiha is your father then there is something you must hear immediately.” The girl spoke in a tough no-nonsense tone. “We will tell you everything that happened at the Five Kage Summit.”

Ino last resort to fight her boredom was singing. In this place, where there were no walls and limitless nothingness, there wasn’t much to bide her time. How long had she been in that pace? A few hours? A day? A week? She was lying on her back with her feet propped up on one of those weird spongy cubes, looking into the darkness of the… what…She squinted up into the darkness for the billionth time. It wasn’t a sky that was for sure. But she could see some colors swirl in it. Or maybe it was just her eyes playing tricks on her?

She wrapped a strand of her hair around her fingers and continued singing ‘You are my sunshine, my only sunshine’ for her twelfth time in a row when she heard a distinct buzzing sound. She dropped her legs and rolled to her side into a low attack stance, taking a kunai from her pouch. Someone dropped from the ‘sky’ and landed with a loud oof on one of the spongy cubes. His eyes glowed a strange bright yellow color and a black half ninja mask covered the upper half of his face. His chest was bare and…purple?

“Who’s there?” He demanded, pulling his tanto from the back and holding it up in front of him in defense. She saw the Leaf headband on his forehead and dropped her kunai a bit with a frown.

“So he caught someone else huh? What’s going on outside?” She didn’t drop her kunai, but it lazily drooped in her hands.

“And you are?” He asked, straightening a little when decided that she wasn’t much of a threat.

“I’m Ino Yamanaka.” She said with a sigh and replaced her weapon before folding her arms.

“Yamanaka? You’re from Leaf then?” The bare chested man replaced his weapon too. The ‘sky’ opened up again and someone else dropped down. Ino winced at his fall.

“Fuu!” Purple man kneeled by the other but didn’t touch him or help him up. “Are you okay?”

Ino ran to them and saw Fuu coughing and nodding. His hair was dark red, with half of it pulled into a high ponytail. When he finally glanced up her blue eyes widened in recognition. He still had the same nose, a little crooked with a strong jaw line and glittering light hazel eyes. Once, his hair had been short, bright orange and short and his eyes had been green. But that concealment jutsu had long faded. He recognized her too and his eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Rei?”

After the story was told, Reiko cursed under his breath. Leave it up to Sasuke to make enemies with the most powerful ninja in the world! Sasuke…where were you now?

“I see. Who would have thought the meeting would become so intense.” Yamato commented, his face set in stone not giving anything away. “Danzo…what was he thinking?” He turned to Kakashi who only sighed.

“I’m not too eager about becoming the Hokage.” He mumbled with a rather helpless look in his one eye. “And even if the situation requires me to accept…I’ll have to return to the Hidden Leaf Village first and hear what the others say.” Reiko raised a brow. Was he pouting? He never saw an adult pouting before. Sometimes he wondered about Kakashi.

“Madara has declared war on us!” The Blonde Girl said seriously. “There’s no time to deliberate.”

“I’m sure everyone will approve.” Yamato said quickly to escape her temper. “We should have them proceed on the premise that you are the Hokage, Kakashi.”

Kakashi’s shoulders slumped a bit and he took a deep breath in. “I guess you’re right. Thanks.”

The Red head who had been silent during the retelling of the events finally spoke. His eyes never once left his face. “Naruto, this is a battle to protect the Eight-tails and Nine-tails.” He began, his aqua green eyes steady and hard as he finally gave his attention to Naruto. “Namely you. And it’s also for the ninja world. As Kazekage I would give my life to protect you.” Reiko choked a bit at that revelation. This guy was Kazekage? He was so young! He and Naruto had to be the same age. Which meant that he had major skills. “If Sasuke attacks any member from the Allied Ninja Forces as a member of the Akatsuki I will show no mercy.” Reiko puffed up with outrage. Jeeze, everyone was trying to kill his dad! “All he wants is darkness.”

“He’s not in total darkness just yet!” Reiko finally yelled out, startling everyone.

“Reiko…” Kakashi warned with a stern shake of his head.

“No! You guys seem to think there is no hope!”

“Kid, do you even know what Sasuke truly desires? After what he did at the Kage Summit, do you really think that he can be changed?” Face Paint narrowed his eyes.

“Yes! I know Sasuke better then you do!” He shot back. “And he’s not totally lost. He’s just confused right now, and angry. He didn’t even want to hurt you guys, just Danzo. Danzo was the one he wanted.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” The Kazekage said. “He has made his choice, and we have made ours as well. If you think there is something worth saving in him then I suggest you move quickly. I’ve been there, been lost in that craving for revenge. You lose yourself and nothing matters but that.” He studied him for a bit before looking up at Naruto. “I consider you my friend. In the past ‘friend’ was merely a word for me. Nothing more, nothing less. But after meeting you, you made me realize that the meaning of that word is what’s important. What does it mean? What can you do for Sasuke? Think hard about that.” They left after and Reiko watched them go with his brow furrowed.

There was a pregnant silence with everyone thinking about what had been said. “It’s been an…interesting day, ne?” Kakashi tried to sound up beat but with the situation as it was, Reiko found it hard to muster any positive response. “You both must be freezing because I am.” Kakashi clapped both he and Naruto on the shoulder. “You guys better get inside.”

“Where are you going?” Naruto asked Kakashi suspiciously. “We’re going after Sakura right?”

“I am.” And before they knew it, Yamato clipped them in the back of the neck and there was darkness. “Sai, let’s go.”

“Ah, so that’s what happened.” Ino said softly, hugging her knees to her chest. “I suspected something big might happen, but not this.”

Rei and Torune stayed standing while they told her what had happened at the Kage Summit. But what happened afterwards? Did Sasuke get hurt? Did he make it to Danzo? She was afraid to ask that seeing that both Rei (or Fuu as he was known here) and Torune were Root ANBU, loyal to Danzo and his organization.

Seeing Rei after all this time made her both sad and angry. Sad because she remembered the times when she was with Orochimaru. She hated it there, but it had been mild compared to what was going on now. And angry because he didn’t even come and see her once since they returned to Leaf almost two years ago! And he was part of Root! How much information did he give to Danzo regarding her? The only good thing was that he didn’t know about Reiko. But she wasn’t so sure about that either. He was her clansmen, but he was a stranger to her now. The old Rei was gone and only Fuu from Root remained. The room buzzed and she sprang to her feet in an instant, only to have someone’s arm tightly hook around her neck, choking off her air supply.

“Making friends are we?” Tobi breathed close to her ear making her skin crawl. How could she feel his breath through his mask? He was one freaky dude. “Sorry to break up the party, but I thought I should show you what Sasuke is really like. All those happy fantasies will be shattered I’m afraid. But I feel like I owe this to you Ino…Yamanaka.” She froze. He knew her last name? Gods, what else did he know? And with that terrifying thought she was phased from his holding dimension and into the cold air, standing atop a high wall. She closed her eyes to gain her balance back from her vertigo of being so high up all of the sudden. Down below, she saw Sasuke and Danzo facing off.

“Let’s sit. It’s going to be a long show. Are you exited? I am.” He placed her between his legs, wrapping them around her waist from behind with his arm still snuggly around her neck to keep her in place. “Don’t try and escape or I’ll have to send you back.” He warned and rested his chin on her shoulder as the fight began…

Reiko moaned awake and lifted himself from the ground on shaky arms. There was still daylight filtering through the windows and silence. He was back in the inn. He touched the back of his neck, tenderly easing the tight muscles with his fingers before sitting on his knees. He kept his chakra calm in case anyone tried to sense him. If they did, they would think he was still unconscious. Naruto was crumbled on his side, breathing deep. Reiko shook his head to erase the lingering static from his mind. He looked around and stilled when his eyes landed on a black crow perched just outside his window. Carefully, he crawled silently across the wooden floor and slid it open to take the crow from the ledge. There, on his ankle was a relay note.

Itachi…He quickly unrolled it and read his response. His heart beat hard in his chest and the crow poofed away, going back into his black scroll. Excitement was bubbling inside, he had to stop it from rising to his throat in the form of a giggle. In the shadowed room he crawled over to Naruto’s side. He shook him a few times, praying that he would wake up. After the seventh shake Naruto moaned awake and Reiko slapped a hand over his mouth giving a nervous look at the closed door of their room. He didn’t know who was out there. Did Kakashi really leave? Was Yamato waiting for them to come to so that he could take them back to Leaf?

Slowly, he removed his hand. “My head.” Naruto moaned, rubbing the back of it with a one eyed wince.

“Shh! Look!” He held out the paper and the older blonde took it.

Naruto’s eyes widened. “It this from…?”

Reiko nodded, a grin spreading across his face. “He’s waiting for me. Come on Naruto we have to save my mom and dad!”

Naruto smiled for the first time since his mom had been kidnapped. “I’m with you!”

They gathered their things from the room and Reiko couldn’t help but snort at the way Naruto was making two piles of pillows and blankets that would double as their replacements in case someone came to check on them. The window slid open with the same stealth Reiko experienced before. It was still snowing, but it was a still early evening so there was still a sun shining brightly that would peek out time to time between the heavy clouds. Reiko led the way, sailing through the trees for a good half hour before reaching a lower altitude where there was less snow. Green leaves and nice nature sounds replaced the whistling winds of Higher Iron Country.

He felt Itachi’s chakra just beyond the ridge and with excited speed he burst through the leaves nosily and dropped to the ground.

“Itachi!” His uncle turned to him, his dark eyes noticing that he wasn’t alone.

“So you brought a guest.” He said softly. Naruto dropped next to him. “Long time no see Naruto Uzumaki.”