"Blood Ties", This forum needs a fan fiction section

[thezorch]

Ok, it isn't fan art but I do consider writing an art form. I've been writing fan fiction since 2000. These two chapters represent my first real venture into Naruto fan fiction. Please leave comments and suggestions.

And now Chapter 1

====================

Legal Disclaimer: All the Anime/Manga and non-Anime/Manga characters appearing in this work of fan fiction are owned by their respective copyright and trademark holders. All Rights Reserved.
Written for fan appreciation only without profit.
Protected under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
Written using OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 on Kubuntu Linux 8.04.

oOOOo

Michael “TheZorch” Haney's

“Blood Ties – A Naruto Fan Fiction”

oOOOo

Sixty Years Ago...

The Shodai Hokage surveyed the land which was being cleared. His grand dream was becoming a reality. The first timbers of what would be called the Hokage Tower were being put up. All throughout the valley new buildings were going up, land was being cleared, and throngs of people and work crews rushed about. Yes, his dream of Konohagakure no Sato was coming along nicely. He knew he wouldn't have been able to do it without the aid of the Uchiha, but he could already see trouble brewing. The Uchiha were a very proud and arrogant clan, more and more they demanded a greater stake in the new village, and more control. The Sharingun was indeed a frightening and formidable kekki genkai, but it was far from the most powerful. However, due to the fear the Sharingun elicited in others the Uchiha clan grew arrogant and complacent. They believed because of their heritage they deserved greater power, they believed that because of their bloodline the world should be served to them on a silver platter.

The Shodai knew things wouldn't stay the way they were for much longer. Uchiha Madara was starting to make waves.

Right now though, Konoha's growing internal political problems were the least of Senju Hashirama's worries. He was hearing rumors of stirrings in the west. Rumors of large bands of foreign ninja secretly crossing the boarder of the Fire Country. He knew the creation of a new hidden village would change the balance of power slightly in the region. The Fire Country was already quite prosperous, now they would have a military in the form of the Konoha ninja. It wasn't too far fetched a conclusion that some of the other hidden villages would see that as a threat. The establishment of Konoha was going to change things in the already unstable political landscape of the shinobi world. If only he knew just how much of an impact Konohagakure would have on elemental countries in the years to come.

And, so it happened that on one night an event was to take place which would shape the future of Konohagakure forever. Few would know the truth about what really happened, that night, and most of the details would be kept an S-class secret never to be revealed except to a privileged few who could be trusted with the truth. It was two days after Hashirama's faithful battle with Uchiha Madara at the Valley of the End that something happened in Konoha which would alter the balance of power in the village and ultimately lead up to events that would play out later. Events that would shape the life of one Uchiha Sasuke.

The night was quite, a faint warm breeze came in through the window of the Shodai's office in the newly finished Hokage Tower. He had a pile of papers on his desk, a lot of reports. Most were mission reports, but a majority of them were intelligence reports from within the Uchiha compound. His defeat of the head of the Uchiha clan had not really made things all that better, but at least from what he could tell things were calming down slightly. Hashirama leaned back in his chair and sighed, he never once imagined for an instant that the job of being a Kage of a shinobi village would be fun and glamorous. No, it was hard work, and sometimes you had to make decisions which impacted everyone. Sometimes those decisions were pretty hard calls to make, and other times they were the only ones that really made any sense. He was the first of what he hoped would be many Fire Shadows who would lead Konoha into a prosperous future.

The Senju clan leader sat up the instant his keen senses detected something. It was extremely faint, barely perceptible, but it was there. Someone was outside the tower ... someone who didn't belong there. Getting up he went to the door and made his way towards the observation deck on the roof. On the cliffs overlooking Konoha the Shodai could see the beginnings of his face appearing in the rocks. It had been the people of Konoha who had come up with the idea of the Hokage Monument, immortalizing the likenesses of the current and future Hokage in stone for all time.

Stretching out his senses the Shodai Hokage tried to pinpoint the intruder. He felt a faint killing intent, whoever they were they were pretty good at keeping themselves hidden. That meant they were a pretty highly skilled ninja, but so was he. In a flash Hashirama had a kunai in his hand and fell into a trade mark Senju clan fighting stance.

“I know you are there, show yourself and let us put and end to this game.” he said defiantly.

From behind he heard a soft feminine voice. “I'm impressed, not many shinobi are able to sense my presence.”

The Shodai Hokage whirled around to face who was behind him but saw nobody there. “I am not like any shinobi you have ever faced,” he said getting angrily. He felt the presence shift, but it was so faint he couldn't tell where she was. She was good, he had to admit that.

“You're quite the looker, its such a pity that I have to kill you.” came the voice again, but this time from above. Hashirama looked up and unleashed the jutsu he'd been preparing with his hands beneath his Hokage robes.

“Mokuton: Shichūrō no Jutsu!” A stream of water and a torrent of earth shot up from the ground outside of the Hokage Tower to converge on a single spot in the air above the Shodai Hokage. Instantly the jutsu went to work creating a prison made of wood. He jumped away as the square shaped wooden case came crashing down to the rooftop holdings its captive. It was dark out, Hashirama couldn't see who he trapped in said of his wood prison technique, but in the pale glow of the moonlight he could see a pair of yellow eyes staring back at him.

“Impressive,” said the voice. There came the sound of creaking and splitting wood. Hashirama's eyes widened as the wood cage exploded from within flying apart and showering the area in chunks of wood and splinters. What just happened shouldn't have happened. The wood he created with his Mokuton technique was far stronger than regular wood. The defensive walls of Konoha were created with the aid of this technique as was much of the forest surrounding the village. The wood used to build the Hokage Tower and much of the buildings in village were produced by his signature ability.

The figure that emerged was a woman, a very beautiful woman. Her hair was waist length and black, she wore an all black tight leather outfit that hugged the curves of her body and left little to the imagination. Her face was young but the only disturbing thing about her were those strange yellow eyes. The Shodai had never seen anything like them. He didn't see any kind of Hitai-ite on the woman, if she were a ninja she wasn't wearing the badge of her nationality or she was a missing nin mercenary with no attachment to any shinobi village.

“Who are you and what is it you want with me?” Hashirama demanded.

The woman smiled at him revealing a pair of long fangs. “Why, I want your life Senju Hashirama.”

The Shodai Hokage braced himself for her attack, but none came. She simply vanished, faded out of existence right in front of him. She didn't do a Shunshin, at least to the best of his knowledge she didn't. Besides, a Shunshin required that something she substituted in place of the person being teleported. This was something totally new to him. Unfortunately the Shodai Hokage had no way of knowing just how close to death he was about to become.]

The attack came from behind in a flash. Hashirama had no time to counter, no time to react, he rolled with the impact and got back to his feet with kunai in hand. All he could see were those strange yellow eyes, the rest of the world seemed to suddenly loose focus and fade away. A Genjutsu, he guessed and tried to dispell it.

“Kai!” he made the hand seal and focused hard, but nothing happened.

The woman laughed, her voice echoing as if she were in a long tunnel or cave. “Foolish little man,” she laughed. “You're ninjitsu hocus-pocus won't help you against me.” Suddenly he felt himself being pushed down and pushed against the floor, he tried to fight back against what was pushing him but the person doing it was inhumanly strong.

“You're village alters the balance of power, that is a change we can't allow.” the voice said in his ear yet he could see nobody in front or around him. From his perspective vision he was still standing, yet he could feel the floor of the roof against his back. Again he tried to struggle but his attacker was just too strong.

Hashirama replied defiantly, “Kill me if you like, but this village will rise up and a new Hokage will be chosen. You won't be rid of us so easily.”

“Oh, poor little man,” the woman said in a sad tone. “He still doesn't realize, he can't comprehend that this is the end. My brothers and sisters are here, when the sun shines again there will be no one left alive.” The Shodai's eyes went wide, he let his chakra surge into his body, his arms and legs, and tried one last time to free himself.

“Oh yes, fight me,” the woman's voice sound more excited now. “I love it when my food struggles, it makes the blood so much sweeter.” Hashirama cried out as something pierced the flesh of his neck, he could feel a pair of lips and then suction. He could literally feel his life's blood being drawn out of him. He tried not to panic and struggled even more but as the minutes passed he began to grow weaker.

Suddenly, the world snapped back into reality. The woman on top of him yelled out in pain as she was thrown from him and slammed into the far railing. The Shodai reached up to his neck and his fingers came away wet and sticky. Looking at them he saw dark blood. He'd heard stories and legends about such creatures, immortal fiends cursed to forever crave the blood of the living. It was just he never imagined he'd ever meet such a creature face to face. Realizing that he'd been saved by someone the Shodai tried to stand and shifted his body so he could look around the rooftop.

Standing next to him was a man with long black hair. His face was regal and he held about him a noble baring. The most striking feature of the stoic man was his eyes. They were pale as if the iris and pupil almost weren't there. Hashirama gasped in sudden recognition, there was only one clan in all the world with eyes like those.

“H...H...Hyuuga,” he said weakly.

“We've intercepted her people,” said someone near the man standing next to his savior, it was a the voice of another woman. “They will be of no threat to anyone ever again.”

“Good, I'll deal with this one, you help the Hokage.” the man said and immediately moved in a flash at an inhuman speed. The woman who attack the Shodai Hokage hissed and growl, her voice now sounding inhuman and demonic. Hashirama didn't see them but he heard the sound of the battle. It wasn't long, soon after it began he heard his attacker yelp in pain then scream in agony before finally falling silent.

Gentle hands lifted him off the floor of the roof. With blurry vision the Shodai looked into an angelic face with the same pale eyes. Unlike the hatred in the yellow orbs of his attack these eyes showed worry and compassion. The woman reached up and touched something to his lips.

“A blood replenishment pill, take it,” she told him. He tried to resist but did as she commanded anyway, his mouth opening of its own accord. He chewed the herbal mixture pill and swallowed it. Almost immediately he began to feel much better, his head started to clear and he no longer felt so tired.

“Thank you,” he said as he sat up on his own. Looking over where the fight had taken place he saw the man who saved him standing over a now ever dessicated looking corpse that looked like it was mummified.

“It pleases me to see you are well, Shodai Hokage-sama of Konohagakure no Sato.” the man said with a polite and dignified bow. Now that he was able to see the man more clearly Hashirama saw that he wore the white robes of a clan leader, the woman next to him wore a blue formal kimono.

“You're ... you're of the Hyuuga clan,” he said to the man.

The Hyuuga nodded. “Hai,” he replied. “My name is Hyuuga Hiashi. I am patriarch of the Hyuuga clan.”

He gestured towards the man beside the Shodai. “This is my wife.” The beautiful woman gave him a disarming closed eye smile.

“I thank you, Hyuuga-sama.” Hashirama said as he stood up on legs that were still a little shaky. Hiashi's wife helped him move over to the railing where he could stand a bit more stably.

He looked back and forth between the two of them before asking, “The last I heard of your clan they were residing in the Country of Lightning. How is that you came to be here, now, of all times?” The Hyuuga's wife laughed lightly.

Hiashi responded, “My clan has traveled all over this land, Shodai-sama. Everywhere we have gone we have found corruption, men lusting for power, leaders not caring if his or her people should suffer and die. We have seen the state of the other shinobi villages, but when we came to Konohagakure we something different here. Yes, you have your political challenges as all do, but no darkness fester in this place. Hope lingers here rather than the pall of decay and greed.”

“You honor my village with your compliment,” the Shodai Hokage bowed.

Hyuuga Hiashi walked next to him and looked out over the village from the railing. The pale light of the moon was shining down on the sleeping village casting a calm and serene visages for the eyes to see. The man turned to Hashirama.

“Such a place must be protected and cherish at all cost,” he said.

“We can help you protect Konoha,” said the Hyuuga's wife.

The Shodai Hokage asked them, “How?” Before his eyes Hiashi's eyes changed, but only for an instant. Gone were the pale eyes, suddenly replaced by yellow orbs with a small pupil surrounded by a thin yellow circle. As quickly as they changed those eyes returned to normal. Hashirama took a step back.

“We are not your enemy, Hokage-sama,” Hiashi told him. “My clan has been in search of a home for many centuries, but no place where we have lingered for long remained untouched by corrupted and decay. The heart of this village is filled with hope and a design to become strong and show a bright example to the elemental countries. Such a village is worthy of our praise and our protection.”

For a long moment the Shodai Hokage pondered this. He knew that the man was, but he could sense that he meant him nor his village any harm. They'd just saved him from being a vampire's prey and if their words could be believed they just saved his entire village from being slaughtered in its sleep. A lot of different possibilities and outcomes crossed his mind, but Hashirama knew of only one things which was certain. Konoha would be better off if the Hyuuga were on their side.

He reached out his hand which Hyuuga Hiashi grasped and shook. “Let us protect this village together, for as long as it stands I swear on my honor that the Hyuuga clan shall serve and protect her.” Hiashi proclaimed.

The next day the village of Konohagakure woke up none the wiser that their lives had hung in the balance the night before. Only a select few of the Shodai Hokage's most trust shinobi, advisors and his young brother were allowed to know the secret of what transpired that night. And so it stayed that way for sixty years until the Shodai's granddaughter assumed the rank of Godaime Hokage and continuing the legacy. Little did any of them know what the future held in store for them, nor could have they have guessed that the very survival of the village would rest in hands of the two most unexpected people imaginable. Nor would they have been able to foresee the events that would take place between them and the impact it would have on the life of thousands.

oOOOo

Somewhere in Konoha sixty years later a pale eyed, beautiful young girl with her hair in a bowl cut, and a blue eyed blond boy dressed in orange both heaved a massive sneeze.

oOOOo

To be continued...

[thezorch]

And now here is chapter 2. Again, please leave comments and suggestions.

Enjoy.

====================

Legal Disclaimer: All the Anime/Manga and non-Anime/Manga characters appearing in this work of fan fiction are owned by their respective copyright and trademark holders. All Rights Reserved.
Written for fan appreciation only without profit.
Protected under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License.
Written using OpenOffice.org 2.4.1 on Kubuntu Linux 8.04.

oOOOo

Michael “TheZorch” Haney's

“Blood Ties – A Naruto Fan Fiction”

oOOOo

Chapter 2

Golden rays of sunlight bathed the Village Hidden in the Leaves in its warm glow. It was early morning but most of the village was already awake. The sound of hammering, sawing, and metalworking could be heard all throughout the streets and causeways as the villagers worked tirelessly to rebuild. It had been several weeks since the disaster of the Chunin Exams, since the betrayal of the Suna, and the loss of the one person in the entire village who was able to keep things running smoothly. The death of the Sandaime Hokage hit Konohagakure no Sato harder than anyone was really willing to admit. They had come to depend on him so much, perhaps a little too much. The council of elders discovered just how hard a job it was to deal with the complexities of maintain a shinobi village in proper order. There were certain social-political considerations that had to be made at all times when dealing with the heads of the nobles clans and Daimyo of foreign nations. Thankfully, however, the village now had a new leader, a new Hokage. One of the legendary sennin, and a legend in her own right as one of the best if not the best Medical Ninja in the entire world.

Few knew that a certain blond haired, blue eyed, knuckle headed genin had been the key to Konoha receiving its new Hokage. Nor would those who did know understand the destiny that this young boy would have and how it wold ultimately affect not only the entire village but all of the Elemental Countries as well.

Uzumaki Naruto opened his eyes. At first his vision was blurry but after rubbing his eyes a bit he was able to see clearly again. He instantly recognized where he was. He was in his room at the hospital again. It was a room reserved especially for him. For the longest time he never really understood why he was given such a privilege despite how most the people in the village disliked him. But, he knew the reason now ever since Mizaki revealed to him his terrible secret. The secret of the Kyuubi no Yoko, the nine tailed demon fox. He was kept in a separate room so the other patients in the hospital wouldn't be afraid to be around him. The nurses were nice to him though, they learned a long time ago that he was a good person and not the terrible demon most others thought him to be.

Looking around the room he was surprised to see flowers and a card sitting next to his bed on the night stand. He'd never gotten flowers before. Naruto guessed they were probably from Sakura. Thinking about her made him feel funny in his chest. He didn't really understand that feeling, but he guessed what it was. He remembered how she'd cried and almost begged him to bring Sasuke back. Yes, that was why he was here again, they'd gone after Sasuke-teme. They failed ... he failed. The thought of how that probably made Sakura feel hurt him inside, but there was something else. As Naruto thought about Sakura, the pretty young pink haired koinichi, he didn't feel that warm and fuzzy feeling he normally got. No, this was a different feeling, it was a warm feeling yet it was different from before. It was the same feeling he had when he thought of Iruka-sensei and the Sandaime.

What did it mean? He loved her, right? Right?

She loves Sasuke. She only sees me as a teammate and a friend, but not as a boyfriend.

It wasn't an easy revelation to accept, to tell the truth Naruto only had the vaguest of ideas of what love was. He didn't know how to tell true love from a simple crush. Naruto had very few examples to draw upon in his life. He certain didn't know what it was like to be loved by someone. Hate was something Naruto understood all too well. Oh, he understood hate just fine. All he needed to do was looking into people's eyes everyday and nine times out of ten he'd see hatred there. Not everyone in the village hated him, but quite a few did. Those who didn't were in the minority. Perhaps the only example of love he did have in his life came from Iruka-sensei. Theirs wasn't a father-son thing but more a big brother, little brother sort of love. Iruka never was a father figure, though Naruto cared for him a lot. No, that honor went to someone else, but now that person was gone.

The blond Jinchuriki sighed and sat up. He didn't know how long he'd been in the hospital. Probably not all that long, he healed pretty fast. Before he didn't know why he healed so fast, but now he did. He hardly ever had to stay more than a day in the hospital before and almost always got out the next day after being admitted. So great was his healing powers that even the most serious of training injuries were gone the next day. Not even a scar was ever left behind. He still ached all over, his skin felt like he'd received a minor sunburn. It was probably due to the red chakra from the Kyuubi, he guessed. Naruto could only remember tiny snippets from that epic fight in the Valley of the End, but what he did remember frightened him.

Naruto sensitive ears picked up the sound of the door handle to his room turning long before the door even opened. The door only opened a small way, the person outside seemed reluctant to continue. After a few seconds of hesitation the door opened all the way. He turned around from where he stood looking out of window to see a very nervous looking Hyuuga Hinata. The young kunoichi held in her hands a bouquet of fresh flowers. The blond noted that were the exact same flowers which were on the nightstand next to his bed. So, she was the one bringing me flowers, he thought to himself. Naruto had always liked Hinata, she was shy, quiet, a little weird, but she was also very nice and kind of pretty too.

“Uh ... ano ... N ... Naruto-kun, h ... h ... ow are you f ... feeling?” she stammer her question while looking at her feet nervously.

“Better, Hinata-chan, I heal really fast,” he replied with a foxy grin of confidence that she loved so much.

She went over to the nightstand and changed out the old flowers for the new ones. “That's nice, N ... Naruto-kun.” she blushed when he called her Hinata-chan. Before he could say anything more she headed for the door fully intending to make a run for it, but something stopped her. She held the door handle, all she had to do was turn the knob and run but she couldn't. Something deep within her screamed at her and for the first time in a long time she didn't tune it out. Slowly she released the door handle and flipped the lock. It wouldn't do for someone to barge in and interrupt. Her father had told her she needed to work on her self-esteem and her courage. She heard his words echo in her head.

“You cannot allow yourself to be afraid of what you are, of who you are Hinata-chan,” she recalled his words. “Believe in yourself, I know its not easy but you must. Face your fears and conquer them, you are a Hyuuga. We do know the meaning of fear. Hold your head up high and be proud of who you are and what you are.”

Naruto just stood there looking at her. He wasn't sure what was going on with the strange girl, he stopped trying to figure her out a long time ago. Strange behavior was just par for the course when it came to Hinata. He still liked her though, she was the only one at the Academy who was ever really nice to him. Yeah, he hung out with Choji and Shikamaru and Kiba and skipped class with them but he never really did play with them or sit around and talk with them. It was always Hinata who was there with kind words, stuttered in that cute shy manner she always spoke in, but never did she say an unkind thing to him.

She was always so nice to him. That one thought went through his mind over and over again. Maybe his recent experience matured him a little, he wasn't sure but he was starting to see people in a whole new light. The same way he realized that Sakura would never love him the way he wanted her to he was also beginning to see something about Hinata that he never really bothered to notice before.

He heard the click of the door lock and uttered a “Huh?”. Before he could ask what was going on the pale eyed kunoichi whirled around, her eyes brimming with tears and raced towards him. Naruto didn't move, he could only watch in surprise as the girl ran to him, wrapped her arms about his waist and bury her face in his chest. For what seemed like forever they stood there, he could feel her shacking and heard her sobbing in his chest. Tentatively at first he brought up his arms and put them on her shoulders, then slowly he brought them around into a hug and just held her. It felt ... well it felt ... right ... to hold her. He'd never experienced this sort of thing before. Naruto only imagined what it would be like to hold a girl in his arms, he often fantasized holding Sakura in his arms but the real thing was much better than anything his adolescent mind would come up with.

“H ... Hinata-chan, are you ok?” he inquired when the girl's sobbing finally stopped.

Blushing as red as a rip cherry, the Hyuuga girl moved back and looked up into his bright blue eyes. “Gomen, I ... I was so worried for you, N ... Naruto-kun,” she nervously replied. She tensed up when he put his hands on her shoulders but she smiled despite herself. Courage, I must have courage, she told herself in a mantra over and over again.

“Hey, its no sweat Hinata-chan,” he told her in a confident tone. “It'll take more than that baka teme to bring me down. Hahaha!” He laughed and scratched the back of his head. Yet, inside he didn't feel all that confident or strong. After all, he'd made Sakura a promise and he'd broken it by not bringing Sasuke back. Yet, this strange new behavior from Hinata had the gears in his head turning. Contrary to popular belief Naruto wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination, he was a bit slow on the uptake but he wasn't stupid. Anyone who faced him in a fight knew this first hand, he was one hell of a strategist when push came to shove.

Then, Hinata did something that blew his mind. She stepped up to him and kissed him gently on the cheek. Before moving away and running to and through the door she whispered into his ear. “You mean a lot to me,” and with that said she was suddenly gone leaving a stunned Jinchuriki behind. It was more than a minute and a half before Naruto could move again, he hand immediately went to the cheek the young girl had kissed. A smile creped its way across his face as a shocking realization suddenly hit him like one of the Tsunade-basan's Finger Flicks of Doom.

Hinata likes me ... as in likes me as more than a friend. She like me!!! A few more of the last vestiges of his Sakura crush crumbled away.

oOOOo

Hyuuga Hinata rushed through the streets of Konohagakure no Sato. Her face still burned with a bright red blush, she couldn't believe what she'd just done. It wasn't like she told him her big secret that she loved him ... no ... worshiped the very ground he walked on but what she said was close. She'd basically admitted that she liked him. That wasn't a bad thing, she was finally showing some of that courage her father hoped she would start showing. She smiled despite herself. He knew now, at least he knew that she liked him. Tell him the whole truth could come later. Hinata knew that Naruto had a big crush on Sakura, it was only a matter of getting him to fall in love with her instead. She needed to formulate a plan of attack.

She knew that her father knew of her crush on the boy. The fact that he never tried to discourage her in her pursuit of Naruto was encouraging. It meant that her often times, very stern father approved. What she didn't know was that her father liked the positive reaction being around the boy had on his daughter. When Naruto was around Hinata's self-esteem went up and she became more courageous. If only it had been possible to put them on a team together, but there were some things even the Hyuuga clan patriarch couldn't control.

So, sensing his daughter's thoughts and mood as she ran through the house to her room Hyuuga Hiashi smiled. It was a rare sight and it had the servants and members of the branch family nervous. Hyuuga Hiashi very rarely ever smiled, and when he did it usually meant trouble. So, you've finally started down that path daughter, he thought to himself. Good for you, Hinata-chan.

oOOOo

“Goddammit!”

Uchiha Itachi glanced at his companion, without an expression on his face or a word he looked away and pushed a piece of his chicken dinner into his mouth. They were in a camp some distance outside of Konohagakure, far enough away not to be detected by ANBU patrols but not too far away that they couldn't reach the village in a short time. They retreated to this new camp after their encounter with the gama sannin. Neither he nor his companion, the shark skinned Kisame, had expected to run into someone of his caliber. Itachi knew his limitations. Taking on the legendary Jiraiya one on one was a fight he couldn't win even with Kisame's help. So, here they've been since their strategic retreat. With every passing day the gray skinned Akatsuki member became more and more agitated. However, once they reported their encounter with the sannin they'd been ordered to back off until further notice. The Kyuubi no Yoko was not needed just yet, more time was needed to prepare, but when the time was right they would strike.

“I hate this sitting around,” Kisame hissed angrily and shattered a nearby tree with a casual swing of Samehada.

“Pein has commanded that we wait,” Itachi said without emotion. “That is what we shall do until we are ordered to do otherwise.” He looked over at his companion, his Sharingun eyes flashing. The shark skinned, S-rank missing nin calmed down and slung his massive skin stripping sword back onto his back. Samehada craved blood, he could feel the sentient weapon yearning for it. The feeling was like a nagging ache behind his eyes.

“What the hell are we waiting for?” Hoshigaki Kisame demanded. He gestured with an arm in the general direction of Konohagakure. “According to our intel the gaki hasn't left the village since their failed mission to get your little brother back from snake breath. Konoha is still weak, we could literally waltz in and grab him and be out without anyone knowing.”

Itachi just peered at him with his full Mangekyo Sharingun. Kisame turned pale, if that were possible, and quited instantly. Though the Uchiha showed little or no emotion he knew when his partner was agitated and when he wasn't. He didn't often get mad but when he did Kisame knew better than to make it worse and he knew when to get the hell out of the way.

Itachi said, “It is most unwise to underestimate them so foolishly.”

“Geh,” Kisame snorted and bit a huge chunk of meat from his roast chicken which was still on the stick he used to turn it over the campfire.

Uchiha Itachi knew that they'd been very fortunate when they went to Konoha that one time. It had been a gamble, things could have been far worse. They'd encountered the Sandaime's son and some Juunin who was still wet behind her ears. Their encounter with Hatake Kakashi was unexpected and while he was able to neutralize him with his Tsukuyomi technique via his Mangekyo Sharingun they'd already attracted way too much attention to themselves. It was by sheer luck that they didn't encounter a Hyuuga. Itachi knew that if it had been a Hyuuga they encountered, a man family member, then the outcome of their fight would have been different. They wouldn't be alive right now to have this conversation, if that is what it could be called.

Kisame growled a question, “There's something about that place that you're afraid of, what is it? You were nervous when we went there that one time. What in the hell could you possibly be afraid of there?” He knew he was treading on very thin ice with what he just asked but it was really getting on his nerves. His partner wasn't showing it very well, but Kisame knew him well enough to know the Uchiha was very worried about something.

“Pray you never find out,” Itachi replied, and it was the last thing he said to Kisame the rest of the night.

oOOOo

Why do I love him?

Yamanaka Ino had begun asking herself that question more so now than ever before. She'd taken the death of the old Sandaime Hokage rather hard. She used to really look up to him like a grandfather of sorts, while she really never did talk much with him she still felt that way about “The Professor”. Just knowing that Sasuke had actually willingly abandoned Konoha to join forces with the man responsible for the Sandaime's broke her heart. Her sensei was the Sandaime's own son, so the pain was really hitting close to home. It hurt, oh gods it hurt worse than any wound she'd ever received. It made her begin to question why she loved the dark, brooding Uchiha heir in the first place.

Knowing what she knew now about him Ino looked back and made some realizations. She wasn't really in love with him, she was in love with the idea of being in love. While she was still at an age where she didn't really fully understand what real love was like she knew this much. Sasuke had seemed cool, but now her memories were tarnished. Perhaps it was because the rose colored glasses she used to wear when viewing the world had been taken from her when she lost her innocence at Chuunin Exams. A lot of people lost their innocence in the bloodshed of that battle, she wasn't the only one to experience death first hand that day, nor was she was the only one to kill for the first time. Since that faithful day she looked at the world in a new light and she began to look at Sasuke in a new light also. What she saw was not what she thought she'd been seeing all these years.

The only other person whom felt closer to the Sandaime was Naruto. Ino found herself thinking about the blond prankster a little more then usual recently. Whenever she saw him together with the aged Hokage it was like seeing a grandfather with his grandson. Those two just had this chemistry between them that was just too obvious to ignore. She didn't really know why, but the Sandaime seemed closer to Naruto than anyone else in the village. Yeah, she looked up to the old man but it was Naruto who had a real relationship with him. She wasn't falling in love with the blond genin, absolutely not, but a part of her was really worried about him. Word of the failed mission to retrieve Sasuke had spread like wildfire across the village. Word had it that Naruto had fought Sasuke and had been seriously injured. It really irked Ino at how some people seemed pleased by this news. They were actually “happy” that Naruto was badly hurt. It pissed her off.

When she was finally given some time off from the flower shop Ino picked out a potted plant she thought the blond might like. She heard from Sakura at one time that Naruto liked growing things, so she guessed a potted plant might be a good gift for him. It had a pretty orange flower, which seemed to be the boy's favorite color. She walked down the hospital corridor to his private room. It came as a big surprise to her that Naruto had his own room in the hospital, again it was just another oddity that perplexed her about the blond haired, blue eyed enigma. Not really paying attention to her surroundings she reached for the door knob and stopped when she noticed another hand reaching for the same thing.

“Sakura-chan,”

“Ino-chan,”

Blushing slight Ino pulled her hand back allowing Sakura to open the door first. They were greeted by the smiling sunny face of the blond genin who made up one third of what had once been Team Seven. Ino noted that the boy was always happy and smiling no matter the situation. Except for that day when it was believed that he had failed the Genin Exam she never saw him with a sad expression on his face. Seeing how well he performed at the Chuunin Exam fights really surprised her. Who knew the class screwup would improve so fast in only a year?

“Sakura-chan, Ino-chan!” Naruto greeted them with his usual enthusiasm.

Sakura grasped her hands in front of her in an uncharacteristically demure fashion when she asked him, “How are you feeling Naruto?” She was heart broken that Naruto had been unable to bring Sasuke back, but the thought of almost loosing someone she'd grown to care about as a dearest friend had hurt her far worse. No, she didn't love him, she knew that he did like her and at first the attention he gave her was annoying but over time she grew to like the attention. She was completely unaware of the thoughts in Ino's mind at that moment, nor of the conflict in her heart and the resolution she was to make later that day.

“Yeah, I heard you took quite a beating.” Ino commented.

Naruto flexed his arm showing some muscle. “Nah, I've had worse. I feel great now.” he said, but unbeknownst to the two girls he was in a great deal of pain doing that move.

Sakura laughed, “Yes, you do seem to heal pretty quick.” It often amazed the pink haired kunoichi just how fast Naruto was able to rebound after taking a good thrashing. Knocking Naruto down was one thing, making him stay down was a real bitch though. She recalled their last real mission together with Sasuke. It was supposed to be a simple C rank mission to watch over a movie actress, but it soon became an A rank mission bordering on S. In the end they'd gotten a lot better, she developed a lot more confidence and they made friend's with a real life Princess.

“Was it as bad as they say?” Ino asked Naruto as she looked into his eyes pleadingly. The blond genin sighed and looked away. Since waking up and meeting with Hinata he'd learned about the condition of the others. It didn't look good, but they were in luck. The Hokage was the best medic nin in the entire Elemental Countries.

He replied, “It was really rough. Orochimaru's guys were really tough, it took everything we had just to take them down. They wore us down one by one until it was just me and Sasuke.” Naruto didn't meet their gazes until he felt a hand on his leg. Looking up he was surprised to see a look of sad sympathy in Ino's eyes.

“I checked on Choji and the others before coming to your room, except for Shikamaru and Lee they don't look too good.” she told him. She smiled and added, “Well, at least Kiba and Akamaru are conscious, but Choji and Neji still haven't woken up yet. Lee is fine, he's just got a few bruises.”

“They still have Choji in intensive care,” said Sakura while looking down at her hands. She didn't really understand how bad things had gone until she went to check on the others before coming to Naruto's room. The mission hadn't been a total loss, they'd dealt Orochimaru a serious blow defeating his elite Oto nin. Certain details of the mission specifics were still classified but what little she did know was that Orochimaru was going to have a hard time rebounding from this.

“I saw Gaara walking to the Hokage tower with his brother and sister,” Sakura said getting an interested look from Naruto. “They couldn't talk much but Temari said they'd be staying in Konoha for a few weeks to help bolster the village's defenses.” Konoha certainly needed the help. Their surviving Juunin and Chuunin was being run ragged doing as many missions as possible to keep up the appearance that the village's strength hadn't diminished. If Iwagakure knew just how vulnerable they were right now it would be bad indeed.

Naruto smiled and nodded, “Yeah, Lee told me Gaara showed up and helped him fight that one freak who used his bones as weapons. Wish I could'a been there to see that fight.” Ever since the Chuunin Exams there was this bond between Naruto and Gaara. Sakura knew that Naruto had saved her from the boy, she barely remembered anything that happened during that fight. All she could remember was that after the battle Gaara was suddenly a different person.

“Sasuke didn't hurt you too bad did he?” Ino asked him. Naruto looked at her and for a brief moment she could see the hurt in the boys eyes before he shielded his true emotions. She's heard a lot of crazy stories about what had happened at the Valley of the End, it was hard to tell what was true and what wasn't. All she knew was that one hell of an epic battle was fought there, they felt the discharges of chakra from that fight all the way back in Konoha.

Looking down at his hands Naruto suddenly looked very vulnerable, it passed quickly. “I tried,, gods I tried Sakura, but I couldn't keep my promise ...” He was interrupted by the pink haired girl as she drew him into a tight hug.

“Its alright, I'm just glad that you came back alive.” she said wiping some tears from her eyes. She was sad because Naruto had failed to bring Sasuke back to her, but she was even more sad that Naruto felt that he'd really let her down. Loosing Sasuke hurt, but the thought of loosing both of them would have hurt far worse. Ino nodded in agreement and save the blond boy a cheerful smile.

The door to the room suddenly burst open and the girls jumped back. It wouldn't do for someone to get the wrong impression. Kakashi regarded them with his one eye, the mirth Sakura saw in it tell her that he knew exactly what was going on. Behind him came Kiba walking with some crutches. Akamaru was in his usual spot perched on his head. The puppy had his paws wrapped in bandages but otherwise he looked in good condition. Ino's eyes widened when the gray haired gama sannin entered the room right after Kiba and Akamaru and following behind him was Shikamaru.

“You still slacking off in bed, gaki?” Jiraiya joked as he ruffled Naruto's hair. “Boy I tell ya, kids these days always loafing off when there's missions to be done.”

Everyone laughed and they basked in the warmth of their friendship. After they talked and laughed reminiscing about past missions and about the fight with the Oto nin it was time for everyone leave. Naruto was starting to get tired and needed to go to sleep. Sakura and Ino were the last to say their goodbyes to Naruto as they left together. Side by side they walked through the streets of Konoha until the reached the intersection where they usually parted to go home. As they started to part ways Sakura stopped.

Without looking back she said, “Naruto will bring him back.” Ino looked back at her, not really in surprise but to see what more she might say. “If there is anything I know about Naruto its that he never ever gives up, and he never ever breaks a promise.” Sakura continued.

She turned to look back at the blond kunoichi and said, “Sasuke will be back. And when he does I'll be here for him. I won't loose to you.” With that said she turned to leave. Ino watched her go for a moment, but there was a burning in her chest that she just couldn't stand anymore.

“SAKURA-CHAN!” the pink haired kunoichi turned to see what Ino wanted and was shocked when the girl grabbed her up into a hug. Tears streamed down Ino's face as she held the girl who'd been her best friend so long ago.

“I ... I ... Ino?” Sakura was shocked to say the least. Why was Ino was crying? What was going on?

“Probably because she knows she has no chance against us!” Inner Sakura cheered pumping her fist.

Ino let go and stepped back wiping her eyes. Sakura took a handkerchief from her hip pouch and handed it to the taller girl. After Ino wiped her eyes she finally spoke. “I hope you do win his heart,” she said. The pink hair girl's mouth fell open in surprise, was she hearing this right. Her inner self fell silent suddenly.

“Wait, I thought that you ...” she tired to say but Ino interrupted her.

Ino said, “I don't care anymore. I've tried to hang on but I can't. For a while I thought I loved him but I'm not so sure anymore.” Sakura's eyes widened, did she heard what she thought she heard? Was Ino giving up on Sasuke? To sounded too good to be true.

“YES, now he's all mine!” Inner Sakura cried.

Ino looked away and continued, “I've been really thinking really hard and I came to the conclusion that I never really did love him. I think I just loved the idea of being in love with him. Sounds silly I know but its the truth.”

“But you've been after him for as long as I have,” Sakura looked at her in disbelief. She was having hard time believing what she was hearing. After all their years of rivalry over the Uchiha heir she was just going to walk away and admit defeat. Ino never back away from anything, she knew Ino too well to believe it just over just like that.

Sakura's heart was nearly torn in two as Ino's face twisted into a mask of anguish with renewed tears streaming down her cheeks. “I ... I ... I j ... just wanted ... my ... best ... f ... friend ... back!” she sobbed and put her face in her hands. She barely registered it when Sakura raced to her and put her arms around her in a tight hug. The two girls held each other and cried for what seemed like forever until no more tears would come. They ignored the looks they were getting form people, some curious, others worried, and some knowing. Most the knowing looks came from elderly women. They remembered what it was like to be that age.

“I could use some ice cream ... my treat,” Sakura suggested. Ino cracked a smile, it had been ages since they'd gone to have ice cream together.

“Chocolate double fudge?” she said and Sakura nodded.

“With hot fudge topping,” Sakura smiled. Soon the two girls were walking towards their favorite ice cream shop hand in hand. Ino looked back and could almost see an image of her older self standing there yelling and arguing with Sakura. That was the old Ino, the one who was obsessed with Sasuke. She'd never admit to Sakura that another reason for giving up on him was his betrayal of Konoha and for hurting his best friend. All that would have done was create a greater rift between them. She wanted to rebuild the bridges that she burned with Sakura. Looking at her smiling best friend's face deep inside Ino know that everything was going to be alright from now on.

Back in hospital, Tsunade stepped out of surgery pulling off her rubber gloves and plopped down tiredly into the closest chair. She smiled, Choji would live, it had been a miracle the boy was still alive when he was brought to the hospital. Her thoughts went to a certain blond, she knew he'd be pleased to hear the good news. Getting up tiredly she headed for his private room to give him the good news.

oOOOo

To be continued ...