Naruto had a spring in his step as he entered his apartment, a smile gracing his face as he returned having finally spent some time with Kurotsuchi in his own village. Granted it was all still in complete secrecy but it was still a good step forward. They got to enjoy a good soak in the bath, a bit or personal time and a short meal after Kurotsuchi ordered room service.
He checked it wasn't poisoned just to be on the safe side.
He stayed for nearly 2 hours before he called it a night. He didn't want to push his luck and stay the night despite how enticing it was. Kurotsuchi didn't make it easy either having slipped into the bed patting the spot next to her. As tempted as he was he knew it was better for him to go home. They had already pushed their luck enough for one night.
"Good Evening Naruto." Naruto almost jumped out of his skin as he whirled around and saw Hiruzen sitting down in the armchair Itachi would regularly use when he was with them. The Sandaime was in his usual daily wear with his arms crossed against his chest with his head down and eyes closed. If Naruto hadn't known any better he would have said he had fallen asleep in the chair, but he did no better when it came to his grandfather figure. He was also surprised that he couldn't sense him yet he knew if there was anyone that could mask their chakra signature and hide it from him then it was going to be Hiruzen. He was known as the Professor for a reason.
"Hey Jiji, you scared me there. What are you doing sitting here in the dark?" Naruto asked as he took his jacket off and hung it on one of the hooks beside the door. "We didn't make plans did we? If we did I'm really sorry that I forgot."
Hiruzen shook his head. "No Naruto we did not have plans. I simply decided to stop by. I have something I would like to talk you about."
Intrigued Naruto walked over and sat on the side of the sofa closest to Hiruzen. He was curious what he wanted to talk about so late at night. "You sure you should be up Jiji? Normally you're in bed by nine. You sure that's good for your old bones?"
"You'll find Naruto these old bones still have some kick in them yet if you'd like to get another demonstration?" Hiruzen asked, but Naruto shook his head. He wasn't looking for a rematch of their battle in the Chunin Stadium anytime soon. "No, I was wondering where you have been tonight."
Hiruzen watched him like a hawk, but Naruto didn't let anything slip. "I was with Anko over at the Forest of Death. I wanted to ask her how the twins were doing when she saw them. I left a little while ago when Itachi came to ask the same for Sasuke."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, that's right." Naruto clarified yet Hiruzen didn't look very convinced. He just continued to look at Naruto with stern eyes bring his hands up and placing them together underneath his chin. Naruto leaned back in the chair not thinking anything was wrong yet Hiruzen began to lean towards him. He motioned for Naruto to lean closer prompting the blonde to return forward.
"Tell me Naruto why are you lying to me?" Naruto's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he tried to defend himself. A frown appeared on his face and began scratching the back of his head.
"Jiji I'm not lying. Why would you think I'm lying?" Hiruzen felt like smirking yet instead kept a cool facade on his face, something that always worried Naruto whenever he got into trouble. His grandfather figure had ways of finding out is someone was lying which was something Naruto thought he was good at. Or at least, he had been relatively good at up to this point.
"Because Naruto...I visited Anko shortly after the genin went into the Forest of Death for their second exam and was told she sent Itachi inside the forest to keep an eye on some unsavory character that didn't sit well with her." Panic quickly build up in Naruto's chest and felt a lump forming in his throat. "That and I saw Hana heading over towards her location an hour ago. I doubt you spoke to her while they were likely having one of there more...intimate moments."
Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat and shuffled nervously in his seat. He thought he had been so careful. He snuck past the Anbu with little problem and made no sound as he went in and out of the window, yet somehow he had failed to notice Hiruzen had been watching him the whole time. 'Am I slipping up? Is the gap between us that much still?'
"Naruto...tell me the truth...or should I take a guess as to why you snuck into the Tsuchikage's granddaughters' room at the Golden Leaf Hotel?" If Hiruzen was much of a gambling man then he would have won the grand prize at any casino from the pale shade Naruto's face suddenly turned a deathly shade of pale that didn't suit him. Hiruzen knew he had hit the mark and now only had to wait for Naruto to admit to what he was suspecting.
"I...I've slipped up. What do I do?" Naruto thought as he looked back at the state Hiruzen was giving him. As much as he had wanted to tell people about their relationship he had hoped it would have been on his own terms and not suddenly sprung on him in such a manner. Yet in a sense, what he was currently feeling with the surprise and the shock would likely be what the people they were going to tell would feel. Especially with members of his family. "I don't know what to do. I'm not prepared for this. At least not like this."
"Just tell me the truth. I'll only find out by some other means my boy." Hiruzen responded as if he was reading his mind. "If it helps then I will keep this conversation between us. This secret you have that ties you to the Iwa Kunoichi will remain a secret until you both decide to share it with others. However right now I am asking you Naruto...is there something going on between the two of you?"
"Yeah, Jiji," Naruto whispered. "There is something between us."
"What is that my boy?" Hiruzen asked softly and put his hand on his shoulder. The two stared at one another as silence ran across the room as it waited for Naruto to speak. The silence felt like it lasted forever, but Hiruzen waited patiently for Naruto to speak. An internal fight was going on Naruto's head as he tried to weight the pro's and con's yet couldn't come to any kind of resolve. It was all so sudden that he said the only words he could think of.
"Jiji...I love her."
Like a chain reaction, the look on Hiruzens face softened as did his eyes as he slowly brought his arm back to being crossed against his chest. Naruto watched Hiruzen from the corners of his eyes as he looked down at the ground, still shuffling in his seat as he now waited for the next words to come out of Hiruzen. He wasn't sure how he was going to react. In all honestly, he wasn't sure how he felt towards Iwa. The conversation never really came up past the basic information.
"Naruto." Hiruzen eventually spoke while taking a deep breath. "Start from the beginning Naruto. How did this all start."
"Well, Jiji...it went like this. It started I guess when I was on a mission with Mikoto Sensei and Anko 4 years ago where I encountered Raiga Kurosuki." Over the next 20 minutes, Naruto told Hiruzen everything. From the encountering Kurotsuchi in the field against Raiga to their meeting at the Fire Daimyo's palace during his first year at being one of the Guardian Twelve. How they grew closer during her brief time there and how they remained in contact for the next 2 years thanks to the use of his summons so they could meet up when it was at all possible. Naruto made sure to include how careful they were not to raise suspicion when they were together not wanting Hiruzen to think he was always sloppy when it came to Kurotsuchi.
Naruto told Hiruzen how Kurotsuchi made him feel. How she brought out the best in him and how she motivates him to get stronger not only for her but for his family and vice versa. How she constantly keeps him on his toes and how much he loved her laugh when she shared it with the world.
Unknowingly to Naruto the more he talked about Kurotsuchi the more Hiruzen began to understand and the less concerned he was becoming towards this issue. Hiruzen didn't say anything and just listened to what Naruto had to say.
"I see. That's a lot to take in." Hiruzen admitted. It was a lot to wrap around in the old Kage's head, but he had to go back to what Naruto said earlier. "You really do love her don't you?"
"Yeah Jiji, I really do. She means more to me than anything in the world." Naruto whispered as he ran a hand through his hair yet a smile was on his face as he spoke about her. "I've never felt this way about anyone else before."
'He really is in love.' Hiruzen thought as he nodded his head. 'The way he speaks about her, it's...it's how I speak about my Biwako. His eyes aren't lying. Not about any of it.'
"Why did you keep a secret all this time? Why have you kept this secret for the last 2 years." Hiruzen asked. "Did you think we wouldn't approve? That we would be angry?"
"Honestly yes I did Jiji. I'm not ashamed of my relationship with Kuro-chan, far from it in fact. But could you imagine what would happen if word about us got out when neither of us is ready to tell people?" Naruto spoke. "A Konoha shinobi dating an Iwa Shinobi? It's unheard off. There're a lot of people in both our villages that would sooner see hell freeze over then let that happen."
"Jiji..are you angry at me for keeping this for you?" Naruto whispered. "Do...you disapprove of us?"
Hiruzen let out another sigh as he rubbed his forehead. This was honestly not a situation he thought he was going to be in concerning Naruto. "I'm not mad Naruto. I'm honestly just surprised. In all my years I thought you would have eventually found a nice girl in the Leaf to settle down with one day, to fall in love and start a family with. You falling in love with an Iwa shinobi, the granddaughter of their current Tsuchikage no less is a lot for these old bones to take in."
"I know it's hard to imagine Jiji, I never thought I would fall in love with her either. When it happened I was just as surprised as you are right now. I didn't know how it was going to work or how we would prove to everyone that's it real but none of that really matters to me anymore. I love her Jiji and I don't want to be with anyone else." Naruto admitted. "She's just...when I'm with her I just feel whole, as if when she's next to me everything around me just looks and feels clearer. Do you understand what I mean?"
He did understand what Naruto meant. He understood as what Naruto described was how he felt with Biwako. "Yes, Naruto. I understand what you mean. Naruto you understand that with this relationship the potential outcomes of revealing it not only to your family but to her family and both your respective villages might not be a happy one given our history."
"I know. It's why we have been waiting for the right time." Naruto told him. "With Kurotsuchi acting as the envoy and voice of her Grandfather in peace talks what better time is there to reveal our relationship. It could even help the peace talks between our villages."
"Or it could destroy any hope of peace," Hiruzen told him causing Naruto to deflate a little. "But I can't deny the optimism. It could have potential success if handled correctly and a lot of explaining is given to your families."
"So when do I get to meet her?" Hiruzen asked surprising Naruto who gawked at him.
"You want to meet her?" Naruto asked in a higher tone than he usually spoke.
"Of course. Now that I know it would be rude of you not to introduce me to her." Hiruzen told him. "Bring her to the Sarutobi Compound in two days for dinner. I'll prepare my signature stew for us."
"To the Sarutobi Compound? Won't that be a little suspicious if we enter in nice clothes together. Won't the other Sarutobi clan members talk?" While he was happy that his Grandfather figure wanted to meet his girlfriend he was still a little concerned with other people finding out without their knowledge. He already slipped up once and he hoped to kami above that Kurotsuchi wouldn't get mad at him for them being discovered by Hiruzen.
"Well if your secrecy skills are as good as they were tonight then perhaps you need to start practicing more on your espionage skills my boy. Or would you prefer we have another lesson? Perhaps even Kurotsuchi can join us since it appears she will be sticking around for a while."
"No no no that's okay Jiji. It's all good. I'll make sure to be more stealthy. I promise."
"Good. I expect no more secrets of this magnitude between us from now on Naruto. Understood?" He asked but the tone of his voice was clearly in his Hokage voice that Naruto recognized.
"Yes, Jiji. You got it."
Forest of Death
"You okay Sakura?" Eiji called out as he stood over the unconscious body of an Ame shinobi who was face down on the ground breathing ragged breaths through his breathing mask. He kept one of his tri-pronged kunai pointed towards the downed genin and keeping an eye on him from the corner of his eye as he looked over towards his pink haired teammate. Sakura had a few scratched on her and her clothes had gotten torn in a few places but were relatively fine. Her training with Shizune had come into full effect when they encountered the Ame genin and it got put to good use when one of the Ame genin quickly began targeting her as his teammates focused on Eiji and Sasuke.
"I'm okay Eiji. A little out of breath but I'm okay." Sakura responded as she looked down at the dead genin at her feet. It was her first kill as a shinobi and could already feel her hands shaking as she just stared down at the body. The blood was seeping out of the genin's neck where she had managed to cut his throat after he got distracted from Eiji and Sasuke taking out his comrades. She had watched as his hands went straight to his throat but it little to stop the bleeding. Soon enough he collapsed to the ground and stopped moving entirely as his life slipped away. 'It was bound to happen eventually. You..you can cry later when your on your own. I don't Eiji and Sasuke to see.'
'This was her first kill. Eiji thought, noticing a similar look on her face. He had his first kill 2 months ago. He remembered getting home and crying into his Mother's arms who had deduced what had happened when she saw the look on his face. She had held him for about ten minutes before she began talking to him about it. His father did the same when he got home and made sure he knew what he did was justifiable, that he was following orders and protecting himself. "Sasuke have you got the scroll?"
Sasuke had his opponent beaten and tied to a tree with ninja wire, looking a little out of breath but otherwise unharmed. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the Earth scroll for his teammates to see. Eiji grinned while Sakura smiled. That was the hard part done in their minds. Now all they had to do was get to the tower in the middle of the Forest. Eiji had made a clone to scout the tops of the tree's who had managed to see the tower some ways off in the distance. If Sakura's math was right which it normally was then it would take them about 20 minutes to reach if they pushed themselves.
None of them had the desire to stay in the monster-filled forest any longer than they needed so the choice was easy for them.
"We'll go straight to the tower. There's no point for us being out here any longer. We have what we came for so let's finish this second task before any of the other teams find us. Sasuke told them as he put away his weapons. Sakura did the same while Eiji thumped the down Ame shinobi in the back of the head, knocking him out and no longer making him a viable threat.
"I know we've only been out here since yesterday but I'm already missing my bed. Keeping an eye open for bandits in the middle of the night is way different to looking out for giant snakes and spiders in the night." Sakura told her teammates as they picked up some of their loose equipment they had used and lost during the battle.
"You and me both Sakura." Eiji agreed as did Sasuke who merely nodded. "Now let's get out of here." The trio stood together and leaped up into the tree's and was about to begin running at top speed when a voice appeared out of nowhere.
"I'm afraid it won't be so easy." All three of them whipped their heads to the side to find one of the Kusa shinobi from earlier leaning against the tree with her arms folded, looking right at them. Her voice made a shiver go down their spines and noticed she was looking at them in a way a snake looked at a mouse.
Immediately the three genins jumped away and landed on a thick branch a few meters away with Sasuke and Eiji both standing in front of Sakura, kunai's drawn and pointing towards "What do you want!?" Eiji demanded. "Do You want our scrolls? Well, you can't have them."
"Yeah," Sakura added. "You have to go through us if you want them."
To their surprise, however, the girl simply laughed. Her laugh though made the hairs on the back of their necks stand on edge. It sounded so menacingly...so eery that the trio couldn't help but take a small step back.
'She's not scared. We out number her 3 to 1 and she's not scared in any way.' Eiji thought. 'Is she like Haku? Have we met someone of that level?'
'I don't like this. Something about her feels off.' Sasuke thought. Deciding it was wise not to let their guard down around this person, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, his eyes now spinning with two red eyes with one tomoe in one eye and two in the other.
To their surprise however as soon as Sasuke activated his Sharingan a large smile appeared on the girls face and they watched as a long tongue appeared out of the girls mouth. She was practically salivating at the mere sight of Sasuke Sharingan.
"What I want you ask?" She chuckled again before the trio watched in panic and disgust as her hands came up to her face and peeled off a small portion of her face, revealing skin so white it could match snow and golden eyes with a slit for a pupil. "I want you Sasuke."
Before Sasuke, Sakura and Eiji could say a single word the girl was suddenly in front of them in the blink of an eye and kicked Eiji squared in the gut, knocking him off the branch and down to the ground.
'Fast! I didn't even see him move.' Sasuke thought before jumping away when the girls attention turned to him. She paid no mind to Sakura and instead just followed after Sasuke. Sakura watched as the dangerous girl chased after Sasuke before steeling her nerves and went after her. Down below Eiji winced as he slowly got up, holding his stomach with the wind knocked out of him.
"She's no normal genin. Her kicks are like iron."
Weaving in and out of tree Sasuke watched as the girl chased after him and was quickly catching up with him. Going through a few hand signs, he shouted "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu." A large fireball shot straight towards the girl however to his surprise the girl simply endured it and came out of the fireball with blackened skin that was burnt all over.
"You'll have to do better than that," She said, a sick smile on her face before lunging towards him. Sasuke reacted as fast as he could and pulled out multiple kunai and threw them towards her. They hit their mark and a small explosion went off that knocked Sasuke back. Looking up from his downed position Sasuke watched as gulped when he saw the girl come out of the explosion again looking exactly the same as before.
Gripping his fist tightly, Sasuke went through more hand signs. "Fire Style Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" The fire streamed through the air with multiple flowers shaped fireballs going towards the girl however instead she gracefully dodged all of the attacks. She made it look so easy that Sasuke couldn't help but wonder who she was.
Before Sasuke could let out another attack the girl lunged at him again but, this time, managed to grab him and pin him to the tree with a hand wrapped around his throat. Sasuke struggled to breathe as her grip was iron tight. He felt her other hand come up and pull down his collar to expose his neck. Opening her mouth wide Sasuke eyes grew wide when a freakily large set of fang appeared in her mouth and aimed for the side of his neck. He tried to struggle but with his throat being crushed he didn't get the sufficient air supply to keep moving.
Just as the fangs were about to touch the skin the sound of swirling could be heard. The girl growled in annoyance before jumping away as Eiji appeared. "Rasengan!" He shouted as aimed for the girls chest. Before it could land however the girl grabbed his hand before it could make contact and swung him through the air. Eiji was suddenly thrown into the air but somehow managed to land on the side of the tree, sticking to the bark thanks to the Tree Walking technique.
"My my to no such a technique at such a young age. I see your parents have taught you well." The girl said in a mocking tone. "But you're not the one I want. Leave and I might let you live. Stay and you will die."
Sakura appeared next to Sasuke and checked his throat over for any kind of damage while Eiji glared at the girl. "Forget it. No way am I leaving a teammate behind. I'mm a shinobi of the Leaf and we don't leave our comrades behind. You want him you go through me."
The girl sighed as Eiji summoned two clones around him. "So young. What a pity you had to die too soon." Bringing up her thumb she bit into the skin where she then drew a line of her own blood on a tattoo that was on her wrist. "Summoning Jutsu!"
A large puff of smoke appeared knocking Eiji and destroying his two clones immediately. Putting a hand over his face, he waved away some of the smoke but quickly regretted it a moment later when a large pair of golden eyes was looking back at him.
"SNAKE!" Eiji shouted when the snake lunged right at him, jaws open wide. Eiji tried to get away but instead found the girl suddenly beside him and kicked him hard once again directly into the snake's mouth. Eiji's eyes went wide as fear gripped his heart as the world around him began going dark before he found himself landing and sliding down the throat of the enormous snake.
"EIJI!" Sakura shouted as Sasuke looked at the snake in shock. Neither could believe what had just happened as they watched the snake turn its attention to them. It tongue flicked out of its mouth as the girl landed on top of its head, looking right back at Sasuke. "Girl if I were you I would run. I want to say it a third time." The bodies of Sasuke and Sakura both shook and both fell to their knee's when a huge amount of killing intent suddenly hit them like a boulder. Both couldn't move as the force was just too much for either of them to bear. It was like Zabuza back in Wave Country yet ten times greater. So great they could barely breathe.
As the girl was about to step off the snake once again a swirling sound could be heard but this time, it came from beneath them. Sakura and Sasuke both looked down and watched as the side of the snake's stomach suddenly burst open in a shower of blood and guts. Both covered their eyes as some of its body contents rained down through the air and splashed over the tree's and the ground. However, Sakura and even Sasuke felt a wave of relief when they watched Eiji push himself out of the now dead snake and fall to the ground along with the snake.
Eiji coughed and spat out some of the blood from the snake that had gotten into his mouth. "I'm never doing that again," He muttered before steadily standing up. His legs were shaking as the shock of what happened ran through him. A mix of fear and adrenaline was currently coursing through his body before he focused his attention back on the girl that had caused the gross incident that just happened.
"My Kaa-chan doesn't like it when I swear but since she's not around I think I can get away with it," He said before grabbing one of his kunai tightly. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM THEM YOU BITCH!"
"My my what a mouth you have." She taunted before Eiji bolted towards her and began engaging in taijutsu. His aimed to kill, specifically towards her neck and heart. He was tired of what was suppose to be an easy pass to the next task. He through punches and kicks towards her head only for the girl to either block or dodge the swipes, pushing him away a moment later but Eiji didn't stop as he kept going. The two remained in that state for about 2 minutes and Eiji felt his temper spiking at how easy this girl was blocking his strikes. It was like she was putting no effort into her movements.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" Dozens of large glomps of water shot out of Eiji's mouth towards his opponent, fully intent on hurting this girl or worse. However like with the fire Jutsu the girl dodged the bullets gracefully and instead the attacks just impacts the tree's and the ground.
"Sasuke we need to help Eiji." Sakura told her teammate but saw Sasuke was in a state of shock in fear, barely moving his body at all as his eyes just watched his teammate fight a battle he couldn't win.
"We can't win. She's too strong. We're gonna die." Sasuke whispered but Sakura had heard him. She looked ready to cry as those words came out his mouth. Had Sasuke really given up just like that? The boy she had a crush on for so long was just giving up like that while their teammate was fighting an impossible battle? She wasn't...she couldn't just give up so Sakura did something she thought she would never do. She raised her hands and she slapped Sasuke across the face, stunning him out of his fear ad looking at her in surprise.
"YOU MIGHT HAVE GIVEN UP BUT I WON'T. I WON'T LET OUR TEAMMATE FIGHT THIS BATTLE ALONE." She shouted at him before slowly standing up and going towards the fight. She knew she didn't stand a chance but she wasn't going to let her fear control her while her teammate fought an impossible battle. She grabbed a kunai from her pouch and got involved.
'Sakura.' Sasuke thought as the watched Sakura jump in. As soon as she did the Kusa shinobi showed no interest in fighting her. If anything, Sasuke thought she looked more annoyed at the battle she was stuck in. Her gaze flickered back towards him, clearly not taking the battle seriously.
"HEY! DON'T IGNORE US!" Eiji shouted going through hand signs as he prepared to fire a Jutsu. "Water Style Wa-"
Eiji stopped midsentence and felt his entire body suddenly go numb as a rush of pain that he had never felt before engulfed his stomach. He vaguely heard Sakura scream bloody murder and his gaze flickered momentarily towards Sasuke who face morphed into one of horror. His gaze slowly went down to his stomach and coughed out a glob of blood that landed on the tree branch. Going straight through his stomach was a sword with a gold handle that was being wielded by the lengthy tongue of his opponent. The girl showed no interest in him, looking back only at Sasuke as if further mocking just how insignificant she found him.
The horrid sound of the blade coming out of his stomach made his hands reach for the wound before he fell to his knee's as he felt his body shut down from shock. He fell to the side and ended up falling off the tree they were standing on. All Eiji could hear as his vision began to blur and darken was Sakura screaming his name and the dark eerie chuckle coming from the Kusa shinobi.
"Eiji?" Mito whispered as she looked off to the left, stopping at the top of a nearby tree. Shikamaru and Sai both saw her suddenly stop and stopped as well a moment later. Mito wasn't sure why she stopped but this shiver went up her spine that brought the hairs up on the back of her neck. She held her hand to her chest, her eyes going soft and looking concerned as she looked off in the distance. Her heart felt like something was gripping it tightly and was actually causing her some discomfort. She felt fine just a moment ago but as if out of nowhere the thought of her twin suddenly popped into her mind and the pain started.
"Mito? What is it?" Shikamaru asked appearing beside her. Sai said nothing and just watched.
"I don't know." She admitted and she really didn't know. I just...something feels wrong. I can't explain it. I think something happened to Eiji."
Naruto's entire body froze mid stride as he made his way towards the Hokage tower. He was on his way to visit his father, who at this time was likely still having talks with Kurotsuchi and was taking over a bento box his Mother had prepared for him. The day had gone pretty normal and he had gotten some training done in the morning after a rather stressful nights sleep. The whole thing with Hiruzen having kept him up for a few hours before managing to eventually get some sleep.
He knew his brother and sister were somewhere in the Forest of Deat hat this moment of time and had been making sporadic checks up on them with his sensory skills to check they were okay. Everything so far felt fine and he guessed they were doing okay. At least, that was until just a moment ago.
'Eiji! His chakra just dropped hard. It's gone so low. Dangerously low.' He thought. Someones chakra only goes that way when...
"EIJI!" He shouted scaring the people around him. He threw the bento box on the ground and took off at full speed towards the Forest of Death.
"EIJI! Sakura screamed and went to jump after him, however, she, Sasuke and the Kusa shinobi were all surprised when Eiji's limp body suddenly vanished from mid-air, leaving no trace of where it had gone.
'Where did the body go?' The Kusa shinobi thought before a rare feeling went up her spine. A chill. Where did that come-
She stopped and slowly turned her head when a powerful chakra signature suddenly appeared just a few meters from her. She slowly turned her head and for the first time today she let her nerves get tested as a pair of fully matured Sharingan span dangerous at her. Sasuke turned his head to his right and for the first time in a very long time Sasuke let out a choked sob at who stood next to him. Even Sakura who quickly jumped over to them was letting a few tears leak out as hope finally showed itself to them.
Itachi Uchiha, dressed in his Anbu gear and mask resting on top of his head stood next to his younger brother with an unconscious and wounded Eiji Namikaze gently held in his arms. The boy was breathing but it was shallow and the blood was still leaking out of the wound. He looked down at felt pain grip his heart as he looked at the wounded little brother of his best friend. 'I should have got here sooner. He was able to give me the slip and my mistake have had consequences.'
"Sasuke," Itachi spoke getting Sasuke's attention. "Go with the clone towards the tower. The clones will heal Eiji as much as he can to keep him alive before medics can see to him. I want you and Sakura to run as fast as you can to the tower. Do not stop for anyone or anything. Once you are at the tower tell the nearest chunin or join what happened and tell them to get the Hokage and his wife. Is that understood?"
Both Genin couldn't speak but just nodded as Itachi handed Eiji over to the clone. As soon as he did the clone bolted through the tree's straight to the tower. He would be there in a minute or two at top speed while behind him Sasuke and Sakura quickly followed briefly looked behind back at Itachi for a moment before looking back straight ahead.
Knowing they now out of harms way, or at least away from this shinobi that stood in front of him Itachi's hand that soaked in Eiji's blood went to his side and quickly turned into a fist that lightly shook. Itachi wasn't someone who liked his emotions getting the better of him but now was one of that moment where despite his calm appearance and stoic face he felt his blood boil and his anger pushing against will.
"Orochimaru," He whispered as looked right into the golden eye of who was truly lying behind that skin.
"My, my so you know who I am?" The Kusa shinobi asked. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised from the Genius of the Uchiha Clan. Perhaps now I can finally get out of this skin." Bringing his hand up the shinobi ripped away the other side of the tanned skin until what was left was the face of a shinobi that the entire world was fully aware of. He threw off the headband and ran a hand through his long black hair before grinning towards Itachi. "It was so stuffy behind that skin."
"You made a mistake coming here." Itachi told him but all he got was a chuckle from the pale shinobi.
"My only mistake was not finishing the blonde brat quicker. Perhaps I should have aimed for the throat or the heart. Either way, it matters not. While I would have preferred Sasuke since he's so young I guess you will have to do. Though this might take a little longer than I planned given your reputation."Orochimaru's gaze fixed itself on Itachi as he looked hungrily towards the red eyes that bore down on him. His tongue licked his lips and yet Itachi showed no signs of being intimidated.
"Admitting...that you came here for Sasuke and gloating that you hurt a child I have known since he was a baby...was the biggest mistake you could have made." Was all Itachi whispered before Orochimaru flew through the air with the sword that had wounded Eiji sticking out of his mouth.
It all happened in a matter of seconds and yet it was all that it took for the tables to be turned. One second Orochimaru had all the confidence in the world as he felt the prize that he had wanted for so long was finally in his grasp. The next however that confidence was shattered as the shape of a black pinwheel suddenly engulfed him.