Of Blossoms, Teachers, Foxes, and Brothers

Disclaimer: Yeah, don’t own Naruto. Still…

Summary: Sakura is on a mission! She gets kidnapped by Itachi. Konoha finds out and sends Kakashi and Naruto to get her. Sasuke is with Orochimaru and finds out that his brother has Sakura. He goes after Itachi seeking his revenge.

Pairings: SasuNaru (equal love!), KakaIru, possible others.

A/N: Please review! It makes me happy and seeing how popular I am makes me want to update more often to keep the popularity. ^^ heh heh. And sorry for the little delay, I had this huge exam on Monday, and a paper due this coming Friday. Procrastinators anonymous. So, I’m writing! Enjoy!

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Chapter 3
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A week after Kakashi and Naruto left Konoha
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“WHAT!?” Kakashi covered his ears at the high pitched screech. It figured that the blond would react like this. “What do you mean Gaara is the Kazekage?” Naruto stared incredulously at Kakashi.

“Just that.” Kakashi turned on his heel and nodded at the Sand ninja guarding the door to the Kazekage’s office. They opened the door and Kakashi entered, Naruto sputtering behind him.

Inside the office, Naruto stopped sputtering and took a look around. The room wasn’t as big as the Hokage’s, but that was expected, with Konoha being a bigger city. It was very neat, a lot neater than Naruto ever saw Tsunade keep her office. There was a window off to the left of the office, overlooking the entire Sand village. Book shelves packed with old, thick books; glass cases with scrolls and weapons on display; big mahogany desk right in front of the cases. The desk was the neatest desk Naruto ever saw. Scrolls were neatly piled on once side; the rest of the desk was clear and beautifully shiny. Sitting at the desk was none other than the red-haired demon vessel. Naruto gaped.

“It’s impolite to stare, Uzumaki.” Gaara replied dryly. “Good afternoon, Hatake.” The young Kazekage stood and rounded the desk, bowing. “I’m glad you two could make it.” This seemed to snap Naruto out of his daze.

“Of course we’d make it! Sakura is our teammate. She’s one of our own.” At this, Naruto saddened. He couldn’t protect Sakura as much as he thought he could. It was his fault…

“It wasn’t your fault, Naruto.” Kakashi roused Naruto from his depressing thoughts. “We all did our best. We can find her.”

Naruto shook himself, and looked toward Gaara. “So, you’re the Kazekage?” Naruto smirked.

“Yes. After the whole thing with Orochimaru killing my father and impersonating him for the Chuunin exams, the elders here thought it best that I become the Kazekage. I didn’t want to at first because of Shukaku; I had barely begun to control him to the point where I could sleep. Then Temari knocked some sense into me. I believe she said something along the lines of you, Uzumaki, changing my life for the better and here was my opportunity.” Naruto grew a cocky smile.

“I believe that’s the most I’ve ever heard you talk, Gaara.” At Gaara’s cool glare, Naruto laughed. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You, too. Now, we must move quickly. I would like to leave by nightfall.”

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The next day - Somewhere in the forests of Fire Country
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Itachi moved fast. He knew that some Konoha shinobi would be following his deliberate tracks. Itachi didn’t leave any tracks normally. But the objective was to get that specific group of shinobi to follow Itachi back to the Sound Country. If all was going according to plan, Naruto would be among that group. And Sabaku no Gaara.

The whole reason he went out of his way to lead Sakura to the Wind Country was to get Sabaku no Gaara’s attention. Akatsuki didn’t just want the Kyuubi no Kitsune, they wanted Shukaku as well. Why not kill too birds with one stone?

It was a shame that they had to use Sakura. She was a pretty girl; kind and sweet. Her forehead was still a little too big, but it wasn’t so noticeable with her forehead protector on. And Kami, had she gotten strong, physically. There was no doubt that she’d been studying under Tsunade for the past seven years. When she hit the earth, Itachi knew that there was no possible way the fight would have gone unnoticed by the Hidden Sand village. This was great for him. And probably great for her, depending on how you looked at it.

Akatsuki and Orochimaru never had any plans to harm Sakura. Though when Itachi saw how strong she was, he knew he had to use his Mangekyou Sharingan on her. As far as he knew, she would be out for at least a month. The mental trauma his Mangekyou created was not to be underestimated. It had taken Tsunade to bring Kakashi and Sasuke back from their state in darkness. It was the brain’s ultimate defense mechanism.

The plan for Akatsuki was just to get the two demons from their vessels. Orochimaru had approached them with the plan to temporarily weaken Konoha by taking away its stronger ninjas. Getting Gaara on the side was an added bonus for Orochimaru as well. It left the Sand village without a Kazekage; therefore, Konoha’s cry for help would be put on hold until the elders decided what to do.

Just as Itachi was purposefully cracking another twig, he felt a familiar presence. He didn’t even bother to hide his chakra, as he was sure he had already been noticed. He quickly set Sakura aside though and waited in a convenient clearing for his attacker.

Sasuke appeared in the clearing a minute later. He knew that meeting his brother head on would be best. He had sensed his brother’s chakra and quickly headed toward the source. He also felt Sakura’s, or what he was sure was Sakura’s, but it was weak, meaning she was in a comatose state. Upon seeing her off to the side in the clearing, he knew his thoughts were truth.

‘The bastard probably used his Mangekyou on her.’ True, Sakura was annoying at best seven years ago, but she was still a team member. She was smart and she was loyal. He was fairly sure that she was the same. She’d probably rip his hide once she met him again, after all these years.

On that thought, Sasuke looked at his brother, careful not to make eye contact. He looked exactly the same. Even down to the length of his hair. He felt old feelings rise up like new; sadness, hurt, and most importantly, hate. He stood up straighter and met his brother’s eyes. He knew that his brother would give him a fair fight. Everything had been building up to this; their training sessions together when they were much younger, the slaughter of the clan, Akatsuki after Naruto, Sasuke following Orochimaru to become stronger.

“Itachi.” Saying his name made it more real. He was finally going to fight his brother. The excitement traveled up and down Sasuke’s spine.

“Sasuke.” Itachi’s voice was even the same. That deep, cool voice. “Little brother, you’ve grown nicely.”

Both Uchiha brothers were masters at hiding their emotions from others. However, because the Uchiha brothers were so used to their own methods of concealing and how they looked, each brother could read the other perfectly. Itachi recognized the hate, the hurt, and the anger. ‘Good, he’s angry. This will be a just fight. Though not the ending.’ Itachi blinked. ‘What’s this in his eyes?’ Itachi was genuinely confused.

In fact, though Sasuke hated his brother so much, he still loved him. They were brothers after all. While growing up, they had the best relationship, right down to the forehead flicking. The remains of that strong love were what Itachi couldn’t define in Sasuke’s eyes.

Sasuke saw the excitement in his brother’s eyes, the approval. A strange sense of accomplishment came over Sasuke when he recognized the approving glance. It confused Sasuke to no end. ‘Why does it still matter to me?’ He also saw that his brother was ready to fight.

“Let us begin little brother.”

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With Kakashi and Naruto later that evening
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Kakashi had a very bad feeling about the entire situation. He knew that a ninja of such high skill to kidnap Sakura shouldn’t leave such obvious tracking marks. It was almost like they were supposed to follow this trail. It could lead to a very complex trap.

Kakashi was scouting ahead with several other ninja and Naruto in the center with Kankuro and Temari. Gaara was in the back, should anybody attack from behind. Gaara also had some of his personal ANBU with him. They had a team of nine. Gaara brought up the fact that whoever took Sakura had to be fairly strong. It was better to go with too many men than with not enough.

They had left the night before and hadn’t stopped yet. Of course, they would stop to eat, but they haven’t had sleep yet. All of the shinobi agreed that they weren’t likely to get good rest anyway. From the freshness of the tracks, Kakashi told the rest that they were getting closer. They were about two days behind them. They were all surprised with how fast they were catching up. The kidnapper probably wasn’t moving at the fastest of paces, which lead the ninja to believe that said kidnapper wasn’t aware of the fact that he could possibly be followed.

Suddenly, Naruto and Gaara caught a familiar scent. They had been following the scent of Sakura for a while now, but a new, stronger one was present.

Naruto signaled for everybody to stop and quickly gathered Kakashi and Gaara together to tell them what his senses were telling him.

“I picked up a familiar scent, though I could be wrong.” Naruto prayed he was wrong. “It smells like Itachi.” Gaara nodded.

“Yes, I picked that up too.” Kakashi took this into stride. It made so much sense now.

“I’ll tell the others, then we’ll continue going at full speed. Sakura is in much more danger than we originally thought.” Naruto and Gaara both agreed and quickly got back into formation. Soon, they were off, going faster than before. Everybody seemed to pick up on the urgency of the situation.

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Back with Itachi and Sasuke
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They had been fighting the majority of the night. The landscape around them had been altered, and twice they had to watch out for Sakura. With both brothers having Sharingan, and both having the same jutsus from their bloodline, it was very difficult to surprise one another. Both brothers knew a lot of forbidden jutsu as well, and which ones they didn’t know, they quickly memorized with their Sharingan.

The fight was mostly just a blur of fast, agile bodies. Dark hair, crimson eyes, pale skin. Fire quickly burnt a hole in the dense forest. Sasuke, seeing an opening, quickly powered up his Chidori and made to hit Itachi. When he hit, he was surprised. He didn’t expect to make the hit. His hand went right through Itachi’s left shoulder. His arm was still in tact, but it hung uselessly at his side, making most seals impossible. There were jutsus that only required one handed seals for such situations, but Itachi decided to ignore those and immediately flared up his Mangekyou Sharingan.

Sasuke, seeing this, quickly avoided all eye contact. Sasuke powered up to level two of his cursed seal. He normally did not like to use the cursed seal because it had long term effects on his body and he generally did not like being dependant on something Orochimaru gave him, when he should be dependant only on himself.

When the development to the second level was complete, Itachi blinked at Sasuke. “What did he do to you?” There was genuine emotion in Itachi’s words. There was bitterness, anger, and… caring?

“What’s it to you? I did what I had to do to become stronger in order to kill you.” Sasuke wasn’t Sasuke anymore. He was a monster. Itachi’s eyes faded back to their normal Sharingan.

“Sasuke, did you choose this?” Itachi just stood there, bleeding. Sasuke realized that his brother was no longer attacking and decided to go back to his normal self. Being at level two drained a lot of chakra.

“I didn’t choose to get a seal in the first place; he did that to me during the Chuunin exams. I did choose to proceed to the next level when the Sound Four came and offered to take me to Orochimaru. I did it so I’d get the power to kill you.” Fear and anger crossed Itachi’s face.

“Sasuke,” Itachi began. “Do you know how Orochimaru prepares the bodies he takes as his own?” Sasuke shook his head.

“He would never tell me. He never showed me. I always thought it was because of the Sharingan.” Sasuke’s brows knit a little, giving away his confused state.

“He prepares his bodies first by giving them the cursed seal, much like the one you have.” Itachi’s eyes narrowed. “My guess is that you’re the next body he plans on taking because of the Uchiha bloodline.” Sasuke’s eyes visibly widened at this.

“No, he was training me to become a stronger shinobi. I wanted the power.”

“Do you really think that Orochimaru would do that out of the kindness of his cold, black heart? I think that Orochimaru imagines that giving you the ultimate power would be for him to inhabit your body and kill me that way.” Itachi’s eyes flashed, Sharingan swirling in agitation.

Sasuke thought about this. It all added up. Sasuke didn’t doubt that if Orochimaru had the chance, he would take his body. Orochimaru had been training Sasuke’s body not for the power to avenge the Uchiha family, but for his own purpose of taking Sasuke’s body as his own. Sasuke felt sick. ‘How could I have been so stupid?’ he thought. ‘More importantly, why is my brother telling me this?’

“Brother, why are you telling me this?” Sasuke asked. He saw the irritation flash across Itachi’s face.

“There is only one person in this world that is worthy enough to kill me. Once that person has defeated me, he will truly be the strongest of the Uchiha’s and be worthy of continuing the bloodline.” Sasuke nodded, he had expected this. “Little brother, I didn’t kill you all those years ago because you were my brother and I knew that you had a dream of becoming like me. I didn’t want you to become like me. I want you to become a stronger shinobi than me, in all senses of the word.” Itachi paused. “And I’ll be damned if I’m going to have that son of a bitch Orochimaru take over my brother’s body, taking away that chance.”

“Gee, it almost sounds like you care, Itachi.” Sasuke saw the anger flow across his face freely.

“Don’t underestimate me, Sasuke. Remember, I killed Mom and Dad. I killed our Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins. It was pure murder on my part. I wanted them all dead. They were weak. They weren’t worthy of being an Uchiha. It’s true, I killed them all just to see if I could; to see if they were really as weak as I thought they were. I want you to hate me, Sasuke. I took away everything of value in your life. I made your life hell. Hate me, Sasuke!” Itachi shouted this last bit, full of rage.

“Oh, I hate you brother. I’ve never forgiven you for what you did. What kind of sick person are you to think that this is just the ultimate training and exam for a shinobi? For an Uchiha shinobi? You killed Mom and Dad to make me stronger? That’s just sick.” Sasuke glared at his older brother, all the years of hate and anger showing through. “I should finish you off right here.”

“You and I both know that that is not possible tonight. We both have our demons to deal with; you with Orochimaru, me with Naruto and Gaara.” At Sasuke’s glare, Itachi elaborated. “Oh, didn’t Orochimaru tell you?”

“Yes, brother, he told me. You’re after the demon inside of Naruto. What’s this about Gaara? You want his demon as well? Isn’t one enough for now?” Sasuke felt the need to defend his friends. ‘My friends? The last time I saw them was seven years ago. I doubt they’ll still consider me a friend.’

“Akatsuki is very anxious. As you know, we’re working with Orochimaru because of a treaty we have with him. Basically, we’re allies because we know that Orochimaru could probably destroy Akatsuki. Orochimaru knows this as well. When he came to us with his plan to destroy Konoha, we had no choice but to provide him with the perfect situation. And we’d get something out of it in return. I’ve had Sakura here for about two weeks now. I’ve been going slow, leaving tracks so I could guarantee somebody to follow me. In fact, it actually feels like some shinobi are coming up pretty fast on us. They’re still about a day or so away. But I can’t let them catch me yet. And I can’t have you telling them about our plans.” Without warning, Itachi’s Sharingan morphed into the Mangekyou Sharingan and Sasuke was surrounded in pitch black.

He remembered this from seven years before. Itachi’s form stood in front of him; Sasuke tied onto a cross. “Oh, foolish little brother. Here we are again. I’m sure you remember from last time what this is like. Years can go by here, yet in the real world, only seconds pass. Shall we?”

The torture began.

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About one and a half days later with Kakashi and Naruto
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The group still hadn’t stopped except to eat and rest for no longer than an hour. They were losing their stamina, Gaara noticed. He’d have to force Kakashi and Naruto to stop soon.

Kakashi saw in the distance a great clearing. It looked like a fire had taken place. He quickly halted the group and took Naruto and Gaara aside.

“It looks like a fire took place here, but I also sense the remains of chakra use.” Naruto and Gaara agreed. After tuning into his senses, Naruto gasped in surprise.

At the curious looks on Kakashi and Gaara’s face, Naruto whispered, “Sasuke.”

Gaara quickly checked the air and was about to verify, when Naruto bounded off toward the direction of the forest fire remains.

Kakashi, cursing, shouted for all of the shinobi to quickly follow Naruto.

Thirty minutes later, Naruto bounded into the clearing. It was horribly dead and bare. Charred black trees framed the area and the soil beneath Naruto’s feet was black and brown. No green plants were to be found. The air smelt heavily of smoke, of forest fire, of blood, of Itachi, of Sakura, but currently, one of the strongest scents there was Sasuke. After a quick scan of the area, Naruto found a body lying near the edge on the opposite end. He quickly ran toward it.

As he got closer, he first saw pale skin, which sharply contrasted with the black/brown soil. The second thing he noticed was the raven black hair that seemed to gleam in the hazy sunlight. That was all the evidence he needed. This was Sasuke.

Silently landing next to the shinobi, Naruto gently turned him right side up. He had apparently collapsed face down. After turning Sasuke around, Naruto gently brushed the dirt from Sasuke’s face and hair.

‘Oh sweet Kami, he’s grown even more beautiful.’ Naruto’s heart squeezed. ‘He’s here! He’s in my arms again.’ Naruto gathered Sasuke into his arms and felt several small tears leak from the corners of his eyes. He inhaled the scent that was Sasuke. So few things change over time. Sasuke’s hair was the same, a little bit longer, but he apparently kept it in the same style. He had a different soap and shampoo smell, but his musk was the same. The only major change had been his body. His body had filled out and gained muscle. Sasuke had also gotten taller, though how much taller Naruto wouldn’t know until they were standing up.

Unconsciously, Naruto grasped Sasuke’s body harder and started rocking him back and forth. He knew he was alive. He didn’t know why he wouldn’t wake up though. Then he remembered. Sasuke was exactly like this after his brother used the Mangekyou Sharingan on him seven years ago. At the thought of Itachi, his scent became very strong, as if showing itself to Naruto that yes that did happen. Sensing the other shinobi present, Naruto opened his eyes and met Kakashi’s.

Kakashi was struck with the intense look of hope and love in Naruto’s eyes. After seven years, Naruto finally had his Uchiha back. Though, what to do now was uncertain. Kakashi looked to Gaara and Gaara nodded his head. Kakashi and Gaara moved forward to Naruto and kneeled by the blond holding the missing nin.

“Naruto, we have to figure out what’s going on.” Naruto looked between Gaara and Kakashi, eyes focusing on the here and now. Naruto spoke.

“Itachi and Sasuke fought. Hence the fire damage.” Kakashi nodded. The Uchiha bloodline allowed them to excel at fire jutsu. “It seems that Itachi used Mangekyou on Sasuke. Again.” At this Naruto’s hold got impossibly tighter and he buried his head in Sasuke’s hair, reveling in his smell and heat. “Sasuke…” Naruto whispered.

Kakashi’s mind was reeling. Here was a student of his that ran away seven years ago. It was like being thrown back in time. Sakura temporarily forgotten, Kakashi smiled. They had Sasuke. Remembering Sakura, Kakashi turned to Gaara.

“Sabaku no Gaara, obviously Sasuke has to be taken back to Konoha. What do you think we should do?” Before Gaara could answer, Naruto opened his mouth and began to speak.

“Seven years ago, I had a mission to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. I failed it. Now, here’s my chance to complete it. I’ll take Sasuke back to Konoha, make sure he is safe and get’s the right medical attention. Once he’s awake, I’ll see what information he has regarding Itachi and Sakura. Then I’ll catch up to you guys. I won’t leave Sakura in Itachi’s hands!” Naruto’s gaze became fierce.

Both Kakashi and Gaara nodded. That was a very plausible plan. They needed Tsunade to get Sasuke out of his comatose state. Gaara spoke.

“We’ll, continue after Itachi. However, I think we should all stay here tonight. It’s almost dark and we’re all exhausted. Uzumaki, Konoha is about a day or two north of here. You go ahead and get Uchiha back to Konoha. Hatake and I will take the rest of these guys and go after Sakura-chan.” Gaara’s gaze became fierce. If this is what Sakura is under right now, he would rip the Uchiha genius from end to end.

“Sakura-CHAN?” A gleam appeared in Naruto’s eyes. “Well, Sabaku no Gaara, it seems like we’re becoming a little attached.” At Gaara’s glare, Naruto began to chuckle.

“Shut up, Uzumaki.” Gaara flushed red. It was times like these when he cursed being a redhead. He could blush so easily.

“So, how long have you loved our dear Sakura-chan?” Kakashi butted in, unable to resist the fun and games. At this Gaara’s head whipped to glare at Kakashi, who’s only visible eye was curved upwards in happiness.

Resigned, Gaara muttered something. Neither Kakashi nor Naruto got it. “What was that, Gaara?” Naruto chimed in happily.

“I said since the goddamn Chuunin exams!” Gaara let emotion wash over his features. He blamed it on his exhaustion. “Now she’s in the hands of that monster. I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t get her back alive.” Gaara rested his head in his hands. Then, a sudden thought occurred to the Kazekage. He turned to Naruto, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “How long have you loved our dear Sasuke-kun?”

Naruto flushed a deep pink. He began to stutter while Kakashi let loose a loud laugh. He was shocked into silence and stared at Kakashi, never hearing his former sensei laugh like that before.

“Gaara, Naruto has loved Sasuke since their academy days. And Sasuke has loved him back, though both were too blind to see it.” At this Naruto’s jaw hung open. ‘Sasuke loved me too?’ At this, Naruto’s heart was torn between being broken and soaring. ‘He loved me, yet he left and tried to kill me. Does he love me still? Is there hope for us? I still love him. I can forgive him.’ These thoughts ran rapid through Naruto’s head. Snapping fingers in front of his face caused Naruto to blink himself back to the present. Both Gaara and Kakashi were looking at him with knowing smirks.

“Naruto, take Sasuke and go back to Konoha. He needs Tsunade now. He needs you too. Whether you may believe it or not.” Kakashi nodded with his head down to Naruto’s shirt. There, Sasuke’s hand gripped the black shirt that Naruto was wearing. At this, Naruto’s heart truly did sore and a look of hope crossed his face. Gaara blinked. These two were definitely made for each other. Light and dark, sun and moon. Opposites. Now that he looked back, he remembered during the Chuunin exams how Naruto was so afraid for Sasuke to fight Gaara. Granted, Gaara had just murdered two men before his scheduled fight with Sasuke. But he could see Naruto’s worry did not just stem from being Sasuke’s teammate or even his friend, but from the love he had for the Uchiha. What was it they said about hindsight being 20/20?

Gaara spoke, “Go, Naruto.”

At this, Naruto gathered Sasuke tighter in his arms and left the rest of the shinobi there, in the clearing. He headed toward Konoha, finally happy that he was bringing back his only love.

TBC…

Coming up next: The next chapter with be nothing but Naruto and Sasuke. Flashbacks of their childhood together, their developing feelings, and then the current stuff. Sasuke waking up, Tsunade and Konoha’s reaction to having the Uchiha heir back. Sasuke’s reaction to Naruto. Etc. You get the picture. ^^ Definitely some lime or even maybe some lemon in there to make up for the lack of it in this chapter.

A/N: So, wow. I hope that clarified some things for you guys. I decided to stick with the Gaara and Sakura pair. I think that’s it for the time being. And yeah, sorry if Itachi seems a little OOC, but I really tried. Please review! Inflate my ego! *rubs hands together while cackling* ^^

Review Responses:

Bookworm: Heh, yeah, Gaara and Sakura just kind of sprung up on me. I can see what you mean by them not really put together often. It’d be extremely hard to, though with this setup in my story, I think it’ll work. At least, I hope it will *crosses fingers*. Oh! And apology accepted, you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.

raven: I’m very glad you loved it! ^^ here’s more!

Nathaniel: I try to update fast, this story is hitting me at all sides. I would have updated sooner than now, but I had an exam that I really needed to study for… you get the drill. I’m glad I made your day by dedicating the second chapter to you. ^^ thanks for the compliments!

Now, about the whole Sasuke as seme and Naruto as uke thing… I believe this entire thing has gotten out of hand. In my opinion, Naruto doesn’t want to be shown up by Sasuke all the time right? And Sasuke isn’t about to give up his dominance right? Hence the sharing. It’s as simple as that in my mind. I do appreciate your comments though, it’s food for thought. (this goes for Bookworm too) ^^

K, Until next time!