"CHYA!" A battle cry sounded, interrupting the serenity of the surrounding forest.

"Ha, missed me again" The boy from Orochimaru's hideout laughed at the pinkette. He could turn to water it seemed which frustrated the young woman as she couldn't land a hit on him.

He had annoyed her to the point of violence but then it didn't take much for Sakura to pass the point of reason.

"Enough" Kakashi sighed tiredly.

They'd been traveling for days, heading toward the land of water so that the newcomer could find Zabuza's sword: Kubikiribōchō.

It was only then that the young teenager would assist the duo in finding the weak points of Orochimaru. Apparently, he knew more than he let on.

Kakashi still wondered why they were bothering at all but the snake must have a bigger part against Konoha which Naruto and Sasuke discovered.

To be entirely honest, the older Jounin was bored. There wasn't enough time to pack many things and Sakura only packed him one Icha Icha book. Her favorite. Not his.

She, of course, had brought a different Icha Icha book so the two could share but alas, she brought the first novel of its time.

He appreciated the thought but his mind was set on reading the latest book from Jiraiya's writings. He had read the previous books so many times and the latest book had just been released.

As Kakashi glanced at the Pinkette, he couldn't help but glower at her.

'Why couldn't you have packed the latest one? Why am I stuck in the woods, chasing a tail and not reading the latest book right now?' He internally cried.

"Suigetsu!" Sakura snapped as he pulled at her hair. It felt as though she were babysitting a tantrum-throwing, mischievous, little brat. 

"You know, I wonder how Sasuke and Naruto are fairing with their training" Kakashi commented with a longing look in his eyes. He disliked the loud atmosphere Suigetsu and his student were giving.

Sakura pushed the purple-eyed teenager away from her hair before turning to her sensei but Suigetsu spoke before her "You know Sasuke? Sasuke Uchiha?" Suigetsu questioned with surprise. 

Sakura and Kakashi glanced back at him with raised brows "He's my student" Kakashi offered an explanation to the boy.

"How do you know him?" Sakura questioned with suspicion in her eyes.

Suigetsu smirked "He was Orochimaru's lapdog last I heard. Used to cut down the experiments once they reached the end of their usefulness. The guy's scary" Suigetsu chuckled, trying to brush off the fear he felt when Sasuke came around. 

The teenager only had a handful of conversations with the Uchiha but those talks were enough to instill good behavior in Suigetsu for a week.

Sakura raised her brows at hearing this, she knew Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru. She knew he would have had to do things that were against his morals but the way Suigetsu made it sound, Sasuke did so without hesitation.

Kakashi remained silent as he knew the Uchiha would have had to do these types of things while working alongside Orochimaru. He only hoped he could find something to use against the snake that would bring him down alongside Danzo.

"How much longer until we reach this grave where Zabuza's buried?" Suigetsu complained as he crossed his arms over his head.

Kakashi sighed as Sakura answered "We'll be there within the day."

Suigetsu continued complaining to Sakura as Kakashi looked to the sky, trying to daydream the situation away.

He was just thinking about a certain scene in his Icha Icha book when a crow flew over his line of sight.

Kakashi furrowed his brows as he watched the crow disappear into the trees. It wasn't unusual to see crows in the wilderness but something felt off about the sighting that Kakashi began surveying his surroundings for the 100th time that day. A ninja could never be too cautious.

He sensed nothing for a moment before picking up the faintest chakra signature. His eyes widened at the suppressed chakra and snapped his eyes behind him to warn the others but paused as he noticed their footsteps had come to a halt with their eyes drawn ahead.

Looking behind him, the Jounin's suspicions were confirmed as none other than Itachi Uchiha stood calmly in front of the small group.

"Itachi" Kakashi greeted cautiously. Though Sasuke and him were on better terms, this was the first encounter they've had with the older Uchiha since his attempt at kidnapping Naruto.

"You're a long way from Konoha, Kakashi" Itachi subtely tilted his head giving the white-haired Jounin the impression that he had no idea why they were out here. 

"What can I say? These views" Kakashi casually smiled.

"Who's this guy? He looks awfully familiar" Suigetsu raised a brow as he asked.

"He's Sasuke's older brother" Sakura muttered in return. Itachi's eyes shifted to hers for a moment before returning to Kakashi's. He knew to be cautious around the older Jounin.

"EH?" Suigetsu gaped at the Uchiha but Itachi paid him no mind.

"Where is Sasuke?" The stoic brother questioned.

"Where's your partner?" Kakashi answered with his own question. From his intel, the Uchiha was hardly seen without the blue skinned man.

"Seperate mission" Itachi muttered almost dejectedly as if still recognizing Kakashi as his higher up and respecting the position.

"And what mission are you on?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he subtly stepped in front of Sakura and Suigetsu.

It was clear to see Itachi did not want to fight. His stance was calm and his eyes held hesitation that hadn't been there the last time they faced each other.

"You haven't been subtle." Was all he said in response.

Suigetsu wondered what he meant by that but a quick glance to the two ahead of him revealed enough for him to know Itachi had been sent here to deal with them.

Kakashi shifted slightly to prepare for any kind of attack whilst Sakura readied the list of traps in her mind she could use against the Uchiha. They did not want to hurt him, Sasuke would never forgive them but they had to defend themselves if it came down to it.

After minutes of tense silence, Suigetsu couldn't take it anymore "Well?! Are we fighting or what?" He growled, anxious for a good battle. Perhaps it was due to being cooped up for so long or the amount of killing intent leaking out of the three of them that shook his knees and made his heart beat erratically fast. Either way, he needed to move and get away from this tension.

"No." Itachi answered.

Sakura frowned and Kakashi tilted his head with curiosity "What are you planning, Itachi?" Kakashi asked with a firm tone that made the Uchiha feel as though he were back in Anbu under his command.

"You all know the truth. Sasuke knows the truth. I will protect him over anything else but I can only do so with your help." Itachi revealed. He had deactivated his Sharingan in front of someone for the first time in a very long time.

A moment of silence passed as everyone took in what he said.

"What would you have us do?" Sakura spoke up this time.

Itachi's eyes shifted to hers "What you've been doing all along, protect him." Sakura stared intently into Itachi's eyes and nodded with determination in her eyes.

Itachi could see what pulled his little brother to her. They had spoken a number of times about the pink-haired woman. Itachi was always happy simply listening to his life and what he missed out on.

"Well, if you're interested. We're on our way to protect him right now" Kakashi casually stated as he dropped his offensive stance.

Itachi glanced at him "He's in danger?"

"From a certain snake, yes."

"Orochimaru?...What are you planning?" Itachi asked with narrowed eyes.

Kakashi placed his hands in his pockets and glanced at Itachi. He said nothing as the Uchiha's mind raced with what this could mean. It seemed the white-haired Jounin always knew exactly how to push the Uchiha brothers to gain a reaction.

"Will you help us?" Sakura spoke up after rolling her eyes at her constantly mysterious sensei.

Itachi clenched his jaw at the question. If he helped, the risk of the Akatsuki finding out would be high and he would have to come up with a lie as to why he went after Orochimaru. If the group found out he helped Konoha shinobi...he didn't know what would happen but he doubted he'd be allowed to freely walk away.

After another tense moment of silence as everyone waited for Itachi's answer, the man in question looked up with his Sharingan activated.

___

"Hn" Sasuke grunted as he fell down to his knee after using his Susanoo one too many times for his body to keep up.

He'd progressed considerably in a short amount of time but it still felt too weak. Too weak to protect his family and too weak to take down Danzo. 

"Sasuke?" Karin muttered as she hesitantly walked over. She offered her wrist but he turned his head away, unwilling to rely on her. She sighed softly as she sat on her knees in front of him. A chilly breeze flowed through the training area before small pelts of rain began to fall. Karin looked up to see Naruto balancing perfectly on the spikes with his clones copying him. His progression, like Sasuke's, was fast and intense. The two men gave no room for laziness as they kept pushing way beyond their capabilities. 

She was happy for her relative, he had a way of inspiring those around him. She found herself wanting to continue progressing her own strength. 

As the rain begun to spread on her glasses, she looked down to Sasuke. He hadn't moved and instead had moved to sit with his legs crossed, eyes closed.

He was meditating. Trying to find a better way to control his chakra and that of the Susanoo. Karin could see small bursts of lightning flickering around his body every so often which was surprising to say the least. 

The two men had so much chakra and while they had some circumstances to aid them in achieving this amount, they had worked hard to get to their level. Karin had no doubt there had been many nights of sweat, tears and blood as they worked toward their strength.

Karin had no idea what their goal was but she knew it was extremely important to them. 

The red-haired woman continued to sit in front of the Uchiha, simply enjoying his presence and the rain falling down on them when she noticed the quick movement of another male toad rushing toward Naruto and Shima.

"Fukasaku!" Shima cried as she noticed her husband's bandaged figure.

"Sasuke" Karin muttered as she frowned in the direction of toads. Sasuke noticed the worry in her tone and opened his eyes. He turned his head in Naruto's direction and frowned.

Something was wrong.

The Uchiha stood and quickly made his way to the toads. Naruto had opened his eyes as well and frowned down at Fukasaku with confusion along with concentration as he tried his best to keep his balance on the spikes.

"Shima" Fukasaku muttered with love in his tone. He had missed her considerably as they hadn't had a chance to reunite after Jiraiya was attacked.

"What's wrong?" Naruto questioned as Sasuke and Karin joined them.

"The leaf is under attack"