New Enemy: Akatsuki! - 4

A local village had been taking down decorations from a recent festival once Jiraiya and his blonde pupil had arrived. The toad sage had even received a helpful tip from an inn keeper that he had seen a woman fitting the description Jiraiya had given him, not twenty minutes earlier.

Then began the frantic search to find her. Jiraiya had figured there was still a very good chance she was in the area and decided to not waste time, even with all the really cute girls floating around…

"So who are we looking for exactly, Ero-sensei?" Naruto asked curiously, noting the resolute expression on his mentor's face.

"Her name is Tsunade, but you'll have better luck looking for a busty, blonde woman who has an assistant and a pig waiting on her every whim," Jiraiya announced, scratching his neck, "If you find her be respectful or you could blow this whole mission. We meet back at this hotel in twenty minutes, got it squirt?"

"Big boobs, blonde, something about a pig: got it!" Naruto nodded, "We'll find her for sure!"

They parted ways outside the hotel. Jiraiya turned left and his student went to the right. After a few minutes of looking, Naruto had already spotted several women fitting the description he had been given within the vicinity, all excluding the presence of the assistant and pig…yet he wondered if that was entirely crucial to finding her.

Very politely he asked the ladies their names, only to be disappointed time and again.

Jiraiya ended up near an open-air bar, inspecting the women nearby, keeping a sharp eye for Tsunade while picking prime figures he would consider penciling into his novels.

He bought himself a drink to pass the time and couldn't help but overhear the barkeep talking to one of his customers, "Yep! Two odd fellows in black cloaks stopped by here. They didn't say who it was they were looking for but I'd imagined it'd be something over money or-"

Jiraiya quickly abandoned the bar without paying his tab and took his drink with him.

*

"Excuse me, your name wouldn't happen to be Tsunade, would it?" The blonde boy asked courteously. He was beginning to lose enthusiasm for his appointed task after asking nearly three dozen women with no success.

"No, I'm afraid not," The lady was quite friendly and in the middle of eating lunch, "You aren't lost are you, sweetie?"

"I'm fine, being lost is kinda the norm for me," Naruto replied, disheartened, "Sorry for bothering you."

Frustrated, he stomped hastily down the street, deciding he'd retire early and meet up with his teacher at the hotel, 'Yeesh, it's a madhouse around here! So many people and I'm only looking for one of them who I don't even know!'

Too absorbed in his thoughts, Naruto walked headlong into a tall man wearing a strange hat. He blinked up at him and apologized, "Sorry! I didn't mean to bump into you! I've been looking for someone. "

"It's alright, kid, as it is," His smile revealed unusually sharp teeth, "I'm also looking for someone…"

Naruto squinted up at the stranger, "Hm…that's a coincidence."

"Indeed," He laughed at the boy, "I can hold off my search for now and help you, if you like. I'm Kisame."

Naruto sanguinely introduced himself, "Hey, thanks a ton! Uzumaki Naruto!"

A cheerful bounce returned to his step as he followed Kisame, explaining his goal, "Right! So I'm looking for this lady, though I haven't met her yet. Supposedly she's blonde, got huge boobs, and has a slave and a pig or…er, something like that."

They turned the corner onto the main road and Kisame offered him the first bit of good news he'd had in a while, "It's funny you should say something like that. I saw someone like that not too long ago."

"Really? Ha! I can't believe my luck!" Naruto was beaming at his good fortune, "Once I find her I'll make Ero-sensei buy me dinner!"

They drew curious looks from passers-by on the street, and the blonde boy had plenty of questions for Kisame, one of which commented on his peculiar facial features.

After a moment Naruto wondered if he had been rude to bring it up, but was surprised when Kisame didn't seem much bothered by it, "My entire clan looks as I do, actually. We hail from the Hidden Mist Village."

"Hm, you don't say?" He was honestly intrigued, "My friend comes from a clan down there too! But he's a bit of a different story…"

"I should think he would be." Kisame replied, knowing everyone in his clan with the exception of himself had been killed long ago. Oddly, he found that he was mildly interested in what the boy had to say.

When Itachi had described the jinchuriki they were looking for he hadn't pictured a friendly, conversational, overly-trusting genin who wanted to make friends with the entire world.

Things couldn't get much easier, so he decided to go with it and see how things played out.

After a short while of searching Naruto had insisted that they stop for some ramen, something to which Kisame did not object. In fact, he finished his bowl just as quickly as the boy did and found it bizarre how confident he was that he would one day be Hokage, 'Heh, like you'll live that long, kid!'

They set out soon after and Naruto described the recent invasion of Konoha and how Sound and Sand had been thwarted. Naruto gave a questioning look to his friend when they had treaded into a deserted alleyway, "Hey, Kisame, do you think maybe we went the wrong way?"

"No, Naruto. We are definitely right where we are supposed to be." Kisame assured him, smirking as Itachi appeared at the opposite end of the passage, "You were right, Itachi-san. He was easier to find than I thought."

Realization flickered in Naruto's eyes and he glared ahead at the Uchiha, understanding he had played into a trap.

Itachi moved with blinding speed, landing a knock-out blow to the side of the genin's neck, and destroyed a shadow clone. He blinked slowly, muttering, "Clever."

Dozens of shadow clones watched the two nukenin from the rooftops above, all wearing angered expressions. The real Naruto spoke up, fuming, "Someone like you should've known better than to take advantage of my hospitality!"

Kisame assumed he was referring to when he had treated him to ramen, "I like you, kid, really! But orders are orders. Once we take you in you may get lucky and we may not have to kill you…"

"Sorry, but that's not enough incentive!" Naruto snapped. He and his kage bunshin leaped down to fight.

*

Asuma, Kurenai and Gai had gathered in Kakashi's room, wondering when he would wake from his coma-like state that had been induced by Itachi's genjutsu. They sat quietly, wondering how long it would be before Itachi and Kisame discovered their target.

Sasuke's timing could not have been worse when he had stopped by the apartment, walking in and seeing the group of jounin waiting on his disabled teacher. He had been wondering what had been taking him so long, and was then certain that something was amiss, "What happened to Kakashi?"

Asuma smirked silently while he took a drag. Kurenai averted her eyes from the young Uchiha, leaving it up to Gai to come up with an explanation.

A moment later, a Leaf ninja poked his head in the door, wanting to confirm the rumors, "Is it true that Uchiha Itachi has returned and that he's looking for Naruto?"

There was a unified gasp in the room and all eyes fell on Sasuke, fearing his reaction.

Asuma's amused expression soured at the newcomer's blunder.

A long, gut-wrenching moment had passed before Sasuke immediately bolted from the room, dashing down the hallway with only one thing on his mind.

Each of the waiting jounin in the room gave the dunder-head a well measured scowl.