A Premature Reunion

10 advanced chapters on my Patreon: Fiction Haven

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[Uchiha Sasuke's POV]

Naruto hid a lot of things. His origin and his burden were easy examples. I thought he looked familiar but never expected him to be the son of the Yondaime. I had read about Jinchūriki and it made sense why he became one. Though, I wouldn't say it was a good decision. Then again, I had seen a family do worse.

As he had promised, he brought us to a tea shop to tell us everything. I was sure he wouldn't tell us everything, but we should get closure on how he got to be a Jōnin. His fight with the reincarnated Shodaime and Nidaime had become a hot topic. I knew that was the reason why he got promoted to Jōnin, but what I wanted to hear was how he got to the point.

"Well, I was actually already a Tokubetsu Jōnin when the Chūnin exam started. I was given a mission to protect Sasuke and scout Gaara the Jinchūriki."

"Were you promoted straight to Tokubetsu Jōnin?"

"No, Sakura. I was promoted to Chūnin first. As for how it happened, it was after the retrieval of Raijin no Ken."

"Why don't you tell us about it first?"

"Geez. Calm down, will you, Haruno? I am about to get there."

As Naruto recounted his secret missions with Kakashi, I watched his expression carefully. He barely considered his amazing feat achievement. Though, I could argue he was feeling proud but not showing much. Naruto had always been quite reserved. Even during the academy days, he always put on a fake smile to hide his true feelings.

Something must have happened on graduation day for him to drop his mask. But he could be waiting for the right moment to do it. Naruto was quirky, after all. He found joy in weird things. His happy-go-lucky persona during his academy days might be one of his experiments.

"Dangerous? Well, the Shinobi world is full of danger. You have to be ready to lose something. I lost my eyes which is why I got a new pair."

"You keep skipping the important details!"

"I was getting to that, Banshee."

Naruto smirked, finding joy in riling up the loud pinky. I admit that Sakura had gotten more bearable these days, but she still had her unbearable moments. Naruto's smirk faded as he resumed his story. Although he was showing his default expression, it made me recall the look on his face at the funeral.

His face reflected nothing, but the intensity of his eyes told everything you needed to know about how he felt. The tears that ran down his face further emphasized his unwillingness to show weakness. Uzumaki Naruto hid a lot of things. He might reveal them when the time was appropriate. However, I was sure he would never reveal how he felt.

"Ah, you guys are here too?"

Kakashi greeted us as he entered the shop with the Jōnin Sensei of Team 8 and Team 10 in tow. It was quite surprising since I thought Kakashi wasn't one to socialize.

"Hi, Kakashi, Asuma-san, Kurenai-san," Naruto greeted the Jōnin.

"Why do you respect them more? I was once your teacher, you know?" Kakashi pointed out.

"You may not have my respect, but I consider you closer, Kakashi."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Go figure," Naruto shrugged and sipped his tea.

The red-eyed Jōnin, Kurenai looked at Naruto and developed a pondering look. Kakashi looked at Kurenai in wonder and a faint giggle escaped his mouth.

"Do you mind us joining, Naruto-san?"

"If you don't mind hearing us talking about useless things, feel free to do so."

Kurenai took the seat beside Naruto which put her beside me at the round table. Kakashi and Asuma took the other side of the table. Naruto raised his hand and called the waiter. As the waiter came, he told the Jōnin that he would be treating them. Kakashi questioned his motive, but Naruto said that he wanted to bond with his fellow Jōnin.

"So, what were you talking about?" Kurenai wondered.

"My measly adventures," Naruto calmly answered with a smile.

"Oh, I want to hear that. Everyone keeps talking about the Second Coming of the Yellow Flash, so I want to hear his story directly from the person."

"I didn't know they gave me that nickname."

Naruto looked like he had just eaten something unpleasant. I reminded him that it could have been worse and that made him look thankful.

"Iwa put a decent money on your head," Kakashi supplied.

Clack!

The tea had arrived.

"It was also the first village to rank your threat S," Kakashi added.

"How much is it?" Naruto asked in wonder.

"60 million Ryo," Asuma answered bitterly. "I have lived longer than you, but my bounty is only 40 million Ryo. Be proud, kid."

"It is not something to be proud of. Having a bounty on you means that someone wants you dead," Kurenai rebuked.

"I think that is to be expected in this line of work," Naruto chuckled.

Their conversation made me feel like a kid. Although I had accepted there was a stark difference between us Genin and them Jōnin, it was quite upsetting that the two worlds were this apart. Naruto noticed my gaze and seemed to figure out what I was thinking. He smirked and then reeled the conversation back to his adventures.

All of us listened to his story. Only Sakura and I occasionally asked questions. The Jōnin chose to listen in silence. When Naruto was in the middle of recounting his fight with the Shodaime and the Nidaime, he abruptly stopped. Coincidentally, someone with a cloak and a farmer's hat walked up to us. My Sharingan activated involuntarily, noting the Jōnin's tenseness.

"Can we have a chat, Naruto-san?" the person said softly with a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Wait, this voice.

As I looked at the man carefully, a pair of Sharingan peered through the curtain covering the hat.

"The Akatsuki is here."

Naruto flared his Chakra before disappearing with the man in the blink of an eye. Their disappearance allowed me to register the fact that I had been rendered immobile in the presence of that man. The Jōnin seemed to also experience the same thing given their look of realization. A strong Genjutsu had been cast on us.

"That was…" I muttered.

"Asuma, Kurenai, I entrust you the brats. I will aid Naruto," Kakashi said urgently.

He left the place with Shunshin. I stood up abruptly, knocking over the stool. There was only one Uchiha alive other than me. I was sure of it. That was Itachi.

"Uchiha-san!"

"Sasuke-kun!"

I ran as fast as I could. My Sharingan flared madly, leading me in the direction where a huge amount of Chakra clashed. There were three Chakra signatures outside the village. Two of them belonged to Naruto and Itachi but the other one didn't belong to Kakashi. Itachi brought someone with him.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?"

I reached the place at the same time Kakashi did. His laidback nature was nowhere to be seen. He sounded grave when he scolded me. A heatwave came our way, prompting Kakashi to move me away. Immediately, the spot we had occupied before was riddled with flaming Shūriken. I turned in the direction whence the Shūriken came and found Itachi looking at me in boredom.

"Itachi!" I gnashed my teeth.

"Hello, Sasuke. Still weak as the day I left, I see," Itachi said neutrally with a disdainful gaze.

My Sharingan flared intensely as I glared at him. I knew that I was doing nothing to him, but I couldn't help it.

"Calm down, will you, Sasuke? You don't have to listen to what this psycho said."

Naruto stood in the line of my vision, covering me from Itachi. His Chakra flared, causing me to calm down instantly. I was caught up in Itachi's Genjutsu for the second time. It was frustrating, but Naruto was right: I needed to reign myself in.

"As I was saying, Naruto-kun; surrender yourself and we won't hurt anyone."

"Ah, right. What makes you think you can hurt anyone, though?"

"The hard way, it is."

Naruto swept the air and spread three-pronged kunai on the ground. My eyes caught Itachi tensing. In the blink of an eye, Naruto kicked Itachi. He managed to block it, but the force threw him meters away from Naruto. Naruto took out Kiba from his Storage Seal. Before he could move, another person dressed in the same cloak Itachi was wearing came down at him.

Clank!

Naruto had an annoyed look on his face as he forced the man to retreat. On the other hand, the man was smirking.

"It's great to see a fellow swordsman here."

"I have no time for you, Shark Head."

Naruto appeared before me in an instant. He was at the right time to block Itachi. Itachi's eyes widened in disbelief. He underestimated Naruto's speed.

"Kakashi, take Sasuke away from here. This psycho here is throwing around Genjutsu here and there."

"…thanks for the safe, Naruto."

One look at Kakashi told me that he had been entrapped in Itachi's Genjutsu. Kakashi put his hand on my shoulder and the space immediately shifted. I was bubbling with indignation, but I didn't fight Kakashi. Killing Itachi was one of my goals; not my life purpose. I couldn't do anything to Itachi as of now. Until then, I had to get stronger.