Inevitable
Chapter 23

"Rasengan!"Jiraiya shouted while holding out his palms. Two large balls of energy swirledin his hands and he ran towards his student.

"Shadow clonejutsu!" Naruto called forth two clones that instantly set to work. Soon, asimilar swirling energy ball was formed except it was surrounded by sharp windblades. "Rasen-shuriken!" He ran forward to meet the older sage'sattack. The jutsu collided, making a blast that sent both flying in opposite directions.They landed on their feet and ran at each other without skipping a beat withfists clenched.

Naruto got the firsthit in but it didn't faze Jiraiya when his face was impacted with a fist.Instead, he focused on sending the blonde back so he could use some weapons.Not that he was bad at taijutsu, he just thought that the battle should be abit more… Interesting. They did havean audience after all.

The kitsune dodged theattempted blow at his chest and leaped into the air, performing a few quick,familiar seals. Clones surrounded him and got ready to charge at the old manwhile the real Naruto took out a few kunai and threw them with wires attached;he had learned a few things from Tenten. Jiraiya repelled all the clones withswift kicks and punches and narrowly avoided the sharp weapons. His eyeswidened when he saw the strings attached to them and jumped out of the way whenNaruto sent chakra waves down the wire and into the ground.

The force of thechakra shook the earth beneath them and the man had to jump in the air to avoidgetting unbalanced. Even his chakrawouldn't stick to the ground if Naruto's was pulsing through it. He was takenby surprise when he felt wind shooting up at him. He looked down, and saw thatthere was already a clone on the ground using wind blades.

"Asuma senseigave me these. Since he's staying at home with a pregnant Kurenai sensei, hewanted me to have them and put them to good use," Naruto smirked."I've been waiting to use them in a real fight."

"Lucky you. Thoseweapons are powerful and Asuma loves them," Jiraiya said, impressed thatthe teen could use them so easily. 'He'sreally advanced even more while I was gone,' he thought as he dodged a fewmore wind strikes. He landed on the ground, as did Naruto, and they ran at eachother again, this time the blonde was equipped with the obviously activatedblades that were glowing with the wind nature chakra.

Jiraiya performed afew seals again. "Thousand hair needles!" His long hair hardened andthin spikes shot out, launching over the wide field and at Naruto at the blinkof an eye.

Naruto quickly spreadchakra to the outside of his body, making it like a small shield to try toprevent the needles from penetrating deep in his skin. He managed to quicklyspread it across his torso but the needles were too quick and shot and stuck inhis arms and legs. He covered his head with his arms.

He tried to avoid therest of the needles in the ground by jumping up again and summoning a fewshadow clones to do a rasengan barrage on the ground to scatter and break them.While they were doing that, Naruto got rid of the needles in his skin andperformed a few hand seals. "Sexy jutsu!" There was a poof of smokethat soon cleared, revealing a pigtailed blonde in a skimpy bikini landing onthe ground (or by now, we should call it rubble). "Master Jiraiya,"she purred, walking closer to him. If anything, Naruto knew his teacher's weakpoints never changed through the years. He summoned another few clones, alldressed in different 'fantasy outfits'. There was a schoolgirl, a French maid, asexy neko and a nurse. Jiraiya's nose started leaking blood and he smiledcreepily, forgetting he was in the middle of a battle.

"Oooh, prettyladies," he grinned before falling over, his face red (from the blood andthe effects of the jutsu).

Fukasaku watched thebattle, intrigued at the awesome parts, but now he was shaking his head inshame. "He hasn't learned to block that out yet?"

The battle was overwith Naruto as the victor. Jiraiya was face-down in a pool of his ownnose-blood and the blonde transformed back to his one sage self, dancing aroundin victory. "Hah! I beat you Pervy Sage!" he bragged, though the mancouldn't hear him from deep within his perverted thoughts in unconsciousness."Did you see that?! I was awesome!"

"Even after allthese years, he still loses against the sight of a pretty woman," the frogsighed. "But using that last move after wearing him out slightly wassmart. You really know your sensei well."

"Hahah,yeah," the blonde scratched the back of his head and smiled, letting thenatural energy seep out of him and returning to his normal form. They could seeJiraiya's beard disappear too and knew he had no natural energy left either."Well, that was fun. I WON! WOO!" Naruto started running around withan extra joyful bounce in his step. "I've surpassed the perverted sensei!Believe it!"

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"Shadow clonejutsu!" Sakura said, holding the last hand seal. A small puff of smokeappeared, revealing a younger version of herself. "If you so much as touchher other than when positioning her, I will know and I will destroy you,"she threatened the bruised and swollen Sai that was sitting on the ground,holding ice packs to his wounds.

"Alright, I'll besure not to do that. Not that there's anything to tou-" He stopped talkingwhen noticing what he was about to say and the clenched fist that was ready tobe aimed at his face again. "Ok, got it," he rephrased.

"Smart boy. Now,I'll be off. Once you're done drawing her, tell her to dispel. She'll do it onher own," the pinkette walked off. "I'll be with Kakashi-sensei ifyou need me."

"Hm, Ino told methat Sakura likes me in a romantic way. Why hasn't she approached me nicelyinstead of hurting me every time we see each other?" he wondered whilewatching her walk away. The young clone of her stood next to him, staring offinto space and not really paying any attention to what Sai was saying.

He started walking theother direction to his apartment with the clone following close behind. Oncethey got there, he opened the windows to let the warm breeze in. He took outhis paint brushes and a blank canvas and set them up in his favorite place topaint: just a bit behind where one of the windows was. The little Sakura waspositioned slightly after that. Once she was in the perfect stance with theright amount of light flooding around her, he told her to freeze.

Several paint brushstrokes and colours later, he stepped back, only slightly pleased with his work. "Hmm, there's somethingmissing," he mumbled. "Stay there, young Sakura, I'll be rightback," he said as he spotted something outside. A few minutes later, he repositionedher to paint the background.

Once he got the lastdetails in, he was extremely proud of his work, for once. "It'spretty," the clone smiled once she saw it.

"This might beone of my best creations yet," he smiled slightly, looking over everylittle stroke, not replaceing any mistakes. He then turned to the clone. "Youcan dispel now. Thank you for your assistance," he said. She nodded anddisappeared in a puff of smoke. He then turned back to his painting. "Nowwhat should I call it?" he wondered. He thought for a few moments beforehanging it on the wall and writing under it. He found it a bit cliché, but itwas the best title he felt he’d ever come up with.

‘In Bloom’

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"So you really weren'tkidding, huh?" Sakura raised an eyebrow, putting her hands on her hips. Itwas pretty much the same conversation that Kakashi had with Sasuke. Thedisbelief from one and slight offense from the other. "Alright, just don'tkill her."

"I would never kill a magnificent creature suchas this," Kakashi gasped dramatically, wrapping his arms around the walrusas much as he could. "She's my new best friend!" The rosette rolledher eyes and tried to think of anything better she could be doing while the albinoleft the water and started to dry off.

'Working at the hospital,visiting Ino-pig, running errands for Tsunade …' 'Inner' listed.

"Sasuke ran offbefore he got the chance to truly know this wonderful creature, so can't you takea chance on it?"

The medic's eyetwitched. 'Stupid sensei... Knowing our weakness... Out of everything else thereis, he just HAD to go with the low blow. He just HAD to give us an opportunityto be better than Sasuke.'

"Fine, I'll takecare of the stupid walrus with you," she sighed.

"Her name isMaiya and she belongs to one of my friends," Kakashi smiled under hismask.

"Why in the worlddoes someone trust you enough to take care of their pet?"

"Maybe becauseI'm so good with my summoned dogs," he shrugged. "Now strip down andplay with her in the water."

"Hey! Why can't youdo that part alone?!"

"What? So eagerto see me work without clothes? Oh, Sakura, you should already know that thereis no need to be subtle," he winked. "You can just ask anytime and Iwould take off my clothes just for you-"

"Pervert!"Sakura yelled, punching Kakashi into the water where Maiya -once again- happilyjoined him.

"You kids thesedays... Even Sasuke did the same thing an hour ago," the masked Joninfake-cried.

"You deserve it.Even if it's an opportunity to one-up Sasuke, I'm not putting up with thistoday," the strong kunoichi stormed away toward the hospital to do somework there, leaving the older man and the walrus alone in the lake.

He turned to Maiya."I guess it's just you and me again," he whined, petting the happywater creature.

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"So this is whatyou guys do all day?" Sasuke asked, laying down on the grassy hill.

"Yup. Cloudwatching is the best thing ever," Shikamaru smiled, keeping his eyes onthe fluffy white clouds that were dotted across the blue sky.

"And it's evenmore enjoyable with snacks, though that goes for everything," Choji tookout a few bags of chips. "Do you want some, Sasuke?"

"No thanks,"the Uchiha said.

"I have ketchupflavor."

There was a moment ofsilence before Sasuke reached out for the offered snacks, which the kinderninja placed in his hand with a smile. They laid on the hill, relaxed and calm,with the only noise being the casual crunch of the chips.

"Hey, what'sthat?" Choji asked, pointing to a flying object.

"It looks like amessenger bird from Suna," Shikamaru squinted.

"I wonder ifsomething's happening," Sasuke mumbled.

All three stared atthe bird for a bit longer before shrugging and laying down again.

"If it'simportant, someone will tell us."

"There's no pointin worrying. Too troublesome."

"Hn."

Sasuke took thecloud-watching time to think about how to get more information out of hismother. 'I know something's up with mybrother and Ameji. She seemed too tense when I brought them up. She would tellme if they died, and unless it was an ANBU mission, she usually tells what kindof mission Itachi's on. Of course, if she didn't know then it would bepointless to ask, but she's not good at lying to me. They're hiding something.

"Hey, Sasuke,"Shikamaru caught his attention. The Uchiha turned his head to look at hiscomrade (that he was seriously thinking of promoting to friend).

"Yah, what?"

"Whatever you'reworried about, just let it go for now. If it's important, it will come back onits own."

"Hn. You'reright, but my own mother lied to me and I want to know why."

"Well maybe shedid it to protect you," Choji spoke up.

"No, she wouldn'tlie to his face even if it was to protect him. The Hokage probably ordered herto keep her mouth shut. I wouldn't argue with it though since she knowsbest," Shikamaru closed his eyes. "You'll replace out in time."

"Hn."

They then went back towatching the skies in peaceful silence.

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"I feelterrible," Amejisuto fell backwards on her bed. "We killed aninnocent man with a bunch of criminals."

"We joined thisgroup, so we have to participate," Itachi reasoned, also drained andfeeling guilty.

"We didn't evenwant to join though! Wasn't the only point of getting you to join to not haveto fight against you when they go after Naruto and start wars?"

"Yes, but themore they use me while they can, the less work and strain they have to carrythemselves. At least, that's why I think they'redoing this to us. I don't mind that they use me for simple missions that theHokage would send us on, but extracting a demon is completely different. Evenif they use me, I don't want them to use you too," he took off his cloakand the wrappings on his arms and legs.

"I wish I wasn'tso helpless against them. If I wasn't, we wouldn't be here right now. We wouldbe having lunch with our family!"

"Our family?" Itachi smirked.

The brunette blushedand looked down. "Well once I marry you, they will officially be myfamily, but since I've lived with you for a while before we got dragged here, Ihad already thought of you guys as my other family. Your father still scares mea bit though."

The Uchiha chuckledslightly. "He scares most people, even me sometimes."

"You getscared?!" the Ishi seemed astonished.

"Yes, I may be anawesome Uchiha ninja but I still have my fears. Only a few though," theUchiha joked, happy to distract her.

"What arethey?"

"Well, my worstfear is harm coming to you, and then it's my brother getting hurt, and I'mslightly scared of my father but mother scares the crap out of me when she'sangry," he joked. He looked at his fiancée's face and saw she was blushingeven harder.

"Why do youalways do this to me?"

"What do Ido?"

"It's as if youenjoy seeing my face turn red," she looked away. "Always saying mushyand embarrassing things... It’s even weirder since it’s pretty new.”

"I don't sayanything that isn't true unless it's an obvious joke," he smiled softly.

"I think you caretoo much about me," she mumbled.

"I could nevercare too much about you. You're the most important thing in my life-"

"That's exactlywhat I mean! It's weird hearing you talk like that and especially since it isabout me."

"Why?"

"It always makesme blush and I can't take sweet things that well, if you haven't noticed. I cancuddle without shame but words just set off my embarrassment and stupidblushing," she ranted. She got pulled into a hug.

"So what you'resaying is that I can be as cuddly with you as I can as long as I don't say any‘weird things’?" he whispered in her ear.

"Y-yah," shestuttered.

"How about this:I'll keep saying those things and I will keep in physical contact with you asmuch as possible so it's a win-win," he smirked.

"What? Nofair!" she protested before he grabbed her and pulled her onto the bed,holding her close.

"Just as a favourto you, I will only do these things when we're alone. Is that better?"

"Of course itisn't!" Itachi smiled and held on tighter to her as she tried to squirmout of his grasp before sighing and giving up. "Fine, do whatever. Youwill just owe me big time."

"For what? Makingyou react a certain way that I can't prevent?"

"You can preventit by not saying anything! So in order to pay me back, you have to… Have waymore chores than me when we're married! And when we have kids, you have to bethe one responding to their screaming in the middle of the night," she listedfrom the top of her head. When he stayed silent, she ran through the lastsentence in her mind before turning bright red again.

"Planning ourfuture already, Ameji? I bet you're envisioning a house filled with hyperchildren and us sitting on rocking chairs with me reading the newspaper and youfeeding the newest baby," he teased.

"Oh shutup!"

"Now, now, that'sno way to treat the future father of your children," he poked her cheek.

"Gah! I didn'tmean it that way!"

The door burst open,revealing a grouchy Kisame. "Will you stop being so lovey-dovey after tenplease? I'm trying to get some rest.”

"Hey! Ever heardof knocking?" Itachi threw a pillow at the criminal. "Go back to theblue man group and leave us alone." Ameji was amused to see his commentturning the shark man's face red. 'Howdoes that even work?' she wondered, laughing. They heard someone elsesnickering from the hall.

"Who knew theserious Uchiha was secretly funny, yeah," Deidara appeared and turned tohis partner. "But he's right. You should go back on tour and stop buggingeveryone."

"Shut it Blondie,"Kisame snarled before walking off.

"You know, if hewasn't so touchy when people made fun of him, I think he and I could be goodfriends," Amejisuto thought out loud.

"What?! Befriends with fish face?! Why, yeah?" the bomb enthusiast asked, wide eyed.Itachi's expression was the same, but he kept quiet to listen to her answer.

"I don't reallyknow... I feel like he would be a fun person to joke around with. Kinda like areckless brother or something," she shrugged. "It's hard toexplain."

"You are oneweird chick," Deidara shook his head, smiling. "Well I'm off to bed,yeah. See ya!"

The two Konoha-ninstared at each other for a moment before Itachi pulled Ameji down, trapping heragain with a sly grin. “Now, we were talking about your complimentintolerance?”

"You two are anextremely cute couple," Konan interrupted, startling them. They had yetanother visitor.

"Thanks Iguess?" the brunette mumbled, unsure of how to respond.

"I just came byto tell you that Pain and I are going on our mission. Orochimaru and Kakuzu arein charge, but if they hurt you at all, they will perish. Do not try to escape.You may use the training grounds, but Zetsu will have to supervise," shelisted the rules as if they were children and she was their mother.

"We understand,Konan," they both answered. The woman gave a small smile.

"Good. I will seeyou all in a few days," she closed the door and they heard her footstepsslowly fade.

"Well, it'sgetting late. We should sleep," the Uchiha suggested.

"Okay," thebrunette took off her cloak and bandages. They both took turns changing in thebathroom and getting ready to sleep. Itachi turned off the light and hoppedinto the vacant bed, putting his arm over his fiancée as he usually did. Sheturned over so they were face to face. "I have a question for you,"she said, breaking the silence that had barely settled since the lights turnedoff. "And you have to promise to be honest, no matter how much it couldhurt me."

"I promise,"he reluctantly agreed. He didn't like the idea that the answer would result inher pain.

"How do you trulyfeel about leaving everything behind just to go after me?" she fidgetednervously.

"The only thingthat saddens me about this situation is that you seem to have no faith in usgetting out of here. I do miss my family, but even if this happened again, Iwould still choose to go after you no matter what. Like I've said, you're themost important person to me," he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyesbefore cupping her cheek softly. "I love you more than anything."

She smiled softly athis response, her eyes closing slowly as she started to fall asleep. "Ilove you too. But I gotta ask… How have you managed to hide it from me for solong?"

"It wasn't easy,but once you get trained with the ANBU, it's less of a challenge.” He lookeddown at the now-sleeping girl and kissed her forehead before giving up his consciousnessas well.