Haruno Raiden (Unedited)

Chapter Twenty-three

The days past and I was slowly losing more and more sleep each night. I would secretly meet with Itachi from time to time to train and thankfully he wasn't noticing that my insomnia had come back.

"Raiden, we need to talk."

I raised a brow at the older Uchiha boy. "What about? Did I do something wrong?" I asked.

"Your insomnia." I thought too soon. Of course, he noticed. He just didn't bring it up.

"I'm fine Itachi."

"You're not, Raiden, you can't keep blaming yourself for something that couldn't have been prevented."

I sighed. "Itachi-"

"No, let me finish." I nodded and let him go on. "It's not good for you. You really need to move on from it. Do you think Hiruzen would want to see you like this again? No. He wouldn't. Now, get your act together and get passed it." His words became harsh but I knew he was doing it to benefit me. "Because I will not help you until you get passed this, Raiden. I won't watch you tear yourself apart." I gaped at him. "Goodbye, Raiden. Only talk to me when you forgive yourself." He dissipated into a flock of crows leaving me gobsmacked.

"What. The. Fuck?" I blinked a few times and pinched my arm being sure it wasn't a dream. "Ow. Nope, definitely not a dream." I sighed and started to walk where I knew Jiraiya-Sama and Naruto would be. I entered the bar/restaurant and found them talking with Tsunade-hime and a woman with black short hair. I shrugged and walked over to them sitting down next to the blob.

"Hey, guys." I greeted with a slight wave.

"Raiden, it's good to see you again." Tsunade greeted.

"And you."

"Wait, you two know each other?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade-hime and I shared a knowing smirk. "Meh, we've been acquainted." I said shrugging.

"Yeah, you could say that." Tsunade agreed.

I faced the black-haired girl with a smile. "Haruno Raiden, nice to meet you." She smiled as I offered my hand.

"Shizune." She introduced taking my hand and shaking it.

"So, how did you find us?" Jiraiya asked.

I shrugged. "Gut feeling."

"Why do always say that? It's creepy. Plus, it's always true." Naruto said, furrowing his eyebrows and eyeing me curiously.

"Well, that comes with being me, Naruto. I'm just too awesome." I joked. He huffed like a child and stuck his tongue out at me. I zoned out thinking over what Itachi had said to me previously.

I was suddenly brought out of my thoughts as the blob made a lunge for the blonde sannin. I quickly grabbed ahold of his collar and sat him down in his seat.

"Why on earth are you lunging for a sannin?! Are you mad?!" I scolded him.

"Says you! You almost got yourself killed! Twice!"

"I- ok, you have a fair point there, but why are you lunging for Tsunade? She doesn't have black hair and a snake tongue, does she?"

"She isn't going to be the Hokage." He huffed.

"I know." Ah, shit. I mentally slapped myself in the face. They're not supposed to know.

"How did you know? You've been zoning out since you got here." Jiraiya-sama asked with a raised brow.

I sighed. "I may have run into her the day the two Akatsuki members showed up." I said quickly and quietly.

"You what?!" Naruto growled.