You are my Star

Chapter 19 - A Dead Snake

"W-what?" 

"Yes, Orochimaru's dead."

"How...?"

Naruto jumped up. "I knew it! I always believed in him! He wouldn't let that snake take over his body! Does that mean Sasuke's coming home?"

Lady Tsunade shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be a part of his plans. He's gathering together a team, and seems to be going after Itachi Uchiha. After all, that was his ultimate goal the entire time."

"But wait!" Hoshiko interrupted. "Since we know who he's going after, we can go after his target, take him custody, and Sasuke will eventually come to us, right?"

Jiraiya squinted at the wall, considering. "In theory, yes. However, Itachi Uchiha won't just go along with this plan. And as you we all know, he is a very powerful man."

Suddenly, Kakashi-sensei stepped into the room. "About that, I think I have an idea. Do you have time to talk afterwards?"

                                                                                 * * * 

"Man, he just had to come in and stop the plan, didn't he?" Naruto folded his hands on the back of his head and closed his eyes, frustration showing on his expression. 

"Look, Naruto," said Hoshiko, trying to talk sense into him. "You and I both understand how powerful Itachi is. Even if Kakashi-sensei hadn't stepped in, Lady Tsunade wouldn't have just let us go. That would've been a suicide mission. The fact that Kakashi-sensei had this idea of his is just speeding up his process."

"Yeah, you're right," sighed Naruto, giving in. "I'm just impatient to get Sasuke back. It's taking too long."

"I can agree with you on that one. How about this. I'll treat you to Ichiraku, and you'll stop whining about this."

"Can I join in?"

It was Shikamaru, hands in his pockets, smiling slightly. "I wanna hear what's going on."

"I'm glad to see you, Shikamaru," said Hoshiko. "But I'm not made of money here, ya know?"

"Of course you're not," said Shikamaru, snorting and crossing his arms over his chest. "You've been gone for two years and haven't gone on any missions during that time. I'm surprised you can still treat Naruto here."

"Are you still mad at me about that? I told you, it wasn't my decision!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he said, kicking a rock. "I just missed you."

Hoshiko smiled. "Same goes for me."

Naruto swung his head from side to side, not comprehending. "Shikamaru, why didn't you say you missed me?" he pointed at himself.

Shikamaru sighed. "Yes, Naruto. I missed you too. In fact, I'll treat you two to ramen instead."

"Awesome! I knew you would!"

"You're a good guy, 'Maru."

"Weird nickname, but alright."

                                                                                    * * *

"And that's the gist of it. Kakashi-sensei has this big plan ready, and we're waiting for further instructions."

"I see." Shikamaru sat thoughtfully, having not ordered anything. "I think this plan'll work. If you have the right people and the right plan of action, Itachi should be able to be subdued and brought back. And once Sasuke finds out, he'll have no choice but to come to us. After all, the entire point of killing Orochimaru and putting together a team was to chase down this one man. There's no way around it."