You are my Star

Chapter 20 - Still Too Late

"Nothing here," said Kiba. They had noticed Sasuke's scent moving into several different directions, and had followed each. This was the sixth one they'd tried, and to no avail.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya took his last breath before being launched into the ocean, swords protruding from his back. 

Naruto and Hoshiko leapt through the forest together, desperate to find Itachi before Sasuke. As they ran, a man with white hair, completely healthy and with both arms intact, transparent, reached over and clapped a hand on each of their shoulders. 

"What-?"

The pair skidded to a stop, and turned around, looking for the person who had touched them. But they never saw anything, just the heat of a sun weeping golden light on them. 

                                                                               * * * 

"Well, well," said a slightly nasally voice from above. "I wasn't expecting to run into a group of Leaf Ninja. And there's- one, two, five- a lot of you!"

Everyone looked up. A man in Akatsuki robes and an orange mask stood watching them from a branch above. 

"I'm sorry, I can't let you pass any further."

Naruto growled. "We can't afford to deal with you! We need to find Sasuke. Right now."

Kiba ground his teeth, sniffing the air. "Yeah, and his scent is getting fainter and fainter by the minute."

"Kiba, don't fuel the fire, you idiot!" 

"I'm just stating the situation, Hoshiko."

Hoshiko sighed, irritated. Meanwhile, Naruto formed a blue ball of chakra in his hands. The Rasengan. He leapt into the air, and shoved the jutsu at the man. But it just went right through him. 

"What the hell?"

"Is the guy human?"

Naruto landed on the ground next to Hoshiko, his white cloak billowing behind him. "How does he do that?" 

"I'm...not sure."

Shikamaru, who had been silent for most of this exchange, spoke up. "Perhaps it's a teleportation jutsu, except he's only getting rid of a part of his body. A very advanced technique."

Hoshiko glanced at Naruto, and he nodded. Without a word, the two had worked up a plan. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

Hoshiko crossed her arms in front of her face, and a wall of fire appeared in front of her, and tipped over so that it lay flat against the earth, singing the grass. She formed  a chain of hand signs and said, "Fire style:  Flame dance!" The fire jumped high, reaching just under the enemy's feet. 

"Here we go." Naruto's hands glowed blue, and a string of pure wind chakra formed between his palms. The string elongated width-wise until it was a sheet of chakra, stretched on top of Hoshiko's fire. He let go of it, and it dropped onto the flames. 

The fire went crazy. It truly danced across the ground, curling through the air. It reached for the Akatsuki member, but he wasn't hurt. 

"Hinata, now!"

"Right." She looked around with her Byakugan, then shook her head. "It's too fast for even my Byakugan to follow."

Then suddenly, a small carnivorous plant-looking person rose from the ground. "The battle is over. Sauske has risen triumphant, but his wounds are bad."

The ridiculous, high voice of the Akatsuki member disappeared. "I see," he said in a voice low and strong. He turned back to the leaf shinobi. "Until we meet again." Then he was gone. 

"Quick, we have to follow him!" Hoshiko cried. 

"Kiba, help us out," added Naruto.

"Already on it," said Kiba, and ran into the forest. The others followed closely.

"I'll go on ahead and see what I can do." Before anyone could tell her otherwise, Hoshiko dropped into a portal and disappeared. 

After ten minutes of sprinting full speed, the group came to an ocean of black flames. 

"Yamato?"

"Yes, sir." The captain slammed his hand into the ground, and it split apart several times to reveal fresh ground, not infested with dark fire. 

 Naruto went forward, a run fueled with pain, anger, and a need to do something. He, then Shikamaru, then everyone else, found Hoshiko sitting atop a slab of rock with the Uchiha crest on it, looking out over the blackened landscape with dead eyes. 

She whispered quietly, "We were too late."

Naruto stopped and stared at where she sat. Behind it were two puddles of blood, one smaller than the other.

"Is that...?" Naruto's voice trailed off.

"Yes," Hoshiko said, still not looking at them. "Sasuke and his brother, Itachi's blood. They were here. I even got a glimpse of them before they disappeared, along with that Akatsuki member." 

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry we couldn't make it in time." Hoshiko turned at the sound of Shikamaru's voice, and he saw the tear tracks that streaked down her face. Shikamaru jumped up on top of the rock and sat beside her, not saying anything, just letting her know without words that he was there for her. 

"We'll find him," he said quietly, so that only she could hear. "I promise."