|PHOTOGRAPHER| hiatus

21 - Ten Days Early

"So it was successful?" A raspy deep voice asked, pulling into his arms a red coat. The man before him nodded. "Yes, though, he has made movement and is now heading after the boy," the taller man with orange hair and black metal piercings spoke.

Just then, a middle-aged lady with purple hair and a lip piercing walked out of a room. "He's already at the boy's workplace, actually. And Naruto seems to be there as well," she spoke, glancing at her watch which displayed the location of Nagato, who was undercover inside of the cafe.

"Naruto knows who Orochimaru is due to unforeseen circumstances, however, I don't think he remembers his name. From what happened the last time they met, I don't think he knows much at all about the snake," the same raspy voice belonging to a tall spikey-white-haired man stated once again.
"Uzumaki is a big boy now, I don't have a doubt in my mind that he wouldn't be able to protect Sasuke. Besides, Nagato is there if anything goes wrong," he continued.

"Lord Jiraiya, I understand, but—"

"Yahiko," Jiraiya spoke, glancing into the younger man's eyes with a look of confidence. "Trust me," he said, turning his head towards the door and making his way towards the exit.
"Where are you going?" Konan questioned. Jiraiya didn't look back, but he did stop to give an answer. "If this does go wrong—if Nagato and Naruto aren't enough to capture and bring back Orochimaru, then who else is there to do it?"

.
.

6 Years Ago...

The ugly truth is, Naruto and Sasuke were never enemies.

It was what happened to both of them that made them think that they were.

Sasuke never hated Naruto, and their relationship never started with Naruto bullying him.
Because it was the exact opposite. Naruto was always Sasuke's friend from kindergarten to 6th grade. They fought a lot, but it was all out of jokes and amusement.

It was 7th grade when everything went downhill.

Two years after Sasuke's parents and Itachi died, Naruto had always been Sasuke's moral support, even though during those times, Orochimaru had gone after the raven three times.

Naruto caught onto this, as a random man was always the one who would come to school and pick up Sasuke.
Naruto caught onto this when he finally saw the fear in Sasuke's eyes when he shuffled his way down to this man's vehicle.
Naruto caught onto this once he realized that Sasuke had been avoiding him.
Naruto caught onto this, once he realized that Sasuke had gone missing the day after December 19th during 7th grade.

And one night, something happened which caused Naruto to go after him.

That Night...

Naruto had been waking up in the middle of the night for about two weeks now. Something was going to happen. Something. He just didn't know what.

He'd probably say it was an animalistic instinct. He moved through his house and down the stairs in time to hear a small thud. It was a familiar thud. Knives being thrown against wood. He knew the sound all too well. He walked over to where he heard the sound with caution to see a shadow dash off.

Angered, he growled slightly. He started mumbling something about stupid people disturbing him at his hour of rest. That really wasn't the case. He had been up for about fifteen minutes when he heard the sound.

He looked to his door. On the inside of his house on the wooden door frame was a note. It was tacked up with a dagger. Curiously, he looked over the writing without actually reading it. He forgot his anger at he saw it was Sasuke's writing. He knew the Uchiha's handwriting well.