Shades of Grey

Chapter 73

"Damn it!" Tsunade yelled as she slammed her fist down on her desk hard enough to crack its surface. She turned to the ANBU that was standing before her. "Get me Team 7 and Shikamaru Nara."

"Man, I was sleeping good." Naruto griped as while rubbing his eyes and waiting in Tsunade's office for the rest of his team. So far it was just him and Sai.

"Stop complaining dickless." The artist sighed. "Lady Tsunade would not have summoned us unless it was necessary."

Finally, Tsunade came walking into the office with Kakashi and Shikamaru in tow. All three wore grim expressions on their faces.

"I am glad that you are all here." Tsunade told them as she set down before her broken desk.

"We aren't all here." Naruto told her. "We need to wait on Sasuke."

"I called you here to tell you that Sasuke Uchiha has left the village." Tsunade sighed.

"Why?" Naruto could not understand why his friend would leave the village again.

"I will give you one guess." Tsunade told him as she watched realization dawn on his face.

"He is going after Itachi and Sakura." Kakashi confirmed what she did not say.

"He is most unstable." Sai spoke up. "Sakura is in danger."

"A danger that she won't see coming." Shikamaru sighed. "You guys saw clearly that she did not want to fight us. Instead she talked to us first, Itachi too. This time I don't think that there will be any talking. Sasuke means to kill Itachi and I don't know what he will do if Sakura gets in the way."

"He will kill her too." Sai had no doubt.

"Damn it." Naruto growled out. "You have to let us go after him."

"Your mission is to bring him back by whatever means necessary." Tsunade confirmed.

"We won't fail." Naruto assured her as the team went their separate ways to get their gear before meeting at the gate. This time when Naruto found Sasuke he was going to give him a beating like he never had before.