Namikaze Naruto- The Unpredictable Shinobi

Chapter 74: Facing A Sulking Uchiha

Naruto spent the next three days with the Hyuuga clan, unsealing and sealing with the help of 20 clones each day. She met Neji and Hinata but couldn't spend time with them since she had work cut out for her. The Assistant Commander duties didn't leave her, but she successfully avoided the two Uchihas in ANBU. After the business with the Hyuuga was over, she decided she had played with her best friends enough and sympathized with them, finally bringing up courage to meet Itachi.

She approached them in her male form while they were busy sparring in their usual training ground. She sat on the side, waiting for them to finish. Shisui had sent her a grin as a greeting in the middle of the spar, but Itachi promptly ignored her. She began feeling bad and guilty, but did not let that show . After an hour, Shisui called their spar and approached Naruto. Itachi simply practised his Taijutsu Kata all by himself.

Naruto sent a worried glance towards him before she turned to greet her brother. "Anija! Good to see you after a long time. It's been what, four years?" Shisui ruffled her hair, "Good to see you too, Imouto. Now stop kidding. We know you've been seeing us all this while behind a mask. You've done a good job hiding Assistant Commander Cheetah." Naruto smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. 

"I just wanted to surprise you both, you know, play a prank on you guys. You don't fall for simple tricks, but I never expected to be promoted with you guys there. Though, perhaps I wanted to be an ANBU Commander just like my mother." She looked at Itachi again before turning away towards Shisui. "There is so much I want to tell you both and know from you as well. We could go over to Dango?" She asked uncertainly.

Itachi was absolutely crazy over dango. They knew that.

Shisui grinned. "Of course! Oy Itachi, come on. We are going to Amaguriama." Itachi simply said "Hn" and continued training before blocking a lethal punch to his gut from Shisui. He glared at Shisui with his Sharingan activated. The older one simply used this distraction to grab Itachi's hand and dragged him as he walked alongside Naruto. 

Said girl grabbed his other hand and squeezed his hand in a silent message 'Thank you for that and also not being mad at me.' Shisui smiled back, but his eyes held a glint in a silent reply 'No problem, but you are not off the hook yet.' Naruto nodded with a sheepish smile.

They reached the Dango shop and placed their orders. Well, Shisui placed an order for Itachi. As regular customers, the two Uchihas had a spot reserved for only those two and sometimes a third customer, where they could discuss important matters without the fear of being eavesdropped. The three of them exchanged stories. Naruto told about her travels, leaving out the undead Senju, while Shisui told about the lives of the two Uchihas, minus Itachi's affection for her.

Seeing Naruto's forlorn expression towards Itachi, Shisui decided to get his cousin out of his sulking shell and asked her, "So, you hid things from us. After you fought Pein, you didn't meet us. Now when you reveal yourself in ANBU, you avoid us. Why?" Itachi's disinterested expression didn't change, but the other two knew better. Naruto sighed and replied,

"I told you I hid the ANBU and Jounin status because I wanted to surprise you. Also, if you had known and started becoming familiar with me, things might look suspicious. The reactions I received from some older ANBU when I revealed myself a few days ago would explain better why I had joined ANBU not as myself. Also, the civilian council would fight with the Hokage to remove me from ANBU since I'm not exactly the object of everyone's affection. At least not before Pein. 

During my fight with Pein, Itachi-kun had a crow tailing me. It was only because I knew of his crows that I had known the crow's presence that was hidden very well. Either Pein thought it was a normal crow, or he was too busy fighting me to notice it. I had told Itachi-kun through the crow that I will give you the answers after I come back to Konoha for good. I knew that if I had met the two of you then, I would want to stay for a long time. I can't have that as I have someone waiting for me outside the village. He was quite important to me and those were his last days.