Kaze no koibitō

21

Naruto kept his eyes locked on Itachi, not willing to let him have a crack at harming the populace. He'd have to let everyone else worry about Sasuke and the rest of the Akatsuki, granted there were nowhere near as many now. That did not mean that their strength was lessened.

While Itachi was keeping him busy, Kisame, Zetsu, and Tobi were moving to free Sasuke and he couldn't allow that. He had warned them of the dangers of leaving him alive. He should have killed him when he had the chance. He would never leave a job that needed to be done in the hands of others ever again when he could just as readily do it.

Itachi eyeballed the staff in Naruto's hand and let his own slip to his sword's hilt. He was nothing if not cautious...or was it paranoid?

"When did you get the staff, Naruto-kun? That's a unique way to summon it."

"I don't kiss and tell, Itachi. Now get the hell out of my way."

Naruto made to run around the Uchiha and found his way blocked.

"I can't let you do that. Believe me, Naruto-kun, I don't want to rescue Sasuke. He's already messed up my plans enough. But it's not my choice."

Naruto twirled his staff in his hand and spread his legs slightly, ready to run forward.

"What plans?"

"I've said enough. Now show me what I want to know."

Naruto ran forward, swinging his staff for Itachi's temple, and the Uchiha jumped to the side. Naruto used the momentum to carry himself around in a spin and lashed out for Itachi's legs. Itachi jumped over the staff and flipped backwards.

As soon as his feet had touched the ground Itachi rushed forward and pulled his sword from its scabbard. Naruto brought his staff up and blocked the blow that was aimed for his shoulder. The two weapons shook with their wielders effort and Itachi quirked his eyebrow.

"A staff made from chakra conductive wood? That is definitely different, Naruto-kun. Perhaps you can tell me which one of you sent the forest after us in Suna?"

Naruto pushed Itachi back and thrust the pointy end of the gnarled staff toward Itachi's chest. The Uchiha bent backward and backflipped away. Naruto formed the Rasengan in his right hand and ran forward, attempting to catch Itachi with it. The missing nin dodged to the side and watched as Naruto flew past him and the Rasengan impacted the soil, sending chunks of dirt and debris flying.

Naruto spun immediately and thrust his staff upward, blocking another attempt to behead him. Something felt wrong. Why wasn't he hearing any screaming? Why hadn't he seen Temari since this all started?

Where the hell was the platform?

Naruto blocked another thrust and snarled, lashing out and continuously spinning his body until he caught Itachi in the side, sending him flying. He cursed himself for a fool.

Genjutsu...his one glaring weakness. Itachi had caught him the moment he locked eyes with him. How could he be so stupid? He thought he had come so far and it took Itachi to make him feel like an academy student again.

Unfortunately for Itachi, he wasn't twelve anymore. He wasn't fifteen anymore. He could break genjutsu on his own.

It was just going to hurt like hell.

Itachi watched as Naruto formed a Kage Bunshin and handed it the staff. His eyes grew wide when the clone brandished the staff and clubbed Naruto in the jaw as hard as it could...and the genjutsu melted away, revealing everyone standing in the same spot. Naruto dismissed the clone and grabbed his staff again, before setting his jaw back in place.