The spring flower Neji FF

Chapter 51

As if Itachi's death was not enough, the next day Akina learned that Jiraijya also died at Pains hands. Neji was with her the whole evening and did not leave her alone. She had tried to deal with Itachi's death in her dreams, which didn't quite work. However, the words of Itachi fell to her again and again. She should be happy and not grieve for him. But it was harder for her than she thought.

"Have you found out anything yet?" asked Akina as she walked into the Hokage's office. "Shikamaru's working on it.", Tsunade murmured hiding her grief for her friend a bit. "How is Naruto?" she finally asked. Even if his grief was different from hers she could understand him well. He had been traveling with the Sannin for three years. He was certainly like a father to him. "You can guess, can't you?" Akina nodded and exhaled. "Is there anything I can do to help?

Tsunade thought about it. Actually, there was nothing for the Uchiha to do, but she also didn't want her to retreat again as it had been the night before. Itachi's death affected her more than she would have thought. Something Akina had to know that she didn't hate him. "You might know what this means," Tsunade spoke, pushing a picture toward her. Akina recognized several numbers and looked at them more closely. Even though she wasn't as smart as Shikamaru she could see a pattern. It was Jiraiya, so it had to be something to do with him.

The Uchiha spotted a strange nine on the front row. "Nine...", she mumbled to herself. Why do you write a nine like that? Suddenly a thought occurred to her and Tsunade looked at her. "Akina?" "I know what it could be. Where's Shikamaru?" she asked quickly. "I think he went to see Naruto." "Thank you!", Akina said and was about to step out of the office. "Akina Uchiha you tell me what you know right now!"

The Uchiha paused and smiled at the senju. "You should know the old codger Tsunade. It's numbers and a weird nine that doesn't fit in. So it must have something to do with his books. He's the only one who knows them by heart." she spoke and ran out. Tsunade's eyes widened and she felt like hitting herself. Why didn't she think of it herself, but someone who didn't really know him?

Breathing heavily, she came to stand in front of Shikamaru and Naruto. "Sh..ika..maru..." she breathed and was looked at questioningly by him. "What is it, I don't have time. Me and Naruto want to..." he started, wanting to tell her that he wanted to go over the numbers with him. "I know what the numbers mean!", Akina beamed and took his wrist. "Now come on we can't waste any time!" she laughed happily. She was proud of herself for figuring it out faster than a Nara. "Now don't pull like that!" came loudly from him.

In the small workroom, the three sat down and were looked at questioningly by a woman. Akina didn't know her but she certainly had to know about different codes. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Akina said she knew what they meant," Shikamaru said, resting his head.

Grinning, Akina looked at the three and put the picture on the table. "That nine was weird to me from the beginning." "We know that, too," the Nara said, annoyed. While the Uchiha looked at him slightly angry Naruto looked at the picture. Even he looked at the nine for a long moment. "That's not a nine." he finally said. "Yes I know that too Naruto. That's why I want all the Flirt Paradise books Jiraiya wrote." she grinned and was looked at a bit shocked by the others. "What?"

"How can an Uchiha want to read something like that!?" the woman shouted. Laughing, Akina looked at the glasses-wearing woman. "It's not like I really want to read them." Naruto slowly understood what she was trying to say. "Jiraiya always writes the word Ri as a nine." "Ri?" pondered Shikamaru, his eyes wide. "So you mean...?" "Yes. The answer is in his books," Akina laughed.

"Then you should start with this book." came from Kakashi who was standing at the window holding up a book. So the group set to work while Kakashi read the sentences and blushed more and more. Akina did not care at all. She didn't know the Hatake any different than seeing him with one of those books. After going over each number they ran to Tsunade.

Questioning Senju, she looked at the group as she read the sentence. "The right one is not among them. I wonder what he meant by that." The Toads who were present also pondered. "There were six men who each had a Rinnegan. Jiraiya had said something about a yahiko." Tsunade listened. She knew that name and remembered that Jiraiya had trained three children.

After some discussion, Naruto decided to go with the Toads. He would learn with them everything he could need. Akina didn't know what it was exactly but he would probably be gone for a while. Tsunade had only told a few people where the Uzumaki was going. She didn't want to risk Akatsuki finding him. The fewer people who knew, the better.

What no one knew was that Pain was already planning an attack.