Naruto's Revenge

Chapter 12: Memories Past

"So the nine-tails' jinchūriki is with Orochimaru..."

"Yes," Sasori answered. "...What are our orders?"

"You said an informant had supplied you with Orochimaru's whereabouts?"

"Yes," Sasori said.

"Then find him and bring Konoha to his doorstep," Pain instructed. "With any luck they'll distract each other, giving us the opportunity to seize the jinchūriki amongst the confusion."

"Yes, sir."
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The group of eleven wandered through the village, almost in a daze. Until they walked past Ichiraku.

"Naruto loved that place, didn't he?" Kiba said.

"Actually, it wasn't him," Shino corrected.

"Hey! Don't say that!" The two bickered.

Sakura ignored them, reminiscing all the times she spent with team 7 there.

"Yay! Ichiraku Ramen after a long day of chores!"

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura yelled. "Always so loud."

"But Sakuraa," Naruto whined. "It's ramen."

"But nothing, Naruto! You're a ninja, and a ninja must conduct themselves properly," she scolded.

"Do you guys ever shut up?" Satsuki asked.

"Sorry, Satsuki," Sakura said.

"C'mon, let's go get ramen!" Naruto yelled, running to the stand.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"Sakura?" Ino asked. "Are you okay?"

Sakura snapped out of her reverie, realizing everyone had already left to go get some ramen. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Sorry," she said. "Let's go," she followed.

Ino stepped after her...
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Tsunade sat down. "Well? I'm waiting..."

"R-right," Jiraiya said nervously. "Y-you see, the old man, he was worried."

"About what?"

"Naruto, and the nine-tailed fox inside him," he said.

"Why?" she asked, impatient.

He sighed. "At first, I reacted much the same way you did. I was angry at him for even thinking of doing that to Naruto..."

"But..."

"But when I saw him; the hate and resentment in his eyes... I knew then that he was dangerous, and if I didn't ensure his loyalty, Konoha itself couldn't be ensured," Jiraiya said. "Tsunade, you have to understand, this is a kid who suffered the worst humanity had to offer, we had every reason to believe he might want revenge. It wasn't his fault, and he certainly didn't deserve it, but we didn't have a choice. We had to do what was best for the village."

Tsunade sat silently, mulling over what she had just been told. "...You idiot," she said. "He was a boy. He was just a little boy. He had no parents, no family, no friends, and to top it all off, everyone sneered at him." Tears started to show. "If you wanted to ensure his loyalty, you just had to be there for him. If he'd seen the worst of humanity then you needed to show him the best of it." She cried. "Instead, you attempted to control him. You made him feel like he couldn't trust anyone, and that's why he hates us."

"Does he really?" he asked.

"Yes, he does. He wants to destroy this village."

"Is that what he said?"

"Well, according the report I received, he actually wants to do a lot more than that," she said.

Jiraiya stood silent... "I'm sor-" Shizune burst through the door. "Lady Tsunade, I'm so sorry for interrupting but it's a letter from the Kazekage." She handed the note over.

Tsunade opened it. She read momentarily before saying, "Get all the others. Now!"

Shizune quickly left. "What is it?" Jiraiya asked.

"It's Naruto," she said.
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"Jeez, Naruto, you eat like a pig," Sakura said with disgust.

"Sorry Sakura, it's just too good." He continued to ravage the ramen bowls placed before him.

"You're such a loser," Satsuki said.

"Hey!" Naruto yelled, indignant. "Who do you think you're calling a loser?!"

Satsuki rolled her eyes. "You, loser." Inwardly, however, she found pleasure in riling him up.

As Naruto began to argue with her, Sakura smiled. She may hide it, but Satsuki enjoys this, spending time with them.

"Sakura?" Ino asked. "You're spacing out again."

"Huh? Oh, sorry."

"You can't keep spacing out like this," Ino scolded.

"Yeah, I know," she said. "Sorry."

"Seriously, if you need someone to talk to-" "Everyone," Shizune said. "It's Lady Tsunade. She needs you all, right now."
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"With all due respect, Lady Tsunade, we already completed a mission recently. Why are we here?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, I'm not necessarily sending you on another mission," she said. "I just thought you should know."

"Know what, Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked.

"We just reveived a letter from the Kazekage informing us of Orochimaru's location."

"You mean...?" she asked.

"Yes, Naruto and Satsuki should likely be there as well."

"So what's the plan?" Shikamaru asked.

"I'm sending Jiraiya and Kakashi, along with any volunteers, to apprehend the three fugitives," Tsunade explained. "Now, I know this is short notice, and you all just came back from a mission less than a day ago, but for any of you that are willing, you're the best we have."

"I'm going," Sakura said.

"Well, I'm in!" Kiba yelled.

"I'm in too!" Lee exclaimed. "Anything to save a fellow comrade!"

"Me too," Chōji said with a mouthful.

"Naruto saved me once, now I'd like to do the same for him," Neji said.

"Finally! A chance to show up Satsuki," Ino said. "I'm in."

(A/N: for the life of me, I can't think of a single line Tenten would say here. Just pretend she said sumn. Oh, and Shino too)

"What a drag," Shikamaru said. "I'm going, too."

"Alright then," Tsunade said. "Get ready. You leave in an hour." They left. "...Bring him back," she said.

"I will," Jiraiya promised.
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"Alright guys, you ready to leave?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah..." Shikamaru drawled.

"Yup!" Sakura said enthusiastically.

The rest responded in kind.

"Then let's go," he said.
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So for once, I think I managed to make a long Chapter. Do keep in mind, though, that the Chapter lengths may vary. I was fortunate enough to get my brain working fast enough this time around.

Anyways, I really appreciate the attention this has been getting so far. I hope you guys enjoyed.

I woulda thought of an actual title, but as I was thinking of it, I was thinking about the location part of this Chapter and thought of Kendrick's line from "Like That": "Think I won't drop the location? I still got PTSD"