Forsaken {Book 1}

XVIII: Don't Hug the Pole, It Hurts

They took their time. They all agreed that they shouldn't rush, and they should just enjoy the journey. Sakura was quiet after the discovery of her lost necklace, Sasuke was quiet, but that's normal, and Naruto was.....well Naruto. Naruto was the only one who didn't want to take his time. He wanted ramen.  Of course his first thought was Teuchi's ramen, but that was in Konoha.  So he had to go with what he declared as the third best. 

Ever since Sasuke spoke with Katsuyu she had kept quiet while Gamatatsu had rambled on about things with Naruto.  Sakura had instinctively put her hand where her necklace would be.  It was a habit of hers to grab the necklace charm. 

"LOOK WE'RE HERE!" Naruto shouted gladly.  Sasuke was walking head down and his hands in his pockets, focusing intently on the ground.  Naruto snickered.  "Teme watch where you-"  Sasuke walked into a pole.  Sakura looked over at him with wide eyes and Naruto bursted out into laughter.  Naruto laughed as he walked his eyes on Sasuke's fallen form.  Sasuke looked at Naruto and smirked. 

"Dobe, you better watch your step."  Right after Sasuke said that Naruto hit a pole, his attention going from Sasuke's fail to the sudden pain on the side of his face.  Sakura couldn't help but giggle at the two boys. 

"You know what can cure this?" Naruto said looking at Sakura and Sasuke, who had just stood up.  "RAMEN!"

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Minato looked over the file again and again. The words didn't change. Nothing there gave him the answers he was looking for. He knew, he swore he knew it, but there was no proof. Nothing that could prove him right. Only someone. Someone who wasn't there. He sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose, and as if on cue, Kushina walked in with some papers.

"Kushina." Minato greeted. Kushina gave him a weak smile.

"Minato," She began he smile fading. "I found something." She handed him the papers. Minato looked at the papers and groaned in frustration.

"How could I be so stupid." He berated himself. "The signs were there I just never noticed them. And I call myself Hokage, I should be doing better than this." He ran a hand through his hair and looked up at Kushina who was looking at him concerned.

"Minato?" She asked worriedly.

"It should've been obvious. Her parents never took their time to show up to any of her celebrations or graduations. They only did once and even then, I remember they looked so angry like they loathed being there. According to Kakashi, she would come to the team training with scratches or bruises which he assumed came from extra training she probably did. They never showed to the meeting we had with Sasuke's parents about the kid's disappearence. They even said they didn't care." Minato explained. Kushina put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"Minato, what are you trying to say?" She asked.

"Sakura Haruno was abused by her parents." Kushina nearly jumped.

"WHAT?" She asked loudly. "Mebuki and Kizashi wouldn't do that ya know! They even announced that they're expecting!" She claimed.

"What? Another child?" Minato asked.

"Yea! Mebuki told me this morning when I went shopping. She said they were hoping for a boy ya know. One who could take on their business when they got older."

"They may be expecting another child, but that doesn't change what I found. Kushina, we may not be able to prove it with what we have here, but if Sakura was here..... we could get somewhere."

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And that's where they found them.

"Too predictable." Jiraiya muttered under his breath entering the ramen shop.  Inside were three kids, a slug, and a toad.  Gamakichi, who was on Jiraiya's shoulder looked at Gamatatsu and smiled.

"Gamatatsu!  What are you doing here?"  He asked in shock, drawing the kid's attention to Jiraiya and his two companions.

"Well I was summoned!" Gamatatsu claimed.  Tsunade looked at Sakura and Sasuke.

"I'm assuming you've found the cause of this?" She asked in a low voice.

"Yes they did Tsunade-sama. I suggest you three sit down." Katsuyu said . Once he sat down Jiraiya ordered a bowl of ramen that was quickly delivered to him.

"So?" He asked, his mouth full. Orochimaru elbowed him in the gut.

"Don't speak with your mouth full." Then he turned his head. "It's like talking to a child." He muttered. Jiraiya rolled his eyes and stuffed some more ramen in his mouth. Tsunade let out a breath at their childish behavior.

"Anyways," She turned to Sakura. "What did you find?" She asked getting straight to business. Sakura sighed.

"Someone is trying to summon something." She answered. "There was a big summoning circle or something," She began to explain.

"Or something." Tsunade mumbled undr her breath. Sakura ignored it, but Sasuke stepped up and continued the explanation.

"There was a complex summoning circle that was drawn on the floor with a lot of symbols we couldn't understand. From what we have concluded, the guy we encountered is trying to summon something. Something big." Sasuke finished.

"And who was this guy you encoutered?" Orochimaru inquiered grabbing a glass of water.

"A guy named Kabuto." Naruto answered.

Tsunade tensed.

Orochimaru tightened his grip on the glass and his body stiffened.

Jiraiya spit all the ramen in his mouth on the person sitting to his left and began choking. Unluckly the person on his left was Orochimaru.

"Kabuto!" Jiraiya shrieked after his choking episode was over. Sasuke nodded. Jiraiya's face turned serious and he turned to Tsunade. "We know what he's after." Jiraiya said in a low voice.

"No," Tsunade denied with a hard voice. "We don't know what he's after. He could be trying to summon a rainbow god for all we know."

"You and I both know that's not true." He said back calmly wiping his mouth with a napkin. Alwhile this was happening, Orochimaru was wiping his face and hands, his lips forming a frown.

"No!" Tsunade said all of a sudden standing up and slamming her hand on the table, knocking down her small glass of sake. "We don't!" She claimed before storming out of the building. Jiraiya sighed and gave the kids and Orochimaru an apologetic look before chasing after Tsunade. Katsuyu and Gamakichi slowly followed Jiraiya out.

"Orochimaru-sama?" Sakura asked. "Who is Kabuto?" Orochimaru couldn't hold back a sigh.

"It's time that I tell you of my former apprentice."

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A/N: That's deep.....okay I dunno what I'm talking about.

I'm going to adress the 'no update' last week now.... I said this in an earlier author's note that I will most likely skip one week of every month, BUT I will update the following Friday. Last week ended up being the week. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and don't forget to vote and, or comment because I love to see what you guys have to say. Anyways, for now,

BYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE