Remembered Light (Naruto FanFic)

Chapter Twenty

"Orochimaru's...dead?"

I stare in shock, the words falling from my mouth as a sense of freedom comes over me.

"I don't get it! If Orochimaru's dead, why isn't Sasuke returning to the village?" Naruto shouts, confusion filling his eyes.

"He's obsessed with revenge, Naruto. And he's gone this far... would he really turn back now?" I ask, sadness clear in my gaze.

"In order to kill Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke must get closer to the Akatsuki," Jiraiya explains.

"That bastard..." Naruto says through gritted teeth, "Still? Damn! Then we have to get moving too! The mission to hunt down the Akatsuki is still on, right?"

"Yeah," Tsunade admits.

"So, our chances of meeting Sasuke are much higher if we look for that member of the Akatsuki," Naruto reasons, "In other words, our aim is... Uchiha Itachi!"

"Going after the Akatsuki member who's most likely to run into Sasuke...It makes sense, but..." Tsunade hesitated, casually sitting on her desk, "What to do with Itachi Uchiha, then?"

"If we were to capture even one member of the Akatsuki, I think we could get Ibiki to get intel on Itachi from them," Sakura theorized.

"It's true that there's an order to capture any Akatsuki member whenever possible..." Tsunade sighed.

"But that'll be extremely difficult, yeah?" I ask.

"Just what I was going to say, Keira."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura turned.

"Getting info out of them won't be that easy," Kakashi continued, "Even the ones that we've seen so far are far too dangerous."

"We didn't even have a chance to consider capturing them," I nod, "We were fighting for our lives."

"So what do we do?!" Naruto questions, frustrated.

"Until we happen to find Itachi, all we can do is remain calm and search," Kakashi shrugs. 

"Tch," Naruto grits his teeth, glancing away.

"So, let's say we find Itachi. Then what?" Jiraiya asks.

"About that... I have an idea," Kakashi announces.

"Of course you do," I grin, "Let's hear it."

"Actually, could you give me some time?" He asks dryly.

We all blink in surprise before Tsunade nods. "Dismissed!" She orders.

***

"Hey, Naruto! Wait up!" I call out, waving. He and Jiraiya turn, then Naruto grins.

"Keira!" he waves back, "Join us at Ichiraku! It's Pervy Sage's treat!"

"Eh? What?!" Jiraiya questioned incredulously.

"Oh, well, if it's Jiraiya-san's treat, sure!" I agree.

"The girl has some respect, Naruto, you could take a leaf out of her book," Jiraiya reprimends, "Though she's short, and rather... lacking, in other compartments," He observes. An irk mark grows on my head and I silently glare.

"Nah, Keira, there's no need to be respectfuly to Pervy Sage here," Naruto tells me.

"I can see that," I reply, the glare not leaving my face as Jiraiya inched away warily. "Ah, whatever. You were saying something about ramen?"

We all order, and once we have our orders Naruto begins to complain.

"Geez, what's going on with Kakashi sensei?" Naruto grumbles, "And here we are, all ready to leave now."