Chapter 48: Sasuke's Mission

"Jugo, hand him over the body."

"Yes, Sasuke."

The orange-haired man tossed a beaten and badly injured young man in front of Hanshin. The long-haired man smirked at the sight of this.

"Good," He responded, "You've managed to find yet another guardian for me."

"Please, don't harm me. I'll give you anything you'd like, I swear!" The unnamed man pleaded as he layed on his stomach and reached his hand toward Hanshin.

"Your dead body is what I need," Hanshin replied as he then wrapped the man up with his webs, "So good riddance."

"Mmph! Hmmpf!" The guardian tried to talk as he was suffocated.

Once he did, Hanshin had the webs hang his body down from a tree branch where it then resembled that of a cocoon.

Karin bit her bottom lip.

This guy is just plain cruel...

"Now that Sasuke's captured who you wanted, why don't you go on ahead and tell us about his brother, would ya?" Suigetsu, who stood in between Jugo and Sasuke, asked.

"Oh no, you see... you've got plenty more to capture before I'll give you any leads on where Itachi may be."

"If you don't talk, I'll have no choice but to kill you." Sasuke threatened as he grabbed at his sword.

"If you wanna know where Itachi is, I suggest you take heed and listen to what I've got to say to you: You'll never be able to find him unless you go and kill one specific guardian." Hanshin narrowed his eyes as he then held up a photo of someone.

"Wow, get a load of this, Sasuke." Suigetsu pointed at the photo, "That's that chick that was hanging around that old buddy of yours, right?"

Sasuke made no reply.

"That picture... that's from Orochimaru's bingo book, is it not?" Karin joined in the conversation.

"Why yes it is," Hanshin nodded, "Apparently, this girl has a power that was deemed worthy enough to appear in that book."

"Oh please," Suigetsu once more talked, "She didn't look like much. He's clearly bluffing."

"No... he's telling the truth." Jugo corrected his comrade.

"What? No way, man."

"Suigetsu, you clearly never looked inside that book, you dimwit! That girl really was on there!" Karin bit on her thumb, "I just can't remember what it is that she possesses that made her a target..."

"If you kill this girl, I'll tell you about Itachi." Hanshin smirked.

Sasuke eyed the picture then said nonchalantly, "Not interested. I said I would capture these people. I never said anything about killing them."

"Hmm, I guess capturing her could work too," The man responded, "However... do you really feel comfortable showing your face in the Leaf?"

Sasuke didn't respond. He only glared at his associate then said, "Something tells me you opened that big mouth of yours, Hanshin..."

"Maybe..."

Sasuke drew out his sword and aimed it right at the man's throat.

"No need to get violent, Sasuke Uchiha," Black Zetsu sprouted from out the ground, "Kill him and you won't get any leads on where you brother may be."

Slowly, Sasuke placed his sword back in its sheathe.

"The Leaf is filled with ninja who'll recognize me quickly and try to capture me. If I'm to kill or capture this girl, it must be done some place else."

"You're right. You'll be in trouble trying to fight off all the advanced shinobi. Hmm, I guess you'll have to wait till the girl is sent on a mission." Zetsu replied.

"I'm not waiting."

"You don't have to, Sasuke," Karin spoked up, "Just pose as someone from the Leaf using a transformation jutsu then lure her out and attack her then."

"Oooo, smart girl." Zetsu seemed impressed by the idea, "I had forgotten all about that technique. Silly us, right?"

"Whatever," The Uchiha nodded, "I'll use that and get the girl you so badly desire... what is the information on her?"

Hanshin gave Sasuke a scroll, "This is everything you need to know about her."

It didn't take long for the young man to read about his victim. However, one piece of information made him grunt in dismay. Immediately, his teammates looked over his shoulder and soon too widened their eyes in shock.

"That's what it was!" Karin exclaimed as she read what Nia's hidden ability was, "Sasuke!"

"This chick is crazy!" Suigetsu commented next, "Sasuke, if she uses that, you might actually be in trouble."

"I'll be just fine." The black-haired boy replied rather calmly as he then made a very well thought out plan in his head.

"Now I see why you want me to be the one to get rid of her."

"That's right." Zetsu nodded, "You're perfect for the job. However, if for some reason, you can't either capture or kill this girl, our leader will have to do it himself."

"Sasuke will complete his mission." Jugo responded with confidence.

"Okaaay!" Zetsu smiled, "Just make sure you don't run into the Nine-Tails while you're there. She's rather close to him. You don't wanna have to deal with him obsessing over you again, huh Sasuke?"

"I couldn't care less about him." The Uchiha replied rather harshly, "I have no bond with him."

"All right, then! Hanshin and I will be taking our leave then. See you after you've completed your task."

With that, Black Zetsu and Hanshin disappeared into the forest.

Sasuke quickly turned and began walking, "Let's go, we're heading to the Leaf."

"Sasuke, are you sure about this?" The kunoichi questioned as she followed the handsome teen.

"If this is to gain another lead on where Itachi is, I'd do just about anything, Karin. Now, keep moving."

•••

At another place in the shinobi world, a meeting was held by the most dangerous organization in existence: The Akatsuki.

Inside a rather very large cave, the five-tails jinchuuriki was having their tailed beast extracted from them.

"How much more longer is this going to take? I'm getting tired of this already." Deidara, who was standing next to Itachi and Kisame, asked.

"Maybe if you'd quit talking, we might get somewhere." Itachi gave his honest opinion as the group continued their ritual.

"We have about five days left." The leader of the group, Pain, answered the question, "By the time this is up, Hanshin should have killed the six tail's jinchuuriki's guardians and we'll be able to catch that tailed beast as well."

"You gotta be kidding! Five days? We've been doing this for two days already."

"Deidara just shut up already, would ya?" Kisame spoked up, "The more you complain, the longer this'll take."

"Silence," Pain gave an order, "I will not tolerate bickering. We need to hurry and draw out this tailed beast then move onto the next one."

With this, the members regained their focus and continued with their ritual. However, Itachi had his mind on something. He was thinking about his visit to the Hidden Cloud a while back. Precisely the moment he met Nia.

I wonder if she's given Naruto my message about Sasuke...? Deep down I feel like he doesn't know about him. It makes me wonder... should I pay Naruto a visit myself? There is something I need to hide inside him after all...

•••

It was night in Konoha. Naruto had just dropped Nia off at Iruka's and was now heading home.

'Oh man,' He walked through the streets with his arms behind his head as he wore a grin also, 'She's totally got the hots for me, ya know. Curly Brow just can't keep her hands off me! She so wants me.'

As he continued strolling down the street, he incidentally bumped into someone and knocked them over. When he looked down, there was Hinata.

"Oh dang! My bad, Hinata. I didn't see you there." He apologized as he helped the girl up, "Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?"

"N-No, I'm fine," The kunoichi blushed as she appreciated Naruto's concern for her, "T-Thank you for helping me up."

"Yeah. No problem," The genin rubbed the back of his head, "Say Hinata... what're you doing walking around here so late at night? Don't you think you should get some sleep or something?"

"O-Oh well I... I was just getting some fresh air is all."

"But this late?"

Hinata laughed nervously. The truth was, she had heard of Naruto returning to the village and had wanted to see him but her shyness had instead only lead her to follow him around for the day as she didn't have the courage to approach him. However, her bumping into him just now really was incidental. She was just walking around getting some air.

"N-Naruto?"

"Yeah? What is it, Hinata?"

"I just... I just wanted to ask you something. W-Who was the girl you w-were with earlier. S-She was with you and Master Jiraiya."

"Errrrm... Oh! You mean Curly Brow?" He smiled.

"Curly Brow?" Hinata seemed confused.

Naruto scratched his cheek, "Well actually, her name is Nia but I just call her Curly Brow because it has a better ring to who she is, ya know? She's actually Iruka-sensei's little cousin too."

"Iruka-sensei's?"

"Yeah. I'm also by her a lot because Pervy Sage actually made her a student of his too a pretty long time ago back when we first met."

'Oh what a relief...' Hinata gave a relieved smile, 'He was by her so much because they share the same master.'

"Well, I gotta get going now, Hinata." The genin smiled and waved, "I hope you get home safely. I'll see you when everyone gets together soon, okay?"

"Yes. You have a good night too, Naruto." The Hyuga girl said her goodbye as the blond ran and hopped back to his apartment.

Naruto... I'm glad I was able to be able to talk to you even if it was for a little bit.

As Naruto made it inside his room, he quickly summoned three clones and had them sit or stand somewhere in the room while he layed on his bed with his arms supporting the back of his head.

"So, are you guys satisfied she said yes?" The original began a conversation with his clones.

"Yep."

"Definitely."

"Erm... hmm.."

Naruto looked to the clone who seemed unsure of itself.

"What's up? Something wrong?"

Clone three had its arms crossed as it leaned against the wall, "I'm happy and all that she said yes, but... do you think she really likes us?"

"Of course!" Clone one replied as it sat on a chair.

"Why wouldn't she? Doesn't she make it obvious she likes us?" Clone two responded as it sat on the bed.

Clone three answered, "I just... I mean... we're jinchuuriki... is it really possible for someone to-"

"Stop." The original ordered, "Don't be like that. Of course she likes me, ya know?"

"But just think about it! We were scorned back as a kid! No one cared for us! No one ever accepted us! Why would she like us when there's a beast inside us?"

"Maybe she sees past that." Clone one said.

"But he does have a point," Clone two agreed with Clone three, "It's understandable why we'd be like in a platonic way, but in a romantic sense? Is that possible?"

"Of course it is!" The original sat up and clenched his fist, "She says I'm the one who makes her smile. The one who makes her feel shy. I'm the one she comes to for comfort and the one who helps her see life differently! I'm her hero!"

The three clones stayed quiet as they reviewed the girl's actions and words in their head.

"She really does hug tightly..." One said.

"As if she doesn't wanna let go." Another continued.

"Don't even get me started on how soft her touches are and how tenderly she looks at me."

"Yeah," Naruto layed back down and stared at the ceiling, "The way she looks at me is a lot different from how the villagers looked at me when I was a kid. Her gaze is soft. They're really sweet and I can just feel she really cares about me, ya know?"

"Definitely." Clone one nodded.

"Will she keep gazing at us in admiration forever like that though?" Clone three asked cynically.

"I really hope so." Clone two shared it's opinion.

"That'd be awesome." Clone one agreed.

"She will," Naruto said as he turned to face his clones, "I mean, I do always make her laugh and smile, after all."

Clone three kept it's arms crossed, "But what if she were to stop seeing us as her hero? What if we lost her acknowledgement? How would we feel?"

"That's terrible!" Clone two talked.

"No way am I ever gonna let that happen!" Clone one replied.

"I'd be devastated,"  The original shared his opinion, "If she were to take back everything she said to me, I'd be hurt. Really badly too. It felt really good to hear what she thought of me. It reminded me of the time when I heard Iruka-sensei speak highly of me after I had taken that forbidden scroll."

"Because she sees me so deeply... I don't... I don't wanna lose that. Just like how I don't wanna lose Iruka-sensei's acknowledgement of me as a student and shinobi, I don't wanna lose Curly Brow's acknowledgement of me as a person and as of a romantic interest, ya know? It bothers the hell out of me to even think about it."

"But what about Sakura?" Clone two asked, "Don't you still like her? Don't you wanna be her's?"

Naruto thought of the pink-haired kunoichi.

He did like her. He liked her but his feelings were always one-sided. Sakura's heart had always belonged to Sasuke. Even after months of him being gone, the girl still seemed unresponsive of his advances.

"Sakura was the girl of my dreams back then," The original started, "I couldn't stop thinking of her and how pretty I thought she was. I did absolutely everything to get her to notice me even when she completely despised me and thought of me as annoying. I never stopped trying to get her attention despite her liking Sasuke, ya know?"

"Yeah," Clone one nodded, "I did everything in my power to protect and be there for her, but... she still liked Sasuke. Even after not seeing him for three years. She still loved him. It was as clear as day."

"I wanted her to notice me in a romantic light, but that day never came."  Clone three added, "Curly Brow's a whole other story, huh?"

"Yeah." Clone two nodded.

"For sure," Clone one did the same, "Curly Brow's really had a thing for me but hid it pretty good. I thought she was getting weirder and weirder the more I talked to her."

"It got to a point where we made her get really shy, ya know? That was somewhat of a huge giveaway. She didn't act like that before until much later." Clone two said.

Naruto grinned sheepishly, "I remember Kakashi-sensei telling me about how much more focused and determined she became while she wore my headband. I knew it would help, she was just too embarrassed to admit it though hehe."

At this, the clones began to laugh.

"She was totally digging us the whole time." Clone one smiled.

"Probably was thinking of kissing us too!" Clone two joined in on the fun.

"If she was, wouldn't you think she would've made it a bit more obvious?" Clone three questioned.

"Yeah, well... I'm not very good at noticing stuff like that. I didn't even know she liked me for all those months until she told me." The original said, "That was seriously a shocker."

The clones all nodded.

"She actually is a really good person though," Clone one brought up, "I feel bad I didn't notice her at first because I didn't think she was pretty or anything, but now I think she's really freaking cute, ya know?!"

"Yeah!" The clones agreed, "She's really cute!"

"No, she's gorgeous!" Clone one then changed its mind, "She should just keep holding onto me really tightly and keep calling me her hero. It's such a turn on."

"Too bad she doesn't believe me though..." Clone two sighed, "She never believes me."

"Well, people were really mean to her because of her looks," The original reminded the clones, "They treated her like she was some sort of germ. They didn't give her a chance to show her worth. I can see why she was so sad and so hesitant to say anything to me. She didn't wanna be made fun of or treated really badly."

Clone three replied, "I wish I could make her feel better."

"Yeah, I wanna make her smile." Clone two agreed.

"And I wanna tell her she's not alone." Clone one added.

"But most of all..." Naruto smiled.

"I wanna be there for her." They all say at once, "I wanna be her hero, ya know!"

The original kept on smiling to himself, "I guess you really can't judge a book by it's cover. Otherwise, you're totally missing out on something actually good within that cover."

"Yeah," Clone one agreed, "She's really misunderstood as a person. Seriously, a bitch? No way! She has a heart of gold once you actually get to really, really know her. I can't believe she said people have called her that before. It blows my mind!"

"Then there's the way she gets so worried about me," Clone two continued, "Whenever Sakura punches me, Curly Brow's always so attentive to my injury no matter how small it may be. She always patches me back up."

"Then there's her gentleness. She's really, really gentle and it drives me nuts sometimes. She's super soft and forgiving with me. She's never really rough with me and there was that rose she gave me too!" The original commented as he then looked around, "Actually, where is that rose? Did I bring it with me?"

Clone three picked up the gift from off the top of the drawer, "Yeah, its right here."

Naruto asked for it and his clone obediently gave it to him.

"I'll definitely make sure to keep this safe. I won't let this gift escape from my memory."

The clones nodded.

"Okay, I guess that was that, you guys. Thanks for your opinions!" Naruto grinned as his clones then vanished.

His eyes then widened at the realization of something.

"Oh Dang! I forgot to ask one of them to turn the light off!"

Quickly, he summoned another clone to do just that then got rid of it though it seemed as though the clone was pretty irritated by Naruto's laziness to get out of bed in that moment.

However, the blond didn't care and held the rose close to his chest as he began to drift off to sleep.

That whole time... that whole time she liked me, but I was too much of an idiot to notice it until she told me. Well... at least she told me straight to my face. She had the courage to tell me despite being really afraid. That's pretty gutsy... right, Pervy Sage?

----

A/N - Update! Yaaaay! I really hope you guys enjoyed this! Please vote and comment and have a great day! ❤️

QOTD: How did you feel about Sasuke finally being shown? :)