Weeks had passed since Lord Third's funeral. 

I was still saddened by it, but now, I was stressed over the fact that it's up to me to tell Naruto the truth. I wasn't prepared for that day.

I was sitting at Ichiraku, eating some breakfast currently. Ayame was finally cheered up after having her heartbroken and Teuchi still kept threatening Daichi here and there, even though he wasn't even here.

"I'm telling you Ayame, if you just tell me where he lives, I won't actually kill him," Teuchi said to her.

She shook her head. "No Father, Hana already took care of him. You don't need to worry about it," 

Teuchi looked at me. "Did you kill him?"

I shook my head. "No, but he did get his ass kicked,"

Teuchi grinned. "Glad to hear that,"

Ayame just sighed at him and set my drink down. 

Naruto then sat next to me and I had to get my mind off the future immediately. 

"Oh, hey Hana!" He said, sitting down next to me. 

"Hi Naruto," I smiled. "Were you training today?"

He nodded. "Yes I was, but I'm going to go back to training after I have breakfast,"

Teuchi went to take his order, then asked for the payment. 

"Oh, I have a coupon right here!" Naruto said and reached into his pockets. 

Now he looked confused. He then searched in the other pocket, still looking confused.

"This is so weird..." He muttered, rummaging through every pocket he had.

Teuchi looked like he felt bad for him. "Sorry kid no coupon, no ramen. Those are the rules,"

"No, wait!" Naruto exclaimed. "I just had one, I swear!"

I started reaching in my pocket. "Naruto, I can pay for yours if you'd like,"

Naruto shook his head. "No that won't be necessary. I had a coupon, but I can't seem to remember where I put it,"

I glanced at Teuchi and then looked back at Naruto. He adjusted his headband, then a coupon fell right onto his lap.

"Here it is!" Naruto said and handed it over to Teuchi.

Ayame came out from the back with a bowl of ramen and placed it down for him. 

"False alarm, huh?" Teuchi asked, holding onto the coupon.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "What happened back there was that I stuck it behind my headband because I was afraid it might fall out of my pocket during training earlier this morning,"

Teuchi put the coupon in the cash register and Naruto started telling me all about a Sand ninja he fought named Gaara, and about his match. He didn't say much about Sasuke, but I could tell that worried him so he didn't really want to bring that up right now.

"Hey there! C'mon in!" Teuchi greeted.

I turned my head and saw Jiraiya.

"I had to see it with my own eyes," Jiraiya chuckled, causing Naruto to turn around to look at him. "It looks like you do eat nothing but ramen, huh, short stuff?"

Naruto nearly choked on his ramen.

"What're you doing here?!" Naruto shouted.

Jiraiya looked offended. "How cold...is that any way to treat someone who's trained you for the Chunin Exams?"

"Trained?!" Naruto exclaimed. "All you did was perv on girls while I practiced how to summon ungrateful frogs!"

"Exactly," Jiraya crossed his arms. "You should be thankful for me teaching you how to summon ungrateful frogs,"

While Naruto seethed in rage, I couldn't help but laugh. 

"Look, I came here to give you a preposition, kid," Jiraiya said, changing his tone to a more serious one. "And before you ask, no you can't refuse to come along,"

I rose an eyebrow, but then Jiraiya's next sentence made me shake my head.

"The purpose of this is...well..." He grinned. "You can properly guess,"

We all knew what that meant. 

"What? No way!" Naruto refused. "How come I get stuck tagging along with you while you do your 'research' for another one of your pervy books?!"

Jiraiya's smirk grew wider. "Look kid, this isn't just another research trip," He held up a finger. "There's a woman I have to find. A very remarkable woman."

"Oh, please, Jiraiya," I snorted. "We've all heard that one before."

He looked at me. "I don't even know what you're talking about,"

I smirked at him. "You don't remember my training? And the nickname I gave you?"

He gave me a look as if he was telling me "don't start."

"What was the nickname?" Naruto asked. 

"Perverted-Sensei," I snickered at him. 

Naruto started laughing. "I call him Pervy-Sage!"

"That's fitting too," I laughed with him. "When he trained me, a woman slapped him for being a creep,"

Jiraiya looked annoyed as Naruto laughed at that. 

"Anyway, count me out old man," Naruto said. "I don't have time to help you find a girlfriend! I've gotta get busy with training,"

"What training?" Jiraiya asked him.

"It's time Kakashi-Sensei taught me something new, like that Chidori thing," Naruto replied, not hiding his jealousy very well.

"I see," Jiraiya replied, starting to smirk. "You'd just be wasting your time. Chidori's not really your style and besides that kid, the woman we're looking for is beautiful. I mean gorgeous!"

"Like I care." Naruto snorted. "Look, Pervy Sage, who do you think you're talking to? I'm not some dumb kid you can fool with lame excuses. I'm not going!"

Jiraiya shrugged and turned around. "Okay, fine, suit yourself,"

"And I could've taught you jutsus that make Chidori look like child's play. Maybe I'll just see if Sasuke wants to go," Jiraiya said as he started leaving the ramen stand.

I instantly knew what he was getting at now, but that still doesn't give me any context for the "gorgeous woman" part. Although, it's Jiraiya. That's enough context.

That caught Naruto's attention instantly. 

"Right! So when do we leave?" Naruto asked, not waiting for an answer. "I'll go pack my bag, stay right there Pervy Sage! I'll be right back! Don't move!"

He took off so quickly, that he looked like an orange blur moving past me. 

Jiraiya took the seat next to me. "What a knucklehead, still you can't help liking him,"

I smiled. "He's already grown on you, hasn't he?"

Jiraiya nodded. "I'm sure you know what jutsu I have in mind for him,"

"Do you think he can handle it?" I ask.

"I think he will," Jiraiya crossed his arms. "That kid has an amazing amount of chakra,"

"Doesn't surprise me, considering...you know," I replied. "Anyways, why are you so insistent on finding this woman? Is she one of a kind for your 'research'?" 

"Well, if you must know, I've been asked to find her so she can become the next Hokage,"

I gave him a questioning look. "Just who is she?"

"None other than Tsunade,"

I widened my eyes. 

"No way. Does she still even live here? I remember she left years ago and no one really knows where she is,"

"I know where to look for her," He replied. "And yes, she does still live around here. She just keeps herself on the down-low. She stays around Otafuku town,"

Naruto came back with a backpack full of stuff and he was clearly struggling to carry everything. Jiraiya sighed seeing the backpack. 

They left and I waved as they left. I finished the last bit of my ramen and decided to go run some errands for the rest of my day.

I had to go grocery shopping and all the boring stuff, so it wasn't much fun. I should've tagged along with Naruto and Jiraiya, but I figured Jiraiya would want to train him without any distractions. 

I dropped off the groceries at home and as I had one more errand to run. Just as I was passing by the hospital, I saw Kurenai carrying half of Kakashi's body on her shoulder. My heart pounded with worry, so I ran up to her.

"Kurenai! What happened?!"

She panted, looking worn out herself. 

"Itachi Uchiha...he's come for Naruto," She said.

I froze in place, my eyes widening.

I'm not that stupid. I know it's probably because of the Tailed Beast, or because he's Uncle Minato's son.

"What are you talking about?" I ask her.

"I'll explain later, I need to get Kakashi to the hospital. Meet me at his place in ten minutes, or just come inside with me," She said.

I looked at Kakashi worriedly. He was unconscious. Just what happened?

The nurses quickly took Kakashi in and they rushed her off to a room. I followed them and they started treating her injuries. 

The nurses then left the room and she looked stressed.

"So, what happened to Kakashi? Why was he unconscious?" I ask her.

"Itachi Uchiha infiltrated the village with Kisame Hoshigaki. Asuma and I tried to stop them, but they were too strong. Kakashi then came and tried to help, but Itachi caught him in a genjutsu, and then Guy had to come help us," She explained. "Before I left, Itachi said they were after Naruto,"

"It's because of the Nine-Tails, isn't it?" I ask.

She nodded. "Kakashi said it himself. We thought he was after Sasuke, but Itachi said he was after the Legacy of the Fourth Hokage,"

I ran my hands through my hair in frustration. Great, just great.

First I have to deal with a bunch of vengeful ninjas from the war, and now Itachi is after my cousin? Just what I needed.

The nurse came back in and told Kurenai she could go. As we walked out of the hospital room, another nurse walked up to her and told her that Kakashi could go home as well.

"Is he going to be okay?" I ask.

The nurse nods. "Yes, it appears he passed out from exhaustion. We treated the injuries he had, so he needs to go home to rest now."

She led us to his room and we both lifted him up on each side and started walking back to his apartment. He was still passed out.

Guy and Asuma were already at his place. They opened the door for us and we carefully set him down on his bed. I unzipped his jacket and then put it at the end of his bed, then put the covers over him so he could be comfortable. I sat down at the edge of his bed, still thinking about what Kurenai told me. 

I was the first one to break the silence.

"So what happened?"

Asuma and Guy exchanged looks, then looked at me. They both started telling me everything that happened. They didn't want to worry me since Itachi did say he was after my cousin, but they wanted to tell me anyway.

"They're trouble," Guy stated. "But from the look of things, it doesn't appear that they found Naruto yet,"

"That's what's crazy," Asuma said. "It doesn't add up. I mean, they already infiltrated the village. It should be easy for them to find Naruto here. Besides, Itachi knows Naruto's face already,"

"He's with Jiraiya. I know where they are going, so if they even try coming after him, I will be there to protect them," I said.

Guy shushed us and we heard the door open.

We all looked to the door and saw it was just Sasuke.

He looked surprised to see all of us in here.

"Why is Kakashi asleep?" He asked. "And why is his room full of jounin? What are you doing? What in the world is going on here?"

I got choked up since I didn't know how to hide the fact that his older brother is here. We all knew he wanted revenge against him. I was there when he said it.

"Uh..." Guy trailed off. "Not much, really,"

Sasuke rose his eyebrow in suspicion and the door burst open again.

"Hey, is it true that Itachi has returned and that he's here to get Naruto?" Some other jounin asked loudly.

All of us wanted to sock him in the face right then and there. Especially me.

"You dumbass," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. 

The guy quickly realized what he did after he saw Sasuke. He looked apologetic.

"Idiot..." Kurenai muttered.

"Why does this always happen?" Guy groaned, smacking himself in the face.

I looked up and Sasuke's expression completely changed.

His eyes widened, his brow furrowed, and he frowned.

"Sasuke-" I started.

He ran out of the room before I could tell him to wait.

I groaned. Not only is Itachi after my cousin, now I'm going to have to deal with Sasuke and try to stop him from getting himself hurt now.

Thanks, universe. I appreciate it. 

We all exchanged looks and Guy stood up at the same time with me. We both looked at each other and nodded.

I followed Guy out of the apartment and we rushed to Otafuku town.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the update. Sorry for the long wait. I made it longer too to make up for the fact that I was gone for so long. I finally have my Itachi story fully edited, so now I can try to focus on this one more.