The End Of The Line

Chapter 5

Third person pov

Naruto darted right past Mikoto as soon as she'd welcomed him in, disappearing right down the hall as if he knew where he was going. The woman whirled around, her eyes widening in surprise as she listened to him clomp up the stairs. He was fast. It was no wonder they hadn't been able to catch him when he'd vandalized their clan's symbols. It made Mikoto smile and want to tear up. Kushina had always been such an exuberant prankster. It seemed like Naruto took after her greatly in that field. She could see her old friend reflected in the boy's boisterous grin. Though she'd been dead several years now, the wound still felt fresh.

Naruto almost ran face first into the legs of Itachi Uchiha, but he managed to stop himself just in time. The teen blinked curiously down at the blonde as he regained his footing. He recognized this kid. Bright blonde hair, ocean blue eyes, and whisker markings on his cheeks. There was no mistaking him. This was the child that had the fox within him. There had been a few times in the past when the Hokage had tasked Itachi with watching him. He really was a prankster, and a slippery little thing as well. Even Itachi had trouble following him at times. He knew Konoha's back alleyways like the back of his hand, even at such a young age.

"Sorry." The blonde pushed past him and darted right up to Sasuke's door, slamming it open abruptly, stepping in, and then slamming it right back shut again. All without knocking or announcing himself to his younger brother. Itachi turned around fully, listening closely as he heard Naruto's footsteps race across the room with surprising speed. There was a pause, a creak, and then a shriek of surprise that had no doubt come from his baby brother. It was a shrill sound he had never heard from his brother before. Not since he was a baby, that is. Itachi almost wondered if he should break down the door to see what was wrong. What had Naruto done to him?

"Mother fucking fuck!" Itachi blanched, his eyes widening at the language that flew from what was undoubtedly Sasuke's mouth. He'd know that voice anywhere-- though, he couldn't ever recall it holding such absolute frustration in the past. "Get this thing off of me!"

"It isn't worth it, Sasuke!"

"Shut your mouth, idiot! Let me do this!"

"I refuse to let you cut off your arm!"

Itachi turned around and kept walking.

~

"Guys, oh my God." Orochimaru whispered. He, Kisame, Sasori and Kakuzu were huddled up in a closet together, all of them having dove in there for cover when they'd randomly woken up in these really ugly, humid stone bedrooms. No personality at all. Definitely an issue of black mold somewhere in there. Pretty cold, too. It had taken them all a while to realize just where they were. When they had, their terror was completely understandable. Not only was this place drabber than a prison, it was also home to some of the most violent criminals in the world.

"I can't believe we're actually in an Akatsuki base." Sasori hissed at them. "Do you know how dangerous these guys are?"

"No fucking shit, genius. We're here. We were members, remember?" Kisame reminded. Sasori's memory was a little weird, but it was alright most of the time. As long as someone was there to remind him, he'd usually remember most of the facts given to him for at least a week or two before they faded away again! They were all used to it. They just pretended he was a crazy grandma with dementia. When you mentally thought of the puppet as mee-maw rather than a hunk of wood with a scrambled brain, things went smoother

"Has anyone seen Hidan?" Orochimaru questioned quietly, his voice a whisper.

"He hasn't joined yet. He joined after Itachi. I believe he was your replacement." Kakuzu scratched his chin, grumbling curses under his breath. What did they do now? That damn fox had been serious about that time travel jutsu, and now they were all stuck here. And Hidan was God knows where, probably pretty lonely if they had to guess. Imagine appearing in the past alone. Couldn't be them, clearly. What did they do next, though? Was there any right step to take in situation? Maybe a handbook that was annotated with short, easy-to-read steps?

"I miss Naruto." Kisame said in a solemn manner.

"And Sasuke." Sasori said. He paused for a moment, squinting. "Maybe."

"Nah, he's an asshole. We don't need to miss him. That's besides the point, though. We need a plan. A solid, down to Earth plan." Orochimaru said in a firm, quiet tone. As though maybe someone were listening, and being caught would mean death. In reality, if someone were to walk in on them now, they'd probably just give them an odd look and shut the door again. It's not like they weren't supposed to be here or anything. Well, they weren't supposed to be now that they were back, but nobody else knew that. Hopefully. 

"We should go find that idiot, Hidan, and then head off to find Naruto and the crippled one." Kakuzu waved a hand flippantly, his eyes focused on the bills he'd fished out of his pockets. The bills that were once again extremely useful and could be used to buy things-- like real food. This day couldn't get any better... well, he supposed if someone were to smash Kisame's head in, things would be a little better. It's not that Kakuzu hated the swordsmen or anything of that sort. He just wanted to know if his brain was pink or blue-

"That sounds like a good idea." Orochimaru agreed with a nod. "All in favor?"

"Are we seriously voting? Of course we have to go get him. We can't break up the band now, guys. This isn't One Direction." Nobody had any fucking clue what Sasori was talking about, but they nodded anyway. The puppeteer wasn't exactly sane, but he always knew what he was talking about, at least to some extent. Thus, it was better to agree with him. Going against him could result in an untimely death. None of them had previously been against that, really, but now they were in the past and shit was different. They had business to attend to.

"Yeah, we can't leave him to fend for himself. He's our friend, asshole or not." Kisame sighed heavily at the burden bestowed upon them. They'd have to go hunt him down, and then they'd have to convince him to come with them, and then they'd probably have to let him sacrifice loads of people. It was going to be such a pain in the ass. It was sort of like when a kid really wanted a dog, but their parents flipped around and got them some asshole cat that bit everyone within a four foot radius of it instead. 

"Alright, let's move out. Is it clear?" Orochimaru asked, straightening his robe. Kakuzu leaned back, and Sasori twisted the doorknob, cracking it just enough for the stitch-covered man to look out. Teamwork. Kisame wiped a tear from his eye at the display of comradery. 

"I see no one." Kakuzu reported.

"Then out we go."