MOON SAYS:

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own quite a lot of the Jutsu used. Ask if you want to use, don't steal without permission. I do own most of the plot, and an OC that doesn't have a name; also there are some spots throughout this story that I took from the manga. SPOLIERS UP UNTIL CURRENT CHAPTER! Or at least how far I got…

IMPORANT NOTES: This is the third story in my Spy Trilogy. The last one…

Summary: Part 3 of the SPY TRILOGY. This was the end. Her struggle for freedom has come full circle. Her final test. Can an emotionless tool finally gain her freedom? Can she survive the war? More importantly, can the one she fights for survive as well? Even if the war is won, will the freedom she fights for be hers? Or will she fall even deeper into a village that she hates?

Pairings: Gaara-Naruto. One-sided Sasuke-Naruto. One-sided Neji-Naruto. ?Shika-Naru?

WARNINGS: Some of it will seem OOC, more angst, darker than first story. Loads of death. And a whole bunch of other stuff I can't name.

Pages: 20

Words: 9,454

Completed: 12/10/12-12/11/12

Edited: 7/5/13 (Really, I know, horrible!)

Published:

:::::NOTES:::::

Thinking

Jutsu

Naruto thinking

Kyūbi thinking

~~~Spy's Love~~~

Chapter 1

"Shit," Itachi and Sasuke hissed out as they ran forward as Naruto collapsed.

Sasuke caught her, while Itachi kneeled in front of her. Weasel wasn't the licensed Medic on their squad, but their captain made damn sure that all of them more than enough to get them by. Said captain was quite paranoid, to be honest, and it saved their asses more than once—but who in ANBU wasn't paranoid?

Naru's reasoning behind making everyone have some skills in the medic field was because of the question: what if they didn't have a Medic with them? Each member knew enough Medic Jutsu just in case they were left alone or separated from their squad Medic.

Itachi did a Diagnostic Jutsu on her, and cursed (quite badly) in the Uchiha language.

"Hn," Itachi grunted fiercely as he read the results the Jutsu displayed for him; Sasuke looked quite startled at his words (for Sasuke could translate the language).

"What's wrong with her?" Sasuke, even though he was pissed about all the secrets surrounding his Genin rival and crush, was quite worried about her. After all, if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't be where he was today—strong as he was.

Itachi quickly, with help from his Uchiha Genius mind, put quite a bit together about his partner, about what was happening to her at this moment. "Not even a few weeks ago, Naru fought and killed Sasori of the Red Sand—he was an Akatsuki member, but I'm sure you've heard about him from Orochimaru. The bastard poisoned her, no doubt, with his more powerful poison—one he made to kill Jinchuriki. Naru must have pushed him to use his strongest puppet; I doubt that he knew who she was. Since she is still alive, the Kazekage must have healed her. But," he paused as he checked the crook of her left arm and he sighed at what he saw.

Sasuke saw the needle marks and did a double take. "Charka shots? Was she that injured by Sasori? If so, why did she take on Orochimaru? If the poison was dormant inside of her blood, the fight she had with the Snake would have spread it even further. Even with Kyūbi trying to keep something that toxic and deadly at bay…if I remember, Orochimaru had a sample of a poison from Sasori. It changed. I bet Kyūbi was doing everything it could just to keep it from killing her outright. The Bijū would have had a hard time keeping up with it, if she was pumping it through her system—as in the fight with that damn Snake."

The older Uchiha did his own double take. "She killed Orochimaru? I had thought that it was you…the rumors running around said that as he tried to take over your body, you killed him."

Itachi waved off his brother's explanation when he tried to explain, right now it didn't matter. "The poison is still, at least traces are, in her system. There is no doubt, and your explanation makes sense. With the biting obsession, that thing had, I wouldn't surprised if he got a dose of this poison when he bit her during their fight. Yes, that monster had quite a biting fetish after all," Itachi added when Sasuke gave him an inquisitive look when the biting part was brought up.

"How much if it is still in her system?" Sasuke moved on, concerned for this Genin teammate.

"Not much and it wouldn't hurt her if she had let herself heal and rest. But your hypothesis probably has many elements, if not all, of what happened."

"But she didn't," Sasuke sighed, the girl…no woman now, was still the same as ever.

Itachi chuckled, "No, she didn't; no doubt she and a tracking squad went right after you when they discovered you had abandoned Orochimaru's lair." A sigh later and the older brother explained. "She broke you know, after the massacre. She didn't care about our clan, but she loved me. And I was breaking. There is much I have to tell you, Sasuke, but I can't now."

"She comes first," Sasuke's eyes hardened with resolve. But Itachi saw something else in his little brother's eyes; an emotion he was half relieved the man could still feel, but the other half was sad. His little brother had feelings for his ANBU partner; feelings that were completely unrequited. He could only hope that this didn't end badly, for either of them. Maybe Sasuke would give up on his love or crush, whatever it was, for Naru. That would be the best.

"We need to get her back to Konoha. I can heal her, but Konoha has resources that we don't possess here."

Itachi was about to pick her up to carry her back, but a coughing fit with blood took over.

Sasuke eyes' narrowed. "How long have you've been sick?" the younger Uchiha paused, as he adjusted Naru in his arms (he was standing up and carrying her now). "It doesn't matter. You are getting your ass healed right after she is in the clear. Then," Sasuke's dark eyes bore into his older brother's, "we will talk."

Itachi sighed; he was doing a lot of that lately, and nodded without any more words. They left the old Uchiha Stronghold, racing toward Konoha.

The two Uchiha barely noticed the passing of their respective groups (before their fight), but Sasuke did tighten his grip when they passed the Konoha Tracking Squad; only then did they first react to others—the brothers sped up. Unfortunately, this group wasn't stunned enough to just stand there, no, they raced after the two brothers.

"Che," Sasuke voiced his annoyance. "Why can't you leave me alone for once, Kakashi?"

"Give me Naruto, and we'll take you both back to Konoha peacefully to stand trial," Sasuke's old sensei said as he tried to run alongside of his old student.

"Like hell I will," Sasuke growled. "I doubt she trust you any more than I do."

His words caused the man to flinch, but the thirty year old or so Shinobi pressed on, determined to get his female Genin student—Kitsune—to safety. He wouldn't let himself concentrate or worry about anything else.

Itachi tried to suppress his chuckle. "I think she would rather have the dog you summon try and heal her," with this thought running through his head, he couldn't stop his laugh. "I remember something similar occurring during my first mission with Kitsune's squad."

His brother got a kick out of that. "If you were really concerned with her, Kakashi, you'd be asking what is wrong with her, not trying to get her out of my arms. Maybe you should shut up like the rest of your group and follow us. Or are you jealous?"

"Or those of us who are quiet do not wish to annoy you, and are thinking that if we don't annoy you, you'd tell us why the two Missing Ninja are heading toward Konoha with our squad leader in your arms." Sai, the ROOT member, quietly explained.

Sasuke almost missed a jump at those words, but he refused to look back at the speaker though. He'd leave the looking and commenting to his brother. The bastard brother of his could run backwards. Not that Sasuke couldn't, he just never tried before with an important person in his arms.

"The more important question is why are you two working together? Did Kitsune unite the two of you?" Tenzo questioned the brothers. He didn't really care if they were going toward Konoha, because they'd all end up there anyway. What he wanted to know was why they weren't trying to kill each other. His knowledge of the remaining Uchiha was the younger wanted to kill the older with a passion. And the older wanted to prove he was strong…so why was either one alive? Were they just going to take care of a mutual friend, and then finish their fight later?

The oldest Uchiha wanted to be exasperated; he was surrounded with idiots. "Naru needs healing, so we are taking her to Konoha; they have a better medical felicity then where we were at when she collapsed. Afterward, I will hand in my final report."

"Not before you get healed and we have our little heart to heart," Sasuke sarcastically attached to the plan, "You owe me aniki, and I tend to collect debts." Sasuke smirked. "Plus, Naru told you to. As your superior officer, you have to obey her, don't you? Especially considering she is no doubt in charge of your mission, so that means, dear brother, Konoha has to wait until we are all done."

"Like she isn't in charge of your mission, Little Brother," Itachi countered. "We will just hand in our reports once all healing is done. By the time we finish, she'll be up and read to listen."

"Hn," Sasuke replied.

Silence echoed throughout the group as they continued toward Konoha until Kiba broke it.

"Am I the only one confused as hell?"

Tenzo sighed and started to explain. "Naru is an ANBU captain; before the Third's death, she was his second in command. He had given her permission work with existing spies, as well as creating missions that involve spies. So, in essence, she is all of our superiors; that and she was the captain of a squad that once consisted of Kakashi-sempai, Itachi Uchiha, and me. I am assuming from this conversation that Itachi was assigned to Akatsuki, and was reporting to Naru. Sasuke was assigned a mission (at the Valley of the End?), probably to spy, train, and then assassinate Orochimaru. I heard rumors that you killed Orochimaru, is this true Sasuke?"

His answers were only "Hn," from both the Uchiha brothers. The Harashima clone glared at them, "I can't speak Uchiha!"

That just caused Uchiha smirks, which according to Naruto, everything those stupid Uchiha do means something. Every action (smirks, glares, even them ignoring you) means something in our regular language.

With the two Uchiha pushing themselves past their limits, the group was back in Konoha in record time. Without wasting time, they left the explanations to the squad from Konoha. They were just a blur to the gate guards. That and Itachi was leading Sasuke through ANBU paths; no one, not even other ANBU, disturbed another if they were heading for the hospital—they may have followed them, but wouldn't stop them. That and a few of them saw Kitsune—they definitely didn't stop the two brothers. Instead, they ran off to their Hokage.

It was just muscle memory for Itachi to lead Sasuke to the section of the hospital reserved for ANBU.

"Lay her on the table," Itachi commanded as he got the materials Naruto needed, and his brother did just as he was told.

"Open and take off her vest; it's in the way, but don't go any further."

Sasuke opened the vest, and was very careful as he took it off of her. While he was doing that, he vaguely noticed that she had a camisole underneath the vest. In Sasuke's opinion, it was a freaking corset type vest.

Before Sasuke could think of anything sexual (not that he was going too), Itachi pushed him out of the way and started running through his Medical Jutsu again. Sasuke watched his brother with his eyes activated. He wanted to make sure that he knew all of these Jutsu in case he needed them in the future: for himself or his teammates. Or Naruto.

If Itachi needed something, Sasuke had it in his out stretched hand before his brother even finished speaking the sentence.

It had to have been ten or more minutes into Itachi's healing that Tsunade rushed in and demanded them both to get out.

The older Uchiha performed a Stasis Jutsu that Sasuke had seen Orochimaru do during this time spent with the man, before his brother turned toward the Hokage.

"I'd be more than happy to leave her in your hands, Tsunade-sama, if it wasn't for that fact that Charka never lies. Charka never forgets. It knows things even if you try and hide them."

Tsunade was confused at the man's words. "Are you saying that Naruto doesn't trust me subconsciously? What did I do?"

Itachi looked right in her eyes and told the Hokage what he knew.

"Before Naru came back here, before she ran off to Suna not even two hours or so into her return after I sent that messenger to her," Itachi didn't even pause when he saw his brother's darkened expression. Gaara lived in Suna. "We had one last face to face meeting. I could tell something was wrong, but she couldn't tell me what. She gave me two scrolls that she just couldn't seem to open, no matter how hard she tried. She thought that maybe with my eyes I could. I took a look once she was completely away from me. Naruto herself had Sealed those scrolls up so that she couldn't read them—she Sealed them so only an Uchiha male could read them." Itachi glared one of the Uchiha glares, making the Hokage flinch—but she didn't back down.

"In those scrolls were letters from you and Jiraiya, agreeing to her parents wish that both of you became Naru's godparents. One would think that godparents wouldn't leave a baby orphan Jinchuriki at the mercy of a village who detested Kyūbi, to go fucking gamble, drank, and whore themselves away."

Weasel could see the guilt in her eyes, and he could see how murderous Sasuke looked behind his Uchiha mask. Before the woman could be murdered, he motioned for Sasuke to get her out of them room, but spoke before she left. "She pushed this so far deep into the back of her mind that she effectively forgot what she read. That or she placed a Memory Suppression Jutsu on herself. All because she loved you both so much, that she couldn't bear to think that either of you would abandon her. Now get out so I can heal her."

Prior to her exit, she asked if Naru was still being affected by the poison that Sasori infected her with during their fight.

Sasuke nodded before he forced her out of the room.

~~~Spy's Love~~~

Once Tsunade was out of the room, she headed toward her office as fast as she could. She had quite a few things to do. She needed to deal with the fact two Missing Ninjas (one wasn't labeled as one, but he was one), and she needed to send a scroll to an ally.

"SHIZUNE!" Tsunade yelled. "Make sure no one disturbs the two Uchiha; also, keep it as quite as you can. I don't want anyone finding out about the two of them until Uzumaki is awake and can weigh in on this. As of right now, though, remind me after I write this to take it off their records."

Tsunade then didn't even give her assistant a chance to respond; instead, she pulled out what she needed to pen that scroll to her ally.

~~~Spy's Love~~~

Kazekage,

A mutual interest in a certain fishcake has me writing this. She has returned with not one, but two Ravens. But the poison from before hasn't left her body. There was still a trace or so remaining. Instead of resting like a good little fishcake, she pushed herself so far that the lingering poison in her system spread. One of the Ravens is with her now, seeing to her healing. I will send another note when there is more news.

Hokage

~~~Spy's Love~~~

Gaara almost destroyed his office as he read the message concerning his beloved! He loved that she cared deeply for her friends, and would do anything to save them—proof of this is that he himself was changed, loved, and is still alive. But to go so far as to almost kill herself?

When he saw her next, they were going to have a long talk about how far one is allowed to go to save others—she never seems to think of what would happened to others if she up and killed herself. Gaara could have sworn that this was something they had talked about while she was here a few years ago.

He was quite upset at this news, so when his sister came in she very much noted his emotions.

"We didn't get all the poison out of Naru; apparently, she still had some in her body that just made itself known. Go and make sure that she doesn't need any more healing. Finalize any and all arrangements for the Chūnin Exam; there shouldn't be much, if any at all, with the Hokage. Then I want you back in Suna, there is much that needs to be done here. The rumors are spreading about the Kages…"

~~~Spy's Love~~~

"Thank you Itachi for the healing, but Tsunade will look you over. Once she is done, I'll be back. Shika's demanding," I rolled my eyes, "time with me. Apparently, his dominant half was troublesome."

Shika, who was off in the corner by the door, just rolled his own eyes at me and muttered loud enough for us to hear, "che."

Itachi nodded and motioned for Sasuke to leave too. Both little Uchiha and me weren't having it, we even spoke in unison. "Hell no."

I shared a look with my "Genin" teammate. "Stay here Raven; we don't want him leaving out any information later."

Raven smirked at my thwarting and the nickname.

I grabbed Shika on the way out. "Don't mind us, my straight guy friend wants to go have some girly heart to heart that usually gay guys have with their girlfriends."

To Shika, I've never been truly troublesome or a drag; I have brought quite a bit into his life: seriousness, potential death, deadly situations, etc.

But I don't think he minds.

After we got a bit away, almost to our special spot, I realized something. "If I were into a threesome, I'd tell Gaara he had to share me."

Shika completely stopped and gave me a bewildered look. "Really?"

I shrugged as if this wasn't something soul shattering. "Admit it, if we were in love with each other before Gaara showed up, you would never give me up. Even if Gaara's Bijū and

my Bijū have some kind of mate-like attraction to each other."

Shika didn't even need to think that one over. "What I love, I would never give up. I would share if I had too, but never would I just give my lover over to someone completely. I'm too selfish to live without someone that I've deemed I need—for why else would I fall in love with someone if I didn't need them?"

I smiled and he knew I felt the same.

"Get your ass moving," Shika ordered as he kicked me in the ass. "Let's get this over with; Sasuke is going to need you to keep Itachi in check. That and I have to leave for a mission in a few hours."

Shika talked first, giving me time to form my thoughts as I listened intently to him. When he was done, he had me start form the moment I left him—when Sakura made me go see Sasuke. I ended my tale at the point before I came back. I summarized a lot of what happened during my five or so years with Jiraiya.

"I had one last meeting with Itachi before everything went to hell. It's fuzzy; I think I used a Memory Suppression Jutsu on myself. Looking through my scrolls, I had found two that I hadn't read yet, but then I couldn't open them. I think I Sealed them up after I read them. They were scrolls that Tsunade and Jiraiya wrote to my parents. My mind is telling me not go deeper than that, because I don't want to know."

I forced back the tears and my emotions. "I know I Sealed the scrolls, fucked up my memory, and then meet with Itachi."

"Why?" Shika asked, stepping in as my one and only shrink.

I laughed bitterly. "Did you not hear me before? I built my new self, pillars and all, based on Tsunade's sacrifice and Jiraiya's role in my life. And to know that they did something that destroyed all of that…it hurt like hell. I know because I can still feel it; it's dampened, because I don't know the extent. I really don't want to deal with this. I refuse too. That is why, I think, I made myself forget it."

Shika just laid next to me, his left leg touching my right. "Okay," he finally said. "That is your choice, but one day you will have to deal with it. Just hope that by the time you are ready to confront this, it won't be too late. Now, what happened in Suna with Akatsuki?"

"Gaara is an ass, that's what." I said out of left field. Shika chuckled at my words.

"Trouble in paradise? If you want to leave him, we can run away together…"

Idiot. If he was serious, I doubt I could stop myself from running away from everything with him.

"Gaara is the Kazekage. I don't know how I feel about this. How are we going to break away if he is the fucking Kage?" I closed my eyes and laid back down, apparently during my rant my body had raised itself off the ground. "But I can't say anything, because that was my plan. I would become Hokage, changed the stupid place, and get Gaara transferred. He should have hated his village even more than I do. I just don't understand. What am I going to do now?"

Shika rolled over and looked me in the eyes; he had tapped me on the shoulder causing me to turn and catch his eyes.

"You are confused. Breaking away…you couldn't have picked a harder goal for a Shinobi. Just go with the flow, okay? Something may come up, another path could open for you. Take one day at a time, koi. Now, can I finally know what happened after you left me?"

For some reason, my body, mind, and soul would never let me go through with those last words of his. They protest quite fiercely; I don't even want to know what would happen if I actually did so…I wonder if it is something I could actually do. No, I could never leave Shika. Damn it all, why did this man lying beside me mean so much to me? When the hell did it happen?

~~~Spy's Love~~~

After our talk, I left Shika to his mission, and I ran into Temari on her way out .She had run to the village, almost making it faster than me, when she heard of my collapse. Good thing too, because Itachi needed help healing me. I think they said it was because he didn't know what they had done to get rid of the poison the first time.

We talked for a little bit, before she asked me if I had a message for Gaara. I hesitated, unsure of my pent-up feelings and if I could deal with letting anything out at this time.

"There is something," Temari stated. "Do you need me to stay for a bit and talk about it? I don't think Gaara would mind the delay."

I shook my head, "What needs to be talked about between us should be said in person." I knew my voice and my body took on and showed my tiredness.

Temari paused before she went ahead and said what she was doubting about bringing up. "You can't keep everything buried; it will come out soon or later. I think everyone needs someone they can trust, someone they can share things with."

I gave her an amused smile-smirk. "Oh, I have someone. In fact, that was almost word for word what he told me a few years ago." My eyes went back to the last place I saw Shika—a few feet away by the gate. "He hasn't even been gone ten minutes, and I already miss him."

Temari blinked. "Shika is your most trusted secret sharer?"

I nodded. "I tell him everything—that is when we actually see each other. It's like having a gay guy friend who's straight."

I turned away from her, not even bothering to see how she would take my words. It never crossed my mind that she would put my words together to mean that Shika and I had fallen in love with each other, and I wanted to break up with Gaara.

Of course at that point in my life, there isn't a lot that I understand. Love being one of them. At that particular moment, I wasn't going to contemplate true love or any love really. I had somewhere to be.

"I've got to go; thanks for this though. I'd spend more time talking with you, but Kami only knows what Itachi will do to get out of the hospital and healing." Sighing occurred by me for my own words. "That idiot probably wants to die to pay for what he's done."

With that I left her, leaving my beloved's sister confused and afraid that I was going to abandon her little brother and take away the man she thought she had a connection with.

~~~Spy's Love~~~

"Itachi Uchiha stop being a baby! You are over twenty years old; get your shit into gear. How about you use that Genius Uchiha brain of yours and think. How are you going to protect Uchiha JR.," here Sasuke scoffed at me, "from Uchiha enemies if you are about to die?" How can you protect Konoha?"

I watched as my ANBU partner's eyes narrowed at my words and manipulation. Good, I got his attention.

"So, Hokage-sama, Sasuke here tells me that Itachi is infected by some deadly illness that affects his body, as well as his eyes screwing up."

Tsunade nodded. "I have a detailed plan for him. With healing from Naru, because of your medical knowledge, and Sasuke because you have Uchiha charka. Uchiha have to have Uchiha blood…"

Both Raven and I nodded as he grabbed the scroll and I took hold of Itachi.

We were about to leave when Tsunade called to us.

"Where are the three of you going to stay? If you follow the scroll for about a week—no more than two weeks—Itachi will be healed."

"Got it, Hokage-sama. Sasuke and I will follow your instructions down to the last letter. Once Itachi is settled, we will write our reports up and send them to you via a summon. We will be residing in the Namikaze compound…house…whatever the hell it is."

Even though my back was to the woman, I knew that she wanted to say something else. Maybe it was the feel of her charka, either way I could tell. Though for the life of me I didn't know what she wanted…it had to do with this feeling I felt toward her. I can't explain it; why would I feel as if she betrayed me? I remember mentioning something like this to Shika earlier, but…did I push it back into the recesses of my mind, again, that I forgot what it was?

You don't need to worry about that right now, Kit. Leave it alone. Right now you need to focus on this Uchiha idiot. If you think too much on what you forgot, then Itachi will end up dying.

Hai. If I focus on this feeling and the reason behind it, I will only worry about it. Itachi needs my full undivided attention right now. Thank you for interrupting your mission just to try and protect me. Thank you.

"Let's go Raven; this Weasel needs to be monitored. If not, the fool will probably wondered off and get lost." I said as I preceded to cut the connection between my Bijū and I. Kurama needed to focus on what he was doing, if not, how were my, our, plans going to be achieved?

Itachi snorted, but Sasuke took this comment not jokingly at all. "Does Itachi get lost often?" his voice sounded quite intrigued.

"Oh you don't know the half of it!" I laughed before dragging my Weasel out of the room. "If it wasn't for the fact that he wasn't as blind as he was now, I'd have attached a chakra cord to him at all times. You know," I started really thinking about it as we ran across the rooftops toward my home. "I may have done that once or twice. Not during the missions where we couldn't afford to get caught or when we were using stealth…"

Itachi growled and yanked his arm out of my grip. "Do not lie to Sasuke. Never once did you do so to me. Nor did I ever have problems with directions. The only time something happened was when you dosed me with charka and blood shots."

Sasuke was quite horrified. "That's horrible Naru! For an Uchiha, that is the same thing as getting us high."

I giggled. "Oh it was quite disturbing alright. I think that may have been the time you tried to sleep with me…and, well, among other things I think Itachi would love to forget."

Itachi decided that this conversation was over, and didn't want it pursued any further so he ran ahead of us, making Sasuke and I put on a burst of speed just to catch up with the fool. It took us less than two minutes to reach my house.

It didn't take me long to unseal the place. I didn't bother making them not look or anything like that, because even if they copied everything I was doing, they still couldn't get into my house. They wouldn't ever have my blood, nor my knowledge of Seals. It was funny, Seals were an Uzumaki thing, but the this was a Namikaze home. So why did it have such advance Seals, like one that adapted and changed every time? A question I could not answer.

Once we got in, I showed them their rooms—on the first floor—and the other essential areas that they would access (where my room was, the library, bathroom, kitchen, training room, etc) I sat them down on the couch and explained some key rules of my home.

"Don't go wandering around doing whatever comes into your Uchiha heads. One wrong move, and the Seals on this house and the rooms will fuck you up. I don't know where all the traps are, nor the solutions to them. So please, be careful. I showed you the rooms that you can get into, but, like I said, be careful. There might be traps in those rooms that may attack you. There will be some stuff in the library that you won't be able to access; come ask me, if I'm okay with it, I'll let you read it. Got it?"

Both Uchiha boys…men now aren't they?...nodded their acceptance. Good. I really don't want to have to go to a funeral because my house and its unknown amount of Seals decided to kill one of them. I would be sad; plus, I need them in the up incoming fights.

"Second on the to do list. Itachi, please, don't fight me and Raven. We both need you healed before this week is through, him more than me."

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Why would he need me more?"

This is where I smirked. "Third on the to do list, training Sasuke. If it wasn't for him giving me such an opening to Orochimaru, I wouldn't have been able to kill him. That and because I had such a close relationship with the Snake Sannin's target, I got more time to train and work with Kankuro."

Sasuke blinked a few times. "What does Kankuro have to do with anything? Wasn't he that puppet guy from Suna? What were you doing in Suna anyway?" at this question, I saw those onyx eyes narrow.

"You want the truth? I was in Suna to develop a Seal for Gaara. One like mine actually, just minus the need to sacrifice my soul. Because of my tinkering with his Seal, I was able to screw completely with Aktasuki's plan to steal the Jinchuriki and their Bijū."

At Sasuke's confused look, his brother explained their plan for the Jinchuriki, and why their plan failed. Those idiots designed a statue to only work if they started from the top or bottom (as in Ichibi or Kyūbi). But since I had two Seals that made those two Bijū merged with their hosts, Akatsuki's plan totally failed.

"What if they mess with the statue and have it take in any Bijū in any order?" Sasuke asked.

I mused over the question before I remembered something I did during the time I ran around with Ero-Sennin. "I took care of that. Every Jinchuriki that still draws breath at that time was given a modified Seal that let them absorb their Bijū."

I took a deep breath and then let it out. I still had a few questions to answer for Sasuke. "Kankuro has a dual role to play in this. One, he is Gaara's older brother; so when I was helping Gaara with his Seal, I was training with Kankuro too. I mostly trained with Kankuro because he used puppets. I needed some training on how to fight puppet users. Itachi was kind enough to inform me of what kind of fighting styles the other Akatsuki members used."

This next part I was trying to get the wording right. "Almost all puppet users are poison masters as well. Kankuro is no exception. Since I had helped him train, as a way to say thank you he developed a poison for me. This poison was quite special, as it is incurable."

"That is just what Sasori thought," Itachi reminded me.

"True," I replied, "but Sasori didn't mix ingredients together so that they couldn't have a cure made because of that mixture. Let me try to explain it a different way. Certain ingredients require certain ingredients in their antidotes. And as both of you know, some stuff can't be mixed together. Kankuro made damn sure that the ingredients he used in the mixture for the poison couldn't have a cure drawn up, as in there was complete confliction."

"So you're saying that for a few of the ingredients their cures don't react well with another?" Itachi questioned and I nodded.

"Kankuro made such a very complicated poison and I laced my hand with it. Then I proceeded to add charka to said hand and poison, charka from the Kyūbi, and I drew blood on Orochimaru. The fool then licked and swallowed the blood."

"So he poisoned himself," Sasuke chuckled. "But that doesn't explain my role. Didn't you tell me to kill him myself?"

I grinned. "You gave me the excuse to track him down. You also gave me the opening to attack and fight him…well, your name and the fact that you ran away to train with him. We talked about you, and I finally asked him about the winner of a fight, me or him. We fought; I got his blood pumping so much that the poison spread quickly. It killed him right there. By running off to learn from him, you gave me an opportunity to kill him. That and you learned a shit load of information from him—knowledge that you will put to use for me."

"Hn," was the reply I got. In regular language, "was there any doubt?"

I looked to Itachi. "He still has a bit to grow. I want him on ANBU level…no, I want him on S Rank level. Akatsuki will strike; I need as many S Class Shinobi as I can get on my side. We also need to make sure Itachi that our allies, like Shika and a few others, are up to par as well. As soon as he gets back from his mission, the three of us are going to pick an elite team and we will train our asses off."

"Hai!" both Uchiha answered. It seemed they knew who the squad leader here was.

"Fourth on my list, the two of you need to talk this past shit out. I will not have this stuff festering inside of you. It will not only distract the two of you, but me as well. Not to mention the others on our squad."

Itachi nodded; he knew this was a long time coming, but he really didn't want to tell his brother. There were so many factors as to why he wanted to keep it a secret. Konoha needed to still stand at the end of the day, but he also wanted his brother to stay as pure as he could. There were some things he just didn't want to burden the younger man with. But, Sasuke was an adult. These were things he needed to know. Especially with that man running Akatsuki, the man that both Itachi and I doubted was Madara Uchiha (we had theories on his actually identify).

"Where to start?" Itachi wondered out loud. "Promise me little brother, that when I get done with my story, you won't hate Konoha."

"Is Konoha at fault for what happened?" Sasuke was a little startled at his brother's words. "If so, then I can't promise that."

"The entire village of Konoha isn't at fault; but as always, Konoha plays a key role in every fuckery that has happened to all of us. What I'm trying to say, Sasuke, is that the people who hurt us, who are the ones at fault for our pain, use this village as their reason." I responded to his question.

It took the younger Uchiha a few minutes to process this; he probably was trying to connect dots, but I didn't see how he could. There was much that he didn't know.

"Continue, aniki."

"After the Kyūbi was released onto Konoha many believed the rumor that the Uchiha were responsible. The rumor said that the Sharingan could control the Bijū. As the years went on, it got worse for the Uchiha. It got to the point with some radicals couldn't take it anymore, the silent scorn, and decided to take matters into the own hands. Down in that room I told you about is where they learned of our history, about Madara Uchiha. You know his history, yes?"

Sasuke slowly nodded. "Are you getting at that our clan believed that they should be ruling the village? That an Uchiha should be Hokage? I heard that in the beginning, before the village was founded, the Senju and Uchiha clans were complete rivals. Madara Uchiha was our most powerful, and right before the big battle between them, Konoha was founded by decision of a lot of the clans in this area."

"The two that were powerful enough to rule as Konoha and the other clan's leader were Harashima Senju and Madara Uchiha. The clans decided on the former, leaving the latter quite pissed and forever carrying a grudge." I paused on my injection, as I pondered on bloodlines. "I find it funny actually…bloodline wise."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that you believe Madara? That Senju and Uchiha will forever be enemies? If so, are you confessing that you are of Senju bloodline?"

I shrugged. "I have no doubt that the mysterious leader of Akatsuki, one who claims to be Madara Uchiha, intended for you to die by Sasuke's hand. Then he would confess your sins, implant your eyes in your younger brother, nurse the madness inside of Sasuke, to the point with he would just point and Sasuke and I would kill each other. Don't tell me you didn't think this would happen."

Itachi pinched his nose in between the tips of his fingers. "I was hoping Sasuke wouldn't fall prey to the madness, that he would have you, and I was right. You stopped whatever plan that man had by stepping in at the stronghold when you did."

I glared at him mockingly, "back to your explaining, and don't talk about me."

Itachi rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face. "The clan got it into their heads that they should be the ones in charge of Konoha, and planed a coup. You were caught up in it, but wasn't even aware of anything going on. I think for me to explain why I betrayed the clan you need to understand me."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Sasuke what you brother means is that he may be a powerful Shinobi that is damn good at his job, but deep inside he is a gentle boy who doesn't want to kill or anything like that." My eyes and voice pinned Sasuke with seriousness. "Itachi witnessed the Third War and saw what the Kyūbi was forced to do to Konoha; he saw more than his far share of death. He doesn't enjoy death. When the Kyūbi struck, this sentimental fool promised himself that he would protect you from anyone and everyone. He is the reason why your dad didn't pressure you like he did Itachi; your brother is the reason why you weren't forced to enter the academy as early as he was. Every step of the way Itachi had tried to spare you, but the idiot apparently wasn't thinking when he had you become a fucking avenger. Or maybe he was."

My eyes narrowed at Itachi. "You were always trying to keep Sasuke as far away from the coup and the clan as you could. You didn't want him coming anywhere near the knowledge that the clan was about to kill many innocents." It was only then that it dawned on me what this man had done for his younger brother. "You made Sasuke hate you so deeply that he would never try to find out why you killed your clan. And if he never found out, Danzo, would never have any reason to go after Sasuke."

Just thinking about that old man made my entire mind, body, and soul ache. Itachi understood; where was the line that one didn't cross when protecting one's village?

Sasuke radiated hate and killing intent. "So Danzo is the reason why my clan was murdered?'

My eyes reflected the ache I felt, and Sasuke noticed it when I locked eyes with him. "Tell me Sasuke, what are the most important things to you? Itachi and your clan? What would you do for them? Would you do anything to protect them? Would you destroy yourself, if it meant saving someone or something that you cherished more than you own life?"

I let Sasuke think on that for a few seconds before I pressed on. "Itachi loved you more than anything in this world; he was willing to destroy himself, his future here in the village, and even take on your hate just to protect you. The Elders were pushing the Third Hokage to do something drastic with your clan. And Danzo gave Itachi a solution that involved you alive, because if Itachi waited for your clan to actually do something, your death would have been included. Therefore, Itachi took action to save you."

I closed my eyes and steeled myself before I opened my mouth to speak of the next example.

"My father was the Fourth Hokage. There was nothing more important to him or the Namikaze clan than family. I and my mother were his entire world, even though he was Hokage. When Kyūbi was forced onto Konoha by Tobi (this is the leader of Akatsuki who claims to be Madara) what could he do? Kyūbi was more powerful than him. If he fought the Bijū any longer, he would have died. And Konoha and his family would have been destroyed. He had to do something to save us all. My father hated the fact that his father died and didn't raise him. He vowed to anyone who knew him, that he would be different. But he wasn't. He knew when facing down the Kyūbi, the only way for anyone to live was for him to use that special Seal and make a Jinchuriki. Minato Namikaze gave him soul up in exchange for the lives of Konoha and his family."

I didn't have to mention that mother was dead before this happened.

"My point Sasuke is that Danzo has been protecting Konoha for years. He may not be Hokage who publically show their sacrifice for the village, but he has sacrificed more than we will ever know to protect us all. His protection sometimes has him doing things we would never even think about, but sometimes someone has to get their hands dirty for the good of the village. For years I have done that myself. Itachi did it; he saved you but also all the innocents that would have died if the Uchiha clan tried to take over the village."

Sasuke growled as he got up from his seat, across from me, and slammed his hands down on the back of the couch a little away behind my head. I didn't move at all as he leaned over me. "Are you telling me to just excuse what he did? That because he was protecting that damn village, the very village that had hurt you over and over, it is all okay?"

My eyes grew dark at his words. "No, I am not saying Danzo's actions are excusable because he was protecting the village. But let's turn this around Sasuke. If you use that same logic on Itachi, his murder of your clan is just as bad even though he was protecting you. My actions are not forgivable either, or did you forget that I took the lives of many of your flesh and blood as well?"

Itachi let loose some of his charka. "That is enough both of you! Sasuke, sit down. Naru, don't push him any further."

I watched as Raven did as he was told, but I kept my eyes on him. The madness…it was there. Itachi what the hell did you do to him that ignited that spark?

"When it comes down to it, we will all have to pay for our sins. If I am not mistaken, Naru has plans for the two Elders and Danzo. Now, can I continue?" after Sasuke's nod, he did so. "I agreed to kill the clan because I wanted to make sure that you would survive Sasuke. If someone else was ordered to do it, you would not have been spared. Danzo knew of my will to protect you, so he came to me with his plan. I agreed, and because Naru cares deeply for me, she took on this burden as well. After I left, I joined Akatsuki and have been a spy reporting to my captain whenever I had information or the opportunity."

I got up as Sasuke was devouring this new information, and found that it was well past all our bedtimes.

"Itachi has given us all much to ponder. As both of us are recovering, we need our rest. If you wish, Sasuke, you can stay up if you can't seem to sleep. If you wish to, I have a Jutsu that stops your brain from dreaming or I can give some tea. To be honest, I think we all need either one or the other."

I don't think it was a surprise that everyone took the tea. Once it was finished, we all went to bed, and slept the night away.

~~~Spy's Love~~~

The week passed quite quickly. The training was going remarkably well, in addition to Itachi's recovering. We would need to do something about both of their eyes. The advance form of their Sharingan would be complete assets in the fight.

I even posed the question…what if they switched eyes? As in Sasuke took on Itachi's eyeballs and the other way around. This had both of them looking into the answer.

I was sparing with Sasuke when I felt a devastated charka…a charka that was quite familiar. The fact that it was familiar and that it was feeling such dark emotions, had me freeze and Sasuke almost fucked me up—as he told me later when I was functioning.

When I got control of myself, I couldn't breathe, the negativeness of the charka was overwhelming. I could only get out a few words before I disappeared, running as fast as I could toward the source.

I threw myself through Tsunade's office window and landed right in front of Shika, who was sitting down in a chair—one that rarely was parked in front of her desk. I grabbed his hands and held them in mine, slowly inserting calming charka into him.

I whispered to him, my eyes locking with his. I was going to force him outside of his head if it was the last thing I was going to do. Shika would never let me dwell like this, so I sure as hell wasn't going to let him.

It didn't take long, and I had brought him out. "Tell me what happened."

"Sensei. Asuma-Sensei, he…" he couldn't even finish his sentence.

~~~Spy's Love~~~

Tsunade honestly didn't know what was going on. One minute she was trying to get Nara to tell her what happened, and he seemed to retreat into himself. Then next second, Naru was here comforting the Nara. Never once had she seen Naru so…was there a word for this?

"Naruto…" Tsunade started, but was interrupted by the arrival of the Toads. When she saw the three of them her heart broke and she let out a sob.

"Jiraiya, he can't be!" she softly cried.

~~Spy's Love~~~

I was brought out of my Shika and Naru world as I heard my Hokage start sobbing behind me. I turned my entire body around and noticed the three Toads.

"Mama and Papa Toad? What are you doing here?" my voice, I did everything I could to keep it steady. "Why is the Priest Toad here? Did someone die?"

There was no way it was Ero-Sennin. That man could be tossed around by Tsunade, beat up by countless females, not to mention attacked by me seriously; no one could kill him. So why were they here?

Papa Toad took me in, and his face said it all. "We were with him. He was gathering information about Akatsuki's leader, Pein. Six different Peins, with completely different abilities, attacked him. Before he died," Tsunade muffled her cry and I just kneeled in place completely frozen, "he wrote something on my back. We can't make heads or tails of it. But he didn't make it after he wrote it."

The old Toad showed it to us, but I couldn't see it. I vaguely recall Shizune being called in there to write it down and send it to the decoders. I was still stuck on the fact that this man, who was like a father to me, was dead.

If he was dead, how would I ever tell him things? Who would train me? Who would tease me? Who would have to answer for the sins he had committed?

It was then that something in the back of my mind broke, and that betrayal that I had wanted to forget so badly, shoved itself to the forefront of my mind.

One day you will have to deal with it. Just hope that by the time you are ready to confront this, it won't be too late.

It was too late. Jiraiya, my godfather, was dead. Now I would never know why he abandoned me when he had promised my parents that he would take care of me. At the back of my mind, I knew that Tsunade was here, and I could ask her, but the man who I had saw as a father was dead and never coming back. How could I even think about her?

I felt Shika behind me; he leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Come on, little one."

I raised myself up and went with him mostly out of instinct. My mind was completely focused on the fact that my first true sensei, someone who actually cared enough to treat me as I needed to be treated, seen as I needed to be seen, was dead.

Shika led me out and to be honest, I had no idea where the hell we went. I just knew that no one else was around, nor could they get near us.

When we stopped, I was coherent of the outside world enough to know that Shika had laid us down on something soft, a bed, and he held me as if I was his only lifeline.

I was his lifeline, as he was mine. For once in my life, I accepted the fact that I needed comfort, and I let him give that to me with his arms wrapped tightly around me. Shika's arms kept me there in the present, and were slowly drawing me out of the darkness of my mind. Shika was kept grounded by holding on to me as tight as he could. Being there wrapped up in his arms must have told him that he was still here in this world and that someone needed him—me.

We just laid there in each other's arms, soaking up the comfort the other offered as if it as the air we needed to breath. Our entire worlds had just come crashing down, breaking us. And the only reason we didn't shatter were because the other was holding us together. Shika held me together by keeping me safe in his arms, and I kept him grounded with the knowledge that he wasn't the only one feeling this way.

Kami only knows how long we laid there, but eventually I spoke up.

"Jiraiya...Ero-Sennin…is dead."

"So is Asuma-sensei," was his simple, brief, lifeless response.

"And now we are burdened forever with all the things we wanted to say to them. They will never answer or respond to what we want to tell them. Because the dead hear and tell no tales."

"The dead also transfer their wills to us." Shika's voice seemed to solidify with determination. Life seemed return to him as well, before when he spoke, his voice was as lifeless as mine was. "I will protect the "kings," and you have to decipher the code about Pein."

I shook, and his arms tightened around me. "The dead may not speak, but they live on in their will." I let out a shaky breath, which had him holding me even closer. "We must carry on. We must keep on walking. But, Shika," my voice cracked, "when is enough enough? Will we ever have peace? Will we ever stop fighting? I want this without death, mine or yours or—" I stopped, cutting my own self off because I could not even think about those thought.

I felt his head move, his cheek was no longer laying against the top of my head; I felt him press his lips where his cheek had been resting, before he moved back to the position he was in before.

"When enough is enough, we will all break away. We will take what matters most to us, and we will find our peace. We will make that peace. I promise you this. Just a little more my precious, and enough will be enough."

To be continued…

Diagnostic Jutsu: It is a basic medical Jutsu; it shows what is going on with the subject medical. The first Jutsu medics learn is this one. Depending on how advance the user is, the user may be able to adjust/add on to the Jutsu to show more than just physical wounds, it can show charka networks, blood networks, brain networks, nerves, and more.

Memory Suppression Jutsu: exactly what this sounds like. In the first Spy story, Naruto suppressed Sasuke's memory of what happened when he confronted Itachi. He had caught up with her and Jiraiya (on their way to find Tsunade), who had been ambushed by Kisame and Itachi.

Sharingan: Eye dojutsu that only the Uchiha are born with. It can copy any Jutsu, as long it isn't a Kekkai Genkai. It can also sense Charka, and see through Jutsu, and often predict what their Enemy will do. Only ones who have Sharingan are Sasuke, Kakashi (implanted), Itachi, and Madara.