Further Aspirations

The sky started to darken as the sun set in the distance. The sounds of battle slowly died down as Naruto and Itachi moved away from the village. Sakura was hung over Itachi's shoulder, still unconscious.

"We'll drop her off at a nearby village before we head to the wind country," said Itachi.

"That's fine," agreed Naruto, trying to move his left arm. His left arm hung loosely at his side but feeling was slowly returning to it. His right arm was still scarred with chakra burns also. It was times like these when Naruto missed the Kyubi inside of him. Had the Kyubi not lain dormant, Naruto's wounds would probably have healed already. "You said you knew about the Kyubi right? Tell me whats wrong with it?"

Itachi hesitated a moment before answering. "There's nothing wrong with the Kyubi. To put it simply, the Kyubi is no longer inside of you."

"What! How! Why!" asked Naruto, seemingly asking all three questions at once.

"It's a long story."

"We've got time. Besides, this was part of the deal. I go with you, you tell me everything about the Kyubi." Demanded Naruto. They kept going in silence for a while before Itachi complied.

"From what the third told me, it all started eighteen years ago, when the Kyubi attacked Konoha. The fourth had decided that the only way to stop the nine-tails was to seal it into a human vessel so it can cause no further damage."

"That vessel was me right?" inquired Naruto.

"Yes…but that is only partly correct," answered Itachi.

"Huh?" asked Naruto, surprised, "What do you mean?"

"The third had realized that the Kyuubi was far too large and powerful to contain in only one vessel. Others were needed. You are one of those vessels that were destined to contain the Kyuubi, however, there were two others as well," explained Itachi. Naruto was shocked. He didn't know what to think now that he knew there existed two people who were exactly like him. Itachi continued. "Unfortunately for you, the most dangerous and destructive part of the Kyuubi was stored inside of you. The villagers knew this and they feared and hated you for it. This allowed the third to downplay the other two, and almost completely hid the fact that there were two others at all."

"So…who are the other two?" asked Naruto, curious.

"Besides you, I only know one other. The third went through a lot of measures to make sure their secret wasn't revealed. The other person that I know who contains part of the Kyuubi is the leader of the Akatsuki. A kunoichi, by the name of Kairi.

"Kairi?" Naruto had no idea who the person was.

"Kairi was once a leaf nin until she betrayed them," stated Itachi.

"Kinda like you, huh?"

"Perhaps," said Itachi, a look of contempt flashing across his once emotionless face.

"Looks like you don't get along with whoever it is."

"You can say that, but, it's none of your concern."

"Hey, but wait? What do these other two Kyuubi people have to do with the part inside of me?"

"It's Kairi. A few weeks ago, while the Akatsuki were still active in Konoha, we stole a scroll and copied its contents. On it contained many forbidden techniques."

"I remember a scroll like that. I learnt the kage bunshin from that scroll about six years ago, right before I became a genin."

"Yes, that is the same scroll that we had stolen. There was a technique on that scroll which allowed a person to release the Kyuubi from its vessels and summon it at will. Kairi has that scroll now and has already started to use 'that' technique. I'm still not sure how it was done, but she has already extracted your part of the Kyuubi and sealed it within herself."

Naruto wasn't convinced. "How can she extract the Kyuubi from me when I haven't even seen her?"

"She only needs to know who you are and your whereabouts. Once those are taken care of, she is able to use the scroll to extract the Kyuubi from you at any distance."

Naruto thought about it for a while. It didn't make sense but it did explain why he felt the Kyuubi was dormant. Now, he was interested in the Kairi person.

"Wait a minute," said Naruto, "You said that the Kyuubi had to be sealed in three different people to contain it. How can this Kairi contain more than on part of the Kyuubi?"

"Having the entire Kyuubi within you won't kill you. It only makes you…less human. Kairi right now is…well…you'll see her soon enough."

"WHAT! We can't go to her? Besides, doesn't she already have my part of the Kyuubi?"

"The original goal of Kisame and I was to bring you to her. You are probably the key to finding the remaining vessel of the demon-fox. Once we bring you to her, and find out how to find the third Kyuubi vessel, stopping her will become one of our objectives," explained Itachi. Naruto definitely didn't want the Kyuubi coming out and causing havoc again. If there was a way to stop Kairi from summoning Kyuubi, Naruto would help. Having part of the demon fox within him for so long, Naruto knew what it was capable of.

Itachi and Naruto continued along towards the village, both oblivious to the fact that Sakura had already been awake and listening to the conversation the entire trip. She heard Itachi explain everything about the Kyuubi and this Kairi person who she had never heard about before. Sakura thought Naruto was already dead and she was more than relieved to find out that Itachi hadn't killed Naruto after all. She still wondered why Naruto would trust Itachi, the S-class criminal who killed his own clan and betrayed the village. Naruto couldn't be that naïve.

'Naruto,' she thought. Ever since she found out about Naruto having the nine-tails within him, Sakura saw Naruto in a new light. Sakura always thought Naruto was loud because, well, he was Naruto. But now, she thought about Naruto with a whole new understanding. Now she knew why Naruto acted the way he did, why he was treated the way he was. She had always wondered why Naruto was seemingly hated, almost feared, for no apparent reason. Her own parents told her to stay away from him, even when they became part of the same team. Everything became clear to Sakura now, and she felt guilty, since she hadn't always been nice to Naruto. Back in their genin days, Sakura had almost ignored Naruto completely so she could get closer with Sasuke. Sakura knew that Naruto had saved her life once, from Gaara and Shukaku, but she didn't thank him for it yet. Even recently, she had acknowledged Naruto as a friend, but she still didn't really treat him as one. Now, more than anything, she wanted to apologize to Naruto for the way she treated him. She didn't know why, but it was one of those things that she HAD to do. However, now wasn't the time as she was still being carried by Itachi. Sakura decided to wait for an opportunity to make her move. Besides, she wanted to know where they were taking her.

The night had finally settled in as Naruto and Itachi reached the small village. Naruto had never been to a village like this before. For one thing, it was small, about a quarter of Konohagakure's size. However, despite its size and considering how late it was, the village was still bustling with people. There was a small but very busy market at the centre of the village. Around the market were buildings of various sizes, most likely apartments or inns. Around those buildings were the houses of the villagers.

Itachi pointed to the nearest Inn and Naruto nodded in agreement.

The clerk at the desk inside the Inn watched as two strangely dressed people entered the Inn. One seemed to be injured while the other was holding a girl over his shoulder.

'Probably just another drunk prostitute,' thought the clerk as he greeted the guests. "Welcome to Fire country's paradise Inn. How can I help you?"

Itachi ordered two rooms and paid for them. Naruto headed to their room as Itachi went to drop of Sakura in the other room.

'Now's my chance!' thought Sakura as Itachi entered the room. Sakura immediately flipped off Itachi's shoulder, surprising him as she started attacking. Itachi, although caught off guard, he blocked and dodged her attacks easily. He could tell she wasn't especially talented in taijutsu as her moves were relatively slow and predictable. He continued to block and dodge attacks as he decided whether or not to use Tsukuyomi again. Itachi decided against it as it would be dangerous for him to use it a second time so soon.

Naruto heard the commotion and headed to Sakura's room. Itachi was holding off Sakura's attacks as Naruto entered.

"Sakura! Wait!" said Naruto.

"Naruto! Help me out," she screamed at the blond ninja.

"Sakura, stop. Just hear me out," he said, holding Sakura back from behind. "We can trust him. He helped out with the attack on the village," explained Naruto. Sakura calmed down and Naruto released her.

"Well, she's safe," noted Itachi to Naruto. "We'll leave early tomorrow morning. Your friend there may return to the village whenever she wants."

"Naruto! How can you trust him. He may have helped out against the sound but he's still an S-class criminal. Not only that, he's the S-class criminal that almost wiped out the entire Uchiha clan."

Itachi grimaced at the words. Itachi let it go, however, as he didn't want anyone except Sasuke to know about the dramatic past of the Uchihas. It was a family pride thing, and that was how it was to remain.

"It's true," said Naruto, "I still can't really trust Itachi but I can at least put up with him. Besides, there are more important things we need to deal with right now. If Itachi is right about the Aksatsuki, then we need to stop them before the problem gets out of control."

Itachi stepped in. "You," he said to Sakura, "needn't worry about that problem. I suggest you return to Konoha."

"Itachi's right," added Naruto, "This is a problem that doesn't involve you. It involves me. This is one of those things I have to do."

"But, I want to help," stammered Sakura. "I know about the Kyuubi. And Kairi." Both Itachi and Naruto looked at her in surprise.

"How did you know?" asked Naruto.

"So…you were awake then, during our talk," stated Itachi. Sakura just nodded. 'Kuso,' thought Itachi. Having Naruto on a need-to-know basis was trouble enough. Now he had to deal with this pink-haired ninja that Naruto wanted to keep safe. "Having more people involved in this will only get you killed. You should just stay out of this. It does not involve you."

"But I can help," she reputed. Sakura wouldn't back off. Once she had her mind set on something, nothing could pry her away from it. Naruto knew this so he agreed.

"Let's just bring her along. She'll probably come in handy against the Akatsuki," persuaded Naruto.

Itachi stared into Sakura's emerald eyes. They almost matched the determined look on Naruto's eyes and that's when Itachi knew that she wouldn't accept no as an answer. Itachi thought about putting her unconscious again and leaving but Naruto wouldn't allow that. Itachi had hoped that Naruto would be more like Kisame, always following orders and listening to reason. It wasn't the case, however, and there was nothing he could do about it. 'Looks like another person I have to baby-sit,' thought Itachi. "Very well," he said, "But you must follow my orders from here on. Also, word of this must never leave this room. It will be trouble enough having you two know about the Kyuubi secret."

"Hai," they both agreed.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning. You two should get some rest until then. You'll need it. I assume you two don't trust me, so you two can share this room," said Itachi as he left.

They watched as Itachi left the room before Naruto turned his attention towards Sakura. "You sure about this, Sakura?" asked Naruto. He really didn't want to involve her, but Sakura was almost as stubborn as he is when she makes up her mind.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I can't let you stick with that Itachi alone. He might not be that trustworthy," answered Sakura, "I don't want to lose anymore friends."

Naruto was surprised at her words. She had never openly called him a friend before so he just ignored it. "He's kept his word so far. I can't really believe that he could kill his entire clan just like that. He's strong, but I don't think he's the type to kill people for no reason."

"I still wouldn't trust him. If he didn't kill anybody, there would have been no reason to leave the village like he did. Since he left the village and became a missing nin, he's probably guilty of something." Both Naruto and Sakura sat and thought about it for a while until Sakura noticed Naruto's arms. "Naruto! What happened to your arms?"

"Oh, these?" he said, pointing at his wounds, "They're nothing. I got them back in the village when I fought our old pal, Kabuto."

"Kabuto was there? Why would you fight him? Isn't he a leaf-nin?"

"Nope. He was in league with Orochimaru. I knew it for a long time, I guess I just didn't tell you."

"Oh…Hey Naruto, hold out your arms, like this," she instructed as she held her arms out in front of her. He did the same.

"Why?" he asked. Sakura hovered her hands over his arms as a warm, light-green chakra came out of her palms and into Naruto's arms. All of a sudden, the cuts in his left arm began to converge and disappear while the burns on his right arm started to heal as well. "Wow, Sakura-chan. I didn't know you can heal."

"Tsunade taught me basic medical jutsu since you and Lee always ended up in the hospital. She hoped that teaching me would reduce the costs at the hospital."

"Heh," he said, followed by a long awkward silence. Sakura wanted to apologize to Naruto. She wanted to tell him that she understood how he felt, what he went through. However, she just couldn't seem the find the words and so she sat there in silence. Naruto saw the look on Sakura's face. He had never seen that look on her before. It was the look that Iruka had given him sometimes. A look of understanding. Again, he ignored it, not expecting this sort of thing from Sakura. "Well, we better get to sleep," said Naruto, breaking the silence.

"Y-yeah," replied Sakura as they turned out the lights and lay on their beds. Both stared at the ceiling in darkness for a while, Naruto already starting to fall asleep.

"Naruto?" she asked.

"Huh?" came the tired reply.

"I'm sorry," said Sakura, but Naruto was already asleep.

(A/N: Short chapter, I know. It's cuz I decided to split this chapter and the next chapter up. Why? Because I can. Find out what happened to Orochimaru and Konoha next chapter. I'll also continue this Naruto/Itachi/Sakura quest next chapter too. Actually, a lot of things are in the next chapter and it will be long so I'll probably take a while to finish it. A little more about my OC, Kairi, was shown in this chapter and a lot more will be revealed next chapter. I'm getting writers block just thinking about the next chapter. Anyways, please review, criticize, flame, whatever, I'll read them all and take them into consideration.)