Things we do for love

Chapter 10

"Thank you for protecting me and never looking at me like the other villagers, Weasel," said Naruto with a thankful smile.

"When did you figure out?" asked Itachi, slightly interested. Inside, he was feeling really nice. He never wanted to get anything in return for what he did, but he did, and it was... fulfilling. It was like life was breathed into him. 

Before the run-in with Naruto and Sasuke three years back, he was just an empty shell, counting his days.  But now, he was genuinely willing to live, and not just die in order to make his brother strong.

"Well, once back when I was four I saw your mask while you were protecting me from an angry mob, and well, back when I was promoted to special jonin I asked Jiji for some files upon you," said Naruto.

"You seem to have an awful lot of access to information don't you think?" asked Itachi with a... friendly expression? Hell, even I as an author don't know it, just tells you how mysterious he is.

"Perks of being close to Jiji I guess?" said Naruto.

'OR being just too nice. I doubt I have seen this good of a person ever in my life. You're just like Shishui.'

"I don't know if it matters to you or not, but my respect and admiration for you are equal to my respect and admiration for dad. I'll be waiting for you to return," said Naruto after a pause.

"Believe me, it matters in ways you couldn't even think off," said Itachi. His voice was emotionless and his eyes were closed but Naruto could feel Itachi meant what he said.

"I guess this is goodbye," said Itachi now opening his eyes.

"Alright, you are about to find out why I call this purgatory," said Naruto as he pushed him off the platform into the lava.

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Itachi's eyes opened as he shuddered.

'He wasn't joking about it being traumatizing,' he thought as he felt hints of the burns he suffered.

"What happened Itachi?" asked Pain.

"The nine tails vessel used some kind of jutsu, and I was somehow taken to a platform surrounded by lava. The next moment he pushed me off. I couldn't use any jutsu or even my Sharingan," said Itachi telling a slightly twisted yet truthful version of what had happened.

"Well, it can't be helped. As soon as we are able to get enough chakra Deidara and Sasori you both take him and get out of here to the other base where we can completely extract one tails," said the leader.

"Why not now?" asked Deidara.

"In case you fail, we need to have some of it so we don't have to go after him again," said the leader.

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Shikamaru was standing with Team Guy when he suddenly went into the shadow and came out behind Kisame and kicked him. He then once again went inside and came out somewhere else hitting him again.

Kisame due to the surprise let go of Samehada which was sucked into the shadow.

"It's impressive. There are many chakra restraint seals. They are not fully active and that's why I am able to use Byakugan, but they're enough for Kisame to not heal and Samehada to not function," said Neji as he inspected it.

"However the walls, which appear to be pretty far away, are thin and brittle so it can be broken from outside," he added after a while.

"The end," said Shikamaru as blades formed out of the shadow impaling Kisame.

"Y-you a-are... yo-u a-are strong, k-kid," said Kisame with a grin, as he died. The next moment, he turned into someone else.

"Huh? How is this possible?" said Shikamaru out loud.

After a few seconds of silence, Guy said, "It doesn't matter. You still went against an S-rank ninja and won."

Shikamaru then dropped the barrier and they were back standing on water.

"Let's go," said Guy, and Shikamaru took a step forward, only to fall into the water. 

However, even before he could go completely underwater, Lee caught him.

"You fought fiercely Shikamaru, now please rest," said Lee.

"But Gaara-"

"I promise I will do everything in my power to ensure his safety, but you need to take it easy," said Lee.

"A truly good ninja, along with knowing his strengths and weaknesses, also knows when to take rest. So please rest here, you have done enough," said Guy.

He then turned to Neji and Tenten.

"You both ensure his safety and after you, all are done resting come after me and lee," said Guy.

"Bu-"

"Neji, you have already used your Byakugan multiple times and Tenten you too have used your best weapons. Compared to you three, we have yet to open our gates so we will be fine," said Guy.

"Alright Guy sensei," said Neji.

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"Those brats were really strong," said Kisame.

"Let us speed up the process. As soon as we are done, get out of there. This should knock the jinchuriki out for a few hours," said the leader.

"Hai Pain sama," said Deidara with a grin, itching to show off his art.

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Hello everyone, so first of all, thank you all for over 90K READS! The book is just 10K away to enter the 100s, and thank you all for that. Additionally, we are at 1964 votes! This is amazing!

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