The Flower and the Avenger

Chapter 40

Creak.

Naruto's blue eyes shot open as he heard a sound echoing in the still of the night. Kurama was seriously sensitive- because he could tell that the sound was from the fourth step of the second staircase, the one that separated the boys' and girls' servants wings.

Damn, Kurama. Did you have to wake me up? I was having a great dream, dude.

Naruto... do you think I wanted to hear that? Or wake you up? Actually, that dream was pretty stupid. I'm thankful to the brat who made that noise.

Shut up, fox.

Naruto stretched and got up, careful not to make a sound unlike someone. Jesus, someone was rude. Couldn't they tell that a very handsome, intelligent, and cool being was trying to sleep?

He snuck out of the room, ignoring Kakashi and Sai.

Unfortunately, whoever was making the noise wasn't letting up- they stepped on the broken step. Whoever it was, they had a horrible memory- Naruto remembered when Sasuke came personally to let everyone know about that stair that Naruto destroyed... purely by accident, of course.

His ears twitched as he tuned in, hearing their footsteps and movements. Strange, though... it didn't seem like they were wearing any shoes. Even for his sensitive hearing, they seemed very quiet and soft... like a paw.

I should stay a distance back... they don't seem like someone I'm familiar with.

He snuck along the cold wall, keeping quiet as he listened hard for the soft padding of the person's feet.

Naruto... this doesn't feel familiar.

Well obviously it doesn't feel familiar, we never snuck along the wall like this, have we? Shh. I need to listen to see where they're going-

No, I mean... they don't seem human. I can smell them... they smell like an animal.

An animal...? Naruto wondered as he took a great big sniff. Sure enough, it smelled like an animal- like a wet dog. Unfortunately, he was very well acquainted with the smell of wet dog- regards to Kiba and Akamaru.

"You think we should follow them?" Naruto whispered, very quietly.

I honestly don't care. But go right ahead if you feel like it.

"I think I will, thank you very much."

He snuck along the wall as thoughts crowded his head. Why were they going to the girls' side of the wing? Then, there was no way that they were Kiba and Akamaru- Kiba might have been dumb, but he wasn't a pervert. And Akamaru was perfectly trained and was sleeping, so... who on earth was it?!

Ah. He could see them.

A big, dark, dog-like silhouette could be seen through the pitch-black darkness, as Naruto squinted to see who it was. Then, to his surprise... it grew.

The shape grew.

It stood up, back straightening out, posture firm and looking pretty tall- taller than Naruto. He blinked, wondering if he was dreaming.

They were standing outside the girls' dorm room- more specifically, Sakura's and her friends' dorm room. He opened it.

Clack, clack.

Naruto blinked. That was strange- it was the soft padding of paws before, and now they were... boots? They were definitely shoes... what on earth was going on?

Hey, Kurama. Have you ever seen something like this before?

I have...

He sounded displeased... hell, even angry.

When I fought someone. A relative of your friend's.

Sasuke?

Yeah, that Uchiha brat.

Naruto furrowed his brow. What? That meant that Kurama was indicating that he was a shape-shifter like Sasuke... but the only people who could shape-shift was the Uchiha.

The Uchiha...

No, it wasn't Obito. It definitely wasn't Obito- he was out on business. It wasn't Sasuke, either- he wasn't as tall. So who on earth...?

Didn't he have a brother?

Naruto's eyes widened. He had a brother. Itachi Uchiha- which meant that he might have been the one who infiltrated the manor! It all made sense.

He needed to go, now, to Sasuke. Because if he was correct...

Someone was definitely in trouble.

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"Do you agree to be his lawfully wedded wife?"

Sakura smiled at him, eyes shining bright and even a bit watery. "I do. I definitely do."

Kakashi smiled- or he seemed to smile as he gently pushed Sasuke forward. "You may kiss the bride."

He stepped closer to her, searching her bright, happy eyes as he leaned in closer... their noses touching. "I love you, Sakura," he whispered as his lips reached for hers.

"Me too, Sasuke... Sasuke... SASUKE!"

Sasuke woke up with a jolt, sitting straight up and hitting someone's head in the process. "Ow," he groaned as he rubbed his forehead. "Sasuke!" the person shouted.

He squinted in the light. "Naruto...? What the hell are you doing in my room?"

"Never mind that!" Naruto looked urgent- hair messed up, panting heavily as if he ran miles, so wild-eyed Sasuke could have mistaken him for Kurama. "Itachi Uchiha!"

He blinked as the name processed. "What?"

"Itachi Uchiha! He's... he's here!"

What?

"He's here. My brother."

He nodded frantically. "And he went... he went..."

"He went?" Sasuke reached forward to grab the front of Naruto's shirt. "HE WENT?!" he bellowed, swinging himself off of his bed.

"He went into Sakura's room!"

Sasuke froze as the information slowly processed, taking up precious seconds of his time. "He went... into Sakura's... room?" Naruto then grabbed the front of Sasuke's shirt. "Yes, you loser, yes, he went inside your fiance's room! HURRY UP AND CATCH HIM!"

And with that, the spell was broken; Sasuke wrenched himself from Naruto's grasp as he flung open the door and raced towards the servant's wing.

"You hurt her... you hurt her...!" Sasuke half-panted, half-screamed.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU, ITACHI!"

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:sobbing: we did it, guys...

CHAPTER 40! WE DID IT GUYS...!

I don't know what to say to this, chapter 40. WOW. I'm... I'm speechless. 

That was a fun-filled chapter, isn't it? 

I purposely added Naruto's point of view in because, if you guys remember, I added Naruto's POV inside chapter 20 a LONG time ago and I thought that maybe I should continue it :)

As always, thank you for reading this chapter and please look forward to the next one!

-Storywriter-