Naruto 366

0
Naruto
#366 Brothers
[side: Stolen by the elder, lost by the younger. Everything started on that night...]

1
[insert: "Come out... Uzumaki Naruto." Itachi appears, but what does he want?!]
Naruto: Are you here to capture me?
Itachi: No... that's not it. // I just want to talk with you a little.
Naruto: .........

2
Bunshin!Naruto: Gah! // Aagh!!
Naruto: Do you really think I'm going to believe you that easily?!

3
Naruto: (When you're up against the Sharingan, the rule is "When it's one-on-one, flee immediately"... // ..."When it's two-on-one, take him from behind"...! // But in this guy's case, once he's made the seals, he can trap you in his genjutsu with a single finger... // I have to be careful...!
Itachi: It looks like you have a decent grasp of how to fight a Sharingan user... // But I know you're here alone. / ...Why do you not flee?
Naruto: Hah! // I can be one person, or a thousand! // Besides, I can't just run away! // If I can just capture you, I'll be able to see Sasuke!!

4
Itachi: ......... // ......... // Why are you so obsessed with my little brother? / He's a Missing-nin, right?
Naruto: It's because I at least think of him as a brother... // ...a hell of a lot more than you ever have...!!!

5
Itachi: .........
Naruto: AAAAAAAAAGH!! // ?! // !

6
Itachi: You are already within my genjutsu.
Naruto: Damn...!
Itachi: ...I'll tell you once more. / I just want to talk with you a little.
Naruto: ?!

7
Jiraiya: I'm coming in... Tsunade.
Tsunade: Jiraiya... Do you have new information?
Jiraiya: We've discovered the whereabouts of Akatsuki's Leader.
Tsunade: What?! / Seriously?! // Tell me everything! // We'll use the information to lay an ambush immediately!

8
Jiraiya: Now, now... not so hasty.
Tsunade: This isn't like one of your books... we can't just take it at a leisurely pace!
Jiraiya: Nothing good will come from rushing into things. / Especially in a major gamble like this one. // How's this? We'll go out for a drink, just the two of us, just like old times. / I'll tell you everything there.
Tsunade: You idiot! I'm the Hokage! / How can I be drinking at this hour? Think of all the shinobi who are on active duty right now!!

9
Jiraiya: You know... you could try paying a little more attention to your own advice. / You are the Hokage, after all.
Tsunade: Sooooo... / This "Akatsuki Leader" is in the Hidden Village of Rain, right? // But... that place takes a very diligent stance on inspecting everyone who enters or leaves the country; they keep 24-hour surveillance. // Even when they're hosting the Chuunin exam, they refuse to relax their security; it's inconvenient for everybody. // That doesn't seem like the sort of place where a guy like this could move around easily.
Jiraiya: ...But that in itself is the reason. / A country that doesn't share its internal affairs with outsiders, exceptionally diligent... they've been hiding their shame for a long time.
Tsunade: Shame?
Jiraiya: It seems that that country has been engaged in civil war for quite a while now; the village itself is divided. // And the rumour is that the Akatsuki Leader is also the leader of one of those two factions.

10
Tsunade: That country... it's bordered by the three major powers, the Countries of Earth, Wind and Fire; those countries often used it as a battleground in past conflicts. / They have never been stable internally, and I hear they have a lot of trouble with refugees.
Jiraiya: And so our priority should be to determine whether this information is accurate. / I'm going to infiltrate them and investigate. // We can discuss what action to take afterwards...
Tsunade: That's too dangerous for you to attempt alone...!
Jiraiya: I am one of Konoha's Sannin. / You should understand what that entails.
Tsunade: ......... / I'm sorry about this... you always get lumped with the nasty work.

11
Jiraiya: Hahahahah! // What's with you all of a sudden?!
Tsunade: I'm saying that you were the one who should have become the Hokage in the first place. // That's what the Third always intended...
Jiraiya: That's not for me. I prefer the unfettered life...
Tsunade: You've been regretting that you couldn't stop Orochimaru... // ...and investigating his movements all this time, haven't you...?
Jiraiya: ......... // Well, there's no need for that any more. / Now I'll be able to get my books out more quickly.
Tsunade: But fact is stranger than fiction... / Who would have thought that he could actually die...

12
Tsunade: The three of us were always together, with the old Third...
Jiraiya: And now that ironing-board Tsunade is a big-breasted Hokage! // Time waits for no man... // You were so beautiful back then, and now you're an old woman of fifty... // I guess you're packing all your feelings towards those you've lost inside that huge chest of yours... / And there are only going to be more from now on... // But that doesn't mean we should get all miserable. // Our job is to provide good role models for the next generation, and lend them our help. // For their sake, we can smile as we put our lives on the line. // That's how old people like us can have style.

13
Naruto: Wh... What exactly is going on...?
Itachi: .........
Naruto: You were after me, weren't you?! / In that case...!
Itachi: I'll be going.... // I have important matters that I have to attend to.
Naruto: (...A shadow clone...!)

14
Naruto: .........
Sasuke: !
Itachi: You came...
Sasuke: Who is it?

15-16
Itachi: It's me. // ...Sasuke.
[insert text: Those bonds of hatred... // The moment he has awaited has suddenly...!!]
[bottom text: Itachi appears before his brother! What does he want?! Next issue, "That Which Was Lost"!!]