Chapter 183: CH 183
Jiraiya had turned in soon after they had bought a room for the night as they had to get up early tomorrow and leave to return to Konoha to report on the results of their mission before Tsunade would decide whether or not reaching out to the remaining villages was a worthwhile endeavor. Naruto could not bring himself to sleep and rather decided to sit out on the roof until he grew tired or sunrise hit, whichever came first.
Naruto simply sat against the ledge of the hotel, pulling the sword on his back out of its sheath and placing it back in just so he could hear the sound of the metal sliding. The monotonous sound and action brought Naruto into a state of lucidity drifting between consciousness.
"You sure look like you’re having fun." A voice broke Naruto from his trance. He turned and saw an older Yugito standing on the ledge he was sitting against waving cheerfully, "How have you been for the last few years Naruto-kun?"
Yugito sat down beside Naruto against the ledge and pulled her knees to her chest as she looked him over. He didn’t look that much different other than being naturally bigger that came with aging through puberty. Naruto looked over Yugito as well, coming to the same conclusion except that she was over 18 now, "Busy. Very busy. We came here to talk to your Raikage about something, but since you found me before I left I might as well tell you myself. You’re aware of the Akatsuki right?"
Yugito nodded, "Not a whole lot is known about them but I’m aware of the name."
Naruto looked at her seriously, "You need to look out for them. Black cloaks with red clouds... if you see people wearing that then you had better either prepare for a fight to the death or get in gear to hightail it. They want the Nibi from you just like they want the Kyuubi from me. They’ll pull it from your body and leave you a lifeless husk... don’t let them take you alive Yugi-chan, better yet don’t let them take you at all."
Yugito frowned at the way Naruto was talking about them. Something was different about him here. He didn’t seem to be as confident as he had been back when they had first met, "What’s wrong Naruto? Something’s changed about you. Is it Akatsuki?"
Naruto rubbed one of his exposed arms, "These aren’t normal people Yugi-chan. You need to expect the absolute worst, most twisted things that you would never think humans could do to themselves or others. These are the boogeymen of the ninja world."
Yugito turned away from Naruto and looked up, "So you’re scared..."