The Glass Kunoichi

by Spottedleaf9 and Dracanoth Dereal

Chapter 13

(Akane)

From the chakra swirling around behind me, I knew I had been joined by Itachi and while his very presence made me flinch, I was glad to have back up. "I'm immobilized Itachi." I didn't bother with respect; having none for the man who reminded me of the father I'd lost just with his sinister, crimson irises.

It was annoying not to be able to move, but I felt sure that Itachi would be able to scare off my friends. I hoped that was all he was doing. If all went well, they'd get the picture that they stood not a chance against the raven-haired shinobi with the Sharingan. Sensing movement in the bushes, both of our gazes turned toward the same spot from which Haru and Lee had burst forth. Itachi stared at it with a frown. "The copy ninja, Hatake Kakashi finally arrives for his illegitimate daughter. Well…you're dead to her." Itachi didn't smirk, but it was obvious that his words carried the implication of it.

From the bushes stepped Naruto. Brow creased, I sighed. "Get out of here, Naruto. It's not time for you to die yet. Please stop trying to hasten it."

Things got weird when Naruto stepped out of the bushes again. Frowning, I turned to look at the other one. "Kage bunshin?" Looking at the first Naruto, my eyes widened. In the place where the blonde ninja had previously stood was Sasuke. "Sasuke?" My voice shook and my head began to hurt. I was confused and was unsure as to what was really going on here.

Shaking my head, I came to a conclusion. "You made a shadow clone and went to the trouble of making him look like Sasuke? What's the benefit in that?"

I was vaguely aware of my former friends looking about wildly. "Sasuke?" Lee's brows rose even higher if that were possible. "Sasuke isn't here Akane. It's just Kakashi-sensei."

Anger flooding my features, I wished I could turn my head to look Lee. "HOW DARE YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" My teeth were gritted so hard they were making tiny squeaking noises. "My father is dead…" An emotion I couldn't quite identify fluttered across Sasuke's face. I wanted to say it was grief, but that wasn't it. It looked more alive with pain of some sort. "He ….didn't last five minutes against Pain. I saw the entire fight. It was truly a terrifying sight to behold." I closed my eyes and fought back the tears that suddenly rose in the back of my throat. I had no place for tears I'd already shed for the dead.

Now was the time to fight like a shinobi and not grieve like a girl who'd been through hell and back; despite that being exactly my situation. When Sasuke spoke, his words were slow and deliberate; carefully thought out. "Akane….have you forgotten the sound of my voice?"

Face creased, I considered this strange question. "Of course not. It's only been a week." Then, "Why am I talking to you? You're just a meaningless shadow clone." Itachi surveyed the scene; clearly trying to figure something out. I didn't miss the way my former friends seemed to be almost annoyed; on edge.

The very air was alive with tension. Then Naruto spoke, looking up at me; piercing directly into my blue orbs with his very own sky blue gaze. "Akane…come home to the Leaf Village. We're all thinking of you…so…you still have a home, damn it! Why don't you come back?" He seemed to be so angry that he was struggling with tears. "Come home, Akane. Please…this is no kind of life for someone like you."

He seemed genuinely concerned. "Naruto," I began. "That is no kind of home for me. Not anymore. I've committed treason of the highest kind. I turned my back on the Leaf. I gave my all to that village….I gave up on being a danger to you all. At least this way, your life will be the only target on the village. You should do as I have done and give yourself over so that everyone may live." I knew it was harsh, but I felt dead in that moment; arguing with people who could never understand what I was going through at the moment. "Dad's dead. There's nothing for me in Konoha."

Before I could even register that he was moving, Haru closed the distance between us; his hand raised. Whistling through the air, he moved faster than he ever had before and even made Lee raise his eyebrows, I was still caught off guard when my head was knocked to the side by the slap dealt to me. His normally relaxed features were tensed from the fight he'd just had with me and there was a sort of angry sadness in his eyes when he spoke to me; face to face.

He looked at me, his blue orbs boring into me more than they ever had before, I realized at that moment he was much more than just a simple Prince. He was a shinobi at heart. "You've been alone all your life, just like me, just like Naruto, just like your very own father! And the very moment you discover he's related to you and you have something in this world, and that you're not alone, you can't even realize when the man that saved you, raised you, and trained you with all his heart without you ever having known who he was, that he is standing right there, right there in front of you?!" His voice cracked and ravaged itself, tearing into my conscious straight past my eardrums. His eyes watered, and I saw a great sorrow in his face that I had never seen before. It was a deep rooted sadness that had been there for a very long time. His voice got deadly silent and tears rolled down his face uncontrollably. He backed away from me and slowly stood. "If I ever had a friend like that, I would never let them go. And I don't intend to." He turned away showing only his back, and I could see he was trying vainly to hide his pain to save me.

I had but one thing to say to him. "Hatake Kakashi may never stand before me again. It's cruel that you keep joking with me like that. I'd want to come home if only you hadn't said something so….depraved. I watched my father die choking on his own blood as he struggled to crawl to me…pleading to lay a hand on me one last time. I saw my world end. I really wish that we could be friends, I do. But…this is my life now; despite what Naruto said about it not fitting me. I know it doesn't fit me. Every night I lay awake and stare at the ceiling; reminding myself that what I'm doing is wrong but that I've already done it. There is no forgiveness for me in the Leaf Village just as there is no going back to all the times my father was alive and nearby and enjoying his company now that I know what I had." As I spoke, tears streamed down Sasuke's face and he choked on a sob.

"Akane please…come home. Please….break away from him." Itachi watched this whole ordeal with a look that I couldn't dissect for meaning.

I wanted to shake my head and found that I was still immobile. "I'm here by my own choice."

With a cry, Sasuke launched himself at me, causing Haru to jump out of the way. Taking my chin in his fingers, he tilted my head up and fixed me with his own crimson gaze. His left eye changed; becoming something more than just Sharingan and I felt my entire world shift. Suddenly I was looking up into a single blue eye and one red one and my neck was craned. Sasuke's hair and clothes had changed; the hair becoming long and silver and spiky, the clothes becoming those of a jounin. Before me, was Hatake Kakashi; the Copy Ninja of Konoha and more importantly, my father; alive and well. "Akane, stop saying those awful, broken, desperate things. I hate seeing you like this! It breaks my heart. Now get up and be the shinobi you were. I have to say…I'm a little ashamed and scared that all it took for you to turn against Konoha, our home, was for me to die…"

Like when Haru's hand left a mark on my face, my world view changed and I felt as though everything made sense. Kakashi had reset my mind and doing so, had freed it even more completely than Haru had. Itachi finally spoke; having watched this whole emotional ordeal with calm, detached eyes. "Hatake Akane we brought you here and I broke you using my Mangekyou Sharingan, but you have left that world and proven to us that we cannot use you. You are useless to the Akatsuki, and therefore a wasted effort to me. Leave." Before I could protest, Kakashi scooped me up and turned to Naruto, Lee, and Haru.

"Let's go. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth." The ground fell away beneath Kakashi's feet and the familiar sensation of air rushing by as I flew through the trees over took me.