A/N: Another story people! Wow, I'm on a roll! This is the prologue, and it starts out before Itachi has killed his clan. Much of this will surprise you, especially if you have read some of my other stories. And I'm sorry if I get their ages wrong, but they fit how I put them, so I'll say it works. And if you don't like something in here, I'm sorry, but that's how it came out love.
I hope you all enjoy this story!
Summary: Itachi has a younger sister whom is just as powerful as him. Older than Sasuke, she still acts like a child and is shunned by her father because she refuses to become an ANBU. She absolutely adores both Itachi and Sasuke. And she knows the real reason for the clan's destruction.
Tsukiyomi World looks like this.
Prologue:
Itachi had just come back from another mission, and had been immediately pounced on by Sasuke.
"Nii-san! You're back! I missed you! Hey! You can help me with training now!"
"Perhaps later otooto. Why don't you ask Riz?"
"I can't find her, she's been gone all day. Come on Nii-san! You promised!"
"Sorry otooto. I will later." Itachi poked him in the forehead and got up to go see their parents.
"Nii-san! You're back!" he was promptly tackled to the floor by none other than his other sibling, Riz.
"You know Sasuke has been looking for you?"
"What? No hello? How terribly rude Ita-chan. If you're looking for mother and father, they're in the kitchen. Mum was making something new. Father's the test subject!"
"Is that why you've been gone all day? To avoid that?"
"No, it's just so much fun to see Sasu-chan trying to find me." She smiled impishly and vanished. She went and snuck up behind Sasuke.
"Saaaasssuuukkkkkeeeee!" she said it slowly, in a creepy little voice.
"Who's there?!" she laughed.
"It'ssss meeeee! Your conscience!" she jumped him then, tying his hands to a tree. She stood above him and laughed.
"Hey! You're so mean Nee-san!"
"Heh, come on Sasu-chan, think of it as training. If you had been able to sense me, then this wouldn't have happened!"
"Come on! Lemme go!"
"Fine, fine. Calm down." She untied him and sat down beneath the tree.
"Where have you been all day Nee-san?"
"Hm, well, I watched you try to find me for a bit, reported to the Hokage, went for a walk, and trained a bit. I couldn't find a sparring partner though, everyone was busy. And I have a mission tomorrow, I'll be gone for about a week."
"A week?! Have you told Mother and Father? And why didn't you take me training? Come on Nee-san! I've been asking forever!"
"Hold on, how many questions was that? Yes, a week at least. No, I have not told them yet. And I'll take you training later, after dinner, okay? We could even rope Nii-chan into coming as well."
"Really?! Yay! I can't wait! What kind of training are we going to do?"
"Well, we can't very well spar with you, so how about throwing practice?"
"Okay! I'll get my kunai!" she grabbed the back of his shirt before he could run off.
"Sasu-chan! I said later! Not right now!"
"Fine. Come on, let's go see what's for dinner!" she rolled her eyes.
"All right. Let's go." They went into the house and headed toward the kitchen. They were almost there when they ran into Itachi.
"Hey Nii-san!"
"Hey Ita-chan! I promised Sasu-chan that we'd do some throwing practice with him later tonight. You will be coming, right?"
"No."
"Eh?! Why ever not? I all ready promised him, and I won't be able to spend time with you two for another week!"
"I'm assuming you have a mission tomorrow."
"Yeah, I was just going to tell Mum and Father. Is he in a good mood today?"
"Are you still avoiding him? It's been three weeks."
"And he's still angry with me!"
"Nee-san, wouldn't it be easier to become an ANBU though?"
"But I don't want to be one! Besides, then I would have to follow Nii-chan's orders."
"Stop acting like such a child! Being an ANBU is a great honor! You had the chance to be great, and follow in your brother's footsteps, and you passed it by! Such a fool! You are a mockery to the Uchihas!" they all turned to see their father standing there, glaring at Riz, again. She sighed and disappeared. Itachi sighed and followed her, Sasuke just stood there before going into the kitchen and asking about dinner. Itachi found Riz in a tree at the training grounds.
"How did I know you would be here?"
"Probably because I always come here. I am so sick of him saying that! Why does it matter?! He all ready has one perfect child! I don't want to be like that! It's not appealing at all! And if I was an ANBU, I would hardly ever be able to see Sasu-chan. I all ready hardly ever get to see you! It's not fair!" Riz sighed, "I'm glad for my mission tomorrow now."
"It'll be fine Riz. Would sparring help?"
"Heh. Thanks, but no. Did I tell you that I started training in medical jutsu?" Itachi blinked.
"No, you didn't. You want to be a medic?"
"Not really, but I'm pretty good at it. And it's an amazing feeling to be able to save someone's life like that. I just want to know the basics so that I can be useful, and perhaps even get Father to like me more." She sighed and leaned back.
"He still likes you Riz."
"I'm not so sure about that." She looked away and bit her lip, trying to decide about something, "Ita-chan?"
"Hm?"
"...Never mind. I'll tell you when I get back. We should go back home though. I did promise Sasuke throwing practice though. And I did say I would get you to come."
"And I said no."
"I never did say you had much of a choice." Itachi looked up and was met by her famous imp grin. He groaned inwardly as she tackled him out of the tree. She tied his hands behind his back with chakra binding cuffs.
"Where did you get those?!"
"I nicked them of course. After last year, people won't sell them to me. Thanks to you."
"For this exact reason too."
"Come on Ita-chan! Lighten up! If you promise to come with me and otooto, I'll let you go."
"Fine. Let me go now."
"That wasn't a promise."
Itachi sighed, "I promise I will go with you and otooto tonight for throwing practice. Better?"
"Much." She let him go and grinned, "Come on, let's go back. You want to get something to eat on the way? I sure don't want to sit at the table with Father after that bit."
Itachi rolled his eyes and smiled, "All right, but you get to pay. Where should we go?"
"Ramen Ichiraku's?"
"I should have known." They laughed and made there way to the place. Once they got there, they found someone else there. It was a small child.
"Huh? Hey kid, shouldn't you be home? It's getting pretty late for you to be out alone." They entered the restaurant and realized who the child was. Naruto looked up at them before quickly glancing down.
"Um, okay then."
"What'll it be?"
"Hm, I'll have the shrimp ramen!"
"Miso."
"Geez, you always order the same thing Ita-chan. I'm starting to get the feeling that ramen isn't your favorite food." She poked him in the side, playfully pouting.
"How'd you guess?" Their orders were laid in front of them, and Riz immediately dug in. Once they were done, they headed back home.
"We have to hurry! If we don't, we won't have time for throwing practice with otooto!" Itachi laughed, but still started running.
"Race you!" Riz ran ahead. They both ended up at the back porch out of breath from running, pushing each other away, and fighting some in order to win. They called it a tie. They hadn't even opened the door before they were pounced upon by Sasuke. Riz managed to dodge before Sasuke pounced, the same couldn't be said for Itachi.
"Nii-san! Nee-san! Are we going out now?"
"Yes, we are. Ita-chan's coming too."
"Yay! Come on, let's go!" He started to pull Itachi up and towards the training grounds.
"Sasu-chan! Wait! Do you even have any kunai or shurikan with you?" Sasuke paused.
"I'll be right back!" He ran inside, leaving Itachi on the ground. He chuckled as he stood up.
"What?" He asked when he noticed Riz looking at him curiously.
"Nothing. Sasu-chan's back."
"Come on! Let's go!" Riz grinned and followed Sasuke, letting him lead the way.
"Come on Ita-chan!" He sighed, but smiled and followed them regardless. The training grounds were empty, giving them the perfect opportunity to practice. Riz opted to set up the targets, while Itachi helped Sasuke by showing him how best to throw the kunai. By the time Riz came back, Itachi was all ready tired, having to show Sasuke over and over again.
"The best way to get better is to try it out. Instruction won't get you anywhere." She laughed when glared at by Itachi.
"Otooto, find out where the targets are first." Sasuke started to run off, "Without moving." Sasuke froze.
"How do I do that Nii-san?"
"Riz put the targets the same way she would put a team when dealing with an enemy." Sasuke frowned but looked around.
"I can see five of the six. One would be on the other side of that rock, another behind that tree, one in the branches, one in between those two trees over there, and another on the ground behind those bushes. But where's the last one?"
"Think."
"I don't know! I'm sorry!"
"Calm down Sasu-chan. It's right here." She pointed to a tree beside him. His confusion was clear and she wiped her hand across it, revealing the target.
"The simplest disguise possible. You need to try harder. Sometimes, the most obvious places are the best places to hide."
"That makes no sense!"
"Think about it Sasuke. You barely even looked here, more focused on trying to find something hidden better. When a place is too obvious, a person will overlook it, deciding their enemy would have chosen a better spot. It can be a fatal mistake. Understand?"
"Yes Nee-san!"
"Good. Now, try and hit the targets." She covered the target back up and stepped back, "After this, you should try hitting Ita-chan. Usually, targets move. They don't want to be hit." She looked back at Itachi and laughed.
"I am not going to be a training dummy!"
"Calm down Ita-chan. You get to dodge, and besides, think of it as training. If you can't dodge this, then either you're terrible, or Sasu-chan's wonderful. Unless you're saying you can't do it?" Itachi glared at her.
"You'll do it next then."
"Fine. Begin Sasu-chan!" After about five tries, Sasuke managed to hit all but three of the targets. Two he hit, but wasn't able to hit the bulls eyes.
"Okay, that's enough. Ita-chan?" He sighed but jumped into the trees, making sure to stay visible.
"Sasu-chan, try to hit him, and no holding back." Riz could feel the glare directed at her from the trees, "Begin!" She chirped happily. Sasuke instantly started throwing Kunai and shurikan at Itachi, making him jump away.
"Don't just throw at random Sasu-chan. Stay calm, even when you miss!" Sasuke's throwing slowed, but the aim started to get better. They stopped when Itachi was hit.
"I'm sorry Nii-san!"
"It's fine." Riz went up to him and looked at his arm.
"It's just a scratch."
"I'm sorry Nii-san."
"He'll be fine. My turn!"
"Begin Otooto." Sasuke started his throwing again. Riz jumped into the trees, effectively dodging the weapons. After almost an hour, she finally was hit. A small scratch that matched Itachi's.
"Well, you're getting better."
"Good job Sasu-chan." Sasuke grinned.
"We should get home." Riz looked up at the dark sky.
"Shimatta*! It's late and I have a mission in the morning! Come on, we better get going! Besides, Mum's probably worried about you Sasu-chan."
"No she isn't. She knows I've been with you." Riz grinned.
"We still need to get back. Come on Sasu-chan." He got on her back and they walked back to the compound. About halfway there, Riz pushed Itachi hard and began to run, yelling behind her.
"Race you Ita-chan!" Sasuke looked back and saw Itachi glare and begin to run after them. Even though he was glaring, he had a small smile on his face. Riz jumped onto the rooftops and went that way. She beat Itachi home by around twenty-five seconds. Before Itachi or Sasuke could say anything, she held up her hand and pointed at the dark building.
"Stay quiet, we don't want to wake any of them up."
"Any of who up?" The three siblings turned around to find their mother smiling at them, "You shouldn't have stayed out so late, especially with a mission in the morning. Your father's asleep, so take care not to wake him." She walked off.
"You are so lucky it wasn't father." Riz glared at Itachi.
"So are you. He would be pissed. Come on Sasu-chan, we need to get you to bed." She let him down and they all headed up to their rooms. After they tucked Sasuke in, Itachi followed Riz to her room.
"What? I don't really need an escort. I can handle myself easily."
"You kept trying to tell me something all day. What is it?" She looked away slightly.
"I also said I would tell you when I got back."
"Riz. It's obviously bothering you."
"Of course it is!" she snapped at him, "Sorry, but I promise I'll tell you as soon as I get back, if I have time. Okay?" He sighed.
"Fine. Get some rest." She watched him leave before flopping down on her bed, bag all ready packed.
"I wonder how he'll react when I tell him? Oh well, no use worrying about it now." She closed her eyes and slept.
She woke up an hour before the sun. She sighed, grabbed her bag, and jumped out of the window. Just as she was leaving the compound, she was stopped by Itachi.
"Ano? Ita-chan? What are you doing?"
"One, you were going to leave without eating again. Two, is it a crime to see my imooto off?" He handed her an energy bar. She smiled at him before pushing him.
"Sometimes, you actually act like an older brother, it's so adorable!" He pretended to be shocked.
"What? I don't always?" She laughed.
"I have to go Ita-chan. I'll see you in about a week." She waved and disappeared. Itachi went back inside to get ready to report to the Hokage. Riz met up with her partner for this mission. They greeted each other and set out.
Itachi had gone back inside and gotten himself something to eat. He was supposed to meet with the Hokage about an hour after dawn, and he was planning on using the extra time to his advantage. He helped his mother with some work in the gardens and, as soon as Sasuke got up, taught him more on the proper care of his tools.
"Not just your kunai and shurikan Sasuke. Sleeping bag, tent, everything needs to be well cared for."
"All right Nii-san!" Itachi looked up and decided it was time for him to leave. He told Sasuke to not forget anything and took off. He received a mission from the Hokage that told him to leave now. He went home and packed anything he might need before leaving. It was a simple mission to deliver a message to the mist country. Shouldn't take more than four days. He picked up the scroll and left the village, heading for the mist. He didn't mind, but he knew that once Sasuke got home, he would be alone. Itachi shook his head, he hated having extended missions at the same time Riz did. In truth, he was glad she never became an ANBU, neither of them liked to leave Sasuke alone so much.
Meanwhile, Riz had all ready made it past the forest outside of Konoha. They stopped there for a rest and opened their mission scroll.
"Did the Hokage tell you what we're going to be doing?"
"No, he only told me where." The ANBU beside her nodded and handed her the scroll.
"It's an S-ranked mission. We have to apprehend Shiroshi and rescue the children he has captured. We do not need to bring him back alive. Konoha recently heard about the kidnapping and just a few days ago we got word of his location. Understand?"
She sighed, "Yeah, I was wondering why I got paired with an ANBU. I have a question though. Wouldn't it be better to not dress as if we were hunting him? We could even use different names in order to not alert him to our presence. Also, how old are the children and is there any pattern in the kidnappings?"
"The children have all been around 13 and 16; there's no real pattern, but all of the children were female." Riz blinked and had a disgusted look on her face. She shrugged it off.
"All right then, so Shiroshi targets my gender, as well as my age group. Well, isn't that lovely. Okay, so we should make it look like we're normal travelers. My name will be Atsura and I'll be your younger sister. You can choose your own name. Now, we just need to get some different clothes."
"Why are we doing this?"
"What, you don't want me as a sister?" She grinned at him, "Because, if we get near his location and we don't threaten him, we could get to him easier. I'm hoping that he'll take a liking to me as well. How about it 'Kashi?" Kakashi grinned behind his mask as he got her hint and nodded.
"Where are we going to get traveling clothes then?"
"You have money, right?"
"Yes."
"Good, there should be a village nearby. I'll go buy the clothes since what I'm wearing is less conspicuous. What size you need? Or do you want me to guess?"
"You can guess." He jumped into a tree and took out an orange book, taking off his ANBU mask. She threw a rock at him, knocking the book out of his hands.
"Hey!" He jumped down and attempted to take the book away from her. She laughed and dodged him.
"Kashi, why are you even reading this? I can't believe you brought this with you on our mission!"
"Riz, give it back. Please?"
"And just why should I do that?"
"Because you need to go into the village for clothes and carrying that with you probably wouldn't be the best choice."
"All right then." She threw the book behind her. Kakashi jumped after it, catching it before it even hit the ground.
"Are you going to get the clothes or not?"
"Fine. Give me the money, I'll be back." She pouted and glared at him. He sighed and handed her the money. He stopped her from leaving though. Before she could protest, he slipped his mask down and kissed her. After a moment he pulled away and slipped his mask up, jumping back into the tree. Riz shook her head and headed to the village. When she got there she began looking around at the shops. She had made sure to put on a skirt over her shorts so no one would see her weapons her headband attached there. When she got to a clothing store, she went in and immediately started looking at things for Kashi to wear.
"May I help you?"
"Ah, yes please. I'm trying to fine some clothes for my brother, but I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what would be the most appropriate."
"Well, this outfit here is a good choice, strong, flexible, and warm. Perfect for any traveler."
"Really? Thank you very much, that definitely helps." She found a size that should fit Kakashi and studied it, "This should be perfect. I think he likes this color anyway!" The man laughed.
"I'm pretty sure he doesn't care as much about the color as you seem to. Anything else you need?"
"If you don't mind, I need another set of clothing, these are getting ragged; not to mention they aren't warmest. Besides, they don't look that well on me."
"Over here then. I'm sure we could find something for you. This is the best store around!" Riz smiled at him and followed to the other side of the store.
"Oh my! This is beautiful!" Her hand lingered on a dark blue and purple dress.
"Yes it is, but it won't keep you warm, and it isn't the best for traveling in. Now, if you were going for a night on the town, it would make you the most envied girl around! This though, this is made some of the same material as that outfit for your brother. But, it comes in many different colors and, depending on what style you want, can hang around your frame, or cling to it. So? How about it?"
"This is wonderful! Just what I'm looking for! Oh my, do you think this color would look good on me?" She picked up a deep purple shirt and some dark blue pants, both the type that could cling to her.
"You sure do like those colors, don't you? Well, you can try them on over there, there are mirrors and everything." He spotted another person coming in, "Excuse me. Can I help you sir?" Riz went into the changing rooms and tried them on, looking in the mirror. The clothes fit and the colors could hide her weapons fairly well. Plus she liked the colors. She smiled and changed back into her original clothes, exiting the rooms and taking the stack of clothes with her. She went up to the counter to pay and waited for the man to get back from helping another customer. Riz watched as the shop owner showed off the dress she had liked, glancing away when she was looked at. That man gave her chills.
"There's something about him that I don't like. Damn, I can't even check using chakra just in case Shiroshi's nearby." She glared at the clothes she was holding, trying to figure out why she had this feeling.
"Are you changing your mind about the clothes?"
"Huh? Oh, no, I'm just worried that my brother may not like this color."
"I'm sure it'll be fine. Well, all of that will cost about 6000 yen." Riz got out the money and counted it.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I don't have enough money; I'm about 200 yen short. I'll have to put something back." She was about to remove the shirt for her when someone else put 200 yen on the table.
"Here, I'll give you it. No big deal." The man smiled at her and another chill ran down her spine.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. Just be careful out there."
"Why?"
"Haven't you heard? Some young girls have been disappearing lately. We wouldn't want the same to happen to a pretty thing like you." He grinned at her again.
"I'll be careful, thank you." She set her money down and left the door, hurrying back to where she had left Kakashi.
"You're back."
"Obviously." She threw him his clothes and went behind a tree to change. She came out to see Kashi dress in a light gray outfit.
"Well?"
"What?"
"Have you thought of a name for yourself?"
"Hmm, well, how about Hideo**?"
"Is that supposed to be a joke?"
"What? You don't agree?" Riz rolled her eyes.
"Fine, Hideo it is. So, shall we go? By the way, you need to remove your headband."
"Did you?"
"Hidden." Kashi shrugged and put the headband into his bag.
"Anything interesting happen in the village?"
"Well, I don't think Shiroshi is near the Waterfall village anymore." Kashi gave her an inquiring look, "There have been kidnappings of young girls in the village; I was warned by someone else in the store."
"And?"
"And what?"
"There's something else."
"I think I met Shiroshi. If I'm right, he's the one that told me of the kidnappings and warns me to be careful." They fell silent as they entered the village. They went to a hotel and got a room. Once they were in there, they soundproofed the room and sat down, discussing their plans.
"I'm going out tonight."
"Where?"
"I want to see the village. Perhaps I'll hear some interesting rumors."
"Perhaps you'll get kidnapped." She smirked.
"Well, aren't you a smart one. If I'm not back by morning, then I was taken. I'll stick to the main streets and leave a sign where I was taken from. All right? If I can, I'll leave a small trail you could follow." Kashi nodded, but it was obvious he didn't like the plan. Riz sighed.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't want you to get taken."
"Ka-Hideo, I can handle myself. I've made sure I can carry weapons in this fabric without anyone noticing, so calm down." Kashi sighed and hugged her.
"Fine, get going then." He let go and lay down on the bed, taking his book out, "I'll pretend like I'm not sending you off to be captured by an S-class criminal. Good luck on your stroll Atsura" She rolled her eyes and kissed his forehead.
"An Uchiha doesn't fall that easily, remember that." She tapped his forehead above his left eye and he turned away. She sighed and left the room. Last thing he heard was her reminder: "Don't forget."
She wandered the streets, looking at various shops and chatting at random. Apparently, the kidnapping had started less than a week ago, not too long after Konoha last heard of Shiroshi in the Waterfall village. After walking around for another hour and hearing nothing new, she decided to get something to eat. She counted the money she took and came up with 1000 yen.
"Perfect. That should be enough to get something." She kept walking, asking a few people for placing she could eat. She ended up at a street stand and bought herself some dumplings. She didn't like dumplings that much, but they seemed popular around here, so it was worth a shot. When she finished the overly sweet dumplings, she started to walk slowly back to the hotel again, looking around as if admiring the sights. It was fairly dark out. She got to the hotel and started to go in when she got chills again. She quickly glanced behind her, but saw nothing, but she could sense someone nearby. She smiled to herself.
"Bingo." She was jumped by three men, one holding her down, another tying her arms and legs, and he last one covered her mouth and smiled before knocking her out. Her last thoughts were: "Perfect. Let's see how Kashi finds me." She dropped a small red ring, the same one Kashi had given her when they got together. She let her chakra trickle into a trail that any sharingan could follow, but was unnoticeable to anyone else and allowed blackness to come over her. She woke chained to a wall, wearing the dress she had seen before she bought her clothes.
Kashi woke early and looked around, noting that Riz wasn't there.
"Great. How did I know?" He went downstairs and acted flustered and worried to the hostess.
"Have you seen my sister? She never came back last night and I don't know where she could have gone!"
"Oh my! Sir, that's terrible! She was probably kidnapped last night, plenty of other girls have been lately. It's so sad! I am so sorry sir!" His eye widened and he took off, asking random people if they had seen her. Many people said yes and that she had most likely been kidnapped. He went back to the hotel looking crestfallen. He saw the ring then and picked it up. He grinned internally and went back into the hotel up to his room. He grabbed both bags and headed back out.
"Sir? Where are you going?"
"I have to find her!" The hostess gave him a sad look, but didn't say anything else. He opened the door and uncovered his left eye, giving the area a quick sweep. He spotted the chakra thread and followed it, hearing whispers and people trying to comfort him. He shrugged them off and kept going. Once he was outside of the village, he broke into a run, following the thread to a lake, where it ended.
"What? It can't be underwater can it?" He scanned the area again and sighed, "It just had to be underwater." Without another thought, he hid the bags and jumped in.
Riz had started to struggle against her bonds, keeping up the act of the innocent and scared girl.
"Well, it's a pleasure to see you again."
"You?! You were the man from the store!" Her eyes widened.
"My dear girl, I did warn you to be extra careful. It looks like you failed to listen to me." He smirked.
"Who are you?! What do you want from me?!"
"My name is Shiroshi, and you'll know your part soon enough. Do you like your new dress? It looks fabulous on you." He smirked.
"Let me go! Please!" He stroked her cheek and she flinched away.
"I will, don't worry, but you may not be alive when I do. You're going to play an important role later today." He laughed and walked out, letting the other two men in. They unchained her and put a collar on her, leading her out of the room. She made sure to stumble and tremble, making their entire job hell.
"They don't even bother with anything to bind chakra, and these chains aren't the best either. Looks like this should be easy, and I'll get a free dress out of it!"
"Please! I don't want to die! Please let me go!"
"Shut up!" One of the men smacked her. She grinned and looked up, her sharingan activated.
"Too bad no one ever suspects a trap with girls." She twirled around and knocked them both out before taking off the collar, handcuffs, and chains. In the distance, she heard some shouting.
"Looks like Kashi made it here. Looks like our disguises are useless now. Unless…" She put the collar and handcuffs back on and dropped herself onto the floor and deactivating the sharingan. Soon after, Shiroshi came into view.
"What happened?!" He glared at her and she trembled.
"I don't know! There was a flash and I was pushed to the ground. And now…" Her voice broke and she shuddered, hugging herself.
"Calm down and follow me." He grabbed her by the leash attached to the collar and pulled her up, nearly dragging her to another room. It was filled with at least fifteen other girls around her age, all of them looked terrified, some were even crying.
"What's going on?!" He pushed her into the middle of the circle and she realized what it was. He was going to kill them all in an ancient ritual to increase his power. If she was right, this particular one wouldn't actually kill them, but make them into mindless dolls that he could control. She looked around at the other girls and found some staring at her. She looked at them and they looked away as if sorry for her. Shiroshi left the room.
"Where are you from?" the girl looked back at her.
"Waterfall village. I was the first one taken." Her voice was shaky.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Riz removed her handcuffs and collar again before going around the room and doing the same for the other girls, "I'll get you all out of here and back home." The door opened again, revealing a very angry Shiroshi. His look became murderous when he saw them unchained. Then he smirked.
"Even if you are out of chains, I can still do this." He started on hand signs, concentrating on the jutsu. Riz activated her sharingan and did her own jutsu, much faster than he was.
"Fireball jutsu!" Shiroshi was engulfed in flames that he quickly extinguished. He glared in shock at her.
"A ninja? Not a very good one, seeing as how you were captured so easily. Then he looked in her eyes.
"What?! The sharingan?! You! You're an Uchiha!" She smiled.
"My reputation precedes me. Shiroshi, you are an S-class criminal that manipulates others for power and murder is your idea of fun." She attacked him with one of the senbon in her hair, cutting open his arm, "You like? Your own blood looks fabulous on you." She smirked and attacked. Leading him away from the girls. Despite how he had acted, he was a remarkable ninja. No wonder he was in the bingo book. After a while, Kashi ran into them.
"Next hall, second door!" She yelled and dodged another earth bullet jutsu. She ended up next to him and stared into his eyes.
"Tsukiyomi." He screamed and fell to the ground. Riz stood there panted, nursing numerous cuts. She was trying to heal the largest wound when Kashi came back into view, the girls following him. The girls screamed when they saw her bleeding and Shiroshi on the floor unconscious.
"What happened?"
"Well, I found out why he's in the bingo book."
"I meant how you beat him."
"I used the sharingan. It's a moved called Tsukiyomi and it's very powerful. It's more like a genjutsu than anything else, but his limbs were repeatedly broken, breaking through his skin most times, for 72 hours. In reality, it took, at most, two seconds." Kashi nodded as she stood up, "The drawback is that it takes quite a bit of chakra to perform." She smiled at him before she fainted. Kashi looked behind him and saw that all but three of the girls had all ready fainted, and two of those were now either screaming or crying. The other one walked past him and over to Riz.
"Is she okay?"
"Mostly. She needs to rest." He heard an explosion from down the hall, "But this isn't the best place for that. Can you help me get these girls out of here?" The girl nodded and picked up the youngest girl, carrying her to the exit. Kashi walked over to Riz and tried to wake her up.
"Come on Riz! We can't stay here! If you don't wake up, we're all going to die!" He was splashed with water and looked up. The girl was back, and she was holding a now empty bucket.
"That should help." Kashi looked back at Riz, who was trying to get up.
"Thanks." The girl nodded and went back to the other girls while Kashi helped Riz get up.
"I can walk Kashi." She went over and looked at the girls as another explosion rang through the halls. She sighed and started on hand signs.
"What are you doing?"
"We need to get them out of here."
"You don't have enough chakra for that."
"I do for them."
"You're not planning on getting yourself out as well, are you." She shook her head and finished the signs.
"Make sure all the girls are touching each other." The three girls that weren't unconscious nodded and began to get every hand over lapping another's before grabbing onto each other's. Riz placed her hands down onto the closest hand.
"Kashi, grab on!"
"No." She scowled but let him do as he pleased, "Ankai!" A bright flash of light and the girls were gone, transported to just outside the village. Kashi caught her as she fell and started to run, throwing her onto his back. He dodged and weaved his way through the falling structure. He made it out barely, just as the entire thing fell with one last explosion. He used the last reserves of his energy to swim to the surface and climb onto dry land. He collapsed there, Riz falling off his back. He did one last sweep of the area before falling asleep himself. He woke after it was dark and quickly checked for anything that could possible be considered a threat. When he found none, he looked over to Riz. Seeing her still asleep, he got up and made a fire, pushing her closer to get her warm. He leaned back against a rock and let his eyes close, they had clean-up duty in the morning.
Riz woke up with the sun in her eyes. She got up and stretched, trying to loosen some of her stiff and bruised muscles. She looked over at Kashi, seeing him starting to wake up. She smiled and went in search of food. When she got back, Kashi had restarted the fire and as soon as he saw her, he jumped up. She handed him the plants she had collected and went to look at the lake. If she looked hard enough, she could see the remains of the building. She didn't react when she felt arms wrap around her and a chin rest on her shoulder.
"Something wrong? By the looks of it, we won't have to clean it up."
"I'm hoping those girl are okay. We need to get back to the village as soon as possible. Any chance you've seen where my clothes went? This dress isn't practical, especially now that it's ripped so much."
"Hmm, I like this dress."
"Kashi." She warned.
"Sorry, they were probably blown up. Come on, I left the packs around here, your other clothes are in them." She nodded.
"I'll boil those plants." Kashi nodded and went to get the packs. She had finished boiling the plants to where they could eat them easily when Kashi returned and tossed her pack over. She caught it and ate her share before pulling out her clothes and went to change. Kashi cleaned up and stretched before Riz came back. They started on back to the village, hoping that the girls were okay and they hadn't missed anything. They entered the village and the first thing they noticed was how quiet it was. Kashi went and asked what was going on and jogged back to Riz.
"Well?"
"The girls returned safely, but it scared the villagers. They think that the girls are evil and have come back to kidnap others. They're marked for death at midday."
"What?! But it's almost midday now! We have to stop them!"
"R-Atsura! Wait! We can't do anything, we finished what we were supposed to do." Riz glared at him and pulled her arm away.
"Those girls did nothing wrong. And most of them are from the Waterfall village. I thought our mission was to rescue them. We might as well have led them to their deaths."
Kashi sighed, "Fine, but we have to be careful with this, all right?" Riz nodded and smiled.
"Thanks Hideo." They went to the center of the village and saw the girls lined up awaiting their sentence. Kashi went up and asked what they had done. Riz waited and watched them argue, Kashi eventually came back.
"I got them to release all of the girls from Waterfall, but the ones from here are still going to be killed. Unless…" He trailed off, staring at the line of girls where ten of them were being led to the edge of the village.
"Unless what Hideo?"
"Unless we want to take them to our village or escort them to Waterfall, or almost anywhere other than here. I'm sure some villagers will also come with them, their families for instance, if they don't believe they changed for the worst." Riz nodded and watched the girls.
"Well, the mission was supposed to take at least a week."
"Atsura, we can't take them back to Konoha."
"Then to Waterfall, or some small village along the way?" Kashi sighed.
"Why did I have to get paired with you for this mission?"
"Love you too." He sighed again before heading back to talk to whom she assumed was the village leader. He came back looking tired.
"Happy now? We get to escort a group of scared girls to Waterfall starting directly in the morning. Maybe more if their families follow us." Riz smiled again and hugged him.
"Thanks Hideo."
"Well, I guess we should get the room at the hotel again." Riz nodded and followed him to the hotel. They got the same room and went in. Since it was still light out, they both took out their tools and made sure they were cleaned and generally in good condition. After they made their plans for the next day, they went to sleep, in need of a good night's sleep.
Kashi woke up first, before the sun had even risen. He looked around the room, wondering what had woken him up and then went to the window. He looked out and saw some of the girls cornered just outside the hotel.
"What's wrong Ka- sorry, Hideo?" Riz walked up to him yawning
"Take a look, you won't like it."
"What the-? It's those girls! What are they doing to them?!" Kashi held her back in time to stop her from going out the window.
"Stop that! It was your idea to be undercover. Letting the villagers know now won't help anything."
"Fine!" She went over and yanked the door open, going down the stairs and outside. Kashi followed her.
"What is going on here?" The group turned and looked at her before sneering.
"None of your business. We're just taking care of a problem." They turned back to the girls, blocking her view. She heard them throw something and some silent sobbing.
"Stop that!" She pushed her way through the group, going towards the girls. She was almost there when one of the men hit her, knocking her down.
"Mind your own business wench." Riz got back up, clenching her fists to refrain from hitting them. She saw Kashi making his way towards her. They heard a laugh go through the crowd and a small scream. She kept pushing her way through, dodging whenever someone tried to stop her.
"Shimatta! What was the point of being shinobi if we can't help people? Why did I ever suggest going undercover?" She shook her head, knowing it had been the best choice. She made it to the girls and went to see if they were okay before she turned around to face the villagers. She had hardly even turned around when people started throwing things at her. Rocks, bottles, anything they had was thrown at her. She caught the single kunai thrown and looked towards the perpetrator, seeing him leaving the crowd. She glanced down in alarm at the kunai and noticed the small paper bomb.
"Get down!" She jumped and threw the kunai into the air, the explosion knocking her back into the hard ground and burning her. When she got back up again, she looked around. The villagers were scurrying away with panicked expressions, and the girls were cowering in the same corner behind her. She looked up to Kashi and saw him walk towards the girls and check them over.
"How are they?"
"They'll be fine. Did you see who threw that at you?" Riz nodded.
"Looks like our disguises aren't very useful anymore." Kashi nodded.
"We need to get all of the girls out of here. We don't know whether they were attacking you or them."
"Or both." She turned to the five girls, "Come on, we're leaving now." They nodded silently and got up, following Kashi. He led them to the village center and found the other ten girls. He motioned for them to follow and they began to leave the village. They were stopped just before they could leave.
"The deal's off. Those girls need to be executed."
"And why is that?"
"I heard about the bomb, and we know they planned it. I will still let you take those from Waterfall back, but the others stay here."
"No."
"Girl, let us men talk. You should learn your place."
"Sorry, but she's right. We had a deal, and we're going to take all of them."
The village leader signaled and they were surrounded by almost twenty armed men.
"Leave the five girls and we'll let you go unharmed. Otherwise, consider yourselves as being under arrest."
"Our mission says to rescue these girls, not let them be executed. So call off your men. We're not here to fight your village."
"What are you talking about? What mission?"
"We were assigned by the Hokage to kill Shiroshi and rescue the kidnapped girls."
"The Hokage? Of the Leaf village?!" Kashi nodded.
"Prove it! You two are travelers! You have no headbands or anything! Men, escort these vagabonds to the prison!" Kashi and Riz sighed.
"No choice then. Hold on girls." She preformed some hand signs again as the girls all grabbed onto one another. Riz completed the jutsu, teleporting them back to the edge of the lake and looked at Kashi. He nodded and they disappeared as well. They met up with the girls at the lake again.
"Well, that didn't work out as well as we hoped. At least they can't very well identify us."
"Other than we're shinobi of the leaf village that had been ordered to kill Shiroshi and rescue some village girls, no, the can't." Riz rolled her eyes.
"Fine, be pessimistic. We need to get going though, before they try to follow us." He sighed and nodded.
"Fine, but I'm changing back into my ANBU outfit first."
"All right. I should change too. My clothes keep seeming to get torn beyond belief." Kashi went a ways away to change, while Riz quickly changed and went to tell the girls their plans.
"Make sure to stay together, okay?" They all nodded.
"You are from Konoha?"
"Yes."
"Can I go to Konoha with you?" Riz looked at the girl.
"You're the one that helped us in there, aren't you?" She nodded.
"Yes, my name is Michiko."*** Riz smiled slightly.
"Why do you want to go to Konoha? Don't you want to go home?"
"I have no home. My parents are dead. I would much rather go somewhere else. Somewhere I know I could be helpful."
"Well…"
"Sure." Riz looked up at Kashi.
"Really?"
"Yeah, we might as well. That way we also have a witness if we get in trouble for what happened back there."
"All right then. Michiko, you're coming to Konoha. But first, we have to get the rest of you to Waterfall. Let's get going now." They nodded and Kashi took up the lead, the girls following him while Riz brought up the rear. She activated the sharingan and watched for danger.
They made good time, and by nightfall, they estimated another day of traveling before they reached Waterfall.
"I'll take the first watch. I'll wake you when it's your turn Kashi. He nodded and they finished setting up camp. They made sure the girls were well off before Kashi jumped into a tree to sleep.
"Sorry you had to give up your tent."
"You did too." She shrugged.
"Get some sleep."
"Almost time to wake Kashi. I would let him sleep, but then he'll just get mad at me again." She sighed and glanced around again. It was the middle of the night and she was getting bored.
"Let's see. Owls, ravens, mice, men, snake- wait, Men?!" She focused her attention not far to the left of their camp. Sure enough, there were three men headed their way. They were traveling in the trees and making sure to stay quiet and hidden from view.
"Good thing I have the sharingan then." She jumped up besides Kashi and tapped his forehead. His eyes shot open and he sat up silently.
"My turn?" She shook her head and put a finger to her lips before pointing to where she had seen them.
"Three men by tree." She mouthed to him. He nodded and pulled out his katana and motioned for her to take the other side of him. She nodded and jumped to the trees opposite him on the edge of their camp. They waited until the men were closer before exploding into motion, taking them by surprise. Kashi took out one of the men before anyone had time to react while Riz took care of the one closest to her. The last man looked at them both before taking off.
"We need to get any information out of him first. Then we can dispose of him."
"I'll take care of it. You go back to camp and start your watch." Kashi nodded and left while she took off after the man. She headed him off half a mile away, dodging any traps, jutsu, and kunai thrown at her. She forced him to look at her.
"Tsukiyomi."
"For the next 72 hours your limbs will be continuously ripped off. But, if you tell me everything you know, and I will know if you lie, it won't have to be as painful."
"Where am I?!"
"Answer the question." One of her clones grabbed an arm.
"Please, stop! I'll tell you anything!"
"I asked for everything."
"Everything then! I'll tell you everything!" He screamed as his arms and legs were torn off and sewn back on.
"I'm waiting."
"Please stop!"
"You'll have to talk first. After that, it may end."
"Please! We were sent after you!"
"By?"
"I don't know! We all worked for him, even Shiroshi! AAAGGGHHHH!!!"
"Continue."
"We escaped from the lake in time, and he told us to go after those that destroyed the place and kill them. To kill the girls too."
"So, you, your two comrades, and this other man were the only ones to survive?"
"No. There are three more. The went a different direction to your camp." Another scream.
"Do you know where your leader is now?"
"Please…"
"Answer me."
"AAAGGHHH!!!"
"Now."
"About a mile from here!"
"Anything else?"
"No! That's all I know! Please!"
"Fine."
She took him out of the Tsukiyomi and he fell limp. She walked over to him and broke his neck and burned the body before taking off in the direction opposite the camp.
"Kashi can handle himself. But I'm worried about the girls." She cleared her mind, settling into her shinobi mode. A trained killer, that was what she was, and her prey was trying to get away. She searched the area, finding him easily..
"A genjutsu? That's it? How pathetic." She jumped out at him, enjoying his face and how he still didn't move.
"A genjutsu won't work on me love. You'll have to try harder than that." She watched his face change to shock before settling into calm once more.
"Well done, to be able to find me and see through my genjutsu, I congratulate you. I must ask though, why come find me? Surely you are worried about those girls at your camp." Riz struck, sending him flying and performing hand signs. Before he had time to do anything other than right himself, the jutsu hit him.
"Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" As he lay there, right before he died, she told him one last thing.
"Little mice shouldn't talk, it does nothing to distract the ferret." She left, heading back to camp. She got there to see Kashi trying to get the girls to calm down.
"Rough night?" Kashi glanced up at her.
"We were attacked again by… You knew?"
"Yes. I caught up with the other guy and questioned him. He told me there were three more going to attack and who gave them the orders to."
"And who was that?"
"I don't know. I didn't recognize him at all. If you want to take a look, his body is about a mile and a half from here."
"No, it's fine."
"Then we should get going, I doubt anyone is going to get anymore sleep, and it's going to be light soon." She sighed and sat down, leaning against a tree, "If possible, can the girls pack up the tents?"
"We will. You both should rest." Riz smiled gratefully.
"Thank you Michiko."
"Do you know how to pack them?"
"Of course. I'll make sure they do not get torn and they are packed correctly." She walked away.
"You know, I think she's actually older than I am."
"It can't be by much. None of the girls were over 16."
"Yeah, I know. It still seems odd to have her older than I am, yet I am the one protecting her. Oh well." Riz watched her for a bit, "She would have made a good shinobi give the chance. Maybe a teacher?"
"Hm? Yeah."
"Are you even listening to me?" She looked up only to find him watching her, "What?" He grinned and grabbed her, jumping into the tree. They were high enough that no one could see them through the foliage.
"What was that for?!" He didn't answer her; he just sat down with his back against the trunk and pulled her close so she was leaning against him. She twisted around to look at him. It was times like this she was glad for her flexibility.
"Are you that embarrassed of liking me that you have to hide?" He sighed.
"Must you make everything into something so bad? I finally get some time with you, and it's on a mission that we hardly even get any rest." He sighed again, starting to pull out his book.
"If you take that out, I'll throw you down and scream rape." Kashi chuckled nervously and carefully put the book away. He wrapped his arms around her instead. She rolled her eyes and pulled down his mask, feeling him stiffen and glance around quickly.
"Calm love, it was your idea to hide up here." She kissed him tenderly before she turned back around and leaning against him, settling down to rest. She leaned her head back and felt him rest his chin on top of her.
"Now are you glad we brought those girls, Hideo?" She heard him laugh quietly.
"Yes. And I will give you full credit for it even Atsura." She sighed and closed her eyes, listening to the girls pack everything away.
They realized they had dosed off when they heard Michiko call up to them.
"We finished packing everything and are ready to leave now. Unless you wish to rest some more?" They jumped down.
"Nope, we're fine. You don't have to be so formal either. You can call me Atsura and he's Hideo." Michiko looked at them with the type of look that says she knows something, but shrugged it off, handing them their packs. They thanked her and gathered the girls. They set off again, Kashi in front, Riz in back, same as always. They sped up their pace, now that everyone was rested and had been reassured that no one was coming after them. They made it to Waterfall without any more trouble. The villagers were ecstatic to see the girls, and after hearing about the five that weren't from there, they were more than happy to care for them. They stayed the night there, sharing a room with Michiko.
Kashi woke up and noticed that for once, he was the last to wake. He got up and stretched before going to change. He rummaged around, trying to find his gear when Riz came back into the room. She tossed his clothes to him.
"I got them washed." He nodded and slipped into them, following her downstairs. Some of the girls had come to saw goodbye, but Michiko was nowhere to be seen. He tilted his head slightly.
"She'll be back soon." He nodded and went to get some breakfast. He was happily surprised to see that they didn't have to pay for food. He grabbed a plateful of stuff and went back to the room. Planning on eating and packing everything at the same time. Riz stayed downstairs and chatted with some villagers, gathering any information they could use or report. By the time she came back up, Kashi had finished packing and had taken a shower. He looked up when she came in and flopped down on the floor.
"Is it that hard to talk to people?"
"Is it just me, or are you extremely amused at this?" He chuckled.
"Your call." She turned to him and glared.
"For your information, there are plenty of people down there, all with something to say. Plus, they all seem to want to tell me everything, including stories of just about anything they can think of!" Kashi tried to hide his laughter from her.
"Well, was there anything useful?"
"I don't know. Let me sort through the information I've received so far before I go back down there. I've been flirting with most of the guys, and they want to talk to me still. Just not with so many people around." She looked up and him and chuckled at his face, "Jealous?" He glared at her and she smiled, "Well, since I'xm going off with a group of boys, it's your turn to talk to everyone. You should also see if Michiko is back yet. We can leave once she is."
"She's still not there?"
"No, and that worries me. She should have been by now." She got up and stretched, heading back downstairs, "Just keep an eye out. Now come on, you get to listen to the villagers now."
"You make it sound like torture or something." She heard the amusement and smirked.
"Have fun." They entered the foyer and Kashi saw what she meant. The place was crowded; there was hardly any room for movement, but somehow, everyone managed. He glanced at Riz in time to see her smirk and head out the door. He scowled inwardly before heading over to a table with an available seat.
"Hello! You're one of the people that brought our girls home right? Thanks so much! Here, let me buy you a drink and we can chat, how about it?" The man slapped him on the back as more people crowded around. Kashi sighed as he realized exactly what Riz meant by her last smirk. He tried to listen to them, but he couldn't catch everything. It seemed like everyone was talking to him at once, with anything they could get out of their mouths. He groaned inwardly as more drinks were bought for him. He still hadn't touched one.
Meanwhile, Riz had gone to where the guys she had been flirting with had told her to meet. She glanced around, finding no one and looked at the sun. It was past the time they were to meet.
"Unless they're like Kashi, they should be here by now. Perhaps they stood me up?" She scowled at the thought, remembering her first date with Kashi.
Flashback:
She had shown up on time. Well, to be completely honest, she was about ten minutes late, but nobody's perfect. She scowled and glared at the darkening sky. After waiting for about ten more minutes, she went in search of him. She found him at the memorial stone, staring at it. Eventually, he reached out and traced a name.
"I have to go now." He sighed and headed in the direction she had just come from. She waited until he was gone before going over to the stone and reading the name where he had touched.
"Uchiha Obito? Ah, that's right. They were friends." She shook her head and went back to the designated meeting spot. After waiting another minute, Kashi came into view.
"Hello."
"Hi."
"What took you so long?"
"Well, there was his cat stuck in a tree, and I just had to get it down, then-"
"Liar." He raised an eyebrow.
"Hey now, no need to be mean."
"I went looking for you." His smile fell and any emotion left. She smiled at his response, "I liked Obito. He would play with me when I was younger." She stared at the sky for a minute before looking at him, "I miss him as well. It's not a bad thing to morn, but perhaps it doesn't have to take so long? You're lucky I didn't just leave and go back home." She smiled at him and he scratched the back of his head. He jerked slightly when she grabbed his arm.
"Well, since you were late, it is your duty to treat me to a good dinner tonight." She grinned and led him away, a smile sneaking its way onto his face.
End Flashback.
She shook her head and noticed three people coming towards her, the guys from earlier. She waved.
"Hello!" She let her hand down slowly as they spread out. She sighed, "Is there something wrong?" The remark was instantly regretted as they all grinned at her and chuckled.
"Nothing is wrong. We just thought of ways to make you look even better tonight."
"Are you drunk?" They laughed again.
"No, don't worry about that." They started to advance on her.
"Fools. I'm not in the mood to be jumped again. If you have anything interesting to tell me, do it now."
"You don't seem to understand. You are ours now, to do with as we please." She rolled her eyes.
"Am I to assume you have nothing to tell me and you lured me out here just to rape me?"
"Aren't you a smart one. But we won't be just raping you, such an ugly word. You'll enjoy it soon enough." They moved closer and she scowled.
"I hate people trying to play me. You will regret that." They pounced and she moved, quickly pinning them down and knocking all but one out.
"Tell me now, did you have anything remotely useful to tell me?" She pressed a kunai to his throat, watching his eyes widen.
"No! Nothing you haven't heard all ready today!" She smirked and put the kunai away before hitting him in the back of the head. She got back up and walked back to the inn.
"Well, that was a waste of my time, but I doubt they'll be trying that again any time soon.
She entered the inn to find it even more crowded if at all possible. She headed to her room, but something seemed to be blocking the door. She pushed harder and heard someone move, allowing the door to open. She stifled a laugh when she saw Kashi sprawled out on the floor and Michiko laying a rag his neck with an equally amused look on her face.
"Is it that hard to talk to people?" He turned his head and glared at her.
"Were you trying to kill me?! I was practically mobbed!"
"You're whining." He glared at her again and turned his head back to the floor. Michiko put the rag back on.
"Shouldn't we be going now? I made sure to get supplies for the trip, along with the few things I wanted."
"Yes, we should be going, but it looks like Hideo wishes to stay here. Don't worry about him though, I'm sure the villagers would be more than happy to have him here." She didn't move when he jumped up and grabbed his bag, heading for the door.
"Shall we?" The two girls laughed and grabbed their packs, following after him. They made it out of the village with hardly any trouble. Once they were past the village border, they went faster and looked for a good place to set up camp. They were still traveling when it was dark, until Michiko suggested they set up camp. The two shinobi looked at her in surprise, jostled out of their thoughts, before looking up and noticed it was late.
"Sorry, it looks like we weren't paying much attention."
"I could tell." They set up camp in silence. Kashi pulled out a map and they figured out where they were.
"Well, if we continue at this pace, we should be back to Konoha in about three to four days."
"We need to go faster, our week is up tomorrow."
"We could travel in the trees, if you want. I'm good at it." They both looked at her in shock.
"When did you travel by trees?"
"As a child, I would always climb in trees. Eventually, I started jumping from tree to tree." She shrugged and Riz smiled while Kashi sighed.
"Good. We'll do that then, but there are places where we can't, and it could still take a while to travel."
"I have a question."
"What?"
"What are your actual names?" They glanced at her again before Riz grinned.
"You are a smart girl, aren't you. I am fully going to recommend you to become a ninja and a teacher."
"What? No, you don't have to-"
"No trouble. This is Hatake Kakashi, and ANBU of the Hidden Leaf. I'm Uchiha Riz, a jounin."
"From what I've heard, ANBU only go on missions with other ANBU or alone. Why is this different?"
"Because she's too stubborn to become an ANBU." Riz glared at and shrugged.
"That's basically it. According to most in the village, I might as well be an ANBU. I just don't want to be one, so I've stayed a jounin." Michiko nodded.
"Well, we could keep going during the night, or start earlier in the mornings if you want to, it won't bother me."
"No. Visibility is limited during the night, and we can't depend solely on Riz for that. We could start out earlier maybe, but there has to be some light out." Michiko nodded and went into the tent, curling up in a corner. Riz glared at Kashi.
"Must you be so harsh? If you're going to deny something, you could at least try to be nicer about it."
"It should've been obvious."
"We were the ones that lost track of time and continued during dark!"
"We were being careless, something that shouldn't have happened."
"She couldn't have known that night travel isn't the best idea! We have traveled at night plenty of time before Kashi!"
"She's smart right? She should've-" He was cut of as Riz smacked him, knocking him to the ground.
"My watch." She jumped into a tree and ignored him the rest of the night, not even getting him for his watch.
The next two days were passed in silence. Michiko kept looking between the two, seeing the tension there and sighed. She had been faster than they thought, and were around two hours away from Konoha. She sighed again, the dark atmosphere pressing on everything. Looking back, she could almost see a trail of it.
Itachi had been back from his mission for a while now, and had received no others that took him away for longer than the day. He was heading to his room when he over heard his father talking to some other members of the clan that were considered to be high in power.
"Calm. It will be soon. We still have yet to decide how to get my elder children to do as we wish."
"They're your children, just make them!"
"You underestimate them."
"If we all, persuade, them, there should be no trouble." There was a pause.
"All right then, three days after Riz comes back, we will begin the plan."
"About time. We deserve to be in power, not that Hokage. We're stronger, yet are only the police force?! Ha!"
"Be quiet you fool!"
"Why? Even if someone finds out, how are they going to stop us?"
"Surprise is an element we want on our side."
"Yes, and your wife wants nothing to do with this."
"She won't cause any trouble, now go back to your jobs." Itachi heard everyone leaving and rushed into his room. He lay down and ran over this new information.
"They're planning to attack the village, and they wish for Riz and I to help? So, she doesn't know about it. What will happen to Sasuke? Should I wait and inform Riz? Or should I go see the Hokage now?" He glared at the ceiling before sighing and closing his eyes, letting sleep take him.
"I'll see how Riz reacts first."
The trio reached the gates and passed through them without incident, as long as you don't count the wary looks shot at the two shinobi. Michiko continued to follow them to the Hokage's tower. They went up and knocked, entering after hearing a 'come in'.
"Ah, you're back. How did it go?"
"Shiroshi is dead, along with his subordinates. Their hideout has been destroyed and the girls were saved. They have all been taken to Waterfall except for one. She requested to come here and we believe she could be of use."
"Really? How so?" He studied Michiko.
"I believe she would make for a good shinobi and a teacher. Her name is Michiko." The Hokage kept looking at her for a while longer before he smiled. Instantly the tension was gone from the room.
"Well, after so much praise, I can't very well refuse. Show her to the academy and then you two are dismissed. Perhaps you can work out whatever's bothering you both. Half the village is on edge just from your bad energy." He waved them off and went back to reading reports. They left the building and showed Michiko to the academy where someone else took her around and got her into a class. Riz started home after that. She was halfway there when Kashi appeared in front of her. She flipped over him and continued as if nothing had happened. She scowled when he grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her.
"Let go of me."
"No."
"Now Kashi, before you get hurt." He didn't answer, instead he spun her around. He took in the spinning sharingan before he yanked his mask down and kissed her. She was motionless for a moment before she pulled away, glaring at him.
"What the hell Hatake?" He winced.
"I'm sorry for upsetting you, but-"
"But nothing. You were being an asshole. Her suggestion was nothing more than that, a suggestion, you didn't need to get so defensive. She was only trying to help, and she knows that we can travel at night without it bothering us that much. And how would you be depending solely on me? You can travel at night yourself. Having the sharingan doesn't make it so I'm some super girl that is just so useful and precious that I get to do all the work, and have to be protected!" She glared at him, shaking slightly. He blinked at her outburst and reached out for her arm. She pulled her arm away and glared. He sighed and grabbed her hand, kissing it.
"I'm sorry Riz, I really am." He mumbled around her hand and looked up, and apologetic smile on his face, "And I'm sorry I'm an emotional retard." She couldn't help but smile at that. It was a half smile, but a smile nonetheless.
He smiled back, "Now, why don't we go out to eat?"
"Are you paying?"
"Maa, maybe." She laughed and they started walking.
"Nah, I'll pay this time, but I get to choose where." He shrugged.
"No ramen, we should treat ourselves tonight."
"You mean I should treat you to something that isn't so cheap!" They laughed and headed to the restaurant.
Itachi woke up that morning by a weight settling at the end of his bed. Instantly, he had jumped up and pressed a kunai to the intruder's throat. When there was no reaction and his eyes had adjusted to the darkness completely, he realized it was his sister. He glared at her.
"You know you shouldn't do that. I could've killed you." She shrugged.
"You didn't. Besides, I if you were going to, I would've moved. Strange how you don't do that when Sasu-chan comes in."
"He crawls into the bed and curls up. He doesn't just sit on the end and wake me up."
"Fine. Do you want me to leave you alone to sleep?"
"No." He sat up and pulled her closer so she was sitting next to him on the bed.
"Are you sure?" He nodded.
"I need to talk to you anyway. Then you'll tell me whatever it is that's been bothering you."
"All right. What do you need?" He cast a quick genjutsu so no one could hear them before talking.
"No one else knows you're here, do they?"
"No."
"I heard father talking to some other clan members…" He trailed off when he saw her slightly shocked look before she bit her lip, a nervous habit.
"You knew."
"It's what I was going to talk to you about."
"Why did you wait?! They could've gone through with their plan while you were gone!" He hissed at her and she glared back, pouting slightly.
"Because I knew they wanted us to help them. They would have to wait for me to come back so they could talk to me and get rid of Kashi."
"Fine. Shall we tell the Hokage tomorrow then?"
"We can't." He raised an eyebrow and she continued, "The entire clan is in on this plan, for the most part, and they're the police force. Meaning they will hear whatever we tell the Hokage, and then they'll have no reason to wait on the attack. The knowledge that we told the Hokage would travel throughout the clan in minutes and they would attack then. Even if they were stopped because they lost the element of surprise, too many people would be killed first, whether innocent or not." He nodded and glared at a wall.
"Then we'll have to stop them ourselves."
"Just how can we do that? It's not like we can talk them out of it. Mother would have done so if it was possible." They sighed and sat there in silence for a while.
"We'll have to kill them." Riz didn't answer, she just sat there and hugged her knees to her chest.
"We won't be able to stay in the village after that. No one will believe the truth, they won't want to."
"We could show them." She shook her head.
"No, that may make it worse. Ita-chan, what about otooto? We can't kill him."
"I know." They were silent again and let the genjutsu fade.
"Can I sleep in here? Too much trouble to go to my room."
"Lay down then." They both curled up under the covers, trying to let sleep take them.
"I'm going to spend the afternoon with Kashi. In the morning, we should do something with Sasu-chan. Perhaps swimming?"
"Yes. That's a good idea." They went silent then and slept, waiting for the morning.
Riz told Sasuke their plans to go swimming that morning and watched as he ran of to get ready. She chatted with their mother while waiting for him, and when he came back, they left for the lake. Itachi was all ready there.
"Nii-san!" Sasuke jumped him, almost falling into the water.
"Careful otooto."
"Sasu-chan, you can't do that, you hardly know how to swim!" He grinned at them.
"I'd be fine! You're both here, what could happen?" Riz rolled her eyes and pushed him in.
"Hey! Wait! Help!"
"Try to swim Sasu-chan." Sasuke flailed around some more, sinking under the surface quite a bit. Itachi watched them from the sidelines. When Sasuke fully went under, he came over.
"Is he okay?"
"Shit." She dived in. Itachi watched while she swam deeper until he couldn't see her. She came back up a minute later, Sasuke in tow.
"Apparently he wasn't."
"You could help." Itachi grabbed Sasuke and pulled him out of the water while Riz stayed in and floated there.
"How is he?"
"He'll be fine once he wakes up. Perhaps you should take a look, since you are learning medical jutsu." She flipped around and stood on the water, coming over and checking Sasuke over.
"This should help." She smacked him in the back, making him cough up water and wake up.
"What happened?"
"You started to drown."
"What?!"
"Calm Sasu-chan. Come on, let's teach you to be one of the best swimmers, we'll even get Ita-chan in the water."
"No, you won't." She got Sasuke back in the water, stringing some chakra wire to the other end of the lake and back for Sasuke to hold onto.
"Yes we will. Come on Ita-chan, what's so bad about getting wet?" She walked over to him and grabbed his arm, "What else is there to do? It's our last chance." He closed his eyes and sighed before looking over to Sasuke, who was clinging to the wire in the middle of the lake.
"Fine, let's go get him." She smiled and pushed him in, jumping in afterwards. He glared at her before swimming over to Sasuke.
"Foolish otooto, to learn to swim, you need to let go of the wire." Sasuke stuck his tongue out at him and Riz laughed.
"He's right Sasu-chan. Let go now, we're right here. Nothing will happen to you." They continued to help Sasuke swim until it was after noon. They were heading back to shore when they noticed their father standing there.
"Hello father."
"Itachi, I need to speak with you, come along." He turned away and left. Itachi glanced at Riz, who shrugged.
"Here, take Sasu-chan back home as well. I'm supposed to meet Kashi now. I'm probably late."
"Which means you'll be on time." She grinned and waved, grabbing her clothes and disappearing. Itachi turned and headed back, Sasuke following behind him.
Riz entered the house deep into the night, sneaking in quietly so as to not wake anyone. She wasn't trying her best to stay quiet since it was her house, she just didn't want to wake them up.
"It's late." She froze before turning and smiling.
"Yes. Did I wake you father?" He shook his head and motioned for her to follow.
"Come with me. I need to talk to you."
"Is this about becoming an ANBU…?"
"No." He opened the living room door and had her go in before him. Inside were several other members of the clan. She bowed slightly.
"What's going on? Did something happen?"
"No, but something is going to."
"Riz, how loyal are you to our clan? More so than to the village?"
"What are you talking about? Why would it matter?"
"Within two days, our clan will launch an attack on Konoha. We will put the Uchiha clan as the most powerful clan there is, and finally get the respect we deserve. You will take part in this and aid us in our endeavors."
"What?!" They continued before she could say anything else.
"You do not have a choice in this matter. This is for the clan which you are a part of. Whether you fight with us or against us, this will happen."
"We had thought you would want to help us. Perhaps Hatake would as well? You could talk him into it. Either that, or he is killed in the impending battle. It's your choice." She didn't answer; she only clenched her fists and continued to stare at the ground.
"Choose now Uchiha Riz." She looked up at them without emotion.
"Damn them all to hell. Never have I disliked being an Uchiha before this moment."
"If I agree to this, you must promise for some people to not get hurt."
"This all depends on whom."
"Hatake, Umino, and the Kyuubi vessel."
"We can not promise that Hatake will not get injured. That is up to him. We will not kill him, even if he fights us then." She nodded.
"Sasuke, what will become of him during this battle?"
"He will be protected and kept away, but all Uchihas that can fight, shall."
"Fine." They smiled at her.
"Wise choice. You may go now." Her father led her out.
"You did well Riz." He closed the door behind her, cutting her off from all of them.
"Of course I did, but… two days isn't much time. …Itachi!" She rushed off to his room, finding him already in bed. She got under the covers next to him and hugged her knees to her chest.
"They talked to you."
"Yes. Earlier, that's what father wanted you for?"
"Yes, but something else happened with you. What was it?"
"When they talked to you, did they just say you had a duty to this clan and that was it?"
"Yes. I seem to be more loyal to the clan than you in their eyes. Even if it isn't true."
"It depends. Do they talk of the clan, or of father?" He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her. She sighed.
"They want me to get Kashi on their side. They threaten me with his life." She was whispering now, "I told them I would help them as long as he wasn't harmed and they promised for him to live. Other than that, they promised for Naruto and Iruka to be unharmed. Did they tell you when the attack was?"
"No."
"Two days." They were silent for a while, listening to the wind.
"Sasuke has classes tomorrow, and everyone else will be home."
"Now we just have to make sure no one else gets involved, and that we get away." Itachi nodded.
"First, we need some rest, and to act like nothing is wrong in the morning." Riz sighed, got up, and stretched. Well then, I want to see Sasu-chan then. I'm going to bring him in here. It will be like a sleepover."
"Or when he's scared and you're upset." She shrugged.
"Right, so all we would have to do right now is scare him." She disappeared after that and went to get Sasuke. She brought him back in the room and he cuddled into the bed, right in between the two. They stayed like that the rest of the night, getting as much rest as they could. Tomorrow would be hard on them all.
By the time Sasuke woke up, he was alone in the bed. He vaguely remembered Riz bringing him in there. He looked outside and realized that if he didn't get up now, he would be late. He yanked open the door and ran right into Itachi.
"Aniki?!"
"So, you decided to wake then? Foolish otooto." He poked him and helped him back up, "I was coming to wake you; you're going to be late."
"Thanks Aniki!" Sasuke rushed down so he could have some breakfast before leaving. He greeted Riz, who smiled in return, and rushed out after eating and grabbing his stuff. Riz watched him leave before heading upstairs. As she passed Itachi, she told him her plans.
"I'm going to leave Kashi's birthday present with Guy. I'll be back soon." He nodded and continued down the hall to his room. He needed to get everything ready. Riz changed into her favorite outfit, whether for missions or just walking around, grabbed the gift, and headed out. She traveled by rooftop, searching for the green-clad man. She found him soon enough and dropped down in front of him. She didn't even give him a chance to speak.
"I want you to give this to Kashi in a week for his birthday. I'm pretty sure I'll be away on a mission then, and I want him to get it on time. Can you do this for me?"
"Of course I can! I am always willing to-!"
"Thank you! I have to go now, bye!" She disappeared, leaving the gift with Guy. She climbed into her room moments later.
"Trouble?"
"No, just Guy. Is there a reason you're waiting for me in my room?" Itachi tossed her a bag and her twin short swords. She glared at him.
"Can't we wait longer?"
"Not if we want this to be over with by the time otooto gets back." She sighed and grabbed anything she might need from her room, including the ring Kashi had given back to her during their mission.
"Let's go then." The headed out, deciding to start at the edges of the compound and work their way home, literally. They did their job quickly, efficiently, and most of all, silently. There almost done, only a few more left. Itachi sent Riz to take care of the remaining few, while he went after their parents. They were leaving the kitchen when they saw him.
"Itachi hurry! The clan is being attacked, we need to-" They stopped and took in his appearance and the sharingan spinning in his eyes.
"You- you have done this!"
"Done what father? We are simply just doing what you were going to do to the entire village for your petty dreams of power."
"We?!"
"We." They whipped around only to face another pair of spinning sharingan. Riz turned to Itachi, "Sasu-chan's almost here. We need to finish this now." He nodded and approached their parents. Their father wasn't one to go down without a fight, so he attacked. He was quickly taken down and they were tied up. Sasuke was getting home now, and Itachi had Riz watch over him while he took care of their parents. So now she was following him as he entered the streets and went past houses that normally would be full of life at this time of night. She watched as he grew scared and ran into the house looking for their parents. And she watched as he opened the door to where their parents were. She cursed to herself when he entered. She desperately wanted to hold him and tell him it would be all right, that they did it to save the village, but she couldn't. They had planned to make it so everyone thought Riz was dead as well, and that's how it would stay. She took one look towards the village when she heard Sasuke scream.
"Shimatta!" She tensed as Itachi jumped next to her. She glared at him as they started to run and other people started to come into the complex, responding to Sasuke's scream.
"Why did you do that to him?"
"Quiet."
"Tell me now or I'll attack you."
"And how would that help anything?"
"I'm a good actress."
"Isn't it easier for him to hate me rather than find out that his entire clan was evil? He wouldn't be able to handle it. This way, he has someone to blame for everything, and he'll keep on living because of it."
"So, the hate me to kill me speech was just a way to have him live?" She sighed and they sped up, delving deep into the forest.
"We should finish our plan. They'll believe you came after me…"
"And I need them to believe that you killed me as well." He nodded and she performed a jutsu, creating a life-like doll that looked just like her. She cut her arms and kept racing through the forest, leaving a small trail and getting blood into and on the doll. They stopped for a moment and she made some wounds on the doll before tossing it at Itachi. He quickly 'killed' it and they left it their, along with her swords.
"Shouldn't you leave the ring there too?"
"Only if I stay with it. Besides, in all the commotion, they shouldn't notice."
"You're taking a chance with that. Hatake might."
"Might, but even if he does, and suspects I'm still alive, there is no evidence towards it. Even the most skilled medic wouldn't be able to tell that doll isn't me." He nodded, noting the sadness in her voice, but continued on. They traveled the entire night and part of the next day until they were well enough away from the Fire Country to be safe. After that, they lived and traveled, eventually joining Akatsuki.
Not too long after the Uchihas had been buried, Guy gave Kashi the gift. It was a kunai, engraved on both sides. After he read them, he left. Only Guy could tell he was crying.
"An Uchiha doesn't fall so easily, remember that" and "How the wolf falls in love with the ferret"
* Shimatta means damn
** Hideo is a name that means 'splendid man'
*** Michiko is a name that means 'beautiful wise child
A/N: Well, that's all there is for now! Hope you all enjoyed the Prologue! I know it's long, and future chapters will not be so long. I just couldn't seem to stop typing on it. Finally though, it is done. Maybe now I can get some rest, ne? This story has been plaguing my nights lately.
If there are any questions at all, do tell me. I would be more than happy to answer them.
As always, if you want me to write you a story, I do take requests. REVIEW! And that's all I have to say for now! Ja ne!