A/N: Alright, alright….I know this way overdue but here it is. I finally decided to redo this story, hopefully all of you who read the original eight chapters move onto this remake. I wasn't pleased with the way I wrote the original story, things were a bit rushed. I'm going to be adding a lot more details to the original files. This will be the definitive version of "Itachi Uchiha Reborn". The story shall now be known as "Reunited", and there will be spoilers regarding Chapter 700 of the official Naruto release. I digress, rewriting the story will allow me to get back into writing. Life has kept me from working on my other stories, so this will be a great opportunity to get back into things.
IMPORTANT MESSAGE: Do not read this if you have not read Chapter 700 of the official Naruto Release.
Once again sorry for keeping you waiting! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Redemption (Part 1)
The Fourth Shinobi war had finally come to a close. The Allied Shinobi forces were successful, leading to what seemed like an era of peace among the five Great Shinobi Nations. Things were truly looking up, but the casualties of the war were something that could not be shrugged off. Many lives were lost because of decisions made by people from generations past. But this time around the current generation didn't make the same mistakes.
Naruto and Sasuke were under good terms, it took a while but Sasuke finally decided to return to the village. It took some time for negotiations to be done, considering the crimes Sasuke had committed. The new Hokage, Kakashi Hatake, had finally conceived a solution for Sasuke's return. He would have to face some of the repercussions for his crimes, but Sasuke gladly accepted any punishment the Hokage deemed worthy.
Several months later Sasuke was on his last mission to "redeem" himself. As reparations, Kakashi sent Sasuke on missions to "tie up loose ends". The Uchiha approached the large building, where his former-sensei would assign him his last redemption mission.
"There's only one last loose end for me to take care of, a specific person. Heh, and I know exactly who it is." Sasuke mentally sighed in relief. He wouldn't enjoy dealing with the "loose end", but finally redeeming himself to the village his brother died for gave him a sense of fulfillment. He didn't receive any major details on the mission, but he had a general idea on who he had to take down.
Sasuke slowly plodded inside of the regal building, known as the Hokage's office. He formed his hand into a fist, and proceeded to knock on the door.
"Come in," A familiar voice said in a calm manner.
Sasuke gripped the cold iron doorknob. Taking a deep breath, he turned the knob and entered the Hokage's workplace. Bowing his head, Sasuke spoke "I'm ready for my S-rank mission, Hokage-sama."
"Ah, Sasuke good timing, I was about to have Naruto find you," Kakashi said, glancing over to the blond shinobi who stood quietly in the room.
"Eh? What S-rank mission?" Naruto asked with peaked curiosity. He enjoyed the peace that the ninja world had achieved, but sometimes he got bored of sitting around.
"Don't worry Naruto it's nothing Sasuke can't handle," Kakashi said in a relaxed manner. Kakashi was well aware of Sasuke's incredible powers that he kept from the war.
"So, I assume my mission is to kill Orochimaru," Sasuke said dryly.
"That would be correct. We have to preserve this era of peace, and there is no way of telling what Orochimaru will do if unwatched. He could be problematic if we don't act now," The Hokage said in his infamous monotone.
"Do we have any intel on his whereabouts?" Sasuke asked, staring at the Hokage.
"Yes, ANBU claim they have spotted ninja with Hidden Sound headbands," Kakashi grabbed one of many scrolls located on his desk. He extended his arm towards the Uchiha, "It's safe to assume that the last of the Hidden Sound has taken refuge in this secret base."
Sasuke seized the scroll from the Hokage's hands and quickly unraveled the parchment. His onyx eyes scanning the paper's contents, "Strange, the base is relatively close to the Hidden Leaf."
"Exactly. That can lead us to one solid conclusion, the base is a trap for an unsuspecting shinobi." Kakashi said in a sagely manner.
"Well, I'm not an "unsuspecting" shinobi." Sasuke said as walked out of the regal office.
"Sasuke! Wait!" Naruto said as he dashed out of the room, determined to catch up with the Uchiha.
"What do you want Naruto?" Sasuke asked as he turned around to face the blond shinobi.
"Hey, go kick his ass." Naruto smiled, raising his fist towards Sasuke.
"Heh, that was my plan," Sasuke formed his hand into a fist. The two fist bumped, "If worst comes to worst, I still have my eyes."
Finishing his conversation with Naruto, Sasuke set off for the Sound Village "headquarters".
[.:.]
Sasuke had been traveling for a few hours, he made good progress and was entering the vicinity of the Sound Village headquarters. The sun was slowly setting, decorating the sky in a beautiful purple-orangeish tone. Soon enough the moon would ascend, representing the beginning of night.
Sasuke could already sense several chakra signatures in the area. Sasuke decided to do some reconnaissance, using the foliage in the area as camouflage. He wouldn't have to worry about food, since he had packed several food pills.
Ninja assigned S-rank missions were usually allotted food pills, due to possible duration of S-rank missions. Missions rated of such caliber could take weeks or even longer, are usually given to ninja during S-rank missions. Food pills can give shinobi the nourishment to continuously fight, three days and three nights.
Sasuke doubted his current assignment would take as long as the predicted time. He wasn't expecting much from the Hidden Sound remnants, even if Orochimaru was present. He wouldn't even have to use his rinnegan, to finish off the Sound Village.
"Time to finish off what I brought back," Sasuke closed his eyes and channeled chakra into his eyes. Opening his eyes, Sasuke revealed his kekkai genkai; the sharingan.
Using his enhanced visual prowess, he was able to spot several Otogakure ninjas in the area. They were presumably patrolling the area for any unwanted people in the area.
"The intruder is very close by, get ready…he could strike at any moment." A feminine voice said softly.
Sasuke's onyx eyes widened. How could someone sense his chakra so easily? He had masked his chakra, and limited the amount he exerted. Most sensor ninjas weren't skilled enough to sense masked chakra. Only elite sensors or ninja with a kekkai genkai could sense masked chakra.
There was only one sensor ninja Sasuke knew that was capable of sensing his chakra so easily. His suspicions were confirmed after he heard the all too familiar voice.
"Karin." Sasuke muttered. Sure enough, he spotted the red-headed Uzumaki with ten other Otogakure ninja.
Sasuke mentally scolded himself. He didn't keep tabs on Suigetsu, Jugo, or Karin after the war. "If Karin is allied with Orochimaru, perhaps Suigetsu and Jugo are here."
"He's hiding in that bush over there!" Karin yelled. The footsteps of the patrol team neared closer to the Uchiha's vantage point.
"Come out with your hands up! We will attack!" One of the ten shinobi yelled, obviously impatient. Sasuke groaned. This wasn't a part of his plan, neither was Karin's appearance at the Otogakure headquarters. The mission would only get more complicated now that the enemy has information about his whereabouts.
Sasuke would also have to factor in the possibility of Orochimaru escaping before he even got the chance to fight him. It had taken over five months to pinpoint Orochimaru's hideout. It would take a multitude of months, to find Orochimaru if Sasuke was unable to kill him.
He walked out of the foliage that he used as camouflage. His onyx eyes darted at the shinobi and He decided to comply with the Otogakure shinobi's orders.
"Sasuke…!?" Karin mentally shrieked, her crimson eyes widened at the sight of the Uchiha.
Ever since the war, Sasuke distanced himself from Team Taka for obvious reasons. Karin was ultimately disappointed that "her Sasuke-kun" left for the Hidden Leaf Village. Karin felt resentment towards Sasuke, but the more reasonable part of her understood Sasuke's new resolve.
Sasuke had a future in the Hidden Leaf village, and Karin wouldn't allow herself to hold Sasuke back from his goals. Karin held him in high regard; she refused to let her infatuation hamper him in any way possible.
"Hmph! Uchiha Sasuke." The shinobi grunted.
"Ryuto, don't underestimate him. Lord Orochimaru gave us orders to be extra careful when dealing with Sasu-!" A grunt yelled to the commanding shinobi.
"I don't care about Orochimaru's orders!" Ryuto barked back. Ryuto walked up to Sasuke, an irritated look found its way on Ryuto's face. "Tell me, what's so special about you Uchiha?!"
Sasuke closed his eyes, "Don't ever underestimate the Uchiha clan." Sasuke opened his eyes revealing his fully matured, three-tomoe sharingan.
"Hey! What did you do to your eyes!?" Ryuto stared straight into Sasuke's eyes, ignorant of the sharingan's abilities.
"Coercion" Sasuke uttered, as Ryuto fell to his knees screaming. He fell straight into Sasuke's genjutsu. Coercion was a simple technique, which forces a nightmarish genjutsu onto the victim.
"Ryuto-sama!" The grunts yelled, dropping their guards to help their commanding officer. Sasuke unsheathed his blade and dashed towards the group of Otogakure ninja. He planned on taking full advantage of the opportunity to attack. The moon was now visible in the sky, which was now a dark purple. The moonlight gleamed on his Sword of Kusanagi, as he slashed at the first shinobi. His chokuto sliced through the gray flak jacket of the shinobi. Blood speckles of splashed along the cold metal of Sasuke's sword. Sasuke ran towards the next few guards, who were stunned by the Uchiha's speed.
Sasuke finished off the rest of the shinobi with ease. Only two shinobi from the squadron remained, Karin and Ryuto, the latter being stuck in a genjutsu.
"Sasuke…!" Karin yelled in shock.
"Karin…never thought I would see you allied with Otogakure again." Sasuke said in a dull monotone, as he quickly sheathed his blade. His onyx eyes stared into Karin's pools of crimson.
Karin felt like she could melt under Sasuke's gaze. His eyes didn't hold hatred, like they did in the past. Instead his onyx eyes were filled with kindness and concern.
"Karin?" Sasuke asked. He slowly approached Karin making sure his moments weren't sudden. He knew that Karin would most likely be wary of him.
Sasuke didn't leave a good impression on Team Taka, he completely ditched them and returned to Konohagakure. Sasuke knew that Suigetsu, Jugo, and Karin would resent him.
It took Karin a few moments to get out of her trance. She managed to choke out a few words, "What are you doing here..!?"
"I'm here to finish off what I brought back." Sasuke replied.
"Y-you mean Orochimaru?" Karin asked.
"Yes, I suggest you leave the area. I don't want to hurt you—"
"I-I…..only joined Otogakure because I had nowhere else to go." Karin interrupted.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly, "I didn't consider where they would go after the war…".
"Something wrong?" Karin questioned.
"Karin would you like to join the Hidden Leaf village? Pretty soon the Otogakure won't exist, meaning you wouldn't have anywher—"
"Yes."
"Alright, hopefully Kakashi won't have any objections." Sasuke glanced to Karin. "By the way, can you lead me to Orochimaru's headquarters?"
"Sure, it's this way." Karin said, jumping to a tree branch.
[.:.]
Sasuke followed Karin through the trees, with no objections. Part of him doubted Karin's honesty, she was acting strange. Most of the times she would be fawning over him.
"I know Karin was very loyal to Orochimaru in the past, but would she really betray me?" Sasuke glanced to Karin, who had been relatively quiet the whole trip.
"We're here." Karin said dryly.
"Seems the base is hidden well." Sasuke's onyx eyes darted around the landscape. There was no sign of activity in the area.
"The entrance is protected by a seal." Karin stated. She brought out a test tube with a cork on top, it was filled with a red liquid. "This will open the entrance, so mask your chakra now."
Sasuke gave Karin a swift nod, and complied with her orders. The Uzumaki removed the cork from the test tube and splashed the liquid on the ground. The intricate patterns of the seal appeared on the ground. The ground started to rumble. Within a few minutes part of the ground had transformed into a stairway.
"Let's go." Sasuke said, as he started walking down the stairway with Karin in pursuit.
The duo continued to walk down the stairway, which seemed to continue on forever. Sasuke enjoyed the awkward silence, he wasn't much of a conversationalist. Even so, Sasuke could tell that something was wrong with Karin. There was a certain tension in the air whenever she talked to him, like she was forcing herself to speak. There was a sense of depression around her that confused Sasuke.
"Karin." Sasuke stopped walking and faced the red haired kunoichi.
"Hm?" Karin stared at Sasuke with peaked interest.
"I…I'm sorry for leaving you guys behind. I know words can't mend the wounds of actions, but for what it' worth, I'm sorry."
"Sasuke, I forgive you." Karin nearly jumped at Sasuke and embraced him.
"Heh, seems like she's back to normal."
A/N: Part 2 of Redemption will have the Orochimaru fight.
I also have a Fire Emblem: Awakening story in the works, so keep a look out for that. Please forgive me if my writing isn't up to par, I'll be writing like I used to soon enough.
Peace Out.