A/N: Hiya!
With the revelations in canon, I decided to mirror something Kishimoto has put in, so if anyone's not up on the manga, I apologise on the spoiler in this chapter. But despite that, I have fiddled with the timeline anyway – I always do. For example: Itachi and Sasuke never had their "final" fight, but more on that later. Enjoy! ^_^
…
– Chapter 2 –
.:. In Preparation .:.
…
Sasuke,
The fact that I am no longer clapped in irons or behind chakra enhanced bars has somehow spread to the general population. I'm not sure who did it, as all Lady Tsunade had said about it was that the culprit would be on lavatory cleaning duties for the rest of the month. It is interesting to know her method of punishment is as unimaginative as ever.
I found a small book in the back of your old closet about six weeks before Pein destroyed Konoha. I often wondered whether you'd kept that foolish diary of yours or just lost it. By the faded, torn, and worn look, I'd have to say you re-read it a lot over the years.
Don't worry, I didn't read it; I put it back. But a part of me wishes I'd saved it at least, since Pein's Shinra Tensei has seen to it that you'll never read it again. I only mention it now because I've decided to start a separate journal, now that I've agreed to go on this mission. It's nothing personal, just a detailed account of everything we will be doing.
I suppose someone somewhere will want to read it eventually, considering it will end up containing information gathered from Akatsuki sources. The group is gone, but I don't feel as happy about that as I'd thought I would. It had been filled with murderers, psychos, and personalities so wide and varied that I often wonder how I came out of there as apathetic as when I'd gone in, but on some level, I miss it. No matter what else it had done, it had given me purpose.
And now my purpose is to find Sakura Haruno.
You remember her. I remember that pink hair, who wouldn't? And when I search my memories of my time in Konoha before that… night… I can still remember her. She didn't deserve what was done to her, any more than you did. I only hope she really is alive; that way someone will benefit from this. I need to find her alive. I have to. The Hokage told me about the day she went missing, and who took her, and why.
It was Obito Uchiha. That old friend of Kakashi's. And the man had grown worse than even Orochimaru.
Itachi.
–
He'd been allowed respite, a way to organize his thoughts into neat and tidy groups so he could analyse them without straining his mind. But Itachi Uchiha rarely found himself in a position where he couldn't think his way out of it. The day he'd surrendered himself to the Hokage's mercy had been the beginning of him throwing away his plans; now that he finally had something to work toward again, he was picking up where he left with ease. It was as simple to him as breathing.
Not that his plans always turned out as he'd anticipated – his continued existence was proof of that ‒ but between his own knowledge of Akatsuki workings and the Hokage's spies, he knew which direction to go in his search for his otouto's former team mate. There were a number of places Obito could've taken her that he knew of, so it was at least a place to start.
"You still with me Uchiha-san?"
Itachi looked up into the dark eyes of Lady Tsunade as the nurse to his right paused in the middle of his check-up. The Hokage had a wry smile on her face, but he knew she was a lot happier than that façade. She'd brightened considerably since he agreed to help – the possibility of seeing her surrogate daughter again was definitely behind it, but he'd like to think she was happy for him as well. Funny how that made him feel a little happier himself.
Itachi nodded without speaking. His mind didn't want to focus, instead drifting away from the nurse who had now returned to her work and toward the future. He figured it would take a few days to get to the first base, but what was left of the now disbanded Akatsuki knew of these places. Being hunted by every nation, there was a high probability that any number of them could be hiding out at these bunkers.
Itachi sighed, slightly annoyed as the cold hands of the nurse gave him goose bumps. But, he did what he was told, inhaling, exhaling, and stretching on command. He was never one to disobey a direct order, and the Hokage had ordered him to do this but still, Itachi wasn't happy with the poking and prodding he was receiving from the string of medics who had come into his room over the past few hours. They hadn't bothered to fuss over him before now, and the last time someone had touched him without intent to harm, it had been on the battlefield. Lady Tsunade had charged in there, given that Naruto was busy trying to chase down the nearby, maddened and looking for something to take it out on. But when she saw the former Uchiha heir, her anger seemed to lose its fuel and instead, she saved him.
She still wouldn't tell him why.
"We're done here," Tsunade told the nurse, who left respectfully. She watched Itachi. "You can speak you know; it's not taboo."
Itachi gave her a small smile. "I am aware, Lady Tsunade."
"Yeah, yeah, you're the silent type. Well, your vitals are strong, every examination has shown you're in top physical form – you're now officially cleared for the mission. But your position on the squad is as an observer only – you will engage in combat only when your taichou deems it necessary, or if there's no other choice, given that you'll more than likely encounter former Akatsuki members and they won't be happy to see you."
He nodded. "And what of‒"
"Kakashi is taking care of that."
Again, he nodded. They would be leaving in the morning, and he needed to conserve his strength. Itachi did as he was told and rested back on the hospital bed. This was going to be a long journey, no matter how he looked at it.
… …
… …
Kakashi had always liked this training ground – the sun stripped the top of the trees of any advantage for an ambush at its highest peak, its rise and the half an hour before it set. After the war, he'd dragged Naruto and Sai here (mostly the former since the latter spent so much time with his former Root comrades on their rehabilitation) just to keep them all occupied. It was a place that was heavy in the memory of both Sakura and Yamato, but despite the obvious melancholy, it was also inspiring. Naruto for one saw it as something to take his frustrations out on. They'd lost Sasuke to darkness shortly after Sakura's disappearance, and Yamato had been amongst the presumed dead. After the war, the bodies of most Shinobi who'd died were never recovered. It made Kakashi think of Obito, and his guilt compounded.
"Kakashi-Senpai!"
He managed a smile as he approached the former Root member ‒ he was working on his katas, but stopped at his taichou's arrival. "Yo Sai, how've you been?"
"Busy."
"I imagine so."
"I finally got some time to train and Naruto's late getting here – I thought you were on a mission?"
Kakashi was surprised. He hadn't heard Sai call Naruto by his name for a long time. "No," he said. "But that's why I'm here."
"Is this another request to join you on one of your endeavours regarding the opposite sex?"
"When did I do that?"
"Last week."
Kakashi remembered asking him how things were going with Ino Yamanaka, but hadn't mentioned anything about himself. "No I didn't."
"You wanted to know if I thought Kurenai-san was ready to move on after Asuma-Senpai."
"No I didn't."
Sai frowned.
"Well anyway," Kakashi said, mentally waving that away. "I suppose you've heard about Itachi?"
"Yes, he's unchained now."
"He's going to help us find Sakura."
"So I heard."
The copy ninja sighed inwardly. Sai was a stickler for following the line of a conversation without instigating much of anything, unless it was completely irrelevant. "Are you free to join us?"
Sai rubbed his headband thoughtfully. "With Itachi-Senpai?"
"Yes."
"Looking for Sakura-san?"
"Of course."
"Naruto isn't here to order me to go?" Naruto did that sort of thing, and Sai was surprised he wasn't here now. But when he thought about it, he hadn't done that for a while.
"Naruto won't come and ask you himself," Kakashi said, and Sai nodded.
"He isn't very Naruto anymore."
"No, he isn't." The copy ninja rubbed the back of his head. "So, will you come?"
"Of course," Sai said.
He may not be very good at showing his feelings, but he did have them. He had come a long way since joining Team Kakashi, but even when he'd chosen to leave them to aid his fellow ex-Root members after Danzou's death, he kept those ties in place. He was helping the ex-Root integrate themselves into the rest of the village, and had realised it would be easier to move them into the normal ANBU first – at least those Shinobi understood vaguely what the Root members had gone through. Sai saw the ANBU as the perfect balance between the proper elite ninja and being like normal people, with the ability to both feel and express what they were feeling, though without the luxury of doing so most of the time.
Kakashi had been worried that Sai would think he was more needed with his ex-Root team mates, but the young man just smiled cordially.
"I will tell them it is about loyalty to friends and not just completing a mission. It will help them understand that the two aren't necessarily exclusive."
"When friends call on you, you are honour bound to respond, even if it doesn't make sense or seem terribly important," Kakashi said, quoting one of the first things Sai had told the Root members shortly after their release from Danzou's hold.
Sai nodded. "I see you were listening after all."
Kakashi chuckled. "We're leaving in tomorrow morning; I imagine the medics will have cleared Itachi for active duty soon."
"He is unwell?"
"No, I don't think so. It's just paperwork and the stubbornness of village elders, really."
"Okay, I will see you then Kakashi-Senpai."
And Kakashi left him to his training, not really wanting to overdo himself the night before the mission. Despite his own foolishness in the past when it came to trusting the wrong people, he wanted to trust Itachi; it felt good to be his superior this time, unlike when they used to be on the same ANBU team.
… …
… …
Itachi arrived half an hour early, his ANBU guard hidden in shadow but as plain as day to him – with or without the Sharingan. Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki peered at him curiously from the check-in-station, but he ignored them, leaning heavily on the open gates and staring out, into the darkened forest. The personal slaves to the Hokage (that term was a running joke in Konoha, according to Kakashi) still watched him though, like they could hardly believe he was real. He had no memory of either of them from before his final mission as an ANBU captain; he wasn't a Jounin, though many argued he should've been promoted months before the massacre. But he'd held them off, knowing what was coming, and knowing it would make the coming securities more hazardous for the village if their traitor was Jounin rather than chunin. Every detail mattered.
Itachi barely reacted when that strange ex-Root arrived and greeted Izumo and Kotetsu before turning his expressionless eyes on the Uchiha. But he turned around at the unexpected arrival, following in his wake.
"Ah," she said. "I heard you were going with them."
Ino Yamanaka wasn't on this mission, and true enough, she didn't look in any condition to be jumping through trees. Itachi guessed she was about five months pregnant, maybe six. His Sharingan would be able to tell him exactly how long and he had to supress the sudden urge to check.
Sai gave a soft non-committal grunt; when he didn't otherwise comment, Itachi peered at him. He started rummaging through the bag strapped to his back, and didn't deign to acknowledge that he was being scrutinised. A few moments later, the last jinchuriki made an appearance, sparing a glare for Itachi before attempting to draw Sai or Ino into a series of loud complaints about this that and everything.
Itachi observed the artist and the Kunoichi however, noting the way they gently brushed each other every few moments as they all waited for the final arrival; his question as to who the Yamanaka was involved with was quickly answered. Curious…
Kakashi was just in time – when it mattered, he always was. He had no intention of being late for this. "All here?" He asked unnecessarily, smiling at them all. "Good, let's go."
"I wish I was going with you," Ino said, rubbing her stomach gently, but looking put out regardless.
"This is just‒"
"Yeah, yeah, I know: boys only," she said, as though she wasn't clearly pregnant.
"Men," Kakashi corrected her.
Ino snorted. "Not from where I'm standing mister." She poked Sai's chest as the others moved to leave. "Now you listen to me because I'm only going to say this once: You bring her back to me, or so help me I'll wring each and every one of your pretty little necks."
X X X
A/N: *sighs* I love Ino. ;)
Anyway, this wasn't as an interesting chapter as I'd originally planned, but it's just a stepping stone for next time. I know the story itself looks rather fuzzy right now, but any and all questions will be answered in time. ^_^
R&R.
A quick poll:
What should Sai's nickname for Itachi be? (Yes, I am having trouble deciding on this one)
