Chapter 1- He's Done What?
The Akatsuki was one of the most feared groups in any of the countries. They were prestigious, only allowing the most powerful of ninja among their few ranks. To serve them was an honour, and a favor was not forgotten by the organization. They met in secret, their headquarters unknown. Their members were recognized by the distinctive coats they wore, black with red clouds. Their goal was unknown to most, their influence hard to trace in any crime or murder committed.
Thinking of this, Itachi sat silently in the lounge of the secret Akatsuki headquarters. He pondered why an ornganization so prestigious and so powerful would have a main room so utterly...welcoming. With pleasant pictures on the walls and over-stuffed chairs to sit on...it looked like a normal house. The leader...was truly a mystery.
Besides really never showing himself to the rest of the Akatsuki, and almost never giving orders in person, the Leader was rather charismatic. Well, when he wasn't scorning them for failures. In some ways he reminded Itachi of Orochimaru...though he'd only met the snake sannin a few times. For that reason alone the Uchiha didn't like being near him more than necissary. He had that effect on almost all of the members of the Akatsuki...well, save Sasori. But the puppet master had been partners with Orochimaru, so it was to be expected he was immune to that kind of creepiness.
While this wasn't particularly important, Itachi didn't really have anything better to be doing. Kisame was out in a nearby town, getting some supplies for the bare pantry of the kitchen, so he couldn't very well be on any missions. Deidara and Sasori were out, depriving him of anyone to bug...and no one ever knew where Zetsu was. He came and went like the wind.
Itachi was about to turn on the tv, which he hated to do because he thought the devices were an astounding waste of energy, when he heard the front door click open. Kisame was back, then. There was some shuffling, which was more noise than Kisame usually made, meaning that he was carrying the food as well.
The Uchiha stood and walked out into the hall, spotting his fish-like partner. The dim light in the hall made his blue skin ethereal and more unerving than usual. Since they weren't on any missions, Kisame wasn't in his usual Akatsuki coat; rather, a simple dark shirt and dark pants. Normal attire. Itachi himself was dressed in much the same, save his shirt had a fishnet collar.
Itachi took one of his partner's several bags and brought it into the kitchen, looking over his shoulder as he did so. He gave his partner a meaningful glance, which Kisame somehow understood the meaning of. They had developed a close enough relationship over the years, for Kisame to be able to tell things by just meeting his partner's eyes- that due to Itachi's unnerving lack of verbal responses or prompts. Yes, Kisame was the talker in their partnership.
"I went to my connections in town. There's some news from Konoha- apparently, one of their nin have gone missing."
Itachi didn't say anything as he placed the food into the cabinets of the sparsely decorated kitchen, but he became tense quickly. Kisame had been counting on that- he knew Itachi would want to hear news from his old home, no matter how much he claimed to hate it.
"Yesterday, Uchiha Sasuke went missing. They don't know where he went, but they sent some nin after him." Kisame stated rather smugly, proud that he'd found out information before Itachi had.
Silence followed the statement, though Kisame hadn't been expecting anything different. What surprised the shark was how tense Itachi had become. The Uchiha's hand had a grip so tight on the edge of the counter that his knuckles were white, and his head was half-bent forward, his bangs shielding his eyes from view. Itachi's anger could be felt in almost palpable waves by Kisame, forcing him to step back. This was the angriest Kisame had ever seen Itachi- this was the most emotion he'd seen out of the Uchiha at all.
"...Itachi-san?"
"Where did he go?" The voice, usually hollow and dry, was strained. Like it was holding something back.
"He was heading towards the Rice Country. No one knows more than that."
In a blur of motion Itachi had set the bag he was carrying on the counter and was out of the kitchen, walking up the stairs swiftly. Kisame gaped and followed him, dropping his bags on the floor. "Itachi-san! What are you doing?"
Itachi stormed into his room, the door flying open before him. He didn't answer Kisame as he grabbed his coat and put it on, buttoning up the front. He picked up the bag of kunai sitting on his bed and his hat, resting on his desk, and put them both on. Finally, he turned to Kisame, his sharingan eyes alight with a fire Kisame had never seen there before.
"Get your coat, Kisame. We're going to the Rice Country."
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It was blurry. Everything was so blurry...and the rain wasn't helping. The forest was dark, even though it was a few hours still to sunset. The roots of the trees had eaten up the soft ground, causing him to trip every other step. And even though the rain was muffling his hearing, and he had walked for a good half an hour, he could still hear the roaring of the falls at the Valley of the End. That haunting roar, like it was shouting accusations at him. Accusations for what he'd done.
With every step he took a new wave of pain ran through his body, starting from that damn seal on his neck. It throbbed in time with his heartbeat, its poison running through his very blood. But it gave him power, so he couldn't hate it, could he?
It gave him power, so he didn't have to kill Naruto. Because, even if he was willing to listen to Itachi's advice and murder his best friend, he didn't think he'd be able to. He didn't know if that drive for revenge could carry him that far.
Wearily he brought up a hand to push his dripping bangs from his eyes. He didn't even know where he was going- he just knew the direction those Sound nin had told him to go. He had no idea where Orochimaru was, but he'd find the snake sannin. He had to, because he didn't have anywhere else to go. He had betrayed Konoha- he'd be declared a missing nin soon. He'd fought and almost killed Naruto. He couldn't go back now.
Vaguely he thought he saw someone through the rain. He ignored the figure at first, and continued trudging through the muck, but as he got closer the figure looked more and more familiar. White hair, a sound headband, glasses. It was Kabuto, standing too smugly for his liking, a smirk on his face.
"Sasuke-kun. We've been waiting for you."
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Author's notes:
Alright...I didn't expect to post the next chapter so soon...but it was a short one. I expect the chapters to get longer as the story progresses, not sure, though.
Itachi wants you to review.
