HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO everyone! I already got a decent amount of favorites and follows on this story and only released one darn chapter! I seriously cannot thank you guys enough. I was really doubting if it was a good idea to post it but I am glad I did. So since I had some time I figured why not try to post the second chapter early? So here it is!
Chapter 2: Test of Worth
Itachi spent the next few hours accommodating with his new surroundings. He walked around the hideout with a bit of rice to settle his stomach and replenish his chakra. He began to get acquainted with where things were, gaining some knowledge about the facility as well and finding almost every secret passageway that he came across without any help, noting how he could escape if he wanted to. Though, despite nearly being killed by this "Night Raid" assassin group, he felt a bit at ease. Itachi understood it was a misunderstanding and that they were just doing what they had to do to protect themselves. As long as he felt they were not threatening his life, he would help them out in any way he could. However, if they changed their course of action for the worse or threatened his life and or others intentionally, he would do what he must.
After he finally packed all of the things in his room, he set up traps that only he would be able to deactivate without harm. He did not like the idea of strangers just appearing into his room. It was one of his quirks that he always had, especially when he was with the Akatsuki. He sat on his bed staring out the window that overlooked some of the nearby surrounding. "So, I am in a different world, and now am part of yet another rouge group… what an interesting turn of events." He thought to himself with a smirk, interested in what this new place had in store for him. As he was about to lay down to get some well needed rest, someone knocked on his already open door. "Hey looks like I got the cute newbie closest to me!" Said the blonde haired girl in front of him. Itachi sighed, feeling like it was the academy all over again with fan girls all over him. "The boss wants us in the meeting room now, come on!"
He nonchalantly got up and followed her down the hall. She turned to him and smiled after a bit of walking. "By the way, my name is Leone. It is nice to meet you Itachi. I hope there will be no hard feelings between us, even though I slugged you into that wall before."
He nodded. "Yea, sure." He looked out the windows they passed by, still trying to absorb the situation he was in. He began to get lost in thought when he suddenly felt Leone grab his arm. "Sooooooooo cutie, you like it here?" She purred, rubbing her cheek on his with his arm that she latched to between her chests, a smirk across her lips.
Itachi looked at her with an awkward, panicking expression, wanting to do everything in his power to make her let go. "It is a decent place I guess." He replied, trying to free his arm. "This girl is WAY too personal. She might be the one I avoid the most here to keep my sanity intact."
As he thought this they finally got into the meeting room, welcomed by Tatsumi and Mine yelling into each other's ears, accompanied by Sheele tripped over herself. He also noticed that Lubback was staring at him and Leone, who was still latched to his arm, with a jealous angry look, Akame who seemed to be obsessively clean her sword, Bulat who was standing to the side giving him an awkward wink that sent a shiver up his body, and Najenda in her usual chair. "Is there anyone normal here…?" Itachi thought.
After a minute Najenda got their attention. "Today's target is an imperial tax collector. We gained enough evidence that he takes more money than the tax amount itself and saves the left over cash for himself to pay off officials and purchase weaponry. We plan on taking him out and returning the money to the people of the area he is in charge of. This man is no ordinary tax collector though. He was once a respected soldier in the Imperial Army so consider him dangerous and deadly." She turned towards Itachi's direction. "Since last mission I sent out Tatsumi to test himself against General Ogre, Itachi I will have you go out to do the job along with Leone and Bulat to see if you require any training. It would give us some idea on your abilities as an assassin and the powers of your teigo."
Itachi looked to Najenda as she mentioned the teigo. "About that, I do not have one of those 'teigo' you speak of nor do I know what they even are. Can you please inform me as to what those are?"
This earned some looks from the group, minus Tatsumi. Mine immediately laughed at Itachi's lack of knowledge on the subject. "This idiot doesn't even know what they are yet he fought against some. I knew accepting him was stupid."
Itachi sent a glare to Mine that sent shivers of fear up and down her spine. Tatsumi looked in shock and jealousy of the new member, wishing he could do that to shut her up every time she began to nag him. Najenda smiled and laughed a bit. "You really aren't from around here. Let me explain them then. There are 48 teigo, or Imperial Arms, in existence. The first emperor of the empire created them to protect his country. They all vary in abilities from suits of armor to creating ice from thin air. After a war a few centuries ago, they scattered all over the empire, which is how some of us got ours. While we are at it, why don't we all introduce ourselves and tell him about our teigo, for those that have them."
Leone was the first one to step up. "Well the cutie here already knows my name." She said, looking to Itachi and sending him a wink, causing Itachi to shiver. "As for my teigo, it is called Lionelle." She pointed to her belt that she wore with her a bit too revealing clothes. "This baby enhances my speed, reflexes, strength, and regeneration, as well as giving me animal-like characteristics. This belt even gives me a sixth sense so to speak. It is great for beating the shit out of the empire trash over and over again, and stealth attacks as well." She smiled with pride as she said the last part.
The next to step up was Bulat. "Hey there, my name is Bulat. I used to be an officer in the Imperial Army before I realized how cruel they were. And now I'm here. As for my teigo, I have the suit of armor known as Incursio, which not only buffs my defenses but allows me to turn invisible for a bit. That is how I was able to sneak up on you when we all fought. I have to say I was impressed that you realized I was there. Anyways, it takes a lot of strength to even use it, so that is why I am as strong as I am."
Lubbock walked forward next. "Well, my name is Lubbock. My teigo is called Infinite Uses: Cross Tail. As you saw, it is string that is strong as steal. I am the one that usually sets up the traps like the one you almost sprung before the fight. In addition I can use them in close combat, as an armor when I wrap myself with them, and even use it to play dead, making it stop my pulse but keep me alive."
Minus the conclusion he got of Lubbock (which was that he is a pervert from the occasional glances at some of the girls he gave that Itachi noticed), he truly liked him. His cleverness with his string reminded him of how he used the wire string to change the trajectory of his kunai. "So, you are the tactician of the group, planning out your and the enemy's steps before they even make it, which is how you were able to nearly cut me up with that string when I fought Bulat and the girl with the scissors. That is quite impressive."
Lubbock smirked, giving his ego a bit of a boost. Before he could even thank him, Mine shoved him to the side. "Before pervert here gets too full of himself, I will introduce myself. My name is Mine, and my weapon," she took hold of her gun, "Is called pumpkin. It allows me to take my spirit energy and fires it either in a sniper, machine gun, or shotgun style. The more danger I am in, the stronger my pumpkin becomes."
Itachi only looked at Mine without an ounce of emotion. "She really is annoying. Even her face gives off her self-centered personality. Though she seems like a semi-decent person… I think." Sheele then shyly stepped up. "Hey there. My name is Sheele, it is a pleasure to meet you Itachi. My teigo is called Cutter of Creation: Extase. These scissor blades are known to be able to cut anything, hence why I cut your knife like thing before. I do apologize for everything and hope we can move on from that. You seem like a decent guy and I am glad you are on our team." She smiled genuinely as she spoke.
"Yea, that is ok." Itachi replied. "I understand the situation fully. If I was in your shoes, I probably would have done the same thing."
Sheele smiled back at him and stepped back, nudging Tatsumi up. "Uh, hi. I'm Tatsumi. I am the n- I mean second newest member here so I do not have a teigo yet. Though I hope to get one and not be a burden to anyone here. I want to help here so that my village does not get in a worse situation than it already is." Tatsumi immediately stepped back after he finished.
This boy was an interesting one to Itachi. "His eyes… there is way too much innocence in his eyes. He has not killed much which is usually a characteristic that would keep him out of things like this. He must have been semi-forced into this group. Probably by Leone's doing knowing her. However he has a kind and caring heart from the way he holds himself up. I just hope that does not get him killed."
The next person to step up was Akame, the most interesting of the group in Itachi's eyes. When Itachi first saw her, she thought her red eyes were the sharingan, only to realize that they were just naturally red. With that said, she fought like she has been killing her whole life, not letting her emotion show at all on the battlefield. That on top of her speed, stamina, stealth, and strength, would have made her an excellent shinobi in Itachi's eyes. Especially since, from what he could tell, she did not enhance herself in any way, yet was able to keep in stride with him, whether he was weakened or not. "Hello there Itachi. My name is Akame, and my teigo is called Murasame. I am known as the one cut killer because of my sword. With it, all it takes is one cut to kill someone. Even if I give you a cut the size of a hair strand on your finger, the blade sends a cursed poison through your body, killing you in seconds."
Itachi's eyes widened a bit. He got a sudden flashback of the fight, where he stopped Akame from stabbing him just in time, barely feeling the touch of her blade on his neck, and when he was held at sword point by her when he was first brought here, realizing how close he was to dying AGAIN. "I see, so the blade is poisoned with a powerful toxin. And to think I almost got scratched by that." Itachi spoke calmly as if it was no big deal.
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT IT?!" Tatsumi yelled in shock and annoyance, since he was also almost killed by her blade and nearly fainted from panic when he found out what it did. Before he could continue, Najenda held out her right arm to stop Tatsumi from speaking any more, standing herself up. "As you already know, my name is Najenda. I was once a general in the Imperial Army until I realized how corrupt the empire truly was. That was when I fled and formed Night Raid to help the revolutionary army take down the tyranny that is the government in place now. As for a teigo, I do not have one either. I have not needed one yet but if I find one for myself then so be it." She sat down in her chair with her head being held in her left hand. "Now that you know about us, I think it is fair that we should know about you, don't you think Itachi?"
Everyone's eyes now glued to the Uchiha prodigy. "She brings up a point… but what do I tell them? It would be a bad idea to let them know everything. That will just lead to more questions. I will leave out my sharingan and its abilities, but the rest should be ok. Considering they already know I am an outsider I can get away with some things." Itachi nodded to Najenda.
"Well my abilities are different from these teigo you guys possess. I do not own one as you can probably guess. I have my weapons that you saw when you inspected my stuff which I have advanced proficiency with. On top of that, I have a unique ability that very few people have from my village. I can use my energy, or chakra as we call it, to perform jutsu. The type of jutsu I used to freeze Bulat, Sheele, Lubbock, and Mine is called genjutsu. This is where I create an illusion that disrupts the senses of my opponents which I can take advantage of. Some genjutsu are so powerful that they can even warp one's reality to whatever the caster wants, making everything feel real, from a drop of water hitting them to their arm being ripped apart. The other jutsu I possess is called ninjutsu. This is where I can use my chakra and use it to either create or use my surroundings to my advantage. There are 5 elements that can be used, each with sub-elements under them. The 5 elements are water, fire, earth, lightning, and wind. There are few that could use more than one, and even fewer that can use all. I am able to use fire, water, and wind -"
Mine finally had enough and spoke up. "Ok there is NO WAY you can use or create fire and water! There is no way!"
Tatsumi turned to Mine. "Hey can it would ya? It might be farfetched but at least let the guy t-"
Itachi smirked. "If you do not believe me, then let me show you." This earned him a few looks of interest, including from Najenda. "To perform ninjutsu, for those that even can, one must perform hand signs. Different hand signs will make different jutsu. I will do this one slow so you can see." Itachi moved his hands out in front of him a bit so everyone could see and watch him to see what he was going to do. Itachi then began to make the hand signs. "Horse, tiger, serpent, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger…" he spoke as he weaved the hand signs. Then, he took a breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" With that he exhaled, bring forth a fireball that burned throughout the room. Itachi kept it small as to not burn the whole place down. When the fire was finally out, he looked at the room.
Every single person, including Akame, were all starring in shock and awe. Itachi smiled, not realizing how fun it could be to show people who did not know jutsu what it was. "After years of training this, you can even weave signs so fast the human eye cannot detect it. For example…" Itachi turned to Mine quickly. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Suddenly a burst of water in the form of a small dragon came forth from the open window next to Mine, hitting her dead on and completely drenching her. The look on her face was one of pure anger, though it did not stop most of the room from laughing their asses off at their newly soaked comrade. Itachi smirked at his work. "As you saw, you did not even see me weave any hand signs however the signs I wove in the mere millisecond that you didn't see were," Itachi held out his hands and preformed the signs again but slower, "Ox, Monkey, Rabbit, Rat, Boar, Bird, Ox, Horse, Bird, Tiger, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Ox, Sheep, Snake, Pig, Sheep, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Dragon, Ox, Horse, Sheep, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Rat, Boar, Monkey, Dragon, Bird, Ox, Horse, Sheep, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Monkey, Rabbit, Boar, Dragon, Ox, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Rat, Boar, Bird."
Just from that alone, most of the rooms heads were spinning, totally confused at how Itachi could weave that many hand signs that fast. Itachi turned to Mine with a smirk. "Also, Mine, that is what you get for belittling me and doubting my credentials. Next time, hold back your comments until after you get to know a person. It can save you a lot of grief in the future."
Najenda looked truly impressed with her new acquisition. "I have to say, you truly are unique. I assume that with the training of your jutsu came the training of your body. I am very glad that I have you on our side, though I have one question," with this her smile turned to a serious look. "Have you ever killed anyone before?"
Itachi hid is confliction that he was feeling deep down. "I cannot let her know of my past, I would be killed immediately. But I cannot say I haven't and then look suspicious, especially after our first encounter…" Itachi finally came up with an answer to the question in the second that passed by. "I only killed a few times in my life, all to protect myself and my friends."
Najenda nodded. "I understand. Remember though from here on out you will be killing on purpose, so I expect no hesitation when you go to make the final blow. With that being said, if you have any requests please feel free to speak up."
Itachi looked to Najenda, with two ideas coming to mind. "You said you have a factory here. I would like to be able to have access to it so I can create more of my weapons so I do not run out. I can even maybe give them to some of us here. In addition, if it is ok with Lubbock, I would like to have some of his string so I can use them for advanced shuriken use."
Lubbock nodded to Najenda, who in turn looked back to the Uchiha. "Very well, that is ok by me. Now go get ready for your mission, you leave in about 20 minutes." With that, Itachi, Leone, and Bulat left to prepare for their task.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Jeez this place is filled with guards!" Leone said with a hint of excitement as she cracked her knuckles.
Itachi looked around the compound that they were in looking for their target. "This seems like it will be more annoying than I thought." He sighed. He did not like the fact that he had to kill the target, but possibly having to kill others made the situation worse.
Bulat put a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Don't worry my darling, we will be fine. I will protect you." He said with an odd charm behind it.
Itachi nodded to be polite. As Bulat left to scout around he turned to Leone with a bothered look. "Why was he like that all of a sudden?"
Leone giggled. "Don't you know he is gay? He might have the hots for you."
With this statement Itachi's mouth dropped, making Leone laugh hard. "What's wrong? Don't like gays?"
Itachi blushed at her statement and for the first time in a long time made his panic known. "NO NO it's not that! N-not saying that he would not be a bad guy but that he is not my type - not that I have a type of boy because I am not into boys!"
Leone would have been laughing her ass off if it wasn't for her and Itachi hearing voices coming closer. They both jumped into the dark alleyway below and watched as a few guards passed by them. Itachi looked out to the clearing and noticed a house was being heavily guarded and had most of its lights on. "That must be where he is. We should sneak in through the opening on the roof up top."
Leone nodded and led the way to the top. They peered in and watched as a meeting was taking place. In the room were a few men in more expensive clothing talking to a bulky man in a big chair. "So that's the douche bag huh?" Leone said with a growl.
Itachi took notice of each of the guard's locations in the room and outside. He also noticed that, by sensing out his chakra/energy, Bulat was already in the room, invisible with his Incursio, hiding in a closet that was within the room. Itachi took out a few smoke bombs and looked to Leone who knew what he had planned. In that instant he threw the smoke bombs, each exploding and blanketing the room with a thick smoke. Leone and Bulat took their chance to kill off some of the guards in the room as Itachi searched for the target, noting that the ajar window must have been his escape.
Itachi also jumped out the window and chased after the man, cornering him in an alleyway. The man smirked at his adversary. "Well seems Night Raid wants my head on a silver platter? Well, we will see if that happens." He pressed something on his chest, creating an invisible barrier around him that Itachi barely noticed. "With my teigo, Blind Shield, there is no way you can kill me… so JUST GO AND DIE!" The tax collector charged at Itachi, fists balled and ready to pummel his opponent.
Itachi jumped out of the way, throwing some kunai at the man, only to watch as they all got deflected. The man laughed in amusement. "Like I said, dumbass, you cannot get through this shield!" He jumped at a speed faster than Itachi thought he could move, just barely dodging his fist. Itachi was being more defensive, dodging and weaving from his attacks. He went to kick the shielded enemy, only to be pushed himself. He flew for a bit in the air, turning his head to his opponent. "Fire Style: Great Fireball!" Itachi sent a ball of fire toward the tax collector, who was now wearing a semi-scared look on his face. The attack connected, creating a smoke screen that blocked Itachi's vision.
After a few seconds, he heard a noise from the side, noticing that Leone and Bulat caught up to them and began to fight the tax collector as well. "There has to be a way around that barrier. Everything has a weakness" Itachi thought through many different options as the fight went on. Itachi chased after the target, firing off more fire balls and kunai, all to no avail. The tax collector laughed. "I have to say, a fire teigo is truly interesting. However that still will not be enough to beat me!" He said as he hit Itachi, pushing him a decent distance away.
Itachi was a tad slow to get up but he continued back to the fight. This was the moment when Itachi finally noticed something about his kunai that were embedded in the ground around his adversary. "When he steps over the kunai, they go within the shield, meaning there is a way in from the ground. Now the trick is how to get there."
Leone and Bulat were starting to get tired from constantly beating on the shield, only to see they did not even scratch the tax collector. "You idiot assassins," he said and punched Bulat away from the fight. "There is no way you can beat me with shitty attacks like that." He proceeded to slug Leone in the gut, sending her into a wall. Leone yelped in pain from the impact, falling to the ground. The tax collector slowly walked up to his pray, pulling out a sword from his side. "Now, this is where the little bitch says GOODNIGHT!" He swung down ready to end Leone's life. She looked up just in time to notice Itachi standing before her, with the blade through his left shoulder. Leone looked at the scene in absolute horror. "No… ITACHI!"
The man laughed even harder. "What a fucking fool! Trying to act like the hero, he deserved to -" at this moment the figure that was Itachi immediately fell, turning into a puddle of water, making the tax collector's face go from smug and triumphant to rage. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Suddenly Itachi popped out of the ground and in the barrier, appearing right behind his target, kunai in hand. "Your arrogance was your downfall." He said, swinging his kunai down, just barely missing any vital spots but cutting off where his teigo was attached to him. The man fell to the ground, screaming in pain and agony as he bled onto the floor.
Leone finally snapped out of her daze, realizing what just occurred. She smiled in relief that Itachi was okay. Itachi helped her up as Bulat approached them, his wounds now showing. "Nice going Itachi! Sorry I was late, when he sent me flying I ran into a few guards." Bulat spoke up. "But I am glad you are ok. I saw what you did there, very impressive."
The tax collector turned to look at his opponents, now realizing his shield was gone. "How, how did you get to me?!"
Itachi looked to the man, keeping a calm composure. "I noticed that when you stepped over my kunai, they went into your shield. This meant that the ground under you was not being protected by your shield. All I had to do was wait for the right moment. I saw you were about to kill my partner, so I ran in front of her and made a water clone that would take the blow, biding me time to dig under you and come up right next to you, letting me disarm your teigo. Everything has a weakness, and it was a matter of time before I found yours."
The tax collector growled in rage. "What kind of witchcraft is that?! Fire and water teigo?"
Leone butted in the conversation. "Itachi, that was good, but you didn't kill him yet. You missed his vital spots. You have to be the one to kill him to complete the mission."
Itachi looked hesitantly at Leone and nodded. "Well, part of my strategy worked. If I killed him right then and there, it would not have fit with my statement from before… I was hoping that I would get away without killing, but I see I have no choice." Itachi bent down to the tax collector, and with a swift stab to his neck with the kunai, the target was eliminated.
Bulat nodded to Itachi as he picked up the teigo their enemy was using. "You did well. Come on, let's go back to the base and assess any injuries we received."
XXXXXXXXXX
Akame, Najenda, and Mine were the only ones in the meeting room when Itachi, Leone, and Bulat arrived. "So, I see the mission was a success." Najenda began. "Leone, Bulat, how did Itachi do."
Bulat stepped forward. "He did very well in my opinion. He showed that he is more strategic and more aware of his surroundings than most of us are. He was able to outsmart the man even when the situation seemed hopeless, keeping his calm and not giving up."
Leone then stepped up as well. "Yea, he even risked his life to save my own. I now can say I trust him enough, not that I didn't trust him before. My only complaint is that he missed his vital points when he first got the chance to kill that bastard, but other than that he did great!"
Mine sighed. "He did not kill on the first strike? I thought we were assassins not stupid soldiers." It was quite obvious that she was still mad at him for his trick earlier.
Itachi paid no attention to her. What got his attention was the look Akame gave him. Her eyes and body giving a cold vibe with a hint of mistrust. "She really does not like me at all, does she?" He thought.
Najenda nodded. "Mine, take Bulat and go to the infirmary. His injuries seem pretty bad. Leone and Itachi stay here for a second."
With that Bulat left the room, leaving the others. Leone walked up to Najenda's side and looked to Itachi. "So Itachi, you did very well. I can say I almost trust you. Did you suffer any injuries?"
Itachi looked to Najenda in confusion. "No, no I didn't."
Najenda looked to Itachi, and then quickly to Akame. Before Itachi could react, Akame ripped off his cloak and shirt. "Wha, what the hell are you doing?!" He said, getting annoyed at the situation.
Akame ignored his comments. "Leone, get his legs." She said calmly. Leone without any hesitation grabbed his legs, allowing Akame to pull his pants down, leaving Itachi in nothing but his underwear. All of the girls in the room, except for Akame, were now madly blushing, just now taking in Itachi's physique. Though no one had a redder face than Itachi, since he was never this close to being naked in front of a girl before, let alone 3. Itachi watched with a face redder than the sharingan as Akame, still with her cold and calm expression, walked around his body, inspecting it for some strange reason. After a minute she looked Itachi in the eyes. "You were telling the truth. You were not injured."
Itachi was about ready to yell at Akame for her actions when he noticed something. For the first time, Itachi saw emotions in the one cut killer. A slight blush along with a soft smile appeared on her face. "I was worried that you were lying about you injury. I have seen people die because a wound of theirs got infected and they did not tell anyone. I want to apologize for being a bit cold to you. I hope we can move on and be friends." She extended her hand, looking into the Uchiha's eyes.
Itachi starred at Akame with some confusion, later turning into respect and even admiration. He knew he could treat himself if he was hurt and the wound got infected. The fact someone else that barely knew him was willing to go to such lengths just to see if he was ok made him happy. It showed him that even in this world there are people that are truly caring, even if they were assassins. Itachi smiled at Akame and took hold of her hand in his. "I understand, and I would like to be friends too."
Najenda smiled at the two of them finally being friendly. "Now I can say that I trust you. I am glad you are officially part of Night Raid, Itachi."
Itachi looked to Najenda. "I agree, however…" Itachi's blush returned as he looked down, his bangs covering his eyes. "… can I PLEASE have my clothes back?"
End of Chapter 2! Finally Akame accepts Itachi! Please review and give any feedback you can!
