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Revenge
2: Itachi

"Okay," Shika whispered. He looked carefully through the brush to see a tall, dark-haired man wrapped in a black cloak with red clouds walking toward them. "You guys know the plan?"

Naruto nodded and Shika looked to his other side at Sasuke. They shared a knowing look and Sasuke nodded, too.

"Alright, then. Move out."

Shika moved into position behind a tree near where he had just been hidden; Naruto moved to stealthily hide himself behind the log cabin; and Sasuke readied himself to face his brother.

Through the midst of a heavily wooded area cut a small path, down which Itachi now walked, that wound north to south. Where Itachi walked away from ran the Crooked River from east to west. Following it west would eventually lead a waterfall, the cliff of which would curve and run eastward past even the hideout sitting a couple miles down river from the waterfall. Itachi was heading north toward the log cabin that was the Akatsuki hideout now.

Sasuke took a deep breath as Itachi stepped past Sasuke into position. It was important that Sasuke stop him at a certain time in order to coincide with Shikamaru's plan. Sasuke took the breath to steady his nerves. He wasn't nervous about facing Itachi. He was nervous that he might kill him and take revenge for the things Itachi had done. The breath made its way through his system while Sasuke watched Itachi's back move away from him as it had done so many painful years ago. Sasuke stepped out of the bush and into the middle of the path.

Itachi stopped but did not turn.

"Itachi," Sasuke said plainly.

Itachi laughed emotionlessly. "Sasuke."

"I don't expect you to come with me willingly but I have orders to capture you and bring you back to Konoha."

"I bet you do." Itachi turned to face Sasuke. "I should just go along with you. That is exactly where I would find what I'm seeking."

Sasuke stared blankly, though he was wondering what Itachi could mean in his head.

"Although," Itachi continued, looking lazily over his shoulder toward the cabin before returning his gaze to Sasuke's face, "you seem to have brought that right to me, haven't you?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He was confused, but he had no desire to waste time asking questions.

"Curious, aren't we?" Itachi taunted. "There's no need to question me about my motives considering Akatsuki's plans are nearly complete. All we need is one more thing. We need only one last pawn to collect, that nine-tails boy. I do believe you know him, Sasuke, don't you?"

"What do you want with Naruto?" Sasuke demanded.

"Oh, no. We don't want Naruto. We only want his tails," Itachi clarified. "That's all. You can have him back once we extract them, but I should warn you that he'll be… hm… different."

"What do you mean different?"

Sasuke, Shikamaru was groaning in his head, this isn't the time. Just a few more steps backward and I've got him!

"Are you really that stupid, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

"Shut up!" Sasuke commanded. "I'm done playing games." He took notice of the lack of restriction in Itachi's movements and deduced that he had stopped him just a bit too short. He began to take a few threatening steps forward, hoping to motivate Itachi to move backward but Itachi's next words stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Death isn't a game, Sasuke. Is it? You should know."

Sasuke stared at Itachi. What could he mean by that?

"You'll know even better soon enough," Itachi assured. "That is what your friend will be when we're done with him, dead. Dead like the rest of the useless jinchuuriki we've caught."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Whatever Akatsuki was planning involved killing Naruto, and the fact that Naruto was now right under their noses was even worse.

Shit, Sasuke thought in a sudden realization. That's what he meant. I brought Naruto right to him.

"I don't know what you mean," Sasuke lied. "I haven't brought you anything but my own seething hatred."

"Don't be stupid. Your hatred means nothing to me." Itachi waved his hand dismissively. "You're telling me it's not the nine-tails hiding over there behind that cottage then?"

Sasuke's heart raced but he kept his face unmoved.

Fuck, both Naruto and Shikamaru thought to themselves.

Naruto was debating whether or not he should just reveal himself and whether or not that would still fit with the plan while Shika was praying for Sasuke to move Itachi into position.

Itachi took a step backward. "Don't be scared, little brother."

Sasuke's fear was turning to anger.

"I won't hurt you."

Sasuke's blood was boiling as Itachi took another step backward.

"I'll let you live but only to let you watch as I kill that pathetic boy."

Sasuke's hand gripped his katana tightly.

"Attack me," Itachi taunted with another step backward.

Come on, Shika thought in anticipation.

"I dare you," Itachi goaded. "It's what you've been dying to do ever since I killed everything you ever loved, isn't it?"

Sasuke threw a kunai at lightning speed at Itachi then, mainly to serve as a distraction as he closed in for the kill. It wasn't part of the plan, but Sasuke could stand this bastard's existence no longer. He was better off dead anyway. To his surprise, though, Itachi didn't move. Sasuke was snapped out of his rage when he heard Shikamaru yell and saw Itachi point toward a tree, mimicking Shika's movement to show Sasuke where he was.

"SASUKE! OW!"

"What?"

"He's under my jutsu!" Shikamaru yelled.

Sasuke looked back at Itachi to see a satisfied smirk cross his face. "You knew?"

Suddenly, Shika wailed with pain and fell face-forward into the path in a heap.

"Shika!" Naruto yelled with concern. There was no point in staying hidden anyway now that Itachi knew where he was. He stepped out from behind the cottage but kept his distance. He had no idea what to do with the plan now.

"What did you do?" Sasuke demanded.

"All I need is a finger to use my jutsu," Itachi said arrogantly. "It's his fault for making me point at him. He won't be up for a long time though, so let's not worry about him. Instead, let's worry about your precious friend."

Sasuke lunged at Itachi, but the elder quickly dodged and punched Sasuke in the face. He then turned to advance on Naruto.

"Naruto, run!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto was frozen with confusion though. Why in the world would he run?

"RUN!"

"What?" Naruto exclaimed before falling to his knees in agony. He heard Itachi's maniacal laughter before blacking out.

When Naruto came to he found himself in chains. He knew exactly where he was and why he was there. It was part of the plan. It must be back on track. He was chained to a wall beside the cottage that overlooked the drop-off of the cliff. There were chains binding both of his wrists and his neck. These were special chakra draining chains. Anyone chained to them would be unable to use any jutsu. He looked to his right to see Shika chained next to him, already awake. This surprised Naruto. This wasn't part of the plan. Everyone was looking intently at Naruto. Sasuke was standing before Naruto and Itachi was just off to the side.

The plan was for Sasuke to stop Itachi so that Shikamaru could bind him with his Shadow Jutsu. Once bound, Shikamaru would simply walk him over to the chains and have him lock himself in. These chains and their abilities were noted in the file given to Shika. If that plan failed, then Sasuke was to drive Itachi back toward the chains and Naruto would emerge at the last moment to help secure Itachi. That was why Naruto was placed behind the cottage so close to the wall. If that failed, then Naruto was to allow himself to be chained to the wall. Shikamaru knew it was a gamble letting their strongest asset be rendered useless but he also knew that Itachi would be well aware of Naruto's abilities and, in his vulnerable state, would definitely chain Naruto the wall if the chance arose. It would make escaping easier. He hadn't known, however, that Itachi was after Naruto to begin with.

Nonetheless, that would give Sasuke and Shika a chance to take him off guard or at least get him closer to the chains. The main objective was simple. Get Itachi in the chains so that his Sharingan Jutsu would be useless. Then, do whatever it took to knock him out long enough to return him to Konoha. Shika had made many concessions to the plan to account for anything that could happen but he hadn't made any plans for this. For what Naruto knew, Shika had severely underestimated the power of Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan. Shika was never supposed to be caught in these chains and Sasuke wasn't supposed to be looking so beat up.

Naruto was in a panic when he shouted at Sasuke, "The plan!"

"I know," Sasuke said.

Naruto wasn't sure why, but it sounded so cryptic when Sasuke said it. He didn't understand why Sasuke wasn't doing anything.

"You know," Shikamaru started saying, "it'd be real easy for you to kill him now. Just let us go."

Naruto looked at Shikamaru in surprise. "What?" he exclaimed indignantly.

"You can even keep Naruto. Just let me go."

"WHAT?"

"I'm not that stupid, kid," Itachi said, waving a dismissive hand in his direction. "You're not going anywhere. Plus, I promised Sasuke that he could watch his friend die."

"SHIKAMARU! YOU..." Naruto started shouting, but he was too astonishment to find actual words. The anger of betrayal was welled inside him simultaneously. He would never betray his friend's this way and he simply couldn't believe that Shika would.

"If you have any mercy left in your heart," Shika continued, ignoring Naruto, "you'd just kill Sasuke now."

Itachi looked questioningly at Shika, apparently intrigued.

"You once loved him… didn't you?"

Itachi's eyes slit into a glare. "Do you know why I killed my clan? To measure my power. I never loved Sasuke. I tolerated him."

"Then why did you let him live?" Shika questioned.

"It'd be fun to let him thirst for revenge and seek me later on," Itachi said nonchalantly. "It'd make an interesting fight."

"I think you couldn't bring yourself to kill him," Shikamaru disagreed. "You loved him and that made you too weak."

Itachi held a glare on Shikamaru's face.

But Shikamaru continued. "Well, he's clearly not strong enough."

"SHIKA!" Naruto shouted.

"He's failed."

"SHIKA!" Naruto bellowed louder. He was so angry that he thought the emotion would choke him.

"Don't let him live such a pitiful life. If you're strong enough to kill him, that is."

Naruto made an angry and unintelligible sound as he reached to punch Shikamaru in the face. The anger allowed him to break the chain binding him from the wall but his other restraints kept him from connecting his punch. The chain clanged loudly as Naruto flung his arm wildly, trying to grab Shika. "You bastard!" he was shouting. Shika's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Shut up!" Itachi growled at Naruto. "It seems I'll have to knock you out."

Naruto paid no attention to Itachi. He kept a murderous glare trained on Shikamaru but stopped his movements. He was building up concentration to try and break his other arm free.

Little did Naruto know, Shika had a plan of his own that he was setting into motion. He ignored his friend's menacing glare to continue taunting Itachi. "Sasuke doesn't even deserve another minute of his life. It's pitiful. Kill him, if you can. Push him over that cliff. It would be so easy, if you had the—"

"Shut up!" Itachi demanded and, for a moment, he displayed real emotion before wiping his face clean of it. Shikamaru had successfully gotten into his head. "It would be troublesome to have him on my conscience any longer. I should have simply killed him when I had the chance. Fine, then." Itachi rolled his eyes as if he was bored. "Down you go." He kicked Sasuke's legs out from under him swiftly.

Naruto's breath caught in his throat at the sight. "SHIKA!" he growled loudly. "NO!" he screamed as he lunged for Sasuke.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author Note: You can find a link to a layout of what the land looks like in the links section on my main profile page.