Sorry for the late update: got distracted by GaaSaku month, not to mention studying REALLY hard. ;P . And because it's been awhile, I feel I need to reiterate: this story is AU. There are things that happened in canon both before and after Itachi's death that still happened here, even though here he never actually died.
Oh, and thank-you to everyone for the ideas for Sai's nickname for Itachi, but mostly to kazster ‒ I went with yours. Full credit to you. I absolutely loved your idea. ;) You know, while trying to decide on it, I remembered he doesn't have one for Kakashi either… he just called him Kakashi-Senpai in canon, right? I think so. Anyway, enjoy! ^_^
…
– Chapter 3 –
.:. Memories .:.
…
Sasuke,
I had this trip figured out, how long it might take, where to go, and what would be needed to see its completion, but this… why is her presence so startling?
Sasuke… did you ever know her, really? I find myself torn now, between wanting to keep her alive and strapping her down and demanding answers... painfully. There's a glint in her eyes I don't trust, a strange version of the formerly kind woman. I greeted her normally, she responded as anticipated, and nothing seemed amiss at the time. I wonder if maybe being in prison had dulled my senses. Did it do the same to you? I heard you were incarcerated for a short time in here, though shorter than my stay was, before you went truly mad.
What went wrong?
Itachi.
–
Maintaining the chain of command was a tricky thing, even when said chain was clear. Leaders not only had to be resilient, intelligent, and level-headed, but also attuned to the needs of their companions. While it was true that, in an ANBU squad, any hint of disrespect within the ranks was quickly remedied or punished, the normal Jounin led squads weren't quite so stringent. Itachi remembered that every squad he'd ever been on was uniform like ANBU. Apparently, that was unusual. He was unusual.
So when talk began almost immediately, on how they were all looking forward to seeing Sakura so much, his first thoughts were about their lack of professionalism. Their guards weren't down, but it was still improper. He didn't partake in their reminiscing, mostly because he had nothing to add, and kept his eyes ahead, remembering his own past instead. The things he missed most…
During their ANBU days, his friendship with Kakashi began the moment they left the Hokage tower after delivering their mission report and ended the moment they arrived at said tower for a new mission, to be carried out immediately. There was a clear-cut set of rules, and he always followed them. But on the rare occasion he took the Uchiha pariah up on his invitation to hang out, Itachi decided that despite the impropriety of it all, he enjoyed Kakashi's company.
His ANBU squad was his life, so it was fitting that they were also his closest friends – outside his clan.
Itachi glanced at the copy ninja as Sai started an argument with Naruto over who had the better reconnaissance related jutsu for the mission. The man was equally silent, and perhaps hadn't changed at all on that front as well. Itachi preferred travelling with people who didn't talk so much – Kisame was actually a mixture of both, not always talking, but with a lot to say when he did.
"It's almost sundown," Kakashi interrupted Naruto's ranting – the blonde was a little louder than usual, which he guessed was due to knowing they were taking action now, to find Sakura. "We should make camp for the night."
Itachi silently complied, remembering Tsunade's warnings about the group dynamic of Team Kakashi. They were apparently also weird, even for ninja who'd been a team for years. So he watched, listened, and did as Kakashi told him, finding his thoughts drifting to the task ahead of them as everyone finally settled around the fire (it was apparently Sai's turn to cook). Tracking units from all over the five great nations had been searching for Akatsuki since the war ended, almost like ravenous dogs. Supposedly, according to Tsunade, there now was evidence that some high profile members were still alive. Sakura Haruno wasn't the only person reported K.I.A seemingly "coming back to life".
It didn't sit well with Itachi, despite the part of him that actually did recall being a part of that group, with amity (some members more than others, of course). He was missing something important, like a revealing jigsaw piece.
Dinner was… different.
As though trudging through forest and watching Naruto flailing over the edge of a cliff while Sai casually tells him he'll let him fall to his death if he doesn't calm down hadn't been bad enough, Itachi found himself having to fend off Kakashi's questions on Icha Icha. The copy ninja had to have known Itachi didn't read the volumes he'd given him. But he humoured him, responding when Kakashi talked with an underlying question, without giving anything away. He used the "I'm eating" excuse to remain as silent as possible, taking his time with his food.
But he should have known that Naruto at least, wouldn't let him get away with that.
"You still haven't given Itachi a nickname," the blonde said, cutting the former Root member off in midsentence about… whatever it was.
Sai turned to look at the Uchiha. He'd been thinking about that the whole time – everyone else was easy, but Itachi was too unknown to him. No matter how much he studied him, he couldn't see him like he did with everyone else, but he'd settled on a nickname anyway. Firstly, he considered trying out different ones, seeing how they sounded, but several times during the day, he'd gone to address him in all manner of ways only to fall silent. It wasn't easy.
But Sai put on his best smile and complied with Naruto's hidden demand. He cocked his head at the Uchiha, who actually looked interested in what they were saying (first time all day). "Yes, you're a friend now‒" (Naruto's eye twitched at the implication) "‒and you look like a girl‒" (Itachi struggled not to scowl openly) "‒so your new name will be Princess."
Naruto threw his head back and laughed. His voice echoed around them, like a wave of unrelenting chakra, until Sai moved to cover his mouth (and nose). Laughing turned to giggling, and then giggling became choking. Choking convulsed and finally Naruto forcibly pushed the artist away in an effort to breathe.
"We're not in Konoha anymore, dickless," he reminded the blonde.
"Don't let him get to you," Kakashi said to Itachi, ignoring the antics of his teammates. "He does it to all of us."
Naruto let out a gasp that ended on a grunt. "Easy for you to say."
The copy ninja just smiled under his mask and moved out of the circle around the fire. "I'll take the first watch."
The fire went out, Itachi settled down after being "volunteered" for the second watch, and closed his eyes.
If it were not for the Hokage, he'd be dead – not exactly something he'd ever thanked her for though. He knew that as a result of generations of inbreeding, the Uchiha genes were now tainted, and he hadn't expected to survive as long as he had. But under those battle-worn hands, he'd been given new life. No matter how intricately he'd woven the web around himself and Sasuke, some things just weren't meant to happen he supposed.
No-one could control fate, let alone the people around them.
A few hours later, he woke to Kakashi shaking him gently for his watch. But instead of going to bed, the copy ninja stayed up, pulling his Icha Paradise out and pretending he didn't need sleep. Itachi found himself more curious, as time went by, about the Kunoichi they were all out here to save. He'd planned to save Sasuke, Naruto had fought to save Sasuke, and now all of them were tracking down a lead on yet another wayward member of Team Seven.
"What do you remember about the day she disappeared?" Itachi asked Kakashi, knowing his old friend knew immediately who he was talking about.
Kakashi frowned, rubbing the material of his mask as though it was fragile, and put his book down (there was only the light of the moon to aid him, and he supposed he shouldn't strain his eye any further). "She was healing a chunin from Iwa when I arrived on the battlefield. I think Sakura had been working on him for a while though – amongst other things, the blood had dried. She's got this strange aura about her when she's so deep in concentration, even on the battlefield, that you just know the person under her chakra would be dead if any other medic was trying to heal them." He shook himself visibly and looked up at Itachi. "The girl survived and her medics took over after that. There was no sound a part from the battle, but she left the area quickly, and I lost her in the chaos and never saw her again."
"What was she doing leaving‒" Itachi started.
"When we see her again," Naruto called from his sleeping bag (without moving), interrupting them both. "You can ask her yourself."
Itachi watched him (Sai shifted, his eyes flickering over to the Uchiha, before rolling away from the dead fire). It seemed Kakashi wasn't the only one unable to sleep right now. So what was the point of "taking watch"?
…
Someone was following them. He could sense them. There was no chakra signature, just this strange feeling of eyes boring intensely into his back. Itachi relayed this to his taichou, and much to Naruto's chagrin, Kakashi took his warning seriously.
"Everyone stop," Kakashi ordered, and Naruto groaned.
He had apparently woken up on the wrong side of the nebúkuro (sleeping bag) this morning – again, they had seemingly gotten no sleep, but Itachi decided to pretend they did. They had only been travelling for an hour, and Naruto was as cranky as ever.
The blonde had his sage mode, and it took a few choice words from Sai and a direct order from Kakashi to have him reluctantly search the area. Naruto had felt this chakra somewhere before, but couldn't remember where. He nodded to Kakashi. "There's someone here."
Once they stopped, their pursuer came closer, still hidden from visual recognition; after a moment, Itachi realised suddenly who it was.
"Relax your guard," he said to his companions, and all but Naruto heeded his words, though they still looked concerned (he didn't blame them).
"Who is it?" Kakashi asked.
"You can come out now," Itachi said, his voice echoing over the area. He smiled, allowed his body language to indicate he wasn't going to attack her, and waited patiently for the former Akatsuki member to leave her hiding place.
"You haven't changed a bit," Konan said, appearing in a swirl of paper.
Naruto finally let his guard down, and Itachi actually felt slightly insulted. It would seem the jinchuriki actually trusted Konan, at least to some degree. It bothered him; where could they possibly have met? But then it occurred to him – Konan was a woman ‒ not that Naruto came off as sexist enough not to consider a Kunoichi a threat. But considering how deeply he clearly cared about his pink haired team mate, and how closely he always guarded her on the few occasions Itachi had witnessed them both in the heat of battle, it made sense that Naruto would respond more favourably to Konan than the man he blamed for Sasuke's death.
Itachi filed that away to muse on later and accepted the impromptu hug Konan was offering him. She had always been one of the kindest people he'd met, despite her affiliation with the Akatsuki. Her relationship with Nagato was the only thing tying her to the organisation, and once he was gone, Itachi wasn't surprised to hear that she'd left.
Still, he'd read the reports (as a part of the pre-trial information Tsunade had gathered in order to defend him) stating she'd been killed by Kabuto.
Konan seemed to sense his hesitance and smiled. "I'll explain everything to you Itachi, but not here, in the open."
"Explain what?" Kakashi asked.
She nodded to him. "Akatsuki is reforming under a new leader, and even with Zetsu dead, their spies are everywhere."
"Who's the new leader?"
"I don't know."
Kakashi frowned at her. "You understand that we can't trust anything you say at face value?"
"I get it copy ninja."
"Call me Kakashi."
Konan just nodded.
"Sai?" Naruto asked. "What do you think?"
"Let's backtrack to that roadside inn we saw earlier," the former Root operative said. "It had a vacancy sign and no trace of recent chakra activity."
Konan glanced at him, looking impressed, but just said, "lead the way, then."
"Did your pet rats tell you it was safe?" Naruto asked the artist, a childish, sing-song tone to his voice, referring to the fact that the former Root member always sent ink mice and/or rats to scout ahead in unfamiliar territory.
Sai fiddled with his backpack as he heeded Konan's suggestion. "No, I merely watched where I was going, unlike you."
The half hour walk back to the empty roadside, alongside the nearly empty inn, was not nearly as silent as their destination. The only ones that spoke were Naruto and Sai, but the blonde was doing enough talking for all of them. When Naruto had come to his prison cell, with Kakashi and Tsunade, he'd been withdrawn (though determined). Itachi remembered someone telling him that the last jinchuriki wasn't himself, and he could see that, but he was definitely louder than he'd expected – a shadow of his former self, but definitely cut in the image of Naruto Uzumaki.
"Are they always like that?" Konan asked, once they'd arrived, and Kakashi shrugged his shoulders.
"More before the end of the war."
The inn had no occupants other than the proprietor when they entered, for which Team Kakashi was glad. Itachi ignored the glare Naruto gave him when he suggested they stay overnight instead of heading out as soon as possible. So Kakashi spoke to the owner, and paid for two rooms; he didn't want to be overheard, so he suggested the hot springs.
"Luckily for you Kakashi-Sensei," Naruto said happily. "It's mixed bathing."
"I'm not going in the water," Konan said. Instead, she sat waterside. "I'm not here for a vacation."
Itachi did a quick surveillance jutsu on the area before sitting down next to her, and his dark orbs on the rest of his Konoha companions as he addressed his fellow, former Akatsuki member. "You said we needed privacy, and we have it. Why are you here?"
All eyes fell on Konan.
"I'm here to help you find Haruno-san," she said. She smiled at the barely concealed look of surprise on Itachi's face. "I know where she is."
Itachi highly doubted that. It couldn't possibly be this easy, could it? They'd only been on the road for twenty-four hours, and just happened to run into Konan, who'd been presumed dead for months, on his first mission out of Konoha – and despite his own acceptance of his fate, he'd been surprised by this new information. How could she have caught on so quickly? He'd never doubted Konan's intelligence, but this bordered on clairvoyance… or some such nonsense. What were the odds she was even alive, would run into them, and have precisely the information they were searching for?
Konan watched Itachi as he took in her words – the rest of his companions were equally either stunned or calculating. She was surprised Naruto, of all people, hadn't said something loud and positive yet. But she could at least read Itachi like a book; hinted scepticism flickered over his face before he managed to hide it quickly. Of course, her story had holes, as she wasn't finished talking yet. But he was already going over her silent proposition in his head (he knew her well enough to see there was more to this than just finding Sakura Haruno – the new Akatsuki leader swam about his head).
Konan smiled at his contemplative expression; some things never changed, but it was Kakashi who called her out on it.
"So you just happened to find us in the forest, so soon after leaving Konoha?" The copy ninja asked, not holding back the suspicion in his voice. Naruto and Sai both looked at him, startled, as he continued. "I find that hard to believe."
Konan smiled. "Really? Then who did you think it was that passed on the information to your Hokage that Sakura Haruno was still alive?"
…
X X X
…
Put your hands up if you thought that really was just a coincidence… Eh. Oh yeah, and I do know what I want Sai to call Konan. I friggin love it… I'm having WAY too much fun with this. n_n There was something else I was going to say here, but I forget. Whatever. Lotsa love. ^_^
R&R.
A quick poll:
Who is your favourite Akatsuki member?
