A/N: Hey y'all! Welcome back for the next chappie of A Hokage's Promise. Hmmm, things seem to be heating up a bit… Well, that's to be expected of course. It'll be interesting for y'all to see what happens from this point onwards. Hehes
I hope you all enjoy what happens this time. Please remember to favorite, follow, etc. along with leaving some nice reviews. You feedback is always appreciated.
Chapter 4: Echo
Glaring at the Uchiha, Naruto went with him to where he's being led to. In the midst of all of this, Deidara took Kakashi to an empty room. Setting him down he turned his attention to him. He would be blunt about this, knowing his partner didn't want to wait forever on him to finish up. The last thing he wanted is to get scolded by Sasori yet again. The time before last he had used his iron sand on him. It had taken what felt like almost ages to get it all out of his system. It shuddered him down to the core when such memories tried coming to the surface, brushing them aside to focus on the task at hand.
"Ok, so here's the deal about what's going on, un. We don't want to extract Kurama or Shukaku from their vessels. We want them to join. If that Uchiha scum did his job right then he should've gotten Naruto to agree. We see the same value in strength and skill in you, hmph. So, do you want to join or die?" explained the flamboyant artist hastily, being blunt about the whole thing.
"I'll never join you. Death would be welcome compared to joining the level of your scum," sneered Kakashi in response.
"Oh? So, you don't want to protect Naruto, un?" taunted Deidara, knowing what would get under his skin.
Kakashi stared calmly at Deidra as fear pricked at his heart, "Naruto can protect himself. Besides, if I turned to what I detest then I wouldn't be worthy of being around him."
"But he's already agreed," smirked Deidara, interested to see how far it'd take until Kakashi would crack. "Would you really be willing to break a promise to die instead of staying with Naruto?"
"I'd have to have Naruto tell me that himself. Sorry, but I don't believe a word you say," he knows that he's playign with fired although he doesn't mind getting burned in the pursuit of keeping the jinchurriki safe even if it's at the stake of his own life.
"Then I'll go get him. You stay here, un," snickered Deidara before leaving for a few moments to see if he could find the Uchiha to explain the situation, knowing he wouldn't be pleased with him even though this would be the only way to go about it to ensure they wouldn't encounter any more resistance.
Itachi heard the loud blonde coming down the hallway. Sighing, he realized there would now be two loud blondes. Hs here instead of only one. Sure, one of them he could handle without any issues, bu two is going to be a handful. Fortunately, he has plenty of practice dealign with difficult people considering with how his brother is like; especially when he was younger.
Looking up at Deidra when he approached, he asked evenly, "Where is Hatake?"
"I need Naruto for a moment. Kakashi won't crack unless he helps," said Deidara simply. "That and well...Sasori hasn't taught me his torture methods for interrogation yet, hmph."
Itachi nodded, handing the chain to Deidara, putting his trust in the bomber for once. Hopefully he wouldn't disappoint him. From his performances in the past, Itachi knows all too well it should be fine. the comment about Sasori's methods did amuse him, wondering if he would teach him any of them; especially with how they're created. Seeing how the two act around one another reminds him a bit of how he and Kisame are except different. Still, the sentiment remains in his mind, hoping it would help ease any of the oncoming headache sure to follow shortly with how this probably would go down.
"I'll give him back when I'm done, hmph," he then went back to the room before putting Naruto beside him. "Ok, I'm back, un. Hopefully this will be enough for you to accept the offer..."
Kakashi stared at Naruto, not saying anything. Opening both eyes, he could tell it's the real Naruto. Why he would think a trick would be in play is beyond him, but knowing the Akatsuki are known for using their underhanded tactics made him wary.
"Hi," waved Naruto, wondering why Kakashi is giving him a weird look.
"Naruto, are you...okay?" Kakashi asked, looking for any signs of duress.
"Yeah, I'm fine," reassured Naruto, looking at him closely. "You don't look ok."
"Have you made any decisions about...anything?" Kakashi asked, not wanting to give anything away in case this is somehow all a ploy.
"Um, well, they're not going to kill Gaara and I. So, yeah, I agreed to join them," shrugged Naruto, hoping he hadn't made a grave mistake about this.
Kakashi blinked disbelievingly. "Y...you did what?"
"It's either that or death," said Naruto, hugging Kakashi. "Besides, we could learn some stuff about them or whatever. It's more useful to be alive, ya know."
Kakashi sighed. His life is utteraly in both the figurative and literal sense, fucked . He couldn't be with Naruto because of his promise...even if he became Akatsuki. It's also due to how he's still a shinobi... In his opinion right now, he saw himself as a bad shinobi, but still a shinobi in all senses of the word. At least he could still see him like this, whilst protect him.
Sighing in defeat, he said to him, "Fine, I will join."
"Good choice, hmph," grinned Deidara, taking them back to where Itachi would be waiting on him with the two captives.
Itachi looked to Deidra, waiting for an answer. Gauging by how he seemed pleased with himself, he guessed that he had accomplisehd what he set out to do. It made him think that Deidara isn't as useless as he coems off to be. Some would say taht he's harsh, but Uchiha's are a certain way for valid reasons. Most don't quite understand it while others do to an indepth level.
"He agreed to it, hmph," not liking to have to interact with Itachi, but Deidara sucked it up; especially knowing he'd be with his lover soon enough.
Itachi nodded, "Take them all to the leader."
"yeah, yeah," scowled Deidara even though he did just that to take the two to the leader's office, knowing this would prove to be a longer day than expected.
Itachi then went, opening the cage for Gaara, grabbing the chakra chain, before taking him back to the cold interrogation room. Eyeing him suspiciously, the Kazekage didn't know what to make of the Uchiha. To him, they all seemed to be the same, having encountered Sasuke one too many times than he'd like to. Being in this predicament felt like it's been a long time coming. At least it's in a way that he felt he could work this to his advantage, wanting to protect his people no matter what the cost may be.
"What do you want, Uchiha?" Gaara demanded to know.
"Join us or die," said the raven haired male simply as if it's common sense.
"I see... Well, alright then," stated Gaara, eyeing him warily, unsure if this is the right decision to have made so brashly, thinking he may have taken a page out of Naruto's book for once in his life. "I'll accept I guess... It's not like I have much of another choice..."
Itachi nodded before he led Gaara out to the leader's room. In here they would be evaluated, needing the leaders approval before going any further with this endeavor. What does worry Itachi as to what could be going on with his younger brother, having been informed that Sasuke is still with Orochimaru. this intel still concerned him down to his core, hoping he would be able to go find him given the chance. When arriving there he noticed that Naruto and Kakashi are already there. Now, just a waiting game for when the leader would arrive to tell them what happens next. Visibly, Kakashi looked miserable, wondering how he could still pursue his passions all the while maintaining his vow to his former sensei. In a few moments time more or less, one of the Akatsuki leaders who is the Hokage of Ame walked in. He's known as Pain. He has red spiky hair, piercings on his face, etc. Glancing over his shoulder he absently examined the specimens given to him to thoroughly evaluate. It doesn't impress him who's on the chopping block today.
"You've been given a deal by our organization. By joining this means you've become missing ninja and criminals to the shinobi world," explained Pain as he sat behind his desk. "But I can assure you here it's more or less like a family of misfits. So, you'll fit in well. There will be a test given to each of you as initiation. Each member has gone through this before when they first joined us. After you have successfully completed it then you will be given a cloak and ring to signify that you're a part of Akatsuki."
Kakashi simply stared forward. Life seemed to be pretty meaningless now. He couldn't be with the Leaf, while he couldn't be with Naruto. It made him feel the tongues of depression licking at him as if an invisible demon could be stealing the life force of an unknowing victim. The quicksand could be felt in tenfold within him, unsrue of how he could pull himself out. Hopefully, he can hide this from Naruto, not wanting him to worry about his condition. Meanwhile, Naruto seemed oddly calm about all of this. It's almost like he thought this would happen one day or another. it wouldn't surprise Kakashi considering Kurama knows more than any human ever will. The same could be said about Shukaku.
"Alright then," agreed Gaara, accepting the scroll given to him.
"Upon seeing that you, Hatake, and the Nine Tails jinchurriki are a pair I'll give you a test that requires both of your skill sets," explained Pain before giving Naruto the scroll. "Now, you are dismissed for now."
Kakashi nodded, following Naruto out. Having picked up on the vibe Kakashi is throwing off, it made the blonde frown. Deciding to question him when they're out of earshot of the others, he hoped that he would be able to help him out. It bothered him when those he cared about are upset, angry, etc. pertaining to such negative emotions. What he didn't know is how well he would be able to assist him.
"What's wrong?" asked Naruto quietly when they had left to go do this so called test of Pain's.
"Don't worry, Naruto. I will be fine," Kakashi cupped Naruto's face before catching himself, patting Naruto's shoulder instead, mentally cursing himself for having downgraded. "So, what is our test?"
"Still don't really believe you're ok," muttered Naruto before opening the scroll. "Ok, looks kind of simple. We're supposed to find Hidan new sacrifices. So, it's kind of a fetch quest."
Kakashi didn't say much, following Naruto glumly. Approaching a small village as the sun set, The Silver Fang looked over at Naruto. There's a sense of longing behind his iron walls. It's ad when the forbidden fruit is just within reach even though he felt hesitant on making a different move out of the norm. he would definitely need to start questioning his life choices soon at this rate.
"What's the plan of attack?" asked the Jounin quietly, not wanting to be found in case there might be someone after them.
"Hidan gave pretty specific instructions for who to look for. So, probably try to lure them with Pakkun and we'll see what works from there," suggested Naruto.
Kakashi nodded, calling his dogs. It's fairly easy to go about this. What he hoped is that he would be able to distract himself, not wanting to lose focus with his desired individual so clsoe within touching distance. So far, he's been able to restrain himself well enough. What also weighed heavily upon him is knowing sooner or later he would slip up. It's an inevitable occurance no matter which way he looked at it.
"You called boss?" asked Pakkun, appearing with the rest of the pack.
Kakashi gave instructions and before he the description to Pakkun, "We need them alive."
"Gotcha," nodded Pakkun before trotting off with the rest of the pack hounds.
"Now we wait…"
A/N: Eep, done with chappie four! I'm terribly sorry it's taken me what seems like almost ten thousand years for me to update this. At least I did eventually. Hopefully you all enjoyed it and was a good enough length. Hehes
The next one will be out shortly whenever it's finished being written up. Hopefully that won't be too long of a wait for it. Until then, please remember to review, darlings!