A/N: Note the secondary genre is changed from drama to action/adventure. Allow me to make my point: you may not like reading action, and I don't like writing action, but I feel it's necessary to include it anyway. Thank you for your patience.

Lonewolf4ever: operation stage one: cleared is Voreka's note to herself that she's done gathering enough info on her captors to plan her next move, referring back to the start of the second chapter. :D I know it's a bit hard to follow some bits because of the time between updates.


Chapter 4 – "I'll crush your bones."

"Kisame-san, let me take a look at your wounds."

They had stopped for a break just as the sun had fully set. Even she was breathing heavily by then. He gave her a questioning look, but looked like he didn't want to spare breath to ask about it. Turning to give her a better angle, he pointed at the slash ripping through the shoulder of his cloak, and also rolled up his sleeve enough for her to see the less recent wound on his forearm. Both on his right arm. His sword arm.

I see. Even with his massive strength, with a sword that size, his movements have to be wide. That limits his mobility and reaction rate, and can also create a lot of openings.

Too bad my weakness is in speed. I'll have to find some other way.

"May I?" she asked, tugging on his sleeve with one hand and gathering chakra with the other.

Kisame raised a brow in surprise. "You're a medic?" But she took the fact that he didn't pull away meant she was allowed to go ahead.

"No, but closing most wounds I can do, depending on how deep they are. It's pretty straightforward." She finished tuning the amount of chakra in her hand. "This will hurt."

He grunted an acknowledgement. Voreka let her hand hover over his wound, letting chakra seep through to induce cell replication and hemostasis. It was a relatively slow process which demanded her devote concentration, not something she could do while in battle, without the expertise that of a medical nin.

Slowly, the cut on his forearm started to close. She let out the breath she'd been holding when it sealed completely.

"Itachi-san," Kisame hailed him as she worked on the slash down his shoulder. "Do ya think they'll make connections with the direction we're going? We don't have enough time to take a detour to throw them off."

"…" The red eyed man didn't glance back at them. "…We have no choice."

"Next time they won't come unprepared," Kisame foretold. Itachi inclined his head in a silent agreement, pausing before replying "…Yes. Next time, it'll be hunter nins."

"I'm curious. Where are we headed for anyway?" She interrupted the gloom, returning Itachi's sidelong stare unflinchingly. He seemed to consider enlightening her for a long moment, before glancing at Kisame.

"Hidden Grass domain, Tenchikyou, the Heaven and Earth Bridge," Kisame supplied. He grinned at her unaffected expression, guessing she didn't know where that was anyway. "We need to reach the bridge in three day's time, to take down two birds with one stone." That was all he volunteered. Without being told, Kisame released the straw hat hanging from his back, leaving the two of them by themselves to find some food.

"But…Itachi-san," Voreka asked, a bit hesitantly, "how long do you plan on detaining me?"

If it weren't for the deceiving dark, she could've sworn that once again, a near invisible smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. She saw it through the unbuttoned top of his cloak.

"…Long enough."

They stared at one another, and this time unease ran up and down her spine.

Now that I think of it…I wonder…can his eyes see through the effect level of genjutsu on my disguise?

She feigned a cough, breaking the dramatic tension. "Excuse me, I need to be practicing." Well, at least it served as a reason to ignore him completely.

Resting herself on the ground, she took up where she'd left off. The basics of the Yamanaka's mind-switching jutsu were to create two minds by splitting one's consciousness in half, which was as hard as it sounds. She furrowed her brow in deep focus.

Urgh. This is bad. It may be impossible for me to master this without their birth inherited talent. Her eyes shot open. Tsch. What am I saying? I am-…I can-…I can-…

"Can you cook?"

She looked up at the silhouette of Kisame's form, suddenly at a lost for a response.

"Just checking to see, because I'm not much of a cook, and I'd like to give Itachi-san a break, ya?"

Voreka tilted her head and looked past the man at Itachi's turned back. So he thought Itachi-san needed a break, did he?

"…Uhm…I-…" She stared at the batch of wild potatoes and carrots in his hand. "Uhm..."

"…A woman's not a woman if she if she can't take care of herself." Itachi's voice carried to them. She blinked. He turned in his half-kneeling, half-sitting position. "…Since…a woman's natural place is to remain at home, taking care of others…"

A flash of red swept across her vision. She twitched. What is this…resentment I feel…? Their eyes met, and the challenge in his was unmistakable. She dropped her gaze, rising slowly to her feet. Knowing that she is an Amazon, what he just said was a deliberate insult. Still…why would he make such obvious provocation?

From next to her, she sensed Kisame look back and fro between them, not quite comprehending what was happening.

"The point is…You don't belong on a battlefield, Girl, you are foolish to think otherwise."

Her eyes widened at his cold words.

"But why not? I won't be a burden, I swear!"

The boy smiled gently, bowing his head apologetically.

"Where my sempai goes, I will go." Then his voice became solemn. "In the real world, fighting is not just a competition, Mezhari-chan. Please stay here, the path I follow is sewn with dangers you can't possibly imagine."

"B-but Haku-kun…! You promised…!"

He silenced her with a kiss on her forehead.

"I'll always be with you, as the shadow you must catch up to. And when that day arrives, come and look for me. Please forgive me."

Voreka let out the breath she'd unconsciously been holding. "I am not. weak." How dare he imply that she was incompetent! She had sworn to herself that no one would ever think her weak again.

…Because that time…being weak…lost her the one person she cared about most.

Seeing her clenched fists, Itachi momentarily shut his eyes with a mocking humph. He rose, to his full height, so that their eyes were leveled across the small distance between them. Slowly, he opened his eyes again, and she was surprised to see that the red irises were gone. As if he could switch them on and off.

He threw something at her feet – no, not at her feet, next to her feet – and it struck the soil with a thud, its dark solid form sticking upright out of the ground. A kunai. A clear challenge, as if it wasn't obvious enough before.

"Itachi-san," Kisame started to protest, perhaps out of consideration for her, perhaps for both.

"Don't worry, Kisame-san." Voreka let out a deep breath and smiled, at them both. With a reasonable voice, she declared, "I'm a shinobi." She gave Itachi the cold shoulder. "I don't let emotions dictate me." Flawless. She smirked to herself, sensing rather than seeing Kisame's awe at her words. Now.

She spun around, within the space of a second, kicking the kunai with her heel, sending it spiraling towards Itachi. He arced himself backwards just as it zipped past above him. Nice reflexes. She raised her hands, fingers flying in performing seals.

Tsch. This would've been a lot easier with my weapons. Looks like I'll have to compromise.

Wind Technique: Wind-forgery!

She released a visible whiff of chakra from the palms of her hand. Let's see you dodge this one! The chakra diffused in the air, solidifying into razor sharp shuriken. A lot of shuriken. She waved a hand. Go!

She saw his eyes widen. No, he probably didn't expect that. There wasn't enough time to avoid getting hurt, to do anything, actually. But she had underestimated him.

Wh-what?

Her wind shuriken had dissipated when they struck their target. Except their target was no longer Itachi. A maimed log fell lifelessly to the ground.

Th-this is…! She felt movement from behind, raising her arms in time to block his weapon, the kunai which dug into the back of her left hand. Pain. A small splash of dark red blood, a few stray drops landing on his cheek, for they were face to face now.

Shit. I knew he was fast but…this is no illusion! His jutsu speed is…faster than mine!

"Itachi-san…" Voreka heard Kisame intrude on the staring contest.

"Relax, Kisame. It'll be over in a second," Itachi claimed, not breaking their deadlock, his kunai still pressed into her left hand.

That ticked her off. Again.

Tsch. Since I've gone this far. I'll give it all I've got!

She thrust with her left hand, brutally forcing the kunai – his weapon – all the way through the center of her hand, and twisting her hand so that it was lodged in the kunai's hilt. Yeah, it kills. The path of the ninja was not for the weak hearted. Outwardly, she contained her trembling and masked her pain with a dry smirk. "Now, then…"

She had been gathering quickly with her right hand, and an ethereal blue glow wrapped itself around her hand, crawling upwards a bit past her wrist. He noticed, of course, and for perhaps the first time, Voreka saw his eyes go defensive. "Tsch. That's right!" she answered his unvoiced doubt, "This is the Lost Night's Soul Eater no Jutsu!"

Without further delay, she shifted her stance and attempted a palm strike to his jaw with that hand, her free hand. He released his hold on the kunai. He had to, in able to dodge her blow.

"…That jutsu…and a Genin…" Itachi mused out loud.

But lacking in speed, I know, Voreka thought to herself, yanking out the kunai from the back of her hand, ripping out blood and tissue as she did so. Oh well, the immediate goal was to get him to let go of me anyway. Tsch, this hurts!

She sucked in a silent breath, slipped the bloody kunai inside her tunic, and pressed her fingertips together in her standard starter seal. Shit, she couldn't even perform seals efficiently anymore. "Why are you hesitating? It'll cost you," she told him breezily.

This next ninjutsu is a gamble, it's going to cost me the majority of my remaining chakra but…I think I have a fair grasp on what's going on. Keeping her face carefully devoid of expression, she watched him as her hands fumbled hastily to perform her eleven required seals.

His eyes, – the Sharingan, was it? – he could shut them off. That must means it's not an innate ability, and that he must expend chakra unceasingly when it's activated. Deactivating it to taunt me…there must be another reason. The battle last night, speed traveling for the whole day, and the confrontation this afternoon…he must be almost out.

Lost Night Supreme Technique: Black Oblivion!

She slammed palm of her bleeding hand down on the ground and didn't allow herself to relax even as black darkness rose from the ground surrounding her, stretching and clawing relentlessly upwards to blend into the already descending blanket of night. To think that I had to resort to this…But it's over now! Extending her good arm, she once again welled up the ghostly blue chakra in the palm of her hand. She slid silently within the pitch black space which consumed everything in sight. I'll just have to…steal the remainder of his chakra!

"…And even the Jounin-level dark-summoning jutsu," Voreka heard his voice float in from in front of her, "Although from the looks of it, you haven't done it justice." She stopped short, breath caught uncomfortably halfway up her throat. Eerie red eyes glowed suddenly in the space before her. She clenched her jaw, forced into the realization that even her finely tuned acuteness was no match for his stealth.

He's at least a B-Class missing nin. Definitely. Shit, I might have just screwed myself over.

Voreka fell back into an evasive stance. " Impossible!" she exclaimed, "This isn't an illusion! You shouldn't be able to see through this level of darkness!" A sudden stinging crossed her right cheek where a weapon sliced a thin line as it shot past. She narrowed her eyes at him, hurling her fist right where his face would be in the black void. Her punch went right through. No, his eyes were still there but – her fist went right through. The muscles in her neck tensed. A genjutsu-? When did he-? She glanced down at her injured hand, even though she herself couldn't see anything but black.

Yet this-…this pain is real…This is no ordinary level genjutsu.

"You are weak."

The whispered words carried by her ears like the fluttering of a hundred leaves. The solid ground beneath her feet erupted into a flurry of black butterflies, the beating of their wings fanning shallow breaths of air on her skin. In a moment, the space cleared to reveal an uncannily familiar landscape.

Gyring gusts of wind lifted locks of her hair and the hem of her loose clothing, frolicking among the dense growth of tall grass which bent beneath the weight.

N-not good! Voreka clapped her hands together and concentrated hard on quelling her revulsions. She felt a displacement of air as Itachi appeared behind her, close enough for her to feel his presence brush the hair on her back. Her eyes snapped open in realization. Her hair was in its natural, pastel green! That means he-!

Itachi's breath lightly fanned the flames of her apprehension on the back of her neck as he spoke. "…Let me remind you of the price of failure."

No sooner than those promising words left his lips did a gathering of people suddenly appear around her. She recognized them. Each one of them. Prickles of unease crept up her back. Did he actually know that much, or was he messing with her head? A voice in her head was reminding her that she had to break herself free from his genjutsu, but at the same time she felt paralyzed with fascination.

She, herself, is a genjutsu type.

"You know why you have been summoned here." It wasn't even a question, spoken from behind an elaborate mask with three vertical slits allowing the wearer to better transmit her voice and her authoritative gaze.

It was a genjutsu; she had already convinced herself of that. Yet, she felt strangely compelled to reply as one of her councilors demanded a response with that even, apathetic tone she knew so well. And so, finding her mouth dry, she simply nodded.

"Do you remember what it means to be part of the elite shinobi of the Lost Night?"

Voreka was gazing around her, feeling the inquisitive eyes of familiar figures, unmistakable down to the last detail. She even forgot about the presence of the genjutsu user behind her. Forgot even her pain and her bleeding.

Having received no reply to her previous inquiry, the councilor pressed further.

"You know no pain. You know no mercy-"

"You know no failure. You know no regrets," Voreka recited the rest. "You only know this moment and to whom you owe your life. I have not forgotten."

"And yet you have dispatched a grievous disgrace on us. Allowing yourself to be controlled by men! Where is your pride, your claimed desire not to be looked down upon by males?"

Voreka bowed her head bitterly. "I know no excuse."

"You know the penalty."

She nodded once, mutely, not daring to look up.

"If, by a majority of votes, you can be subject to recessing back to the Academy, to be stripped of your status as a shinobi, or to even be…banished," the councilor chose to confirm it to her anyway.

"Councilor Taikuna! I plead you mercy for Mezhari's sake! She is my apprentice, any shortcomings on her part, I will account for. It was due to my suggestion that she had been allowed to undertake this year's Chuunin exam. Please let her off this once."

Voreka didn't need to look to know whose voice it belonged to. She knew the person owned a mane of god-touched gold, and their village's modified headband over both eyes, marking her as one of the Jounin, an elite ninja of the Night. Hideka, her closest friend and mentor, would no doubt be the first one to defend her in any event.

A long, intense gaze was forged between the two high ranking women. The councilor knew better than to demote one of their most competent shinobi in the Lost Night. "I will leave you to deal with the consequences of her misadventure, then." She turned with a sweep of her cloak, symbolizing that the decision was final. "But, remember, Hideka; if Mezhari is to become anything more than your apprentice, you can't project her forever." A small layer of dust rose from the ground as Taikuna disappeared from view. The others took their cue and did so as well.

An awkward silence descended. Her sensei didn't turn to face her.

"Hidaka-sensei, I-I-…"

"She is right. How much longer do I have to keep bailing you out of trouble?"

Voreka swallowed.

"I'm…I'm sorry…"

W-wait…this isn't right…! I'm supposed to be breaking myself free of this genjutsu! What am I doing, sinking in like this?

"I had faith in you. It looks like you're not ready for the exam after all." Those cold, quiet words stole back her momentary clear-headedness.

"Hideka…"

"The strength of the village is measured by the strength of its shinobi, and not the number of shinobi it hosts. I thought I had taught you that."

Yes…

"One crack in the diamond will give chance enough for its impeccable defense to be split. This village needs no liability. No one does."

She knew where this was going. Braced herself for it.

"Mezhari, from the looks of it, you cannot be depended upon to safe keep the secrets and the values of the Night. You. are weak."

Pain.

Those words again.

Why are they…

Everywhere.

Don't leave me…

Her hands clenched tightly, her knuckles turned white, and that was when she was reminded of the throbbing pain in her left hand, damp with sweat and blood. Oh, that's right; she was still trapped in his genjutsu.

A silent rage poured over her. Chakra surged through her arms.

I'll kill you.

The anger helped her snap back into her right mind. She had extracted the kunai from where she kept it and had plunged it into the cushion of her left shoulder, a non vital area. Fresh pain burned a track down her arm and up her neck, but it worked.

Tsch. No wonder he can tell where I am. This blood.

Voreka blinked up at the pitch blackness of her previous jutsu. So it had been a genjutsu he used on her after all, even in this dark. She turned slowly, hearing nothing but the sound of her own breath.

"I'll know where you are if you move," she said to herself. "No wonder I couldn't sense you before. That was just an illusion."

"…You hear that? Don't move." Itachi's voice, reasonable, confident, somewhere behind her. And a grunt, presumably Kisame, far off to one side.

She went at him. He sidestepped first her swing, then her back-sidekick. No one could see in her dark-summoning jutsu, but a smirk of satisfaction tugged at the corner of his lips. Yes. What a difference. Her speed, her intensity. The intention behind each attack. He could feel it like a caress on his skin.

Damn it! How can he dodge all my hits in this dark? Am I really miscalculating this much? She refused to deepen her breathing rhythm, wary that it would reflect on her tiredness. Making a small pause in her offense, Voreka listened carefully for his movements. It didn't help that he was only avoiding her attacks, and not returning her tokens of appreciation.

"You may be able to use a weaker version your village's renowned jutsu, but you don't have the Jounin's offensive skill to go with it."

She spun around. He caught her fist with his hand. She blocked his uppercut with her free arm. But he was stronger. Much, much stronger. That fact that she was getting overpowered made it easy for him to trip her cleanly off her feet with a sweep of his leg. She hit the ground hard, dried twigs digging into her back as she gasped for breath.

"…It's over."

Voreka felt him shift away. "I am. not. weak." Abruptly, she clasped her hands together in her jutsu release seal. She was wasting chakra like this. Apparently her jutsu wasn't a high enough level to overcome his Sharingan. At once, the perfect darkness melted away into the natural night sky. She rose, a bit shakily, to her feet, readying the bloody kunai in her right hand.

He didn't even look back as she flung the kunai at his back. He leaned to one side, avoiding it easily. However, having not expected what happened next, he couldn't react in time to dodge the blade completely as it pivoted back at him. For the first time in a long while Itachi felt the kiss of pain on his elbow as the kunai struck into his flesh. Expressionless, he felt the handle, sensing a current of spiraling air compressed into the size of a thin rope. So, that's how she was able to manipulate the flight of the blade.

"That's not all," Voreka declared firmly. Tapping into her chakra reserve, she performed her seals single-handedly, at an incredulous speed, her other hand grasping the end of the wind-chakra string. Chakra poured out from her hands at an astonishing rate, shooting down the length of her wind-chakra string faster than the eye could follow.

The effect was immediate. The crimson of his eyes blinked out even as he tore himself free from her jutsu's clutches. He seemed interested in watching himself bleed. Then his dark, blank eyes turned to her.

"…So, that's the Soul Eater."

She matched his disinterested tone. "Let me return your chakra back to you," she stated sarcastically, forming a single seal with her hands. Keeping her eyes on her target, she took several deep breaths before gathering sufficient chakra to force a great blast of wind from her lips. Everything that was loose or not strong enough to hold flew with her gale, and there was many a snapping of branches and toppling of trees.

That's it…I can't do any more than this…I can't win…

A sharp stab of pain in her right shoulder blade. Her breath labored.

…because this man is… a monster...!

Itachi pressed the kunai harder into her back. She held back a hiss. "Still not-…enough-…" his voice sounded next to her ear, between puffs of breath. He, too, seemed to have reached his limit, but she knew when to give up, if she valued her life.

Not enough…? Enough what?

"…Why are you weak?" he added, more of a taunt than anything else. Well, he recovered his composure fast enough. He caught her arm as she attempted to elbow him.

"Does this mean you wish to continue fighting…?"

Voreka didn't answer him. She felt him lean closer so that he was practically hovering over her from behind. "…Such cowardice, and you call yourself a ninja…" he whispered softly. Her hands balled up into fists at that, but he only let out a barely audible 'heh'. "That's not what I meant."

He didn't bother to explain what he meant, and she didn't need him to. She knew. And somehow, she knew his guess was right on. Somehow he knew. Was it because of the genjutsu? Was she that obvious? Her heart was drumming in her ears.

Itachi released her, moving away without a glance back. Although she did hear him say nonchalantly, "You're going to bleed to death." Ah, shit. That's when she realized. The wound on her shoulder blade. Bastard stabbed her where she couldn't heal herself, on purpose!

Heh. It's not like I'm not running dangerously low on chakra anyway.

Her vision was getting dull at the edges.

I never for one moment was deluded enough to think that I was the best.

But I thought I was good.

Damned good.

Kisame stepped into view, but she couldn't see his expression because she knew she'd get dizzier if she looked up.

Heh, what a laugh.

I hate how pathetic I look, now.

But more than that…

I hate him.