Modified: Jan. 16, 2010

Sorry for the delay. I didn't realize it had been so long. I'm not feeling well right now (as in I'm feeling hot, but if I take off my jacket, I'll instantly feel cold, my eyes hurt like a bitch, if I turn my head too fast or too much in one direction, I get a stab of pain and the need to throw up, but I don't have a fever, and my neck is a pain).

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Chapters: 3

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Summary: When calamity befalls Konoha, Tsunade sends Team Seven out to find Uchiha Higurashi Kagome, Itachi's missing twin sister, and Konoha's only salvation. The problem is locating her first.

Note: For the sake of this story, Sasuke did not leave to Orochimaru and Inuyasha never fell in love with Kikyo. I know that "Sesshomaru" is supposed to be spelled "Sesshoumaru" but it's easier to skip the doubling.

Warning: Language

Pairings: None (ItaKag is purely platonic/family)


Wanton Faith

Ch. 4

Showdown of the Uchiha Clan


The quiet, the silence, the darkness . . . all was comforting, in a sense. Itachi shrouded himself in the comfort of the lengthy shadows that danced among the trees. And Kisame was nowhere in sight. Perfect. It gave him plenty of room to think.

The newest subject at hand brought back painful memories to him. When they were young, she was the person he treasured the most in life, even over their own mother. Kagome, dear sweet little Kagome, was his everything. When she vanished, he flipped his lid. It was like a switch went off in his brain, turning him from a child with any semblance of happiness to a cold-hearted emotionless child who tried to care for his little brother. Well, look what happened, he failed Sasuke too.

He sighed, shifting in the shadows to bury his face in his hands for a moment. Kagome . . . are you really alive? What would you think of me?

Itachi lifted his head, solidifying his resolve. He was going to find Kagome before Konoha did. They had much to catch up on, after all.

He walked out of the darkness and into the bright light. The moment he did, he heard a faint, but familiar sound. He stopped and cocked his head, sending chakra into his ears to hear the sound better.

He almost tripped in shock. A melody, presumably from a flute, was playing through the area. It was achingly beautiful; it haunted him and dove into his ears and circled his soul from the familiarity. This melody had been Itachi's favorite when he was young. And only because Kagome played it on her little flute.

Itachi stopped the chakra flow to his ears and immediately took off in the melody's direction. Kagome, I'm coming.


Team Seven was still looking for Kagome when the sweet sound of a flute faintly reached their ears. They paused to listen to the song, the coordinated notes sliding in their ears and out, stimulating relaxation and a pleasant look into nature. It was a beautiful melody, everyone agreed, but who was playing it?

Sasuke gave a small jolt when he heard a voice whisper to him as the song caressed him, "Come here, Sasuke."

He feigned examining his surroundings to see if he could pinpoint where the flute's sound was coming from, but inwardly he was looking around for the voice who'd whispered gently in his ear.

"Come to me, Sasuke."

His head whipped to the side, but there was no one there; only the trees and the ground and his team. The melody vibrated in an attempt to sound more haunting, wrapping around him like a cocoon of warmth. The sultry tone beckoned to him, wavering slightly for a moment, then picking a fast pace up again.

"Sasuke . . ."

Without really thinking about it, Sasuke turned in a certain direction and began his quiet march.

"Sasuke? Where are you going?" Sakura called.

He did not answer her. His team watched quizzically as he disappeared into the forest, the bright red and white Uchiha fan stitched to the back of his high-collar shirt disappearing into the thick layers of leaves and trees.

"Hey! Sasuke-teme, wait up!" Naruto hollered, running into the forest after his dark-haired teammate.

"Naruto!" Sakura started after them.

Kakashi sighed, giving one last look to the empty road and the wind-swept leaves among the gently swaying tendrils of grass, before he trekked after his scattered team of genin.


The melody danced through her head with a familiar clarity, not a single note missed, not a single waver in the beautiful, haunting, melodious tune. All the sweet sounds thrummed out gently under the deftly working fingers, pressing against the little holes in the hollow instrument, one, two, three. The wind picked up its pace, dancing in moderation with the lithe figure swaying unconsciously into the embrace of the breeze, letting the course of nature crash over her body like a waterfall, drowning in sound. One, two, three.

Again and again, the hidden words inside the song shifted, drumming through her head and spilling as notes of music through the flute, as dear and clear to her as ever:

"I come from villages far away,

Stones bleached white under

The moon I seek, the stars hanging there

Resonating like thunder's high.

I see you eye to eye

The grass grows and we've been

Torn apart far too long, you and I,

We meet again under this sky.

In this lifetime I seek to be home,

I seek to be free,

I seek to be thee,

I seek the wheat that trembles there,

I seek the little doves nesting here,

I seek the warmth of the hearth

And you alone are awaiting my return.

So why should I travel so long

So far, so near,

Too long I've waited for this day.

Darling, can you see

The empty road that we've met

Is now filled with fresh graves and grooves

And time has gone by too quickly.

In this lifetime I seek to be home,

I seek to be free,

I seek to be thee,

I seek the little dolls lining the sills,

I seek the little shops full of frills,

I seek you, you seek me

We both only seek to free.

Is that why you're here?

I truly wonder how

This really all came about

Am I really here? Am I really there?

Darling, can you see?

In this lifetime I seek to be home,

I seek to be free,

I seek to be thee,

I seek the children of this generation,

I seek the wavering tunes that clash with the seas,

I seek the special place for you and me,

For you alone are awaiting my return.

And you alone will be free.

Because in this lifetime, I seek to be home,

I seek to be free,

And I seek to be thee.

Darling, look up and see

The reason I seek to be free."

When her beautiful blue eyes opened, the sweeping lashes curving upwards, she felt more than saw the two similar auras wandering close to her, having been entranced by the deep melody. Smirking inwardly, she tucked the flute away inside her sealing compartment, a tattoo of the Uchiha fan that she kept above her heart. She knew that it had been one of Itachi's favorite tunes when they were young. Kagome's tutor had been an accomplished flute player, and Kagome's intense interest in the flute had brought her to Konoha's doors, for the famed Uchiha clan. Tough as lessons were, Kagome did not give up, so hopelessly in love with such a simple little instrument. Lessons did pay off, after all. The tutor had left after Kagome had been kidnapped, at least four times richer than she'd been before.

The first to emerge from the foliage was Itachi, whose jaw inwardly dropped to the ground in pure shock as he took in the sight of his long-lost twin sister, a cataract of mixed emotion filling him. He was so gripped with surprise that he nearly suffocated from the idea that he had unconsciously stopped breathing on account of interacting with his dearly beloved sister, Kagome. Itachi was not, by any means, quite aware of what happened, but he found himself enveloping Kagome in a bone-crushing hug, pouring his heart and soul into it, burying himself into the feel of her, the smell of her, the sight, the touch, the taste of familiarity and family. He drowned in the sensations, wishing that if this was real, he'd never have to let go. Not now, not ever . . .

Unfortunately the spellbinding moment was broken by the other Uchiha brother setting foot inside the sacred clearing.

Kagome and Itachi broke out of their intense little hug, turning to regard their little brother coolly. Sasuke's thinly veiled rage at the sight of Itachi was clearly expressed through the stormy deaths of his obsidian eyes. The way his fists were clenched, the downward curve of his mouth, the trembling . . .

"Sasuke."

The younger Uchiha glanced at Kagome, his hate for Itachi still radiating off of him no matter how much he tried to cover it. However his rage evaporated as he met her steely blue gaze head on. The few emotions that dwelled within her eyes were interpreted quickly as she shifted into an unfamiliar fighting stance.

"I wish to evaluate your skills, otouto."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, the traditional beginning of the famed Uchiha glare. "Fine," he grunted, loosely commanding his body to perfected taijutsu stance, perfect for offense and defense as well as the ability to quickly weave hand signs if he needed to.

"Itachi, you will judge us," Kagome said, looking at the stoic Akatsuki member.

Itachi nodded and raised his hand. Kagome and Sasuke locked glares, the tension palpable in the air around them, the fierce spark of competition sizzling into imagined existence between them. Every muscle was coiled in preparation, waiting to strike.

"Begin."

Kagome made the first move, being older and faster than Sasuke, who hadn't turned on his Sharingan, "Kawa no Hebi!"

Sasuke leaped into the air as the earth under his feet erupted with long, thin coils of soil, viciously striking out to bind him. He sped through the most familiar sequence of hand seals he knew, joining his index finger and thumb as a circle to his mouth, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The large fireball launched at Kagome, who stepped out of the way and followed up her dodge with a quick spin kick aimed at Sasuke's solar plexus. He tipped over in the air narrowly to avoid the strike and lashed out with his fist. Kagome leaned to the side. The two descended to the ground, continuing to batter each other with a furious flurry of palm strikes and unpredictable kicks.

One of Kagome's kicks got past Sasuke's guard and threw him to the ground with a grunt of suppressed pain. He crashed into the earth with a muffled thud, but quickly rolled to his feet and launched his next jutsu, "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

The multiple fireballs shot towards Kagome, who evaded them all with quick, sharp movements. She pressed her hands together and directed her next attack towards Sasuke, "Kinboshi no Budou!"

Sasuke felt the world tilt as something wrapped around his ankle and slammed him into the ground, making his head hum unpleasantly from the forced impact. Something smooth, yet spring-like at the same time, wrapped around his body, hoisting him into the air with a cry.

Sasuke took a shuriken from his pouch before the vines could tighten around him and sliced the thin green plants aside, freeing himself. He landed in a crouch, fingers leaping through seals, "Katon: Karyuu Endan!"

The fiery beam launched quickly towards Kagome, who barely escaped having her clothes burned off by the intensity of the flame. "You sure like fire, don't you?" she said, whirling around on her heel. "I guess it's expected. Uchihas are excellent fire jutsu users."

Sasuke replied, "I do not use just fire jutsus." He moved his left hand down towards the ground slightly in front of him. Gripping his wrist with his right hand, he began charging chakra into his hand. The cacophony of a thousand birds filled the air with its screech.

"My, my, you can use the Chidori," said Kagome. "Very good, little brother."

Sasuke lowered his body so that his Chidori was now behind him, and began to race forward. His speed was incredible and swift, but Kagome was used to sparring at higher speeds. She ducked under the thrust of his arm and knocked his feet out from under him.

He did a flip on his hands and launched a kick at her face, but she parried him with a vicious jab to the stomach, making him choke in surprise.

Kagome stepped backwards and again her hands met in a strange hand seal. The wind around them began to blow harshly. Itachi sensed the warning signs of a foreseeable storm and wisely moved backwards.

Sasuke gingerly got to his feet just as Kagome called out the name of her attack, "Ryuu no Dogou!"

His trained senses made him leap to the side just in time. A torrent of razor-sharp wind blasted past him as he dove for cover, nicking the edge of his arm, but otherwise he remained unharmed.

Sasuke took out a few shuriken from his pouch and held them between each of his fingers. "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"

Kagome jumped to avoid the fireballs, also avoiding the shuriken hidden inside them. A small rush of air indicated the coming of Sasuke's foot, which she blocked with her forearm, but he grabbed her shoulders as he swung over her head and brought her down to her back.

She brought her arms up and grabbed Sasuke's wrists before crashing. He stumbled a bit when he realized his wrists were trapped. That was all the time Kagome need to twist her body halfway around and jam her index and middle fingers to a pressure point on the back of his neck, knocking him out instantly.

Kagome hefted her little brother's body over her shoulder, pausing to catch a bit of lost breath. "I win," she declared triumphantly, grinning at Itachi.

"You've grown, Kagome," he murmured, walking towards her and lifting Sasuke off.

She sighed, rotating her shoulder and stretching out her muscles. "I had a perfect teacher. He expected nothing less from me. Didn't care that I was an Uchiha; just told me that hard work pays off," she replied. "Sasuke's pretty good at strategy and follow-up attacks, but he definitely needs work. I've fought at higher speeds that that."

Itachi quietly set Sasuke down at the base of a tree. "Would you like to spar, Kagome?" he asked.

"For old times' sake. Let's see how far you've come, Itachi."

He swiftly wove the hand seals for a shadow clone, following up with an earth-type jutsu while discreetly taking shuriken into his hands. Then he switched himself with his clone.

Kagome made a jump to avoid the earth jutsu as well as doing a rotation kick in mid-air to block the shuriken. She made a single hand seal and yelled out, "Jishin!"

Itachi quickly doused the soil with a water jutsu before Kagome landed, her foot creating only a slick squishy sound instead of the giant roar she'd been going for, but she still sent tremors through the ground. A giant crater yawned wide open underneath Itachi's feet, the soft mud sucking his feet down. He kicked free and performed a fire jutsu to dry the earth.

Kagome jumped out of the mud into one of the trees surrounding the clearing, using a simple cleaning technique Sesshomaru taught her to use in case she ever got too dirty in battle.

Itachi created two more shadow clones while she cleaned herself up and directed them to sneak behind her. He hid his clones' chakra to take her by surprise.

Unfortunately he didn't know that Kagome had been taught to seek out a person's aura, not their chakra. She turned on the branch and summoned her sword out of her tattoo, slashing straight through the clones when they attempted to attack her. Itachi sent a water jutsu towards her while her back was turned, as well as rigging a kunai trap into the trees.

Kagome dodged to another branch to escape the water jutsu. Itachi darted towards her, a single small shuriken gripped in between the fingers of his right hand. Kagome easily saw him coming and raised her sword to slash at him.

Itachi used the Shunshin no Jutsu to get behind her and knock the sword from her hands. He flung the single shuriken to trigger his kunai trap. Kagome heard the whistling of the ninja knives and used a series of gymnastic moves to escape, leaving the mass of kunai to extirpate the tree she'd been formerly occupying.

Her brother followed up with a flurry of taijutsu strikes, a spin kick there, a punch combo here. Kagome dodged them all and struck back, luring Itachi into a beautiful, wild, deadly dance.

Spin, kick, dodge, kick, duck, punch, block, strike, strike, kick, jump . . . Kagome once again used Jishin and cracked the ground open, nearly burying Itachi alive under tons of root and soil. However, he used a teleportation jutsu to escape. When he was safely outside the perimeter of the devastating crater, he performed a genjutsu to entrap Kagome in.

Kagome secretly summoned a special ofuda from her sealing tattoo. She slapped it on the ground and channeled her power into it. "Genjutsu begone!"

Itachi was blown off his feet as a fierce wind swept through the area, eliminating his genjutsu. He was about to get up when the sharp edge of a sword was drawn across his throat. He looked up to meet Kagome's meticulous blue eyes, shining down at him triumphantly. "I win, Itachi."

"You've gotten stronger," he remarked, reaching a hand up to push the blade away from his throat.

She sealed the sword back into her tattoo and stood back to allow Itachi to stand up. "I remember you always used to beat me in spars when we were little," she said. "Now I'm the one who beats you." She grinned.

"Now that we have properly evaluated each other's skills, I have to ask you: what happened to you?" Itachi asked, looking down at her. "You disappeared from Konoha without so much as a clue."

Kagome's eyes darkened with rage. "You know who Orochimaru is, don't you?" she spat.

"What did he do to you?" Itachi growled, muscles tensing when he heard the traitor's name.

"Orochimaru has a distant cousin named Naraku," Kagome explained. "Naraku is the one who kidnapped me. He wanted to experiment on me, to break me and make me into his perfect puppet –" Itachi could barely contain his rage "– because he was afraid of me, of the power that I inherited from our ancestor Midoriko."

"You escaped."

"I had help. My teacher, Sesshomaru-sensei, rescued me from that place. I have been living with him since. I want you to come and live with me again. I have missed you quite a bit, but my friends there make it bearable."

"Where?"

"It is in a peaceful valley that is close to Lightning Country . . . we call the land of the valley the Western Lands, because Sesshomaru-sensei rules over that place. There are also the Northern Mountains, the Southern Plains, and the Eastern Forests."

Itachi studied her closely. "Is it safe there? You know I am an S-class criminal. I am constantly hunted," he said.

"Do not worry. I will never think any less of you, even if you did kill our clan. I've been missing for the last twelve years; therefore I hold hardly any more ties to Konoha or the clan. The only thing I keep in mind is my two ancestors, whose powers have been passed down to me. Anyhow, there is a reason that no one except the inhabitants of the valley are able to get into the valley and the surrounding regions. We have to get you registered into the area coding, then you are safe. Anyone who tries to impersonate will not be allowed. Agreed?"

Itachi contemplated a little more. He finally came to a conclusion.

"I accept."


Woo-hoo, three-day weekend! This chapter was, for lack of better word . . . tiring. Nine pages. I suck at fight scenes, but hopefully this was a better fight scene than before (for those of you who can somehow remember it). The original version had Kagome fighting Sasuke and Itachi at the same time. I decided to do the one-on-one battling for the revised edition. By the way, the song Kagome plays belongs to me too. I made it up on the spot. Hehehe. Well, happy Martin Luther King Jr. weekend! Toodles.

Translations

Chidori – 1000 birds

Jishin - earthquake

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu – Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique

Katon: Housenka no Jutsu – Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Technique

Katon: Karyuu Endan – Fire Style: Fire Dragon Missile Technique

Kawa no Hebi – River of Snakes

Kinboshi no Budou – Vines of Venus

Ofuda – a type of sealing paper that monks and priests used to ward off demons

Otouto – little brother

Ryuu no Dogou – Roar of the Dragon

Shunshin no Jutsu – Teleportation Technique

Teme – a rude way to say "you"

See you later,

MangaFreak15