Itachi jumped off Akira so quickly she barely registered he was on top of her. The Ame nin rushed forward, his next target the group standing behind the fallen Kaname.
Saito, being the gentleman he was, grabbed Misaki's waist to pull her out the way. Eri reacted more aggressively and met the attack head on, blocking his arm and initiating several strikes of her own before Itachi stepped in. This Ame nin, whoever he was, wasn't serious yet, and Eri didn't stand a chance.
Just then, Itachi seized the shinobi's wrist, catching the man's kunai inches from Eri's cheek. Itachi locked eyes with his opponent and quickly weaved seals with his free hand. He had to get out of here. Not only did he wish to prevent further injury, but he couldn't have this ninja revealing something vital about him.
As if on cue, Akira ran toward them, byakugan activated, but his genjutsu initiated seconds before her attack, a flock of cawing crows replacing Itachi and his opponent. Confused, Akira skidded to an ungraceful stop, staring dumbfounded at the place where he and Kaname's attacker stood only seconds ago.
The crows disappeared one by one. No one moved, but, finally, someone spoke.
"What the hell was that?!" Akira yelled.
Itachi didn't recognize his new location. All he knew was that it was away—away from Akira and her friends, and away from where he would have to hold back.
"Heh, smart move," the Ame nin remarked, whipping out a summoning scroll. Itachi noted his opponent purposefully avoided making further eye contact with him, preventing additional genjutsu. "As I said," he began, "I was only testing your reflexes."
Itachi's expression remained unchanging as the man tore open the scroll and spun it around himself, summoning a multitude of weapons with the blood from a previous cut. Weapons of all shapes and sizes now hung on chains around the man's body.
"Your partner killed my entire squad, you know." His tone transitioned from casual to seething. "Neither of us could find your body, though. I figured I'd leave him alive to see if he could lead me to you, but no such luck." He sighed. "Truly a pity. I was looking forward to killing both of you myself. That shark partner of yours even high tailed before I had a chance to get rid of him!"
Itachi waited, deciding not to attack while the man blabbed useful information. Good, Kisame was still alive. It also confirmed Itachi's hope that his partner had gone looking for him rather than simply returning to Akatsuki.
"But who would've thought you'd end up taking advantage of an innocent girl like that." Itachi's eyes narrowed at the assassin's next words. "Then again that is what criminals like you are known for, isn't it?"
Itachi had to grit his teeth to keep from lashing out. Clearly, this man was trying to rile him, and, somehow, he knew all the right buttons to push. Now all he needed to do was mention the Uchiha clan and his death sentence was set.
"That girl is merely healing me. She has nothing to do with any of this," Itachi stated. "I do not understand why you felt the need to harm one of her friends." And now he was just confusing himself. Why did he feel the need to defend her?
"Heh. Didn't know you cared." The Ame nin chuckled evilly, twirling a kunai, one of many, on his gloved finger before catching it. He didn't falter once, indicating all those weapons weren't just for show. "Well, let's not just stand here chatting, shall we? I have a mission to finish, alone or not."
"You know my name. It's only fair that I know yours before we fight," Itachi said, his voice deadpan. He couldn't exactly see his face and identify him.
"Fine then." The wrinkles in his mask indicated a smirk. "Shizuka Aoi."
Shizuka Aoi, huh? Itachi didn't recall ever hearing his name before. I'll have to look that up sometime.
He struck Itachi as an arrogant shinobi, which surprised him. He didn't seem like a coward, so how had he been the only survivor on his team? The Uchiha had a feeling he would soon find out. Aoi's chakra was rather unique, after all.
Aoi seized his first weapon, a small sickle connected to a chain, and dashed toward at the Uchiha. Being unarmed, Itachi side-stepped the attack and snagged a kunai off the man's outfit.
Itachi dodged the next hit and used the kunai to block the rebound, metal clashing against metal as Aoi threw a strike from three o'clock. That chain on Aoi's weapon did not bode well for him. Considering the terrain, it wouldn't be the best idea for him to use a fire jutsu. Starting a forest fire would not assist him in keeping a low profile.
Limited to non-destructive jutsu, he needed genjutsu to win, which required the strain of his sharingan. Worse yet, this shinobi was quite the adversary. He had a way with evading the Uchiha's subtle attempts to make eye contact, limiting most of their battle to taijutsu and filched weaponry.
"You're all talk," Aoi spat, tossing a wave of kunai. Itachi evaded with ease, flipping through the air like a leaf in the wind. All was well until he hit the ground, where Aoi waited with another attack ready. Itachi blocked him, but there was one small problem.
A familiar pain shot through his lower abdomen. He didn't have to look down to confirm the blood seeping through his shirt. Aoi also took notice of this and quickly used the situation to utilize his next weapon of choice, a small katana.
Hand clutching his injury, Itachi retreated as the Ame slashed at him, nicking the Uchiha's left arm.
"Suffering from prior damage, eh, Uchiha?" Aoi laughed sadistically while Itachi's eyes darted around, searching for a nearby weapon. Nothing within reach, but, then again, teleportation jutsu existed for a reason. A series of rushed hand signs later, Itachi appeared behind his opponent—or at least what he'd thought was behind him—with a renewed stock of kunai and shuriken.
Aoi had disappeared into thin air.
That's odd. Surely my sharingan would have detected him using a teleportation jutsu.
Aoi's chakra presence reappeared just in time. Itachi ducked, barely dodging what would have been a fatal stab to his head.
So that's it. Clever, he had to admit, but not clever enough. It certainly explained how someone as arrogant as he had managed to escape someone as ruthless as Kisame. To test his theory, the Uchiha flung his last round of kunai at his opponent. As expected, Aoi's chakra disappeared from his radar again as he "teleported" away.
Itachi smirked. He'd have to risk it. With the way his injury was bleeding he couldn't continue much longer without possibly losing.
The Ame nin's chakra flickered to life again. In turn, a tear of blood slid from Itachi's left eye.
Amaterasu!
His jutsu hit its target. A scream echoed through the woods, reaching ears within miles. Itachi's eyes glued to his right flank where a cluster of black flames sprang to life. In the midst of the flames stood—or knelt, actually—a rather distressed Aoi.
"Damn you, Uchiha!" he growled, the jutsu eagerly feasting on his body.
Itachi's stare remained unchanging. He concentrated harder, pouring more chakra into the flames to increase their power. "Burn in hell, shinobi."
A final scream tore through the air before his opponent was reduced to ash. It was over.
Another tear of blood slid down the Uchiha's cheek as he forced the black flames to extinguish. Closing his eyes, he clutched the area with his free hand and exhaled deeply in an attempt to relax his choppy breathing.
Less than a minute later, minus the blood stains below his eye, he was back to his usual self. That had been exerting—a little too exerting.
It's been a while since I've used that. Itachi thought, reopening his eyes. These laid back weeks with Akira were making him weak. At least he'd been strong enough to win the fight. Despite the surprise attack and the unfamiliar territory, Aoi had been an easy opponent after he'd seen through the shinobi's jutsu.
Teleportation wasn't quite how Itachi would describe it. It reminded the Uchiha of his former sensei, only Aoi's technique hadn't been nearly as flawless. There was a high possibility that his jutsu was a kekki genkai that captured his opponent in a genjutsu, albeit not a very powerful one, and allowed its user to move at inhuman speeds difficult for even a high class shinobi to attain. Since said user's movements were so fast, it would appear as though he had teleported.
As for the disappearing chakra, that was a part of the genjutsu. The illusion made it appear as though Aoi's presence had vanished, and then it would briefly reappear when the user transitioned to another jutsu. Most shinobi wouldn't have time to act.
Itachi owed his victory to the sharingan and his highly trained reflexes. It had taken little effort to win after he figured out that much. All he had needed to do was carefully trace Aoi's movements with his sharingan and then act accordingly.
Itachi stumbled over the charred ground where his Amaterasu had burned only minutes ago. Oddly enough, he found it more difficult than expected to find his way through the forest. His vision wasn't just blurry anymore. Everything seemed to have a haze looming over it, and objects were appearing darker now.
His eyesight was worsening. This wasn't good. In the least, he had enough chakra left for one more teleportation jutsu. Better to risk that than to wander around aimlessly.
Forming a final set of hand signs, Itachi locked onto Akira's chakra signature and allowed the jutsu to do the rest.
"Any sign of him?" Akira asked, stealing a glance at Saito and Misaki who stood watch while she and Eri poured their chakra into healing the unconscious Kaname.
"Nothing," Saito admitted.
A look of defeat on her face, the Hyuuga girl returned her attention to her copper-haired friend.
Where are you, Itachi?
Seconds after her last thought, the open skin on Kaname's chest closed and Akira's ears detected a familiar chorus of caws. She whipped her head around to see the exact person she'd been worrying about.
Itachi…
Without thinking, she stopped the chakra flow to her hands, jumped to her feet and ran toward him. Before comprehending exactly what she was doing, Akira flung her arms around his neck, relief washing over her now that she knew he was safe.
Itachi froze the moment his skin made contact with Akira's. Oddly enough, his mind blanked.
Was she… hugging him?
The girl that he was supposedly "taking advantage of," according to Aoi, actually seemed happy to see him. It was unnerving, to be honest. Itachi had never been a touchy-feely person, and hugs were just out of the question for him. The last time he'd been embraced by another human being had been… well, nearly a decade ago, before the Uchiha massacre.
Needless to say, it didn't bring back any pleasant memories. He refused to budge until she released him.
"What happened?" Akira demanded, the dynamic of her tone increasing. "Where's that shinobi that attacked us?" Her demeanor immediately swung from concerned to interrogating.
"Don't worry about him," Itachi assured, thankful he'd been smart enough to wipe away the blood from his eyes before returning. "He won't be showing his face around here again."
Before she could go on and demand what he meant, a moan sounded in Kaname's direction. She was awake.
"Kaname!" Akira dashed toward her comatose friend and collapsed to her knees beside Eri, who had faithfully remained there the entire time.
Kaname had passed out from shock shortly after Itachi's disappearance. To prevent anything worse from happening, Akira and Eri immediately set to work on healing their friend and had been at it ever since.
"Wha… what happen?" Kaname murmured, her eyes half-lidded. Thankfully, the worst side effect seemed to be drowsiness.
"Nothing of importance," Akira assured. "We'll tell you later."
"Why is…" The kunoichi's emerald eyes descended down to where Aoi's kunai had slit the front of her bathing suit in half. The green material was soaked with dried blood and just barely concealing her breasts. "Ah!" Her hands rushed to cover the area before her top completely slid off.
"Here." Eri handed the kunoichi the jacket she'd been wearing earlier. "This should help."
With the assistance of her two friends, Kaname sat up and hastily pulled on the jacket, gripping either side of the material to cover her chest.
Eri spoke next. "Uchiha-san, your arm..." All attention shifted to the area. "You're bleeding."
"It's nothing." Itachi quickly concealed the wound with his hand. Dammit, he'd missed that.
"Ieh, let me heal you," she insisted, getting to her feet and walking toward him. Itachi didn't bother pushing her hand away. He knew it wouldn't work, but he'd let her try. As expected, she pulled her hand away when the poison in his system rejected her chakra with a shocking jolt.
"Akira, you wouldn't happen to have any antidote on you, would you?" Itachi said through gritted teeth, referring to what she used to aid his body in blood clotting.
"Y-yeah," she stuttered. After rummaging through the colorful beach bag she'd brought with her, the Hyuuga girl brought out a small vial. "Here." She pressed the object into his open palm.
He popped it open and poured the contents down his throat, the medicine leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. It wasn't pleasant, but it certainly beat bleeding to death.
"So, what happens now?" Misaki inquired.
"It wouldn't be a good idea for Kaname to remain here, but you could stay if you'd like," Eri spoke up. "What about you, Akira?"
"I've had enough action for one day," she admitted. "Besides, considering his condition, it would be a good idea for Itachi to go home."
Saito and Misaki stood there, backs leaned up against nearby tree trunks. Their positions hadn't changed at all in the past few minutes. Neither of them knew healing ninjutsu, and therefore had no way of helping anyone.
"It probably wouldn't be a good idea for Kaname to walk home," Akira remarked. She turned to her dark-haired friend. "Who should carry her? I don't mind if you don't want to, Eri."
"No, that's alright—hey!" Kaname stopped mid-sentence as Itachi stooped over and scooped the kunoichi into his strong arms. Kaname turned a deep shade of crimson, despite the near-death experience. Itachi did his best to ignore her.
"Just lead the way," Itachi said shortly.
"Right," Eri sighed. Akira smiled softly, looking touched by his unexpected act of kindness.
Itachi did his best to ignore her, too.
Misaki cleared her throat, breaking silence building up between her and Saito after the others left.
"Well, I failed miserably," she declared dejectedly. "How'd things go with Akira?"
"Not good," Saito admitted. "I…" he trailed off. "I couldn't do anything when that shinobi, attacked her. Boyfriend or not, that Itachi guy acted more quickly than I ever could have."
"And?"
"And, as much as I hate to admit it, he might be a better choice for her."
"He was amazing," Misaki agreed. "Stepping in so gallantly…" Her mind flashed back to when Saito had pulled her out of harm's way.
"By the way," she added, "thanks for saving me." He didn't seem to hear her over his moping. The brunette frowned. "I said, thanks for saving me!" she repeated irritably, breaking the shinobi out of his thoughts.
"Huh, what?"
Misaki sighed. "Never mind." Awkward silence built up between them again. "I guess I'll have to give up my hopes of winning him," Misaki murmured, unintentionally thinking aloud.
Saito raised an eyebrow, surprised at her words. "Whoa, whoa, wait! Are you sure you're feeling okay?" he inquired, pressing a hand to the back of her forehead. "That isn't something you'd normally say."
"Yes, I'm fine!" Misaki growled, slapping away his hand. "And you're one to talk! You're no better off than I am!"
"I suppose you're right," Saito admitted, looking away from her and staring up at the bright blue sky. "Do you want to try again sometime?"
Misaki sighed again. "To be honest Saito, despite all that's happened, he's rather boring and, dare I say it, rude," she began, blushing faintly. "I admit he's easy on the eyes, but I tried talking to him and he completely ignored me. Not to mention, Akira said that his stay isn't permanent." She folded her arms across her chest, nose in the air. "That being said, I see no point in getting attached to him."
Saito blinked a few times, tempted to pinch himself to ensure he wasn't dreaming. "So you're giving up?"
She didn't reply, her lips creased into a frown.
Saito couldn't resist saying more. "Really?"
"Hey, I just admitted defeat! You have no idea how rare that is!" Misaki snapped, wanting nothing more than to slap the smug expression off his face. Thankfully for him, she refrained from doing so.
"Well, I just admitted that Itachi has me beat for Akira," Saito retorted. Misaki kept scowling, which, for some reason, annoyed him. "And would you stop looking at me like that? It really doesn't suit you." Icy blue glared into vivid orange, but, after a few seconds, the tension faded.
"I guess we're going to have to find a different activity to occupy the afternoon then." Looking away, Misaki motioned to the forgotten picnic basket. "We didn't even have lunch together. And I wanted to see if Itachi liked my cooking!"
What was that about defeat? Saito wondered. He quickly steered his mind away from the topic. Ah well. One way or another, he wanted at least one good thing to happen today, so he may as well offer.
"If you want, I could eat with you."
"What?"
"I didn't do very much, but we were swimming, so I'm hungry," Saito repeated, elaborating. "I may not be able to finish it all, but I can try."
Her eyes immediately lit up, warming the shinobi's heart. For once, she smiled genuinely. "You'd better. I don't want any of this to go to waste!"
Moments later, Misaki dragged him over to the shady area where they'd abandoned the picnic basket. Despite the situation, Sait couldn't help but grin, too. At least he'd managed to make Misaki smile. The duo sat down on the soft grass while the brunette cracked open the goods and began distributing them.
"You know what, Misaki?" Saito began, making the whirlpool girl look up from her task. "You're all right."
Still smiling, Misaki blushed. "Thanks, so are you."
Turning her attention back to food serving, Misaki found herself dwelling on the small compliment while Saito made an effort to keep his facial expression pleasant. One thought dominated his mind: I hope she's not a terrible cook.
"Just a bit farther, Kaname," Eri informed softly as the four of them made their way down the path. Signs of civilization were in sight now.
"No rush." The formerly injured kunoichi was not complaining in the least. She seemed perfectly comfortable with Itachi carrying her home. If anything, she was enjoying it a little too much.
Itachi, in an attempt to soothe his over-active mind, tried to tell himself he was simply doing the right thing. It wouldn't be appropriate to make Akira or Eri do something like this when he was perfectly capable. Besides, he didn't have the chance to do the right thing very often.
"You can put her over here." Holding the door open to Kaname's house, Eri motioned to a couch only a few yards from the doorway.
Itachi silently obeyed. Kaname, however, was not so silent.
"Thank you so, much, Itachi!" she beamed as he gently set her down on the soft cushions. He nodded politely in reply.
"I'll take it from here," Eri assured, coming to his rescue. Her gaze rested on the incision on his left arm. "You two should probably head home."
"Hn."
"Thanks, Eri," Akira said, stepping forward to embrace her friend. She followed through with the same show of affection for Kaname. "Be sure to take it easy, Kaname."
"I will!" she assured, and, with that, Itachi and Akira left.
"It's good to know she's alright," Akira murmured once they were a good distance away from the house. Silence built between them for a few minutes. "So, what exactly happened?" Akira finally asked.
"Define 'what.'" Itachi had to resist the urge to smirk at her expression.
"What," she began, her eyes narrowed, "being what happened to the guy who attacked Kaname? You failed to elaborate that in your explanation."
Itachi didn't reply immediately. Would it really be a good idea to say that he was dead? "He won't be coming back to the Whirlpool Village."
"You said that already!"
"Then just accept it and move on."
"Why you—" she cut herself off, clenching her fists. She looked so infuriated that he half-expected to see smoke coming out of her ears. The Uchiha allowed himself a smirk this time. Her reactions were so predictable.
"He won't be bothering you again. What more information do you need?"
Akira sighed, obviously dissatisfied with his answer. "Just making sure."
"Hn." The awkward silence returned with a vengeance. Once again, Akira was the one to break it.
"Thank you for… everything today…" she trailed off. Itachi quickly noticed of the red color blooming on her cheeks. He said nothing. She took that as a "Go on."
"I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you weren't there, and I know you didn't even want to be there in the first place, so…."
"Hn?"
Her expression immediately changed back from embarrassed to angry. "Would you stop saying that?!"
"Saying what?" She knew he was just playing dumb. He could clearly see the red vein popping in her forehead.
"Anyway," she continued, her sweet demeanor long gone, "thank you for saving my friends despite all that's happened!" She glared daggers at him, contradicting her thank you, but Itachi didn't mind in the slightest. He still had no idea why flustering her amused him so much.
"You're welcome then." But he may as well try to calm her down before things got out of hand. He didn't want her being angry at him so close to lunch time. Speaking of which, he was a bit hungry.
"Well, now that that's settled," she began, increasing her pace a few strides. "Race you home? I didn't get much of a workout swimming."
Itachi didn't bother to follow her lead. "Need I remind you that I'm injured?"
She frowned, slowing down a bit. "Need I remind you that you're a complete stick in the mud?"
The Uchiha sighed aloud, in denial of what he was about to do. Why did she consistently feel the need to call him names?
"Fine. You're the healing nin."
Her face glowed with joy, not that he cared if she was happy or anything. To be honest, Itachi had no idea why he'd chosen to give in to her.
"Last person there does the dishes!" she called, taking off in an attempt to obtain a good head start. Itachi just half-smiled as he channeled the remainder of his chakra to his feet. This girl had no idea who she was dealing with.
A powerful gust of wind whizzed by the Hyuuga girl, whipping her blonde hair in all directions. She thought nothing of it until she reached her destination a few minutes later to see her competitor patiently waiting for her on the front porch. Itachi purposely made an effort to look bored.
"Ah. Finally made it I see."
She scowled and angrily thrust her pointer finger at him. "Hey! When the hell did you pass me?!"
Turning around, Itachi chuckled to himself and slid the front door open to make his way inside. She continued ranting inaudibly.
He was actually starting to like it here.
More kiratachi moments to come. Review?
