Notes: So sorry it has been so long for an update. My muse is a fickle, fickle thing.
STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING
The Tsukiyomi was a ghost ship.
She'd felt it the moment she woken up in the strange computerized bed onboard the vessel, cobwebs brushing against her arms as she struggled in a blind panic to free herself from it. Tumbling over the side of the cocoon-like bed, she fell to the cold, dusty floor, looking around at a room that hadn't been used in years, perhaps had never been used. It was a Whisper Room, like the one on the Byakugan, but it was cramped, the clear plastic encasing much smaller than the one Tenten was used to. It looked older too, out of date.
Pushing herself to her feet, she staggered over to the automatic door, feeling a swell of relief when it opened for her without complications. The corridor outside, however, was completely dark. Only emergency lighting on the floor provided any illumination so she kept one hand on the wall as she moved away from the Whisper Room, listening for the sound of a crew.
There was none.
Only a deep sense of time, of neglect, the halls dark and musty. Even the ship's voice was silent. How could the vessel have fired on them without a crew? Was it only Itachi on board? It might explain the decay, if there was only one active crew member.
Fumbling along in the semi-darkness, she finally made her way to a set of large windows where she paused, halted momentarily by the vast beauty of space that looked back at her. Twinkling stars and the multi-colored curls of galaxies decorated the view and she exhaled, her eyes drawn to a speck of light that seemed to be moving towards them at a steady pace.
"Orochimaru."
She startled, one hand moving to her throat as she turned to look at Itachi. He was standing next to her, watching the speeding star move across space. Looking at him, he seemed real and looked solid, but there was just a feeling of... impermanence, as if time was slowly ticking down on some invisible clock.
"He's coming for your brother," she said quietly. "And perhaps me as well. Is that why you brought me here?"
Itachi finally turned to look at her, his eyes as black as the space that was reflected in them. "This ship is a tool of utmost destruction. It was designed by a Whispered and, when piloted by one, it is unstoppable."
Tenten's eyebrows rose in surprise. She has guessed the ship had had a Whispered pilot by the presence of the interface room, but built by one as well? The Whispered were a rare race and their machines were even more rare. To have built such a large space ship spoke of immeasurable power.
"So that's why it's voice is so strong," she said softly, thinking aloud. She caught and held Itachi's look. "Who was the Whispered?"
"His name was Shisui. We grew up together."
Tenten read between the lines and her expression hardened. "He gave you this ship and you used it to destroy your own planet, killing your entire family."
Itachi's expression didn't so much as flicker. "All but one." He turned back to the window, watching the bright spark of Orochimaru's ship as it grew closer.
"Why?" she asked, an almost pleading note bleeding into her voice before she could stop it. "Such a gift as this ship... Why use it to kill? And your own family? I cannot believe, as a Whispered, that your friend would have wished for such a thing." It was true that most Whispered were employed by the military, to create machines and weapons to be used in warfare, but she had never heard of a Whispered knowingly creating an entire ship to be used to wipe out a whole planet. Such a great sin could never be erased. Had Shisui known what Itachi would do with his gift?
"My family was very traditional. As royalty, we were expected to be the strongest of our people, the most powerful, the most ruthless. As a child, Sasuke was not this way. He was earnest, always struggling for our father's favor." Itachi paused. "Innocent. The elders decreed that Sasuke would grow up to be weak and spoiled and that he had to be sacrificed for good of the clan. It was not uncommon for the blood of younger sons to be offered up to the gods in payment to keep the clan strong. My father was troubled but I knew, in the end, he would heed the clans wishes."
"So you murdered them first." Tenten murmured, unsure if she was horrified at the Uchiha elders or Itachi's actions.
"The elders were useless." Itachi's voice dripped with condescension. "And my father was weak. He could not see past the ancient laws. I told him that I would oppose him should he try to take Sasuke's life." Dark eyes found hers. "He did not listen."
"Sasuke thinks you murdered them all without cause, that you are a traitor," she told him, watching his face.
He looked at her steadily. "I am. In my efforts to thwart the elders, I killed many who were innocent. At the time I did not fully understand the capabilities of a Whispered-made ship." His hand reached out to touch one of the curved, cool walls. "I do now."
"If you've been protecting your brother all this time, why did you fire on us?"
"I wanted to get your attention and I needed to learn the extent of your abilities. Battle is the only place you can truly know someone."
She huffed and turned her head to watch the Akatsuki as it grew ever closer. It was still just a pinpoint of light but soon she would be able to make out the shape of it, the terribly familiar black and red cloud sigil near it's nose.
"What is it you brought me here to do, Itachi?" she asked, feeling tired. She has a feeling she already knew what it was.
He turned slightly to look down at her, impassive and completely transparent.
"I want you to destroy Orochimaru."
She licked her suddenly dry lips. "With this ship."
"With this ship," he confirmed.
"To save your brother?"
"To save you all."
Her eyes widened and she studied her companion more closely. He looked back at her openly and, for the first time, she understood what it was she had been feeling.
"You're dying," she blurted out, surprised, but a moment later she shook her head and took a step back, the blood draining from her face. "No, that's not right, you're-"
"Dead," he supplied, unruffled.
"How..How are you...?" she croaked, motioning at the vision of him in front of her.
"As I have said," he repeated quietly, his voice echoing in the empty hallway, "this ship is very, very special."
Neji was not pacing. He was not shouting or cursing or doing anything reckless, he was merely standing on the bridge, looking out the bay windows, pale eyes unreadable, focused. Sakura didn't think he'd moved at all in the last ten minutes and, frankly, it was starting to creep Sakura out. She wasn't sure just what she had been expecting, but she thought Tenten's disappearance would elicit some sort of response. But it was as if Neji had turned to stone, cold and distant, and that was almost more terrifying as she couldn't anticipate what he might do.
Even Lee seemed tense in Neji's presence, rubbing at the bandages around his waist in agitation. He was seated in the pilot's chair, running scans with Sakura standing at his shoulder, watching to make sure he didn't reopen his wound with all his itching and rubbing.
"The Tsukiyomi is still in orbit," Lee announced. "She's powered down and not responded to hails." He'd been searching for the ship ever since Tenten had been found missing.
"We don't think she's there," she glanced at Lee, "do we? I mean, why would she go there?"
"She might have been lured there," Lee answered, but he sounded doubtful. "When she's interfaced with the ship, Tenten's mind can be vulnerable by someone who understands a Whispered's abilities. Perhaps-"
"She did not go anywhere," Neji spoke suddenly, startling them both. "She was taken." He turned slightly, eyeing the two of them with steel in his gaze. "Her physical body is gone, therefore, someone or something physically removed her from the ship."
"But nothing shows on the scans," Lee said, a note of worry in his voice. He played back the recording they had pulled from the camera in the weapons room. One moment Tenten lay in her pod, the next she was just gone, almost as if a section had just been deleted, but Lee had verified that the recording had not been tampered with.
"I don't see how it could have been Itachi," Sakura murmured. "He shouldn't even know Tenten exists let alone that she is a Whispered. They hadn't encountered each other before today."
One of Lee's monitors beeped and a warning symbol flashed onto the screen. The mechanic leaned forward and tapped a few keys to bring up a different scan. His eyes grew wide in his round face. "Neji, the Akatsuki is approaching. It will be within range of the Tsukiyomi in fifteen minutes."
"Orochimaru?!" Sakura exclaimed, feeling herself go pale. How had he tracked them this far? Had his spy, Kabuto, managed to get out another message before Sasuke killed him?
If Neji had been cold before, hearing Orochimaru's name turned him to ice. "Lee, launch the ship. Get us into orbit near the Tsukiyomi. If either Itachi or Orochimaru has her..." he trailed off, his eyes flashing white silver.
I will destroy them."
Tenten laid herself down in the Tsukiyomi's dusty cocoon-bed once again, watching with trepidation as the cover slid up and over, sealing her inside. Now that she knew what the Tsukiyomi was, she was hesitant to link with it. She had never before piloted anything made entirely by a Whispered. She, herself, had only ever made guns, personal weapons for individuals, never something this large and complicated. When a Whispered created something, they linked with it, listened to it and fashioned it according to what they heard. You could almost say the things the Whispered created actually created themselves. If Shisui had indeed built the Tsukiyomi himself, then it was very possible some part of him yet lingered within it, an impression of his mind imprinted in the ship's system. It frightened her, a little, to face him, another Whispered, when she was at her most vulnerable - interfaced with a foreign ship.
Still, she didn't have much of a choice. Orochimaru would soon arrive and, though she did not trust Itachi, she too wanted to be free of the snake's grasp, just as Itachi wanted his brother to be free. She would not allow Orochimaru to hurt anyone else, if she could help it.
Taking a breath, she closed her eyes and tried to relax, reaching out to the neglected ship gently. It opened to her mind slowly, revealing itself layer by layer and with each passing second Tenten could feel the power of it, dormant and sleeping now but wakening. One by one she coaxed each of the ship's systems to life, listening as it Whispered to her of cold, blank space and black fire. She soothed it, smoothing over the rough edges, working out the kinks. She was working with haste though as she knew Orochimaru was getting closer and she wished she had more time to learn and study the things she was seeing. Never before had she seen a ship like this. The Byakugan was a beautiful, strong ship but it had not been made for or by a Whispered. She and Lee had had to modify its weapons room to accommodate the interface capsule and Tenten had wired the link to the ship herself. The Tsukiyomi was different. Every line, every wire, every memory chip had been built by a Whispered. Tenten could easily get lost in this ship, it was so easy to move within. She could lose herself and would never even realize it to regret it.
Something drew her attention to the left and she floated to the bridge, flicking on the lights as computer screens flipped on and systems whirred with power. A proximity alert flashed before her and she felt an immense relief well up inside her at the familiar silver ship on the monitor. She could feel it now, coming closer and the Tsukiyomi flared to life in response to her joy.
For the first time in long, dark years, the Tsukiyomi sang.
"Neji," she whispered, and then she Whispered, reaching out in the space between them to the ship, and the man, she called home.
"Sasuke, wait, what are you doing?!" Sakura asked, trying to keep up with him as Sasuke barreled towards one the Byakugan's real weapon bays, a thin corridor on either side of the ship that allowed manual access to the ship's two photon cannons mounted on the wings. The moment Sasuke had learned that they were closing in on the Tsukiyomi he had taken off, his aura focused and intent. Even then, Sakura had not been too worried but then she had noticed it. The tattoo, the black scar on Sasuke's shoulder had grown. More squiggly comma-shaped marks had appeared, crawling over his shoulder and halfway up his neck. What's worse is that Sasuke didn't even seem to notice, all his attention fixed on Itachi and the ship coming into range. Even mention of Orochimaru had not been able to slow him.
"I have to stop him," he said darkly, and he was not so much speaking to her as to himself. "He can't be allowed to continue. It's time for it be over."
The starboard side weapons bay door whooshed open for them and Sakura hurriedly followed him inside, a sinking feeling in her gut. "Sasuke, please, wait, we don't know what's happening out there. Tenten's missing and Orochimaru's ship is closing in as well. We should go up to the bridge and-"
"Go up if you want to, Sakura," Sasuke snarled, "but I am an avenger. My brother will not leave this battlefield."
Sakura snapped at him. "You are not the captain here, Sasuke. This is not your ship. These people have been kind to us, it's not the place for-"
He was behind her so fast she never saw him move. A breath of cool air ruffled the ends of her hair and she felt him hit several points of her nervous system in rapid succession. She tried to call his name but she could not get her voice to work, even as her legs buckled underneath her and she felt his arms catch her and lower her with surprising gentleness to the floor.
"Sorry, Sakura, but I can't let you stop me."
And then she felt him tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear and her world went black.
The Tsukiyomi was a beacon. The moment the Byakugan had come within range, it had burst into life across every sensor, all systems go. It shone on the monitors, it's energy levels ridiculously high and the moment he saw it, Neji knew.
"Tenten," he said quietly.
Lee made a sound of surprise. "She's there?"
Neji nodded. He had seen something come to life like that before, an entire wing of Orochimaru's compound, every machine buzzing, every computer beeping, anything close enough to Tenten to feel her influence suddenly powering on. It had been on the day he'd broken into the specially built prison Orochimaru had been holding her in, finally able to see, for the first time, the owner of the voice that had saved him from going mad in his own prison.
"She's there," he said, absolutely certain. A smile broke across Lee's face just as his monitor beeped, flashing something across the screen. "She's sending docking coordinates. She's lowering the shields if we want to dock before the Akatsuki arrives."
Neji paused for a moment. "She means to fight?"
Lee sobered, meeting Neji's gaze. "It seems so, and with the Tsukiyomi. Somehow." Lee shook his head, puzzled, but then his face cleared a bit as something else flashed across his screen. "She asks if the captain would like to come aboard?"
Neji felt himself relax. He wasn't sure what Tenten's plan was, but he trusted her. If she was going to stand against Orochimaru, he would as well. He knew she would explain just how she had gotten control of Itachi's ship when she could.
"Alright. Tell her-"
There was no warning. The overhead active fire alarm rang and the ship rocked as a cannon on the starboard side suddenly started firing in rapid succession, pure white photon charges speeding across the intervening space towards the Tsukiyomi. They exploded against the side of the other ship in a way that would not have been possible had its shields been up. Neji's heart clenched in his chest and for a moment, just a brief moment, he almost thought he could hear Tenten screaming.
"Lee, lock down both of the weapon bays. Cut the power to the canons," he ordered, and Lee scrambled to obey. "Try to hail her again." He turned and headed for the steps leading down off the flight deck, his face a cold hard mask of wrath.
I've got something to sort out."
TO BE CONTINUED.
