Chapter 3: Beware My Power, Dattebayo!
The darkness of the cave contrasted sharply with the afternoon exterior they'd just come from. He'd already performed the technique countless times for prior meetings, but there was always a brief moment of disorientation and adjustment to the lower light conditions. Soon his potent eyes attuned themselves, and he saw the other seven, or at least their silhouettes, gathered around a small torch that stood in the center of the circle he and the others formed. Along with his companion to his side, he completed the assembly of nine.
"You're late, Itachi, Kisame," one of the figures said. The voice was rasped and distorted due to the nature of the jutsu, but Uchiha Itachi had heard it enough to immediately recognize it. It belonged to the only other ninja who had eyes potentially more dangerous than his. Itachi's red Sharingan met the Akatsuki leader's grey Rinnegan.
"It couldn't be helped," Kisame excused himself and Itachi. "We received your message during lunch at a small rest inn."
"Really? I thought you hunted live fish in ponds and oceans." Kisame almost popped a forehead artery.
"I swear, Hidan, that mouth of yours will get you killed by one of us someday," another shadow, this one with pale, pupil-less green eyes, told his partner.
"At least you know he means what he says, Kakuzu-san," yet another one said. "I'm getting sick of hearing dumb, supposedly innocent comments from a certain someone, hn."
"But, but, Deidara-sempai," said the masked shade next to Deidara, "I thought we were now a team, so I could help you out with my awesome skills and jutsus…"
"See?" Deidara sweatdropped.
"Feh, he means well, at least," Kisame snorted. Itachi still said nothing. He was certain the leader was aware, but not the others. If they did know what he and Pain knew about Tobi, they would not be treating him like the clumsy newcomer he made himself out to be. Pain's partner Konan, whom Itachi also suspected knew the truth, was also quiet as usual, and she kept to merely observing the exchange with only a passing interest.
Equally silent was Zetsu. Not that he spoke often when not dealing with matters concerning the organization, but his usually calm demeanor, or rather demeanors given his dual personality, seemed slightly rattled, even unnerved. No doubt it was at his request that the leader had called this unexpected gathering.
"This meeting will now come to order," the leader said. Immediately the banter died out and every member's attention focused solely on Pain. "Before Zetsu explains the reason for this emergency gathering, you will state your current situation."
Kakuzu was the first to answer Pain's query: "We have infiltrated the Lightning Country and are in silent pursuit of our target. The Nibi Jinchuuriki will be captured in short order."
"Good. Deidara?"
"We've confirmed the Sanbi is hostless, hn" the long-haired blond answered quickly. "Finding it will be difficult, but once we do even Tobi should have no trouble catching it, hn."
"You make it sound as if these Jinchuuriki are pretty strong," Tobi said.
"They can be if you are not prepared," Itachi finally spoke. There was no sense in arousing suspicion from the other members just yet, so he might as well play along with the masked one's game for now.
"Doesn't matter if it's a Jinchuuriki or not, hn" Deidara added. "Sasori-dana learned that the hard way."
"Itachi, what of your target?" Pain asked, going back to the meeting.
"The Nine-Tails Jinchuuriki remains heavily protected by his fellow villagers. Kisame and I are preparing to capture the Four-Tails in the meantime."
"Yes… the Kyuubi," Zetsu slurred, finally breaking his silence. "This brings us to why I requested this urgent meeting."
"Is it really that important that it had to interrupt three hunts?" Kisame asked. He then glanced in the leader's direction. "You said yourself that we must accelerate our plans in order to complete our objective as soon as possible."
"Yes, I did," Pain accepted. "But from what Zetsu has told me, there may be a new, wholly unanticipated factor that may require significant modifications to our plans."
"So don't keep us in suspense further," Deidara growled, "what's going on?"
Zetsu's less bestial side answered: "The Metal Country has fallen."
Deidara and Konan gasped lightly, while Kakuzu and Kisame scowled. Even Itachi had to blink hard at the news. "Is that so bad?" Tobi asked. Itachi noted he was hiding his surprise very well. The last to react was Hidan, and his response was typical of his character.
"BULLSHIT!" he cursed. Konan glared at the supposed immortal in return.
"You're suggesting I'm lying?" Zetsu's angrier side retorted.
Hidan continued his diatribe unabated: "The Metal Country may not have any shinobi, but between that huge wall around their island, which is in the middle of the damned ocean I might add, and all those weird anti-ninja gadgets they're supposed to have, it would take at least two of us to that! More if you wanna be sure to win quickly!"
Itachi could not believe what he was about to do. "Despite Hidan's attitude, his assertions are somewhat accurate," he said, agreeing with the most hot-headed of the group. "If the latest rumors about their research with chakra suppression devices are correct, it would require the hidden villages to send several Jounin and covert operation squads into a long siege to defeat the Metal's forces."
"You would think that," Zetsu continued, "and the country's arsenal was not exaggerated. But regardless, its whole army, weaponry, and defenses fell in less than a day."
"Whichever country invaded must have poured everything it had," Kisame speculated.
"Not everything," Zetsu corrected. His black half almost grinned at the thought of dropping another bombshell. "One Jounin, two Chunin, and one Genin. A single Konoha squad conquered the Hidden Steel."
The shock in the chamber only lasted a few seconds, as it was soon broken by Hidan's bellowing cackle. "Zetsu, whatever it is you're smoking, I want some, 'cause that must be some really good shit!"
"I'm not done yet," Zetsu continued. "Of the four, the Genin was the one truly responsible."
Before Hidan could further question Zetsu's sanity, Itachi cut him off with what he guessed was Zetsu's conclusion of his report: "It was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, I take it. Did he lose control of the beast and let it run loose?"
"Not quite..."
******************
"In brightest day,
In blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power,
GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT-ttebayo!"
The words came naturally despite Naruto never having spoken them before. But the meaning of them, and the oath they created, resonated within him deeply, as if this solemn promise were his own. The Hidden Steel soldiers below him, however, did not give him the chance to ponder any further. Ignoring the equally amazed Sakura, Yamato, and Sai, all of them aimed their guns at Naruto and fired repeatedly.
His chakra still hadn't returned, but unlike a few minutes ago, Naruto simply smiled. His power ring, as he somehow knew it was called, made a perfect substitute. Now that he knew how to use it, Naruto intensified the aura around him and let the bullets strike. The solid green light repelled every single shot effortlessly.
"It hasn't been ten minutes yet!" lieutenant Keisho said to one of his charges. "Why isn't the Energy Nullifier working?"
"It is!" the younger officer answered. "He must be channeling some other sort of power!"
"You're right, I am." Keisho turned around and jumped back when he saw that the Konoha ninja, who was now wearing a tight green and black uniform, was literally floating right behind him. "It's called guts!"
Keisho and his officer drew their muskets and aimed at their new enemy at point blank range. The instant they were about to pull the trigger, two human-sized green toads materialized from Naruto's ring and stomped the two soldiers to the ground. He landed in front of the incapacitated enemies and was about to gloat when more bullets hit him from behind. He jumped a bit from the surprise, but thankfully his barrier prevented any damage. Naruto turned around to find about two dozen infantrymen firing at him.
"I always wanted to try this," he grinned. Naruto brought his fist up and summoned a giant paper fan, which he then slammed down in front of him. The fan rocked the air and sent a powerful gale that blasted his attackers away. The wind was so strong that it tore the soldiers' armor and ripped their rifles apart. "Eat your heart out, Temari!"
"Don't move, you're surrounded!" he suddenly heard. Glancing around he saw the remaining soldiers encircled him.
"So, you want to play, huh?" Naruto said. He unsummoned the fan and stood up straight.
"Hands up!" they ordered.
"Alright, I'll play." Naruto obeyed his opponents' command and raised his arms up. He allowed them a moment to approach slowly, but then he conjured a large bubble around him. The soldiers immediately fired, but once again their musket shots were unable to pierce the power ring's construct. "Heh heh, now for the KO! Midoriiro Harem no Jutsu!"
Thin strips of light shot out from the shield, one for each soldier around Naruto. Each beam expanded upon reaching their targets, and grew into beautiful, voluptuous, and completely naked women that immediately began seductively taunting and caressing the officers. They, in turn, dropped their guns and stood stunned with massive nosebleeds. For once, Naruto was grateful that this time it was the constructs and not him or his shadow clones doing the deeds. Now defenseless, the soldiers could not anticipate Naruto's next move to make the Naruko constructs knee everyone in their privates and then uppercut them. Every enemy was unconscious by the time they fell back to the ground.
"You guys alright?" he asked his teammates while banishing the Narukos and the bubble. Sai, Sakura and Yamato approached him. The three of them just nodded in reply.
"Naruto?"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan," he answered, taking off the facemask to reveal his full face and restored blue eyes. "It's me."
"How… how did…"
"It's this ring," he told captain Yamato. Naruto held out his hand palm-down to show them his new tool. "It's called a power ring, and it's the weapon of the Green Lantern Corps."
"How do you know all this?" Sai asked him. "And what is this Green Lantern Corps?"
"Beats me," Naruto shrugged. "I think the ring's been teaching me things without me knowing. For now it's just words and terms, really. I still don't know where it came from or what these Corps are."
"What do you know about it?" Sakura asked. "It could be dangerous."
"Nah, it's ok. It chose me to be a Green Lantern because I've got great willpower," Naruto beamed proudly. "It talked to me, and told me it could do anything I wanted it to do." To prove his point, he created a copy of himself, which then morphed randomly into other comrades, ninja tools, and miniature buildings. His demonstration was interrupted when the ominous whistle came back.
"I hope it can stop the Metal's arsenal," Sakura warned warily. She, Sai and Yamato braced themselves and crouched, ready to jump away at a moment's notice.
"Piece of cake," Naruto snickered. At once the shifting construct grew immensely and split into a whole single line of elastic nets and a large funnel at the end just above Team Kakashi. When the cannonballs hit, the first batch of nets were obliterated, but each one slowed the projectiles. The last few held strong and directed the cannonballs into the funnel. Once inside, the tube itself split into three giant replicas of the Hidden Steel soldiers, one for each cannon fire the funnel caught.
"Alright, men," Naruto said, mimicking lieutenant Keisho's voice, "we have sighted the enemy. They're a band of thickheaded warmongers who won't listen to reason. Aim for their big guns and take them out! Fire!" The constructs obeyed, and soon three deafening bangs rang out across the cliff. A few seconds later, the cannonballs blasted into the thick walls of the Hidden Steel and obliterated the cannons which only moments before had shot at Team Kakashi. As the soldier replicas dissipated, Sakura, Sai and Yamato marveled at the ring's abilities. On his part, Naruto could not help but smile. "See?"
"That's a very powerful weapon," Yamato agreed. "We're lucky it's also immune to the Hidden Steel's anti-chakra device."
"We should head back to Konoha and report to Hokage-sama now that we've confirmed the existence of the weapon," Sai recommended.
"Are you kidding?" Naruto scoffed. "I said I was gonna bust it up, and that's what I intend to do! It'll be really easy now!" he continued, flaunting the green ring.
"Sai is right, Naruto," Yamato countered. "Our mission was to investigate the Metal and ascertain if the chakra suppression device existed. That's been confirmed, so it is up to her to decide what to do next."
"But we may not have time for that!" Naruto shot back. "When the ANBU found it, it stopped their chakra for three minutes, right? Now it's been, what, seven, eight minutes? We still can't use chakra! In just a few days the weapon's gotten stronger, and if we wait more soon it'll be able to work forever!" It took him a moment to notice that neither Yamato nor Sai had a counter-argument to what he had just said.
"Naruto's right," Sakura said, nodding at her friend. "If we follow Tsunade-sama's orders literally, she said to find out a way to counter the weapon." She then cracked her knuckles and gave one of those looks that usually scared Naruto stiff. "I think Naruto just stumbled onto the perfect counter. Wouldn't you agree, Lantern-san?" she finished, giving him a mischievous grin that he quickly returned.
"Very well," Yamato conceded. "But only as far as destroying the weapon; after that we return to Konoha."
"First, how do you plan to enter the Hidden Steel?" Sai asked the group.
"I know just how to get there," Naruto answered.
******************
Freedom. There were other words to describe their current situation, too, such as soaring, laughing, rushing, or flying. But none quite caught the sheer emotion of defying gravity and moving across the sky by just wanting it. Since leaping off the cliff and heading for the Metal Country, Naruto allowed himself to enjoy this new power from the ring to its fullest. Instead of just flying straight in, he zigzagged through the jagged rock face at the bottom of the drop, then coursed just above the sea water fast enough to leave wakes in his trail. After a while he arced and jutted straight up, spooking a flock of seagulls in the process. He crossed right through the afternoon clouds and marveled at the clear, reddening heavens. "This is awesome!" Naruto yelled out to the firmament. More than just splendid, it was an absolute bliss.
And strangely enough, Yamato encouraged this behavior. He'd said it would make certain that the Hidden Steel forces would see Naruto's new Green Lantern powers and demoralize them further. But since Naruto had also made the ring give the rest of the team a flight aura, he knew that the captain was also having a blast with flying solo. Equally mesmerized was Sakura, who was not content with just following Naruto's antics and was instead performing her own maneuvers dancing among the clouds.
"We are nearing the perimeter of the country," Sai notified. He was the only one who seemed unfazed about flying, probably because he had his ink birds to allow him that, Naruto thought.
"Playtime's over. Regroup and prepare to begin infiltration mission," Yamato ordered. At once the rest of the team obeyed, gathered together, and dove down. At close range, the arced wall that surrounded the Metal Country was much larger than any of the four had thought at first. Immediately a thundering chorus blared out of the walls, and Team Kakashi was bombarded with gunfire. "Incoming!" The four continued their dive while maneuvering through the deadly torrent. As they closed in on the wall, the concentration of ammunition was too dense to avoid, which forced Naruto to create a large shield behind which the four could hide.
"You have to take out those guns, Naruto!" Yamato yelled, trying to be heard over the constant barrage.
"Look!" Sakura pointed to the inside of the wall where the actual city could now be seen. Above, at the barrier's top, thick metal plates began to slide out of the cordon itself to seal the Hidden Steel.
"Forget the guns, we have to rush ins..." Suddenly the ring's shield broke apart when a cannonball struck it. Naruto had not expected to receive such a heavy impact and so his defense was not as solid as before. Though the projectile was destroyed in the process as well, it did the job of stunning him long enough to lose concentration, dispel the shield and remove everyone's flight aura. Naruto recovered quickly enough to reestablish his own power, but Sakura, Sai and Yamato plummeted to the ocean below. Worse, the Metal resumed shooting at them.
"NO!" Enveloped in sudden rage, Naruto threw his fist forward towards the Metal Country's barrier and poured a single thought into the power ring: destroy. The ring's response was immediate and unstoppable. A single beam of light shot out, which then exploded into a hail of lasers that struck every armament hidden within the walls with uncanny precision. Fire, smoke and debris burst out forcefully from within every orifice as fully half of the Hidden Steel's defenses were decimated instantly. Satisfied, Naruto dove to catch his teammates, but was relieved when he saw Sai had conjured his own jutsu and summoned an ink hawk to catch the three.
"We're fine, Naruto!" Sakura called out to him. "Our chakra's back!"
"It will only be a matter of time before they reactivate the weapon," Sai commented. "We have to strike now."
"Leave that to me," Naruto growled. He was no longer in the mood for playing. By now the city had been fully sealed by the rotating ceiling, but the new Green Lantern was undeterred. He poured his willpower into the ring and created a massive windmill shuriken that he then tossed at the top of the wall. The spinning blades sliced through the uppermost part of the wall, which slid off the rest and collapsed into the ocean. "I'm not done yet!" Naruto then transformed the shuriken into a kunai that cut the barrier from top to bottom. The kunai then split into two giant hands that ripped it open, leaving the true Hidden Steel village hidden no more.
"Naruto…" Sakura whispered, staring awestruck at what the Green Lantern power ring was capable of.
"I'm going on ahead to destroy the weapon," Naruto said.
"Wait, Naruto!" Before Yamato was finished, the only thing that remained from the young Genin was a green trail of light leading straight into the heart of the Metal Country.
Like the land's namesake, the interior of the Hidden Steel was a mass of metallic buildings in a sea of concrete, asphalt and bare earth. Scattered around the manmade dwellings were small pockets of more arable soil, the only source of agriculture for the small nation. In sharp contrast to the organized resistance outside, the internal defenses of the Hidden Steel were chaotic. Officers and infantrymen wandered aimlessly between running away, ushering panicked civilians to safety shelters, and retaliating against the new enemy's incursion. Their efforts were limited to random gunfire and vain commands to desist. If they had any more potent weapons available against the Green Lantern, they chose to not use them at all, unwilling to risk harming the non-combatants. Naruto took no heed to any of these points and rather flew on straight into the heart of the Metal.
"I just need to find that anti-chakra device," Naruto said to himself. He was not too surprised when a full image of the country appeared just above the surface of the ring. Examining it, he found that there were a number of underground chambers within the island. One of these rooms had a glowing, pulsing circle, no doubt a beacon used by the power ring to represent the location of the weapon. Above it in the graph was the Green Lantern symbol, showing Naruto his coordinates in relation to the rest of the village. "There you are," he said. He dismissed the map and created a large drill, then dove straight down. The few soldiers still firing at him in the street crossing below rushed away just as the light borer dug deep into the earth, sending rock, gravel, and dirt flying everywhere.
The sudden blaring of warning klaxons was Naruto's first indication he had breached the weapon chamber. Most of the people were not armed, and instead wore coats more reminiscent of medical staff. But what these people were holding and their surroundings indicated the facility was definitely not any hospital or recovery center. Just in front of Naruto, connected to numerous other devices scattered throughout the room, lay a large, spherical machine with dozens of knobs, wheels and maintenance consoles. "So this is it?"
"Stop him!" To Naruto's right, a big gateway opened slowly to reveal a small platoon of soldiers that rushed towards him. They were carrying sleeker versions of the muskets he'd seen before.
"No! Don't shoot inside the chamber!" one of the technicians yelled. The soldiers paid him no heed and shot Naruto, who defended himself by raising another shield. As before the bullets did not damage him or his construct, but the ricochet struck the weapon repeatedly, severing cables, damaging consoles, and causing breaches in the round body of the device. The warning klaxons intensified, and a sickly brown steam spilled out of the damaged weapon.
"What's happening?" Naruto asked the same scientist. When he hesitated in answering, the Lantern added: "Ok, so I'm the enemy here, but I'm not here to hurt you, just this thing."
"It's overloading," the technician answered. "It's going to explode."
"How bad?" he asked back, keeping half a mind to extend the shield to protect the weapon to prevent more damage.
"Very," was the only answer.
"Figures..." Naruto said. In one motion, he tossed the shield at his attackers, knocking them back long enough for him to then cover the whole weapon in a green bubble. When it was completely sealed inside, he flew up through the same hole he had entered the chamber from, dragging the smoking device behind him. An unnatural shrill began emanating from the damaged weapon. Naruto glanced down and saw that the metal bulkhead was starting to glow from the internal heat. "Gotta hurry!" He flew faster and faster, not stopping after exiting out into the open. When he finally did, he forced the bubble and the rapidly deteriorating sphere inside it ever farther up the sky, until all he saw was the beam from the ring. It was then that the afternoon sky suddenly erupted in light, as if a second sun was shining down during noon. Soon after, a roaring, deafening shockwave shook Naruto and the rest of the country. Naruto lost his concentration from the blast, causing him to lose control over the Green Lantern ring and plummet down. Instead of landing on hard concrete, he collapsed onto the soft back of Sai's ink hawk.
"Got you!" Yamato cheered. Sakura immediately placed her arm around Naruto's back and held him up, while her other hand checked his head and chest.
"He's fine," she told the others. Looking back at her teammate, she asked him: "How do you feel?"
Naruto gave her a thumbs up, smiled, and said: "Mission accomplished."
******************
"The country surrendered to Team Kakashi soon after that," Zetsu finished. Unlike at first, none of the other members interrupted his report of the events.
Kakuzu was the first to react: "Tell us more about this ring."
"There is not much else to add," Zetsu answered. "At first, like the Metal, I thought it was a new weapon Konoha had developed. But from the Konoha-nin's conversation, I can say that they were as perplexed about its nature as their opponents were. It appears this ring is sentient to a certain extent, and it was the ring itself that chose to bond with the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki."
"Because he has guts? Give me a break!" Hidan scowled.
"It is not merely 'guts', as you say," Itachi interrupted. "From my observations, Uzumaki Naruto is a steadfast, if unpredictable, individual that does not compromise his lofty ideals, however utopian they might be, and will not hesitate to fight against any odds for those beliefs. Perhaps it is these qualities this... power ring seeks in its bearers."
"Deidara, you've also encountered the Kyuubi in the past," the leader said. "Do you agree with Itachi's assessment?"
"Yeah," Deidara answered. Itachi noted that he gripped one of his restored arms tightly. "He may be a hot-headed brat, but his determination is unquestionable, hn."
"So now one of our targets has a weapon that allows him to do anything he wants by just thinking about it," Kisame said, crossing his arms.
"Having cold feet?" Tobi taunted playfully.
"Tobi..." Kisame growled.
"Sorry, sorry, Tobi's a good boy!" he recanted. Interesting acting, Itachi thought to himself. "I just meant that the Nine-Tails is still your target, right?"
"Itachi, Kisame, I want you to postpone your search for the Four-Tails for now," Pain ordered the two. "You will instead head back to the Leaf and learn as much as you can about this so-called Green Lantern. Do not engage him unless you have acquired enough information to succeed in the capture. Report back with any results."
"Agreed," Itachi said.
"Remember, your primary objective for now is intelligence," Pain added. "If Uzumaki Naruto was able to take down an entire country by himself as a Green Lantern, we must proceed carefully in order to properly secure him." To the others he said: "For now, the rest of you will continue with your current assignments, but be ready to be called again at any moment."
"So many damned gatherings," Hidan complained.
"What're you mumbling about, hn?" Deidara castigated him. "At least you joined by choice," he added, giving Itachi a quick, hateful glance.
"This meeting is adjourned." With that, the nine images of the Akatsuki flickered and disappeared, and the single torch died out when the last one was gone, leaving the small cave consumed by darkness.
******************
"You seem troubled," Kisame told his partner. It was a few minutes after they had returned to their bodies from the meeting and had set off for Konoha. It was already night, and they were on their way to find a place to rest for the evening. During that time Itachi had said nothing.
"Not at all," Itachi lied.
"Hmm, if you say so," Kisame shrugged. Itachi knew Kisame well enough to know he didn't believe him, but also that he wouldn't press for more information. "This clearing looks good enough. I'll be right back."
"Where are you going?"
"Men's room." Kisame turned and disappeared into the jungle, leaving Itachi to his thoughts.
Kisame was not all wrong. Itachi was not troubled, but rather concerned. This Green Lantern ring had given a Konoha ninja, their Jinchuuriki no less, access to what appeared to be formidable powers that in certain aspects surpassed those of even the Kages. To release any kind of jutsu with a mere thought was something that even he was not fully capable of. Still, that Uzumaki Naruto became the power ring's owner was not the main problem. Instead, it was Akatsuki.
Itachi knew that the rest of the group was just as concerned about the Green Lantern as he was, perhaps more so since unlike him, their true goal included Naruto's capture. To him that objective was a means to an end; an assurance from Pain and Tobi that Konoha would remain safe from their machinations. But Uzumaki's new Green Lantern abilities were a wild card that the Akatsuki leadership would not tolerate, or worse, would seek to make their own.
What he did not suspect the others even remotely considered was that these new powers were a real threat to them. After Sasori's death at the hands of one of Uzumaki Naruto's teammates, no less, it was evident that Akatsuki was not the invincible organization it made itself out to be, and that under the right circumstances, even less experienced ninjas could overcome the odds. If the Jinchuuriki mastered these new powers, there was no telling what he might accomplish against Akatsuki.
He would comply with the leader's orders for now, but he would have to amend his own plans soon.
"Show yourselves," he said out loud. Three men emerged from behind a group of trees a few yards away. From their modest clothing and workshop tools passing for weapons, Itachi concluded that these were villagers from the town where he and Kisame had eaten before. One was middle-aged, the other two younger, and all were quaking in their boots. They were no threat to him. "Explain your presence here."
"I knew I recognized those eyes," the eldest man said, referring to Itachi's Sharingan. To his credit his voice did not waver, unlike his arms. "You are Uchiha Itachi?"
"I am," he replied.
"We know about you. We can't let you threaten our village," one of the younger ones said. Unlike his senior, this one sounded afraid.
"What you allow or not does not concern me," Itachi answered. "Besides, you are no threat to me."
"We know," their leader said, taking a step forward.
"And yet here you are..." Itachi smiled for a second under his cloak, though none of the three could see past the large neck cover of his Akatsuki robes. Interesting coincidence that these three appeared just as he was thinking of Uzumaki Naruto. He wondered if optimism was becoming contagious. That would be new in the war-torn world they all lived in. "It's not often that I see those that face fear. For that, I will say that we do not intend to threaten your village. But it would be annoying if others found out of my presence here. If you forget you saw me, I may spare you."
The two younger men exchanged doubtful glances, but the older man stood still. Itachi narrowed his eyes. "The line between bravery and stupidity is very thin," he said. "And you are still afraid. But you don't know true fear." His vision focused as his Sharingan activated. By the time the men stiffened, they were already in his Genjutsu.
But when Itachi spoke, the emanating voice was not his own: "Know fear." A faint light caught Itachi's attention. He glanced to his side, and saw a dancing amber glow...
******************
"And what do we have here?" another voice interrupted some time later. Kisame came back just in time to see the three men pass out from Itachi's illusion. Itachi kept his back to them, and to Kisame.
"Would-be heroes from the nearby town," Itachi said. "Nothing to bother yourself with."
Kisame approached one of them and gave him a weak kick in the ribs. "You didn't kill them?"
"No need to."
"They couldn't have come here of their own accord," Kisame said, unsheathing Samehada as he did so.
"Let them be, Kisame. They've learned their lesson." At this, Kisame glanced back at Itachi with incredulity.
"Since when did you become merciful?"
"They've seen what I am capable of," Itachi said. "Once they inform the others, fear will keep them from pestering us further."
"If you want fear, we can kill them and mutilate their corpses. That'll really scare the rest!"
"That would bring unnecessary attention to our presence, and to Akatsuki," Itachi countered.
"Don't worry," Kisame waved him off. "I won't leave too much evidence. I'll even make it quick and painless if it makes you feel better," he finished with a laugh. Kisame turned his back to his partner and then raised his heavy sword over his head with just one hand.
"Kisame, for what it's worth, I'm sorry," Itachi solemnly said.
"Sorry for wh..." Kisame did not have time to finish. Just as he turned towards Itachi, a brilliant golden light slammed into him with enough force to send him flying. Pain coursed through every inch of his body as the blast enveloped him. Despite his massive strength, Kisame was completely overwhelmed by the power of whatever had struck him. He landed hard on the ground far beyond the cowering villagers, but the light continued to pummel him until he ended up sprawled against the very earth he heaved up by the sheer impact. To his side lay Samehada, its covers ripped to shreds and with many of its scales also broken off by whatever had broken him too. The last thing he saw was Itachi, towering over him, with a bright amber glow emanating from his middle finger right next to his Akatsuki ring, and his normally red Sharingan now shining yellow. Just as the darkness took him, Kisame heard a stoic voice speak out.
"Uchiha Itachi of Sector 2814. You have the ability to instill great fear."
"Indeed," Itachi agreed, sporting an uncharacteristic grin, "indeed I do..."
"Welcome to the Sinestro Corps."
Author's blurb: Willpower (n): control of one's impulses and actions. Synonyms: personal determination, "guts", self-resolve.
Makes sense, then, that the power ring chose Naruto to be the Green Lantern of Earth. I wonder who else it could have chosen? Maybe Lee?
But it looks like Naruto's going to have some stiff competition. Uchiha Itachi with a yellow power ring... now that is something that instills fear!
In the meantime, I'm keeping an eye on the DC Universe's Blackest Night. At last, it has truly begun...
