VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ! I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH.
Surprise, I'm not dead and apparently, neither is this story! Now, now, now, give me a minute to explain before the boo's come, please!
First, I have/had a laptop that I stored all my Tonbo notes and chapters on. I'm talking full on story notes that reached 50,000 words that outlined the plot. Another 20,000 words on sub plots I was going to include and even more on just random things I typed up and was thinking of adding. Me being, well, me, did not back any of this up. I know, I feel it too. It's a mistake I'm not making again, trust me.
Secondly, I have epilepsy. My seizures can get quite 'athletic'. I'm sure many of you can see where this is going. I was walking down the stairs with my laptop, took a turn, landed on said laptop, seized and smashed the poor machine to bits. Losing everything in the process. In the end, I ended up with a smashed laptop, a broken leg and a few cuts from the broken glass screen. Go me.
Wait, I hear you, 'but you posted two more stories and updated another?'. Thankfully, those were actually typed up on my brother's laptop, and therefore didn't perish in what I like to think of as the 'fanfiction earth-quake of 2017".
To be honest, it disheartened me quite a bit, losing it all. There was little bits I couldn't quite remember how I had planned out (I have some trouble remembering, it's why I type everything up before I forget it). Most sub-plots were forgotten. Plot twists lost and I lost a bit of my enthusiasm to write this story. And to be extra honest with you, while healing up and trying to re-write my notes and get everything back together again, all the hate for this story got to me more than it should have.
I know criticism will come, I welcome it, but some of the things I was sent, you would think I murdered someone's puppy. Or, as one anon had stated 'what are you doing to Naruto? Fuck off and stop writing your shitty fic. You're killing the fandom. Actually stop writing all together. This is rubbish and so is everything else you do.' Trying to re-write everything up, while being sent the things I was sent, dragged me down to that thought of 'what's the point?'. BUT WAIT A MINUTE, this isn't me just complaining, it does have a point and the point is the rest of you beautiful people.
Re-reading your reviews, the lovely words you guys sent me, how much you like this fic and even the simple 'this fic made me smile today', made me smile in return. It picked me back up. Made me type again. And really, I can't thank you guys enough. Writing is an escape for me, a fun thing, and even if I get a ton of hate for continuing this, knowing at least one person out there likes this and this fic is an escape for them, something fun to read and smile at, then I couldn't ask for more. Thank you all, really.
NOW HERES THE SECOND PIECE OF BAD NEWS: after losing everything on this fic, and I mean everything, it's taken me awhile to get back into the groove and get far enough ahead to be happy to post a chapter. And I know in the last chapter I said we would get to Itachi and Hari meeting, but I'm just not quite there yet. HOWEVER, it does come next chapter and I'm trying my hardest to get that one out in the next week. So, please be a little patient. BUT this does have an upside.
I lost everything, therefore I could look at this fic with clean eyes instead of bullet points of 'well, this needs to happen, then this, this, this'. It's let me come up with new twist and turns. It's let me just write instead of plan, which has been a problem for me before now. And writing with no end goal or plan is therapeutic, it's fun and easy and really, what writing is all about. So, instead of going with my head and thinking what needed to happen, I went with what my gut told me. Such as this chapters creation... Including Sasuke's and Itachi's P.O.V's. So... While they're technically not together in the fic yet, Sasuke and Itachi are very present in the fic and I quite like how this chapter has turned out, and I know the next chapter is very much the same lay-out as this one, but if you guys like it, I might keep it. It was fun trying to get into their heads and writing them up!
Well, enough of my rambling. Thank you all so very, very much and I hope you enjoy!
Sasuke Uchiha's P.O.V
The sound of Uchiha Sasuke's sandals clicking on the limestone flooring was the only sound to be heard for miles around the labyrinth like base. Click, clack. Click, clack. Click, clack. If the octave was only a few levels lower, it would sound reminiscent of a heartbeat. However, the silence that engulfed the base suited him fine. Words were distractions from one's actions and intent. Sounds were a facade to an environment. Silence couldn't lie.
His training over the last two weeks had frustratingly slowed to a dribble. Sasuke wasn't used to waiting, he didn't have the patience for it, and when he was forced to wait because of another's needs or orders, it angered him even more. He hadn't done what he had for anyone else. He wasn't here for anyone but himself. In so, nothing outside himself should affect his plans. However, Orochimaru was fulfilling his end of the bargain, slowly but surely, and that was the only thing halting Sasuke's blade from his long, pale neck.
Power was power, no matter where it was learned from and to defeat Itachi, Sasuke would need all the power and knowledge he could get his hands on. Even if that meant playing the waiting game on the whims of people he would rather see dead. His vengeance wouldn't be stopped because of his own faults and misgivings. So he would wait... But not for much longer.
He had heard whispers of why Orochimaru seemed to be in such a foul mood. He had seen the results with his own eyes, Orochimaru's pathetic anger and temper tantrums over something as ridiculous as one of his precious bases being broken into and destroyed. It wasn't like the Sannin didn't have another thirty in his back pocket. Nevertheless, this one had been one of Orochimaru's favorites due to the... 'Studies' he had been conducting there.
Sasuke had not cared at the time, he couldn't bring himself to care much about anything other than training and trailing any rumor of Itachi's whereabouts, these days. However, when Kabuto had arrived back from the destroyed base today, smiling that sick little twist of lips, pleading for a private audience with Orochimaru that would disrupt Sasuke's training, Sasuke had not been as annoyed as he should have been or thought he would be over an inconvenience. In fact, his interest had been piqued more than aggravated.
It wasn't many times Kabuto smirked that smile, but when he did it often meant big things were on the horizon. Big things that could interrupt and discard Sasuke's own plans and schemes if he didn't factor them into the equation. In the end, when all was said and done, nothing came between Sasuke and his end goal.
So, when Orochimaru dismissed him with a flick of his thin-boned hand, led a smirking Kabuto off into the tunnels, Sasuke had taken the opposite tunnel. The opposite tunnel that would circumvent their own path and lead to the very same 'hidden' office Orochimaru often frequented when he wished to be alone. Sasuke almost scoffed. He knew these bases like the back of his hand, his own reflection, at this point and there was nowhere hidden from him here. To think so was idiotic.
It didn't take long for Sasuke to begin to hear the soft, echoing voices of his teacher and Kabuto, nor to push up against a small alcove, shrouded in looming shadows. When their steps came to a pottering stop, their words were loud and clear and they were none the wiser to Sasuke's presence. This time, he did scoff. Fools.
"The base is completely destroyed, the location compromised Orochimaru-sama. There is nothing to be done for it."
Kabuto's voice was too sweet, too polite, too submissive. It made Sasuke's skin crawl. For someone to be so dependent, so under someone's thrawl, it was despicable to him. He would rather fall to sweet oblivion than to become something akin to the bespeckled man. Kabuto would be the first to die by Sasuke's hand after he got what he wanted. By that point, it would be a mercy.
"Do not be coy with me Kabuto-kun. You wouldn't be smiling so... Pleasantly if it was all bad news."
Sasuke couldn't see Orochimaru from his stand point, but he could picture his smile all too clearly. A slit, wide, gaping, toothy mockery of humor.
"The perpetrator was a single person. They went in, set free your subjects and with their help, demolished the building."
Orochimaru's answering chuckle was wet and slippery.
"And you think this person would be of interest to me? You should know by now Kabuto, not many people can hold my interest for long."
Tap. Tap. Tap. By the stride, Sasuke guessed it was Kabuto walking closer to Orochimaru. His guess was only solidified when he noticed how more hushed Kabuto's voice had become.
"It was an Uchiha. I know how they always seem to hold your attention."
Sasuke froze, hands clenching at his side. An Uchiha? Impossible. Unthinkable. However, Kabuto had yet to be proven wrong... No. This time, the man must be mistaken. The Uchiha were dead. Gone. He and his brother were the last beacons of a once great clan. And soon, if he got his way, only he would be the last standing.
"An Uchiha? A child of Itachi perhaps... How old is he?"
Could it be? Could there really be an Uchiha out there? Had his forsaken brother really spawned another? No. Itachi loathed the Uchiha. He was the one to burn their once great clan to the ground. Sasuke could hardly see his brother getting some unfortunate woman pregnant and letting the woman keep it. If it had Uchiha genes, it would have been killed by Itachi. Kabuto was wrong. He had to be...
"She. And she looked around Sasuke-sans age, looked nearly identical to him in fact. Blue-black hair, pale skin, thin and lithe, I saw her use the Sharingan... Although she had green eyes."
"Really now, after all this time-"
Sasuke's world fractured and splintered around him. He couldn't hear any more of their conversation, couldn't focus, couldn't think... Couldn't breathe. His own heartbeat felt like it was screaming two words into his ears.
Green eyes. Green eyes. Green eyes. Green eyes.
A girl. His age. Looked like him. Had green eyes. He had grown up staring at his family photo's for hours at a time, wishing, praying, sobbing until he had no tears left and he was nothing but a desert. When he was small, while his parents were still alive, when he was alone, he would pretend she was still there, sitting next to him. He would speak to her, tell her about his day, make up stories about how her day had gone, play with her. His parents had thought he had an imaginary friend. He knew she wasn't real... The real her was dead. Had been for years. His twin. Hari.
At the time, he couldn't bring himself to tell his parents he imagined his dead twin and spoke to her every day, so he had made up a story of an invisible dog that took him on adventures. Then Itachi had done what he had done and Sasuke's imagination had died that day. Hari had died once more. Was she... After all this time... Could it be?...
No. This... This was Itachi. It had to be. Another taunt. Another joke on him. It was a trap. Bait. He was being lured out. He didn't know how his brother had done this, but he had somehow and the mechanics didn't really matter in the grand scheme. So his brother thought he could dangle a lie in his face and have him snap? Not this time. Sasuke would investigate. Catch his brother before Itachi could catch him. He. Would. Pay.
He waited half hour after Orochimaru and Kabuto had left before he ducked out from the Alcove and marched away. His stride was sure, strong, confident... But his hands were trembling.
Itachi's P.O.V
Step. Inhale. Step. Exhale. Step. Inhale. Step. Exhale. Repeat. Itachi enjoyed these moments most. The peace. The routine. The quietness. The ease of it all. Simply breathing. He even enjoyed the soft hoot of an owl that billowed from above their heads as it swooped passed, ready to sweep into its nest and sleep for the on coming day. However, he could do without the clambering thuds of his partner's heavy steps and the sparse clank of his large sword hitting a tree trunk when the giant of a man tried to squeeze through a space he was obviously not built to pass through.
Their small mission in Yugakure had been completed with minimal disruption and relative ease. Now the two of them were heading back to base, back to the sodden and dreary Amegakure, trekking a long path across the borders of Otogakure. Overall, it was just another day in another week in another year. Well, that had been what Itachi Uchiha had originally believed.
He and Kisame had been crossing an old crickety bridge across a small river when he had first felt it. The pair was silent at the time, a common thing between the two that Itachi appreciated more than he would ever verbally tell the other S-ranked nin. Kisame never felt the need to fill in the blanks, to shy away from the silence, to fill it with incessant chatter as if conversation was a childs colouring book. If Itachi was to ever admit to having a friend, after the massa-... After what he had done, the only name he could picture moving passed his lips would have been Kisame's.
"We should stop off in Takigakure. There's a nice tea shop I know, discreet, out of the way-"
Something flared on Itachi's senses, a candle flickering in a great wind, barely there, holding on, but with a spark so bright it couldn't not capture his attention immediately.
"Shhh."
He stalled, right in the middle of the bridge, his head cocking to the side. It was... Gone. Whatever it had been, it had felt oddly... Familiar. Like an ingredient to an old favorite dish, one his mother would bake on special occasions, but with his palette older, more convoluted, other flavors tainting it, he just couldn't put his finger on its name.
His sandal lifted off the old birchwood planks, another step taken, another inhale, another exhale when he froze once more. This time the sense of it was stronger, a blaze more than a flare... A chakra signal. It was coming from the north-east, strong, angry even. Rageful. The shinobi must have been in the middle of a fight, a big one, to produce such a chakra flare as wide as they had. Untrained too if they could not keep it limited enough to go undetected.
"Do you... Do you feel that?"
As he stared across the bridge, Itachi couldn't bring himself to answer, only nod at Kisame's question. Familiar. Why did it feel so familiar? It felt crackly, like an electric storm but with a warmth that bellowed of fire more than electric. Buzzy. Light but with a sharp bite at the end. Energetic. Zippy... Dancing... Flying.
His blood chugged through his veins, drumming in his ears like the sound of war. His heart pattered in his chest, thumping erratically against his chest. His skin prickled and seemed to shrink on his bones, making him feel tight, too tight. He knew what it reminded him of.
Dragonflies.
That's what it felt like. A dragonfly dancing. He remembered a pond, spring days, the smell of bluebells, honeysuckle and baby's breath on the wind. He remembered giggles, the patter of small feet, the splash of the pond, the chatter of "'Achi, 'Achi, 'Achi!". Her first word. He remembered her chasing them on stubby legs, her grasping hands, the smile, the joy in her eyes. He remembered looking at those dragonflies she was so fascinated with and thinking her chakra felt exactly how those little wing beasts looked on spring days. Birthing his nickname for her.
Tonbo.
No step. No inhale. No exhale. Nothing. He didn't exist then, he only existed in a memory, as a child, swinging around Tonbo as she tried to catch the dragonflies.
"Itachi? Are you listening to me? I said it feels like Sasuke-san, but different, airier... Itachi? Are you ill? is that..."
Itachi snapped back into the present, his gaze zeroing in on Kisame. His face had not changed from the look he always wore, clean of thoughts and emotion, carven, neutrally blank. However, Kisame's own gaze was locked onto his right cheek, not his face entirely. Blinking, Itachi primly rose a hand up and ran his fingertips across his cheekbone, pulling them away to stare down at the wetness that glistened on the top.
A tear. He had... He was crying.
"Hn."
Kisame's mouth opened to question further, but his words would be forever unheard as Itachi swiveled, cloak swishing, and he took off in an all out run in the direction the flare had come from... The opposite way they should be heading if they wanted to get anywhere near Amegakure.
"Hey, Itachi! Itachi! For fuck sake!"
Unfortunately, Kisame knew Itachi. Too well for comfort sometimes. He didn't need to know his whole life story, frankly, Kisame didn't give two shits. He didn't care about world peace, conspiracy plots, Akatsuki, any fucking village or whether either of them really belonged where they've ended up or not. Dammit, Kisame was sure he belonged down below. Far, far, far below with the acts he had pulled.
All he cared about was his sword, a good place to sleep and a cup of tea every now and again. Call it old age. But... But he and Itachi had been through thick and thin together, and the silent statue grew on you like fungus if you gave him long enough. Kisame, unluckily, had been in his presence for years now and, well, it seemed he was in it for the long haul. Unexplained running off included or not.
Kisame huffed as he made sure Samehada's strap was on tight before he took off running after Itachi. One day, Kisame swore it, it would be Itachi running after him with a million questions on the tip of his tongue.
Hari's P.O.V
Hari swore under her breath as she dodged the kunai that just barely missed her thigh, skidding and bumbling deeper into the thick brush of the heavy forest in futile hopes of escaping the duo hot on her tail. Shit... Where had the third gone? To say things had taken a turn for the worst since she had left the survivors of the Otogakure base at the edge of what they called 'Konoha', would be an understatement.
After she had left the survivors, still healing and half broken, she had headed north... Back into the hell-hole she had pulled the survivors from and barely escaped herself. Never had she been so foolishly, brashly, undoubtedly Gryffindor before. However, it had been her only option. Her only lead. She couldn't not take it.
Misaki's grandson had given her all the reason she needed to dive head first into danger. North of that nightmarish base was an Uchiha... A Sasuke Uchiha. It may not be her brother, it could be a complete stranger, but, even if it was just a sliver of a chance, it could be him. And that? That she couldn't turn away from. So, she had dived right into the bloody brimstone and fire and now she was paying the price with her pound of aching flesh.
First, little bands of Oto-nin came after her, only two or three men strong. They were more of a nuisance than anything else. Dim-witted, easy to out maneuver and think, too heavy handed. It was more of an energy drain to get around them than it was a life threatening situation. But then it was three to five men teams, then seven, then there were so many Hari didn't take the time to count and balance risk against reward before she tried to out run them. Then they came.
The ones in white masks, shaped as animals, dressed in black and silver, quick, smart... Lethal, even if it was only one and suddenly mild annoyance became a heady, poignant thought she might not see another sunrise. The only thing that had stopped them from capturing or killing her so far had been her ability to apparate. However, they were smart, they were adapting, the last one she had had a running in with had nearly grabbed her before she could apparate, just a finger width away from being teleported away with her, making her ability to apparate redundant in the first place. An inch from capture. One step from death. It had been too close.
Now, just as she had gone passed the broken base, pushing even further north, one step closer to an Uchiha, towards Sasuke, she had been ambushed once more. These three were different, individual and yet united in a strength Hari was finding hard to fight against. Brown-haired-possibly-blind-man was quick, lightning, forcing Hari to push herself to her own limits, just barely managing to pip him in the speed department. He appeared at every turn she thought to take, almost like he was reading her mind, or the minute tellings her tensing muscles gave. However, Hari had taken to falsely turning, slightly jarring herself to throw him off track. It was working, but he was learning fast.
Bubblegum-girl-wonder was the least worrying, but that was only if Hari managed to keep out of her range and with her dwindling energy, the pain flaring in her body from unhealed wounds and lack of much-needed rest and sleep, she doubted she could keep that for much longer. Back when the chase had begun, girl wonder had shown her hand too soon.
As soon as Hari had bolted on sight of them heading towards her, the girl had jumped, fist raised high and proud, only to smack it into the ground... Creating a huge crater and wide, gaping split in the earth that Hari had narrowly rolled away from. Hari had always thought Hermione had been exaggerating when she had said people from the Elemental Nations could throw boulders. Unfortunately for Hari, under-exaggeration seemed to be just as detrimental to her continued survival. It was a mistake she wouldn't make again.
Silver fox... Now here was the real, undiluted danger Hari faced. He was obviously the leader. The other two taking worded and unworded orders from him with just a tilt of his covered chin or flick of a gloved finger. He was smart, as fast as possibly-blind-man and most worryingly, as soon as Hari had activated her Sharingan, he had shouted, in a gruff yet unbothered voice, almost bored even, to the other two to not look into her eyes. He knew her trump card and had stolen it from her... Bloody bastard.
Since then, none of them had made eye contact, and in such close proximity to her, and her inability to control the gift, Hari was reluctant to use those black flames. Just her luck if she should barbeque herself.
Now she had Silver-fox and Bubblegum-girl-wonder mere feet behind her, her shoulder was bleeding once more from ripped stitches from her mad dash, her bruised, hastily bandaged arm was still nearly useless and Brown-haired-possibly-blind-man was nowhere to be found, likely somewhere ahead of her, setting up a trap. So, what did you do when you could no longer run, or wasn't willing to run into a trap? You made a stand... Or at least, tried to babble and talk your way out of it to buy yourself enough time to think of a better plan than the last stand. A last stand came... Well, last and Hari would not die here. Not today. Not without ever seeing her brothers just one time.
With the very dregs of her energy, Hari pushed herself up a large tree, clambering into the foliage, slumping on a thick branch, back pressing harshly into biting bark. She had about twenty seconds before the duo were upon her. Breath ragged and unforgiving, hands trembling, she reached up and prodded her shoulder, hissing through her teeth at the sting, wincing when finger tips came away crimson. Her shoulder was a mess. Her other arm, still patterned with that stain glass bruising was useless. She was drained beyond empty. She was tired. Weak. Alone. Surrounded... She had never felt so vulnerable in her life.
Nevertheless, when she heard the tell-tale whisp of feet crunching on fallen twigs and leaves, steps slowing to a halt at the base of her tree, Hari straightened up, painted on a blank face, closed her eyes and pictured her photograph of her family and stood tall. If she was going to die, she would die standing and thinking of hope, love and what could have been. She only hoped her parents, in that beautiful ethereal plain, knew she had tried her hardest.
One heartbeat. Two heartbeats. Three heartbeats. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Just as Hari was about to jump out and tell them to get it over with, instead choosing to peep out from the foliage to stare down at her pursuers before she took the jump, them looking at her now that her eyes were back to jade green, Silver-fox addressed her.
"We don't want to hurt you."
Hari's brows pulled down sharply, shadowing her eyes, distrust laced in every feature. What had they called all this then? A welcoming party? Here she sat in a tree, haggard, bleeding, half sure she would pass out very soon, and they had the balls to tell her they didn't want to hurt her? Hari almost laughed. It seemed Silver-fox earned his mental nickname with his way of words. Want didn't mean they wouldn't. Think. She needed to buy time. She needed to come up with a plan, a rough idea, anything at all that could possibly get her the hell out of there. So, she played along.
"And, exactly now, what is it you want from me?"
Hari scoffed as she dangled from the tree her two pursuers were standing at the trunk of. These two, especially silver over there, were slippery to get past. Of course, she was still badly injured, which made her possibility of evasion and escape all that more harder to accomplish, but, then again, Hari had never been a quitter. She had escaped those mask wearing creepers who spoke in riddles, she had burned those Oto-nin, how much harder could getting passed these two be? Pinkie spoke up.
"We only want to take you to Konoha Sas-... Uchiha Hari-san, where you'll be safe."
Hari couldn't help it, she laughed and laughed hard. Safe? Hari, ever since setting foot on these Elemental nations had not found a single safe place. Plus, how stupid did they think she was? They had chased her without provocation on her part, thrown kunai at her, exploding paper too, yes, that existed apparently and chased her up a tree like she was some errant cat that had escaped home. All the while, they could see she was injured, badly. Were they going to shove her into a little pet carrier too? Feed her meow-mix and semi-skimmed milk? Fuck that and while she was at it, fuck them too. She was just trying to find her brothers!
"And I want to go to the moon and ride bloody rainbows as I eat my way through unlimited treacle tarts. It ain't happening, accept that."
Silver-fox took a step closer and Hari's eyes whirled to red, even if the energy to do so left her dizzy for a moment. All she had to do was fake it, pretend, if they thought she wasn't so weak, perhaps they would think twice about attacking. But then two things happened at once. First, she clocked onto the use of her name... Her real name. One she hadn't used since her arrival in this land.
"How... How do you know my name?"
And two, with her Sharingan activated, she realized too late that bright eyes was right behind her. Hari had barely enough time and energy to hastily growl out a 'Shit!' and try to jump away before the first and last hit came, an open palmed smack to the side of her neck, sending her sailing out of the tree. Before she crumpled to the floor, the world around her swam, her body refused to move, no matter how loudly she mentally screamed for it to, and she faded out of consciousness. Before sleep fully enveloped her, she felt the crash of an already hurt body skidding across unforgiving grass and rock and heard the warbling of words from Silver fox.
"Sakura-chan, check her over, she's bleeding. However, be quick, we need to move on before the Oto-nin and Akatsuki catch up. The faster we get to Konoha, the better for all of us..."
No... She couldn't go Konoha... Konoha was south... She needed... North... North... North.
Then, for a blissful while, Hari knew nothing. No pain. No ache. No need. Just silence and peace. Heaven. However, she did know anger when she eventually was awoken.
Itachi P.O.V
The Otogakure-nin dug his hands into the soil, groaning deeply as he dragged himself forward before flopping back down, out of energy, will and more importantly, blood. However, those factors didn't matter to Itachi. Not when his foot hooked underneath the limp body and kicked it over, earning a muted scream from the man on the grass below him. He wouldn't live long, not with a wound as substantial as that to his chest.
"Who did this?"
Kisame stood a few feet behind Itachi, wearily eyeing the destroyed Oto base to their left. The Oto-nin had obviously been inside the base when it had been crumpled in on itself, the thick layer of smoke and dust coating his skin told Itachi that much. He had traced the Chakra signal to this very spot, however, a day ago it had blinked out of existence. It was still there, barely, but not strong enough to pinpoint, just enough to give a general sense of direction. When the man below him spoke, it was a spat, snarled word, drenched in blood that dribbled down his chin and splattered onto the green grass.
"Uchiha."
Either the man was addressing him, unlikely by the way he said the word, or he was to believe his Ototo had done this. Nevertheless, that did not add up to what Itachi had felt, nor the small news he had fed to him about the happenings of his Ototo throughout the years. The signature had felt like his brothers, without a doubt, but different. Just a slight change to the core that fundamentally skewed the whole feel of it. Even without this oddity, the last Itachi had heard, Sasuke was still adamantly on his path of vengeance, still willingly under the tutelage of Orochimaru. His Ototo wasn't one to divert cause and path once he was on that road, not so suddenly and unpredictably. Itachi bent down on his haunches, closer to hear the man should he choose to answer.
"Sasuke Uchiha did this?"
If Sasuke had turned, left Orochimaru, he could very well be back with the Leaf village. That meant he was closer to the council, to danger, to Danz-... The man's head lolled to the side, his eyes becoming bleary as he rapidly blinked away the darkness that was surely grasping and tugging on his mind. Thankfully, he had just enough strength left to spit one more insult.
"No... She... Came out of nowhere... Wasn't expecting an attack... Not from a Uchiha... Fucking green-eyed bitch..."
Snap. Itachi's hand left the mans throat, the angle bent and odd. Straightening out, Itachi spared the Oto-nin one last, lingering glance before turning and walking away. As he brushed passed Kisame, the other man's deep, barrelled voice questioned him.
"Well, are we going to keep tracking or-"
"It's a trap."
Stopping at his side, Kisame facing the north, Itachi the south, he had never felt so... Tired as he had right then. He didn't need sleep. It wasn't his illness. No. He felt like he had aged a lifetime in the span of a sentence.
"Are you sure?"
Itachi gave a short, precise nod and when he blinked, he was sure he saw dragonflies on the back of his eyelid. They burnt to ash on his iris.
"Yes. That person is long dead. This is either a trap by my Ototo or Konoha."
How could it not be a trap? The signs had been too easy to find. Life never gave you anything for free. A signal that screamed for attention. One lone survivor at the base to pass along the 'message' of what he had seen. Either Konoha had been digging into the birth-records and found a sore-spot to poke, or Sasuke had decided to use his own long dead twin against Itachi. For what?
A lure likely. Something to bring him out and into the open. No doubt Sasuke thought if Itachi felt an Uchiha's chakra signal, he would go running to kill them. And he had run for it... He was here, in the sound village, was he not? It was just not for the reason's his Ototo believed. Reasons, for Sasuke's own continued survival, Itachi had reinforced inside of him. His brother was getting smarter, stronger too. That was good.
Then why did this revelation taste so bitter, so poisonous?
The signal was coming from the south, faintly fluttering on the breeze. Itachi turned and walked north. It was autumn, not spring and all the dragonflies were dead. Before he could re-enter the treeline, Kisame's voice echoed out behind him.
"I've seen those photo's you think you keep hidden. The ones of your brother and family... I bet they're on you right now. I ain't never known an Uchiha with green eyes... Until I saw the photo of you holding that toddler as a kid yourself. Little girl... Pretty green eyes. You can push that psychopathic, mass murdering act on others, but you can't on me. I know you. If I were you... If I didn't think for a hundred percent this was a trap, I wouldn't walk away from it. And really, you wouldn't have come running here if you hadn't believed in the first place. Or don't. Walk away. To be honest, I couldn't care less. I just want a decent place to eat in and you dithering back and forth on the line is testing my patience."
Itachi glanced south and then north. North, he walked away. He left it well enough alone. In the north, there would be no crushed hope. South, there was... Something. Be it a trap or... Well, something he would name when he came to that bridge. But there was something. Five heartbeats passed before he swiveled and headed north, a chuckling Kisame following his wake.
"I do not dither."
"Sure you don't kid."
Sasuke P.O.V
Sasuke Uchiha was used to his own little excursions. It gave him a sense of freedom Konoha had never matched. Even he would admit in certain aspects, team missions and work had their own valid pro's that would be ignorant and foolish to over look. However, when it was just himself, when all he had to rely on was his own wits and skill, when he didn't have to put up with others pointless and often circulatory opinions, it was his favorite.
Orochimaru had been indulgent in this aspect. Gifting Sasuke with the rare ability to leave the compounds and bases solitarily. Many of his... 'Comrades' couldn't say the same. Even Orochimaru's so called favorites rarely got this privilege. Sasuke, two days after over hearing the conversation between Kabuto and Orochimaru, had been scheduled to depart that very day. Yet, Orochimaru had flimsily denied his departure with see through excuses and glass smiles.
Orochimaru couldn't keep him locked in forever. Not only would it delay his training and experience, it would also take away Orochimaru's other, less scientific, favorite pass time. Snubbing Konoha. When Sasuke was out and about, in the open, even on stealth missions, villagers saw him. And the funny thing about villagers was they liked to gossip, gossip traveled fast and without a single doubt, shady news of his appearances would reach a Konoha citizen.
Orochimaru never tried to rectify this, he took a sick sense of pleasure in letting Konoha know he had an Uchiha, an Uchiha that stayed of their own free will when Konoha had failed to do just that. Orochimaru, as valiantly as he would deny it, fell to base emotional needs and instincts. His sense of pride and jealousy being the top amongst those and when he could feed it, you could bet he would.
Nevertheless, this did not stop Sasuke's current problem. His seemingly endless confinement when he had things he needed to be doing. Things outside the eye sight and ear shot of Orochimaru and his faithful followers.
"Sasuke-kun, I really wish you would stop passing."
Sasuke stalled in his path, slowly eyeing over his shoulder towards the open door of his personal chambers, spotting Orochimaru casually leaning in the entry way. On his spartan bed, laid a single bundle. Necessities for his travel, ready and packed.
"I was meant to leave a week and a half ago, yet I am still here. How is my training meant to progress if I am... Stuck inside four walls?"
Often times, it was the only way to manipulate Orochimaru to his way of thinking. Reminding him of his training, his progression or lack there of. After all, he didn't want a weak vessel and Sasuke was practical and cynical enough of his own situation to use that and anything else to his advantage.
"Ah, but dear Sasuke-kun, I have come to fix just that."
"Hn."
Orochimaru slipped around the door frame, into his room, emptying the entrance. And with one sentence, a wave of his thin arm and a sickly smile, put a dent in Sasuke's already shaky plans.
"Karin, Juugo, Suigetsu, come in."
So this was it. This was Orochimaru's answer. Sasuke wasn't stupid. Orochimaru had not kept him in lock down because of one broken into base. Not because Sasuke was needed here. He was in confines because of what he had overheard. An unknown Uchiha on the loose in Otogakure. Orochimaru likely feared Sasuke would hear about the news and by himself would go looking. When alone, Sasuke's opinion couldn't be altered or convinced by faithful nin or Orochimaru himself. Or, if possible, Sasuke would end up running into this faceless individual and abandon Oto altogether.
The three people in question stopped in the doorway, just on the threshold, the invisible line that separated his own quarters to the hallway. They knew better than to enter without his own implicit invite, which he hadn't and wouldn't give. Sasuke beat down his own rising smirk.
"What are they doing here?"
Orochimaru was smart to not send him alone, especially now that he knew the 'big secret', but Orochimaru had fallen to his own failings. If the matter didn't outright concern him, his experimentations or his quest for immortality, Orochimaru often turned a blind eye to proceedings. A mistake if he didn't fix soon, he would live just long enough to regret. In this regard, he failed to see how, if Sasuke said the right thing, gave these three just the right amount of information and didn't disregard Orochimaru's orders entirely, they would follow him and do as he said.
"Why, they're going with you."
Of course, first, for appearance's sake, Sasuke would have to put up a 'fight'.
"This was meant to be a solo-mission. A simple one at that. I was meant to travel to the east-bay village and procure the new... Subjects for you. Why would I need an entourage?"
Orochimaru kicked off from the wall, sauntering towards Sasuke as he eyed him up and down in one slick movement. At this point, Sasuke was used to his appraisal, as if he was fruit still hanging on the tree, not quite ripe enough to pluck yet... But soon. Soon.
"Do not think of it as an entourage. Think of it as a work in your... Communication skills. You are not the only one here who needs to learn. Think of this as you helping your fellow sound Nin. Teach them."
Sasuke let his own eyes track the three at the door before he slanted his eyes back at Orochimaru, his bangs fluttering across his cheek. Even though he was looking at Orochimaru, he addressed the trio in the door.
"Fine. But we leave now. If you haven't packed, go and catch up. I will not wait for you. Orochimaru-sama."
And with a fell swoop, Sasuke plucked up his own bundle, nodded in respect to Orochimaru as he passed him and headed out the door. The three split apart to give him room like he was infectious, although Karin did slip in behind him close after he was passed.
"We're all ready Sasuke-kun!"
Sasuke ignored her and the multiple footsteps that followed, echoing down the halls, sounding like the splatter of rain against a window pane. He took the long way around, just in case Orochimaru's little lapdog Kabuto was spying, checking exactly what exit he was taking. In this, today, with what he had planned, Sasuke couldn't be too careful. When sunlight greeted them from the doorless exit and Sasuke stepped into the light, heading out, Karin was the first to speak up.
"Sasuke-kun... This is the South exit... This isn't the way to East-bay. We need to go back and head to the other side of the bas-"
"That is because we are not going to East-bay. Not yet. I... Have something I need to look into first. Now, either return to base or be silent and follow. It is your choice."
Luckily, they followed and Orochimaru, for the moment, was none the wiser to Sasuke's little... Detour.
Hari's P.O.V
It had been three days. Three days further south. Three days closer to Konoha... Three days further away from Uchiha Sasuke. Three days of endless questions, always being watched, being cuffed, dragged around, marched, prodded, stared at. It was the fourth night now, soon to be four days by the horizon beginning to lighten.
"Why are you here?... How did you get here?... What happened at the Otogakure base?... Do you have anything to say?... At all? Or are you going to keep playing the silent game?"
Hari glared at the silver-haired man who was bearing down upon her, obviously, her vow of silence was over as the man had grown fed up of his questions going unanswered. Kakashi, he had said his name was, as well as the girl, Sakura, who was currently sleeping. In fact, Sakura freaked her out the most... She wouldn't stop looking at her, watching, sitting uncomfortably close. At least this Kakashi fellow got down to business instead of just watching her, as if she was some sort of interesting artifact to ponder and preen over. Hari smirked over at him.
"Yes, actually, I think I do. Should I die during this moronic mission of yours, donate all my organs to those in need... Except for my middle finger, you and Konoha can fucking keep that."
Hari had no idea where bright eyes was, nor did she know his name. He had been gone the moment she had groggily greeted her kidnappers. Kidnappers. What a funny term. She was no longer a child, she hadn't been for a long time, and yet, here she was, cuffed with special bracelets that drained her Chakra and strapped to a boulder like she was in time out.
Some days came easier than others. Some days she could ignore the questions and looks and plan. Scheme. Dream of escaping and finding Itachi and Sasuke. Those were the days where she felt like she was carved from clear ice and sharp crystal. Stone. Cold. Hard. Blank. They couldn't touch her. She was too far away. They didn't matter. None of this mattered. It was a setback, not a failure. She just had to bide her time.
Then, some days she was made of lave and mercury and her blood was boiling. She would swear, snarl, dammit, she had even tried to bite Sakura at one point when she ignorantly just tried to touch her forehead scar without warning. She was made of venom and spit, temperamental. She hated them both those days. Truly, deeply hated them.
What right did they have to just take her? What right did they have to force her to conform to their perception? What right did they have to take her control from her? Control over her own life. Hers, no one elses. Hers! All her life, that one thing, it had always been snatched from her. Dumbledore. Voldemort. Aunt Petunia. Now these two. Perhaps that's why she disliked them so much, for they hadn't treated her unfairly, they had given her food and water, Pinky had even seen to her wounds the best they could on the move, but they took one thing Hari would never give. After the war, even with all the things she had seen in this land, she had gained control over her own life. She had tasted it, felt the sweet ambrosia sooth her war wounds and now... Now it was gone again and Hari couldn't, wouldn't go back to that hapless, vulnerable little girl again. She refused to dance to another's tune again.
Then there was today. Endless walking. The same questions on repeat. The same exact glances she had come to expect. The sky felt heavy and oppressive. Dull. Time ticked by too slowly to be natural. It had felt like it would never end and Hari had felt trapped between that blissful ice and that passionate fire. Mush and ash. That's what she felt like today. A soft sigh from Kakashi beckoned a snort from Hari.
"Uchiha-san, we really do only want to help you... I really only want to help you. We're taking you to Konoha. We're taking you home."
Hari frowned. Home. Another funny word. Without Lily or James, Godric's hollow was a house. Without Sirius black, Grimmauld place was just an empty husk of a house. No character. No hearth. Just looming shadows and painful memories. Malfoy Manor, compared to the warm, laughter filled bubble of the Weasley's home was, yet again, just a house. Once, in Muggle primary school, her teacher had asked the class to draw a picture of home. She remembered her classmate's pictures well. Shaky lines. Pointed roofs. Square windows. Hers... Hers had been just stick drawings, a small girl with knobbly knees and wild hair holding the hands of two grownups.
Only now, looking back, did she realize she had given the woman long black hair, pin straight, and the man dark brown with a stern line for the mouth, a blob of blue with huge wings dancing above her head, one she had scrawled dragonfly across because even she had a hard time knowing exactly what it was if she looked away from the picture too long. Nevertheless, Hari had never understood how people equated houses to homes. When Hari answered Kakashi, her voice was soft, the lightest it had ever been, dreamy almost, and yet it cut through the night like a church bell ringing right in your ear.
"Home isn't something as mundane as brick, wood or mortar. Home is a feeling. Deep in your chest. Home is people. Home... My home is my family. It's Itachi and Sasuke. By the way you all keep dodging my questions of where they are, I doubt they're in Konoha and as long as they're not there, you're not taking me home. You're keeping me from it."
Kakashi P.O.V
Kakashi found he couldn't argue with her. Not one word of protest or dispute could leave his lips. She was, in her own way, right. And really, who was he to push his perception onto her? He found his eye gliding down to her cuffed wrists and for a nano-second, he had the strange thought of unlocking them. Of letting her run free. Perhaps she would find her brothers, perhaps she could fix them and herself in turn. Perhaps she could make this home she spoke so fondly of. Perhaps, after all the blood and death and pain and loss, the Uchiha could have a happy ending.
But then the thought died like a wilted flower. Itachi would kill her. Brutally. And to Kakashi, he already thought Sasuke was already too far gone. He too would likely use her as a pawn against Itachi. He wouldn't, couldn't have a hand in that outcome. He had a Uchiha friend once, a brother, who had been all smiles and sarcastic remarks, one who held a light very much like Hari did. Obito had died. Kakashi didn't think he could stomach watching or hearing of someone so like Obito dying... Not again. So, he would take her to Konoha, she would be safe and that was the end of that.
"Itachi-san... Sasuke-san... Your brothers are not what you think they are."
He saw her angle her chin up, bright, green eyes staring fathomlessly into the starless night sky. She did look an awful lot like Sasuke, there was no doubt in that. In fact, when she first woke up, when she was angry and vengeful and spewing curse words at them that even he had no idea existed, that fire only solidified her connection to Sasuke. The same passion, the same glint in the eye, the same nasty smirk that pulled at the corner of their lips when they said a rather vicious thing that cut people deep. Both of them had a knack for pinpointing someones emotional weakness and using words like Kunai to stab, slice and dice it to bits.
"And I highly doubt I'll be what they think I am. But without action, without trying, we will never know."
But here, and other times when she became blank, almost lost in her own mind, bathed in shadowed moonlight, if you looked at her just right at exactly the right moment before she could slam her guard up, he saw underneath that fire and bite. He saw the raw sorrow shading the corners of her eyes. Haunted. He saw the pensive twist to her thin eyebrows, as if she was pondering life's great mysteries. He saw the weary linger of shake that wracked her body, a shake of a soldier that had seen too much, done too much, been through too much. And then, only then, despite Kakashi not knowing him as much as others, he saw Itachi's phantom overlay her own face and skin.
"Your hope is admirable. But I've seen hope crush bigger, better men and yours, I'm sorry to say, is faulty."
From her turned face, he could just see the smile slither onto her face. For a smile, it was a sad thing. Melancholy rich and poignant. Like ink spilled on a new scroll.
"And I'll likely be the next one crushed too. But look around you. Really look. Hope is the only thing I, we, any of us have anymore. Hope is what pushes good people to do good things. Hope makes better men and women of us all. Hope is what will make a better tomorrow. In my eyes, there is no such thing as 'faulty' hope. Just hope. And wherever there's hope, there's a way. Where there's Sasuke or Itachi, I will be there. You can't say anything to change my mind. You can delay me by taking me to Konoha, but you won't stop the outcome. I'll find them. Eventually."
He didn't see the fire that reminded him of Sasuke. He didn't see the pensive slate that made him picture Itachi. Instead, with her eyes closed, smile still in place, facing the empty sky, he saw Uchiha Hari for the first time. He saw a young woman, filled with hope and love, peaceful and unfaltering. Almost like a weed that against the odds, broke through the concrete and set up home in the worst environment for it possible... And yet, bloomed like a rose all the same.
He had to swallow the sudden bile that rose in his throat. If he had been debating on whether taking her to Konoha was a good idea before, now he was sure. Itachi would eat her alive. He would massacre that hope and love like he had the Uchiha clan. When she finally understood what Sasuke had done, what he had become, that wish for a home will taste like poison on her tongue. The one thing she wanted most, her brothers, would totally destroy her in the end. Poetic, in a way. Tragic too.
He had known an Uchiha with that hope before, that lightness to them. A life time ago, he had a brother who had been eerily just as sentimental as Uchiha Hari... And he was dead. Obito was dead and bones in the ground. He couldn't help Obito, but he could help Hari.
Distractedly, Kakashi's eye slanted as he peered into the dark. Once again, he could feel the flare of two Chakra signals spark on the very edge of his awareness. Strong Chakra signals. He didn't need to think hard to know who they were. They were close again, too close if he could feel them. Every time they rested, even but for an hour or two, they crept up and forced them to push their weary bodies faster. The second time it had happened on the second day, Kakashi had sent Neji ahead to get reinforcements, only he knew the reinforcements would only make it to the border of Otogakure. The Hogake couldn't risk sending in a bigger force into the already trembling unworded alliance they had with the sound village.
So, by the speed and sheer determination of the chakra signatures following them, Kakashi would give it a day, day and a half tops before the two caught up with them. Which means he had to get him, Sakura and Uchiha Hari to the borders before then. Oh, Kami.
"Sakura-chan, wake up! It's time we get a move on."
Sakura groaned deeply before she heaved herself up, beginning to pack her bedroll without any questions. Kakashi himself kicked off from the tree he was leaning on, strolling over to Hari to unchain her and help her stand, keeping her in front of him and in his eye sight.
I'll find them. Eventually. Isn't that what Hari had said? They needed to move and move now. For, if they didn't, Kakashi didn't think Hari would have to search at all. Itachi would find her instead.
Did I do gooooood?
Either way, I hope this is atleast a step into making up for the long time between updates and I really do hope you enjoyed it. As I said previously, the next chapter should be out within the next week. SHOULD, fingers crossed nothing else goes wrong. XD If there is going to be a delay, I'll write it up on my profile.
As always, thank you for taking time out of your lives to read this, I hope you liked it and will like whats to come and please, if you have a moment, leave a review. Until next time, stay beautiful! ~AlwaysEatTheRude21
