a/n Special super awesome thanks to DreamingCynic, MidniteCurse4Eternity, uchiha.s, and JOHNXgambit. You are my inspiration, my whip to update, and you get a gold star:)
Chapter 7: Itachi
When you come to, you are curled up inside of a truck tire, your body cushioned by a moldering futon mattress. Your hands trace your wrists: your chakra restraints are gone.
You raise your weary head. Peeking over the top of the tire, you find yourself in a large junkyard. You see broken toilets; warped car parts; rusty, contorted chicken wire; rebar, sticking up through the rubble like spines, and piles of broken bricks all lay about your tire perch. It seems that you have slept on top of a large hill of trash. You are obviously not the Hime from "The Princess and the Pea," for you have slept soundly, and are oddly refreshed.
The sun is low on the horizon, shining like a pale silver disk behind the gray clouds. A few flurries are falling from the sky; they land on your arms, on your face, making you shiver. Why are you here? How did you get here?
Your head aches as you try to remember, your brain feeling as foggy as the clouds above you. You blink rapidly, furiously; with the motion, the events of last night come rushing back to you—you try to stand but you stumble instead, teetering over the edge of the truck tire—
Swift hands catch you. You twist in his grip, and you look up into the impassive face of Itachi. Your first thought: Thank Kami, he doesn't have any fangs. You sag in relief.
Then you shake your head, as if freeing yourself of genjutsu—you hold your body rigid, ready for battle once more. You may have escaped the vampires, but Itachi is a clan murder. Furthermore, he is a member of the Akatsuki, the infamous enemies of Konoha, who have their base in the Pacific Northwest. Why the Akatsuki are emerging now, after remaining underground for so long, is one of the many questions rattling around in your skull.
"Relax, Hyuga-san. I'm not here to hurt you." His voice is without inflection; he looks at you with the same interest one might give an impounded car: Will it run? Is it useful?
"You—I—w-what is going on," you breathe.
Itachi lets you go slowly, slowly. With halting movements, you perch on the edge of the large truck tire, your feet turned towards the center and tucked under the futon mattress. With all the gravitas of a king, Itachi sits on the other side of the tire and eyes you coolly. "Allow me to explain, Hyuga-san. As you know, my otouto is a vampire."
You nod slowly. "Did you rescue me…?"
Without taking note of your question, Itachi continues, "My foolish little brother killed Orochimaru, taking control of his gang. Unfortunately, he tried to improve upon Orochimaru's curse seal; Sasuke mutated himself, reaching inhuman levels of strength—to defeat me." It might be a trick of the low light, but you could swear Itachi just flinched. "My foolish little brother has learned the secret of vampires; he has turned every one of his cronies into a similar, disgusting creature."
Itachi cocks his head askance, a bird-like motion. You blink, taking in his fluttering black cape; his long black hair dotted with snow, sighing in the morning breeze and shimmering, as if with silver; he reminds you of an inquisitive starling.
Itachi presses on after a long pause, "My brother plans to take control of the Konoha syndicate by turning everyone into vampires. And then…" Itachi trailes off, his palms opening and falling into his lap. "And then, he's going to take over the world."
"No," you breathe. It can't be. You've always known that Sasuke is one messed up head-case, but this is a new record for the rogue Uchiha. However, your eyes flicker to Itachi, and you think that really, Sasuke's unfortunate psychosis is all his fault.
Itachi seems to divine what you are thinking. "I do not want that to happen, Hyuga-san. I may be a murderer, I may be evil…but I am not that evil. I intend to stop him. That is why I rescued you from his clutches. I need your help."
"Me?" you squeak. "How can I help you?" You are only too aware of your shortcomings—your maladroit jutsu, your below-average IQ. How on earth are you going to help one of the most powerful ninja ever to have come from Konoha?
And furthermore, how on earth can you trust a murderer? The man murdered his own mother and father in cold blood, for Kami's sake! Why should he care if the whole world goes up in blood-sucking demons?
"I need to speak to the Forest syndicate leader. Please," he adds, quietly. "I would like to repent for the past. Stopping Sasuke will cost me my life."
You feel yourself soften towards Itachi, though the gods know you shouldn't. Maybe he really is sorry? Maybe… Maybe Uchiha Itachi isn't such a bad guy—for a homicidal maniac.
You shake your head and massage your temples with icy fingers. For Kami's sake, you've done your fair share of murders, lives ended with bare fists and fingers, with red knives and with odorless poison packets. You've smuggled countless kilos of cocaine through the inner cities, committed arson and larceny, stolen cars and kidnapped children. Maybe you are not one to judge. You, too, are a criminal; you, too, have a soft spot for your brother.
Suddenly, you remember something very important. "Shit! Neji-niisan! You didn't—"
"He's fine," Itachi states. "I did not kill him."
But you start to cry. "If I escaped, they were going to kill him, oh Kami, I've murdered Neji—"
"He's fine," Itachi insists. "I knew the situation. I placed him under a special genjutsu, and I left a note on his person."
"How can that possibly s-save him from—"
"The note says that when Neji wakes, he will lead Sasuke to my location. But Neji will not wake up until this evening."
You blink up at the rogue ninja through thick lashes. It takes you a good minute to connect the dots: that Sasuke's sole purpose in life is to kill Itachi, and ergo, Sasuke will not shoot the messenger. "Thank you," you whisper, tears of relief springing into your eyes.
"Thank me by taking me to your headquarters," he counters. "We haven't much time."
You gulp. Should you trust this psychopath? In all honesty, it doesn't look like you have much choice in the matter. If you don't help him, Neji-niisan will surely die.
"Okay," you blurt out. "I'll take you to Tsunade-sama."
The red alert lights blink on and off; a siren wails, hurting your ears.
"Nobody move, or the Hyuga gets it!" Itachi screams, a ten-millimeter Glock held to your temple. The barrel of the gun is as cold as the snow falling all over New York's dirty streets, and it makes you shiver.
God damn. When you said you'd help Itachi, this is not what you had in mind.
a/n please review:)
