I do not own Naruto or Akame ga Kill. This story is meant for entertainment purposes only, and in no way, shape or form does it express the opinions of the original authors, or myself.
Itachi sat hunched over the small table in a corner at The Fool's Gold, a small rundown tavern located in District 12 of the Capital; it was where the absolute worst of the Empire stayed, as Itachi had quickly learned upon arrival. A great variety of people stayed in the poorly maintained streets, usually seeking sanctuary of some sort- the poor, beggars, whores, small-time crooks, orphaned children. District 12 was located in a small portion of the Capital that was well away from the castle, and much further from anywhere visiting nobles would go, in order to hide the poverty.
It served his purposes well for reasons. For one, due to the many shady people in the District, his sudden appearance would not be questioned; there was an honour among thieves, one could say. Secondly, it served as a good place to begin the formation of an information network. The Capital had many secrets hidden within its nooks and crannies. Who better to report on them then the very rats who traversed them? Finally, it was a good place for Itachi to scout out possible targets; the area was near lawless, and nobles would often come by to take a person of interest to them.
He had currently been inside the capital for a mere two days. Esdeath and Numa would be forced to travel at a slower pace, in accordance to the size of her army. It would take them upwards to a month to return, especially if she chose to stop in the villages where the families of dead soldiers resided. In that aspect, Itachi mused, Esdeath was truly kind. She gave her warriors the proper respect they deserved, even going as far as participating in rituals specific to their religions, as he had witnessed from the short time he had been with her.
"Excuse me, Sasuke-san?" A soft voice said from his right. His tilted his head to see Emi, one of the tavern's few waitresses, holding a mug of freshly brewed tea for him. She had been of great help for Itachi the past two days in telling him more about the Capital. Naturally, he had told her his name was Sasuke, no surname. She was a hard working girl, who's parents had died four years ago. Since then, she had worked with her uncle at the tavern to earn a living for herself and her siblings.
"Mhm?"
She blushed lightly as the dark eyes focused on her, the corners of his mouth twitching up quickly to offer her a small smile. "I was able to buy some jasmine tea for you, since you mentioned you liked it more than green tea. Unfortunately, I was unable to find this "Pocky" you kept mentioning."
Itachi didn't allow the disappointment show on his face at the lack of Pocky in this world. Instead, he merely thanked her as he accepted the tea graciously. He quirked an eyebrow as she slid the tray to the side of the table and sat down opposite to him.
"May I help you, Emi-san?"
She smiled shyly. "Well, I've told you a lot about the Capital, and a bit about myself, but I don't even know a single thing about you!"
Itachi paused at the hidden question. "Well...there isn't much to know."
"I'm sure there is," she argued, overcoming her earlier shyness. "Like, what do you do?"
He lifted the fragile teacup to his mouth, taking a small sip to test the heat of the liquid. It was still too hot for his personal tastes. "Well, I'm a handyman. There isn't much I don't do."
"I see," she said slowly, her mood appearing to dampen slightly. Her voice was deathly quiet, and appeared to have a light tremble to it as she spoke again.
"What if...what if someone was in trouble and asked you to help them? And that helping involved killing their tormentor."
Itachi's eyes sharpened, suddenly focusing on her. He quickly scanned the bar. At this time, so early in the day, no one was there. Even drunks needed time to recover.
"What are you saying, Emi-san?"
That was a formality of course. Itachi had no need to ask her of what she meant. His mind had pieced together all the possibilities and decided on the most likely one in mere seconds.
"It's nothing," she said, shaking her head and attempting to regain her voice somewhat. "It's nothing at all."
"I see," Itachi replied. He was not one to pry in another person's private business. If Emi was truly in need of help, she would tell her uncle. He took another sip, appreciating the rich flavour. "This is quite good Emi-san."
She blushed in return at the compliment. "Thank you."
Emi hastily stood up, brushing her dress. "I'm afraid I must return to assist my uncle in the kitchen. See you again, Itachi-san."
After a haste bow, she scampered off quickly. Itachi frowned, watching her go. There was a nervous tone to her posture. It was tight, contradictory to the carefree nature she attempted to portray.
The tea cup was once again brought to his mouth. 'It seems I need to keep my eye open for yet another thing, especially beyond this ever elusive Night Raid.'
Night Raid was an organization that Itachi had heard of the very day that he had set foot in the capital. How could he not? There was a massive uproar in every district about the sudden assassination of Tanaka Ishimo, a bureaucrat that was in the good favour of the current King and Prime Minister. On the surface, he appeared to have been a very compassionate man, bringing in orphaned children and raising them to be good citizens in well-equipped orphanages.
Naturally, after some more careful investigation on his part, Itachi had discovered this was most certainly not the case. The children that he took in were forced into various aspects of the criminal underworld as they grew older. Prostitution, extortion, assassination, robbery, slave-trade. If you could name it, they had been raised into it. Ishimo was nearing his sixties before his death, and it seemed this system he had created dated back several decades.
But that brought to the question how Night Raid had obtained this information. Itachi had only done so with liberal use of the Meisagakure no Jutsu, leaving very few possibilities. The first, that Night Raid, being a group of assassins, would naturally have a member that was proficient in infiltration and information gathering. The second, as a possible expansion to the first point, there was a member who possessed a Teigu that allowed for easy infiltration. The third, which was just as likely, was the possibility of a contact on the inside.
Whichever the case, Itachi was mildly impressed by the efficiency of the assassin. He or she had infiltrated a compound protected by numerous bodyguards, entered the private chambers of the target, killed them without alerting any of the guards outside, and disappeared just as quickly. His body had only been discovered in the morning, when servants came to wake Tanaka. While it was an easy feat for most trained shinobi, he had not expected such finesse in a world where the majority of people were no inherently powerful.
Naturally, Itachi wished to find and test the members of Night Raid for himself. If possible, he would even offer them spots in his own organization, or at the very least, offer a collaboration. They seemed to want the downfall of the evil in the Capital, so their goals naturally aligned.
While he could probably locate them with ease, he would rather not. Instead, he would act as a shinobi would; by leading Night Raid to find him.
After all, here in this world, among assassins, Uchiha Itachi was the king.
Numa Seika sighed. He had been doing that a lot lately, it would seem, ever since he had joined the Akatsuki. He truly was not fully aware of how he had agreed to all the plans made by the ever mysterious Uchiha, who he had taken in by falsely believing him to be a casual foot soldier.
His current reason for sighing was not said Uchiha. Rather, he was sighing out of pure and utter boredom, due to being forced to stand as a guard outside of Esdeath's tent. What was even worse was the courtesy and deference that he was forced to display to her, so that none would question his loyalty.
'No doubt that infuriating woman is enjoying this. Even in such simple matters, she is the ultimate sadist,' he grumbled silently in the recesses of his mind, recalling the way she would smirk at every forced 'Milady' he said.
And speaking of Esdeath, Numa was not sure what to make of her either. They had parted ways with Itachi over a week ago, and since then, she would invite him into her tent night by night to speak of trivial matters. And while she seemed so much more tamed, every now and then a flash off her bloodthirstiness would shine through, usually when speaking of Itachi.
Something was inherently wrong with her psychology, Numa had decided. That much had always been obvious, but now, after interacting with the woman for a week straight, he could say for certain she was far too unstable. That instability lead to her being unpredictable, and if there was one thing that Numa did not enjoy, it was unpredictability.
It was that same unpredictability found in wild animals, who would not be tamed by the average person. Yet, somehow, Itachi had managed to do just that. He had tamed the mighty Esdeath. It was not something Esdeath realized, but Numa had noticed it during their interactions. Esdeath deferred to the man, giving him respect and paying attention to his words.
However, Numa was not completely sure she could be trusted. Her reasons for join the Akatsuki were simple; she wished to battle powerful opponents, and who was more powerful than the other Generals of the Empire? Furthermore, Itachi himself had promised her a final battle of glory; at least, that was what he had been able to discern from Esdeath's sometimes mad ravings.
He clenched his fist lightly, his body becoming all too aware of a particular object located in his right breast pocket. Precisely, a small vial of the most potent poison found in the North. It's cure was something the Empire had yet to discover, it's effects slow and subtle. Most of the signs of the poison were in fact written off as a person succumbing to hypothermia. In the North, it was the perfect weapon.
And Numa had noted it's affects fully over the past few days, where a good number of Esdeath's soldiers fell sick, slowly succumbing to what everyone believed was the cold. He knew better, naturally, but refused to mention it. Esdeath may not be his enemy anymore, but the soldiers of the Empire certainly still were.
The vial of poison was something Numa had grabbed at the last second, as a precaution. Esdeath's might was too crazy for him at the moment. However, at the very least, he would be able to scratch her. And when he did, he would pass on with the satisfaction that she would die the worst possible death for herself; one without honour, away from the battlefield. If Itachi was not able to do the job, then he, Numa Seika, would sacrifice himself to finish off the greatest possible danger in the world.
'Do not ever think that I will merely forget what you have done, Esdeath. When the time comes, you will die; whether it's with or without me remains to be seen.'
Yes, Numa thought to himself. She would die, one way or another. He swore it.
Itachi crouched low on the roof of the mansion owned by the Kazuhito family. It was a grand Western style building, with at least four floors. There were many windows, though he hadn't bothered to discern what each room held. The Kazuhito family was one of the one's he had been began investigating two nights ago, after his decision to draw out Night Raid.
On the surface, they were a normal noble family. Kazuhito Hirano, the head of the family, held a place on the King's Council as the Head of Public Affairs. He was well loved by the citizens, frankly speaking, though he too ran many underground dealings. Itachi noted, with some humour, that such was becoming a frequent trend with most people in the Capital.
Hirano had made his rise in both power and politics over a decade ago, during the reign of the old King. He had done so in a simple manner; through the establishment of a drug empire. He had a total and complete monoploy over the trade of many drugs in the Capital (including, but not limited to, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, ecstasy and more). The officials had become well aware of where his power lay, and it was for this reason that they brought him into the Council.
Despite his illegal dealings in drugs, and various unsavoury means needed to enforce his power, Hirano was not a man who supported child prostitution or human trafficking such as Tanaka Ishimo had. However, he had been on rather good terms with Tanaka. One might even go as far as to say they were good friends rather than mere business associates. Hirano was one of the few nobles that actually cared about the people of the Empire. Perhaps it was why he was supporting the Revolutionary Army.
It was through some light investigation and ensuing payment that Itachi had learned of Hirano's connections to Tanaka's assassination.
Itachi quickly intercepted the closing door of the Diamond's Brothel, which had been opened to allow a portly man to enter by the guard stationed outside. His hands flashed out to the forehead of the guard before he even had a chance to open his mouth to question the man who had forcefully opened the closing door. With a quick burst of chakra from Itachi, the guard fell unconscious, crumpling to the floor. Just as he was about to hit the ground, Itachi caught him, gently laying him on the ground without the sound.
Throughout this whole interaction, the portly man remained completely unaware. It had only taken mere seconds. Itachi waited for the man to enter the main room of the brothel before he continued doing anything. He made sure to lock the door behind him, securing the door handles with the baton that was at the waist of the unconscious guard.
He hefted the guard up once more, his muscles mildly strained from the weight of the man. While it would be lightwork for Itachi to do so with chakra, he was attempting to challenge himself, so to speak. By restricting his usage of chakra to only using his techniques, Itachi hoped to strengthen his natural body. In that way, he would be even stronger with chakra. He had no illusions that Esdeath would follow through with their battle after all of this. He needed to get even stronger, rather than survive out of luck.
Had he not substituted with that shadow clone at the end of the battle, he had no illusions that he would've have been caught by the fearsome woman. Of course, escape would not have been difficult. They had no way of restraining his chakra, but it still left a sour taste in his mouth. Defeat was not something he liked, after all.
Focusing back to the task at hand, Itachi dragged the guard into a janitorial closet, making sure to secure it from the outside with a broom. He cautiously entered the main room, which was dimly lit, full of rowdy men and naked whores. He moved to the bar, taking a seat on a table away from all the groups of men. He was lucky to be ignored. No one cared too much for him. To them, he was just another lonely man, seeking company for the night.
Itachi was seeking company, though not for what most people would expect. He had learned from merely listening in the right places that the owner of this brothel was also a very well-learned information broker. For the right price, he would be able to find out about nearly anything, if he did not know it already. The information available here was beyond even the capabilities of the Empire. This brothel was not just your average whorehouse, after all. It was a brothel made for mercenaries. It was here that they could learn about certain jobs, or rest and relax after one. The mercenaries who frequented this place, as well as the various clients of the man, had made sure that word would absolutely not reach the ears of the King. For over two decades, they had managed to do just that.
A sudden weight resting on his right arm drew his attention. He turned his head slightly, finding an alluring woman pressing her full breasts onto his arms. Her eyes her half-lidded, a seductive smile on her face.
"Well, aren't you a looker?" She said, her voice smooth like honey. "Perhaps I can offer you my services for the night?"
Itachi gazed at her, before he allowed a slow smile onto his face. "Yes, that would be acceptable."
The woman nodded happily at earning another customer.
"Please, follow me," she said, turning and walking towards the staircase. Itachi noted that her well shaped hips had an added sway to them, the supple flesh jiggling lightly with each step. He shook his head to clear way any thoughts as he followed her. Now was not the time.
She lead him into a private room at the end of the hallway, past rooms which carried out the noises of faint moans and grunts. He entered, and closed the door after him, immediately appreciating the sudden silence. He looked around, noting that the room was, like the rest of the brothel, dimly lit. There was a single queen sized bed in the center of the room, covered by velvet sheets. A lone dresser was off to the side.
His company stood in the room, her dignity covered merely by a small thong. With a chance to examine her better, Itachi was enraptured by her beauty. She had a youthful face, which did not betray her age, framed by long raven hair which flowed halfway down her waist. She had moved it in front of her, covering her nude breasts, which were the perfect size for her petite frame. He estimated she was around five foot three, a solid nine inches from his respectable height of 6 feet.
She strolled up to him casually, cupping his chin with her right hand, before she guided his head down into a kiss. Her left roamed his body, rousing various parts of his anatomy.
"We have much to do in so little time. I'm yours to do as you please, handsome," she said, pulling back from the kiss, though keeping him in her arms.
Itachi stared at her, tempted to do just that. He was a man after all. However, he knew that the mission came before anything else. He needed to focus.
"I need information," he said simply, watching as the woman frowned, withdrawing herself from his form.
"The information you need may or may not be here. You must also provide payment for what you want, which will be higher or lower depending on what it is," she informed him.
"Information about who in the capital may be connected to the Revolutionary Army," Itachi said simply.
The woman continued to frown. It ruined her beautiful features, Itachi could not help but think.
"Payment always comes first. And the information you want will have the heftiest payment of all," she said. Itachi narrowed his eyes.
"What is the payment?"
The woman shrugged in response, her breasts shaking from the gesture. "That is decided by me. After all, I am the owner of this establishment."
Itachi's eyes widened, before he bowed slightly out of respect. He was a guest in this place after all. His manners would not be forgotten.
The woman smirked lightly. "It is not often you see a mercenary with such respect. That too in front of a nearly naked woman."
Itachi kept silent, merely staring at her. He would not rise to the small talk.
She sighed in response. "Very well, stranger, I shall discover what it is that you need. However, the matter of my payment still remains."
"What do you want?" He asked simply. Itachi had not shortage of money at the moment, courtesy of Esdeath. She had provided him with a small fortune, long enough to last at least a year in the Capital while living a very comfortable lifestyle.
Itachi looked curiously as the smirk returned to the woman's face. She reached forward, trailing a cool fingernail down the side of his neck. It was caught by the buttons of his shirt, which slowly were undone by her.
"I want you, for the entire night. You will be mine to do with as I please. That is the payment I require."
Itachi was not too fazed by the demand. During his travels as a nukenin, he had become quite familiar with casual sex. Sometimes he would receive it as payment for missions, other times, he would give it. At times, his missions required him to seduce a target, whom he would need to extract information from.
Perhaps he could have used his Sharingan to convince her to give him what he wanted. But something clicked inside of Itachi; a particular need to relax for a minute, and enjoy himself for the night. It was a very human urge, and this time, he did not squash it in the name of the mission. Rather, he would engage it fully in the name of the mission.
He grabbed her hand, which was still opening his shirt, removing it. She frowned, thinking he had declined payment. However, that frown was retract when he merely slipped his shirt off by himself.
With speed she could not follow, he was on her, lips pressed against lips, chests against chests, groins against groins. Their hands both roamed each other, exploring each nook and cranny.
His mouth moved down, biting at her neck, to which she gave a pleased mewl. Eager to hear more of them. Itachi went lower and lower, moving aside her flimsy underwear to dip his tongue between her wet folds. He felt her fingers through his hair, pushing against his head to force it deeper and deeper. He merely obliged, her sweet voice music to his ears.
He drew back as her body convulsed, experiencing a strong orgasm, a fine layer of sweat visible. She raised her head, expertly sinking to her knees before him once her high wore off.
His pants were off in a single move, his member immediately worshiped by her skilled mouth. Her head sank up and down repeatedly, her eyes meeting his own, urging him towards climax.
With a throaty groan, he did as she wanted, his member sheathed completely in her warm throat. She drew it out slowly, a powerful suction being left in her wake.
She raised herself, drawing him into a kiss as she pushed him back on the bed. Lining him up with her entrance, she smiled huskily.
"I hope you're ready for a whole night of this."
Esdeath's eyes were calculating as she stared at the various papers before her. They were all reports on how a sizeable portion of the men under her command had fallen deathly ill, some even succumbing to the strange sickness that plagued them. Her army was currently halted in an open field, their tents set up as medics hurried about, administering whatever they could to help ease the pain. However, no matter how hard they tried and whatever medicine they used, the conditions of the men were only growing worse.
Said men had been placed in a separate part of the camp, which Esdeath blocked off personally by making thick, impenetrable walls of ice around the area. While she had known a good portion of men were infected, seeing the raw numbers in front of her from the reports of her head medic was truly shocking. The strangest part was how it had set in at roughly the same time for everyone. Despite it's current kill rate, all symptoms suggested a mere flu, viral in nature.
Her frown grew as she realized that all the men who had come down with said flu also happened to have been injured in their battle with the Northern Army.
"Could this be some new poison?" Esdeath mused to herself. It would seem that her and Numa would need to have a little talk later tonight. She did not particularly care about the dying men of her army. Even if poison was the cause, death was a very natural thing to happen during war. However, she was quite curious about what exactly had happened to her men. Not to mention, due to her current affiliation, allowing damage to be done to the armies of the Empire wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Though, she supposed, it did sting her slightly that it was members of her army that would be the ones dying. They were the finest the Empire had to offer, for Esdeath did not allow weaklings to fight for her. They were the true power of the Empire, killers ruthlessly trained by her to fell men and women with each swing of their blades. Even the weakest soldiers of her army were among the strongest in all of the Empire; she had ensured that. It hurt her cold heart to allow such warriors to die outside of the battlefield.
Death was something that Esdeath was surrounded by, often times caused by her own hand. However, it was her own death that Esdeath longed for, in a rather twisted way. She longed to find an opponent so strong that she, Esdeath, could die fighting had saddened her, before she met Itachi, that it was highly likely she would not be able to die in glorious battle. She feared that she would die of growing old, for her strength seemed untouchable by those around her.
That was, of course, until she met Uchiha Itachi. A warrior so strong that he could have killed her. Would have killed her; was certainly about to. Yet he stopped, seeing something useful inside her. He showed her the truth. Why should she, who longed for life threatening battle, serve under an Empire filled with people who could give her just that. Because the honest truth was that the Empire was running out of enemies to point Esdeath at. They had conquered the cardinal directions, with the North the last standing rebellion against them. The West cowed in fear of them after their slaughter of the Southern rebels, and would not dare attack in centuries to come.
It only made sense that she should take preemptive measure to ensure that battle was continued. By joining with Itachi, she had ensured she would fight the strongest of the strong. And while many would see the goal of Akatsuki as madness, she knew that Itachi had the strength to back up his words. He alone was as strong as her, and now she had joined with him. Together, they would bathe in blood.
Subconsciously, she flicked her tongue over her lips, her loins beginning to burn with the heat of desire. That had been a rather pleasing image to her mind's eye.
"Uchiha Itachi," she said with a husky whisper.
"You will be mine."
Itachi slunk quietly through the dark halls of Hirano's home, the only lighting at this time the streams of moonlight that flowed through the windows. He walked with purpose, knowing he would not be caught. His mission was simple. Kidnap Hirano and interrogate him about his connection with Night Raid.
In the end, he merely wished to speak with the ever elusive Night Raid. Kidnapping Hirano would lead to one of two outcomes; either he would willfully enter Night Raid's headquarters, or he would allow them to find him after they heard of disappearance of a well known noble. A well known noble that just so happened to have connections to the Revolutionary Army, who were surely connected to Night Raid; of that, Itachi was sure.
He arrived before the large mahogany door, which he knew to be the entrance to his target's sleeping quarters. It was well into the night, and Itachi knew the man was in a deep sleep; the sleeping pills he had arranged to be put into the man's meal assured that.
Itachi casually opened the door, a confidence in his stride as he leisurely paced to the sleeping man, his face barely lit by the dull light of a burning candle. Working quickly, he placed paralysis seals over Hirano's limbs, which he had drawn beforehand. While he was not well versed in the sealing arts, it had been standard procedure for ANBU to learn to draw basic paralysis seals for securing targets for capture and transport.
He sighed in melancholy. While he was a pacifist, there was no denying that a part of him enjoyed the more subtle aspects of the shinobi lifestyle. While Itachi would shine brightly in the limelight, he was at his greatest while walking the shadows.
It was this reminiscence that almost caused him to be hit by the blade heading speedily to his face.
Bursting into action, he drew out his tanto in one slick motion, narrowly blocking it.
His eyes narrowed as he noticed one crucial detail about this whole exchange; he had not been able to sense his opponent approaching.
Now that was definitely worrying. If there was one thing that definitely gave him an edge over anyone in this world was his ability to sense their presence. Everything had chakra. No matter how little of it was present in a person, it was there. The girl before him, clad in her black sailor like uniform coupled with a red skirt, appeared to have none. Rather, she radiated, which Itachi now realized, an energy that felt both foreign and so familiar.
It was death.
Duck.
Parry left.
Duck again.
Thrust forward.
Jump.
Roundhouse kick.
Block.
Block again.
Bloc-
THWACK
The noise sounded throughout the clearing as Esdeath's cold staff of ice collided with Numa's cheek, his face snapping to the right as he stumbled back. However, mildly stunned though he was, done he was not. Using the momentum of the blow, he landed with his left hand on the ground, his right leg already coming up in a hook kick.
THWACK
Numa smirked in satisfaction at the solid collision of his foot with Esdeath's face. It felt good to smack the vile woman, a small punishment for all the violence she had brought with her to the North. He backed away to prevent a quick counter, his own icy staff gripped tightly in his right hand, ready for their next exchange.
Esdeath brought her right hand to her face, momentarily dropping her pole to wipe away the blood that dripped from the corner of her mouth, her lips already curling upwards.
"Very good, Numa-san. You're skill is most definitely no joke."
He chose to grunt in response, raising his staff once more, silently beginning the duel again. He was disappointed however, when Esdeath raised her hand.
"That is enough for today, Numa-san. Besides, there are some things we must discuss."
Numa raised an eyebrow, his curiosity peaked. "Such as?"
She shook her head in response. "Not here. Come, we shall speak in my quarters."
He did as she asked, though he was confused as to what the woman wanted. He waited patiently as she slowly paced the room, running her fingers delicately over the various pieces of furniture that decorated the room.
"Have you ever wondered," she began, "Where, exactly, the man known as Uchiha Itachi came from?"
Numa paused at that question. He certainly was not expecting to be asked such. But Esdeath was right- he had spent much time in thought over where Uchiha Itachi came from, and how he had the power he did. The man, by some miracle, had fallen right into his lap, at the perfectly right time to defeat the seemingly unbeatable General Esdeath.
And now, he was on a quest of sorts, to destroy the corruption that ran deep into the roots of the Empire. Truly, he seemed like the hand of the gods, sent to do their work on the mortal realm.
"Indeed, yes, I have wondered as such," Numa replied. "However, I have just as much a clue as you do."
She hummed in response, turning to face him. "It is curious, no? Never have I heard of the name Uchiha, and nor have I even heard rumours of a man as strong as he. With his unique set of skills, it is impossible that no one at all ever told stories of him. He truly does seem to have appeared out of thin air."
And that was true. People always told stories, though some were grossly out of context. One of great power did not escape notice if he was actively using said power. And for him to be that proficient in combat, there was no doubt that it was used very often.
"Why are you asking me this?"
Esdeath smiled in response. "Because, as of the time Akatsuki formed, we are allies. I have no one else to discuss our mysterious leader with."
Her smiled grew just a bit wider.
"Besides, I would love to get to know him a bit more...personally."
Itachi stared down his opponent, which she likewise reciprocated. She appeared to be young, almost the same age as Sasuke. Her clothing was primarily black, which was a stark contrast to her pale skin. Her blade, glinting lightly in the moonlight, was clutched loosely in her left hand, placed carelessly at her side. Yet her face betrayed no signs of overconfidence. Merely self assurance.
She began opening her mouth, as if to speak. Itachi bristled though, ready. Now on high alert, he would not be taken by surprise-
BANG
The sound of a gun going off filled the room, and Itachi barely threw his body to the side as the bullet grazed past him. Once again, he had been completely unable to sense anyone approaching based off energy alone.
He turned his body so he could accordingly keep an eye on both of his apparent opponents. The new entrance was a female, dressed in a classic western style outfit. Her blonde hair cascaded from her brown hat, a cocky smirk plastered on her face as stared down Itachi from behind the iron sights of her dual pistols, her arms still extended towards him.
Itachi switched his gaze between both opponents, analyzing his opponents. Being unable to sense their approach was annoying, forcing him to rely almost purely on instinct. However, the troublesome part would be if they were experienced in fighting together. With close and medium to long range combat in their arsenals, they could be formidable opponents.
That is, of course, if they were experienced in teamwork. Keeping his tanto gripped in his right hand, he palmed a kunai with his left, looking to engage.
His eyes narrowed in on the blonde girl as she began switching stances. Not hesitating a moment, he threw his kunai at her, hoping to take her out of the fight. It was easily dodged, though any ideas of a follow up were halted as he was forced to block an overhead slash from the raven.
Hearing another gunshot as his kunai was dodged, he reflexively substituted with his kunai, appearing right behind the shooter, his tanto already moving to lop off her head. However, just as it was about to make contact, a spear burst from Itachi's chest, puncturing through the side of his heart's right ventricle.
He coughed, pain shooting through his entire thoracic cavity as his heart desperately pumped blood as more and more slowly leaked through the side of the spear. He slowly raised a hand to grip the spear, looking back to see a third opponent; a male, with short light blonde hair and expressionless blue eyes. He donned a white half-face mask, hiding any expression.
Itachi looked back in front of him, his vision blurring. His two other opponents now appeared as mere blurs to him.
The raven advanced, a small smirk on her face. Her eyes looked past him, to her comrade.
"Good work, Natala."
Her eyes then locked back with Itachi's. She watched curiously as he coughed out more blood, a bloodied hand gripped tightly on the spear.
"S...Sasuke."
Her head tilted cutely as she heard the name choked out.
"Is that your name?"
The dying man in front of her shakily nodded his head, pain not allowing him to speak properly.
She laughed a little at that. "You seem to think I care, stranger. This isn't some honourable moment. You're an assassin. Die like one, unknown and forgotten. Though, don't see it as death. See it as living on in my collection. Your Teigu could be interesting in my collection."
She raised her sword to it was perpendicular to her body, ready to swing. Pausing a moment, she spoke one name.
"Kurome."
Then she casually thrust her sword forward, piercing through his aorta. Almost dead as he was, the blow instantly killed him, his body slumping forward as life left him and death embraced him.
The girl, Kurome, removed her sword from Itachi's body, wiping the blood off the flat of the blade using Itachi's shoulder. She nodded to Natala, who removed the spear from his body, allowing it to fall face first onto the ground.
She sheathed her blade, turning to check on Hirano, the noble who was being targeted by her now slain foe, only to find that he had disappeared. She frowned.
"Did he wake up and run away?" she muttered to herself, before turning to her puppets. "Natala, Doya, find him."
They nodded in response, sprinting out of the room to look for Kurome's charge. Protection of various influential nobles had increased after the sudden assassination of Tanaka Ishimo, and Kurome had been assigned to protect Hirano; or rather, she had been assigned to assassinate any would be assassins.
She began leisurely walking out of the room, beginning to feel drowsy. Her eyelids felt heavy, as if she hadn't slept for days.
She fought back a yawn, but could fully stop it as it escaped. She blinked, her eyelids moving slowly. In fact, everything felt slow. The world seemed to move in slow motion as she struggled to walk.
Black spots were appearing in her vision now. Kurome desperately shoved her hand into her pocket, pulling out her special bag of treats, hoping the special drugs could stop whatever was ailing her.
She had only just brought one to her mouth when her hands seemingly lost control, dropping it somewhere to the ground. Reaching into her pocket again, she fumbled for more, only to find the bag was gone.
Kurome aimed her gaze downwards, hoping to find her last treat. Instead, all she saw was black beneath her. Stumbling back in shock, she looked around her. Everything had seemingly turned to black.
Or rather, everything around her had disappeared, giving way to the nothingness that surrounded her. She fought desperately against the heaviness and the urge to sleep, and drew her sword from her sheath once more. Yatsufusa would protect her now. Her only allies would save her from this nothingness.
Yet nothing came. No matter how hard she focused, her Teigu wouldn't activate. It had abandoned her, like everything else in this world.
She screamed in raw anger, throwing it away as tears came to her eyes. She screamed and screamed, falling to her knees as her fists beat angrily on the solid blackness beneath her.
When she could not scream no more, and her hands ached from the self abuse, she finally looked up.
Two glowing red eyes, three tomoe in each, stared back in her. They spun idly, and Kurome found herself lost in their somehow ethereal beauty.
The darkness around her faded away, and the last thing Kurome saw before she fell unconscious was her target staring apathetically back at her with his powerful red eyes.
Well, that took a while. But let's be real, I just got lazy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, with all it's different perspectives. The lemon scene was riskier on my part, but I definitely feel like Itachi is human like everyone else, and has human urges. And bet some of you thought that I actually killed off Itachi didn't you? I wanna know if you actually were about to rage at me in reviews haha. No clue when the next one will be out, but hopefully won't take another year, eh?
Read and review lots!
HokagenoNaruto, out.
