Kakashi arrived at 9:15, just like he'd said.
"I can't believe you're on time." Yamato said.
"Well, sometimes there are things worth showing up on time for." Kakashi said, watching Kiyomi interacting with Sakura and Naruto across the way.
"They're already smitten with her. She seems confident that Sasuke will come home." He laughed.
He wouldn't vocalize it, but Kakashi was confident Sasuke would come home too. After all, he wanted family. And that's what she was. She had never done him wrong or hurt him. "Can't really blame them, can you? She's skilled and easy to talk to. Probably why I fell for her so long ago myself."
They were adjusting the straps on their bags as they walked over to join the others. Yamato noticed how they each lit up when they were aware of the other's presence. "Like my jonin threads? I forgot how snug these damn vests fit." She said as he pulled her away from the group.
"Your chest certainly isn't made to be inside of that thing." He said, sneaking a look at her breasts.
"I'll tried to bind them but it was way too uncomfortable. Do you know exactly where we're headed?"
"Your clan's shrine, maybe five miles out from it. That's the last place they saw him."
"Who's this partner he has?" She asked.
"Kisame Hoshigaki."
"From the Hidden Mist?"
Kakashi nodded.
"Shit, I didn't think I'd have to deal with such high grade shinobi. Itachi's a handful as is." She clicked her tongue. "Well, I guess we better get going."
They rejoined with the group and started traveling, slowly at first so they could discuss tactics. "I think that Kiyomi should handle Itachi if it comes down to it. She has an equally developed sharingan and she is very skilled like he is." Yamato explained.
"I don't think it will come to that, Yamato. Itachi is going to be very surprised to see me, but I don't think he'll try to kill me."
"Very well. Shall we?" Kakashi asked, pointing to the trees. The group agreed, all of them launching upwards toward the branches.
"Do you sense that?" Itachi stopped walking and turned in the direction he felt the chakra from.
Samehada growled on Kisame's back. "Nah, not me. But Samehada does."
Itachi activated his sharingan, trying to find the chakra that was too close for his comfort. That's Naruto's chakra. And an Uchiha...maybe Sasuke? No...Sasuke wouldn't be with Naruto. "Kisame, leave. I'll handle this."
The taller man grunted. "How come you always tell me to leave when others are coming? You think I can't handle them?"
You surely could handle them, but there is chakra that I would rather you not come in contact with. Chakra of my bloodline. "It has nothing to do with skill, baka. I am better at diffusing situations than you are."
"Alright, alright. Whatever. Just don't be too long." Kisame started shuffling away.
The Uchiha perched himself on top of a rock, awaiting Naruto and whoever else he was bringing with him. His sister hadn't even crossed his mind.
Feeling his chakra caught the air in her lungs for a second. "Itachi..." She said softly.
"What is it, Kiyomi?" Kakashi asked, looking back at her as they moved.
"Itachi is ahead. He's alone." She slowed down, stopping on a sturdy branch. She was nervous; her head was swimming and her sharingan immediately activated.
Kakashi jumped over to her, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She snapped. When Naruto and Sakura attempted to come over to her, Kakashi stopped them by a hand and a shake of his head. "Let's just go. I want to get this over with already." The personality flaw she had hoped wouldn't show had reared its ugly head. Uchiha were quick-tempered and the way Itachi's chakra had felt made her feel vulnerable and sad.
"Kiyomi-san, are you alright?" Naruto asked as they started running the rest of the way down the path. He noticed her sharingan had spun a few times.
"She's fine, Naruto, keep focused." Kakashi said.
It took around ten minutes to finally get to an area where the chakra she had sensed before was nearly making her sick to her stomach. "He's close."
Kiyomi leaned over to catch her breath but stopped immediately when Kakashi's eye widened. Her heart leaped into her throat when she turned around, face to face with Itachi. Her mangekyou's tomo turned into place. She expected the worse. His genjutsu, amaterasu, anything.
"Ki-Kiyomi?" He reached forward and pinched her left ear lobe. "Is this really you?"
She snatched his hand away from her. "How can you act this way, as if you did NOTHING?"
"Yeah, it's really you alright." Itachi smiled. He jerked his hand out of hers, his eyes becoming red. "How did you find me? And what do you want?"
"I should kill you where you stand." Her voice was tight. "After all these years, I finally come face to face with the person that took away any chance of me having a normal life and he asks me what I want?" The rest of her team stood a few paces away, keeping their distance from the two angry Uchiha. "Can you bring mother and father back? Can you give Sasuke the life he deserved? You took that away from him! You took it away from us! I want the Uchiha clan back. Can you give me that, dear brother?"
Itachi was reserved as usual. He reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. "You know that is something I cannot and will not do." She took a deep breath in. "Sasuke is seeking the life of revenge. He will come for me soon."
"What? Come for you? What the fuck are you talking about!?" He didn't answer her. She grabbed his shoulders tightly. "Fucking answer me, Itachi!"
"Kiyomi, calm down. If you agree to be civil and listen to me, I will explain everything to you."
Kakashi stepped forward and placed a hand on her left shoulder. "Come back here and stand with me."
She let out a "tch" before releasing her grip and stepping back beside him. Itachi sat back on the rock he was initially set on, facing them. "Sasuke has sworn to kill me. Orochimaru has promised him strength in order to do so. I am awaiting his arrival any day now."
Kiyomi suddenly felt a surprising sadness overcome her. "Sasuke...he won't really do that, will he?"
"Unlike you, Sasuke does not know the things I told you before I left. I trust you told no one." His eyes shifted to Kakashi.
"I didn't tell anyone. Just like you asked."
"I asked you to stay out of Konoha, and as I can clearly see, you did not do that."
"Don't fucking push my buttons, Itachi."
He smirked. "You are just as fiesty as ever, Kiyomi-chan." He watched her roll her eyes. "I am grateful you have not told anyone what I entrusted with you.. If you have your friends retreat for now, I will discuss anything you'd like with you."
Kiyomi looked to her comrades. She gave a quick nod. Kakashi squeezed her arm softly before they walked a good distance away.
Itachi stood and walked before his sister. "You grew up to be such a beautiful woman, Kiyomi." He said, looking proud. "Your sharingan is fully developed and your mangekyou can resist even my genjutsu. I bet you are very skilled with weapons and sparring with you must be impossible." He smiled.
Why does this feel like a goodbye? "You wasted so much talent, Itachi-san. The Leaf could have used you for far better things that harvesting jinchuriki."
"I am not a waste, sister. I use my skills as much as any other shinobi. Just because my intentions are different does not mean I am not useful."
"I hate you so much for what you did to our clan, our family. But I do not want to see you go by our own brother's hand." Her voice was strained. I won't fucking cry in front of him.
"I know you hate me. I know Sasuke hates me. I decided my fate a long time ago."
"You don't have to have that fate, Itachi! What you did was wrong, but there are some willing to forgive you! I will forgive you! I will help Sasuke forgive you! Why won't you just come home?" She was nearly choking on the sobs that were threatening to burst out of her.
"Neither of you will ever truly forgive me for what I have done. I accepted that years ago. I promised that I would take care of both of you, like mother and father asked me. That is why I asked you not to return to the Leaf. That is why I made Sasuke hate me." Hot tears seared her cheeks. "Kiyomi, you know I cannot stand to see you cry. Do not."
"What do you want me to do, Itachi-san? Pretend I never saw you? Pretend I never cared? I can't fake how I feel about my brother. The one I admired for so long. I may hate what you have done, but the love I have for my family runs deep. Please don't make me lose you again, brother." She was now sobbing, tears flowing freely on her face.
Itachi took a step forward and it made Kakashi tense up. He soon eased as he watched him simply embrace his sister.
I haven't hugged you in so long. It feels like home. Itachi thought, crushing his eyes closed. "And I love you and Sasuke very much. I am not asking you to act as if you never saw me or as if you never cared. I want you to let Sasuke settle this score with me so he may live the life he thinks he wants."
"Tell him the truth, Itachi. Tell him what happened, why it happened."
"You want him home, do you not? That's why you came to me.. for me to help you get him home. If I tell him the truth, he will crush the Leaf with his own two hands."
"Help me talk sense into him! He deserves a home. We deserve a home."
He held her against his chest for a few minutes, soothing her shaking chest from the sobs. "I will do everything I can by talking to Sasuke. But in the end, if his wishes are to destroy me, you must not interfere. Do you understand?"
She nodded.
"I am going to wait here for your return. I would like you to go to Orochimaru's hideout and retrieve Sasuke. You may take Naruto and Kakashi with you, but everyone else must stay."
Why is he being so understanding? "Why are you doing this?"
"Because, Kiyomi, for all the things I have done in my life, saying no to you is one that I cannot bring myself to do. Ever since you were born, I have done nothing but try to make things better for you. It is why I could not raise my sword to you, why I could not take your life, why I had to leave when you cried that night, and why I never lay a hand on you when we spar." He smiled softly. "You were, and always will be, the most precious girl in the world to me."
She nearly jumped onto him, hugging his neck. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
He nodded, walking with her over to their team. "It is usually against my nature to side with those who are my enemies. But Kiyomi talked me into cooperating just this once." He said to the group. "Naruto and Kakashi, you will travel with her to Orochimaru's hideout and bring Sasuke back here to me. Together, we will talk to our brother."
Kiyomi nodded. Kakashi looked like he let out a sigh of relief. "Orochimaru's last sighting was due north."
"Alright! Let's go!" Naruto yelled.
A/N:
Thank you for all the positive feedback so far! I'm trying my hardest to write this next chapter asap, which will finally include some combat! Woo hoo!
