"So," Itachi looked the now revealed Ke over. "You're a woman."
Her body was still effectively hidden by her clothes but her exposed face was more than enough to prove she was a woman. Her long golden hair fell in loose waves around her body to her knees and spilled in front of her shoulders in shorter segments with bangs which fell just beneath her eyes. Golden eyes defined by dark lashes shone from her porcelain skin complimented by full pink lips which matched the slight pink flush in her cheeks. Her beautiful face was the exact opposite of the horrifying white hanya mask she had worn all those years. Not that Itachi cared about any of this.
"I'm surprised that all you were hiding under there was the fact that you're a woman," He said, slight disappointement in is voice, and Ke laughed.
"It's a little more complicated than that but it's not like you care," Ke said and Itachi cocked his head.
"Your voice is different," he noted.
"Yeah, the whole looking like a man thing doesn't really work if you sound like a girl," Ke nudged a piece of her broken mask. "Well now, since I'm revealing all my secrets to you, I guess it's time for me to bring out some secret moves."
"Won't give you the chance," Itachi said as he held his hand up to his mouth. "Fireball jutsu!"
Ke just smirked as a shield of chakra enveloped her. But this time, the shield withstood the blast effortlessly. Itachi stopped the jutsu and waited for the smoke to clear. Two pearlescent white wings made of pure chakra were covering Ke. They spread apart as she stood up to face him. He focused his eyes in on them.
She's condensed her chakra to create a much more powerful and dense shield. She must have been storing it up for a while, Itachi determined.
"A demon with angel's wings," Itachi raised an eyebrow. "You are full of surprises."
"You haven't seen anything yet," Ke assured before flexing her wings and shooting towards him. Itachi stepped back and let the flames flow from his mouth. However, her wings just enveloped her again effectively deflecting the blast. Itachi frowned as her wings shimmered before beaking apart into feathers. The pearlescent feathers shot towards Itachi. He focused his sharingan in order to dodge the projectiles but there were hundreds of them and they kept coming after him. Finally they massed together and came down hard on top of Itachi. Ke groaned when he exploded into smoke. "Damn shadow clones."
She tensed before jumping off the ground as Itachi's hands came through the ground. They futiley groped air before Ke's chakra whip wrapped around his wrist. Ke yanked him up through the ground as her nails grew into claws. She shoved her hand into his throat but he just exploded into smoke again. Her fists tightened as Itachi stepped out of the woods behind her.
"Are you done yet?" Itachi asked calmly and Ke turned slowly towards him, her eyes flashing dangerously. She pulled up her sleeve revealing an intricate tattoo. As she fed more and more chakra into the pattern it began to glow blood red.
"Summoning jutsu: Hell gates open!"
"Another one of your demon summons?" Itachi asked. "How long are you going to depend on those little monsters before they betray you?"
"For one thing, I don't depend on them," Ke corrected. "And to betray you have to be loyal in the first place. In my world it's everyone for themselves. The only reason why my demon summons come to my command is because they like to eat spoiled little brats like you."
Itachi's eyes searched the forest, "Well I guess I'm not very appetizing, they've failed to come."
"Wait for it," Ke smiled. Itachi's eyes widened as he sensed the gentle vibrations in the ground grow steadily stronger. The earth began to shake and the trees trembled as the ground beneath them cracked. Suddenly, two giant doors erupted from the ground towering over the two ninjas. They cracked open and a howling wind kicked up as the skies began to darken. Itachi jumped back but Ke remained in place. The doors swung open revealing the black swirling abyss they housed. A giant paw stepped out from the gates. Three heads emerged from the gates as Berous emerged from the gates. Itachi's eyes narrowed at the large three headed dog which was a comparable size to the tailed demons, and was undoubtedly just as strong as them. Itachi frown deepened as Berous leaned his heads down to Ke. She climbed up on his back and settled in on his middle head.
"Watch it," Bero warned. "You're bleeding all over me."
"Sorry," Ke rolled her eyes.
"Where's your mask?" Bero's deep voice rumbled and Ke motioned to Itachi.
"He broke it off," she explained.
"Hmm," Bero's voice sounded from the three mouths. "I think I preferred the mask rather than this ugly human face."
"Well, just for you, I'll get another one after this fight," Ke ran his fingers through Bero's fur. Bero shook at her touch.
"Don't get too comfortable," he warned. "You've obviously been spending too much time among the humans. Allow me to remind you where we came from!"
Bero lunged towards Itachi with his fangs bared. Itachi jumped up and avoided Bero's fangs before he clamped down on the ground. However, Bero brought his right head up and shot a ball of lightning towards Itachi. Itachi exploded in a cloud of smoke as the lightning hit him.
However, the real Itachi, who was watching from the trees, didn't have much time to rest. Bero's left head howled releasing a gust of wind knocking him out of the tree he was watching from. Itachi twisted in the air and landed on his feet. Skidding to a stop he glared up at the three headed monster. His eyes widened.
"Where did she go?" His eyes darted around. He flung his arm up just in time to dodge her kick. She continued with a barrage of kicks and jabs, her style getting more and more animalistic and ruthless as they went. However, Itachi still managed to block all of her attacks. She jumped back and formed hand signs.
"Dark escape jutsu!" She yelled and plunged her hands into the shadows at her feet. Suddenly Itachi felt pressure on his ankles. He looked down to see her hands peeking out from the shadow he was standing in. He struggled against her grip but she held on tight. He held his hand to his mouth planning to burn her hands off, however, before he could cast the jutsu she yanked on his feet and dragged him into the shadows. She pulled her empty hands out of the shadows and smirked before jumping away. Before Itachi could dig his way out of the ground he felt Bero's presence above him.
"Devil's thunder!" Bero's deep voice rumbled as thunder and wind shot forth from all three of his mouths. They converged on Itachi and the forest ground erupted from the blasts. Ke sat down heavily on the beast's back as dust filled the air. Bero's yellow eyes rolled up to her. "You're weak."
"He's Itachi Uchiha, a legend. I thought you'd be happy to face him, not scold me for being too weak to handle him," Ke sighed is irritance.
"No, your chakra level is dangerously low, little one. You called me a little late in this battle. You don't even have enough chakra to keep me here for another five minutes. You're not even worth eating right now, little one," Bero corrected and Ke laughed.
"He took a lot out of me," she shrugged. "Blame him for robbing you of your meal."
"If I realized you were this empty I wouldn't have finished him off so I could at least eat him. I wonder how an Uchiha tastes."
"I would imagine a full bold flavor that's also quite spicy," Ke shrugged and Bero's laughter rumbled deep. "He had a lot of spunk to him."
"Thanks for the compliment," Itachi's unbearably calm voice sounded from the forest.
"Do you ever die?!" Ke demanded as she stood up shakily from Bero's shiny black fur.
"Not at the hands of such weaklings," he countered.
"Easy there," Ke warned as her fists tightened. Itachi's eyes swept over her casually.
"You're weak," he noted and Ke leaned down to Bero's ear.
"See what happens when you open your three mouths?" She asked and he gave a toothy grin. "Now he thinks I'm weak!"
"The Uchiha has a point," Bero shook his fur and Ke fell over on his back. "I can't stay any longer. Goodbye little one, and try not to die. I would like to be the one who feasts on your body."
"I'll keep that in mind," Ke said and jumped down from his back. Bero glanced down at her. That one still doesn't give a damn about herself but…there's something in that one's eyes. The little one cares about something, someone. I wonder who?
The gates reopened revealing the swirling abyss which Bero padded into. He gave one last look at the two ninja who faced each other. It's a shame, they would have made tastey snacks. The gates shut and sunk back into the ground.
"You're weak," Itachi repeated.
"Yes, I know, I'm weak." Ke sighed. "What else is new?"
"You're considerably weaker than before," Itachi's eyes narrowed. "A summoning jutsu doesn't take that much chakra. At least not a normal one. That creature wasn't a normal summon. Demons can't just roam around this world. He must have come from another dimension. One that needs to be forced open, then he must be pulled from the dimension, and the doors must be kept open until you can shove him back in. That must take an exhorbitant amount of chakra. Which is why that monster left so hastily and why you are so weak right now."
"Goddamn those eyes are good," Ke laughed.
"This has been fun, but you're too weak to bother with anymore. It's time to finish this," Itachi formed hand signs. "Tsukuyomi."
The world around Ke dropped away and she was forced to sit down heavily. She struggled to get up but she couldn't even raise her arms off the thick armrests of the heavy wood chair she was planted on. She sighed and blew the bangs out of her face. "I was wondering when he was going to cast a genjutsu."
She continued to struggle against the invisible bonds. "Bero could have at least stuck around to keep me company…or eat the spoiled brat."
"It's your own fault he couldn't stay," Itachi materialized in front of her. "You're the one who summoned him with so little chakra left."
"Yeah, but you're the one who wouldn't die," she countered and glanced around the empty space again. "So what the hell is this anyway?"
Itachi's eyes narrowed and Ke cocked her head before jerking in pain. She swallowed hard and looked down at her leg, the source of her current pain. Slowly, a silver spike pushed through the material of her pants. Her blood dripped down the metal needle as it continued to push upwards. She looked up at Itachi, her teeth bared.
"In this world, I control everything. I also decide when this ends," he said and Ke jerked forward as she felt another spike pushing into her flesh. It began to emerge a quarter inch from the other spike. The spikes grew from the chair and bit into her flesh. One after the other they shoved their way into her body, there seemed to be no end to them. Itachi leaned forward and she looked up at him, her eyes slitted in pain. "By the way, this world lasts for 72 hours."
"Lucky me," Ke forced a smile but quickly choked as a spike pushed its way from her back into her stomach.
Itachi watched Ke fall forward onto the grass. She held herself up with shaking arms as he walked towards her slowly. A kunei fell from his sleeve and he wrapped his fingers around it gently. He stopped before her and raised his kunei above his head ready to finish the battle as effortlessly as he had been fighting it so far. He brought the kunei down towards her neck. Ke caught the blade an inch away from her flesh. She smiled up at him. "Got you."
Her fist slammed into his face and he was flung back from the force. Itachi skidded to a stop and glared at her with pure irritation and annoyance. Reaching up he wiped away a thin trail of blood from his mouth. "How did you withstand the Mangekyou's Tsukuyomi?"
"What? Your Sharingan can't figure it out?" Ke stood up and smirked as his eyes narrowed. She didn't appear to be affected at all by his Tsukuyomi, she was smiling even! She rolled her eyes as her smile fell away into a scowl. Her eyes narrowed dangerously as she folded her arms. It was gone. The humor, the smile, the carelessness, everything human was gone about Ke. Itachi didn't need his Sharingan to see that all that remained was a monster. "Did you really think that a spoiled little brat like you could even begin to fathom a fraction of the pain I've faced? You, raised in the peaceful and rich village of Konoha with loving parents and adoring villagers, dare to think you could even conceive something worse than my life with Orochimaru and the demons of Hikage? Your mind isn't capable of dreaming up anything even close to my life. Your worst nightmare is me on a good day, little boy."
Itachi's fist tightened around his kunei as he glared at her. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Ke frowned slightly when he opened them, cold and devoid of any anger. "You have no chakra left. You used it all on that overgrown dog. I'll admit, you've remained relatively unscathed throughout this battle that is mostly due to your excess waste of chakra and my unwillingness to get my hands dirty. And the only reason why you resisted my Tsukuyomi is mere coincidence. You've survived on pure luck so far. Now that you have nothing left what are you going to do?"
It took everything in Ke's power to not let his words change her expression. Because, frankly, they were true. She had almost no chakra left and he had plenty. Her physical injuries were relatively minor but all he had was a fine red line on his throat and a slight burn on his hand. She raised her chin slightly as she realized her only option.
"Who said I needed chakra?" Her death stare remained as she began to form hand signs. She didn't have enough chakra to do a clone let alone a finishing technique for Itachi. But she still had enough life force in reserves to finish him off. "Demon Dimension jutsu: Hell's consumption."
Itachi watched the life force ebb away from her into the ground through his red tinted vision. It spread out and disappeared as she fell to her knees. His eyes narrowed, What kind of jutsu was that? Suddenly the ground beneath Itachi cracked and tendrils of black energy flew up towards Itachi.
"Fireball jutsu!" He launched the fire towards the tendrils as they wrapped around his legs. However, the fire just dissipated into the energy. Ke fell forward but caught herself with shaking arms as the earth beneath her began to shift. The changing earth raised her up on a platform as she watched the struggling Itachi below her. Her eyes were cold.
"Don't ever mess with my kids you bastard," she muttered before falling forward, satisfied that he had sealed his fate but her body was now cold.
The energy continued to creep up Itachi's body as he concentrated his Sharingan, "Amaterasu." Black flames erupted from the energy and the tendrils cringed as the flames ate away at them. They jumped back from Itachi as he cleared the impending danger. However, when he landed on steady ground he stumbled and fell backwards. He glanced up at the now still body of Ke as the earth continued to shift and fall away into the black energy beneath it. His eyes narrowed as they faded from red into black. Between his battle with her and using Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu he was too weak to fight off the abyss any longer. His fist tightened as he realized the jutsu didn't end with Ke. However, it did seem to be stationary. Without her the energy would just attack anything near it, if he could just stay away from it he'd be fine. However, without his Sharingan there was no way he could avoid the abyss and search for Rin and that raccoon demon. He retreated calmly into the woods.
The ground holding Ke up began to break away and her arm fell over the side. It dangled above the black energy swirling below her as the ground continued to fall away into the abyss. With the foundation breaking she began to slide towards the hungry darkness and finally she slid off the platform of earth and fell into the hell so many thought she was spawned from. The black tendrils shot out towards her, eager for a snack. They brushed through her long golden hair before she was snatched away by a green flash. The energy writhed in disappointment before returning to the abyss, waiting for another opportunity.
Gai looked back at the abyss and narrowed his eyes before inspecting Ke. He frowned when she felt cold and still in his arms. He sighed sadly before carrying Ke back to Konoha. Itachi watched Gai retreat as Kisame appeared behind him.
"Did you have fun watching?" Itachi asked and Kisame shrugged.
"She has fun jutsus," Kisame smiled. "Although you could have been a little livelier."
"I'll try and be more entertaining next time."
"Shall we go after them?"
"No," Itachi said as he saw Gai grow smaller and smaller in the distance. He could finish off Ke no problem, but there was no way he could handle Gai in his current condition. "Let's go."
Kisame shouldered his blade and Itachi closed his eyes as they disappeared into the darkness.
Hey all, unfortunately this is probably the last chapter. It's not where I wanted to end the story but due to lack of reviews I've decided to stop. It's kind of pointless to write a story no one seems to read or like. I just wanted to put one last chapter out there in case there was some interest.
Thanx to all who've read!