Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed the tension being built and the fluff in the previous chapter! Thank you to xXFallenxBeautyxX for reviewing! Remember, I always enjoy reviews since they help me improve my writing skills, so please leave them! Now, enjoy!
Chapter 9
The next morning, Kikyuu awoke with a start. Her nightmarish dreams only seemed to be intensifying as the days passed. She wiped the tiny beads of sweat off of her forehead before blinking, feeling that someone was staring at her.
She looked up and met Itachi's eyes. The Uchiha was still seated in the chair in the corner of the room, watching her closely. Kikyuu quickly stood and grabbed her clothes before entering the bathroom to get ready for their task of capturing the tailed beast.
When he heard the door shut, Itachi quickly shrugged off his Akatsuki cloak and finished bandaging the cut on his upper arm. He had awoken an hour before to the sounds of her whimpers and cries. He realized she was having a nightmare and tried to comfort when she suddenly produced a kunai and sliced him on his arm. He had spent most of the time cleaning it and disinfecting it and was nearly finished wrapping it before she awoke. He decided to keep this matter to himself, for Kikyuu would take too much pride in the fact she finally placed a mark on him; and, she wasn't even trying.
He slipped on the cloak just in time for Kikyuu to step out of the bathroom. Her hair, normally kept in a ponytail, was down and braided in a long braid with her bangs framing her bright eyes. She slipped on her black cloak over her normal attire and looked into his sharingan.
"Are we ready to go?" She asked.
Itachi nodded and stood, walking up to her, "Yes. I heard Kisame up earlier."
Kikyuu nodded in return before quickly leaving the hotel room, leaving Itachi to lock up.
The kunoichi sighed as she leaned, camouflaged, against a large boulder as Kisame and Itachi pursued the five tails. She smirked as she recalled sensing the chakra of the four-tails inside another jinchuriki and how she did not reveal this information to the duo she was travelling with. She decided to wait to tell Pein when she made her suggestion concerning the capture of the remaining tailed beasts.
Suddenly, she heard a large explosion and when she looked down, she saw Itachi and Kisame rapidly moving towards her with the jinchuriki in tow while being pursued by ANBU of Iwagakure. Kikyuu quickly stood and began leaping off towards the rendezvous point, knowing that Itachi and Kisame would quickly catch up to her, which they did.
"Itachi!" She shouted, "What's the plan?"
The Uchiha glanced behind him before looking forward and stating, "On my count, perform a wind dragon jutsu."
"But Itachi," she protested, "they're earth affinities! They'll counter it with ease!"
"Just do it!" He stated harshly, "Now!"
She quickly spun around and flashed through the proper hand seals and sent the dragon flying at the ANBU. She watched as they began to counter it before being engulfed in the flames that had transformed the dragon into a massive being of fire that engulfed their pursuers.
The three Akatsuki members pulled ahead and when Kikyuu looked at Itachi, he was smirking at her.
"You could've told me that you were going to use a fire jutsu," she grumbled.
"I thought you were smart enough to remember the training incident years ago when you got burned and that you would've remembered that was my intention again," Itachi replied.
Kikyuu narrowed her eyes, "Under pressure, did you honestly expect me to do that?"
Itachi remained silent with a smirk on his face while the kunoichi rolled her eyes as the three of them sped ahead.
Kikyuu sat down on a nearby rock, panting heavily and rubbing her tired arms to the best of her ability. For three days, she stood, instead of sitting like last time, in front of the door to the large cave where the sealing was taking place with her hands pressed on the large seal, feeding her chakra into it. She looked up as she noticed someone was standing before her.
"Kikyuu," Pein began, "I need you to move to Kiri, we are convening in order for the teams to convey the information they have discovered about the location of the jinchuriki or the bijuu. From there, we shall decide how to proceed."
The kunoichi smirked, "I was going to suggest such a thing, but it seems that you beat me to the punch, Pein-sama."
The man smirked slightly before dissipating. Once gone, Kikyuu stood on shaky legs before stretching slightly. Kisame and Itachi moved to her before they quickly left; their sights set on Kirigakure.
"No, no, no, hn! You have it all wrong! The six tails is in Suna with the one-tails and the four-tails is in Konoha with the nine-tails!" Deidara exclaimed as he pointed at the map on the wall with pinned up numbers scrambled on it.
"And I," Itachi began, "Know for a fact that Konoha has only one jinchuriki, the nine-tails."
"Well then, where do you think the four tails is?" Deidara asked.
Itachi sighed, "If I knew, I would tell you. Otherwise, I am remaining silent, like you should."
Deidara quickly stood up to attack Itachi before Kikyuu stood up while slamming her fist on the table. The members of the Akatsuki blinked and looked at the newcomer as she moved around the table. She approached the map before beginning to rearrange the numbers placed on it. Finally, after a few moments, she turned and stated:
"This is where they are. Now, shut up."
Pein leaned forward slightly as he studied the map before demanding:
"Explain."
The young woman sighed before beginning, "We know the one-tails is in Suna. Pein-sama, you have delivered intel that says the three-tails, in bijuu form, and the six-tails jinchuriki are in Kiri. The nine-tails is in Konoha and the seven-tails was in Taki. We captured the five-tails in Iwa and, while there, I sensed the four-tails was present as well. This leaves the location of the two-tails and eight-tails. It should be quite obvious now; they are both in Kumo."
"And what makes you say that, Kikyuu-san?" Sasori stated.
"You see," she began, "one of the first stories told to Konoha children is the story of Hashirama Senju. After he founded Konoha, he divided up the tailed beasts amongst the five major villages in order to try to maintain peace in the world. Since Konoha was building a friendship with Takigakure, they gave one beast to them as a sign of trust and since, they have remained friends. Out of all the locations I have named, the only 'big' village unnamed is Kumo. I am fairly certain they are there, since losing a tailed beast is a costly measure."
Slowly, one by one, the members of the Akatsuki agreed to her statement and Itachi smirked at her:
'Intelligent as ever…'
Pein stood and stated, "A well thought out theory. However, I need proof before we move any further. We have already wasted precious time, however. Deidara, Sasori, while I send a team to Kumo, you two shall move to capture the one-tails."
"Kikyuu-chan won't be coming with us?" Deidara asked.
The man sighed, "No, she is needed for detecting the beasts in Kumo."
"Besides," Kikyuu began, "Gaara, the one-tails jinchuriki, is Kazekage if what Pein-sama said is true. Attack the village and you'll draw him out, as a Kage, he must fight to protect the citizens."
She blinked, 'What on Earth did I just say?'
"Exactly," Pein concurred before turning his attention to Itachi, "You shall accompany Kikyuu to Kumo. As a precaution."
"Without Kisame?" Itachi asked.
The man nodded, "Yes. He shall move to the safe house near where the sealing of the one-tails will occur to await you there. I fear that Konoha might interfere and a distraction will be needed."
The Uchiha nodded before quickly leaving the room; the white-haired kunoichi sighed and exited after him, not looking forward to this mission.
For several miles now on their journey to Kumo, Itachi and Kikyuu had remained silent. Neither knew what to say since discussing their tumultuous emotions was off limits; it was, however, the most pressing issue in their minds. The white-haired kunoichi looked at Itachi and felt her eyes watering before looking forward again.
'Damn it… Why couldn't Pein-sama sent me on this mission with someone else? This is just Kami trying to torture me… I know it…' She thought to herself before she quickly stopped.
Itachi glanced back her with a slight frown on his face for two reasons. He could see she was still upset and that fact hurt him. However, he knew they couldn't stop for any reason.
"Kikyuu, what are you doing?" He asked firmly.
The girl merely lifted her hand to silence him as she tilted her head down slightly and closed her eyes. She was listening carefully for something, but for what, he didn't know. She opened her eyes and sniffed the air a few times before pulling a tiny black scroll from her pouch and retrieving a poncho from the inside of it. She replaced her cloth cloak with it and secured the hood. Ignoring Itachi's strange gaze, she leapt back off in their original trajectory.
The Uchiha blinked and leapt off after her before rolling his eyes slightly as he thought, 'It's not even going to rain.'
Suddenly, there was a large crack of thunder over their heads. The belly of the sky burst open as rain began to fall in sheets around them. Itachi was quickly soaked and as he looked at Kikyuu, he glared at her for she was wearing a large smirk on her face.
After a day of travel on land and two days of boat travel, Itachi and Kikyuu finally arrived in the outer reaches of the Land of Lightning. Another day of travel finally placed them hiding in a small cave in a low mountain range overlooking Kumogakure. The Uchiha sighed as he shifted in his position and a small frown was plastered on Kikyuu's face.
"What's wrong?" The young man asked.
The kunoichi didn't reply as she stood and walked to the edge of the cave, she glanced around and finally found what she was looking for as she spoke:
"I need to get closer. The high altitude is affecting my ability to sense charka. There is another cave on down."
Without waiting for his reply, she leapt down quietly. Itachi sighed and followed after her, cursing her slight impulsiveness in this matter and how distant she was keeping herself. But why did he care, he wanted her to do this after all… however, it still bothered him and made him begin to reconsider Kikyuu's request.
After a few minutes of quiet meditating, Kikyuu opened her eyes and looked at Itachi while smirking.
"Well?" The Uchiha asked as he returned her gaze.
"They're there. The two and the eight tails, like I predicted," she replied as she stood and stretched.
"Good," Itachi replied before standing as well, "I will contact Pein-sama and give him the news. Guard the-"
"Shh!" Kikyuu stated, interrupting him.
She moved to the front of the cave and her eyes widened as she turned to Itachi.
"We've been spotted. I don't know how, but we have to leave."
The Uchiha nodded and the two of them exited the cave as quickly as possible before a bolt of lightning slammed into the mountain wall just above the cave entrance. Kikyuu glanced back as three Kumo ANBU emerged from the dust and smoke, hot on their trail. The Akatsuki pair quickly headed towards Kumo's border with the Land of Frost as bolts of lightning crashed into their rocky surroundings.
"Itachi! What do we do?" Kikyuu exclaimed over the explosions.
"Remain calm," he replied, "We are the best possible pair to face three lightning affinities. You can deflect their attacks and yours also strengthen mine. We cannot lose."
"I hope you're right, because here they come." She replied as she spun around, flashing through hand signs.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon!" A female voice from behind a mask shouted before she thrust her palm forward.
"Wind Release: Wind Dragon!" Kikyuu exclaimed in reply as she thrust her palm forward as well.
The two attacks met in the middle of their distances and exploded in an array of lightning, wind, and smoke. Kikyuu was blown back into a tree while Itachi maneuvered deftly and began blocking attacks from two of the ANBU members. The white haired kunoichi quickly regained her footing as the ANBU member descended upon her and began throwing punches.
The girl smirked as she nimbly weaved in and out of the attacks, conserving her energy for a swift and proper attack. Suddenly, the ANBU member gave her a foolish opening and Kikyuu swiftly moved in close and delivered a quick u-punch to the girl's throat and stomach, sending her flying back into a tree.
"Kikyuu!" Itachi's voice rang over the sounds of battle and when she spun, she saw a lightning bolt racing towards her. On pure instinct, she unsheathed her grandfather's katana from her side and encased it in wind chakra and held it before her as the bolt struck the melt. She gasped as she felt electricity race through her arm before she tightened her grip on the sword and turned her hand slightly before slicing through the air, causing the wind chakra to rush off of the sword, dissipating the lighting quickly. She slashed quickly at the air which sent shearing blades of wind rushing outward, catching the ANBU off guard, who had just recoiled from the lightning attack, and knocking them back through several trees.
She panted heavily before suddenly catching movement out of peripheral and turned in time for a large bolt of lightning to strike her abdomen from the ANBU member she thought she had incapacitated. Her eyes widened and her breath left her body as she fell backwards off of the tree limb.
Time seemed to slow… and darkness began engulfing her senses and consciousness; a distant cry of "Kikyuu!" was the last sound to reach her ears.