The Sakurazaki Chronicles—Sora
By Emi
MC: Setsuna, Akatsuki (primarily Itachi, Nagato, and Konan), the girl's six paths
MS: Feudal Japan; the Shippuuden time period of Naruto
MT: Romance, Adventure, Angst, Friendship, Fantasy, Death
Rating: 13-18 year olds (Teen-Mature)
Disclaimer: The author does not own Naruto in any way, shape or form. However, she does own her OCs, including a small amount of their jutsus. The author also does not own the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, Mahou Sensei Negima! by Akamatsu Ken, Chobits by CLAMP, Tsubasa by CLAMP, xxxHolic by CLAMP, Love Hina by Akamatsu Ken, the manga edition of Romeo and Juliet by Yali Lin (her wonderful art instructor and the woman who autographed it for me.), the .hack// series by various authors, and other manga or literature references used in the making of this fanfiction. All rights belong to their respectful author(s) or company.
A/N: Ack, it's been days and my arms still feel wiggly! And I'm in-and-out sick now, because stupid tetanus shots give you fevers. I slept for 12 hours straight on Tuesday. Gahh… And what the hell?! I don't even need one, God only knows when's the next time I'm going to get stabbed or shot! I went on a school trip to the Museum of Modern Art. Instead of looking at Monet and Cezanne paintings, I looked at the people in the café eating filet mignon and caviar. Damnit. But all in all, please review, for if I die of starvation or getting stabbed anytime soon, I'll have the pleasure of reviews before I go. xD R&R!
Book Two: Sora
Chapter Thirteen: Vision
The group had separated earlier, leaving fem-Itachi to get supplies for the mission. 'She' returned to the hotel, only to find the door locked from the inside. "Oi! Ki—I mean, ano… open up!" she heard someone scramble around the room. About thirty seconds later, the transformed Kisame opened the door.
"Hey," he greeted her. He was bleary-eyes, and had most likely been sleeping. "So… what'd you get?"
"Eto…" Itachi answered. "I'm going on a mission with the Kyuubi boy, apparently. To retrieve Sasuke." She sent a malicious glare at Kisame.
"REALLY? HONTO?!" Itachi nodded. "Okay, then. You'll go, and I'll tail from behind."
"But one of them is a jounin," Itachi pointed out. "And one is a member of the former ROOT ANBU division. They'll be sure to sense any chakra disturbances. Also, the pink Tsunade-girl is also good at chakra control. She'll be able to detect it too."
"Then what do I—" Kisame caught his partner's glare. "Oh, no."
"Hm," Itachi agreed. "You can be my pet weasel."
"Ano…" Kisame stared. "Ano… e-eto… how about another animal? I mean, won't they get suspicious of a weasel?"
"Hmpf," Itachi glared at nothing in particular. "Fine. You pick, as long as it's small. I'm not carrying around a 100-kilogram pig."
"Uwah! How about a baby phoenix?" Itachi almost snorted at this thought, but didn't, as he was supposed to be a girl.
"Sure," Itachi shrugged. Kisame formed 'tora,' and transformed into a small phoenix, the red-gold plumage making the usually quite ugly shark-man a bit more beautiful. Well, technically, he wasn't a shark anymore, but…
Itachi let the bird fly onto her shoulders, the golden feather contrasting nicely with her blonde hair. "Now, weapons…" Itachi found an old hip-pouch filled with shuriken. She got another small pack and put a few empty scrolls and kunai into it. She also put a bottle of water and a small summoning scroll inside.
In case she needed Satomi, she remembered Setsuna giving it to her. Sighing loudly, Itachi conjured up multiple Fuma shuriken, strapped them onto her back, and left the hotel room by the window again. Kisame—who shall now be called Kouichiro the Phoenix, or Kou for short, fluttered beside him.
She used a shadow-teleportation jutsu— scaring some of the non-shinobi villagers along the way, and got to the village's gates before everyone else did. Finally, Sai showed up, showing no interest in her. Then, Sakura and Yamato arrived.
Naruto was last. "Oi, ohayou, Nagi-chan!" he greeted her, bear-hugging her until she choked. Then, he noticed Kou fluttering by Itachi's head. "Uwah! Pretty bird!"
Itachi noted that the boy had ADD for future reference. She let Kou fly around everyone's heads. No doubt he was as bored as Itachi was. "Can we uh… go now?" Itachi muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear her.
Naruto was the first to respond, the extensions on his headband's tie bouncing up and down as he jumped. "Yatta! Let's go and get Sasuke-teme back!" Sakura agreed. Yamato and Sai nodded.
"Okay," Yamato strapped his telecommunication device to his ear. The team did the same. "Testing… can you hear me?"
"Mm," nodded Itachi. The rest of the group agreed.
"THEN LET'S GO!" Naruto jumped, and ran for the forest. Itachi wondered if the boy knew where he was going, but Yamato put on a burst of speed and surpassed him. Itachi speed-jumped to where he was, and Sakura and Sai quickly followed.
"Okay, so… where are we going?" Itachi asked Yamato as she was jumping form tree to tree.
"There's a huge cavern that's next to one infested by termites," was his answer.
Itachi twitched—he didn't particularly like bugs—but fell back a step to be next to Naruto, focusing on her own mission. She started to make up lies again. "Oi, Naruto-san—"
"You can call me Naruto!" he chirped. Itachi thought, Already?
"O-okay, Naruto," she smiled. "You can call me Nagi then."
"OK! Nagi! So what's up?" they jumped from a branch.
"Um… ano… well, I wanted to ask, how did you get acquainted with Uchiha-san?" Naruto looked taken aback.
"Well… I was his teammate at one point. We were eternal rivals. I guess you could say that I had a crush on Sakura-chan… but Sakura-chan liked Sasuke-teme. Also, I was always fighting to be the stronger one. So you could say it was a hate-love relationship."
Itachi raised an eyebrow, jumping over another branch. "You make it sound as if you're gay."
"NANI? Iie, iie! That's not it!" Naruto contradicted.
"Hwah," Itachi muttered. "Okay then. Arigato gozaimasu, Naruto-sa—I mean, Naruto." She smiled at him and shadow-jumped to her place behind Yamato.
"So… how long does it take to get to your termite mound?" asked Itachi, all monotone again.
"It'll be about another hour or two, so…" Yamato didn't looked at her, focusing on the trees in front of him. Itachi nodded, then used a mind jutsu to talk to Kisame in his head.
Kisame, thought Itachi. Are you there?
I'm right above you head, the 'Phoenix' replied.
Hm, Itachi grumbled. We're going to get the Jinchuuriki after they get to Sasuke. I'll use chakra ropes.
'Kay, thought Kisame, and Itachi broke off the connection, not wanting to waste any more chakra.
They all jumped through the trees in silence, following Yamato.
Finally, about two hours later, Naruto yelled, "Hey! There's a clearing up there!" they raced through the trees and suddenly—
Suddenly there was light.
Itachi blinked and shielded her eyes from the sudden sunlight. Naruto jumped for joy and began to run towards—Itachi cringed. No wonder it was a termite mound. A giant termite mound. How could anyone have missed it?
"They really know how to disguise it," Sakura said. Then, sharply, she yelled, "Naruto! Where do you think you're going?!"
"I see the termite mound!" Naruto replied.
"We can all see the termite mound," Yamato corrected. He beckoned for everyone to hide back inside the trees. As they retreated, Yamato used the communicators so that even Naruto could hear him. "There's got to be some traps around here. If it were as simple as walking in, they may have well just placed Sasuke in a glass box outside with an arrow pointing to it."
Naruto froze and appeared beside Itachi. "So…"
"We're going to use some of your shadow clones, Naruto," Sakura said, patting Naruto's back. "They can scout out for us."
Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I don't know… are you sure that'll work? Sound ninja are tricky…"
"Naruto!!" Sakura hissed, slapping his face. "We don't have time for this—are you a ninja or what?!"
"No, he has a point."
Everyone stared at Sai, who smiled gently at them. "Think about it. If Sound Ninja are patrolling the mound and see more than one Naruto, they'll know they're clones and won't activate the traps. Then once we go, they'll spring it on us."
"But one clone won't do the job either," Itachi added. "Once that clone is killed or injured by a trap, the Sound Ninja will be alerted and we won't be able to figure out where all of the traps are."
"Gee, Nagi, have you ever worked on a team before?" Naruto asked, awed. "You really know how to look after your teammates."
Itachi couldn't help but speak to Kisame.
You see that? he thought smugly, I'm a responsible ninja.
Yes, but you're taking a compliment from the Kyuubi who nearly ran right up to the termite mound, Kisame pointed out.
It doesn't matter, thought Itachi. Orochimaru's hideout isn't even the termite mound. It's the mountain thing next to it…
Oh, Kisame thought, and the two of them cut their connection off. No sooner than they had done this, however, Sakura proceeded to yell at Naruto.
"NARUTO-BAKA!" Itachi thought she was shouting for no reason, but maybe it was what girls did. Should she start screaming too? Wait, no, Set—Itachi slapped her face to get the thought of her out. Nobody saw except Sai however (and all he did was smile at her) because they were watching Sakura be bipolar. "YOU DON'T RUN UP TO A TERMITE MOUND LIKE THAT!!!" she punched him in the face, then began to laugh.
Itachi stared, wide-eyed. Not wanting to blow her cover, she walked over to Sai and asked, "Are all girls in Konohagakure like this?"
"I'm not sure," he smiled at her. "Probably not. I think only Sakura—chan does that."
"Oh…" Itachi trailed off as Yamato raised his hand.
"OI!" he shouted. "We need to get to the bridge over here," he pointed to the section on the map that represented the bridge. "Come on!"
Following Yamato, they reached the bridge's pass in a few minutes. But this was still a long time for me, she thought. She was lazy and impatient. Why didn't Konoha teach their genin and chunin the transportation jutsu anyway? Or at least the Shadow-Transportation jutsu.
Itachi gazed out across the termite mound, searching for movement. They'd have to be able to run across the termite mound to the adjacent mountain. Something caught her eye. Itachi focused her eyes (using the Sharingan briefly) on the small wriggling black figure. A snake? Oh yeah, that was a trademark… Itachi turned around to warn the others of Orochimaru's presence. A little too late.
Itachi could sense the sound ninja all around them as Sakura and Naruto bickered. Why were Sai and Yamato so blind? She threw a kunai knife at one who was braced to hit Naruto. The sound ninja exploded in crimson blood.
Itachi jumped back, astonished. Surely a kunai knife couldn't do that? Then he saw him—Orochimaru. He was sitting where the sound ninja had been. He had killed his own ninja? He saw the Summoning jutsu Orochimaru was preparing. "Guys! We're surrounded!"
They finally managed to keep a grip on things. Sakura and Naruto drew kunai knives and glared around the forest. Sai and Yamato didn't look as tense as Itachi surmised—they had known for some time but hadn't revealed so in case Sakura and Naruto blew it. Itachi hissed, "Orochimaru…"
"The bastard!" Naruto translated.
"Hey… wait a sec…" Sakura narrowed her eyes. "How do you know about Orochimaru?" Itachi froze up.
"Ano…" she thought. "Umm… the internet!"
"What's… an internet?" questioned Naruto, not really paying attention to the snake-man anymore.
"This thing… that lets you access anything, anytime, on a box thingy that looks kinda like a television," explained the 'blonde girl.'
"No time to talk about this!" Sai said, bristling. He glared around at the Sound Ninja. Yamato was edging away from Orochimaru. "What do you think this is—some fanfiction that you can make up with a jutsu that connects you to everything else in the world?"
"Mmm…" was Itachi's curt answer. "Let's go…" She pulled out one of the Fuma shuriken from her back. Twirling it on her index finger, she threw it at the Sound Ninja. They were mere substitutions, she knew, the Sharingan she concealed told her so. They all disappeared in a puff of smoke. Itachi sighed and made a substitution herself.
She hid in a tree, watching Orochimaru's movements. Orochimaru made no move for her, but although she had concealed her chakra perfectly, she knew that the Giant Snake was able to see through it.
After all, he was good enough to become a Sannin. Itachi vaguely remembered something Setsuna had said to her before she could see it coming.
..:.x.:..
"Hey, Itachi-sama," Setsuna whispered, turning Itachi's face around to meet his. She giggled at his ticked-off expression. Itachi groaned.
"It's two in the morning," he whined, half asleep. "Leave me alone. I'm sleeee—py…" he yawned.
"But Itachi-sama," Setsuna protested before Itachi could even close his eyes again. "I have something to tell you about Orochimaru…"
"Whaaat…?" Itachi turned around so his back was facing her. "Get off my bed. Go to sleep."
"But…" her eyes got glassy and trance-like. The Rin'negan looked almost a stained-glass window, and they flashed and reflected rainbow. She began to speak:
Three elite,
One will die from his apprentice,
One will die from his former apprentice,
And the other will die from an unwanted apprentice.
Snake.
Toad.
Slug.
Itachi's eyes widened and spun around. "NANDE?" he knew what Setsuna was talking about. "Do you mean—Sasuke-kun's going to kill Orochimaru-teme?" Setsuna didn't answer, but only looked at him with glassy eyes. Finally, she spoke again:
Innocent shall be killed by the Innocent,
Guilty killed by the Guilt,
Revenge is killed by Revenge,
Brother is killed by Brother,
Love is killed by Love.
Itachi caught on at the 'revenge' part and the 'brother' part. "You mean… I'm going to die by Sasuke-kun's hand?" Setsuna didn't answer, only looking into his eyes. Itachi sighed. "'Cuz if I am, good. Now… will you please—" He was cut off again.
One will be loved by one,
Another will be loved by two,
And the third shall be loved by many.
They shall perish under each other's hands.
Their love will linger,
But there will only be one to succeed.
"Will you stop it?" Itachi muttered, grabbing his pillow. He bopped it over Setsuna's head, and she fell off his bed, landing with a thump on the floor. No noise was made by her. "Oops… genki desu?"
No answer. He peered over the bedside and saw that Setsuna was fast asleep. He smirked slightly at Setsuna's serene face. Not wanting to drag her into her room, he carefully put her in his bed and climbed back in. He covered her with a blanker, tucked himself in, turned his head around, and was fast asleep before he heard the first cricket chirp.
..:.x.:..
Itachi jumped out of the way before a giant snake could hit her. Orochimaru definitely knew where she was. Sighing, she activated her Sharingan under her disguise and scanned around the place.
Sakura was punched and kicking (and mentally scarring?) a bunch of Otogakure Ninja with her Iron Fist Style. Itachi looked crazily at her when she saw her 'Inner Sakura' figure emerge.
The eyes itself were really creepy, giving Itachi chills. She growled, and leapt out of her tree. She would leave Naruto to Orochimaru; she knew he was powerful, but she needed Naruto's demon to emerge to capture him first.
Almost, she thought to the impatient Kisame-bird.
He chirped in response, sending a flamethrower towards a group of Oto Ninja. Fighting off a few shinobi with a Fuma shuriken in hand, she managed to catch a glimpse of Orochimaru and Naruto's fight.
"Your demon fox," Orochimaru sneered, showing off his long, gross tongue. "Is what the Akatsuki wants. Sasuke-kun is also helping and greatly. And to think, he doesn't even care what'll it cost him, just for the sake of killing his brother!"
"Don't say that about Sasuke-teme!" Naruto's anger was already beginning to show. "He'd NEVER DO THAT!!!"
"But he did," Orochimaru began to laugh, the strange sound making Itachi shiver. She killed off the last of the Sound Ninja, and she listened intently to Orochimaru.
Itachi knew that Orochimaru knew that she was innocent. She just hoped that he didn't tell Sasuke the truth of that night six years ago. If Sasuke didn't follow through with his lifelong goal, she was sure that she'd die of guilt.
Blinking furiously, she stood her ground, watching Naruto blow off steam. Pretending to be frozen like the rest of the team, she sent another message to her 'phoenix.'
I have a feeling the kid is going to release his demon soon, Itachi thought.
Hm, grunted Kisame.
But what's disturbing is that another one of Setsuna-san's prophecies, it tells of the Nine-Tails going four. What does that mean?
Nine to four…
Hmm… maybe well, when the Kyuubi kid loses control, he grows orange fox/chakra-tails right?
Mhm, agreed Kisame.
Well, maybe when the nine-tailed kid goes loco, he'll grow four of those tails!
Oh shit.
Nande?
Well, doesn't the brat go crazy and out of the ordinary if he goes to four tails?
Then well… Naruto was already showing one tail, in furious combat with Orochimaru. We go now, while he's still weak.
Good idea, smartass, Kisame smirked in his head, and the two made the same hand sign. When the smoke that had formed had cleared, what had been a pretty blonde girl and an innocent-looking baby phoenix were…
Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.
..:.x.:..
Reviewers:
BunnyxJalapeños: Thanks! There's a really long and complicated story to Setsuna's past, and it takes a while to explain. It involves the Negima! Sakurazaki Setsuna, the Time-Space Witch, and a bunch of other crap and junk. Lolz. Keep reading to find out! And no, this is not blackmail. Tell all of your friends to read as well.