New Chapter! Free time is a really good thing!
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Chapter 13
"I need your help," Itachi sighed as the masked man paused in the clearing before him. As Shisui had planned, the masked man would feel unperturbed by Kakashi as soon as he arrived and saw Itachi, so he'd stop and engage the young Uchiha like they needed him to.
So far so good, at least.
"Finally figured everything out, Itachi Uchiha? I was beginning to wonder if I'd put too much faith in you," the masked man mused taking a few more steps into the clearing and away from the woods. Since the sun had set, and the moon was still low, most of the clearing had been shrouded in the shadows of the trees and a wind picked up enough to make the shadows dance over the ground and disguise the ink Sai had left there.
Perfect.
"It is a task I… cannot complete on my own." Itachi agreed to feed the man everything he wanted to keep him around.
"And with my help, you agree to join me?"
Itachi sighed again, just enough to make it seem like a defeat for him before nodding at the masked man and offering his hand to shake and seal the deal.
The masked man glanced at it and moved to shake before Itachi pulled back a moment. "One condition. Spare my brother. He's too young to be involved in any of this."
A dark chuckle sounded from behind the mask after a momentary pause. "Very well, Itachi Uchiha. His life will be spared."
Itachi extended his hand again, hesitating only slightly, and the masked man took it before Itachi could back away and ask for anything more.
In that moment, a silver streak came barreling into the clearing faster than anyone with an untrained eye would be able to register, but Itachi had been ready. He'd tracked Kakashi to just this moment, and still holding the masked man's hand, was thrown up as a shield in front of the man giving Itachi the perfect opportunity to catch Kakashi, chakra already flaring, and glance up at the place he knew Shisui to be before he was thrown off of the masked man, over the clearing and landed in a heap with Kakashi who'd somehow still managed to catch him even if that'd all happened in a mere few seconds of time.
"Take care of him, Itachi Uchiha. I will begin with the help you requested," the masked man growled disappearing from their sight in a vortex before either of them could even move from their tangle on the ground.
"Are you okay?" Itachi asked clamoring into a standing position and pulling Kakashi up with him.
"Fine. Are you okay? I pulled back at the last second when I realized he had you," the silver-haired man admitted brushing some grass from his sleeves before preparing to jump off after Obito and then faltering to ask something else. "Why are you here?"
Itachi quirked an eyebrow at him before scanning the forest. Nothing there.
He chuckled darkly before turning back to Kakashi, "We're here."
Kakashi looked around at the clearing and realized that he didn't see anything wrong except that he'd lost track of Obito again, but Itachi was more important in that moment and let his old teammate slip. He looked quizzically at the raven to elaborate.
Glancing in the direction of the Uchiha compound Itachi sighed, "Well, I need to attend to something that I'd rather you didn't see even if it isn't real. I'm not sure how long we'll be here, but it was good to see you again even if it was only for this short time."
The older ANBU captain quirked an eyebrow, "Isn't real? Are we in a genjutsu?"
"The ultimate genjutsu," Itachi confirmed before moving to the west. "Just play along, okay?"
Kakashi frowned at the raven but nodded his consent that he wouldn't do anything to mess the plan up. He'd definitely seen worse things come out of missions, and he had faith in Itachi to do what he had to for their success.
Since he'd been running for nearly a week straight, Kakashi plopped down in the grass to take a nap. He'd figure out what to do next once he'd had some decent rest.
As Itachi ran towards his home, he had to marvel at the details that Shisui had sculpted into the mindscape. He couldn't say he was surprised at the way things turned out, but knowing that they'd been working so hard at it and to see it finally come out made it worth every bit.
Since he'd already been wearing his ANBU uniform, Itachi simply donned his mask before moving in to do what he needed to do in order to keep up the henge. It wouldn't be pleasant, that much he could guarantee, but he'd do what he needed to. He was a shinobi, after all.
Slipping into the Uchiha mansion, he found his parents holed up in their bedroom. He sighed and grimaced behind his mask as his mother had been startled and grabbed by Fugaku in a protective way that put him between her and Itachi.
Putting on his best Uchiha mask to steel himself, one he'd been indifferent to until this moment in which he could happily say that he was glad his parents wouldn't be able to see his emotions right then, he removed the ANBU animal mask and revealed his identity to the two people that deserved to know before he killed them.
"I-Itachi? Why-" Mikoto began before she choked and tears came in unstoppable rivulets down her cheeks and she could say nothing more.
Fugaku had only frowned at Itachi until his wife had buried her face in his sleeve. He sighed in resignation knowing that there was nothing more he could do about any of it and motioned for Itachi to continue.
"Kneel," Itachi ordered coldly cutting off every feeling he'd ever had in his life just to be sure.
He watched his parents do as he told them to, watched his mother cry in more inexplicable horror and sorrow for her child than fear for her life.
Mother-
Itachi stuffed the wistful nuisance down hard and grit his teeth to the point of pain to hold the Uchiha mask in place. Do not feel.
Fugaku cleared his throat to get Itachi's attention. "Do what you must, Itachi, and know that we will always be proud of you."
A quick gasping sob escaped his mother's lips at Fugaku's admission before she choked and fell to the floor as her husband followed her.
They lay in their mingling pools of blood, Mikoto's final tears turning red as they slipped out of her eyes and landed in the blood on the floor. She watched the light die from Fugaku's eyes and one singular tear escape him before she passed on, as well.
Their son had already left the room.
"It is time, now," the masked man directed looking over the decimated Uchiha district before turning to walk into the forest and away from Konoha.
Itachi said nothing, choosing to numb himself out for awhile while he processed everything and tucked all of the horrors into the darkest, most untouchable recesses of his mind.
Shisui jumped to the ground from the branch he'd been perched on as soon as the three bodies in the field hit the floor. With his movement, he'd signaled Sai to begin his task and watched a deep shadow move off towards the Uchiha compound.
That'd keep someone busy for a while.
He chuckled at the thought while he moved closer to the three prone figures and motioned for Sasuke to join him.
The young raven did as he was signaled and moved hesitantly towards his cousin to see how things had turned out. It'd been weird seeing his brother just fall to the ground like he had, but Itachi always knew what he was doing.
"Do I start now, Shisui-nii?" Sasuke asked once he was finally standing close enough to his cousin to speak.
Shisui looked down at the group of men and sighed. Now he had some ideas, but he wondered what was happening inside that might mess things up. Shrugging, Shisui brandished a sword and held it above the masked man's ribs. "No time like the present…"
Before he could even take the plunge, a white and black hand came up from the ground and grabbed ahold of Shisui's ankles pulling him down into the dirt and trapping him.
Sasuke jumped up on instinct with the little bit of training he had and moved to protect his brother.
"That was a nasty thing you did there," came the deep voice of some strange black and white plant man.
"Ehehehe, bad clever U-chi-ha," spoke the white half of the face in a sort of singsong as Shisui couldn't clearly distinguish if the black half moved its mouth at all.
Glowering at the new arrival who slowly slipped out of the ground as a plant would grow, Shisui thought frantically about how to pull himself out of the ground, look after the prone bodies, and protect Sasuke since he knew Itachi would murder him if anything happened to the kid after Shisui had insisted on involving him in the first place.
Dammit! I hate unexpected obstacles.
Sai found himself staunching another bout of laughter as he made his way around the Uchiha compound and continued to cause general mayhem. If missions with Itachi always came out so fun, he'd certainly gotten the right guardian in the Uchiha.
Setting off the last of his ninjutsu mice who promptly ran off to chew apart a stash of explosive tags Sai had come across earlier in the day, he smirked to his job well done as he got to witness a few more of the usually-stoic clan running around frantically trying to find the source of the chaos.
That thought made Sai chuckle, too. Danzo-sama would never have sanctioned anything of the sort, but he'd have time to make it up to him later. He'd already collected what he'd needed that his old master would have rewarded him for if he were there.
Sai hopped between the shadows of the buildings as a fire broke out in one of the old buildings around the block.
Wait, isn't that the...
BOOM!
The boy stopped and braced himself against the ground as the area shook violently and a wave of dust and debris leapt up into the air to suffocate all in the vicinity.
Sai coughed and wiped furiously at the dirt in his eyes as they started watering leaving dirty tear-stains over both cheeks.
Knowing he'd need to get out sooner rather than later, he kept his eyes forcefully shut and grabbed at the building wall on his left that he'd use to make his way out of the compound.
He staunched another cough threatening his lungs as he attempted to bring as little attention to himself as possible.
Well, that wasn't supposed to happen, he thought as he allowed the wall to guide him out of the explosion area. He figured the mice must have done something that set a tag off. It was the building, after all.
Feeling like he could breathe a bit easier, Sai wiped at his face with the inside of his shirt, since it was the only side without dirt on it, and blinked the last few annoying crusties out of his eyes before coming face to face with a blazing pair of Sharingan belonging to a woman with fine features and a smaller frame that seem to get utterly lost in her black clothes in the dark of the night.
Sai couldn't quite put his finger on who she'd reminded him of, but her eyes commanded his absolute attention all the same. He'd been well versed in their capabilities within the first day of encountering Itachi.
"I'll assume you had something to do with that, so I'll give you one chance to answer me correctly. Where are Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha?" The woman had a deadly lilt to her voice that left no room to squirm free and Sai put the pieces together for himself.
"Their mother, huh?" Sai asked just to get a verbal confirmation.
"That's not an answer to my question. Where. Are. My BOYS?!" she shouted at him while the kunai came up to slice dangerously at his throat and he had to cringe at the intensity of it.
Jeez, are all mothers this… feral?
Sighing to himself, the boy made a mental note to never get in the way of a mother again. "I know where, but Itachi wouldn't want you to interfere. He would have involved you otherwise."
Mikoto raised one delicate eyebrow that spoke volumes about her lack of concern about Itachi's wishes in the moment as well as how she'd be getting as involved in the issue as she wanted to be. Sai wouldn't have been able to stop her.
Resigned to his fate, Sai motioned for her to follow him to the training ground he'd left only thirty minutes before. Hopefully, things were going better for his team than they were for him in that moment.
Shisui wiped sweat and blood from his brow as he considered his options. Sasuke had done a beautiful job of protecting Itachi, Kakashi, and the masked guy with some amazing wire work and a deft hand at tying knots. Shisui could only imagine that Itachi had probably been the one to teach him something about trap making in the first place, and being the kid that he was, made a point to master as many knots as he could to impress his idol someday.
That idol would have been proud if he weren't currently suspended from a tree in a mesh bag along with two other bags that were dangling next to him, but Shisui only had a moment to marvel at the work and to be grateful for it. It seemed their current opponent had a penchant for growing out of the ground at random more than anything else. That'd, of course, made it exceptionally difficult for him to pin down in their fight, but it'd also given Sasuke the idea to get the men under the genjutsu away from the field in the first place.
The kid had been more resourceful and intelligent than Shisui had ever seen him in that moment. Itachi should have taken him for training more often.
Shisui had been left to focus on the fight at hand once the prone figures had been moved. Whoever the plant guy was, this Zetsu character as he seemed to refer to himself, had knowledge of the Uchiha fighting style and knew how to defend against it putting Shisui at an extreme disadvantage.
His hope above all hopes was that Sai would end up returning soon. He could use the help, and he assumed a lot of the ink in the field was a preemptive measure in case things went south.
Well, this is pretty damn south!
Leaping into the air as Zetsu reached out of the ground to grab at his legs again, Shisui found himself caught in mid-air by some sort of giant bird that when he looked up at it, saw Sai and, astoundingly, his aunt standing on the bird creature's back.
Once Shisui had registered his backup, Sai activated the slew of drawings on the field that caught the plant man in the field completely by surprise to the point that he was forced to fend them off before he could attempt an escape.
"Not that I'm ungrateful to see you, but what are you doing here Auntie?" Shisui asked struggling to get himself to a place that he'd be able to safely climb onto the back of what he now realized was a drawing of a bird that was so real as to be able to fly.
Reaching her hand down to help him, she ended up pulling Shisui to safety as Sai looked over the training field and kept an eye on their foe.
"Knowing my boys the way I do, would you expect me to be anywhere else?" she asked warmly before scanning the field again to check the new child's progress on things. "Seems like we arrived right on time, too."
Below, Shisui could see several dark blotches staining the grass and wondered what they might have been before Zetsu had had his way with them.
"Whoever that guy is, he's clearly involved with the masked guy. I don't think he'd be fighting this hard against us otherwise. I've definitely never seen him around the village," Sai mused watching another of his slew of mice get splattered as they attempted to swarm the black and white guy.
"Exactly. If it weren't for Sasuke getting the others out of the way, I'm not sure if Itachi would have made it very far in the genjutsu. As it's looking, we're gonna have a helluva time keeping them in there unless we get rid of this guy," Shisui agreed thinking through each option as quickly as possible as he watched another animated drawing splatter onto the grass below.
"Wait, Itachi's in a genjutsu?" Mikoto all but growled at the two boys standing next to her.
"You didn't tell her anything, huh?" the older Uchiha boy asked looking to Sai who'd brought her along in the first place.
"Never trust someone with mission secrets until the team agrees. How was I supposed to know I could trust her?" the palest boy countered feeling offended by Shisui's accusation. Missions came first and you didn't jeopardize those for anyone no matter who they were.
Shisui sighed heavily before turning to his aunt and putting her under a quick genjutsu to fill her in. He'd deal with the backlash, if there was any, once they completed the day.
Itachi found Akatsuki headquarters to be abysmally dreary. He missed the light coming in through windows and the knowledge that he'd be safe if he ended up falling asleep. The constant need to watch his back was starting to weigh on him. He hadn't even let his Sharingan go in his sleep.
It'd been a month in the place, and Itachi could already say that life had dealt him quite the hand. Sure, it was more like a Farmer's Hand at the moment and for most of his life, but you could definitely win something with nines and tens if you played your cards right.
The masked man had told Itachi to refer to him as Tobi from the moment they'd crossed into the Land of Rain. Itachi complied, not really caring about anything other than surviving which meant that he'd have to do as he was told no matter what.
What Itachi had cared about was the moment they'd arrived in the lair and he'd been told to cross off the leaf on his hitae-ate to signify his defection and new status as an S-class missing-nin. It was a little thing, not even real, but the work he'd done and the fact that he actually was still loyal to Konoha meant that he really didn't want to remove that tie, yet. Those two reasons were also the reasons he'd taken the hitae-ate off and mercilessly slashed through the metal to prove his belonging to the group that'd gathered around to threaten him in greeting.
Seeing as there was barely a thing that could actually ruin his Uchiha mask, they all wound up in a particularly nasty genjutsu for it. All except one hunched over, turtle-looking person that Itachi figured didn't have eyes because no one was truly immune to the Sharingan unless they were blind. Tobi had introduced him as Sasori from Suna. As a puppet master to boot, Itachi could see any hostile interaction between the two of them going out of his favor quickly if it ever came to it. He'd certainly be working on ways to counter him if things were to ever stand on an even playing field.
Itachi hoped that he'd never be paired with that guy, though.
Throughout the month, Itachi had simply taken to observing the system. He'd proven his rank amongst the lot and no one ever really came around or messed with him. It seemed that each of the shinobi in the group had come to an agreement that there would be peace, albeit tense peace, if everyone kept their hands and thoughts to themselves.
Itachi was very okay with that.
Near the middle of the day, the young Uchiha had received a summons from their leader who'd actually turned out to not be Tobi as he'd originally assumed. He'd never come around in person and had been all but elusive whenever Itachi had attempted to pin anything down, but it appeared they had what they needed to call a full group meeting.
Standing in the palm of one giant wooden hand attached to a giant, creepy wooden sculpture, Itachi looked around to observe the others as they arrived and stood on the other hands of the statue.
Sasori stood across from him. He'd moved slowly into his place and Itachi assumed he'd picked that spot just to intimidate the Uchiha.
To the right of Sasori was this young blond kid who had to have been a couple years younger than Itachi and one of the more talkative members of the group. The kid's name was Deidara and Itachi wondered how effective the kid could truly be if his hair was covering his eyes all the time.
There was an open spot to Sasori's left, which Itachi assumed would go to their leader since the only female in the whole group, this purple-haired kunoichi named Konan, stood on the other side of it. Itachi heard rumors in the ranks stating that she was usually always with their leader and that a few of the group thought they were involved somehow. He'd never been one for company drama, even in ANBU, but it was nice to learn something that might make their leader a little more human than the god that a few other Akatsuki members seemed to believe him to be.
A semi-familiar face that Itachi had been surprised to see gathered with the group was a defected ninja from his own village in Orochimaru.
Man were there some people back in Konoha who would give anything to have information on the whereabouts of one of the legendary Sannin!
Itachi had nearly choked when the man had slithered his way up for an introduction and had been the full interest of the snake since his arrival. It gave Itachi the creeps, honestly.
Another loud-mouth called Hidan stood on his other side, and Itachi knew very little about him except that he was basically immortal, devoted to an unheard of god called Jashin, and wherever he got his Kekkei Genkai from was a place he'd never heard of before because that was a seriously useful, albeit twisted, ninjutsu to be able to use.
He might have been the devil for all Itachi knew.
Itachi stood on Hidan's other side and to Itachi's left was a shark-looking man named Kisame. He was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and had a fanged sword called Samehada that purred every time it sensed some chakra it thought would taste good. Itachi had been told of the sword's want of him the moment he arrived in the lair.
Kakuzu stood on the other side of Kisame and was rumored to literally steal hearts and place them in his body for extended life and elemental control provided by those hearts. Itachi nearly threw up at the knowledge, but couldn't put it past any of the twisted minds he'd encountered during his month there. Compared to all of them, except maybe Konan, Itachi felt painfully normal.
Tobi, with his orange mask and oddly chipper personality, compared to any of the times he'd encountered the man outside of Akatsuki's base, climbed onto the only other spot available in the group with a white and black plant man-thing standing on his other side called Zetsu.
Itachi could honestly say that he hadn't heard a word from or about Zetsu since arriving, but he was always seemingly around, so Itachi didn't need to poke as much as he did for their leader.
"Now that you're all here, let us begin," called the deep impassive voice of a hologram standing on the empty hand across the way. The hologram of their leader had several piercings, much like Konan, a mop of lighter red hair, and eyes that were unmistakably Rinnegan.
Being from another clan that had its own eye-based Kekkei Genkai that had knowledge of the other ones out there, Itachi knew that inheriting a Rinnegan was as rare as they came. He figured that in their genjutsu world, considering that there were now just three people with Sharingan, and one potential in his little brother, the Rinnegan was still rarer.
No wonder he's our leader.
"To make you aware, I am Pein. Akatsuki's goal is simple; collect and combine the power of the tailed beasts. That amount of chakra will bring limitless power to all of us and allow us to live our wildest dreams," their leader announced to the chamber as they all stood looking impassively at him.
Itachi watched as a few eyebrows quirked and some smirks found their way onto various faces in the group.
Orochimaru had officially stopped leering at him with Pein's arrival.
So, what's the catch? He couldn't imagine anyone in this group willingly sharing power like that with any other. It went against their immoral codes. Clearly, if any of them had a gene for sharing, they wouldn't have defected from their villages, right?
"I'll be expecting you all to start sparring each other in order to gauge your skills and your ability to partner with each other to take down the jinchuriki's that host our tailed beasts. We need them to come back to us alive, and that'll be far easier to manage if you have someone there to counter your bloodlust. I'll be receiving regular reports on the pairings as they form. You're dismissed."
Itachi considered the group before him and wondered who exactly he'd mind being partnered with if he had the choice.
Certainly not Sasori.
"Tch, bring some of the fucking deadliest ninjas in the world together and expect there fucking not to be bloodlust. Who does that asshole think he is?" Hidan griped putting his hand on his hip as he relaxed with the absence of their leader. He let his large scythe rest against his other side.
"Hidan, shut up," came the gravelly voice of Kakuzu from his platform. He was as expressionless as ever and that only seemed to piss Hidan off more.
"Fucking right, like I'll be listening to your ass. You couldn't make me stop talking if you tried. My own damn mother couldn't and she's dead."
Every one of the other members of Akatsuki watched the exchange play out before them. Kakuzu didn't reply to what Hidan had said. Oddly, the pale, scythe-wielding member of their group seemed to be put off by his lack of a response because he growled at him.
"Alright, alright, I get it. So, we're partners now," Hidan conceded rubbing at the back of his head before looking at Konan.
She nodded once at him before he sighed indignantly. "At least I won't have to fuck around with any of you assholes anymore."
Hidan hopped off of his platform and made his way to his room for the night followed by his new partner. They'd be free to do whatever they wanted until the other teams were decided.
"Kukukuku! What an interesting pairing. Don't you think, Itachi-kun?" Orochimaru observed attempting to replicate the ease of the other team's partnership with the person he'd kill to be with if he had his way.
Itachi paid him no attention and hopped off of his own platform to leave. If anything, he'd happily take Sasori over Orochimaru any day of the week.
Kakashi had been trapped in a genjutsu constructed by an Uchiha that'd pretty much given him free reign on his fantasy world for some indefinite amount of time. He'd been there for several months and it'd only been interesting a handful of times.
It's been ages since I've seen Itachi, this is maddening.
The silver-haired ANBU had taken to sparring every single person in the village, since he could without repercussions, and found that testing his skills against the people around him gave him a good idea of where he stood in the mind of the Uchiha involved in the genjutsu.
Still, it wouldn't help him much if he couldn't let off a little steam and a little stress with sex.
After napping, Kakashi quickly discovered what it was that Itachi didn't want him to witness when they'd first arrived. He'd worried about Itachi's mental state for a while afterward since he knew how much quite a few people meant to the Uchiha that he'd just fake-slaughtered, but Kakashi, of everyone in the raven's life, knew just how level-headed and capable the young man could be.
If anything could break his lover, Kakashi was certain that it had more to do with Sasuke still being alive over everything else.
"Hokage-sama, you wanted to see me?" Kakashi asked landing on top of the Hokage tower in front of the Sandaime. He was rarely called for anything, but he realized that when he was, it was because the genjutsu called for something to evolve and he got to learn something new from it.
"At ease, Kakashi. I called you here because I've been going through some of my shinobi files recently and I realized that you've been in ANBU past the usual amount of time that people usually serve."
"Is that a problem?" Kakashi questioned thinking on all of the possibilities this could lead into.
The Hokage mused for a moment before sighing, "Not so much a problem as a curiosity, I suppose. It seems that you've been trying to drown some past events in your work and I don't believe that's healthy, but I also think it's time to take a moment to break from the shadows. You need to bond with someone at some point if you're going to have any chance in this line of work at all."
Kakashi frowned at the old man thinking. He certainly couldn't say he'd been expecting it, nor did he think that he'd be of much use to Itachi if he were anything less than ANBU, and that was the most important reason, right?
"I don't think I could be the best use to you as anything less," Kakashi confirmed as he maintained his bow in the presence of his superior.
"Your step away from ANBU isn't actually an option at this time, Kakashi. Once you've acclimated to Jounin life again, I'll start putting you on as a Jounin sensei and we'll see where we go from there," Hiruzen confirmed basically ordering Kakashi to step down from a life he'd been a part of for over a decade at that point.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi conceded wondering what kind of genin could possibly uphold his standards for a team.
"So, do we have any kind of plan?" Mikoto asked once the genjutsu fog cleared from her own mind and she'd been caught up on everything she needed to know about the situation. She recalled what'd stuck out most to her as Shisui had been explaining things in her mind.
"Itachi was contacted a few years ago by this man that eventually came out as the primary instigator for the coup d'etats the Uchiha have been planning for some time. I have no doubt that you're aware being that you're the Clan Head's wife and all, but it's escalated to this, and Itachi and I have been the primary forces trying to stop it," Shisui had explained running a reel of memories that were strictly need-to-know for Mikoto.
"What does Itachi's genjutsu have to do with everything?" she'd asked hoping to figure out what kind of issues might stem from it and weed them out.
"It's mostly based in the mind of the masked man. I can't say for certain what's going on in there. I just trapped them all together," the younger raven stated hoping that was enough to placate her on the subject.
Mikoto thought about it for a moment, "So, I take it this bi- triracial… Is 'plant' a race? I take it he wasn't built into this plan of yours."
Shisui smirked, "Nope. We'd never seen him before. In technicality, Itachi still hasn't seen him. We just assumed that the masked guy was working alone and had something against the people of Konoha."
She thought on that bit of information, as well. She wasn't unskilled as a kunoichi. She'd made it all the way to jounin before she found out she was pregnant with Itachi, but something in this whole thing wasn't sitting right with her anyway. It was a good plan but where was the motivation? What made the masked man and this plant guy, who she was totally going to murder for attempting to hurt either of her boys, stay motivated? What were their goals?
She'd continued to ponder those thoughts as the genjutsu ended.
"So, any thoughts on beating this guy?" Sai asked at the female of their party came to.
Mikoto raised one incredulous eyebrow at the nerve of the boy in speaking to her like that but knew it was something better handled when they weren't fending off someone clearly more skilled than each of them individually. Hell, he may have been more skilled than the three of them combined, but she'd never bow to such a defeatist mindset.
She was a kunoichi and a jounin, and such high-ranked female ninja never say die!
Sasuke couldn't believe he'd succeeded. He'd set those traps up as a longshot for who knows what and here they were to save the day. Itachi would be so proud of him!
He'd taken to hiding in the shadows once more as he watched the weird plant dude fight Shisui. Sasuke honestly figured that Shisui would win out (no one could beat Uchiha, after all), but if it wasn't for that other boy's return to help, Sasuke had taken to mentally preparing himself for his own fight with the guy even if it came out as little to no good in the end.
He'd been surprised by the arrival of his mother, though. Both he and Itachi loved her more than their father, but Sasuke had never gotten the impression that she was any more useful than a housewife. She'd only ever been demure and sweet throughout his whole life and seeing her battle-ready had come as quite the shock.
The youngest Uchiha, despite wanting to join the group on the back of that really cool ink bird-thing (even if it'd been drawn by that other kid), Sasuke decided he'd be of more use in the shadows on the ground in protection of his brother's body while he was working in the genjutsu. Itachi would be so proud of him when he came out and heard the full story of how they won!
Before he could think too hard about victory, Sasuke had to yelp in surprise as he felt his ankles being grabbed and pulled under the ground.
"No!" he screeched grabbing a kunai and slashing at the fingers holding him. They loosened enough that Sasuke was able to run away, but not truly thinking about it, he ran straight into the open training field where he was basically a sitting duck for attack.
He gulped and started running just to make it harder for anyone to pop out of the ground and grab him again, but his mind raced furiously for plans. If only the plant guy could be forced to stay out of the ground…
Itachi took small moments when his partner wasn't looking to enjoy the breeze that rustled the highest leaves of the tall trees of the Land of Fire. It'd been ages since he'd been in his home country and he'd savor every moment he could while he was there.
"How much farther do we have to walk, Itachi? This brat better come easy or Samehada is gonna chew my ear off about it," the blue shark-man griped as they walked.
"We'll be there soon," he announced. After a few months of simply being around, Itachi had managed to last out the team pairing sessions long enough that only Kisame remained after Orochimaru defected to do whatever twisted things Sannin do and Sasori and Deidara were finally paired up. It'd been a relief to Itachi that he actually hadn't gotten Sasori as a partner, but Kisame still had his living sword that he carried around with him and that'd pose a problem if Kisame ever decided to turn against him. Otherwise, the guy wasn't super talkative and made the journey home relatively alright if you discounted that Kisame was preventing Itachi from rushing back to Konoha, but that still allowed him more time in the forested countryside.
"We better be," Kisame growled as they continued on.
Itachi paid him no mind opting to scan the area as they went to keep an eye out for certain shinobi that might try and get the jump on them. He couldn't say who'd be stupid enough to do that knowing that the black cloaks with the red clouds were pretty much synonymous with Akatsuki and death at this point in the game, but some people were just plain foolish.
They had very little intel on the Kyuubi at the moment. He knew who the kid was just from his own childhood in Konoha, and he knew the kid was around Sasuke's age. He'd be hard pressed in thinking that taking the kid wouldn't cause trouble, either, but they'd see once they got there.
If anything, Itachi was just looking forward to seeing Kakashi most of all. It'd been too long.
"Ya know, Itachi, if you wanna handle things here, I wouldn't mind sitting back. The brat's like a runt, right? Should be easy," Kisame mused knowing the slashed leaf on Itachi's headband meant the guy probably knew his way around the village pretty well.
"I wouldn't underestimate the people of this village. They bred me, after all," Itachi remarked to put his partner back in his place.
Kisame scoffed in response but said little else on the subject letting Itachi genjutsu the gate guards on their way in and generally letting the man lead them through the city in the least troublesome way possible. Itachi, above all of them, probably kept Kisame's (and in turn, Samehada's) bloodlust in check the most. Boring.
Itachi paused coming face to face with one blond-haired boy that was definitely the same age as Sasuke. The information they had on the kid had been true to a fault. Orange was probably the kid's favorite color and he wore it like a beacon. There was no way anyone could have missed him.
Maybe they graduated together… Itachi mused belaying none of his inner monologue to the people outside of his head.
"Naruto Uzumaki, we are Akatsuki and we have come for-"
"HhhaaaaaaaaaaAAAaaaaaa," screamed one small blue and white blur with a kunai in hand that'd attempted to cut Itachi down on the spot.
Kisame stifled a snicker from behind him as they watched the raven-haired boy land and face Itachi menacingly, or at least as menacing as a child can be.
"Sasuke, I'm not here for you. Leave," Itachi commanded though he was internally reeling over seeing the boy again. Damn that look of hatred, though.
"Fight me!" the small Uchiha growled throwing a few kunai at Itachi which made him burst into a dozen crows right before the boy's eyes.
"Get stronger Sasuke. You'll never defeat me like this," the voice echoed in Sasuke's mind like it was hollow before everything started bleeding and he started to scream.
Itachi watched his little brother collapse in a heap on the ground and had to remind himself that the kid was not his actual little brother. Just a genjutsu that I implanted with my own genjutsu. No lasting brain damage here…
"Sasuke!" shrieked the blond jinchuuriki getting ready to fight for himself before one silver-haired jounin with a face mask and a flak jacket landed between the boys and the Akatsuki.
"Now, what are you doing to my cute little students, Itachi?" Kakashi chided lazily replacing one of his treasured Icha Icha books back in his pocket.
Fuck, I forgot how hot he is.
Itachi had to mentally slap himself knowing that he'd have to act his part if they were going to hold up their ruse. "Hatake, it's been a while."
Kakashi had a right mind to jump into the older Uchiha's arms and ride happily into the sunset, but he chose to growl in response instead.
"Well, this is more trouble than it's worth, Kisame. Let's go," Itachi announced knowing that there were likely other shinobi on their way already and that they'd have an easier time when Naruto was away from the village.
"Tch, we better run into some bandits on the way, then," Kisame agreed as both men turned to walk away from Kakashi to leave.
"Oh no you don't," Kakashi growled throwing a few kunai to gain Itachi's attention again. As he did, the Uchiha flashed his Sharingan and Kakashi fell to the ground just as lifelessly as Sasuke had only moments before.
"See you soon, Naruto-kun," Itachi said as both he and Kisame made their way back towards the gates to leave. Pein wouldn't be thrilled, but that was better than having to face off against every able-bodied shinobi in the Leaf.
Kakashi awoke in a genjutsu facing his long-lost raven lover who'd donned his normal shinobi attire that Kakashi had last seen him in before he'd "defected" and left the village for Akatsuki. He wanted to jump Itachi right then and there, but he figured the Uchiha was in control of how things played out, and they had nearly a whole year to catch up on.
"Glad to see the Akatsuki haven't broken you too badly," he intoned lamely as he leaned back against a tree.
Itachi let him leer appreciating the sights himself. "I could say the same about one Jounin-sensei, Kakashi," he prodded knowing that Kakashi would have never taken to that lightly. "It's good to see you."
In an instant, Kakashi was all over the raven in his mindscape. His hands roved over and under clothes and he'd taken to kissing Itachi in desperation for the loss of time. Say what you want, but dry spells are a bitch.
"Wait you pervert! I have things to tell you," Itachi half-glowered at Kakashi as he paused in kissing a trail down the side of his neck.
"Can you tell me while I pay loving attention to your body?" the silver-haired man asked kissing Itachi's jawline.
Itachi rolled his eyes, "You're distracting me. I promise that you can do whatever you want to me after I tell you what you need to know."
"Whatever I want?"
Itachi nodded in response mentally looking forward to Kakashi's own intimate creativity.
Sighing, Kakashi agreed and led Itachi into sitting down at the base of the tree with him as Itachi regaled his time in the genjutsu so far. Kakashi would fill the Uchiha in, as well, but he assumed that whatever the younger man had been through was far more trying than anything Kakashi would have to say even if dealing with genin was a whole new rewarding level of hell.
"So, what's the deal with the Akatsuki? They seem to be directed towards something these days. And your 'partner'..." Kakashi began wondering how it was being paired with one of the Seven Swordsmen. He'd recognized the sword instantly.
"It's been interesting. He's better than a few others I could have gotten, but it seems our leader is trying to keep the bloodlust stamped as far down as he can get it. Only pairings that facilitate that. So long as I let Kisame have free reign on groups of bandits we come across while away from the base, he's pretty easy to work with," Itachi explained, "As for the goal, we've been sent out to collect jinchuuriki. I can't say what'll happen when we collect all of them, yet. It seems that our leader's currently selling it as a limitless power supply that he's willing to share with all of us in exchange for our work with him, but we're all missing-nin and I can't see that happening."
Kakashi mulled that around in his head. That explained why they'd come around for Naruto, at least.
"How's being a sensei, though," Itachi continued, "I'm sure it's no coincidence that you ended up with those two boys."
"You'd be correct! Beyond being the only person capable of training Sasuke with his Sharingan now, Naruto was my sensei's son and benefits from the relationship/rivalry provided by your brother. They're just a pain in the ass, at the moment. Did you have to instill such hatred in him before you left?" asked Kakashi in reference to the single-minded revenge Sasuke had been working towards ever since the Uchiha Clan massacre.
Itachi sighed indignantly. He'd done it on the spur of the moment feeling too much shame and guilt for his actions to leave Sasuke there without an answer for things no matter the current genjutsu reality or not. It'd just happened and he'd realized the consequences of it as soon as his little brother had come barreling in with a kunai and an impressive rage for his size.
"When we get back, I'd like a chance to work with your brother, you know. I'm not perfect with kids, but they've been teaching me a lot here," Kakashi murmured gaining the raven's attention once more.
Itachi smiled sweetly at the copy-nin. "I'm sure he'd be happy for the more involved male role models than what he currently has. I'd intended on taking a position like that for him, as well."
There was a lull in their conversation for a moment as Itachi examined a few blades of grass and Kakashi watched him in sad disbelief that their moment here wouldn't be lasting for more time. It's been too long, dammit!
"So," Kakashi cleared his throat, "can I start kissing you again?"
Itachi glanced at the silver-haired man next to him and smirked, "I'd be offended if you didn't."
Kakashi smiled genuinely at Itachi before the raven found himself being pinned to the ground and feeling the grass against his arms and the back of his neck.
"It's torture not having you around, you know?" Kakashi growled unzipping Itachi's high-collared shirt and bathing in the white skin underneath. "Absolute torture…"
Itachi laughed knowing it'd been difficult for him, as well, but Kakashi's blatant confession amused him. "At least you'll always have Icha Icha for those moments that are positively unbearable!"
Kakashi paused from his trailing kisses to glance at the Uchiha under him. "Ma, joke all you want, but nothing compares to you before I've unraveled you completely. I look forward to these moments every time."
A blush crept up Itachi's face that stood stark against his own paleness.
Touche.
He focused on Kakashi's mouth as he kissed his way over his chest and down. He'd allow this small moment of distraction for the time being. Even if it seemed like a long time, he had no doubt that they'd be freed from the genjutsu and it'd only have been days at the most that they were gone.
So, the story took a turn I wasn't actually expecting it to go. I had a plan (honestly, there's a written plan of how I had intended it to go), but when I came to it, I realized it was too easy, so yay new/different characters!
I hope you liked it. Let me know your thoughts!
IPG