A/N: Hey all, thanks for all the support for the story! Sorry for the long wait for the 13th chapter, I haven't been doing too well. Shout out to Guy Fawkess, Tempest12312, Nayara Vanni, Hellblader, NamelessOne0, neoneoist, Ektor234, Midnightsince, and others for following the story since the beginning. I know it's been kinda rocky, but thanx for the comments and the PMs, everyone! You all rock! Oh and before I forget, I don't own any rights to the Naruto or Naruto Shippuden characters, unfortunately.

Now on with the show...er, story.

Previously in Chapter 13

Yamanaka residence: Ino and Sakura

Ino POV

"Oh, Kami, don't tell me..." I grumbled in frustration, "Are you still pining after the Uchiha bastard?"

Sakura's icy face quickly turned to one of guilt and annoyance. "Hey at least I didn't pull a full 180 and ended up fighting with you over Naruto, Ino-pig," she said in a half-hearted defense.

I actually chuckled at that bitter-sweet statement. On the one hand, she still was stuck on the shit-for-brains arrogant emo, but on the other Ino and Sakura had no motive to fight one another anymore. "Look, Sakura, I understand that he was your crush, teammate, and - I guess - friend. However, Sasuke Uchiha never treated anyone with an iota of respect, he mistreated you and Naruto, and only has a hard on for revenge against whomever wiped out his clan. The guy is absolutely shallow, I mean he tried to kill Naruto because the Uzumaki was better than him."

Sakura looked down in shame and nodded, the slight slump in her shoulders telling me that she had only barely hung onto the emo ninja. For some reason, she seemed to just let go of him right then and there. With a deep breath, the pinkette replied, "Ino, I know. I barely held onto him. at this point the only reason I want him back was for the sake of old times and because he became a part of me similar to how Naruto felt about him. Anyway, I'm sure I'll find someone else."

Chapter 14

Itachi POV

Somewhere in Fire Country

Large glass windows dominated the Eastern wall on the fourth-story of the mansion, revealing the rich paintings and works of art that adorned the cream patterned walls of the exhibition room and personal office, illuminated by warm light from hooded lamps. It seemed that the black-market crime boss had full confidence that none would be able to slip past the building's defenses even if it was found. Way too cocky. Without the blinds drawn, the squad of B ranked nin could easily be spotted guarding the inside, while the sixteen thugs and eight C-rank nin patrolling the balcony remained in full view. I grinned at the thought of testing out my new abilities on a relatively safe mission. Plus the 200,000 ryo would help supplement the fortune I saved. Taking a breath to calm the jittering nerves, I thought back to the events that led up this:

Begin Flashback

"You have to be fucking shitting me, Anko!" I groaned in furstration, it hadn't been two weeks and the Uzumaki had been taken the hospital unconscious again. "I asked you to push Naruto to his limit, not put him in the hospital!" The news had shaken me up so much, I leaped to my feet from the hospital bed. The stinging and pins and needles from returning blood flow further unsettling my already precarious balance.

"Whoa, Karasu-san, get back in bed. You shouldn't be recovered from the therapy yet," a certain silvernette, Icha-Icha reading, cyclops shinobi said, steadying me.

Anko only nodded in response, her wounds already healed thanks to the Fifth Hokage. "Yeah, take it easy. Your chakra levels and power maybe greater, but you still just got through a major, heavy procedure."

I gritted my teeth and grunted in defiance, hating that both my friends were right. Truth was I couldn't stand it anymore. I would've loved to bust out the hospital at that very moment, not caring about the consequences. With a balled fist I tried to calm down, in vain as I realized I had snapped at Anko. I looked in Kakashi's eyes, avoiding Anko to hide the shame I would feel.

Another lungful of the antiseptic, horrifyingly clean hospital air pushed me past the breaking point. "Well, fuck that, Kakashi. No way in hell am I going to stay in bed or, kami forbid, the hospital for a moment longer," I growled, shaking of his hands and attempting to preform a shunshin with no results. 'Damn the anti shunshin seal they placed on the room'. Before Kakashi or Anko could grasp the gravity of the situation, I half barged half stumbled my way out through the open window and activated a shunshin mid air with an elated shout of freedom: "HAHAHA! You can't keep this ninja locked up, motherfuckers!"

No sooner had I said this, did I find myself at the favorite bar of the Chunin and Jounin of the village. What I hadn't counted on, however, was the scene that faced me.

"Wait, what?!" I whispered in alarm, noticing my blonde student kunoichi and presumably her friends sitting at the bar with two bottles of sake in front of them. Moreover, the lowered flashing lighting and music playing indicated that today was indeed Friday night. Just my luck. I can't even have a drink in a peaceful environment. The day just kept on getting better and better.

"Well, looks like me, Kurenai, and Guy aren't the only ones regretting this particular situation. What's up, Karasu?" A gruff, vaguely scratchy voice called from beside me. My head turned to face the speaker sitting at a booth containing the aforementioned shinobi plus Asuma.

"Hn, sorry, what?" I asked, not sure I heard him quite clearly, before realizing that their kunoichi students all seemed to be at the bar.

"NOT YOU, TOO!" All three jounin suddenly shouted so loud, my ears began to ring.

"Ugh, Kakashi's cool attitude is rubbing off on you," Kurenai mumbled, causing my cheeks to heat up in indignation.

"Wait, what, no! I just didn't realize what you were talking about until I noticed that some of the girls were your students, too," I replied quickly, shaking my outstretched arms, horrified that someone could think such a thing. Especially since I mastered that skill before Kakashi.

"Well, Karasu-san, you're forgiven," Guy said with a big smile and a thumbs up, scooting over to make room for me.

Sitting down on the cushioned booth, I replied, "Thanks, I really need to get hammered hard. The past weeks have been a little too much for my taste."

"I hear you," Kurenai responded flagging down a waiter and placing an order for four glasses and four bottles of sake. "I really don't understand why they kept the drinking law after the Third Ninja War, I mean they're only teenager and aren't on the battlefield daily."

"Tell me about it," I muttered, picking at the black cotton gi nervously. I still didn't know if Guy knew the truth, despite the fact that I knew the taijutsu master pretty well, having trained with him. Deciding to hint to this, I asked the very subtle question, "Does Guy know the truth?".

"Yep, Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi explained the whole story, which I highly approve of considering your kekki genkai, Itachi-san," Guy said in a low voice, barely audible to even my highly tuned ears.

"Good, I need to discuss something very important with you, Guy-senpai, that pertains to Naruto and Ino, since you probably understand kids better than any of us." Before I could continue further, Asuma signaled for us to be silent as the waiter returned with a tray full of booze. With a quick bow, he placed the bottles and glasses in front of us before walking back to the bar, which noticeably had half of the girls missing. A quick scan revealed that they were dancing with some Chunin and Tokebetsu Jonin, Genma being the only one I recognized.

At that I almost spit out the shot of sake I had just drank. "Holy crap, is Genma dancing with Sakura?!" I shouted in alarm, alerting my three companions to the scene.

"What, it's legal," Kurenai said, clearly unfazed and unaware of the dangerous situation.

I just shook my head in exasperation and clarified. "No, I am worried for Genma. Have you ever been punched by Sakura?" I spouted. Guy and the couple immediately roared with laughter at what I meant, clearly understanding that Genma better behave himself.

"So how exactly was it that Sakura punched you? Did you perhaps engage in some unyouthful behavior?" Guy questioned, turning a disapproving glare towards me.

"No, Sakura just assumed that I was an assassin of some sort," I clarified quickly, knowing that the glare the bushy-browed Jonin sent could lead to some grueling contest which I frankly wasn't up for. Leaving my answer at that, I forwent the shot glass and chugged sake directly from the bottle. The warm liquid instantly warmed my core as I drained half a pint of it. The quality was decent, but really all I cared about was getting drunk, hangovers be damned.

"KAMI! THAT'S YOUR SENSEI, INO?" a tipsy high-pitch voice asked in disbelief. The volume and pitch instantly gave me a headache, cursing fate with every insult I knew. The voice belonged to the panda-haired girl under Guy's tutelage - Tenten. Suddenly, I felt self-conscious as six pairs of teen eyes locked onto me. I had every urge to get the heck out of their, but against my better judgement, I just ignored them and took another mind numbing swig of alcohol.

"Uh, yeah, so what?" Ino retorted confused as to why the big deal.

"How is it not a big deal? I mean for starters he's young -only like four to six years older than us- and secondly he's such a hottie!" Sakura replied as if Ino was retarded. Her exclamation however didn't go unnoticed by the three Jonin I was sitting with nor by me.

"Aw, crap, I'm screwed. Where should I hide?" I hissed, panicking at the attention I was getting. This couldn't possibly turn out well if I didn't escape. Before they could answer, however, a smashing in of the doors caught our collective attention.

"There you are, Karasu! You're coming with us, now," the familiar voices of Anko and Kakashi announced, annoyance tinging their words. By the harder breathing, it seemed as if they had been searching this entire time.

Kurenai gave me a pointed look as if to ask what was going on. I mouthed "I escaped from the hospital", to which she just threw her head back and started laughing at the whole mess I'd gotten myself into. Not only did I have drunk teenage girls after me now, I had two ex-ANBU after me as well. Just my fucking luck. Using a genjutsu to cover the fact I had just preformed a kawarimi, I ran through the cool night air out of the bar's alleyway and into the streets, pumping a continuous flow of chakra to my legs. The wind tore at my long hair, whipping it across my face so hard I was sure I'd have red streaks from it. All I hoped was that I went fast enough to reach the Hokage Tower before the others so that I could seek refuge.

In mere seconds, I had arrived and bounded up the steps of the tower, silently rushing past the guards. After all, life and freedom depended on a quick arrival to a haven. Skidding to a stop at the oak doors of Tsunade's office, I realized that I wasn't breathing with difficulty nor sweating. Clearly whatever Tsunade had done definitely worked like a marvel. I felt as fresh as when I was an ANBU captain.

"Tsunade-sama, it's Karasu, can you open up?" I asked politely, knocking on the double doors to her office. 'Hopefully she isn't too pissed off about me being out of bed and all,' I thought nervously.

"Hm, come on in," she said without a single slur, thankfully meaning that the Sanin hadn't started drinking again.

Stepping into the room with a smile, I realized that although I had drunk enough alcohol to be drunk, my reflexes seemed to be unimpaired at the slightest. "You've got to be fucking kidding me?! I can't even get a buzz!"

Tsunade chuckled with a sadistic mirth, "Well, let's just say the intensity of your chakra speeds up your body's processes naturally from healing to your metabolism, like a diluted form of Naruto's abilities. Let's just say it'll take quite a few bottles of sake to get you intoxicated."

I groaned feeling that this was somehow payback for leaving the village in the first place. "Alright, whatever, but aren't you the least surprised that I'm out of the hospital only a couple days after the procedure," I replied, pulling out and sitting in a chair across from the blonde. The very fact that the Hokage showed little to no surprise nor anger was intriguing at the very least. After all, she took medicine quite seriously.

"Not at all, Karasu-san. See, I knew you would recover faster than normal, just not exactly how much. Looks like you accomplished it four times faster than normal without even much physical therapy," Tsunade said with a slight sliver of glee, clearly meaning that her guess was close. "Oh, and you should get ready because you've got company approaching in a few seconds."

I gulped, a cool very rational fear welling up. "Can you send me on a B-rank mission, solo?" I pleaded the blonde Sanin.

End Flashback

Flashing a grin, I made a cross with my fingers and pumped and divided a great amount of chakra. Without a sound, three other versions of myself appeared beside me on the branch, all crouching and clutching the crimson and black katana strapped to their hips. With a nod they launched themselves through the air to get in position. I activated my sharingan, my vision lurching with a renewed sharpness and clarity. No more did the outlines of things blur together and no more was haze prevalent in my peripheral vision. Instead, every movement had more clarity and sharpness than ever.

Without a moment more of hesitation, I silently leaped to one corner of the roof of the mansion, the other clones following suit. If we were quick enough, the outside guards would be dead before an alarm could be risen. One nod later, we leaped down on the four unsuspecting squads of six men. Unsheathing the blade, I made a lightning quick slash at the neck of the first thug, cleaving of his head with a quiet thunk. Before I had hit the ground, I followed up with another to wide slashes across the chest of the next too thugs, crimson blood spraying through the air. A flick of the left wrist and two kunai took out the next two guards a fraction of a second later. Catching the eyes of the two shinobi, noticing that they were about to shout for help and perform simple fire jutsu, I activated the Sharingan Genjutsu, rendering them paralyzed and under my control, which meant slitting their own throats with the tanto they had at their hips.

The three caws of a raven that followed signified that the clones had executed their directive in complete synchronization. 'Way too weak,' I thought with a smirk. An assassination mission involving mid level missing nin. It was a joke for my skill. Without anymore hesitation, I gathered the usual amount of chakra for the jutsu and clapped my hands together. A compressed torrent of wind launched at the nearest window, shattering the glass and launching it towards the missing nin guarding the room. Faster and more powerful than before, the gale had torn across the room and into the large target just as he realized that the window had been shattered. Smashing into the wall, the loud groan and crack of bones echoed through the warm room, some glass shards impaling the man's shoulders.

However, before four shuriken could strike his chest and neck, the shinobi disappeared replaced by a chair. Already having gauged my opponent's move, I quickly ducked as a trio of kunai whizzed through the air, embedding themselves in the wall. With a quick flurry of seals, I shouted "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu", exhaling a blast of dozens of small fireballs around a hail of shuriken I had tossed at the enemy, flying at blinding speed.

Once again, the attack became more powerful than I had expected, the fireballs blazing white hot. As the cloud of projectiles flew toward the large, rugged man, he tried to dive aside. However, he jumped from his bad leg, crying out in pain and resulting in a couple burning gashes slashing his chest. Before black-clad ninja could recover, however, I zoomed toward him at lightning speed delivering a succession of kicks and punches to his stomach. The hard thuds followed with a slump of his body and blood flying out of his mouth. Desperate the man threw up his arms to shield his torso and a feeble attempt to deliver a couple punches, which whizzed past my cheeks as I adjusted my body before delivering a devastating right cross, putting all my weight and speed into the blow.

My knuckles right knuckles collided against his cheekbone with a jarring crunch, snapping his head to the side and making his body lurch backwards. Instead of breaking the punch and losing momentum, however, I went with the motion - still channeling chakra to my limbs - and twisted around to deliver a spinning roundhouse kick on the man's ribcage sending him flying limp through the air and loudly crashing through the wall of this room and the one across the hallway. Shards of wood flew through the air as they shattered with mighty groans and cracks, while the nin hurtled through with a caved-in chest, blood flowing from his broken face.

Suddenly three different images of the missing nin using fire and wind jutsu popped in my head, making me groan in frustration. Of course the shadow clones would be dispelled, all it required to dispell was a medium powered blow to dispel. Biting my thumb, I placed my hand on the ground and pumped chakra through the summoning seal. Out from the seal, two giant humanoid crows appeared flanking me, both about seven feet tall with large wings and holding an odachi. The Karasu Tengu that I rarely summoned due to the vast amount of chakra that I previously needed to use (about half). Now I would be able to use them much more often.

"Long time, no see Itachi," the leaner tengu on my right cawed, a violent gleam in its eyes.

"We were beginning to think that you didn't want us around anymore, despite befriending us and all," the bulkier one said, kindly. The pair called themselves Kuro and Shiro because of their different colored gi.

"Well, I didn't really have an occasion to use you. I mean you would've butchered my opponents easily and I'd have wasted my chakra. But, since the occassion calls for butchering, well, go ahead and be guest. Slaughter the three remaining exiled nin and any guards around. In the meantime, I need to finish my assassination mission," I replied with a wily grin. I knew how much they hated attacking good people, so the fact that they could kill some criminals for a change would definitely make them more inclined to fight.

"Well, well, Itachi-san, you finally left Akatsuki. We approve," they said in unison, a happy gleam in their eyes before disappearing in a blur. A few moments later and three blood-chilling screams echoed throughout the mansion. It seemed that these ninja really weren't expecting to be attacked without warning like this. They totally had grown lazy.

Obscene phrases mixed with orders came shouting from out the window along with the loud clacking of a dozen sandals on stone. Without a moment to lose, I rushed out the window and peered into the courtyard. A dozen more thugs carrying swords and bows stood in a circle around a cart where the large target stood shouting at his servants to finish hooking up the oxen to it. 'This is going to be so easy,' I thought as I waited for the servants to finish their job, crouching on the rail of balcony. As the last servant finished the job, I made a flurry of handseals for the Fire Dragon Bullet and added the connected fists before shouting, "Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Roar".

With a roaring exhale, a highly pressurized stream of vermilion-white flames blasted at blinding speeds towards the guards, the target, and the cart before suddenly erupting into a huge fireball, incinerating everything in a blazing flash and concussive blast that roared in a similar way as a dragon. The concussive force sent debris and shrapnel flying everywhere, while a wave of hot air blasted into me with such force that it almost knocked me of my perch. All that remained in the center of the courtyard was a gaping maw of a crater ten meters wide and five deep, filled with ash and rubble.

"Damn, Itachi-san! That was quite the impressive jutsu you got there. How did you learn it?" Shiro asked with an amazed look on his face, his odachi covered in blood, clearly there were still some guards and nin that had needed to have been taken care of.

"Hn, I modified that jutsu myself to maximize the destructive potential of the Great Fireball and Fire Dragon Projectile jutsu, meshing aspects together to make the attack virtually impossible to dodge or react to. I finished a year and a half ago," I explained, grinning from their approval and the fact that I accomplished the mission in record time without breaking a sweat. To me, assassination missions were the easiest considering all the genjutsu and ninjutsu I had at my disposal.

With one last look around, I released the summons for the two karasu tengu I had summoned and prepared to shunshin to Konoha.

"Heh heh heheheh hahahahah," a deep voice cackled choppily, speeding up, each laugh something petrifyingly sinister.

"Who's there?" I asked, whirling around and tossing a half-dozen senbon at the origin of the voice. A splash followed shortly. 'Crap! NO NO NO! Kami, it cannot be him,' I thought as I raced through the possibilities, but always landing on the same conclusion. Sure I could take the mission, but somehow I doubted I would be able to last against my former 'acquaintance', if you could even call him that.

"Leader-sama has been looking for you, Itachi-san," the same low guttural voice continued. "You see, not only did you betray him, but you've been conspiring with the and helping the enemy. You completely ignored your orders." The tall figure finally revealed himself, his blue-gray face plastered with a shark-toothed smirk, his bandaged sword on his back.

Something about seeing the shark-human hybrid wearing the all too familiar black robe with crimson clouds set me off, shifting some gear. "SHUT UP, KISAME! You have no idea who I am or what I am capable of, so unless you want to die leave me and Konohagakure alone!" I roared, my voice dropping an octave. Power thrummed in the air, an angry dense aura of chakra pulsating and growing.

"On the contrary, Itachi-san, I know everything. You didn't massacre the Uchiha clan, you have an increasing blindness from your mangekyo, and you have an illness that saps your chakra and strength. All in all, I think I could take the former ANBU Captain. After all, you've passed your prime," Kisame coolly countered, his pointed teeth flashing in the moonlight.

That was the last straw. I couldn't contain the rage and hatred I felt for him and the organization he represented, nor the somewhat true insults. "That is it, baka! Bring it. You'll see just how much I've changed and how past my prime I really am," I spat murderously, an even more powerful shift in vision occurring. Without a second thought, I summoned the heirloom katana in my right hand and a similar wakizashi in my left. Channeling a small steady stream of chakra through the blades caused a chakra blade twice as large in all dimensions to cover the blade while erupting in white hot flame.

"HUH?! What the...How is that even possible?" Kisame muttered in awe and a hint of fear or doubt.