Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter summary: The Akatsuki attacks.
Thanks for the reviews ;D
I apologize if my Akatsuki are OOC… I'm not that familiar with them… or maybe I just don't care about them all that much… also, I want to warn you now, my fight scenes may not be all that actiony… so try not to be too disappointed.
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Outside the gates of Konoha, a low chirping sound could be heard. It was a signal between the dark figures hidden in the trees. They were quickly approaching the outskirts of the village, surrounding the outer walls.
There were dozens of them, scattered throughout the forest surround the village, quickly approaching their target.
"Itachi." The scaly faced partner of the former Konoha shinobi called from a few trees over.
"What is it Kisame?" Itachi asked.
"Why did we bring so many extra men to help capture just two Jinchūriki?" He asked.
"Unlike the other tailed beasts, these two Jinchūriki actually have people who defend them." Itachi impassively explained.
"That is true, usually Jinchūriki are lonely people who loathe humanity, and whose villages do not care about in the least. We normally have few difficulties when attempting to take a Jinchūriki, but this has not been the case with the nine-tails." Kisame calmly observed.
"And it will be the same with the five-tails." Itachi coldly stated.
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At the main gates of Konoha, the evening shift was being made to replace the two sentries that had been watching over the only open entrance into the village. The sun was nearly set, and the lights throughout the village began to slowly flicker on. Elsewhere in the village, sentry duties were also being changed in intervals of even fifteen minutes, so as not to leave any openings for enemy attacks.
There was a chill in the air, which seemed rather unusual for this time in late spring, early summer. The nearly full moon had yet to rise within the deep blue sky, but a few stars were already beginning to twinkle on the dark canvas.
"Looks like it's going to be a calm night." Kotetsu signed, looking up at the cloudless sky.
"Looks that way." Izumo agreed as he took a seat on the small wooden bench located inside the guard's station.
"Hey Kotetsu, hey Izumo." Naruto, with Sasuke in tow, walked up to the guard's station.
"Oh, Naruto, it's been a while." Izumo greeted.
"Boys." Kotetsu nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Finished training for the day?" he asked.
"Hai!" Naruto replied. "We're on our way to eat ramen." He excitedly informed them.
A rustling in the trees just outside of Konoha caught Sasuke's attention. He turned to look, but saw nothing unusual.
"What?" Naruto asked, sensing Sasuke's sudden alertness.
"I thought I saw something." Sasuke replied dryly.
"What'd you see?" Naruto asked. Izumo and Kotetsu also turned to look out into the darkening forest outside Konoha's walls.
"Yo!" a sudden puff of smoke appeared before the four shinobi, temporarily distracting them from the shadows outside the main gates.
"Hey Kaka-sensei." Naruto greeted the older man. The three other shinobi also exchanged greetings.
"Sasuke." Kakashi asked, "Have you seen…" he abruptly stopped speaking and looked out into the forest.
"Did you see something too?" Kotetsu asked upon noticing Kakashi remove his forehead protector from his left eye.
"We're surrounded." Kakashi plainly stated.
"WE ARE?!?" Naruto yelled out.
"Quiet Naruto." Kakashi warned, still staring out into the forest with his sharingan eye.
"It's him." Sasuke fought the urge to run out in unyielding rage like he did the last time that Itachi came to the village. But a lot had changed since then, he was not the same simple minded child he had once been. He knew that to win a fight, one had to have more than skill and passion; one had to have a plan.
"WHAT!?" Naruto however, had yet to stop being the loudmouth kid who was always the first to charge.
"Naruto." Kakashi warned again, this time placing a hand on the boy's shoulder to keep him from doing something foolish; after all, Kakashi knew the boy well.
"What should we do?" Izumo asked, waiting for the jonin's signal.
"Close the gates." Kakashi ordered. "Quickly."
The five of them moved swiftly to close the main gates.
"Sasuke, inform the hokage. It won't take long for the attack to occur now that they know we're on to them." Kakashi stated, "Naruto, use your shadow clones and immediately start gathering all the remaining shinobi and kunoichi in the village and tell them the Akatsuki are at our door. Izumo, Kotetsu," He turn to the two sentries, "begin the evacuation of all civilians into the tunnels."
"Hai." The four shinobi agreed and immediately took off in the direction they were ordered to.
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The enemy knew they had been spotted and thus had lost the element of surprise. However, the gates would only prove to be a minor set back, Konoha did not know how many were out side it's walls, and that was still an element in their favor.
"We must move quickly now." Itachi stated.
"Just because they know we're here doesn't mean they can fight us all off." Kisame replied, "I have information that only a handful of shinobi are left in the village, and most of them are chunin level or below; very few jonin or ANBU remain at this moment."
"I am aware of this." Itachi dryly replied, "However, we didn't expect for Kakashi to have returned from his mission early, and though his sharingan may not be able to see how many our numbers are, there are other clans who have this ability, we must not give them time to prepare."
"Hai." Kisame knew it was best to trust his partner on these matters. He turned to an Akatsuki agent, "Inform the rest. We attack on Itachi-san's command." The agent immediate leapt into the air to fulfill his order.
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The chill in the air that had early seemed to promise a cool, cloudless night, now eerily grazed the spins of the few shinobi and kunoichi left in the village. The evacuation had been swiftly executed, removing all civilians from harms ways.
The handful of Konoha ninja waited anxiously for the enemy's first move. Kakashi had wisely thought to find the Hyugas' to determine just how many shinobi stood outside the village walls. It was estimated that at least fifty Akatsuki agents currently accompanied Itachi and Kisame. Neji had been the one to recognize their chakra, and informed Kakashi that they appeared to be the only Akatsuki members among the enemy-nin. However, that still left Konoha slightly outnumbered, with little under three dozen ninja ranked higher above genin.
Tsunade had ordered all genin to be in charge of guarding the safety of the villagers, thereby leaving the remaining higher ranked chunin and jonin to help defend the village. Among those present were: Kakashi, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Ino, Choji, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Gai, Anko, Izumo, Kotetsu, Tsunade, and of course Naruto and Itsu, whom the Akatsuki were targeting.
"There are too many shinobi out on missions, how are we supposed to fight against so many?" some random Chunin, who had just been relieved of sentry duty moments earlier, argued.
"There are more of them then there are of us, but that doesn't mean they have the upper hand." Kakashi calmly replied, "This is our home, and we know it better than any of those out there."
"That's right!" Tsunade agreed, "Use this to your advantage!"
"Do we know anything about the enemy?" another random chunin asked.
"All we know is that the two leading this group are Akatsuki members. Which means the rest are probably agents, either under a hypnosis jutsu or faithful followers." Kakashi informed the group. "Just worry about the agents, for now. Be on guard though, Akatsuki recruits only the finest shinobi, sometimes even beginning their training from a very early age."
Suddenly a loud explosion at the main gates, followed shortly after by a second and third in different parts of the village walls, ran through the village, abruptly putting an end to the impromptu mission briefing. The Leaf ninja immediately separated into groups designated earlier by the Hokage and took off in the different directions of each explosion.
An all out war soon ensued, the Akatsuki agents serving to distract Konoha's ninja, leaving Itachi and Kisame to go after their prey relatively undisturbed.
Neji had indicated that the duo would be entering from the main gate, but it appeared that the two Akatsuki members had decided to split up and move in from some different directions; as a result it was unclear as to where each currently was.
Fearing that Naruto's impulsive nature would once again blind him from potential danger, Kakashi decided to stay with him, but when he turned to look for said boy, Naruto had already disappeared. Sasuke had also run off, no doubt to find Itachi; but what frightened Kakashi the most was the Itsu had also disappeared.
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"BASTARD!" a giant fireball flew through the air directed at Itachi, who easily dodged it. (A/N: stupid Sasuke, why do they shout before they attack?)
Sasuke had managed to track down Itachi near one of the old training grounds. It was similar to team seven's training grounds, cleared of all trees and buildings, and close enough to the river that ran through the forest of Konoha.
"Itachi." Sasuke spat the name out as if it were venom on his lips.
"Foolish little brother." Itachi's emotionless black eyes stared impassively at Sasuke's fury driven body. "You could never hope to defeat me."
"I WILL kill you!" Sasuke fumed, preparing for another attack. "I've gotten much stronger since we last saw each other." He stated, as he quickly prepared to strike Itachi with a new move he had learned during his time under Orochimaru's tutelage, all the while remembering to protect himself from Itachi's genjutsu.
Sasuke attacked with all his might, and for once it seemed that he might actually be a match for Itachi, who only barely managed to dodge all of his attacks. But for as much training, and as much talent as Sasuke had, Itachi's cool demeanor gave him an edge over Sasuke's impulsive rage. Before Sasuke saw it coming, Itachi had pinned him with his left hand, to a nearby tree.
"What a wasted life." Itachi dryly stated, looking into Sasuke's raging face. "You're a disappointment, brother. Not worth killing." Sasuke cringed at the familiar words his brother had spat out at him so many years earlier. "Perhaps I should put you out of your misery." Itachi coldly looked down upon his brother before lifting his right arm from under his black cloak to stab the younger boy with a hidden dagger.
A sudden flash of light blinded both Uchiha's. Before either knew what had happened, Sasuke was no longer within Itachi's grasp. Instead he lay sprawled on the floor across from the line of trees where Itachi had been holding him.
As Sasuke turned to find out what had happened, he saw Itsu standing over what appeared to be an unconscious Itachi.
"NO!" Sasuke yelled out, "He's mine!"
"I'm sorry." Itsu whispered, before plunging a kodachi in the body before her, before realizing Itachi had replaced himself with a log. She immediate jumped back and scanned the area to see where the man in question had disappeared to. (A/N: kodachi is a short sword).
"ITSU!" Sasuke yelled out, running towards her. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he was no longer a part of the fight, as he realized all too late that a barrier had been erected, which sent him flying back to the floor.
"I see." Itachi came out from behind the tree he had hidden himself after using the replacement jutsu. "So that's what you were doing while Sasuke and I were fighting."
"So you noticed." Itsu impassively turned to face the Akatsuki member.
"It's been a long time… Cousin." Itachi glared at the silver haired kunoichi. "I see rumors of your demise were sorely exaggerated."
"Of course," Itsu coldly replied. "I wouldn't be killed by a pathetic little psychopath who hides in shadows and attacks from behind." She spat out, as she prepared her stance.
She stood expressionless before the two brothers. The icy breeze gently blew through the few loose strands of her hair, which was tied up in a long braid that reached the small of her back. She moved to adjust the twin kodachi positioned on either side of her slim waist. Her light blue mid-thigh kimono clung close to her skin, allowed for free movement; something which her double kodachi taijutsu fighting style required.
"ITSU!" Sasuke yelled from the other side of the barrier, visibly upset with the fact that she had stolen his opportunity to take his revenge.
"I apologize Sasuke." Itsu addressed the younger boy, while never taking her eyes off of Itachi.
"Shall we begin?" Itachi didn't wait for the answer; he lunged towards the kunoichi and began his attack.
The fight that resulted seemed an even match, each attacking and dodging the other with great effort. Being genjutsu users, the both of them, it seemed unlikely that they'd be able to win with mere illusions. Unable to determine whether he could beat her using his genjutsu abilities, Itachi decided to try for ninjutsu instead; not wanting to risk overusing his eyes, which had begun to slowly deteriorate with each use of his sharingan.
"Don't worry, this will be quick." Itsu venomously replied, though still maintaining her composure, "But I promise, it will be painful."
She pulled out her two kodachi and prepared for her next attack. She began by using a flash step, circling Itachi in an effort to confuse and disorient with fluid motions and continuous changes in her speed, then rapidly spinning around three times, while holding the kodachi backhanded, and slashing him thrice in an instant. He was able to dodge the last two strikes, but the first one caught him by surprised, and managed to strike him in the left arm.
From outside the barrier, Sasuke seethed in anger towards both Itachi and Itsu, though each for different reasons. The fighting sounds emanating from the rest of the village seemed to have died down; whatever the outcome, it seemed that one side was already winning.
"You seemed more focused then the last time we fought." Itachi made reference to that horrible night in Itsu's memory.
The images that his words conjured up caused Itsu's icy façade to momentarily drop, resulting in an opening, which Itachi took full advantage of. He flung himself towards her, using the dagger he had tried to kill Sasuke with earlier. He managed to stab her in the abdomen, resulting in a severe wound.
The momentary emotion that blinded Itsu soon became replaced with a rage burning up inside her, waking the dormant power that lay within. The spirit of Houkou began stirring as her anger rose on seeing the smirk upon his face.
"YOU WILL DIE!" she shouted, as she dropped both kodachi on the ground.
The instable chakra of the five tailed demon rose within in; a powerful silver glow surrounded her body, whirling in inconsistent circular motions around her. Her eyes, neither sharingan, nor their typical unusual violet hue, burned in a fiery crimson.
"HEAVENLY FURY!" she called out her lightening jutsu. She raised her arms and summoned a blue lightning bolt, which crashed down upon Itachi. He managed to clumsily dodge the bolt, barely singeing his Akatsuki cloak.
Itachi countered with one of his fire-style jutsu, at which point Itsu took the opportunity to disappear into the fire, a jutsu she had created using her bijuu's fire elemental abilities. Before he knew what was coming, Itsu stepped out from behind Itachi, and grabbed hold of him with a water whip she had quickly created, using the water from the river behind them.
"I have you." She whispered from behind him.
By this point, the fighting throughout the village had died down, and the loud commotion Itsu and Itachi's battle had created, caused most of the shinobi to make their way towards the source of all that noise. Outside the barrier, watching the battle with Sasuke, Kakashi had managed to find his way toward the scene, along with Naruto, Team Gai, Tsunade and Shikamaru.
"Itsu." Sasuke growled outside the barrier. He was supposed to be the one to kill Itachi. She was robbing him of his right to avenge his clan.
"Sasuke." Kakashi quietly spoke; there was a hint of warning in his tone. "You don't know…" he allowed those three words to cling in the air. Sasuke didn't know. He didn't know that Itsu had as much right, if not more so, then him, to exact her revenge on Itachi.
As she prepared to take the final blow, ready to avenge her son's death, she stared out into the crowd outside the barrier. There was no expression on her face. It was cold and emotionless; the face of a true shinobi, void of all expression. But in her eyes, if one were to look closely, they would see a hint of pain. Killing Itachi, though exactly what she desired, would not quench the thirst for vengeance she harbored in her soul, and she knew this act alone, could very well lead down a very dark path she would be unable to turn back from.
"I wouldn't, if I were you." A loud voice came from the other side of the barrier, away from where the others were gathered to watch the battle.
Everyone turned to face the shark faced man who had spoken.
"And why exactly not?" Itsu snarled, bearing her fangs at the second Akatsuki member.
"Well we wouldn't want anything to happen to little Obi-chan now would we?" a sinister smirk spread across his blue face. Next, he pushed a boy, no more than eight years of age, in front of him.
"What?" she gasped…
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A/N: dun dun dun… I'm so cruel… but well… it's late… and I'm tired of writing… this took FOREVER… I tried my best with the fight scenes… but well... I'm not a fighter, I'm a lover :P… and I'm much better at fluff… so… eh… whatever… At least I can say something actually HAPPENED in this chapter… and I'm guessing it's probably my longest one yet… yay me… :D…
Thanks for the support… I'm glad people are still reading and liking it. :D