Chapter 21: starry night journey
I had spent two day with Sasuke and his band of misfits. Karin already hated me, Suigetsu and Juugo seemed to be interested in fighting me, and Sasuke had me follow him everywhere like his attendant. In other words, I was absolutely miserable. Sasuke said that we would be venturing off to meet up with the Akatsuki because he wanted to join forces with them in order to crush Konoha.
The night sky spread across like a dark blanket with holes of light poked in to it. Everyone was asleep, but as I looked outside I could see Sasuke sitting on a huge rock, just watching the sky. I fought with myself about going out to him, and the side that cared for him and still clung on to his humanity won. I quietly approached him and he quickly turned towards me with alert. "Oh, it's Azusa," Sasuke said.
"Hi," I replied. "Aren't you cold?"
"Do you forgive me already? That was fast," he smirked.
"Don't get me wrong. I only came here to greet you because you looked like the Sasuke that I knew three years ago and you looked sad. Tomorrow I will go back to hating you." I told him with very serious eyes.
"I see, well come up here." Sasuke waved me over and I climbed on to the rock and sat down beside him.
"The sky is pretty isn't it?" I smiled and closed my eyes, feeling the night breeze sweep through my hair.
"It reminds me of that night I thought Itachi betrayed us," Sasuke replied in a monotone. "It makes me remember all of the things that I once blocked out."
Hearing Itachi's name I opened my eyes again and sadness began to consume me. "I see, they aren't exactly good memories."
"No, they aren't," Sasuke agreed. "I remember when Itachi tried to take you with him. I was so scared that I would lose you back then. I wanted to keep you with me no matter what, even though I knew you wanted to go." He admitted. "Almost like the situation we're in right now."
"Yeah, well this and that aren't the same. When you took me back from Itachi I was grateful, but you keeping me away from Konoha is something I hate." I said.
"I guess so," Sasuke laughed darkly. There was a moment of silence, where both of our heads stayed upturned towards the stars. Finally he broke the silence, "he was crying back then, wasn't he Azusa? Itachi cried when I threw my kunai at him."
"So you finally remember now?" I looked at Sasuke with my silver eyes. It had taken him about seven years just to remember that little detail that I had never forgotten. Itachi's tears were all that filled my after the massacre, and that was why I believed in him. Or why would he cry? If he was just measuring capacity he wouldn't have felt guilty or sad. It wouldn't have hurt.
"Yeah, I guess you were right, Madara," Sasuke called out and Madara appeared from behind another rock.
"So you realized that I was there." Madara chuckled.
"Don't eavesdrop on us," Sasuke told him.
"What will you do with Itachi's eyes? Will you transplant them?" Madara asked and I looked at Sasuke with horrified eyes. I didn't want to see Itachi's eyes within Sasuke's. It was such a horrible combination.
"Don't worry Azusa, I won't." Sasuke reassured me. "What Itachi and I envision are complete opposites. I will recreate the Uchiha clan my own way," he stared blankly in to the sky once again. I looked down at my feet, feeling weak against Sasuke. "I'll take you back to your room, Azusa. You should probably get some rest since we've got a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."
"Sure," I nodded and we both jumped off of the rock. We brushed past Madara and just as he'd said he brought me to my room. As I was about to shut the door Sasuke's hand stopped it and he entered my room. "What do you want?"
Sasuke grabbed on to my hand and held it gently in his. "So, how much hate can I expect from you tomorrow?"
"Come on, Sasuke. Is Konoha's destroyer really going to act like this?" I scoffed trying to break away from his grip, but it held strong.
"I can only be this way towards you," Sasuke held my hand close to his chest.
"I really need to get some rest," I told him finally shaking my hand from his. "You should too, don't stay up too late plotting the destruction of Konoha."
"Yeah, I know," Sasuke began to leave the room, but seeing him walk away I unconsciously called out to him. "What is it?"
"About how much hate to expect tomorrow," I began. "I don't know, just be prepared for a lot of it."
"I see," Sasuke laughed, shutting the door behind him.
The next day we walked for miles, led by Madara to meet up with some of the members of Akatsuki. As I always did a trailed behind them, keeping my distance from the Taka group. Constantly, from the corner of my eyes I could see Sasuke checking on me to make sure that I hadn't run off, and soon when he was tired of checking he forced me to walk next to him. I did not speak to him for the whole journey, and did not even care to look at him once. Once again I could feel Karin's jealous eyes piercing in to the back of my head from behind her glasses. My main focus on the journey was Madara, wishing that if I looked at his back long enough he would burst in to flame, but I knew that even if I tried to set him on fire with Amaterasu he would just teleport away.
Finally, we reached the meeting place. It was hidden deep within a cave and Madara led Sasuke to a table that was made of stone. Sasuke sat down in the stone seat that the table offered and the meeting began with everyone else standing around the table. The only Akatsuki that were Madara and Kisame, who happened to be close by, almost immediately the discussion began with destroying Konoha.
Madara asked Sasuke one last time if destroying Konoha was really his mission, and Sasuke replied with his plan to only kill the elders. An argument began to brew between Kisame and Suigetsu immediately when Kisame said that Taka would not be strong enough to only kill the elders. Suigetsu hotheadedly tried to strike Kisame, but the attack was initially blocked by Madara.
"I want to kill that guy! That's the only reason that I joined up with Sasuke!" Suigetsu pointed at Kisame, and finally I spoke the first words I'd spoken all day.
"That's some loyalty," I scoffed in a whisper.
Suigetsu immediately snapped his head towards me, "you want to fight or something!" He hissed. "I'll tear you apart, princess."
"Go ahead, I'll take you on any day," I smirked, beginning to draw a Kunai from my pouch.
Suigetsu seemed to look at Sasuke to see if he'd allow him to beat me up, but Sasuke just watched with a stoic face and said, "Go ahead, Suigetsu. You're not nearly strong enough to take either of them on yet."
"Yeah, you're right," Suigetsu replied putting Zabuza's sword back on to his back. "I'll get both of you someday, though."
"Go ahead and try," I spat.
"Azusa, stop picking a fight," Sasuke ordered. I returned his order with a sharp glare and walked away from the table, leaning on a stone pillar a distance away from them, but still close enough to hear their conversations. Sasuke let out a deep sigh and continued on.
"Akatsuki and Taka should coincide," Madara suggested. "Alone, we may not be strong, but together we will be the strongest."
"Why should I take you up on that request?" Sasuke leaned his head on his right arm with a bored look on his face.
"I will give you one of the Jinchuuriki," Madara offered, sparking my attention. I thought of Naruto and Gaara, and how much they'd suffered because of their affiliation with the Jinchuuriki. They had always been hunted, and it was now more than ever.
"What is that?" Sasuke asked, also looking quite interested in the topic.
"Your little Amamiya Princess seems to know exactly what they are," Madara said, noticing that I had become quite angered by the thought of them continuing to capture the Jinchuuriki.
"Enough is enough!" I cried. "When will you just leave them alone already! They're people not monsters! You've already killed six of them already, and the only reason Gaara is alive is because he was revived! Leave them alone already!"
"No can do, Princess," Madara shrugged, and then he turned his focus back on Sasuke.
"So, like the nine-tailed fox," Sasuke smirked. "What's the catch?"
"If you betray the Akatsuki you're dead," Madara told him, widening Sasuke's smile.
"So you haven't caught the nine-tailed fox yet?" Sasuke asked.
"Taka can have the eight-tails. Akatsuki will deal with Naruto," Madara replied.
Taka set out again, this time without Madara. Finally, when I could take it no longer I stopped walking. Sasuke stopped also, turning around to see what was wrong with me. "So are we just going to go and kill the eight-tails?" I looked down at the ground below, gritting my teeth together, but not wanting Sasuke to see my pain.
"We're not killing we're taking," Sasuke said.
"It's the same thing for the Jinchuuriki," I scoffed.
"Azusa-," Sasuke began in a serious tone, reaching up to lift my head, but quickly I slapped him as hard as I could across the face. His eyes were wide with shock, and Karin, Juugo, and Suigetsu looked at the two of us with their jaws dropped.
"Don't touch me, bastard," I snapped, pushing him away from me and walking passed him.
As I passed Sasuke I could hear him whisper to himself in an almost inaudible voice, "Expect a lot of it."
Then I remembered the last words I'd said to him the night before, about how much hate to expect tomorrow. Expect a lot of it. It seemed that I'd carried out my word without even realizing it.