I do not own Naruto!
Chapter Twenty-five
Itachi watched as Shisui used the fallen rubble to bury his brother. Shisui's right eye was bandaged following the implantation of Obito's Sharingan. Hana had been hesitant to perform the procedure since it was not something she had ever done, but Shisui had insisted that she be the one to do it. It would have been difficult to explain to another medic. Itachi could do nothing to help. Hana had injected him with something that left him artificially paralyzed to prevent him from injuring himself further.
When Shisui had finished, he stared at the makeshift grave for a long time, "Please…don't tell anyone who he was." he finally said, "I want people to remember him like we used to, not like this."
"I won't tell anyone if you don't." Hana promised.
Itachi agreed, "No one will know."
"…Thank you." Shisui said quietly.
Hana was hard at work on Itachi. She had healed his lesser wounds with medical ninjutsu and had splinted his hand, but he knew that his more serious injuries would require more than she could provide in the field. He needed to get back to Konoha.
"Did you find Anko?" he asked.
Hana nodded, "She's back in the tunnel. The Brothers are with her. She's beat up, but she'll be fine. No sign of Orochimaru either."
"Then we need to go."
Hana pulled the collapsible litter from her med kit and unfolded it.
"You can't be serious." Itachi groaned.
Hana raised an eyebrow at him, "You didn't really think you were going to walk out of here like this did you?"
Much to Itachi's chagrin, Hana and Shisui carefully moved him onto the litter and carried him out of the large chamber, over the rubble, and into the smaller tunnel. There he saw Anko leaning up against the wall, surrounded by the Haimaru Brothers. She looked quite a bit worse for wear, but she was awake and on her feet.
"Damn," she commented, "And I thought I got messed up."
"Can you walk?" Itachi asked.
"A lot better than you can."
"Then let's go."
It had taken the team a day and a half of uninterrupted travel to reach the facility the first time. Now that Itachi was immobile and Anko was injured, their pace was cut drastically, and stops were no longer optional. It would take days to get back to the village.
The trip was not only excruciatingly painful for Itachi, but a blow to his pride as well. Being carried home on a stretcher was not exactly healthy for his ego, and he had refused anything but the most basic painkillers.
As the sun set on the first night, the team set up camp near a small stream. They were still being cautious, and did not light a fire that might give away their location.
Despite being beyond exhausted, Itachi could not sleep. The pain kept him awake.
Shisui was on first watch. He stared out into the dark, clearly troubled. He had barely said a word since they left the Akatsuki hideout. It was unsettling for Itachi to see his normally cheerful cousin like this.
"Are you going to be alright?" Itachi asked him, breaking the silence.
Shisui did not answer for a long time, "…He was going to use a genjutsu on the entire world, take away everyone's free will. We had to stop him, right?"
"Right."
"But I did it… by casting a genjutsu on him and taking away his free will. Doesn't that make me exactly the same as him?"
Itachi did not know how to answer, "…You did the right thing." he said finally.
"I hope so."
"So, are you going to be alright?" Itachi asked again.
Shisui offered a weak smile, "Eventually."
By the time the team finally made it back to the Konoha, Itachi had begun to fade in and out of consciousness. He was rushed into surgery the moment they passed through the gates. It was another two days before he woke up. The Third Hokage was waiting when he did.
"I'm glad to see you awake. Your family has been worried." Sarutobi told him, "I've already received the reports from the rest of the team, but I am interested to hear yours."
Itachi recounted the mission from beginning to end, but as he had promised Shisui, gave no mention of Obito's name.
"Orochimaru escaped, and from what I gathered, the Akatsuki are still a threat even without Tobi," Itachi concluded, "And then there was what he said about Madara. It wasn't completely coherent, but it seemed as though the real Madara might somehow still be involved in all this. This isn't over yet, Hokage-sama."
"Perhaps not, but you did well. Congratulations on a successful mission."
"Thank you, sir."
"Now rest and focus on your recovery. As I recall, you have a graduation to attend soon."
The Third excused himself, and Itachi laid back to try to sleep. No sooner had he closed his eyes, he sensed a presence in the room, and they snapped back open again.
Danzo stood in the doorway.
"You might not have ended up here if you had followed my advice."
Itachi set his jaw, "I don't need your advice."
"It isn't over; you said it yourself. The threat to the village remains. The time will soon come when you will have to choose."
"Choose what?"
The old man smirked, "You will see."
Without another word, Danzo departed, leaving Itachi with the same sense of unease that seemed to surround the man. Nothing could ever be simple.
Over the next few days, Itachi was allowed to leave his bed. The medics tried to convince him to use a wheelchair at first, but he adamantly refused. He finally consented to crutches, and began the slow process of relearning how to walk.
Well, this is about to wrap up. Stay tuned for the final chapter!
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