Dark and Light: The Story of Itachi and Hikari

Chapter Twenty-Five

Kyo's hair stood on end as a tingle started deep in his heart and spread through out his entire body. The faintest echo of a scream reached his ears but it was so dim he wasn't sure if he had actually heard it or if it where a figment of his imagination. Still, either way he was sure of one thing. Something was happening. And it most likely wasn't good.

"Haruno-san," said Takanaka Hiratori, the instructor for Konoha's second team four. "You look pale. Are you alright?"

Kyo nodded absently and murmured that he was fine, even as his palm gently massaged his throbbing heart. What could have caused such a feeling? He wasn't having a heart attack was he? No, that couldn't be it; he was only seventeen after all. And besides, the pain was too distant to be his own. Someone else's then? But why would he possibly know that? He certainly hadn't formed a bloodbond with anyone (Kairi would kill him) and he didn't remember casting a mind-sharing jutsu so he couldn't possibly be feeling someone else's pain. Was it just his imagination then?

Another pang bit at Kyo's heart and his eyes went wide when he felt first the flicker and then the disappearance of an all to familiar chakra.

"Yotaro…" Kyo said, the name dropping like a stone from his lips as he stared in horror at the empty wall. "No…no!"

"Haruno!" Hiratori said in alarm as Kyo stumbled to his feet and raced for the door. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"

"Yotaro!" Kyo said as he jerked open the door, breaking the lock in the process. "He-he's…in trouble."

"Haruno, you can't just storm out there to the rescue," Hiratori said, grabbing Kyo's arm. "They'll be disqualified!"

"The hell if I care," Kyo said. "I never should have entered them in the first place. They're only babies! And I won't let them die!"

Hiratori's hand fell away as Kyo vanished through the door, several dozen team leaders gaping in his wake.

Kyo's way was barred by only one mist shinobi before the others realized that standing in his way was something akin to suicide. He walked with purpose to the fenced in training ground that was holding his students hostage. Kyo paused in his step when he noticed a pair of mist shinobi kneeling in front of one of the many swamp entrances. Fear clenched at his guts when he noted the bloody form of a young mist girl cradled in the arms of the older woman.

He recognized the man as the sadistic first examiner, Tsukiomi Taichi, but the woman was unfamiliar. Without thinking, Kyo's feet guided him in their direction. The girl looked older then his own students, probably thirteen or fourteen, but the sight of her still made his heart clench in his chest. Her short black hair was matted with blood and dirt while her pale skin was pocked with bloody scars and heavy blistered burns.

"What happened?" Kyo choked out. The woman cradling the girl looked up, tear tracks staining her cheeks.

"Nothing she didn't bring on herself," the woman said. "My daughter has always been to rash; she acted without thinking."

"Was she…a participant?"

"No, Hana was an examiner."

"I see," Kyo said, trying to hide his relief. "How did it happen?"

"What business is that of yours foreigner?" Taichi said. "Get lost or I'll rip your intestines out through your nose and use them to decorate my daughter's shrine."

The woman sighed. "That's disgusting Taichi. Even if Hana where dead, which she is not, she wouldn't forgive you for desecrating her grave that way." Turning to Kyo the woman continued. "Please forgive my husband. He tends to be rather…extreme. My name is Tsukiomi Aiko. I am the head proctor for this exam."

"Can you tell me what's happening? Why is Hana-san so badly injured?"

"Several of the genin that failed the first examination broke into the swamp in order to cause problems for the groups that did make it." Aiko gently massaged her head in irritation. "They've cut off all of our communications with the inside examiners and coerced several of our own shinobi to work for them; which makes me believe that this wasn't a sudden plan. And I doubt they're working alone either. More then likely they've enlisted outside help but I don't know for sure what it is they're after. If Hana were awake we could ask her but she's taken on some very heavy damage. No doubt there are some students in there feeling very confused right about now."

Kyo's mind was racing as he took in the information. Suddenly he took in a deep breath of realization.

"Do you think they could be after one of the examinees?" Kyo said and both Aiko and Taichi looked up.

"I suppose it's possible, but there's hardly anyone in this exam worth such extreme measures." Aiko said. "Unless you know someone."

"My student," Kyo said. "Uchiha Itachi. He's believed to be a genius and many think he'll activate his bloodline limit soon. Since this exam was being taken outside of Konoha we took precautions to ensure his anonymity. I don't know how anyone would have found out he was participating but it's the only thing that really makes sense."

"An Uchiha…"Aiko breathed. "You're right, that does make sense. There are a lot of villages that would kill for the chance to get their hands on the sharingan."

Hana moaned in unconsciousness, shifting uncomfortably. Aiko handed the girl over to her husband.

"Take care of her until the med-nins arrive. They shouldn't be long." Aiko stood and faced Kyo, her eyes roaming his face blankly. "I'll go with you into the swamp. It will be dangerous of course but we should be alright."

Kyo nodded firmly and Aiko sighed. "Please say it out loud. I'd rather not waste chakra trying to figure out gestures."

Kyo started. "You're blind."

Aiko nodded. "It happened a long time ago. Come on."

"Aiko!" Taichi called and the kunoichi turned. "You'd better come back alive, or at least wait for me to get there and save your sorry butt. There's no way I'm going to take care of all your brats by myself."

"Really Tai," Aiko said. "Is that anyway to talk to your wife?"

Taichi rolled his eyes. "Be safe oh darling love of my life."

Aiko smirked. "That's better. Come on Konoha."

Kyo blinked once before he realized she was talking to him.

"Um, my name is Haruno Kyo."

"Fine, then come on Kyo-chan."

The two disappeared as Taichi scowled behind them.

"Kyo-chan?" He scoffed. "Just who's wife does she think she is?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Itachi had cried himself to sleep on Hikari's lap. The stress of his recently activated sharingan combined with the emotional distress of losing his best friend the catalyst needed to put the young Uchiha out of commission for some time. Hikari, for her part, was still amazed that Itachi had actually managed to activate his sharingan in the first place. They were different sharingan though, even she knew that.

In the past when Kakashi-san would spar with her cousin Kyo, his sharingan always had three commas. But Itachi's were strange. Rather then the normal commas, his looked like a three point shuriken. Was it possible that something was wrong with them? Or maybe it was Itachi that was sick.

The sound of movement in the trees jerked Hikari from her thoughts and her head snapped up in fear. She had to get away from there. With Itachi unconscious, her injured, and Yotaro—.

She wasn't in any position to protect herself, let alone Itachi too. Making a decision Hikari finished tying the bandage around her leg, having forgotten it due to Shishini's sudden intrusion earlier. Pulling it tight she fought back a wince before sliding out from under Itachi's prone form. Laying him gently against the wide tree branch, Hikari shifted around until her back was facing him. Pulling at his arms she somehow managed to maneuver him onto her back, hiking him up as she struggled to stand.

Hikari bit her lip with a heavy wince when Itachi's settled weight pressed her fractured bones painfully together. Closing her eyes and clenching her teeth, Hikari sucked in a deep breath. This was really going to hurt.

It was a good twenty foot drop from the tree to the swamp floor so regardless of the thick soft moss that coated everything; Hikari's landing was still heavy and abrupt. It took all she had ever learned with Kyo and at the academy not to scream when she felt her left leg break under the pressure of the landing. Crumbling to the ground with stifled whimpers, Hikari dug her fingers deep into the slimy moss, pressing her forehead to the ground as tears tracked down her cheeks to mingle with her blood from where she had bit through her lip in pain.

Several minutes of complete torture passed before Itachi shifted, the movement managing to clear a path through Hikari's pain clouded brain. Glancing around through blurry eyes, she managed to make out a small cave a few meters to her left that had been formed by the roots of a crooked old tree. Shifting Itachi so he was draped across her back, Hikari started forward at a slow but jarring army crawl, using her good leg to push herself forward.

Seconds passed like hours as she crawled, tears and blood now joined by the sweat that lined her pale forehead. Falling into the hollowed out cave Hikari couldn't stop a scream from finally escaping as Itachi rolled off her back and landed on her leg. A clear crack sounded through the silent space and stars swam in her vision as the light started to be sucked from the small cave. Blackness filled the entire space before the pain finally proved too much and Hikari fell into blissful unconsciousness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The place we found Hana is just ahead." Aiko said. Kyo nodded before his left leg suddenly gave out beneath him. He stumbled and grabbed at his thigh, his face a mixture of pain and fear. Aiko paused, not turning as she studied him with her chakra.

"Are you hurt?" Aiko said, her voice concerned. Kyo shook his head before he remembered the Mist shinobi couldn't see him.

"No, but someone is…"

"Your students?"

Kyo sighed. "Most probably. And I can't shake this feeling…that something really bad has happened."

Before Aiko could respond a new chakra signature appeared in their tracking range and the two fell silent as an unfamiliar mist shinobi dropped from the higher branches to join them. Kyo's fist tightened on the handle of his kunai before the man held out his palms in surrender.

"Easy, I'm on your side."

Aiko relaxed, her shoulders dropping. "Momoshiro-san, you startled us."

"Sorry," Momoshiro Sato said. "But I was in a hurry. One of my summons disappeared but he didn't return to me. He's just…vanished."

"Died?" Aiko said but Sato shook his head.

"I don't think so," Sato said. "I would have been told by another owl. He's just gone. His name was removed from the scroll too so it's impossible for me to summon him anymore."

"Which one was it?" Aiko said. "Who was he assigned to?"

"Murasami," Sato said. "He was the last summon I assigned before the exam started. I'm pretty sure the team number was four from Konoha. There was a cute little white haired girl but more surprising was how Murasami reacted to one of the boys; like he knew him." Sato shook his head before continuing. "Anyway, I got worried since, obviously not of the summons were supposed to be killed for real."

Kyo had been silent the entire time, his face growing paler and paler at each sentence until he would surely have blended in with Hikari's hair perfectly. Realizing suddenly that he didn't recognize the strange blue haired shinobi, Sato stiffened and regarded him carefully.

"Who are you?" Sato said. "I don't recognize you. What village are you from?"

"Calm down, Momoshiro-san," Aiko said. "He's Haruno Kyo-kun from Konoha. His kids are the ones who had your summon."

Sato's eyes widened and his mouth formed a surprised 'oh'. "I'm sorry. I didn't think…"

"Forget it," Kyo said hoarsely. "Let's go. I need to find them. Now."

Silently agreeing both Aiko and Sato followed Kyo as he once again disappeared into the trees.

End Chapter Twenty-Five

Kaliea: I'm really sorry it's taken me so long guys. I'm kind of at an impasse. I know where I want the story to go; I'm just not sure how to take it there. At any rate, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to review!