This one is so short… TwT But it had to be…
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs within this fan fiction, except the following:
Tsukuyomi Clan
Nero
Roku
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Chapter Twenty-Five: You Dug Your Own Grave. Threatening The Betrayer!
"You what?" I asked, trying to stay calm, but he already knew. I shouldn't be shocked. I'd expect nothing less from the intelligent Uchiha Itachi.
"Akatsuki keeps tabs on researchers like you. As soon as I saw you, I recognized you… Even if the picture is a year old. I also heard that you had been recently kidnapped. Deidara and Kisame were there when the shop exploded in Tanzaku town." Itachi explained simply, his voice quiet and serious. I bit my lip.
"So… If you knew, why didn't you say anything until now?" I asked. Itachi shrugged lightly, tilting his head slightly to look back at Roku, who was still soundly asleep before he looked back at me.
"You're also here with Sasuke." He stated. I blinked, then gritted my teeth.
"You make it sound like I like being around your baby brother. If anything, I rather be back home."
"Then why don't you?"
"Because I promised your brother that I'd help him find Akatsuki… Well, technically reach his goal, but…"
"But you didn't mention to Sasuke that you had run into me here."
"… Exactly…"
"Why not?" Itachi pressed, his eyes practically glowing. I shifted from foot to foot. Why didn't I? Because. Everyone always talked about how dangerous, how evil, and how cruel Itachi was, but I saw nothing like that when I was around him. Sure, I hadn't personally known him for more than twenty-four hours, but I didn't see anything that yelled I AM A MURDERER on him.
"Because." I stated.
"That's not an answer."
"Is to! Look, I have enough problems to deal with right now. I have to get Roku to Konoha so he doesn't die, Suigetsu wants me to get rid of him or else he'll tell Sasuke that I've spoken to you without telling him, I promised my brothers that I'd come back to our village alive, and I still have to kick my friend's ass!"
"Sounds like a full schedule," Itachi said quietly, then averted his eyes again, "Suigetsu is going to tell Sasuke anyway." I blinked.
"What?" I demanded. Itachi frowned.
"I haven't even known you for very long, but I have a feeling you weren't going to get rid of Roku anyway… Your heart is too big for that." He said. I grimaced.
"And sometimes I wish I didn't have one. If he's going to tell Sasuke, I have to hurry up and find Sasuke before Suigetsu does."
"And if Suigetsu gets to him first?"
"Sasuke's going to probably kick me down so badly, I'll be limping to Konoha." I muttered.
"You say that so casually."
"I promised Sasuke to help him. As much as I wish I hadn't of done it, I kind of have to. I have this thing about keeping my word."
"How are you going to help Roku, help Sasuke, and get back to your brothers?"
"Good question. Any ideas?" I tried, but Itachi sighed.
"You dug your own grave."
"I know," I murmured, "This probably wouldn't of happened if I had taken Nero's advice… He's this guy that keeps telling me he likes me. He yelled at the Kazekage for giving me my mission. I told him I would come back too… Ugh, another promise."
"You seem to speak before you think."
"I know… Look, Itachi," I began, "I'm not going to lie and I wish I could, but I'm just going to tell you in case Sasuke actually does kill me or something like that. The first time I saw you, you looked nothing like a murderer. You didn't seem like what your bio told me nor any of the rumors I heard. The reason I didn't say anything to Sasuke is because I'm trying to come up with something that won't involve anyone getting killed. Yea, it might interfere with other plans, but at this point, I couldn't care less about anyone else's plans. Sorry about babbling so much. I really hope we can meet again on better terms. Goodbye." I brushed past him, grabbing up Roku in my arms and walking away as fast as I could. Itachi hadn't said a thing, but I knew he was listening because his eyes flickered with some kind of emotion that I couldn't begin to guess.
I tried to be calm about this. Let's see. Time to assess the situation:
Okay, so I just basically told Itachi that I liked him after a few hours.
I told him just about everything, save for the whole super hero Sasuke part, which I did NOT intend on filling anyone in about.
Suigetsu is an asshole.
Sasuke's an asshole.
Sasuke's the asshole who's going to kick me through the dirt.
Well, that didn't sound too bad, now did it? I could just hear the sarcasm in my head as I walked into the hotel, setting Roku down after nudging him awake. Roku yawned sleepily, then blinked as he looked around confused, lifting his gold eyes to me.
"Na Taa-chi?" He asked. I frowned.
"No more Itachi, Roku… I think he hates me right now. You have to stay here, okay? If you stay here, I'll get you a puppy, okay?" I asked. Roku beamed and nodded, sitting down in the lobby. I cautiously moved up the stairs, listening to the eerie creaking of the stairs as I moved.
I stopped, glancing down the hall. No one was there, so I walked quietly past my room, then Juugo's. Nothing happened. I walked by Karin's.
Nothing.
I walked by Suigetsu's.
Still nothing.
I walked-
SCREEECH-CRUNCH-CRASH!
I leapt back, stumbling as the wall was blown off as well as the door through the hall and into the next wall. I winced, sitting up as Sasuke stepped out, onto the pile of rubble in the hall. He looked right at me, glaring.
"I thought that for a second there, you'd recognize a criminal when you saw one, Miss Criminal Information… Maybe tell me about it."
"I take it you've talked to Suigetsu lately?" I asked with a grimace. Sasuke's grip tightened around his blade and he swung it out. I barely had time to duck as I threw myself on my back on the floor. Sasuke clenched his fists and I saw a high concentration of chakra crackle in the air around him. I flipped backwards onto my feet and pushed back, skidding to avoid the charge of electricity that shot through the air.
"I'm going to kill you," Sasuke muttered, "And then I'm going to kill that kid. Then Itachi. Then Akatsuki. Then Konohagakure." I glared at him.
"Fuck you!" I yelled and made quick hand signs, thrusting my hand out as a bolt of lightening sprung forward. Sasuke swung his hand up and caught the bolt in mid hair with his bare hand, making me flinch.
"Lightening against Lightening…. And I have more control." He stated and swung the jutsu right into the wall, blasting it to pieces. I couldn't hit him from this far away. If I did, he'd just catch it. He used the same elements I did, so ninjutsu was out of the question. As for close range, he'd probably try electrocuting me again with that jutsu of his. If he's an Uchiha, he's bound to be good with Genjutsu, so there goes that idea…
Good, I suck at Genjutsu anyway. Well, except for Akira's jutsu. He had taught me it, but there was no way I was using THAT genjutsu! If I used that, I'd be out of chakra in a split second. I wouldn't even be able to grab Roku and run.
I didn't have much time to ponder this because Sasuke pushed off the ground and shot at me. I yelped and ducked out of the way when he made a slash at me. I managed to duck just in time as he skidded past me before whipping around and making a hand sign.
"Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"
Shit. I kicked up a piece of rubble to block the flames that roared at me, shoving me back along my boots. I threw the rock away as the fire subsided, Sasuke bursting through the smoke at me. I gasped and ducked a slash, rolling across the floor past him and scrambling to my feet. I had to do the first thing that came to my mind. I whipped around to kick at Sasuke, but he caught my leg and threw me into a wall.
I gasped, blood flying out my mouth. I slid to the floor, panting. I looked up just in time to duck and cover my head as Sasuke swung his foot at me, letting it go into a wall. I scrambled to my feet, ducking and dodging everything he threw at me.
"What's wrong, huh? You were talking so big earlier! Don't tell me you're scared!" Sasuke barked and started up another fire jutsu. I ducked and went down the stairs as the fire slammed into the wall behind me. I landed at the bottom, slightly bruised. I coughed a little, bolting to my feet. Roku was still sitting in the lobby and jerked his head up with wide eyes.
"Na?"
"Roku, run!"
"Na!"
"Roku, you get your fucking ass out of here right now! Run somewhere and hide, got it?" I yelled at the top of my longs. From here, I could see Roku's eyes well up with big fat tears. He was moving toward me.
"Roku, no! I said go!" I shouted, then gasped, ducking just in time to avoid a slash from Sasuke's sword. Roku yelped and jumped back at the sight of a very pissed off Sasuke. I whipped around, but he freaking backhanded me across the face, knocking me flying backwards and skidding across the floor on my back. I gasped and rolled over, holding my cheek. I felt it swelling up already, blood forming in my mouth, making me spit.
I felt Sasuke grab a hold of my ponytail, jerking my head up. I gasped and felt the blade of his sword touch my throat. My eyes flashed. This was it? I was going to die already?
No. Because Roku wasn't going to have any of this.
He jumped at Sasuke right away and bit down on his arm. Sasuke barked a curse and let go of me, shoving me to the floor. I winced, spat out some more blood, and whipped around, watching Roku bit down on Sasuke's arm angrily.
Sasuke swung his arm back, knocking Roku off and into a wall. Roku gasped a little and his eyes fluttered closed as he slumped to the ground. Horror shot through me as I prayed he wasn't dead. I immediately lunged forward, grabbing Sasuke's legs out from under him. He grabbed the front of my shirt, dragging me down with him. Being as this hotel had a basement floor, we crashed right through the wooden floor into the basement, which was conveniently full of glass bottles and dishes from the dining area.
I winced, struggling to get to my feet. I looked up in time for Sasuke to punch me hard in the jaw, knocking me across the room and slamming into a rocky wall. Pain exploded through my weak shoulder as well as the rest of my body as I hit the floor. I managed to get to my feet, trying to duck and dodge the rest of Sasuke's attacks.
"Damn it," I yelled, "Sasuke, stop! Go ahead and kill Itachi while you have the chance, you asshole! You're wasting your time with me!" Sasuke missed a punch at my head as I jerked to the side, only to jerk to the other side when he tried to punch me there.
"You think I'm stupid? You came here, knowing that Suigetsu had told me, so you probably already told Itachi! He's probably half way across the country now, thanks to you! I'm regretting not killing you earlier!"
"Asshole, then go after him!"
"And what direction would he have gone in?"
"North!" I screamed, then gasped as Sasuke caught my shoulders, slamming me into the wall. His Sharingan pierced right through me, seeping with hatred and rage. His nails were digging into my skin, enough to draw blood that leaked down my arms.
"You're lying." He spat.
"No! I'm not lying! Why would I lie when I'm faced with death? I'm a fucking coward! Itachi mentioned something about going north, I swear to the gods!" I yelled in his face, then winced as my head began to throb with pain. Sasuke gritted his teeth.
"What makes you think I'd ever believe you after you deceived me once?" He demanded.
"Why do you think I'm only an observer? I don't like combat, sure I get some meal out of it, but if I'm faced with death, why would I lie?"
"You are coward." Sasuke spat at me. I glared at him.
"If you were faced with death, you'd be frantic to avoid it."
"Shut up…"
"Now let go of me! Roku's upstairs and he's hurt! Because of you, asshole!"
"I said shut up! I'm not letting you go that easily! You think I'm going to keep traveling, knowing that you could pull another stunt like that?"
"I won't! If this is going to happen every time I do something stupid, then to hell with trying to trick you!"
"If you do ANYTHING… Again, I won't kill you. I'll kill the kid." Sasuke stated, his Sharingan glowing bright red. I stared at him, completely frozen.
"We're taking him with us. If you betray me again, I'll not hesitate to kill him right in front of you. I'll dump you somewhere without your limbs, where you'll suffer. You hear me?" Sasuke seethed. I gritted my teeth, clenching my fists, throwing his arms off me.
"I understand…" I managed. Sasuke stepped away from me, his eyes cold and hard.
"You're about as annoying as he was…" He muttered and turned on his heel. I blinked, frowning curiously, but managed to follow behind Sasuke. Pain shot up my legs, but I forced myself to follow him quietly without argument.
I was really starting to loathe this brat so much… It's a wonder I don't just jump him right now and slaughter him, tear him up bit by bit and devour his organs slowly.
Once up stairs, I was by Roku in a flash. I bent down to him, turning him over. He looked fine, other than a bruise on his cheek. I shook him a little and his eyes peeked open. He mumbled something, then reached up and touched my face.
"Naaa… Ru-rai-ko…"
"I'm so sorry, Roku…"
"Ne," He groaned, turning his head to look across the room at Sasuke, who was informing Suigetsu and the rest of the team of our mission, "Row-kuu… Un kill Saaas-kayy…" I blinked, then smiled faintly. He wants to kill Sasuke.
"You and me both, Roku…. But right now, we need to listen very carefully to Sasuke, okay? You have to be very good or Sasuke will get mad and we don't want that, right?" I asked. Roku crinkled his nose, then nodded a little, reaching up and hugging me around the neck. I smiled and hugged him back, pulling him up into my arms.
We left the hotel in a hurry, heading down the street for the exit of the village. I frowned to myself. Shit… What do I do now? Sasuke was bound to be keeping a closer eye on me, and Roku for that matter… And I didn't even know if Itachi was going north or not!
I mean, come on! I was faced with death and Roku was hurt! I had to come up with some kind of lie! I remembered what Itachi had told me earlier that day.
You dug your own grave.
Oh, Itachi, you have no fucking idea.
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A/N: ATTENTION. Hi. xD The next chapter will be in someone else's POV since I'm way too lazy to type up a chapter of Ruriko's adventure to the north. :/ That and I feel like showing more OCs! So, yup. That's my excuse, just warning you ahead of time. Anyway, thanks for reading and your reviews are very much appreciated!