Another chapter is here!
Enjoy!
Itachi walked through the woodlands, closing in on the Hidden Leaf, with his partner in tow. The orders from Pain had come in to find out the status of the Jinchuuriki in the wake of the failed Invasion. There had been no sign of the One-Tailed Raccoon Dog's container since then, at least not from the stray Sand shinobi they questioned not too long ago.
To that end, he and Kisame had been chosen to carry out the mission, due to his knowledge of the terrain and abilities being better suited to investigation. That was for the best. He knew of the patrol route and could avoid any unnecessary encounters that would alarm the general shinobi population.
He glanced under the brim of his hat to his partner. It had been some time since Kisame had the chance to exercise his more… violent tendencies, so he was itchy to act upon them. The rogue Uchiha hoped that he could control him, but he was still far more manageable than most of the others in the organization.
As they grew closer to the wall bordering the village, Itachi stopped and made a set of hand-seals. The earth opened up like a parting maw as chakra shifted the dirt beneath it to create a path for them to take, under the ground and into the Leaf. While the detection system acted as a sphere rather than a dome, and would pick it up if anyone else tried, he could get by it without any trouble and avoid alarming anyone.
Once they'd cleared the underground path and created an opening in an out-of-the-way spot, Itachi used a genjutsu to cover it up. Then he and Kisame layered a Transformation upon themselves, leaving his living blade wrapped in cloth, to appear as a pair of laborers. There were plenty going around with all of the rebuilding going on from the damage done by the giant summonings rampaging around.
The ground was cracked with fissures running up and down from deep depressions. Buildings as far as they eye could see were in the process of being rebuilt, men walking around in tanned and plain clothes while carrying supplies and building materials. It was somewhat disheartening to see his old home in such a state, but the circumstances could have been far, far worse.
"So how we doing this?" Kisame asked. His chosen Transformation had left his skin pale in tone with black hair that spiked upwards. "We find some ANBU and make them talk? That's always fun."
"But not necessary," Itachi said as he activated his Sharingan behind the cover of his Transformation, making it seem as though he was looking through a tinted lens. "I remember several of the identities of those among their rank from my time on active duty. Given the scope of what has happened, all of them will likely have the answers we're looking for. I just need to make eye contact and I can get the information without needing to shed blood."
The truth was a bit more complicated than that. The Hokage had a plant, so to speak. With the aid of a Yamanaka, they could be made to hold information to be given to him and, by extension, Pain. This allowed them to control what information got leaked to Akatsuki.
"Pheh. That's boring," Kisame whined.
But he followed behind him as they walked through the streets until Itachi spotted the plant agent, an off-duty man sitting in a food vendor while eating alone. They entered and placed an order, with Itachi using his Sharingan to make the chef tune-out and ignore the three of them after placing their order while he enthralled the man to have him spill classified information.
Kisame listened impassively, while savoring his takoyaki made of imported octopi, as the pair spoke in a muted tone. The man revealed the One-Tailed Jinchuuriki had been captured after its defeat by the Nine-Tailed Jinchuuriki, placed in a private facility under heavy guard, and there were no plans to execute him at the moment. As far as Kisame would know, it was all the man had to offer as he had seen Itachi do the same thing numerous times.
Once Itachi finished retrieving the information, he planted a suggestion for the man to depart in a hurry. This left the two alone to eat in peace as they contemplated what action to take next with the information.
"Any idea which place they're holding him?" his partner asked.
Itachi nodded his head slightly. "I can think of a few locations. But we'd never be able to infiltrate them without causing a pandemonium. In a best case scenario, they'd move him while we were bogged down fighting. For now, we should simply take the information we have and get it to Pain as quickly as possible."
Any further conversation died when two Jounin walked in that he recognized: Kurenai Yuuhi and Asuma Sarutobi. It seemed like they were meeting alone as they took a seat next to one another at the stall and placed their own orders.
This could prove troublesome, Itachi thought to himself as Kisame spared them the occasional glance to size them up. The chef was still under a command to ignore Kisame and Itachi, which the woman was likely to notice in enough time given her reputation. Any effort on his part to change that would probably alert them faster.
And then, to make his life more complicated, Kakashi Hatake walked in and took a seat next to them. From the conversation that sprung up, it seemed like he was thanking the woman for her efforts in tutoring his student before the exams. When she inquired about the girl's health, he said she doesn't remember much of that day from head trauma, but Sasuke was filling her in on the details and would actually be meeting him there to discuss a training regimen.
That gave Itachi a minor compulsion to want to stay and listen in on his little brother's progress and growth. While he personally approved of allowing Kakashi to be Sasuke's teacher, he still couldn't help but wonder how his growth was going beyond the occasional reports from the Hokage. But no, they needed to leave while they could.
"Let's get back to work," he said, standing from his seat. The act grabbed the three Leaf shinobi's attention for a moment, but they seemingly brushed it off as the second laborer shoved the rest of his takoyaki on a stick into his mouth and then followed him out.
No sooner than they were halfway back to the opening he created did the world around them swirl. They soon found themselves bound by thick tree roots the size of Anacondas. Itachi only let loose a soft sigh.
"Busted, huh?" Kisame chuckled as he glanced over to Itachi, ignoring the woman appearing from the tree roots with a kunai in her hand. "So much for that plan, eh?"
Itachi said nothing as he dispelled the illusion placed upon them. The moment it vanished, they found themselves surrounded on three sides by Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma. So much for getting in and out without a fight now, he supposed.
"So what gave us away?" Kisame asked as he rubbed his nose while still under the Transformation technique. A grin stretched across his face as he did so.
Asuma spat out his cigarette and crushed it beneath his combat sandals as he reached for his weapons. "Next to the Chuunin Exams, a reconstruction period is when a village is most vulnerable to infiltration, since there's an influx of supplies and outside hands to deal with the repairs. Yet, for laborers, your hands are remarkably un-calloused."
"Not to mention most have the same break period and don't leave the food vendors outside their work area. But the tools on your belts are better suited for stonework and masonry. That group has already had their break hours ago, and woodworking is being done around this area," Kurenai noted. "The fact that you placed a Genjutsu on the chef to ignore your presence was something I couldn't help but notice as you left as well."
"And breaking out of that Genjutsu so easily all-but confirms it," Kakashi finished, rounding out the three. "I've already sent for ANBU with a Shadow Clone, so how about you drop the disguises and surrender peacefully. Hm?"
Damn their perceptiveness, Itachi thought as he went ahead and dropped his Transformation. He hated the thought of having to cripple the Leaf's forces further after the Invasion, but he had to keep his cover in the organization intact. That meant dealing with this efficiently.
"Let's not waste time then, Kisame."
[0-0-0]
Shizune hummed softly as she watched Tonton nibble on her lunch. It was midday and her mistress had gotten herself drunk as usual the night before. There was no doubt that once her deep slumber ended when evening came around, she would likely be in need of something for her hangover.
Looking at Tonton left her deep in thought. How long had she been away from the Leaf now, keeping an eye on the woman that her uncle had fallen for? How long had the strong Sannin that she had followed out on her sabbatical been wandering around aimlessly to forget the pain of her past and losses?
Her musings were interrupted when Tonton suddenly lifted her head and wiggled her snout towards the door. Someone was coming then. While Shizune was wishing that it was just someone passing by, she didn't have high hopes of that. Several experiences in the past, dealing with those who her Lady had some outstanding debts with and came to collect, had taught her better over the years.
"Is it another debt collector?" she asked.
Tonton shook her head. "Buhi. Buhi!"
Not one of the ones they'd met so far, Shizune translated. "Do you smell anything else familiar about them?"
A nod this time. "Bu-buhi!"
"A toad?" That brought to mind the missive that they received some time back from the Leaf. While she had only met Lord Jiraiya a few times, she knew that he definitely had that scent on him a great deal of the time. Her Lady had made jokes about it sometimes while inebriated.
It was likely him and, as she was affiliated with the Leaf, she should hear him out. Not to mention that if he was coming personally then they probably wanted them to return to the village. But her Lady wouldn't likely be willing to deal with him so soon. In fact, she'd been very vocal about what to do if someone from the Leaf came while she was out cold.
Either drive them off or run away—even if she had to cart her off in a drunken stupor. Since she couldn't drive off someone of his level, nor wanted to risk it and offend him, she opted for the latter option.
Shizune opened the window to get ready to do just that when she found the Toad Sage there already. He was sitting cross-legged on the wall, defying gravity with a smile on his face. There was no scent coming off of him.
"It's not nice to try and run, Shizune-chan," he said calmly.
"Jiraiya-sama…" She backed away a few steps as he climbed inside of the room. "If you're here, then who is it that Tonton smelled?"
No sooner than she asked did a storage tag slip under the door and then released its contents. A blonde boy popped out and looked around the room until he saw the Toad Sage and then opened it. There was a black-haired boy with a toad on his head waiting, who stepped inside as the blonde one vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Told you it'd work," he said to the older shinobi as he picked up the tag. "Pay up!"
"Yeah, yeah, just get back to the room and start working on those balloons," said the Toad Sage as he closed the window. The boy grumbled under his breath and then left out. Lord Jiraiya then turned back to her. "It's been awhile since I've seen you, Shizune-chan. You've gotten bigger."
She inclined her head low at the man, having been caught trying to run away. It was technically an act of treason. "I'm sorry. I'll accept whatever punishment you want to give me."
"I expected Princess would have given you instructions to fly the coop if I came sniffing around, and the Old Man hasn't made it an official request yet, so there's no harm done." He looked over to Tsunade's inelegant sleeping form. "How's she doing?"
"…About the same as the last time we met," she admitted. The death of her uncle and her Lady's brother had rendered the woman on a self-destructive path, slow-suicide in all but name. By going with her and caring for her, Shizune hoped that she could at least slow her degradation to an extent.
He must've understood that too, because he set a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Thanks for looking after the Princess all of this time for us. It couldn't have been easy, and you shouldn't have had to spend so many years of your childhood doing so alone."
"It hasn't been a burden," she told him in a voice that was soft, yet honest. "There's nothing I would have rather been doing and I've learned a lot, so it hasn't been a waste. I just…"
She just wanted to see to it that her Lady returned to how she was before. Shizune just wanted to see her happy again, like Tsunade had been when her uncle was around. If keeping her company meant that she could see her smiling again and happy, then the years spent wouldn't matter—whether it was another year from now or ten.
"Me too, Shizune-chan," the Toad Sage said as he took a seat near where she had been. "Me and the Old Man want nothing more than that after everything's been said and done these last few weeks. That's why I'm here now."
So they have come to bring us back, she figured. "Can it wait until she wakes up? She's had a long day."
"Sure," he said. "I'll fill you in on what's been happening in the village until now, while we wait."
[0-0-0]
"Well, that turned out more fun than I thought," Kisame said with his trademark grin as they stood within the confines of an alley. They were in a nearby town, having escaped the village and the pursuing Anbu Officers…well, not so much escape as Kisame had all-but sheared through enough of their numbers that they called the chase off after they were a good distance from the village.
He'd also nearly disemboweled the Hokage's son before Might Guy had shown up, but the man had been lucky all the things considered. He could at least be brought back into fighting form with a short period of recovery and minor skin grafting. As for Kakashi and Kurenai, Itachi did say they were pressed for time. Hopefully a few Yamanaka and medic-nin could deal with the mental trauma of his Tsukuyomi being forced upon them.
If not then they were just unfortunate casualties and it was an unfortunate means to an end.
"We shouldn't linger," Itachi said. "Even if they've withdrawn to tend to their wounded and dead, it'll be a matter of time before they send someone more specialized to pursue us."
They were getting ready to press onwards when they heard someone stop at the mouth of the alley they were in. Itachi had gone out of his way to hastily layer it with an external genjutsu, to give it the illusion of being empty while they readied new Transformation disguises. Such a thing was easily peered through by the pair of crimson eyes that stared straight at him.
"It's been a long time, Sasuke," Itachi said, devoid of all emotion as he stared at his brother. He'd gotten much bigger since the time he spent chasing after him when they were younger.
"Itachi!" Sasuke hissed, the word dripping with venom as it left his mouth.
"The Sharingan…" Kisame seemed slightly intrigued as he turned back to Itachi. "I thought you'd killed off your entire clan."
"He wasn't worth mentioning or killing," Itachi said to that. The cold words only served to stir his brother's anger further until his left hand became alight with blue lightning that chirped like a thousand angry birds, drawing even more attention. "So he taught him the Chidori."
His naïve little brother rushed straight ahead to impale him with it. "DIE!"
Itachi felt immensely disappointed. As if something so blatant would work on anyone of his skill-level. He caught the assailing hand at the wrist and then drove his knee into Sasuke's abdomen hard enough to knock the breath out of him.
The effect was twofold in the end. It forced Sasuke to drop the technique, unable to concentrate from the sudden pain spiking through him. And it dropped him to his knees while his wrist was still in Itachi's grasp, on the verge of vomiting.
Itachi then hefted him into the air by his wrist. If he was this weak yet brash enough to leave the village to chase after him, then it was only a matter of time before Sasuke got himself killed. "If this is the extent of your power after this long, your hatred hasn't tempered you enough. Perhaps you need a reminder of that day?"
Itachi's Sharingan morphed into its kaleidoscopic form and true fear entered Sasuke's eyes. He knew what was coming and nothing could stop it. The brief scream for him not do it again died as Sasuke's mind was subjected to 24 hour within his Tsukuyomi and his body went limp.
Seeing his eyes were half-lidded and the crimson hue of his Sharingan had faded, Itachi dropped him like that. Sasuke had his headband, so when someone saw him they'd notify the proper authorities and see him back into the Leaf's care. The rogue Uchiha then turned back to his partner. "Let's go, Kisame."
"You just gonna leave him like this?" he asked. "It'd be better to kill him now, before he gets in the way again."
"I need him alive," Itachi said. "You've noticed my eyesight deteriorating."
He did. "I wasn't going to say anything if you weren't."
"His hatred of me will eventually drive him to become stronger, and to do so he will need to create bonds with his teammates—such is the nature of the Hidden Leaf's method of training, the fostering of cooperation. When those bonds mature, I'll return to sever them and make him watch. The grief of loss will cause his eyes will flourish up to the point they reach the same level of my own, at which point I will claim them for myself and become able to see once more."
"Damn, that's cold," Kisame said with a note of mirth in his voice as Itachi walked past him, towards the mouth of the alley. "I'd just kill someone if I needed to, but you want him to get stronger through grief just so you can crush him and take his eyes out their sockets? Honestly, I kinda feel bad for the kid."
Neither one was aware that, clinging to the fringes of his consciousness, Sasuke heard every word of what his brother said….