The three stared at each other in complete silence.
"What are we doing here, Itachi?" The shark man asked the other.
'Itachi?' Kane knew that name.
This was Sasuke's elder brother.
'I'm going to find Itachi, and bring him home.' Sasuke's voice echoed in Kane's mind.
"We're not ready to take the Nine Tails yet. What exactly are we doing here?" the blue man continued, throwing a suspicious look towards Itachi.
"I'll explain later, Kisame. Right now, I need to focus." Itachi said without ever taking his eyes off Kane. Slowly he took several steps forward, and Kane tensed.
"Kane Sanguis. Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune." Itachi droned monotonously.
Kane didn't feel safe. Not in the slightest; Itachi was a registered killer, despite what Sasuke said. And his companion didn't look so nice, either.
And yet, instead of feeling fear, Kane only felt anger.
"Yup, that's me. Can I help you? If not, get the hell out." Kane snapped.
All three ninja, even Itachi, looked surprised at Kane's words.
Maybe he should've kept his mouth shut.
"Hohoho! Feisty little guy, eh Itachi?" Kisame guffawed.
"Quiet, Kisame. I need to focus." Itachi stared Kane in the eyes.
Kane glared right back.
It was a poor decision.
"Tsukuyomi!" Itachi whispered as his eyes spun into the shape of a star.
Kane could see nothing but darkness and a red sky with small, black clouds. A red moon was shining in the distance, leaving a red glow across the blackened world. He found himself tied up to a cross, unable to move.
"Where... Where am I?"
"You're in my world, now. This is the world of Tsukuyomi." Itachi spoke as he materialized in front of Kane.
"Here, in this world, its space, time and substance are all controlled by me." Itachi continued as Kane looked around.
"What do you want from me?" Kane asked.
"Me? Nothing. It's what the Akatsuki wants." Itachi replied.
"Akatsuki?"
"Akatsuki is a large group filled with S-Ranked Missing Ninja from across the elemental nations. Our goal is to collect all nine of the Biju." Itachi continued.
"So that's it, then? You want the Kyuubi?"
"Precisely."
Kane glared at the man. Typical. Everything always came back to that damned demon.
"Akatsuki is not ready to take the biju from you. Not yet."
"Then why are you here?" Kane asked in confusion.
"To confirm something... And to warn you."
"Warn me?"
"About the Akatsuki. In approximately three years, Akatsuki will mobilize, and we will take the biju. By force, if necessary. Each container will have their biju extracted from them, and they will die during the process."
Kane felt a lump in his throat.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"As I said, to warn you. Take this knowledge, Kane Sanguis, and inform either the Hokage or Jiraiya of the Sannin. Speak of this, and my involvement, to nobody else." Itachi ordered.
Kane scoffed internally.
There was no way he would go to the Hokage.
"You didn't really answer my question. Why are you telling me this? Aren't you a member of this 'Akatsuki'?"
Itachi took several steps closer and placed two fingers atop Kanes forehead.
"Rest now, Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails. I am going to explore your mind for a while, until I find what it is that I seek. I can't have you waking up; my partner is already suspicious enough of my actions. Remember; only the Hokage or Jiraiya." Itachi said as his voice slowly faded away.
Kane opened his eyes to the familiar sight of a white ceiling.
Kami, but he hated the hospital.
"You're awake."
Kane slowly sat up to see Kakashi sitting in a chair in front of the bed.
"What happened?" Kane asked the cyclops.
"I was hoping you could tell me that, actually. You didn't report to the Hokage like I told you, so he sent me to retrieve you. Imagine my surprise when I find you passed out in the middle of your apartment."
Kane considered this for a moment, "How long was I out?"
"Two days, give or take a few hours."
"And... You don't know what happened to me?"
Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, "No. We were hoping you could explain when you awoke."
Kane said nothing.
"Well?" Kakashi probed.
"I don't know. I went to sleep that night, and now here I am."
Kakashi stared for several second, "I see. You're lying, but that's fine. Perhaps you'll be more talkative when the Fourth arrives. I'll go fetch him now." Kakashi said as he slowly stood up and made his way towards the door.
The moment the door clicked shut, Kane was out of bed and prying open the window.
"I told you, I don't know." Kane spoke with finality from his seat in front of the Hokage's desk.
Minato sighed before giving Kane a disarming smile.
"Alright, Kane. I'll stop asking... But we still need to discuss your little game of hookie you decided to play on your punishment."
"I felt sick." Kane lied through his teeth immediately.
Minato raised a single eyebrow, "Of course you did."
Minato rifled through several stacks of papers in front of him, before finally glancing back towards Kane.
"This Friday you will report to Mrs. Takanashi like you were supposed to do last week. I'll make an exception for your absence this time, seeing as how you just woke up from a two day nap."
Kane only nodded.
"Also, try not to leave the hospital so quickly upon waking up. You need to be checked out first; it complicates things for the hospital staff when their patients run off like that."
'Good.' Kane thought vindictively.
"You may go." Minato dismissed as he began reading through one of the folders he extracted. Kane got up and made his way for the door, Minato's voice stopping him just before he exited.
"And Kane?" Kane turned to face the Hokage.
He stared at Kane with a harsh look on his face, "You will go see Mrs. Takanashi this Friday."
Kane had to suppress a shiver as he nodded slowly.
A group of S-Ranked Missing Ninja were going to hunt him down in three years, kill him, and extract his biju.
Kane couldn't even bring himself to be upset about it. Just another drop in the bucket as far as he was concerned.
He watched from his seat in the library as the boiling water spun in a circle above him, forming a ring shape.
Kane learned from the Fourth Hokage's questioning that they really did have no clue why he was knocked out at his place.
Two S-Ranked, Missing Ninja, one of whom is a Missing Ninja from Konoha, literally waltzed right into the village, came into his apartment and knocked him out.
And then they left.
And Konoha doesn't have a clue.
That didn't sit well with Kane in the slightest. Clearly, he wasn't safe here. As soon as the Akatsuki want to take him; they will.
Kane needed to be able to protect himself. He needed to grow stronger.
And fast.
How, though? He was still one of the weakest of the Rookie 9, topping only Sakura and Ino.
Well, he figured he was probably stronger than Choji and Shikamaru now that he could burn someone from the inside out if he managed to injure them. Kiba too, probably.
Still, he was weak. If Someone like Kiba or Shino were to go all-out on him from the very beginning, Kane doubted he'd ever land a single blow on them; let alone against Naruko or Sasuke.
Kane needed to train. He had three years; tops. He probably had less.
Well, he had less if they decided to waltz right back into the village and just snatch him, that is. He was a sitting duck at this point.
Kane paused, the water stopping its little dance as a thought occurred to him.
'What if... What if I left?'
The water began spinning once more.
"So you really don't know what happened?" Naruko asked Kane with a small frown on her face, Sasuke standing beside her. The two of them were wearing their Chunin vests, and the sight of the outfits caused an uneasy feeling to settle in Kanes belly.
"Nope. Not a clue." Kane replied dryly.
"Hn. The Idiot and I came to see you while you were knocked out. We would've stayed; well, Naruko would've stayed at least, but we had a mission."
"Yeah that's right! It was our third C-Rank since becoming Chunin!" Naruko beamed.
The uneasy feeling tightened.
"We're supposed to be heading out on our fourth right now, but Idiot here insisted we come check on you." Sasuke said.
"Well, I'm fine, as you can see." Kane responded without emotion.
"Yeah... We should get going, but... I'm glad you're okay, Kane." Naruko said with a disappointed smile. Sasuke gave him a nod, and the two were off.
The moment they were out of sight, Kane allowed a scowl to overtake his features.
'Hope they're having fun, going out on C-Ranks while I sit here getting attacked by S-Ranked Missing Ninja who plan on murdering me. Oh, Sasuke, by the way I ran into your brother. He's one of the ones that's going to kill me.'
Really, Kane thought, he shouldn't be surprised.
'I'm just an idiot. I need to quit feeling so freaking sorry for myself, and get the hell over it. This is how its always been, and how it always will be. It's time to grow the hell up and accept it.'
Well, it wasn't quite the same as always. He wasn't necessarily used to having S-Ranked ninja barge into his apartment...
It was the same as always, just more extreme.
Really - Kane thought with an amused grin, his mouth fool of noodles - his apartment had seriously become trashed.
He tossed another empty ramen cup onto the floor. Dozens were scattered all over the place, and Kane could actually see a bug inside the one in the far corner.
Hey, more power to them.
Keeping the place clean had never gotten rid of them anyway.
Kane felt a sort of sick satisfaction at the travesty that was his home. This place was a gift to him from the Fourth Hokage. Seeing it now, worse than ever before, brought Kane a twisted form of pleasure at the thought that he was spitting on the Fourth's gift to him.
Really, some gift it was.
Kane has always viewed this apartment as a godsend; sure, it was infested and run down, but it was his. It was the first gift he ever recieved, and it was his.
Now, he didn't care so much for it.
Minato Namikaze was the Hokage. Why the hell had he given him such a shitty apartment?! It made no sense! He could've easily given him a nice place to call his own!
He wasn't a bad guy. Kane may have come to hate the man, but Minato Namikaze was not a bad person. He was a kind individual, anyone who met him could see that.
So why did it feel like he had done Kane so dirty?
Because he had, technically. He had the moment he declared Kane the Jinchuriki. Still, Kane couldn't truly comprehend why such a gentle-hearted man would do such seemingly cruel things to a young, parentless child.
'Does it really matter anymore? What's done is done.' Kane told himself.
His whole life, Kane has asked the question 'Why?'. Why did the village hate him? Why was he treated like dirt? Why was he chosen to be the Jinchuriki? Why was he chosen to be the scapegoat for the real Jinchuriki?
Never has he come up with a good answer to the question 'Why'. Not once.
So it was time to stop asking 'Why' and start asking 'What?'.
As in, What can Kane do to make things better?
He was done being pushed around.
Kane knew it shouldn't be too hard to find Jiraiya of the Sannin. The man was still in the village, and really if he just spent a day sitting near the women's hot springs he was bound to run into him at some point.
The problem was, Kane hadn't tried looking for the man at all.
Itachi Uchiha told him to inform the Hokage or Jiraiya about Akatsuki. To pass the message on.
Why the hell should he?
Kane was the one that was in danger, and he already knew everything there was to know now. Telling Jiraiya about Akatsuki wouldn't help him at all, it would help Jiraiya.
And why would he care about that?
Really, Kane figured telling Jiraiya about Akatsuki could be detrimental to himself, not helpful. If he told Jiraiya, he'd tell the Fourth. If the Fourth found out, he'd probably put Kane under constant watch or something... He didn't want that. He already had to wait until the middle of the night just to go to the library or practice his Kekkei Genkai. The last thing he wanted was a babysitter, too.
He'd just keep this little tidbit of information to himself.
The problem was, he still didn't have a clue how he was going to train for an S-Ranked enemy ninja that could show up at his doorstep anytime they felt like it.
The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got at his situation. He didn't want Konoha finding out he had a Kekkei Genkai; it would cause too many problems. He didn't want Konoha finding out he had a bunch of S-Ranked Missing Ninja after him; it would cause too many problems. He had nobody to ask for help regarding his issues with Elemental Jutsu or how to practice with his Kekkei Genkai; asking for help would cause too. Many. Problems.
Kane felt like he was suffocating.
He hated living here. Everywhere he went people glared at him and talked behind his back because he supposedly contained a demon that was actually inside Naruko.
Kane felt jealousy and anger boil in his chest at remembering the sheer praise the villagers have been throwing at Naruko. The whole village was told about how she single-handedly defeated Gaara, who apparently turned into the Shukaku. Naruko was a hero, a true daughter of Minato, the future Hokage; these were just a few of the countless praises she was being showered with.
Him? He was treated like dirt.
'You know, one of these days I'm going to stop feeling sorry for myself.' Kane thought bitterly with his anger being redirected towards himself.
Being sad and upset about his situation has never solved anything. It was time to quit feeling sorry for himself. It was time to grow up and better himself. It was time to become a true Shinobi.
And so, Kane Sanguis decided it was time for a change.
It was time to leave Konoha.
End of Chapter 26.