I swung at the wall with kubikiri houcho and was pleased that it sunk a good nine inches into the wall…or door according to Choukichi. The captain froze and I pulled back and swung again, this time a large chunk of the wall fell through. I stepped back and Choukichi got up. I stepped foreword and looked through.
"Well there's no kid…just the meeting room."
Choukichi looked through and frowned. "Well then I guess we should just meet up with the others…let's go then."
"Wait," I looked towards one of the walls, "I do not remember that."
"What?"
"There is some sort of hole there that wasn't there before." I stepped back again and began breaking the wall again. Within four swings enough was broken off I could step through. I walked to the hole and looked down at a leaf headband sitting by it. "Choukichi-san, I think they went in here."
"Oh really?" He sounded a little skeptical. I thrust the headband out as he walked up to me.
"What is this then?"
"You think they left it behind to indicate where they went?"
"Well why else would it be here? Besides over there is where they would have come from."
Choukichi looked through the door I gestured towards. "Okay then let's get in there…I suppose it may be where they would hide Naruto."
"Right," I jumped down and was met with some sort of underground river. I swam up and located a ledge and swam to it. I got out of the way just in time for Choukichi to land where I had just been. I pushed myself up and used my chakra to stand on the water. Standing on moving water has to be one of the trickiest yet simple things to do…I personally hate it with a passion. Choukichi joined me.
"There is a light over there…I'm guessing that is where we need to go."
"Yea," we began to run, as best we could in the circumstances, towards the light.
…
He was ahead of me by about fifteen feet…the hardest fifteen feet I ever had to close. I have no idea who this guy is but he is fast!
The two shinobi split up as soon as they realized that the Itachi they saw was a clone. I assume something happened for him to no longer be able to maintain the clone. I hope it gave them enough time to get far into the hideout because now they were being chased by this Sound ninja…who of course was being chased by me, but I know when I have met my match and this guy just might be it! Kisame chased after the kunoichi who sprinted off into the woods. She was possibly faster than this guy but her strength was far less.
Finally I pushed myself within arm's reach of the man, just as we reached what appeared to be a scene of a fight. I grabbed his shoulder and threw him off track and immediately took my stance between him and the door to the next room.
He remained frozen for a moment then slowly walked over to face me. He stood in a pretty dense puddle of blood…whoever lost that was dead but no longer here. Behind me was a larger room, before I turned around I saw that there was a large hole broken in the wall apposite the door. Obviously they had gotten some things done here while we held off these two little pet's of Orochimaru's.
"Karin."
"What is that?" The man spoke with a vaguely familiar voice…the name, however, was completely alien to me.
"She is dead." I noticed that by the inclination of his head that he was looking at the blood below his feet.
"Huh…a friend of yours?"
"No, she was a fool…a tool of Lord Orochimaru."
"Like you?"
He was silent for a moment, "May her death have been swift…I would assume your companions killed the girl without ever knowing who she was or that it was even her that they had killed…a useful jutsu introduced to us by the Akatsuki… 'Shapeshifting' is what they call it."
I suddenly recalled a jutsu I encountered in Sunagakure that used a person as a puppet while who you thought it was could be miles away. "What is with all of the talk? Tired of being silent?"
The shinobi did not answer; he merely stood there staring at me through the slits in his mask.
"Well I am sorry to tell you, but before this is done you will be spending an eternity in silence…dead men don't speak." I rushed him at full speed. I needed to wear him down some, get in hits wherever I could. My only chance was to use lightning blade as soon as possible but that wasn't something a person voluntarily stands still for. With how fast this guy is I may have to physically restrain him as I did with Zabuza those years ago.
He dodged my every strike easily. He never blocked, only dodged. He was too fast even for me even with my sharingan in use…if Zabuza was here he could use his silent killing technique and have much more of a chance of success than I, but I have no idea where he is or if he is even still alive.
A mistake…it was so simple and I was so lucky to see it! He took one small wrong step and I could hit him! I struck immediately, my foot colliding with the side of his head hard enough to knock him several feet away from me, his mask flying further down the hall. The shinobi remained still, on his hands and knees, with his hair remaining to hide his face.
I sprinted foreword to hit him again but was met with another fast elusion. I returned his quick stepping with fast footwork of my own and moved to strike again, this time with a kunai in my hand. He finally turned to face me…the shinobi's face seemingly frozen in my vision for an eternity.
It couldn't be…
With one fluid motion he had knocked me out in the midst of my sheer astonishment.
…
She vanished! Right before my eyes the damn kunoichi vanished! I stood on a thick branch scanning the area with fleeting eyes. How the hell did this happen? How is that bitch so fast?
If there is one thing that has saved my ass over the years, other than my brute strength that is, it would be my keen hearing. I spun around and grabbed the woman by the throat. Her pale blue eyes went wide as I expertly shifted my hand, using that infamous strength of mine, and snapped her neck. After a moment of taking in my kill I let her drop a good twenty feet to the ground. I looked back in the direction from which I was lead and started back. She had not taken me far, the little kunoichi zigzagged a lot through the trees…that is one advantage the smaller-built shinobi have against me. I made it back fast enough and ran around to where Deidara had apparently blasted a giant opening for us. I ran in then stopped. Has it really been so long? I looked both ways for a moment.
Left! Left is where Sasuke's laboratories are I am sure of it! I sprinted down the hall hoping I was not too late and missed out on a good fight!
…
Standing there I am not sure either of us knew what to do, but by the smug look on Sasuke's face he was positive of his every intention. The tunnel had opened up into a very large, circular cavern lit by blue-flamed torches. The water came from a waterfall cascading down from about midway up the wall opposite of the entrance and poured into a ring of clear water surrounding where we stood and eventually draining out into the river we came up on. The water obviously came from the same body we met the two sound ninja on, and this secret room must be why the hideout is shaped like a ring, with all doors on the outside. I never would have put the two together to guess that it hid this place in its core. I was surprised to see Hidan kneeling a few feet behind Sasuke, I was sure Deidara had killed him, but I did not put much thought to it…there is but one thing that matters now.
Itachi was still as a statue even when Sasuke began laughing, a cold and evil sound that caused me to flinch.
"Well you both made it all the way back to me…how sweet!" He continued to smile. "Hidan, why don't you go alert Madara of our guests' arrival?"
Hidan stood up, giving one last glance back at the both of us, then leapt through the falling water into what was apparently a hidden passage.
"So brother and lover came to avenge dear little Sasuke! It touches me, it truly does!"
"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I took a solitary step foreword as I yelled. I could not stand to hear that sing-song voice mocking me…Orochimaru would pay for every little wrong he ever did me, I swear it!
"Well, well Itachi it looks like you have been keeping your hands full, this little spitfire giving you much trouble?"
My throat tightened as I tried not to yell back…I had to stay calm, he wanted to get me off guard and I could not let that happen! Our plan must fall through perfectly…if it did then I could get my revenge at last.
…
We sprinted down the tunnel, watching the eerie blue light at the end get bigger and bigger, eventually splitting off into multiple, smaller lights.
"HEY!"
We both stopped and turned, scanning for the source of the voice.
"Over here," Our eyes landed on Deidara at the same time. We walked over to him. His leg appeared to be injured as he was holding himself up with quivering arms on the stone wall. "Fuck, the ANBU elite you two are. Ran right past me and didn't even notice!"
"Shut up…what the hell is this place?"
"I don't know…Itachi called it a secret whatever…some place to hide the jinchuriki." He let go of the wall and balanced himself on his left leg, which also appeared to be just as tired of his arms.
"The jinchuriki? So Naruto is down here?"
"I don't know…MAYBE." Deidara was apparently in a very foul mood…he had probably been dragging himself all the way down this tunnel for a while now.
"What happened to your leg anyways?"
"Fucker broke it…I killed him though so it was worth it."
I tried not to laugh…he almost sounded like a younger, less rational me. "Well why didn't you use one of your clay things to fly down here instead of dragging along like a sick puppy."
"BECAUSE I CAN'T," he snarled. "If I could I would have done it! This damn tunnel is too small for one big enough to carry my weight."
"Hey do you two mind keeping it down? And we should really move on now, this mission is best executed as quickly as possible."
"Right," Choukichi started back off down the tunnel. I was about to follow then I noticed the angry, pouty, childish look Deidara was giving me. "What? You can make it you were doing so well when we found you."
His brow furrowed with annoyance at my sarcastic baiting but his mouth remained in the same aggravated pout. Not wanting to waste more time I decided to just give him what he wanted. I turned and bent my knees to accompany his shorter stature then helped him onto my back. I heard him hiss as I touched his injured leg, but instead of being a brat about it he just put up with it…as it was a guy like him with a prouder-than-a-lion demeanor must be nearly crushed by these circumstances. I sprinted to catch up with Choukichi, Deidara clinging to me as I dashed unsteadily over the erratic surface of the river.
…
I watched him. I had pulled down his mask, revealing a site not many people have seen. The side of my head was throbbing where Kakashi had kicked me…I guess I had let my excitement about truly facing the copycat ninja after all these years get to me, I do not see how else I would have made a wrong move like that. I was sick of squatting here in front of him, but I would not leave till he had woken.
Finally he opened his mismatched eyes, after a second of taking in his situation he looked up at me. "A paralysis technique?"
"Yes," I tried to keep my face emotionless, but the circumstances made it very hard.
"So you are the one who betrayed the Leaf…to be honest I never would have suspected you, not ever. So how long have you been leaking information?"
"Hmm…roughly sixteen years."
"So since the ninetails attack…is that the milestone you were looking for?"
"More or less."
Kakashi remained staring directly at me, blinking as few times as humanly possible. "So it was your parents?"
"Yes."
"Do you intend to answer every question I ask?"
"Yes."
"Then kill me right?"
"Yes," I did not hesitate in the slightest. There was nothing to think about that was my intention…have one last conversation with this man then take him out of the equation before returning to my master.
"I suppose it would be stupid of me to ask if you really think it was truly Konoha's fault that your parents were killed."
"There corrupt elders ultimately lead to the event which killed them, there is no question to be asked." I pulled one of my swords from it sheath and held it ready in my hands.
"I see." Kakashi was silent for a while. "I do not know if I have anymore questions. I would just like you to know that the people of Konoha loved you…whether it is right or wrong that you are doing what you do it is not my place to say. I just hope you allow them to remain believing that you died…if nothing else then for your student's sake, those children don't deserve to know this, Iruka."
"Yes…I plan to."
Kakashi smiled, "thank you…and Naruto-"
I passed the blade across his throat; it was sharp and ran smooth. "Naruto will not have to worry…he will be dead."
