The Art Of The Possible
Kamiko had not been happy when I told her she wasn't allowed to go on a mission until Team Kakashi reported back to Konoha. She had been even more unhappy when I forced her to help me with my ANBU work with the excuse that she wouldn't be leaving the village soon anyways and she might as well learn how to be the Commander should I be killed in action. The last part made her hit me. Apparently good friends don't talk about getting killed. Nor are they supposed to force their friend to do paperwork.
"It's great practice for when I force you to become Commander!" I insisted, smiling smugly at her. "I won't be the Commander forever, I'm sure Tsunade will let me teach a Genin Team eventually and then you'll be ready to take my spot!"
"Oh please, if you want a Genin Team, you'll have to become the Hokage and order yourself one." I glared at Kamiko and even with her tanuki mask, I could tell that she was smirking at me. "But that'll also mean that you'll have so much paperwork that you won't have time."
"I could always order someone else to be the Hokage after giving myself a Genin Team!" I argued.
"Did the paperwork scare you away from wanting to be the Hokage?" Kamiko snorted in amusement.
"Yeah… Plus I want to do missions and I can't do that from the Hokage Office…" I explained, having changed my mind about wanting the position after hearing Tsunade complain about it for the past three years. 'Besides, Naru-chan will become the Hokage, so I'll just make him give me a squad.'
"You're planning on forcing Naruto to give you a Genin Team, aren't you?" Kamiko deadpanned.
"You know me so well." I bragged happily. Just as we finished the last stack of paper, the door opened and an ANBU agent with a tiger mask walked in.
"Commander, the Hokage wants to see you." Tiger stated monotony.
"Ah, Tanuki, take care of my duties here while I meet her." I ordered my friend, earning a scowl in response, before using a Shunshin to head over to Tsunade's office.
"I take it you have knew information regarding Orochimaru?" I asked the second I saw Tsunade behind her mountain of paperwork.
"Yes, Yamato reported that they've located a hideout and I assume that by the time you're able to reach it, it'll already be evacuated. Your mission is to bring a small squad and bring back everything that can help us learn more about Orochimaru." Tsunade explained and stood up so she could see me and not all of her paperwork. "You'll need a small and effective team, any idea of who you'll bring?"
"Tanuki and Mouse." I responded swiftly. "Mouse has been getting good at sealing, so he'll be able to bring back everything needed and between Tanuki and myself, we'll be able to infiltrate and escape quickly."
"Then look through Yamato's report and leave at once." Tsunade ordered and handed me a file.
"Will do." I did a mock-salute, which would have Kamiko throwing her weapons at me in frustration and left with a Shunshin.
I tightened my half-up twin ponytails and looked at my small team. Mouse and Tanuki were both skimming through the report Yamato had sent. After a long journey, we had finally reached the place Yamato claimed Orochimaru's hideout would be and once the final preparations were done, we would start the mission.
"Any chakra signatures?" I asked Mouse, our best sensor.
"Nothing, it appears this hideout isn't used for prisoners either." Mouse responded after a few seconds.
"Then let's go for it!" I said brightly, still keeping my voice low. "Both of you keep up your guard, it's a high probability that Orochimaru sent someone to collect anything that can be valuable as well. Mouse you'll need to be quick, if we're ambushed, Tanuki and I can only hold someone off for so long."
The two ANBU Agents nodded in response and we quickly headed for the blown-up hideout. The hideout was huge, and it took us a lot of time searching before we found anything useful. Luckily, our efforts paid off when we found a lab. However, it was also when we found the lab, that Mouse sensed another presence in the hideout heading our way.
"Tanuki, stay here and keep an eye on Mouse. I'll try to stop the person." I ordered the other two. "If needed I'll call for Tanuki. Try to finish here quickly, we need to leave as quick as possible. Understood?"
"Understood." Mouse and Tanuki responded emotionlessly.
"Direction?" I asked Mouse, referring to the other chakra signature in the hideout.
"Go to the right and you'll run into the target." Mouse answered while sealing different files into one single scroll. I quickly spun around and hurried out of the lab.
"You might as well come out, Sasu-chan." I stated as I saw the pair of red eyes shining through the darkness. "Let nee-chan see how much you've grown."
"Hn, should an ANBU talk to a missing nin so foundly?" Sasuke asked me as he stepped out from the darkness, allowing me to see him. He had grown in the past three years, though his face and hair looked mostly the same. His clothes though, were slightly questionable. 'What's the deal with the pink bow? And the completely open shirt? No nee-chan is supposed to see her otouto half-naked!'
"You're not supposed to know who the ANBU Agent is either, but I really can't hide from my beloved little Sasu-chan." I said innocently. 'Definitely not stalling, not at all.' I thought sarcastically, having no desire to actually fight Sasuke. "You've grown up."
"Hn, you're still short." Sasuke stated factually.
"Oi, you're just tall now brat!" I shot back, but smiled behind the mask.
"And you're stalling. Scared to fight me?" Sasuke asked with an arrogant smirk. I activated my Sharingan and cast a genjutsu, giving us the opportunity to talk without being interrupted or heard by anyone else.
"I'm going to tell you something important and you're not going to dispel the genjutsu until I'm done talking." I stated, having decided that Sasuke needed to know the truth. "I'm going to tell you the truth about the Uchiha Massacre."
"What truth? I was there!" Sasuke snapped, his eyes darkening in pain of the memories.
"You don't know everything." I explained softly and took off my mask so he could see me properly.
"That man killed them! He wanted to test his capabilities!" Sasuke argued, clenching his hands by his side. His pain and sorrow obvious.
"Will you listen if I tell you that Itachi did not kill everyone alone?" I asked him, knowing fully well that Sasuke could break out of the genjutsu if he wanted and it was therefore essential that he wanted to hear what I was going to tell him.
"What? No, it was just him!" Sasuke insisted, seemingly desperate to keep his version of the story the true version.
"No. He was not alone." I told him and proceeded to tell him how the clan was planning a Coup d'État and how Shisui, Itachi and I had tried to stop it. How Danzo had stopped Shisui from using his Mangekyo to stop it, how Danzo had ordered Itachi to kill everyone despite the Sandaime wanting to talk with the clan first and how the man who called himself Uchiha Madara had helped Itachi in exchange Itachi joining the Akatsuki.
"You're lying. He killed them all! I was there!" Sasuke insisted angrily.
"Then don't you remember? That night tore him apart, Sasuke!" I told him, my eyes watering at the memories of Itachi during that night. Sasuke stared at me, clearly thinking back.
"Crying?" Sasuke suddenly muttered, as if he was talking to himself. "He was crying?"
"Yes. He was forced to kill his own emotions to finish the job. All of it because he needed to keep you safe, Sasu-chan." I told him calmly. "In exchange for your safety, Tachi was and is still, willing to do anything. He killed his parents, his lover and the rest of the clan, so that you would not grow up in a Konoha in the middle of a civil war."
"Then why would he tell me that he was the one who did it?" Sasuke asked in complete shock.
"Because he wanted you to kill him and restore the honour of the Uchiha Clan." I responded with a deep sigh.
"Then I'll kill that Danzo guy, and everyone else who forced him to do this." Sasuke hissed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'll destroy all of them!"
"No. What you will do is help me save Itachi." I said firmly.
"Save him? Can't he just leave the Akatsuki?" Sasuke asked, his cheeks stained with tears.
"The only way to leave the Akatsuki is death. Which is what you'll help him achieve." I explained and grabbed him shoulders tightly. "Listen to me, Sasuke, Itachi is sick. He'll die if he doesn't get the proper treatment. Tsunade has prepared for surgery and the treatment he needs, but for him to get it, the Akatsuki needs to think that he's dead."
"What? He's sick?" Sasuke asked, his voice panicking slightly. 'After hating him for more than half of your life, you're worrying about him now.' I smiled slightly at him.
"Itachi, Tsunade and I have already planned how we're going to do this. All you need to do is hunt down and try to kill Itachi. Itachi will let me know when and where the fight is taking place and I'll bring him back to Konoha afterwards. We'll announce him dead and the Akatsuki will hopefully believe us." I explained the plan. "Unfortunately, you aren't supposed to know about this."
"What? Then why would you tell me?" Sasuke asked me in confusion. "And who decided that I shouldn't know about this?"
"Itachi decided that you shouldn't know. He's a bit of a bastard that way." I stated with a smirk. "But no worries, Sasu-chan, I know just how to make it seem like you don't know."
"Really? Because you're the ever-awesome Nakamaru Akira?" Sasuke asked, mocking my usual tone of introducing myself.
"Exactly!" I said, completely ignoring him mocking me. "Ah, you've finally learned!"
I smiled sweetly at him and activated my Mangekyo Sharingan.
"You will forget everything I've told you until you're alone after fighting Itachi. After the fight with Itachi, you'll take his eyes with you when you leave, but leave the body alone." I winced in pain of losing such large amount of chakra and the strain I felt on my eyes. 'Yey, Tachi I'm joining you on the way to blindness.' I mentally cheered sarcastically and broke the first genjutsu I had cast, allowing our conversation to be heard again. "You wanted a fight, Sasu-chan? Think you can keep up?"
"I should be asking you that." Sasuke said arrogantly and smirked at me. It looked strange with the tear stains though. I unsealed my tanto and got into my stance.
"I see you have started learning kenjutsu, let me see how good you are." I told him calmly.
"Hn." Was Sasuke's only reply before he rushed towards me with his sword blazing of lightning chakra.
Our blades clashed again, sparks of lightning flying everywhere. The red Sharingan glaring fiercely at me as Sasuke tried to get the upper hand. He still had a while to go before he would be able to beat me in kenjutsu, though.
"Commander, time to leave." I heard Tanuki call out from behind me and I quickly blocked yet another strike of his chokuto before jumping away from him while running through my hand seals.
"Katon: Gokakyo no Jutsu!" I channelled my chakra into a large ball of fire while Tanuki used an earth jutsu to make a hole in the roof for us to jump through. "To Konoha."
We quickly started running as fast as possible, putting as much of a distance between Sasuke and us as we could. 'You've gotten strong, Sasu-chan.' I though with a soft smile gracing my face. 'Strong enough that you can fool the Akatsuki with a fight against Itachi. I'm sorry I blocked the memories, but I know you won't be able to fight him with everything you've got if you know. The world needs Uchiha Itachi to die.'