Kisame strode down the blood-soaked and battered corridors, following Samehada's lead. The sadness and anger radiating from Itachi was making the sword twitchy. It twisted a little in his grasp and he soothed it a little. Itachi had to be really worked up. He reached the chamber and swung his sword up onto his shoulder. He looked down at the white thing engulfed in black, lightless flames.
"I never liked him anyway Itachi. Find out anything?"
The man turned and strode towards the exit. Kisame adopted his best motherly tone. It wasn't different from his normal voice.
"Itachi? You know sulking won't help."
"I have information for Leader-sama."
"Oooh, is it the Nine-Tails at last? We didn't even find him last time before all those idiots got in the way and you bailed."
Itachi didn't answer as he walked.
His mind was in turmoil. His brother was dead, and he was the last Uchiha. Outcast from the home he defended. The last of his kind. Traitor in the midst of traitors and the most dangerous men in the lands.
He realised his illness was going to catch him sooner rather than later, and realised that the majority of his plans had come to nothing.
He felt the tears beginning to form in his eyes and he blinked them away. He was stronger than this. Even though everything that he had fought for had failed, he would keep going. He would fight on.
He had no idea how. He couldn't return to Konoha. He couldn't let the masked man win. He couldn't let Nagato win either. His final victory would come in defying three people theirs.
Then again, he couldn't lose at anything either. He couldn't just turn on the Akatsuki so quickly though. Kisame was strong enough to fight him on a level par, and the others had unknown strengths.
His brain began to plan and think of how he could be most effective. When did he strike? Who did he strike?
Kisame felt the sword twitch as Itachi's negative emotions changed a little. The sword still wanted his chakra after all these years. He was always amazed by how hungry it was, even after it was able to devour so much of Kisame's.
"So it is the Nine-Tails then?"
He recovered his posture and kept walking, facing away from his partner.
"It is. He's going to be hard to find though. He hid in that base for three years."
The blue skinned man let out a long whistle.
"Interesting."
"He doesn't sound like a combat specialist though. He won't be much fun for you."
Kisame shrugged as they reached daylight again. Itachi turned to the entrance to the base. He didn't want any stain of Orochimaru's organisation to remain more than it needed to. This place was to be destroyed and blasted from the earth.
"Level this place Kisame, and sink it into the ground."
The man cackled as he placed his hands on the ground and focused his water chakra. Itachi felt the ground become a little wet before he looked at the small amount of buildings on the ground level.
They were small and fortified, mainly for show as a guard post of some sort. Most of the base was underground anyway. A conventional explosion wouldn't do. He wanted this place to sink without trace.
There was some shaking as the earth and rock around the base had water forced into it. Cracks grew under the pressure, solid dirt became thick mud that began to shift and run like rivers.
The Land of Sound had previously been the Land of Rice Fields, and now the long, muddy tracts that made up the majority of the land began to reclaim the land for their own. Thick dark mud slammed down on the weakened area.
Slowly the buildings began to sink before the falling inwards. The earth opened and swallowed the buildings whole and the crash of them falling on the base below echoed through the muddy plains around them. The soft rumbles of tunnels and chambers below collapsing under the water echoed deeply through the earth.
Anyone left alive in there wasn't any longer.
Water flooded into the sinkhole, forming a small, brown lake in the middle of the land. Itachi considered everything that Orochimaru must have had in there. The secret techniques and science now lost under mud and water.
He smiled as both sides were denied more weapons. He smiled as he took the first step of his plan.
Tsunade let the words sink into the poor girl who she'd just given the mission to. She tried to keep a soft, supporting face over the iron will that was going to impose the order.
Hinata looked into her Hokage's eyes for a sign that she was joking about this, and found none. This hadn't been what she had been expecting.
Then again, she didn't know what she had been. A few days ago, this would have been her handing in her head plate and resigning her commission as a chunin. How she had gained that rank was beyond her, she barely remembered the exams.
Now she had a new mission of a higher rank than any she had participated in before and she was alone in it.
What was worse was that it was so simple for her that she couldn't refuse and give up her shinobi profession.
"Hokage-sama, I just need to talk to him as a therapist?"
She was a little too shocked to be nervous about this.
"Yes Hinata. Two one hour sessions a week, and the possibility of an external mission or two to keep you in shape and give you things to talk about with him, as well as keeping you in touch with Shino and Kiba more. You will continue training however you see fit."
She considered the way things were and looked out of the window in the direction of the training grounds and monument.
"May I have...Can I...I would like to..."
"Think it over somewhere? Of course. This is a high ranking mission and one you should think about. I would rather have you than someone else."
She nodded. She needed this moment once again.
Her steps took her gently out of the Tower and towards the training grounds. She nodded gently towards anyone who bade her welcome, but moved quietly towards her destination.
The village thinned out into the trainings grounds and she headed for one in particular. She used to hide just there, and she'd watch him train from there.
She didn't bother trying to forget, she just walked on. She was safe here.
She didn't need to think to navigate to her destination, and she found the rock and her place of solitude. She wasn't the only one who did this; several times she had seen other shinobi here.
She realised her spot was taken by another figure she didn't recognise for a few moments. Then she dived silently behind another rock when she did.
Him.
Why here? Why now?
She trembled with anger she knew she couldn't hold on to. He was here for the same reason. He didn't deserve to be. She needed this time.
She turned from behind the rock and raised her voice, telling him to go. Nothing happened. Then she realised she hadn't moved a muscle.
She couldn't confront him, not now, not like this not.
"Hinata?"
His voice. It sounded better than it had before when she had found him. What had she been thinking? Why had she rushed him back without thought like nothing had mattered?
His voice was less sure than before. She looked up into his face. His hood was down and his hair had grown out a little. His expression was unreadable.
She fought the urge to run and tried to form words.
"Naruto."
The silence was total, absorbing all other sound.
He spoke first.
"I'm sorry."
Well she hadn't been expecting that. She realised that him saying it had actually made her feel angry. She tried to bite it back. Had Tsunade-sama known he would be here?
"For what?"
He pondered this for a moment. Every second he did made her temper rise within her a little more.
"For what happened. I made a mistake."
"A mistake?"
He looked at the monument and then down at the earth.
"I didn't mean to shoot him."
She didn't look at him. She realised she was trembling with the anger she'd kept inside.
"I never learned his name."
Something within her snapped, and the juuken strike jabbed out, her finger glowing gently with the chakra. He ducked under it.
She fought the urge to send more; it had never been so strong. She'd pushed the feeling down when her father had been harsh, but there was nothing to really hold it back here.
"I did not mean to offend you but..."
She decided another few attempts at hitting him were deserved. He kept dodging but eventually one caught him and he stumbled backwards.
She stalked over him, her arms wanting to strike him to oblivion and back whilst she could. Then she realised what she had done and the trembling started for another reason. She quickly knelt down and undid her damage.
He scrambled back quickly, expecting more strikes.
"Naruto...I...did not mean to hurt you. I..."
She sat, unable to form the right words. So did he. She gave up and just spoke her mind.
"I wish to be alone. Please leave."
"I understand."
He left. Then she realised what he had said and suddenly he made a little bit more sense. She turned on her Byakugan to see if he was gone. He had, or he was hiding so well she couldn't tell. Either way she felt alone enough. She knelt in front of the monument and a finger traced its way to the name with practised ease.
She'd done this so many times over the last three years that the physical actions were routine. She had remembered him.
She knew she hadn't been the only one. She'd shied away from visits when she'd seen Kakashi around. She'd seen Lady Tsunade here too. Even Sakura and some of the other genin once or twice.
She'd been here the most though.
She closed her eyes and rested by the memorial stone.
He'd been a lot to her, but she'd never really gotten close to him. He had definitely been a friend to her and her to him.
She'd never had the courage to talk to him more, and chided herself every time she did this. Every time she remembered him and thought about how she'd never got to say goodbye.
Then Sasuke had left, and everyone had disappeared and come back hurt. He had come back dead.
The tears had fallen for a long time. Then nearly three years later she'd needed saving on a mission when she hadn't tried to dodge a blade. She owed Shino her life because she hadn't cared.
Then she had been about to quit and then he had returned. Two very prominent he's, each with an effect on her life.
Both had nearly killed her by this point, in very different ways.
And now she had to talk to one about how he'd killed the other.
How had it come to this? What would he have done?
He would have kept going and never given up until the mission was complete. He'd have continued on to the death.
That was something he could never achieve.
Naruto held his breath and covered his mouth with his cloak as the gas began to fill his room. Whoever was doing it to his apartment obviously wanted his attention and knew he was home.
He briefly considered the effect of his still unrepaired window on the ventilation of the gas before he decided it wasn't his concern. He just needed to take them out.
Whoever this was, he had a strong suspicion it was Talon, was trying something that wouldn't work on him.
He waited until he heard the slightest noise and dropped a sleep bomb into his apartment from above, holding himself to the ceiling with ease.
There was the satisfying noise of a Karawimi with something outside. The object dropped onto his floor with a nice thump on the floorboards.
He waited for the second attempt. Then he heard the sound of a scuffle outside.
There were faint voices too.
"Come on Hare! No. Pig! Let! Go!"
"Enough, just...let us handle this Talon."
"I want my vengeance damn it!"
So it was Talon. From what he could surmise, Hare and Pig were going to deny him the chance to try and outwit Naruto.
Eventually, something flew through his window. The kunai had a simple white piece of cloth tied to it. A traditional symbol of surrender.
He dropped out of the window to meet the ANBU team outside. Talon was restrained with ninja wire and Naruto suspected his expression was one of deep unhappiness. He wished deeply to see the man's face to confirm his suspicions.
Hare stepped forward first.
"Naruto, there's a mission for you with us. Good to see you alive and well."
Pig stepped forwards and nearly crushed him in a bear hug. The much larger man's grip was restricting his grip. He remembered what hugs were and this certainly had to come under a new type of hug. This was not a normal hug. It was meaningful, but overly tight. His ribs felt a bit bruised.
"We thought you were dead for sure! But you came back and then you sleep-bombed Talon! That was hilarious for us to find."
Talon shifted against his bonds.
"I'll get you for that you know. But it is good to see you. What Pig didn't tell you was that he bet against your return."
Pig rubbed the back of his head.
"Best bet I ever lost."
Talon merely shrugged and split the wires with a kunai before standing up and flexing his arms. Hare sighed.
"We could have retrieved that for later use you know."
Talon grinned.
"And miss a chance to practise my chakra manipulation to cut the wire like butter? Always training Hare. Always training. That's why I'm a captain and you're not."
Hare placed a hand on his mask in despair. Talon flexed his muscles for no reason.
"Right then, brief on the road like always boys. Try to keep up Naruto; I'm sure you'll have some new stuff to show us."
Then the ANBU were moving and Naruto was moving after them as fast as he could. His slightly older frame pushed him forwards a little faster, and he pushed chakra into his limbs to keep the speed up.
He wasn't much taller; malnutrition in Orochimaru's base had stunted his growth. He was slightly taller, but not that much. He was definitely short. That said his frame was wiry and flexible, and surprisingly powerful for its size.
He pushed on after the black clad figures as they bounded northwest, that meant they were going to the border with Iwa.
Talon's voice crackled through his earpiece, and there was a sudden feeling of relief in his body. Talon could keep in contact even if he was alone at points. He wouldn't have to be alone on the mission at all times.
He started to listen to the briefing.
"Right boys, we're going to rock...in Rock country! We're going to Iwa."
Hare's sigh was easily heard as the poor puns began.
"Since Suna bit the dust a few years ago because someone unleashed a tailed beast on them," Naruto felt that comment was targeted somehow, "we know things have got a little bit tense. We're just going out to see if any large forces are building up in Iwa. Don't get found, don't leave evidence. Clear?"
There was a chorus of assents.
"Good. No going solo unless it's a kickass solo."
"What the hell are you on about Talon?"
There was a snort. He saw Talon shake his head gently.
"None of you appreciate rock music enough."
Pig's retort was quick.
"That new stuff with...guitars are they called? The weird ones with six strings."
"Yes. Guitars are amazing. Just because they're not the traditional stuff you're used to Pig. One day you'll see. Rock is here to stay."
"Sure Talon. Sure."
The team made haste for the border and was shifting northwards to go through Grass. That would be fine, both Konoha and Iwa had non-aggression treaties with the minor nation. Military access through it was, whilst frowned upon officially, ignored in general.
Nobody wanted to annoy two powerful and increasingly twitchy nations after all.
The trees and thick forests of the Fire Lands began to gently shift to different types of tree, smaller and more shrubby. The ANBU team ploughed ahead regardless and were soon deep into Grass territory.
Naruto was surprised by how few patrols they even came close to encountering. In fact, if his judgement was right, patrols moved distinctly out of the way of all possible threats.
Grass territory wasn't all that interesting, and soon the brush was thinning out and the landscape of Iwa came into view.
Harsh barren steppes, large and rocky stretched out as far as he could see. His teammates didn't seem all that bothered by it. He realised they'd probably done this a dozen times before.
He followed them into the territory with all his usual skill and grace.