**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the quote below. I just own Sintary ^^ Also I do not own the other OC Kokuro. He's my friend's.
Yay! New chapter! If any of you follow the blog, I'm really sorry. I had every intention of getting this out by Saturday, but there were some snags to the plan. I had originally planned for at least two mini battle scenes that Kokuro would write. Unfortunately, he got writers block and slammed with classes. So, I did what I could to ease the two scenes along. This chapter is on the smaller side, but it's at an acceptable length, and really, i needed to leave a cliffhanger. Enjoy the cute beginning before feeling pain ;).
"The strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other"
-Mario Puzo
Itachi's eyes faded back to their charcoal color as the news washed over him like a splash of cold water. His mind pieced together all the facts from his knowledge of Pein. The face of the organization was as mysterious as the night.
"Who's Pein, Itachi?" Sintary asked quietly from behind him.
His old partner looked over at his fiancé. "Ooh, so I see she wasn't just an old friend. Itachi, you dog." The shark man grinned.
Her blue eyes met his in a hard, non-amused gaze before softening as she looked at Itachi's back.
"Who is Pein?' She repeated.
Itachi took a minute longer to respond. "Pein is the supposed leader of the Akatsuki."
"What do you mean "supposed" leader?" Sintary questioned.
"He's not the real leader… he may have started the organization, but he was taking orders from someone else." Itachi told her quietly, not turning around.
"Do you know who?" Sintary asked.
"I have an idea," he responded. "We need to get to Konoha as quickly as possible."
The raven haired shinobi turned around and quickly started to help his fiancé pack. This also involved waking their sleeping son.
Kazuki rose from the bed, tired. He yawned and blinked a couple times. His body was sluggish, but his instincts were on point. He immediately sensed another chakra in the room other than his family's. The young boy's heavy eyes searched until he landed on the new person. The ocean blue orbs widened considerably.
"SHARK!" He squealed and jumped off the bed.
Kazuki quickly headed over to this blue-skinned man, having no fear despite the man being much taller and having an enormous amount of chakra.
Kisame blinked, surprised seeing this little child walk up to him. He took note that the boy looked strikingly similar to his partner.
"He yours, Itachi?"
"Yes."
"Up!" The young boy demanded tugging on Kisame's robes.
"Up?" The older man repeated dumbfounded.
"Pick me up – please!" Kazuki elaborated reaching his arms up high.
"Uhh, are you going to take him, 'tachi?" Kisame asked looking at the other man.
"You are skilled enough to pick up and hold a child," the Sharingan user replied not looking up.
The beady-eyed man looked over the woman in the room. "And you're not worried I'm going to hurt him?"
"Nope." Sintary told him folding some clothes up.
"And, uh, why not?"
"Because you and I both know what will happen if you hurt my baby." The mother warned with a matter of fact tone as she smiled sweetly at the man.
That didn't make Kisame feel much better as he looked down at the child. Kazuki was staring up at the taller man, still waiting to be picked up.
The missing nin sighed heavily and leaned down, scooping up the young boy.
Making he wasn't such a bad guy after all.
"Kisame said Pein had made it his personal assignment to capture the Nine-Tailed Fox," Itachi called as they raced through the desert. "The latest information from Zetsu states that Jiraiya had fought and lost, and that Pein would be moving in shortly. I'm hoping we can get there before he does."
Sintary nodded as they pushed forward. "Are you sure leaving the children with him was a good idea?" She questioned.
"We have a duty to protect and serve our village; we need to head to defend it." Itachi stated so loyally.
"What makes you think you can trust him?" Sintary asked stopping and offering him water.
The ex-Akatsuki member drank it quickly and wiped his mouth. "He came to warn us, and we had a mutual respect between the two of us. They're also in the Sand Village with Gaara watching over them closely. And as a failsafe, I placed a Genjutsu on our children. If anyone tries to harm them, the attacker will be thrown into an unforgiveable world, and the children will be transported to the safe house."
The raven haired kunoichi nodded softly. "You're always so prepared," she commented happily.
Itachi nodded at that. He was in full-out shinobi mode; his emotions pulled back under their restraints again. "Come on, we can probably get there in two days if we hurry."
"Aye-aye captain," Sintary said.
That earned a small, nostalgic smirk from the previous ANBU squad leader before they continued on.
The duo landed just outside of Konoha and looked around at the sight. The men stationed outside for border control had all been murdered.
"He's already here." Itachi stated, scanning the area with his Sharingan.
"Dammit. We need to get to the Hokage, fast." Sintary told him.
The Uchiha couldn't agree more. "Do you remember the old ANBU Black Op transportation jutsu?"
"Couldn't forget it." She told him nodding. "Meet you up there."
The two shinobi performed the appropriate hand signs before disappearing together in a puff of leaves and feathers.
The pair landed in the Hokage's office seconds later; it had certainly been a surprise to the woman in charge.
"Itachi, Sintary, what are you two doing back here?" Tsunade demanded looking at them.
"We were alerted that Pein was making his move against Konoha and raced here as quickly as possible," Sintary informed her.
"Who alerted you?" The blonde inquired. "Who else could have known about this plot against us!?"
"It was my partner from the Akatsuki, Kisame Hoshigaki." Itachi explained. "He said Pein had a vendetta against the Leaf village and myself. He had also made it his personal mission to capture Naruto Uzumaki."
Tsunade tsked and gritted her teeth before her topaz eyes set on the Uchiha before her. "Do you have any intel on Pein?"
Itachi nodded. "Yes."
"Then, go. You are to join Ibiki and Inochi in the interrogation room. Hurry!" The Hokage commanded sending them off.
The two Leaf shinobi nodded in response and quickly headed out the door. No sooner were they outside were they met with two familiar faces.
Kokuro and Sasuke.
"What are you two here?" Kokuro asked blinking surprised.
"To protect our comrades and village." Sintary responded.
"What about the kids?" The worried uncle questioned.
"They're safe in the Sand Village," Itachi told him.
"We need to get a move on. Pein's already launching attacks on the village. We need to take him down," Sasuke stated unfazed by seeing them there.
They all nodded. "We're heading towards Intel to help devise a plan against them. Let's hurry." Itachi told them.
The group quickly responded and headed that way.
"You said them, Itachi?" Kokuro asked his teammate. "Border control only detected one."
The older Uchiha nodded. "There are rumored to be six in total."
"That makes sense," Sasuke commented. "There's no way one man could do so much damage so fast."
"Hey guys," Kokuro called with his Byakugan activated, "in coming!"
The group came screeching to a halt as they came across Kakashi taking on one of the Pein's. This Pein had orange, spikey hair like Naruto had.
"It seems we have company." He commented as his purple, rippled eyes glanced at the group that just arrived.
Kakashi kept his eyes on Pein as he directed his words backwards. "Not that I'm not grateful for you guys showing up, but what are you doing here?"
"We were on our way to Intel," Itachi informed him gazing at the leader of the Akatsuki.
"So, I see you're alive and well, Itachi." Pein said looking at the Uchiha. "Tell me, have you told all of our secrets? Or haven't you had the need? You seemed to have missed one village on your little journey."
"I was under strict orders of the Five Kage. The Village Hidden in the Rain was not made a priority." Itachi stated coldly.
Pein tilted his head ever so slightly. "No matter, then. I will take this opportunity to teach you what I could not at your leader: pain."
Pein didn't get the first move. Instantly, Sasuke, Itachi, and Kokuro disappeared and reappeared in front of the orange haired shinobi with their weapons in hand.
"Push."
All three were blown back, not by a wind force, but something else entirely. Itachi had knowledge on the different paths of Pein, he had expected one of them to have this unique ability.
"Gotcha." Came a female voice as Pein's feet were suddenly grabbed. "Ninja Art: Internal Lightning Convulsion."
During the initial assault, Sintary would use an earth jutsu to hid herself from any detection. She would then proceed to grab hold of the enemy's feet to trap them and then unleash her jutsu. It disturbed the body's electrical flow resulting in paralysis, unconscious and or death. Pein convulsed before falling down.
"Pull." They heard.
Sintary lurched off to the side as they looked to see Pein, alive and well. A quick glance to the old one showed it was merely a clone. This one held a black rod aimed directly at Sintary She couldn't resist his magnetic pull either. She gasped and gripped it as it impaled her. She smirked coyly though before the body blew up.
Pein jumped back in time and looked at them as the smoke slowly cleared.
"A shadow clone that exploded. It seems you really think things out, Itachi." He said knowing the brains of the operation lied with the Uchiha genius.
"We can't take him on forever. We need to get to Intel," Sintary reminded them quietly.
"But we can't just leave Kakashi here alone without back up," Kokuro insisted.
As if answering their plea, two large fists came crashing down on Pein as reinforcements from the Akamichi clan arrived.
"Itachi," Sasuke called watching as Pein appeared unaffected from the assault. "You, Sintary, and Kokuro need to head to Intel. We need the knowledge of our enemy to spread quickly; you need to end the mystery of Pein."
"What are you going to do?" The elder brother questioned.
"I'm going to stay here and help Kakashi take down this Pein." The younger replied as his face lit up bright blue and the screeching of birds sounded in the air. "Go, Itachi!"
Itachi looked at his younger brother a minute longer before nodding. "Sintary! Kokuro! Move out!"
The trio immediately retreated and headed back to their path, leaving Kakashi and Sasuke with reinforcements against Pein. As they headed through the village, they could already see the havoc the six members of Pein had already done.
None of them had seen this much dismantle and destruction since they were children.
None of them had wished to see it again in their life time.
"Down here," Itachi directed as they headed inside the building. "Ibiki! Inochi!" He called once they made it downstairs.
"Itachi Uchiha." Ibiki stated looking over the group. "What are you guys doing down here?"
"Orders from the Hokage." Sintary told him. "Itachi has information that will help."
"Well, spill it already. What do you know about Pein?" Inochi asked looking over at them.
"His powers come from his ocular ability: The Rinnegan." Itachi started looking at them.
"The Rinnegan? Like the Six Paths' had?" Ino asked having the courage to ask.
The Uchiha nodded. "It is said that the direct descendants of Asura and Indra can activate and utilize the Rinnegan. However, those from Senju background and use it if transplanted; and because the Sage of the Six Paths' was a member of the Otsutsuki clan, any member has the potential to activate it as well." He said glancing at his white-haired comrade.
Kokuro blinked looking at his friend. "That's… that's my third ocular ability?" He asked.
Itachi nodded very slightly. "The Otsutsuki have the capacity to unlock all three of the revered Doujutsu."
"But how does this relate to Pein? Is he a descendent of those two or what?" Inochi directed the conversation back.
"That information is unknown." Itachi told him.
"Then what information is known?" Ibiki asked drily.
"The Sage of the Six Paths got his name from mastering all of the six paths given to him by the Rinnegan. The paths are merely a group of ninjutsu ability."
"So each path corresponds with one of the six Pein's." Sintary concluded looking at her fiancé.
Itachi nodded. "There is the Deva Path which has control over the magnetic forces, using himself as the center of attraction. The Asura Path which has the ability to mechanize one's body. The Animal Path which is able to summon numerous of powerful summonings. The Naraka Path has control over a type of interrogation jutsu called the King of Hell. And finally, the Human Path which can extract the souls of those it comes in contact with. In addition to these, those who possess the Rinnegan can activate all Eight Gates, and can see chakra as well as its flow. They have a connection to each of the other paths' visions to see attacks from coming. They can also very easily master any type of jutsu as well as control all five nature transformation."
"So… how do we stop these guys…?" Ino asked timidly.
"Guys!" Shizune, the Hokage's apprentice, called coming into the room. "I think I've figured something out." She said holding a black rod.
"It's a chakra receiver." Itachi stated looking it over.
Shizune blinked, taken aback. "Yes, how did you know that?"
"It's another one of the abilities users of the Rinnegan." The Sharingan user stated. "It's receiving chakra right this minute…"
She nodded, affirming the assumption. "That's right. I believe this is how Pein is able to coordinate all their movements."
"It seems similar to the Yamanaka clan's jutsu." Inochi stated.
The building shook one, jarring all its occupants to look around. The ANBU Black Op urged them to continue discussing as the team outside took care of the battles. Itachi was about to reveal more, when the building shook again, revealing the Animal Path with two unstable summonings.
"Found you." She stated.
The female Pein launched forward on her rhino summoning. The group quickly moved out of the way as the rest of the building collapsed.
"You guys need to figure out how to defeat Pein," Ibiki told Inochi. "Go, the ANBU Black Ops and I will handle things here. Take everyone else, and get out of here."
The older blonde haired man nodded. "Be careful." He said. "The rest of you, head out with me immediately!" He shouted as they took off.
The rapidly took off to another location in which they were slightly concluded from the battle.
"Seeing the chakra receivers reminds me of one more key factor about the Rinnegan." Itachi told the group. "There is a seventh path; the Outer Path. It is the most powerful of the paths as the legend says the wielder can preside over life and death."
"Then Lord Jiraiya's message, 'The real one is not among them,' was trying to tell us that there's a seventh Pein," Shizune gasped.
Inochi blinked. "Then that explains the girl. When I was scanning through the memories of the shinobi Lord Jiraiya sent from the Village Hidden in the Rain, that girl was a corpse they were carrying."
"So whoever the real Pein is has embedded these chakra receivers into the corpse, and essentially, reanimated the bodies." Sintary concluded and shivered. "It's unnatural…"
"But if it's similar to the Body Possession jutsu then he must be close by in order to control them so skillfully." Ino asked
"He'd need to go somewhere… somewhere high." Kokuro whispered looking around with his Byakugan.
"The highest point. That's where he was in the Rain Village." Inochi recalled from the memories.
The building next to them exploded engulfing them in smoke. Once the smoke cleared, the group quickly realized that one of their own was missing.
"Don't move, or she dies." A man with long orange hair and several piercings stated.
"It's one of the Pein's." Inochi gritted clenching his fists.
"So that's where he is…" Pein said mostly to himself.
"That's my father's jutsu!" Ino exclaimed.
"Now you shall know pain," He stated as he started pulling a blue substance from Shizune.
"It's the Human Path; he's extracting her soul." Itachi told them as all they could do was watch.
Once her soul was completely extracted, Shizune's body fell to the ground and Ino rushed over. Sintary's fists gripped tightly and shook his rage. She suddenly appeared behind him with a lightning style jutsu only for him to disappear.
"He completely vanished." Kokuro told her looking all around. "It seems like they're all gone."
"Are they really retreating?" Inochi asked.
"No… something else is coming…" Itachi said quietly looking around for anything they could have missed.
"Up there!" Kokuro exclaimed, but they had to shield their eyes.
Miles in the air, the Deva Path unleashed his biggest attack to teach the world pain.
"Almighty push."
The buildings began to crumble from the center out. The one under Sintary started to quake and become unstable, but before anyone could move, they were surrounded in a bright, white light.
And then everything went black.
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