All through the night, Hikari studied in the second floor of her wooden cottage. She wiped her brow from the use of her chakra.
"Why in the world did you ever enjoy doing this?" She mumbled to the figure only half present in the corner of the room. "I feel like my brain is going to explode from all of this studying."
"You don't need to do this, you know. For the plan to work, you could simply stay here and watch from afar. It would be better if you minimized any potential risks until after the war." With the amount of training she was undergoing, it was becoming easier to hear the half whispering voice of her cautious husband.
"Itachi, you know me better than anyone else dead or alive. You know I can't just sit back and nurture the baby while your brother is out there, vulnerable to the five great nations, and while Danzo is Hokage."
"You will join the war then? And if so, who would fight alongside you? The Akatsuki? Would you ask to be a driving force in project Tsukinome, against the beginnings of a larger system of united villages like you had once dreamed of? You don't even know the extent of what Madara plans to do. Or would you rather fight on the side of the Allied Forces? There is little chance any of them would forgive and trust an ex-Leaf ninja whose activity within the Akatsuki brought them to the battlefield in the first place. Hikari, you must know as well as I that if you fight, you will fight alone."
"I know that, Itachi." She grimaced. "I have a plan."
Hours later, the young soon to be mother stretched her arms and back, having mastered the new technique. Just before the sun rose, she was ready to begin.
Every entrance into the Kage Summit was guarded by several samurai soldiers. Having circled the perimeter once around, Sasuke beackoned his team to join him, looking at the map Madara had provided.
"Here's what we'll do. We'll all do a full rotation around the perimeter. Karin, I want you to use your sensory skills to map every guard stationed inside the building, including their routine movements. Can you do that?"
"It might be tricky, but I can try." Karin pushed her glasses up her nose. Sasuke nodded, blankly.
"Juugo, I want you to use the birds in the surrounding trees to spy on the kage when they arrive. We need to know exactly when they come. There's too high a risk we will be detected too soon if Karin gets close to them. When they begin to arrive, we will get into position." Juugo nodded.
"What about me, Sasuke?" Suigetsu interjected. Sasuke shot him a smirk.
"Suigetsu, I want you to go on ahead and get ready to infiltrate right now. You'll change your form and go in through the southern entrance where their numbers are low. Stay in liquid form until you see us and help me take them out from behind before they can make any sound." It was a solid plan, and with Jugo and Karin's surveillance, there was little chance of them being discovered.
It was just after sunrise that Hikari greeted the white skinned man at the edge of her garden once again.
"Good morning," she waved, gesturing for him to come through her barrier once again. "How did you sleep?"
"You know very well I don't need to sleep. I was awake within your sensory range all night guarding the perimeter of your camp, making sure you didn't escape."
"I suppose I forgot," Hikari scratched her head. "I was so caught up in studying." It was a calculated comment, but it was a true one.
"For what? You deserted the Akatsuki and now you have nowhere to go. What could you possibly need to study?" The man eyed her suspiciously.
"It is for that exact reason that I needed to study. I'm a ruling class Senju who spent her life being watched over and serving in the ANBU! How do you suppose I would have found time to learn the skills needed to run a farm?" She held out a scroll depicting how to construct a rice pattie. "This is today's project. Oh, and I'll need to leave the borders of this camp to hunt, so you should keep watch on me then, too." Zetsu appeared unconvinced.
"It almost seems as if you're too eager to have someone keep watch on your every move. I'll have you know that four other clones were sent to monitor your activities last night as well." Hikari chuckled, having known that.
"I spent almost my entire life living in shared quarters, and I'm an ambivert. You can't blame me for getting a little lonely being on my own from now on." She turned to him, inspired. "Hey, you can invite the other four to come in as well! The five of you can help me harvest the veggies and grains I've grown!" Zetsu looked at her as if she had asked him to walk on all fours.
"Not even a week out from the Atatsuki and you've already become a little crazy. We were brought here to make sure you don't leave, and that's all we plan to do."
It was almost noon beftore Danzo made his way down the bridge to the Western entrance of the summit, garbed in the Kage attire he had spent his entire life dreaming of wearing. The red embroidery almost glistened on his back, as red as the blood of the countless lives he had sacrificed in order to wear it. And in the shadows right next to the entrance, Hikari waited invisibly with her fists clenched.
If it weren't for Itachi's infiltration into Danzo's root estate, or their confrontation with the leaf ninja that had spent years observing her in the first place, Hikari would not have been able to escape Zetsu's detection in the way she had. But at the expense of over a dozen former comrades, she had learned her attacker's jutsu, as had Itachi. It was a justu that allowed her to change the frequency of the particles that made up her body, allowing her to change from flesh to ether for a few moments at a time. It was a fitting jutsu for one who could know more than met her eye, see spirits and talk with the dead, the three traits that had brought her to Itachi in the first place. Hikari's clone had left before sunrise, silently sweeping past the five Zetsus like an etheric cloud.
As Danzo walked up to the entrance, he saw no one at all. But just seconds before he stepped through the threshold, the ghost of Hikari was there. He would have thought it was a ghost; a figment of his imagination had he not helped create the jutsu that loomed beside him. The woman who had indeed haunted his mind long before now glared at him with piercing eyes. It was in Hikari's grave and foreboding/ominous expression, in the hand that rested against her lower stomach, that her message lied. Without words, her message was clear:
Number one: She was alive.
Number two: Sasuke, beyond all shadow of a doubt had learned the truth about Itachi. He wanted revenge on behalf of his brother, and the entire Uchiha clan.
Number three: Hikari could attempt to kill him here and now, but she was not. Therefore, Sasuke was not far away.
And lastly number four: there was a fair chance Hikari was pregnant. Danzo might have worked to eradicate the Uchiha Clan using Itachi and herself, but he had not taken away their history, and he had not taken away their future.
Even if the last message was left ambiguous, one thing above all else was perfectly clear.
In less than an hour, Danzo would likely be dead.
Without as much as an eyebrow raise, the despicable man walked through the shadowy threshold, obscuring himself in shadow. Danzo was not foolish enough to test an opponent that had become stronger than he had. Hikari retreated behind a nearby wall of the building and sighed, feeling a surge of life flow into her heart. Knowing that she could count the minutes until the most unforgivable man was nothing more than an ink stain on the history books, the guilt that weighed down her weary bones seemed to lighten somehow. Hikari had always been a woman of her word, and she had kept true to her promise. She had not set foot on the battlefield. After all, looking down, she could still see that the lower half of her body was formless.
"Now Sasuke…. Where will you be?"
Suigetsu, a mere puddle behind the feet of the three Samurai, rose up into human form, grinning.
"You three need to be more observant. You must have figured the dripping from up above was leak, but there aren't any cracks in these walls are there?" The men turned around in surprise, drawing their blades, but it was too late. Sasuke had already appeared in the entrance, sharingan enabled. The men died silently. Jugo and Karin followed, the female wide eyed at his apparent lack of mercy.
"If our information is correct, there should be no more soldiers in the next hall and all the way into the main chamber. Move in," Sasuke explained, coldly moving past as if none of his team was there. Only a couple months ago, if his team had faced an enemy, Sasuke would have killed only those who directly stood in the way of his goal. Indiscrimenant slaughter would have been reminiscent of his brother. Now, upon knowing the truth, he could see clearly. These samurai's lives were inconsequencial in relation to his revenge. If he was honest with himself, he almost looked forward to ridding himself of anyone defending the five great nations.
In her cottage, Hikari sat at the kitchen table, staring blankly at her unfinished meal. She sighed and closed her eyes, concentrating her chakra into her brain as hard as she could.
"It's been a little while, hasn't it… Madara?" In her mind's eye, she could see the man running through snow covered trees in a city not very far away. "If you think to me, I will hear you for now."
"Hikari, the tricks you have up your sleeve never cease to surprise me. How is it that you are able to reach my consciousness? Where are you?" As planned, the woman smirked and projected an image of the cottage in front of her.
"I'm in the cottage I created, as I'm sure the original Zetsu has told you. It takes me quite a lot of chakra to project my thoughts to you from this far a distance telepathically. You don't have to worry about me leaving. I'd invite you over but from the looks of it, you seem to be busy."
"Damn you. You planned to desert the Akatsuki all along, leaving as soon as I could not afford to hunt you down."
"I told you before. Our philosophies are different. If you want to achieve peace, true reform is needed. Living in a dream is the same as living a lie. Even dreams have an ending. And when they do, you would be left with nothing."
"Silence. You don't even know what you speak of. No matter, you will be locked inside the eternal tsukuyomi soon enough. I assume you haven't reached out simply to chat. What do you really want?"
"Sasuke and his team have decided to confront Danzo inside the Samurai's base. Surely you don't believe he could take all five kage down on his own. You should go to back him up." Through their link she could feel him smile.
"Not before I make one last attempt to capture the nine tails. By the time Sasuke is in danger, I'll be there to create a diversion. Sasuke will have Danzo all to himself. There's no harm in making one last attempt at killing the Uzumaki. And I think I'll tell them the truth about Itachi while I'm at it."
"No, don't! Back then, before Itachi died, I said I wanted the village to be punished. But what do you have to gain by dragging the history of the clan you already destroyed through the mud?"
"I suppose I'm simply curious to see what it will do to weaken the boy's morale. If he continues to live, he will know the kind of village he defends; the blood on the hands of the Hokage. Besides, it was tiresome having to live under Itachi's scrutiny. And don't think that your disloyalty to my organization goes without punishment."
"Damn you…" Hikari grimaced, realizing her chakra levels were draining very rapidly. Confident in Sasuke's safety, she released the link to the masked man, pounding her fist on the table. Beside her, Itachi's presence appeared. A hard lump welled in her throat. Unwilling to address her worries with the man who was finally free of suffering, she turned her head towards the etheric image of her lover.
"Sasuke is almost upon the Five Kage. I'll relay new information to my clone, and together we can watch him get rid of Danzo."Where a stern expression would have followed the plan while Itachi was alive, now the man simply gave a kind smile.
"Finish eating. You need to nurture the new life inside of you."
Eyes aching from the strain of his jutsu, Sasuke sped down each hall, filled with malice and bloodlust. In this moment, his only desire was to give the man who had made life a living hell a slow and painful death. It was almost as if his sword had become a magnet being pulled ever closer to the man's black heart.
Effortlessly, Sasuke erased his presence and sped past the guards. Stopping on the ceiling over all the corrupt Kage, the boy glared down at his target. The pathetic excuse of a man sat there expressionless, scared for his life, clearly plotting his escape.
Outside the summit, Hikari stood at the main entrance, on the bridge that lead directly to the road back to the Leaf's campsite. Knowing now that Madara would provide a diversion, she began to spot out a hiding spot, entire body thrumming with eager excitement. Justice would do away with Danzo Shimura, and perhaps maybe one day the boy would be kind enough to do away with her as well.
Itachi's spirit appeared beside her, and though her sensory abilities were weaker than those possessed by her original, the clone Hikari could faintly feel the man wrap his arm around her.
"The time has finally come," his feint whisper grazed her ears.
"I knew you would come," the woman smiled.
Sasuke awoke to find his back laying on hard, cold stone. Upon opening his eyes he was surprised to find that it was not the floor of the building but one of many stone pillars in an endless void.
"Where am I…" he heard himself mumble.
"Sasuke!" the red haired woman that had just come into focus yelled, pouncing on him and wrapping him tightly in her arms to his great discomfort. "I was so worried! That short man said he had dismantled you and I couldn't feel your chakra anymore!"
"Get off of me!" Sasuke commanded, fed up with the woman's frequent onslaughts of affection. The woman looked into his eyes and became afraid, relenting. "Where are we anyway? Where is Danzo?"
"It seems we're inside Madara's jutsu. He sucked both of us in with his left eye so I could heal you. I'm not sure where Danzo is though." Sasuke glared at her with ice cold eyes.
"Are you telling me you let him get away and you haven't tried to find a way out?"
"Don't blame it all on me! It was only a few seconds after you got brought here that I was too, and you've only been unconscious for a minute!" Sasuke turned away from her in distain.
"We have to find a way out. Every second he's allowed to run our chances get smaller of killing him. I brought you with me to make sure he didn't ever leave our sight!" Suddenly, Karin's demeanor changed from angry to scared and hurt.
"Sasuke…. Is that all… I am to you? Are we really just your tools to do with as you please? Does the fact we risk our lives for you mean anything to you at all?" Sasuke turned to her, eyes still ice cold.
"I never said you had to stay. If you don't like it, then leave. It doesn't matter to me either way at all." It was mostly the truth. Despite his lack of feeling for her it was true that she could still be of some small use. The woman looked away for a minute, wincing, then back at him.
"What changed you, Sasuke? Why did you turn so cold? You're not yourself anymore! Do you remember when we met in the Chuunin exams? You smiled at me way back then. And after years of healing soldiers against my will, you still let me choose for myself. All I want is for you to smile again. All I want is to help you get the freedom you gave me. Don't you see how much I care about you? I'm choosing every day to help you so that one day you can be happy again!"
"That's enough, Karin. This is the path I walk; the path of vengeance. You've never understood that. In order to rid the world of corruption, feelings of freedom and happiness are useless. To pursue justice, no one person's life matters. I no longer seek the light. I will rid the world of all its corruption and shoulder the burden alone. And I will kill anyone that stands in my way." At those last words, the woman relented.
"You think that a life filled with pain and loneliness is justice?! You spent your whole life getting stronger to kill your brother, and yet somehow after getting rid of him it seems like revenge did nothing for you! How can being alone really be what you want? I don't understand! Just let me be with you and I'll show you it doesn't have to be this way!"
"I said that's enough!" It took all his emotional self control to convince himself that the woman's usefulness had not come to an end. Just then, Madara entered the space. "What took you so long? Danzo could have escaped by now."
"Not the case. I took the liberty of ensuring your fight will not be stopped by the other Kage. If I didn't know you, I would say thanks were in order. If you are healed, I can transport you to where Danzo is. He couldn't have gone far."
"Then take me to him. I'm ready," Sasuke said, adrenaline racing. Madara nodded.
That's it for now! Danzo's death is a long time coming, and now it is only a week away. Once again, I hop you've been enjoying the new plot. If anyone would like to share what you hope will happen to Hikari and Sasuke in the war, I'd love to hear in either the reviews or in a message! I might just include your idea. ;)
Also I know these past chapters have been a little shorter. I've been breaking them into parts that make the most sense to the plot. But I'll try to make them a little longer if I can.