Chapter 51
I killed some former Root agents, took a nap, and woke up to find that my mission was complete.
It didn't get more confusing than that.
I saw Kakashi standing by the entrance to the Anbu Headquarter, clearly receiving the message about our returning beforehand.
"Welcome back," The first sentence was directed towards me, then he turned towards Jiraiya and Tsunade.
"Welcome back to the village, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sama," Kakashi said with a slight bow. "Sandaime-sama is expecting your return."
Jiraiya merely gave a nod, but Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him and said, "You must be Sakumo's kid. The last time I saw you, you were a pesky teenager."
Kakashi paused for a second, before nodding, accepting whatever Tsunade decided to call him. "Well, lead the way, let's go see Old man Sarutobi." Tsunade waved them along.
"Pesky teenager, huh," I whispered to Kakashi on our way to the Hokage's office through the Anbu passage.
Kakashi's eyebrow twitched a little before answering, "Kinda like you actually." Ouch, why must we hurt each other.
"You were back earlier than we thought." Kakashi said, "I thought it'd take at least a month and you would miss the Jonin Evaluation Day."
The Jonin Evaluation Day, where dozens of shinobi got their promotion publicly announced. There was supposed to be an evaluation match for the candidates, fighting against a more senior Jonin. But that was more of a proof-of-mettle rather than a serious evaluation, since the decision was made even before that. I could totally miss it for the mission and the Hokage wouldn't bother with me.
If the Chunin exam was to showcase the future generation to the Daimyo and other villages, then the Jonin Evaluation Match was meant to consolidate your promotion within the village's shinobi force. Every shinobi, even the academy students, were allowed to come and watch. Winning and losing was secondary, the key was to showcase your skill and let the village shinobi force have confidence in you.
After all, Jonin was supposed to be a rank and a world different from Chunin.
"A month? Where do you think I'm going, under cover in Kirigakure?" I exclaimed, wondering if I would make it if I had to eat two more weeks of rabbit meat plus wild vegetables.
"To be honest, which one would you prefer?" Kakashi asked instead, rolling his eyes at me. That was a hard question, for a moment, I couldn't decide.
"Old man, look who we brought," Jiraiya said with a loud voice as he pushed open the door. Upon hearing that, Commander Nara stayed silent while the Hokage tubbed his nose bridge and ignored the white-haired Sannin
"Tsunade, I'm glad that you decided to come back. It's nice seeing you again." Sandaime looked at Tsunade, giving her a wrinkle-filled smile.
"Sarutobi-sensei," Tsunade greeted with a tilt in the head. "It sure has been a long time. I see that much has changed."
The Hokage let out a laugh and said, "That's quite true, but much of the change happened very recently, which I'm sure Jiraiya and Maiko-chan had filled you in already."
"I came back to see those changes myself. A big part of why I agreed to be the Hokage, actually," Tsunade answered, not beating around the bush.
The Hokage looked pleased hearing that. His expression was filled with relief. A moment later, he took off the Hokage hat and placed it on the table. For a second, I thought he looked more relaxed than I had ever seen him, like a man finally lifted off his weight.
"We will discuss more on this matter soon. Before that, Maiko-chan and Jiraiya, good work." The Hokage smiled at me and I shifted a little on the chair. I still didn't know how exactly I convinced Tsunade and it wasn't like she planned to talk about it either.
"I heard you had some run-ins with Root on the mission," The Hokage-asked. Much had happened on this mission that wasn't expected, from Itachi, Akatsuki, to Root, that it would take a while debriefing them.
"Two confrontations to be exact. First time against one Root enemy outside of Konda Village, Then eleven Root agents lead an ambush outside of Kujirai Village," I reported, trying to be accurate and concise. "All of them seemed to be modified by Orochimaru, namely a cursed seal on their neck that seemed to amplify their strength, speed and chakra level, at the cost of their own body. Based on the encounters, I don't believe that they knew what our objectives were, but rather these were attacks of convenience, as if Orochimaru is testing out new experiments. However, Orochimaru's snake was found near the battlefield at Kujirai Village, so he should know about our meeting with Tsunade-sama by now."
"Twelve in total, that matches the number of Root escapees we have on file. It looks like they decided to try their luck with Orochimaru. Either way, while vigilance is still needed, for now, our issue with Root seems to be under control. You have recovered the bodies, I assume?" The Hokage looked at us and Jiraiya nodded.
"The ones that were still left anyway. We might be able to examine the cursed seal and see what Orochimaru is up to nowadays, but don't get too hopeful." Jiraiya placed four scrolls on the table. Like he said, some of the bodies were impossible to recover, courtesy of my fire jutsu.
"And Itachi-kun? How has he been?" The Hokage just had to ask that.
"Yes, where is this brother I was supposed to save from dying," Tsunade added from the side. Not you too, Tsunade-sama.
I looked at Jiraiya, who looked at me back, telling me to deal with it myself. Well, if you insisted.
"I don't know where he is, probably running some missing-nin mission in the warzone," I answered Tsunade, who raised an eyebrow at me. Then I turned to the Hokage and replied, "We met Itachi in one of the villages. He had important news about Akatsuki, may I?"
The Hokage nodded, giving me the 'go ahead', so I reported the conversation between us that happened a week ago. I told them about the individual named 'Tobi', who claimed to be Uchiha Madara - yes, I heard the room go silent at that part, been there, done that. I told them about Akatsuki's newest goal of gathering the tail beasts, timeline unknown, target priority unknown. Finally, I reported the speculation we had on Tobi's role in many events, dating back to the Nine-tail rampage, to his possible involvement in the making of the Bloody Mist, and also the very recent Root Annihilation.
"In all likelihood, Itachi's identity as a spy has been exposed to Tobi, perhaps at a time point that's even earlier than Danzō's imprisonment. It's possible that Tobi just doesn't care or that he doesn't believe we could do anything with information from Itachi, like Itachi suggested. However, I still think Itachi's information should be taken with a grain of salt, given that Tobi's goals with Akatsuki and Itachi remain unclear." With that, I concluded my report on Uchiha Itachi, long-time spy for Konoha, current S-rank missing-nin on the bingo book.
"All of those sound … concerning." At this point, the Hokage's brows are crunched up so tight that it could probably suffocate a fly. "The tailed-beasts are a complicated topic in every village. Itachi does have a point in that even with the warnings, Konoha needed to trend with caution on how they wanted to use this information. It could very much be a double-edge sword for us."
"And then, there's always the issue with Naruto's current state." The Hokage let out a sigh, looking out the window in the direction of the academy.
The tailed-beast Jinchuuriki are known for their prowess, with Kumogakure exemplifying that perception. Their jinchuuriki were always trained from a young age and were revered as great soldiers for their village.
Yet, our Jinchuuriki was vulnerable. Naruto didn't even know he was a jinchuuriki; he knew that he was different, but he had no idea what that specialness really meant.
The Sandaime wanted him to have a normal childhood - I thought that kind of went out of the window when rumours of the demon fox leaked out - and let him grow into his role and responsibility as the jinchuuriki at a natural pace.
But some things had to be said.
"I think Naruto needs to learn his history," I said, not any louder than a whisper, but it caught everyone's attention. "Naruto is smart, optimistic, and talented - well, depends on how you look at it, but the village can't protect him from all the danger, not from Akatsuki, nor from himself."
"How much longer can you weigh his freedom against the risk of danger before one of them has to be given up?" I stared at the Hokage, asking him to consider that eventually, he would graduate from the Academy, go on missions, work towards his dream of becoming the Hokage. How long did he have before Akatsuki came for him? How much longer would he continue to live in with naivety until it all toppled down.
"I agree with Maiko on this one. He can't change his Jinchuuriki status. If he wants the freedom to pursue his dreams, he needs the strength and knowledge to protect himself." It was Commander Nara who first backed me up on this.
I looked at Kakashi, who stood by the window in silence. He lowered his eyes, refusing to look at me. In his mind, Naruto was fine as he was - cheerful, naive, and had all the time in the world to grow up at his own pace. He and I both knew what Jinchuuriki training in Kumogakure was like - cultivating the power of the tailed beast required great sacrifice. If you couldn't tame the beast, you became the beast.
"Just because we have to take into consideration his Jinchuuriki status doesn't mean that we are not looking at him as a person," I concluded in a softer voice, hoping that it would reach the ones it was meant for.
"I will have to consider this. If possible, I want Naruto to at least have a normal genin experience," the Hokage said eventually, sealing the conversation at hand.
By the time I left the office with Kakashi, Jiraiya had already vanished without a trace. The Hokage had to discuss the succession with Tsunade, as well as filling her in on the current state of the Konoha power structure. I had only given her an overview during our journey back, but she needed more details that I couldn't provide.
"Do you blame me for bringing up Naruto's Jinchuuriki power?" I asked Kakashi as we descended back into the Anbu Headquarter. We leaned on the railings overlooking the Anbu training ground. I saw him clutching onto the railing. His fist tightened for a moment before relaxing.
"No, you were only saying what everyone else was thinking." He turned to look at me, pulling his forehead protector even lower. "Deep down, I know that you're right."
But sometimes we just wish that there's still time, The words were left unsaid.
"You never answered the Hokage's question about Itachi," Kakashi said.
No I didn't. I couldn't very well tell him that 'No, Itachi is not fine, he's on the verge of dying and he doesn't care." The Hokage left it at that, not asking if Itachi decided to return to the village or stay undercover. That was our agreement, the last thing that he would allow me to do on my whims - Itachi himself got to decide what he wanted to do.
"I told him to come back in two weeks." Subtracting the time I spent on the mission, the passcode would expire in exactly thirteen days. "If he doesn't, then I might never see him again."
Kakashi didn't say anything, knowing that at this point, it was out of our control.
"Speaking of which, I should probably let Sasuke know. Have they burned my house down yet?" I changed the topic to something that wasn't our greatest regret or sorrow.
"Your house is fine. Not sure about your training grounds though. I saw a lot of fire coming out of it." Kakashi said the most worrisome words using the most nonchalant voice.
"Okay, now I really have to go back." I said, not wasting a moment and headed for the exit. Kakashi could contemplate Naruto and Itachi could contemplate his future direction. The Uchiha Compound on the other hand, couldn't survive another destruction because I had no money left to renovate it again.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"It's your fault if we miss it. Why would you drink that milk when you know it's gone bad?" Do we not feed you? Sasuke forced the last bit of the sentence down, because it made it sound like he actually cared about this idiot.
"But … I don't want to waste food." Naruto said in a whimper as he got out of the bathroom. "Don't worry, we'll make it … right?" He looked at Sasuke with hopeful eyes, but it just made him want to smack him even more.
"Make it to what?" A voice sounded behind them. Sasuke turned around and saw Sakura and Ino, with the rest of the ino-shika-cho trio behind them.
Ino looked at them with curiosity, arms crossed in front of her chest. Sasuke wanted to tell her that it was none of her business, but Naruto was one step faster, yelling out from the bathroom door, "It's the Jonin Evaluation today! They're holding matches at the underground arena."
"Jonin … Evaluation?" Sakura repeated, looking confused. Sasuke always found it amazing that for someone who could remember all the boring theories taught by the Academy, she lacked the common sense about the shinobi career.
"It's a performance match, between newly promoted Jonin and senior Jonin," Shikamaru explained. "So, you two are going to watch Maiko-nee-san's match?"
"Of course! What else?" Naruto yelled with excitement. "After today, she'll be a Jonin, right? I'm someone who knows Jonin, hehe."
That idiot, Sasuke commented in his mind. Maiko-nee was an Anbu Captain, which was more than enough for a Jonin status. Even after all these years, Naruto still had yet to figure that part out.
But Sasuke preferred it that way. It meant that Maiko-nee never hides anything from him. Not her job in Anbu, nor the fact that she had met Itachi, who was dying, broken, and still as arrogant as ever.
He found her sitting by the back porch last night, waiting for someone who might not ever come back again.
That's right, today was the last day before the passcode expired.
"You sister, Sasuke-kun?" It was Sakura again, infinitely curious about Sasuke, even if Maiko-nee had only come up in passing conversations. "Can we go watch too?" She asked, eyes still on Sasuke.
"Why are you asking me? The event is open to all shinobi, from Academy students to Jonin. Do what you want." Sasuke couldn't care less what her motives were - he didn't spend time on the unimportant things.
Sakura's smile cracked upon hearing Sasuke's words and she dropped her eyes in embarrassment. Ino noticed it first, eyeing Sasuke with anger. "Don't be mean to her, not everyone comes from big shinobi clans,"
"Hey, instead of wasting time here, we should just go, it's getting late." Shikamaru interjected from the side, laying down the steps for both Sasuke and Ino to step down from a fight.
Sasuke took it. He had better places to be.
They arrived at the Underground Arena where a crowd had already gathered. Sasuke took the lead to walk into the crowd, making Naruto follow him.
He saw a familiar figure in front of them, but before he could confirm his suspicion, Naruto already called out, "Iruka-sensei!"
The man turned around, revealing their Academy sensei with a surprised look. "Didn't expect to see you guys here."
"Iruka-sensei! We're here to watch Maiko-nee-chan's match!" Naruto decided to announce each and every one of their goals like he always did.
"Uchiha Maiko …" Realization hit Iruka-sensei's face. "Ah, that's right, she's one of the Jonin getting promoted."
"Since you're all here, come, let me take you to the front so it's closer to the Arena." Iruka-sensei waved at the children, calling them along as he waded through the crowd.
Eventually, he found the place he was looking for, or rather, the group of people he was looking for.
"You made it, Iruka. How's the Academy?" A purple haired woman asked as she made way for Iruka to join in.
"Ah, yes, it's going well. I've met some little guests at the foyer." Iruka-sensei said, letting the children move in front of them. Sasuke moved to the railing, a perfect spot to observe everything that would happen down there. There were a pair of shinobi already fighting, using a combination of taijutsu, bukijutsu, and ninjutsu to demonstrate their skills and experiences.
"How would one win in a match?" Sakura asked from the side, a little more timid this time. Sasuke was going to ignore her - he wasn't the sensei here - but Naruto, that idiot, looked at him with the same confused look.
"Within eight minutes, pin the opponent down on the floor or incapacitate them for two seconds, then followed by a touch to the neck, to win the match. If the conditions were not met within eight minutes, then the matches end with a draw," Sasuke explained. Down in the arena, the more senior Jonin slammed his opponent down on the ground and locked him down with an Earth Release.
Before a second had passed, the newly promoted Jonin slammed his hand down on the ground and a wind current expanded around him, pushing the older shinobi away as well as shattering his bindings.
This was supposed to be a match, so it couldn't compare to an actual battle between enemy shinobi. However, the rules tried their best to mimic the real battle. Two seconds might not sound very long, but being incapacitated for that long in a real battle more likely than not already spelled out the end.
The purple haired woman looked his way, surprised by the fact that he knew so much about the rules. "This must be Maiko's little brother. I've heard a lot about you." Sasuke looked at her and concluded that she must be Anbu as well.
He nodded in acknowledgement - that was the nicest behaviour he had for strangers.
"Speaking of which, it should be her turn soon," The purple-haired woman said as the current match came to an end. The younger man caught this opponent with a water jutsu and managed to incapacitate him for two seconds before touching his neck.
The Arena erupted in cheers and encouragement as the newly promoted Jonin pulled his opponent up from the ground. They formed the seal of reconciliation to officially end the match, before the older shinobi patted the younger one on the shoulder and gave him a big thumbs up.
Win and loss here didn't matter. Every one battling here was a respected Jonin of the village, the strongest protector of Konoha.
A moment of rest before the match moved on. A large paper scroll was rolled down from where the judges stood, hanging over the wall, revealing the next pair of shinobi beginning their match.
Sasuke's eyes widened as he heard the purple-haired woman suck in a breath.
In bold black strokes, it wrote:
Next Match:
Uchiha Maiko (Newly Promoted) vs Hatake Kakashi.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"You've known this for a while, haven't you?" I asked Kakashi, who was leaning against the wall on the other side of the entrance. Our names hang from across the arena, left for everyone to see.
I didn't know who my opponent would be, that was the standard procedure. Kakashi, however, must have known that he would be a part of the match today.
"I was told that I had to be here, but not who my opponent will be. Still, looking at the list of newly promoted Jonin, it wasn't hard to guess who I would be matched up to," Kakashi explained, strolling into the arena. A moment later, I followed him out.
Hundreds of eyes fell on us as we entered the Arena. The judges nodded to us, telling us that we could start whenever we wanted. The eight minute counter would start whenever we formed the hand seal to initiate the match.
"Three things, just so we are on the same page," I called out to him as we came to stand in the centre. "One, no Mangekyou; two, no summoning creatures; and three, don't hold back."
"I was going to say the same thing." Kakashi said, still with the laziness oozing out of his voice.
Then, his hand went to his forehead protector. My eyes blinked into the Sharingan the moment he pulled up his cover, revealing our Sharingan at the same time.
"Thank you for the match," we said to each other as we formed the Seal of Respect.
The clock started ticking and we sprung into action.
My nintajō made the 'clink' when I unsheathed it, but the resonating sound was covered by the loud crash between my blade and Kakashi's kunai. Feeling the overwhelming pressure, I twisted my wrist and slithered forward.
Clink, I drew out my tantō and sliced it forward. Kakashi moved his body aside, sending me forward with momentum. My foot planted firmly on the ground and I pivoted, lowering my body as I turned around to avoid a kick to my head.
Lightning sizzled on my blades and I striked forward. Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he held up his kunai to block. The electricity danced across the metals and surged towards him, only for it to be pushed back by Kakashi's own coat of lightning chakra on the kunai.
Who doesn't know how to do this, his eyes seemed to say, as the clash of the lightning resulted in an explosive burst between us. I wanted to move away, but Kakashi clasped onto my wrist with the hand he held up earlier to parry my tantō wielding arm.
We ducked simultaneously to avoid the burst of lightning, and Kakashi used that to flip me to the ground, pinning my wrist down.
His lightning coated kunai sailed towards my face a moment later and I brought my ninjatō up again, this time, the crackling electricity was replaced by a silvery glow.
Try doing this then, I replied with my eyes.
The yin-chakra coated blade sliced through his kunai and went straight to his neck. However, before it could reach him, he disappeared with a puff of smoke. A simple replacement jutsu, I noted.
The moment I was free, I rolled up and my body flickered away. Several Earth spikes rose up where I once lay. My eyes locked onto Kakashi's figure and I blew out four fire dragons from my mouth.
For the Sharingan, replacement jutsu and clones made of any medium other than the shadow clone were as useless for a disguise as a paper doll. The same applied to him as it did for me, so the moment he flickered away, he was prepared for my attacks
Chains of fire dragon closed in on him, but with a few maneuvers, he made two of them crash together and dispelled the other two with water bullets.
I wasn't done. I breathed out a curtain of fire, threatening to envelop him in full. Without even a blink, he summoned up a dome of earth walls and blocked my attack.
Among the mess of chakra, my Sharingan caught the disappearing signature. As expected, when the wall grumbled, Kakashi was nowhere to be found. But ….
I infused lightning into my ninjatō one more time and plunged it towards the ground the moment I saw the ground vibrating, telling me that someone would burst out.
To my surprise, however, it wasn't Kakashi, but rather, a wall of mud that sprung in front of me. How strange, I saw his chakra. My ninjatō plunged into the ground at the same moment and the wild lightning shattered the wall into pieces.
However, I heard it before that, the crackling electricity that gathered from behind the wall.
Kakashi drove his arm through the shattering wall, lightning gathered at his fingertips. It wasn't the Chidori - despite everything, we were not trying to kill or seriously injure each other - but for certain, I didn't want to be hit by that.
So that's what you're planning. Without hesitation, I let go of the ninjatō and started to pulse the lightning chakra over my body. Kakashi's lightning arrived at the exact time as I flickered away, leaving nothing behind but the ninjatō and a spark of electricity.
The world seemed to shift when I landed on the side of the arena. My body seemed to move faster than I could process my thought; every millisecond, the scene around me was different. The only thing grounding me was the details fed back through the Sharingan, it gave me barely enough to feel like I was still a part of this world.
My feet tapped on the wall for a millisecond before I pushed myself off.
Kakashi was always vigilant in the face of the unknown and this would be the first time I used this technique in front of him. He glanced around, Sharingan swirling, tuning up his senses to see through the milliseconds of changes.
Our Sharingan met for a moment. Just like how my Sharingan kept me aware of the surroundings, his Sharingan could catch me as well.
But like how I always said to Sasuke, just because you could see it, didn't mean you could react to it.
I flashed towards him, swirling my tantō to be hilt first. The hilt plunged into his shoulder and knocked him back. I touched the ground very briefly and flickered onto the wall again. Without the audience even noticing, I bounced off and charged down at an angle so that I could kick him in the spine.
My knee crashed into his back and forced him on the ground. My hand went for his neck to pin him down, but of course, why would I ever expect the same trick to work on him twice? When it did, something was usually coming.
A flash of lightning struck down from the sky, cutting between us and forcing me to flash away. In this state, movement was the key to my survival and the worst thing I could do was to stick around. Anything that interrupted my flow of movement was deadly and Kakahsi caught onto that almost immediately.
Raiton: Narukami, meaning 'Falling Thunder', did exactly what its name suggests. It summoned a bolt of lightning to strike the enemy from above. A blackened circle remained at where I once stood, demonstrating the power the lightning had contained. To think that Kakashi would use this jutsu at such a close distance to himself, he must be confident in his control. Seeing that he was unhurt in any way, he had every right to be confident.
Without a moment of rest, I charged in again. At this point, I still had the advantage because all Kakashi could do was to react defensively after I had struck.
Kakashi made the hand seals as soon as I had disappeared. That is … Half way during my attack I realized what jutsu he was using. My trajectory turned at the moment of thought, avoiding the barrier of whirlwinds that started to expand from around him, cleverly preventing me from approaching him until the jutsu had passed.
Kakashi wasn't done, using the time that I couldn't attack him, he immediately started another series of hand seals. I narrowed my eyes at his hand motion, this was a jutsu I had never seen before.
The Whirlwind dissipated a moment later, but just then, A flash of white appeared in my vision, charging at me with a speed that even my Sharingan had trouble comprehending.
I dashed away without hesitation, the amount of energy contained in that speck of white lightning didn't need to remind me twice.
To my surprise, the white lightning followed me without slowing down, even matching my speed after the chakra augmentation. I clenched my teeth and zoomed across the arena, realizing that the white lightning would still follow me around like a pesky insect, leaving only a white line behind on its path.
Was Kakashi controlling its path? No, the trajectory of the lightning was too smooth, even curving a little at the corner as if predicting which direction I would move to. Even with the Sharingan, Kakashi wouldn't be able to direct its trajectory with such a smooth path, otherwise, he should have been able to see through my earlier attacks.
The homing was automatic, I came to that conclusion.
Sadly, at this state, I couldn't use any jutsu to attack or defend myself, but if I terminate the lightning chakra circulating in my body and stop the augmentation, it would catch up to me before I could react.
If I can't use attacks to negate it … At the next corner, I flashed towards the other person standing calmly in the arena, not even breaking a sweat as he watched me battling it out with the jutsu.
Kakashi's eyes widened as he caught a shadow of where I was heading. The lightning followed me meticulously without a mind of its own. I even paused for a fraction of a millisecond to let the white lightning catch up, its electrical aura already on the verge of touching my back.
Kakashi looked like he wanted to laugh in the face of the dilemma I forced him to choose. Still, he chose the option that I had planned out for him.
The same whirlwind barrier expanded around him, threatening to slam into me. At the exact moment when the whirlwind would hit me, I tapped the ground and flickered upward, leaving the range of the jutsu. The white lightning behind me on the other hand, didn't have the foresight to turn the corner and got slammed head first by the whirlwind.
Dispel the jutsu for me or get hit by me and the jutsu together, that was the option I had left him with.
The small flash of lightning exploded in electrical spark in all directions and I landed on the other side of the arena.
Kakashi relinquished control of that white lightning in favour of speed, but he was somehow able to make it home to the enemy. Now that was something new. If I didn't have the movement speed I would be hit by it within the first second it appeared.
Silently, I withdrew the lightning chakra circulating in my body. It had become more of a hindrance rather than help now that Kakashi had a clear way of countering it. Likewise, he wouldn't be using that new jutsu of his again, knowing that I could enter this mode and escape the jutsu all the same.
Our eyes met again, judging, predicting, calculating each other. What would you do now? What should we do now? We seemed to ask each other.
A few seconds later, as if reading each other's mind, we both moved.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"What's going on?" Naruto asked and Sasuke couldn't answer him. A moment ago, Maiko-nee disappeared and before anyone could blink, Hatake looked like someone punched him hard.
Immediately, Sasuke's eyes flashed red and swirled into the three-tomoe Sharingan. Only then, was he able to catch a little bit of the world privy only to those who could see past the normal scale of time.
Maiko-nee was moving at the speed faster than normal vision could comprehend, even his Sharingan could only catch a glimpse before he was starting to get a headache.
"That Jonin looked like he's hitting the air," Ino exclaimed from the side and Naruto nodded, fully agreeing with her observation.
"Nee, Sasuke, what's going on? Where is Maiko-nee-chan?" Naruto asked again, pushing his shoulder to get his attention.
That idiot! Great, now everyone is looking at him for explanations, even Iruka-sensei.
Sasuke took a breath to calm himself so he didn't throw Naruto down into the Arena. He squeezed his eyes and concentrated harder, just enough to catch a glimpse of Maiko landing another hit on Hatake, pushing him to the ground.
"Maiko-nee is moving at a speed faster than normal eyes can comprehend. Hatake … san has a Sharingan, so he is able to catch some of her movement, but not enough to react to her every attack," Sasuke said and immediately he heard a round of awe from around him.
Hatake called Narukami down to make Maiko flash away. Then, something strange happened again. Something flashed from Hatake's hands and it sent Maiko running.
A homing jutsu, Sasuke realized when he saw the after image of the jutsu in the form of a white tail, following Maiko's every move and turn.
"Hatake-san sent a homing jutsu to Maiko, so she had to dodge." Sasuke explained just as Naruto was about to ask again. He hated that he was so attuned to it now.
Sasuke felt the stinging pain in his eyes - he had overstressed it just trying to decipher their moves.
He pressed his head to ease the pain and just then, he realized that Maiko-nee charged towards Hakate, forcing him to use wind release to dispel the homing jutsu for her.
He willed his Sharingan to go back into the dormant state. There was no need for it now. Everyone now could see the two figures standing in the arena.
Very few were able to see what just happened in that short period of time, but that didn't affect their excitement for what was about to come.
There were still four minutes left.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
Rolling over the ground, I snatched the ninjatō stuck on the ground and sheathed it behind my back. Three lightning wolves shot out from Kakashi's direction, zig-zagging around my fire dragons, aiming straight for me.
Kakashi's lightning jutsu were as annoying as ever, I thought as I flickered away, letting one of them crash into the Arena wall. Putting a hand on the ground, I called up an earth wall, letting the wolf crash into it, blocking it for a second for me to dodge the second one.
As for the last one. I made two half hand seals with my left hand, letting the ruby-red flame gather in front of me, finally morphing into an arrow.
I snapped my fingers, letting the arrow pierce through the air. The crimson arrow shot through the lightning wolf, burning a hole in its structure and it collapsed due to the lack of integrity. The arrow continued on its path and flew towards Kakashi in the blink of an eye.
Kakashi knew full well that he couldn't block its path, so he managed to body flicker away at the last second, just as the arrow touched his arm, leaving a burn mark on the sleeves of his Jonin jacket.
Well, I wasn't aiming to kill him anyway, just to get him to move in the opposite direction.
Our weapons clashed as soon as he came out of the body flicker. He narrowed his eyes at me, as if saying 'good try, but not quite.'
I flicked the tantō and unsheathed the ninjatō, answering his silent words with another slash of the blade.
Time seemed to lose its meaning as Kakashi and I parried with our strikes, occasionally using ninjutsu to gain an upper hand. The Arena was quiet except for the symphonies of metallic clash and the dull drum beat of body parts striking together.
Kakashi and I had spent much of our life killing enemies or incapacitating them in ways that shouldn't be allowed here. One would think that things would be easier when we didn't have to kill, but that was clearly not the case here.
Our most powerful jutsu were designed to strike the opponent down with no mercy. Just like Kakashi's Chidori and the fact that I had to use the hilt when I attacked within that high speed state, if we tried to dumb down the damage, it wouldn't be enough to critically injure the opponent. The retaliation after that could be fatal to us.
Therefore, in this match, the attention lay in the details.
I took a step back to avoid letting his leg slam into mine and in return, I slammed the tantō hilt into his stomach. Kakashi took the hit and returned it with a strike to my wrist.
My hand shook in pain as I clenched onto the tantō. To break up his current momentum, I blew out a great fireball and let it crash into him. Kakashi had no choice but to break away. To return my favour, he summoned a wall of water that crashed down at me.
Immediately, I formed a stream of wind and shot it towards the ground, pushing myself up in the air. A ball of concentrated lightning formed in my hand and I partitioned it to dozens of senbon and let it rain down from the above.
The lightning senban shot into the water-filled Arena, making the floor an electro-charged trap and forcing Kakashi to jump up and land on the Arena wall on the opposite side as me.
Just then, I activated the lightning chakra coursing through my body, dashing across the arena. Kakashi's eyes widened as I struck down from above, knocking him off the Arena wall, straight into the floor layered with electricity-filled water.
At the last moment, Kakashi managed to throw a few kunai to the ground, creating a foothold just above the layer of water.
He landed on the kunai, already forming seals for the homing jutsu earlier. Like I said, if we couldn't get a critical strike, the retaliation could be fatal. I was ready to charge down to interrupt his jutsu at all costs.
"Time's up!"
I froze in place and Kakashi paused before finishing his hand seals. I never dashed down and Kakashi's jutsu was never fired.
The eight minutes for the match had already passed and no one was able to gain a strike on the opponent. The result was a draw.
We waited a moment for the lightning in the water to dissipate, before stepping back to the centre of the Arena.
Kakashi held out his hand, making the Seal of Reconciliation. I reached out mine and our fingers crossed.
Suddenly, the once silent Arena erupted in cheers. Beside me, Kakashi pulled his forehead protector down to hide his Sharingan.
"The Match will be temporarily halted for ten minutes, as we clean up the Arena. We thank you for your patience." The judges announced using the overhead speaker. Marks of our previous match were all around us - the water puddle left all over the ground, the blackened craters left by Kakashi's lightning jutsu, and melted holes created by my flame arrows earlier.
Kakashi and I looked at each other and we decided to exit the arena immediately. Yes, it's better to pretend we don't see.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"So, these are my future Jonin Commander and Anbu Commander?" Tsunade asked Sarutobi-sensei as they looked over the railing from their private booth.
Sarutobi-sensei rubbed his nose, as if he had no idea what she's talking about. Tsunade rolled her eyes, did her sensei think that he was being subtle? Forget about Hatake Kakashi, he was an obvious candidate. As for Uchiha Maiko, sending the girl to find her, encouraging the girl to be part of the discussion usually privy to Konoha's commanding level … Sarutobi-sensei once again saw the potential in the younger generation and couldn't help but butt in.
"The choice is always yours, Tsunade. In three days, you'll be the Hokage, and I have no doubt that you'll be a fine one," Sarutobi-sensei said to her with a wrinkled smile. A fine Hokage, huh.
Tsunade stretched her hand, a recent cut mark stretched across her palm, a few hours later, it would heal up and leave no trace. Then, it was rinse-and-repeat.
The village accepted her ascension because she was a Senju. The shinobi accepted her ascension because she was one of the sannin. The 'oppositions' accepted her because they thought she was foreign to the village and easy to manipulate.
Tsunade did have her ideas - she came back to be the Hokage, not to be a puppet - yet, she also admitted that she needed advice from those who lived through the center of the storm.
Well, in time, the village, the shinobi, the 'oppositions', as well as those who supported her, they would all see what kind of Hokage she would become.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
"Amazing …" Sasuke heard someone mutter around him, probably Sakura or Ino. That wasn't the only time he heard that. They didn't make it for the earlier matches, but judging from the reaction of those who did - namely Iruka-sensei's friends - that match between Maiko-nee and Hatake was on a different level.
"So that was … Jonin." Naruto mumbled beside him, blue eyes widened in amazement. Maiko-nee never used this much high-level jutsu when training with them. She didn't need to and she would have beaten them so fast that they wouldn't learn anything.
But it wasn't just the scary jutsu, it was everything else in that match. The reaction time, the predictions, the psychological battles … it made them realize that it wasn't a battle that they, at their current level, could even step in.
This was the kind of battle that Maiko-nee had to fight for every mission.
"Don't get frightened, what you just saw was a match between the highest level Jonin, the best of the best." Iruka-sensei seemed to notice how the younger kids fell in silence, being awestruck by the display of power.
"Exactly," The purple-haired woman added from the side. "Hataka-senpai had been a Jonin for more than a decade and he is one of the most well-known shinobi in the village. As for Maiko, I'd say her promotion had been overdue, even though she's only sixteen."
"So keep learning and practicing, you all still have a long journey ahead of you. Maybe one day you'll be here as well, having your own Jonin Evaluation Match." Iruka-sensei smiled at him, giving them a big thumbs up.
"I will reach her one day," Suddenly, Sasuke said, drawing everyone's attention. He didn't know why he would say it out loud, but it was an urge that he couldn't control. He wanted them to know, especially that idiot Naruto, that one day, he would reach the level of strength and experience that he was awestruck by.
"I will reach Maiko-nee and surpass her." Sasuke confirmed once more. He used to be obsessed with reaching Maiko-nee and Itachi, because they were the genius that everyone looked up to, the prodigy that his parents approved of.
His goal hadn't changed, not one bit, but for a completely different reason. When he could hold his own against her, against opponents like her or even stronger than her, that was when he could stop being a worry to her.
That was when he could stop being her weakness.
"That's a formidable goal! I wish you all the best." It was the purple-haired woman who first responded to his declaration. There wasn't mockery in her voice, only sincerity.
"I believe you! But I will reach it before you!" Once again, Naruto just had to say something that pissed him off.
"Try not to be the dead-last first, will you?"
"Hey, Teme!"
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
I had received congratulations from many people.
Akira-shishou, someone I hadn't seen for a while since I had set my career in Anbu, took his ten-year old boy to see me. He had given me a pat on the back and a smack on the head at how flimsy I decided to drop my swords. 'It was part of being efficient' I insisted, to that, my kenjutsu teacher just shook his head and sighed in exasperation.
Shun came next with our three kouhai. He gave me a big hug, telling me that it was long overdue. I hugged him back and replied 'thank you', for his warm congratulations and for his company across the decade.
My teammates from Anbu found me as Kakashi and I were getting treatments for the cuts and bruises. I didn't hold back when I kicked him in the shoulder, and he wasn't joking when he hit my arm.
"I saw your brother with his classmates earlier. I offered to take him to see you for a bit, but I think he decided to come back instead," Yugao said, a little confused why my brother left so abruptly. But I remembered what day today was - or rather, I never stopped counting it.
I shook my head with a smile and said, "He's waiting for someone back home, we all are."
"I guess that you won't be coming to the bar today with us then. It's a shame, we're supposed to celebrate the promotion of all Jonin today, and your match with Hatake is definitely the highlight of today's events," Zebra said and my other teammates nodded in agreement.
"Another time," I promised. As for when I would cash out on that, haha, 'never' seemed like a good time.
The hallway was soon emptied out as shinobi returned to watch the remaining matches.
I stretched my arm, feeling the soreness getting healed right up. I looked back and saw Kakashi putting his Jonin vest on. The scorched cut on his sleeve stood out like an inkblot on the white paper. He wouldn't be able to sew that sleeve back together, unfortunately.
"I see you have a new jutsu up your sleeve since the time I left the village," I said and didn't bother to hide the curiosity in my voice.
"It wasn't that long ago since I stabilized it. Perhaps around the time you returned from the mission." Kakashi tilted his head, as if trying to remember the exact time line.
"How did you get that white lightning jutsu to home in on me?" I asked as we walked down the hallway towards the exit. I was going home and Kakashi didn't look like he was going to stay either.
That jutsu was a perfect addition to Kakashi's vast amount of mid-to-short ranged lightning jutsu. However, the key for its speed and accuracy was the successful homing function. Without it, the jutsu would be too costly in terms of chakra and attention, and it's efficiency towards far-away opponents would dwindle as distance increased.
"It's your smell, or maybe more accurately, the smell of your chakra." Kakashi answered, giving me an option that I had never thought about.
"The same kind of smell you and your ninken use to track enemies?"
Kakashi nodded. "Whether it's tracking or homing, the smell is just a code, an identifier for the opponent." He made it sound easy, but like my yin-chakra fire jutsu, it wasn't something that anyone could just mimic.
"I kept on thinking how nice it would be if I could just stand there and let jutsu do the work when fighting Danzō," Kakashi said all of a sudden. I wasn't sure what to say, because while the logic wasn't wrong - yes, it would save us some trouble if we had a jutsu that could home in on him and rip through his body the moment he appeared from another izanagi - there was something wrong with how he said it.
"Are you going to give it a name, so I can stop calling it 'that white lightning jutsu'?" I asked.
Kakashi glanced at me and said instead, "Why don't you give it a name? I'm fresh out of ideas for lightning jutsu." That had to be a show off of how many lightning jutsu he already had in his arsenal.
I thought about it, remembering the pressurizing presence it had when I saw it piercing through the air straight towards me. "How about 'Hakuryuu'?"
Kakashi looked like he wanted to laugh. "Hey, you asked!" I shot back, think on your own if you want a better one. I didn't believe for a second that he couldn't think of a better one, not for someone who came up with names such as 'Chidori' and 'Raikiri'.
"It's how it looked to me," I said, flashing the Sharingan to show what it meant. 'Hakuryuu' meant 'white dragon', and that was how his jutsu looked to me under the Sharingan. A streak of white in the shape of a menacing white dragon, locking onto me.
"Raiton: Hakuryuu it is," Kakashi said, placating my anger. "It's your turn, I see you've managed to steal the lightning chakra mode from the Yondaime Raikage."
"As if. I found it by accident, when I tried to suck lightning jutsu back up my body. It wasn't very pretty at first, but Tsunade-sama helped me a little, so I didn't kill my own cells." He didn't need to know how I almost impaled myself on trees.
"It caught me by surprise, but I supposed this arena wasn't the best environment for it." Kakashi concluded, already realizing the advantage and limitation of my technique after minutes of seeing it. "Does it have a name?"
"Jinrai," I said, meaning 'swift thunder'. Tsunade-sama casually named it after giving me a lecture on how I was too wasteful with my chakra. I thought it sounded too serious, but I supposed we couldn't keep referring to it as 'that technique' all the time.
"Sounds accurate." Kakashi concluded, "You weren't the one who named it, weren't you?"
"No, it was Tsunade-sama, but do you have to say it …" I gritted my teeth, debating if I should just slam the hilt of my sword into his shoulder again.
"Moreover, I see that your exploration into the Uchiha Katon techniques has led to something unique." I knew what Kakashi meant. Even after all these years, he was still the person who led me into the realm of ninjutsu.
From the moment he had agreed to be my library of ninjutsu, he had told me that mimicry and copying would only last me for so long. He had taught me Chidori and we had expanded its usage over the years, but Chidori would always belong to Kakashi.
Now, I finally had something to call my own.
"Wait until you see all the other things I can do with it," I said. Although, probably not as my opponent. Beauty and danger were synonyms here and one couldn't hold back if they wanted to see the true bloom.
"Can't wait to see. As usual, you need a name. Can't very well call it 'the fire arrow that almost killed me', can we?" Kakashi said, and I laughed. I personally thought that was an okay name, but I could see how it would be troublesome in conversations.
"You name it for me. If I do it, it would just be 'fire arrow'." I wasn't kidding, it would stay unnamed until it became too troublesome and then I might take pity on it and call it 'fire arrow'.
Kakashi took a second to think, then he said, "Hama Ya. That's what it reminds me of."
Hama Ya, the evil-banishing arrow. The legends said that the evil-banishing bow and arrow were used to slay demons and evil spirits, protecting people from harm. Nowadays, smaller replicas are sold at shrines and festivals as protection charms. Back at the summer festival where I first understood the foundation behind Uchiha Kaenjin, we walked past a shop that sold charms and Hama Ya. It was quite fitting in that sense.
"With you around, why do I even bother making up my own names?" I legit questioned that. When there was a ball of lightning fast and powerful enough to pierce through a chest cavity, how could someone focus on the onomatopoeia of its sound and come up with the name Chidori?
Yet, it made an impression.
The exit was just ahead of us. I could see the colour of the sunset seeping through the glass door. It was one of the smaller exits, unknown to the general public. Kakashi and I, however, kind of have to know every entrance, exit, or even holes in the wall that existed in Konoha.
I thought about what I should do after I get out of that door. I would probably go back to the compound, heat up the food that I cooked during lunch, and wait, like what I had done for the night before and the night before that.
There was nothing I could do but wait, and that was one of the worst feelings in the world.
Goddamn it, was he even alive? Or did he already die in a forest somewhere?
Kakashi's hand tightened on a kunai and my fingers rested on the hilt of my sword. We both sensed it, there was someone dangerous standing in front of the exit.
"Itachi," My breathing stopped, recognising the person in my dreams as the danger in front of me, emitting an aura worthy of S-rank missing-nin.
"Mai, congratulations." He smiled at me, his dark pupil shining with pride and sincerity. He then turned towards Kakashi and said, "Senpai, long time no see."
Ironically, it was Kakashi who first relaxed his hand and nodded at him,
"If this is a shadow clone, Itachi, I swear I will find you and drive a sword through your body." I said, fingers still grasping on the sword hilt. I couldn't relax. My heart had been fooled with too many illusions, of which Itachi was a master.
Itachi let out a laugh under his breath as a shuriken appeared in his hand. Before I could stop him, he made a deep cut on his arm, showing me the flowing blood indicative of a corporeal body.
I flickered to him a moment later, grabbing his hand with the shuriken. "That's not what I meant!" Why do you always try to piss me off?
"Sorry, Mai, it seems that I made you mad again," Itachi said in an apologetic tone. His hand was so cold, I realized, and it shook me like static. Immediately, I released his hand.
"You know what your action means, right? Do you know what hope you're giving me?" I questioned him because I could never be sure with him. For all I know, he could come back here for now and decided to go on his merry way the next second.
I loved him, but I couldn't trust him.
"Yes. Maiko. I decided to come back to Konoha." I heard Itachi's words through my pounding heart. "The rest of my life, no matter how long, I decided to spend them with you and Sasuke."
It seemed that gods had heard my prayer.
After a long silence, I told him, "Welcome back."
I remembered to turn back and check on Kakashi. He had his duty to the village and the Hokage. Itachi returning to the village, even if he wasn't a real missing-nin, was not something to be taken lightly.
However, Kakashi just waved at me lazily and said, "Have a good night. The Hokage can wait until tomorrow." He turned back and decided that finding another exit was better than all the drama happening here.
"Let's go home. Sasuke is waiting," I told Itachi as I pushed open the exit.
I raced back at the compound, scared to look behind me. Only when I arrived at the front gate did I dare to look back. Itachi was there, looking at me, looking at the Uchiha Compound.
"You renovated it." Itachi took in the full view of the main house as we walked in.
"Only the area around the main house. It's not viable for me to maintain the rest," I explained.
Even before we stepped into the porch, the residents noticed our presence.
Ryuu met us by the door. His eyes widened in shock when he saw Itachi, unsure of what to say. "Welcome back …" He decided to go with the safest option.
"This is Ryuu, I ... adopted him. It's a long story," I explained, rubbing my nose because yeah, this meeting was not something I had expected to happen a month ago.
"Nice to meet you," Itachi gave the younger boy a smile and Ryuu took a step back, shaken by the sudden smile.
Itachi " …"
"Another day, Ryuu, I'll explain." I said and Ryuu had no problem following my order, ignoring things that I told him to.
Sasuke sat by the dining table. His eyes settled on Itachi and the air in the room turned icy.
"Sasuke …" I started, but my younger brother didn't let me finish. He set down his bowl and took it to the sink.
"I'm done with dinner. Congratulation, Maiko-nee, for your Jonin promotion." He said to me, straining a smile on his face, but it faded as easily as his effort.
"So you decided to come back," He said to Itachi, burning a mark on him with his eyes.
Itachi, for a lack of better words, just nodded.
"For what? How many years do you still have left, how many years until you go blind?" Sasuke mocked. He couldn't hide his opinion, and he never thought that he should.
"What do you plan to do now, what can you do now, Itachi?"
When Itachi couldn't answer him, Sasuke shook his head and said nothing more before disappearing into his room.
We couldn't rewind time or erase memories. What had been broken couldn't be mended without a reminder of the cracks. Still, this house was never more dysfunctional.
There was no trust, no understanding, and no communication. The only thing left to bound us was this fragile, diseased love.
This love mixed with hatred and obsession. A love filled with sorrow and regret.
"It will take time," I said, to Itachi, to myself, and to Sasuke who was hiding on the other side of the shōgi door.
At least we still had this love.
I took him to his room, the holes on the wall and the scorch marks on the floor reminded me of something that I had forgotten.
"As you can see, I wasn't very happy with you a month ago." I heard Itachi let out a chuckle at my words.
"We have to go see the Hokage tomorrow. He had been way too lenient with my whims, but it won't be the case once Tsunade-sama ascends to her position. She can also take a look at your health." I reminded Itachi as I took out the bed sheet and covers from the closet.
"Good night, Mai." Itachi called out as I left his room. I turned back, seeing him standing in the candle-lit room.
"Good night, Itachi."
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ fuwa~fuwa~desu~~~
I woke up in the middle of the night, my heart beating so loud that it made the rest of the world sound silent.
I flashed out of the room, eyes turned to the Sharingan before I could process the urge.
I saw Itachi sitting on the back porch and suddenly, I felt my muscles relaxed and my heart finally calmed down.
Itachi noticed my intrusion, turned around and asked, "Did I disrupt your sleep?"
No, I just thought that you had left.
I pushed down the coldness coursing through my body as I took a step forward. Itachi scooted to the right, inviting me to sit down as well.
I did, taking off my shoes and dangling my feet over the pond.
"Your Sharingan, Maiko," Itachi reminded. I closed my eyes, letting the chakra rescind. "It seemed I had worried you again."
I shook my head and asked instead, "How did you get out of Akatsuki?"
"Getting out was never the hard part. My partner wasn't very bright in terms of genjutsu, so throwing him off the track was quite easy." I pretended that I didn't hear the subtle diss. "After that, the only part I had to worry about was the retaliation. Thanks to you, I could come back to the village. I doubt that Akatsuki would attack an entire shinobi village when their whole plan relies on the Shinobi world being unaware of their threat. I would be a bonus on their missions, if they were lucky enough to meet me outside."
Itachi turned to me with a smile and added, "I left them a gift, of course."
Under my curious gaze, a crow manifested on Itachi's shoulder, it's left eye captured me in redness, as I was stunned by the Mangekyou image reflected in my eyes.
"That's … Shisui's Kotoamatsukami?" I took a guess. I had never seen Shisui's Mangekyou before and Danzō used his other eye for Izanagi before I could recover it.
"Yes, he left his other eye to me before passing away. I used it to make Kisame believe that it's much better to cooperate with me and destroy Akatsuki, than to stay in Akatsuki as a third-rate hired mercenary." Itachi explained. Was it my imagination, or did the crow raise his head a little, as if showing that he was proud of his work.
A moment of silence for the human shark. That was a very Itachi thing to do. If he couldn't be the spy, then he'd make someone else do it.
"But Kotoamatsukami … I'm not sure how tolerant Konoha is towards a jutsu as powerful and subtle as this," I muttered. Even if Danzō had not destroyed Shisui's Mangekyou using Izanagi, I would have to destroy it myself anyway. Konoha wouldn't have let me keep such an ability, nor would I have let them take it away.
"After this use, Kotoamatsukami won't be able to activate for another few years. In the meantime, Konoha wouldn't want to risk the Mangekyou ability losing its effect by destroying Shisui's eye, so we got time to figure this out," Itachi explained, expelling my worries. I shouldn't really be surprised by the fact that Itachi always thought of many steps ahead, achieving more than one goal with just a simple move of a chess piece.
The crow turned to me, staring at me with a red eye. I couldn't help but touch its head and run my fingers down its feathers. It leaned into my touch, filling my fingers with warmth, before finally melting into the shadows along with the Sharingan.
"I was hoping that I could recover Shisui's other eye from Danzō one day, and I'm sure that Shisui would want you to have his eyes, to stop the deterioration of the Mangekyou. As for my eyes, I thought Sasuke would need it, if he ever awakened his Mangekyou." Itachi's voice was calm, as if he wasn't talking or giving away his eyes.
He knew that I hated hearing about this - his plan of reusing his body parts even after death. Yet, he still told me.
Itachi was willing to let me in on his thoughts - calculating, rational, without mercy, both to the enemy and to himself. I needed those to understand who he was now. It was a step towards the right direction, to re-establish our broken trust.
"I don't need it, the eternal Mangekyou. I don't plan to rely on its power for everything so that I'd be blinded when I'm twenty," I told him.
Upon hearing my words, Itachi just smiled. "I know you're powerful even without it, Mai. Your Jonin Evaluation Match was more than enough as a reassurance. Hama Ya, was it? Like Kakashi-senpai, I also can't wait to see what else you've done with the Uchiha Kaenjin."
Without a word, I formed two hand seals and bent down to touch the ground. Inside the pond, a ruby-red lotus arose, turning the water it touched into a boiling mess of vapour.
"It's beautiful" Itachi commented just as I made it snap close. "And deadly," he added. It wasn't hard to guess the fate of those caught in it, seeing the vapours travelling to the sky.
"I'll let you name it, then," I said, totally not because I had no idea how to name it.
"Your way of naming is not bad, Mai, really. Fire Arrow is very practical." Itachi managed to say with a grin. I felt my eyebrow twitch. Of course, he knew.
"Drop it, Itachi," I warned him, who couldn't keep the smile down.
"Fine, let's see … How about Guren Gōka? My naming sense is not as good as Kakashi-senpai, unfortunately," He suggested, writing the strokes on the small space of wooden floor between us.
'Guren' meant 'Red lotus', very literal. 'Gōka' on the other hand, was written as characters for 'karmic fire'. Burn away all the filth, burn away all the demons, and burn away all the sins, the karmic fire was the last punishment and the last salvation.
"It's still better than anything I could come up with," I muttered.
Tentatively, I put my head on Itachi's shoulder, like how I used to as a child. He was always the perfect height for my pillow and nothing had changed.
I closed my eyes, feeling the rhythmic pulse of his body as he breathed in and out. It's calming and comforting like a peaceful dream that I'd rarely get.
"Sleep a little more, Maiko. Don't worry, I'll be here with you."
A/N: AHHH, finally, I am done this this arc! The next update will move to the start of the Naruto Series. I'll try to continue writing, but since undergrad was already killing me, I doubt that grad school is any better, so we'll let fate decided XD.
Yes, Itachi is back for now. He decided to come back, but not after making sure his role in Akatsuki is taken care of. To be honest, I didn't think that he would come back if he couldn't find a way to take care of his role. He heard Maiko's plead, but at the same time, what he think of himself and his remaining purpose can't be changed by one speech. So yeah, a moment of silence for Kisame : )
Also, I needed people to have a power up (without the Mangekyou for now), so they are not power-crept by Akatsuki. So sorry for the cringe that went on in this chapter, with all new flashy jutsu. I had fun naming them, but that doesn't change that it was cringy, so sorry for everyone who had to sit through this cringe. But a reference of their kanji characters, if you;re interested.
Hakuryū - 白龍
Jinrai - 迅雷
Hama Ya - 破魔矢
Guren Gōka - 红莲業火