Chapter 4: Visions
Over the next several years, Akisane and I were kept busier than ever as the Akatsuki stepped up their efforts to capture the bijuu. The five-tails was obtained, and everyone was seeking information on the location of the others. In the middle of one meeting about the subject, Itachi announced quite matter-of-factly that he knew the location of the most powerful bijuu of all, the Kyuubi. It was in Konoha, Itachi's home village. Of course, the place had probably changed since he'd left, and the defenses and capabilities of its ninjas might be different. It was decided that gathering some intelligence before launching an attempt to capture the Kyuubi might be prudent. Since all the Akatsuki members were S-ranked missing nins who would be recognized in an instant, the information-gathering task fell to us. We even had a perfect cover story to explain why we were supposedly in Konoha: we had come to watch the Chuunin Exam.
"I can't believe I'm wearing this stupid outfit. How am I supposed to fight in this?" Akisane complained and fidgeted with the sleeves of the ornate kimono she was wearing.
"We're not supposed to fight. We're just supposed to observe and gather as much information as we can about Konoha's defenses and the capabilities of its ninjas—especially the Kyuubi kid."
"Still, why do I have to wear this thing? I look like a frigging geisha."
"I notice you weren't complaining about the outfit when Itachi-san was around to see you in it."
"Shut up."
I have to admit, it did feel odd to be wearing fancy civilian clothes that were not designed for fighting. We were supposed to be the son and daughter of a wealthy merchant from a city in the Water Country, here as spectators at the Chuunin Exam. Akisane was wearing the traditional clothing of an upper-class woman, and I was wearing the male equivalent—plus an eyepatch covering my left eye. The hardest part of this subterfuge was acting like civilians. Shinobi and civilians act, move, and even think differently. A shinobi moves lightly, on the balls of his feet, prepared to react to an attack at any moment. He is constantly observing his surroundings, darting glances in every direction, listening for the sound of movement, feeling the vibrations in the ground and of the air currents. Civilians just wander around, talking loudly, completely oblivious to everything around them. To keep anyone from realizing that we were shinobi, we had to act like typical tourists. This meant pointing and exclaiming loudly at every store we passed and pretending to be amazed by the speed of the shinobi who passed us in the streets. Most of all, it meant pretending not to notice the shinobi who were, like ourselves, in plainclothes, keeping an eye on the ninjas from other villages who were visiting for the exam.
In order to get lodging in Konoha, we had to arrive several days before the Third Exam actually began. This was fine with us, as it gave us plenty of time to walk around the village and get a sense of its defenses. We made note of the location of guardposts, the patrol routes the ninjas took through the village, and the number of ninjas in each group of guards. We did have some time to relax as well, and on the day before the exam, Akisane suggested that we visit the local hot spring. I've never been a big fan of heat and steam, so I left while Akisane was still in the spa. Walking around the outside of the place, a realization struck me. The women's bath was enclosed by a large wooden fence, but I spotted a place in the fence where there was a small gap between adjacent boards. Kneeling down by the gap, I looked in. Sure enough, there was Akisane, lounging in the bath with several other women who also seemed to be visitors to the village.
"Well, it looks like someone else has found my spot."
I jumped and whirled around. Crouching down beside me was a large man with white hair and a forehead protector that, instead of a village insignia, had the kanji for "Oil" written on it. Lines of red paint descended from each eye down over the cheek, making it look like he was crying bloody tears. "Er, hello, sir. I'm sorry, I just…well, there's this girl, and…" I trailed off, thinking I was going to get in trouble for peeping.
The man chuckled to himself. "Don't worry young man, I know exactly how you feel. I only come here to do research for my books, of course," he said, brandishing a notebook. He winked at me. "Maybe we can do research together."
I grinned. "Sure, why not?"
Peering through the gap between the boards, the man started writing in his notebook. "Raven black hair, piercing blue eyes, perfectly shaped…"
Suddenly, a voice rang out from inside the bath. "What was that?"
Oh shit. Of course, after working together for so long, Akisane had become attuned to my chakra and could sense when it was nearby. Not to mention, the author beside me clearly had some ninja training, because he was emitting a powerful chakra of his own. My partner couldn't help but notice it.
"I think I heard something outside," said another voice.
"I think we'd better run," I told the man.
At that precise moment, someone cleared their throat behind me. The author and I turned around to find ourselves looking at a group of extremely irate towel-clad women, including Akisane.
"Tobi-san. What. Are. You. Doing."
"Uh, this old man got lost, and I was trying to direct him to…"
"Lost? Ladies, please, I was just explaining to this young man that it's very wrong to peek at women…"
The glares the women were giving us made it clear that we weren't convincing anyone. So we did the only thing we could.
We ran for it.
Akisane spent the rest of the day threatening me with a variety of horrible fates. These included, but were not limited to: being tied up and delivered to Hidan as a sacrifice for his god, being forced to look into Itachi's eyes while he was practicing the Mangekyou Sharingan, and being hit repeatedly in the head with a borrowed Samehada. Luckily, her anger cooled down after a few hours when she remembered that we had an important mission to accomplish. Really, I don't know why she got so upset—I mean, she does the exact same thing whenever Itachi's bathing in the hot spring at Headquarters. Kunoichi are hard to understand sometimes.
On the day of the exam, we headed to the stadium along with what seemed like half the population of the continent. Everyone was excited about the upcoming matches, especially because Itachi's kid brother was one of the contestants. We, of course, were more interested in the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. We had been given orders to pay special attention to his skill level and capabilities.
"Hey, look at this," I said, examining our tickets. "Kakuzu-san actually coughed up enough money to get us good seats."
"Mm-hmm." Akisane was engrossed in a brochure which listed the match-ups and the order in which they were to occur. "It looks like Naruto is fighting a Hyuuga—that should give us a good idea of his skills. He'll need everything he's got to beat one of them."
"Hey, theirs is the first match too—we'll be able to get the information we need quickly."
"We should watch Sasuke's match too—his brother might want to know how strong he's gotten."
As we settled into our seats, a premonition flashed across my mind: a pillar of smoke rising from the village walls, and three huge snakes smashing buildings. Orochimaru. He's going to attack Konoha sometime in the near future. I have to remember to report that.
"The first match," announced the proctor, "is between Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji." A cheer went up from the crowd as the Third Exam began.
As expected, Neji began the match by activating his Byakugan and sliding into the characteristic Jyuuken stance. Naruto promptly used Kage Bunshin to make several copies of himself. Akisane had a notebook out, in which she was scribbling notes on Naruto's moves. Neji destroyed the first five Kage Bunshins that Naruto created…so he generated several dozen more.
"Holy shit!" Akisane exclaimed, standing up from her seat. "Did you see that? How much chakra does that brat have?" I was just as shocked as she was. You need a lot of chakra to perform Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Even the Akatsuki members can only make about ten or so.
"I think you should make a note of that," I said weakly.
Naruto soon proved that he also had a decent mind for strategy, tricking Neji into believing that one of the clones was his real body. Of course, he displayed a weakness as well: as the match continued, he became increasingly agitated by Neji's taunts. Sooner or later, he'll get angry enough to make a mistake. That's why shinobi are trained to suppress their emotions—such feelings can be a liability in battle. Naruto seemed particularly angry with Neji for hurting someone named Hinata in the preliminary matches. Idiot! Why is he bringing up that old history now? Holding grudges doesn't help you win a battle. Then I looked over at Akisane, who was still writing in her notebook. Still…if someone hurt her, I'd be just as angry.
Then Neji took off his forehead protector, revealing the cursed seal that marred his forehead. He told the story of the Head and Branch Families of the Hyuuga house, and of his father's sacrifice. He said that the cursed seal represented a caged bird, one whose destiny of imprisonment and servitude was determined at birth and engraved into its very cells. When he finished his speech, I glanced to the side and saw that Akisane had stopped writing. Her brow was furrowed, and she looked as though she was deep in thought. "What's wrong?"
"Do you think…do you think if our families had survived that we would have grown up like that boy? Would we have been made into caged birds for the sake of protecting our bloodlines?"
I thought about that for a moment. Among families with powerful hereditary abilities, protection of the bloodline was paramount. Children from those families grew up with rigid rules. Every activity was monitored. Careers were chosen for them. Marriages were arranged to maximize the chance that the next generation would carry the bloodline limit even more strongly. "Maybe. But what would have happened, what might have been, is of no consequence to the present. We're not caged birds. We're birds that have never known the terror of a cage, flying free under the night sky, while a red moon rises."
Finally, the Kyuubi kid defeated the Hyuuga, displaying incredible stamina and determination. As I remembered the jinchuuriki that had been captured on the day I first met Akatsuki's Leader, lying dead on the floor of Headquarters, I couldn't help feeling a little sorry for this Naruto person. He had such an unshakable spirit, it was sad to think of him ending up the same way. But I also remembered what our Leader had said on that day: "A shinobi, no matter how young, accepts the risk of dying and the necessity of killing. And this is something we must do, for the sake of our dreams." Looking down at the victorious blond-haired boy, I thought, I'm sorry that it must be this way. But this is something we must do, for the sake of our precious people's dream.
We were expecting the next fight to be the one Itachi's brother was participating in, but he appeared to be late for some reason. Instead, the next fight was between a girl from the Sand and a shadow-user from Leaf. Their fight started out boring, but it soon became clear that the Leaf contestant was a superb strategist. To the surprise of everyone in the arena, he forfeited the match just when it seemed like he had won.
Finally, as the crowd's impatience reached its peak, Sasuke arrived. He looked almost exactly like a younger version of Itachi, except that he had shorter hair. His opponent was an intimidating-looking guy from Sand.
"GO SASUKE-KUN! DON'T LOSE TO THAT GUY!" yelled a very loud blond girl from higher up in the bleachers.
"YEAH SASUKE-KUN! BEAT HIM UP!" shouted another girl, this one with pink hair.
What is it with the Uchihas and women? A thunderous cheer from the crowd indicated that Sasuke was by far the favorite in this match. The Sand kid, however, was no slouch. He had a jutsu that created a shield of sand around him, deflecting all attacks. Suddenly, Sasuke stepped up his speed, darting past the sand shield and kicking the Sand boy across the arena. The Sand boy responded by tightening the sand shield, forming it into a perfect sphere in which he hid.
"Well, that was anti-climactic," Akisane remarked.
"He's probably hoping to tire Sasuke out. When Sasuke expends most of his chakra trying to break through that sphere, the Sand kid will come out and kick his ass."
Sasuke, meanwhile, had retreated to the very top of the arena wall. "How many tomoes does he have in his eyes? Can you see?" I asked.
Akisane squinted and raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "Two in each, I think. Not as strong as his brother."
"Well, gee, what a shock. No one's as strong as his brother."
"Look, look! What's he doing?" The cry was echoed around the stadium as a ball of lightning appeared in Sasuke's hand. He plummeted off the wall of the arena, making a beeline for the Sand kid. As he ran, the lightning in his hand carved a huge gouge in the arena wall.
"I…um…I think we might want to let Itachi-san know his brother has a jutsu that powerful."
Sasuke collided with the sand sphere, plunging his glowing hand into it. A shout of pain was heard from within the sphere, and the crowd rose to its feet. I stood up as well, but stumbled as the vision overcame me. Feathers, falling from the sky. Everyone falling asleep. An explosion on the platform where the two Kages were sitting. "Akisane-san, prepare to dispel genjutsu immediately!"
"What?" Already, the first few white feathers were drifting down onto the stadium. Akisane's eyes glazed over, and her head started to droop.
Quickly, I clasped my hands together, fighting the drowsiness that I was starting to feel. "Release!" My head cleared, and Akisane blinked tiredly as though just waking up from sleep.
"What the hell was that?"
"Genjutsu," I explained. "Someone's about to attack the village."
Who exactly this "someone" was soon became clear. An explosion rocked the platform where the Hokage and Kazekage had been watching the match, and Sound and Sand ninjas began running into the stadium. They attacked the few shinobi spectators who had managed to dispel the genjutsu.
"Orochimaru," I whispered. "Dammit, that bastard has the worst timing ever. He couldn't wait until we were safely out of Konoha?"
"Tobi-san," Akisane said in a strange voice. "If Orochimaru's here…there's a good chance Kimimaro's with him."
For a minute, anger flooded through me. Kimimaro, the boy I had once considered my best friend. Kimimaro, who had been part of our three-man team. Kimimaro, who owed his life to the Akatsuki just like we did. Kimimaro, who had betrayed us and almost killed me. But I shook my head, "No. We have a mission to complete. This fight between Orochimaru and Konoha isn't something we should interfere in."
"But he betrayed the Akatsuki! We can't just stand by and let him do whatever he wants!"
"We have to get this information back to the Akatsuki. If they capture Kyuubi, they can take out Orochimaru and Kimimaro easily."
"But…"
Finally, I said the one thing that I knew would convince her. "Itachi-san specifically said that we're not here to fight, only to observe. What would he think of us if we disobeyed his orders?"
"…Fine. Let's go."
Of course, the Sound and Sand ninja didn't make that easy. We got out of the stadium without incident, but quickly discovered that the entire village was overrun with enemy shinobi who seemed to think that we were Konoha citizens. The fact that we appeared to be civilians didn't seem to matter to them. Naturally, most of them were no match for us, but having to fight our way out of Konoha was still pretty troublesome.
"You know, I think I've discovered the one and only advantage of this outfit," Akisane commented after we killed our fifth group of attackers.
"What's that?"
"You can hide enough weapons in it to supply a small army, and no one will notice."
Finally, we made it out of the village and to the location where we were supposed to meet with Itachi and Kisame. We found them perched high in a tree, watching the ongoing battle between the Sand, Sound, and Leaf shinobi.
"Hmm, it looks like this may be easier than we thought. They'll probably be weakened by the fight and won't be able to put up as much resistance," Kisame pointed out. Then he sighed in a disappointed sort of way, looking towards the plumes of smoke rising from the village. "I wish I was there. I'd love to teach Orochimaru a lesson."
Itachi looked through the information we had gathered. "This Naruto doesn't look like anything we can't handle. Interesting…my brother's learned the Chidori?"
"Hey," I said excitedly. "We can help you capture the Kyuubi!"
Itachi shook his head. "This task was entrusted to us alone."
As it turned out, Itachi and Kisame failed to capture the Kyuubi. They didn't seem too concerned about this though, apparently feeling that there would be plenty of opportunities to do so in the future. Deidara and Sasori, on the other hand, had more success. They discovered that the Sand boy who had participated in that fateful Chuunin Exam was the container of Shukaku. Even more impressive, he had been named Kazekage after his father died at Orochimaru's hands.
Deidara defeated Sabaku no Gaara in battle, and brought him back to one of the Akatsuki's many hideouts for the extraction of the Shukaku. Unfortunately for us, Leaf and Sand had patched up their relationship after the invasion at the Chuunin Exam, and sent two teams of their best ninja to rescue Gaara. They arrived too late to save his life, but engaged Sasori and Deidara in combat. This fight provoked one of the most terrifying visions I have ever had: Sasori falling lifeless to the ground with two swords piercing the biological core that kept him alive, and Deidara exploding in a blast of light and sound. Akisane and I raced in different directions, searching for Zetsu. In the deep recesses of a forest in the Fire Country, I found him. "Zetsu-san! Something's gone wrong; Sasori-san and Deidara-san are going to die!"
"What? Have you seen this in a vision?"
I nodded, and told him what I had witnessed. "We'd better hurry to their aid, then," his light side said.
"If those Konoha bastards hurt either of our comrades, we'll rip them apart," his dark side contributed.
Zetsu went ahead, merging with the trees and ground as a faster method of travel. Lacking that option, I simply ran, faster than I'd ever run in my life. As I ran, I remembered.
"Zetsu-san, why are some people born with bloodline limits?"
"Those who carry an advanced bloodline have a special purpose. They are the ones who will leave a permanent mark on the world. They are the ones who have the potential to change the future."
What Zetsu had said was more true for me than for anyone else. I didn't have just any old advanced bloodline, after all—I had one that gave me a unique opportunity to change the future by revealing it to me beforehand. Never had I wanted to change the future so much as at that moment. Drawing chakra into the bottoms of my feet, I propelled myself from one branch to the next, willing myself to move faster.
As soon as I arrived at the hideout, I knew that Deidara and Sasori had lost the battle. The boulder that normally blocked the entrance was no more than a pile of gravel, and a hole had been blasted in the wall of the cave. Many of the trees in the area had been felled as if by a massive explosion. Slowly, I walked into the cave to find Zetsu already there. He was standing over a body. "This looks like the real one," he said. I looked down, and at my feet saw Sasori's ring, which must have fallen off his finger at some point during the battle. I knelt and picked it up. Zetsu turned to stare at me, and I was sure that despite my mask, he knew I was on the verge of tears.
A shinobi must keep emotions on the inside, no matter what the situation, and must possess a heart that never shows tears. The old mantra came back to me, and I tried to pretend that the sorrow I felt didn't exist. "Hey, I found his ring! Can I join Akatsuki now?" I tossed the ring into the air, attempting to appear light-hearted, but my trembling fingers betrayed me and I dropped it.
"Do you really think it's that easy?" Zetsu admonished me. Then his other side took over, and I saw an expression of compassion cross his face. He knew how much I was hurting, and how scared I was for Deidara's fate. "We can let him join. Tobi's a good boy," he said, trying to cheer me up.
After a few minutes, Zetsu guided me outside to look for Deidara. Zetsu spotted the arm lying on the ground before I did. The ring was still attached, and there was a large crater nearby. "It…it looks like the cause of death was definitely an explosion, Zetsu-san." Apparently, Deidara had sacrificed himself to destroy his enemy.
I reached down to pick up Deidara's hand, only to hear a voice behind me saying, "Drop it now!"
He's not dead! It immediately became clear to me what had happened: what I had seen exploding in my vision was a Kage Bunshin or something similar, not the real Deidara. "Ooh, you're alive!" I exclaimed, overjoyed. "Are you sure you're…ok?"
Deidara apparently mistook my concern for sarcasm, wrapped his legs around my neck, and squeezed. I was finding it hard to breathe, but I was so happy to see him alive that I didn't really mind.
Akisane had arrived soon after, just as Deidara was continuing to choke me with his legs. "I'd ask what's going on here, but I'm not sure I really want to know," she commented wryly. Then she turned serious. "Deidara-san, you're injured! Tobi-san, stop fooling around and help him out! And where's Sasori-san?"
Solemnly, we returned to Headquarters, carrying Sasori's body and Deidara's arm. I don't know exactly what Zetsu and Deidara were thinking, but Akisane and I were in shock. Even compared to the other Akatsuki members, Sasori was exceptionally strong. Itachi and the Leader were the only ones who could beat him in a fight. He had even conquered the Mountain Country in which we resided, defeating their entire army by himself. The idea that he had been overpowered by a chuunin and a retiree was unthinkable.
We were in for another shock when we returned to Headquarters. Our Leader wanted to replace Sasori as soon as possible, and he also felt that it was time to replace Orochimaru. This in itself was no great revelation. The real stunner was who he wanted to replace the two former members.
"You know, I always thought I'd be happy when this day came," I said to Akisane as I tugged on my new Akatsuki robes. "It's been my dream to join the Akatsuki for so long, and I always imagined I'd be ecstatic when I achieved it. But this…I don't feel happy at all."
"I know what you mean," she sighed. "Since Itachi-san joined, the Akatsuki was completed, so I guess I knew that the death or departure of a member was the only way we'd get to join. But it always seemed so abstract. It's different when you realize it's real."
"This isn't the way I wanted it to happen," I whispered, my voice breaking.
"Hey!" another voice interjected. Both of us looked up to see Deidara standing in the doorway. There was a fierce look on his face unlike any expression I'd ever seen there before. "If you two want to live up to Sasori-danna's memory, you should concentrate on finishing what he started, yeah. He was more precious to me than anyone else in the world, but I'm not going to cry for him, because he'd say that crying is just a waste of time and energy. Dry your tears and hold your heads high, as Akatsuki members should, yeah."
Since that time, many things have happened. The locations of the three-, four-, and seven-tailed bijuu have been determined. Akatsuki has spread its spies throughout the Five Great Shinobi Countries, building up an intelligence network surpassing that of any country. Itachi has become more and more pensive as the deadline for rescuing his brother from Orochimaru approaches. Akisane and Zetsu have captured the seven-tailed jinchuuriki, and Akisane's ring has been activated to link her to the phoenix bijuu contained within it. All the members have continued to amass an arsenal of powerful jutsus and ancient secrets. The general atmosphere has been like the calm before the storm. For now, we operate under the radar of most shinobi nations, but sooner or later, we will start to move openly. When that time comes, the conflict will be so great that the foundation of the entire world will shake.
Sometimes, that thought frightens me. There's great danger ahead, and I know that better than most people because I've seen it. There are some things I've seen that I hope come true. There are other things I've seen that I would give anything to prevent.
I've seen Kakuzu fall in battle, his throat cut open by two blades wielded by a shinobi with a thick beard and a cigarette clutched in his mouth. I've seen that same shinobi get blasted backwards by a wave of energy that radiates outward from Hidan as he cries out to his god, demanding vengeance for the death of his partner.
I've seen a great being with three tails rise from the sea before me, half turtle and half squid. Its baleful eyes gaze at me, and I wonder whether I've gotten myself into something greater than I can handle.
I've seen Akisane plunge a kunai into her own thigh and collect the resulting tears of pain in a glass vial. The ring on her hand is glowing, linking her to the power of the seven-tailed phoenix bijuu, Suzaku. She knows, as I do, that the tears of a phoenix can heal any injury—even blindness caused by overuse of the Mangekyou Sharingan.
I've seen the walls of the Sound Village crumble, torn to pieces by vines thicker than tree trunks, while Zetsu stands in the shadows.
I've seen Itachi locked in battle with his younger brother. Sasuke's eyes are the color of fresh blood, his hair is white, and a pair of grotesque wings has sprouted from his back.
And finally, the most terrifying of my visions: I've seen Akisane and I facing off against a bald Leaf jounin with a horribly scarred face. Ibiki binds Akisane in place with a wood jutsu, then gathers a tremendous amount of chakra into one hand. It's enough to destroy a major organ if it's forced into the body at the right location. As he rushes towards her, I sprint in their direction, every nerve still on fire from the medical jutsu he's just used on me. Ibiki is moving too fast to stop, and his hand slams into my chest instead of hers. The chakra fills my heart, and in a single moment of overwhelming pain, it explodes. The last thing I see before I die is Ibiki's shocked expression—he hasn't thought that an Akatsuki member would be capable of self-sacrifice—and the last thing I hear is Akisane screaming my name.
You might think that with the ability to see the future, nothing could ever go wrong for me. Anytime I saw something bad happen, I would take steps to change it. Unfortunately, life doesn't work like that. I failed to prevent Orochimaru and Kimimaro from betraying the Akatsuki. I failed to prevent Sasori's death. Now, I wonder if this is going to be another one of those times. Will I be able to prevent my own death, and save both myself and my best friend? Or will I fail again, dooming one or both of us to die? I can see the future, but can I change it?
A/N: Almost done! The next (and final) chapter will be the epilogue, which picks up where the prologue left off. I'm going on vacation for a week, so it might not be posted for a little while. I've really been having fun writing this (although the more we see of Tobi in the manga, the more I feel like I made him more competent than he actually is). I hope you're all enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying reading it.
I got the idea for the phoenix tears thing from the Harry Potter series (which, like Naruto, I sadly don't own). Apparently, one of the demons in Japanese mythology is a phoenix, named Suzaku.
