Trigger Warning: There is some implied torture in the last POV. It's nothing more graphic than shown in the series, but in case such things bother you, you should probably skip the fourth section. Just tell me in a review and I will give you a short summary of what you need to know.
Let's start this from the beginning
Swordsmen of the Mist
I
"I didn't take you for someone interested in learning medical Ninjutsu."
Itachi turned around, a notebook still open in his hands. "In our profession, you never know when you'll run into a situation where knowing how to heal your comrades could come in handy. You might want to give it a try too."
"Meh," Kakashi shrugged. "It's mandatory in the ANBU to get some healing classes before you're allowed into active duty, so I'm alright."
He gave the masked man a dry look, knowing full-well that Kakashi would visit one of these classes sooner rather than later. There were many shinobi who thought that the basics they knew were more than enough for small injuries and that the rest could be done by professional medic-nins, believing these new public courses to be entirely unnecessary and useless. However, there were also some like Itachi that saw the value in them, not only because being able to heal your comrades was a valuable skill to have but also because some of the techniques could also be used for other purposes.
No matter what Kakashi might say, he knew that the man was part of the latter group rather than the former.
"It would still be a more worthwhile use of your time than reading these books of yours," Itachi finally replied with a pointed look at the orange novel in Kakashi's hand.
"I'm afraid I must disagree with you on that," he said, sounding much more serious than before. "Mental welfare is essential to keep a shinobi going. That means you need enough downtime to relax and recuperate from your missions, and nothing helps to calm you down more than the Icha Icha series." He gave him a one-eyed smile. "You might want to give it a try too."
Itachi thought his mother would probably not be amused to find him reading what was essential porn. He didn't think she would try to forbid him from reading it, but it would surely create an awkward atmosphere at home.
Seeing his unimpressed look, Kakashi sighed. "Tsunade-sama is back for little more than a month and already people start losing sight of what's truly important. It's really disheartening."
"Our definitions of 'important' seem to be quite different, then."
Nonetheless, in a way, Kakashi was right that some things were already changing as a result of Tsunade's return. The aforementioned healing courses were a prime example of that.
The first thing the Sannin had done was surveying the hospital, finding it and its staff severely lacking, and then setting about to change that. While Itachi had little to do with that and didn't know anyone that did either, some of the stories he heard were rather… extreme. Tsunade certainly didn't mince her words or felt the need to hold back the volume of her voice, to say the very least. It made him wonder if she had been like that when she became Hokage in the other timeline as well and whether he might actually have dodged a bullet by being a nuke-nin at the time.
However, once she felt that she had set everything in motion that needed to be done in order to improve the conditions in the hospital, Tsunade also organized a refresh and training program for every interested shinobi in Konoha. The idea was that while professional medics would still be the ones who deal with serious injuries, every single shinobi would be able to at the very least provide effective first aid. That would then eventually result in much fewer casualties in the field.
This offer stood for barely two weeks now and yet was already a moderate success. For all that many shinobi mocked the program all the time, just as many were actually interested in it. Especially those who had lost a teammate they were close to in the past appreciated the chance to stop such a thing from happening in the future.
Another thing that was in the process of being implemented was an increased emphasis on healing at the academy. He had heard Sasuke and Naruto complain about it because they found it boring, but Itachi approved of the idea. After all, everything that improved the survival chances of the next generation was a good thing in his book. Not only would this step increase their overall skill in that art, but it might also motivate more students to become healers in the future. There had been fewer and fewer shinobi who wanted to become medic-nins ever since Tsunade left the village to the point where there was a slight lack of them already, so this step would hopefully change that.
Itachi knew that the Sandaime had even thought about letting her hold a lecture at the academy for that, though he hadn't dared to propose that to her face yet.
However, it was a side-effect of the aforementioned remodelling of the academy's curriculum that brought the greatest change, for it appeared that the program there hadn't been as challenging as it should have. In fact, the requirements for graduating were as low as they had ever been!
The reason for that, as it turned out, was quite simple: especially during the last days of the Third Shinobi World War, more and more children were sent to the battlefields. Many skills essential for a shinobi were taught less and less in the academy to focus more on direct combat abilities. Because of that, students graduated at an ever-decreasing age.
This trend continued for a while even after the war had officially ended as people were still waiting whether fighting would break out again or not, but then, when it appeared the peace would hold, things changed.
Just days before his death, the Yondaime approved of a modification of the curriculum that put less focus on combat activity and more on secondary and supportive skills to compensate for the previous favouritism. This measure was meant to be a temporary one, but unfortunately, the Yondaime died just shortly after during the Nine-Tails attack that then resulted in the Sandaime getting back into office.
There was a lot of chaos and uncertainty in the aftermath of the attack, so it was somewhat understandable that this unrelated decision fell under the table. The truly problematic thing was that the Sandaime too, unaware of the Yondaime's previous change, ordered the academy to decrease their combat training for the very same reason. While this change was indeed just temporarily, the status quo that was restored afterwards wasn't actually the originally intended curriculum but its lesser version that the Yondaime had approved of.
As a result, the training at the academy had been lacking for years now. Itachi could only hope that this had been discovered in the old timeline as well, but he was afraid the odds were that it hadn't.
It was a shame that so many senior instructers of the academy had died in the attack as well. Had that not been the case, one of them could have informed the Hokage of the situation and avoid the problem entirely.
"Anyway," Kakashi said, pulling Itachi from his thoughts. "We should really get going. Hokage-sama will be angry if we are too late for the meeting."
He blinked in surprise before the words registered in his mind, making him narrow his eyes accusingly. "What meeting?"
Kakashi gave him a look of pure innocence. "Oh, I didn't say? We are supposed to meet Hokage-sama for a mission debriefing."
"And when exactly was that meeting supposed to be?"
Itachi was proud to say that his voice sounded completely casual. Not an easy feat considering Kakashi's tendency to arrive late for every and all appointments, especially when Itachi himself followed the mentality to always arrive ten minutes prior to the agreed time.
"Half an hour ago, give or take a few minutes." Probably seeing something in Itachi's eyes, he then raised his arms in surrender. "But in my defence, I-"
Itachi didn't wait for Kakashi to finish his no doubt brilliant excuse before he vanished in a shunshin.
"So you're interested in these guys, huh? Thinking about making them join as well?"
"You still don't have a partner," Pain said. "With them, we can fill two teams in one sweep."
Kisame chuckled. "I don't think any of them will be too impressed by that idea. They're not exactly a hospitable bunch, ya know? I'm honestly surprised that they work together as it is." His former comrades were a funny group; they could work together without a hitch for a time, only to suddenly start trying to kill each other at a second's notice. Without the structure of a village to keep them in check, he thought it likely that this trait had grown only stronger over the years.
"They will not have a choice in that matter."
It was this attitude that made Kisame like the official leader of Akatsuki. For all that he knew that it was Madara who truly pulled the strings in the background, Pain was still someone he could respect. If not for his character and conviction, then at least for his strength.
"Well, I guess I will pay my old friends a little visit, then."
Being Hokage came with a lot of work. From the moment the first rays of light brightened the sky until the sun vanished on the horizon, Hiruzen sat in his office doing paperwork. Sometimes even longer. Aside from that, there was also the endless stream of meetings with worried citizens, possible clients, his advisors, diplomats, clan heads, and politicians in general. Add the general weight of being responsible for every single person in the village and you got what he had to endure for way too many decades now.
A thing Hiruzen had learned very early into his reign was that he needed to find enjoyment wherever he could find it. Otherwise, he could just as well kill himself on the spot.
Watching Kakashi's and Itachi's faces when they realized that they weren't actually too late at all because he had intentionally told Kakashi the wrong time, with the former's falling in dismay while the latter kept his intentionally blank to hide his irritation, was one of these moments.
"I'm glad you managed to get here just in time," he greeted his two shinobi. "Especially you, Kakashi. It's great to see you taking my summons seriously for once."
The man gave him a one-eyed smile. "Of course, Hokage-sama. It sounded urgent, so I deliberately avoided my poor, sick neighbour so she couldn't ask me for help. I would have hated to be late for that."
Hiruzen nodded seriously. "That's very considerate of you."
"If I may, Hokage-sama," Itachi spoke up, the annoyance he must surely feel perfectly hidden behind his usual polite mask. "What is this meeting about?"
Knowing that the time to fool around was over, he got straight to the topic at hand. "I'm sending you two on a mission." A pause. "An S-rank one."
Even a Genin would have been able to spot the moment the two Jōnin became serious; Itachi, already standing attention from the very beginning, subtly straightened up even more while Kakashi's eyes, previously neutral at best and bored at worst, suddenly had a hard glint to them.
When Hiruzen was confident that he had their full attention, he continued.
"As you're doubtlessly aware, we had representatives from Kirigakure as our guest for over a month now. The negotiations have gone well and the Water Daimyo has already given his consent to the terms, so all that's left now is for our very own Fire Daimyo to do the same. The diplomat currently present here will soon be escorted to the capital to deal with that. In the meanwhile, you two will set out to fulfil one of the most essential parts of the agreement." He pulled a stack of papers from one of his drawers. "This is a list of recent raids on villages and towns in the Land of Waterfalls as well as foreign caravans that were travelling through it for trade." He paused for a second. "According to what little information we have, the culprits behind this are Kushimaru Kuriarare and Jinin Akebino, two former members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist now turned nuke-nins. Your mission will be to travel to their last known location close to the border between the Lands of Waterfalls and Grass, track them down, and then eliminate them."
Neither Itachi nor Kakashi overly reacted to that, but he could see that they knew what that meant.
The Swordsmen of the Mist were second only to the Mizukage in strength, and it was said that every one of them was strong enough to conquer a small nation by themselves. Whether that was true or not was questionable, but the point was that people could claim it to be true without other people laughing into their faces. Their strength was simply that impressive.
Itachi probably knew that better than everyone else in this room.
"Will it only be the two of us, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked. "While I'm confident in our abilities, it seems rather risky to not bring some more assistance with us."
Itachi nodded his agreement.
"Kiri's diplomat brought a guard with him," Hiruzen said. "Zabuza, another member of the Seven Swordsmen and currently the only one of that group left to Kirigakure. He and some additional aid from Kiri that's already on its way as we speak will support you on this mission. I wanted to send some more of our people as well, but unfortunately, while both parties agreed that making this a joint mission would be beneficial, the Mizukage wants it to look like it was mainly them who took out two of the most famous nuke-nins from their village. Because of that, you two will be the only shinobi from Konoha that participate in it."
Not only were the two swordsmen famous, but they also caused a lot of trouble for their former home by openly attacking caravans from their newly acquired trade partners. That obviously made these parties feel uneasy and might even lead to them terminate their contracts with the Land of Water. Eliminating these troublesome elements would not only end the threat that the nuke-nins posed in general but also show their partners that they could protect them while simultaneously demonstrating strength. Especially this soon after the end of its civil war, that was something Kiri desperately wanted to do. However, that would only work if it were they who could be credited with the deed, not Konoha.
Hiruzen himself had good reason to want these criminals brought to justice as well. After all, many of these 'foreign caravans' that had been attacked either hailed from the Land of Fire or travelled through it and thus were under his protection.
"Do we have information on their abilities?"
He nodded at Itachi's question. "We do. In addition to what we already possessed ourselves, the Mizukage saw it fit to share their intel with us." He pulled two scrolls with both the information about their targets and the general mission details from his drawer before handing them over. "Kushimaru Kuriarare and Jinin Akebino wield the unique longsword Nuibari and the weapon Kabutowari, which is basically a giant axe and hammer that are linked end-to-end by a rope, respectively. Kushimaru is known for his exceptional speed and dexterity, as well as his tendency to use traps that cripple his enemies before he finishes them off himself. Jinin, on the other hand, prefers a more direct and brute-force way of fighting. He quite literally hammers and slices his way through his enemies in the most gruesome way possible. Furthermore, they were both noted in the past to be especially cruel even compared to their colleagues. As you two have surely already realized, their abilities complement each other, and they make up for their weaknesses even more by utilizing their famous silent killing technique under the cover of thick mist. I recommend separating them from each other when engaging them before overwhelming them with your numbers."
While a dangerous mission, Hiruzen was confident that they could do this. Both Kakashi and Itachi were some of the strongest shinobi in Konoha, and while these two fugitive swordsmen were no doubt powerful, he didn't think they stood a chance against his own shinobi. Especially not when they had additional aid from Kirigakure.
"You will meet Zabuza tomorrow at 0600 in the morning at the gate and then depart from there. There is no time limit set for this mission; you will search for your targets either as long as it takes to find them or until you decided further search is unlikely to yield results. In that case, you will return to the village immediately. In consideration of this mission's nature, you will be granted additional funds to fulfil the mission to the best of your abilities for as long as possible. Also, as usual for S-Rank missions, every secret drop point throughout the continent will be made available for you. An updated list with all their locations is included in the scrolls I already gave you. I don't think I need to remind you of this, but as this information is on a need-to-know basis, you will destroy the list once you have memorized its content." He looked them both in their eyes. "Do you have any questions?"
"No, Hokage-sama."
"No, Hokage-sama."
"Very well, then," he said. "In that case, please use the rest of the day to rest and prepare. You are dismissed."
As he watched both men leave the room, already turned towards each other to discuss their thoughts on the upcoming mission, Hiruzen couldn't ignore the ominous feeling that was spreading through his chest. S-rank missions were always dangerous and unpredictable, and they had a tendency to get out of hand real quick. He was confident in his men and truly believed that they could overcome whatever stood in their way, but he was also allowed to worry.
Not that this changed anything; Itachi must be on this mission as his presence was specifically requested by the Mizukage and Kakashi was the only suitable powerful shinobi currently in the village that could accompany him. Even if Hiruzen felt uneasy about it, as long as he had no very good reason to call them back, this was the only way of action.
Still…
I have a bad feeling about this.
She had no idea how long she had been here. There was no window in the cell and no candle to dispel the darkness; the only times she saw light was when the squeaky door opened during one of the irregular visits from one of her captors. Unfortunately, rather than being a welcome sight, she dreaded these moments as after all this time in the darkness, even that little light caused her unimaginable pain. Even keeping her eyelids shut wouldn't stop the burning sensation in her eyes that felt as if someone was gauging them out with iron pincers whenever the door opened.
And that was still the least painful part of these visits…
She had been a farmer's daughter. All her life, the most exciting thing that ever happened was listening to the gossip in her town's cavern she wasn't supposed to visit but did anyway. Other than that, there was no excitement; she rose early with the sun, helped her mother and younger sister in the household, and sometimes even accompanied her father to the fields. She joked with her friends, flirted with the cute boy from the farm next to hers, and occasionally took one of the horses for a right into the nearby woods.
She had complained all her life that nothing interesting ever happened to her boring hometown and told everyone that cared to listen that she would one day leave for one of the big capitals or maybe even one of the hidden villages to find wealth and fame there. Then she would one day return, amazing everyone with her expensive clothes and exquisite food. Her stupid little hometown, now not even worth being drawn onto maps, would be known all over the continent solely because she originated from it.
Now there wasn't even anything left of it, for her stupid little hometown, the place where nothing ever happened, had been annihilated by them.
She didn't know why, but on the day they arrived, they had mercilessly slaughtered and destroyed everything as they pleased. She had seen the mutilated corpses before she had been captured, had seen the bodies piled up in the dozens in a sickening display of cruelty, and had seen the people pulled from their houses and other hiding places to join the dead. No one had been spared; from the youngest babe to the sickest eldest, everyone was killed without hesitation.
Only a small group that included her had been taken prisoners.
She wished they had just killed her instead.
The skin where the handcuffs bit into her flesh had long since been rubbed raw, and she almost found herself thankful for the chains that kept her upright hanging from her arms as this at least meant she had no feeling left in them, allowing her to escape the pain from that wound at least. Unfortunately, she had no similar reprise from whatever they had done to her back that made her feel like her spine had been relocated all the wrong way or the pulsating pain in her legs that were more dead tissue, brown bumps, and scales than actual flesh at this point.
She didn't react when a drop of liquid fell into the little puddle beneath her feet; the only sounds in the cell were her ragged breathing and the 'plops' when dops of her blood joined the rest of her lifeforce on the ground, so she had grown used to it ages ago.
That didn't make the sensation of warm blood running down her body any more comfortable, though.
She was pulled from the thoughts of her own misery by the familiar and very much dreaded squeaking tone of an opening door.
"N-no," she whispered hoarsely, her fear even overpowering the pain as her eyes burned from the sudden light. "P-please, I beg of you! No more-"
"Hush, my dear," the young man interrupted her gently with a smile that was as fake as any she had ever seen. "It will be much easier if you don't fight me. I promise I will hurry, so please just concentrate on not dying this time as well. I grow tired of needing to revive you all the time."
She tried to move backwards when he pulled out a syringe from one of the two suitcases he had brought with him, but the chains that held her didn't allow her to do more than slightly wiggle on the spot. "Please!"
His false smile didn't even waver. "Don't worry. One way or another, it will all be over soon."
That, she knew was a lie.
This nightmare would never end.