After I healed I ran alongside them to take the strain off of Sasuke for a time, before Itachi had decided we couldn't continue following them without rest. I was even beginning to lose track of the days. All I knew was more and more Shinobi were beginning to rally towards the land of lightning. Sasuke seemed confused until I had explained to him about the Kage summit and the allied shinobi force. The war that is to come. My energy blanket was pretty much useless. Any sign of Damen was now moving through the countries towards the land of lightning. It had taken a couple of days but we were now moving along the same direction as the other ninja had been. "Let's rest." Itachi speaks up as he stops before turning towards the two of us. "We've been on the move for days, if we get into a fight right now we will likely die." He utters causing Sasuke and I to nod.
Locating a cave we duck inside so we weren't setting directly in the open. While Itachi and Sasuke built a fire I went out hunting for them. I jumped through the trees quietly at the bottom of our mountain watching the ground below me closely. Using my energy blanket to first locate any animals and my eyes to spot them. In the past, this job belonged to Fishface. He used to laugh saying building a fire was no fun and he needed to kill something in order to relax. I thought it was weird but tracking a boar now I could kind of see it. After running for so long my legs and muscles are sore. My body is beyond tired. But yet, right now. I am focused, my heart is slowing. Pulling a kunai I run my energy through it as I watch a large boar walking around on the ground sniffing at something. Throwing my blade I watch as it flies through the air before tearing its way through the boar's neck, taking its head off. -Hm, maybe I used a little too much chakra.- I think to myself as I jump down and look at the boar.
The skin on this particular animal is tough. The only soft spot they have on their practically armored body is right between the eyes. So I had used chakra to tear through the nearly impenetrable meat at its neck in order to save the majority of the pig. If I had angled the Kunai I would have risked slicing it clean through with my chakra. Sighing I get to work on preparing the meat for my teammates just so I didn't have to carry the entire carcass back with me. "Hn, you were right, it is calming." I speak quietly aloud as I give a small smile. This is the first thing I have killed since I returned to the village. "You were always a killer. It's in your blood." His smooth voice comes up behind me and I nearly smirk imagining the multi-personality member of the Akatsuki. "You're right, even when I fight against my nature it remains rooted inside me."
It dawns on me then that I had betrayed the Akatsuki and returned to the village. I shouldn't be having a conversation with Zetsu. Standing I turn around to face him only to find my eyes widening at the sight in front of me. Half of his face looks malformed. He was wearing the Akatsuki robes from his waist down. without any sign of his venus fly trap. "Split for reconnaissance?" I ask just as I feel movement in the trees. Zetsu was coming out of the wood of the trees with his mayfly technique. "No." He speaks gently his yellow eyes trained on me. "I see, so you are one of the 100,000 that had been sealed and cultivated beneath the tree huh." I more mutter when I realize this than actually speaking to him. It explains the lack of his venus, those clones didn't have them in the anime. However, they are also not complete and lacking other features they are supposed to have. Guess this means Kabuto never got his hands on Yamato. This fact nearly makes me smirk. "Yes." He speaks with his usual stoic expression. "So, planning to attack or what?" I ask him feeling my energy already brimming the surface. "No, I would like to know what you're doing? The other ninja are already at the land of lightning for the war Madara has started."
"Afraid we are planning a counter against Madara and destroying the statue?" I find myself shrugging with a shake of my head. "No, we are after my cousin and siblings. We are trying to figure out what they are planning and to stop them." I sigh and turn away from him. Gathering the fresh meat I had been preparing. "I see, then your needs meet with ours." Huh? Turning back to him I meet his gaze again. "Madara wants me to tell you. Damen will attack you ninja in the war. While not allied with us Damen is planning to aid us in a way. Only he desires the complete annihilation of the ninja."
"Why would he..." I breathe as my eyes widen again trying to think of the exact reason Damen would have for such a plan. Fact is, I don't know. "Why? Because you love them." Zetsu states simply. "You should find out your answers before you kill him." He then says as he begins to sink back into the ground. "Madara says he planned from the beginning to send you here. All of this goes along with his original plans." With that Zetsu disappears making me sigh. "So, he wants to kill all ninja he comes across to torture me. But if he did originally send me here because he had already planned it. Why did he tell Aphrodite he was going to kill me? Was it just for show? With these thoughts, I make my way back up the mountain and into the cave.
Itachi and Sasuke were already sitting next to the fire across from each other. Sasuke's eyes found me first as I walk up to them. Holding the meat out for Itachi I sigh and set down. "I ran into white Zetsu." I speak up causing Itachi's hands to pause momentarily as he skewers the meat on sticks so they can cook. "He's one of the 100,000 but if I remember correctly the original can communicate through each clone directly. He said Madara had a message for me about Damen." I explain laying down on the stone floor of the cave with a sigh. Covering my eyes with my right arm. "What.. did he say?" Sasuke almost hesitantly asks causing me to frown. "Not too much, just that Damen had never planned to kill me, and sending me here was always part of the plan. And that he will be amongst the fighting indirectly aiding the Akatsuki with his own ambitions of killing all ninja. Which before you say anything, Sasuke. Obito and Madara both are not planning on killing everyone. They have their own ambitions and it does not fall under world annihilation. Damen's desire to kill everyone though will help them to a point but it goes against their plans. Which would be why Zetsu was sent here to speak to me. They want Damen out of the way."
"So what do we do?" Sasuke asks nearly making me sigh. "We will go to the war and locate Damen. Leave Zetsu to the others." Itachi speaks so I set up and look towards him. "I agree, right now Damen is the most immediate threat for us to deal with. Zetsu was never implanted with Yamato's cells so he is much weaker than he is supposed to be. The other ninja can handle him but they can't handle Damen." With this Sasuke gives a grunt as his dark eyes fall on the fire. I already knew what he was thinking. The last time they met Damen face to face all they could do was run. They didn't have enough time to enact any other plans. I had thought of this too. Without the power, Sasuke was supposed to gain from Obito and Orochimaru he just isn't as powerful as he is supposed to be. He is still one of the strongest in the leaf to be sure but his power is lacking compared to what it should be. If... I could make him like me. I could boost his power and ensure he lives through this war. But, my blood is toxic. I don't even have the key to return home so I can locate my mom and ask her how to change someone.
-Stop Kira. What if's and the like won't help. Trust in Sasuke's strength he has. Orochimaru trained him for three years and then Itachi picked up his training himself. Trust both of them.- I nearly growl at myself as I watch Sasuke pull a stick of meat from the fire and begin to eat. I want to keep him safe, but this is war. We will need his strength. He was able to stand toe to toe with one of the Pein's and still didn't end up in the same state I was. He's powerful, I just have to remember that and trust that all of my plans up until this point will only further aid him. Feeling movement next to me draws my attention away from my thoughts. Looking to my right just as his hand touches mine at my side. Leaning in his direction I rest my head against his shoulder. Sasuke...
In our resting time, I retrieved my book from my pouch and opened it to see any messages from Kakashi. What he had written has my eyes widening. My hands grip onto the book I was holding in a dangerous way. My clenching hands threaten to tear the book apart.
-Someone disguised as Sasuke attacked the eight tails and the Kage summit. Accompanied by three people. They were sporting the Akatsuki robes.-
-The United Shinobi Alliance will congregate at the hidden cloud to prepare for war.-
-Naruto and the Raikage's brother along with Yamato have been hidden away from the Akatsuki.-
This explained why the white Zetsu wasn't complete. Proving that they won't be a problem. The real problem is why someone is pretending to be Sasuke and even assembled Hebi or would they be called Taka now? So with my shoulder still against Sasuke, I withdraw my pen and respond to him. Letting him know about what had happened in the village, what I had learned from Krista, our decision, and even what Zetsu had informed me about Damen. How we planned on running through the war to locate him in order to save as many ninja as possible from him. Though now I am beginning to wonder if we should focus on Taka. One problem with that is, Karin should know that it isn't actually Sasuke. So the imposter could be keeping them at his side with the promise that their actions will lure Sasuke out. I doubt he could hide himself fully from Karin. In the anime, Karin is annoying. She's a two-faced girl who happens to also be obsessed with Sasuke. She fell in love with his chakra, so there is no way someone pretending to be Sasuke could get past her eyes. On the off chance, however, if he did fool her. Us showing up with Itachi would be a large red flag since I kept Sasuke from rounding them up to go after his older brother. That is also on the assumption that Karin knows about Sasuke's previous ambitions to kill Itachi.
But then the next problem would be, who is pretending to be Sasuke and why. It could be Obito or Madara but I highly doubt it. Then again if it was a simple transformation jutsu I doubt the Kage would have been fooled. No, it would have to be a genjutsu on the level of an Uchiha such as Madara and Obito. But it's not like them to do something exactly like this. They use others and are least likely to get their hands dirty. To take the time and portray themselves as Sasuke would take their attention away from the rest of their plans. No, they had to find someone else to pretend to be him. As to why... It must be to draw Sasuke to them so that they can sink their claws into the real Sasuke as they had originally planned... So wouldn't the next step be to continue with our plans and avoid Taka unless we run into them? However, doing that would be doing exactly what Madara had informed Zetsu to tell us. So, either we go after Taka, or we go after Damen. Both directions have their own positives in preventing more death. If we go after Taka it would leave Damen to do whatever he pleases and kill whoever he comes across. If we go after Damen, Taka could push Sasuke into a corner from their actions. In turn, forcing him to Obito and Madara. When I think about it like that, as long as Itachi and I are with the real Sasuke then we can use that as leverage so everyone knows that the one with Taka isn't in fact real. Yes, we should continue after Damen. Now to use my spare time wisely... What did Zetsu mean this goes along with Damen's original plans?
It took us three days to reach the land of lightning. With Sasuke on my right and Itachi on my left, we were making our way through the fighting. Dodging around the battles when we could, and fighting through those we couldn't avoid. Surrounding myself in a dense electricity I shove myself through Zetsu with a light laugh. Sasuke shakes his head as he finishes with his own Zetsu, a smirk set in place either from his own kill or from my reactions. Itachi looks from Sasuke to me a moment before running ahead. Spurring us as well into following behind him. "If they are this easy to kill then what's the problem?" Sasuke grunts as we leap into some trees. "The problem is the numbers. Each one of them can act alone or coordinate with others around them. It's as if they are each individual beings that can form their own strategies as well as receive orders from the main body. Also, ninja require radios or ninjutsu in order to communicate like this but they don't. In an instant, they can receive their orders or send information to any other Zetsu anywhere. They can think as one. Plus they were supposed to have been implanted with Yamato's cells to complete them which in turn made them stronger. However, we prevented this." I explain to him ignoring the fighting below us. "Just, keep your eyes open alright? We are now at the point where my knowledge is even more limited than ever. Something massive could happen knowing who we are up against."
