A/N: Wow..thankyou so much for your awesome reviews! I'm really glad you all like my story so much! I will continue to do my best to improve this story. It's gotten better all thanks to you readers! I love you all:D
Sorry for the long update! My computer shut down! But now it's all better.
Warnings: Nada.
Disclaimer: If I owned the Naruto series Sasuke would realize how much he appreciates Sakura and how she's treated him. It would make him wanna give them a chance, maybe learn to love her…if he doesn't already!;)..So there it is.
Please Enjoy!
Behind The Smile
Chapter 22: The Uchiha Clan's Succescors. Itachi and Sasuke.
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Itachi and Sasuke clashed with Kakuzu and Hidan, kunai to kunai. The small sparks from the colliding weapons disappeared into the air as quickly as they appeared. Koizumi and Sakura watched as the duo's disappeared again.
Sasuke and Itachi would both appear next to each other as Hidan and Kakuzu would. Butthe Uchiha brotherswere coordinated and well matched in their attacks, unlike to other Akatsuki members. Even though they did not communicate on how to attack. It was amazing. They were untouchable.
The Uchiha brothers really were alike, in both attack and personality. Despite them using the same exact attack, the Akatsuki members couldn't predict their movements.
Sasuke and Itachi both rushed in with a powerful blow to the gut, knocking the wind out of Hidan and Kakuzu. Next they began drilling punches into their faces. With exact timing and precision, the Uchiha brothers made a small jump up into the air before delivering a powerful spin kick to the Akatsuki member's faces.
..ooo000ooo000ooo.
She finally pushed herself up into a standing position, one hand was positioned gently on her abdomen, which was beginning to sting. She had been too overwhelmed with her feelings earlier to feel any physical pain. Sakura was staring with slightly wide eyes at the Uchiha brothers. She couldn't really believe it. They were amazing! It was almost like the two were robots, designed to execute the same exact attacks on the enemy. They were flawless in their attacks, almost as if the two had been training together all these years, which was basically impossible.
Sakura couldn't help herself when she took a quick glance to Koizumi. His eyes were trained on the battle. He really did look the same as he did all those years ago, except more handsome. Couldn't she do anything? Couldn't she somehow change him back to his old self? Sakura reprimanded herself for even thinking about it. She tore her eyes away from Koizumi. She was supposed to be letting him go, not getting more attached, if there was even more room to do so…Besides…she still had feelings for Sasuke didn't she? No. She was not going to get into that. She had to let him go too, seeing as he had already done so long ago.
...ooo000ooo000ooo..
Kakuzu and Hidan had preformed a few two hand back flips to prevent themselves from colliding with the ground. As soon as they did so, they were already in front of the Uchiha brothers. With amazing speed, the Akatsuki members started performing different attacks on each of the Uchiha's. Sasuke and Itachi both had different moves and methods to counter the different attacks that were coming at them. Hidan and Kakuzu had separated them. They were a few good yards away from each other, fighting their own battles.
Itachi wasn't attacking Kakuzu, only blocking and dodging his attacks. He could have easily already defeated the other Akatsuki member. Was he just taking his time? Itachi ducked as Kakuzu aimed a kick for his head. He moved his head to the sides to avoid more punches. Itachi did this for a while, noticing that Kakuzu wasn't really fighting either. Well he was, but his mind seemed distracted. Was he planning something?
Sasuke moved his head to the side as Hidan aimed a chakra filled fist. The Young Uchiha dodged a few more of Hidan's attacks before initiating his own combo of attacks. They consisted of a few punches to the gut, which successfully hit. Hidan began a combo of attacks as well, which Sasuke managed to block and dodge. He wasn't able to do so with a quick punch that caught him off guard. Well he could of if he had been trying.
Sasukeand Itachi had both silently decided to themselvesthat they weren't going to waste any chakra using jutsu's. They didn't need any to defeat them.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Sakura was still amazed at how the Uchiha brothers were fighting with much ease.
Like Itachi, Sasuke didn't really have to try so much. But it was almost as if the other two weren't trying either. Even if they were trying, they are the two lowest members of the Akatsuki organization, meaning they were the least powerful. Even so, all of the Akatsuki members were S-rank criminals, meaning they are all very powerful, despite their rank in the Akatsuki. Any normal shinobi would have difficultly dealing with one, even when they weren't fighting at full power. But Itachi and Sasuke were having no problems at atll. Were Itachi and Sasuke really that powerful? The Uchiha brothers? Was that why shinobi everywhere praised the Uchiha Clan? Had Sasuke managed to live up to his clan's expectations, like Itachi had? Sakura focused on the younger Uchiha.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Sasuke began another combo of assaults, landing a few punches to Hidan's face. Sasuke finally aimed a kick, but the Akatsuki member swiftly caught Sasuke's foot holding it in place. Sasuke smirked. So this was his true speed. He had been trying to get Hidan to really fight. Only then would he take satisfaction at killing this moron. Sasuke to a quick glance at Sakura. He kept saying he was killing Hidan because he felt like it. So he of course denied Sakura's injuries having any say in this.
Sasuke's foot was still being held by Hidan, so he aimed a punch, again, testing Hidan's speed. Hidan caught Sasuke's fist, holding it in place along with his foot.
"To slow!" Hidan teased. He didn't notice the intensity in which Sasuke's eyes burned into him. Sasuke wasn't going to take that, he wasn't even really trying up until this point. Sasuke slowly put on his trademark smirk. With lightning fast speed, Sasuke brought up his free leg, kneeing Hidan in the chin. The powerful blow sent Hidan flying up into the ceiling. His whole body scrunched up as his head pounded on the ceiling. Upon contact, part of the ceiling crumbled, falling down with Hidan to the ground. It created a huge cloud of smoke from the wall parts. With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke casually walked towards the crash site, waiting for the smoke to subside. His eyes widened however as he sensed someone move past him with amazing speed. He fully turned his body halfway around to look behind him, in Sakura's direction.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Sakura had fallen down onto her bottom out of surprise. She looked with wide eyes at the feet of the person who appeared in front of her.
His legs were covered by a black coat, adorned in red-lined clouds. His clothes didn't ruffle, but he had brought a slight wind with him, in turn ruffling her own clothes. A few strands of her pink hair fell into her face. Slowly, Sakura brought her head up to see emerald green hair and pink eyes. Yet they seemed unfocused. Koizumi's stature was very still and tense. Very…soulless. His head was tilted up a little bit as he looked down at Sakura with no expression on his face.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Itachi had sensed the movement, as he himself let his eyes travel over to where Sakura was. It was then that Itachi realized that it was all set up. So they had planned to use this as a distraction. He immediately attempted to run to Sakura. But Kakuzu appeared in front of him, letting Itachi silently know that he would only get to Sakura "over his dead body". Itachi took a looked down to Sakura, he looked for Sasuke. He would have to rely on him to save her.
Itachi's sharingan eyes snapped back to Kakuzu. His eyes were still emotionless, but they held a silent fury. Itachi was through playing around.
With amazing speed, Kakuzu aimed a kick for Itachi's head. When it looked as if his foot had made contact, Itachi brought his hand up to the side of his head, catching Kakuzu's foot. Using only that hand, Itachi let go of it for a split second to fully grasp Kakuzu's foot. He performed one full spin before letting go, causing Kakuzu to fly into a wall yet again. Itachi immediately disappeared, appearing behind Kakuzu before he would make contact with the wall.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Sasuke was a few feet away from Sakura, but Hidan appeared in front of him, aiming a punch. Sasuke tried to dodge, more concerned with getting to Sakura, but Hidan kept aiming attacks at him with this newfound speed. Even when Sasuke would attack, delivering powerful blows, Hidan just kept coming and coming. Getting very frustrated, Sasuke took out a kunai charging Hidan, who only took out a kunai himself, meeting the Uchiha head on. With a desperate look, Sasuke looked to Itachi, hoping he was free to get to Sakura, only to see that his brother was being held back as well.
"Kuso!" Sasuke looked to Sakura, staring defenselessly up at Koizumi. That alone gave him motivation. He tore his eyes away from her and looked at Hidan, with a newfound determination. He delivered one very powerful punch to Hidan's gut, digging his fist even further. He then started a combo of quick, relentless punches to the same spot, each one getting faster as the number increased. Sasuke finished with a powerful jump kick that would send the Akatsuki member flying into the ceiling. Sasuke jumped up as well, traveling higher with Hidan. Gathering all his strength, Sasuke delivered a very powerful spin kick. It sent Hidan flying at a diagonal angle into the wall. Sasuke wasted no time in landing, before jumping back, and performing a few handseals. He leaned back as his chest puffed out.
"Katon:Goukakyuu No Jutsu!" Sasuke leaned forward as a large ball of flame was exhaled from his mouth. It buried itself into the wall and Hidan. Sasuke immediately disappeared.
..ooo000ooo000ooo..
Sakura looked at Koizumi with wide eyes. There was basically no way she could defend herself. But now, she didn't want to die. Now, she realized she couldn't, no, would not, leave her friends behind. She couldn't leave them all, not yet. Sakura's look turned into determination.
I don't know what I can do, I basically have no chakra..but..I have to do something!
She could at least try to distance herself from him, or even dodge his attacks. No matter how unlikely that was. Sakura took a deep breath, bracing herself for the pain as she lifted herself onto her feet in a crouching position. But Koizumi didn't let her do anything further. Sakura was only able to gasp as she saw a kunai equipped in his hand. She didn't even see him take it out! He was fast! Just like Itachi. It seemed to go in slow motion as Koizumi directed the kunai at Sakura in a stabbing motion.
Sakura let out a scream as blood spurted on her face. It wasn't the blood that upset her, it was the owner of the blood. She looked up to Sasuke who was crouched in front of her, his left side facing Koizumi. He had his right arm around her, and his left forearm held up to Koizumi, who actually seemed a little surprised. He had stuck his arm out in the path of the kunai, which was now embedded in his arm. Koizumi still had his hand on the kunai, and Sasuke was still holding his arm stationary, not letting Koizumi push further. He was wincing in pain as the blood flew from his wound in a constant stream. Tears started falling from Sakura wide eyes without warning.
His eyes burning with a silent fury, Sasuke pushed his injured arm up against Koizumi catching him off guard. Sasuke pushed himself off the ground and delivered a chakra filled punch to Koizumi's face, sending him skidding on his feet a few feet back. Sasuke stood his ground, eyes trained on Koizumi. He ignored the blood dripping to the ground below him. He took a quick glance to make sure Sakura was ok, before settling his gaze on Koizumi.
Koizumi lowered his gaze to look at Sasuke, who had the kunai embedded in his arm.
Flashback
He heard Little Sakura scream as the sword stabbed through his abdomen. He had no time to get Sakura out of the way so he did the only thing he could. Take the blow for her. He winced in pain as more blood dripped to the ground, from the two wounds he had now sustained. He did it for Sakura, that was all that mattered.
End Flashback
Why did he keep having these flashbacks? Why was it that every time he looked at Sakura, this feeling kept swelling up inside of him? Every time he saw an act of protection towards Sakura that feeling came yet again. His head would hurt as well. He was fighting to keep a cool, emotionless state. Koizumi closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opened them, they were sharp, and glowing bright as ever. He would have to dispose of Sasuke first.
"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed a warning as Koizumi disappeared. Before he even appeared, Sasuke jumped to the side, barely dodging a swipe from Koizumi's kunai. He was forced to block as Koizumi aimed a combo of attacks with amazing speed. Sasuke would hold in a noise of pain everytime Koizumi hit his injured arm, which he was using to block with. Koizumi finished, landing a successful punch to Sasuke's face. Sasuke was forced to perform a backflip to land on his feet. He used his uninjured arm to wipe the small trickle of blood that made it's way down his chin.
"Chikuso." Sasuke silently cursed. This guy was amazingly fast. Just a little punch like that sent him flying. And the kunai in his arm was also limiting his movements as well, along with draining his blood. He was starting to lose a lot of it. Sasuke lowered himself into a combat position, waiting for Koizumi to attack again. When he didn't, Sasuke reached into his kunai holster, loading his fingers with little shuriken. He immediately threw them at Koizumi, who only caught them, immediately returning them to Sasuke. The young Uchiha was forced to jump out of the way. But as soon as he did so, Koizumi was already in front of him.
Sasuke aimed a punch with his uninjured arm, but Koizumi easily caught it, holding it in place. Koizumi, using his free hand, took out another kunai, planning to imbed it in another part of Sasuke's body. The kunai gleamed in the light as Koizumi raised it above his head, ready to help it descend into Sasuke. He wouldn't be able to avoid it.
"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed again. Using her sheer force of will, she pushed herself up off the ground, trying to make it to Sasuke, but she wasn't fast enough.
It all seemed to go in slow motion as Sasuke saw the kunai coming at him. He had been caught off guard. Kuso!
Just in time, however, Itachi appeared in front of them, meeting Koizumi's kunai with his own. Almost immediately, with lightning fast speed, Itachi aimed a kick for Koizumi's head, successfully hitting the Akatsuki leader. Koizumi flew back in the air, executing a back flip before landing on his feet. He sharply lifted his head to look at the older Uchiha. His eyes traveled around, finally spotting Kakuzu who was leaned up against the wall, half dead. His eyes snapped back to Itachi.
Itachi slowly stood up tall, never taking his gaze off of Koizumi.
Flashback
Itachi let go of Kakuzu's foot, letting him fly into the nearby wall. Kakuzu immediately shot out from the ground advancing on Itachi. From out of nowhere four shuriken seemingly appeared in Itachi's right hand. He was so fast that even Kakuzu didn't see him use any handseals. Four areas around Kakuzu erupted with water, shooting towards him.
"There's no water around here! How did you!" Kakuzu questioned, surprised, before he got engulfed in the water. It was going so fast that the water beet at him like kunai. As soon as the water jutsu was finished, Kakuzu was barely able to take out a kunai as Itachi came at him with one of his own. He was in pain from that jutsu, and soaking wet, so it was harder to move.Just as soon as Kakuzu blocked the kunai, Itachi delivered a gut wrenching blow to his abdomen. After the first powerful one, came faster, repetitive punches, all very powerful. Itachi finished it off with a spin kick, which sent Kakuzu flying towards the wall again.
But before Kakuzu even made contact with the wall, Itachi was already in front of him. His hand shot out, grabbing Kakuzu's neck, in turn slamming him into the cracked wall. Itachi lifted Kakuzu higher above him, still pushing him against the wall.
"..I was ..crazy to think I could..go up against..you.." Kakuzu managed to mutter with a trace of humor. Itachi was well above his league. He'd bet that he was more powerful than every Akatsuki member in the orginization. He was definatley well above Orochimaru. Maybe even the leader. No, that wasn't possible. Koizumi would crush him and his little brother. Kakuzu let out a small chuckle.
"But..you won't..defeat our leader." Itachi didn't give him any reaction whatsoever. Kakuzu watched as Itachi slowly closed his eyes.
"Mangekyou Sharingan." Itachi slowly opened his eyes, revealing the unique, most powerful, yet, scary form of the Sharingan.
End Flashback
Itachi had caused a mental collapse for Kakuzu. It was the fastest way to defeat him. Itachi had no desire or time to finish him off as he rushed to save Sakura and Sasuke. In turn he had used a portion of his chakra for the Mangekyou. He still held his Sharingan eyes, which he never disabled unless he need to rest his eyes, which was only after he used a huge amount of chakra, which was very rare. Itachi and Koizumi seemed to have a staring contest. Their cold, emotionless eyes, never leaving the other.
Sakura tried to get Sasuke to lend her his arm, but he kept snatching it away despite the pain. He wouldn't even look at her. Becoming tense, Sasuke grasped the kunai and quickly took it out. He closed his eyes to prevent himself from grunting in pain. He quickly took of his shirt, using his mouth to rip a large piece of it. With ease he wrapped the cloth around his arm, tying it tightly. It already began to soak through.
"..Sasuke.." Sakura muttered. Sasuke had learned how to fully take care of himself. Well of course, he had been alone all this time. He didn't need her. He hate her. Sasuke wouldn't even make eye contact with her. Then why did he take that kunai for her!
"Why did you do that!" Sakura yelled. She couldn't stand that fact that he had gotten hurt because of her. And she was confused as to why he did so. He had told her himself that he wasn't going to protect her, let alone take a kunai for her.
Sasuke didn't want to look at Sakura. Every time he did, it made him more angry. An image of Itachi would appear. He didn't answer her question. He used the rest of his shirt to tie another portion around his arm again, seeing as the blood already soaked through.
"Sasuke..I can heal it." Sakura pleaded with him. Her voice in general upset him. Earlier he had been so focused to come in and save her, he had forgotten about Itachi and what she had done. He was furious with her. But again, he kept his cool, emotionless facade.
"With what chakra?" He countered. He knew all to well what kind of shape Sakura was in. With a slight intake of breath, Sasuke stood up fully making his way a few feet from Itachi. They both made quick eye contact with each other before focusing their eyes on Koizumi.
One last shinobi stood in his way. One last shinobi prevented him from getting his revenge. Sasuke clenched both of his fists, ignoring the pain from his wound.
Sakura's body was tense as she watched. So this was it. The battle she had been dreading. For many reasons.
Thanks for Reading! I hope you reader's liked it!Sorry for the cliff-hanger!
And I'm sorry about this too! I can't just forget about the shinobi that have been taken back to Konoha, and everything that's going on with that...sooo...Next chapter will probably be taking place in Konoha with the others. I'm going to try and put some fluff for the other characters. I feel i haven't been stressing the other couples much at all. So yea. But ya never know, I might become genius these next few days and find a way to fit the battle in too, or part of it. Or something lol...But..it's highly unlikely.
So tell me what you readers think. Should i show what's going on i Konoha next chapter, or wait till after I finish the battle with Koizumi? Please tell me! Ja!
