"Over my dead body."
Akira meant it with every fibre of her being. No one, especially Itachi Uchiha, was going to hurt Naruto or Sasuke. The black markings all over her body told them that. They crawled over her skin like an infectious disease, cracking the dermis to let pure white chakra seep out of her body like smoke. A little relief washed over them as the white chakra slowly began to lessen, but Kisame's chakra-devouring sword could still detect it, quivering excitedly with Akira's power. He went to make a move, but Akira's body prepared for it before he'd even moved. However, a small toad appeared in a puff of smoke before her and, moments later, Jiraya appeared behind her. She glanced at him over her shoulder and, he saw the unmistakable cold fury in Akira's eyes. He didn't expect to see that look, not in someone whose body was slowly letting the curse mark spread all over their body. He expected wild anger, a certain level of unhinged fury befitting the bearers of Orochimaru's curse mark. As such, Akira's relative calmness was unsettling to Jiraya. He looked back up towards Itachi and Kisame
"You two don't know me at all, do you? Should have done your homework. Jiraya the Toad Sage falls victim to no woman's charm," he said. "Rare beauty is dropped for me like blossoms in a storm. It isn't in my nature to be duped by the wiles of women. When you reach the stature I have, ladies kneel and worship at your awesomeness."
"Master Jiraya?" Akira said, flatly. He looked at her. "You're an idiot and you're late."
"Hey!"
"One wink from that woman and you were a pile of mush! You fell for it like a tonne of bricks, Pervy Sage!" Naruto yelled at the Sannin. "You're only here because Akira ran in freaking out!"
"I really wish you wouldn't call me that in front of other people," Jiraya said, chuckling nervously.
"Whatever name you go by, Master Jiraya, I must say, you're something of a disappointment," Kisame said, laughing. "A lecherous old man with the disposition of a child. It's almost impossible to believe that you're one of the Three Legendary Sannin."
"Don't be fooled by appearances, or uh, you know, anything this little squirt might say," Jiraya chuckled, patting Naruto's head. "I know Naruto's the one you're really after."
"That explains how Kakashi knew..." Itachi said almost absent-minded. "He learned it from you."
Kisame's sword quivered as Akira's eyes fell back on Itachi. The white chakra had suddenly begun to seep out of her skin a little more than before. Jiraya placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, but it had the opposite effect. A small surge of anger went through Akira's body and everyone around her felt it. She jerked her shoulder away from Jiraya's grip, which made him frown, but he was pleased that Akira obeyed and remained where she was.
"You're right. Naruto is the prize that the Akatsuki are after," Itachi said. "And we will have him."
"There's no way you're getting Naruto, Itachi," Akira said sternly.
"We'll see about that."
"Actually, this is really convenient. Now, I can eliminate both of you at the same time," Jiraya said contemplatively. He looked at Akira. "I'm sure Akira would like to help too."
"Stay out of this, old man," Sasuke said, pulling away from Naruto. He was barely able to stand. "The only person who's going to eliminate him is me!"
"Go away," Itachi said, sounding bored. "You don't interest me at the moment."
"Well, get interested!"
Sasuke broke into a run, but Itachi kicked him back easily. Sasuke rose and ran at him again, attempting to punch Itachi. He deflected the punch easily and hit Sasuke in the jaw in return, drawing blood. Akira went to jump in and help, but Jiraya held her back.
"You heard your brother. This fight isn't yours or mine. Let's have those two sort it out."
Sasuke had fallen, barely moving, but as Itachi approached him he pulled out a kunai and got up. Itachi saw his attack coming and he punched Sasuke in the chest, knocking the air out of his lungs. Sasuke fell to the ground again and Itachi picked him up by the collar. He looked directly into his eyes and Akira immediately made a move toward her brothers. However, Jiraya held her back again and she struggled against his grip.
"Isn't that heart-warming?" Kisame said with a smile. "Using Tsukuyomi on your own brother."
"LET ME GO, OLD MAN!"
The white surge of chakra suddenly intensified. It came out of Akira's skin like flame, mirroring the black markings that were crawling over her skin. Akira wrenched herself from Jiraya's grip and with a cry that was only worthy of war, she dashed forward, performing hand signs as she went. Within seconds, the room filled with a crackling sound and Akira's arm lit up with white chakra.
"HOW DARE YOU!?"
Itachi turned to stop Akira as he did with Sasuke, but he quickly realised that it wasn't just her hands that were crackling with electricity. He couldn't stop her attack by just dismissing her so he released Sasuke and moved away from Akira. As Itachi pushed away, Sasuke slid down the wall and fell limp.
Itachi expected his sister to go help Sasuke, but she swerved in his direction and jabbed her hand on his shoulder. A great shock went through Itachi's body and he was blown backwards, sending him into the opposite wall. And though her jutsu may have been improved, the girl's arms were still bleeding onto the floor. That last time must have been a fluke.
"I told you..." Akira warned. She almost sounded like a different person entirely. "Over my dead body."
As Itachi stood up, the walls and the floors began to turn squishy and pink. Akira glared at him and she turned around to pick up Sasuke, who'd passed out following Itachi's use of Tsukuyomi.
"Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap," Jiraya said calmly.
He glanced at Akira when she returned to him, Sasuke over her shoulders. He didn't like the look in her eyes. It was distant, as if she were so far from her feelings and what she was doing. Jiraya didn't like that look. It was worse than the last one. For a while, he'd thought that her power was taking over but controlled, however, this was different. Akira's power might have been surging with her emotions, but the absence in her eyes told him that Akira had willingly detached herself. It was a mechanism used to tolerate and control the fury and power coursing through her veins—Akira had unleashed this curse mark willingly. But, pushed any further, Jiraya worried that Akira's mind would be overrun by Orochimaru's chakra. Her gaze was stable, sure, but Jiraya could see the twinkle of uncontrolled power glinting just behind her eyes.
"You've both just been swallowed by the Moutain Toad. Welcome, my friends, to the belly of the beast," Jiraya said. "He has a very sensitive digestive tract, so be careful not to upset him."
"Not the most glorious way to die, is it?" Akira grumbled, disgusted. "Toads."
Jiraya looked at her oddly. He'd heard those words before. Akira then stuck Sasuke into the walls of Jiraya's jutsu so that he wouldn't move again.
"Woah, I'm not liking this at all," Naruto said, looking around.
"Naruto, stay still. Just remain calm," Jiraya told him. "Trust in my jutsu."
"Kisame, come," Itachi muttered.
Kisame pulled the kunai out of his foot and unstuck himself from the toad's mouth. It took a few tries to get the sword on his back unstuck, but he pulled it loose eventually and followed Itachi as he disappeared around the corner. Akira made a move to follow them, but Jiraya held her back again.
"Let me go," she growled.
"No."
Jiraya sent tendrils of flesh after Itachi and Kisame and Akira managed to break out of his grip. She rushed after Itachi and Kisame alongside Jiraya's jutsu. As she turned the corner, Itachi dispatched the tendrils easily.
"Itachi," Akira called calmly. Kisame and her brother turned to face her. "I will never forgive you. Ever. But I'm not going to be living my life according to your rules; my hate is never going to be strong enough. I'm not Sasuke. You're going to pay for your crimes, and you're not going to escape them so easily by dying. You got that?"
Itachi stared at her for a moment, taking in the rage in her eyes, and he nodded.
"Good. Now, get out of my face."
Itachi and Kisame turned back to the wall and, with the use of Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan, he destroyed the toad's mouth with the Uchiha's ultimate fire jutsu. Black flames burned a hole straight through the flesh and the wooden wall behind it, and Kisame and Itachi jumped away and out of sight. Jiraya and Naruto then came rushing around the corner.
"They're gone," Akira said simply.
"The hell is that!?" Naruto asked, approaching the flames. Akira stopped him.
"It burned through the insides of the Stone Toad that spits fire itself," Jiraya said, surprised. "What kind of jutsu is this?"
"Amaterasu. The Uchiha clan's ultimate fire-style jutsu. Those flames will burn for seven days and seven nights unless they're stopped by the user. All we can do is seal them away."
Jiraya looked over at Akira. He had been wrong about her. As he sealed away the flames, Akira calmed down on her own. The white chakra vanished and the flame-like markings retreated back into the curse mark on her shoulder.
It worried him even more.
Even if you disregarded the free use of the curse mark and the ease with which she dismissed it, Jiraya could tell that a part of Orochimaru was still lingering about. He could tell when he touched her shoulder. He could tell by the way she spoke. He could tell by the way her gaze was stony and cool but held the rage of a thousand volcanoes. It was clear to Jiraya that she'd taken training from Orochimaru, willingly, and it worried him. What could possibly come out of someone trained by someone like him?
"Where did you learn to do that?" Jiraya asked, playing dumb.
Akira glanced at him. Her gaze was still distant and angry, but her expression was eerily calm.
"You know where."
Jiraya frowned. She was right; he knew, and he wondered what made her seek the knowledge from the source in the first place. Then, all of a sudden, with a ridiculous cry, Might Guy came rushing in through the hole in the wall and he crash-landed on Jiraya. Jiraya punched him and Guy fell back, bleeding from his nose.
"The hell was that!?" Jiraya shouted.
"I guess I was a little overenthusiastic," he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "You see, I—I was trying to hurry and I couldn't see very clearly."
"If this is your way of apologizing, well it really sucks!"
"I'm sorry, it was just a simple misunderstanding."
"Simple-minded's more like it."
"Never mind that," Akira said almost softly.
Her tone surprised Jiraya. Only moments ago, she was flirting with the evil inside her and switched off to cool, slow-burning anger. Now, her voice was almost soft, delicate, and again it worried him that she could do it with such ease. How much training did she take from Orochimaru to be able to do this? How naturally had this power come to her?
Akira pulled Sasuke from the sticky wall and carried him over her shoulder.
"We need to get Sasuke to the medical corps."
"Akira, you're exhausted," Jiraya said. "Let me carry him."
Akira glared at him and a chill went down Jiraya's spine. At that moment, he could have sworn he'd seen his old comrade's eyes. Akira went towards Guy.
"His arm's broken and he was trapped within Tsukuyomi."
"Tsykuyomi?"
"It's a genjutsu only available to those who've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan," Akira said calmly. "It traps the target in an illusion completely under the user's control. There are lesser variants used with the Sharingan, but if you're skilled enough, like Itachi, you can alter the passage of time. He can make seconds feel like days. It's pure psychological torture."
"How do you know all this?" Naruto asked. "Read all this in a family book or something?"
"Itachi trapped me and Sasuke inside the genjutsu when we found our dead parents. He made us relive the slaughter over and over again."
Naruto gulped.
"Sasuke's gonna be okay, though... right?"
"Physically? Yeah," Akira said. "Psychologically, neither of us will ever be completely okay. Sasuke less than I. He's made it his mission to live by Itachi's demand to hate him and kill him at any cost."
"What did you two ever do to deserve this?" Naruto muttered to himself, shaking with anger.
Guy took a few steps towards Akira and inspected Sasuke. He suddenly looked worried.
"This looks like the same jutsu Kakashi was hit with."
"What did you say?"
Guy turned to Akira. Her voice was quiet, but commanding. The cool and distant look in her eyes was gone, replaced by a fury he'd never seen before. It was so powerful that Jiraya could feel Akira's chakra levels rising again. She repeated herself, a little louder this time, her tone of voice growing more and more menacing. When Guy froze, taken aback by the level of violence in her voice, Akira snapped and thrust her fist into the nearest wall. Her knuckles split open and the blood from the new cuts mingled with the blood coming from the burst capillaries in her arms. She swore under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose, then dragged her hand down to her side so it lay limp beside her. Half of her face was now smeared in blood but Akira didn't care. Exhausted, Akira readjusted Sasuke on her shoulder and walked past Guy. No one stopped her as she jumped down the same way Itachi left.
When Akira approached the gates to Konoha, the two guards attempted to help her, but she tugged herself away from their grip. She walked through the streets of the village, blood on her arms and face, and with the look of a woman who'd kill a man for breathing the wrong way. People avoided Akira as they walked past her until she made it to the hospital where she lay Sasuke on a bed herself. She called for the best medical-nin the hospital could muster and explained the situation. Once again, Akira denied treatment for herself, going so far as to shove a woman who'd tried to make her sit down, and she left the hospital.
Akira returned to where this whole mess started. She walked up to Kakashi's room again, ignoring the looks she was getting from Kurenai and Asuma.
"What the hell happened?" Asuma asked. "Are you all right?"
"You should go to the hospital, Akira," Kurenai said, worried.
"I'm fine," Akira said tiredly. "I really just want to be here when Kakashi-sensei wakes up."
"Akira—"
"Please go."
As Asuma was about to protest, Kurenai shook her head and pulled him away, leading him out of the room.
Akira sat at Kakashi's bedside for hours, just staring at him. He was still wearing the mask over his mouth and nose, but his headband was on his side table, reflecting the sun's rays onto the left side of his face. It was odd seeing both of his eyes like this, closed with his eyelashes fluttering over his masked cheekbones. Akira was half tempted to pull the mask down, find out what her sensei really looked like, but she couldn't muster enough energy to move. The blankets over Kakashi's chest rose with his breathing and its rhythmicality began lulling Akira to sleep. Her eyelids slowly began to close and Akira fell forward, her bloody face landing on Kakashi's chest.
Neither of them woke up for three days.