Chapter 17: The Wait
"Twilight, That girl's late. How long does it take to pick up supplies?" Suigetsu complained. He turned and looked at Hibiki who had spent at least 6 hours searching the future. She isn't eating as often as he thought she should and She must have been straining herself as her nose bleed every so often, and each time it did Suigetsu would wipe it off. She was working too hard.
Hibiki focused, she strained, she needed to see.
Naruto blurred so much, so many possibilities. With him getting more involved and in closer proximity to her search zones, he was becoming more of a nuisance every time he breathed. Hibiki worked hard to narrow the possibilities down and to learn his most likely choice.
He must either be elaborate, knowing, and wise beyond his years or he was the worst kind of idiot. Hibiki would bet on idiot.
Frustrated Suigetsu stood.
"Jugo. I'm gonna go check on Karin." he said walking to the door.
"Yeah." Juugo agreed. But before Suigetsu could open the door Karin busted it down, standing on top of the fallen door, on top of a very pissed Suigetsu.
"Wake up, Sasuke! We're going to have company! What do we do?!" Karin frantically asked.
"We escape Get ready." Sasuke ordered sitting up. "Juugo, mark every Akatsuki hideout that we know." Once Suigetsu got out from under the door, he wanted to hit Karin but didn't, promising revenge. He squatted in front of Hibiki,
"Hibiki?" he asked as he shook her shoulder.
After a few shakes Hibiki gasped, and took deep breaths, She quivered slightly. Man, she hated it when she was disturbed.
"What? What's wrong?" Hibiki panicked.
"We are leaving," he answered helping her up. "You ok?"
"A little disoriented but yeah I'm ok," she confirmed. Sasuke left the room followed (closely) by Karin and Juugo. Suigetsu took Hibiki's hand and lead her out of the Hotel. And out of the village.
Just outside the village main gate Suigetsu turned to Sasuke.
"You're okay now, Sasuke?" he asked.
"Yeah. I've been healing a lot faster since I absorbed Orochimaru's power." He explained.
"Whether it's Akatsuki or the Hidden Leaf, they might have information on Itachi. So why don't we ambush them, Sasuke?" Karin asked.
"From what you reported about the number of people, it's most likely the Hidden Leaf." Sasuke sighed.
"The Akatsuki always work in two-man cells. It's faster and safer that way. Ensuring at least one lives to finish the job." Hibiki told Karin.
"Which means an ambush would be a waste of time." Suigetsu frowned.
"Exactly," Sasuke said. "Forget the Hidden Leaf."
"Then what'll we do?" Karin asked.
"Itachi is our only priority. Once we locate him, worse comes to worst, you three must stop the Hidden Leaf. For now, team "Hebi" will use the information gathered by Juugo and check out Akatsuki hideouts one by one." Sasuke instructed.
"All right." Karin agreed.
"Hibiki, is there anything you can tell me," Sasuke asked, he needed to know if she was still of use or if they should leave her behind.
"Yes. Karin, tear up Sasuke's old shirt. Juugo, have your birds take a piece and fly off in different directions. This will scatter the Leaf enough so if one group catches us, they will be easily handled." Hibiki reported.
"What!? What makes you think I have Sasuke's old shirt!"
"Well, you grabbed it for this purpose, right?" Hibiki smiled. Karin caught on quick.
"Ye-Yes! I did." Karin agreed. Suigetsu had to work hard to restrain his laughter, Hibiki would get mad if he laughed too loud.
"Let's go." Sasuke ordered.
Karin and Juugo followed the plan as the other three moved on. When Karin and Juugo caught up, Karin got Hibiki on her back and the group took off running.
They began with the nearest hideout, Marked by a broken statue in the woods. At the statue, the group stopped.
"It's up ahead. You guys wait until I give the order. I'll go and see." Sasuke ordered as he left.
Hibiki sat in the grass and closed her eyes, furrowing her brow. Just as Hibiki feared, Itachi was blurred. Not only were there, what? 30 Naruto's running around, but Itachi was split as well. But one of Itachi's possible clones was encountering with Naruto, she couldn't do anything.
Perfect shadow clones are indistinguishable in her foresight, as they are intelligent copies and are capable of making small decisions by themselves. She opened her eyes again and touched the warm liquid on her lip.
"Your nose is bleeding again," Suigetsu worried, helping her wipe it off.
"It's my precognition. I'm still recovering from the fire, I had to use so much energy to focus." Hibiki explained.
"I've seen you use your vision like that before and you were fine after," Karin commented.
"How exactly does this work?" Juugo joined. Hibiki sighed.
"Man, you guys are ganging up on me… well, we do have a little time to kill." Hibiki concluded.
"Well when I look into the future, I'm not really in my own body… my 'spirit' has to leave my body in order to use my foresight. The more still my body is, the easier it is to remove my 'spirit' from it. When anything happens to my body, say being poked with a spoon.." Hibiki paused. Suigetsu chuckled a little. "My 'spirit' is dragged back to my body. I cannot do strenuous activity while using my foresight. Even standing can be tricky, I've gotten better over the years, but my best work is done when I'm sitting still."
"Due to this, what I did to help Sasuke was, essentially ripped my soul in half, part of my soul to view precognition, and the other to work the body. It's straining and very dangerous. If I stay like that too long, I would die. I can hold this state longer when I'm not in pain, and if I'm just moving around. But when I went into the fire, I was in pain, so I was being dragged back into my body with more force. I had to strain myself to do it. And in that state, I cannot see further than the next minute, and even looking that far ahead is impossible in the fire. I was running on second by the second vision, like normal people." Hibiki smiled sadly "So now I'm just straining myself further I guess."
Suigetsu pinched Hibiki's ear, "Then stop using it." he nagged, Karin did the same on the other side. "We can be fine on our own for a few more days." she gripped. They let her go. Hibiki rubbed her now sore earlobes.
"You don't have to do it so hard," she complained.
They then waited ten minutes is silence, waiting for any sign, signal or command from Sasuke.
"I wonder if Sasuke is ok?" Suigetsu wondered aloud.
"What do you mean?" Karin glared
"What if the first Akatsuki hideout is a bulls-eye?" he restated.
"Are you saying Itachi is inside this hideout?" Juugo asked.
"I said, "what if?" This Itachi is supposed to be really strong, right?" Suigetsu asked back.
"There's no way that Sasuke could lose to…" Karin paused as she contemplated.
"Maybe we should be thinking about a worst-case scenario." Suigetsu planned.
"I'm going to check out the inside from here. If anything happens, we're going in!" Karin confidently proclaimed
"Huh? Why're you taking over all of a sudden? When it comes to Sasuke, you go overboard." Suigetsu teased.
"Th-That's not true! I'm not going! You idiot!" Karin fought back.
"You're worried too Suigetsu, don't tease too much." Hibiki smiled. Suigetsu glared at her for a moment, even though he knew she won't be able to see it.
"I'll ask the birds to scour the area and look out for the enemy's approach," Juugo stated as he stood.
"Geez, both of you…" Suigetsu sighed. Karin walked a little closer to the entrance, to get the best feeling she could. Juugo was off, still in eyesight, with the birds gathering around him.
Suigetsu and Hibiki both stood and stretched. He looked over to the entrance and frowned.
"If it were empty, he would have been back by now." Hibiki voiced,
"Yeah exactly what I'm thinking." he agreed.
The group gathered again and made the unanimous choice to go in, as they walked into the mouth of the hideout Karin paused.
"That chakra, it must Itachi's," Karin gasped as she ran forward. Juugo followed suit.
"Stay here, I'll be back." Suigetsu promised Hibiki as he ran in. Knowing that if Itachi was inside she would only be a nuisance, Hibiki sat in the mouth of the cave and sighed. She was using her foresight too much. She would get sick if she didn't rest. She crossed her arms and frowned in thought.
I can't not look, especially with Naruto in the area, something bad could happen again. She concluded. As she furrowed her brow in concentration and separated from her physical body.
…
Hibiki opened her eyes and stood as the rest of the group exited the cave in a rush. Sasuke getting Hibiki on his back as he passed. The other three hung back a little as they moved through the forest. Giving the two space to talk. If Sasuke is carrying her, he must have some questions. Suigetsu thought, still not liking how Hibiki and Sasuke had a close bond.
Up ahead Sasuke and Hibiki stayed in any easy silence for some time.
"Hibiki," Sasuke started.
"I know, I've watched over the future and the fight's outcome hasn't changed. You will win Sasuke." Hibiki assured him. After a few moments of more silence, Hibiki gathered her courage and said,
"Sasuke, I've stayed quiet because I knew nothing, I can say would change your mind. But I feel like I need to say it, just to ease my own mind, that I tried."
Sasuke nodded, indicating for her to go on.
"Sasuke killing Itachi won't bring your clan back. I know you're angry but you're not going to get what you want from this. Just take one last look at what your about to do and decide if killing Itachi is what you truly want." Hibiki advised.
"You stay out of my business, and you don't pry. You took care of me and never once lied. You saved my life on many occasions. Right now, you are the only one I can trust completely. I hear what you're saying, but I have made my choice, and I'm not going to change it." Sasuke said back.
"Alright, I understand. I will be by your side until you no longer need me." Hibiki promised. Silence falling between the two once again. After another mile Karin called out to Sasuke.
"Sasuke the same chakra is all over the place! What's going on?!"
"It's probably just Naruto, he has shadow clones running everywhere." Hibiki answered as Sasuke fell back to join the others.
"Should we change course, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked.
"Ignore it. We'll forge straight ahead." Sasuke commanded.
"Good. Taking the long way would've been tiring." Suigetsu said in relief.
Then from nearby a voice called out, "Sasuke!" Surprising Hibiki.
"What was that?!" Karin gasped as Sasuke quickly disposed of the shadow clone.
"A Shadow Clone." Suigetsu answered.
"Naruto, eh?" Sasuke said annoyed. Not long after that the group burst through the forest and onto a rooftop of an abandoned building. One of a dozen that was once a small village. Running along it, they quickly approached their destination.
"What is this?! A humongous chakra!" Karin gasped. "Incoming!" she warned. Just as they came to a halt, and Hibiki sliding off Sasuke's back and backing up a little.
"You're," Suigetsu said.
"Only Sasuke may go beyond this point. It's Itachi's orders. The rest of you are welcome to wait here." Kisame's sharp voice called.
"All right. Besides, we were only traveling as a platoon in order to prevent interference for my showdown. This will do." Sasuke complied.
"No, you can't, Sasuke! Let's take him down and go in together!" Karin begged.
"I have no intention of fighting. But if you insist on going with him, I will show no mercy." Kisame laughed.
"Karin stay put. This is my vendetta." Sasuke dismissed her, then he ran past Kisame.
Hibiki walked back along the roof to the far end and sat knowing it was safer to be on the opposite side for what she knew was coming next.
"Kisame Hoshigaki and the Great Shark Skin Sword." Suigetsu smiled stepping forward.
"Hmm?" Kisame wondered.
"Have you forgotten me? I'm Suigetsu Hozuki, the younger brother of Mangetsu Hozuki." Suigetsu introduced himself.
"Oh, I didn't recognize you! You've grown, Suigetsu." Kisame said in a pleasantly surprised voice. The two regarding each other like long lost relatives. Feeling the underlying tension between the two, Juugo and Karin retreated next to Hibiki.
"I don't want to just wait around for Sasuke. Will you let me kill some time and have some fun with you, Kisame Senpai?!" Suigetsu grinned, drawing his blade.
"Unlike your brother, you're quite cocky, aren't you? Maybe I should grind you down a bit." Kisame agreed to the challenge. The blades clashed and banged as the two sparred.
"Should I stop them?" Juugo asked, turning to Hibiki.
Hibiki smiled lightly, "He's been pent up for a while now. This is just what he needs, so let him play his game." Hibiki said as Suigetsu and Kisame continued a death battle. "Besides I wouldn't have let him fight if he could die." Karin grimaced at the battle she watched,
"They are too serious for a game." Karin commented as more rubble flew through the air and crashing loudly. "They could kill each other." she smiled. Suigetsu dying would make her day.
"That's what makes it fun." Hibiki laughs,
"It seems you're more proficient with the blade than that kid." Kisame said.
"Kid?! You mean, Zabuza Senpai?" Suigetsu asked.
"My Great Shark Skin Sword was never intended for dueling, you know!" Kisame reminded him
"Same here. This one's for killing!" Suigetsu retorted as they clashed again.
Karin scoffed at the two fighting.
"We all have different ideas of fun, Suigetsu just so happens to enjoy death battles, and murder on some occasions, fun. Besides If he was in any serious danger I would have known. The worst outcome is he gets scuffed up a bit." Hibiki explained to Karin as she sat next to her. Karin grew tired of their battle. Juugo needing a distraction from the violence sat on Hibiki's other side, focusing on the girl's idle chatter.
"You know Hibiki, I just don't get you sometimes." Karin sighed. The two sat silently for a few seconds before giggling together. Once the giggles died off Karin became serious again.
"Will Sasuke be ok?" she worried. Hibiki took on a far-off look and sadly smiled.
"Not for a long time." she answered. A louder than usual hit shook the ground,
"I take back what I said about you being better than Zabuza." Kisame teased.
"Eat this!" Suigetsu yelled as another hit shook the ground.
"Almost got you there, didn't I?" Suigetsu beamed.
"What are you so excited about? Is it your snack time?" Kisame teased again,
"What?!" Suigetsu yelled as he felt his body drain. My chakra But I didn't use up that much yet!" He thought.
"My Shark Skin Sword grinds and absorbs chakra. I thought you would be more observant." Kisame laughed. This only spurred Suigetsu on as the two continued to fight, they both grew tired and couldn't catch their breaths.
During this Hibiki told Juugo how to tell fortunes with the lines on someone's hands, Karin helped by pointing out the lines on the trio's hands. After that they played rock paper scissors, Hibiki lost the most rounds. Juugo enjoyed the ease of their interactions. He was unsure of Hibiki and Karin, but he was beginning to like having them around. Even if it was just to distract him from his murderous tendencies. As the sun set, Kisame and Suigetsu stood across from each other.
"Kisame that is enough," Black zetsu said as it emerged in the space between them.
"Sasuke has finished, we are to bring the others to the hideout." White zetsu finished. Both relaxed and lowered their weapons.
"Until next time then Kisame Senpai." Suigetsu beamed. Kisame smiled and turned, laughing as he walked to the hideout. Karin got Hibiki as they quickly followed after. It was night by the time Kisame and Zetsu arrived at the hideout, the group in tow.
"You can wait here for Sasuke," Kisame said pointing to a room. They all entered, and a door was shut behind them.
In this little room was a kitchenette, a pair of sofas facing each other with a coffee table between them. A door leading to a bathroom on the far wall. Not exactly the space Karin was expecting inside an Akatsuki Hideout, Guess they had to do business with outsiders somewhere. She thought.
"Cozy." Karin sarcastically judged.
Juugo went for the kitchenette, finding it to be stocked with some basic supplies. Tea, cup ramen and other simple foods. Karin stretched and went to the bathroom. Suigetsu put his sword next to the couch before falling onto it. Hibiki followed and sat with him.
"Did you have fun today?" she smiled.
"You know it! But now I'm exhausted." he said as he stretched.
"Take a nap then, Sasuke won't be back to us for another 4 hours." Hibiki said, motioning him to lay on the sofa. Suigetsu shrugged and flipped on his back, his legs over the arm of the chair and his head near Hibiki. Pouting she flicked his forehead.
"Ow! What?" he complained.
"You're going to be sore if you sleep like that," Hibiki frowned. Taking the hint Suigetsu fixed his positioning, the sofa just long enough to accommodate his legs, his body scooted up, his head coming to rest in Hibiki's lap. She smiled down at him.
"Better?" She asked.
"Yeah," Suigetsu reluctantly sighed. Feeling comfortable enough to quickly drift off to sleep.