Thanks to all the early support, had no idea how many people would be interested with the time I've been away. Appreciate it! I'll also be responding to reviews as they come if you feel like writing one.
Dei: Thanks for the interest, and I'll take this story to its conclusion no matter what delays get in the way.
XXX
Itachi Uchiha
Cool air fluttered through the trees and lightly jostled the branches beneath their sandals. The Sharingan flicked through all present: most of them he knew to be chunin of the Hidden Leaf, save for Kakashi and the older man right next to him- a former Root agent of Danzo. Even saying the village elder's name made his skin crawl, but nobody ever said this would be fair...
Especially considering the only genin present.
"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto Uzumaki demanded. "That orange masked freak said you'd found him- where is he!?"
The pink-haired one behind him had a deadpan expression on her face. "He's not with them... does that mean... Sasuke is...?"
"There's no way Sasuke would die to trash like them!" Naruto exploded, clenching his fists before him. His confidence in Sasuke was astounding, and for a moment Itachi felt a rush of warmth for the other. I made the right choice in entrusting Naruto to bring Sasuke back to the village, in time. His trust for him is unyielding. He thought back to the brief encounter they had had earlier in the woods, just prior to his last confrontation with Sasuke. Shisui's eye will be safe with him... considering Kisame doesn't go overboard.
His partner bared his sharp teeth at the blonde genin's words. "Care to explain that one to my face, Nine-Tails?" he snarled. "Let's not forget who nearly wet themselves the last time we met, all those years ago..."
Naruto blanched, but Kakashi stepped forward. "This isn't three years ago, Kisame Hoshigake. You're surrounded by some of the finest shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the people your arrogant partner slaughtered and abandoned years ago. You state you have no quarrel with us, but your previous actions say otherwise." From his vest pouch, he produced a kunai knife and spun it to slap loudly into his palm. "You'll go no further than today. Provided you do tell us where Sasuke is, we'll bring you in alive."
Kisame held Samehada before his face threateningly, but behind the bandages covering the sword, his words whispered thinly out into Itachi's ear. "They really do have us surrounded. You best be able to fight."
"It's been a few days, as you said," Itachi murmured back. "My medicine will uphold me for the time being; but this is not a fight we can win. Best we try to escape."
"We won't allow you to do so," one of the other shinobi said from behind them, and Itachi glanced over his shoulder. This one was one of the chunin, with dark glasses and...
He squinted painfully. My eyes have lapsed dangerously, I can barely see straight right now. Using the Mangekyo Sharingan now would be asking to go almost completely blind-
His eyes widened, and his hand came up rapidly to snatch the small bug off his shoulder. The chunin with glasses lowered his head in anger as Itachi crushed the insect between his fingers. Chakra beetles. This one is of the Aburame Clan, and judging by his statement, he just heard Kisame and my strategy.
Which means he goes first. "Kisame. Go."
"Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!"
Itachi leapt into the air as from Kisame, an enormous body of water suddenly eruped like a geyser. Likewise, the eight-man team leapt off their branches and away from the torrent, which was rapidly rising to tree level. Loose and weak branches were torn away from their trunks entirely, while older trees were completely toppled and fell to float into the rising body of water.
Still in the sky, Itachi's hand signs finished before the others had landed. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The flames curled into a large ball that suddenly shout out into the trees and water below. There were shouts of warning from the Konoha-nin, and then a black mass suddenly came between the fire and water-
The Sharingan told him all he needed. More insects. They'll eat the chakra before it reaches Kisame's water.
He sensed the attack coming from behind him and quickly switched out with a shadow clone as two shapes, almost indistinguishable in their speed, tore through the decoy as if it were made of glass. And those two, a man and a dog. Members of the Inuzuka Clan.
Kisame was already hacking away at Kakashi and his kunai knife, while Naruto, a pale youth (Sasuke's replacement), and their pink-haired teammate (Sakura, isn't it?) chased after his fast body. There was no proximate danger to his partner; with the water in such volume and Kisame's extensive chakra, he would be in his element.
This issue now was completing their attack plan, which so happened to coincide with eliminating the Aburame clan member-
To his shock, a thick column of wood suddenly shot out of the tree he had been aiming to land on. He changed his fall at the last moment, grabbing the length of wood with a hand and using it to pull himself forward onto another tree-
Where a net of insects were waiting for him. They're trying to trap me in the chakra draining insects so I can be captured. He did another fast sect of hand signs, then with his hands shoved the newly created clone forward-
It exploded, sending bark, leaves, and insects in every direction. With the Sharingan, his fingers picked out and squashed any that were blown in his direction. He landed upon a different tree and set his normal glare upon the jonin. The other looked back just as callously, as if he were annoyed that Itachi had slipped out of their trap. Behind his mask of blank contempt, Itachi gave a token of respect to them. He's not their teacher, but he's coordinating with the three seamlessly. Such strategies aren't born overnight... good to see the Leaf has not fallen short in their standards.
"Kiba, Akamaru!" the Aburame clan member called from one of the nearby trees. "Plan E! Mr. Yamato, Hinata, Plan F!"
"Right!" Itachi's eyes flashed to the sounds of the more feminine voice; she had disappeared from the battle so far. What was it that she brought to the table?
The man and his dog once more flashed into their fats tunnels of movement, this time crossing over one another in rapid succession. He could see what was intended; make it seem like a synchronized attack, but when they neared, they would be able to hone in on him. He'd seen it before.
From within his cloak he produced six shuriken and threw most of them at the incoming attack. As he suspected, they simply glanced off the others' velocity. Instead of moving out of the way, he looked out of the corner of his eye-
Wood was quickly creeping in all around, trying to cocoon him. Worse still, it was coming from the tree itself. They were trying to narrow his avenue of escape, but they were making sure to leave two noticeable gaps for him to take. One to his left, where he could already see the tell-tale blue cloud of insects, while the other was suspiciously clear-
He flung his last shuriken straight through the empty side then bulleted straight through it. As he heard the man and dog destroy the wood enclosure behind him, the girl finally shot out of her hiding place in the tree to avoid being struck. He quickly drank in her details: long black hair, purple-white outfit, prominent veins crackling around her eyes-
Byakugan, of course. They need to be able to see me if I try to escape-
How would they know I'm trying to escape yet? The Aburame clan member hasn't said a word to them.
He landed on another tree, scoping the five bodies out as they regathered. "We know who you are," the Wood-Style user (Mr. Yamato, I presume?) said loudly. "If you think for a minute we're going to go easy on you, you're wrong. Even if we do want you alive, we'll be sure to bring you back broken. That's the least you deserve for what you did to your own people."
The words sounded rightfully angry and gloating, but there was still something off with them. They say that, but so far their attacks have been fairly simple. Trap tactics? Those who work on a lesser shinobi, and at the very least Yamato would know I'm above such a thing. So why bother?
Once more, he painfully squinted at them. He could see the blue auras of their chakra, even the dog, but that wasn't what he was looking for...
There. On their shoulders, like mine. He grimaced. Insects. So he can communicate to some extent with them. Which means he's already silently informed them that we're trying to escape, and that I'm weakened.
They're not trying to trap me. They're trying to wear me out entirely.
And for all of his fast thinking skills and shinobi excellence, the way he was right now meant that such a time would come much sooner rather than later.
There's only one thing for it.
"That's right. I killed my clan." He stared them down, each in the face, summoning forth his most unnaturally glacial calm stare to burrow into each of their eyes. "Personally. With only my sword and my hands. Every single one of them, I struck down. And as I did it, I was gratified."
Even years after the fact, the pain of having to do the deed still hurt on some level, even if he had long accepted the deeds to be necessary. Saying the words he did right now, even if they were blatant lies, still hurt.
But they didn't know that, just like how they didn't know what was happening to them. They were all suddenly held captive to the killer's instinct he had shoved to the front of his persona, the instinct they had all been warned about and told as something akin to folk stories in Konohagakure. It was a face that many experienced shinobi like Yamato had likely seen already, but the others? No.
"I gave them no quarter. The more I slew them, the greater the weight of the sin grew upon my back. But with every increase, my back grew straighter. It's what's made me a man. And I would gladly do it all again."
He stared through to the Aburame clan member, burning his intent past the darkened shades to the unseen eyes behind them.
But no eye before the Sharingan was ever really hidden.
"So tell me... what is to stop me from doing the same to any of you?"
And though he waited, no response came. Five seconds passed, ten seconds passed, but the five were all transfixed upon their branches facing him. When fifteen seconds had passed, he finally let loose the breath he had been holding back, and almost immediately fell to all fours. Blood tasted metallic behind and on his lips. Just in time. I could feel the bile coming by the time I was setting the third one under genjutsu.
Wiping his lips and leaving a faint red smear on his palm, he shakily got back to his feet. He could hear the sound of waves crashing and some shouting in the background; now all he had to do was help Kisame out, and-
"Powerful genjutsu. But as I'm sure you're aware, decades of service helps you learn ways around it. Especially if the user's usage is sloppy with exhaustion."
Itachi looked over his shoulder glacially, but inside his heart plummeted. Yamato was moving steadily, although the other three remained entrapped. But even this small delay of interference wouldn't be good; the genjutsu would only last two more minutes.
Yamato bounded forward, wood shooting out of his hand into many longer spears. "Let's see how long you can go before you go to sleep!"
XXX
Kisame Hoshigake
Against his better judgement, he'd immediately distanced himself from Itachi. He knew the other was weak and probably wouldn't handle the others as easily as he could have in the past, but...
The opportunity for such a conflict like this only comes every so often. What son of Kirigakure would I be if I did not take it?
With a delighted, bloodthirsty laugh, he swung Samehada with all his strength towards Kakashi. The jonin caught it all on his kunai, but the willpower behind the blow sent him flying high into the sky.
Kisame landed in the water and quickly sheathed Samehada behind his back to meet the fists of the other three. He recognized only the blonde one as the target of their distant mission to Konoha, and he had certainly grown stronger in recent years. The other two were no push overs either; he could sense the fluid, hidden movements of the pale-faced kid and the massive energy behind every tremendous swing from the sakura-haired girl. To get hit by her would be the most dangerous.
But they were still far below him. His own fists swung out without restraint, catching Naruto in the face and sending him to beneath the water before sending the pale-kid stumbling past with a mis-timed punch.
"Naruto!" the girl cried. "Sai, back me up!"
"Right, Sakura!" Sai pulled out a small shoto from his back and charged. Kisame looked at it with disdain and decided it was hardly worth drawing Samehada for. Instead, he clapped his hands together.
"Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu!"
Before Sai had closed the distance, the water he was running on suddenly erupted into the shape of a luminescent shark that swallowed him, sword and body. It then dove back beneath the waves with him inside-
"SHHHHANARO!"
The force of the girl's impact completely shattered Kisame's body- or, would have, if he had not already dissapeared beneath the water and left a water clone in his place. The placeholder exploded into thousands of little droplets that sprinkled back into the larger body, and Sakura looked around uncertainly. But before she had guessed to look down, Kisame had already wrapped his painted fingers over her left ankle. He erupted out of the water, pulling her out of standing like a tree root before throwing her into one of the nearby trees. She landed painfully and cried out before slumping back down to the water-
All around him, the water suddenly began to bubble and disturb on the surface. He looked around, confused-
Dozens of Naruto clones sprang out, little balls of chakra in their hands and fury in their eyes. That's that jutsu that Itachi warned me about. The Rasengan, taught down from one of their previous Hokage! His devilish grin lessened some, but did not fade away entirely. Haven't had a good challenge like this since I had to fight that other Leaf Jonin, Might Guy.
"DON'T YOU HURT HER!" the clone shouted in unison. Kisame took out Samehada and swung the sword around him defneisvely, cutting down the clones instead of the chakra balls as they tried to slam him with it. Their coordination was astounding despite his precision with the unique blade, and he felt one of the chakra balls press dangerously close to his thigh before he swiveled his body of its way and slew the users.
Still more clones were coming out of the water-
"Gah, you're persistent, I'll give you that!" Kisame hissed. "But persistence doesn't mean much without the strength to back it up, kid!"
"Ha, guess you're dumber than you look!"
An angry vein throbbed in his forehead. "What did you say?"
The clones kept coming and coming, and Kisame kept swinging and swinging. What are they going to accomplish like this? he thought furiously. It's clearly not going to work out, and he's going to run out of chakra before I run out of energy. He has no grasp of Tailed Beast chakra to be a challenge-
In his hands, Samehada suddenly shivered with delight. But such sensations rarely translated well for him- usually, they only meant the ravenous beast of a weapon was detecting massive chakra somewhere. But the landscape hadn't changed; clones were still coming, Sai was still beneath the water, and Sakura unconscious-
"Kakashi!" he shouted, looking up. Indeed, the jonin was up there, standing horizontally on an upright tall tree with lighting crackling in his palm like an active firecracker. But as strong as the attack was, something like that wasn't enough to excite Samehada.
Then?
The water below him began to swirl, faster and faster. "What the hell?" he shouted, trying to jump away-
Only to come falling back to the water before getting a foot of air. Hands grabbed his ankles, just as he had with the kunoichi. Clones! Going all the way down to the bottom of my reservoir! But they're not what's causing the vortex-
And finally, deep below the water, he saw the vigorous ball of white before hearing the strange, muffled piercing sound emitting from it. "See ya!" the clones shouted before they all puffed away. By that time, Kisame was already caught in the current of the rapidly swirling vortex, which was beginning to center around the spinning jutsu down below. It's energy was so great that if actually began to part the water, filling the air with an irritating piercing noise.
Kisame was far from irritated; he was worried. For chakra to be so condensed it makes a noise like that is beyond anything I've ever seen before. Even from Itachi. Don't tell me this kid actually conquered his Tailed Beast energy?
"Lady Tsunade warned you not to use that jutsu, Naruto!" the boy's mentor called from above.
"Yeah, but she only said not to use it on others!" he snarkily replied back. "As long as I don't touch him with it, I'll be fine! Sai, do you have Sakura?!"
"I do!" Kisame's beady eyes shot towards the pale-boy, who was just jumping away with the unconscious body of the girl. The jutsu must've disrupted my shark- this is bad!
"He's all yours, Kakashi-sensei!"
He looked up, understanding dawning on him. He was waiting up there for the right time to strike, probably seeing the kid making the jutsu below the water with his Sharingan. All I had to do was get overconfident and waste my time with the clones, and by that time it'd be too late for me to get out of the whirlpool. Now I can't retaliate in kind-
"RAIKIRI!"
Kisame grinned, even as he was inexorably drawn deeper into the whirlpool. He knew Itachi wouldn't approve of such extreme violence... but therein lied the stark difference between them. Not just Kisame's belief in harsh honesty over Itachi's closeted beliefs, but how far either was willing to go.
If Itachi wouldn't stay true to his bloodthirsty nature, then Kisame would for them both.
"Samehada, feed."