This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Naruto, which is trademarked by Masashi Kishimoto. Everything aside from the original characters are created from the wonderful mind of Kishimoto.
Most of the following unrecognizable are original characters of mine, please bear with me I am still in the process of making the character profiles for an even better visualization.
This chapter would be told on Sasuke's side of the spectrum,
Comments, suggestions, criticism, even just simple messages are welcomes, please feel free to message me anytime.
Thanks for reading!
Chapter 20:
"Honestly I share the same sentiment" Kurama Akihiko smirked back at his old friend,
"Just like you to get back to business the next day after waking up in coma after your brush in with death himself" Akihiko commented, he was away for quite some time, but some things just never change.
"Stop acting all cool and stuff, it doesn't soothe your arrogant ass" Misaki jested lightly making Akihiko drop the smirk in place of grinning.
"You bet, it's all thanks to me that this operation was a success" Akihiko reverted to boasting and praising himself making Misaki and the others sweat drop.
'I guess he didn't really change that much too' Misaki thought.
"You're right, thank you for doing this for me, I know it's hard for you to leave your hiding place you old hermit," Misaki staggered from Yoko to Akihiko to give him a sincere, forgiving and long past due hug.
"How did you know where to find me" Akihiko asked, hugging Misaki back.
"I always knew where you were" Misaki answered back staring up at him, activating her marker on Akihiko strong enough so he can sense it on his shoulders where she placed it.
"Geez, always several steps ahead aren't you" Akihiko hugged Misaki back again before letting her go and assisting her.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Akihiko asked, Misaki paused, knowing that if she doesn't address everybody's worry right now, it might prove troublesome later on.
"It's not a matter of what I want. I need to do this and if hadn't been for the urgency, I would not have realized how important doing this is, so thank you for your worry, but I'll be alright, I have to" Misaki said and opened the curtain before them that hid the rest of the room.
"Besides, it's been long past due, isn't that right Itachi?" Misaki pulled the curtain to the side, revealing the other side of the room where in Itachi lay recuperating.
"I heard you almost died, it's nice to know you survived the whole ordeal" Itachi said, once he got out of the recovery tank, Kazumi had told him about his and Misaki's condition, he was also not foreign to the reason why Misaki almost died.
"I guess I could say the same for you, didn't think we were going to be able to pull it off, but here you are, recovering better than ever." Misaki said.
Itachi lay there, unresponsive, answering in silence and letting the other end always assume his answer, so he always resorted to that. He just laid there, sitting unmoving on a bed, eyes shut, probably as a precaution too. Instinctively, he reached for his eyes, he had been reliant of the sharingan for most of his life, relying on its power to carry out missions more smoothly, even when his sight began to deteriorate, he relied on his eyes, it was bizarre to not be using it.
"Don't touch your bandages, we just ripped your eye out, besides I don't trust you with your eyes open" Akihiko said, helping Misaki to the nearest chair to Itachi's bed.
"Says the man who can cast a powerful genjutsu without needing an eye contact" Natsumi muttered as she 'bumped' into him passing by.
"Ripped my eyes out?" Itachi asked, of course it would be very hard to tell the function nor the exitance of your very eyes if you can't test it's presence nor its abilities.
"We had to take the other eye and leave it on the replica we left, Yoko figured that Akatsuki would need some kind of confirmation that it's you who died. But you're not going to be a one eyed man, so don't worry about it" Kazumi explained.
"Then whose eye am I carrying"
"You know him, surely you didn't think that I would be able to guess where you have hidden it" Misaki revealed. Itachi felt his body grow cold, but he didn't let any of if show, everything he had to feel, he had to feel it intrinsically and alone.
Deep breaths, Of course now he can be able to do it without breaking out in to the fits of blood inducing coughs.
"I know you probably have as much questions as we do, but in light of saving time, we're going to tell you everything, well of course I won't be able to, since I was basically out for the count most of the time. Nonetheless, our little heist began when Kazumi received news from one of our informants, he who shall not be named told Kazumi of your impending illness, and had only one way to save you, given the circumstances" Misaki began.
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"Kakashi what happened?" Kaede asked, out of breath, she had of course rushed to the Hokage's office the moment she left Naruto in Jiraiya's hands.
"Kaede, just in time, Misaki" Tsunade directed her attention to the red headed girl next to her.
"What is it" Kaede asked, looking over Misaki, her hair disheveled, her eyes blood shot and her skin pale, this was the first time Kaede saw Misaki so unput together since the night Sasuke left Konahagakure.
"We have a plan to track Itachi before Sasuke gets to him, but even if Sasuke did get to him, he many not have that time or have that strength to fight him off" Misaki revealed.
"What do you mean by that?" Kakashi asked.
"Itachi, is sick"
"How grave is it?"
"Fatal, he's practically living off herbal medicines in the past year, his attacks won't be as strong, but their still lethal as it is. That being said, if he faces Sasuke in a match to the death, he probably won't make it" Misaki said gravely, everyone seemed to take the information a little more difficult than they thought they would have when they hear Uchiha Itachi, a deserter, the murderer of his own kin and blood is dying.
"I know the main priority is to get Sasuke back home, but with your permission Tsunade-sensei, I would like to join a covert, bandless operation to save his life." Misaki said, her eyes full of fire and determination and stubbornness, they almost thought they were looking through Naruto's eyes.
Tsunade bit her thumb in silent thought, theoretically, with Itachi dead, Akatsuki will be one man weaker, making Naruto a bit safer, but this is Misaki talking, a girl whose top priority is to protect her twin at all costs.
"Before I make this decision Misaki, I want to know, why? What is the reason that you would want to save Itachi this bad?" Tsunade asked, with a serious, I am not going to take shit from you look on her face. Kakashi and Kaede stood side by side, waiting impatiently patient as Misaki closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Itachi's desertion remains a mystery to me no matter how straightforward the facts maybe. Itachi is a genius who had this pacifist outlook on life, what he did, I don't believe he would have done it if he didn't have a choice." Misaki began.
"Misaki, I know it's difficult to accept, but people as brilliant as Itachi can easily cover up these types of things" Kaede countered.
"Mom, I grew up as an outcast, with only two people outside our house to call friends, Naruto and Itachi. Back then Itachi was already the boy genius and I was your kid from some outsider, even if Itachi bullied me, nobody would believe me, it would be his words over mine. But he didn't, he treated me like no other, he told me his secret dreams and aspirations, I know him from his favorite food to what ticks him off. The massacre goes against everything he ever stood up for, so that is why even now, I still believe that there is a much bigger picture that we are not seeing. I know he can never reverse what he did, but could I, could we at least figure out why he did it?" Misaki poured out her heart and soul. Next to Naruto, Itachi had been like a brother to her, and what he did hurt her, and she considered herself a fool for still believing in his pacifism, but there was this nagging feeling that keeps pushing her to look beyond what was in front of her.
Tsunade turned her head to Kaede then Kakashi, Misaki's legal guardians, she had summed up her decisions from Misaki's words, but she wanted to hear from those who knew Misaki best. Noticing her master's gesture waiting for their statement, Kaede shared a look with Kakashi and squeezed his hand whilst nodding at him.
"If I may, Tsunade-sama, I've been with Itachi during missions, and from my experience with him in the field, I agree that the massacre wasn't something the Itachi I knew would do, unless he was left with no choice" Kakashi agreed.
"So, it's settled then, your mission: locate Itachi and bring him in alive" Tsunade ordered, and all three audience accepted their missions.
"Any questions" Tsunade asked.
"I know I am being too demanding, but I have two requests" Misaki said with a nervous smile silently praying to whoever deity watching over her to give Tsuande tons of patients for her life.
"What is it?" Tsunade asked, with a popped vein.
"First, I ask that my mission to preserve Itachi's life be kept a secret, at least tell the others it's a simple pursuit mission, other people might not react well with what I am about to do, and at worst case, some might intervene. I ask that at least until Itachi is removed rid of his illness, that the operation kept in secret, the second is that I'd like permission for my mom to join me in this mission" Misaki asked.
"Well these is a reasonable requests, and the other" Tsunade glared at Misaki and her beating around the bush.
"Well, this other request may seem less reasonable" Misaki laughed nervously, beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead and took a deep breath.
"In order to pull this off, we need to have a genjutsu user on our side, one that can rival that of a sharingan's genjutsu" Misaki said.
"Wait, you don't mean?!" Tsunade exclaimd.
"I want to solicit the help of one of my old friends, Kurama Akihiko"
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"What now?" Kaede asked, she didn't like the idea of saving Itachi, the kinslayer, but she respected Misaki's decision and her reason behind it.
Misaki simply smirked and place her hand on her mother's shoulder.
"Mom, these are my friends, they travelled with me during the time of my, well travels" Misaki introduced.
"Kaede-san, nice to meet, you I wish we could have met on less grueling conditions, but alas, we are on a time table" Yoko approached the woman and Kaede nodded understanding the situation.
"If that's all, I'll be on my way" Misaki saluted before disappearing through the flying thunder god technique.
"Misaki briefed me for most of the part, so what happens now?" Kaede asked.
"Ayako, Misaki and I will scour the area of neither Itachi nor Sasuke's location, whilst you and Kazumi prepare everything you need for the procedure, hopefully we have enough time before the brothers' fates cross. We're mostly relying on Misaki's memory of the two brothers and sheer luck" Yoko informed.
"This procedure how exactly are we going to accomplish it?" Kaede asked.
"Technically, we don't believe Itachi would receive treatment so we only have one shot at this, he'll inevitably cross paths with his brother, theoretically, Itachi would probably collapse and die before he can even finish his battle with a perfectly healthy younger brother, so we'll take this opportunity to snatch him put him on life support, transplant a new set of lungs, before fully resuscitating him, we only have less than 30 minutes to go through this procedure, that's why Misaki called for your medical expertise" Kazumi explained.
"What do you expect to do with the Akatsuki? I doubt they'd just let a member die, with his body disappearing just like that, especially a member as valuable as an Uchiha" Kaede said, it was no secret that a lot of people coveted the power of the Uchiha clan's sharingan, especially since there are only two pairs in existence.
"That's where I come in" a familiar voice caught Kaede's attention and she turned around to find the nostalgic face of a stranger or was is a foreign face of an old friend. Kazuhiko stood there, his long hair tied up in a pony tail, reluctant to approach.
Of course he was wise to approach Kaede without caution, even so, being right didn't save him from Kaede's fist down his skull, followed by a tight hug.
"Stupid, you made us all worried" Kaede said, of course he did try to kidnap Misaki a long time ago to be an experimental breeding mare for Orochimaru, and Kaede doesn't know if she can look past that, but she knew Akihiko is probably the person angriest at himself for having done that.
"Akihiko here will set a genjutsu around the place, whilst Natsumi replace Itachi's body with a corpse so we can at least delay Akatsuki's interference, and Sasuke's perception of what happened" Yoko said.
"Don't you think Akatsuki is smart enough to confirm if the corpse is indeed Itachi's" Kaede asked.
"We're going to take one eye and place it on the corpse, of course with the rarity of it, it would immediately presumed Itachi. If we plan to successfully extort Itachi of information, it's best if the world believes his dead, otherwise, the whole ordeal might prove to be too dangerous" Kazumi answered.
Once everyone was fully briefed, everybody proceeded with their own tasks with haste and care.
"Yoko! Sasuke is on his way to see Itachi ahead of schedule, it seems that the Konohagakure teams assigned to look for him and Itachi are smoking him out" Ayako's voice was heard in the gusts of wind that flew by the entire place.
"Where are they headed?" Yoko asked.
"They're headed for one of the Akatsuki's hideouts right this instant, all four of them" Ayako said.
"Have Misaki delay them, we're sill not ready yet" Yoko ordered in haste.
Once finished, Yoko had sent word to return to base of operations, and everything was going well, with everybody teasing Kazumi about being Kaede's fan girl when all of a sudden…
"She healed herself on the way, but I'm afraid she won't have long if we don't hurry" Wani growled and immediately Kaede and Kazumi began taking action, Kazumi tore at her clothes, and sanitized the wounds as Kaede immediately used her famous sutures to stitch Misaki quickly.
"Damn, the she's been stabbed through" Kaede panted, as of now the wound is the least of their worries, Misaki, despite her efforts of healing and her incredibly strong life force had already lost a lot of blood.
"S-Sas-su-ke" Misaki pulled stronger on her strength and gripped Kazumi's wrist.
"Uchi-ha Hi-Hide-Out" Misaki panted out before submitting to her unconsciousness. Kaede took a good inspection at Misaki.
"She's going to push through this, but the blood loss pushed her into a coma, she'll be out for the count for quite some time" Kaede broke the news as she and Kazumi place Misaki on a spare bed.
"What are we going to do now, we were relying on her for quick transport, we only have a window of less than three minutes to transport Itachi's body, I am the second fastest traveler next to Misaki, but I am afraid Misaki is the only one who can bring Itachi's body from there to here in less than three minutes." Ayako whispered worried, but a huge growl gained their attention when Wani, who was ridding himself of water came forward.
"I'll be very valuable for transportation, I can swallow you as I travel from place to place" Wani offered.
"Yeah, you're the man Wans" Natsumi said with a thumbs up, meanwhile, everybody turned to Yoko who was biting her thumb, theorizing a contingency plan.
"I got it!" Yoko exclaimed
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"EEEEHHHH why do I get stuck with holding the corpse?" Natsumi's face was pale and ghostly from fear of the corpse.
"Well, I'll hold the corpse for you if only I didn't have to erect an intricate genjutsu" Akihiko rolled her eyes at Natsumi's fear, who knew the fire breathing woman was actually afraid of something.
"Why don't you hold it a little close, he doesn't bite" Akihiko teased earning him a flying ball of blue flame hurtling towards him.
"I was kidding, geez you're just as bad as Kazuhiko on his period" Akihiko said. After that, the whole area was surrounded with silence, made Akihiko double think if Natsumi was still alive.
"Hey Natsumi are you still alive, I'd hate to have to carry two corp-" Akihiko's mouth was covered and he was pulled back in the shadows as two mean dressed in black cloak with red clouds passed them, heading towards the Uchiha hideout.
"Shh, Itachi and Kisame have arrived" Natsumi said, Akihiko calmed down as it was a friendly grappler, but he began to panic and squirm out of Natsumi's hands when he smelled the formalin on her hand, the very same hand covering his mouth.
As soon as he was release, Akihiko immediately began to cough and gag as comically and as soundlessly as he can.
"Damn it, you held the corpse with those hands!" Akihiko yelled whispered and Natumi's just made a 'my bad face' accompanied with a peace sign.
Natsumi and Akihiko stealthily made their way through the shadows until they arrived at the inner portion of the hideout, yet they remained a good distance outside the main building, waiting for the perfect moment to strike, watching as brothers fought for their lives, to the death.
When Itachi collapsed on the ground, with a bloody mouth, that when they knew they had to strike.
"Time Confusion: Time Stop" Akihiko activated his genjutsu that covered the entire area of the hideout.
"Go, I can only keep this up at this scale for so long" Akihiko gasped, already a vein popping on his temple.
"Okay" Natsumi rushed towards a frozen Sasuke and took Itachi's eye, place it on the cadaver and switched the cadaver in Itachi's place, all the while dodging a very active Amaterasu black flames that didn't care if everyone was at a time confusion genjutsu or not.
"Got it let's go. Wani" Natsumi called out as soon as she made it to Akihiko's side, and right there the dragon swallowed them whole before disappearing, just as the same time Akihiko released the genjutsu.
And nobody knew any better about the switch that took place.
Once Wani had arrived to their headquarters, Kaede and Kazumi did their magic as the rest of the group waited. Once his new lungs were fitted in, Shisui's eyes was placed on Itachi's empty socket before he was completely resuscitated and placed in the recuperating tank.
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"All in all your transplant surgery went smoother than an emperor's pajama silk, thanks to Kaede-san, that's about the time, she had to go home to take Misaki to the hospital" Natsumi ended with a sigh. She began telling her part of the story standing up, but soon opted to sit cross-legged on the floor.
"That's an interesting metaphor" Misaki commented with a raised eyebrow.
"Come to think of it, I don't think it would have mattered that the cadaver we had was a good few inches shorter than you" Natsumi pondered.
"You basically took care of that yourself, your Amaterasu destroyed everything in its wake, which concerns me that it didn't spread farther, but the curious thing is that your cadaver wasn't in in the rubble, " Yoko wondered out loud.
"Jiraiya-sensei taught me a lot of ways to be able to counter an Amaterasu, but considering that no one besides the people who witnessed the actual fire know it was cause by Amaterasu flames, I'm guessing it was put out before it spread even faster, which narrows down to two possible scenario, one more ridiculous than the other, the ridiculous one is Sasuke being able to extinguish the fire himself, he's good, but he wouldn't be able to sum up that much chakra, and is just recuperating from two battles that nearly cost his life, so that leaves us with another crazy, but completely probable" Misaki smiled knowingly, and Itachi knew it notwithstanding his healing eye covered in bandage.
"What's the point of answering when you already know the answer" Itachi answered.
"I see escaping death didn't do anything for your love of answering with riddles, besides I don't know the answer Itachi, I do have a few theories about it, but is anything it only surfaced a few more questions, leading particularly to the time you hate recalling just as much as anyone, the night of the massacre" Misaki stood up, as she did, everybody stood and rushed to her side as she staggered, but Misaki held up her hands with a thankful smile before anyone can get to her.
Slowly, almost painfully, Misaki took a spot in front of the blindfolded Itachi.
"Ever since that night, all I could think about is think about is why, I figured I would have to force it out of you since you liked to beat around the bush whenever you don't like to talk about something, but at the end of the road, here am I an endless list of interrogation techniques all blackmailed from Kazuhiko all gone" Misaki smiled with a sad nostalgic glint in her eyes.
"You're a great shinobi Itachi, but to kill a clan of every single one of an elite clan with magic eyes would not be easy," Misaki began and reached out for Itachi's left hand, holding his hands in her small ones.
"That night, when I saw it, I couldn't bring myself to believe it, that pacifist, spacey Itachi who influenced me to stare at the skies in my free time would do it" Misaki added.
"So I didn't, at least that you wouldn't do it lightly, I looked into the reports of the night of the murder, all of it contradicted everything you stood for, you who wouldn't raise a finger until it was absolutely necessary, no more tricks, I just want to know what took my best friend from me?" Misaki said tenderly.
Everybody gasped and prepared to attack, except for Kazumi and Yoko who all signaled them to take a pause.
"There were a lot of instances where our paths crossed, and there were several times you could have killed me, including the one where you placed me under tsukiyomi" Misaki finally removed the bandages completely.
As soon as his bandages were removed, Itachi activated his mangekyou sharingan breaking free from Misaki's hands reaching for her neck.
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Misaki closed the door to her room, and almost screamed in shock when a figure sat on an open window, windows that she never particularly unlocked much less opened. The only things that stopped her from screaming bloody murder and alerting the whole village was she knew the person.
"Goodness Itachi, you scared ten years out of my life" Misaki complained wiping a figurative sweat from her forehead as she approached Itachi, who wordlessly nodded and jumped to the roof on top of her room, in which Misaki silently followed. Itachi was one of the only people she would follow without questions or doubts.
"I heard you're advancing a year at the academy, impressive" Itachi said smirking to her as she sat down next to her, arms hugging her legs.
"Don't patronize, I'm not as good as you, Mr. I graduated-at-six-years-old-after-only-one-year-at-the-academy." Misaki joked, dramatically flailing her hands for extra effect, Itachi chuckled at her antics and ruffled her long red locks.
"You still treat me like a kid" Misaki pouted, but then laughed with Itachi. It was like that for a few more moments, them laughing with no particular reason like a bunch of idiots.
Once the laughter had died down, Misaki lied on the roof, staring at the stars. Stars were great, so is the sun and the moon, staring at them keeps your feet on the ground and reminds you how little you are, but at the same time enchants you with the constancy of their presence. It's a joined habit of theirs, staring at the skies, whether it be morning or night, it was unspoken but both of them knew they shared the same thoughts on the skies.
"Here" Itachi handed her a box, making her sit back up to take it.
"What's this?"
"Consider it an advanced graduation gift"
"Isn't it a bit too early? I'm just advancing a few classes, not yet graduating"
"I know you are going to pass" Itachi said flicking her forehead, something he does out of endearment. Misaki decided not to press it any further and opened the box. It was a matching necklace, one that Itachi wears right this moment.
"Thank you" Misaki said wearing the necklace immediately.
"Looks good, besides, I'm probably going to be on a mission for a while so, I think giving you my gift in advance seems logical" Itachi explained and Misaki looked at him I question.
"Mission?"
"Yeah, it might take a while, so can you do me a favor and look after Sasuke for me?"
"Tche, I am insulted that you would think you had to ask." Misaki turned her face away from him feigning anger, but the next actions from Itachi caught her off guard. She felt his arms wrap around her entirety and kissed the top of her head.
This was the first time Itachi hugged her much less kissed her head, it should have been a happy moment.
'So why does this felt like a heart wrenching good bye?' Misaki thought as she reveled in Itachi's embrace.
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Everybody shot up, including Yoko and Kazumi but this time it was Misaki who signaled her hand once again to take a pause. They did as Misaki had signaled and surely enough, upon closer inspection, Itachi wasn't doing anything harmful to Misaki, as a matter of fact, he was holding Misaki's necklace, an exact same replica of the one he is wearing, the very same necklace he game Misaki years ago before he left.
"I think you left me clues Itachi, even from the other side of the spectrum you were trying to show me the way, and I'm sorry that I wasn't able to watch Sasuke like you asked me too, I failed, I'm sorry" Misaki smiled sadly and Itachi pulled her into an endearing hug.
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After Itachi's revelations, the kunoichi five stayed soon afterwards in order to convene and make a decision about Itachi's exposés, and though all of them knew that they need to make hasty steps, it wasn't a decision only they should make.
"So, it has come down to this huh?" Natsumi slumped on the table where in all five of them were gathered.
"According to Itachi, Akatsuki posses a threat we all could not have imagined" Kazumi said.
"It's important that we convince at least one of the kages to call for the summit" Ayako said
"Easy for you to say your kage doesn't break walls just because he feels like it" Natsumi sighed.
"Well, if its any consolation mine those, quite a bit of temper too" Misaki smiled.
"No matter how hard it may prove to be, this is a mission we must accomplish by all means, we'll have Akihiko stay here to guard and secure Itachi's genjutsu, Misaki, think you can erect a barrier for them?" Yoko asked and Misaki nodded.
"Good, right now Itachi is as important as the remaining jinchuriki, but ourt enemy remains oblivious to Itachi still being alive, as of now he is our trump card against the enemy, a card we can't afford to reveal prematurely" Yoko stood and dismissed the meeting.
Kazumi aproached Yoko and whispered in hush as Natsumi complained to Misaki about the raikage.
"Misaki come with, he wouldn't roast me as much as when he sees you there" Natsumi begged Misaki who sweat dropped at Natsumi's antics with a smile.
"I understand" in the middle of Natsumi's hysterics, Yoko and Kazuki finished their conversation.
"Misaki" Yoko called for the red head who approached closer.
"What's up?" Misaki asked.
"Kazumi thinks that it is in your best interest to stay here and recuperate, and I am with her on her on this" Yoko said.
"But, you just said this mission is outmost importance, I can't just stay knowing what can come down at any moment" Misaki countered.
"Misaki! With your current condition you'll only do damage more than anything, so rest" Yoko raised her voice, forcing Misaki to lower her ground. Yoko and Kazumi has a point, even the flying god of thunder which came so naturally for her nearly placed her in another coma.
"Don't worry Misaki, here drink this, considering your healing rate, this is would hasten it even more" Kazumi handed her a vial of suspicious looking liquid. Misaki had been the receiving end of Kazumi's medicine and as effective and as good willed as they may be, it still wasn't something Misaki would desire to drink.
"Thanks Kazumi, I would definitely drink this…after dinner" Misaki smiled a perfect, blinding even thousand watt smile and Kazumi and Yoko instantly knew that she wouldn't drink it.
"No, drink it now" Kazumi crossed her arms and Misaki instantly paled and began sweating buckets.
"Now?"
"Now" the two older women said in unison making Misaki gulp.
"Okay here it goes" Misaki's hand began to shake as she raised the vial to her lips.
"Here let me help you" Natsumi said putting Misaki on a choke hold with one arm and pouring the medicine down her throat with another.
Every fibre in Misaki's being tingled and screamed awakes as the slimy bitter liquid was poured into her system.
"So you got your ass left here huh" Akihiko said as soon as Misaki entered the room he and Itachi shared.
"I still need to recuperate in order to head back to the village" Misaki said wiping her tears from what Natsumi had done earlier as she sat down on the vacant chair in the middle of them.
"I'm surprised that the samurais let you come and go into their country as you please" Itachi remarked.
"Oh, we've been friends with the samurais for quite sometime now." Misaki began to get comfortable as she needed to in order to tell this story.
"After Orochimaru controlled Suna and attacked Konoha, we lost our sensei to the battle, after that things began to go south, Sasuke left the village and Akihiko was coerced by Orochimaru to kidnap me, and almost succeeded, mind you" Misaki mischievously winked at Akihiko who only shook his head in response.
"After that things just felt out of place, with Hayate-sensei dead and two of my closest friends gone, I felt out of place. So I resigned my apprenticeship from Tsunade-sensei, great as she may be, I don't think her style is for me, so I decided to look for my own, not really knowing what to look for, but I figured, I have to keep moving forward, and somehow I ended up here, and it seems, it wasn't only me, four other girls from different villages arrived that very same day, long story short, the five of us met and travelled together, forming an unlikely alliance between different villages" Misaki told them the summarized version of how the five of them got together.
"I still think it's a bit weird that five people from different villages could get along so quickly" Akihiko said picking his ear in the process as he sat down Indian style on his bed.
"Well, we didn't get along at first, of course, especially Natsumi, she hated me for the death of his uncle at Konoha at the hands of the Hyuga, until we found out that we had something interesting in common, all of us have someone we treasure, someone very important to us, and that someone also happens to be a jinchuriki. Shimizu Yoko of the Shimizu Gel user clans from Kirigakure, is the half sister of the six tails jinchuriki, Utakata. Hino Natsumi, the blue flame pyromaniac of Kumogakure, is the student of the Two tails Jinchuriki, Nii Yugito.. Isago Ayako from Sunagakure's clan of wind assasins, is the future bride to be, but don't tell her I told you that, of the host of the one tailed beast, and the current kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara. Lastly, this is something Itachi probably knows about because you have a little crush on Kazumi, and yes I noticed, no I'm not going to tell you how I know, but anyways, Moriya Kazumi, the miracle doctor of one of the best doton users of Iwagakure is the niece of Five tailed host Han" everybody paused to think about the revelation in Misaki's story, taking their time to soak in the information.
"That is the reason why you actively opposed the Akatsuki?" Akihiko asked with a raised eyebrow..
"Yes and no, of course that was 7our initial intention, but Yoko, she stood above as, like an older sister if you will, she had this idea that Akatsuki was so strong because they were a band of people, united by hatred, united by anger so much that they were able to see past the boundaries of society, that is why Akatsuki is prevailing because it doesn't need to divide and conquer, it will just conquer divided nations as it is, so Yoko believed that with our group, no matter how little we may do, we have to show that anger is not the only thing that can unite a group like that, Yoko wanted to show that to the world" Misaki practically placed Yoko on a holy pedestal as she praised her mindset and heart.
Itachi closed his eyes to smile, Misaki, even in her lost days happened to stumble upon a light that would lead her to a better road, and silently he pondered, if he had come clean to Sasuke, would he lead a different road?
"Itachi are you okay, do you have a fever, you know you're still under observation, transplant is no joke" Misaki asked feeling his forehead, his cheeks and neck for any signs of a rising temperature.
"No, I was just thinking how you idolize your friend so much, must be great that you have someone that looks after you" Itachi said.
"You know what drew me to Yoko in the first place? When I meet her, she kinda reminded me of you, and I know I haven't said it before, but I'm glad you're here Itachi." Misaki said hugging Itachi.
"O-kay awkward silence I wish you had told me to leave before you all started this mushy eeky talk about feelings and path" Akihiko grumbled pulling on his blankets and crawling completely under the blankets to lay down.
"You know if Kazu was here he'll just born those off, but you know what I'll do?" Misaki began mischievously.
"Sennen: One thousand years of death: Raiton torture" Misaki raised her index and formed a number two before coating her fingers with the weakest current of electricity she can manage and began tickling the crap out Akihiko.
"Misaki damn it you little shrimp stop" Akihiko rose from his blankets and began to lunge at her, but Misaki raised her hands and surrendered with an innocent smile on her face, one so familiar, a face she so often pulled out of the closet whenever she got in trouble for her mischief.
*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$LINE_BREAK*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$
Days later, Misaki had decided to travel back to Konohagakure by foot and recuperate on the road, it was great seeing both Itachi and Akihiko, but she couldn't shake off the feeling of dread that settled at the pit of her stomach, like some sort of parasite eating her from the inside.
Therefore after much debate and reassuring Mifune, Misaki set out by foot towards Konohagakure.
Or what was left of it…
*_-+% =o#$*_-+% =o#$%$%$W$FIN*_-+% =o#$*_-+$% =o#$*_-+% *=o$
DUN DUN DUN DUN !
Chapter 20 Ladies and Gentlemen!
What do you think of Itachi living, to be honest, I was very nervous about it, because his character is such a table turning, domino effect tumbling earth quaking type, I don't think he'll just live and not do anything about the chaos is about to go down, but I really really really wanted him to live, I think if anyone deserves to live in the whole show is Itachi, selfless, pacifist Itachi who always placed everyone before him.
Also what do you think about Kurama Akihiko coming back after being away for so long?
Another thing, I didn't realize that we have just passed the one-year anniversary of Namikaze Misaki! Where has time gone? Time to get serious cause things are about to go down for real!
Hope you loved it, stay tuned, as always you can always talk to me in the messages or reviews.
It's getting hot in here!