A.N. The Fates aligned to put fights in ALL THREE POVs today, so prepare yourselves for that. And afterwards, I owed you guys a fluffy Itachi x Tsukiko moment. Just a short one, mind you, because I'm evil.
NOW:
Sasuke was still thinking about his options for the future when the bane of his thoughts appeared.
As was usually the case, the blond boy's voice reached him before Sasuke caught sight of his broad grin and loud outfit. And even he was taken aback by the rush of negative emotion, a corrosive feeling in his stomach, as if Naruto's very presence was eating away at him. And he could almost hear a slithering whisper in his ear, the promise of power stamped onto his shoulder with near overwhelming presence.
"Sasuke! I heard you were feeling be—"
Naruto cut himself off, startled by the hate-filled face directed at him from the dark-haired boy. "Hey! What's with that look?" He demanded, expression hurt. "You don't have to glare at me like that!"
Sakura looked back and forth between the boys, confused and concerned. Just a moment ago, Sasuke had been...well, not exactly happy, but he had been thinking hard about something. And now he was glaring at their teammate with an intensity that she had only seen a few times on the boy. It was the look he got when the Curse Mark was influencing him.
Just the thought was enough to frighten her.
Sasuke leaned forward. "Hey, Naruto…"
"Yeah, I'm listening." The blond boy frowned, stance aggressive. Whatever Sasuke's problem was, he wasn't going to take his attitude lying down.
"I want you to fight me." His glare intensified, the Sharingan blooming in his dark eyes. "Fight me now!"
Sakura gasped and Naruto shook his head. "What?! We're in a hospital! You just got patched up by Grandma Tsunade!" He rolled his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
'Idiot. I just went through all that work to help you, and now you want to fight?' If he was honest, Naruto felt bitterly disappointed. It wasn't like he was expecting Sasuke to fall over thanking him, but the blond genin felt like it was his fault his friend had gotten hurt in the first place. He'd worked hard to make that right, and now he was being treated worse than ever.
"Shut up and fight!" Sasuke's eyes spun, a dark aura of malicious chakra filling the room.
Naruto took a step back, his friend's voice becoming mocking, goading even. "Do you really think you saved me? I don't care if she's the Fifth Hokage. You shouldn't have gotten her involved in this."
"What?" Naruto clenched his fists. Did Sasuke have any idea what he went through to get her to come here?
The boy in question threw off his sheets, standing. "After all, you did say you wanted to fight. Well, now it looks like you've got your chance. That is, unless, you've chickened out."
Naruto growled, stepping forward. 'I don't know what's going on, but if it's a fight he wants, then I'm ready to go!'
Sakura jumped off her stool. "Wait! Sasuke, don't do this! Naruto, say something! This is crazy," she insisted.
The blond boy's frown twisted upward into a smirk. "Actually, this is perfect," he said smugly. "I was just thinking about how I wanted to kick your butt!"
"Hey," Sakura tried again in a measured tone. "Why don't you guys talk about this? What do you say?"
They appeared to not hear.
"Follow me." Sasuke gestured with his head. The two walked out of the room, the Uchiha bumping into the blond girl his sister trained. Midori.
"Whoa!" She stumbled back into Chiyo, who straightened her. "Hey!"
The spiky-haired girl glared, irritated. "What are you doing up? Masuko-Sensei said you still had a day in bed!"
Sasuke ignored them, leading Naruto up the stairs in the hallway.
"What's going on?" Midori asked, rubbing her shoulder. It had felt like getting hit with a rock.
Chiyo narrowed her eyes. "Nothing good." All of her senses were telling her to follow the two boys. Something was seriously wrong. Even on a good day, Sasuke Uchiha was kind of a jerk. This however, was different.
The two boys silently made their way to the roof of the hospital, clean sheets drying on neat rows of wire in the sun. They faced each other, faces empty and expressionless.
Naruto watched Sasuke carefully. 'What's this weird feeling?' He wondered. 'My stomach's tightening. And I'm getting chills.' A grin stretched across his face, shoulders shaking.
Sasuke's frown deepened. "What's so funny?"
"I'm not laughing because it's funny," Naruto explained, flexing his fingers. "I'm just psyched because I know that today is the day when I finally beat you."
"You're right." Itachi's voice crept into Sasuke's mind. "Naruto is the prize that the Akatsuki are after...and we will have him."
Why Naruto? Always Naruto! How dare this brat get involved?! Like he knew any of the pain he and Tsukiko had gone through! "What did you say?" He snapped. "Don't talk nonsense, you inept loser."
"I won't be such a loser after I win today, will I?" Naruto's blue eyes were clear and untroubled, full of determination rather than hatred.
"Go away." That clipped, bored order, like he wasn't worth anything. "You don't interest me at the moment."
At the doorway, Sakura, Chiyo, and Midori made it to the top of the stairs. They arrived in time to see Sasuke's face morph into an expression of anger. "You...an idiot like you has no business acting all high and mighty!"
Naruto laughed meanly. "Ha! What happened to the calm, controlled Sasuke? Am I making you nervous?" He took a step forward. "It looks like you picked a fight with me and now you're too scared to go through with it. Is that it?"
"Let's just do this."
"Put on your headband, and we will." Naruto pointed his thumb at his own. "I'll wait."
Midori spoke up. "Wait! You two shouldn't be fighting! What if you guys seriously wound each other?!"
"Not to worry," Sasuke responded to Naruto. "I don't need that thing."
"Just do it," Naruto glared. "Come on."
Sasuke smirked, gesturing to his forehead. "There's no reason to put it on, 'cuz you won't be able to make a scratch on my forehead."
The blond girl tried again. "Guys!"
Chiyo's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "I think we'll just have to stop them ourselves," she said grimly. "I can knock Naruto to the ground, but I don't want to hurt Sasuke. You should wrap him up."
Sakura shook her head. "No! Even if they do fight, I'm sure it'll be a quick sparring session. That's all!"
"Have you ever known those two to hold back?" Chiyo asked dryly.
Midori nodded, pulling her hair up into her usual tall ponytail. "The best way to do this is to wait until after the first break in the fight. They'll have both gotten some adrenaline out, as well as some chakra."
Her friend nodded, pleased to see that Midori wasn't hesitating. That fight with Gaara had helped her a lot.
"That's not the point," Naruto continued, holding up his headband. "Come on! You know putting on your headband is a testament to fighting on equal terms as a Leaf shinobi."
Sasuke shrugged. "There you go acting all high and mighty again. You don't honestly believe that we're equals?"
"Heck yeah I do!" Naruto held up a fist. "All this time, I've never once thought I was inferior to you in any way!"
"You're a complete embarrassment!" Sasuke shouted, slashing his arm down.
The wind picked up around them, sheets crackling like thunder.
"Only because next to me, you're embarrassed at how weak you are!" Naruto countered. "Isn't that right, Sasuke?!"
With a cry of rage, the Uchiha leapt forward. "Naruto!"
The blond also moved, pulling back his fist. "Sasuke!"
They each caught the other's fist, but Naruto recovered first, grabbing Sasuke's leg and swinging it. But the Uchiha countered by placing his hands on the ground and using his other foot to kick.
Naruto was forced to let go, jumping back. He launched forward with a punch, but Sasuke dodged. The two traded blows in quick succession, until the blond was kicked into a clothesline.
He vanished under a sheet, and the dark-haired boy was quick to pull it away, finding nothing. He narrowed his eyes, Sharingan active. He caught a flash of movement and leapt up, tracking Naruto to the top of the water storage tank, the sun behind him making Sasuke squint.
The other boy was quick to take advantage, leaping to punch his opponent in the jaw. Sasuke took the blow, turning his head with it to reduce the damage. "Don't get cocky and let your guard down!" He shouted, landing on the green fence that enclosed the roof and jumping up in the same moment to return the attack.
Naruto fell into the sheets again, but was soon up and running side-by-side with the other boy, who quickly kicked him through the cloth and sent him flying into the fence. With the sheet over his head, he was defenseless as Sasuke punched him again and again.
"Plan B!" Midori shouted, throwing out her chakra strings.
They had almost reached Sasuke when Naruto's foot connected with his chest and sent him skyward. "I've had just about enough of this!" Naruto followed him up into the air, where the two continued their hand-to-hand attacks.
They landed, and Midori sent out her threads again when Naruto struck a familiar pose.
"Crap," Chiyo muttered, pushing up her sleeves.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Well over a hundred Narutos immediately surrounded Sasuke, attacking at once.
To his credit, the Uchiha male was unfazed. Putting his weight on one foot, he launched into a sweeping attack of punches and kicks that took advantage of his superior balance. Hand, foot, punch, kick, handstand, backflip…he moved in a dizzying style, unlike anything Naruto had seen. As the puffs of smoke obscured him from both Naruto and the girls, he felt his lips form a fierce grin. He could still see, and thanks to the quickly changing footwork he'd copied and learned from sparring with Tsukiko, he had an advantage over his opponent.
'Maybe Tsukiko's training will be enough.'
Three clones suddenly launched at his feet at once. "Na-Ru-To!" Sasuke was kicked into the air, where he sensed another clone at his back. His hands moved to form a quick series of signs.
"Uzumaki Barrage!" The clone above slammed its foot down, but Sasuke blocked, turning his face to the roof.
'The Tiger seal!'
"Firestyle: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke blew out an enormous ball of flame, the roof and sheets quickly catching. Small puffs of smoke signaled the end of multiple clones.
"Naruto!" Sakura shouted, the girls protected behind Chiyo, her body covered in her Chakra Shell.
In the center of the roof, the fire seemed to rotate and get pulled in, dissipating and revealing Naruto and a clone. In his hand was...something. A blue spinning ball of pure chakra.
Sasuke's eyes widened. 'How did he—what jutsu is that?!'
The clone vanished, leaving Naruto with the powerful attack.
All of Sasuke's instincts told him to avoid that. He gripped his wrist, the familiar sound of birds chirping filling him with confidence. "Chidori! One Thousand Birds!"
"Chiyo! We have to move now!" Midori shouted. "They're going to kill each other!"
The dark-haired girl nodded. "Same plan! I can't let that Lighting touch my Earth chakra, but you have the advantage with Wind. I'll stop Naruto, you get Sasuke!"
Having been on several missions be this time, the two acted in unison. Chiyo leapt forward, landing on an interlocked web of chakra strings that acted like a trampoline of sorts. It pushed off when she did, launching her directly at Naruto. Her plan was to solidify all her chakra in her feet, latching onto the boy and using her weight to drag him down. They'd probably fall off the roof and into the ground below, but a broken bone was better than death. Midori could patch them up.
Midori sent Chiyo flying, then sent all her threads at Sasuke to slam him into the ground. Not exactly the gentle strategy she'd wanted, but she could always heal him later. Both Tsukiko-Sensei and Masuko-Sensei were counting on them to protect Sasuke. They had no choice but to risk it.
"I'll win, no matter what!" Naruto shouted.
"I'm not finished with you yet!" Sasuke replied.
Sakura, unable to take it anymore, also shot forward. "Stop fighting! Stop it!" She ran directly at the four other ninja, no plan in mind other than blocking the attacks. "No! Stop!"
Her shout made both boys aware of the situation, Chiyo midair to latch onto Naruto and Midori's threads moments away from enveloping Sasuke. But Sakura was on a direct collision course with their attacks, and they didn't have time to stop her or turn away.
Chiyo slammed into her target, but didn't have time to actually grab hold of him before he was jerked away. Similarly, Sasuke was suddenly thrown off course, pulling him free of the threads and away from Sakura.
The dark-haired girl hit the ground with a hard thud, the wind knocked out of her. 'What the hell just happened?' Turning her head painfully, she saw a familiar figure, the sight of his spiky gray hair sending a spike of relief through her. 'Kakashi-Sensei!'
Though, as both boys went flying in opposite directions, Chiyo couldn't help but feel that the jounin's presence, while welcome, would do little to stem the anger she'd seen on the Uchiha male's face.
'Please hurry, Tsukiko-Sensei.'
THEN:
"It's no exaggeration to say that I live for that kid," Mukai Kohinata said, blowing cigarette smoke out into the air, while Itachi held his breath before him. In the hand not holding the cigarette, Mukai clutched a silver bottle of sake.
Tsukiko watched him warily, remembering his speech to enemy ninja. This was how he prepared for a fight.
The four ninjas stood looking at each other, surrounded by more than ten Kirigakure ninja sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. They had all been defeated by Itachi and Shisui alone, Tsukiko manipulating Earth to force Mukai away from the fight and keep him isolated. That had been the plan, though Mukai had allowed her to act without resistance. He was already mentally imagining how best to kill them, and she was letting him. He was a member of her village, so this was the least she could do. Those mental images would not be reality, after all.
''Surrender quietly, Mukai Kohinata," Shisui said, from beside Itachi. The comma-shaped marks of the Sharingan had already popped up in his eyes. "The Hokage is lenient on those who turn themselves in. He probably won't kill you."
Hanging his head to avoid his Sharingan, Mukai let an ironic smile slip across his face. "Shisui of the Body Flicker...I mean, you're a well-known ninja. But still, well, I always got the impression you only walked in places where the sun hits. Or..." He stopped suddenly, and drank from the silver bottle. "... is it that you're still just a kid?"
Mukai opened only his right eye, and sneered. His condescending attitude forced a line to carve itself out between Shisui's eyebrows. "You know what I've done. So you should know whether or not I'd be allowed to turn myself in." A flick of Mukai's thumb, and ashes fell from his cigarette. "That I would get for my assassins the two prodigies of the Uchiha clan, and the last surviving Amaya, at the height of their popularity, is truly the greatest honor."
He tossed his cigarette in the portable ashtray he pulled out of his pouch, and then put the cap on the silver bottle, before tucking it away in the pocket of his vest. "Real serious situation here," he murmured, his chakra suddenly increasing dramatically.
His Shadow Clones had returned. When Mukai's chakra grew in volume, Itachi released his own Shadow Clone, standing watch at Konoha Hospital.
"Now that he knows the dad he was talking to 'til just a minute ago was a Shadow Clone, my son's prob'ly angry." Mukai glared at the three shinobi in front of him as he scratched his head. "Now I'm gonna have to make some kind of excuses when I get home." He dropped his hips low, and readied himself with his palms at chest-height, in the manner particular to Gentle Fist.
"Why would a ninja as good as you be a spy?" Itachi spat out the feelings in his heart. Tsukiko was both surprised and relieved that Itachi had been the one to say it. Her own chest was aching with the weight of the situation. Why would anyone do this?
"When you get old, things happen. You can't understand what those things are until you get some years on you. So even if I did tell you why, you'd only get half of it."
"If you die, what happens to your son in the hospital?" Tsukiko looked up at him with sorrowful eyes.
"Because of those things I mentioned, I can't be dying here. Even if you guys were sent to kill me." Countless lines raced out from Mukai's left eye, veins raising.
"Byakugan!" Itachi shouted, but Shisui and Tsukiko were already flying backwards to get some distance from Mukai.
"I can't go easy on you. Forgive me." Mukai's voice reached Itachi's ears.
At once, the distance between them closed. With incredible speed, right and left palms came flying toward Itachi's throat and solar plexus simultaneously.
As Mukai's sword hand stabbed into Itachi's stomach, breaking through skin, muscle, and bone as if the appendage itself was a knife, the man bent his index and middle fingers inside Itachi's body.
"Hah!" Mukai spat out a breath that was a battle cry, and his hand pulled out Itachi's intestines.
Instantly, the Itachi standing there with his guts ripped out transformed into an overwhelming number of crows, and danced upward. Rather than try to avoid the beaks attacking him, Mukai endured it with an elegant turn of the head, as though nothing were happening.
Tsukiko was there, instantly on attack. "Go!"
Shisui was creeping up behind him. "Fire Style! Great Fireball Technique!" He quickly wove the signs, and a ball of fire large enough to swallow Mukai shot out of his mouth, boosted and enhanced by the Wind Tsukiko had sent behind it.
Mukai faced the ball of flames dead on, still standing with the palm of his right hand thrust out in front of his face.
Direct hit…
No.
The ball of flames split perfectly into two in front of him.
It didn't look like he had executed some kind of jutsu. And it wasn't as though his body were cloaked in some kind of special aura. To Itachi, it was like the ball of flames itself had decided to split on its own in front of the man.
"Gentle Fist cuts off enemy chakra. Using it means being very familiar with that flow. Jutsu are the embodiment of chakra. If you can read the flow, it's not so tough to split it," Mukai explained with a grin, watching his two opponents. "So...how about I remove the biggest nuisance?" He instantly crouched and raced toward Shisui.
Shisui's face darkened. Even if he did have above-average physical jutsus, his opponent was a user of Gentle Fist, a technique far beyond the level of a physical jutsu. It was no wonder Shisui looked gloomy.
Itachi watched from a distance on high as the battle unfolded.
Inside the domain of the Land of Fire, three or so hours to the north of Konohagakure, the four ninjas were fighting in a small basin surrounded by slightly elevated mountains. Not a single blade of grass grew on the rocky peaks, and there were any number of places for a lone person to hide. Itachi had slipped behind a convenient rock, and was watching over the other two as they fought Mukai.
It had only been his Shadow Clone that had been gutted. Itachi hadn't moved from this place since the fight started, despite his hatred of the strategy. He'd never been comfortable with Tsukiko on the front line without him. Watching her now was distracting him too much. He needed to focus.
Their opponent was a user of Gentle Fist. It was almost too difficult to strike the killing blow in close combat. This contest would be decided by a single long-distance blow.
Sharingan was a visual jutsu. Users put their own chakra into their eyes, and ensnared opponents in the jutsu. In other words, as long as Itachi could see the fight, he could trap his enemy in the jutsu.
Eyes meeting was not something that happened only subconsciously.
Expecting no particular trouble, an enemy would let their gaze race around the scene. As long as that optical axis and the optical axis of the jutsu user were in alignment, it was possible to create a situation in which the enemy's gaze would intersect with the jutsu user's, without the enemy's even being aware of it.
Itachi was waiting for that moment. And to that end, Shisui and Tsukiko had dared to take on dangerous close-range combat, trying their best to get Mukai in alignment with Itachi's optical axis. Tsukiko, being a mid-to-long-range fighter, was at the most disadvantage.
If Itachi could just activate the visual jutsu of the Sharingan, they could make this work. If they managed to pry open one small seam in Mukai's mind, Itachi could use that as a foothold, and gradually push his visual jutsu to encroach ever further. The problem was that first step.
In addition to his vast experience, Mukai was a user of the Byakugan, a kekkei genkai that allowed the flow of chakra to be sensed visually; naturally, he understood what the Sharingan was, and could do. Itachi, Tsukiko, and Shisui had adopted this strategy to break down those tall walls.
But Mukai wasn't behaving as expected in their drills, in the hundreds of simulations they had done. He was supposed to go after the biggest threat, the Sharingan visibly before him, Shisui pressing him to look Itachi's way.
They had underestimated the man, and overestimated their own abilities. Just as Tsukiko and Itachi watched him, he had observed them. Every action, movement, and word spoken by the young Uchiha has been catalogued in Mukai's mind, all directing him to one conclusion. The first to die had to be the girl.
Just barely dodging Mukai's left thrust, Shisui threw his torso back. Given the perfect opportunity, Mukai suddenly changed direction.
Tsukiko was unprepared for the assault to turn on her, but acted instantly. She leapt up with Wind, just barely missing the outstretched hand that would have pierced her chest. In midair, the girl switched elements, Fire flaring up around her foot as she swung down, front-flipping to slam the flames into the man's head.
Itachi clenched his jaw, doing his best to control the instinct to fly out and attack. Tsukiko wasn't in immediate danger, and could take care of herself. But...seeing Mukai easily shake off her flames and continue his pursuit, that uneasy feeling in his chest grew.
For his part, Mukai was wholly concentrated on the fight, simultaneously fighting off Shisui's advances as he continued his assault on Tsukiko. If he took her out, he knew the boy would react irrationally, destroying this little plan of theirs. She was also the most trouble for him on the basis of her kekkei genkai. It was difficult to read her chakra, the constant shifting almost dizzying. Tsukiko Amaya was unpredictable and bewildering to his Byakugan, and therefore represented the biggest threat to him.
Tsukiko stomped hard, a rock flying up for her to punch. It slammed into Mukai's stomach, his head turning.
Shisui leapt backward, as if in flight. The older man tracked him automatically. In that instant, Mukai's face was turned toward the rock Itachi was hiding behind. But their optical axes still had not intersected.
Mukai kept his gaze on Shisui as he landed, and then abruptly averted his eyes.
The Sharingan had been activated.
Naturally, Shisui's Sharingan had been a feint. The place toward which Mukai had turned his face was in the exact direction of the rock concealing Itachi.
Itachi's gaze, his mind sharply focused on his enemy, and Mukai's gaze, unconsciously taking Itachi in, intersected.
Or they should have.
When they were a hair's breadth apart, the man kicked suddenly at the ground and flew upward. An incredible leap. When he landed, he kicked at another rock, and bounded into the sky again.
Itachi's hiding spot had been found out.
In the previous instant, Mukai had noticed the boy's presence with the power of the Byakugan. He had probably also understood in that moment that Itachi's Sharingan had also been activated.
Perhaps to confirm his own hunch, or perhaps to draw Itachi out into the fight—either way, Mukai was leaping straight toward the rock where Itachi was hiding. Itachi didn't fail to notice Shisui standing behind him, grinning, before his friend disappeared.
Shisui next appeared in front of Mukai.
"Tch!" Clicking his tongue, Mukai was knocked back into the rock wall rising up perpendicularly, as Shisui's kick ripped into his face. His skull split open.
Or so Itachi thought, before his eyes took in a splintered log. "Shadow Clone!" he cried out.
Tsukiko had taken cover, building up chakra. She planned to open the earth below Mukai and swallow him whole. But at Itachi's cry, she looked up, fatally distracted by what was in front instead of behind. At the last moment, she switched to Wind, trying to find her opponent.
"Right..." She heard Mukai's voice at her back. No time to run.
Gentle Fist stance.
"Eight Trigrams Two Palms." The heels of his right and left palms slammed into Tsukiko's stomach in succession.
"Eight Trigrams Four Palms." Before Tsukiko had a chance to breathe, this time, four blows slammed into her. In that same instant, her chakra was sealed. It was a horrible feeling, as if she had been both simultaneously frozen and drained of life. Instinctively seeking balance, Tsukiko switched elements. Her chakra network roared back to life, Wind now lost to her for the rest of the fight.
"Eight Trigrams Eight Palms." As if sneering at Tsukiko's brain as it fumbled for the start of a counterattack, Mukai assaulted her mercilessly with successive attacks. Water, the element she'd chosen to sacrifice, was also sealed away. But that was fine. There was no water in their area, and she'd gained valuable information. She had two networks left.
All this happened in the space of a few seconds. She could feel Itachi racing to her, surer than she felt her own heart beating in her chest. This was her chance.
"Ngaaaaah!" Tsukiko heard a cry from Mukai's right side. The Byakugan's blind spot.
In the corner of Tsukiko's hazy field of view, Shisui launched a flying kick. Then Itachi appeared in front of her, lifting her and leaping away.
"Shisui..." Tsukiko had the leeway to murmur her friend's name in warning, because Mukai had dropped into a defensive posture. "Itachi, go help him."
The boy ignored her, his jaw clenched tightly in spite of his gentle hold on her. He set her down, eyes stormy as a wiped blood away from her mouth, a sign of the internal damage done to her. Then Itachi turned his attention back to Mukai, his eyes widening.
That was not merely a defensive stance. The concept was too simple. As Mukai dodged the kick merely by angling his head, he grabbed hold of Shisui's neck with his outstretched left hand, and held him up high, lifting the sturdy body of the young man with a single arm. He grinned. As expected, the instant Tsukiko had been in danger, both boys had rushed in without a second thought.
Strangled like this, Shisui struggled frantically. But the five fingers sunk into his throat simply would not peel away.
"There's this thing called 'training' that you do to overcome your weak points. The first step in my training was to compensate for the Byakugan's blind spot in one eye, with physical jutsu. Don't underestimate this old man, brats."
"Mukai Kohinata..." Unconsciously, Itachi called the name of the powerful enemy before him. His feet had also taken a step forward without him realizing it. The image of another comrade dying before him was...unacceptable, incomprehensible.
"What? You want me to kill him?"
It was easy to see why he'd think that. Distracted between Tsukiko and Shisui, he'd not come up with any kind of plan. And what could he do? Any movement would be instantly noticed and countered, likely with Shisui's windpipe crushed.
Moving forward without any kind of plan was basically an act of masochism.
However, Itachi's feet would not stop moving. Even though he didn't remember telling them to do so, they continued to walk artlessly toward Mukai.
"Then I'll put him out of his misery, as requested!"
"Hngh!"
The hand around Shisui's throat tightened its grip. Mukai was going to crush his Adam's apple.
"Stop!" Itachi shouted, and the Sharingan in his eyes glittered.
"There's no way that sort of obvious Genjutsu is going to work on me," Mukai said, turning his face away from Itachi.
And in that moment, Tsukiko struck.
The girl was hurt, yes, but not so bad as Mukai or Itachi suspected. And she still had two elements. When Itachi had turned his back to her, she'd used Earth to sink into the ground, tunneling her way painfully towards Mukai. She could see where he was from the vibrations in the dirt, feel him tighten his grip on Shisui's throat. He was carefully avoiding both boy's faces, not taking any chances.
Except for not paying attention to her.
With a burst of Fire, Tsukiko made her entrance, emerging from behind Shisui and in front of Mukai, as flashy as possible. Flames exploded around her, harmlessly wrapping around her figure like a torch. Between the sudden light and heat, the man couldn't stop himself from looking up. Tsukiko grinned, tasting blood in her mouth. "Checkmate."
Before the man's eyes was her friend's face.
Itachi's jaw dropped, and he turned his head to look behind him, a slight disturbance in the dirt the only sign of her movement.
"Mangekyo Sharingan," Shisui murmured. The eyes of his friend, now crimson, took on a shape unlike any other Sharingan Itachi had ever seen.
Normally, the Sharingan had a small black dot in the center of the eye, and in a circle around that, the snake tails of magatama-shaped specks popped up. The power differed depending on the number of magatamas, but the form itself was common to the entire clan.
But Shisui's was different. The three commas of the magatama were enlarged and connected, and the small black dot in the center had disappeared, leaving a crimson hollow. If the ratio of red to black in a normal Sharingan was eight to two, then Shisui's eyes at that moment appeared to be a fifty-fifty struggle for supremacy.
Most likely, the intersection of the gazes of Shisui and Mukai had lasted less than a thousandth of a second, the man's discipline still winning out over the distraction Tsukiko had created.
For a normal Sharingan, the user couldn't be certain of capturing his opponent in a moment that short. Shisui had not missed that fleeting instant. Mukai had definitely been ensnared in the Genjutsu.
"Mukai!" Shisui shouted, dumbfounded, the hand around his throat releasing him at last. Before his eyes, Mukai fell, a spray of blood shooting from his stomach.
Itachi stared, rooted to the spot.
Tsukiko's hand covered her mouth, eyes wide.
Mukai had cut his own stomach. The instant Shisui's Sharingan had been activated, the man had stiffened slightly, and pulled a kunai from his pocket to slash a cross into his own belly.
"Hold on, Mukai!" Shisui shouted, crouching down to cradle the ninja's head.
"I'm a spy for another village. Any interference with my brain, and a jutsu that makes me end my own life is executed. You can't save me." Mukai coughed, and blood spilled out of his mouth. "I-I've never seen anyone caught in a Genjutsu in that short a time before...What the hell was that?"
Shisui didn't answer.
"Uchiha secret jutsu, huh?"
Shisui faltered, and Itachi glanced at him before addressing Mukai. "Do you have anything you want to say?" The younger boy's voice was soft, all anger at the man gone in the face of his death. He moved to support Tsukiko, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and allowing her to lean against him.
"S-so, this is where we're at…" The man chuckled, then sighed heavily. "I did what I did on my own. My wife and kid had nothing to do with it..."
"So, you're saying the crime of treason was yours alone?" Tsukiko, holding her chest, found it hard to speak. She could breath, but it was getting harder. If she had to guess, one of her lungs had a tear in it.
"Totally selfish, but, well..." With a trembling hand, Mukai groped for something in his pocket.
Itachi pushed aside Mukai's fingers, and pulled out the object he was fumbling for. He grabbed a cigarette from the package, and put it between the man's lips.
"L-light..."
This time, Shisui pulled the lighter from Mukai's pocket, and held the flame to the end of the cigarette.
Mukai took a long drag, letting the smoke flow down to the bottom of his lungs, before exhaling the smoke as though relishing the taste.
"This is how a ninja dies, you know? I'll be waiting for you over there..." Mukai's hand dropped, cigarette still between his fingers, and he stopped moving.
"It's over," Shisui said, his voice shaking with exhaustion.
Tsukiko nodded, her head starting to feel foggy. She could barely hear the boys.
Itachi hesitated. "That Sharingan..."
"Will you keep quiet about it to the guys in the village?" Shisui murmured, still staring at Mukai.
"Yeah."
"Mangekyo Sharingan," Shisui said, and his eyes showed once again the strange pattern. "When the time comes, I'll tell you— just you—everything."
Itachi felt an irresistible attraction to the unknown power secreted away in his friend.
At his side, Tsukiko coughed, a splatter of blood leaving her mouth. She hadn't seen Shisui's eyes, hadn't heard him say "Mangekyo Sharingan" and now, feeling sick, all her focus was on breathing shallowly, trying not to force more blood into her lungs.
Feeling something warm dripping onto his hand, Itachi and Shisui both turned to Tsukiko. She lifted her head weakly, blood flowing from her smile. "I think I need a medic."
Then, darkness.
When she woke up, she was on her futon, Itachi's worried face above her own. At her slow blink, he sighed with relief, a smile appearing across his features.
"Tsukiko!" Something landed on her legs, making her jerk into a sitting position too quickly. Her head swam as Sasuke clung to her, teary eyes dampening her shirt.
"Sasuke!" The weight was removed, Itachi snatching his younger brother away disapprovingly, holding him away from her. "She's still hurt, you know!"
The younger boy flinched at his brother's harsh tone, gaze dropping shamefully.
"As if Sasuke could hurt me," Tsukiko said, rolling her eyes. "He weighs less than most kunai, and he's not so nearly as sharp."
"Hey!" Indignant, the boy turned to his sister angrily, only to find her sticking her tongue out at him, arms held wide.
"Are you going to give me a hug or not?" She asked cheekily.
Itachi let Sasuke go, the smaller boy crawling into her lap more cautiously. Tsukiko looked up at him, her eyes shining with warmth despite having just woken. "How long was I out?"
"Only about an hour," Itachi assured her. "Mom and dad don't even know you were hurt. Shisui brought a friend of his, a girl named Eri. She healed you pretty quickly, since it was just a small cut in your lung. The hard part was removing the blood. But she says you'll be okay by tomorrow."
"Did you give Danzo your report?" There was a feigned nonchalance in her tone as she stroked Sasuke's hair.
The older boy shook his head. "I waited for you so we could tell him that your injuries were minor."
Tsukiko felt an overwhelming rush of affection for her friend, bowing her head to hide her relief. "Thanks," she managed. "I don't want him to think I'm weak."
"He'd be a fool to think so," Itachi said firmly, sitting on the edge of her futon. "You got hit by the Gentle Fist and still had enough chakra do dig a tunnel and be an effective distraction. No one can deny that you helped us succeed."
She had acted when he couldn't, when he'd been helpless. Just like that time with the masked man, so many years ago, Tsukiko had been able to move, to throw herself into danger to save her comrades. That sort of mentality was dangerous, reckless even, and he'd have worried if it was anyone else. Or so he told himself.
He'd always admired Tsukiko for her abilities, enjoyed her bright personality, and valued her intelligence. Trust in her was deeply ingrained in him, even more so than with Shisui. So, of course he knew that she could handle himself, and that she was by no means weaker or less capable than he was. Any one of them could've been hit by Gentle Fist, but she was the only one who could still move, the only one that had been acknowledged by Mukai as an immediate threat to him.
All of that was true. And yet…
When she'd been hit, everything had stopped. His feet moved without his knowledge, and he'd been racing towards her, faster than he'd ever run. The only thought pounding in his head was, not her. Not her, not Tsukiko. She wasn't supposed to get hurt, shouldn't have been placed at a disadvantage. All his reasoning had left, and he'd acted. Was that how she felt, was that the reason she'd been able to force her hurt body underground?
Itachi couldn't make sense of the feelings rolling in his chest. Fear, pride, worry, relief, and...something else. Something precious and powerful, just below the surface of his thoughts. Something that would change him, if he accepted it.
"Itachi?"
Sasuke's voice brought him out of his thoughts, his small face bright with adoration. "Isn't Tsukiko cool?" He held up her hand, where a little tornado sat in her palm. "Eri said she wouldn't be able to use her Gensogan fully until tomorrow!"
Tsukiko's expression was smug. "Well, it would seem that I'm tougher than people think." Her gold eyes looked to him for approval, smile slightly shy. She had seen him lost in thought and wanted to reassure him that she was fine.
Once again, she had seemingly read this thoughts.
The warmth in his chest grew, washing away all his negative emotions. Reaching out, he pulled both of those precious people to his chest, Sasuke's delighted exclamation and Tsukiko's laugh filling him with a quiet sense of peace.
For that moment, at least, everything was perfect. All he needed was right there with him.
NOW:
It only took Tsukiko two days to complete her exercises to Akihiro's satisfaction. From there, she worked on pouring chakra into a small fire without changing its size. The increase of energy was an increase of heat, slowly turning the flames blue. When she would do this in under ten seconds, she repeated the circle exercise from before, now much harder to manage.
All this, while correcting her others forms and trying to boost her other elements, took longer than she wanted, but far less than Akihiro expected. Lightning, with the steps she herself had created, was actually the closest to correct. Earth, as it always was, proved the most challenging. Her center of gravity in her stomach, she had to maintain a firm stance while moving with great weight to her stomps and punches. Easily the most exhausting.
But she was fueled by her determination. And it felt so good to be training under someone who knew more than her, something she only rarely got to experience. She had taught herself almost everything she knew, and it had never felt quite right. She was always Tsukiko "not good enough to be an Uchiha" Amaya. Her family name had long felt like a curse hanging over her head, a sign that turned others away. First with the Uchiha clan, then due to her association with Itachi. This was honestly the first time in a long while that she'd been able to experience any sense of pride in her name, or in her Gensogan.
But now, after two weeks of work, Tsukiko was anxious to return to the Leaf Village. She'd been gone well over a month by this point, and although she was loathe to leave Akihiro until her technique was perfect, time was not a luxury. Every day she was gone allowed the coils to tighten around Sasuke. If she hurried, pushing herself at top speed, she'd be back at the Leaf Village in two days.
Akihiro Amaya watched the young woman bustle about, gathering her things before opening one of the scrolls in her pack. She used a Summoning jutsu, a crow appearing to take a small scroll from her hand, containing a message for Sasuke Uchiha. She was coming home and had found a way to help him.
The old man sighed heavily. On one hand, he had grown fond of the great-great-granddaughter he thought he'd never meet, and wanted her to return to complete her task as swiftly as possible. But on the other, he was deeply troubled that she was even involved with the Uchiha family in any way. It seemed poetic that both rival clans were down to two members each, but sending the young woman, who'd only just begun to realize the extent of her own abilities, into direct conflict with a Mangekyo user was...frightening.
"What will you do when you return to the Leaf Village?" he asked finally, sipping at the tea she had kindly made him. It had grown cold during his musings, so he discreetly summoned heat to his hands, warming the cup.
Tsukiko paused, having just tied her message to the crow's leg. "To be honest, that plan is up in the air," she said finally. "Realistically, I'd like to talk to Sasuke and then return to the shrine to continue, but I don't know if that is possible."
Akihiro raised a white eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue. "That sounds more than acceptable," he said warmly. "Why the hesitation?"
She faced him with determination, eyes searching for something in his expression. "Because I can't leave Sasuke in the Leaf Village. If I come here, so does he."
The old man nodded once more. "I still don't see the problem."
Her surprise made him smile. This young woman had yet to master her own emotions outside of combat situations. She was very easy to read with her guard down. In truth, having an Uchiha here went against his instincts. But he himself had traveled the Five Great Nations advocating peace and understanding between rivals. It was far past time for him to practice what he preached, the hypocrisy of his initial distaste for the fiery clan hanging over him. He owed them a great debt for taking care of Tsukiko, and the young boy was in danger.
Whatever the woman saw on his face made her relax, her smile bright with gratitude. "Thank you, Akihiro-Sensei."
He waved her away. "It is truly the least I can do to help, though not the limit of what I intend to do." With a gesture towards the entrance hall, his dark eyes glittered with mischief. "I'd also like to inform you that there are some friends waiting for you out there."
Tsukiko blinked, eyes instantly turning gold. Her dome stretched to her limit, a mile in any direction. Almost instantly, she felt a group of people. Not ninja, but with some chakra at least. They were sitting just barely inside her range, not enough to be an accident. It was almost as if they were purposefully placed a mile away, but had misjudged the distance.
"Is it a trap?" she asked, counting. Four members, nothing she couldn't handle.
Akihiro took a sip of tea, smiling. "Perhaps, but I doubt it. There are three four-man squads about a quarter mile northwest of them that are better placed and have powerful chakras. They are unfamiliar to me. The ones you can sense, however…" He frowned thoughtfully. "I wondered when those thieves would return."
"The archaeologists?" Tsukiko questioned, irritation bubbling in her chest. "Damn, I guess Dr. Sojirou found her way back through the forest and traps without her maps." By now, she knew better than to question Akihiro's accuracy. His ability to sense chakra was far greater than her own, his passive range at around five miles in any direction. Yet another thing to work up to. "Did they hire some ninja from a rival Village?"
"I can't say. But one of the teams is avoiding the other two. If I had to guess, I'd imagine a double-cross of some kind."
Tsukiko sighed loudly, her fingers tapping against her weapons pack distractedly. "That could either be a help or a complication. Okay, so realistically, it would be best if I could catch the group in the back by surprise and pick them off first. Then the other group would…" Using Akihiro's intel, she quickly outlined her plan.
The old man was impressed that she was able to work so quickly. In her short time here, she'd consistently grown at a rate far surpassing his expectations. She was already close to freely wielding blue Fire, and her footwork and motion had improved dramatically. He had once considered himself a prodigy, but he had to admit defeat. Tsukiko Amaya was a woman of great potential.
"The most important thing is that you don't come out," she finished, pulling on her travel pack. "If anyone discovers that you're still alive, I don't think any amount of Genjutsu will keep people out."
"Very well. Be careful," he called, watching her open the door slowly, sliding through as soon as it was open enough. "I look forward to meeting young Sasuke in the future."
She paused, looking up at him with an excited smile. "Thank you."
Closing the door, the stones glowed briefly as the chakra lock reset. Tsukiko leaned against the wood, one hand covering her eyes. Taking a few deep threats, she gathered herself and straightened. Sasuke was finally going to be safe. The only thing in her way was a little ambush. And not a well-crafted one, at that.
When her hand dropped, her smile was a baring of teeth, a very Masuko-like expression. "Time to see how much I've improved."
First, she released the crow, trusting it to find its way around enemies and get to the Leaf Village by the evening. Then she sat down on the ground, planting her hands and focusing. Unlike her dome, which was more widespread and meant to only give her a picture of chakra-users, Earth let her see everything, tree, rock, bug, enemy. It was more work, but Akihiro had helped her a lot. She suspected a certain smugness in the man from her difficulty with his best element, but he hadn't let that be an excuse to drill her mercilessly.
She pushed out a mile and a half in the direction Akihiro had indicated. Since she was only pushing out in one direction rather than a dome, her range was increased. And sure enough, she felt the groups and their positions. Memorizing the terrain, Tsukiko released her chakra, pleased that her body wasn't shaking with strain.
Deciding to push her luck, she stood and began walking into the forest. With each step, she sank further into the ground, until it had closed over her head and she was tunneling in a little air bubble. The effect above ground where she had vanished was a precaution for later, and she had gone deep enough that there was no sign to the shifting rock as she traveled, sealing and recompressing the dirt behind her as she went. That way, there was no chance of a cave-in giving away her position.
Keeping up a brisk walk, Tsukiko could sense out her enemies even easier this way. It was almost as if the forest was helping her, the strain almost nonexistent.
'I wonder if Akihiro-Sensei is doing something…' It wasn't the first time she'd felt a friendly presence around her, and he had a deep connection with the land around the Amaya Shrine.
Regardless, the jounin took full advantage of the assistance, working her way in a wide arc behind the furthest team of enemies. It honestly looked like three separate groups waiting in ambush, and it was doubtful that everyone knew about it. One or more of these groups was going to attack the other ones, meaning that some of them could be friendly to her. But only a fool would go in with that assumption.
What she could guess, with a high level of confidence, was that one of the teams, probably the largest, was made up of Leaf Anbu, courtesy of Danzo. Eight shinobi were well hidden and keeping their chakra close to nothing, an assassination tactic she was very familiar with. One that she was copying currently, cutting her usage to only what she needed, on the off-chance that one of them was a sensory type.
'Only eight Anbu? I wonder if I ought to be offended. Is Danzo getting senile in his old age?' He, of all people, should have an idea of her base abilities. Better to assume they were highly talented and proceed with caution. But that was for later. Her focus was on the four-man squad that she had just circled behind. Shutting off her sensory ability, Tsukiko trusted her memory as to their positions. They were stationary, waiting with a disciplined stillness for movement in front of them. Not behind.
Slowly, she rose out of the ground behind a tree, wanting to check their headbands. One of the men wore his sideways at his waist, the music note there sealing their fate. Sound shinobi.
Tsukiko enjoyed fighting. She liked sparring and learning new strategies. She liked pushing past her own limits and helping others do the same. But she hated killing. Taking away someone's future was the most distasteful thing she could imagine, with few exceptions. If that future included endangering her loved ones, she would dirty her hands in a heartbeat. That was the harsh world they lived in as ninja. All that said, her reluctance to cross that point of no return was severely hampered by that music note. These were enemy ninja in the Land of Fire, and she was obligated to put them down.
The first man died soundlessly, her kunai slashing his throat while her hand covered his mouth, muffling the dying gurgle as his blood flowed freely. The earth had swallowed both victim and assassin before the other three were alerted to the danger.
When she emerged once more, not a speck of blood or dirt on her clothes, no one had moved. One man was acting as a lookout, in a tree with his back to her. The other two, a woman and another man, were hiding in the bushes at the base of the tree. A faint rustling in the upper branches told Tsukiko the lookout was likely searching with some sort of sound-based tracking, similar to echolocation. The sound waves caused the branches to move, but the man was smartly timing the bursts with the wind to disguise what he was doing.
The man in the bushes was resting, dozing while the woman stood guard. That meant that they had been there for some time, rotating sleeping shifts to stay prepared for a fight. Based on the feel of the area, it had been a few days at least. A footprint there, the start of a trail that had been walked a few times, broken twigs, all of these painted a clear picture. This group was perhaps more careful and efficient when they had first arrived, but a lack of action had relaxed them to the point where they still hadn't sensed their own deaths waiting for them.
Wind-enhanced kunai flew into the lookout's back and neck, killing him instantly. He dropped with a loud thud, body nearly hitting the remaining two.
To their credit, they reacted instantly. The woman sent out a destructive sound burst, aiming in the direction the kunai had come from. It tore through the tree Tsukiko had been hiding behind, but she had moved the second the weapons had left her fingertips, darting up another tree. She was a mid to long-range fighter, perfect for picking off enemy targets with ruthless efficiency. But that didn't mean she was uncomfortable with hand-to-hand if it came down to it.
Tsukiko ran at her opponent's back, the woman turning to face her. Before a sound wave could hit her, the Leaf shinobi spun, moving lightly on her feet to circle around her opponent. With a burst of Wind, the Sound nin was thrown into a tree, and Tsukiko instantly transitioned to Earth, turning on her heel and crouching low to avoid the kick aimed at her head. As the man flew overhead, the woman reached up to catch his foot. Her eyes turned red as her right hand caught his ankle, and she released a powerful burst of Fire with her left. She spun, the extra momentum from the force of the blast slamming the man into the ground.
Blood flew from his mouth, ribs surely broken. Tsukiko left him and faced the woman once more. If he survived, then that was that. She wasn't going to kill someone who couldn't fight back.
It was instinct that made her flip backwards, sinking into the earth as soon as her hands touched it. Underground again, she wasted no time. She pushed off with her hands and reemerged feet first, her outstretched foot connecting with the jaw of the Sound shinobi. As soon as she connected, Tsukiko wrapped her other leg around the woman's throat and pulled her down. Her opponent grasped at her leg with one hand and desperately held the other out at the white-haired woman's face, no doubt about to release a burst of Sound that would take her head off, judging from the damage she'd done to the tree. But Tsukiko already had a kunai in her hand, releasing her grapple hold on the woman and stabbing her in the chest before the attack came.
The battle had lasted less than a minute, leaving Tsukiko unscathed while her opponents lay defeated. She looked around one last time, marking the location. When she was done with the Leaf Anbu, she'd direct them to this spot. If the man with broken ribs was still breathing by that point, they could take him back to the Leaf for treatment and interrogation. Either way, they were going to be burying the bodies. It was the least they could do.
Straightening her headband, which had turned sideways during the fight, Tsukiko sank back into the ground. She was a little out of breath, the use of Earth still the most draining. But it was effective, and she needed the practice.
Once there, she was surprised to feel the vibrations of a squad coming her way. The fight had been quick and relatively quiet, meaning they had to have a sensory-type nin. She frowned. It looked like her silent ambush plan would have to be modified.
'At least they'll be near the bodies when they regain consciousness.'
The ninjas stopped in the trees above, silently surveying the scene. One of them, a man with long black hair, pointed at the ground. He could sense someone's chakra, moving around behind them. The target was attempting an ambush, as she had likely done to the Sound ninja on the ground. If the man was surprised, his cat mask covered it.
A head of silver hair emerged from the ground, followed by a torso wearing a jounin vest. Instantly, the four men threw kunai with deadly accuracy.
Each of them pierced her, one hitting her just under her headband. Her mouth opened with a silent cry of agony as she fell backwards.
When her back hit the ground, her body exploded into dozens of crows that flew directly at the Anbu in the trees. The man paid them no mind as he attempted to track the woman's chakra.
A cry of pain to his left was coupled with a flash of bright electricity, a bolt having slammed into him with paralyzing force. He fell from the tree, but the target caught him at the last second, standing horizontally, feet attached to the trunk with chakra.
She dropped the Anbu gracelessly, looking up at the other three with a smile that didn't quite meet her white eyes. "Gotta make sure I don't kill you guys," she explained. "You're still Leaf shinobi, even if you do work for Danzo. I can't fault you for following orders." She bent her neck, dodging shuriken. "But I have no guilt about hurting any of you."
One of the Anbu made a series of hand signs. "Earth Style: Flying Stones!"
He slammed his hands into the ground, a multitude of rocks shooting off towards the white-haired woman.
She leapt up into the air, using two of the rocks as platforms to get higher. "Are you stupid?" she called out, shoving both her palms out at the caster. "Or did you miss it when I used Lightning just now?" Streaks of electricity shot from her fingertips, missing the man only because he directed a large boulder to protect his form.
But the distraction was a success. The third member of their team appeared with a puff of smoke behind the woman, having transformed into a rock amidst the confusion. He slammed a kunai into her back.
Tsukiko's Shadow Clone vanished, the real one emerging from underground to latch onto the Earth Style Anbu. She sent Lightning through his body, and his eyes rolled back.
Pressing a hand against his ear, the man with long hair spoke into his microphone. "Team leader, we require assistance. The target was aware of us and has already incapacitated half the team."
"Understood."
Next to him, his remaining teammate nodded, eyes expressionless behind his owl mask. He leapt down to attack the woman directly, fist aiming for her face.
The woman blocked, but the owl spun, leg connecting with her shoulder. Tsukiko flew back, hitting the ground hard. She stood quickly, rubbing the spot where she'd been kicked. "That's a relief," she muttered. "I'd hate for another owl mask to be weak, you know?" Shaking her head to clear it, her eyes turned blue.
"Fire Style: Flame Bombs!" The owl spit fiery projectiles at her.
These Tsukiko dodged, knowing they were made by spitting both oil and fire together. If any one of them hit, it would cling to her clothing and set her ablaze. But this made her movements predictable.
"Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!"
A woman, face obscured by a bird mask, sent a series of shuriken connected by chains at the target. She would be unable to dodge in midair.
Tsukiko's eyes turned gold, and she slashed the air with her leg. The gust of wind blew the shuriken towards the owl, and the bird woman pulled the chains sharply to avoid hitting her ally.
Landing, one of the white-haired jounin's eyes turned green, using both Earth and Wind to find the new arrivals.
'This might take a bit longer than anticipated.' So much for divide and conquer. But even so, she had been able to conserve far more of her chakra than usual. Akihiro had been right. As soon as she'd stopped trying to mimic Ninjutsu, the elements became far easier to manage.
Tsukiko's eyes turned blue. 'Time to go on the offensive.'
A.N. PHEW! Man, planning that fight took quite a bit of time. I had a sheet with arrows, stick figures, and strategies all over it. My dad thought I was doing football calculations. -.-
Let me know what you think!