Something More
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 8
Suki sighs as they head towards the Valley of the End. The sooner they got there, the better. Everyone would get what they wanted as soon as he was dead.
She'd avenge her Clan. Karin and Jugo would get their own homes. Suigetsu would get his sword. After that, life would go back to normal. So why did that thought make her feel so anxious?
"You sure we're heading the right way, Princess?" Suigetsu asks.
Suigetsu. That's why she felt so anxious. Suki knew that once he had the Samehada, he'd likely take off. Odds are she'd never see him again and that made her feel…sad.
Well sad and angry. Sad because she would miss him and angry because she would miss him. Suki really shouldn't care one way or the other, if the sword lover was around or not.
"Suki knows where she's going, you idiot!" Karin snaps at Suigetsu.
She did though. That's what scared her. Was she really that pathetic? A few stolen kisses and Suki had suddenly become a romantic?
Itachi was right. She really was his foolish little sister. Suki wasn't completely naïve. She had seen enough in the Sound Village to realize that lust and love (or even like) didn't always go together.
"Oh chill out. Just because I questioned the Princess is no reason to get huffy. At least her Royal Majesty doesn't freak out over every little thing like you do though!" The white haired man snaps.
Had it meant anything to him? Was he just having fun or was it some sort of trick? If that was the case, what did Suigetsu stand to gain by deceiving her into believing he had real feelings for her?
Karin wanted a home. Jugo just wanted to be in control of himself. Suigetsu just wanted the swords. She could only give him one. Did he really want a girlfriend?
"I don't freak out over everything! You just treat everything like it's a joke! I can't believe you're even a ninja!" The red head growls at him.
"Karin, knock it off. You're being annoying." Suki says flatly as she flits on ahead of her teammates.
She needed to put some space between them. Suki needed to figure out what she was going to do about Suigetsu. That and she needed to figure out why she was thinking about him more than Itachi.
"What?! I'm being annoying?! He's the one who started it!" Karin protests.
"Ha! See? You are being annoying, just like she said!" Suigetsu says smugly.
It felt good to see Suki defend him again. Thankfully, this was just a verbal defense. Still he'd take what he could get. That meant that his Ice Princess was thawing out even more.
"You are such a jerk!" Karin yells at him.
She'd definitely been hot earlier. Really, hot. He couldn't believe that she'd never seriously kissed someone before. Though he supposed that she had other things on her mind.
Mostly Itachi. Why did all the hot chicks have the most issues? Then again, he wasn't exactly normal either.
He was a Prodigy in the Art of Murder and his hobby was living up to his title and finding swords. Maybe in some twisted way, they made sense. After all, she wanted to restore her Clan after she axed her brother.
"Please stop fighting. We need to be at our best, if we're going to defeat Itachi and likely his partner." Jugo whispers softly.
That changed the course of his internal musings. Jugo was right. They did need to be at their best. They were likely going to face two powerful opponents and one of them might have the Samehada.
Why was he thinking about potential fatherhood when he should be focusing on the sword? It was highly doubtful that Suki was really serious about him anyway. She was such a Princess.
"You're right. Let's get going. We don't want our fearless leader to leave us behind." Suigetsu says as he darts off after Suki at full speed.
The woman would kill her brother and then return the Leaf. She'd be the tragic hero. After that, she'd probably find some goodie two shoes who was boring as Hell and make lots of super babies with him.
He mentally winces as he imagines said ninja. A flash of blonde hair came to his mind. There was obviously a long history there between the two of them and it was one that he just couldn't compete with.
"Suigetsu! Wait for us!" Jugo calls out as he and Karin desperately try to keep pace with their two other teammates.
He was so going to kick that blonde's ass, after he got Kisame's sword. Actually, he'd probably just decapitate him with the sword. Yeah! That would serve him right!
It was his fault that Suki got hurt! That idiot was rushing in and trying to be her white knight or something. It was stupid. Suki didn't need a knight.
"We're here." Suki says a few hours later as they arrive at the Valley of the End.
He had heard Orochimaru talk once or twice about how Suki and Naruto had fought here. He also knew that it had something to do with the First Hokage and Madara. Madara was Suki's great great great something uncle (or was it grandfather?). So perhaps it was fitting that Itachi had chosen this place for their final showdown.
"I don't sense any chakra. Well besides ours." Karin says.
"Good. Maybe. We either got here before he did or Itachi found a way to completely mask his chakra, even from you." Suki says.
"In which case, that would be the opposite of good. Your brother is really freaky." Suigetsu observes.
Suigetsu didn't receive an immediate response. He could tell that Suki and Karin were both scanning the area and Jugo had released his birds. If Itachi was hiding, they would find him.
He wouldn't put it past the man to attempt an ambush. Yeah. He was a pretty messed up person and he had done a lot of bad things, but he never would have slaughtered his own family. There was some things that you just didn't do.
"You really shouldn't judge people with whom you've never spoken to before. That's a foolish action. Though I suppose that is why you are traveling with my foolish little sister." He hears a silky voice say from behind him as he feels a kunai against the back of his neck.
Damn it. If he moved, the other ninja would slit his throat. Though Suigetsu suspected that he might do that anyway. He was so screwed.
"Itachi! Get away from him! I'm the one that you're after, not him." She screams at him.
"Suki, you're never going to kill me at this rate. You lack the proper hatred. You've foolishly attached yourself to your new teammates. That makes you weak." Itachi taunts her.
Meanwhile Obito was watching the Leaf's Retrieval Team. It was imperative that they not find Suki. She was too vital for his plans to allow them to drag her back.
Itachi was every inch the noble martyr. Suki wasn't that way though. Once she knew the truth, she'd hate the Leaf. That hatred would make her very useful to him.
"Guys! Akamaru's picked up her scent!" Kiba calls out excitedly.
Obito couldn't help but smirk. Children was so easily distracted. He couldn't blame the ninja dog though. The overgrown puppy was just following its nose, but its owner and companions were another matter.
Really, they should know better. If it seemed to good to be true, it probably was. Nevermind. That didn't matter. He just had to distract them.
"Alright!" He hears Naruto shout out and with that, Obito takes off running.
He had used a Transformation Jutsu to look like Suki. The dog was following the her former shirt that he was now wearing. It had her scent on it and thus would trick the canine into follow him (or should he say, her?).
They lacked any sense of stealth, really. Obito supposed that they figured they'd be able to capture Suki by overwhelming her with numbers. As if determined to prove him right, he could hear performing the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
"BYAKUGAN!" Hinata says as she flits alongside the other members of the group.
Wonderful. So it seemed like they had their own bloodline in the group. The Byakugan. It was certainly as formidable as the Sharingan. The only difference is it was more defensive in his mind than offensive like his own bloodline trait.
This might be harder than he thought. Oh well. He was still confident in his ability to outrun these children. They really had no idea who they were dealing with.
"Suki! Suki!" Naruto calls out to his former teammate desperately.
Obito mentally winces briefly for a moment. The blonde's voice sounded so desperate. It reminded him of him calling out to Rin.
"We'll get her! Don't worry! The Power of Youth is on our side!" Another says reassuringly.
They did seem to genuinely care about each other. That would only hurt them more in the end. This was a cruel world. Most likely at least half of them would die before their 20th birthday.
Obito was going to change that though. He was going to create a new reality. A better one. Why Itachi had such a difficult time understanding that was beyond him, but Suki might be able to grasp why such a desperate action was necessary.
"Swarm her! Sting her!" Shino instructs his insects as the bugs try to perform their Master's bidding.
That was annoying. He quickly forms a Jutsu to wrap a shield of earth around himself. He couldn't risk falling asleep thanks to the insects' stings. No. That simply wouldn't due at all.
With that in mind, he performs the Body Flicker Technique and leaves them all behind. This was getting too dangerous. He'd distracted them for awhile. That might be all that was needed.
"Itachi will surely seek her out. He knows that I'm interested in finding her. He'll want to be dead before she can discover the truth. Too bad, I'm not going to allow that to happen." He says as he heads off to find his relatives.
Back with Taka and Itachi, Suki activates her Mangekyo Sharingan. She wasn't going to let Itachi kill Suigetsu. He'd already taken too many precious people from her.
"Susanoo!" She calls out as a giant hand made of purple chakra grabs Suigetsu and pulls him away from Itachi.
"That's impressive. You've unlocked your Mangekyo. Perhaps you are not completely hopeless, after all. It'll never be enough though. You couldn't protect our family. So I haven't the faintest idea why you think that you can protect your friends." Itachi says, taunting her.
His heart ached every time that he had to do this, but it was necessary. She needed to hate him enough to kill him. Once he was dead, she would be safe.
She'd take his eyes, he knew that much. His eyes would protect her from Obito. It was just the way that things had to be.
"Battle axe!" Jugo snarls as he charges at Itachi with an axe made out of chakra.
It was impressive. His sister had certain assembled a team that complemented each other well abilities wise. That was to be expected though.
Suki might be foolish. The young woman let her emotions rule her, but Itachi had never doubted his foolish little sister's intelligence. Unfortunately for Jugo, that move wasn't going to be enough to take care of him.
He dodges and swiftly knocks the other man out. There was no need to kill Jugo. He was merely being a good teammate.
"Thanks, Princess. Something's up with your psychotic brother though." Suigetsu whispers, once he was safely back with Karin and Suki.
"You mean the fact that he's trying to kill us?" Karin demands.
"No. It's more like the opposite. He could have slit my throat before Suki threw a Susanoo out to save me. He just knocked Jugo out. He's not going for kill shots." The white haired man says.
That's when Itachi's eyes narrow. Well it seemed like Suki's boyfriend was more perceptive than he had originally anticipated. That just simply wouldn't due at all. He should have slit his throat when he had the chance.
"You're right." Suki agrees reluctantly.
What was Itachi's game? Why was he taking it easy on her teammates? It didn't make any sense. He wasn't actually displaying mercy. That couldn't be it.
A man who would kill his own family just to test the limits of his abilities, wouldn't be worried about bystanders. So what was it? Something was off. Suigetsu was right about that much.
"Suki are you really so cowardly that you would stand there speaking with your teammates than avenge the Clan that you claim to have loved so much?" Itachi demands.
That did it. Suki snarls and lunges at Itachi in a blind rage. Her brother wasn't expecting it. Her sword slams into him, but something pushed Itachi mostly out of the way at the last second.
It was a blur blue. She blinks in confusion. That's when she realizes that Itachi wasn't alone. Kisame was with him.
"Itachi, that wasn't very nice of you. You didn't tell me that you were heading to a party. I thought we were partners." The former Mist Ninja says.
Again, something was off. Her brother looked just as surprised at the other Akatsuki Member's sudden appearance as she was. This wasn't adding up.
"My apologies, Kisame. It was a spur of the moment decision. I hope that you understand. Though I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave. This is something of a family affair." Itachi says smoothly, despite the fact that he was clutching his left arm.
Suki smirks when she realizes why. She might not have killed him, but she had drawn blood. His sleeve was cut and he was bleeding. Badly enough that she could see some blood drip to the ground.
It was a start. Itachi still had a lot to pay for though. He had killed their entire family. She'd found their parents laying in a pool of blood. Now, Suki was determined to see Itachi laying in a pool of HIS blood!
"Awe. That's no fun, Itachi. Besides, I just saved you from getting cut to ribbons. You should let me stay and play with your kid sister's friends. It'll be fun." He says with a smirk.
Itachi wanted Kisame to leave. Again, it didn't make any sense. His actions were completely out of character.
If Itachi wanted her dead, why not keep his partner around? Itachi was outnumbered three to one at the moment. Kisame would even the odds. So why was he trying to send the other ninja away?
"Hey, buzz off! This ain't your fight. Suki isn't your opponent. I am!" Suigetsu calls out suddenly as he throws himself at Kisame, brandishing his won sword.
"Suigetsu! No! You can't beat him! Not yet!" Suki calls out in horror.
"I find it strange that you can so accurately judge your teammates' abilities, but not your own." Itachi says as he tries to catch Suki in a Genjutsu.
Unfortunately, his little sister was now familiar with his Tsukuyomi. She might have fallen for it when she was a Genin, but not now. Though he supposed that she technically still was a Genin, her skill level far surpassed her official title.
"That won't work! Not this time!" Suki growls.
"Itachi, you really should stop underestimating the girl." An unfamiliar voice says.
Suki freezes as she looks around and then notices a man wearing an Akatsuki Cloak and an orange mask. This must be the one they called Tobi.
"What the Hell happened to your voice? You sound normal now and not like an idiot?" Kisame demands as he clashes with Suigetsu.
"Oh my dear Kisame, you have so much to learn. Sadly for you, I don't really have the time to explain everything to you. That and you don't need to know." The man says as he flicks senbon at the other ninja
Kisame was too busy talking with Tobi and fighting off Suigetsu to dodge. The needles pierced his skin. Suki watches in astonishment as the large man suddenly falls over to the ground.
He was either dead or asleep. That could only mean one thing. Poison. He had coated the senbon in poison.
"Tobi, get out of here. This is none of your concern." Itachi seethes at him.
"I dare say that it is my concern. After all, you two are all the family that I have left." He says as the one visible eye behind that mask turns ruby red.
The Sharingan. This other man had the Sharingan! Was he being sincere though? Was this "Tobi" really related to her somehow?
It was possible that he'd merely had a transplant like Kakashi, but Suki didn't this as particularly likely. For that to have happened, he would have either had to be gifted the Sharingan before the Massacre or taken one by force. Both options seemed unlikely, but so did the possibility that Itachi had somehow missed this man on the night of the Massacre.
"Enough of this!" Itachi snarls in rage as he flits over to Tobi, grabs his arm, and teleports them off.
"Did that really just happen?" Suigetus asks.
"Suki, is that guy really related to you? I mean he had the Sharingan!" Karin asks.
Suki bites her lower lip. She honestly didn't know. What were the odds that Itachi had missed someone on that night? Was it possible that Tobi had been on a mission or already left the Leaf to join the Akatsuki before that fateful night happened?
There were now so many questions swirling around in her mind, that Suki felt dizzy. That man was obviously important somehow. Itachi wouldn't have reacted like that, if Tobi wasn't a threat somehow.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out." She decrees.
"Yeah. In the meantime, what should we do with him? Should we just kill him?" Suigetsu asks as he glances at the unconscious Kisame.
Suki shakes her head. It was tempting. Kisame was certainly a formidable ninja in his own right and couldn't be trusted, but it'd be a waste. He might have valuable information that could help them track down Itachi, after all.
"No. We're taking him with us. You can have his sword though. Whether you want to join us or head off to find the other swords own your own is entirely up to you." The raven haired woman replies.
This was truly the moment of truth. Suigetsu had what he wanted. He had the Samehada. If it had just been fun or him messing with her head, there was no reason for him to stick around now.
That thought was filling her with a lot more dread than it should have. Suki almost felt like she was going to be sick. Was this what it was like to actually worry about things like this? To worry if a boy actually liked you?
"What? You think that I'm going to leave you now, Princess? Things are just starting to get interesting. Besides, I don't really know where the other swords are. I might find them as we try to hunt down your freaky brother. It's not like I have any leads." The violet eyed ninja muses.
No wonder the other Leaf girls were always such basket cases. This was not a good feeling. What if he was about to just leave?
That's when she hears his words. He was staying! Suigetsu was actually staying, even after he had that damn sword!
"Alright. Sounds good. Well now we have two objectives. To find Itachi and Tobi. Kisame might be able to give us some useful information, once he's conscious. For now, we need to get somewhere safe and drag them with us." She says.
"How are we suppose to carry them? They're huge!" Karin says.
"I'll just use the Susanoo." Suki explains as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Karin nods, seeming to accept that answer. Why wouldn't she? The woman had seen what that particular Jutsu was capable of. There were times when Suki really loved having the Mangekyo Sharingan and this was one of them.
"Sounds good, Princess. Let's go." Suigetsu says and with that, Team Taka headed off to find a place to stay while they waited for the two unconscious ninjas to wake up.
Elsewhere Mei sighs. She couldn't believe that Dai had left. Well she could and she couldn't.
The man was a very dedicated ninja. He had a mission and he was going to see it through. Apparently, he was even willing to do so at potentially the cost of his own life.
"Why are all the good ones so stubborn?" She asks herself.
Perhaps she should try to find leads on Suki. If she could find that woman and return her to the Leaf, then Dai would be free to come back to her. He'd be free to come back to her and be properly treated.
It was the perfect plan. Though she knew that it was easier said than done. There was a reason why the Leaf had spent years looking for that girl. She was quite adapt at playing Hide and Go Seek.
"Not for long though." Mei mutters to herself.
She'd just dispatch as many ninjas as she could to look for her. Surely, someone would find her or at least discover a key to Suki's whereabouts. It was her only hope really.
"Then I can finally get married and we can start our lives together. Well after he recovers of course." She whispers to herself as she clutches a flower that Dai had given her.
"What's this?" Mei asked in confusion when Dai had covered her eyes with one hand and placed something into her hands.
"A present for you. I used a Jutsu to preserve it. As long as that flower is alive, I am as well. It's tied to my chakra." Dai explained as he removed his hand from her face.
Mei smiled as she looked down at the beautiful red rose. It was the perfect symbol of their love and now, she would always know if he was alive or not. How thoughtful.
"It's beautiful. I love it." She told him with a smile.
"Good. It suits you then." Dai said, returning her smile with one of his own.
"That man really does have a beautiful smile." The Kage observes to herself as she heads off to dispatch the necessary ninjas to find Suki Uchiha.