Chapter 8: A Truth Revealed
Hoshikagi Kisame
She gasped loudly before slapping a hand over her mouth to stifle all sounds that suggested her weakness, her prominent chest heaving up and down as she struggled for air. Naruto and I had moved on from our sad, destroyed little hut and had found Hinata fighting against four or five ninja. Three of them were on the ground dead already.
It was obviously an unfair fight but when you were a ninja, who cared? All the same though, Naruto had destroyed three of the ninja in a burst of angry red chakra and had turned upon the other two. I chose to watch from the sidelines; Naruto obviously could handle things himself.
After about five seconds of watching Naruto thrash the weak ninja, I entered Hinata's quarters. I looked around the neat and tidy room that was surprisingly intact, despite the battle we were in. Samehada was easy to find (you couldn't exactly hide something that big) and was propped up against the wall in a corner of the room. I picked it up and swung it over my broad shoulder, the unexpected weight was a welcome stranger to me after having not used a weapon in so long. I ducked as I exited Hinata's room; the doorframe was much too low, and wasn't surprised to see the enemy ninja slung carelessly across the floor, dead.
It had begun raining and the bridge was slippery with the fallen raindrops. Naruto ran over to Hinata, who didn't look like she'd be moving on her own anytime soon, and his flimsy leather sandals skidded on the bridge as he sprinted. Water flew up in all directions and the very direction of the rain seemed to change as it came into contact with the malevolent red chakra that surrounded the sun-kissed boy.
He dropped down to his knees beside her and she had put a shaky hand on his shoulder, closing her eyes as she tried to get her breathing under control. "Hinata! Oi, what's wrong? Hinata?"
"N-Naruto-kun," She whispered his name, clutching at his uncharacteristically dark clothes tightly, her knuckles turning white with the force she exerted.
Naruto's pair of cerulean eyes widened as Hinata began to cough up blood, trying to hide the spurts of red liquid behind her pale hand but a few treacherous drops gave away her condition. The blonde haired ninja laid her on the ground delicately, ripping open her shirt to get a better look at what was causing her so much pain.
It was kind of funny. In a life or death situation, you found yourself doing things that you would never have the courage to do in normal everyday life. Take this for example; Naruto would have started trembling before going anywhere near Hinata's shirt and Hinata would have gone bright red and speechless. Now that she was obviously severely injured though, all sense of pride and the morally right had disappeared in an instant.
I could make out the three senbon needles thrust into her upper right arm, rendering it useless, and the big graze on her left cheek. Naruto took a sharp intake of breath and I didn't have to see the rest of Hinata's body to know that she wasn't doing too well. Naruto lifted up Hinata as gently and as swiftly as possible, turning his head to throw me a quick and searching glance.
"Come on fish man, let's go," Naruto called to me and I nodded, running for a few paces after him.
I had used up most of my chakra earlier but I still had more than enough to get me away from here. Unseen by Naruto, I made a few quick gestures and the thin layer of wetness that the rain had graced me with began to hover slightly in mid-air and became a huge shapeless blob. It began to morph, stretching and shivering, until a perfect water replica of me ran was running at my side. I stopped moving as soon as the water had finished materializing. The clone threw a look at me over his shoulder, a sad look painted onto the both of our faces.
I watched the three of them leave.
With each step they took away from me, the emptier I felt.
With every loud slap that their feet made against the wet surface, the hollower everything began to sound in my ears.
The way Naruto looked at Hinata. It made me feel sad, empty. It reminded me of her and me in every way. The very scene seemed so…so familiar. I didn't have to think to realize why. I lowered my head to my chest, drawing my onyx eyes away from the three retreating figures. I issued Naruto a warning, advice that I wished I had had so many years ago in a quiet, hoarse whisper.
"Don't turn out the way we did."
I turned away from the blonde haired boy and the dark haired girl. I jumped down from the bridge and pushed off from tree to tree to slow myself down before landing on my feet in a crouch. The rain fell down upon me and I looked up at the swollen sky through the twisted and gnarled forest canopy.
I laughed quietly to myself. The rain rang in my ears, an echoing pitter patter of senselessness.
It was only now.
It was only now, out here with only the rain to listen to and Samehada's reassuring weight pressed against my shoulder.
It was only now I realized how alone I was all of a sudden.
Uzumaki Naruto
The moment I had turned to look back at Kisame, there had been something in his onyx black eyes which had felt so…so sad. The smirk on his face seemed almost plastered and as I turned back to the path of the bridge, I knew.
He was going to leave.
I knew that if I had hung behind and run at his pace, he wouldn't be able to run away. And for that very reason, I ran ahead of him, running as fast as I could.
The leather of his blue sandals slapped against the floor, each slap a loud and resounding bell of impending sorrow. I heard the sound of four various footsteps conflicting with each other and knew that he was leaving; he must have made a clone to try and convince me he was still there. Something quiet and barely inaudible reached my ears and I found myself looking up to hold back the tears I wanted to cry. I knew that this would be the last time I ever saw him again and I wanted him to live.
I wanted so much. I wanted him to be a citizen of Konoha. I wanted him to be a ninja, working alongside me. I wanted his name cleared. I wanted him to live.
"Don't turn out the way we did."
There was something more to his enigmatic words, a message I almost understood. I couldn't help but feel like those words were the saddest and most sincere words he had ever said in his life. I felt…I felt they were related to the mysterious woman he had once cherished and as the rain began to fall, I managed a little half-hearted smile.
At least he wasn't totally alone.
Hinata suddenly coughed and I felt the urge to whack myself overcome me, she was dying and I was too busy thinking about that stupid shark crossbreed! I picked up the pace, screaming out Sakura's name. My pace grew faster and faster, my voice grew louder and louder. She inhaled sharply, loudly. Her heart was pounding in my ears.
"Naruto, I can heal myself," She told me quietly and I stopped, looking at her through relieved cerulean orbs.
"Why didn't you say so sooner?" I grumbled in half hearted annoyance that I didn't really mean and lowered her to the ground gradually, being particularly careful not to hurt her in any way.
She closed her eyes and I watched her skilful hands, mesmerized by the soft green light that flowed from her hands and into her bleeding open wound. The very sight of the gash made me want to hug her or at least give her some comfort. I didn't know how she could put up with something like that without screaming out in pain. As the wound began to gradually close by itself, I noticed how taut the skin pulled over it was and asked her about it.
She explained sadly, "When someone heals with chakra, the person being healed suffers in the long run because all you're simply doing is forcing the healing to go faster. Your body ages quicker and you die earlier than others."
I stared at her in horror. All those times she and Sakura had healed someone…they were just shortening that person's life?
"That's why we try to use more material ways of healing and avoid chakra unless it's absolutely necessary," She added and then suddenly realization hit me like a sack of bricks.
If Hinata was constantly in contact with the chakra needed for healing…wouldn't the same rule apply to her?
"Then…will you die earlier as well?" I asked in barely a whisper, dreading the answer.
The slight twitch at the corners of her lips told me everything I needed to know.
I fell to my knees at her side, groping about for her hands and she made no protest as I squeezed them tightly. I kissed each and every one of her slender fingers, she instead watched me tiredly through her unreadable opaque eyes. My cerulean eyes welled up with unshed tears as I realized that she and Sakura were giving up so much more than I ever could...than Sasuke ever could…
A lump in my throat all but prevented me from asking the next question but I forced myself to ask Hinata a final question.
"How long…?" I asked her in a strangled, reluctant voice. I found my usually effortless courage draining out of me as if someone had pulled out a plug from its socket; I just couldn't ask her the rest of the question.
She smiled a sad heartbreaking smile.
"I probably won't live to be forty," She told me calmly in that soothing, quiet voice of hers.
She sat up gingerly, resting a hand against the bridge behind her to support her weight. I was barely aware of how close our faces were until she drew back slightly and turned her face away from mine. It was…it was as if she were ashamed of herself for having told me, her silver eyes were glazed over like a potter's final masterpiece.
I felt a surge of sudden anger, why the hell did she take up such a job if she knew it was going to kill her? Nobody should be expected to give up that much…and Hinata…this was Hinata! She…couldn't have made this decision by herself…someone must have forced her.
"Why…?" I whispered to her in disbelief and she made no move to reply.
We were left in an eternity of silence, the air around us an invisible shield to the outside world. All I could see was Hinata and all I could hear was the rise and fall of her steady breathing, rise and fall…rise and fall…
My hands snaked upwards slightly to cup her pale cheeks; she was so very cold and pale. She closed her eyes and I felt a slight pressure against my hands as she leaned further into my calloused palms. She opened her mouth slightly before shutting it again and I found myself captivated by the movement.
"You don't have to do this job," I told her.
She deserved a long and full life…didn't everyone? Being a ninja certainly did nothing for Hinata, she was just so different from the rest of us…she was much better suited as a gentlewoman or such; she didn't belong on the battlefield. She should have just left the fighting to the rest of us and none of us would think any lower of her…
Her eyes flickered open and for the first time ever they shone like a silvery beacon of determination. I could almost smell her will to live steaming off of her and she looked unflinchingly into my eyes.
"I know that," She murmured to me.
I was taken aback by her sudden strength and stared at her for a moment, wondering where her previous shyness had gone. She had certainly surprised me, who knew Hinata was full of so many surprises, but all I could do for the moment was admire her and her strength…a strength I longed to possess…
All of a sudden my mind had lost total control of my speech and my body.
My own face moved gradually towards hers. Her eyes were wide with surprise at the unexpected praise and I wondered when the last time was anyone ever gave her a compliment was.
Our foreheads touched and our eyelashes fluttered open and close at the same time in perfect synchronization. I realized how opposite we were in that moment; white and tan, blue and white, black and blonde. But then, found that I didn't really care, all I was thinking about was this moment and how short Hinata's life would be compared to mine.
And then, both of our faces were wet with tears but I couldn't tell whose they were; hers or mine. My breathing quickened, the loudest thing in my ears, and she made not a sound, not a single move. My hands groped around for hers and I held them tightly. I was afraid that if I let go she would slip through my fingers like water and she would be gone in the next minute. It was as if we were connected and a single break, a single flaw in that connection and I would lose her forever.
I needed to know she was here and still here with me. I didn't want to have someone leave me again. I needed her. I needed her to be here and her soothing presence. I couldn't lose her like I did Kisame and Sasuke and all the others.
"Stay with me," I begged her desperately, clutching at her shoulders.
She was absolutely silent. She pulled back from me with a far off look in her eyes. She was no longer smiling as she had been. This new expression of sadness, of regret, was the thing that frightened me the most. Her eyes were wet and she leaned forwards, her lithe arms wrapped around my broad shoulders.
I buried my face in the crook of her neck, kissing the pale skin tenderly to make sure she was still there, that she wasn't about to fade away. She gasped slightly at the feel of my warm lips against her cold skin and I began to kiss her feverishly, I was dimly aware of the red chakra of the Kyuubi taking control. I grew more demanding, my hand crawled up her thin shirt and all of a sudden I felt the urge to rip it off overwhelm me, my fingers trembling with anticipation. I traced an invisible path of kisses up her neck until I reached the corner of her mouth and I growled slightly in the back of my throat, looking down at her, meeting her eyes.
That one look was all it took for me to get the demon within me under control.
That one look, filled with so much trust and love, that I had longed for since I was a child. I felt overwhelmed by her expression and paused, pulling my hand free from underneath her shirt and straightened up from where I lay on top of her. I wasn't aware when I had pushed her to the floor but I sure as hell knew I was on top of her now. I was reluctant to pull my eyes away from her and all but forced myself to look away.
As my head turned however, a pair of slender arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me down into a gentle kiss.
Uchiha Itachi
The dim morning after the unexpected ambush was quiet. The wooden bridges were strewn with bodies of ninja, creaking and groaning underneath the added weight, and the smell of the newly dead no longer affected me. I had been around corpses much too long that I had gotten used to it but apparently that wasn't so with Sakura who turned a pale shade of green whenever she came into contact with a dead person. However, what I did find strange was the complete lack of effort to remove the dead bodies from the structure; I would have thought that Konoha still valued life and whatever sappy lies they fed to their genin on a silver spoon.
As I leaned against the wooden railing, I found myself thinking yet again. Sakura was somewhere near me, healing again I guessed, and I was left in contemplative silence. The corner of my lip twitched slightly in annoyance as Sakura's words from the night before struck a nasty chord in the sonata of my life.
"I can't hate you…not when you're so full of self-hatred."
How could she dare to make such an accusation? She was a low, weak ANBU ninja who couldn't even fend for herself, how could she dare tell me that I was full of…full of…
My calloused hands clenched the splintering railing behind me.
I hated those words. They were words of weakness, words of vulnerability and I had no desire whatsoever to hear them. I had always surrounded myself with the strong, untouchable things but everywhere I looked now I was surrounded by compassion and weakness. The tight scars on my face began to itch slightly and my mouth twitched slightly in an attempt to soothe the itchy feeling.
My blood red eyes flickered to Sakura's form as she leaned over a blonde woman who seemed to be in a lot of pain. A long, dark haired man held the woman's hand tightly, his dark brown eyes reflected worry and mounds and mounds of love. I grimaced at the sight, disgusted with what I saw, how could they be proper ninja if they wore their heart on their sleeve?
"She'll be alright, Shikamaru-san," Sakura murmured to the man and he nodded in relief.
He put an uncertain hand on her shoulder and quietly thanked her before ordering, "Get some sleep, Sakura-san. You need it more than the rest of us do."
Sakura simply smiled at him, a startling expression amidst the death surrounding her, and turned away from him. Her smile dropped the moment her back was turned and she stayed as far as our bond would let her. She made no move to come any closer and I looked up at the sky, patterned by the tree branches, convinced that I didn't care about her sudden caution.
Her words came back to me and I released the railing I was barely aware I was still clenching, murmuring something incomprehensible under my breath. In the pocket of my cloak, the remains of my necklace were a slightly reassuring weight.
We sat where we always did, the three of us. Ayame, Shisui and I, that is. Night had begun to creep in stealthily, casting an iridescent glow on the village below us, and we had a perfect view of it from where we sat atop the Fourth Hokage's monument. For once, we were all completely silent, captivated by the village where we lived.
Shisui was the first one to break the ice, as he always was, with a smug smirk and a confident, "That's ours."
His shoulder length shaggy brown hair framed his strong, defined face and his brown eyes sparkled brightly as the lights from the village below were reflected in his glassy eyes. At the age of eighteen, he stood at two heads taller than me; quite short for a ninja of his age. He had a large dark green duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a bright 'Sexy Ninja' patch was hastily ironed onto it.
"To be precise, it's the Hokage's," I reminded him. He threw me a lazy look over his shoulder and shrugged, looking over the railing.
"I don't really care if it's the Hokage's by right. It's ours and will always be ours. It's our home and the place I love," He replied with a note of passion in his voice.
"The place we love," Ayame murmured.
Her quiet, reserved voice rang out strangely in the silence of the deserted place, echoing slightly in the darkness. Shisui's smirk grew as he walked over to her and sat at her side, long legs crossed. Ayame's brown hair was only a shade or two lighter than Shisui's and he slung a lazy arm over her womanly shoulders, causing her pretty face to flush an embarrassed pink. He leaned closer towards her and tried to kiss her, but she turned her face away at the last moment. He was rewarded with a mouthful of hair.
"Ayame, come on," He grumbled in annoyance at her reluctance and I felt something within me whoop in triumph at his rejection.
He reached into the deep pocket of his jounin flak jacket and drew out a cigarette along with a transparent red lighter, one of those cheap ones you could buy for two dollars at any corner store. Ayame's face fell slightly at the sight of the cigarette and Shisui noticed her dislike of it. He pocketed the cigarette unhappily and began to flick the lighter repeatedly, watching the flame flicker to life before dying out again.
My mouth began to twitch as the repetitive sound began to get on my nerves; there was only so much I could take. I told him curtly, "Shisui, if you don't stop flicking that damn lighter I will break it."
He let out a loud sigh and bent his knees, staring down at Konoha. He stood up and walked over to the peeling blue railing, leaning against it with his arms. His back was to Ayame and I, she looked at me questioningly at his antics. I stared back impassively at her. All of a sudden Shisui drew his arm back before flinging his lighter over the monument. It clattered noisily against the tirelessly carved, wearing out stone faces of the various leaders and he shoved his hands into his pockets, a scowl on his face.
"I now have a reason to go and buy a new lighter. I'll see you two later," He waved us goodbye before disappearing in a quick flash and reappearing some few feet below us. He flashed and reappeared in quick succession on his way down to the village, clearly befitting of his nickname The Mirage. We watched as his dark figure grew farther and farther in the distance.
"Did I do something wrong?" Ayame asked me nervously and I shrugged indifferently.
"He's just annoyed that you didn't let him kiss you," I answered her. I ignored the guilty look on her face and added mentally, it's a good thing you didn't let him do it too.
"The two of you must be really stressed though. With the both of you having made ANBU and with the extra missions…" She trailed off towards the end of her sentence and I shrugged again, nonchalantly. I didn't really notice the change in my workload, it just meant less time for practicing ninjutsu.
"But are you okay with everything?" She asked me worriedly. I looked at her and my blood red eyes softened slightly, my lips curved slightly upwards in a reserved smile that only she could bring out.
"I'm fine. How's your job though? At Ichiraku?" I changed the subject abruptly, I didn't like talking about my work.
She laughed, a tinkly musical sound, and replied teasingly, "You should know, since you and Shisui are there nearly every day. It's going great though, my boss is a nice man."
"That's good," I told her, unsure of what to say next. A silence fell between the two of us and I stole frequent glances at her, all of which she was totally oblivious to.
She always sat with her back upright and she possessed that gentlewoman quality that the richer upper-class women dreamed of having. Her face was soft and slightly tanned. She was like a portrait; each feature lovingly painted onto a living canvas. Chocolate brown eyes filled with a warmth and intensity that completely and totally overwhelmed you were set into her beautiful face. I supposed her regal air was what attracted Shisui to her; he always did go for girls who were different.
And then I wondered. How could a woman like her be a waitress, a waitress of all things, at a roadside ramen shop?
I stood up, noticing that it was getting quite dark already, and held out a hand for Ayame to take so that I could help her up. She smiled gratefully at me, the contours of her face blended perfectly into one another, and she wrapped her two slender hands around mine. I pulled her to her feet without any effort at all, she was quite light, and she thanked me.
"ANBU squad number 32, you are needed at the Hokage's tower immediately," A voice crackled through on the thick black walkie talkie strapped into the belt of my sleek black ANBU uniform.
"This is Itachi, I understand," I confirmed my attendance and looked to Ayame. I inclined my head slightly and began to walk away from her, she knew why I was leaving and there was no reason to say goodbye.
However, she seemed to think otherwise.
She grasped my wrist in her gentle grip and I stopped, turning my head to look at her. She pulled me into a warm embrace that seemed so foreign, so strange, and she kissed my forehead tenderly. Something raced through my veins, like an electric shock, reaching every single cell in my body and I found that it wasn't a terrible feeling.
"Be safe," She whispered a blessing.
My fingers clenched around my broken necklace as the mental dam holding back memories of a different life cracked slowly, memory by memory, piece by piece. It began to flood my mind and I was drowning in my past. I was losing my resolve and the oblivion I had worked so hard to gain. I had forgotten about the two of them for the past six years…why was it that I remembered them now?
Someone grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and I was all but nose to nose with my younger brother. His onyx eyes were filled with fury and I remained calm and unflinching, staring unashamedly into his now mature face. His facial expression said what two thousand words could not.
"What the fuck did you do to Sakura?" He demanded. The entire encampment had grown silent with his serious accusation and I felt every pair of eyes in the area upon me. I remained quiet as long as I could, closing my dark red eyes.
"He didn't do anything! I was attacked by an enemy nin and-" Sakura protested loudly and I was surprised at her foolish attempt to defend me. However, pride prevented me from lying, even if it was Sakura who brought on the lie, and I opened my eyes again to meet Sasuke's.
"I beat her," I told him flatly.
I wasn't surprised when he hit me hard across the face, I almost expected it. He began to hit me again and again, furiously. I dodged most of his hits, my movements sloppy with only the slightest hint of a once effortless grace. My body was so tired and my mind was flickering on and off like a broken light bulb. Sakura screamed out in pain as my beating became hers and the blonde haired Kyuubi ran out to hold Sasuke back, knowing the consequences.
"Please, don't touch him," Sakura begged him and he struggled against Naruto wildly, glaring at her.
"Sakura, stop defending him! He's a mass murderer, he killed his own family and he tried to kill you. He would kill you in the blink of an eye if you gave him the chance," Sasuke spat at her viciously and he turned his head to meet my eyes.
"He's a monster."
Next chapter preview: Departure
"Do you know why they were so unwilling to let anyone under the age of fifteen train to become a medic?"
"My name is Hikari."
"I would look for you."
"Thank you so much…thank you…"
A/N:
Well, this is where serious angst begins. I tried to step everything up a notch and that means the angst should be sadder. Of course, for those of you who read the original then uh…sorry. Yeah, it's killing me to rewrite all the angst again as well. All my hard work…
There aren't going to be any Shisui/Itachi flashbacks for a long time. It's all Kisame now. What can I say, I'm getting attached to him. The next few chapters might be the worst ones because I've been away for a long time so I don't really remember what my characters are like or how they react. I need to rewrite all the Itachi scenes.
OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD SOMEONE DREW ME A FANART-
Yes, it does happen. Kin Kin drew me one for Never Ending Rainfall and now I get another one for Defining Evil. The artist didn't inform me (at least I don't think she did) but I was so bored I started googling Selandora and what-hey this kick ass fan art pops up. So many thanks to super cool XII-Itachi for my amazing fan art.
If you've drawn me anything just go ahead and tell me. It's always cool to get it and it makes you crazy for about ten minutes and smile for the next two hours. Hoohoo yes indeedy, just go ahead and tell sexy selandora about all the fan arts you make and-
Selandora