A/N: Again, I changed a little. You probably won't notice it if you're reading it for the 2nd time. I didn't touch the fight, it was too hard.
.:Beyond What My Eyes Can See:.
Chapter 4- Unfinished Business
(Akane's POV)
"MIZUKI-CHAN!" I yelled out loudly, running forward out of the smoke I created earlier as I changed back into my real self.
I was crying a million tears; I failed miserably to protect my friend. This could not be good; Uchiha Itachi, an S-class missing-nin, who also happened to be her most hated person in the whole entire world, just kidnapped Mizuki.
"Why didn't any of you try and save her? Why?" I inquired the people who were just standing there, shocked at the whole scenario.
'Akane will you please calm down.' Senji told me.
"Calm down, Senji? Calm down?" I repeated questioningly. "My best friend just got kidnapped by missing-nin! And what about the poison?" I added my temper rising.
"Senji, what just happened?" the silver-haired man, who mysteriously knew Mizuki asked, utterly dumbfounded at what had just occurred moments ago.
"Isn't it obvious?" I mumbled rudely.
'Akane.' Senji scolded.
"Humph. I'm sorry." I stated, bowing slightly to this stranger to show my apology; I was really in a very mad mood right now.
'Please excuse Akane; she's just worried about Mizuki.' Senji told the jounin.
I started walking away, not wanting to waste time chatting with these people who did not know how bad this situation was. I had to devise a plan to get Mizuki back. It wasn't going to be easy, I didn't even know where to find her in the first place.
'Maybe she'll be much safer with him and possibly be happier. In fact, I think it's for the best if she was with him; she'll be able to get what she wants.' I thought, thinking positively until I was interrupted.
"Akane!" the silver-haired jounin called.
"What is it?" I asked as I turned around.
He had a lot of questions and he thought I knew the answers. I could give some of the information he needed but I did not reveal to this stranger, Hatake Kakashi and his students.
"If you are really know Mizuki, you'd be aware of what they want; they want Syrrine's power just like the rest of them." I told them, calmly.
From what I've noticed and found out, Hatake Kakashi was once an Anbu who watched over Mizuki; and one of his students, Uchiha Sasuke was Itachi's younger brother. This boy, Sasuke, seemed so interested in Mizuki, well I couldn't blame him for crushing on her; she's very strong and beautiful, almost perfect, what else could you ask for?
"Why did she seem so weak?" the young pink-haired girl stated questioningly and somewhat jealous, making me realize that she liked Sasuke, which was a complete understatement.
"For your information, Mizuki is not weak! She was holding back! What you saw wasn't even half of her strength!" I yelled in annoyance; I didn't know how Mizuki could stand it when people underestimated her!
'Akane, please.' Senji told me off.
I sighed and said, "I have no idea as to where he might've took her but maybe she's better off with him anyway." I muttered, shocking them all.
(Back to Mizuki's POV)
I sat in the middle of a dark and eerie room, all alone. I could not believe how stupid they were! They expect to keep me here but they did not have anyone guarding me and these ropes were supposed to stop me from escaping!
"Pathetic." I whispered blankly, a small smirk on my face.
I closed my eyes as a sharp kunai slipped from the sleeve of my jacket. They did not even disarm me; were they so confident that I would not escape? I slyly cut the ropes binding my hands together and proceeded with untying my ankles; this is getting dubious.
"So they did do something after all," I mumbled, noticing that they had taken my weapons pouch. "Though I think they could've done a better job." I added, smirking at their ignorance.
I walked forward, moving toward the narrow window on the far eastside of the room. It was locked, not that securely though for I effortlessly disabled its lock. I easily slipped out of the opening, swiftly jumping down onto the ground. I landed with a small 'thump' upon the ground and gracefully stood up straight.
"This is way too easy." I told myself, getting even more suspicious.
I looked back at the Akatsuki headquarters; it seemed to be a rundown building in the middle of nowhere but I knew that it was just a very powerful genjutsu to disguise its true purpose of sheltering missing-nins. Suddenly the sense of the one who had been watching my escape grew stronger. He was coming; finally, he was going to show himself.
"Uchiha Itachi." I muttered, trying to hide the hate and anger present in my voice as I said his name.
"Where do you think you're going?" he asked as he revealed himself to me.
"What's it to you?" I retorted quite blankly, although deep inside I really wanted to strangle him.
"I cannot let you escape, Mizuki." Itachi said in response with no emotion at all.
"Don't speak to me as if nothing happened, Uchiha." I told him, my voice expressionless yet somewhat mad. "Nothing will ever be the same again because I will kill you." I continued, taking my fighting stance.
He seemed as though he was not taking me seriously and that annoyed me. I charged at his stationary body, aiming a punch at that irritatingly handsome face of his. He finally moved, searching one of his pockets for a weapon maybe however I was incorrect; it wasn't a weapon but a necklace – my necklace!
I was shocked; how the hell did he get a hold of it? That was not the only thing that went wrong; he was able to deflect my attack with his free hand, grabbing mine tightly preventing any escape. I looked at my necklace and then back at his face, yelling.
"Give it back to me, NOW!" I had screamed, trying to grab it but he prevented me from doing so.
"Why do you still keep this?" he asked somewhat innocently. "Don't you hate me?"
"I do." I answered him. "And I swear that I'll kill you if you don't give that back to me!"
"Then kill me now." He said surprising me so.
"Huh?" I muttered, alarmed that he took me so lightly.
"You said you hated me. You said you were going to kill me; were all those just words?" he answered, making me agitated.
"If that's what you want; it'll be my pleasure!" I retorted regaining my composure quickly.
With that, I retaliated my free hand and punched him squarely in the face, hard. The impact caused him to turn the other way but he seemed unfazed when he turned back to face me, that infuriating smirk plastered upon his face.
"Was that supposed to kill me? Was that it, Mizuki?" he inquired, blood trailed down his lips.
I returned his smirk and back flipped out of his grasp, back into my fighting stance. I was determined to finish him off once and for all; he was really getting on my nerves. He wouldn't live to hear me say how much he had ruined my already disastrous life.
"I'll just have to get my necklace back from your rotting corpse later." I stated darkly, activating the Eyes of Chaos as well.
That painful feeling that sucked all my strength was still present and I just knew that the poison was acting up again but I could not let that get in the way of this fight. I ignored the pain and endured the sudden feeling of weakness; I did not want Itachi to find out that I had a disadvantage. I still kept my bloodline on; it was not as effective as it would've been since I'm only using less than half of its power. I panted but if I wanted to end his life, I had to try my hardest to fight back!
No matter which element or whatever technique I use, I could not hit Itachi; it's not like I wasn't capable of this, it's just that I still could not hurt him. What was wrong with me? I was finally given the opportunity to give Itachi what he deserved but why was I still holding back?
"You're tired already, Mizuki?" he asked me in that same blank tone of voice.
I had stopped speaking, knowing he was just wanted to annoy me with his blabbering. Instead of talking, I attacked him though I wasn't anywhere near to killing him. I ceased my rain of attacks to catch my breath; I was really exhausted and I knew Itachi was too, he just didn't show it.
This time, I saw things differently; I did not care if I would not be able to kill Itachi, there'd be plenty of chances I'd get to do that but my necklace, it meant so much to me. It was the only thing that made me feel like I was in the arms of the Itachi I loved; I didn't want it to fall in the hands of this killer Itachi, I just couldn't.
I stood still in one spot, glaring at Itachi, who was walking toward me. My eyes looked down his chest where the locket of my necklace laid; I so desperately wanted it back, why wouldn't he give it back to me?
"Give – it – back..." I panted softly and weakly, barely even audible.
Was it just me or did Itachi just disappear? I sharpened all my senses, looking around and trying to find him, who suddenly appeared behind me. In a swift movement, I turned around to hit him but he wasn't there anymore. I felt a soft pull upon my neck, making me look down. My necklace was hanging there but how the heck was that possible?
"What the -?" I whispered, shocked.
I looked up to Itachi, giving him a deadly look, if he thinks returning my necklace would make me reconsider killing him, he's dead wrong. I tried to punch him but he caught my fist. I attempted to kick him with my left feet but again he had blocked my attack. I bent my right knee and made my free hand touch the ground beneath me. He looked at me with utter curiosity; not knowing what I'll do for my Eyes of Chaos prevented his Sharingan from predicting my next movements. Before he knew it, I had kicked him right in the chest, making him let go of my hand and feet.
I panted, feeling that all the air in my lungs was suddenly forced out of me. I did not like that feeling; that feeling made me feel weak. I simply watched as Itachi stood back up, clutching his chest. My attack might not have done much damage but from the way I'm feeling now, that was the most I could do to him.
I stood straight just giving him an intense stare. We both did that for quite some time and wanted to look away, really I did but for some strange reason, I just couldn't take my eyes off of him. Just then, a sharp pain erupted from the deep cut on my right thigh. I placed my hand over it; trying to ease the pain it was causing me. I released my Eyes of Chaos; it had gone beyond my control. There were tears in my light black orbs and even if I tried to keep them from falling there was no stopping the flow of tears. It hurt so much; I wish someone would take the pain away! I breathed heavily, using my knees for support, still the pain would not go away.
(Itachi's POV)
There was something trickling down Mizuki's face, mixing with the blood from her reopened wound. She was in so much pain and I just wished I could relieve some of it from her. I just watched her for I did not want to attack; an enemy that could not fight back was not worth it.
This time, I think Mizuki might've pushed her limits much too far. She was so intent in hiding her weakness from me that it became quite obvious. I could not let her continue this test. Yes this was all just a test. The Akatsuki leader wanted to see Syrrine's power for himself but I failed to make her release its power; her emotions were well controlled, I must say. In any case, Mizuki has already proven her worth to the Akatsuki, there was no need to rush things; the leader should take my word for it.
Quite suddenly, Mizuki, once again, charged at me. I had to admit, her tolerance for pain was very impressive and I bet she had been ignoring the pain up until now. The tears streamed down from her pain-filled eyes as she attacked. I easily blocked her punch and all the rest of her attacks she aimed at me.
"Mizuki, that's enough!" I told her, hitting a pressure point to knock her out. "This test is over." I added to clear things out with the leader.
I had to report to the leader but my first priority was Mizuki's injury. As I carried her, blood gushed out of her wound but I did not know any healing jutsu, how unfortunate. I left her inside my room after re-bandaging her wound, which had finally stopped bleeding even just for the time being. I sighed whilst giving one last glance at her sleeping figure before shutting the door lightly. I then went to the leader's office, wanting to know what he wanted.
"Ah, Itachi. Come in," he said when he heard the first few knocks on his door.
"You wanted to see me?" I muttered in a blank tone as I entered his office.
"Yes." He answered, smirking behind the shadows.
I waited for his next words, predicting that it had something to do with Mizuki. It was simple it's either he wanted her to stay and join or he could want her dead; everything depended on her performance during our battle earlier.
"Even if I did not get to see the rumored power of Syrrine," he stated, somewhat amused.
"As you've noticed, she had an excellent control over her emotions." I interrupted, calmly.
"Of course, though she had a nasty temperament over you, Itachi." The leader retorted. "Nevertheless, she did have the potential to be a part of Akatsuki. Make sure of that, Itachi." He added moments later when I did not reply. "She'll be a useful instrument in our plans."
I merely nodded my head in approval, considering myself dismissed but before I could exit the double doors of his office, he called me back.
"I'll leave you in charge of keeping her 'under control', Itachi." He stated, his smirk growing wider.
I acquiesced with his orders and soon left his office, not another word was said. I headed straight to my room for I felt exhausted; that fight with Mizuki drained a lot of my energy, leaving my body in need of rest. I pushed open the door leading into my room and when I saw Mizuki sleeping serenely, I flashed a small smile. I lay down beside her, looming over her tranquil face, simply watching her rest. I brushed a few strands of her long hair out of her face and stole a quick kiss upon her soft lips; I just couldn't help myself.
I placed my head on my pillow, immediately falling into a blissful sleep. I dreamt of pleasurable memories that had happened three years ago; the times I spent with Mizuki were haunting my subconscious mind all throughout the night.
"Mizuki..." I whispered under the influence of stupor.
(Sasuke's POV)
"Are you kidding? He's a heartless killer!" I told this girl, Akane was it?
"I am dead serious, Uchiha." She retorted. "Day after day she deals with the people who was interested in Syrrine's power; at least in the Akatsuki, Itachi would be there to protect her and -" She continued.
"What makes you think that that sick b'stard will protect her?" I interrupted, enraged by her claims.
"I do not think, I know." She said to me. "Do you think Akatsuki will let anyone take Mizuki away from their control?" she added.
"But –" I tried to argue.
"And besides, Mizuki has some unfinished business she would like to complete." Akane interrupted me this time. "Being in the Akatsuki will make it easier for her get what she wants."
"You have a point there, Akane." Kakashi stated, ending the debate that was starting between Akane and me.
I chose to keep my thoughts to myself, realizing that she did have a point. But, trusting Mizuki with my brother, that's preposterous. From what I've heard from both Akane and Kakashi, Mizuki was most probably as strong as Itachi, if not stronger. Could a girl that pretty really be capable of beating my older brother, Itachi?
... Reviews are always welcome...