BlackBeta loves you all :D
Deidara seems to be 'alive' again. So... where is Itachi? I really miss him. The anime isn't the same without him. I want him to be alive and beat some sense into his 'out of control and mind' brother. And btw...
Ignore all mistakes you'll find. I gave up making it sound good after reading it for the seventh time XP *is k.o.*
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Naruto world, it belongs all to Kishimoto. If not I would own my dear Itachi.
Chapter 19 Memories: Is this what they call fear?
Sasuke's POV
A sigh left my lips as I wandered down the streets with my hands hidden in my pockets. The blonde dobe drooled at the smell of fresh cooked food as we walked past the stores. Suddenly our only but annoying female member stopped in front of one that had tons of jewelry.
"Look, those are so pretty." She said in fascination. If you ask me the better term for these 'pretty' things is 'trash'. All this shiny, eye cancer producing stuff is not worth my precious time.
"If you like them so much Sakura-chan then chose one and I'll buy it for you." Naruto giggled, grinning stupidly. He then turned towards me. "Sasuke-teme, can you hand over some money Itachi-Sensei gave us?"
"No." I answered with my usual cool voice.
"Cold hearted bastard."
"Thanks for the compliment and right back at you, clumsy idiot."
He growled at this and before he was able to throw back any curse I was already skipping ahead, avoiding the upcoming nonsense he sure would have started. Sakura mumbled my name in a disappointed way, followed by a 'wait Sasuke-kun' and with a big sulking look on his face Naruto went after.
Many uninteresting stores passed by as I watched every one of them closely. It shouldn't be that difficult to find a clue to this whole 'rumor and mission' crap thing, now should it? But what exactly was I looking for? I didn't know yet. So I continued my search for any small sign when suddenly my stomach gave a low grumble and I was glad that it was overlapped by Naruto's much louder one. That dobe was about to start another useless complaining session but I decided to be a step ahead and stopped at a food stall - for the sake of my ears, brain and stomach.
"What do you want to eat?" I asked annoyed.
"Ramen!"
"Not available as you can see baka."
"Argh! Then a big cup of rice and pork!" I rolled my eyes at that.
"And for me the light version." Sakura said quietly while blushing.
I repeated our orders to the man and added mine. After paying him we stood around a table and ate more or less happily our meal. I watched the people chatting and activated my Sharingan to understand their conversation. Let's blame it on my bad luck that nothing useful came out. Information gathering wasn't as easy as expected. Naruto used my mental absence to his advantage and tried to envolve Sakura into a small talk. She immediately showed her distaste by turning him down again.
The pink girl then turned to me and was about to ask me something but stopped before doing so. I had my chopsticks put down on the bowl one moment ago and gestured the other two to follow. We went further into the city and I sighed heavily. Where the hell will I find something interesting?
Damn, how comes that it seems like that only Itachi knows where to get information? Is he that much better than me?
"So many questions and no answer?"
A voice asked through the crowdy place. The location and the owner unknown to me and to tell the truth I didn't care. Why would I care about someone's pointless babbling?
"Is the feeling of walking through a mist of doubt nagging at your soul? Is it like no one can tell what you need to know? About what you need to know the most? Your future?"
I stopped at the last part and was standing in front of a strange looking tent. Red silky curtains were decorating the entrance, a fluffy carpet stretched over the floor. A thin mist lingered in the air that smelled of flower parfume and something refreshing. It already looked odd but the most irritating thing turned out to be the other end of the inviting tent. There was a table and two chairs, one of them empty and in the other one sat an old woman. She wore a dress with various different colors, a pink scarf around her head and a cloth that covered her mouth. Her expression was as mysterious as the rest of her appearance and the room she was in. I eyed her closely and there was no doubt in mind that this woman was a fortune-teller.
"And you think you know the answer to the questions about our future? Don't make me laugh." I retorted coldly.
Instead of feeling offended by my insult she merely smirked at me. "Why don't you have a try young man? Ask me what you want to know."
I scoffed at her and wanted to head on but I couldn't because of a certain idiot who wasn't going along with my silent order.
"Don't mind this jerk, old lady!" Naruto exclaimed and sat down in the chair in front of her. "Can you forecast my future?" His bright grin actually made her smile and she shuffled her cards then. The blonde watched in awe when five of them were perfectly laid out across the table.
"Let's see..." She started and traced a finger over the cards. "You'll grow up to find good friends, friends you can count on no matter what. The people around you will respect you as the person you are, your dream will become reality. Your hard work will result in an important and honorable reputation but an even greater happiness will bring your love. You will marry the said woman and your life will further be blessed with your children."
Naruto turned tomato red at the last statement. He stuttered and ruffled his hair in embarassment. "R-really? Just like I've always imagined it!"
So I will become the next Hokage and marry Sakura-chan? I feel like fainting because of happiness, 'tebayo!
"Can I now?" Sakura asked shyly. The blonde stood up and offered her his place as the lady began to set out her cards anew.
"Your future is quite interesting... You will get the reputation worth your work and your position will become quite important too. However, an unfortunate event will occur, causing you to doubt your own feelings. But it will turn out for good. In the end you will be rewarded with love. This person will be the partner on your side and you will be having kids too." She finished and the pink haired girl began to squeal.
I so knew it! Sasuke-kun and I will marry and we will become the happiest family ever! Inner Sakura screamed confidently.
They were overjoyed with their 'forecast' at which I could only shake my head. "And you really believe in this crap she told you? She said what you wanted to hear. Didn't you notice that it was almost identical? Bullshit. I bet my future will be the same even though I would never stoop to something as pathetic as love."
Pathetic. Naruto and Sakura were so naive, so easy to convince, so easily blinded. I could do nothing but to shake my head at their ignorance. Really, their future sounds like a dream with the sappiest happy ending ever. Tell me, since when is life so beautiful and simple? It was too good to be true. They are just so carefree, it's almost annoying. But yet I couldn't deny the fact that I was kinda curious about how my future will be.
"Why don't you sit down and find out yourself? Then you will know for sure if your future is the same."
I didn't know what possessed me but I found myself siting down and staring into her lavender eyes. I held a hard expression only proving my distrust to this whole 'destiny and fore-telling' crap.
She shuffled the cards before she played them out in one fluid movement. When her eyes landed upon the pictures and the way they were sprawled on the table she frowned. A pause filled the tent and after a few more moments she broke the silence.
"I've never seen something like this before..." The woman said quietly and carefully read the meaning of her cards.
"A shadow of misfortune lies above your future. Manys event will occur, constantly changing between good and bad. One moment everything seems right and one moment later it all comes to fall apart. Your past will haunt you down once again as heaven turns to hell, joy to pain and love to hatred. Yet the greatest misfortune will be waiting for you and then you have to decide. You have to decide between light and darkness, heart and morals, love and hatred. But however your decision will be... the price you have to pay is high."
Naruto and Sakura gasped and I fell silent. The lady looked up from her cards to watch the expressions washing over my face in a quick wave.
I must admit that she really made me think about it. So my future will be troublesome and difficult to enjoy? Did I really expect something else? My past was a hell so why would my future be any better? But I can't deny that I was hoping for something to look forward to. It bothered me, especially those two statements. First that my past will haunt me down once again. I think I can pretend all I want but my past will never leave me alone. To experience it again will be a real nightmare then. Second, I have to make a decision and the price will be high. Seems like however I decide the outcome will make me suffer. Great, now I really have a reason to live for - sarcasm. See why I wanted to avoid this?
"Tell me young man, is this what you wanted to hear? Still 'identical bullshit'?"
"It sounds so sad." Sakura said, her voice quiet.
"It depends on how you decide. There's still a way out you just have to find the direction." She spoke wisefully.
Silence filled the room once again, the strands of my hair fell to veil my eyes as I lowered my head, a single word left my lips.
"Ridiculous."
This simple word caught the attention of my other teammates.
"Past, love, decision..." I repeated the words in an utterly calm voice. "You don't know my past and you don't know me. How can you claim crap like this without knowing a damn thing about my past? Without knowing me? I would never love. I never have and I never will. And you get money by talking crap like this? I have had enough, let's go."
I stood up, feeling my head starting to hurt I traced a few soothing circles on my temple. Her speech of nonsense made me feel so dizzy or was it because of this suffocating smell of parfume? Whatever the cause I just wanted to get out of here. The room seemed to start spinning as I walked up to the other two of my team.
What the fuck is going? My head hurts, my body feels heavy and my sight is getting darker. I feel like drugged. Wait, could it be? That bitch...
"Sasuke-kun, what is going on here? My body is so weak all of a sudden." Sakura asked in worry as she struggled to keep her eyes from closing.
"Is this Genjutsu?" Naruto mumbled as he leaned up against the nearest object for support.
"No. It's not an Illusionary Technique, it's... the air. The air around us is drugged." I pointed out with great effort to keep my voice firm. My only response was an evil chuckle.
The next thing I noticed were two thuds as my comrades lost their consciousness and fell to the floor. My heart pounded faster as I fought against the overwhelming weakness. My body heavy as stone, my sight black, my head spinning as my power faded rapidly.
It was a trap. They lured us into this place to drug us with poisonous air. My body is too numb to fight, my strength zero and to top it all...
"Shit." I cursed as I hit the floor and became unconscious one moment later.
...Itachi is not there when we need him for once. Just as expected.
Normal POV
A clapping sound rang through the tent, a man stepped out of the shadows behind the woman. With a smirk he watched the three Genin laying on the floor and chuckled.
"You did well. It was a great idea to fill the air with a paralyzing mist. I didn't expect that this brat would notice it and though it was too late for him I must admit that he surprised me and that's rare."
"What will you do with the kids now?" She asked as she took her reward out of the man's hand. He looked up at her, his turqiose eyes shining in the light that radiated off the candles on the table. A smirk crept across his face.
"Waiting for what the future will bring. Everything happens according to plan. They don't know it yet but these three little Genin will help me to get rid of the person who was forecast to be the downfall of my destiny... Uchiha Itachi."
...
Where could they be? I have to concentrate. Where can I get the information I need?
The moment Itachi entered the city he got onto the first building in sight and jumped from roof to roof, quickly moving forward. He wasted no time, searching for a sign of a certain chakra source.
This situation feels so familiar. A way that I'm running along, trying to find Sasuke with these uneasy feelings in my mind. The only difference from back then is that now I'm not only trying to save my brother but also my whole team. I have to find them. They are relying on me. I can't let them down no matter what and no matter how much it reminds of that day...
...
-Flashback-
Desperate heavy pants could be heard, a young boy came to stop his tiring running. He leaned himself up against a tree and threw his head back, trying to catch his breath. His body started to tremble from his earlier actions, causing him to slide down to the moist ground. He pulled his knees near his chest and buried his head into them, tears falling down his eyes.
"Nii-san, you idiot. I hate you. You are so mean." Sasuke mumbled, tightening his grip around his legs.
"Tou-san once said that I can be glad to have a big brother like you and kaa-san told me that big brothers are always there for the younger ones. Lies, all lies. You are a liar nii-san."
The little Uchiha stood up, wiping his tears away as more of them came dripping down his cheeks. His lips trembled and his body suddenly became cold. It was now that he noticed how dark and chilly the forest was. Sasuke wrapped his arms around himself to keep the last bit of warmth he had. The moon was high up in the air, casting another shadow down on him. He froze. A presence was behind him and one moment later he felt himself being pulled into an embrace.
Sasuke struggled, fighting against the hold the stranger had. He gasped in surprise when he heard a familiar voice.
"I'm sorry otouto. Sorry for breaking my promise to you but you must understand that kaa-san would be really worried if we don't come home in time."
Itachi's POV
I could feel my little brother calming down and then he started to wriggle and kick against me.
"Stay away from me!" He yelled. "I want to be alone!"
Sasuke managed to free himself out of my hold even though his body regreted losing the warmth, longing for it to be back but his mind thought otherwise.
"We have to go home. Do you want for mother to worry that much about us? Don't be stubborn now, come with me otouto."
I held out my hand for him to take it but was slapped away, an angry look on Sasuke's face. I was about to say something when suddenly a dark voice reached our ears.
"What are two little kids like you doing at a time like this all alone in the forest? Don't you know that dangerous people are sneaking around, searching for innocent preys like you?"
A man jumped out of a tree, landing on the ground a several steps before us. I felt a cold shudder run down my spine and the mischievous look on the intruder's face wasn't making it any better. I gazed up at him and noticed that he wore a dark blue pants, a green jacket and a headband with a strange shape engraved around his forehead. I remembered what father has once told me about the shinobis and their nations as I could now identify the man as a Chunin from Kumogakure.
This is bad. That man is a Chunin and I'm just a Genin. I have only the basics and one technique in store so far. Plus, I have to be careful that he won't hurt my brother. Sasuke is just three years old and doesn't know anything about fights. To make it even worse I can't escape this place to call for help and nobody would expect us being out here and attacked. Seems like I have to fight him all alone.
I glared at him as I stepped up in front of my brother in a protective way. The Kumo shinobi chuckled at this and when his eyes landed upon my headband an amused sound fell from his lips.
"You are already a Genin? You are quite young considering your looks."
I took out a kunai of my holder in response. "Don't judge a ninja by appearance. Didn't they teach you something like that at class?"
"A young and conceited ninja. Well, this could get interesting. I will be having fun ripping you into pieces you cocky brat. And after I'm done with you I will do the same thing to the one hiding behind you." The man licked his lips and Sasuke whined in fear.
"Nii-san..."
"Don't worry otouto. I will defeat him and then we can go back home. And tomorrow we will continue with your shuriken lesson, okay?" I promised and put on a smile to assure my brother.
His eyes widened in surprise for a moment. "Hai, nii-san."
"But first you have to survive this day." The enemy said in a sickening voice, chuckling evily. He then made a few hand seals. I only blinked once and the man was gone within eyesight. I looked around to find a source of him, never stepping away from Sasuke knowing the other would use this moment to his advantage.
A wind brushed through the trees, creating more sounds to the already existing ones from the evening atmosphere and animals. It was getting harder to focus on detecting the man who was still hiding somewhere. Leaves rustled and I spinned towards the direction of the sound. I could only see a mess of green and deep blue as something hard hit me in my stomach and I was sent flying backwards. Blood splashed out of my mouth when I made impact with a tree.
"Nii-san!" Sasuke yelped in shock. He ran over to me, trying to help me up. I got back to my feet again and wiped the blood on my lips away with the back of my hand. "I'm fine otouto."
"We have to get help! We need to call tou-san! He will help us and defeat this cruel guy!"
"That won't work Sasuke. The possibility of us getting killed is higher than the one of us escaping. We must defeat that man first."
"But Itachi-niisan, I don't think that you or me is able to do that. You are already a Genin but he seems so much stronger."
"It will have to do, otouto." I said and created my own hand signs. I concentrated on the sounds around me and when the next ruffle could be heard I had my technique finished.
"Fire element: Grand Fireball no Jutsu!" A large fire came out of my mouth and blew over the grass towards my aim. But the man just smirked and disappeared out of sight only to re-appear in front of me again. I gasped in surprise and was about to start a counter attack but he was faster than me and sent me with another kick into the next tree. Blood splashed out when the impact hit me and I coughed afterwards. He was damaging my ribs with this. Sasuke rushed to my side, worry in his eyes. Yet even though my body was in pain I was somehow glad that he only intended on hurting me - at least for now.
This is really bad. He's not only quick but also strong in close combat. At this rate I'm going to lose and he will kill us then. I have to think of a plan.
"What's wrong kid? Already out of breath? But we have only started now and still have to reach the end of this." The man mocked, smirking in a sick way. He licked his lips and made the same seals like he did in the beginning, the same strange speed technique.
"How about we get serious?" His voice ripped through the forest, the echo came from different sides at the same time.
Sasuke whined and gripped the hem of my shirt. When I tilted my head back to look over my shoulder I saw fear in his face. Who could blame him? He's only three years old and already envolved into a fight. And what could I say? I was not feeling better. The difference between Chunin and Genin not being the point that made me feel so uneasy and dare I say it, afraid? No, I was afraid that I might not be strong enough to save not only my life but Sasuke's as well. I had the responsibility of my brother's life weighing on my eight years old shoulders. Me, who had not enough battle experience for that. Me, who was unfortunately pictured as the Uchiha's prodigy. The situation didn't look good for us. A happy end seemed out of reach.
But I have to do something! Come on Itachi, put all your skills together to make it happen! You have to! You are the big brother who vowed to forever protect your little brother!
"I promised it..."
The next strike hit me, forcing me to double over in pain and falling to my knees. I got up again, wiped another splash of blood from my lips.
Even if he damages my rips, tears my lungs apart, makes me bleed over and over...
The man disappeared with his nearly lightening speed. I finished my seals and shot another wave of fire towards him. He dodged it easily and hit me again. I rose up, hearing Sasuke calling out for this to stop.
I won't stop until I defeat this guy!
My little brother cried, his body was consumed by fear now. I looked at him and smiled, a smile that said 'have faith in me'. I promised our mother to come back and I promised myself that we return alive. And this promise is one I would keep. Now matter what. With this thought in mind I felt a fire of determination burning inside me and it was then that I noticed a change within me - a real change. Sasuke's eyes widened and a gasp left his lips.
"Nii-san, your eyes..."
Obsidian changed into crimson, one black drop on either side.
The enemy prepared for another strike but something seemed out of place. His movements have become slower. I could see him jump from one spot to another in a blink of an eye. Yet it wasn't enough. He got me and I found myself hovering over the grass which was stained with blood drops that fell from my mouth after my enemy's hit. How much more could I take before I pass out? But the Kumo shinobi was only toying with me, hitting me with sadistic pleasure to draw some blood but not enough force to actually kill me. I guess he wanted me to die a slow and painful death due to grave internal wounds.
I have to concentrate. This is not enough even though I can see his movements better than before. It's still not enough to win this. I need more...
Another kick against my stomach, another splash of blood. Tears rolled down Sasuke's eyes as he sobbed loudly, pleading for someone to save us.
I need more, more, more...
One drop on either side changed into two.
A fist connected with my jaw, causing my lips to split open and blood dripping down. My brother whispered a desperate "stop this" over and over again.
More, more, more...
"This will be your end, you pathetic brat!" The enemy called out and drew a very sharp dagger that held the seize of ten inch. He ran up to me then and Sasuke couldn't take this any longer. My little brother covered his eyes in fear as I felt mine closing slowly.
More!
My eyes flew open, adrenaline shot through my whole body and my heart raced like never before. It was a now or never situation: either way I defeat him or we get killed.
Two drops on either side changed into three.
The Kumo shinobi was now in close range, only ten feet away.
"I promised it. I will always be there to protect you, because..."
The dagger in the other's hand was being pulled back for the final blow.
"...that's what big brothers are for."
Time slowed down, every single step the man took was in sync with my heart beat that seemed to be the only sound I could hear for now. Sweat trickled down my forehead, an emotion I haven't felt before rose within as one question flood my shaking mind.
...Is this what they call fear?
"Nii-san!"
AN: And cut. Isn't that a worthy cliffhanger? Sorry guys but I had to do another, even more anime-like one ;P I feel ashamed of how weak Itachi looks like now. I made the enemy in return strong but still... oh well. I hope you somehow understood what was going on. I wanted it to be not so obvious but rather something like... cool/thrilling? Dunno. And yeah, the fortune crap is a spoiler of what the future will bring - if I ever get to this chapter in this life that is. Kidding ;P Well, see ya next time. BB