Escape from Haai Territory - Chapter 2: Starships
-.-.-
"Father! Have you gotten word yet? Can we go back for Itachi?" Sasuke barged into the Admiral's office, not bothering to knock or ask for permission. Sasuke had been attempting to speak to his father all day, and so far his efforts had been futile.
"Sasuke, it is against regulations to barge in like this. And while on duty, you will refer to me as Admiral." Fugaku Uchiha responded harshly.
"What about Itachi?!" Sasuke ignored his father's harshness.
Fugaku sighed. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I miss him too, but we have to move on. We have to accept he's probably died since he hit enemy territory. The most we can hope for is that he will not give any information to the enemy if he did manage to survive."
"That's the most we can hope for?!" Sasuke asked in rage, his face contorting in hatred. "What kind of attitude is that? You should be more concerned! He is your son."
"I know he is!" Fugaku dropped his calm demeanor and slammed his palm on his desk. "Don't you think I want to go out there and tear that planet apart myself?! But dammit Sasuke I have a ship to command! I can't just leave them to go on an expedition of my own free will." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the stress of the situation obvious on his features. "There is nothing we can do Sasuke."
"... There is and I will do it!" Sasuke responded angrily. "I quit."
"You what? Sasuke, you can't quit."
"I just did." Sasuke's eyes challenged his father's.
"Sasuke, you would be bringing shame to the Uchiha-."
"I don't care about the Uchiha name!" Sasuke angrily turned around, his hands balled into fists. "I care about my brother!"
Sasuke stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
-.-.-
"Tell me about the structure of the hub, any possible guards or other entrances, or just anything you know." Itachi had picked up some sort of space rock and was planning to use the cave walls as a paper on which to formulate an attack.
"Don't worry about that, let's just go in." Kisame shrugged, curious about the rock Itachi had picked up.
"No, we have to plan carefully or we will both get killed."
"You underestimate me."
"Never underestimate the enemy." Itachi said seriously, scribbling a circle on the wall to represent the hub.
"Well... I don't know too much but generally speaking a place like this would have a storage room which may contain a small ship - but it won't have the fuel or power to get us to another planet. We would need one of the larger star crafts which are full of Haai."
"Then we need to get the Haai to evacuate a Star craft." Itachi said thoughtfully. "Do you know where such a Star craft would be?"
"Yes, there is one on the other side of the planet. If we steal a small ship we could fly to the starcraft." Kisame said. "But how will we get them to evacuate?"
"Simple, emergency protocols that generally call for evacuation."
"Such protocols are rare and in Haai ships very difficult to trigger."
"Well, tell me what type of event could cause such a protocol to trigger." Itachi turned around now, his eyes focusing intently on Kisame. He sat cross-legged on the cave floor.
Kisame sat down across from Itachi and sighed, realizing this was a lost cause. He would have to explain things instead of go in hacking and slashing like he preferred to do.
"Well... One situation is oxygen running out, a chemical spill, overheating of the mainframe..."
"Oxygen is a great one, we can use that."
"Itachi if we turn the oxygen off or break the tanks, we will die on that ship."
"I know. We just have to convince them it's broken, not actually break it."
"And how exactly do you plan to do that? Keep in mind if we break the ship, we get a broken ship. Whatever we do to it will affect us too."
"Well we just have to get the oxygen radars to go off. If we simply cover the radars up wouldn't that trigger the protocol?"
"Sure but there are so many oxygen radars, we don't know where they are located and even if we did we would have to cover them all up simultaneously. In a ship the size of the starcraft I'm talking about we would need at least 15 people to cover it."
"Hmm good point..." Itachi seemed to think for a moment. "Maybe we can get small robots or something similar in the supply hub to aid is in our cause?"
"We can try, but it's a big maybe."
"If not we can figure something else out. Now about getting to the supply hub... Is it practical? Or should we walk to the starcraft?"
Kisame huffed. "I keep telling you, you underestimate me. I can just walk into the hub and handle it. Get whatever we need."
"Why? I thought you were on the run."
"I meant I'd fight and kill them all, not that I'd walk in and pretend to be a friend."
Itachi stared. "Are you serious? Our mechanized infantry couldn't handle it, there is no way you can."
"You insult me." Kisame pretended to look offended.
"I don't want you dying. We are allies." Itachi furrowed his brow, thinking. "We will find another way."
"I won't die."
"I'm not risking it, and that's final."
"And who made you the boss?" Kisame was now dangerously close to Itachi, accusing him.
"No one is the boss, Kisame." Itachi responded with no fear, dangerously staring back into Kisame's eyes. "I'm merely stating I will not accept the plan. As a team we cannot go through with a plan until all members agree to it."
Kisame was taken aback. No, not by the human concern Itachi was showing him, nor by his innocent concept of "team" which was completely unlike what the shark had grown up viewing a team as. No, what shook him to the core was the human's complete lack of fear and impassive expression as he spoke, calmly giving his logical perspective in the face of an obvious danger.
"Okay." Kisame caved. He could humor the human for now. "If I had to guess the lowest level would have the storage compartments, and that's where we should head. I can create an entrance for us so we don't have to deal with guards but most likely the breaking of the walls will trigger an alarm and the other Haai will come to investigate."
"Then making an entrance is a bad idea. Also, why would you have created the entrance? Can't we find a way around the guards?"
"Dealing with the guards is doable but we will likely be stopped by checkpoints requiring DNA fingerprints. Most likely it will create an alarm anyway."
"Good point. In that case, an entrance is the only way. Perhaps we can cut off the power so no alarm goes off?"
"That's a good plan, the hub is powered by the energy of the water pressure below the surface. Even most Haai can't handle water pressures as high as the ones that exist where the power is generated. If we can break it, there will be no alarm."
"But how will we break it?"
"I can do it."
"You just said even Haai can't do it."
"Yeah but I can."
"Why do you keep volunteering to do what sound like dangerous things?" Itachi asked, exasperated. "I'm trying to keep us alive."
"And so am I. I live dangerously, and this isn't nearly as dangerous as some of the things I've done before. Just trust my abilities, you don't know them yet."
"..." Itachi didn't answer right away.
If he dies I'll be stuck in Haai territory alone, I don't want that...
"I really don't want you to die."
"I won't." Kisame made a weird face. "Also your concern freaks me out. Stop."
Itachi flinched at the words. "I'm not concerned for your sake, I'm concerned for mine."
"Of course." Kisame's expression gave no indication of how he felt about the last statement. "Now, listen to me... This is how we will do it..."
-.-.-
Sasuke walked through the market of the strange planet his father had dropped him off on. He had spent most of his life working and with whatever time he had to spare he stayed in his parents' home. As a result, he had a moderate amount of money saved up, and he intended to use it all to find Itachi. His first goal was finding a ship to get him off this planet, and to a bigger one where he could find a fool willing to go to Haai territory. Otherwise, he'd have to buy his own ship and go himself. Either way was fine by him.
This planet was barren and empty, even the bazaar that Sasuke walked through was barely full. It was obvious it was a poor planet. Yet, Sasuke had hope. He had seen several large starships in the area, some of which were clearly privately owned as they had no commercial images on them.
"Naruto! We can't keep stopping to look for ramen! We need to head back to the ship." A girl with pink hair scolded her blonde friend as they passed by Sasuke.
Back to the ship? I wonder what ship those two are on. Sasuke wondered as he passed, heading towards the area where many ships were parked. He planned to see if any captain would be willing to give him a spot.
As he approached he noticed a man with long, spikey white hair attempt to seduce a woman.
How annoying. Sasuke thought, passing by.
"Come on, come on, I'm even a captain of a starcraft!" The man boasted.
Sasuke stopped where he stood, his attention turning towards the man.
He looks just foolish enough to go to Haai territory… I wonder if he's selling a spot on his ship...
Sasuke approached the man and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Eh?" The man turned to face Sasuke. "What do you want?"
"Ohh, you're cute." The woman he was hitting on winked at Sasuke.
"What? Him? Come on, I'm-."
"You said you're the captain of a starcraft, right?"
"Huh? Oh yes, I am the great captain Jiraiya." The man crossed his arms and peered down at Sasuke with a smile.
Am I supposed to know who he is?
"Which direction is your starcraft headed?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I wish for passage to other planets, and would be willing to pay my way."
At the promise of money the man's face lit up. "Well, we can go many ways… We go wherever the money is."
Perfect. Sasuke thought.
"In that case I can offer a sizeable sum if you're willing to take me to a planet near the Dandelion Galaxy. You just need to drop me off and I'd be willing to pay well for your trouble."
The man thought about this for a moment. "That's awfully close to Haai territory."
"Yes, but you only need to be there for a brief time. As soon as we are close enough for me to fly there on my own, I will handle the rest by myself. I do not need you to go too far. However, you must remain in contact with me to pick me up should I seek it."
The man continued to think. "And I only have to skirt the edges?"
"Yes."
"How much will you pay?"
"150,000 Seo to go there and 150,000 to pick me up after."
"Make it 200,000 there and 200,000 back."
"Deal."
"Deal." Jiraiya held out his hand, and Sasuke shook it.
The woman who was flirting with Jiraiya previously noticed this exchange and smiled at Sasuke. "Hey hon-."
"Don't." Sasuke stopped her with a raise of his hand. "Not interested."
-.-.-
"Wait here until the power goes out, than wait for me to get back. You know how to pilot these ships right?" Kisame clutched the handle of a large, bandaged sword as he spoke.
"Of course I do!" Itachi responded in indignation.
"Just making sure… Last time you piloted one you ended up in the water with a burning ship. Forgive me for doubting your abilities."
"Just cut the power."
"Bossy, bossy." Kisame smirked his toothy smirk. "I'll be right back."
Itachi hid himself near the hub where Kisame said they would create an entrance, it was near the water and well hidden among the rocks. His only job was to stay alive.
I hope he doesn't get himself killed… How does he plan to stop the power under such intense pressure? Those blades swirling in the ocean deep could destroy anything even if the pressure doesn't… Itachi was filled with dread and concern for his new partner and spent the next twenty or so minutes going through scenarios of what to do if the Haai never returned.
After about twenty minutes, Itachi could hear some commotion going on above – the power must've been cut!
Itachi was filled with hope and actually smiled, but calmed himself not long after. This was a pivotal point. He had to avoid getting caught – which shouldn't be hard considering most Haai would assume the problem was with faulty wiring within the structure and were unlikely to come out – but if he did get caught he could do nothing. It was dark for one, but for two, he had no weapons.
Itachi lay in wait for about ten minutes before he closed his eyes and feared for the worst.
"Hey! What are you doing here?!"
Itachi's ears perked and he froze.
"Must be one of the leftovers from the attack earlier!"
Itachi turned to see three Haai at a distance, approaching him.
"He must be the cause of the outage! First one there gets his liver!" Immediately all three Haai went running towards him at an incredible speed and Itachi's life flashed before his eyes.
A sickening sound of skulls cracking was heard as two of the Haai had their brains smashed together by Kisame, who was soaking and bloody with open wounds. The third Haai stopped when he heard the crack and barely had time to turn around before his head was chopped off by Kisame's precious Samehada blade.
"I told you to hide!"
"You're wounded!"
Kisame growled as he approached Itachi with a fast speed. For the briefest moment, Itachi was afraid. Kisame was fast, he was dangerous, and he just killed three Haai without even flinching. The next, Kisame was crouched next to Itachi, concern in his eyes.
"It was lucky I got here before they did."
"Your wounds…" Itachi frowned, there were several open wounds throughout Kisame's body, slashes as if he was attacked by a blade. Luckily none were too deep, but he was bleeding. Red. Haai also bled red, just like humans.
"Don't worry about them. Let's make our entrance before more find us." Kisame said.
"No, you'll die of blood loss, let me bandage your wounds first."
"No, I won't. You don't know how much blood a Haai needs to lose to die, and you don't know how fast we heal. Just trust me, get that ship, and bandage me after. We are dead meat otherwise and this chance won't come again."
"Okay." Itachi nodded.
Kisame clutched his Samehada and turned towards the hub, stepping towards it and getting ready to slash it.
A moment later, Kisame began his assault onto the hub, destroying it to the best of his ability and finally managing to cut a small enough portion off to enter.
"I wonder how they haven't noticed us yet." Itachi wondered aloud.
"It's probably because this is the storage, no one comes here unless they need something."
"Good point."
Kisame wedged his blade into the entrance and tore away the piece he had cut, tossing the metal across the ground.
"Okay, you go in and find the best ship, I'll find a manual exit from the storage and open it with my hands."
"On it." Itachi entered the storage only to realize his first problem. It was dark, he could barely see. Outside, there were three moons shining light onto them, in the storage there was nothing. "Or… Maybe not. It's too dark to see."
"Find something for light?" Kisame suggested. "Samehada can see in the dark. Samehada, go get some kind of flashlight or something." Kisame's blade wiggled and opened up, the bandages falling to the floor. Itachi could only see a silhouette in the entrance from the moonlight, but the blade now had spikes all over and was crawling.
"Samehada isn't a sword?" Itachi asked, curious about the blade.
"Samehada is a sword… Sort of. She's organic, but she's also crafted. One of the few rare blades in all of Haai history, there are seven total such blades. I just happen to have one."
Itachi froze. Seven blades. There was a legend of the Haai even to humans, that there were seven Haai warriors, the fiercest, noblest and most powerful of their species who wielded seven blades. Could it really be Kisame was one of those powerful warriors? Was Kisame that big of a deal among the Haai?
"Like… of the most powerful warriors in the Haai species?" Itachi's voice had changed and he hadn't even noticed it. It was one of those moments where he again feared for his life as he realized just who he was dealing with.
"Ah, so you have heard of me." Kisame seemed mildly amused as he watched Itachi's expression. "Yeah I'm one of the seven warriors. I didn't know we were known outside the species. Eh. I gave up that life and left, I have other things I want in life."
"A warrior like you could get away with anything." Itachi whispered. "Why are you on the run?"
"Well I suppose… I'm not really on the run. I just wanted to get away from the Haai. I have my own goals."
"What goals?"
"I don't know yet."
"How can you say you have your own goals if you don't know what they are yet?"
Kisame shrugged. "Just because I don't know what they are doesn't mean I don't have them."
"Yes, it does actually."
"Oh look Samehada is back with something."
Clearly this conversation would have to wait. Itachi was disappointed, now that he knew who his new partner was he was so much more interested in his tale and decision to defect.
Itachi couldn't exactly see what went on, but a moment later a light flashed in Kisame's hand and Samehada had attached itself to Kisame's back, its scales sticking to Kisame.
"Alright there are two of these." Kisame said, approaching Itachi. In the light of the small orb like flashlight, Kisame appeared even more monstrous than earlier.
But Itachi wasn't afraid. If Kisame wanted him dead, he would've killed him when he had the chance. Itachi reached forward and picked up the unlit orb out of Kisame's hand, and pressed it in his palm, bringing it to life.
-.-.-
Thanks to elric0sis/hikariharuno for editing this. I'm so sorry I send you like a hundred fics at once D:!