8. Phoenix and Jongo
"My mother was Nani Lim. The most prettiest and strongest woman you'd ever see." Yuri had snapped at Jooyeon.
The two of them had been arguing for the past ten minutes. But it was an improvement in Yuri's book, for she didn't talk much at all. Itachi felt a tiny bit annoyed but ignored them. Troublesome little girls.
"My mother was much better than yours." Jooyeon mumbled, but she looked down.
Jooyeon bit her lip. The truth was that she didn't know her mother very much. She couldn't even remember her name. When all five of them had been in captivity, the others had told stories of their own moms (except for Yuri who mouthed it). Jooyeon hadn't said much about hers. Her mother had undeniably hated her.
Yuri promptly fell silent yet again. She could go on days without uttering a single word.
Kisame inwardly sighed in relief. He hated the brats, but of course, couldn't do anything about them. He liked it a lot when Yuri became mute and Jooyeon avoided eyesight.
"Where we going, Father?" Jooyeon asked.
"Away." Itachi answered.
Jooyeon didn't ask anymore. If Father didn't want to say anything, he didn't. He only let them know what was necessary. Which was basically nothing.
"Two down, three to go, huh?" Kisame said.
Itachi nodded. "I'm hoping to find the others by next week."
"You won't find them!" Yuri accidentally blurted out. She blushed heavily.
"Phoenix will help me." Itachi said. "I do him a favor, he does me a little favor. And he'll tell me where the others are. Retrieving them will be a simple matter."
Yuri thought running in her head was something like the following: Who was Phoenix? Jooyeon already knew about Phoenix so it didn't matter to her.
It was true that Yuri had a certain disability that left her mute at times, but right now, she was quiet because she was formulating an escape plan. She wasn't stupid enough to go back to Konoha, even though she really wanted to. That would the first place Itachi would check. No, she had to live her life on the run…again.
Yuri wondered if that was what the others were doing, deciding that it was safer to never stay in one place for too long. Yuki and Christo and Jongo. What were they doing?
But what mattered now was escape.
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The same time Yuri was busily thinking of escape, Naruto was thinking about rescue.
Everyone had agreed that it was very dangerous to have three other unkown Uchihas running around. What if they were captured by an enemy village? And Yuri and Jooyeon definitely belonged at the Leaf, where their ancestors came from.
But they had no idea of what to do. There was no clue whatsoever of where Itachi had gone or where the Unknown Three were. So all they could do was wait.
Naruto thought over this very glumly. Sure he would meet Akatsuki sooner or later. He had Kyubbi within him, and they would come for him. Maybe then he would rescue Yuri. Or maybe she would escape. But what were the chances of a cute four-year-old escaping the notorious Itachi Uchiha?
"Naruto!" a familiar voice yelled. It was Sakura, and she was banging on the door. "Let me in!"
"Coming!" Naruto shouted back. He approached the door and flung it open. Sure, there was Sakura all right, and a little boy with her.
He was sort of skinny and underfed looking. The boy looked like Yuri's age with the same black hair as her and onyx black eyes and…wait! Was this boy another one of them?
"Yes." Sakura answered, almost as if she read Naruto's mind. "Naruto, meet Yuki Uchiha. Yuki, meet Naruto Uzumaki."
"Hi!" Yuki chirped brightly.
Believe it or not, Naruto was speechless. But just for a few seconds. "How the hell did you find him?"
"Don't say hell in front of a little kid!" Sakura shouted right back. "You're scaring him!" (Actually, he was starting to get freaked out about the strange woman with an abnormal hair color who had semi-kidnapped him and dragged him here to this place which wasn't an orphanage or a hospital. And who was yelling at this other person who could probably beat her up. )
"He just showed up!" Sakura said.
"Just four more." Naruto mumbled.
"Excuse me, Crazy Lady With Weirdo Hair Color and Blondie Man, what are you talking about?" Yuki asked. "All I'm trying to do is look for my sisters and brothers. Are they here?"
"Um, no." Sakura sighed. "Sorry, Yuki. But Yuri was here a little while ago."
Yuki got an excited look on his face. "Yuri! Where'd she go now!"
"Not now. Say, Yuki, can you tell us some stuff later?" Sakura asked. "Stay here with…um…Uncle Naruto right now!"
Sakura ran away before the two boys could say anything.
'So she just dumped the kid on me until she and Granny Tsunade could find a solution' Naruto thought.
Yuki studied Naruto with interest. "I have an uncle?"
"Nah." Naruto said. Then he remembered Sasuke. Technically, Sasuke was Yuki's and Yuri's and Jooyeon's and the Unknown Two's uncle. "Actually, yes. But I'm not your uncle."
"Then who is?" Yuki asked, perplexed. He was really confused. Where was Yuri? And he had an uncle?
"It's a LONG story. But come in and I'll tell you."
Yuki went in the messed up apartment. He looked around, at the table and two chairs, at the small sofa, and finally, at Yuri's little corner.
"She was here, wasn't she?" Yuki asked.
"Let me explain. It began years and years ago. I already told Yuri this story. It was my first day of graduating the Ninja Academy and…………"
Naruto told Yuki the story of him, from becoming genin to Sasuke's defection to taking care of Yuri. It was a long story.
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Christo fell asleep early again. The boy had a built-in alarm clock, which was pretty useful at times. But now Sasuke almost hated it when he fell asleep.
Christo looked extremely vulnerable and defenseless whenever sleeping. It was almost like begging him to kill him. Which Sasuke refrained from doing, but just barely.
After Christo had been captured by Jiraiya, Sasuke had pondered on what to do. Should he just leave the boy or take him along? Finally, he decided to snatch Christo back. How else would they find Itachi and Akatsuki? And maybe, just maybe, Christo could be a useful bargaining chip.
Sasuke had visited the rest of Team Hebi and told them to stay there until he would return. And after that, he had done nothing, absolutely nothing. He had no idea or even tried to come up with one. How would he take Christo away from Jiraiya?
To his surprise, he didn't need to do anything.
Jiraiya had tried to interrogate Christo, but he had silent, not saying anything except for the occasional, "You're perverted!" or "You're so stupid and ugly!"
"We're going to Konoha." Jiraiya had informed Christo the next day. "Maybe then you would start talking."
Christo panicked. He didn't want to go to Konoha! Sure, he and the others had agreed to go Konoha, but he changed his mind at the last minute and gone back to the Flower Village. He wanted to stay with Sasuke!
"NO!" Christo yelled. He stomped his foot and ran out of the room into the adjoining one and slammed the door.
"Stubborn brat. Reminds me of his uncle." Jiraiya muttered.
Meanwhile, Christo was in the other room. He was so bored here, nothing to do. And the old man hadn't told him anything, just kept asking the most stupid questions about Father and Akatsuki in general. When was Sasuke going to come?
Christo promptly fell asleep after that thought. He still needed his sleep, no matter what situation he was in. And it was when he was sleeping that Sasuke looked into the locked window.
There Christo was, asleep. As if nothing major had happened.
The boy looked a lot like Itachi. It had been so obvious, so why hadn't he noticed? Sasuke grimaced. He had always been the clever one with an eye for details in Team 7. (Well, there was Sakura, too. But Naruto was too bigheaded to notice anything.)
Sasuke hesitated, and rapped lightly on the window. Christ shot up and looked around, curious. That boy was also a light sleeper.
"Who that? Oh! Sasuke!" Christo yelled. Then he looked at the door where Jiraiya was and started whispering. "Sasuke! I knew you'd come!"
"Yes." Sasuke replied. He punched the hard window, and the glass shattered into a million pieces.
Sasuke looked down at his fist. The glass had been pretty hard, it took a lot of strength to break it, and his knuckles were bleeding. "Come on."
Christo ran to the gaping hole and squirmed out. Since he was so small, it was pretty easy, although he got a few little cuts that made him wince.
"Ouchie." Christo commented as he looked at Sasuke's bleeding hand.
"Let's go." Sasuke said. "That Jiraiya is going to come in the room."
"Okay."
Sasuke grabbed Christo. In a few swift hand seals, they disappeared in a puff of smoke before Jiraiya could even get in the room.
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"First, I will get Jongo and then Yuki." Itachi told Kisame. "As for Christo, I'll leave him where he is for now."
Even though it was Kisame he was directing his words to, Yuri and Jooyeon knew that he was also talking to them.
Yuri's thoughts were like the following: I have to escape! I have to find Jongo and Yuki and Christo! And how does he know where they are? Who is Phoenix? Where was Father the entire day?
Jooyeon's thoughts were like the following: So Christo and Yuki and Jongo will get caught. Ha! Serves them right for abandoning me! But how did Father get his information? From Phoenix? I hate to discuss with Yuri, but maybe…
Kisame's thoughts were like the following: Why the hell is he telling me this? I could NOT care less.
What Yuri really said: Nothing. She was silent. She was going through another one of her "mute" phases, and hadn't talked at all.
What Jooyeon really said: "That's great, Father."
What Kisame really said: "Oh."
Itachi was a little annoyed by their less-than-enthusiastic reactions. (He knew Jooyeon's simpering smile had been fake.) So he clapped his hands and said, "Yuri! Jooyeon! To bed!"
So when Jooyeon and Yuri had scampered to their thick purple sleeping bags, Jooyeon had crawled over to Yuri and whispered, "Do you know who Phoenix is? I do."
Yuri did not say anything. Just stared.
"Look, I know you're mad at me because I, um, tried, um, kill you. But I wanna escape, too! And I won't follow you to Konoha. NO WAY! I'm going my own way, so you can wipe your hands clean of me. Unless I choose to hunt you down and kill you, but that'll be years from now." Jooyeon huffed.
Yuri mouthed the following and Jooyeon activated sharingan to see what she said, "Why should I trust you? You did try to kill me just because of a nonexistent grudge! Just leave me alone."
Yuri turned over in her sleeping bag and snuggled in deeper. She hated Jooyeon now for hating her. And she hated herself for getting captured and being born and letting Mommy get killed. She hated Father for obvious reasons. And she hated everyone just because she felt like it.
Yuri couldn't go to sleep easily now that Nani was gone. Where was Nani? She had brought her to training, but forgot what happened to her. Did Naruto-sensei save her?
Jooyeon, in the meanwhile, wasn't sleeping either. She was extremely pissed off by the way Yuri had brushed her aside. Jeez, you expected her to be more understanding. She also knew that Yuri was planning to escape Without her. Leaving her with Father. Again! What kind of a sister would do that?
But eventually, they both drifted off to sleep.
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Jongo woke up. It was still early morning, but time to get a move on.
His small body was used to uncomfortable sleeping spaces and oddly timed meals by now. But still, he hated getting up early in the morning. The lack of sleep was really getting to him.
'Be thankful.' Jongo scolded himself. 'Father didn't find you yet.'
But Jongo wasn't thankful. For one, he had no idea where Konoha was, and couldn't afford money for a map. (He had tried to steal one, but got caught.) And the people who just pointed out the direction weren't too helpful either. Of course, Yuri and Yuki and Christo each had their own maps to follow. Only he didn't. They had been separated, leaving him utterly lost.
Jongo stopped for a minute by an empty riverbed and kicked his feet at the edge. His life was like the river, once vibrant and flowing, now empty and useless. He had sunk into a great depression after his mother died and his father captured him. He was empty and useless.
Even Father had said he was useless. He always hesitated. He hated kunais and shuriken and doing jutsus. He hated seeing bugs squished. He was weak in that way, but seeing other people get hurt reminded him of the day him mother died.
"I am nothing." he told himself.
Then there was a noise. Jongo did not turn around or feel any emotion. He knew who it was. It was Itachi, come to take him back.
"JONGO! RUN!" a familiar voice shrieked.
Jongo turned around then. That surprised him. It was Yuri! "Yuri?"
Yuri had talked. The voice had sounded strangely familiar, because it was almost exactly like the voice that Jongo had expected her to talk with.
"Jongo! You've got to go now! Father's going to come this way soon, and please go!"
Yuri's voice snapped him out of…what? His hopelessness? His shock? His depression? So his next words were, "What about you?"
Yuri shook her head.
Then there was another rustling noise and Itachi emerged from behind a tall bush. He hadn't changed much since Jongo had last saw him, and he struck some fear into his heart.
Jongo gulped and meekly submitted himself. It was no use fighting, he knew that much.
Another chapter finished. Finally, Jongo comes out! Thanks to every single person who reviewed. When I hit chapter ten, though, I might revise some parts. (Don't worry, the plot won't change so you won't need to go back and read. However, I am considering adding Konohamaru. Tell me if you don't like or like it.)