[Author's Note: At this point, Shikyo (or Mitsukai) never speaks out loud. If she has something to say, it'll be in her head only, coupled with a certain facial expression. And while I have your attention, for those who don't know, Konan is the infamous "unknown member". Yes, there's a girl amongst the Akatsuki. Go look it up.
The next day Itachi went to the ANBU headquarters early in the morning around six o'clock. He was given the mission details and sent on his way. All he had to do was recover a scroll that they had hidden amongst booby-traps within the Forest of Death. He looked at the map they had given him. It would be easy. He found it within seven minutes then headed off for the Hidden Rain village.
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At noon, Deidara told Shikyo to start her shuriken target practice. She grabbed her bag of kunai and followed Deidara and Kisame to the training room. She grabbed six and went to the middle of the room and closed her eyes. With a burst of chakra, she ran to the end of the room and threw kunai at the targets, hitting six out of nine in the center. Her chest heaved with deep breaths as she focused on slowing her breathing down. Deidara tossed her more and she repeated the process, running from end to end of the room hitting her targets along the way.
"Shikyo." She stopped to find Kisame standing at the door, motioning for her to come. She put the last kunai in her shuriken holster on her right thigh and followed him, Deidara behind her. Kisame led them to the meeting room, where their leader waited with Konan and a younger boy. Kisame stepped to the side to allow the two to face each other.
"Itachi, this is Shikyo, the one whom I told you that you would teach Genjutsu." Their leader nodded in Shikyo's direction. Itachi's black eyes gave her a once over, appraising her. Itachi and Shikyo stared at each other for a long minute, and then Shikyo quickly averted her gaze.
'She's just like Sasuke. Weak.' Itachi thought, narrowing his gaze. 'Her hair stands out; its color is too unique. She will never have the ability to blend in as long as she keeps her hair that color. However, she could have the potential to be powerful if trained properly. Even though she's only ten years old, she has pretty good muscle tone. Especially in the legs. She doesn't look like she would be any good at taijutsu. I can tell that she was trained to be a long range fighter, just like her sensei. What good that'll do her. Her main focus will be Genjutsu. If she can't get her opponent to sit still long enough, then how would she be able to use it? She looks light, so she must be pretty fast, which explains the muscle tone in the legs. The quickest way to immobilize her...' Itachi closed his eyes and smirked, then opened them revealing his Sharingan and gave a slight nod in her direction.
Shikyo returned it, not taking her eyes off of him. 'He has the eyes of a demon. He's nearly half a head taller than me. Raven black hair, red eyes...Yes, definitely evil...yet powerful and very skilled. I can sense his chakra. Those lines on his face...They make him seem so much older than twelve.' She lowered her gaze and fought to keep a straight face as she felt her cheeks grow hot. 'He's also kinda cute, too. But he is supposed to train me. He is nothing more than an instructor. Someone to help me become stronger.'
"I need to make sure you can handle her, Itachi." Leader-sama passed between them and went back towards the training room. "All of you, follow me." They did as they were told. "Itachi, Shikyo. Take your fighting stances."
Shikyo looked at Leader-sama in confusion. 'Fighting stances? Surely, he doesn't want us to fight each other? What need is there to--'
"Hurry, Shikyo. Itachi has a schedule to keep." Leader-sama sat down in a chair. Shikyo turned to Itachi. Several minutes went by before she decided that since he refused to make the first move, she would have to go with offense. Shikyo knew that he expected her to use a long range attack which had to be the reason he was waiting for her to make the first move.
'If he wants me to move, then I'll make a move.' She pulled a long sharply pointed chop stick out of her hair that she was used to keep it pinned up in a bun along with the kunai she had in her holster and looked at him. Without hesitating, she dashed over to Itachi at an incredible speed and swung at him. He was caught by surprise, having anticipated a long range attack first from her. However, he quickly stepped out of her way, and as she flew past him, his elbow connected at the base of her skull, and she hit the floor semi-unconscious. Deidara and Kisame both stood in shock. It had been the first time in months that someone other than them had been able to lay a hand on Shikyo. Itachi stood beside her and looked down at her.
"Pathetic." He said in an even, emotionless tone. "She has a lot of training to do if you want her to be able to use Genjutsu effectively." He barely turned his head towards Leader-sama. Leader-sama only nodded. Shikyo drifted in and out of consciousness until finally her brain stopped spinning. Instead of trying to get up, she allowed herself to lie there until the pain had fully subsided.
"Very well." Leader-sama stood. "From now on, Itachi you will be her sensei."
"What?!" Deidara was offended. How could he just take that title away from him?
"Deidara, be reasonable. She is to be a Genjutsu specialist herself one day. Wouldn't it be fitting for her to mentored by someone with exceptional Genjutsu skills?"
"I haven't seen him use any Genjutsu." Deidara complained.
"There was no need to use any of those techniques on her." Itachi stared at Deidara. Deidara scoffed and stalked out of the room angrily.
"He'll get over it." Kisame smirked.
"Now, let's discuss more serious matters." Leader-sama looked at Itachi. "Konan, Kisame. You two may leave now." He waited until the pair had removed themselves from the room before speaking. "Well done, Itachi. I am more confident than ever that you are capable to handle her. Shikyo, can you stand up?"
Upon hearing her name, she twitched then, with a strained effort, came to her feet. Her balance was off and she wanted nothing more than to go lie down for a while.
"It would be best if she was allowed to rest. If she pushes herself after that, she could pass out." Itachi warned.
"She seems fine to me." Leader-sama looked at her. Shikyo swayed a bit, and then began to fall over. Itachi caught her before she hit the ground. "Never mind. Since our headquarters is a bit far for you to try to travel everyday, I propose that you only train with her twice a week. Trips out of the country everyday would be hard to pull off without raising suspicion, but to also be a well known shinobi? I don't want to push it."
Itachi nodded, still holding Shikyo.
"You can take her to her room, and then leave when you're ready."
Itachi threw Shikyo over his shoulder and stood. "Before I go, I have a concern."
"Yes?"
"Her hair. It can't stay this color. It's too unique and stands out."
Leader-sama stood and stepped closer to Itachi with a sigh, "Unfortunately, we've tried to rectify that. It seems that color is a representation of the Bijuu within her. We've tried to dye it black, but whenever she taps into her chakra, it almost literally burns away."
"Bijuu?" Itachi repeated. 'She has a demon in her?'
"That I will explain to you another day. You don't have the time today."
Itachi paused. "Another concern would be being able to track or identify her should she escape."
"What do you mean?"
"We need a way to identify her should she manage to get away from us. I can't promise that I'll always be able to catch her. With time, she'll improve greatly."
"And with what do you suggest we use to identify her?"
"I believe a unique tattoo would be enough. Something we can all remember should we ever see it."
"Then I'll find someone who can do that for us. You'll have to be here of course to help decide what the tattoo should be."
"Okay."
"Kisame's room is the first door on your right when you turn the corner. Tell him to show you where her room is for future reference." Leader-sama pointed him in the direction then turned and went the other way. Itachi went to the door and knocked. It opened promptly and Kisame towered over Itachi.
"What?"
"Leader-sama wanted you to show me where her room was." Itachi looked him in the eye. Kisame looked at Shikyo and smirked."It's been a while since I've seen her handled so easily. It actually feels good to know that she isn't as powerful as we think. Come this way." Kisame led the way down the hall. "I assume since he wanted you to know where she sleeps, he intends for you to be staying here soon. The easiest way to find her room is too look for the door with a white owl on it. Her room would be to the right of that door. The owl symbolizes Deidara's room. Because he was her sensei, she was placed next to him. There is a vacancy on the other side of her, so I assume that will be your room. Across the hall from you three would be Orochimaru; however, he's been acting very strange lately. I don't think the Leader will keep him around for much longer."
Itachi said nothing and practically ignored everything the man was saying. It was hard to get past his looks. For starters his skin was blue. He couldn't think of one person whose skin color resembled something out of a child's paint set. His eyes were white and the pupils were very small. The gills on his cheekbones also had his attention. Lastly, his teeth concerned him. What in the hell was this man? Kisame opened the door to Shikyo's room and they walked in. Itachi laid her down on the bed carefully and turned to leave.
"When will you be back?" Kisame asked. Itachi barely looked over his shoulder at him.
"In three days." Then he left. By the time he got home, it was nightfall.
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At the Academy entrance ceremony, Sasuke was excited. Knowing that his father had come to see him gave him a strong sense of pride. He looked over his shoulder and scanned the crowd for him, hardly hearing the Third Hokage's words. When his eyes finally settled on Fugaku, his heart dropped in his chest.
Fugaku didn't even seem to be paying attention, his arms folded across his chest, head down, and eyes closed. Sasuke felt that he wasn't even interested in what was going on. That he didn't care about how important the day was for Sasuke.
After the ceremony, Itachi's old teacher spotted Fugaku and Sasuke and stopped them. As he and Fugaku began to speak about Itachi's attendance at the Academy and how much of a genius Itachi was, Sasuke let his mind wander to tune them out. "Sasuke."
It had been a while since they had first started talking and by then Sasuke was well into a daydream. He snapped out of it and looked up at his father.
"Become a great shinobi like your brother, Itachi." He said. It sounded like an order to Sasuke.
"Okay." Sasuke hung his head. How does Itachi manage to steal the spotlight from me on my special day? He's not even here...'
Fugaku left and Sasuke was ushered by the teachers to his class.
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Later that night after his first day, Sasuke was on his way to the kitchen to get something to drink when he heard his father's voice. He looked to find the silhouette of two figures illuminated by candle in the family room, both sitting on their knees. Fugaku chuckled, "As expected of my child, ANBU has accepted you. I knew in my heart I could count on you."
Sasuke's head hung. He had yet to hear those words from his father. Was it because he spent so much time with his mother as a child that made him seem too weak or not important enough when compared with Itachi? True Fugaku wasn't very affectionate with his children, but he hardly paid any attention to Sasuke. He was so wrapped up building a career for his older son that he often forgot that Sasuke existed. Maybe if he trained and became stronger, then Fugaku would become interested in him. Maybe if he did exactly what Fugaku kept telling him, become a great shinobi like Itachi, then maybe for once in his life he could steal the spotlight from Itachi. He still saw Itachi as his brother, but now, he would also be his rival.
The next day Sasuke went out to train in the woods by himself like he had done so many times with his older brother. He jumped into the air and threw kunai in various directions, then threw kunai at the previously thrown kunai to knock the in the path of their targets then landed on his feet. Unlike Itachi, Sasuke only managed to get a few of them right on target and instead of landing gracefully, he lost his balance and fell flat on his face.
"At this rate, I'll never catch up to Brother." He panted lying on the ground looking up at the missed targets. He kept trying until eventually he got tired and passed out.
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Sasuke shuffled his sore body down the porch heading for his room. Mikoto saw her baby boy and called out to him. "Sasuke, wait!"
He stopped at turned to her, face scratched up and slightly bloody. She sighed. It was supposed to be his day off from school and she had been hoping that he would want to spend time with her. As she gathered medical supplies, she felt her heart start to sink with the realization that her husband had taken another son from her. She could tell that sometimes the attention Itachi received often annoyed Sasuke and now, like every other Uchiha she knew, in his mind he was competing against his own brother.
"Geez, you need to rest on your day off from the Academy!" She said as she swabbed the scratches with ointment. There's no need to overdo it." She smiled. Once she had tried to do the same for Itachi and he only brushed her hands away, saying it was nothing. She looked at Sasuke and was glad that somehow, he was still her little boy.
Sasuke stared at a spot on the floor, thinking about how he still hadn't managed to hit every target. "Brother...He graduated from the Academy in only a year."
She looked him in the eyes and paused when she briefly saw Itachi staring back at her, then the looked softened and Sasuke looked like himself again. As she applied bandages to his face, she spoke softly. "The times have changed since then." She whispered. "And he is special."
Even though she had been referring to Itachi's intellect, Sasuke thought she meant he was more important. 'As expected of my child, ANBU has accepted you. I knew in my heart I could count on you.' He heard his father whisper to his older brother in his head. He would surpass his brother. He would hear those words from his father one day. He promised himself that he would.
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At the end of the first week of training with Itachi, Shikyo was able to kill her opponents with Genjutsu. Itachi knew that she could create her own Genjutsu attacks and maybe even other kinds of jutsu that revolved around the mind, but that would take time and intense training that couldn't take place at the present because of his work with ANBU. Instead, he told her to use the Harmonic Tempo jutsu to put them to sleep then use the Hell Viewing Technique to get inside their head and kill them using their worse fears against them. This was highly effectively since the results were usually death by heart attack and there was no trace of murder. At the end of the first two months with Itachi, she had killed seven of Sasori's agents.
Also, he trained her to become even faster. By running every in every training session, Shikyo was able to increase her speed up to seventy miles per hour using her chakra, and fifty without it. Because she was moving so fast, to the normal human eye she was nothing but a blur and a gust of wind. However, to Itachi with the aid of his Sharingan, he could easily keep an eye on her. Leader-sama took this information into consideration and determined that later, when he paired them all up and sent them out on missions, he would have a one three man team especially for Shikyo. Itachi would be able to see and catch her should she manage to escape and Kisame could use his Sharkskin to absorb her chakra to immobilize her. They would make a great team when it came to handling her.
Deidara often complained about the way Shikyo acted saying that she had absolutely no personality now and Kisame would always tell him to shut up. Kisame tried to explain to Deidara whenever he complained that it was better for her to be like this because it was easier to control her. Once, after Deidara had stormed out, Itachi asked Kisame how Shikyo used to be.
"Hmm," Kisame sat back, keeping his eyes on the girl, "She was your typical five year old little girl. She'd bounce around the room and barely pay attention to what anyone tried to tell her. That's why Leader-sama told Orochimaru he couldn't train with her anymore because he has no patience, especially for a child. That and we found out he took her outside and she came back covered in blood. All he told us was that he was trying to teach her some jutsu and she didn't know the name of it so he was banned from training with her." He sighed. "She was just so happy and innocent...until her parents died."
Itachi shifted slightly, "What happened? Did they die in a battle or something?"
"No. In a fire. Her parents were found leaning against each other on the couch, as if they had been sleeping. She was found in the woods outside of town. I believe Orochimaru had something to do with it. We don't ever see him anymore. Makes you wonder what kind of secrets he has."
"The death of her parents is what caused her to be like this?" Itachi watched her as she sat on the floor and meditated, her body illuminated with blue chakra as gold chakra created a small circle around her. Kisame nodded. "Then it isn't really such a bad thing."
"No, it wasn't. Leader-sama believed that her parents were holding her back. She had the potential to be great even before we started training her. It was them that kept her innocent, made her unable to want to be powerful and unable to harm another human being. Once they died and the memory of them was erased, this is what she turned into."
Itachi watched Shikyo as the wheels in his head began to turn. 'Her parents held her back...Just like with Sasuke. He could become powerful, probably even more so than me, if it weren't for our clan. Only one person pushes him like he needs to be; everyone else says he's fine as he is. Our father only has the intention of making us his puppets...Our family hinders his growth.'
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Deidara hated Itachi. He hated how everyone made such a huge fuss about him as if he were some sort of god. He was human like the rest of them, excluding Kisame, Zetsu, and Kazuku. He was still angry that they had taken Shikyo from him to give to the brat when he had doing just fine with her. He was tired of being used. He turned away from watching Shikyo practice with Itachi and went to find the Leader.
"I want out." Deidara said evenly when he found Leader-sama in the kitchen, getting something to drink.
"Out of what?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Of the Akatsuki." Deidara's sea green eye flashed angrily, while the other was now hidden by his bangs.
Leader-sama chuckled. "Who's made you mad now?"
"It doesn't matter. I quit." He turned to leave."You know it isn't that easy, Deidara. If you want to leave, you'll have to fight your way out." Leader-sama took his glass of tea with him as he left the kitchen; Deidara followed.
"Then who do you want me to fight?" His facial expression was serious.
"Oh, I have just the person." He smiled darkly. He entered the training room. Kisame, Hidan, and Sasori were watching Itachi and Shikyo exchange blows and so far, Shikyo had yet to hit Itachi. Leader-sama took a sip of his drink. "There's your opponent."
Deidara's eyes widened. "You can't be serious! I can't fight her. What if I seriously hurt her, or--"
"Not her, you moron. Itachi." It seemed the whole room came to a sudden stop.
"Itachi?" Deidara repeated. Everyone looked at them.
"Everyone, Deidara has just informed me that he wants out. Of course you know if you want out, you must kill someone to get out...or be killed. Itachi, Deidara, take your stances. Fight to the death." He barked taking a seat. Shikyo was floored. 'Fight to the death? Between my old sensei and my new one? No...' She moved to the side and leaned against a wall.
Itachi and Deidara faced each other in anticipation. Itachi had wanted to get his hands on the smart mouthed idiot for a while anyway.
"Whenever you're ready." Leader-sama announced. Itachi simply lifted his hand and the room began to spin. Deidara felt sick as the room spun faster and faster, as if he were on an out of control merry-go-round. He dropped to his knees and threw up all over the floor.
'What the hell?!' He panted. Right when he tried to stand up, Itachi's fist connected with his cheek and a blinding light flashed under eyelids. He slid across the floor, landing a few feet away from Shikyo.
Her chest became tight with worry. She knew that Deidara wasn't the type for hand to hand combat; however, he had a few tricks up his sleeve...
Deidara looked up at Shikyo and frowned. Knowing that she was watching sparked a fire within him. All that he had told her, taught her, shown her...She would question everything he'd ever said to her if he died in front of her. She would question his abilities as a ninja. He couldn't stand the thought of his only student who had once looked at him as if he were the one who created the sun and hung it in the sky watch him be defeated so easily.
Itachi waited patiently for Deidara to stand up. He looked at Shikyo. Although her facial expression was indifferent, he could see worry in her eyes. 'Does she care about this moron?' His eyes narrowed. 'Of course she does. To her this is her sensei. She has a bond with him. She's loyal to him...I have to break that bond by destroying her faith in him...so that she'll be loyal to no one but me.'
Deidara pushed his cloak back to shove his hands into two pouches that rested on both of his hips. He grinned at Itachi. "That was a nice move. Where'd you learn that trick, hn?"
Itachi didn't answer him. He was already getting tired of this; it was child's play for him, not a real challenge. "This is getting boring."
"Oh, really? Then let's make it interesting." Deidara ran at Itachi, turning into a blur. He got close enough to look Itachi directly in the eyes before Itachi stepped to the side and kicked Deidara in his back causing him to lose his balance, fall, and roll across the floor. Deidara sat up and looked back at Itachi over his shoulder with an evil grin. He brought his hand up and made the tiger sign and yelled, "Katsu!"
Shikyo had to shield herself from the explosion. When the heat from the blast has safely subsided, she looked. Her heart sunk. Deidara-sensei was losing his battle...If this kept up any longer, he would kill himself.
Deidara looked back at the spot in awe. He knew he had put the clay bug on him...so where was his body? He looked around and saw Itachi standing on the other side of the gym. He would just have to try it again...Itachi leaned on the wall next to Shikyo and watched Deidara ready his next attack. Itachi looked at Shikyo and smirked; his former student was quickly losing faith in his ability to win. Every bomb he made got bigger and bigger and she knew that if necessary, Kisame would create a shield to protect them all should Deidara decide to go for the kill. How could he not see it? It was so clear to her watching him...
As Deidara made another bomb, he looked at Itachi angrily. It was pissing him off that he hadn't been able to put a scratch on Itachi, much less actually kill him. 'So it's come to this...' He added more explosive to his bomb, deciding that it would be better to kill them both than to lose.
Shikyo watched him carefully, taking note of the amount of time it was taking him to create his next bomb. It usually took two minutes; he had been working on this one for nearly five minutes while moving around the room, dodging attacks. She shook her head slowly. Kisame stood and moved forward, quickly making hand signs for his containment jutsu. Deidara was going to die. Without thinking about it, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Tears lined her eyes as she sent as much of her chakra into him as she could without overdoing it. 'Please, Deidara-sensei, open your eyes and see it for what it really is--a Genjutsu!'
Deidara had just put his hand up to detonate the bomb when he felt something squeezing him. He looked down and saw Shikyo holding him tightly, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. He looked back up and the Itachi he was fighting faded as he realized the real one had been standing next to Shikyo the entire time.
'A Genjutsu? I've been fighting myself this entire time?' Anger made his blood boil. Itachi had been toying with him from the beginning...He was about to attack Itachi when he stopped and realized that Shikyo was shaking. He looked down and saw her tears. She had seen he was in trouble and interfered. If it hadn't been for her, he would have blown himself up. He didn't know what to think. He wanted to be mad at her for making him look so weak in front of the others; to think someone he had once instructed had to rescue him. On the other hand, even though his pride was bruised and beaten, she had saved him. He put the bomb back into his pocket and rubbed her back as she silently sobbed. This was the first time in nearly five years that she had shown any emotion, and it was for him. He fought the smile threatening to appear. Out of all the people he had met in his life, someone had cared enough to put their own life on the line, had cared enough to protect him, to love him. He knew that only love would make one forget the value of their own life to protect another. He suddenly felt closer to her; a bond formed between them that would never be broken. He ran his hand over the top of her head.
"Shikyo, get out of the way." The leader called out. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Slowly, her eyes came to Deidara's.
"Just go, Little One." He whispered. She stared into his eyes for several minutes before she frowned, let go, and stood up quickly. Deidara closed his eyes, not wanting to watch her walk away.
"I said move! This battle isn't over."
Deidara's eyes opened and he looked to find her standing in between him and Itachi. She let her head hang as she slowly shook it. Eyes widened slightly with interest at her display of disobedience. Itachi slightly tilted his head to the side in mild interest.
"Either move or I will have you fight along side him and you both will die." The leader whispered in a harsh, uncaring tone. She shrugged and looked up at him with blazing gold eyes. Itachi briefly chuckled. It was amusing to see her show some character. Stubborn. Defiant.
Deidara stood behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy, Little One." She looked over her shoulder at him with concern. As he looked at her, he began to be able to tell what she was thinking. Her eyes shimmered. As if he had thought of leaving her here with these people. "I'll stay."
Itachi sighed, turned away, and said nothing.
Their leader chuckled. "Well, it didn't turn out the way I thought it would but nonetheless, it was entertaining."
Shikyo's eyes faded back to their original blue as she calmed down. He rubbed her shoulder and guided her back to her room. Everyone else filed out behind them except Itachi and the leader.
"You should do that tattoo now. You know now that the odds of her one day making a run for it are more likely." Itachi advised.
He looked at the boy with annoyance. "Fine. Go get her."
Itachi left and returned with the girl. She looked off to the side never bringing her eyes to meet the leader's. He stood up and came closer to her. After a few minutes she finally brought her eyes up to him; he slapped her so hard that her bottom lip began to bleed slightly. "The next time I give you a direct order, you will do as you're told!"
Itachi frowned. It was none of his business, but he didn't approve of hitting her. The leader looked at the expression on Itachi's face. "She has to be kept in check. By any means necessary."
Itachi nodded, hearing his hidden message. He was to do whatever he deemed fit to punish her for whatever she'd done wrong, including hitting her. "Get Kisame and the two of you take her into town. There's someone who does tattoos that owes us. Kisame knows who I'm talking about."
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Shikyo walked behind Itachi and Kisame, face still stinging slightly from the slap. She thought about what she had done. Had it been worth it? Would Deidara-sensei still try to leave? Had she wasted her time? She determined that if he was gone by the time she returned, it would have been a waste of her time. In the tattoo parlor, she was strapped on a table as the man readied his ink and needles. "What will she be getting?"
Itachi handed him a picture of a dragon with the Chinese symbols for water, fire, wind, earth, and lightning placed around it. The man nodded appreciatively and got to work. Shikyo tried not to twitch from the initial pain but once it subsided, the man occasionally looked up to make sure the girl was still alive and had not died from shock because she was so still. The tattoo extended from her left thigh and winded down her leg to her ankle. The detail of the dragon was so realistic that with the way the light reflected off of its green scales, one would have believed that it could come alive. Its red tongue seemed to flicker out as its brownish claws seemed to dig into her skin. The extension on its back was colored yellow and its tail was an interesting shade of blue. The Chinese symbols were placed strategically near each color that matched the element. By the time the man was done, her skin was red with irritation. He gave Itachi a cream to put on it to keep it from getting infected. It hurt to walk since the tattoo wrapped around the back of her leg, right where her leg bent. However, she ignored it as best she could, even ignoring Kisame's offer to carry her back.
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As Itachi prepared to leave, he was stopped by the Leader. "I need to explain to you why Shikyo is so important to us."
Itachi nodded.
"I'll try to brief and simple so you can leave. About five years prior to her birth, we captured and sealed Houkou, the five tailed demon. I had heard about the existence of a clan that had a Kekkei Genkai that had exemplary Genjutsu skills that allowed them to kill an opponent mentally. Unfortunately, these persons are born with this trait only once every few generations. We were lucky when we found out that it was time for the trait to make an appearance. However, only two children were born this generation with the trait. I decided that since Houkou is the god of Illusion, if we were to seal him inside one of the children born with the Kekkei Genkai trait, then we could create the ultimate weapon, capable of killing hundreds with the added boost of chakra and added specialty of the Houkou for it illusion abilities. The first child we located from the main bloodline was too old to seal the Houkou. We found out that Shikyo's mother was here with her husband, due to give birth in four months.
"We did research and found out that he had requested to leave the Hidden Leaf village to go elsewhere because his clan had disowned him for his gambling addiction. We set him up with a bet for his home and he lost. Knowing that he would try to bargain his way out of the debt, we managed to get him and his wife to agree to exchange their daughter for payment. We brought her here as soon as they let us have her and sealed the demon within her. If you've noticed, she has two different visible chakra colors: blue and gold. The gold is the Houkou's. Everyone has been told to guard her with their lives and I'm now telling you the same thing. If she dies, the Houkou dies with her. I plan to use her to locate and fight the more powerful Bijuus if necessary so that we can seal them also. Once we have all nine, we can move on to part two of my plan. For now, I'm giving you a personal mission. Protect her. She's your mission, Itachi. Ensure she stays safe at all times. She's not weak; however she's not invincible either. If she happens to escape from us, it will be up to you and Kisame to retrieve her. Understood?"
"Yes." He nodded.
"You may go."
Without another word, Itachi headed back to the Hidden Leaf, thinking about how one person he barely even knew was suddenly all that was supposed to matter to him.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Itachi took missions very seriously, and tried to look at Shikyo as if she were just some mission in which he had to guard someone, but it was hard. He kept looking at her and comparing her to his little brother Sasuke. He would think about how weak Sasuke was and strong she was for a girl. He would think about what Kisame had said: her family had held her back. The very same could be applied to Sasuke. He had the potential, but his family was interfering. Itachi had been working on being able to effectively shut off his emotions during this time in his life because he knew that if one could successfully do this, then they would be able to become powerful. However, he would sometimes slip and show some sympathy towards Shikyo if she messed up. Whenever he realized he had done this, he would treat her harshly as his way of making up for the slip. As the months passed, he began to develop a love/hate relationship towards the girl. He admired her growth as a kunoichi, but hated that so much of her sparked emotions that he had for his little brother. Little did he know, he was developing a soft spot for his first and only student.
One day Shikyo was training with Kazuku in a life or death simulation battle.
"I want you to fight me as if you wanted to kill me." Kazuku told her. She nodded. Five minutes into the battle she had Kazuku trapped in a strong Genjutsu. However, he knew that in order to break it, he would have to break her concentration. The minute he located where her real body was, he grabbed her arm and snapped the bone in her forearm as if it were nothing more than a toothpick. Instantly the illusion vanished as she stared down at her arm in his tight grip.
Itachi looked up when he noticed the sudden pause between them. At first she felt nothing, but then the pain slammed into her as if someone was sawing her arm off.
She screamed out in pain. Everyone stared in awe for a few seconds before rushing over to them. She continued to scream as she fell to her knees holding her limp arm. Deidara seemingly came out of nowhere and almost beat Itachi to her.
"What the hell did you do?!" He yelled at Itachi. Itachi looked up at him and said nothing. He looked back down at her arm and knew that it was very serious. Judging by the way the bones were broken, only her skin and muscle was keeping the limb attached.
"Shikyo, calm down. You need to focus and try to heal yourself." Itachi tried to get her to listen but she kept crying, her face drowned in tears, and screaming about the pain.
Finally Deidara shoved his way through to her and picked her up bridal style and carried her out of the room, her screams fading with every step.
Itachi and Kisame looked at Kazuku angrily.
"What hell did you do that for?" Kisame gritted his teeth. Their leader had also told him that she was his personal mission. The two of them were to one day be assigned with her on a team.
"I wasn't about to lose to a ten year old. And besides, it was a life-and-death simulation. She needs to learn how to deal with that kind of pain in battle."
"Yes, but to break her arm? There are not too many techniques she can perform with only one hand." Itachi's voice was even and unemotional, yet Kazuku knew he was close to the edge.
"Well, now is the perfect time to teach her. She needs to become better anyway if she is to be of any use to us in the future." Kazuku scoffed and walked around them to leave the room. All Itachi could see was his dad saying something similar about him to his mother. He clenched his fist tightly as his Sharingan activated.
Kazuku stopped when a shuriken lodged into the wall nearly five inches from his face. He turned and looked at Itachi whose eyes were almost slits. He chuckled and continued to walk out of the room. What did he care about some brat?
In Shikyo's room, she had stopped screaming, but continued to sob quietly. She hadn't made a sound in five years and when she finally did, it was because of pain. Deidara rushed around looking for Kabuto or someone who knew medical jutsu to help her. She laid in the bed, still holding her arm.
'You can stop the pain yourself...' A deep voice whispered.
She froze when she heard it.
'Just tap into my chakra...it'll heal you...'
She shook her head, thinking that the pain was causing her to be delusional now. Without warning, gold chakra enveloped her body and she began to glow. She screamed when the bone in her arm shifted back to its original spot then calmed down as it began to heal. Kisame and Itachi walked in and watched in awe. As soon as the bone was fixed, Shikyo passed out from the pain.
Itachi looked at her and got angry at himself for once again, letting his emotions get the best of him.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After his fight with Deidara and Leader-sama telling him that Shikyo was his mission, Itachi felt a strange sense of ownership over her. When instructing her during training, he saw the way she looked at him and would inwardly smile--she was his student, and she had to listen to him and do what he said. He developed a sense of superiority over her that made him realize he wasn't just better than her, but better than his clan as well. They depended on him so they had to be inferior to him. Yet, they treated the situation as if they could easily beat him, as if they had what it took to establish and maintain that stupid pride they held so highly.
Fugaku finally extended Itachi an invitation to one of the clan meetings. As soon as he stepped into the secret room, he was overcome with many dark and dangerous feelings. Yet, he bit his tongue as thoughts and images swirled around inside his head. On the walls were two painted pictures of what he was told to be Sojobo, King of Tengu.
'Could it be?...Someone worthy enough to help me to escape this prison?'
Itachi suddenly felt very hateful and angry for no particular reason. Something compelled him to go look at the scroll sitting on the table. 'My history...my legacy...' An evil voice whispered inside of his head.
Itachi read the text:
Many years ago there was a girl from Hyuuga clan who fell in love with an outsider. She decided to marry herself to the young man despite the strong protests from her own clan. But this man was no ordinary human. In fact, this man was not a human at all. His name was Sojobo. He was the King of Tengu.
There are two types of tengus, Karasu tengu (a crow-like creature with beak and wings) and Konoha tengu (also known as Yamabushi tengu). Sojobo was a Konoha tengu. He had long nose and white hair with a pair of black wings on his back. As the King of Tengu, Sojobo possessed some very mystical powers. He carried a fan made of Fatsia leaf that could create a storm (therefore people sometimes call this type of leaf as Tengu no Uchiwa or Tengus fan). He could teleport himself or any other things from one place to another. He could also communicate with people telepathically or even invade their minds and drive them to madness. Besides, Sojobo was also known for his shape shifting ability. He sometimes transformed himself into human to interact with people.
This girl from Hyuuga was in love with Sojobo taking the human form without knowing his true identity. She married him shortly after they met each other. A year or two later, she was pregnant and gave birth to their first son. Sojobo named this son Uchiha, Uchiha Madara, after Uchiwa which means fan. The fan later became the symbol of this new clan.
Uchiha Madara soon grew up to become a very powerful shinobi. He not only inherited the Kekkei Genkai from his mother but with the Tengu blood inside him the Byakugan had evolved into an even more dreadful form: the Sharingan! This new bloodline had 2 levels: Normal Sharingan and Mangekyou Sharingan. Like his tengu father, Madara possessed some incredible magical powers. He was able to use telepathy to invade people's minds, or even teleport himself across a short distance. When he turned on the Mangekyou Sharingan (he had the normal Sharingan on 24/7 just like his Hyuuga kin), the eyes would further intensify his powers and bring him even closer to a tengu form. He had developed 3 jutsus under this state, namely Tsukuyomi (to control people's minds and drive them insane), Amaterasu (to teleport objects into another dimension) and Susanoo (to create a storm like that created by a Tengus fan).
Because of his bravery and almost unparalleled powers, Madara soon became a hero in his people's eyes despite his young age. He became very close friends with Shodaime and together they took up the responsibility to protect the Konoha village they established. Madara founded the first police force in the Konoha and swore to protect his people with his life.
As Madara was about to reach his adulthood, Sojobo began to reveal his true intention. Sojobo didn't marry the girl from Hyuuga out of love. He was only looking for a perfect body, a container (probably to achieve greater powers), and he figured the best way was to create one with his own blood. He was planning on taking over Madara's body once he reached his adulthood. It didn't take Uchiha Madara long to find out this appalling truth. He felt a mixture of shock and anger. He felt he was being used but he wasn't going to give in so easily, at least not without a fight. But Madara knew only too well that no matter how strong he was he stood no chance against the King of Tengu. Out of desperation he sought for the legendary Bijuu: Kyuubi (the God of Fire).
Kyuubi was very impressed by Madara's abilities. A secret pact was made and Kyuubi agreed to lend his power and chakra to Uchiha Madara. Soon Madara mastered the baton and he could even cast a dark fire that would burn for seven days and seven nights after performing the Amaterasu. But even with these newly gained powers and a huge supply of chakra from the Kyuubi, Uchiha Madara was only able to beat his demon father by a hair's breadth. He couldn't finish him once and for all but only managed to seal him up. However, the seal he used was a very special one. To break the seal it requires the Kyuubi's chakra and also not one but three Uchiha members who can wield the Mangekyou Sharingan. Each MS user has to cast a different MS jutsu at the same time and when the three jutsus--Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu and Susanoo--combine, the great evil will be unleashed.
Itachi looked back at his father, who only nodded. So they were part demon?
That's right.' The voice in his head whispered, 'Only you can help release me. The Uchiha clan with time has become weak, Itachi. How can they be afraid of the gift that I gave them? They clearly have more power than any other clan...why be afraid of something they have never even seen before? Of something they know nothing of except what an older member wrote? I can help free you from their grasp, Itachi, and grant you unlimited power if you can help me to release my body.'
Itachi already knew his answer. If there was a way to free himself from his clan, he would surely take it.