-Fate's Favourite-
Act 1: Brave New World
Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me.
Lying on the floor surrounded, surrounded.
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me.
-The Fray
Itachi and Kisame returned to Amegakure three days later.
A still unconscious Naruto was with them, carried over Kisame's right shoulder as they entered the Akatsuki base. The boy…—girl, hadn't woken up since the day they found her in Kumogakure. She seemed healthy, most of her wounds had healed a long time ago – no doubt, thanks to Kyuubi's extraordinary healing powers. She looked wore down and pale, but otherwise fine.
Kisame had, unsurprisingly, hard time believing that that Naruto was a girl, and the entire time they were traveling back, he kept muttering under his breath, wondering how this was possible. Itachi too was interested how something like this could have happened. Was Naruto always a girl and the fact was hidden? Or was this a side effect of some jutsu going terribly wrong? If Naruto was always a girl, why would people hide this fact? In the end, there were too many questions to be answered and with Naruto clearly not remembering anything, it was unlikely they were going to get any answers anytime soon.
In fact, Itachi doubted that the girl would even live see another day, considering that the moment the Akatsuki Leader learned about their findings, her demon would be extracted, and she would undoubtedly die. Itachi was almost positive about this fact and the sooner they began the process the sooner it would be over. Life would go on as usual.
Upon their entrance they found that the caves of Akatsuki base were still as damp and dark as always. The entire underground tunnel maze smelled of mold and death. There wasn't much space either, only two people having enough space to walk through the passageway at the same time. To most people, living under these conditions would seem atrocious, but to people like Itachi, it was better than nothing. He didn't spend much time in here anyway, almost always traveling around with Kisame or by himself. Sometimes they got lazy days when the members were allowed to relax for few days. And even though the base was dull, it was still, what many considered, their home.
Regardless of time he spend here, Itachi never considered Akatsuki base his home, and the fellow members his family. Actually, Itachi didn't even see them as his friends or acquaintances, they were more like enemies, and most of the time he had to watch his back since everyone in the Akatsuki had nasty tempers, especially when angered. Which, dully enough, was quite often.
By the time Itachi and Kisame reached their Leader's office, they had received more than one odd look from the subordinates working under Akatsuki. It must have been a sight to see: two of the most feared members of Akatsuki walking with small blonde girl slung over their shoulder.
They paused before a dark brown door that was large enough for three people to walk in at the same time. Itachi knocked twice before a curl "Come in" reached their ears. Grasping the metal doorknob, Itachi gave it a firm push, making the old door creak under pressure. Kisame walked in first, followed closely by Itachi who was staring at the shadowy figure before them.
"You two are back early," the Akatsuki leader said, his voice deep yet monotone. "And I see you came back with an extra person on your hands," he added, his eyes flickering to the orange dressed figure that was still on Kisame's shoulder.
"That's right," Kisame said, small grin on his face as he threw the girl off his shoulder and dropped her on the ground not-so-gently. "Uzumaki Naruto, sir. However, there is something we were unaware about him…or should I say her."
The leader watched the young girl before him with deadly intensity, almost like he was trying to see right through her skin, and decide what he wanted do with her afterwards.
"Hm. Well, isn't this an interesting development," Pain mussed, a dark chuckle escaping him, "It seems that there is still a lot we didn't know about our little Nine-tails host."
Kisame glanced at the blonde and nodded, silently agreeing. It took around 10 more minutes for Kisame to finish his report, retelling every detail about how they managed to capture Naruto. Itachi remained quite during that time, choosing to stare at the dark crack on the wall instead. Their leader was silent as well, peering at Kisame as he listened to the tale. There was a short silence when Kisame finished.
"Should we get ready for the—"
"No."
Kisame blinked at the sharp order. Itachi moved, his eyes narrowing slightly as they flickered towards the girl and then to Pain. What could he possibly be thinking? Shouldn't they at least confine the girl before she woke up? There was truly no telling what may happen once she woke up, she may remember her past and realize exactly where she was.
"Leave us."
"Sir?" Kisame questioned, not sure if he should just obey or ask few questions first.
"I want to check her body for any jutsu marks," Pain explained briefly, plainly irritated for being questioned. "I also want to seal off her chakra in case she wakes up and tries to escape. Now leave, I will call you back when I need you," he finished off, his words a clear dismissal, silently warning both Itachi and Kisame that there should be no more questions asked.
Itachi was the first one to move, turning around he silently moved towards the door, Kisame close behind him.
"Itachi-san? Kisame-san?"
The two figures stopped, glancing back at their leader who gave them a dark grin.
"Well done, you did good."
Kisame grinned and the elder Uchiha nodded mutely, acknowledging their leader's praise.
And just before the door closed, Itachi caught one last fleeting glance of the blonde demon host, and an uneasy feeling settled in his gut.
Something was wrong.
It was a beautiful and sunny day in Konoha, the birds were chirping happily in the trees, people were cheerfully walking around the streets lost in their mindless chatter, ignorant of many dangers that lurked behind Konoha's walls.
The Hokage's tower was unusually silent that morning. A silver-haired Jōnin by the name of Hatake Kakashi was standing limply in a large room, facing a blonde haired woman before him. Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, and the only female from the legendary Sannin of Konoha, stared at the bandaged man before her with unusual seriousness reflecting in her brown eyes. There was a long beat of silence before they began talking.
"What happened Kakashi?"
The question was so simple, and yet, to Kakashi it was probably the hardest question anyone had asked him in a very long time. Kakashi's visible eye lowered to the ground before rising again.
"I honestly don't know myself," he said and after another pause he added. "I have never seen anything like it."
Tsunade's eyes narrowed slightly as she glared at the silver-haired man. "Naruto is missing. How about you explain how that happened first."
"Just like appointed, we delivered the scroll you requested to the Land of Lighting without any problems," Kakashi began, leaning against his crutches. "The mission was an obvious success and we were heading home when we were ambushed. The ninjas that attacked us weren't wearing any headbands, so I had no idea where they came from or what their intentions were, but from the very start they seemed determined to get Naruto separated from us. My first thoughts were that maybe Akatsuki had something to do with it, but it seemed unlikely since at least one member would have been present to collect Naruto if they somehow succeeded."
Tsunade nodded, agreeing with Kakashi's observation. If two full-fledged members were unable to capture Naruto few years ago, it seemed doubtful they would be stupid enough to send few subordinates to capture a Tailed-beast. Tsunade nodded her head for Kakashi to continue and after a painful intake of breath he did.
"We were doing just fine, the enemies weren't exactly the most powerful group, we all had faced stronger enemies before," he said, his eye suddenly narrowing. "That is, until a man appeared out of nowhere; he wore a cloak so I didn't see his face, but I immediately knew he was the leader since he was the strongest."
"A man?" Tsunade questioned with a small frown tugging her lips. Kakashi gave a curt nod and began talking again.
"Yes, this man was completely different from the others," Kakashi's tone lost all of it previous laziness and turned almost sharp as the image of the dark cloaked man seemingly flashed before his eyes. "He did something to us, some sort of jutsu I've never seen before, in drained our chakra completely, leaving us incapable of defending ourselves. But, it was Naruto that he wanted the most. He was absolutely fixated with him, almost obsessively so. Talking about coming back and returning to the way things were. That's when it got weird. He did another jutsu, capturing Naruto in a sphere. Naruto of course tried to break it but it was useless, we tried to help but with our chakra drained and other ninja holding us back, we were of little help."
Kakashi's eye lowered to the ground once again, and it was clear to Tsunade that Kakashi was blaming himself for this to some degree.
"The process only lasted few minutes," he continued, his voice a bit more hallow than before. "When the light faded, Naruto was released and he looked absolutely fine, minus the battle wounds. He even laughed at the cloaked man and said that he was going down if that's the best he could do. However, before Naruto managed to take a single step towards him, he fell to the ground and began screaming. He's whole body was convulsing and twitching, I don't think I've ever seen him in so much pain…" the Jōnin trailed off, obviously still disturbed by the memory.
"What happened after that?"
Kakashi looked up in, his eyes narrowing. Why was Tsunade acting like she wasn't surprised by this? Could she have known?
"Why wasn't I told that Naruto was a female?" Kakashi demanded, it was hard to believe that something so important was guarded from him for all these years. Not many things could get past him, but this was so well hidden he didn't even get suspicious, not ever. He was Naruto's mentor, and he had no idea that his student was a female until the moment she disappeared.
Tsunade sighed, briefly closing her eyes. "Because it was a secret, no one beside the Hokages knew of this. It was one of Konoha's most well guarded secrets. The only person on the outside who knew of this was Jiraiya, since he is the closest thing Naruto has to a relative."
"I still don't see why you had to wait until something like this happened before I was told anything."
Tsunade glare intensified, and she gave Kakashi a stern look. "Enough, Kakashi. I have no need to explain myself to you. It was a secret I was supposed to guard until the day I died. Surely, you can understand why."
Kakashi lowered his head in respect; it was incredibly rare for him to become so irritable. But Naruto was his student and regardless if she was a boy or a girl, he still cared for her all the same.
"I apologize, I acted out of order. But can I ask why was this done? Does Naruto even know?"
Tsunade shook her head. "No, she's not aware, the henge was put on her the moment the Nine-Tailed fox was sealed in her."
Kakashi pondered this for a moment. "But why? Why change her, why not leave her to grow up as a girl?"
"It's quite simple really," Tsunade explained, gazing evenly at Kakashi. "Even though girls tend to be stronger mentally, boys are stronger physically. In this case Naruto was still a baby, so she needed more physical strength if she was to hold the Kyuubi in her body. The council also thought that it would be safer for Naruto to be a boy."
"So the Council did this to her," Kakashi asked, unable to keep annoyance seeping into his voice. Tsunade confirmed his statement by nodding her head once again. "Too bad it didn't really change anything, Naruto was still shunned by the villagers."
Tsunade's eyes shimmered with guilt and she heaved a tired sigh. "Yes, you are right, it didn't do much. However, what really worries me is the fact that this man – whoever he was – knew of such a ancient technique."
"I don't think I understand."
Tsunade dejectedly rubbed her head, leaning back against her chair, it was rare spectacle to see, the feared Hokage so serious and jaded. Very few people had ever seen this side of her and only on serious situations like this one.
"That henge was a secret. A forbidden technique that very few knew of, it was too dangerous to perform. It was only used on the times of great need, and only on extremely important cases. That henge was meant to be permanent. In other words, Naruto was destined to live her life as a male and never learn the truth."
Kakashi listen with interest, trying to tie everything together and get the answer he was looking for.
"So if it was so secret and forbidden how did this man know of it? And why would he take Naruto somewhere else and seconds later come back to us and tell us to stop looking for her?"
Tsunade glanced up sharply, her brown eyes showing her surprise. "He told you that?"
Kakashi nodded.
"I believe there is another problem we might face," Tsunade told, lowering her chin on her hands that were folded before her, her elbows resting on her wooden table. "I'm almost sure that Naruto has lost her memories."
"What?" Kakashi asked, shock clear on his face.
"The henge was like camouflage, masking Naruto's real mind," Tsunade began another explanation. "Since the henge was performed when she was little infant she has no real memories. The life she lived was a lie, it wasn't her that was living it, instead it was a clone that was made from her. When the henge broke so did the memories, however, a powerful technique like that one leaves scars on the mind. There is still a chance that she might regain her memories with time, but there is also a big possibility that she will never fully recover."
"This is bad," Kakashi concluded, letting fleeting look of worry pass across his face. "If she doesn't remember us and is heavily injured she will be easy to manipulate. She will have no idea who's a friend and who is an enemy. She will be like a child. And if someone from Akatsuki or Orochimaru come across her first, then…"
Tsunade gave Kakashi a solemn look. He didn't have to finish that sentence, everyone knew what would happen to Naruto if she fell into the wrong hands. Nothing but death awaited her, and with no memories or knowledge of how to defend herself, she would be dead in a matter of seconds.
"I'm going to leave immediately," Kakashi said, turning around he moved towards the door.
"Stop," Tsunade ordered sharply, making Kakashi freeze. "You are far too injured to leave. Sakura only woke up few hours ago and Sai is at home, taking care of his wounds. You don't honestly expect me to just allow you to leave like nothing's wrong."
Kakashi clenched his fist. "So, you expect me to just sit here and wait for something bad happen to her?" he asked, once again moving towards the door.
"Kakashi," Tsunade snapped. Kakashi looked over his shoulder and saw almost pleading look in her eyes. "I care for Naruto just as much as you do. I already send ANBU to search for her. You are far too injured to leave Konoha yet, but I promise, if by the time you recover Naruto is not back, I will give you all the resources you may needed to find her."
There was a beat of silence as Kakashi mulled this over before nodding.
"Fine," he said at last. "Three days. If she's not back in three days, I'm leaving even if you don't want me to."
With that, the door opened and closed with an eerie thud, leaving the troubled Hokage alone in her office.
"Did I make myself clear?"
The voice of Akatsuki leader rang loudly in Kisame's and Itachi's ears. Two men stood in darkness, Pain watching them as they absorbed the information they were given. The new task they were entrusted with.
"Sir? Are you being serious?" Kisame asked, his voice betraying his disbelief. He was having hard time masking his surprise and shock, unlike Itachi who looked the same even though he too was surprised by the new task they were given.
"Yes," Pain said seriously, never taking his eyes off the two members before him. "You are, from this day onwards, responsible for Naruto Uzumaki. The fact that she has no memories can be of huge advantage to us. Without the Kyuubi, Konoha has suffered a great loss. We can use Naruto to capture the other Tailed-beast's and extract her demon last."
Itachi listened intently, absorbing the words with veiled interest. It was obvious that there was more to this little plan. Whatever the real reason for Naruto staying in the Akatsuki base was, Pain was obviously trying to hold back the information. There was something going on and Itachi didn't like it.
"Everyone in the base has been informed and you two are to report immediately if she starts to regain her memories," Pain said, authority ringing in his voice, daring either of them to disobey his orders. "Itachi I also want you to train her, she has to be useful to us, and in her currently weakened state she will more like a burden," he added, catching Uchiha's gaze.
Kisame stared in disbelief as Itachi gave barley visible nod, his face still as stoic as always.
"Since the girl is at her weakest right now, I want you two to gain her trust," Pain instructed and Kisame looked slightly disgusted by the idea, he glanced at Itachi who showed no reaction. "She has to be completely loyal to Akatsuki."
"Sir, why us?"
Pain's eyes landed on Kisame. "Because this task is of great importance and failure is not an option. I hope you two will make sure that this mission doesn't end up as such."
Kisame looked annoyed but reluctantly agreed and Itachi gave his approval after a small pause.
"Dismissed."
Both men left the room without a backwards glance and when they exited the corridor where their leader's office was stationed, Kisame finally questioned Itachi.
"Why did you agree?"
"Why not," Itachi countered, his gaze focused on the damp path before him. "Leader-sama obviously wanted us to complete this mission for a reason."
"Yeah, but you hate people you don't know, actually it's more like you hate everybody."
That was a lie. Itachi didn't hate everybody. He simply grew up being mostly alone and always training, trying to keep his title as one of the best ninja Konoha has ever produced. He didn't have time for petty things like friends and romance. That's exactly the reason why he always preferred being alone and talked only when necessary. Itachi firmly believed that actions spoke louder than words. Many believed him to be a coldblooded murder and Itachi knew that he was. There was a lot of blood on his hands and he knew he was damned to burn in hell for the rest of eternity for it. And even then, Itachi was many things, but evil was not one of them. He might be cold, aloof, a murder, and one of the most wanted criminals in the world, but he was not evil. He had emotions, he felt pain and loss, loneliness and suffering just like any other human being did, the only difference between them and him was the fact that he never allowed his feelings overshadow his judgment.
Itachi Uchiha was never at the mercy of his emotions, he dominated them.
That's why he was so powerful, that's why everyone cowered in fear from the mere mention of his name. But just because he never showed his emotions didn't mean he didn't have them. He still loved. He still feared. He still worried. He still mourned. Always alone, never seen, never heard. One thing was for sure; Itachi did not hate everybody.
He just found them all useless most of the time.
"Let's go. We need to meet our newest member." He said as he and Kisame disappeared into the darkness with a flutter of their black cloaks.
She had no idea where she was.
When her eyes slowly opened the only thing she could see was a dark ceiling before her. A small moan escaped her lips as she rolled over, trying to determine where she was. The room was big, few white beds were placed around the room with few white cupboards hanging on the walls. Two big tables stood on different sides of the room, the surface covered with many medical instruments and notes.
She was in infirmary, she realized dully, her eyes moving around the room. She felt like she was run over by something heavy. Her mind foggy and blank, she couldn't remember anything at all. It was frightening.
"So you're finally awake, huh?"
Naruto jumped up, and immediately regretted her decision when pain washed over her body, making her cough thickly, and small droplets of blood fall from her parted lips. A pair of strong arms steadied her and she moved away, looking at the stranger before her.
It was a girl. She looked to be in her late teens, her short black hair brushing her chin, her eyes staring at Naruto with cold impassiveness. They were around same height, Naruto figured, moving sluggishly across the bed. The girl's skin was pale and she looked unusually serious, her expression calm as she watched Naruto struggle meekly.
"If you are done trying to kill yourself, lay back down, you need to rest," the dark haired girl instructed, gently nudging her back. Naruto gave a weak nod and laid down, still watching the girl as she walked towards a huge table and took a cup, pouring some clear liquid into it. She stared at the girl suspiciously when she walked closer to her bed and pushed the small cup into her hands.
"Drink."
It wasn't a request, it was an order. Naruto's face hardened as her eyes moved to glance at the cup in her hands. What if it was poison?
"Oh, kami…It's water! I'm not going to poison you, alright?" Naruto blinked at the girl's outburst, she had quite the temper, but Naruto still lifted the cup to her lips, and took a small sniff before tasting the water. The moment cool water touched her chapped lips, she realized just how thirsty she really was. Drinking every single drop of water inside the cup, she shoved it back into girl's waiting hands, silently begging for more. The girl rolled her eyes but complied and seconds later returned with another glass, this time full to the brim. Naruto greedily drank the water inside again, the cup once again empty in a matter of seconds.
"Slow down," the girl commanded even though her light green eyes flashed with amusement for a brief second. "It's not healthy to have such a quick intake of water after going for so long without it."
Naruto slumped against the cot for few more minutes, letting everything sink in as she took deep calming breaths, her eyes closed, making her look almost serene.
"W-who are you?" she croaked, her voice still hoarse.
"You can call me Tamaki," the girl introduced herself, moving her hands towards her, making them glow light blue. She jumped with a gasp, another tremor of pain flashing through her body.
"What are you doing? Stay still if you want to continue on living," Tamaki demanded, pushing her down.
"What's h-happening to your hands?" she whispered in horror, staring at Tamaki's glowing hands. It seemed familiar, like she's seen it before, like someone else was able to that, a long time ago.
"I'm trying to heal you," she answered, irritation reflecting in her pale eyes. "Now stop squirming, I know you lost your memories, so it will take some time to get used to this. Don't worry, though someone will help you to remember how to be a ninja again. Your training should start the moment you're released from here."
"Ninja?" she asked quietly as Tamaki's pale hands travelled down her body, making her relax a little. "I was a ninja?"
Tamaki nodded briefly, focusing on her task instead.
"Itachi?" she suddenly asked fearfully, her blue eyes flashing anxiously. "Where is he? Where is Itachi?"
Tamaki just gave her annoyed look for being interrupted. "He's not here," she said boringly.
"I need him here… he's my friend. Where is he? Please…bring him here."
Tamaki gave her a look as if not sure if she should be laughing at her or calling her crazy. "Friend? Are you sure we're talking about the same Itachi?"
She blinked in confusion, not sure what her healer meant. Before she could voice her confusion the door to Infirmary flew open. A familiar figure with a black cloak and red eyes was standing at the entrance, a familiar man with blue skin hovering behind him.
Naruto almost sighed in relief, glad to see a familiar faces.
"Itachi!" she said happily, smiling cheerfully at the duo that entered the room quietly. Tamaki looked at her like she was insane, Kisame looked taken aback and Itachi simply stared.
"Your services are no longer required, Tamaki. Leave." Itachi instructed coolly, his gaze still locked on the confused blond as she watched Tamaki give a small bow.
"Yes, Itachi-sama."
Naruto blinked, the girl who was so openly scolding her few minutes ago now look like an obedient puppy, bowing to her master. It also didn't escape her notice that Tamaki avoided looking at Itachi directly at all costs. And even though she did not say anything, she couldn't help but to wonder why. Naruto had to admit that there was something dark and dangerous about the red-eyed man. His presence was dark, almost suffocating in its intensity, and it felt like he could burn her with just one look, making it hard to breath while he was in the same room.
Tamaki spared her another look and was out of the door before she could even question her. The door closed behind her with a soft thud, leaving her with Itachi and Kisame.
"Itachi where am I? Is this your home?"
Itachi gave no answer so Kisame did it for him. "We are in the Akatsuki base. I guess you could say it's our home. I'm Kisame by the way."
She nodded, pulling herself up so she could sit in a more comfortable position. "Thank you. I'm so glad you two found me. I can't remember anything; I was terrified, still am."
"That's fine, you're safe here, little girl," Kisame said, moving around Itachi so she could see him better. Naruto glared at Kisame, letting out a small huff.
"I'm not little!"
Kisame smirked darkly, amused by the girls childishness. "Is that so?"
She nodded. "Yeah, fish-man."
Kisame's smirk turned into a glare. "I'm not a fish, you little brat."
"Really? Could have fooled me," Naruto smirked proudly when she noticed Kisame grit his teeth. "Calm down, fish-man."
Kisame opened his mouth to resort back when Itachi cut him off.
"Enough," he said, the very tone of his voice forcing her mouth shut instantly. "You are to stay in the base until you are properly trained and manage to regain your memories. We work in teams of two and our leader decided that it would for the best if you to stay with us, so be prepared to train and fight with us in the near future."
She fumbled with her quilt nervously, listening to Itachi talk.
Until she was trained? She'll be doing missions? She was glad that at least she would be with Itachi and Kisame, but she had long way to go before she would be able to do missions. At least until her training was complete. Which was probably going to take a while, considering she couldn't remember anything at all.
"So, erm, who will be training me?" she asked anxiously, her eyes switching between Kisame and Itachi, waiting for one of them to give her an answer. Kisame suddenly smirked arrogantly, looking pleased about something.
"Me," Itachi said blandly, giving her a piercing look that made her insides flutter nervously. "From this day onwards I am your teacher."
And from Kisame's smug grin and the cold look Itachi was giving her, she knew one thing was for certain:
She was doomed.
AN: Bonjour! My dears! Hope you all liked this chapter and it hopefully answered some of your questions and if not don't be afraid to ask. This chapter was fun one I have to admit, and this is where things really start to take off, even though next chapter may be a bit slow still.
Also one of many things that always bothered me about Akatsuki was the fact that they don't have a medic. I mean, someone really good who actually specialises in healing, like Sakura. Even if they are incredibly strong criminals, they still have to have a medic, right? It just always rubbed me the wrong way that they never had one because it made them all look a little shallow and arrogant - which some of them are anyway - but not to such extent. Thus, I created Tamaki, hopefully you like her!
Also, English is not my first language so pardon any mistakes you may see or find, and let me know if you do spot them.
Thank you for reading!
Regards.
A.