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Chapter 7: Deception

Naruto quickly discovered that Mahri, for all that she was pretty, was really, really annoying. She was loud, she was whiny, she was flirting with Itachi, who at least was not wearing a dress today because that would have been wrong in so many ways he didn't want to think about it, and she made a lot of mean comments to Sakura-chan and Sasuke too, for that matter. At least she walked fast, but she kept sending Itachi off to pick flowers for her, or to find pretty rocks, or get her another drink of water, and he just did it. He must have the patience of a saint! Really, Naruto thought, Sasuke was awfully forgiving. Itachi had killed his whole family and all Sasuke did was make him dress like a girl. If Itachi had killed his family, Naruto would have done much, much worse.

Sakura, who was not as naïve as Naruto, had more of an inkling of what Sasuke and Itachi were doing behind closed doors, but she didn't want to accept it. Surely Sasuke wouldn't actually… not at his age… she shook her head. And certainly not with their parents living in the same house! There was just no way that could be possible!

Sasuke sighed inwardly. They would have to wait until they were several days out of Konoha before any attempt could be made. He narrowed his eyes as he watched Mahri touch Itachi's hair. Hate burned inside of him. Itachi was his. How dare she put her filthy hands on his doll? Now, she was messing up his hair. Sasuke had just brushed Itachi's hair that morning so it would be perfect. He had to take several deep breaths to remind himself not to lose his temper. His eyes and chakra, at least, were perfectly calm, and not a trickle of killing intent leaked out.

Eew! Naruto thought. Now she was kissing him on the cheek!

"Suzuki-san," Itachi's voice was completely emotionless as he stepped away from her. "Please, you are betrothed."

"Enough of the games, Itachi," Mahri said, pulling her to him. "Leader-sama wants you back, and we're far away enough from Konoha now! I know that fool of a Hokage unsealed your chakra, so kill them both and grab the Kyuubi brat!"

"What?" Naruto gasped, as Sasuke sprang in front of him and Sakura, taking a defensive stance and drawing his katana. "Sasuke, what's going on?"

"It was a trap, you moron." Sasuke hissed, as Itachi's eyes bled to blood red and black, the Mangekyo Sharingan spinning in both. "She's from his organization and intends to take him back with her and you as well!"

"S-Sasuke-kun…" Sakura stammered, drawing a kunai, as Naruto got the picture and drew on the Kyuubi's power.

"I'm not letting them take me so easily!" He declared. The shark guy with the chakra stealing sword was dead, wasn't he? He'd show them!

Suzuki Mahri laughed. The pink-haired girl was barely an annoyance, and she went down fast. The Kyuubi brat was more skilled than she had given him credit for, but while he could heal quickly, in Kyuubi mode he was little more than a mindless beast, unable to actually formulate a strategy. She let Itachi keep his brother at bay while she knocked out the Jinchuuriki.

"Playtime's over, Itachi," She called, before she screamed as she saw the tip of a sword emerging from between her breasts and another Sasuke behind her, clutching the sword. Shadow Clone, she thought wildly. No! I would have noticed… and surely if the one fighting Itachi were the clone, it would have popped long ago... is this Mokuton?

"I want you to disappear," Sasuke hissed, and Mahri screamed when she saw her fingers and toes, her hands and feet dissolving into nothingness. He twisted the sword harder, and cut her heart out. Then, he decapitated her, just to make sure.

Itachi watched the Sasuke he had been fighting disappear, and dismissed his Susanoo.

"Mission complete," Sasuke reported.

Itachi nodded, as he sealed the remainder of Suzuki Mahri's corpse in a scroll, watching as Sasuke began to clean and polish his sword. He went to wake up Sakura and Naruto once Sasuke had finished.

"Itachi-san," Sakura gasped. "Mahri is-." She saw the blood, and gulped. "Oh," She said, very quietly.

Naruto, unfortunately, was still unconscious. Itachi hoisted Naruto onto his back so he could carry him.

"Let's return to the village."

Sasuke nodded, and they were off.

"We're very sorry, Hokage-sama," Sakura reported, after they had dropped Naruto off at the hospital. "The mission was a failure."

"Suzuki Mahri was an agent of the Akatsuki," Sasuke reported. "She attempted to capture Naruto and bring Itachi back with her. We were forced to eliminate her."

"It cannot be helped," Hiruzen sighed, as Itachi laid the scrolls containing Suzuki Mahri's corpse and belongings on the Hokage's desk. "The mission will, of course, be marked as a failure. You will be suspended from active duty for the next two weeks as punishment, but there were extenuating circumstances. Do not be too hard on yourselves. You are dismissed. Sasuke, Itachi, please stay behind. I will need to discuss the restrictions of your stay again."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," The two of them chorused.

Sakura sighed as she left the office. Two weeks of suspension from missions was a light punishment. She could deal with that, and really, they had no way of knowing about Suzuki Mahri…

"Well done," Hiruzen told the two of them. "The payment will of course be transferred to your accounts."

His Anbu nodded.

"The Chuunin Exams will be coming up in a month," The Hokage continued. "As you already know, Tsunade has returned to the village. Kakashi has already undergone the treatment and awoken, however, in the interests of preserving village security, he will continue to remain in the hospital. He has already recommended you three for the Exams, and I agree. Orochimaru has taken an interest in you, Sasuke."

"You believe he will infiltrate the Exams?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"Jiraiya has found evidence of at least one traitor in our midst."

"So I am the bait," Sasuke's smile was vicious. Hiruzen nodded.

"If he approaches you, do not hesitate to kill him, even if you reveal your abilities before your teammates, but ensure that you do take him out, no matter what."

Sasuke bowed his head in acknowledgment.

"Who are they, really?" Itachi asked when they reached home. His mother and father had already made dinner, and the two of them were soaking in the furo together. It was nothing new. Sasuke lazily opened his eyes, looked at Itachi thoughtfully.

"You always lied to me and told me to forgive you…" He said thoughtfully. "I'm not sure I should tell you the truth…"

"Sasuke…" Itachi frowned. Sasuke gently reached out to stroke his older brother's hair.

"One day, Itachi, I'll tell you, but not today." Sasuke promised sincerely. Itachi sighed, trusting in his brother's promise.

"I hate you…" The little girl cried. "You took away all my friends!"

"Shh…" Sasuke reached out his arms to embrace her. "You can join our family too."

Void sobbed as she climbed into his lap, he stroked her long soft hair. "It's all right now," He coaxed, letting her drink in his magic, taste his blood. "I'll take care of you from now on."

Yue and Cerberus watched as she fed greedily. Master's magic was powerful, darkness so strong they could drown in it. They had undergone the change already, every single one of them, accepting him as their new Master over Clow Reed. Now, no one else could take them away, unless Sasuke died. Even death might not release them. Reincarnation was a strong possibility with how strongly they were bound. They found that they did not care.

"What is this?" Sakura asked, as she saw the slim book in her basement. "The… Clon?" Curious, she opened the clasp. Inside was a small deck of cards. The first card on top was a picture of a muscular man and labeled 'The Wind'.

"Wind," She said, curiously. Suddenly, a fierce wind blew up. Sakura yelped in surprise as the rest of the cards within the book scattered.

"W-What just happened?"

When a talking pink rabbit with wings entered the picture and handed her a funny pink wand, Sakura fainted. Learning that she had accidentally released the twenty-five Clon Reid cards and would now have to capture them as some sort of Card Captor did not make things any better. Magic was real?

Bunny-chan told her that it was, and that once she did, there were an even stronger set of cards called the Clow Cards that she could go after. Sakura wasn't too sure about that, but she did want to be powerful enough to impress Sasuke-kun, so she would think about it.

"What was that flare of magic just now," Sasuke asked Cerberus. "It was a type of Card magic, wasn't it?"

Yue nodded grimly.

"Clow Reed had many rivals and imitators," He said. "If the Clow Book found its way to this dimension, it's not impossible that some of the others did too."

Sasuke cursed. "Well, we'd better put a stop to it quickly. Did Clow leave any artifacts with you that can be quickly used to track magic?"

"He did create a compass that could be used to locate the Clow Cards, but it was left with the Li Clan on his mother's side of the family," Cerberus said thoughtfully.

"I'll use Create then," Sasuke replied. "Unfortunately, my training did not focus on tracking spells."

"No," Cerberus agreed. "But you are good at shielding yourself."

Sasuke gave him a grin as he got to work. "Mirror and Illusion could probably use a break as well." The two Cards nodded, returning to Card form. While they did rest every night, they appreciated their Master's thoughtfulness.

When the tracking spells were finished, Sasuke sent them off and then Yue let Itachi take over. Itachi frowned when he woke up in Sasuke's room, lying on his bed. "Sasuke?"

"I hope you're not too tired, niisan," Sasuke purred, cuddling next to him.

"Of course not," Itachi replied, although he wondered how it had gotten so late without him noticing. When had he lost consciousness?

Then Sasuke kissed him, and he was too distracted to keep thinking about it.

End Chapter

Started 3/26/16

Completed 3/26/16

Sasuke used Little to hide himself on Mahri, impaled her with Sword and then used Erase. The one fighting Itachi was Twin.

Sasuke already changed all the Clow Cards into 'Sasuke Cards' in chapter 1 unknowingly. He changed Void in this chapter.

Clow Reed had his rivals and imitators. One of them was Clon Reid.