Blurred Lines
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Notation: Sasuke is behaving recklessly, but his character operates on pure emotion. This is especially true when it comes to Itachi. For example, he left the Leaf when he was only a Genin. So while him waltzing into the Goblin Kingdom with Orochimaru and Kimimaro wasn't smart, it was very Sasuke-like. Oh and next chapter, you will find out that they aren't getting off that easily. You'll also find out what Jugo became next chapter.
Chapter 11
Naruto watches in awe as the transformation starts. The humans' bodies were adjusting to the new realm that they found themselves in. To say the least, the effects were rather stunning.
"It looks like the woman is a Siren." Gaara observes in amusement.
"A Siren?! Wait you're saying that Karin is some hot chick that can lure people to their deaths with their singing? Are you crazy?!" Suigetsu demands.
The Pharaoh raises an eyebrow. No one spoke to him in such a blunt and familiar fashion. This human must have been out of his damn mind. Though judging by the magic swirling around him, the white haired man wouldn't stay human for very long.
"I am unfamiliar with the phrase hot chick, but he rest is essentially accurate. Naruto, are you sure these strange people are Sasuke's friends? Just because they are from his realm, doesn't make them our allies." The red head reasons.
"Oh yeah?! Who the Hell ever heard of a red headed Egyptian?!" The violet eyed man demands.
Mei twitches. No one was allowed to speak to her husband in such a disrespectful fashion! The half succubus quickly sends Suigetsu flying several feet back with a powerful smack.
"Owe! What the Hell was that for?!" Suigetsu demands.
"You were disrespecting the King of Egypt. More importantly, you were disrespecting my husband. I will not tolerate such an outrage!" The Queen snarls at him.
Suigetsu was about to get up and reply to that. He really was. That's when he realized that he couldn't get up. He was suddenly flopping around on the ground.
Frowning, he looks down and blinks. This couldn't be happening. His legs were gone. They had been completely replaced by a gorgeous light green tail, complete with freaking flippers, and some kind of belt around where his stomach ended and his tail began.
"You're a mermaid!" Karin shrieks in shock.
"Well technically, he's more of a merman." Jugo supplies helpfully.
"I'm half freaking fish! How do I fix this?! Uh oh! I need to get to the water and fast!" Suigetsu calls out in a panic.
Gaara raises an eyebrow. Quite frankly, he was more than willing to let the idiot's scales dry out. It would serve him right for his sass.
"It's alright. You can change them back into legs. Well at least for a few hours at a time." Naruto reassures him.
"Great! How do I do that?!" Suigetsu demands.
"Um. I'm not really sure. I'll have to ask Kisame later. For now, I'm going to transform. I'll take you to the beach. That way, your scales won't dry out." Naruto says.
Suigetsu tilts his head. He wasn't sure what Naruto meant by transform. What did that even mean?
"What do you mean by transform? What are you turning into?" Jugo asks cautiously.
"Naruto is a Dragoon. He can turn into a dragon! It's incredible! Dragons are a really youthful species!" A leprechaun explains.
Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu all stare at the energetic leprechaun in shock. He was just so energetic. That and the man had the bushiest eyebrows that any of them ever seen. Oh and he had a golden crown upon his head.
"Who are you?" Suigetsu asks warily.
"I'm Guy, the King of the Leprechauns." He states and flashes a blindingly white smile.
The other members of Taka wince. Damn. That was one bright smile. After they got over nearly being blinded, they look at each other uncertainly.
"Well alright. I guess I've always wanted to ride a dragon. This should be cool!" Suigetsu says with a grin.
"That's the spirit! I think. Wait what's cool mean?" Naruto asks in confusion.
"Nevermind. Let's get going. My scales are feeling a bit itchy!" The violet eyed merman protests.
Naruto laughs and transforms into a massive golden dragon with sapphire blue eyes. All of Taka gasps at the majestic and terrifying sight. If they hadn't known that the dragon was Naruto, they would have run away screaming by now.
"It's alright. Just get on my back. I'll take you to the beach. Sasuke is going to be so happy to see you guys. I tried to find him earlier, but I guess he must have wondered pretty far off. I'll probably spot him easier from the air." The Viking explains.
Suigetsu nods dumbly and gets on the back of a dragon. He couldn't believe that this was happening. This was nothing short of incredible.
"Alright. Let's go!" He exclaims excitedly and the mighty beast ascends into the air.
The merman clung to Naruto for dear life. It was awkward riding him. The flight was perfectly smooth and it was really cool and all, except for the fact that his tail made it difficult to stay on him.
"Sorry. It'll be easier without your tail. Don't worry. We'll talk to Kisame! He'll know how you can grow legs!" The dragon assures him.
"Great. That will be amazing. I love swimming and everything, but I really miss my legs and another part of my anatomy." Suigetsu says with a heavy sigh.
"Oh that's still intact. It's complicated, but it's not showing at the moment because you aren't in the mood for a mounting." The Viking informs him.
Suigetsu blinks. Well that was something of a relief honestly. It was disturbing to hear a dragon talk about such things though.
"Good to know." The college student says as they descend onto the shallow water, just off the shore of Ireland's Coast.
"Here you go. You should feel much better now." Naruto says with a grin.
Suigetsu nods appreciatively, but couldn't help but find the whole situation weird. He was now a merman. A merman who had just ridden on the back of a talking dragon. That and Sassy was somewhere around here.
Apparently, Sassy had been coming here a lot. Sassy was his nickname for Sasuke. Personally, Suigetsu still thought that it suited his friend rather well really.
"Oh yeah! That's much better!" He says as he sighs in relief, once he was half submerged in the water.
"Good. KISAME! KISAME! Are you still here?!" Naruto calls out, after he transforms back into his human form.
Suigetsu gapes a few minutes later, when someone else made their presence known. It was another merman. Well at least Suigetsu thought it was another merman.
This man looked a lot different than him. His skin was blue and he had gills on face. Not to mention, he also had teeth like a sharks and he was a lot bigger than him!
"Yeah. I'm still here. We were scouting to see if the goblins had anymore ships, left in the area. What do you need kid?" Kisame asks.
"This is Suigetsu. He's a friend of Sasuke's. When he crossed over, he became a merman. He needs to learn how to change back and forth. You know, like you do. Can you help him?" The blonde asks hopefully.
"Yeah. I can help him. Any friend of Itachi's kid brother is a friend of mine." Kisame says and Suigetsu breathes a second sigh of relief.
Thank God. The creepy looking merman was friendly. Well maybe creepy was a stretch. Suigetsu supposed in a weird way he was handsome, but he was just so utterly alien. Frankly, it was freaking him out.
Meanwhile Sasuke was still in the Goblin Kingdom. He had to find a way to get his brother out of there. Once he was sure that they were alone, the three of them made their way to the dungeon.
"It might have been reckless, but it was the only real chance I had." He whispers to himself quietly.
He knew that Orochimaru was a creep. There was likely a very good reason that he got banished in the first place. Sasuke didn't really care though. Saving Itachi took priority over whatever the former Goblin King's drama was.
As for Kimimaro, Sasuke wasn't entirely sure how he felt about him. Clearly, he had been deceiving them all. He had only done it to get home though. Well at least as far as he could tell.
"We're almost there." Orochimaru tells him.
He just needed to figure out where the Goblin Kingdom was. Sasuke needed a way to get there and quickly. Finding a goblin and a fairy had been a stroke of pure, dumb luck. One that he had been all too eager to take advantage of.
"I can smell blood. We must be getting closer." Kimimaro says, still acting as Orochimaru's prisoner.
Sasuke got the impression that his former teacher was getting quite the kick out of their act. He was ENJOYING treating the fairy like his prisoner. It was twisted, but the young Traveler didn't care too much. Obviously, Kimimaro had consented to such an arrangement, so why should he argue about it?
That's when he heard the phrase, "I can smell blood." That made his own blood run cold. What if it was ITACHI'S blood?!
"It's not his though. It's definitely not the scent of elf blood." The fairy reassures Sasuke.
Thank goodness. He had been worried that Itachi was seriously hurt or dead. Well he still might be, but at least it seemed a little less likely now.
"Here we are. Kimimaro, can you get through the door? It's locked." Orochimaru asks.
"I can get through the door and I'll open it from the other side." The fairy says as he turns into a fly and flies through a tiny crack in the door.
"Did that really just happen?" Sasuke asks in shock.
This place was truly fantastic. Dragons, unicorns, goblins, elves, fae, and other species. If you could imagine it, it was here. Sasuke had never seen anything like it and knew that there was likely no other realm that was anywhere nearly as beautiful or bizarre.
"Yes, that really just happened. This isn't Earth, Sasuke. Things are far different here than what you are used to. Should your soul choose this realm, you will eventually come to accept such things as normal." The college professor explains.
Sasuke wasn't sure that he would ever get used to something like that. A man had just turned into a bug. That wasn't something that he thought people ever got used to.
"Got it!" He hears Kimimaro say from the other side of the door as he opens it.
The former Goblin King and Traveler quickly rush inside the dungeon. Sasuke looks around and frowns. Were was Itachi? This was just an empty room as far as he could tell.
That's when he noticed that the room had a second door. Sasuke quickly races over and opens it. He sighs in relief when he realizes that door wasn't looked and walks through.
"Damn it, Sasuke! You can't just run off like that! You are in the Goblin's Castle. You need to be more careful!" The goblin scolds him.
Sasuke promptly flips Orochimaru off. He was seriously not in the mold to be scolded by his creepy teacher. Screw that. He was here to rescue Itachi. Not to get lectured.
The youngest Uchiha quickly looks around. There were several rooms. It didn't take long to figure out which one had Itachi in it though.
Really, he probably should have expected that Itachi would be inside the cell with the most guards protecting it. That was just his luck. Damn it. This wasn't going to be easy, but they had to try.
"Who are you?!" The guards demand, upon seeing Sasuke, Orochimaru, and Kimimaro.
"I am Sasuke Uchiha. I'm a Traveler. King Danzo said that he was going to inform everyone of my arrival. Did he not keep his word?" Sasuke demands.
He hoped that he sounded convincing. The Uchiha wasn't lying. So he figured that would help sway them. Thankfully, it worked.
"Oh of course! We should have guessed right away! You do so resemble Mikoto Uchiha. I'm sorry, Traveler! We can not allow you to see the prisoners. It's far too dangerous." The guard says.
"I'm sorry as well. It seems that we have a misunderstanding occurring between all of us." Sasuke murmurs in a low voice.
"What do you mean?" The guards all ask in baffled voices.
Sasuke glances at Kimimaro and he nods. The fairy smirks and flutters his wings, once given the signal. A beautiful blue dust emitted from them and blew onto the faces of the guards.
It was apparently some kind of sleeping dust. The guards all fell asleep almost instantly. Well that was surprisingly easier than Sasuke had expected, really.
"Nice job!" Sasuke exclaims.
"Thanks. We make such a good team!" Orochimaru says happily.
"What are you talking about?! You didn't do anything!" Kimimaro growls at him.
Sasuke just shakes his head and heads inside, once Kimimaro opens the door. That's when his eyes widen. He could see Itachi. He was chained to the wall.
"ITACHI! IT'S ME! IT'S SASUKE!" He says as he hurls himself at his brother and hugs him tightly.
Itachi stares at Sasuke in shock. This couldn't be his baby brother, could it? It certainly looked like him. Well an older Sasuke, but Sasuke nonetheless. Was it a trick though?
"How do I know that you are the real Sasuke?" He snaps at him.
"Because when I was a kid, you used to poke my forehead a lot. It was really annoying. Oh and my favorite food is tomatoes. You also like cabbage for some strange reason. Seriously, cabbage. That's disgusting, Itachi." Sasuke says.
Itachi blinks. It really was Sasuke. This was nothing short of a miracle, but he was putting himself in great danger. How on Earth did he even manage to get this far inside the castle?
"Sasuke, stand back. I have to break those chains." Orochimaru informs him.
"Alright." The youngest Uchiha replies as he moves to the side to give the college professor room to do what he had to do.
With that, Orochimaru grabs the chains. Sasuke stares in awe as the goblin crushed them like they were nothing. He makes a mental note that goblins were apparently much stronger than they looked. That or at least Orochimaru was.
"Alright. I have to admit, that was pretty cool." Sasuke says.
"I never thought that I'd actually have to say thank you to Orochimaru." Itachi mutters as he gets up and hugs Sasuke properly.
"This is sweet and everything, but we really must be going. We don't want to get caught. I can glamour Itachi as I did Orochimaru." Kimimaro says.
Sasuke and Itachi nod. The youngest Uchiha was rather relieved that fairy magic was apparently so versatile. Idly, he wondered what the catch was. Surely, there had to be one.
"Do it!" Sasuke says and Kimimaro does as he asks.
Soon enough, Itachi looked like a goblin. He had dark blue skin and violet eyes. His skin looked like tree bark. Apparently, that was a common skin texture for goblins. Well at least that's what Sasuke was beginning to think at this point.
"Let's go. We can walk out of here quickly." Sasuke says.
"And if worse comes to worse, we can fight our way out." Itachi says.
"The castle halls are only so wide. They couldn't attack with their full force." Orochimaru observes in agreement.
With that, the three of them head off. It was a miracle, but they almost made it out the door before Danzo saw them. Sasuke frowns and gestures for the others to go on.
He could still talk to Danzo. Danzo didn't know that he knew the truth. Itachi and Orochimaru were disguised as goblins. Hopefully, the Goblin King wouldn't care too much about a fairy.
"Sasuke, what are you doing up at this hour and who are your friends?" The elderly man inquires.
"I couldn't sleep. These goblins were kind enough to offer me a tour of the kingdom. They also said that they were going to punish the prisoner by ripping off his wings." Sasuke says.
It seemed like a reasonable excuse. He was new to the Goblin Kingdom. Anyone would have wanted to explore and who better to be his guides than a pair of goblins? Really, it all made perfect sense.
"Of course. Perhaps I should join you? I would very much like to show you all the sights of our kingdom and it's always great fun to see a fairy's wings get ripped off." Danzo offers cheerfully.
Sasuke mentally winces. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't allow the Goblin King to go with them for obvious reasons. They were trying to escape, but he couldn't say no. That would be too suspicious.
Apparently, Itachi knew this and decided to take matters into his own hands though. The "goblin" walks over to Danzo and quickly yanks a dagger from his belt and slashes at his throat! Blood splashes everywhere!
"I just severed his vocal cords. He can't speak. He'll bleed out. The guards won't be patrolling this place for several hours." Itachi says as he walks out of the castle door.
Sasuke stares in horror. Granted, he didn't like Danzo. Still he had never seen someone get their throat slit before.
Itachi had slit Danzo's throat so precisely that the other man didn't even have time to cry out in pain. He didn't even have time to cry out for help. The elderly goblin was now choking on his own blood.
"Itachi?" Sasuke asks him uncertainly.
"I am sorry that you had to see that, Sasuke. Sadly, this is war. People die in wars. That's why I strive to avoid them at all costs." Itachi states.
He never imagined that Itachi would be the person to do such a thing. Itachi was his older brother. Itachi was the man who used to comfort him when he had nightmares or got scared during bad storms. It was hard to reconcile that with the fact that in this world, Itachi was seemingly able to kill with ease.
"Excellent, Itachi." Orochimaru coos at him and with that, they headed out of the castle.
Sasuke sighs in relief, when he noticed the unicorn was still there. Unfortunately, there was only one. The youngest Uchiha was pretty sure that it could only carry two people on its back.
"You two should ride it. We'll escape on foot. Goblins and fairies are fast. Unicorns may be faster than us, but we can manage." The silver haired fairy says.
"Good to know. Can you get back to Ireland or is this where we part ways?" Sasuke asks as he gets onto the unicorn's back with Itachi.
Orochimaru frowns as he considers his answer. He normally would have told Sasuke that he was coming back to Ireland. The young Uchiha owed him for helping the man to save his brother, but he knew better.
The Uchiha family reviled him. They would likely attack him on sight. It was unlikely that he would get a chance to explain. Sasuke would though.
"This is where we part ways." He says.
"I shall meet you by the waterfall in three days time. I care naught what hour. I must find a way to contact Jugo." Kimimaro says.
"Who is Jugo?" Itachi asks with a raised eyebrow.
Sasuke shakes his head. He could explain all about Jugo and everything else later. For right now, they had to focus on getting out of there as soon as possible!
"I'll tell you later. Alright, girl. Can you get us to the shore?" Sasuke asks.
"Of course, I can. Welcome back, Prince Itachi. I'm so glad that you're okay." The unicorn says as she gallops off swiftly.
The college student couldn't help but be amazed once more at the creatures speed. Not only was the unicorn magnificent visually, it was also swift. Swifter than even Naruto in his dragon form.
"Itachi, how are we going to get back? Orochimaru and Kimimaro summoned Aoda for us last time. I don't know how to do that." Sasuke inquires.
"I have a way for us to get back. Don't worry. We just need to make it to the shore." He says as he guides the unicorn gently to go faster.
The countryside whizzed passed them. Sasujke was pretty damn sure that he was never going to get used to riding a unicorn, especially not with Itachi. It was all so surreal.
It didn't take them long to reach their destination. Itachi thanks the unicorn and it gallops off. It was at that moment that Itachi pulled a necklace out from underneath his clothing.
"What's that for?" Sasuke asks curiously.
"You'll see." Itachi says as he blows on what seemed to be a whistle.
Almost instantly, the calm waters were decidedly less calm. A tower of water formed. At first Sasuke thought it was a tsunami, but when it cleared a ship was visible. A very large ship.
"What the?" Sasuke asks as he stares at the grand vessel in shock.
"My boyfriend is a merman. There are some perks to being involved with a merman. A lot of ships have a habit of sinking. Sometimes his kind fix them up. This is powdered by magic. It will take us wherever want to go. We don't even have to know how to sail." Itachi reasons.
Sasuke tries his best not to gape. He knew that he was likely failing, but he couldn't help it. This was amazing!
"Wow. What are the perks of having a Dragoon for a boyfriend?" He asks as they board the ship.
"A Dragoon? Well you certainly do favor the exotic. They tend to have rather large piles of treasure that they share with their Mates. They also can turn into a dragon, obviously. Oh and they are very monogamous. They also say that there are few species who are more eager to please." Itachi says with a smirk and Sasuke feels his face heat up in embarrassment.
"You pervert!" Sasuke growls at Itachi.
"Foolish little brother. You can't deny that you walked right into that one." Itachi says as he pokes Sasuke on the forehead and with that, their ship sets sail for Ireland.