UPDATE. :D!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs introduce within this fan fiction, save for:
Tsukuyomi Clan
Ikiteiru Kage
Uzumaki Kaede
Mushishokan Gatsuki
A/N: Ruriko's POV. P:
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Chapter Forty-One: Taking Out the Trash! New Destines Revealed!
"Knowing that you have no skills in theft or stealth," Kotaro continued, squeezing my wrist as he sat up in bed, "You still came after me? I can't tell if you're stupid or silly, however, either way I won't let you get away this time. Not alive." I jerked at his grip, pushing on the bedpost.
"Let go!" I snapped, but Kotaro swung his hand around and slammed me into the wall, hard as he easily got out of bed to maneuver this. He twisted my hand behind my back, using his other hand to push my head against the wall.
"Drop the scroll." Kotaro commanded. I clenched my grip on the scroll instinctively, gritting my teeth. Kotaro narrowed his eyes and stopped pushing on my hand to grab the scroll from my grip, pulling my arm up. I gasped. Pain shot up my arm and made my weak shoulder throb. Kotaro raised an eyebrow.
"Your shoulder is weak… An amusing discovery." He jerked harder and I groaned.
"Let the fuck go! I'll eat your fucking throat out!" I yelled, but that just seemed to amuse him further.
"Hmph, I'm sure you will… Let's see how that goes if your arm is useless." Kotaro pulled my arm up further and a cracked echoed from my arm as I yelled in pain and stomped my foot back onto Kotaro's foot. Kotaro stepped away for a split second, glaring at me for it before I managed to jerk away and ducked down between his legs, bolting for the door.
However, he whipped around and grabbed my hair. I yelped and fell back against his legs, wincing in pain as I felt a few strands getting ripped loose. My hair fell from its ponytail as Kotaro gripped a handful tightly.
"You think something that small would make me jump? It might've worked on your little leader, Sasuke, but not me…" Kotaro reached down and snatched the scroll from my grip, shoving it into his weapons pouch and looking up as someone came into the room, shifting along slowly and calmly.
"Kage," Kotaro greeted flatly, "I assume you know the location of the other brats?" Kage nodded, bowing his head a bit in response.
"Yes, master. One is moving toward the dining hall, another toward the cells, and two headed near the far exit." He informed. I glared at him, wishing I could blast the stupid shadow to pieces, but I could only clench my fists and wince when Kotaro jerked on my hair.
"I see… Send Gatsuki after the one moving for the dining hall, Kaede after the one toward the cells… I will see to the two heading toward the exit." Kotaro replied. Kage bowed. I scowled.
"And just how are you going to do that when you have me?" I demanded. Kotaro looked down at me, unimpressed, which annoyed the fucking hell outta me.
"I can easily deal with you. Kage," Kotaro looked up, "Be prepared to lead us to toward the first pair."
"Yes, master." Kage replied softly and opened the door. Kotaro jerked me up by my hair, making me yelp.
"OW! You don't have to pull so hard!" I protested, feeling a little tear well up in the corner of my right eye, but Kotaro ignored my protests and pulled me along by the handful of my hair. I gritted my teeth and just barely managed to keep up at his heels, Kage leading the way down the hallway.
"You're dragging this out," I muttered, wincing as Kotaro ripped a few more strands of my hair out, "Either you enjoy being a sick twisted bastard or you take things slow, like an old man."
"I enjoy watching weaker being squirm," Kotaro replied and I could have sworn I saw the faintest hint of a demented smirk hit his face, "They don't deserve to walk the earth without punishment. Such as yourself."
"I'm not weak! If you'd just let go of my hair, maybe I'd show you!"
"If you weren't, then you wouldn't have hesitated the first time we met." Kotaro responded coolly. I flinched, jamming my tooth into my lip, drawing blood. Ugh, he was pissing me off… But there was a reason why I didn't kill him…
"You're scared of me." Kotaro stated, making my eyes flicker and stare at him as we walked down the dim corridor. Wow… That was a quick and pretty flat out guess… And a good one at that. Now matter how much I tried to deny it, I couldn't fight the tightening sensation of fear that made my adrenaline pump rapidly in my veins.
I could only barely keep up as Kotaro kept a vice grip on my hair. I could tell we were moving up behind Sasuke and Karin. The sound of her obnoxious voice cooing and fawning over Sasuke could be heard from miles away. I sweat dropped. Nice going, Karin! You definitely aren't suspicious at all!
NOT!
Just as we took a few more steps, a bolt of lightening lit up the corridor and shot right through Kage, who didn't even flinch and it zoomed right past me, making me gasp.
"SASUKE, YOU ASSHOLE!" I yelled and winced when my hair was jerked on. I looked up as Sasuke stepped into the light of the lantern, Karin no where to be seen. Kotaro seemed to take notice as well, but I spoke up before he could.
"Where the hell is Karin?" I demanded. Sasuke glanced at me flatly.
"I killed her." He replied calmly. I blinked, then glared at him, clenching my fists.
"What?"
"She was in the way," Sasuke muttered, "So I disposed of her… Hopefully Juugo and Suigetsu get into the same kind of trouble." I twitched. After all the SHIT I went through to keep their asses safe! I give up! Never mind! I was so outta here when Kotaro let go of my hair! Forget deals and shit! I was ditching this place as soon as possible!
"Interesting," Kotaro murmured, "Now I don't have to waste my time killing them. I would thank you for getting rid of them, but you're also in the way." Sasuke looked at him as calmly as he could.
"No. I'm giving up." He responded. Kotaro's eyes glowed with suspicion and I could tell he was annoyed by this as he gripped my hair tighter, making me yelp.
"Is that so?" He asked. Sasuke nodded, averting his eyes toward the wall.
"I'm getting nowhere, constantly following wrong directions," He directed a harsh look at me, making me flinch, "I'll leave disposing that worthless trash to you… I'll take my leave." Kotaro frowned for a second, but his expression became placid once again as he jerked me by my hair and threw me on the floor. I winced, my jaw hitting the ground and causing blood to drip from my mouth.
"I would have been rather disappointed if that were true." He replied and swung his hand out at the wall, using his opposite hand to make a hand sign and causing the wall of the hallway to explode into dust. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and Karin was revealed to be hiding behind the wall, yelping as she leapt away from the attack.
"You're good. I had her conceal her chakra too, but you detected her as soon as you saw me." Sasuke commented. Kotaro gave a light shrug, lowering his arms to his sides.
"I'll admit, that perhaps you have some strength, enough to keep me at bay for a short period of time, however, you have a heart and wouldn't kill a defenseless little girl like her… And that's what makes you weak. You're shaming your clan by sparing worthless children like them." He explained, gesturing toward Karin and I. We both glared at him, but it was pretty much pointless. Sasuke's eyes were already burning with Sharingan as he glared harsh daggers at Kotaro.
"Don't talk like you know everything. I spare them because I need them. As soon as I've finished my goal, I'm going to kill them swiftly. And next, I'm going to kill you for opening your big mouth, acting as if you know everything." Sasuke seethed. Kotaro didn't get angry, keeping his calm demeanor as he gave his head a slight tilt.
"And why not kill me now? I have my guard down. I'll even let you throw the first hit." He spread his arms out, exposing his chest. From my spot on the floor, I could clearly see that Kotaro was relaxed and definitely not ready to defend an attack. Sasuke glared at him and seemed to be debating on what to do.
Stupidly, Karin made the first move and swung a kunai out. In a split second, Kotaro's hand moved just a tad and caught the blade of the kunai between his fingers. Karin gasped and I frowned. He was fast. I didn't even see him move. Kotaro dropped the blade, letting it clang on the ground. I glanced up, watching his eyes still locked on Sasuke, as if daring him to move.
I inched my good hand forward to grab the kunai, but I yelped when Kotaro stepped on my hand, smashing it onto the ground.
"Are you going to do something stupid as well?" He asked me, not moving his eyes from Sasuke for a second. I huffed.
"I was just taking that to use against Sasuke. He said he was gonna kill me after he was done with all this, so I might as well have a weapon on me to defend myself…" I muttered, although, I was thinking of slamming the kunai right into Kotaro's foot, pinning him to the floor.
"Hmm…" Kotaro shifted his foot off my hand and I snatched the kunai, shoving it into my kunai holster and glancing at Sasuke, who hadn't moved his eyes away from Kotaro's at all. It was like they were having a staring contest, daring each other to move. I frowned, glancing at Karin, who was shifting from foot to foot nervously. Kage stayed deathly silent, awaiting orders. He was just like a dog. If Kotaro said fetch, the shadow would fetch. Heal, Kage would slow down. Roll over, the ass would roll over a hundred times until Kotaro ordered him to stop.
It annoyed me. I gritted my teeth, studying Kage's expression. He seemed to be pretty blank right now. He always stayed by Kotaro's side. The only times I didn't see him near Kotaro were the time in the shop back in the Land of Snow and when he was sent to kidnap Roku…
I frowned, then winced when Kage's eyes locked on mine. I looked away immediately and as soon as I did, an idea hit me. I looked back at Kage, using my free hand behind my back and making a hand sign. Kage blinked and he suddenly looked ill as if he were going to fall over and I immediately knew my plan was working.
Kage shifted slightly and Kotaro frowned, but didn't break his gaze, however, an annoyed expression seem to cross his face.
"Worthless brat." He said and looked down at me. Everything moved fast now. Kage's body seemed to dissipate into a cloud of smoke and it thickened the air, mostly around Kotaro, who moved back to avoid a bolt of lightening from Sasuke. I shot to my feet and ducked an attack from both sides. I darted into the room with Karin, gasping.
"Come on," I ordered, "Let's get out of here to avoid these idiots!" Karin just nodded quickly. Kage's cloud form was becoming enough to make both Sasuke and Kotaro cough. I covered my mouth and inched toward the space between the blown up wall and Kotaro. He swung his hand around and easily smacked me, however. I gasped and hit the wall and fell on the floor, spitting blood from my mouth. Kotaro went to attack me, but had to block an attack from Sasuke. I winced, glancing up and seeing the scroll in Kotaro's pouch. My eyes widened and I shot my hand out quickly, snatching the pouch altogether and bolting down the hall with Karin shrieking after me.
A bolt of lightening shot past me, making me yelp and dodge to the side before we kept running into the show room with the fountain. Juugo and Suigetsu were already waiting, giving us surprised looks.
"MOVE!" I yelled.
"What about Sasuke?" Suigetsu demanded.
"He's comin'! Just move or you'll get crushed under the roof of this place!" I shouted and shot up through the hole in the room. Karin and the others shot after me. I found myself stumbling onto the side of a cliff. I didn't waste a single second, getting away from the hole and throwing open the scroll. I scanned it quickly.
"What're you doing?" Karin asked, leaning over my shoulder as I made a hand sign.
"I'm making a copy of this scroll, so I can give the real one back to Kotaro and we can make a run for it. There's no way we can fight a man who's got control of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rice." I explained and sighed with relief as the jutsu worked, a new scroll popping up beside the old one. I scanned it to be sure all the information was the same before rolling them back up.
"Just what…?" Karin's voice trailed and we looked up as a familiar person flipped onto the edge of the hole. Sasuke, badly beaten and burnt from the looks of it, came walking over, wincing as behind him, the structure built into the side of the hills exploded. The air filled with a powerful crackle of electricity, knocking us all off our feet. The earth rumbled before it became calm. We got to our feet and peered down to see a crater etched into the earth's surface as well as the remains of the ruined building. I frowned and swung the scroll over the edge.
"Why the hell did you do that?" Sasuke demanded. I shoved the copy of the scroll at him with my good hand.
"Take that. It's an exact copy of the scroll. Hopefully Kotaro will find the one I threw down there and leave. This scroll should have all the information…. On Akatsuki's whereabouts." I added. Sasuke stared at me, then ripped open the scroll, scanning it over.
He looked pretty damned pleased, but then it hit me. My eyes widened slightly. This meant I had given Sasuke his goal on a silver platter… I was fucking free! I smiled a little to myself, relieved that I could run home now. But it was short lived as I remembered…
I'm not completely finished. Sure, I finished Sasuke's goal, but I hadn't finished mine. I had to follow Sasuke to Akatsuki's base and make sure he didn't kill anyone… Ugh, and on top of that, I had to stay alive, like I promised my brothers and friends.
"Perfect," Sasuke murmured, more to himself than us, "Then this will lead me exactly to their current location…"
"Exactly." I replied.
"But, why would Kotaro want to know about Akatsuki?" Suigetsu demanded, annoyed. I rolled my eyes.
"They're a criminal organization. Why wouldn't he want to know they're movements? As small as they seem, Akatsuki is actually a much larger organization made up of smaller groups, such as weapons providers and information brokers. If Kotaro could suck Akatsuki into his army, he'd probably be just as powerful as a kage. In doing so, he'd be strong enough to call out a full scale war and probably succeed in winning." I explained, folding my arms over my chest. Suigetsu blinked and scratched the side of his head thoughtfully.
Sasuke glanced up at me, then shut the scroll and stuck it inside his shirt.
"Well then… I have all the information I want. Your services are no longer needed." He stated, making my eyes flash.
"But, Sasuke…!" Karin protested. I should've expected the next part, but I guessed I was too sucked into what I had said about Akatsuki and Kotaro. Sasuke swung his fist around and slammed it into my gut, making me gasp and fly backwards. My feet left the ground and I felt myself sailing down, down, down…
"FUCK YOU!" I managed to yell back at him before my body flew down and splashed into the water below. I felt like someone had slapped the air right out of me, making me choke and gasp in the water. I winced, floating through a flurry of bubbles. I was tempted to keep going downwards, but something dark moved through the water, making my eyes widen.
I shifted and swam for the surface, gasping for air as I surfaced. I flailed my arm and legs a little, being a pretty shitty ass swimmer with two arms, let alone one. I managed to pull myself onto the water, using my chakra to stay leveled. I frowned, then twitched when a huge shadow seemed to cloak the large pond in darkness. I turned around just as a huge eel-like fish rose up out of the water, blocking the afternoon sun. It opened its jaws to expose rows and rows and ROWS of large, razor sharp teeth. I flinched.
"Oh great." I managed. The thing roared and slammed its jaws at me. I managed to roll out of the way, skidding across the water's surface before I lost my balance and fell through the water. The creature flipped forward, swimming down into the pond, which seriously looked more like a big trench in the earth. It whirled around in the water, coming at me again. I grimaced and swam for the surface, pushing off it just in time to avoid its huge steel jaws snapping shut.
It shot from the water and I took my chance to grab onto one of the long threads that hung from beside its eyeball. I winced as it jerked me through the air, making me gasp. My other arm was completely useless and I had a feeling my other arm was about to be shot as well. The thing flung its head forward and I lost my grip. Next thing I knew, I was crashing through the trees, AWAY from the pond and the huge eel thing, thank the gods.
However, my landing wasn't all that great. I hit the ground, having knocked down several branches on my way down. I didn't move, sitting there on top of busted branches. My body ached terribly and I felt like passing out, my ears ringing from the creature's roar.
I took a deep breath, wincing at the pain in my ribcage. It shocked me that none of them were broken as I rose to my feet. I wobbled a bit, then reached down with my good arm, which was just flat out sore now. I tore a bit of fishnet off my pant leg, making the right shorter than the left. I gripped my dislocated shoulder and bit into my lip, shoving it back into place and yelping. I used the fishnet to make a temporary sling. I sighed, glancing around and brushing my hair of out of my face. Oh, gods, that was annoying.
I pulled my headband off and tied it the best I could with one hand to keep some of my hair back. I closed my eyes tightly. Okay, I have to think of something… That's when I saw it, well, in my head, of course. The scroll appeared in my head, the location of the next Akatsuki location on the list.
It was a cove etched into the side of a cliff off the shore in a village that used to go by the name of Uzushiogakure… If I could get there before Kotaro and Sasuke, hopefully I can provide some kind of assistance.
I opened my eyes and sighed. This was going to be a long walk. I shot off through the trees, heading around the pond to get back on the right path. Uzushiogakure was an island just off the coast of the mainland, the Land of Fire to be exact. I winced as little. Ugh, the thought of going across the water again made me uneasy. I hated boats… Boats sink and when boats sink, they usually carry their passengers with it. I shuddered, but kept moving toward the shoreline. Hopefully they still had the rides over to the island. It hadn't got much attention after its government fell in the last shinobi war.
I hopped onto tree branches to move faster. I also hoped there was a village from here to there… I needed some serious pain killers. I sighed tiredly and kept moving on. My legs felt wobbly and my ankles were throbbing. My shoulder was pounding with my pain and my back was just flat out sore.
I stopped, however, when I heard some voices and I immediately ducked behind a tree trunk, holding my breath and going still. I dared to peek around and I immediately froze.
"I can't believe it's gone," Gatsuki muttered, "And after having killed, what? Thirty people to have it built? A waste of time…"
"Quit complaining, kya. If there's anyone to blame, it's Kage!" Kaede huffed. Kage was looking pretty depressed right now, not making a single comment. I noticed that his feet were practically wisps of black, sweeping across the ground. At the head of their group was Kotaro, holding the scroll I had thrown back over the cliff. I wanted to sigh with relief, but I didn't dare breath. I was not putting up with him again. This guy was the pinnacle of deadly.
"Shut up," Kotaro ordered, making both Gatsuki and Kaede jump, "We're not pointing fingers. We have to arrive at Uzushiogakure quickly. A copy of the scroll was made."
"Huh?" Kaede's jaw dropped. Gatsuki frowned and Kage averted his eyes.
"That brat made a copy of the scroll, probably giving it to Sasuke. He's bound to be heading in that direction right now. As we've had enough mistakes already," He paused and Kage flinched (A new emotion!), "I won't have this mission delayed. Kage, scout ahead."
"Uh, yes, master…" Kage went to move forward, but Kotaro stopped him to glance at him.
"Don't stutter. Obey." For some reason, I got the faintest feeling that Kotaro didn't care about Kage's mistake back at the manor. It seemed it was a big bad guy's way of saying 'don't worry about it, just act like it never happened'. Kage looked at Kotaro for a moment before nodding and practically becoming a quick swirl of black smoke and vanishing into the shadows.
"Aww," Kaede whined, "Did you see the look on Kage's face, kyaaa? He looked sad… That's a first!" Gatsuki rolled his eyes.
"He's losing my respect. He should keep that same emotionless pattern of his. He just cares too much about what you think, Kotaro-sama." He pointed out. Kotaro glanced toward the shadows, his eyes narrowing a bit and his expression thoughtful before he kept walking. Kaede and Gatsuki shared curious looks before running after Kotaro. As soon as they seemed out of earshot, I managed to take a step back, but I kept my guard look, glancing around quickly.
If he came up behind me, I swear, I would have a freaking heart attack!
I slid backwards, then shot through the trees, careful to keep a considerable distance from Kotaro and his group as they moved on. I also prayed I didn't run into Sasuke. He probably thought I was dead and if I wasn't, he'd have fun trying to kill me.
Later…
I stumbled to a stop, greatly when I saw a sign that read of a village a mile up ahead. I shot toward it. I easily got in as there were no guards. It was just a simple little rest stop village with shops and whatnot. It sat right near the shore too, which was pretty convenient. I stopped, however, as realization hit me.
Shit, Sasuke had all the money. I smacked my forehead. Just my luck!
I walked to the shoreline, staring across the water and seeing the island faintly in the distance. I frowned and watched fish dart around in the water. I waited for a moment, my eyes following the palm-sized silver fish that swam about, completely unaware of me standing there. I paused a little bit more, then shot my good hand out and grabbed a squirming little fish.
Oh, that hurt. That thing had teeth! It bit right into my hand, making me wince, but in return, I bit into its side as hard as I could and ripped free some colorful flesh. I ate it calmly, taking a deep breath afterwards to look out at the ocean. I sighed.
I guess since there were no boats nearby, this meant I had to make a run for it across the water. I glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention. They seemed more focus on some commotion going on in town. I blinked and dropped the fish.
Commotion… Shit. Someone had caught up with me. Whether Kotaro or Sasuke, I did NOT want to find out.
I shot forward without a second thought, my boots splashing up water before I used my chakra to stay on the surface. I'd probably run out of chakra by the time I reached the island, but it was worth it. I could just rest a little.
I kept running, ignoring the loud explosions behind me. It made me wince. I should go back and try and help… But there was no point in it… I skidded to a stop, glancing behind me. I saw some flames at the front gates, smoke curling into the air. My eyes followed it up before I looked back down at the water. I saw a group of jellyfish flutter along by just below the surface, their purplish blue shapes floating along. A school of orange fish swam by afterwards. I looked up and made a hand sign with my hand.
This was gonna use up a lot of my chakra.
"Water Style. Dark Abyss." I murmured and released a heavy amount of black fog that sailed over the water, spreading out toward the village. I whipped around and kept running, trying not to slam my feet down to hard to avoid making loud noises. If whoever was ruining the village behind me took the same method I was using, they'd be able to hear me moving. I had trouble jumping over the waves that had begun to curl around, pushing the black fog closer to the mainland.
The island was getting closer, though. I could tell by the way the waves were shifting and churning under my feet. I sped up, getting a little nervous and annoyed at the same time. I leapt over a few waves and I saw the shoreline. I sighed with relief and went to move closer, but suddenly, the water bubbled. I blinked and looked down. I gasped and leapt back just in time to avoid a shark leaping from the water, snapping its iron jaws before it fell back into the water, swimming downwards a little.
I panted, covering my heart with my hand and feeling it pound wildly. Good gods, that thing was huge! A great white no doubt. Ugh, those things were so creepy! I shivered and hopped over the spot and bolted faster, my feet touching the shoreline at long last.
I sighed and wanted to fall over and rest, but I knew I couldn't. The Akatsuki base had to be somewhere alone the shore somewhere. I started heading down the shore, my boots sinking a little in the sand. I heard weird noises coming from the trees that surrounded the area, a wolf howl and a weird growling were all I could make out other than the occasional shriek of a bird.
I scanned the side and up ahead, but I didn't really see any cliffs. I frowned and took to the trees, hopping on branches and searching for a cliff that was supposedly hanging over the side of the water. I kept moving until I spotted a pair of old rickety gates, partially scorched from flames and moldy. I grimaced and walked past them, seeing as the walls beside it were collapsed. Inside, it seemed to be the ruins of Uzushiogakure… Or, well, some of it. Most of the village was pounded into the ground as a crater.
The only bits remaining other than the gates were small bits of wood and stone. It was kind of sad, really. I'd heard good things about the village, that most of their clan members lived forever.
Lucky them.
Then again, they were almost wiped off the face of the planet. I wondered for a split second what Kaede would think when she walked through here. I walked over the ruins a bit, maybe hoping for something to show up there, but it just looked like a flatten village. Like someone threw a huge bomb on it and ground it into dust, save for small pieces of homes… Or maybe part of the wall? Didn't matter anymore.
I heard growling again and jumped, glancing over my shoulder to see a small pack of wolves moving out of the woods. I frowned and jumped up into the trees to avoid getting seen. They probably weren't used to humans anymore and there was no way I could keep wolves back with one arm and hardly enough chakra for a good jutsu.
That, and for some reason, it just wouldn't feel right attacking wolves… It made me smile as I remembered my dad making jokes about being related to the dog family, wolves included.
"I wonder if your mother's side of the family evolved from dogs… You guys pretty much eat anything! At least it's easy to feed you guys. Maybe when we get more money, I'll buy you guys a dog! Then you'll have a new sibling!"
I laughed a little inside before I shot off through the trees. The only sounds around me now were my boots hitting the branches and the leaves rustling with my movements. I was about ready to give up. Maybe the scroll was old news… Or they made it to steer people away from where they were really meeting?
No, I was wrong. I came to a stop on the other end of the small island at long last, finding what I was looking for. A nice etched in dent in the side of a cliff that hung out over the ocean. At the top of the cliff was, oddly enough, an archway built with sharpened tips and large bells dangling from it with thick purple ribbons with red swirls on them. I looked down at the cave and started toward it.
It was different from the other Akatsuki bases I had seen. This one had absolutely no statue at all. Instead, it had somewhat of a cat walk from one end to the other, broken in half at the center. I kept my eyes darting up to the ceiling. I don't know if it was necessarily Kotaro's fault that I was weary about caves or what, but those spiders have given me a heart attack.
I've heard of albino rabbits, but not albino spiders!
I walked a little bit further, glancing around with a frown. Had I missed them? Shit, if Sasuke showed up here and no one was here, he'd go right after me and slaughter me. Kotaro would probably do the same. I sweat dropped.
Maybe I should stop telling people I know stuff when I really don't…
I sighed and started to walk further, but someone reached out and grabbed me, making me yelp. I was slammed into a wall and I started to yell angrily, but a hand clamped over my mouth tightly. I glared, but stopped, my eyes widening as the hand moved away.
"Itachi…" My voice drifted. Itachi looked at me, lowering his hand to his side. He had a bit of an annoyed frown on his face, which I was pretty much used to seeing on Sasuke's face. Ugh, don't frown, Itachi. You remind me so much of Sasuke that it scares me.
"What're you doing here?" He asked calmly, studying me. I probably looked terrible. My arm in a sling all banged up, my hair loose and probably a little tangled with my headband barely holding it back and I was probably as cut up as sushi.
"Uh… I came to see the sights?" I tried, but Itachi gave me a doubtful stare with a raised eyebrow. I sighed, rubbing the side of my head a little, trying not to wince. Itachi paused for a moment.
"Let's get you cleaned up… Come." He headed toward a small opening near the catwalk and I obediently followed. The hallways were narrow and jagged, having been naturally made. I grimaced, trying to avoid getting stabbed with bits of rock. Itachi led me into a manmade room, telling me to take a seat on the floor. He was getting something out of a bag nearby.
"Uh, hey," I said, smiling a little, "Thanks for not killing me. I seriously thought you were going to tear me to pieces." Itachi glanced at me.
"As it may not seem, I'm really not into it." He answered. I blinked and tilted my head.
"Oh?" I asked. Itachi simply nodded and took the fishnet off my arm, wrapping it with bandages he'd dug from the pack. He didn't it slowly and gently, murmuring apologizes if I winced.
"You have to leave after I'm finished," Itachi told me, "Hanging around here is probably going to get you killed and I don't want this to be a waste." I frowned, then blinked.
"Ah, wait! Who's the person who leads you? I heard it was Pein, from Awegakure, but someone else said it was a guy named Madara. I thought Madara was dead." I explained quickly. Itachi blinked, giving me a 'you're nosy, aren't you?' look. I was used to that look, so I just stared back at him expectantly. He waited a moment before sighing and shaking his head, leaning away from me to wrap up the bandages.
"Don't dig too deep into this situation… I know you said you want to prevent deaths, but sometimes things like that must happen for the drama to subside."
"You're crazy," I protested, "Sasuke's going to come here and freaking kill you, then move on to the rest of the whole damn world and Kotaro pretty much has the same goal in mind, except he's skipping straight to the 'world domination' plan! The least you could do was stay alive just a little longer to prevent this!" Itachi frowned.
"You have an odd way of explaining things," He commented, making me blush lightly, "But I have no control over what Kotaro does… He'll need a much bigger army if he's planning on starting a war… As for Sasuke, he'll be content if he just reaches his goal."
"You think Sasuke's just plotting to kill you and leave it at that? From what I've seen, Sasuke's planning something a lot bigger! I told Naruto I'd bring Sasuke back to the village, yea, but I how am I going to do that when Sasuke has the village's demise in mind?" I demanded. Itachi looked a little uneasy, but it immediately vanished into his emotionless expression.
"How do you know for sure? Has he said anything?" He asked. I shifted a little.
"Well, not specifically, I don't think… But you can't tell by the way he looks when you even mention Konoha! And he really had no problem chucking me over a cliff and almost blowing me up and beating my face into the dirt and a whole bunch of other things I~ really rather not go into." I added in a mutter.
"Maybe you shouldn't test him." Itachi said quietly, averting his eyes. For a second, his expression almost seemed comical! I huffed, folding my arms over my chest, wincing a little at the pain in shoulder.
"Oh, please. His fuse is so damn short, all I did was blink and he'd be angry… He threw a little temper tantrum when he found out I had spoken to you. Almost killed me then and hurt Roku while he was at it." I muttered. Itachi looked concerned for a split second, frowning.
"That's odd… Is Roku all right?"
"He's fine… I gave him to my brothers to take back to the village with him… I promised him a puppy." I added. Itachi seemed to hint a smile.
"I see… Then you should leave. Go back to Konoha. Take care of Roku."
"How can I do that knowing that Kotaro AND Sasuke are both going to try and ruin everything? It's kind of hard to live peacefully with two villains out there, you know." I mumbled. Itachi shifted and I could tell he was uncomfortable with the fact that I had called Sasuke a villain. No, Sasuke wasn't all evil.
Even I could see that. Sasuke did have some emotions left in his black, locked up heart. I could remember Sasuke being pretty concerned that Kotaro had kidnapped Roku. In fact, Sasuke even looked a little guilty after he had knocked the kid off his arm and into a wall… Sasuke was trying to harden himself, though, to make sure he could kill without regrets. He had a problem with children, from what I could say. Made me wish I was little there for a second.
I looked at Itachi, who seemed to be thinking hard about something.
"Itachi," He glanced at me, "Sasuke's coming to kill you and probably the rest of Akatsuki. Then he's going to move onto trying to start a war. If Sasuke succeeds in killing the entire Akatsuki, he'll put a hole in Kotaro's plan of using Akatsuki in his army. Even so, Kotaro isn't going to give up and he'll probably hunt Sasuke down and get rid of him. Then all your efforts would be gone to waste. Sasuke will die and so will Konoha and so will everyone else until Kotaro is up here." I held my hand up in the air. I could tell the fact that Sasuke would die as well as Konoha unnerved him. It got me curious.
"It's better to die for something than to die for nothing. If Sasuke gets here before Kotaro, you need to do something, anything, talk to him and try and hold him off. If you can't, I will do the best I can. Then we'll tell whoever's leading Akatsuki to leave the island as soon as possible to avoid an attack from Kotaro. I know it sounds cowardly to run, but Kotaro isn't someone I really want to encounter again. At least not in the state I'm in right now. I used up all my chakra and I'm only good for babbling like an idiot." I explained before taking a deep breath and looking at Itachi to wait for his reply.
He was thinking about what I said. I could tell by his expression. I had expected him to hold a blank face, but it seemed that the dent in his plan was unnerving him. He glanced at me.
"How did you even know to come here in the first place?" He asked. I blinked, then tapped the side of my head.
"I memorized the directions from a scroll that Kotaro had found inside one of those statues inside a previous base… Who's idea was that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Itachi looked slightly annoyed, but glanced up at the ceiling as if to curse a god.
"Not mine… From the looks of it," He went on, looking back at me, "Destines are being altered, whether for the worse or the best, it's a bit unclear at the moment… Right now, it's probably best we try what you suggested, however, in a bit more civil manner… Unfortunately, I really don't see how I am going to talk Sasuke into not killing me if that took me this long to complete." He gave me a deadpan expression that once again hinted comical. I twitched, smiling weakly.
"Ahaa… Say please?"
"You traveled with Sasuke how long?"
"Don't get sarcastic," I huffed, then folded my arms over my chest, "All right, well… Tell him whatever you think. He's your brother."
"He was your leader."
"Leader," I muttered, getting to my feet, "Right. He's also killed me on several different occasions… There's got to be something. I don't know, try apologizing or something like that."
"I can't apologize for something I was forced to do."
"Huh?" I looked at him. Itachi stared back at me so blankly, it was unbelievable. I frowned.
"Forced? What're you-"
"Ssh," Itachi ordered, glancing toward the opening to the room, "There's someone moving toward the cave." I blinked and looked out the opening, peeking around the corner down the hall before looking back at him.
"Who?" I asked quietly, keeping my voice down. Itachi frowned and moved beside me, glancing down the hall before sighing softly and averting his eyes.
"I was hoping we'd have more time to discuss this… But it seems Sasuke has already arrived." He murmured. I flinched, pressing against the wall and staring at him.
"Are you serious? Oh, that was way to fast! This is so unfair… What're you going to do?" I asked. Itachi looked at me.
"I've got a distract set up out there… But Sasuke's very smart. He won't fall for it for very long, which means I will have to make my appearance shortly… You need to stay on the sidelines to avoid any more damage. Do not jump in to do anything," He added sharply, making me jump a little, "Stay in position and do not move at all. Conceal yourself to the best of your abilities… I'm not the only member of Akatsuki in this base." I blinked and opened my mouth to comment, but Itachi covered my mouth and held a finger to his lips. I tried not to blush.
His hand was warm and soft… For a hardworking criminal too! I mentally smacked myself for that, flinching before he gestured out the door. I nodded and slipped out, heading down the hallway and trying to keep deathly silent. This was going to be bad…
I managed to climb up quietly, listening to muttering voices, probably Sasuke and Itachi's. I peered over to see Sasuke standing just in front of the entrance of the cave… Alone. No sign of his three buddies, which made me frown. Had he killed them on the way or what?
I frowned and kept watching. At first, they were just standing there with Sharingan glowing, so I guessed they were both sucked into a mind battle. I was pretty sucked into just staring at them, which was weird. I could just see Sasuke tensing and at one point, he even flinched so something had to be going on inside his head. Then he jerked and went for his sword, swinging it outwards. Itachi easily side stepped it, glancing at Sasuke, who glared at him, holding his eye as if he thought it was gone.
"Bastard." He spat. I winced and he moved forward, holding a screeching aura of electricity in the palm of his hand. I gasped and for some reason, my legs went to move forward. I didn't get a single step, however, as someone nabbed me from behind, a gloved hand clasping over my mouth tightly.
"Mmph!" I winced and an unfamiliar voice in my ear said:
"You don't follow rules, do you, little one?"
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A/N: I hope this whole thing was pretty dramatic… Except for Ruriko's boring trek toward the cave. -3-; I wanted to just skip that whole part and get to the action, but I decided to just throw in some random stuff… Ah, hopefully the main characters a still somewhat in character. Obviously Itachi is no longer in the manga and I haven't exactly seen him in action -posters don't count oxo!- nor heard him lately… I should probably watch a few more episodes, huh :D? Well! Thanks so much for reading, hope the characters are in character, and your reviews are loved very much!