Hi ya'll! Sooooo sorry that it took me this long to upload! I've been really busy lately and ideas just haven't really been flowing but I still plan on continuing and finishing this story! Don't worry, there are plenty more chapters to come! I hope everyone enjoys reading this chapter!
Meng Ka stretched as she sat up with a yawn as she rubbed her head and looked around, having almost forgotten all about yesterday until she saw Sasuke sleeping peacefully beside her. She smiled as she ran her hand over his wounds and then stood up, finding that he would be just fine by tomorrow if he will just stay in bed and sleep for today. Looking over she saw two of the three companions in the room. Cocking her head to the side she pressed her lips together and tapped her lips with her finger. "Jugo and Suigetsu, right?" She asked as she pointed to each in turn and Tinktink swooped in with a low chirp as she landed on the window seal. Meng Ka walked over to her and petted her feathers, Tinktink nipping at her fingers in return.
"Just how do you know Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked as he sat himself down next to Sasuke who was still sleeping. His eyes narrowed at her as he did not trust her.
Meng Ka crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, "I've known Sasuke since he lived in the Leaf village. My Uncle was the one who taught him most of the basics that he knows now." Meng Ka chuckled sadly and shook her head as she sat next to Tinktink. "He sure is willing to do anything so that he may one day kill his own brother." The room became quiet as the three of them became lost in their thoughts; all of them knowing all too well just what he was willing to give up in order do so.
"I'm gunna go look for Karin." Suigetsu suddenly said as he looked over at the two of them before getting up and heading for the door.
"Ok." Jugo finally said as him and Meng Ka watched as Suigetsu reached for the door. However before he could actually open the door it was knocked down right on top of him with a frantic Karin rushing in.
"Wake up, Sasuke!" She yelled as she stood on top of the door, which in turn had Suigetsu underneath it. "We're going to have company. What do we do?!"
Sasuke slowly opened his eyes and looked over at Karin calmly. "We escape. Get ready." He spoke sternly as he looked at everyone in turn. "Jugo, mark every Akatsuki hideout that we know."
"No, no, no." Meng Ka said just as sternly back to Sasuke, which in turn made the whole room go quiet and tense. Sasuke looked back at her as she walked over to him. "You are in no condition to be moving around. You need bed rest if you expect yourself to get any better any time soon. If not, it'll take a good while before you are fully back to your normal self again."
Sasuke blinked at Meng Ka as he looked up at her, "And that is why you are coming with us, to make sure I get that rest in a safe place."
Meng Ka raised an eyebrow at him, "Are you and Naruto really still arguing, because at first it was funny but now it's just getting old."
"Meng Ka." Sasuke said a bit irritably, "I don't have time for this, we need to go now."
The two of them glared at each other for a little bit but soon Meng Ka groaned and reached down to help him up, "Fine." She said tightly and wasn't very gentle as she helped him get ready.
"Are you really ok, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked as he looked behind at him Sasuke as he threw on his coat and walked along next to Meng Ka who was still pouting as she continued to cross her arms and not talk to Sasuke.
"Yeah. I've been healing faster ever since I absorbed Orochimaru's power." He said as he stopped and looked up at the three of them as Tinktink soared ahead of the group.
"Whether it's Akatsuki or the Hidden Leaf, they might have information on Itachi." Karin said as she looked over at Sasuke. "So why don't we ambush them, Sasuke?" She asked curiously as she bit her lip and kept herself from arguing more.
"From what you reported about the number of people, it's most likely the Hidden Leaf." Sasuke said monotonously as he glanced over at Meng Ka, who was still ignoring them all. "Akatsuki always works in two man cells."
"Which would mean an ambush would be a waste of time." Suigetsu suggested as he caught onto what Sasuke was getting at.
"Exactly. Forget the Hidden Leaf." Sasuke nodded his agreement to the others.
"Then what do we do?" Karin asked, worried about if they would be able to out run the Hidden Leaf with Sasuke being wounded the way he was.
"Itachi is our only priority." He said sternly once again, "Once we locate him, worse comes to worst, you three must stop the Hidden Leaf. Meng Ka," He said as he looked over at her, "you are not to get involved." Then he looked back at the other, "For now, team Hebi will use the information Jugo gathered and check out the hideouts by one. Let's go." He said and without waiting for the others, continued to walk out of the village and into the path through the trees.
A little bit of time had passed before Sasuke finally sighed and looked over at Meng Ka, "What have you been doing these past few years?" He asked as he watched her for any sign of acknowledgement but Meng Ka continued to ignore him. "You've gotten a lot stronger." He commented again and this time getting the reaction he was looking for.
"Really?" Meng Ka perked up as she looked over at him and uncrossed her arms. Then, noticing what she was doing, she cleared her throat and tried to look uninterested. "I mean, how do you know?"
Sasuke pointed to where her feet dangled above the ground. "I don't think I've seen your feet hit the ground since I last saw you back in the Leaf village."
"Huh?" She said as she looked down and then suddenly planted her feet on the ground and smiled sheepishly up at him, "Haha, old habit. I should really walk more often." She mumbled the last part to herself and then skipped ahead as she hummed to herself.
"It's up ahead," Sasuke said as he stood up on a rock while the others were below him. "You guys wait until I give you the order. I'll go and see." And with that he was off into the dense cloud of trees.
Meng Ka sighed, "He's even more stubborn and bossy than before…if that's even possible." She looked over at the others as Sasuke disappeared into the hideout. They all seemed to make themselves comfortable as they prepared to wait for Sasuke's return but Meng Ka was not about to let him go in there alone. With a smile she winked over at Tinktink before suddenly disappearing into the wind. Tinktink landed on her shoulder as she walked through the cave, the only presence she could feel was Sasuke's and there was another chakra but no presence so there wasn't another person there with him. So she did not know what was keeping him for so long, the cave really was not that large. She ducked when suddenly crows came out of nowhere and flew over her head and out of the cave. "Geez, where did all these birds come from? You wake them up or something?"
Sasuke looked over at her as he stood in the mist of flowing feathers. "What are you doing here Meng Ka?"
"Figured you got lost since, you know, this place is so huge." Meng Ka replied sarcastically as she smiled over at Sasuke. Sasuke did not say anything as he looked over at her, his eyes still red and Meng Ka tilted her head to the side. "You know, those eyes aren't as creepy as they used to be." Sasuke seemed to become less tense and his eyes went back to normal as he reached up and flicked her right between the eyes. "What was that for?" Meng Ka asked annoyed as she rubbed her forehead.
"Sasuke!" Karin yelled as the other three came running in as Sasuke looked over at the other three, already back to being tense and stubborn.
"I told you not to move until you received orders." He said with annoyance in his voice.
The three of them paused, shocked expressions coming on their faces as they noticed Meng Ka standing next to him. They got over their shock quickly though as they looked back at him and Suigetsu explained. "Karin said she felt another chakra, so we were worried."
There was silence as he looked away from them and down to the floor. Karin looked around, shocked to see the feathers as Jugo seemed to take no noticed as he kept his eyes on Sasuke. Suddenly Sasuke began to walk out of the cave, "Follow me. Let's go." He said simply as they made their way out of the cave and back into the forest. Meng Ka skipped happily around them, "Man, I forgot how much fun this is!"
"Should we change course, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked as they raced through the trees. Everyone knew he was talking about the chakra that they had been feeling ever since they left the cave.
"Ignore it. We'll forge straight ahead." Sasuke said as he did not even glance behind him as he continued to lead them through the maze of trees.
"Good taking the long way would have been annoying." Meng Ka said as she floated alongside them while Tinktink flew above them. Suddenly Naruto came out of nowhere as he yelled out Sasuke's name. As they passed him, Sasuke simply killed him with a burst of chakra, making the shadow clone burst into a cloud of smoke as he disappeared.
"What was that?!" Karin asked worriedly as she looked behind them.
"A shadow clone." Meng Ka said, "You know, that very basic thing that little five year olds can do." She smiled sweetly over at Karin as she became red in the face. The two of them having not really been able to get along very well.
"Naruto, eh?" Sasuke said as he looked over at Meng Ka, keeping the two of them from bickering.
"Multi shadow clones, I get it now." Karin said as she looked ahead at him, "The same chakra I sense all over the place belongs to him." They suddenly came upon a village and began to race across the tops as Naruto and his team chased after them.
"A humongous chakra! Coming fast!" Karin suddenly said as Kisame jumped down in front of them and rested his sword on his shoulder.
He smiled down on them, "Sasuke is the only one who can go father. It's Itachi's orders. The rest of you are welcomed to wait here."
"Alright, besides we were only traveling as a platoon," Sasuke said without missing a beat, he was finally about to be able to do what he has been wanting to do all his life. "In order to prevent interference for my showdown. This will do."
"No, you can't, Sasuke!" Karin said as she turned to him. "Let's take him down and go in together."
"I have no intention of fighting." Kisame said with the smirk still on his face. "But if you insist on going with him, I will show you no mercy."
"Well that's a bunch of bull shit." Meng Ka said as she crossed her arms.
Kisame chuckled, "I'm glad to see that our paths have crossed again Meng Ka. Though I can't say that it is coincidental."
"Enough." Sasuke said, "Karin, stay behind, you as well Meng ka. This is my vendetta." With that Sasuke jumped forward and became lost among the houses and trees.
"Kisame Hoshigaki and the great shark skin sword." Suigetsu suddenly said, "Have you forgotten me? I'm Suigetsu Hozuki, the younger brother of Mangetsu-Hozuki."
Meng Ka watched the exchange and glanced at Tinktink before suddenly drifting off into the wind once again. It was a bit too easy sneaking away from this group, once they had their minds on something, someone could smack them on the head and they would not notice. Well that was Meng Ka's personal observations but she was pretty sure if they were smacked they would not notice. Soon Meng Ka found Sasuke and followed him still in her wind form. She was worried about him getting hurt but she would not let him get killed. She may not be much help and she would not interfere since she knew that Sasuke needed to do this but she still hated this all the same. As he entered the building, Meng Ka began to search a safe place to go and watch from a distance. She was shocked to see that someone else was already doing the same thing she was just thinking of doing. With a smile she suddenly appeared next to him in the wall, he was half white and half black with a strange plant around him. "Hi I'm Meng Ka, who are you? Are you here to watch the show too?"
"I'm called Zetsu," He replied softly, "And we are here to observe this fight and find out who will survive." His voice suddenly changed, becoming lower and gruffer.
That did not bother Meng Ka though, "Cool, I'm pretty much here for the same though I really hope Sasuke wins and that neither one of them have to die, I kind of feel like this is going to take a while though." She said as they looked down and saw that they had yet to move from their spots, both of them using their Sharingan to battle. It did not stay like that for long; soon they were crashing into each other as they yelled at one another. The fight was even brought outside as they had completely blown up the building that they were fighting for and Meng Ka moved slightly getting ready to interfere quite a few times.
"Why not go and help your friend?" Zetsu suddenly asked calmly.
"I am no use in this form." Meng Ka said sadly as she looked over at him but quickly back over to Sasuke as the power he had absorbed from Orochimaru turned out to be Orochimaru himself as he took over Sasuke's body but he did not last long as Itachi ripped him out of his brother and killed him for good. That did not seem to faze the two brothers as they went right back to fighting and Itachi even almost was able to rip one of Sasuke's eyes out. But it all ended as Itachi finally collapsed at Sasuke's feet. Meng Ka quickly went to his side as a terrified expression was upon his face, he did not even react to her appearing right next to him as black flames began to spread all around them and dark clouds began to let out rain over them.
"Sasuke!" Meng Ka called out as he collapsed in her arms and she settled him on the ground. Moving quickly she began to heal what little she could but he need to get medical attention and quickly or else he would die right there on the cold, wet ground. Meng Ka's ears perked up as she looked behind her and glared at the person behind her. She stood in between Sasuke and the new comer, "What do you want pumpkin head?" She asked bitterly, having no time for any more fights.
"I've come for Sasuke; I know a place where we will be taken care of." Obito said as he looked over at the three of them.
"Over my dead body." Meng Ka said as her voice lowered and flakes of gold could be seen in her eyes.
"That can be arranged." He said simply as the two of them stood tensely in the rain as the black flames burned around them.
"I detected their scents." Kiba said as they raced ahead, hurrying to get to Sasuke and Meng Ka as soon as possible. "They've already reached where Sasuke is." He suddenly growled lowly, "Meng Ka is with him as well!"
"Damn them!" Naruto yelled as he pushed forward, wanting to get to them as fast as possible.
"What is that?" Sakura asked as they came upon the black flames that were blocking their way to Sasuke and Meng Ka.
"That is Itachi's jutsu!" Naruto answered as he looked upon it in amazement, remembering the last time he had seen it.
Kakashi suddenly stopped them, "Be careful. That fire will not go out until it completely incinerates anything it ignites." Then looking over his shoulder, "Yamato!"
"Yes, sensei!" Yamato said as he formed a few signs with his hands and then suddenly made the earth split in half, making a path for them right between the flames. They raced through the path and as they came upon the fallen building they stopped in shocked as they saw Obito fighting with Meng Ka. It had been so long since they all had seen Meng Ka, they hardily recognized her as she had grown so much. White flames danced around her as she and Tinktink weaved around Obito, both dodging his attacks and attacking. Neither one of them had noticed the Leaf Village but as they moved to interfere Obito suddenly stabbed Meng Ka right in the heart. She shocked expression came over Meng Ka's face as she looked down at the dagger and then over at the others, a gentle smile forming on her face as she got to her see her friends and family once again. Everything suddenly happened in slow motion as everyone called out to her and raced to her side but before they could get to her she drifted off into the wind, Tinktink disappearing along with her.
"I'll kill you!" Kiba screamed as he raced after Obito, yelling the whole time. But as everyone reached them, Obito along with Sasuke and Itachi suddenly disappeared as well. "Meng Ka!" Kiba yelled out as he sniffed at the air and looked all around.
"Meng Ka!" Kakashi yelled as well as he franticly looked around, "Meng Ka!" He continued to yell, Yamato having to chase after him and get him until control just like Shino had to do with Kiba as they both continued to scream.
Sakura watched as tears rolled down her cheeks, staring off into the distance as she was in shocked, none of them having thought that would have happened. How could Meng Ka be dead? There was not a body after all and what was she doing with Sasuke in the first place? So many questions were racing through her mind as she wrapped her arms around Hinata who was wiping her tears in silence. Naruto was furious though as he punched his way through a few rocks and yelled at the sky. This was far from over for any of them.