Chapter Five: Horrid Old Memories
"Welcome." I said to the group of four. The late one was holding a clip board, one all people in her role had. I studied the rest. I could tell that we had a team with nearly all the elements, a sentinel, a healer, and one great with taijutsu. I would particularly enjoy this team and the missions we would be assigned. Or at least I believed. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I am thirteen years old and I am your captain. I know it's odd that only at the age of 13 I am in the ANBU and three of you are in your twenties and just managed to get in but age shouldn't matter. Let's fight well and do well for this country. I trust that every single one of you will pull your weight and uphold Konaha's values as shinobi." I said examining everyone's faces. "I have your masks." I said gesturing to the box. "Please pick yours up; if you don't like it… it isn't that important really…"
The kunoichi with long brown hair that was in a braid that went down to her waist set down her clip board and stood up. She took the box and placed it near the rest of them. She opened the box and handed each person their mask. "Oh!" She said in a chirpy tone. She reached into the box and pulled out five files within a folder. "That is our first mission. We are to obtain some intel being held by the Mist Village. A past team had failed at delivering it to its destination and it's our job to retrieve it." Everyone's eyes locked onto me. I knew what question was burning in their minds. What befell the team that lost the intel. "There was one survivor from the team of four. We will not fall into that kind of trap. Along with the details of the mission I have the report of the ANBU that survived. Prepare yourself and we will come up with a plan in two days and leave four." I leaned off of the wall I was resting against. "I don't want failures. Remember you are here because you can do what regular civilians can't. You are special. Don't fail now since you have gotten so far."
The first officer, the girl my age stood. "May I speak, Captain?" She asked. At least the brunette had manners. I nodded. "I am obligated to hand this around to the three of you. It is a sheet that is made for you to list all your abilities. It will allow for the captain to have an easier time when coming up with strategies. Also your person medical information goes to me. First officer is always a healer. We are the doctors that escort the teams around." She sat back down.
I sighed heavily. "Shall we get to know everyone's names as we do this?" I asked. "Stand and state your name, rank or role and intentions for joining the ANBU."
I gestured towards the first officer. She stood, perfectly straight like a toy soldier. "My name is Sato Kaeda, healer and sentinel, I joined to ANBU to get stronger." She said and sat back down. Hungry for power? I hated her already.
I went on to the first cadet and he stood. "My name is Watanabe Taiyo, water and earth ninjutsu and also good taijutsu. I joined because I was promoted by a senior shinobi." Someone who looks ahead.
They kept this up and kept talking as I noted how each person was and how they acted and what their goals where. Once they were done, we all dismissed ourselves. I stayed after a little bit longer to clean up and write down some notes for myself and figure out simply from that meeting how I wanted this first mission to commence. I packed my things once I was done and took everything and headed out the door.
As I stepped out, Kaeda bumped into me holding a tray with tea. She yelped as the tea fell back onto her. "Oh, my god! I'm sorry, so sorry." She said, getting the napkin she had set onto the tray and started whipping the floor. I knelt beside her and started helping her, "I heard you were still here as I was leaving and thought that you would be here for a long time."
My gaze turned towards her, confused by what she had said. "Why?"
"Isn't that a first officer's job? To ensure that the captain is well at all times, sir." She said saluting me. If I had known that this meeting would soon make you my first lover and that soon I would have to pretend to kill you and put you through hell… I would have stood and left you there, but I didn't, like the silly man I am.
Itachi Uchiha stood over the young and oblivious Naruto who wondered who the Sasuke look alike with sharingan was. He was terrified and his body refused to obey him and move. Sweat was running down his face and his warm blue eyes looked attentively trying to figure out what was going on. From behind the Uchiha stepped out the blue skinned shark man, Kisame. "Really… who'd believe a kid like you to have the Nine-Tailed Fox in him." He said. Naruto turned his attention to Kisame.
He had previously believed that only a few selected people knew about the Nine-Tails. It only made him a little more afraid. In a soothing voice as if to elevate his fears, Itachi spoke, "Naruto, you will come with us." He said. Naruto flinched at the sound of that.
Sasuke left the hotel he found the false Naruto in and kept running down the road. He had sensed Itachi and that was enough. I felt heavy, heavier than any usual morning. I was fixing my shoes as usual and heard the usual voice. "Big brother." That little voice that once gave me joy now gave me a heart ache. I looked back at him. There was my little brother with his spiky hair and his black eyes that were the same as mine. "Today, when school's over, help me train for a shuriken jutsu?" He asked quietly, and happily.
"I'm busy…" I replied. "Have Father teach you." I prayed he would say yes. I wanted more than anything for Father and Sasuke bond a little bit before the night ended.
His usual pout came over his face at least that was still as cute as before. "But you're better at shuriken jutsu, Big Brother…even I can see that." He said. "You always treat me like a pest, Big Brother."
Those words broke my heart. I fully turned around to him and waved him closer, without speaking a word to him. With a curious look he came running to me I lifted two fingers and as he realized what was going on it was too late for him to stop. He tried to pull back but I managed to poke his forehead just in time. "Forgive me, Sasuke… Some other time, okay?" I asked, feeling sad.
I fell into deep thought without thinking about it. Too upset, too depressed. How could they be forcing me to do this detestable task? How could I have agreed? I am the worst one of the all and here I am promising my brother a time that will never come. I am stealing precious time from him and precious memories in more ways than one. How could I possibly be doing that? I could feel my eyes hardening the deeper I went into my thoughts.
I pushed myself up. "I don't have time to pay attention to you today." I said, trying to strain our bond just a little bit.
Behind my back he raised his hand and rubbed the area that had turned red from me poking him. "You're always jabbing my forehead and saying "forgive me, Sasuke". You also say "not today" but there's never a day." He said. I opened the door and headed out. Despite me not looking at him, I could tell he was smiling at me. That would be our last conversation as brothers.
Hours flew by and the next thing I wanted to remember was the scream "Don't kill me!" That echoed through the compound. I appeared in front of my younger brother with tears still streaming down his face. He was breathing hard and terrified. "Don't kill me…" He whispered.
"You're not even worth killing…" I felt like a puppet. This was not me, some stranger was in my body, and foreign words were being spilled from my lips. I wished with all I could to break free of this person. Yet, I knew if I did I would have to come to face my puppeteer who stained my hands with this blood. "Foolish little brother…" He trembled and somewhere inside my body I trembled myself, with hatred and sadness. The self hatred that had been created was the puppeteer I realized. "If you want to kill me, begrudge me! Hate me! And keep on surviving in that unsightly manner… Just continue fleeing and fleeing and hang onto your life!" I suddenly wondered how I could allow this puppeteer speak to my little brother with such words.
Ha, I knew because the only thing that was left was hatred. That's why know while you are coming for me, Sasuke, it's all because of hatred isn't it? Nothing from that night has changed. The only thing you inherited from me was hatred.
Naruto kept staring up at Itachi. "Shall we go outside?" He asked. Itachi moved out of the door way and as he moved Naruto moved too, it was completely willing as well. Naruto noticed that it would be safer to obey at this point than to go to such extensive length and put his life in grave danger.
Kisame looked skeptical. "Itachi, it'll be a pain in the neck if this kid moves around, maybe I better chop off a leg just in case…" Naruto shook in his place as Kisame reached back to grasp the handle of his sword. The sweat on his face became more evident than before. Kisame stepped forward since Itachi's gaze was downcast and he wasn't saying anything. "Now then…" He started and approached Naruto.
The sharkman seemed like a giant before Naruto and the looming silence was terrifying. Then Itachi spoke quietly. "Long time no see…" He said quietly. "Sasuke."
"Uchiha Itachi!" Sasuke snapped.
Naruto winced and looked up at the man. "Uchiha… Itachi?" He whispered, frightened even more realizing that this was the man Sasuke had been talking about for the month that they had been team mates.
Sasuke had the most hateful scowl on his face. Kisame smirked just smiling at the situation. "Huh, Sharingan and moreover, he resmembles you a lot. Who the hell is he?" Kisame asked.
"He's my younger brother." Itachi said simply. A dumbfounded expression flew over Naruto's face, his jaw hung open and his eyes opened wide.
"But I heard that the entire Uchiha clan had been murdered. By you." Kisame said.
Itachi didn't flinch or react to Itachi's statement. "Itachi Uchiha… I will kill you!" Sasuke said. Naruto's face became angered as he looked at Itachi. Itachi turned like he was sparing the boy a moment of his time. They both closed their eyes charging up their chakra into their eye techniques. Once they opened their eyes powerful chakra swirled in both their eyes. "It's just as you said," Let the bloodshed begin again. "I held a grudge against you and hated you. For the singular purpose of killing you, I…" Chidori began to charge into the palm of his hand. The chirping of birds greeted their ears and the sight of bright blue lightning shined in the hall. "I have lived my life!"
He dragged chidori along the walls creating more friction until the final moment were the thrust it against Itachi. Itachi simply redirected the blast as it punched a hole into the wall. Kaeda stopped in the streets when she saw it. She dashed forward and went towards it. After the chidori destroyed two sets of walls the Uchiha brothers stared at each other, lightning still crackling in Sasuke's hand. Itachi was painfully holding Sasuke's wrist. Naruto as shocked how Sasuke's chidori was so easily tarnished. Itachi twisted his wrist a little bit.
Naruto immediately tried to use a summons to save him. He began to pull out the chakra of the Nine-Tails. "So this is the Nine-Tailed Fox Chakra!" Kisame said as both Akatsumi member's noticed the chakra encircling Naruto.
"You jerk! You're in the way!" Sasuke shouted, only remind Itachi he was there and giving him the opportunity to snap his wrist. Sasuke let out a wail of pain.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, worried. He started to do the hand seals for the summoning but Kisame threw his blade to the ground cutting the chakra aura and 'eating' the chakra. Naruto struggled and tried to build up more chakra for the summons.
"My Shark skin blade has the ability to cut through and eat chakra." Kisame explained as the blade started to move beneath the bandages. Naruto was again petrified with fear. "It'll be a pain in the ass if the kid moves around and uses jutsu like that… Before the legs, should I chop off these arms?" He asked pointing the blade to Naruto shoulder. The sword came down onto Naruto but was blocked by an armored toad.
"You guys just don't know me much, do you?" A voice asked from the smoke. "This man Jiraiya does not fall victim to any woman's allurement, but rather his forte is winning women's affection! I'm not made to blinding follow after a woman's feminine charm! When you get to my level, women yelp with delight at my sex appeal!" Jiraiya realized how stupid he probably looked.
Naruto turned around and accusingly he shouted, "You were totally excited by a lame tactic like a woman winking at you! You shouldn't be the one to try acting all sauve and cool, you Pervy Sage!"
"Like I said, don't call me that in front of people…" Jiraiy said quietly scratching the back of his head.
"Quiet! More importantly these people aren't normal, Pervy Sage!" He said turning back around and pointed at Itachi and Kisame. "Did you hear me, Pervy Sage!"
"Like I said, don't call me Pervy Sage!" Jiraiya shouted.
Kisame chuckled. "You are, after all, Master Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin… I didn't believe that I'd be able to stop you so easily despite the fact that you are a huge womanizer."
"What?" Naruto shouted disturbed. "You know the true identity of Pervy Sage?"
"Well no, that's not necessarily who I really am…"
"Seems like you released the genjutsu that we had put on that woman." Kisame said.
Jiraiya set the black haired girl onto the floor after he and Itachi glared at each other. "You shouldn't call yourself a man for using such a cowardly tactic like casting a genjutsu on the woman with your hypnotic eyes to separate me and Naruto." Jiraiya stood. "Your target is Naruto, after all!" Naruto and Sasuke were shocked to hear the news.
"No wonder Kakashi knew that as well… I see clearly now. The information source was you. To abduct Naruto is the number one priority place by our organization, Akatsuki." Naruto stumbled back frightened by Itachi's calm words.
The toad blocking Kisame from Naruto disappeared. Jiraiya had a hard glare set into his eyes. "I can't let you have Naruto…" He said.
"I wonder about that." Itachi replied.
Jiraiya straightened his back. "This is perfect. I'll get rid of you two right here!"
"Don't butt in!" Sasuke's gruff voice ordered shocking both Naruto and Jiraiya by its defiant tone. Sasuke began his struggle of getting to his feet. He was swaying badly and still in heavy pain. "The one that's going to kill him is me!" He panted hard but had a hateful glare in his eyes.
Both Akatsuki members gazed back onto the boy. "Right now, I have no interest in you…" Itachi stated, shooing him away like they were children once more.
It angered Sasuke that he would use that condescending tone on him again. His hand curled into a rock hard fist. "Don't mess with me!" He shouted, his eyes hard and hateful. Itachi spent no effort in giving him a kick into his stomach before he could land the hit on him. Sasuke went flying and he hit the wall across from him with so much force that nearly made him seemed as light as a ball. He slid down from the wall to the floor, unable to move once more, in pain again.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted worried. Sasuke was started to fall over, unable to support himself. "Damn you!" Naruto shouted.
"Naruto! I told you not to butt in!" Sasuke looked up shouting at his comrade. Sasuke began a new struggle to get back up. "I told you before… I've lived only for this very day… for this very day!" He looked at Itachi sharingan again found its way into his eyes as they swirled with black tomoe on a bright red background. He went to punch Itachi again and much like the first this one ended in failure. Itachi effortlessly blocked him and punched him sending him playing to the wall from before. Sasuke's whole body bounced off of it as his back took most of the damage and blood from the impact flew out of his mouth. That should have been the indication for Sasuke to stop but of course he struggled to move his wrist that was snapped that that swelled up badly. "Not yet…" He whispered.
"You can't even make a hand sign together at this point." Itachi said. So stop, go home and end this. You are not ready at all.
"This is my battle!" Sasuke snapped, destroying Itachi's notion of ending the pesky fight.
"Fine." Itachi said and glared at the boy. Jiraiya stepped forward to end this, knowing if too much was done Sasuke could die, but Kisame stood in his way, insuring that Itachi had all the time and all the space for his fight. Honestly it would be more like a beating. Sasuke had miles to go before he caught up with Itachi's strength anyone could see that, this whole fight was simply unfair and unjust.
Kisame raised his sword to Jiraiya. "You heard that didn't you? This is their battle. Let's not bother with it."
Itachi walked to the boy and stood over him as he tried to recover a little bit bloodstains on both sides of his mouth. Sasuke looked up as Itachi simply waited for something. "Fine then!" He shouted at tried to attack Itachi once more, only to fail once more. He kneed Sasuke in the stomach. Because you're too weak. As Sasuke's body fell forward from the force Itachi elbowed him into his neck and kneed him again in the stomach the body flew up. The blows kept going until he landed onto the wall with a punch. Sasuke's body was severely damaged.
Did you honestly think that this little power you gained changed anything? You still haven't gotten strong yet. You still don't hate me enough for what I've done. I am not your brother anymore. I am a killed the man who slaughtered your family. Your mother, your father, even your brother. Why do you still look at me and think brother! I am not that person. Can't you see that person died years ago? I will no longer poke your forehead, there will no longer be a next time, and there won't be any nonsense laughter and more importantly… I won't be by your side. But you are still the barrier he must always overcome. That… I still am.
Sasuke fell onto the floor blood dripping out of his mouth. Itachi looked at his weak form, grabbed him by the neck and pushed him up against the wall. He dragged him up so they were at eye level. "You are weak." He said, "And you are weak because you don't have enough hate." Itachi whispered into his ear just as he did to Kaeda the next of the massacre. A gentle yet cold whisper and not allowed to see his eyes to hide his true emotions. Sasuke watched his eyes open before he realized that he was using tsukuyomi. He was trapped into the nightmarish world of five years ago. While he was screaming in the hell his mind was trapped in, his physical body let out the same wail of agony. Sasuke's eyes glazed over as he passed.
Kaeda had just finished running up the stairs. She appeared besides, Itachi and Sasuke. She lifted her hand and rested it on Itachi's wrist. Both of them nearly jumped away at the physical contact. "Please let him go." She whispered her eyes locked with the ground and Itachi's gaze snapped to her. Naruto dashed forward to stop them and Kisame went after him.
Before things could get nasty Jiraiya used a jutsu to turn all the surfaces of the area into muscle, more notable it was the same muscles as inside a toad's mouth. Everyone force where they were and looked back at the old man. The walls began to suck Sasuke in. Kaeda gasped and moved Itachi's hand out of the way and pulled Sasuke out and let the boy fall into her, she herself nearly fell back into Itachi with Sasuke's weight. Kisame looked down and noticed the that floor was starting to wrap around their feet. "How unfortunate, Itachi, Kisame. You guys are already inside my stomach! I summoned the esophagus of the giant toad of the Mountain Myomaku rock cave. You guys are wanted criminals anyway. I'll turn you guys into fodder for the stone toad. Kisame and Itachi looked pissed. "Naruto, Kaeda, you two stay still!" They both looked at him. "Don't worry it's my jutsu."
Kaeda stepped back still holding Sasuke in her arms. She glared at Itachi. She set him down on his feet. "Hey Sasuke, wake up." She said and shook him a bit. She noticed that he had been mentally tormented; she pulled him back into a hug and held him there. She looked down at the boy worried and pulled him back into her arms eyeing the rogue shiniobi carefully.
Naruto pointed accusingly at her. "Where the hell were you? For a jonin you sure as hell weren't fast in finding us." Kaeda hung her head, even though she had asked him to say it, it still stung deep.
"Kisame come here." Itachi said. His voice made Kaeda flinch back with Sasuke still in her arms. She wanted to keep him away and hide him away from this man. Kisame broke free and rushed towards Itachi and it only made Kaeda back off even more.
"It's useless!" Jiraiya shouted. "There hasn't been one person who has been able to escape from this!" He said with a bright smirk on his face. The men started running through the halls only to find the flesh and muscle were moving coming for him. Jiraiya, Naruto and Kaeda stood for a moment waiting to hear them being captured instead a rumble was heard. Kaeda gasped. She handed Sasuke over to Naruto and dashed off. "Kaeda, don't go near them!" Jiraiya said. Jiraiya followed her and turns the corner to see her stopped at the edge were black flames was burning it. "Kaeda, come back. Don't pursue them those flames are deadly."
She looked out into the distance where they had gone. Some miles away Itachi and Kisame landed on the water and continued their flight. "Why must we retreat? You would be…"
Itachi was sweating and looked tired. "We have no reason to rush to get Naruto in the current condition. Besides, I have to rest my body somewhere for a while." And fix Kaeda's mistake. Jiraiya… Not just Tsukuyomi but he also made me use Amaterasu as well. The sharingan faded from his eyes and only black onyx was left.
Jiraiya sealed up the black flames. Guy showed up and after answering Naruto's questions, Guy and Kaeda left with Sasuke in arms. They took him straight to Konaha and Kaeda immediately got the best doctor that she knew to examine him. The man sighed. "His body is healed, the mental damage I cannot undo." Kaeda touched Sasuke's head and bit her bottom lip. "You should get some rest. It won't do anything if you sit over there and wait for him to heal. Kakashi is enduring the same thing, you know that. They will both be fine. Lady Tsunade will be coming to the village right. You just sit tight and she will come here and heal them." The man said.
Kaeda looked at him and nodded. "Right." She whispered.