Author's note:
Early as now, I apologize for the mild swearing in this chapter… Heavy ones would be replaced by ****.
Enjoy reading:-)
Disclaimer:
Naruto doesn't belong to me… Especially Itachi… However, loving them from afar soothes my lonely little world^^
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"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Biju speaking or Jutsu"
["Talking" Mindscape]
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PETALS OF HOPE
CHAPTER 18
Previously…
From behind, a shadow appeared. Crimson red eyes blazing in hatred stared at the crouching man in front of him. Gripping his sword tightly, he called his name.
"Uchiha Itachi." The shadow stated in a very calm voice that contradicts his darkening aura.
Sighing, Itachi stood to his full height. He could feel the anger that is leaking from the young lad. Turning to face him after so many years, Itachi noted the difference from the boy he left behind to the man that stood before him.
"Hello, little brother. It's been a while…"
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"You look different, Sasuke…" Itachi commented.
"Hn." Eyeing his older brother, Sasuke draw his sword and faces him with a scowl. "Be grateful that I found you first, Itachi. If I happen to found your girlfriend, you would lose your chance of ever seeing her again…" Shifting his weight, the raven lowered his stance. From that movement, the hitai-ate that the masked Akatsuki gave him peeks thru his pocket showing its red cloth.
Itachi's eyes widen as he recognized that cloth. Clenching his fists, the elder Uchiha cursed inwardly. "Damn you, Tobi."
"Surprised?" Sasuke asks as he notices his brother staring at that piece of trash.
Masking his expression, Itachi shook his head. His bangs partly covered his eyes hiding his fierce look. As his stoic facade back in place, the elder Uchiha took a deep breath. His Sharingan twirling rapidly, he was ready to make his move when he felt her presence spiking rapidly. "She is so careless… Why does she always give in to her temper? Kisame should have taught her better…" Distracted, he never saw Sasuke moved.
The raven took that chance to attack his brother. Unfortunately, Itachi's years of training as an ANBU kick in and saved his pathetic life.
His kunai against his sword.
"I have urgent matters to attend to, Sasuke, perhaps some other time…" Itachi knew that Sasuke remember those words as his brother's glare intensify ten folds. He always used that excuse every time he bails himself out from Sasuke's attempt to call his attention when they were young. The elder Uchiha's gaze softened.
"This time, I am not running away, Sasuke. Please understand…" Raising his fingers, Itachi poked Sasuke's forehead with a soft smile on his lips.
"Damn you!" Cursing under his breath, Sasuke used his knee to push his brother away. Following it up with a one handed seal. "Chidori Current!" The raven stab Kusanagi to the ground and an electrical discharge flows from that point as it channeled through the ground towards Itachi.
Itachi avoided the attack effortlessly as he attached himself on a tree. An approving look crossed his face. "He'd grown strong."
"You're not getting away from me this time, Itachi." Sasuke thought to himself as he followed his earlier attack with another offensive jutsu. "Chidori Sharp Spear!"
Piercing Itachi, Sasuke altered the shape of his spear by adding multiple blades to ensure his brother wouldn't escape.
"Impressive. But it wasn't good enough…" Itachi commented as he disperses himself into a flock of crows. Appearing behind his little brother, Itachi pointed his kunai by Sasuke's throat. "Game over."
"I'm not done yet, brother." The raven smirked. Releasing Chidori from every direction, the raven allowed the current to cover his entire body.
Itachi moved away but he was pierced in his left shoulder that miraculously passed through his upper chest, which means it missed his internal organs (if Sakura knew he injured himself, she would definitely kill him). His muscles started to contract and were paralyzed from his upper bicep to his lower arm in contact with Sasuke's defensive and offensive armor.
Another downside of that stupidity, Itachi knew his body couldn't at least take another beating as it was only recovering from a decade of illness. It never even passed a twenty-four hour recuperation period. Sakura is really a good medic, but the patient must also knew his limitations. Spitting blood, the older Uchiha wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
Frowning in disappointment, Sasuke steadily watched his brother. Something is not right. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he procured a concentrated chakra needle made from Chidori. "You are supposed to fight me with all your might, Itachi." The Raven said. "Surely, you don't want me to find your woman and kill her right in front of you…"
Itachi shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "You may try." He said calmly. "But even if you managed to find her, getting your hands on her would proved to be very difficult."
"How so?" Aiming for something vital, Sasuke held the senbon with a deadly precision.
Itachi didn't even blink. Instead, he smiled serenely.
Snarling madly, Sasuke threw the needle. However, something red and furry snatched the Chidori senbon with its sharpened teeth.
"What took you so long?" Itachi asks the newcomer.
"Please… You made it sound easy. I even resorted to use that technique to scare those pesky humans." The fox answered in a repulsive manner as she chewed the lightning needle thingy while eyeing the man in front of her. "So this is Itachi-kun's little brother. Hmm…" Licking her lips, Kirara grinned. "Yummy!"
Sasuke took one step backward. "A summon? Who is she?"
"Really?" The older Uchiha sounded surprise after hearing Kirara's reasoning. Chuckling, Itachi stood slowly. His knees buckled but he managed to hold on to the fox's upper torso.
"What's wrong, Itachi-kun?" Looking at her best friend, Kirara saw red. Growling madly, she turned to face Sasuke, the fox was about to leap at the raven but Itachi tightly grasp her tail, stopping her from attacking his brother.
"Just one bite, Itachi-kun. Promise I won't kill him." The fox pleaded.
"Sakura needs us. She's in trouble. We have to hurry…" Itachi said instead.
"Damn…" Sighing, Kirara helped Itachi climbed her back. Glaring her eyes at the young Uchiha, she gave one last warning. "Be thankful, Uchiha Sasuke. If Itachi-kun wasn't here, I am going to devour you alive." Leaving him a very angry look, Kirara and Itachi left hurriedly.
"We are not finished yet, Itachi. Come back here." Sasuke shouted in rage.
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"Your brother is a complete mess…" The fox commented in a sly tone. The two were jumping at a high pace with incredible speed.
Carefully twisting and flexing his injured arm, Itachi drew a tired breath. "Partly, it was my fault." The dark haired said in a whisper.
Twitching her snout, Kirara rolled her eyes. "Yes, you really are convincing that night."
His vision blurring, Itachi shook his head and righted himself to avoid one nasty fall. He sensed Sasuke following them from behind.
"He really is persistent." Kirara said with a growl. Patting her head, Itachi smiled ruefully.
"I did told him to get stronger so he would have a chance of killing me…"
"At what costs?" The fox asks. "Betrayal. Abandonment. There are so many factors to be considered for his fall. Yet, you are willing to sacrifice everything for him."
Itachi unknowing clenches his fists. Kirara sighed. Her ears twitching, she decided to double their speed. "Hold on tight, Itachi-kun. We're taking a shortcut."
Itachi nodded as he braced himself. Kirara always like to travel in style. Laughing quietly, the Uchiha turned slightly to look at Sasuke.
"I'm sorry… little brother…"
Sasuke's eyes widen when the duo disappeared in a flurry of petals.
"Damn you… Damn you to hell… Itachi!" Sasuke shouted in anger. It echoed all the way through Itachi's battered and wounded soul.
"Yes. I am… Forever damned…" Itachi thought drily.
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The ground is shaking. Senju Tsunade knew that someone powerful is causing this kind of havoc.
"Could it be?"
"Master Tsunade…"
That voice… "Sakura?" The door to her prison cell was pulverized into pieces of chopped wood. From the outside, you could see the pinkettes slight blurry figure huffing. Tonton jumped towards her in worry. Behind Sakura's back is Shizune.
"I never expected to see you here, Sakura. What happen to your bodyguard?" The Godaime asks as they made their way out of that place.
"He must be on his way." The group hurried themselves to a long tunnel.
"This place is huge." Shizune said in an astonishing voice.
"Yeah. I remember this place to be the most sacred part of Konoha." Tsunade grit her teeth in anger. "My grandfather, the First Hokage, used this rocks to build the foundation of the village. That old geezer used it for his own personal deeds."
"I beg to differ, Tsunade-hime…" Danzo said.
"You…" Tsunade yelled at him.
"It was unfortunate for the child of the Rain to escaped. However, the plan was to ensure that the two would never see each other until his arrival…" The elder said as if talking to himself.
The pinkettes eyes lit in recognition. "It was your plan all along?" Staring incredulously at elder, Sakura turned to look at him with a very angry glare. "And you allowed him to come here? Are you insane?"
Smiling methodically, Danzo raised his hand. He felt good as he saw Tsunade turn pale as a ghost when he notice her looking at the object in his hands.
"Do you recognize what this is, Tsunade-hime…" Danzo asked.
"Damn you…" Tsunade looks extremely pissed. Good. And now, for the main event…
"Observe, how I planned to clean Konoha from its filth. First, we have to remove the damaged root…"
"Nooo!"
It was instantaneous. The moment Danzo crushed the said root, the cavern they are currently in trembled. Blocks of rock and dirt fall above their heads. The ANBU Root operatives that stand behind the elder dispersed immediately.
The ones that stayed were brave enough to reprimand their leader. "Sir. This place is dangerous. We have to leave."
Danzo smiled. "After today, a new Konoha would be born…"
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Majority of the clan heads were having a heated argument with the civilian council. Moments earlier, a big red fox appeared out of nowhere scaring everyone in the village.
But Naruto knew otherwise. He asked Kakashi and the other Jonins to alert everyone. Itachi told him earlier that if Kirara (the said fox who appeared to scared the villagers) showed up, they must evacuate everyone, as something bad would happen.
A couple of minutes later, the ground started to shake.
The Hyugas activated their Byakugan to see if something was wrong. Hinata gasps as she turned to face the others.
"Konoha is being attacked underground. We found chakra signatures that surround the village from…" Hinata looks to Neji to confirm her suspicion.
"It was chakra coils… No… Its some kind of roots found underneath the village…" Neji said.
As Neji finishes his sentence, the entire village of Konoha trembled. From the Hokage tower to the center of the town proper, the land started to shake and split apart swallowing everything in its path.
It's a good thing that all the villagers were already evacuated.
"We have to find Baa-chan." Naruto muttered.
Shikamaru sighed. "You're right. Dad might not handle the stress despite the preparations…" Frowning in disgust, the lazy Nara faced every Rookie present (minus Sasuke and Sakura).
"Team Kurenai, please do your best to locate the Godaime. Shizune and the pig might be with her. Last time I heard, they were on top of the Hokage monument…"
Hinata, Shino and Kiba nodded while Akamaru barks in confidence.
"Naruto would use his Sage mode to locate those ANBUs from the Root while Team Asuma would back him up just in case." Ino gave a determined look while Chouji continues to eat his bag of chips.
"And Team Gai…" Neji, Tenten and Lee readied themselves in anticipation. "Your lot must be ready for the frontline for any attacks that may come once we lured them out…"
"Hai!"
"Alright everyone…" Shikamaru said with a bored tone while scratching his head. Eyeing the clouds with a longing expression, he looks at everyone; shifting from his lazy persona to the most talented strategist Konoha has ever known. "Be safe and good luck to all of us."
Naruto smiled. "Let the party begins…"
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Author's other note:
Special thanks for AnjuHime, shadow miko, Toyroys, OokamiAkuma2297 and Nyght elf for the inspiring reviews. Glad you all like it^^
BTW, did you see that little blue button below? If you would be so kind enough, please leave a review, any comment, suggestions, constructive criticisms, etcetera… I would be glad to hear them out.
Anyways, thanks for reading;-)
Love and peace to you all^^
Ja ne!
Naruto Manga:
Aaaw... Itachi is so... so selfless... Makes me want to cuddle him and... I think I love him more^,~ Wouldn't you agree? And Sasuke-teme is such a jerk! *sigh*