A.N.
Bless all of those who have reviewed, faved, and followed my story. I really, truly appreciate it!
If you have not kept up with the manga from here on out there may be spoilers.
Disclaimer: Naruto does NOT belong to me.
Sayuri and any characters that have not and will not appear in the manga and/or anime are completely original.
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Sayuri tilted her head at Naruto's sullen look. "Hey…" she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't give us that face." He looked down at the girl beside him only to find her smiling. "Just know that you're not alone."
Naruto gave her a slow smile. "Ye—what the hell are you doing?!" The blonde exclaimed making Sayuri jump back in surprise. They all turned to a calm Itachi and the burning crow on his arm.
"Shisui's eyes won't activate for another ten years…you won't be able to use it against Sasuke. Besides, you posses something better than this eye: Shisui's feelings. That is what he really wanted t hand down to someone. His eye is not needed any more, now you are able to beat Sasuke even without using this."
"This is great!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're here, so you can meet with Sasuke too! You can—"
"No." the Uchiha interrupted. "I tried to do everything on my own…and failed. This time I'll leave this matter to his friends." Sharingan eyes shifted from Naruto to Sayuri.
The brunette scoffed. "Right…" she patted Naruto's back before she began to walk past Itachi. "Good luck, Naruto. Knowing how stubborn Sasuke is, you'll need it." She paused and turned to Itachi. "You coming?"
"Heh." Itachi smiled. "Bee, take care of Naruto."
"Oh! Yeah!" the man laughed watching as Itachi and Sayuri leaped off into the forest.
"So you tracked him down?" Itachi glanced to his right where the brunette was.
"Yes…I'm certain that it's him." He nodded and sped up following the girl's lead.
Contact
A strange wave of relief flooded through her as she ran through the forest followed by her subordinates. The feeling was soon followed by confidence and a strange certainty, and that's when she knew that her remaining clone had found Kabuto. She soon stopped, prompting the others to do the same.
"Captain?" one samurai asked nervous about her sudden halt. Were they being followed?
"She found him." She smiled surprising the samurai. "She found him!"
The samurai soon relaxed. Finally they could bring an end to this madness. Just then they felt a sudden burst of chakra not too far away from their current position. All turned to the general direction and stilled.
"Isn't that…?" one of the men began.
"Yeah…" answered another.
Sayuri tensed, brown eyes widening in realization of what was happening. "The Feudal Lords!" she exclaimed before rushing towards the site of the action.
"What about Kabuto?" the samurai asked.
"Not now. If Madara gets his hands on them, it could mean trouble for all of us. Let's move!"
"Right!"
XXX
Itachi kept sneaking glances at the brunette beside him. The clone was particularly good at tracking; and he wondered where she had picked up the habit. From what he could remember Sayuri had always been a very distracted girl. Often too absorbed in her own little world that it made it easy for others to sneak up on and startle her, much to his brother's amusement and to her chagrin. Somewhere along the line she had learned to concentrate on the task at hand, and that concentration made her look grown up. The little girl that he had known from a more peaceful time was no longer there; instead she was replaced by a girl who had seen too much in her short life span. It was something all too familiar to him.
They stopped on a high branch. Sayuri turned her head right then to her left, the small crease on her brow, narrowed light and dark green eyes, and small frown that reminded him of himself and of Sasuke, the three having lived through excruciating circumstances. He wondered, as he followed the clone's movements, how life would have been if he hadn't murdered his clan, if Danzo had never murdered hers, if Naruto's parents were still alive. How different would their lives have been?
He probably would have become a Jounin instructor. He'd have gotten his own team and that was something he would've looked forward to. His brother would have been placed with Naruto and Sakura. He would have been a serious yet cheerful teen; he and Naruto could have been like two peas in a pod. The blonde would have known what it meant to have a family, to not be shunned by the villagers, to have a father to look up too. Sayuri would have graduated before them. She would have admired her mother and strived to be just like her.
She would have most likely been placed in her current team, instead of being inserted haphazardly into a team already containing three members. She would have been able to shine on her own, with no trauma to hold her back she could have become a very powerful fire style user. Sasuke would have grown to become a strong ANBU, still trying to surpass him. Naruto would have been chasing after his father, trying to become Hokage. Sayuri would have been an ANBU Head candidate.
Sasuke would have had more time to get to know Sayuri, and she him. His little brother would have found Sayuri to be incredibly unpredictable, yet pleasantly amusing. Sayuri would have learned early on that she could inflate Sasuke's ego and hurt it all by simply uttering a few words. Sasuke would have learned that no matter what he did his fan girls would be relentless in their advances. Sayuri would have found his fan girls to be increasingly annoying.
At around age of ten Sasuke would have begun to lie to himself about the little brunette. Telling himself that he could only see her as a friend and nothing more. He would have fought the fought the warm, uneasy feeling he had whenever he was with her for three years after that until he came to the conclusion that he actually, could, sort of, have a crush on the Marihasha heiress, his pride being the only reason why he rejected the notion of actually like liking a girl.
The girl would have been too concentrated on becoming strong like her mother to notice the younger Uchiha quietly, and very much discretely, pining over her. Sasuke would have set his feelings aside if only to maintain the friendship he had fostered with her since they were children.
She would have most likely develop feelings towards one of her teammates…perhaps Diachi…or maybe she would have set her eyes on her Hyuga body guard. Upon that realization, Sasuke would have risen to the challenge and done what had to be done to get her to agree to a date. Sayuri would have found that Sasuke could be sweet and incredibly annoying when he wanted to be.
Sasuke would have eventually gotten Sayuri to agree to marry him. Sayuri would have become the clan head, with his little brother at her side. The two could have had three children. They would have seen them grow and become great ninja, following in their parent's footsteps. All this would have happened as Itachi watched with a smile on his face because he'd know that his little brother was happy.
Itachi chanced another glance at the girl and smiled sadly. All that could have happened in a perfect world…this however, was reality. He was dead and currently in a zombified state. Sasuke had strayed from the path that he had so carefully laid out for him. Sayuri had lost her clan early on and was now being forced to fight in this war. And Naruto never got to know his parents seeing as they sacrificed themselves for him. Nothing had come out as everyone had originally planned.
"What's wrong?" Itachi asked after watching the clone tense and stop one branch below his.
The clone looked north of her and frowned. "My original is getting ready to fight."
Itachi frowned and turned to the direction in which she was looking hoping to get something, a small glimpse of the brunette's chakra. "Do you know who she is up against?"
"No…" she shook her head. "But it's got her on edge I can feel it."
Itachi looked at the green eyed brunette below him. "Can you keep going?" She nodded her head firmly. He gave her a small smile. "Good, let's get moving, the faster the better."
"Ah." She nodded and once again they leapt from tree branch to tree branch.
Itachi smiled sadly. He hoped that at the end, something good could come out of all this.
XXX
With a swift kick to the abdomen Black Zetsu was pushed back and away from Naruto. The man gritted his teeth as he pushed himself up and rolled his shoulder back.
"Lady Sayuri!" Exclaimed Genma in surprise completely oblivious to the brunette's annoyed grunt. The brunette and her samurai stood between his group of ninja and Zetsu.
"Sayuri!" her blonde friend exclaimed surprised by her sudden appearance. The brunette smiled and held out a hand to him pulling the teenager back on his feet after falling face first on the ground in an attempt to make himself the hero.
"It's you again…hah!" he smirked. "By the color of your eyes, I can tell you're the original."
Sayuri glared at the man. "You're the one that's been attacking my clones!"
Zetsu laughed and put his hand on his hip. "I should have killed you when I had the chance!"
"Lady Sayuri, please stand back we'll deal with him." Raido insisted, stepping up to stand beside the girl.
"No!" Sayuri snapped. "I'm not going to stand back and let him get away with this. He's mine."
"Heh!" Zetsu smirked and raised a hand with one finger curling back and forth. "Come then."
In a blink of an eye the girl was already rushing at her opponent a fisted hand pulled back ready to punch him square in the face. He however, avoided it and sent a kick at the girl. She raised her arms to block it and skid to a stop. Black Zetsu, along with the white copies of the original white Zetsu, then disappeared into the ground alarming the entire unit.
"Be careful everyone!" Mei exclaimed as she scanned the area. "We don't know where they'll appear next."
Grinding his teeth Genma focused on the Marihasha heiress. Something about her was off.
XXX
"It's raining…" Itachi muttered as small droplets fell on his face and clothes.
"Funny," Sayuri smiled tiredly at the Uchiha. "I think my original would have liked to take a walk around this place."
Itachi raised a dark brown and smiled. "You think so?" She giggled. Itachi turned to the girl then. It had been a very long time since he had heard that giggle. It was something he had kept close to him, just like sound of his little brother's laugh. It was a terrible attempt on her part to lighten the gloomy mood, but it did its job regardless.
"Well if I think so, then she must too." She crouched down to leap further into the forest, followed closely by Itachi. "I mean, I'm a part of her..." she glanced over her shoulder and smiled. "…Right?"
Itachi nodded. "Right."
XXX
"Ugh!" Sayuri groaned as her back hit the ground hard. In an instant a samurai stood before her, his katana blocking Zetsu's attack. From behind her several other ninja were fighting the left over white Zetsu that tried to get to the feudal lords, while Genma quickly pulled her back.
"You're chakra is all over the place." The man chastised placing a hand on the girls' abdomen. "You need to rest." He instructed.
"No..." she shook her head. "I'm not going to just sit back and watch—"
"Enough!" Sayuri looked up at the man shocked. Never in the time that she had known this man had he ever shouted at her…or at anyone for that matter. "You will sit back and rest, or so help me I will lock you in there…" he pointed to the safe house behind them, "…with the rest of the five clan heads and the Feudal lords, like you should have been in the first place. Did I make myself clear?!"
The girl could only nod as the man stood up and positioned himself in front of her.
"Riado, make sure the enemy doesn't get anywhere near Lady Sayuri."
"Don't call me Lady!" Sayuri grumbled and crossed her arms, sitting up straight.
XXX
"We're getting close." Sayuri announced looking straight ahead.
"Good." Itachi nodded glancing off to the side as he noticed a sudden spike in chakra before turning straight ahead. "We need to speed up."
"Huh?" she glanced back at the Uchiha who remained silent, but his body tense as if something big was about to happen. Suddenly Itachi appeared right next to her and quickly gripped her arm. "Hey!" she exclaimed as he practically dragged her along.
XXX
The rain poured around the forest consequentially getting him wet as he stood in the middle of a clearing, determined to put his new eyes to the test. Yes, Sasuke Uchiha was running around hunting down just about anything that moved in order to see just how far his eyes could go. It had all started from the moment that he felt his energy replenish its self back in the hideout. It felt amazing to be out in the open, he even enjoyed destroying the rest of the Zetsu that roamed around the lair.
He smirked as he looked down at the dead Zetsu clones at his feet.
Suddenly something caught his attention. Deciding that whoever it was would be his new victim, Sasuke ran ahead with the intention of cutting the poor sucker that had decided to cross the area. With his chokutō out he rushed to meet his new target when he froze upon seeing who it was.
Up above him were two people that looked like his dead brother and a certain brunette, and all Sasuke could do was stand and watch as the two passed him by.
Frozen he began to recall a happier time. One in which his brother smiled at him, laughed, and tapped him on the forehead. One in which a small brunette ran around her clan's garden, made flower crowns, and forced him to wear them. Those happy memories were quickly replaced by a bleeding, half dead Itachi who raised two bloodied finger at him with a smile on his face as he tapped his forehead one last time. Then of a Sayuri who stood mere centimeters away from him, a worried and saddened look in her eyes.
He felt something in him stir. With narrowed eyes he leapt after the passing two shinobi. No, there was no way it could be them. His brother was dead, and Sayuri…he remembered her resigned gaze as he was taken away by Madara some time ago.
"Wait!" He called out to the two.
XXX
Itachi glanced back and tightened his hold on Sayuri's arm. "Keep moving." He ordered as he sped up tugging her along with him.
"But—"
"You're Itachi right?!"
Sayuri glanced at the man in question who kept his face devoid of emotion. The perfect shinobi…Sayuri thought as she struggled to keep up with him. Her chakra was faltering. Was her original running out already? Why hadn't she used a soldier pill?
"I said wait!" The two heard Sasuke order, but instead of doing as he had instructed, the two only sped up. "Are you listening to me?!"
The two ninja felt the younger Uchiha's chakra spike. Unable to resist, Sayuri glanced back. Brown eyes widened at the arm that shot out to them.
"Itachi!" The older sibling turned just in time to block his little brother's attack with one of his own.
"Susanoo…" Sasuke muttered. "So you are Itachi." Sharingan eyes slid over to the girl in his brother's grasp. Then that's Sayuri but… He only managed to catch a glimpse of her eyes but it was enough for him to tell that they were different, she was clone.
Gritting his teeth Sasuke continued to follow. "Why are you here? You should be dead!" he tried to catch up to them but it was all in vain. "And why do you have her!?" he demanded.
Sayuri glanced at Itachi who smirked. There was no doubt about it. No matter where his little brother ended up, he still cared about Sayuri, even if this Sayuri was a clone of the original.
Sayuri nudged Itachi's side. "Answer him; otherwise he'll never shut up." He glanced at the girl and sighed. Now was not the time to stop and chat with his brother, but knowing Sayuri she'd have a fit if he didn't at least try to calm his brother down.
"This is all Kabuto's doing. I'm here because of the Edo Tensei." Itachi looked over his shoulder to his little brother. "She's here because we have important things to do."
"Important…" Sasuke repeated. "What's so important that you can't stop?!" the young Uchiha bit out. "Why do you need her?!" he demanded, black eyes focused on the hand that held Sayuri's own. Clone or not, she was still Sayuri, and it bothered him to watch his brother hold her hand. "Sayuri!" he called out.
"Keep moving. You know we need to do this quickly." Itachi instructed as they leapt onto another branch. "You can't afford to lose your concentration. He could move to another area and we would not know it if you lose your focus."
"But…" she bit her lip at his stern gaze. "…Ok…"
"Sayuri!" Sasuke tried again. "Answer me damn it! Where's the original?!"
"Sasuke," The young Uchiha turned to his brother who glanced back at him. "We can't stop to have a conversation now. But even if I told you to leave this till another time you won't do it, right?"
Sasuke clenched his fists. "I know all about what happened with the Uchiha. I can see through your genjutsu. When we were children you used to poke my head, tell me that you couldn't play with me, and then ran away. And that's what you're doing now…the only difference is that you've involved someone else in this game."
With a sigh Itachi stared ahead. "I'm not running away. I told you there are more important things that I have to do, and believe me…" He chanced a glance at the brunette who kept her eyes trained straight ahead of her. "If I had a choice I would have kept her far away from this in the first place. But as luck turns would have it she's the only one who knows where Kabuto is and we must stop the Edo Tensei."
"We're here." Sayuri announced. "It's by that mountain." She motioned to the mountain side that was closing in.
"I see." Letting go of the girl he made three seals. A flock of crows appeared behind them "You stay right here." He said to Sasuke as the crows swarmed the younger Uchiha pushing the teen back.
XXX
Sayuri and Naruto leaned over the crater to get a better look at the unconscious Black Zetsu. The blonde teen whistled in surprise while Sayuri tilted her head to the side. It was still hard to believe that a little timid boy like Chojuro could do something like that.
"We need to move Lady Mizukage." Genma called catching Sayuri's and Naruto's attention. Both took a step back and away from the unconscious Zetsu and turned to their senior.
The woman turned to the man talking and frowned. "What is it?"
"I'm afraid that the real Madara has been revived."
Everyone visibly tensed. "The real Madara?!" Naruto asked. "If Madara is fighting the Kage right now, then…who am I fighting?!" the blonde asked at a complete loss. His question went by unanswered as three Konoha ninja approached the Mizukage.
"I'm sorry but there is no time to lose. We must leave now, the other Kage are leaving to fight him now."
Mei nodded slowly and approached Genma. "Very well then. Let's go." He along with Raido and another Shinobi that made up part of the Hokage's personal guards joined hands forming a triangle around the woman.
"Lady Mizukage!" Chojuro called. "Knock Madara's block off! As a member of the Seven Swords Men I vow to protect this post with my life!" Mei looked at the boy in mild shock before rewarding the young man with a proud smile and a short nod before disappearing into thin air.
Sayuri sighed and stepped next to Chojuro, arms crossed over her chest.
"Lady Sayuri…?"
The girl in question frowned and turned to the small blue haired male. "Call me Sayuri."
"Miss—"
"Just…Sayuri." The boy straightened his glasses and gulped.
"Y-yes, Sayuri!" he exclaimed standing at attention.
Behind her Naruto laughed. "You don't have to act all stiff around Sayuri, kid." The blond swung an arm around the brunette who blushed under the action. "She's pretty easy going." He grinned and turned to the heiress holding her by the shoulders. "Now, can I leave this place to you? I have to get back to my original he's having a bit of trouble."
Sayuri smiled. "Just who do you think you're talking to?" she pointed to green jacket. "I made Chunin before you, remember. Not to mention, last I checked I was an ANBU while you're still a Genin."
"HEY!" Naruto retorted but laughed at her grin. "Alright, I'll leave it to you here!" and with that the clone disappeared with a cloud of smoke.
"What now, Sayuri?" The blue haired boy asked from beside her. The brunette glanced over her shoulder to the frightened noblemen and glanced up at the sky spotting a flock of birds flying away from the area.
"We move." She replied. "We can't stay here, there's a good chance he was followed or let someone know of this location." Sayuri instructed as she nodded towards Black Zetsu.
"You heard the girl!" One of the samurai that had followed her exclaimed. "Pack up and let's get moving."
Sayuri turned to the boy who watched as some of the men tied Black Zetsu up. She nudged him on his arm gently snapping out of his stupor. "Do you know the location of the next safe house?"
Chojuro flushed and nodded. "Y-yes!"
"Good." She smiled."Let's go."
XXX
The loud explosion shook the mountain side as Itachi stepped in through the gaping hole he made just a few seconds ago. Sayuri followed him stepping over the rubble and waving a hand back and forth in front of her face in order to blow some of the dust away.
"You passed through my Kekkai." A low voice was heard towards the back of the cavern. Itachi and Sayuri looked at a cloaked figure hunched over what looked like a chess board. "How did you track me?"
"Easy." Sayuri stepped up next to Itachi and tilted her head trying to get a look at Kabuto. "All I had to look for was a steady and large concentration of chakra coming from a specific area. Granted it wasn't easy considering this forest is very large, and the fact that you were only using your chakra whenever you summoned someone from the dead or whenever you were directly controlling them."
"That could be considered a weakness to this jutsu…but there's no need for you to keep this in mind now." Itachi added.
"Hmm." Kabuto chuckled. "Good lesson however, no one can undo this jutsu, so I never really worried about it."
Sayuri narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean no one?" her voice was low and threatening.
Kabuto laughed once more. "Simple…and I do hope you keep this in mind." The man leaned over to remove some white stones from the board. "The Edo Tensei can't be stopped by killing me. Yet I'm the only one who knows how to end it. So just to be clear, you can't kill me. If you did the jutsu will never end!" The man burst into a fit of laughter while Itachi and Sayuri could only stare.
"Well this turned out to be more difficult than expected." Itachi mumbled with a small sigh. Sayuri tilted her head upwards towards the Uchiha after all seeing Itachi Uchiha complain about something, even if it wasn't much of a complaint to begin with, was still an action not too common from this particular man.
"I found you!"
Sayuri turned in shock upon seeing Sasuke outside the cave. "How—?"
Itachi shook his head and exhaled softly. "He's my little brother, Sayuri."
Sayuri's and Sasuke's eyes met at that instant. They both went rigid and felt their bodies react strangely upon being in such close proximity to each other. His hands tingled while her body shivered. Both teens looked away and scolded themselves, now was not the time for their hormones to go haywire.
"Well, well, well…" the two turned to the cloaked figure. Upon seeing the white snake behind the man Sasuke stilled.
"Who are you?!" the teen demanded. "Are you Orochimaru?!"The man laughed once again, angering Sasuke in the process.
"It's not him Sasuke, it's Kabuto." Sayuri explained. His skin was chalky white, his eyes framed by the same snake like markings Orochimaru had, and their color had changed to a golden yellow as well. "What the hell happened to you?" Sayuri made a face as Kabuto smirked at her.
"Sayuri…!" Itachi scolded the brunette.
"What?!" she shrugged. Itachi sighed and shook his head. The girl was never really one for manners unless absolutely necessary.
The named person turned to face the three shinobi with a wicked smile. His luck really was changing. Kabuto's eyes shifted from Itachi to Sayuri to Sasuke. He was being rewarded by having three of the strongest ninja before him.
First was Itachi, whom he could put under his control once again once he figured out how. Then there was Sasuke, who was promised to him by the masked Madara once the war had ended in their victory. Finally there was Sayuri, who, from what he had figured out, Madara had wanted something from at a very young age. Kabuto smirked, he would definitely find out just what the masked man had wanted from the young brunette, and depending on what it was he would decide whether to use it against the man or to use it for himself.
Kabuto laughed as the three ninja took a defensive stance. Yes, his luck was definitely changing.
A.N.
And…I leave you with that. Currently I'm finishing off the next chapter and editing it, so be patient with me, I'm not the best at grammar or spelling I know but I try :)
Please leave a review! They really do make my day, as I do check my reviews every time I get on the internet, which is often, in hopes of getting a new review for my story. Thank you all and I'll be posting up the next chapter sometime this week or weekend.