DISCLAIMER!: I DON'T OWN NARUTO! Thought you'd know by now...

(A/N): WOOT! We hit triple digits on favorites! Yaaayyy! Let's keep the happiness going!

TO THE STORY!

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Chapter 68: Underneath The Underneath

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Kakashi readied himself and pulled out his White Light Chakra Saber, that the Oracle oh so graciously fixed for him. "I'll handle Itachi, you two take on Kisame. Don't let your guard down for a second, understand?" he asked the two behind him without looking away from the two nuke-nin in front of him. When the two other Jonin gave him an affirmative he nodded. "Alright then...good luck." he said before e charged at Itachi.

. . . .

The clash of steel cut into the quiet park that surround a large pond. Kakashi was pushing Itachi back with his White Light Chakra Saber as Itachi frantically blocked with a pair of kunai. Over the years Kakashi's edge never dropped. With the insistence of a certain white haired Uzumaki, the silver haired Jonin continued to train himself and not become rusty during the time of peace. And how happy he was to not have lost his edge right now.

He never dreamed of having to fight against his former comrade in the middle of the village, but fate had a twisted sense of humor when it came to Kakashi. He first lost his father when he committed suicide to atone for something that wasn't even his fault. And then he lost his closest friend in the war. And then the cruelest thing Kakashi had to ever face happened to him. He was forced to not only break his promise to Obito, but he was forced to kill his comrade, and only friend he had left, Rin. After all that he didn't think his life could fall any lower, but then that terrible night took the only father and mother figures he had left in the world.

And now, twelve years later, he was fight another comrade he had lost. It crushed him that he had failed so many people. Obito, Rin, Minato, Kushina...but he wouldn't fail here. He would not, could not, fail to stop the worst traitor to the village since Orochimaru. He would defeat Itachi, here and now, to make him repent for the crimes he had committed.

After clashing blades one last time Kakashi kicked Itachi away from him and started running through hand signs. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)" he yelled as he finished his hand signs.

As Itachi landed and regained his balance he noticed a large dragon made of water form behind him in the large pond. His eyes widened as the dragon roared and shot down at him. But Kakashi didn't stop there. He quickly formed a Kagebunshin and the two charged at Itachi. Lightning began to transfer between the clone and the original until a continuos bolt of electricity was flowing there palms. "Raiton: Raiden! (Lightning Release: Lightning Cable)" he roared as the cable of electricity expanded as the two moved further away from each other to take up more space.

Itachi had to make a choice. Brave facing the water dragon, or be trapped in lightning by Kakashi. The Uchiha grimaced when a solution came to mind. He quickly weaved through hand signs and took a deep breath. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" he exclaimed as he jumped into the large dragon and released a ginormous fireball that quickly reduced the water dragon into steam. Itachi landed on the pond and quickly jumped back into the air to avoid the lightning cable. Itachi flipped in mid air and set a kunai at Kakashi's clone and dispelled it, causing the lightning cable to disperse as well.

Kakashi turned to Itachi and readied hi saber once again. He was panting lightly after using those last couple of jutsu. "Fuck this isn't good..." he mumbled to himself. His reserves were getting low from using several B-A rank jutsu in junction with each other. He tightened his grip on his blade and glared at Itachi. "Why do you want Naruto?" he asked the traitor. Itachi pulled out a kunai and readied himself. "Naruto-kun is central to Akatsuki's plans. It is my mission to capture the Kyuubi by any means necessary." he said in his monotonic voice. "And if that means I have to kill you, senpai, then I will."

Itachi got out of his stance and stood straight and closed his eyes. Kakashi wasn't going to take any chances and threw a handful of shuriken at the stoic Uchiha. As soon as the shuriken hit Itachi burst into a murder of crows. "The hell!?" Kakashi exclaimed as the crows flew as one towards Kakashi faster than he could react.

The crows all stopped before they reached Kakashi. Inside the vortex of birds Kakashi caught a glimpse of Itachi's face. His eyes had changed from the normal Sharingan into its ultimate form. Instead of three tomoe, there was now a three bladed fan, showing the evidence of the Mangekyo Sharingan. "Tsukuyomi!" Itachi exclaimed as the fan blades began to spin slightly and Kakashi's body stiffens.

Kakashi's vision goes black for a brief second. When it comes back he isn't in the park any more. He is strapped to a cross in a red and black world. "Where the hell am I!" he roared as he struggled against his restraints. He stopped struggling and let out a scream of pain as he felt the cold of steel drive into his leg. Once he stopped screaming he looked down to see Itachi standing in front of him with a sword in his hand, driving it into his leg. "Welcome, Senpai, to the world of Tsukuyomi. This is the ultimate Genjutsu, and it has now escapes. I control everything here. Time, matter, life, everything. And in here I will torture you for three days before I release you from the Genjutsu. Now, where is Naruto-kun?" he said to Kakashi with the same monotonic voice and pulled the sword out of Kakashi's leg, before two more Itachi's appeared, both holding swords.

One of them drove the blade into Kakashi's arm and he let out a loud grunt of pain. He stared the middle Itachi in the eyes. "Why!?" he asked as another stabbed him in his other leg. "Raagghh!...Why Itachi!? Why did you do it!?" he screamed through the pain. The middle Itachi just stabbed him in the stomach. "Every Leaf Falls When Autumn Beacons." he said as another sword pierced his stomach. Kakashi screamed once more and looked back into Itachi's eyes. "You have 71 hours, 58 minutes, and 7 seconds left. Now. Where. Is. Naruto-kun?"

. . . .

Asuma dodged another swing from Kisame's blade and jumped back. Kurenai tried to trap Kisame in a Genjutsu, but for some reason whenever she tried to force her own chakra into his system it just quickly disappeared. She gritted her teeth as she readied a kunai. "Sorry, Asuma, I don't know why but my Genjutsu isn't working on him." she apologized. Asuma 'tsk'd' "Damn, I was really banking on that. He's too good for me to get any good blows in while up close, and for some reason the wind chakra on my blades keep disappearing." he said as he got ready for another offensive against the blue skinned man.

Kisame chuckled as he rested hi sword on his shoulder. "This blade here is Samehada. My sword has quite the apatite for chakra you see. And one last thing, Samehada doesn't cut, it shaves!" Kisame roared as he charged both Asuma and Kurenai.

He was within striking range when he was knocked back by a green blur. "DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Maito Gai roared as he planted the bottom of his foot into Kisame's face. The blue skinned Akatsuki member was sent flying before he was able to right himself and land on his feet. As soon as he came to a stop he brought up Samehada to block a swarm of chakra enhanced senbon. Kisame looked from behind his blade to see Gai, Hayate, and Genma standing with Asuma and Kurenai. "Tsk, hey Itachi! I've got more incoming!" he yelled over his shoulder.

The group of Konoha nins looked past Kisame to see Itachi burst into crows and Kakashi fall into the water. "Kakashi!" Gai yelled as he charged towards where his rival fell. He didn't get very far because Kisame blocked him off. "Oh no you don't! I gotta pay you back for kicking my face you green freak!" Kisame growled as he jumped into Gai's path and swung Samehada at him. Gai backed off and glared at Kisame. "Who are you? I'd like to know the names of my enemies before I defeat them." Kisame growled at Gai. Gai got into his Strong Fist stance and scowled. "I am Konoha's Blue Beast, Maito Gai." he roared as he dashed towards Kisame again.

The blue skinned man grinned and brought up Samehada to block Gai's kick and push him back. Kisame brought his blade up and sent several slashes at him in a quick combo that should be too fast to be used with a blade of its size. Gai, however, used his advanced Taijutsu skills to deftly dodge all of the attacks and deliver a powerful counter by kicking Kisame in the stomach to send him flying.

The former Seven Ninja Swordsman skidded across the ground before regaining his balance. Only to be caught in a dense cloud of ash and gunpowder. "Katon: Haisekisho! (Fire Release: Burning Ash)" Asuma exclaimed as he clicked his teeth to create a spark and turn the cloud of ash and gunpowder into a roaring inferno. He continued the move by completing another set of hand signs. "Fuuton: Reppusho! (Wind Release: Gale Palm)" he said as he sent a strong gust of wind from his palms to enhance the fires.

After a moment Kisame came crashing out of the fires and landed next to Itachi, who walked back onto land. Kisame was missing half of his robe and shirt and had several burns on his chest arms and legs. He was panting heavily and was holding up his weight with Samehada. "This isn't good Itachi. There is going to be back up soon and even with the two of us we can't take on all of Konoha." he said between breaths.

"Oh how right you are, Tailless Tailed Beast." a voice called from seemingly everywhere. Itachi and Kisame where on high alert and trying to figure out where the voice was coming from when it called out again. "Gai! Go get Kakashi! I'll hold them back!" it called as a heavy force kept the two Akatsuki members from moving. "Wha-What the fuck!" Kisame roared as he was forced to a knee from the sudden increase of gravity. Itachi's eyes were wide as he feebly tried to say standing. "This is not good. We need to get out of here." he said as he grabbed onto Kisame. He took another look to the group of Konoha nins as another man joined them.

"Goodbye, Seinaru-sama." Itachi said as he and Kisame Shunshin'd out of sight.

Cole landed in front of the group of Konoha shinobi as Gai came back with Kakashi's unconscious form. "Dammit, too late..." Cole grumbled as he saw the two Akatsuki members flee. He turned to the group and started dishing out orders. "Get Kakashi to the hospital! Genma, Hayate, inform Hokage-sama that there has been a breach in our defenses. Asuma, Kurenai, start getting a seach team together." he said to the group.

Genma and Hayate nodded quickly and left. Gai didn't even acknowledge and rushed Kakashi to the hospital. "What will you do?" Asuma asked.

"I'm going after them, no go!"

. . . .

Cole was in rout to finding the two fleeing shinobi. He was jumping through the trees following their chakra signatures and stopped abruptly. He looked to his left and saw Itachi appear out of the trunk of one of the trees. "It's been a long time, Uzumaki-sama." he greeted in his stoic fashion. Cole glared at him for a moment. Before he grinned. "Too long, old friend. Do you have anything to report on the location of Akatsuki's hidden bases?" he asked his old friend.

Itachi smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes, Oracle-sama. I have some information you will be very keen on knowing."

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(A/N): To be continued...

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