A/N: Hello, for anyone who still reads: you might be wondering why this story has been on hiatus for a few months? Well, I've been preoccupied with my own little web novel, nothing serious. Also, I had to wrap up my own personal redemption arc.
Remember FFN gets updated before AO3.
Please excuse any spelling/grammar errors.
Sick But Not Twisted
Chapter Eight: Boiling Cauldron
Training under the literal foundation of Konoha was not particularly what Anko expected when she thought of a top-secret anbu sect supposedly sworn to protect the village at any amount and cost. But they literally were housed in the village's foundation.
With regret, it didn't seem that way at all.
She wholly believed that Hiruzen-sama had every right to suspect that Danzo was out of line.
Now, Root wasn't so difficult for Anko to get accustomed to, though she could admit the cruel nature of such a program.
For example…
Holding your breath until you pass out and being viciously battered and beaten by hundreds of other operatives, was a small start.
They started off going through genjutsus meant to twist and contort a shinobi's mind, causing some to even gnaw off their own skin. No, Anko wouldn't recommend this for a shit worth of anything.
However, to Anko, it came as another Tuesday, as she could hold her breath for an unreasonable amount of hours and feel perfectly fine.
She was used to having bull constrictors wrapped around her and attempting to crush her internal organs.
Anko's non-reactions to their torture seemed to disturb her captains. Maybe she gave them a good kick to their egos?
Ha, Anko didn't care too much for physical pain anymore and no nightmare could compare to the torture and torment she suffered under her former sensei. No genjutsu could be worse than the reality of having the man you trusted the most and possibly even loved turn on you.
A fact that left the root captains inconspicuously forgetting to supply her with the proper and assured amount of rations. Perhaps they thought it'd aid in assuring her failure.
Psst, okay? She'd been through worse as a child!
And when she finally graduated and officially met Danzo himself, he was just as old, decrepit, and uncanny as described through whispers. He didn't have that charm or grandfatherly feeling that accompanied Hiruzen-sama, Danzo had an entirely different aura around him.
The foundation of Konoha was just as described, below ground, dark, and surrounded by a random mass of iron pipeworks. There was nothing comfortable about the situation.
Now, Anko wasn't sure why he chose this dingy place to amass all these ninja, but, the Root shinobi in training were assembled in lines before both Danzo and a watchful Foo-san, the ancient man taking his time as he walked between the ninja, his free eye calculating and scanning every face. Anko couldn't detect an ounce of humanity in his gaze.
The trainees around her trembled, were, without a doubt uncomfortable, and honestly, a lot of them looked unfit for combat if you asked Anko.
Though… still not enough to incriminate the man for suspected insubordination and treason.
"Here under my command, you will learn what it truly means to be a shinobi. Not accolades, praise, or weakness drawn from feeble emotions. What it means to serve from the shadows, and to properly uphold and protect the will of fire!"
Huh? He was speaking nonsense.
Danzo continued "Which is why your silence is of the utmost importance. For not everyone will understand the sacrifices needed to serve in the foundation. The sacrifices to protect! Which is why from this point on your tongues will be sealed—making it impossible to talk about what happens in the underground. For the good of Konohagakure."
Right!
Hiruzen-sama correctly predicted that this would happen. But unfortunately for Danzo and the rest of Root, the hokage was generally better at sealing techniques; as such Anko already had a similar jutsu placed on her tongue with the sole purpose of counteracting Danzo's in hopes that Anko could spread necessary information to the third.
"You will lose your ability of free speech in the name of the villages…rights that you are no longer guaranteed the privilege of. When you receive my seal you will become my vassal, one for which I will use to protect Konoha the way our beloved hokage can not. You will obey my every whim and we will forge a new Konoha." And the elderly man held up his good arm with a fist and a walking stick.
That…was an insane thing to say…especially about one who'd served the village in every way possible.
More evidence against Danzo.
For someone who used to be Hiruzen-sama's close friend, Danzo looked absolutely sick when he mentioned their hokage and that made Anko twitch slightly. The strife was there, there was certainly some unspoken resentment between the two.
"Each and every single one of you will now receive my seal, when I come before you, step forward and become a tool of Konoha." Danzo had already walked to the front of one of the lines, the male shinobi keeping his face straight as both Danzo and Foo-san instructed him to open his mouth.
The man did so with a drop of sweat slipping off his forehead. The tips of Danzo's fingers became lit with blue chakra flames, like small burning candles, then with an unsuspecting jab Danzo pressed his fingers right into the bottom of the man's mouth, leaving the shinobi to hit the deck, clawing at his own mouth and throat, shrieking and gaging as the blue flames toiled in his mouth…lingering for much longer than looked comfortable.
Ew…
Actually…it looked quite painful.
Danzo was of course unfazed, moving onto the next kunoichi who seemed to suffer the same intolerable fate, the pain being too excruciating and she too found herself twitching and rolling across the floor like a dying cockroach, blue flames stuck in her mouth—but no fire could pour this out.
Despite it looking painful, however, it did seem woefully amateur as far as torture went—she expected more from root and Danzo, but apparently, they couldn't top Orochimaru.
This went on, Danzo and Foo methodically went down the line of shinobi, Food writing down every observation, as Danzo dropped even the largest of shinobi with the exception of a few who managed to stay on their feet.
And after a few moments, the elder himself was in front of her, giving her a look up and down before raising an eyebrow at Anko and then scoffing
"Kunoichi, you are to show me the underside of your tongue. You will receive my seal."
He recognized her…one of the experiments.
Okay.
In reply, Anko smiled "Oh, right, hai, Danzo-sama! I was totally daydreaming."
But she didn't detect any amusement on his wrinkled expression "Your tongue, Kunoichi." Was his reply to this and Anko knew this would probably be the last time he'd repeat himself.
So Anko opened up wide, and as disgusting as it sounded, Danzo, with his fingers engulfed in blue flames, went to place the seal onto the underside of her tongue.
Oh yeah, blue flames, so fucking cool!
Yet, it still felt as if someone had taken boiling cooking oil, placed it on a spoon, and shoved it right into her mouth.
Anko shuddered, like her body was on the verge of losing control of her entire nervous system.
Perhaps someone else would've collapsed…But Anko remained as iron, the adrenaline rushing through her like venom, causing her curse-mark to sizzle.
Along with that, her fist was ready to separate Danzo's face!
But.
No.
The curse mark receded completely.
Never again….
Foo-san and Danzo both were entranced for a moment, Foo was understandably cautious, but she couldn't miss the curiosity that flash over his face. Their eyes glowing as if their memories had just been completely refreshed, and Anko could no longer pretend she wasn't a part of a madman's vile child experiment.
But something told her that they very much were counting on her to have such a reaction. To act on the seal for them.
Danzo and Foo-san lingered in front of her for a long time, Foo-san even giving Danzo a glance with his bored expression, but Danzo only seemed interested in Anko. And like the good dog that he was, Foo-san didn't voice his opinion.
The crowd of recruits all had awe-punched looks and mouths wide as a cave's entrance.
And suddenly everyone remembered who Anko Mitarashi was. That he sensei had turned her into a laboratory subject.
And already there were murmurs…
Anko didn't touch the seal as her mouth burned, but she certainly felt it—both it and the one she'd received from Hiruzen-sama.
It was painful, it was the worst thing she'd experienced while in root and it only lasted a mere seconds…but… she'd endured worse!
Danzo must've been well aware of this, him and Orochimaru were quite acquainted if she remembered correctly.
But Danzo-sama let out an arrogant "Hmph…I look forward to molding you." then his free hand jabbed an index right at her nose "Do. Not. Disappoint."
A grin scrolled to Anko's lips "Hai, Danzo-sama!"
And the leader of the foundation and Foo-san continued down the line of impressed shinobi.
Yeah, no Anko wouldn't disappoint Hiruzen-sama and it was as simple as that.
A few months later…
Apparently, one of Orochimaru's most beloved shinobi took a dive, memorized a great sum of his research, and then high-tailed it and was possibly on her way off the continent while she thought the waters weren't shark ridden.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru isn't one to just allow his subordinates to just leave.
Or according to the report issued by Pain.
Supposedly these events occurred three hours prior.
With no opportunities wasted, Pain executively decided that it would be best to capture this shinobi and use her brain to swiftly eliminate and destroy any rivalry Orochimaru posed to the Akatsuki. As such it was critical to recover the girl.
Waves crashed and the sounds of the sea were plainly therapeutic to Itachi's ears. Itachi wished she could just stand there at the docks and wallow in the delightful sun and tidal breeze. She could feel her long ponytail flap in the wind like a handing flag.
Here Itachi could think peacefully…
Think about her failures, her late family, and the amount of time it's been since she last saw her little brother—so much pain she caused him. It'd also been months since she'd last seen or heard from Kakashi-senpai despite and to be honest, she would've messaged him but her anxiety kept her away from initiating any conversation.
She so wanted to see him, or even hear from him!
But unfortunately, Itachi didn't have much time to think and enjoy the simple things as she and Kisame had already caught up to their target.
From a distant restaurant's dark alley, just feet away from the splashing docks and lines of travelers boarding or patiently waiting.
Tayuya was boarding a civilian ferry, bandages wrapped around her head and torso, Itachi wasn't sure whether that was some sort of disguise or if Tayuya had actually been injured…but she did move forward in the line with a limp.
"It seems the poor girl may have suffered some injury in a recent battle. Pity…almost makes this way too easy."
"Only means we won't have to harm her as much."
"Right..right… the sharingan makes this that much easier."
Itachi was sure she could find something in Tayuya's mind that could be of interest to Jiraiya-sama.
"It's optimal."
"Torture by genjutsu's only fun for you." Kisame said. "I just get to watch, you know I prefer shredding!"
Oh, Kisame…
Itachi wasn't going to torture her.
"Ah, next time it'll be your turn to do as you please."
"Whatchu think she's trying to do? You think she'll sell that data she's memorized?" Kisame looked out to the ferry, treading upon crashing watery currents, officials and shinobi directing people onto the boat.
Good question…
"Perhaps this data would fetch a large price on the black market." Itachi could only imagine what research or information she'd stored in her head.
"Leave it to Pain-sama to want it for the Akatsuki first."
"Which is why we won't kill her, yet. We'll grab her and extract the data from her head."
"And if she tries to fight? What can I hack off?"
Itachi wanted to roll her eyes "If necessary, I'll allow one limb of your choosing. However, only if necessary."
"It's always, Itachi."
"…no, no it is not, Kisame." she said.
The line of people moved a tiny little and the red-haired girl yawned, a crudely put-together sack hanging over her shoulder. She looked wary, and as such when Tayuya looked over her shoulder she seemed to make eye contact and Tayuya's face immediately paled.
"Shit, Itachi!"
Oh.
Tayuya was gone in a blur of red before the people behind her could even notice.
Instantly Itachi vaulted from the alleyway, to the rooftop of the restaurant before dropping into the middle of the crowded village center, some people looked at Itachi and immediately turned in the opposite direction.
She had to be fast!
It took Itachi only two rooftop leaps to flash to Tayuya's location, ready to seize her. However, a chakra-enhanced metal flute whipped her way, nearly clipping her face. But there was a reason Itachi took pride in her own reaction time and dodged the attack before slashing a Kunai and meeting the flute with her blade forming a cross.
Itachi looked at her, but Tayuya was instead preoccupied with Itachi's hands, certainly having no plans of making eye contact with the sharingan.
Tayuya broke away from their duel and although it was still sunny, droplets of rain pelted Itachi's face.
"And all this time I thought Kimimaro or Kabuto were on my tail…instead…it's you two." she didn't sound nearly as confident or arrogant as the report stated she would be.
And it was subtle, but Tayuya's twitching fingers beneath the bandages told Itachi that Tayuya certainly didn't think she could take them both on.
Kisame landed in a platter of sandals "Do you plan on running?" Samhada shook itself like a mound of bees in Kisame's palms.
Now Tayuya just laughed, this seeming to be a coping mechanism and suddenly she didn't seem scared "Running? Why? I'm no coward! Don't take me for a pussy!" Her words came out with saliva and immediately the skin beneath Tayuya began to glow an amber orange, Itachi recognized this as the curse seal; it covered her entire body.
"Oh, a bunch of glowing tattoos are supposed to scare us?" Kisame mocked.
And that's when Itachi turned on her sharingan "It would only be wise of you to surrender. We don't want to hurt you, but don't confuse that as meaning we won't."
"Speak for yourself, Itachi."
Tayuya's lips touched her flute and the melody began.
But just as this happened samehada stopped any of the redhead's plans, a swipe of the sword forcing her to jump away and try that very same thing again.
"Here, brat! Let me teach you your final lesson!"
Itachi saw the bloodlust in Kisame's eyes and she knew the angle of his attack and the brute force Kisame was swinging would easily be enough to decapitate Tayuya's head from her body. Tayuya attempted to doge, but Kisame's attack was bound to hit, so the Uchiha heiress moved faster than both of them and planted a kick dead into Tayuya's cheek.
Pow!
Tayuya flew back, and crashed into a nearby building that sent civilians running and on their backs. Bricks and concrete collapsed and chaos erupted.
Good thing stealth was no priority.
Kisame looked at Itachi with the most disheartening expression he could muster "Really?"
The Tayuya got to her feet, for a moment looked at the two Akatsuki members, realized she was about to get absolutely overwhelmed, and immediately put her lips to the flute's mouthpiece.
Yes.
Tayuya began to play her melody and it caught the entire town in a chokehold, the inhabitants suddenly all looking to the sky, motionless…perhaps useless.
Tayuya attempted the auditory genjutsu…something she should've known wouldn't work on her. Though Itachi had to admit the ability under the right circumstances could prove to be so much more intense—but even enhanced by this curse seal this genjutsu was B-tier at best. Not enough to match Itachi's prowess in illusions.
Perhaps Orochimaru was looking for something to counter the sharingan and this was one of his solutions?
Itachi cast an ability with the sharingan, ensuring that the area around her was immune to such auditory illusions, thus keeping a perplexed yet entertained Kisame from being caught.
"My…the girl's gonna use the civilians as weapons? What a desperate ploy."
Itachi trained her attention to Tayuya "Surely you would know that could never work on me."
But the girl simply continued her song, a long drawn out eerie rhythm "No, not yet it won't. Not until I ascended…passing even Orochimaru. I don't have any plans of being captured. Even by you two."
Was that a death wish?
"You will not be harmed as long as you comply…is that understood?" Itachi said, giving her nails a quick glance, her index was chipped.
But Tayuya only replied with hand signs and words "Summoning Ju—"
Yet still, before she could do anything she had in mind, Kisame jabbed the hilt of Samehada into the red-haired girl's stomach with a heavy pow sound that made her cringe, and Tayuya dropped to her knees.
Which certainly still wasn't enough to take the girl out. So Itachi quickly fixed this issue, catching Tayuya off guard as she recovered from the attack and began morphing into the second stage of the curse seal. Again, Itachi quickly fixed the issue and made direct eye contact with the girl.
Her eyes went dead, rolling to the back of her head.
Gravity immediately dragged Tayuya into the asphalt face first just as the level 2 curse seal vanished.
The civilians were let go from the genjutsu, dazed, confused and terrified… but ultimately unscathed.
"Another easy assignment." Kisame bragged, swinging Samehada back to his back and sending a watching crowd flinching, some running for the waters. "Huh?" Kisame looked back confused at the fearful civilians then shrugged and gave them a cute smile.
Cue a mini freakout among the crowd and multiple people running away. Itachi shot him a glare and Kisame shot up his hands as if he had no idea why everyone was freaking out.
She deactivated her sharingan oh y.
"Grab her, let's go," Itachi commanded.
The sun-shower stopped.
Pain's projection initially sparked, both Kisame and Itachi sat in meditated stances, their eye closed in concentration as their connection to the Akatsuki 'leader' was completed.
Pain came in quiet, his rinnegan eyes looked at both Itachi and Kisame, then his distorted projection began "Was she being followed?"
"Other than by us?" Kisame said.
"No." Itachi answered.
"What intel did you retrieve from her?"
"I have yet to use my sharingan to interrogate the target, leader-sama."
"Oh? What're you waiting for, Itachi? Every ounce of Orochimaru's intel in our friend's brain must be handed off to me."
"We will proceed to gather the appropriate intel, leader-sama."
"No mistakes—I wish it to be known by all members. The Akatsuki is a life commitment, once you're a part of the dark, you cannot leave."
"Orochimaru will fall for his iniquities." Itachi said plainly.
And she meant for all his iniquities. Every. Single. One.
"That's right. Just send Itachi and I out there and we'll take care of the washed-up sannin for you." Kisame suggested, though he seemed more interested in taking on a powerful foe.
But Pain didn't look like he favored Kisame's plan, Pain had something else in mind, "Incinerate her body when you're finished. I want to hear back from you two by the end of the day."
And that was all Pain said before he disconnected and both Itachi and Kisame ended the jutsu.
That's when Itachi stood and relit their campfire and placed small metal lanterns around Tayuya. The outside had at some point switched from bright and sunny to gloomy and cloudy.
She took a deep breath and she coughed…harder than normal…it felt like someone had rubbed hot coal against the inner lining of her lungs.
Something that'd been happening a lot more recently.
"She's already under, right?" Kisame confirmed.
"Hm, I can pry her mind at any instant."
But Itachi didn't, not yet, she still oddly observed the girl who they had prompted up against the inner wall of the cave, unconscious…she almost looked like a lifeless doll.
"She's young." Kisame stated, "I'd say she's the same age as that blond kid you almost killed."
The same age that Itachi was when she joined Akatsuki.
And Deidara almost killed himself…
"She was selected by Orochimaru for a reason…she survived the curse seal, she's special."
"Special? Pity to just kill a kunoichi deemed special by Itachi Uchiha." then Kisame pondered something for a moment. "Maybe we should let her have a second chance at fighting us to live. And when I say us I mean fighting me, of course."
"No. Also, she will not die in vain." Itachi assured, which perplexed Kisame, but Itachi had to run some of this by Jiraiya-sama.
But it was unfortunate that Itachi would have to take yet another soul.
"Let's get this over with…I've got a date later and I don't want to be late this time."
Huh?
She fluttered her lashes "Another date?"
This could wait.
"Yeah, even us criminals want that special someone, we're not all content being alone like you, you know."
"I'm content with my situation as given." Itachi lied.
Well, Itachi was seeing someone and didn't want to see anyone else. So in a way, it felt as if she were in a relationship. But honestly, neither of them ever made it official.
Which was fine. She suspected her senpai didn't feel comfortable making anything official with a criminal. And she was fine with that—she was just happy to have him and she prayed he wasn't seeing anyone else. She prayed that he'd remained just as exclusive as she'd been.
What title would she even call them?
"I'll be back before anyone figures out my name."
"Is it the same woman from when we aided that town against that army of giant boars? Near Kusaga?"
Kisame frowned "No."
"Hm? That's odd. You said she was perfect for you—civilian, not concerned with shinobi life, and sane."
Kisame scratched his jaw "I did say those things..."
"And it didn't work out? I liked her…" Itachi said.
Itachi just felt bad that the lady had been walking on eggshells the entire time she was around Itachi, she must've heard some horrible rumors. But Itachi had never seen a civilian lady talk so freely and fearlessly around Kisame, it was a happy surprise.
"She doesn't want to be put in danger, you know people…wanting to rip her apart because of her association with me, that kinda stuff."
"Who could blame her? She couldn't protect herself."
"I. Would've protected her!"
"Ah? You would have stayed with her? What about Akatsuki?" Itachi said.
"She'd travel with us—I would've protected her."
"Kisame…"
"That's not what she wanted though, she wanted to stay safe in her small boring hometown and I'm okay with that. Not everyone can live the life of a killer."
Itachi didn't know he'd felt that way about that lady…Itachi wasn't sure what to say.
She was never good at consoling people and she didn't need sharingan to see that this entire experience with that lady was hurting him.
"It might be better this way, she would be an edge that our enemies could easily hold over you."
But before Kisame could say anything, right at the entrance a messenger hawk flew right in, and dropped something in a cylinder-shaped package, wrapped in wheat-colored paper right into Kisame's hand, before flying back out into the world.
Itachi pointed to the question and Kisame ripped it open to reveal a rolled-up newspaper kept in place by rubber bands.
Kisame frowned, inspecting the paper and Itachi scooted in closer to do the same:
"Hell? What? I don't read these… who the hell sent this?"
And there was no message attached to the newspaper, just the paper.
"You're not subscribed to any paper, are you? That'd be a horribly easy way for someone to track us."
And Kisame shook his head. "No, nobody should know where we're at." and with that said Kisame unrolled the paper which revealed this local newspaper, and immediately Kisame's face glowed with surprise.
Itachi was suspicious. It was a clear security issue.
"Zabuza? Don't believe it, ain't no way!" Kisame clamped down on his lip and drew a bit of blood.
And that's when Itachi caught a side glimpse of the crude-looking News Paper.
UNDERGROUND CHRONICLES
DEMON OF THE MIST DEFEATED!
Kakashi of the sharingan, and three Genin claim responsibility!
Itachi blinked and right below the title was a photograph of Kakashi shyly attempting to block his face from the camera with his book. The pink-haired girl was treating a wound on Naruto's chest, but seemed absolutely ready to bite the cameraman in half. Naruto had a fist held up and the cameraman caught the perfect frame of his mouth wide open, possibly barking some obscenity. And Sasuke… her beloved brother was about halfway through the hand signals for a fire technique and was honestly ready to aim it at the cameraman.
Itachi's eyes went back and forth between Kakashi and Sasuke, though lingering on Sasuke just seeing him so much older… it made her heart drop like a dumbbell in free fall.
She wanted to see the actual Sasuke, not a photo. He had gotten so much older, so much taller. He'd probably be taller than her in another few years.
All of them looked like they had a five-second spar with the raikage. Indeed, battered and abused!
And one question kept popping up in her head.
Why in the world was Sasuke battling against a shinobi such as Zabuza?
Didn't they just become genin?
Though, Itachi knew better than to assume that genin would be safe from stronger foes simply because they were assigned easier missions.
Oh, Kakashi…She didn't know what she'd do if anything horrible were to happen to Sasuke.
Certainly something along the lines of putting Kakashi in Tsukuyomi.
It had been a few months since they'd last spoken or seen one another, and her desire to see him again was getting critical.
"The copy-nin did him in, what a bastard. Knowing Zabuza he probably got himself killed trying to scare the little genin shitless. ..tsk, never was one for finishing his prey." Kisame raised his shoulders "Liked to savor it I suppose…"
"He isn't a bastard." Itachi said, though her eyes were sealed to the photo of Team seven and reading the article below it.
"You knew him?"
And her mind immediately flashed through their last memories together and she did her best to conceal the heat she felt flooding to her face "Yes."
It was silent.
Kisame seemed to draw some unknown conclusion in his head, but Itachi never became privy to it.
"Kakashi Hatake. Copy ninja." Kisame then went on, his attention falling to Sasuke, and Itachi almost flipped "Hey…and that kid, wow, if I didn't know better I'd say he looks a lot like you."
Itachi kept her mouth closed. It was pretty obvious, their mother had strong-amazing genes.
And so he never needed an answer directly from her mouth.
"…a relative? Ah, but that's weird, from what I've heard the entire Uchiha clan met its demise… to your hand."
So she affirmed, "…he's my baby brother."
"Baby brother!?" And Kisame almost choked, teasing her before processing the information and sewing together the implication "Now, why would you leave him alive?"
He genuinely didn't understand. Really, Kisame?
"He's just a child."
"Bullshit, you killed everyone. Everyone. Unless?"
See, but Kisame picked up on her uncomfortable aura.
"Ahh, okay. Even the twisted Itachi Uchiha has a soft spot…for her precious baby brother no less. Must've been spite with you and your parents, I can understand that."
Kisame smiled and laughed, but to Itachi that was the darkest day of her existence. Never had she wanted to sock Kisame so badly before.
Itachi took a breath, she looked off to the unconscious Tayuya and bitterly replied "Our objective, Kisame."
Kisame must've recognized the acid in her tone and held up a hand in submission "Shall we?"
Right at that moment, Itachi used the sharingan and extracted everything Tayuya stole from Orochimaru.
That… Orochimaru was after Sasuke, and that Tayuya knew a lot less than Pain was probably expecting. But….There was a mysterious serum Orochimaru was developing and Tayuya memorized the molecular formula.
What? What was she going to do with that?! How important was the formula that Orochimaru was scattering his goons?
Couldn't have been anything good.
Itachi immediately replicated her memories and stored them in her brain.
But that was all Itachi needed to know to conclude that she needed to delete Orochimaru ASAP.
Though as it would turn out, Tayuya wasn't too aware of Orochimaru's plan in its entirety…
Itachi didn't know what the grand scheme of Orochimaru's plan was, but she did know that he planned on taking Sasuke.
She should've killed him when she had the chance!
It seemed she would be seeing Kakashi much sooner than later. For he needed to know.
He needed to know everything!
It was days after the events in the land of the waves and Sakura couldn't shake the sound of Zabuza's heavy blade—she'd never seen a shinobi swing such a massive weapon so fast and with so much ferocity, had Kakashi-sensei not been around they would have surely died.
In the last few days, Sakura found herself jolting awake in the night, her dreams convincing her she was still in that battle—
She looked to both Naruto and Sasuke, the two patiently waiting for their more than tardy sensei on top of the respective stomps that they'd laid when they first took the bell test.
They seemed irritated, but that seemed to be more because Kakashi-sensei was late than what happened a little less than a week ago.
She'd never been beaten and battered like that fight on the bridge. Both Naruto and Sasuke had both been through worse, yet they didn't even look a small amount phased.
And here she was…her hands still trembling many days after Zabuza and Haku had expired.
Though in the end, they turned out to be rather likable, she still had never felt anything heart-ceasing like that before.
Was this what they'd have to expect from the world of shinobi? Overwhelming odds at every corner?
Extremely strong foes? Was this destiny? Was this their destiny?
That fact in itself made Sakura stand, her boys looking at her with sideways glances, as Sakura got to her foot, checked her pouch, and began heading for the center of the field without a single word.
She stood up right there in the clearing, frowned then removed a kunai and began swinging into the air. Repeating the same move: dodge, dodge, slice!
Precise and quick.
Each time she would try to be faster than the last.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto seemed concerned, but at the same time, there was a curiosity to it.
Both Sasuke and Naruto stood looking at her like she'd grown a tail on her face, so Sakura explained.
"What? You saw what happened out there. Those mist ninja were no joke! We need to take every moment we could to get stronger! I'm not waiting for Kakashi-sensei!"
Naruto and Sasuke looked at one another, perhaps they didn't expect to hear such vows from Sakura? The useless girl who'd accomplished nothing in their last battle except for a hilt to the face, and a beating from Zabuza; who certainly had every moment and motive to kill her.
"Yeah, you'd think after we bonded over our trip, he'd at least treat us like we weren't second thoughts!" Naruto agreed. Huh….Sakura sensed there was way more history between Naruto and Kakashi-sensei.
Sasuke slowly strolled over to Sakura, with Naruto right behind him with a proud smile and closed fist. "In any case, Sakura's right. As a team, we need to be stronger."
In her former days, she would've melted at Sasuke's praise. But this was for Sakura's own good too!
"Hell yeah! Beats waiting around getting jumped by mosquitoes for another hour!"
And so the squad ended up center clearing, the sun wasn't over barring, the birds chirped, and some academy students hid off behind some trees at the forest's border.
"Triple way battle?" Sakura said.
"Hm." Sasuke turned his head to her.
But Naruto voiced what they both were thinking "What? Sakura-chan, you're down for that?!"
"What, of course, I'm down! No time need be wasted waiting!"
And the knuckleheaded blond laughed "Great! Don't think I'll go easy on you two!"
"Last shinobi standing?" Sasuke suggested.
"Right!" Both Sakura and Naruto replied.
Before the three of them stood facing one another and at Naruto's bark, they all pounced.
Sakura immediately went at Naruto who blocked a punch that would've taken him to the ground. He smiled before turning, flipping her around, and pushing her a distance before ducking as Sasuke went for a drop kick.
Though unfortunately Sasuke recovered, grabbed Naruto by his ankles, and tucked him into the ground, then Sasuke got back to his feet.
Naruto did the same and the two immediately began beating the living meat out of one another.
Sakura rolled her eyes, as she watched the two draw blood as they mutually exchanged punches to the face.
Of course, they'd be preoccupied with themselves so Sakura leaped forward, and managed to kick both Naruto and Sasuke dead in the face in a split-like motion.
At first, they were stunned, their faces shooting to Sakura as she landed ready for more.
A reminder that Sakura wasn't a non-threat.
Sasuke wiped his chin clean, "Nice kick."
Her heart shouldn't have fluttered, but it did. And she hoped she did a good job of not showing…
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"
With that said, the three again engaged in battle, kicks, uppercuts, body slams—all was fair game in their battle as they waited another two hours for their sensei.
The sun in all its glory would soon begin setting.
Kakashi had just helped this generous older lady figure out a way to get her dead-beat son to find a way to start helping with the rent, and he arrived at training field seven.
And…his genin, who he'd thought had been healed the other day, all of them were laid flat out, beaten, and seemingly drained of any energy.
Naruto was freaking face-down in the grass!
When Kakashi got closer they barely reacted, staying in the same positions
The jounin sighed and scratched his head and began his apology "Well, here I am! Sorry, it took me so long, I had to help this lady convince her son to get a job and it…it took a lot of convincing."
This time it was a hundred percent true.
But instead of doing the normal thing and accusing him of laughing, his genin just laughed. All at the same time.
Now he wasn't sure if they were laughing at him or what the inside joke was…but it was interesting.
Despite looking, they all jumped to their feet, the fire in their eyes like nothing he'd seen in genin. The copy ninja smiled.
"Y'all had a brawl? Uh… Great…that's actually a great bonding activity for a team, but it seems y'all forgot to include your sensei."
"We only did it because you were late!" Sakura reminded him.
And Naruto added, "Plus it wouldn't be fair, and you know it!"
Welp, he was just glad they weren't too bitter "Of course! Well, again sorry…and…I have news…we don't have any training today."
"WHAT?! LIAR!" Naruto nearly blew a blood vessel in his forehead and pointed "You said we'd get to train today!"
"I know what I said! Just hang on—"
"Sensei, you saw what happened to us against Zabuza and Haku!" Sakura said.
"We need to be as strong as we can, Kakashi.", Sasuke added.
"We're not training today…we're bounty hunting. For the rest of the evening, and into the night I'll show you how to use the Bingo Book." Kakashi held up his copy, and the Genins' eyes went wide like they'd just struck gold.
Kakashi poofed three bingo books into his hand and handed them to the squad.
Though it was Sakura's excitement that burned out first "Hey, there's a bunch of ripped-out pages in these!"
Naruto turned the book upside down and Sasuke frowned but agreed totally agreeing with Sakura as he pointed to two entire missing sections.
"Right, it was decided by the hokage that genin need not trouble themselves with looking at A-class or higher ninja. If you're so curious, buy your own book." Kakashi said.
"The old man decided that? Please, what a rip-off!"
This only made Sasuke just silently shut the book and brood, he expected to see someone…
"Plus we'll only be hunting small-time local criminals. Most well, civilians—though some you'll find to be rogue genin and chunin alike. A small blend of everything actually."
The team was apprehensive and nodded their heads, their moods completely different despite seeming absolutely exhausted earlier.
"We'll take my lead and if any of you are feeling, oh I guess, sluggish, I've got a nice stash of energy pills just for the occasion."
"Energy pills?" Naruto blurted out.
"That's right." Kakashi smiled.
"What, are we not gonna get a chance to eat?"
"I'm afraid not, Naruto."
That just resulted in a groan from the jinchuuriki and a quick reassessment of their situation. "We could've eaten while we were waiting for you sensei.", Naruto dropped to his knees, grabbing his tummy. Kakashi couldn't figure out if the tears in Naruto's eyes were real or if he was just pulling a great acting performance.
"Nothing you can do about it now. Let's keep moving." Sasuke commented, but that didn't make Naruto's stomach any quieter.
Atta boy, Sasuke.
"I'll take point. We'll be hitting the road immediately, so turn to page 18.7.4B and there you will find the targets. Our destination is northeast of our location, we'll find a small town by the name of...well nobody really knows…." Kakashi let out a content exhale…
The genin flipped and scrambled to absorb all that information, they looked through the Bingo book, and even double-checked Kakashi's words with a map and compasses from out of their pouches as they whispered to themselves.
A nameless town…or one that nobody cared to remember.
If Kakashi knew better, he'd say they didn't trust their dear senseis' words very much. Though it was Naruto who proved to point out the trivial, jabbing his index finger at a spot in the book "Hey! These guys have some weird names…William and Charlie?"
"It's not cool to make fun of other people's cultures, Naruto."
"Oh, whoops. Sorry!"
But then Sakura raised a hand and spoke, eyes never leaving the pages"They've got 40 thousand ryo bounties as civilians? How?"
"Dealing with really bad ninja, that's how," Kakashi answered.
"40-thousand each for a collective 80-thousand, split between the four of us. Hm, a lot less than Zabuza and Haku's—but they didn't pay us for killing them." Sasuke looked slightly bummed out by this. "Let's get this over with."
"We shouldn't run into any unexpected encounters this time either, which isn't me saying to let your guard down," Kakashi said.
"Don't jinx it." Naruto said with his hands wrapped around the back of his head, before whispering something to his mates.
"Just expect to see shinobi from opposing villages looking for the same people."
His team seemed to understand…
"Go ahead, pack all your necessities and see me in twenty."
"It's only a three-day walk."
The copy-ninja then body flickered away from his team, after all, he still had to say bye to Rin and Obito.
And maybe buy something for Itachi the next time he saw her…a gift.
But what would a girl like Itachi even like?
She would probably show gratitude for anything he got her. But that wasn't enough for Kakashi to settle for, she deserved something she'd actually enjoy.
Hey, so what appalled Anko was this notion that an entire population of shinobi, living inside the walls of Konoha, could even ponder disloyalty to the third hokage in any fashion!
And the more she spoke with her fellow root shinobi, it became abundantly apparent that this was by no account the act of genjutsu, this was plain real! Their minds, their thoughts, their actions.
Shit.
Anko was in no way what you'd generally call a 'good' person.
But she had her morals.
She would never betray her hokage let alone Konoha, their village.
The things she was hearing these people talk about…As far as Anko was concerned, they were all guilty!
Man, oh man. Her first four months in root were not what she'd thought they'd be.
They were mostly solo assassination assignments. Mostly…ninja from or formerly from the Konoha—all of them of jonin rank or higher. But Anko of course didn't struggle against the strongest of foes thrown at her.
But there was a catch!
All of those shinobi appeared to have either been former root operatives or shinobi who worked under Danzo in some sort of form or fashion.
Anko had even killed a former root shinobi who she'd genuinely wished she hadn't. Out on the outskirts of Sunagakure…a trade town of sorts. You know? Industrialized and equipped with machinery Anko didn't care to give much thought to. The words had just left his lips: "Danzo isn't—"
But Anko had been too hasty, moved too fast, already slitting his throat and leaving him to bleed out on some empty cobblestone street.
It all left her banging her head into a wall, puzzled.
Danzo isn't?
It just made Danzo more suspicious…
Ank had since recollected that moment a thousand-fold.
Regardless…at this time, Anko was at the rendezvous point, the center of the abandoned Uchiha district playground.
Out of respect, nobody was supposed to enter or disturb the compound, but of course, Danzo felt immune to this rule.
It was three in the morning, wet and rainy.
Anko found him at a bench, hidden beneath a table overcast by a weeping willow, sitting.
With her tongue she sensed the chemical trails of a nearby squad of root, protecting Danzo from the shadows.
"Danzo-sama." She greeted, dropping to one knee and bowing.
Rain tattered against her mask, the hood of her robe concealing the rest of Anko's features, and her robe keeping her warm.
"Cobra. Your next assignment is not to be documented. Not to be spoken of. It does not exist." Danzo informed me.
"Hai, Danzo-sama!"
The wind kicked up, he ignored the rain drenching his face.
"You are the perfect operative for this. Intel from an undisclosed yet reputable source in Kumogakure has identified a prominent Konoha shinobi as a high-risk traitor."
Prominent? Then that meant a challenge.
So who? Who was this shinobi? Was he or she actually a traitor? Because everyone around Anko in root was a traitor…
"Cobra, you will have to eliminate this threat, though the means to do so may need extensive preparation." A vanilla folder then appeared in his hand, he opened it and handed Anko a laminated photo of the Kakashi Hatake. She almost lost balance, but gained her composure.
What the fuck? Kakashi?
How?
"Danzo-sama?"
Danzo raised his face, unbothered "Cobra?"
"Confirmation: This is who our target is?"
Ha! Was she really asking this?
"That's. What. I. Said."
Impossible!
Anko didn't respond, instead, her gaze was bound to the dirt. But Danzo surely didn't seem to need her to say anything "Hard to believe? What if I were to tell you that Kakashi Hatake has made contact with a horrible criminal?"
She'd call him a dirty fucking liar!
Kakashi would never! She'd watched him from afar long enough to know damn well he'd never betray the village!
"That'd be—hard to believe."
"Believe it, girl. Kakashi has been spotted in secret, meeting with a kunoichi who's committed such an unforgivable sin." his head slowly swayed from side to side and he closed his eyes in mourning.
"Who?!"
"Itachi Uchiha." Danzo's expression dawned into wickedness.
Then Anko froze "Itachi?"
Memories came like water wrecking through a dam.
Itachi Uchiha…
And the only reason that made her freeze was because, Anko had a collective memory of both Kakashi and Itachi spending a mountain load of time together.
They had always stayed friendly and professional, but back then Anko could see that although Kakashi was an oblivious moron, Itachi seemed to take a liking to him.
After all, she would go out of her way to see him all the time. Which definitely left Anko a bit sour, because Anko was the one that wanted to spend time with him!
Shit…
Even to this day, in her adulthood—he was the one she'd never got to at least get a chance with.
But she was just the weird genin of one of the sannin.
"I-I see." Anko said.
"By any means, Kakashi Hatake is to be eliminated, disposed of, and never spoken about again. Nobody should be able to link responsibility to root…Take your death tablets if you're ever compromised."
What was she going to do?
She couldn't kill Kakashi! Even if she were strong enough, which she most certainly wasn't unless she used—
The seal on her neck jumped at the thought and she had to calm herself. So much time since she'd last used her curse seal and yet—
She had to go to Hiruzen-sama with this!
She had to go to Kakashi with this and ask him herself!
She had to do her own research and find out the truth! Kakashi would never betray the village, right? No matter how close he was with the shinobi in the past, he wouldn't make the decision!
"Hai!"
Danzo seemed pleased. "You have four months. Take the necessary precautions."
And like that he was gone with smoke.
Leaving Anko stone-like in the bowing position, the rain became relentless in that moment.
Why would she believe Danzo? He was a liar—a deceiver—just like Anko's freaking deadbeat of a sensei!
Kakashi could never!
Like…he wouldn't, right?
It was time to consult the third hokage.
Yeah, Might Guy liked to wake up before the rooster crowed, the time when it was still hard to differentiate morning from the night. It worked into his schedule with team eight quite perfectly.
Because Guy personally needed to see how many times he could lap around the entirety of Konoha hopping on one hand…while blindfolded.
See the blindfold idea he thought of while cooking ostrich eggs.
Genius. Simply. Genius.
So here he was hauling himself through the forest, hand propelling him over forest debris when something in his ear clicked.
"Yo, Guy-san!"
The figure of Hayate had appeared in front of Guy, startling him and leaving Guy to do the only rational thing, and roundhouse kicked him dead in his chest.
Hayate let out a rattled shriek.
"Shit," Guy said.
Hayate went flying, and then promptly died.
…
—Okay, actually, no, that was a lie. Guy hadn't put nearly enough force to do that.
Thankfully Genma body-flickered to his location and caught him in his arms.
So…enemy ambush was certainly out of the question…
Hayate spat and coughed as he briskly broke from his friend's grasp "What the hell! You just kick the first person that greets you, huh?! Huuuh!?"
Guy scratched his face "I'm sorry, I didn't—"
"Damn! Shit, that hurt!"
Probably didn't help that he put a little power into it.
"—expect to see anyone in the forest at two in the morning. 'less it be the enemy."
"We were looking for you—you're the one always inviting people out for early-early training." Hayate accused.
Guy was left with a hanging jaw "Yeah, but nobody ever actually comes! I didn't expect company!"
"Alright well, we're here and we're ready." Genma added.
"R-ready…?" Guy was seconds from slapping himself awake,
With a grunt Hayate was on his feet, his hand grooming the dust off his vest and clothing. "We're not here to just chat, Guy, we've been training hard, following books…looking for ways to make our taijutsu more…" Hayate looked at Genma who just elbowed him "…potent."
"In a Thousand Ways To Defeat An Uchiha, the Nidaime reflects that a shinobi's taijutsu need be optimally refined when going up against any master of the sharingan." Genma said. "We have a mission."
"And since you're the best taijutsu specialist Konoha has to offer—"
Hayate of course looked to Genma, and Genma nodded confirming what Hayate said.
Guy put his hands on his hips, closed his eyes, and cheesed "SAY LESS! You've come to the right guy!"
"Don't let it get to your head." Genma said.
But then the realization that there were only two Uchiha left hit Guy.
"Hold on a sec, are you guys telling me that you plan on fighting that Uchiha?!"
"Yes!" they both replied.
"…Itachi is it then?" It came out like a question but Guy already had the answer "Now, why would y'all want to go messing with a kunoichi like her?"
"The witch traumatized my girl. Yugao has been different since her encounter." Hayate cracked a cough "I don't know what Itachi showed Yugao, but I'm killing her."
"Plus, it's about time someone brought her to justice." Genma said.
Guy couldn't agree more.
But…
"That's a foe even I'd struggle against. Hell, you know what she did—if I ever got the chance to go at her again, I'd—"
"Look no disrespect, Guy." Hayate fixed his headband, his unblinking eyes an intense flame—one cough "But are you going to train us to be this—this pinnacle of youth you always chat about, or do we have to go ask Kakashi instead?"
Now that was enough for Guy to drop his grin "K-kakashi!?"
No!
Why would they go to KAKASHI to learn taijutsu?
"Yeah, Kakashi's taijutsu is pretty spectacular!" Genma added.
Spectacular?!
"But he's not a master! Not like Might Guy!" Queue sparkling smile.
"So no bullshit, we're doing this?" Hayate cleared his throat.
"Psst, why of course! But are you two really ready for the intense gut-blasting schedule that is Might Guy's lifestyle!?" Guy got a little too excited, and kicked nothing but air off in the distance but apparently, that was enough to collapse a tree with a thud.
Hayate and Genma glanced at each other then looked at Guy and the fall tree, dumbfounded.
With an awkward smile, Guy took a breath. "Sorry, got carried away."
"Genma and I already decided that we'd do what was necessary!"
"Yeah." Genma shrugged.
"We'll commit to the Might Guy lifestyle—as long as we can do that…" Hayate pointed to the thrashed trunk.
In that time frame, the sun looked…larger…brighter, as if someone had tossed a giant-sized magnifying glass in front of it.
It only helped to promote a devilish smile from Guy "It's settled then, from this moment on you're both disciples of Konoha's green beast!"
Guy's thumbs went to the heavens.
"…"
"…just teach us some anti-Uchiha taijutsu, dude…" Genma said.
And so he would!
"You've gotta love his energy though…"
"That's the right spirit, Hayate, now if you want to be like me, you've got to finish this handstand run."
And despite the fact Guy probably wouldn't get an ounce of sleep, how could he deny such inspiring shinobi from achieving their destiny and slaying a fiend?!
Mist was everywhere. It rained hard the day prior and had continued on into the next day at a moderate rate.
Thunder clapped, truthfully nature's drum.
Itachi had left Kisame with the task of briefing Pain on the process on how they took and destroyed Tayuya's body. While Itachi went to dispose of Tayuya—then she planned on taking care of some personal business.
But that didn't happen, at least yet.
There in the middle of the forest, with the girl subjected to an insignificant genjutsu, one that hopefully soothes the traumatized girl in her last moments.
She should have finished her.
Finished Tayuya with a kunai and then incinerated her body with a fire-style ability.
Kunai in her hand.
She had done it so many times before.
Kill that was…
Yet with this girl only a few years Sasuke's senior and thus a bit younger than her, Itachi couldn't find herself able to impale her with her newly sharpened kunai.
It would've been easy…but she trembled.
Why would she hesitate against the enemy?
Was it because Tayuya was just as much of a victim as most shinobi? A weapon…a tool.
Was it because she saw what happened to Tayuya? Because Orochimaru took advantage of those desperate and turned astray.
Just as he tried with his own genin… poor Anko.
So there, with the water pouring down and soaking her robe, Itachi sighed, removed the genjutsu that kept Tayuya captive, and stood there for a moment.
She would never let Sasuke fall to Orochimaru.
Kakashi would protect him… and she'd make sure the snake sannin took his last breaths with his face at her bare sandals.
She would get to see her senpai again, warn him of what she learned, and well, Kakashi was possibly one of the best people to take Sasuke under his care—so maybe she shouldn't have been too worried.
But when Tayuya began to shift, her injury wrappings fell from her skin and Itachi got the inkling that the redhead was about to wake…
With the flick of her eyes, Itachi cast Tsukiyomi, introducing Tayuya to her worst nightmare, something of which Tayuya had not even been aware of up until that point.
Itachi would never forgive herself for traumatizing so many people. But for her mission, she had to use Tsukuyomi again.
The redhead jolted awake with a heavy breath, sweat, and tears streaming down her face, only to find Itachi glaring at her.
Through grit teeth and pain-filled eyes, Tayuya spoke "Why—why did you show that to me? Why not kill me."
"Leave…run, never return."
"Huh?" Tayuya jumped to her feet, fixing her bandages, wiping blood, and dusting her clothing
"Think of this as a second chance Kunoichi…as long as I never see you again, I'll let you go," Itachi explained, leaving Tayuya dumbfounded.
"Kai!" Tayuya said putting her hands together "Shit this has to be another genjutsu!"
"No genjutsu. Mercy."
"Mercy? The same mercy you showed your family? I'm not buying it! Just kill me, or better yet give me a kunai and I'll do it myself!"
"Don't be a fool, you want to run from Orochimaru, I won't stop you. I already took the information I needed from your Head. You pose no threat to me in your current state."
"If you let me go, you're still letting go an enemy, and I'm gonna come back and kill you." Tayuya declared.
Itachi looked away and laughed "That so? You won't be the one to kill me, I apologize."
"Just watch, I'm gonna become a sage. And then even the sharingan will pale in comparison."
Yeah, okay…
Then Tayuya felt around, noticing something absent "Where's my flute?!"
Itachi looked at her, then sighed "Kisame snapped it in half like a twig."
Dumbfounded the girl growled "Y-you bastard! Who the fuc—"
But she stopped when Itachi stepped closer, her eyes glared steel.
The redhead frowned and trembled with her jaw locked, before jumping away and disappearing into the tree.
Good. Would've been unfortunate if another person had to die.
She was alone.
Maybe she'd visit Kakashi-senpai for the first time in months. He needed to hear this—maybe she'd send a crow so as to not surprise him. Maybe she'd see Sasuke…
There was a lot she wanted to tell him…so much… though the truth would've been a perfect place to start.
And she'd been thinking about that for a while…she didn't care if he knew. She just hoped he wouldn't judge her for taking so long to tell him about the truth. Or judge her for her
choices in general on the subject matter.
But she would tell him, regardless as to whether he'd hate her afterward or not.
And so she began to write a letter that simply said:
Dear Senpai,
In light of reflection over this relationship, I've come to a conclusion and we need to talk! I hope you've been taking care of Sasuke. I'm coming to see you.
Sincerely, Itachi
"To senpai." she whispered to the crow, as if it understood her.
Then she rolled it up, attached it to a crow and watched the crow blast off and above the cloudy sky.
And taking the same opportunity as Kisame in their free time, decided to head in the same direction as her crow.
A/N: As much that's going on, our main focus still and will always be ItachxKakashi. Thank you! Anyways, see you for the next chapter!