So I thought this Arch would end in the chapter fifteen but this one got long and I hadn't accomplished everything I wanted to so I've had to split it. The Road to Uzushio Arch will end in chapter sixteen!
Chapter Fourteen
'No Prey, No Pay'
Road to Uzushio Arch VI
After a tense argument about a week after they arrived in Uzuchiisai, Fū managed to convince Sasori and Obito to stay behind and help the village with whatever work they had that day while she went to explore Uzushiogakure for the first time. She'd waited this long just to see if the Pirates would show up. And she'd wanted to ask the Uzumoto some questions. She was worried about the implication that the island might not let her leave once she stepped foot on it. They assured her that it wasn't some kind of prison jutsu, and that she would understand when she went there.
So she decided to stop being a coward and go ahead and go.
Eventually, after about an hour of arguing, Sasori and Obito had relented because they weren't going to be able to do anything to help anyway; they couldn't enter the gates of the city.
So, Kyo was volunteered (-told) by his parents that he was going to accompany her. Evidently the villagers of Uzuchiisai were able to enter through the gates due to their Uzu blood. So the island, while uninhabited, hadn't been fully abandoned.
"Up ahead through these trees is the gate house," Kyo told her in a clipped tone when they hopped out of his small fishing boat and dragged it through the shallow waters to the island's western shore. "We have to go further inland to get to the city. The fighting took place on the eastern side of the village, there wasn't much damage to this side so most of this was rebuilt for Uzumoto use when I was a baby."
A sense of rightness, of homecoming, flooded Fū's body and made her feel weak in the knees as soon as her feet touched the shores of Uzushio. Overwhelmed, her throat went sore and tears stung her eyes as Fū crouched down and placed her hand on the wet sand.
"Nothing else like it, is there?" Kyo asked, crouching down right next to her. He was being pleasant today, despite his grumbling before they left Uzuchiisai, which led her to believe that his problem wasn't with her but with shinobi in general. "The feeling when you step foot on the island. Before the pirates I used to come here alone just to feel it."
"What causes it?" Fū asked him, pulling her hand away from the sand and rubbing them together to clean the granules off as she stood.
He rose with her and gave her a secretive grin. "You'll find out soon enough, if the island accepts you."
'Ominous,' she thought.
She followed him as they walked up the beach towards the gorgeous gate house surrounded by the multi-colored leaves of the changing season. It was a traditional style minka, picturesque against the island backdrop and just from first glance it was clear that the Uzumoto spent a lot of time on the upkeep of this particular area of the island. She mentioned that to Kyo as they stepped up a long flight of stairs to the engawa. The minka was on some kind of stilts to keep it raised from the ground, like she remembered seeing in certain places were flooding was a seasonal reality.
"The island has protections against bad storms, we have to come here whenever one looks like it's going to be violent so we try to maintain this area." Kyo shrugged as he slid open the door and stepped aside so she could enter the genkan. "There's supplies we store here. We're gonna need some before we go into the city. It can be dangerous going inside, there's a lot of rubble, overgrowth, and wildlife."
Fū stayed in the hall as Kyo trekked further into the house. She didn't want to take off her shoes and go around dirtying the floors.
"So the city has remained a ruin, then?" Fū asked, no judgment in her voice; only curiosity.
"Well with all the active fūinjutsu seals scattered about it makes it hard for a bunch of farmers to start shifting through the rubble. That's dangerous enough as it is without worrying about setting off some old shinobi's traps or explosive tags, you know?"
"Ah, yeah. Understandable," Fū nodded, running her fingers over a chip in the paint on the wall nearest her, "so the island is surrounded by protections that shield it from storm damage?" Fū called out, hearing Kyo rifling through something in a room where he'd disappeared.
"Fūinjutsu is badass," he called back, voice sounding strained and a loud thumping noise almost drowning him out. "Okaasan says there's really not much of a limit to what the Uzumaki could make happen with sheer willpower, enough chakra, and fūinjutsu, and the island housed a whole bunch of fūinjutsu masters who loved to stretch the limit–" Kyo reappeared through the door wearing a large backpack and a triumphant grin, "- Okaasan says the only thing better than one Uzumaki fūinjutsu master is two."
"I knew I liked Risa-san for a reason." Fū laughed and she backed out of the house, holding the door open for Kyo as he slipped his shoes back on.
As they walked up the path towards the main gate, Kyo asked her if she knew any fūinjutsu, voice strained because they were walking up a rather steep incline. Fū didn't see herself as physically fit; she'd never been in her last life. But this body had undergone rigorous training for years, even when she was in Konoha. She hadn't realized just how in shape she was until Kyo was huffing and puffing beside her while her heart rate hadn't even increased.
"I do, but I wouldn't call myself a master, not yet anyway. I'm hoping to find some insight here so I can improve," she told him, growing concerned at how red his face was getting. Fū glanced nervously ahead. Looked like the gate wasn't far off now. "Let's rest a little when we get to the gate, this hill was kind of brutal."
Kyo looked over at her with a pinched glare and a deep frown, his tone was biting when he spoke.
"Just because I'm not a ninja doesn't mean I can't keep going, you know?" Fū's brow rose but he stopped walking and turned to face her hands on his hips. "I'm not useless. I know some fūinjutsu, too."
"Well I'm not really a ninja either, you know," Fū retorted, a little put out at his assumption. "But you know some fūinjutsu, too?" Fū's eyebrows shot into her hairline and she grinned, suddenly full of new energy, annoyance forgotten. She started bouncing on her heels like she used to back in Konoha. "You should've told me that before, we need to sit down and compare notes tonight – I could teach you some things and you can teach me! I haven't had anyone to talk to about Fūinjutsu in years… this is so exciting Kyo-san!"
Kyo's eyes went wide and pink tinged his cheeks. He looked away, scratching the back of his head. "Uh.. yeah. Yeah, sure," when he looked back, his whole demeanor had relaxed and he pointed to himself with his thumb, chest puffed out. "Just call me Kyo-senpai."
Fū controlled the urge to laugh at him and just smiled as they reached the gate, a traditional red Torii. Fū noticed that the walls around the gate were more of a parapet than an actual defensive wall and could be jumped easily even without chakra enhancements. With that kind of lacking defense, her ancestors would've needed to use seals to protect their city. Thus, the short wall was probably less of a deterrent and more of an invitation to... well, 'fuck around and find out.'
Looking around outside the gate, Fū began to notice all the wildlife around them as they halted despite Kyo's protests about 'continuing on.' The boy did need a break, especially noting that the incline would continue past the gate, and there were stairs involved. So she sat down right outside the gate to let him take his breather, sipping out of the canteen he handed her.
"Hey, is that sugar cane?"
Water trickled down Kyo's chin when he pulled his own canteen away from his mouth. He wiped it away with his sleeve, glancing toward the north where she was pointing. He nodded when he looked back.
"Yeah there's a lot of it on the island. That and a few fruits are abundant. Bananas and mangos, mostly. We harvest as much as possible but it's hard to keep the fruits. They tend to rot quickly," Kyo got to his feet with a grunt. "I'll go get you one, theres see a bushel in a tree right over there."
Unprompted, Kyo started walking through the sugarcane to a tall tree – a banana tree! Fū's jaw dropped at the sheer amount of bananas that were hanging from it, and stood to follow him. She watched curiously as he pulled his pack off and started rummaging through it. A few seconds later, he produced a huge cane knife and glanced at her.
"Just stay out of the way when it drops, okay? It's going to be heavy and you'll get hurt if it falls on you." He told her, placing the knife between his teeth and then climbing the tree.
Kyo was a pretty sweet boy when he wasn't being a raging dick, Fu thought as she watched him heave himself up one branch and get a good grip on the next one.
"That's really dangerous, Kyo-senpai, please be careful." Fū told him while he scaled the tree. She saw him roll his eyes.
Damn his stupid male pride, the boy has a knife in his mouth. If he fell she'd catch him.
He removed the knife from his mouth and started hacking away at the stem until the entire bushel, taller than Fū herself, dropped into the tall grass.
"Go ahead and take a few. I'll carry those down to the boat when we leave later. The village will love having a sweet treat at supper tonig–oh fuck," Kyo's voice became a sudden growl as his eyes were set out to the sea, Fū looked the same direction but she was too low to the ground and couldn't see much.
"What is it?" Fū asked, grabbing a few bananas and stuffing them into her bag. "Kyo?"
He didn't respond, but his frown deepened so she jumped up and held herself onto the other side of the tree beside him with chakra.
Kyo's head swiveled and he blanched with indignation. "You mean to tell me you could've done that the whole time? Why the hell did I scale the tree when you could've just jumped up here?!"
Fū ignored him, focusing on the three ships that dotted the horizon. "Are those the pirates?"
Out of her peripheral vision she saw Kyo's shoulders tense and he nodded.
"Probably, we're going to have to go back. I'm sorry but the island exploration will have to wait."
Fū set her mouth in a grim line and dropped back down to the earth. When Kyo joined her, she whirled around and smacked her hand directly over his naval. He stared at her in shock as a seal formed from his abdomen and down his legs, spreading out on the ground around them.
"What the hell, brat?" Kyo shouted indignantly, squirming against the seals that restrained him. "You're using fūinjutsu against me? "
"Just to protect you. Stay here. I'll come back for you once it's safe, here," she handed him a banana and in his utter disbelief he took it, "at least you won't starve and you have water in your pack."
The last thing she heard from Kyo was him spitting curses as she took off at ninja speed back toward the beach. A plan began to form and she hoped she could maintain her water walking better now than she had in training.
Kakashi was nearby, Obito could feel the static of his chakra approaching. He must've been feeling bold, because he was barely repressing his chakra at all. About ten miles off still, and moving at a leisurely pace with a team of three others; Uchiha Itachi was among them.
"Konoha knows Fū is here." Obito mumbled low to Sasori, who glanced at him with a narrowed eye. He'd never heard Obito use his real voice before. He seemed to adjust to it right away, realizing intrinsically that 'Tobi' was far less the fool he made himself out to be. "There is a team coming this way."
What their end goal was, he couldn't know. But if they dared to try and take Taifū there would be far reaching repercussions of such action that the Hokage (or Danzō, for that matter) could not begin to contrive of means of thwarting.
Nagato might just travel to Konoha to use the Shinra Tensei.
Nobody wanted that.
But now that the Uzumaki had he'd resumed control of the Akatsuki and claimed the kids, Obito had no say in what he did. He was fortunate that Nagato was giving him a chance instead of trying to kill him outright for manipulating him.
"Shall I see to them?" Sasori asked, looking like that prospect enticed him more than the menial labor they'd been doing, at Fū's insistence, to help the village as repayment for their hospitality. "It's not as if my aid is required here."
"No –" if Fū found out Sasori tried to kill Kakashi and her friend Itachi, despite not having talked to her about how she felt about these people in the story yet, well… he couldn't see that going over too well. "I will go and see what it is they want."
Kakashi and his team had raced through the Land of Fire at a brutal pace, stopping only for sleep and the occasional chance to relieve themselves or refill their canteens. Itachi was able to keep up without much strain, but as an apology for pushing the limits of a genin, Kakashi had let the boy sleep more than the rest of them and took all of his guard rotations. Itachi had yet to bring it up, but Kakashi saw the slight narrowing of his eyes each morning he woke to realize he'd been allowed this favor.
Now they were in Whirlpool, following the southern coast heading east to Uzushichaii, the small village just outside of Uzushiogakure. He figured that in order to get to the island, Fū and her travel companion would most likely stop there. The farmers may have some information for him and his team.
He'd slowed their pace to give his team a respite, just in case they'd need to be well rested. There was no telling what they might run into when they found Fū. Kakashi had read through Sasori's bingo book entry – he was not an S class missing nin to underestimate, and Kakashi didn't know if he might use Fū against him, somehow, and things could end up going south quickly.
A sharp inhale came from Shisui. "Captain, someone just appeared—"
"Hi there!" A high pitched voice called from above them before Shisui could finish his statement.
Kakashi looked up at the cloaked, masked figure who was waving down at them. He noted the attire. A black cloak with red clouds.
"He's Akatsuki, be on your guard," Kakashi told his team, signaling them to halt. "His presence means we must be close to Fū."
"But is he hostile?" Genma asked, slipping his hand into his pocket and looking deceptively casual.
"Four against one?! What bad luck!" The Akatsuki member reached up and scratched the back of his head, a nervous titter to his voice. "Nice to meet you, I think? I hope? Or maybe you hope. We'll see, I guess," he shrugged. "What brings you Hidden Leaf folks to this neck of the woods?"
"Hostile." Shisui answered, sharingan bright red. Itachi's was active, too.
"We're only here to speak with Uzumaki Taifū, Akatsuki-san." Kakashi decided being direct might avoid conflict. This man was Akatsuki and his identity was hidden, there was no telling his skill level.
"Captain this shinobi attacked my team months ago, killing almost our whole contingent during a routine escort mission," Itachi informed him in his quiet way. Kakashi's teeth ground together under his mask.
"Is that so?" This wasn't going to be as easy as he thought, with Itachi's information now in the mix.
"Oh was that your team?" The Akatsuki waved his hand and smacked the top of his mask, appearing sheepish. Kakashi didn't believe it for a second. "Sorry about that! There were some questions I needed answered. I'd like to say it wasn't personal but… well, it was! Ooooh, that's shiny! AHHH~"
Genma shot a poison senbon at the Akatsuki member and it went straight through his throat and embedded deep in the tree behind him.
"Kidding! It was pretty shiny though." He stuck two thumbs up, taunting them. "Good aim, shinobi-san! So you guys wanna talk to my little Fū-chan, huh? Well she's kind of busy right now, so you can talk to me! Maybe you can talk to her later."
"He's toying with us," Kakashi's eyes narrowed. He wasn't in the mood to entertain someone who was keeping him from Taifū, especially not after confirming that she was nearby. To hear that this guy had killed Leaf shinobi as recently as a few months ago… it made his blood boil.
"Oh that's a scary look on your face, Sharingan no Kakashi!" The masked man slapped both hands on either side of his mask, then pointed a shaky finger down at him. "You wouldn't happen to be thinking about how best to k-k-kill me, would you? That would make Fū-chan very unhappy with you! She wouldn't want us to fight."
"He knows who you are," Genma said through clenched teeth. "If he's being honest about Fū, we can't battle him and still hope for a good outcome when we catch up to her."
The situation was tense. Kakashi teetered between the idea of attacking this guy to get him out of his way or settling on diplomacy. While Kakashi was contemplating how to proceed, it was Shisui who spoke next. He relaxed his stance and looked up at the Akatsuki member, deactivating his sharingan.
"My name is Uchiha Shisui," the young jonin laid his hand on his chest and lowered his head a fraction but his eyes never left the enemy, "we're here to speak with Uzumaki Taifū over a matter of importance. There are no nefarious plots to take her to Konoha against her will, nor do we want to disrupt whatever work it is she's busy with at present. If you could take us to her, then we will remain out of the way until she is ready to grant us an audience."
'Great choice, Genma.' Kakashi thought as he lazily eyed the young Uchiha. Cool as a cucumber, makes rational choices in tense situations. A good jonin with exceptional instincts.
Kakashi wondered how the boy would fare in a fight, now. He hoped they could avoid it.
"Uchiha Shisui is a good boy! Tobi likes him." The Akatsuki member clapped animatedly then pointed at himself. "Tobi is a good boy, too! Fū-chan would be happy to meet you… uh oh!" He pointed over them, out towards the sea. None of them fell for the bait. "It's the Pirates!" Tobi whispered the word as if it were filthy. "Fū-chan's been waiting on those guys… I can't wait to see what she does now that they've finally shown up!"
"What does Fū want with some pirates?" Genma asked as the Akatsuki shinobi, Tobi, hopped off the branch and landed a few feet in front of them now that they seemed to have reached an accord.
"They've been big meanies to the locals, and maybe even to the whole east coast and Water Country to boot!" Tobi told them, gesturing for them to follow him. When he turned his back on them, Kakashi had to wonder if this guy was a genuine idiot or if he had some hidden jutsu up his sleeve because shinobi never turned their back on an enemy – especially not during a temporary truce. "Fū-chan doesn't like bullies! So keep that in mind, Sharingan no Kakashi-san!"
"Why do you keep singling me out?" Kakashi asked under his breath as he allowed his team to be led toward the village.
Uzuchiisai was in panic mode by the time they reached it – people racing around and grabbing goods, children, and other necessities while darting into their homes.
It definitely appeared that they had a system in place, like this had indeed happened to them before and that gave a level of credence to Tobi's claim that Fū wanted to do something about it.
"Captain, is there any way we can offer our aid to Tai and the Akatsuki to help these people?" Itachi asked quietly from beside him, not realizing his concern was written all over his face at the moment. "They're terrified."
Itachi was a soft hearted kid. Kakashi had noticed it when he'd started observing him a couple years ago. It was nice that he wanted to help, but he wasn't considering the ramifications, so Kakashi gently gave him the run down, hoping that it would be a lesson well learned. Knowing Itachi, he'd definitely pick up the undercurrents of what Kakashi was trying to teach him.
"Let's see what comes of it when the Pirates reach land and help if we're needed. If it's an international piracy ring, jumping in could cause issues for the Land of Fire's trade system, which is primarily out of our east coast. Our trade situation is a complex and dynamic web that can't take much strain." Kakashi told him as they followed Tobi down to the docks, watching the three ships sailing in quickly, the one on the left much faster than the other two.
Itachi's face adopted the Uchiha stoicism and Kakashi wondered if he was thinking about what he'd told him, or if he was upset. He supposed only time would tell.
"Sasori~ I brought new friends!" Tobi cried, waving his arm around just as the puppet came into sight, hunched over and menacing where he stood on the docks, watching the approaching ships. He wore the same cloak as Tobi.
"You should've let me handle them," the puppet rasped, eyeing them with distain as they approached.
"Noooo, there wouldn't be a them if you'd gone!" Tobi's voice was starting to grate on Kakashi's nerves.
"Exactly."
'Not a good first impression,' Kakashi thought as he signaled for his team to stay back and stay alert. 'I hadn't expected any better, though.'
"Waaaa, Sasori, you don't have to be like that all the time!" Tobi whirled around and raised his hands placatingly at Kakashi and his team, loudly whispering; "He's just surly because I put bugs in his bedroll this morning," he started to giggle girlishly and said; "Termites."
A tail lashed out from underneath Sasori's cloak, and Tobi dodged it, arms flailing. "H-hey!"
"You talk too much, that ship on the left is almost here."
They watched in tense silence as the first ship sailed into port, expecting to see a crowd of pirates come flying off of it ready to do battle —
No one, not even the Akatsuki present, had anticipated seeing Uzumaki Taifū, wind blowing her crimson hair, commanding the entire ship with her fingers like she was a composer and the ship was her orchestra while the entire crew was subdued by an web of Fūinjutsu on the deck that kept them bound.
"By god," Genma huffed a disbelieving laugh under his breath.
Kakashi agreed. 'By god.'
"Can I get a little help Tobi-nii? Shishou?" She called down as the ship stopped, strain in her voice. Probably from the chakra exertion and the mental strain of commanding a ship by herself! She hadn't seen Kakashi and his team yet. "I want to try and take care of one of the other ships before they reach Uzuchiisai but someone needs to watch these guys. I haven't done a seal of this scale before and I'm not sure how long it'll keep u–" she glanced over the side of the ship and down at them, stopping her in her tracks, eyes blowing wide with disbelief. "Kakashi-nii? Itachi?!"
"Genma," Genma pointed at himself in good humor, then gestured to Shisui, "and Shisui."
Something changed in Fū's face when she looked at Shisui, but it was only for a moment and then she was smiling down brightly at them as if they'd never been separated for a single day. Kakashi's heart hammered against his ribcage and he fought the sudden urge to go to her, stuff her in a seal, and take her back home.
"And I'm Tobi!" Tobi pointed to himself. Fū ignored him, clearly used to his antics, her happy smile settling on the Leaf team.
"Welcome to Uzuchiisai! It's so nice to see you all–" she cut herself off when she looked over to the other ships, who were getting closer. "Ah, man, they're too close to stop them now. Shishou, can you keep these guys in line for me? I want to speak with the leader of this misguided voyage and I can't do that if I'm worried they're gonna get loose."
Kakashi was at a loss here.
On one hand, he saw Fū as a child he needed to grab and sequester away from this dangerous, tense situation until it was over and she was safe. On the other – it was clear that she was in command of this by the way she was giving orders to the two older members of the Akatsuki.
Not only was she giving orders, but they seemed to be taking them without complaint. That painted a telling picture about Fū, her time in captivity, and her relationship with the members of the organization. The organization itself, really, and he was sure she didn't intend on revealing so much.
Still, his heart continued to hammer against his chest at the prospect of her being in danger.
But Fū was calm, rational, and was showing a lot of confidence right now. Stepping back to assess the facts, he reminded himself that she'd managed to bring down one third of the enemy's numbers on her own before Kakashi had noticed she was nearby – had likely been taking them down when he was busy getting jerked around by Tobi.
So Kakashi needed to stand down, step back, and watch this play out. Of course, that didn't mean that he'd not stand ready to interfere in an instant should there be a threat to Fū.
Mission, trade routes, whatever it may be, could be damned for all he cared. His number one priority was Fū's (and Naruto's - but he wasn't here at the moment) safety. Everything else, besides keeping his team safe, paled in comparison.
'Minato-sensei, Kushina-san, I've found Taifū and she looks well. Rest easy, I'll keep her safe.'
'It's Tai! It's really Tai,' Itachi thought as Tai hopped off the ship, landing right in front of him. He almost stepped back when she hurriedly walked right up to him and threw her arms around his shoulders, dragging him against her.
He could've stopped it, but he didn't want to.
"Tachi!" She gave him a good squeeze and he felt his face heat with embarrassment as the eyes of his team, and the Akatsuki shinobi, landed on him with faintly concealed scrutiny and disapproval. "Good to see you, can't wait to catch up but we're a little busy right now so it'll have to wait."
"It's good to see you, too," he told her quietly, meaning it with all his heart because he'd missed her so much these past two years. He let his arms circle around her torso to return the hug, shoving aside the thought that Shisui might tease him about his attachment to her. Shisui had only ever seen Itachi hug Sasuke, and he teased Itachi about that attachment a lot.
Too soon she pulled away with that big smile that had always dominated her face, whirling around to attach herself to Hatake Kakashi and Itachi tried not to feel put out. Kakashi was like family to her, and he'd been exhausting all of his efforts to find her for two years, doing more than Itachi had. He deserved her affections more than Itachi did.
(He still felt put out, though.)
"And you, how is your hair still a mess? After two years I'd expected you to have bought a brush!" His captain looked shocked when Tai jumped up to be able to reach his hair and attempt to pat it down. Kakashi didn't seem to be processing that Tai was really there, really hugging him, before she released him and stepped back. "I wanna talk to you, too, but the bad guys are getting real close so it's gonna have to wait. Hi Genma!" She waved at the slouching tokubetsu jonin and then turned to Shisui, "and Shisui-san, nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Taifū-san," Shisui smiled back at her, nodding toward the vessel she'd jumped off. "Controlling the ship with chakra strings?"
Of course, Shisui and Itachi had seen the chakra strings with their sharingan as she'd sailed up.
"Huh? Oh, yep!" Tai laughed with a shrug, as if it couldn't have been any other thing and it was a silly question to ask. She was clearly nervous, for some reason, and continued to chatter. "I learned sailing on a much smaller boat a long time ago but I've never sailed a vessel quite as large as this one. I'm just glad I didn't crash into the dock. Kyo-senpai is already mad that I rooted him to the island. He'd be furious if I destroyed the docks, too."
"I'm sorry, Fū, when did you learn sailing?" Kakashi asked, finally coming out of wherever his mind had taken him, and was promptly ignored when Tai turned away and started walking down towards the end of the dock to meet the two ships that were almost upon them.
"A long time ago, weren't you listening?" Tobi chided, tisking and hurrying after her as the puppet master, Akasuna no Sasori, jumped onto the ship that Tai had sailed in on. "You should clean your ears every time you bathe Kakashi~"
"This whole situation is not at all what I expected to run into when we found Fū," Genma huffed, a faint grin twitching the corner of his mouth as they watched Tai and Tobi come to a stop near the end of the dock just as the pirates started pooling at the side of their vessel.
"Yeah, well." Kakashi sighed as if this were an everyday occurrence for him, raising his hitai ate to reveal his sharingan. Itachi took note and activated his own. "That's what Uzumaki are like. Minato-sensei once told me that only one thing was certain when it came to his wife; utter unpredictability. Itachi, I want you to hang back and stay away from any fighting for now. Shisui, stay with him and stay vigilant. I'll give you a signal if you're needed."
Itachi knew his presence on this mission was solely due to his connection with Tai, and that Kakashi did not see him as adequate for his team from a combat standpoint. It only bothered him in that Kakashi had also babied him through the entire mission so far, so he hadn't had a chance to prove that he could pull his weight by completing his share of team duties.
Itachi wasn't useless, he was just inexperienced and young. There was nothing he could do about his age, but he needed to work in order to gain experience and be a well rounded shinobi. Kakashi was currently hindering his goal.
But he understood what his use was for this mission. Why he was there. (Even though the reason he was invited waged war in his mind, because he didn't want to betray Tai by giving her secrets away.) So he'd kept silent. Just like he was now, remaining where he had been directed to stand while Kakashi and Genma moved closer to the potential action.
He stayed where he was. Even though he wanted to go stand behind Tai and make sure her back was protected while she did whatever it was she was going to do to the pirates.
Itachi observed her and couldn't see her setting up any traps with his sharingan. There was no fūinjutsu, either. He wondered what she was planning, because she wasn't giving anything away. If she was preparing for a fight, she was concealing it so well that his sharingan couldn't see it. But he didn't think she was doing anything.
It was almost like she was just waiting.
"It's okay Itachi," Shisui told him quietly, patting his back twice. "Kakashi-san is capable and he cares about your friend. So does Genma-san, and it seems like that Tobi guy cares, too. Nothing's going to happen to her, so put up that worried frown, yeah? Looks like things are about to get interesting, I can't wait to see what the girl you call your best friend is capable of."
Itachi schooled his face just as a trio of pirates jumped over the side of their ship and landed on the dock – mere feet from Tai.
Fū hadn't expected to see Kakashi and Itachi when she'd made it back from commandeering a whole pirate ship, but that's what happened. Now she was pretty nervous for all this to play out.
She didn't care if she looked like a fool in front of Obito – he knew the whole story about her and would understand why she tried to do what she was going to try doing.
Kakashi and Itachi would surely think she was a moron if this didn't work out, and she needed them to believe in her or it would cause long term issues with her plan to help the world. Namely, influencing Itachi enough that he wouldn't listen to the Danzō/Hiruzen dumbass duo and murder his clan. If he thought she was an idiot, then anything she had to say would fall on deaf ears.
Shisui's presence had thrown her off, though. Uchiha Shisui was probably the single most important person for her to try and save, besides Naruto, and she hadn't even thought about him until he was standing right in front of her. She could've cursed herself for forgetting about him. He was the epidemy of wasted potential in the story, with a peace oriented mind, a good heart, and selfless to a fault... how could she have forgotten about him?
How could she have forgotten about him, and who else had she not thought of that she could potentially save?
These were questions to ponder on later.
"Do you have a plan?" Obito asked under his breath as a few pirates began jumping from their ship to confront them.
She merely nodded in response, hoping she was doing the right thing as three mean-looking men stood before her glaring menacingly. Fū glanced up, noting that the crew members remained on the two ships, and were looking down at the scene. Some of them with vicious smirks–but most of them shuffled nervously.
The other ship's crew had revealed much about the men in front of her. They weren't only merciless pirates. They were worse.
Most of the people on the crew had been forcibly taken from their homes in Water country and threatened into cooperation. Others took the job simply to feed themselves and their families. The old pirate adage 'No Prey, No Pay' was this captain's motto. If they didn't pillage and steal, they wouldn't eat. Might even be thrown overboard.
Some were willing participants, but most were afraid of the young man who stood before her; the newly appointed head of the Funato Clan.
"So, you took one of my ships, captured my crew, and… what? What's your game here, kid?" The one who seemed to consider himself the leader stepped forward with aggressive tension in his shoulders, his voice just barely below a shout.
"Fugato Araumi," Fū began, remaining calm in the presence of his anger.
There was nothing to fear.
Obito could get her out of there in a flash if needed, and that was without mentioning that Kakashi was now mere yards behind her, staying out of it but staying close. She didn't imagine he'd let anything happen to her. Genma was nobody to sneer at either and two Uchiha prodigies were back towards the shore. It wouldn't take much for them to get to her if need be, and she knew Itachi would if he had to. He was still very much her friend.
The only thing that worried her now was somehow making things worse for the Uzumoto, or having a full scale battle that ended with an unfortunate death toll. Those were not her goals.
The goal is peace.
"I've heard you're making quite the splash–" she ignored the way Obito snickered, now wasn't the time, "-up and down the east coast between Lightning and Tea. All the way to Water, too. Do you think such actions go unnoticed? Do you believe you can continue on like that?"
"Do people take you seriously? What are you, five? This is what the fighting force of Uzushio has been reduced to after almost two decades post annihilation, a five year old and a weird masked guy?" Funato laughed, the sound was cruel and he pointed a blade at her. "I'm going to do as I please. A brat like you wont stop me. I'm pretty sure the Mizukage couldn't even stop me. I'm too powerful. Don't make me kill you and your friends, girl, get out of my way so I can get what I need and move onto the next village."
Fū sighed, frowning deeply. The ones who proclaim themselves strong are usually the weakest. But that didn't mean she'd take his threats lightly.
"Listen," Fū started, jaw set and eyes hard, "between what the people of Uzuchiisai have said and what the crew behind me told me, you've done some terrible and damning things in the last year. Piracy is the least of it. The worst; participating in human trafficking and keeping slaves under threat of death, dismemberment, or retaliation against their families should they defy you. All of which I'm sure can be corroborated by others in your forced employ. You will be paying for these crimes."
Funato gave a sharp laugh, planting his hands on his hips. "Oh, will I? Just who's going to make me pay?"
"Right now, I will. Long term, when my friend informs the Mizukage of what you've done, you will be handed over to them as you are a native to Water. Your clan and their punishments will fall under Kirigakure's jurisdiction, and I will be able to wipe my hands of you." Fū turned her attention to the crew who's shocked expressions made her want to smile, despite the intensity of the situation. "If you wish to aid Funato-san, you too will be handed over to Kiri. If not, stay back. I have a proposition for you once this is over."
"Okay." Funato scoffed, gesturing to his men to surround her, some foolishly did jump from the two ships that he'd come with. "I think I've entertained this kid long enough."
"Final chance. Stand down and let Funato face his crimes or fall with him," Fū announced as Funato began a series of complicated hand signs.
With a deep sigh, as water rose from the ocean behind her opponent, Fū unleashed dozens of golden chakra chains, dragging every enemy combatant to their knees in seconds.
"Stay beside me," Fū looked up at Obito. "I've got to get close to them so I can seal their chakra. I'm sure there's a way to do it with the chains but this is only the second time I've used them so I haven't figured it out yet."
If she could see Obito's face, she would see the utter shock written all over it. But really she'd need to look no farther than the Leaf team's faces to know that she'd just defied all of their expectations.
Shisui was delighted with this turn of events.
Uzumaku Taifū was much more than he'd imagined. And he had imagined, it had been hard not to. The only thing other than Sasuke that got an animated response out of Itachi was the mention of the absent girl he called his best friend.
Shisui had wanted to meet her for a while now, and had hoped that she was alive so he could.
Taifū hadn't disappointed.
"I can see why she's your best friend," he told Itachi as he watched Uzumaki Taifū step up to each of her detainees and use fūinjutsu to seal their chakra – rendering them practically useless.
"Shisui?" Itachi asked, never looking away from where Taifū was working, as if he was anticipating that one of her chains would break and the enemy would attack her.
"I just mean that I get it. Uzumaki-san, she's brave and she thinks outside the box doesn't she? She managed to handle this situation with her words, not blades, and she said that Kirigakure would handle the prisoners. I assume that's to maintain peace between Whirlpool and Water. She's kind of amazing." There was a hint of admiration in Shisui's voice, and the older Uchiha smiled as he watched the red haired girl work methodically from pirate to pirate, her chains falling away as each one was subdued with her seals.
Shisui saw Itachi's gentle smile before he masked it. "I told you before, Tai is well spoken and her philosophies are similar to yours."
"So you did," he smiled, one hand on Itachi's shoulder. "The chains must be an Uzumaki kekkei genkai. My sharingan didn't pick out any jutsu… and I was watching her for it."
"They are," Kakashi's voice interrupted their moment as he and Genma returned to them, "they're an incredibly powerful kekkei genkai. As you saw before, they're capable of holding a bijuu. A handful of pirates are nothing in comparison."
There was a sharp whistle from where Uzumaki Taifū was working and Shisui returned his gaze to the end of the pier where she was flagging down everyone on the boats, calling attention to herself.
"Can everyone hear me? Remember I said I had a proposition once this was over?" Taifū asked, turning in a slow circle so she could look at everyone as she was speaking. The people on the boats were blinking down at her, wide eyed and obviously frightened, from their perch. "I would like to ask each ship to send down a representative by majority vote to speak with me. No rush, I've got to go get the village leader."
All eyes followed her as she stepped away from the crowd, leaving Tobi behind to presumably stand guard over the prisoners and wait for the representative as she went to fetch said village leader.
"A representative by majority vote?" Genma asked, arms folded over his chest, shaking his head with a fond smirk. "That kid's growing up to be something else. I wonder what the proposition is."
"As Jiraiya said, she's her father's daughter," Kakashi said with an exasperated huff, "there's no telling what she's got in mind. I'd assume it has something to do with trade."
Shisui thought that made sense, but he wasn't really paying much attention to Kakashi and Genma's conversation because he was too busy watching Taifū's slow approach.
When Taifū reached them she stopped.
"So what brings you guys this way?" Taifū's hands went behind her back and she bounced on her toes, looking between Kakashi and Itachi. It was clear to Shisui that she still felt attached to them, despite the two year gap since she'd last seen either. So attached that she'd hugged them both, even though pirates were converging on their location.
Even now, these bonds were strong for Taifū. That she still seemed to feel connected to Itachi made Shisui happy, because he'd have hated for Itachi to care so much about her, so much that he sometimes worried himself sick, only for her to no longer care about him in turn.
"You." Kakashi told her, and in what Shisui assumed was a rare display of affection from the man everyone called Stone Cold Kakashi, his arm whipped out and wrapped around Taifū's shoulders, dragging her into a hug – one that he actually participated in this time.
Shisui watched as the Uzumaki girl sagged into it when Kakashi lifted her off her feet and buried his face in her hair. Feeling like he was intruding on something very intimate and personal between the two, Shisui looked away and noticed as Itachi and Genma did the same.
They pretended they didn't hear it when Kakashi's voice cracked with emotion as he whispered 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please forgive me.'
And they definitely didn't hear it when Taifū said; "There's nothing to forgive, it wasn't your fault. I love you, Kakashi-nii. Always."
The sweet moment of reunion between Fū and Kakashi was interrupted when a furious voice yelled out; "UZUMAKI!"
Fū pulled back from Kakashi, head whipping around looking for the source of the vitriol.
She should've guessed it came from Kyo, who was rowing his little boat with rage in his strokes and in his eyes as he reached the shore and jumped out. His accusing finger pointed directly at her. Vein fit to burst out of his forehead.
'So he does know some fūinjusu - enough to break mine. That's interesting,' Fū thought.
"HOW DARE YOU?! I TOLD YOU I CAN DO SEAL WORK TOO, YOU LITTLE JERK. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SEALED ME TO THE ISLAND?"
"Well looks like Kyo's really mad at me," Fū giggled behind her hand, not at all concerned as she glanced up at Kakashi, "I'm going to handle some things and I'll happily meet you later. There's a cove about a mile north of here, it's pretty private and left a series of strong privacy seals there. No business talk, just you and me catching up. I'll bring food?"
Kakashi's hand landed on the top of her head and he smiled down at her genuinely with that one eyed smile of his. "Sounds good, is there somewhere my team and I can stay? We're not leaving for a few days at least."
Fū nodded, smiling at the other guys Kakashi had brought with him while Kyo continued his rampage, storming up the beach and gunning for her. The villagers started stepping out of their hiding spots to see what all the commotion was about.
"I doubt you want to stay with Sasori and Tobi, despite how much I'd love that. So my suggestion would be the gate house on the island. But let me run it past the village elder first, he may not want you to. The island is pretty sacred."
"Noted…" Kakashi was watching the approaching pink haired boy by now, and she thought it was sweet that he was concerned.
"UZUMA–"
"Yes, Kyo, I heard you. I'm pretty sure the Kazekage heard you all the way in Suna," Fū turned and folded her arms over her chest, addressing the boy with a raised brow. "I used a rudimentary root seal to force you to stay on the island because you have an bad attitude and a quick temper," she gestured to his current body language and aggression to make her point, "and now you live to see another day instead of potentially getting killed by pirates. You're welcome. Help me find your father, I've got a question for him."
Kyo sputtered, his face red, most of the fight seeping out of him as he stared at her incredulously.
"Chop chop, Kyo, we're wasting daylight!" Fū grabbed the boy's wrist and proceeded to drag him along.
None of the Konoha shinobi had expected Itachi's sudden, soft laugh to follow as Fū led the pink haired boy into the village, leaving them behind. Itachi smiled after her, and in a soft voice he said; "It's good to see that Tai hasn't changed."
- Not Obito taking every chance he can to insult Kakashi. Lmfao
- I'm sure Funato was way more intimidating and badass in Boruto. He's an older teenager here so he's not that strong and he went down pretty easily, like most would when wrapped up in Uzumaki sealing chains, yeah?