Chapter 38
Naruto trembled. This guy was going to cut off his leg. No. No. No. No. He couldn't move. He could barely breathe. Itachi Uchiha, Sasuke's brother, he was here, he had Sharingan and they were going to take him and he couldn't-
Sasuke!
No, he couldn't beg for Sasuke's help. Itachi murdered Sasuke's entire clan! Besides, they didn't even have a bond. Sasuke couldn't feel his emotions right now.
The shark guy swung his sword, but it hit something else, a sharp clang echoed across the hall, and before him a figure flickered into sight. Izumi, Izumi who kicked out, driving the shark guy back, before throwing a dagger with a chain at Itachi. Itachi dodged, but the chain exploded, the burst of fire consuming both the shark guy and Itachi.
"Naruto, run!" Izumi barked.
He couldn't move his legs. Her red eyes, just like Itachi's, sharpened and her fangs grew longer than before. Pink chakra flickered off her skin. She roared in his face.
"RUN!"
He bolted. He went crashing out the window, a cold sweat running down his back, his heart racing. He heard more explosions and fire, screams and cries, but he didn't look back. He kept running. Omega had told him to run. He had to run.
"Naruto!" Sasuke's voice stopped him.
It was the only thing to stop him.
He panted, stared at Sasuke, and Sasuke stared back at him, before he turned towards the flaming building. "Izumi..." Sasuke whispered, and took a step forward.
Naruto grabbed him, yanked him back. "No! You can't go in there. She said to run!"
"Not without Izumi!" Sasuke snatched his arm back and ran.
Ran right towards the fire.
Naruto's heart kept racing, and he vaguely saw Shikamaru run past, cursing like a sailor. Choji raced right after him. But before any of them could get far a figure went crashing through a wall. The blur skidded across the ground, barely catching themselves, and stood up, bloody but still murderous.
.::.
They clashed.
It took everything Izumi had to hold them back. Itachi hung back, but Kisame charged her, and he was ruthless. Their blades cut and tore and Izumi's Omega gleefully took the battle in. But her attention didn't remain on Kisame. It was torn between him and Itachi, who continued to watch her with that cold gaze-
He moved.
Izumi barely managed to block his way, as a reward her shoulder was ripped open by Kisame's sword, and Itachi broke her wrist, forcing her to drop her kunai. Izumi booted him back, twisted away from Kisame to regain some space, and slammed her chakra into the purple blade. An eerie, purple fog twisted out the blade, suffocating the hallway.
Izumi grimaced. This was Mikoto's poisonous blade. And she had to use it to kill Itachi, or at least die trying. Sasuke would inherit Mikoto's healing blade one day, but for now he wasn't trained up enough. Izumi raised the purple sword, the one Mikoto had wanted to teach her to use when Izumi had expressed an interest in weaponry.
The thought broke her heart.
"Of course I'll teach you how to wield a sword. You're pretty much my daughter-in-law already! It's not everyday someone makes my little Itachi blush."
"We both know this poisoned fog." Izumi gritted her teeth, swallowing back the memories and the tears burning at the corner of her eyes. "We know who it belonged to."
"I'm glad you managed to take her swords." Itachi stepped out of the fog, Kisame right by his side.
"A poisonous blade?" Kisame grunted. "I can feel it in my lungs, pretty strong."
"Don't inhale it. Izumi and I are only immune because we've had the antidote," Itachi scolded. "Izumi, you're making this fight way too public. I'm going with my approach here."
Izumi felt the genjutsu hit her like a punch to the gut. She gasped, and watched as Sasuke found his parent's bodies, how Itachi tortured him with killing their clan over and over again. So many people, so much blood-
BASTARD! NOT HER PUP!
Izumi forced her arm to move. Her mind at war with itself, but her arm moved and she slammed her broken wrist off the wall. With that moment of pain filled clarity she barely caught Kisame's foot booting her out the building, sending her crashing through a wall. Izumi skidded across the ground, but managed to catch herself and spit out a glob of blood. Izumi cradled her hand and cursed.
WHY THE FUCK WAS NARUTO STILL HERE?!
But her eyes widened at the other pup slowing to a stop, relief and anger twisting his expression. She felt the exact opposite of that, and couldn't help but growl. Nails sharpening, fangs pulling.
Sasuke. Their pup.
Itachi jumped out of the burning, poisonous building, and landed on his feet. He looked up at her, then at Sasuke, and his frown only deepened.
The pup Itachi tortured-
He was not touching Sasuke. HE WASN'T TOUCHING SASUKE AGAIN!
"It's been a long time, Sasuke." Itachi eyes scanned him, and it made her Omega bristle, it made her growl lowly, it made them mad.
How dare he-
"Itachi!" Sasuke spat, and he took a step forward.
Izumi held out her sword, stopping him in his tracks. "Hold it," she growled, and thankfully he was startled enough to stop. "How dare you even speak to him, Itachi. How dare you even so much as look at him in front of me, you bastard."
"Ah, shit." Shikamaru Nara grimaced, gritting his teeth. "This is bad."
"Naruto, you gotta run!" Choji Akimichi shivered. "This guy is way too strong!"
"B-But-" Naruto trembled.
"All of you run! You too, Sasuke," Izumi barked. "This is no place for genin!"
"I'm not leaving you with him-" Sasuke bristled.
But thankfully before he could even take a step forward Shikamaru- good pup- caught Sasuke with his shadow. Sasuke cursed, but Shikamaru forced him to take a few steps back. The fury boiling her blood eased, and she forced herself to take a deep breath. In that moment she saw Itachi's eyes widen a fraction. They had landed on Sasuke's neck.
Why the fuck did he look concerned of all people? Worried the little brother he wanted to fight one day was going to be a puppet of Orochimaru's? The thought made her snarl.
"Yeah, hell no." Shikamaru shook his head. "We're not fighting them."
"Let me go!" Sasuke spat.
Kisame finally emerged from the building, coughing. "That fog is a pain-"
"I told you not to breathe it in," Itachi said mildly.
"Yeah, yeah." Kisame paused. "Is that the baby Uchiha cursing over there? I thought you had him and those kids under a genjutsu."
"He's harmless." Itachi locked eyes with her. "Izumi however is another story. We're taking too long."
"I'm happy to hear I'm messing up your day for once," Izumi said sharply.
"You're injured enough, Izumi. You're also down a hand. Step aside," Itachi ordered. "My business is with Naruto. Not you."
"Oh! Why didn't you say that the first time?" Izumi made sure to ooze her voice in sweetness. "Of course I'll let you pass and kidnap Naruto. I'm so sorry for getting in the way and not letting you kidnap a child. My mistake. Honest."
"You shouldn't even be focusing on Naruto anyway!" Sasuke snapped. "I'm going to avenge our clan, Izumi-"
"Not yet you're not. If he's breaking my wrist in a fight that barely lasted a minute then you're going to toddle on outta here and take your fellow kids with you." Izumi waved them off. "So shoo. Go away. Goodbye."
"I get it." Shikamaru grimaced, stepping back until he reached Naruto. "C'mon, kid. Move!"
Kisame laughed. "These kids are pretty amusing, Itachi. Who knew there were some funny Uchihas after all." He grinned sharply at her. "I'll rough her up a little more, Itachi, and give you enough time to grab the kid."
Itachi eyed Kisame, and nodded. "Thank you."
"No fair to have to hit your mate. Nobody wants to do that unless they are into shit." Kisame grinned and lunged.
Izumi blocked the first blow, and ducked beneath a punch. Kisame was good. Very good. Fast and strong and it made her almost grin. This was a proper fight she could enjoy, or would have, if the kids weren't here. If her kid wasn't here. But no, she had to fight him back and distract Itachi from Naruto.
Choji finally got Naruto moving and Shikamaru forced Sasuke away with him.
It was time then. She usually struggled to keep up with susanoo. It only came out when she was feeling very emotional, just like with Orochimaru, but right now? Her emotions were on a all time high.
"Itachi, darling, sweetie, you said something about me making this too public?" Izumi grinned wolfishly.
Itachi glowered. "Izumi, what are you up to?"
"Here's a giant pink monster to deal with." Izumi laughed darkly. "I'm sure nobody will notice it."
She unleashed suanno and it instantly formed a ribcage and an arm, and the look of panic on Itachi's and Kisame's faces was wonderful.
.::.
"What the hell is that?" Shikamaru paled.
Sasuke frowned. "Izumi said its something called Susanno. I've never seen anyone use it before, but she did say something about having used it a couple of times in emergencies."
Shikamaru grimaced. "Does she think that will beat Itachi and Kisame?"
"I don't know!" Sasuke snapped. "But we have to do something. Let me go, Shikamaru-"
"She's trying to get attention." Shikamaru paused thoughtfully, then startled. "Shit, where is the Sanin?"
"She's trying to get his attention?" Sasuke scowled. "He was supposed to be with Naruto!"
The ground shook when the pink glowing hand punched the ground where Itachi had stood just a second ago. This was bad. They had to do something before those three destroyed the entire village.
.::.
Jiraiya finally managed to get the building evacuated. Thank the Sage! Now all he needed to do was find Naruto who had not been in the inn anymore. It didn't take long to come across Itachi, Kisame and Izumi fighting. Izumi was losing, she was bloody but she was holding them back with a susanno? He didn't know Izumi could even use that! Jiraiya could see his kid with some other genin, one of them Sasuke, and cursed. He needed to get down there now and end this.
Izumi swung the susanno arm, batting Kisame back into the burning building with a snarl. She was sweating and panting heavily, but Izumi was holding out for now. It didn't matter though. He was ending it now.
Jiraiya dived in with a rasengan, forcing Itachi back. Kisame groaned as he climbed out the building, shaking his head.
"Great, guess we didn't get to the kid in time before this one came back," Kisame complained.
Izumi vanished before him, susanno gone in a breath, much to Jiraiya's surprise. She reappeared, tackling Itachi to the ground, but he twisted, his kunai going through her hand, the one with the broken wrist. She howled, but caught him with her leg and knocked him to the ground.
Izumi shivered and the pink energy disappeared back into her. She collapsed to her knees, panting heavily, her sword barely keeping her upright. Jiraiya frowned thoughtfully as he got in between her and the Akatsuki. That purple sword looked familiar. One of Sakumo's students weapons. Ah, Kushina's teammate. Mikoto Uchiha. Itachi's and Sasuke's mother.
Damn it.
"Pervy Sage!" Naruto cried.
"You two don't know me at all, do you-" Jiraiya began, but winced when Izumi booted his leg.
"Save the cocky speech. You're fucking late and you got distracted by a girl, didn't you?" Izumi spat.
He winced. "Izumi, sweetheart, there's no need to be so upset-"
"Get that fucking sweet tone out of your mouth and focus, you loser!" Izumi scolded.
Jiraiya whined. She used to be such a sweet girl! But he sighed. "Fine, fine. I know they're after Naruto anyway."
"You're right," Itachi said, eyes narrowing. "Naruto is the prize the Akatsuki are after. And we will have him."
"Um, should we keep running?" Choji whimpered to Shikamaru.
"How the hell should I know?" Shikamaru hissed.
"There's no way I will let you have Naruto. So I guess this is perfect," Jiraiya mused, standing up to his full height. "I'll deal with you both here and now."
.::.
Finally Jiraiya was working. The ass put his toad mouth trap into action, but Izumi knew it wouldn't be enough to deal with Itachi and Kisame. No way in hell. But of course Jiraiya had to talk.
"You've both just been swallowed by the mountain toad. So welcome to the belly of the beast! He had a very sensitive digestive system, so be careful not to upset him." Jiraiya smiled up at her. "Just stay still, Izumi, sweetheart-"
"I know." Izumi scowled.
"You're way too much like Tsunade sometimes..." Jiraiya sulked.
"Or maybe I just don't like cocky perverts that don't do shit."
"I'm working. I'm working!" Jiraiya groaned. "Kids, all of you just stay still-"
"Shikamaru, you can let me go now-" Sasuke hissed.
"Shut up and watch your brother get eaten by a toad."
"That's not exactly what I had in mind!"
"Kisame, come." Itachi met her eyes, then moved.
"Easier said than done!" Kisame complained, but yanked his sword free and raced off after Itachi.
"You can't get away! No ninja alive ever could!" Jiraiya grinned.
Something ended up exploding once she lost sight of the two, and Izumi huffed. "Didn't you just boast about how this was inescapable?"
Jiraiya raced off after them. Izumi paused. Was she even allowed to move yet? She really didn't want to be eaten by a pissed off toad. Besides, everything ached, and moving felt like a chore right now. It took a bit for the frog's insides to disappear, and she blinked when a kunai lodged into the wall just past Jiraiya who was then booted in the face by Guy.
For fucks sake. Bloody Sanin.
"What are you even doing here?" Izumi asked, once everyone had settled back down, and Jiraiya tended to his bloody nose.
"I followed after the kids once I got the chance!" Guy grinned.
"And tried to kill me the moment you had a chance," Jiraiya complained. "Idiot."
"Yeah," Guy laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that."
"Izumi!" Sasuke stormed up to her, livid. "Why the hell didn't you let me help you?"
"You see what Itachi did to me in the span of mere seconds, right?" Izumi snapped in return, gesturing to herself. "He would have slapped you into next year if he wanted to."
"So then we should have fought him together-"
"And still be defeated!" Izumi shook her head. "You all should have ran, you should not have needed Shikamaru to possess you to make you retreat. He had me under a genjutsu twice, and from what I heard all of you kids were put under one too. He's too overwhelming strong, considering the fact he managed to get away from a Sanin!"
"You have that little faith in me-" Sasuke argued.
"I have that little faith in myself!" Izumi snarled. "We can't beat Itachi. Get it through your head! What we need is not to go running off like loners. We need a strong pack, and right now our pack is fucked. Again. Kakashi has been kidnapped, your teammates are pups. And Guy is, well, Guy-"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Guy complained.
"You know exactly what I mean by it."
He was unpredictably strong in ways Izumi couldn't even wrap her head around. But he was also an idiot, considering he just booted their one and currently only available Sanin in the face.
"Who says we need a pack?" Sasuke scowled. "That just puts a target on them, and holds us back-"
"You think you can take on Itachi when the entire Uchiha clan couldn't?" Izumi snorted, and forced an overwhelming sweet tone on her voice. "How adorable. They were all murdered in cold blood by Itachi. Remember?"
"You're such an ass!" Sasuke spat, turned on his heel and stormed off. Izumi's sweetness died the moment he turned away, and she stared holes into his back- the Uchiha fan- and watched him go.
Shikamaru groaned. "Can't he stop for five seconds?" He looked at Naruto. "Good to see you're fine. Although, next time when a psycho comes after you maybe you could run? Now, I've got to follow this dumbass again so he's not trying to go after his murderous brother alone."
Naruto blinked, because Shikamaru followed after Sasuke, complaining under his breath. Choji shrugged and followed, just as Sakura and Ino ran over, panting heavily.
"What the hell is going on?" Ino cried.
"I don't know..." Sakura groaned. "But whatever it is, this sucks... Wait up, Sasuke!" She followed after him.
"Eh? Don't just leave me!" Naruto complained, running after them.
Things grew quiet for a moment, but then Jiraiya met her eyes and took a firm stance. "Izumi, you need to stop coddling the boy," he said firmly.
Izumi snorted. "Aw, what? Does it make you jealous?"
"He's a ninja. Sasuke has the right to go after Itachi for everything he did, but he still needs training. He doesn't need you protecting him all the time-"
"Just like your students didn't need you protecting them?" Izumi asked sharply.
Jiraiya tensed.
"How strange. None of your students needed your protection, but none of them are alive anymore," Izumi said, and didn't even flinch when Jiraiya slammed her up against the wall. Her back wailed in agony, but she ignored it. Guy protested, but Izumi cut him off, staring intently at Jiraiya. "You know I'm right." She got rid of the sweet tone, let it fall blank instead. "I honestly don't care what you think. I don't care what anyone in Konoha thinks. I don't care about my reputation, I don't care about completing missions, I don't care when people die and I don't care when I have to kill people. Konoha has broken that out of me. There are only a few things I care about, and at the very top is Sasuke Uchiha."
"Izumi-" Guy protested again.
Jiraiya scowled. "He's taken a ninja's path. What will you do when he dies-"
Izumi smiled. "I'll kill everything and everyone involved in his death before saying goodbye."
Jiraiya paled. "You wouldn't-"
"I don't have anything else to live for." Izumi tilted her head. "My mate murdered my entire Clan, butchered my mother right in front of me. He tortured his own little brother and all Sasuke and I could do afterwards was break down on each other. Konoha wants to have me raped and give birth to pups, and will want the same of Sasuke when he matures. So why should I care about anything any of you have to say or think about how I raise Sasuke?"
She slapped Jiraiya's hand off her. "Now, here's a piece of advice. Shut your mouth, because I don't give a fuck what you think. And maybe keep an eye on your newest student, because they have this nasty habit of dying."
Izumi marched past them both and summoned her panthers, Mikoto's panthers, the contract that had been supposed to go to Itachi- She shook her head. "Make sure Itachi is gone. If he's not tell me."
"Right!" Yami nodded, and they all rushed off.
