Chapter 66.- Confrontations
"We've been running non-stop for an entire day already!" Behind him, his Tenten voice sounded winded. "Let's take a little break!"
"Tenten, you lack discipline."
Silently, Neji couldn't help but agree with the taijutsu expert.
With time-sensitive missions like going as back-up to a team that was trying to save the Kazekage's life, there was no space to take rest stops. While the girl was making strides with adding her own chakra into her regular weapon attacks, her stamina was still lacking in parts. It was something Gai-sensei would need to pay attention to, or their teamwork would run the risk of becoming unbalanced.
"Wait!" A nin-dog, his brain supplied at the sight of the small pug that just landed in front of them. Still more reasonable than a turtle. "Gai1"
"Pakkun!"
"Kakashi-sensei send me to meet up with you." The dog was speaking in a hurry. "They've gotten their hands on the location of the Akatsuki members. They're headed towards the River country between Konoha and Suna; your group is the closest. Follow me; I'll explain while we're running."
"Great! Everyone, let's go!""
All previous complaints went silent.
There was something odd about how the small dog phrased the whole thing... something that didn't quite fit well with him, but there was no time to stop and think about it now. Not when they were, apparently, minutes away from a dangerous fight.
"What's the matter?" Lee's voice came out just a few minutes after, black eyes wary as the pug stopped in its tracks.
"Someone's coming!"
Chakra rushed to his eyes in a heartbeat, his sight widening far around them. It didn't take long to see it. "Behind us!"
Behind them and already launching an attack. Jumping away sent the group all over the place as a tall figure stepped out of the cloud of dust that had risen from the impact; a giant bandaged weapon in one hand only added to the weirdness of the blue-skinned man's appearance.
"You are..." His teacher trailed off.
"Do you know him, Gai-sensei?"
"Who are you?"
...yes, this was about what he expected from his jounin sensei.
"Ah, it looks like the bizarre beast is a dumb one too." Even without the man's name, the black cloak with crimson clouds was enough to know what group he belonged in. "At any rate, better refresh your memory."
It took a moment for him to understand what his eyes were telling him. But Neji couldn't deny what his eyes were telling him, ridiculous or not, the Akatsuki member in front of them was more than likely leagues above every single one of them combined.
"What an overwhelming chakra..." he muttered. "So this is the group's level..."
As if to confirm his words, the rogue nin rushed to jump through hand seals to let our water from his mouth. No, a flood would be a more accurate description of the attack they were forced to dodge; waves crashed into them, moving at the man's whims and attempting to pull them over. This would not be an easy fight.
"Here we go!"
The morphed land was clear to his eyes, making it evident the real target was Gai-sensei. Pushing chakra onto his feed, the Hyuuga rushed at the epicenter, focusing only on their enemy. Lee would be enough to provide back-up to their sensei. Power flowed through his arm only to land in the air. It didn't matter. Efficient as always, a special bomb stops their enemy from making any more movements. Tenten's cover was as good as ever. Even if the attack failed to trap the man inside the explosion.
"Damn..." the girl cursed as she landed. "I missed."
"What pesky brats..." despite his words, the nuke-nin didn't look concerned. "An extreme nuisance."
"That aquatic ninjutsu...and that huge sword!" Lavender eyes flicked in disbelief, had his teacher actually remembered something? "You must be...!"
"It seems like you finally remembered me," the man smirked.
"...someone I've met before!" Gai-sensei shouted confidently.
...of course...
Even now, his teacher's countenance just fell short.
"You really have a talent of getting on people's nerves." As annoying as it was to agree with his enemy, Neji couldn't deny it. "I suppose I'll toy with you until you remember."
There was something to be praised in how the eccentric man's team training worked wonders. Rearranging themselves into a new formation took no time. Gai-sensei was on the offensive once more, his kick easily blocked by their enemy.
He noticed the extra presences seconds before the water below them changed into an attack...one that went straight to the Akatsuki's member. A loud chirping sound echoed through the artificial lake they were standing on. Water exploded where the blue-skinned man had been standing less than an instant ago. Instead, standing alone in the middle of the raining drops was a face he hadn't seen since almost three years ago. So it would seem Uchiha Sasuke also got a hold of the info. It would also seem like there was someone else other than Kagome willing to follow the rogue Uchiha.
"So...this is why she was so tense." Sasuke's voice was quiet and tight.
"Oh man, now this is fucking lucky," the other nin laughed, a giant halberd rested on his shoulder. "And here I thought we'd have to spend so much time trying to hunt these guys..." he trailed off. "Wait, wasn't Kisame Itachi's partner?... Ohhh shit."
"Tch, even more pests are showing up, huh." The Akatsuki, Kisame, actually looked annoyed this time. "Damn, though, would Itachi get mad if I were the one to kill his younger brother?"
"Sasuke-san!"
This was...certainly not what Neji expected, but he couldn't help the situation was a little better than what it was five seconds ago. Although if the implications on the Uchiha's words, then there was a chance Kakashi-san's team could end up with a messier situation once the Higurashi girl showed herself to the excitable prankster.
"Move it," Sasuke snapped.
"What?"
"I said move it." The Uchiha's voice was dripping with anger. "You're in the way of our fight, so move it and get to where you need to go."
"This is a very strong foe, Sasuke-kun." Unsurprisingly, Lee talked to the rogue ninja as if he were still a part of the village.
"We can work together to overcome this, and surely, Tsunade-sama will receive you both with..." And Gai-sensei was all too happy to follow through.
"Oi, oi." Sasuke's apparent follower turned to glare at them. "Don't you get it? You're all dead weight, and the princess seems to be invested in getting this kidnapped guy back alive, so just fuck off."
Oh...of course, there was no way someone like Uchiha Sasuke would've willingly tried to help them out of the goodness of his heart, especially not when the man he was meant to be hunting was apparently somewhat close to where he was standing.
"You're following Kagome's instructions." The Hyuuga wasn't really making a question.
"Wait, that means the other team also got intercepted then?" Tenten turned to look at him, clearly worried.
"Hmph, go make nuisances of yourselves somewhere else." Attempting to help them or not, the Uchiha was just as rude as he'd been before.
"Tch, so being annoying seems to be something common in that village, then." Kisame's voice brought all their attention back to their enemy. "Ignoring me like that. But don't think you can just stop me!"
The man's speed was nothing to laugh at; the massive weapon was definitely moving faster than it should...only to be quickly stopped by Sasuke's own blade. Just like with Kagome, the snake Sannin's training appeared to have helped the boy grow at an impressive rate. Even after blocking a hit that had to have had massive power behind it, the teen's posture didn't tense as much as Neji would've expected. The block lasted only a second as the unknown nin jumped into the fray with his own attack. And looking at the way the stranger's body turned into water as the bandaged blade was redirected to hack him in half, it looked like neither newcomer was at a severe disadvantage.
One look at his teacher confirmed the taijutsu expert was thinking the same thing.
"Let's go."
"Huh?" Lee turned to question him. "But we can't just leave...!"
"Right now, our mission is to help rescue the Kazekage." With a shake of his head, Gai-sensei backed him up. "And our mission takes priority over everything."
"There will be another chance, Lee." With even Tenten's agreement, the taijutsu expert nodded.
Finding a space opened by the three fighting nins wasn't hard. With simple gestures, Neji guided his team out of the fabricated pool. The sounds of explosions and his falling behind them as their apparent allies made sure to stop Kisame from forcing them back into the fight.
"Say, Neji..." Tente's asked him in a low voice. "Why would Kagome choose to split up?"
"...who knows..."
Dread warred with joy at the sound of her voice, leaving him with no clue about what he was meant to do for the eternity that lasted a heartbeat. If that wasn't enough, when he stretched the borrowed senses, he could feel the unmistakable energy that had been so familiar to him.
"Kagome!"
"...where is Sasuke?" Itachi asked before the blond jinchuuriki could begin a tirade.
"Taking over the backup team's battle, I may have tricked him a bit. Technically, I didn't lie, though." The girl she'd grown up with laughed; it was a wan sound that felt just wrong to him. "Ahh, he's definitely gonna get mad and sulk for a while after this...but then again, I hardly think there's a point in getting him all agitated when you're not even here, Itachi."
"What..."
"So, you've figured it out." If there was one person able to tell with a glance, it would be Kagome.
"What do you mean, not here?" And, of course, it would be Kakashi who picked her wording out.
"Hmm, you haven't noticed then, sensei?" Her tone was forced; he could tell. But it was a pretty good imitation of her normal amused voice. "It's been almost three years since the last time I was face to face with him, but there is no way I'd ever forget what it feels like to be in front of him...this body right here, no chance it has even half of your actual strength, right, Itachi?"
"Wait, where are you even getting that...!"
"That's the limit for a jutsu that allows for perfect replication." Perhaps he was being too obvious, completely ignoring and cutting off the others to talk to her, but he couldn't quite push down the urge to hear her voice more.
For the first time since he accepted this mission and the consequences of it, the Uchiha prodigy cursed his blood limit. His damaged eyes couldn't really see the girl standing on top of one of the rock formations. Even if he were to deactivate his sharingan, blurred and darkened colors would be the most he'd be able to get. Selfish or not, a part of him wanted to see her. To observe how much she'd grown and burn her form into the bundle of memories that kept him going through the desolate path he was walking on.
As it was, Itachi would never see her again, not her and not Sasuke.
"Wait, Kagome...!"
"Naruto." This time, it was the girl who cut the blond off. "You need to hurry up and make your way to the coordinates I gave Kankuro-san."
"You plan on taking him on alone, girl?" the old Suna kunoichi asked.
"I mean no offense, of course, but compared to having to carry the weight of someone not used to fighting a regular sharingan being on my own will be easier." He could hear the polite smile she'd learned from his mother. "That reminds me, Juugo-kun...please, don't interfere either."
An older teen stumbled out from another of the rock formations surrounding them. His sharingan showed him a figure jumping out of what had to have been his cover, the only version of sight he had at his disposal anymore let him see the overabundance of chakra inside the man. One of Orochimaru's experiments then.
"But, Kagome-san!" The teen entirely focused on the Higurashi girl, ignoring everyone else. "Sasuke-san said..."
"I know, I know, but I'll take all the blame, okay? Besides, full power or not, no one but maybe Kakashi-sensei has any chance to fight the sharingan on even grounds. Rather than that..." the girl seemed to point in a different direction. "It would seem like we have eyes on us again, and I'd really love to know how it is that they keep finding us so quickly. Could you be a dear and deal with them while I take care of this?"
"I...understand...but, please, be careful."
"Really, you and Sasuke worry too much." she gave another laugh, and despite its forced nature, the older teen still tried to memorize the sound. "Go southwest; you should be able to find them if you go fast enough."
The man vanished. Not quickly enough that the Uchiha prodigy would've been unable to follow him if he tried, despite this borrowed body, but there was no need to. Instead, Itachi could only wonder at the tone in the other nin's voice. It felt a little less like platonic affection and more like...worship.
Following an order that the guy clearly wanted to rebel against...
"Who..."
"I did say you had to hurry, didn't I, Naruto?" Idly he wondered just how much of a fall out there had been between them when they left. She was adamant about not letting the blond get a word in. "These people couldn't care less about the container's well-being. Turning back time is not within my clan's power; if Gaara's heart stops beating, even I won't be able to do a single thing."
"The girl is right."
"But, Kagome-chan!" And the jinchuuriki was just as determined to ignore the old lady's comment.
He could follow her companion's movements with no problems...hers, however, almost fooled him as the girl jumped down. Chakra fueled her sprint to the point that his own movements felt somewhat slow as his hand raised to block the sharp blade of a tanto just a breath away from his borrowed skin. Laughter lodged in his throat, and at the same time, he could feel regret drip from his eyes. The last time he had any significant with her, there had been no need to strain himself to watch her move...she'd grown stronger and moved on. Side by side with his brother, and all the while, Itachi couldn't even try to care for them.
Cursing his blood, the Uchiha prodigy jumped back.
Senbons followed his path with deathly precision.
A frown threatened to take over his features. Her aim was perfect, but was Kagome really planning to rely on projectiles when fighting against someone like him?
"Sensei, please, don't waste more time."
"You..." for the first time since she appeared, the copy ninja spoke. "You can really fight like that?"
"Well, the risks of getting trapped in something like the Tsukuyomi are too high for me to take." Understanding began to dawn on him at her words. "This is really the only way to make sure that won't happen."
"...you're closing your eyes."
He could hear the smile in her voice. "Taking the sharingan out of the equation should level the playing field a little, besides...I was told to always trust my instincts."
Sasuke had to have helped her train to reach such a conclusion. But even then...this sort of fighting could almost be called suicidal. And yet...her aim had been perfect. It couldn't be just her chakra-sensitive nature. Her bloodline. It gave her something to lean on while blindly trusting her instincts when it came to dodging and moving around.
"Sensei, you really don't have time to be wasting here."
Loud protests were quickly silenced with another reminder of what was at stake.
If the Ichibi's jinchuuriki died, there would be no other chance to save him; however, there would always be another chance to find the Higurashi heiress after this. And this time, his silent curses were directed towards his village. Because Kagome had grown stronger, and no doubt his brother was the same, but they were never meant to be placed in as much danger as they had while learning from a deranged rogue nin. Anger had quickly caught up to the shock and disbelief when he found out the news.
They were meant to have been protected.
Yet here her former teacher was, quickly accepting her offer to be left behind and making no effort at all to bring her back into what was supposed to be their safe haven.
A shimmering barrier rose in a blink.
His movements were cut just when he started to follow after the mismatched team was sent as the primary rescue team. It was bigger than the one he'd seen before. And it moved around the two of them instead of wasting energy trying to cover a large area. Deidara's loud complaints along with Sasori's greed-fueled analysis hadn't made the girl's now fluent control any sort of justice.
He should go for her.
Going straight for the attack would force her to lower the metaphorical cage she'd trapped him into. But with her eyes closed, his sharingan-based genjutsus were useless, and the other illusions he had on hand wouldn't work either. Not when she'd been good at detecting them as a child, just starting the academy. Anything that didn't bound her would leave her free to stop him, but anything chakra-based that tried to entrap her would shatter against her reiki the same way even the demon-infused sand from the Ichibi had given way.
"Say, Itachi..." Kagome spoke out. "Do we really...have to fight right now?"
Words refused to leave his throat at the sound of her voice. The sudden lack of confidence and change of tone was jarring when he compared it to how she'd managed everyone else around her. Had his expression faltered? A sliver of emotion had to have broken through his emotionless mask, surely. Because her voice echoed across the desertic landscape.
"I mean, this isn't really you at all, and the others have already escaped." Kagome insisted; it almost sounded like begging. "It would just be a waste of chakra for us both. Is there a reason for us to fight anymore?"
Whatever he'd hoped to find when they finally reached the coordinates the pug was guiding them, it was not a blocked-off cave. The scrolls that were pasted in different parts of the giant boulder and rock columns made it evident that there was a very good motive to get inside whatever was being hidden behind it.
"Gaara is inside these rocks."
Unwilling to waste any more time, the Hyuuga activated his byakugan. His clan's blood limit bypassed not just the physical barriers but the seals that were being used to protect the place. And for once, he just couldn't make any sense of what he was seeing. If there was one thing he could say for sure, it was that both Gaara and the two members of the Akatsuki that they were supposed to be hunting were inside. Whoever it was that got the info to Kakashi's team had the right of it...taking into account the Uchiha's unexpected intervention, he had a good idea of who it had been.
"How does it look, Neji?" Tenten asked.
"What is that...?"
"What is happening inside the cave?" The Hyuuga struggled for a second, trying to answer Lee's question.
"Words can't explain." With a shake of his head, he deactivated his byakugan.
The urgency in his voice must've been evident, leading Gai-sensei to sprint forward, only to get his full force punch stopped by the barrier the teen had noticed before.
"What should we do?"
"First, we have to break the barrier," his teacher replied.
"Right...how do we do that?" his female teammate's tiredness was something he could empathize with.
"That's a five-seal barrier." A voice came from behind him.
"Kakashi..."
"Naruto-kun!" Lee's yell was way too happy. "Sakura-san!"
"I'm guessing your team also got some backup."
Like a charm the blond's mood seemed to plummet to the ground in less than a second. So Higurashi Kagome was still working with the Uchiha heir and had simply decided to divide their forces to assist both Konoha teams. It also meant that the boy had been forced to let them move on their own.
"We are pressed for time after all," Kakashi said.
It sounded almost like a justification behind their decision to go along with a rogue kunoichi.
"Who's that old lady?"
"Ah..." the pinkette trailed off. "An adviser from Suna."
"Well, I think I'll disappear since I'll just be in the way if I stay, I wouldn't be any help." With that, the pug disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"First off, the barrier, eh, Kakashi?" His teacher was quick to focus back on the mission. "How do we take it out?"
"This particular five seal barrier is created by tokens with kin written on them placed in five places in the vicinity. The token you see in front of you, and the others are in the four different places, to remove the barrier all of them must be detached."
"So, where are they?" the blond was as impatient as before.
"Neji-kun?" Kakashi turned to him.
"Understood."
He supposed there was a reason for his team to be chosen. Chakra rushed to his eyes, and his field of vision widened, looking for the different seals that should have the same energy signature as the one in front of him. It was ironic, he mused, that his exceptional range was something even members of the main Hyuuga family would be hard-pressed to compare.
"Found them," he said after a short time. "On top of a rock, about 500 meters north-east of here... On the trunk of a tree, close to a river-bank, 350 meeter southeast... On a wall of rock about 650 meters northwest...inside a grove about 600 meters southwest."
"Right, if that's the range, we'll use these radios!" In his teacher's hand was the set of transmitters. "While we're taking Neji's directions, we can keep in communication, and we'll find the locations of the tokens!
"Speedwise, my team is faster," the taijutsu expert continued while they made sure the radios were well tied. "The frequency is 174; wait for our message!"
"It's up to you now."
"Team Gai! Let's go with the full power of youth! Scatter!"
Directing the others as they approached was a well-practiced exercise that had them all reaching the locations in just minutes. Still, the Hyuuga genius refused to deactivate his kekkei genkai as they ripped the seals. Important missions never went as planned, and keeping the byakugan on wasn't chakra consuming enough for him to feel like it was a waste. Better to be overprepared than to be taken off guard... And as the odd figures began to rose off the ground in all but the central location, the world seemed to prove him right.
"Neji..."
"Yeah," his reply to his teacher was sour. "Here too."
"What the hell is this?!"
"Perhaps it's the enemy's trap?" both of his teammates sounded wary.
"Indeed...it seems like even if the barrier is disabled, a trap activates to prevent the enemy's entry." Which meant they didn't want to be interrupted. "Separating a four-man team into one each...going this far to carefully secure the barrier...these are some people."
A bitter laugh got stuck in his throat as he stared at the identical reflection of himself. Despite the Higurashi girl's best efforts to send as much help to the Kazekage as fast as possible, his team would be stuck fighting elsewhere. At least, he thought while he lowered his center of gravity, the time those people were so desperate to gain had vanished thanks to Kakashi's team presence.
Duck!
The rush of air that passed above her.
Fighting with her eyes closed had been one of the hardest types of training she'd had to sell to Orochimaru. There was a clear risk of her being able to use whatever skill she obtained when training with Sasuke to escape him, and Kabuto had done his best to convince her it was nothing but a waste of time. In the end, it was the Sannin's greed that sealed the deal. If she learned how to fight against a sharingan and became able to fight with the younger Uchiha, then the man could try to manipulate her to go against Itachi and gain his body. That Sasuke had learned to have a much better control over his own strength. He'd hurried to stop his attacks before they actually hit her when she moved too slowly to dodge, completely ignoring the fact that her bloodline made easy work of most wounds.
Left!
It worked.
Her eyes were not different. Kagome could see nothing any other regular shinobi couldn't, no lines of chakra or piercing sight that went through physical barriers...but she could feel. Reiki could tell her the general direction of other living beings, anything that contained chakra, and her instincts did the rest of the job.
Jump!
Slender needles left her fingers, guided only by a vague sense of direction and blind faith that, despite it all, they wouldn't be far off the mark.
Frustration bled through her actions. All of her training was meant to be able to fight back in case Itachi decided to force them into a confrontation to try and use a hypnotic command on them once it became clear that neither of them was willing to follow through with the charade. It was frustrating.
"Itachi, this...!" The words caught on her throat; chills running down her spine.
What...this wasn't his chakra...something was wrong.
And dread swallowed her.
The attack coming at her shifted, barely avoiding a direct hit when the girl jerked to a full stop.
Only hard-learned discipline kept her eyes closed as her head whipped around. Because she could feel something else...something that was setting every nerve ending in her body on fire with the loud alarm that saying anything else would damn her.
Were they still being watched?
"Don't get distracted." Itachi's voice broke the chains on her limbs, but even as she jumped back, she could still feel it.
Was it another person?
No...spreading her sense around her while attempting to get back into the battle, the Higurashi matriarch could feel no other human in miles.
Juugo was fighting in the vicinity, it would be over relatively soon. And two of the three watchers she'd sent him for were already knocked out if her senses were accurate. So who...what was watching them? Why was the urge to keep silent despite this being one of her best chances to begin sowing the seeds of their plan so strong that her limbs had entirely frozen?
"I...the other will have reached that cave soon enough." Her voice was wavering, the choke on her throat still present. "Are you really this determined to was both of our time?"
"It's got nothing to do with that."
He wouldn't stop...and she really needed to focus back on their fight.
A burst of chakra conjured twisting water around her once more, the dragon moving based only on her will to force the older teen back. No...no, this was not Itachi.
Even if she discarded the fact that the amount of chakra this copy had was stupidly low when compared to the real...when she focused, Kagome could still get a lingering feeling of the original person buried under the older Uchiha's chakra. This was not Itachi. Yes, he was controlling all of the puppet's movements, but the body in front of her wasn't his. Not really
Heat consumed the place right beside her, and she'd be more worried about it had she failed to notice the speed of the nuke nin's attacks had decreased somewhat.
Just like before, no matter what the man said, Kagome just didn't feel the chill on the back of her head that assaulted her when her life was in danger. Even now, the Higurashi girl couldn't stop associating safety when she sensed his aura. In a way, it almost felt like training with Sasuke.
"This is all meaningless, isn't it?!" And yet, she still couldn't speak out. "I just...!"
"I...cannot let you keep going." His voice was also losing some of its calm, though it was probably because of her sudden shift.
It made no sense; this fight had no point. If all of their theories about the Uchiha prodigy were wrong, it still made no sense for him to continue on with this battle. With the copy's limited chakra and the sharingan being countered by her blind fighting, the only thing either of them was doing was wasting chakra and...time...
Their presence in the real battlefield would likely make little difference with someone of Kakashi-sensei's caliber taking command. In fact, Itachi had to know their showing up in front of Naruto would likely make things easier for the Akatsuki members. It would make the blond jinchuuriki emotionally unstable and easy to predict. He'd helped them all train so long ago...the prodigy knew how they worked and whatever doubts he'd had about how her childhood friend would react had to be vanished by his reaction to her presence. This pointless battle had to be about something other than the Akatsuki's victory. Something more personal.
Time sensitive.
Realization dawned on her as she dodged another fire jutsu.
She had to get this fight over and done with.
Fast.
This was not Itachi; the words played on repeat in her mind as her hands skipped well-learned seals and the earth moved to obey her, cutting off the human puppet's movements. A trap. A cage.
Limit your opponent's movements, and lack of sight becomes highly irrelevant as long as you know which way is down. She'd learned that the hard way during one of her many training sessions. Not Itachi. Chakra sent to her legs helped her jump the distance, his tanto on her hands. Shivers threatened to compromise her grip. The blade slipped through bones, flesh parting way as blood began to flow. Not Itachi. Azure eyes opened regardless of her will. And she saw him...the slight smile on Itachi's lip as crimson dripped down his chin.
Panic fueled her jump back.
Warm liquid pooled beneath the corpse that heavily dropped to the ground.
She didn't notice gravity taking a hold of her until the dull pain from the rocky ground dug into her legs. Not Itachi. This was not Itachi. Daring a look, an unknown face was all she found in the unmoving body. Not Itachi. Whatever jutsu they used, it had required a sacrifice, and this was it. It was simply that, nothing more than a useful but somewhat weak technique...no reason for her to be worried...dazed azure fell on her hand...on the bright crimson loudly screaming for her attention as it marred her white skin.
Not Itachi.
Fabric scrubbed against her hand. Trembling fingers clutched her long sleeve. It wasn't his blood, it just wasn't...it wasn't coming off...on the back of her hand, the crimson smudge remained. Water. She needed water; the stain wasn't coming off. Not his...not his...!
"...me-san, Kagome-san!" Someone was calling her, a hand closed around her shoulder. "Are you...?"
Frantic azure locked into worried copper.
Copper, not crimson.
Right...she'd sent Juugo after the spies.
The three spies he was dragging behind him as he looked at her with a conflicted expression because...because this was not how she should be acting. She was supposed to be Higurashi Kagome, the merciful matriarch that had freed all of Orochimaru's prisoners, the strategist behind their group's actions who could dance around highly-risky political issues. Calm, collected, always poised, and composed.
She wasn't meant to be...this. She couldn't be, not now.
Forcing her ragged breath under control, the girl closed her eyes for all of a heartbeat. Useless emotions had no place in the battlefield, not while there were still things she needed to do and take care of.
"Ah, Juugo-kun." Her voice sounded stiff to her ears, but at least it wasn't wavering. "Sorry for making you go on your own...now then, I'm guessing our friends didn't talk?"
Out of the three people the orange-haired teen dragged here, only one of them was still awake. These were the people who'd managed to find them so soon after leaving the safety of the Taisho compound; she had no time to waste with this...time...if there was one thing she couldn't afford to lose was time and here these useless shinobis were...!"
Her blade stopped just a breath away from his flesh.
No, there was a reason why interrogations were usually left to her. The promise of death wasn't half as effective as many people thought; even pain could prove useless. that was why Sasuke trusted her to get the answers they needed.
With slow motions, the girl placed down the tanto that remained on her hands and began to weave the seals she needed.
"So...did it go well?" Her voice was bland, emotionless. There was no need for her to put up an act when the genjutsu she'd chosen would make sure to frame it all under a trustworthy scenario. "How did you find them?"
"We were...given coordinates...and a piece of a bloodied sleeve..." The man's slurred speech was infuriatingly slow.
Bloodied...Sasuke's then.
He had been injured before by some of the unknown hunters that started targetting him shortly after they began to be sent out in Orochimaru's missions. About the coordinates, however... How the hell did they manage to get them so fast? Unless...unless the reason behind her sudden urge to stay quiet was related to their insistent watcher. But that felt wrong too. Annoying, this was all so annoying.
She didn't stop this time after her hand regained a hold on Itachi's former weapon. The blade sunk into the man's neck, fresh blood started to drip down, close to the crimson stain on the back of her right hand...
Warm liquid sprayed across her face, the dagger's edge slicing across instead of just pulling out. She couldn't see it anymore. The flowing red covered it all up, the blood that was not Itachi's.
"Let's hurry and meet up with Sasuke."
No matter how many times he made the calculations in his head, there was no way they could finish the ritual in time.
One way or another, Kakashi's group would manage to break into the cave before it was over. If Kagome and Sasuke made it there, there wouldn't be much of a difference. The real problem would be if the girl had managed to figure out his real reason behind insisting on continuing their confrontation instead of agreeing with the logical choice of retreat. In that case, then the last thing she'd attempt to do would be to rejoin with her former team against Sasori and Deidara.
"That one's finished too, huh?" Kisame asked beside him.
"Yes...the chakra's cut off."
"I'll say, though," the taller man scoffed. "That boy is definitely your brother...well, things would've been different if those sacrifices could've taken more than just 30% of our chakra. If they also managed to escape you, then the boss' not gonna be all that happy."
An understatement if Itachi ever heard one.
Of course, there was nothing left he could do with things as they were. Letting his consciousness go back to the projection inside the sealed cave, the older Uchiha did his best to ignore the lingering feeling of worry on the back of his mind.
"The jutsu has been terminated..." Pain wasted no time in starting to talk. "And yet, little to no time was bought."
"Hmph, not to mention, for the sacrifice for your jutsu, the two bodies given up were both my subordinates." The puppet master's greed fueled his scorn.
"There were...unexpected interruptions."
"Your brother and his partner, correct?" Their boss was definitely not willing to let this slide. "They already interfered with the Ichibi's hunt just before; they can't be allowed to keep messing up our plans, Itachi."
"If you have trouble with it...well, I certainly wouldn't complain about adding a Higurashi to my collection." Desire laced every one of Sasori's words. "True beauty and power should be preserved, after all."
"Man, I shouldn't be surprised that's where you go, yeah?" Deidara scoffed. "But would it even work with that girl? Chakra just sorta fizzled out with her kekkei genkai, yeah."
"Do not touch her..she's mine."
The words were out of his tongue in a hissed threat.
He wouldn't let them touch her. Not her, not Sasuke. If this was the only way he had left to protect them with his hands tied as they were, then Itachi would take on an even more repulsing role.
"The hunger for power from the Uchiha blood rears its head, it seems," Kakuzu laughed from his place. "Was that why you let her live this long?"
"Enough." Pain's loud order stopped Hidan before the man could begin spewing obscenities. "They will breach the entrance any time now. Deidara, Sasori, you'll have to take care of them."
"Hold the fuck on!" The immortal cultist's complaints couldn't be stopped, though. "If those two leave, won't this shit take even longer?!"
"It can't be helped. Itachi, how many are there, and who are they?"
"From Konoha, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura and the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, Uzumaki Naruto." They would either survive this encounter or they wouldn't. There wasn't much he could do for his former compatriots. "Also an adviser from Suna, Chiyo. They make up a four-person party."
"Itachi..." Sasori's distorted voice set him on edge. "What kind of bastard is the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki?"
"Tell him," Pain said at his silence. "Now."
"At the very start, he'll be the one to shout loudly and rush at you."
"Won't your brother and your girl end up barging in again?" Unsurprisingly, it was Kakuzu who brought her up again.
"No...they'll try to track me down."
Because with how his luck had been as of late, then Kagome figured it out.
"I don't care how you deal with them," the orange-haired nuke nin warned. "But you'll need to get them both under control...soon, Itachi...or our hunt will get a couple of added targets."
"...understood..."
Not for the first time since he heard about how their watchers failed to keep them away from Orochimaru, he could feel it...a sliver of violence rising inside him, directed at his village.
Because he didn't need his eyes to realize just how much pain Kagome had been enduring throughout the fight. The mask she'd used while she commandeered every shinobi around her had cracked and fallen into pieces as soon as the two of them were alone. And he could hear it in her voice; anxiousness forced her to shiver. Uncertainty and even fear were there as she pleaded with him not to fight. Pain and suffering, confusion too, and he knew it wasn't only her ether. Sasuke's rage had been there three years ago, tainting the once carefree boy... But no...it wasn't Konoha. If there was someone to blame, it would be no one but Itachi himself.
Had he been stronger...able to stop his father and his delusions...hell, had he been born just a handful of years earlier so he could take control of the clan before it all spiraled out of control, then maybe the two people he loved the most wouldn't have had to suffer through all this...
A/N: A bit of a longer chapter this time but I think it fits. A lot of drama now, what with Kagome and Itachi, there's just so much emotional pain everywhere with that group. I find it interesting how in canon Itachi jumped to "sure, I'll kill all my family cause they can't be convinced" instead of asking someone else to do it, so I figured he had to have just idealized the village. Because really, even if he knew they were planning a coup, agreeing that the innocent children and non-combatant members of the family should die is kind of extreme, so where Sasuke blamed both the village and his clan for not being trustworthy, he just shifted it all to his family. Here since we have Kagome's addition that ideal image of Konoha is getting harder to maintain when it comes against his wish to keep them safe, after all where it's easier to look at Sasuke and think he can take care of himself Kagome does give off a more fragile image, especially since he remembers her as a far more innocent child...that said that innocent child just had a bit of a mental breakdown there and the fall out isn't quite done yet...
As always, thank you guys so much for reading and amy and all review/comment/criticism is greatly appreciated.