Chapter 82.- Key moves

Blood tainted her tongue, her own teeth digging into her flesh.

Sakura was struggling, tumbling through the battlefield, barely escaping the heat of the flames and piercing wind-enhanced blades.

They had two more people on their side, and yet the pinkette couldn't find time to catch her breath. After having no choice but to inject the antidote and jump into the fray, she intended to stay close to Sasuke. If she could only make her way to him and show him how much stronger she'd gotten, that there was no need to allow that girl to remain close because Sakura was the better option, things would go smoother. After all, it was Sakura who'd trained under the Hokage herself, not just any Hokage either, one of the legendary Sannins at that. Only because Higurashi was gone by the time Tsunade-sama started to look for apprentices. All she had to do was prove herself. But thanks to the freaks' constant attacks, the girl couldn't get enough time to try and punch back when she couldn't even manage to clear her way to Sasuke.

A flash of white caught her eye.

That girl was moving around the battlefield, the white accents of her extravagant dress serving almost like a sign, attracting attention to her. And yet, Higurashi seemed undeterred as she jumped from one place to another, throwing senbons as so-called support. It almost didn't look like the two kunoichis were fighting the same battle. All of this was that liar's fault, but she didn't even look flustered. Because there was still a gap between their power. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Her training had been grueling, and Godaime-sama had emphasized practicality over vanity, so the pinkette had been forced to cut her hair short and was left with few options when it came to appealing clothes. But Higurashi's hair was long and unbraided, and her outfits were just as eye-catching as they were in Suna.

Pain exploded from her arm. Curses escaped her as blood flowed from a gash in her arm.

"Get out of my way, you wench!" The one with the weird sword was flailing around. "Why am I stuck with more ugly whores!"

"Ugly?! Have you looked in a mirror, you freak!"

"What else can you call a brute that lacks all delicacy?!" Wind rushed out at the swing of the man's arm. "Just die already!"

How far was far enough?

Chakra raced through her system. The attacks were too random; she wasn't fast enough. She'd have to take a hit. Fine. If she'd survived Tsunade-sama's punches, she could take this. Healing herself afterward would be easy. Something wrapped around her ankle, thin, nearly imperceptible. Until it pulled. Focused on the blades, Sakura's balance wasn't enough to save her. Dust filled her mouth, her nose painfully smashed against the white stone. Panic flooded her as she pulled her legs, desperate to feel herself. The sound of blades slashing right through the spot Sakura had been standing froze her. There was only one person here who used wires. Bitter blood filled her mouth as she glanced back.

Emerald eyes found blue.

One apparently careless wave of her hand had the wire back on the Higurashi's hand. The girl was just standing there, infuriating smile on her lips. Wait…was Sasuke watching? Was that why that bitch was trying to humiliate her?

"..kura!" Yamato-taicho's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine!" She stammered out.

"Good, then you can patch yourself up, correct?" Fake, poisonous concern sounded like nails on a chalkboard, the Higurashi moved in front of her. "Hurry up and switch opponents, Haruno-san."

"Who do you think…!"

"Suigetsu! Take over here, will you?" Cutting her off, the other kunoichi sounded unconcerned. "Juugo, forget the fire, support Sai, and push Kyokotsu back!"

"You're not our leader, you arrogant…!" That cocky wretch was trying to make herself look better.

"Now's not the time, Sakura!" Her captain was glaring at her as he dodged the flames chasing after him. "Kagome-san is right. We're getting nowhere as we are right now! We'll go with it!"

Lies…this had to be a lie.

This was not the way things were supposed to go. Yamato-taicho shouldn't be trusting that shrewd woman. Higurashi was nothing but a traitor and a liar. Tempting Sasuke-kun to leave the village, to never look at her, all of it was proof of her wickedness. And yet, that bitch was taking control of Konoha's team. It was stupid. With this much chaos flooding the entrance, having a clear picture of the battlefield had to be impossible. For Higurashi to be so loud...it could only mean…oh gods! Bright emerald whipped around, trying desperately to find the beloved black of Sasuke-kun. All that traitor was trying to do was humiliate Sakura, to look better in his eyes. Deceptive tactics were the only way this sneaky traitor knew how to win. Poisons and cowardly strategies like this. It was all the same!

Forcing down the heat in her cheeks, the pinkette pushed herself to her feet.

"Wait, she's your strategist?!" The yell of the one with the massive halberd cut through the noise.

"Took you long enough," Sasuke scoffed as he pushed the sword back; there was something like pride in his voice, proud of Higurashi. "Not that you'll be able to touch her."

"Haruno-san, do hurry." Higurashi's voice forced her to look away from Sasuke-kun. A volley of needles repelled the barrage of blades sent their way. Blue eyes disregarded the pinkette as she turned to the left. "Let's start pushing back then…Naruto, flood the place! Juugo, Suigetsu, don't hesitate. Just go through your hits!"

"You got it!"

In a blink, smoke covered the half-destroyed entrance, the loud yells of her blond teammate almost deafening as his clones swarmed the entrance. It'd be impossible for anyone to attack freely without hitting at least one or two of the kage bunshins. And there was no way to differentiate the original from the copies.

"Are you telling them to attack him?!" Sakura exploded.

"Do you even know what Naruto's basic skills are?" Higurashi scoffed at her. "He won't be anywhere close to our attacks."

Flames erupted their way, destroying the clones in the way. Her reply died on her tongue as pink rose around her. Swallowing her complaint, Sakura tried to focus. Regardless of anything else, she had to heal the gash in her arm if she wanted to prove herself in this fight. She shouldn't have gotten injured in the first place. Already, she was failing. Cool green soothed the pain in her arm as the blood stopped flowing.

"Suikotsu, forget the Uchiha and knock out the girl!" The bald shinobi yelled out.

"What an honor," the blue-eyed kunoichi was still smiling.

Gritting her teeth, the pinkette almost stumbled as one of the weirdos following Sasuke-kun pushed past her, massive blade in hand, only to get slashed in half and…. liquefy? Shaking her head, the medic forced herself to go through the clones to the other side of the field. All she needed was time to get an attack out. As long as she could land a hit, she'd prove him how much better she was.

Ink splashed in front of him, crushed under a giant hand. Swatted away as one would an insect.

Running out of ink or parchment had never been a problem before, although at the rate this was going, Sai may need to start worrying about what to do when that inevitably happened. Frowning, Sai let the orange-haired shinobi block the next attack, not truly struggling. Extended and all-out fights were far from his specialty. Unexpected situations were normal in high-ranking missions. A third party was nowhere in his potential scenarios; even if he were to release his paintings to go after his targets, odds were they wouldn't reach them. Frustrating as it was, he could see why the Higurashi decided to send reinforcements his way. The Naruto clones were loud, but they were useful shields.

Higurashi Kagome was a good strategist and, apparently, a good liar too.

Even if he failed, at least he'd have something to report. Not that it mattered; his mission was unlikely to change.

Before he could try and retreat, fire shot up behind him. Dark eyes narrowed. The mercenaries' tactician was a problem. Even with their numerical advantage, since Yamato-taicho, Sakura, and even Sai were constantly paired up with the runaway ninjas, it seemed like they'd ended up at a standstill. Killing just one of the bounty hunters should give them enough breathing time to start pushing back.

Dexterous fingers moved around his blank canvas. Twin serpents jumped to life, only one attempting to reach the giant in front of him, the second one, slithering towards the fire user.

Though far from ideal, he'd get another chance to fulfill his mission once Yamato-taicho followed through with their plan. It would be harder to pull off, and he'd only get one shot, but his odds would be better if he could keep his real goal hidden. It was a purely logical decision. The questions in his mind that refused to be quiet about the odd relationship between the two clan heirs and the stupid blond had nothing to do with it. Violent and unrestrained, the Uchiha had clearly tried to kill the jinchuuriki; yet, not only did the sharingan user let the girl heal the blond, he hadn't made a single move against Sai's obnoxiously loud teammate since they joined the battlefield. And the Higurashi had, once again, acted irrationally.

Emotional vulnerabilities were something to be exploited.

No, this was too preliminary to report to Danzo-sama. It'd be better to wait until this was more concrete. For now, the best thing to do was focus on the current fight and try to get rid of the strategist.

Memories assaulted his brain.

His clones were being massacred by the buckets, and Naruto had to thank Kakashi-sensei for his training because the blond wasn't sure how he would've fared without the years of experience of ignoring the extra waves of information coming from the clones. That Sasuke had always preferred to use katons even as children also helped shove away the sensation of being burnt to a. crisp. Not that the Uchiha had been able to use walls of fire like this when they were genins. He had to figure out a way to get close without being forced back by wind attacks of the ground, backing underneath his feet. Kagome's senbons helped, but she had to go from one spot on the battlefield to another. Too much was going on…although…

Kagome and Sasuke were holding back.

Other than a few smaller shields the girl had thrown around to help others, neither of them was actually using any jutsu. Not even the ones they'd known as genins. Back in Suna, they'd had to have used more than this to destroy the Akatsuki copies. If they could deal with them, they should've been able to make some headway if they wanted to, but hell, Kagome was barely using her wires. This had to be part of their plan. It's not like these hunters were particularly weak, and the way their six enemies kept interfering with each other's fight was more than just problematic, but this really shouldn't be impossible for the Higurashi. She'd agreed to take the bait; she had to have gotten her hands on some info about these people. Back in those weird tunnels, Kagome had talked about the poison user, and she'd always been good at making plans. It wasn't like her to rush in head first.

So Naruto held back as well.

Betting was a vice the blond kept away from; he'd seen what it could lead to. And trusting Kagome and Sasuke were risky odds. They'd lied to him once already…but then, so did everyone else. At least they were trying to reach out now, and that was more than anyone else. This was a chance the blond couldn't afford to lose it. So the blond bit his tongue and didn't even attempt to use his Rasengan, only refilling the clones in the area, keeping their attacks basic, only an obstacle that occasionally got in the way of his teammates.

"The Uchiha aren't really all that great, are they?!" The leader kept trying to taunt Sasuke.

"Is every word that comes out of your mouth that worthless?"

"Regroup!"

Long-learned habits had his legs moving on its own. The part of his brain that was still working guided him toward the flash of pink he'd sped before. Because Haruno Sakura would rather get hit than obey one of Kagome's orders. He could feel the pinkette's hand clench around him as he forcefully lifted her and raced toward his childhood friends. No matter what had happened between them, the instinct to trust the Higurashi was too ingrained in him.

Shimmering pink rose around him as if to prove him right, a massive wave crashed against her shield.

Water washed over the half-ruined entrance, pulling out screams from the bounty hunters.

Ah, this was what they'd been waiting for, wasn't it?

Maybe he'd only met the guy once, and it had already been three years, but Naruto wasn't about to forget the blue-skinned freak that had accompanied Itachi that one time. Even if he had, there was no mistaking the black coat with red clouds.

Right, Sakura mentioned the runaway clan heirs were now higher up on the Akatsuki's priority list.

So this was their plan all along. Holding back like they'd been even starting this fight in two different places and buying time. All of it was to bait the older Uchiha. They were still hunting him. Of course, they were. It felt off, as if he was missing something big Kagome's genjutsu had shown the crazed ANBU as he'd been before, kind, caring, and patient, spending his free time playing with the children. Were they still aiming for the insane prodigy?

Cerulean eyes turned to look around him.

It looked like Yamato-taicho managed to put up a wood barrier, Sai taking refuge with him. Rock formations had protected some of the bounty hunters; others seemed to have managed to withstand it on their own, somewhat bruised but still standing. Shimmering pink faded around them.

"Finally!" Rough laugh was evident in the man's voice. "About time I got to join in!"

"Akatsuki!"

"The hell is that?!" The one with the high-pitched voice was clearly unhappy. "So gross!"

"Now, would you look at that," Hoshigake Kisame scoffed as he looked straight at the blond. "Caught myself a lucky break. We can deal with the brats and the Kyuubi in a single go."

"One pest after another…if you're trying to get the Uchiha's head, then we're gonna have a problem." The mercenary leader was glaring at the new fighter.

"Heh, quite arrogant for someone who couldn't leave a scratch on their target." The shark seemed entirely unbothered by the number of shinobis around him. "Ain't me who called dibs, tho."

"Bankotsu!"

From where they were standing, there was no way for them to overhear what the bald guy was furiously whispering to the one with the braid, but there really wasn't any need for it.

"Tch, fine." Bankotsu forced himself to nod. "Retreat!"

With that order, the group started to move, the giant man picking up the one Kagome had taken out. Their movements were quick and practiced as they rushed back towards the abandoned compound. Only to freeze as the outer buildings blew up, fire enveloping the perimeter before there was time to blink. Naruto winced as his ears rang, the loud sound of explosions disorienting in its suddenness. Glancing around, his gaze landed on the Higurashi girl. She was standing next to Sasuke, a senbon twirling between her fingers. Unsurprised, unimpressed.

This was the Higurashi Kagome he remembered.

"Interruptions or not, I'm afraid we can't let you just run away."

"How?"

"Just because we weren't the first to arrive doesn't mean we can't use this place to our advantage." The girl's polite smile was firmly in place.

"So try to run away again, and this whole place will go up in flames." Sasuke finished the threat.

"Most of you might make it out, but…" Azure eyes glanced at the shortest mercenary. The one she almost killed.

Before the blond could even blink, Bankotsu had rushed forward, halberd in hand, aiming at the girl. The giant blade was stopped, pushed back by Sasuke's katana. Naruto's muscles moved on their own, as he caught a flash of blue skin moving. Kagome was faster; of course, she was, blocking the Akatsuki's sword with a blade the jinchuuriki hadn't seen her use before. Still, Naruto kept running, his hands rushing through hand seals, a clone appearing beside him, helping mold the chakra building in his right hand. There was something more going on with his childhood friends and the Uchiha prodigy, but this asshole was a different story. This bastard was someone he didn't have to hold back against.

It didn't hit.

Familiarity came back with surprising ease.

Years of training guided his movements. Ignoring the blond as the girl finally came back to him required some effort, but trusting him with her safety was strangely natural. Despite the tension their tattered bond had been under for the last few years, Sasuke trusted him to keep her safe in battle. Swallowing down a bitter sound, he rushed at the Shichinintai's leader. Kagome had been right after all. And she was right once more now.

As long as they could pull off the switch, the unexpected turns in this plan wouldn't matter, their goals would be within reach.

Chakra flowed through him as lighting burned through his skin, jumping to his brother's katana. It was time to stop playing around. Getting information out of them had always been a secondary priority. Connected to the mystery poison or not, the time to pull back their punches was gone now. Because the blue-skinned man behind him was nothing short of a monster.

"This is the real deal this time, right princess?" Suigetsu's question was filled with anticipation.

"Yeah," Kagome said. A short blast of reiki forced the Akatsuki to jump back. "If we don't go all out, we might not make it out of here alive."

"Go all out?" The mercenary leader glared at him.

"Oh, I see." With an amused laugh, Kisame let his sword rest on his shoulder. "So, the question here is…who's the real hunter, and who's the prey?"

Prey…for so long, that's exactly what they'd been. But this time, they were hunting something entirely different. It was hard to counter an attack if you didn't know where it's going to hit. Kagome's insistence on keeping their true motives obscured was paying off. Although all of this subterfuge could've been avoided if they'd managed to shake off the idiots from Konoha.

"Get rid of the girl!"

Fire clashed against fire.

His flames overpowering the ones from their frantic wannabe hunters. Wood sprouted from the ground, trying to wrap around the Shichinintai's strategist, only to be sliced. Good, they needed the ANBU to be as distracted as possible. This whole charade was for his benefitl. And it's clear his attention was being pulled in every possible direction, what with the Akatsuki swinging against them.

Impatience eats at his entrails.

Crimson eyes scanned the battlefield. Out of all six remaining bounty hunters, only three seemed able to handle the change in tactics. His fingers itched as the power from the curse seal began to seep through. Black stains covered his hand, stopping halfway through his body. Every blow a test of his self-control. Patience had never been something he excelled at, but the Uchiha had decided to follow through with the plan, switching from one enemy to another. The sound of explosions became a constant cacophony, smoke now appearing in almost regular intervals.

Gray smoke covered the battlefield. A soft, so easy to miss caress brushed the back of his hand.

The signal he'd been waiting for.

Jumping through hand seals, the dark smoke of Kagome's bombs hiding the ones released from his jutsu.

There'd be no visible difference; no one in this world knew Higurashi Kagome the way he did; by the time anyone realized what had happened, no one should be able to determine exactly when the switch occurred. No one but him…and Naruto. Frustrating as it was, they'd never figured out the reason behind jinchuurikis reacting to Kagome's reiki, and the boy had known her for so long. The blond may be a moron, but he could be observant when it mattered; it wouldn't surprise him if Naruto immediately noticed, and if Kagome's bet to hold on to their bond failed, they'd be forced to change tactics.

Sasuke could see cerulean eyes scan the place, a question loud in his gaze as soon as the smoke cleared.

"If you're going to get in our way," Sasuke muttered as he passed by the blond, "you'll wish it all ended at the Vally of the End."

His words were harsh, little more than a threat. But he could see the moment of contemplation in the blond's eyes. Naruto had always been good at pushing his buttons, calling his bluff, and now, it appeared the prankster was just as effective as Kagome in reading through his rude tones. There was determination in the blond's eyes as he gave an almost imperceptible nod before placing himself beside the transformed bunshin.

Now, it was all up to the girl.

His grip tightened on the hot of his borrowed katana for an instant before re-sheathing it. Kusanagi would be a better choice. For their plan to succeed, there was no need to kill any of their hunters, and he had complete trust in Kagome's ability to pull this off, but quietly sitting as he waited for something to happen had never been his forte.

Every Konoha shinobi knew of the Higurashi clan; they were a founder clan, a cautionary tale. But until his father brought a baby girl home, Itachi had never been particularly interested in the ancient clan.

And then, his curiosity grew more with every year that passed, quickly becoming an urgent need to know more about Kagome's family and their bloodline limit when he realized the danger she'd be in when she finally stepped outside the relative safety of the Uchiha compound. Soon enough, he'd spend as much time as he could researching and analyzing the young girl's odd energy, and he'd taken over several parts of her training when he could afford it. Even though the sharingan couldn't dissect reiki like it did chakra, the Uchiha prodigy had learned to identify the energy with the same ease he could recognize her chakra. Of course, he'd memorized Sasuke's signature as well. There was no way he could miss the way Kagome's signature flickered out of the battlefield, vanishing soon after, or the way his brother had hurried to create a transformed kage bunshin to cover her disappearance.

They had to know it too.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered to send the three fluttering forms that shone pink to the only sight he had left. This wasn't a jutsu he recognized, but the fake butterflies were created by reiki. Hovering on the edge of the outer buildings, the faux insects had only appeared after the girl vanished, waiting for something. Itachi clenched his fists for a second before forcing himself to release the tension in his form as he finally abandoned the spot he'd been rooted at for what felt like an eternity. As he neared the area, they started moving through the circular streets, away from the fight.

Kagome was offering him a guide.

With that one move, they'd confirmed his suspicions of this whole thing being part of their plan. Hesitation threatened to chain his legs as he walked through the abandoned paths of the Higurashi compound. So many years had passed since he left the village, and he wasn't sure how much those two had changed once he'd willingly become the monster that haunted their lives. The thought alone bothered him. Once upon a time, the older Uchiha had known those children better than the back of his hand, but now his predictions felt more like random guesses. All he knew for sure was the impersonal details he'd managed to gather throughout the years: Sasuke and Kagome were still tightly bound together, they were strong, and they were good at hiding. Even now, he couldn't chase away the feeling of disconnect. His brother had always been protective of Kagome, possessive even; it made no sense for him to let the girl face the one responsible for the Uchiha massacre alone. Once more, Itachi felt like he was missing something important. Regardless, there was nothing else he could do but play along with Kagome's wishes and follow the fake butterflies.

Bright pink assaulted his senses as he went down, forcing him to come to a stop so he could get used to the intensity of reiki radiating from every surface. It took a second for his sight to recover. Pushing down his doubts and anxieties, the Uchiha began to walk again. Behind him, he could hear the entrance closing. His guides fluttered around him, subtly prompting him to pick up his pace.

Unlike the streets above, the underground passages were winding, a labyrinth in its own right. Had there been a similar structure under the half-destroyed Higurashi compound outside Konoha?

So many questions whirled around his head, and they all stopped as he passed a second set of doors.

Playfully reaching out to the fake butterflies, Kagome was sitting on what had to be a stone desk. Her motions were calm, relaxed, and with a wave of her hand, the faux insects faded away as she turned to him.

"You've grown overconfident, Kagome." His voice was thankfully steady as he spoke.

"Have I?" In her voice he could hear bitter amusement. "Good instincts are something many shinobis would die to have. One must always follow their intuition as they're sharp enough…and I've been told my instincts are amazingly sharp."

"There is always a first time for everything."

"Maybe," Even now, she still sounded unbothered. After all these years, she still clung to his words. "But I don't think this is it."

During their encounter in Suna, the girl had closed her eyes throughout the entirety of their fight.

Attempting to start a fight as fast as he could was unlikely to work; it'd be better to try and find a way to trick her into lowering her guard. So he refused to move even when Kagome slowly stood up, approaching him with deliberate steps. All he wanted was to get the girl to open her eyes, Itachi reminded himself, trying to pretend he wasn't attempting to memorize the sound of her voice. This time, it wasn't strained or panicked as she yelled at him to stop. Her tone was soft, almost playful. So different yet familiar to the sound he remembered from his youth. His mind too busy trying to capture every slight tone variation. It was a distraction he couldn't afford.

Swift and gentle, deceptively strong arms wrapped around him. An old, never-forgotten warmth enveloping.

Itachi needed to push her away. Force her to start a fight. To hell with leaving her guard; if he wanted to keep his facade, he couldn't let himself drown in the comforting feelings of sweet memories. He couldn't let this go on. But his hands seemed to move without permission, finding their place in Kagome's back as she pressed her cheek against his chest.

"I've missed you so much, Itachi."

a/N: So sorry for the delay guys, the first heat wave of the year just hit where I leave and well….let's just say it hit hard and I don't do well with temperatures that go over 40 C / 104 F, and apparently neither do any of my electronics. Please remember to stay hydrated.

In any case, the important thing is the chapter is finally out. At this point there are many moving pieces and a good portion of them are finally colliding. It looks like you guys are enjoying it and I'm so happy considering how much I'm deviating in term of story and some characterizatio.

As always thank you guys so much for reading, and any and all reviews/comments/criticism is greatly appreciated. Be careful of extreme weather too.