".. so he said," Kisame briefly relayed Itachi's word to Mitsuki, who was on her 5th shift. "Thankfully, that big guy seemed to be in a long vacation of some sort, else it would be more troublesome if he changes location to somewhere that's not easily accessible for us."
"Understood," Mitsuki noted, upon receiving the news of the other Akatsuki's duo upcoming arrival from Kisame, ".. tell Itachi-kun, he don't need to worry. I'll make sure to keep my distance from them when they are here."
Hearing Mitsuki's answer and the lack of her retort, unexpectedly, Kisame let out a sigh of relieve. After all, he wouldn't want things to be even more awkward than it already was. Moments before conveying Itachi's message, he was worried that the girl's curiosity will get the better of her, causing her to ignore Itachi's request to stay away from the other duo. Gladly, it seemed like that wouldn't be the case. It was as if the girl was trying her best to behave herself, in order to make up for whatever it was she had been feeling guilty about.
With Itachi's instruction in mind, Mitsuki stood guard on a rooftop in the middle of the town while keeping her perception on, simultaneously surveying the area with her eye. It wasn't long until she noticed two other figures with black cloak and red cloud pattern sneaked by the city centre in discreet movement. Without delay, Mitsuki activated her power and manipulated the vine seeds in Itachi's pouch, notifying him and Kisame on their comrade's arrival.
"They're here. Just passed the centre, bookstore's backside alley" Mitsuki's message read as it wrote itself on the moving vine continuously, switching quickly from phrase to phrase. However, it was all Itachi need to confirm the upcoming duo's location.
"Let's go, Kisame," Itachi signalled Kisame to jump down, prepared to meet the other duo on their path.
The two figures in Akatsuki cloak stopped their movement as Itachi and Kisame jumped to their front.
Once both party reached a discreet, hidden area, the four stepped out of the alley's shadow to "greet" each other, albeit in silence. At least for the three of them..
"Of all people, it really has to be you, un!" noted the Akatsuki with blonde hair grudgingly, as soon as he saw the shining red eye under one of the Akatsuki's veiled hat.
Already accustomed to his young partner's personality and quirk, the other Akatsuki was not surprised by his loud, hostile comment towards Itachi.
"Stop it, Deidara, we are not picking a fight here," noted the short, hunchbacked figure cloaked in Akatsuki's robe as he try his best to keep his partner in line. Without letting his partner retort, the hunchback continued with his question. "Where's the target?" he asked, short and brief.
"Last we left him, he was about 3km east of here," Itachi answered calmly, ignoring the hostility of the blonde haired member.
"..and? What made you sure the target hasn't moved yet? I never knew that your magic eye can see that accurately that far,"
Again, the tone of the blonde man was overtly mocking and hostile as he planted his glare on Itachi, who had been openly ignoring his provocations. Trying to spare his partner for the need to answer, Kisame grinned as he took over the conversation and answered.
"Well, Ojou-chan is keeping surveillance," said Kisame, not bothering to give too much information on the girl herself. "If the target went too far from the previous location, she'd surely let us know," Kisame said with a grin, a semblance of pride in his voice, as if bragging about the new addition to their party.
Hearing the mention of the lucrative third member in Kisame's and Itachi's party once more, Deidara frowned.
"So, what's up with this new girl, un? Will she be joining Akatsuki too, huh?" he asked, partly curious, partly out of scorn.
Unwilling to give an answer, Itachi kept his quiet. Instead he threw the bundled vine that Mitsuki was manipulating previously towards Deidara instead, shutting him up with confusion.
As soon as the vine was in Deidara's hand, suddenly, it wriggled. Surprised, he almost drop the vine, but not before it wrote itself into a simple "Hi."
"If the target makes any kind of movement or change in direction, those vines will let you know," explained Itachi briefly, still ignoring Deidara's question. As the blonde stared at the vine that was still in his grasp, confused, the vine unravelled itself and made a nodding motion, if the up and down movement of the vine's tip can be considered that. Embarrassed of his own unfitting display for a man of his calibre, Deidara quickly tried to put his act together once more.
"Tch, you're as unbearable as always, un!" Deidara frowned in complain, pretending to be unaffected by the previous surprise. Not giving him any reaction or display of interest in his response, Itachi turned his back away from the other duo and blitzed away.
"Well, then, goodluck, you two," Kisame said with a grin as he too, turned back and followed his partner.
As Itachi and Kisame moved away from the town, Kisame started a conversation with a question.
"We're just gonna leave the two of them like that? Also should we wait for Ojou-chan to rejoin?" Kisame asked with a wry grin as the duo moved further and further away from the town ahead of Mitsuki who was still keeping surveillance on both the other duo as well as their target.
"That won't be an issue," answered Itachi briefly, knowing how it would be easy for Mitsuki to track them if she willed it anyway, since they are not even attempting to elude her.
"…." Hearing Itachi's brief, emotionless response, Kisame frowned in silence. As far as he could tell, the "odd pair" hadn't been communicating much these few days, and it worried him. For Itachi, that kind of silence might be normal, but for the girl.. Even when it was her and Kisame's turn to rest, he barely managed to have a talk with her, as the girl would often spend her time pondering, or faking sleep. Unwilling to let the matter continue just like that, Kisame brought the topic up into the conversation.
"Itachi-san.." Kisame initiated the conversation in worry.
"?" to Kisame's sudden, hesitant call, Itachi threw him an enquiring look.
".. erm, can you do something about Oujou-chan already? It's nice having quiet and all, but..
"…."
Itachi fell silent after hearing Kisame's request. Indeed, a few days had passed, and somehow the atmosphere between Mitsuki and him hadn't recovered just yet. It was, as Kisame said, unnatural for Mitsuki to be able to keep her quiet for that long. Judging from the way Kisame brought it up as well, it seemed to be bad enough that it also affected her interaction with Kisame as well.
Seeing as how he had managed to get Itachi's full attention, Kisame continued on.
".. even when eating, she was just like.. 'ok, thank you,' she said, 'thanks for the meal,' she said..." Kisame continued as shiver run down his spine. He had always joked that it would be better for Mitsuki's image if she would just keep quiet, but witnessing her to actually act like that.. It was unsettling, to say the least. Hearing Kisame's complaint, Itachi sighed. Worried that he had somehow annoyed his partner with his rant, Kisame examined Itachi's expression.
"Indeed," Itachi answered to Kisame directly with an obvious frown, unexpectedly agreeing to his observation and point of concern. Even Kisame himself was surprised by such unusual, direct answer, from his partner. It was likely a sign that his partner had been quite worried as well even if he had never expressed it openly. Now being sure that he wasn't alone in his concern, Kisame asked Itachi, still with a troubled tone.
".. what to do, Itachi-san?" Kisame added with a bitter smile as he looked towards his partner for answer.
If only he'd know how, thought Itachi. He was at a loss as well. It was not as if Mitsuki had stopped interacting all together. She still listens, she still talks as required, she hadn't been freezing up or escaping like she often would, at all, actually.. She didn't even sneak out to find herself some high places and moon-gaze, as far as he knew.
A sigh escaped Itachi's lips, again. Last time it had been that awkward was after his rejection in her attempt of communication. But, even then, things were solved on its own after a few days, as if it was natural.
"No, it was not that.." he thought. Back then it was that him who pulled back, unwilling to open up to her. But, even so.. Mitsuki herself had always approached him as she usually would, and cared for him, albeit in silence, even when it was him who triggered the awkwardness between them in the first place. In the end, she was acting as if it hadn't bothered her in the very least, never backing down in return. And as a result, it was as if the tension was never there at all.
Suddenly, before he could finish his train of thoughts, a presence came to Itachi's attention, uninvited. Sensing the hostility from the pursuer, Itachi rearranged his focus, before calmly notifying his partner.
"I guess we'll save that for later. Kisame, we are under attack."
After making sure the "other two" Akatsuki reached their target's location safely, close enough for them to take over the tailing on their own, Mitsuki released her control over the vine and left the two at their own accord before moving forward to follow Itachi's and Kisame's trail as quick as possible.
Along the way, on the straight path travelled, there were signs of conflicts. There were quite a few marks of fighting and conflict, but it seemed like the attackers hadn't really hindered Itachi and Kisame's advances so far as the battle trail kept extending forward without any sign of stopping or prolonged battle in one place. Even so, Mitsuki still felt uneasy.
"I gotta hurry," Mitsuki thought to herself as she speeded up. She knew that it was more than likely that the duo would be able to handle any kind of combative situation on their own, but she wanted to make sure that it wouldn't turn into another regret. Especially by allowing them to get hurt outside of her surveillance.
"So, what's your take on them, Itachi-san," asked Kisame, as he casually turned his body 180 degree to shred the approaching enemy's skin with his Samehada, along with their chakra coat.
Following Kisame's question, Itachi recalled unto the events that transpired during their stay in the town clusters so far. The three genin from Iwagakure, their comments about their teacher, circumstances of their death and the cover up attempt.. Based on Itachi's calculation, it was unlikely that they would so quickly ruled out any other possibilities surrounding the three genin's death, unless..
Itachi remembered what Mitsuki had told him on the night they went out. The Kirigakure kunoichi, the greedy merchant & Iwagakure shinobi in cahoots.. likely to be jonin based on the attire that Mitsuki described him in.
And their pursuer, all of them was Iwagakure's..
"They must have a detector type with them, likely a long range one," Itachi answered as a possibility popped in his mind. After all, their location was not exactly close to the route heading towards port town, where their jonin was killed. Based on the fact, and judging from how accurately the Iwagakure's shinobi team had been following their movement and intercepted their path, it was likely that someone was guiding the search team.
The reason why Itachi considered the new possibilities, was because.. having 3 Genin die on a mission wouldn't be an unusual circumstances, especially without proper supervision from their teacher. However, for a Jonin to be eliminated in such close time, as well as the existence of a civilian victims.. It could surely be easily attributed to "Akatsuki". After all, the rumor of their sighting had garnered enough attention in Iwagakure to warrant a special mission, and after that, a dead Jonin? Besides, Itachi was sure that in such state that Mitsuki described the kunoichi was in, she wouldn't care to hide the signs of her confrontation, pointing at the perpetrator being a shinobi.
"Wrong time, wrong place," Itachi thought to himself as he pondered the jonin's pursue of wealth and the circumstances of his death. Suddenly, Itachi's thought was interrupted as he felt a movement in his pocket.
"Just the right time," he smiled faintly as he noticed what the sudden movement implied. Quietly, Itachi summoned one of his crows and instructed the bird to relay his message.
"Crow?" Mitsuki thought immediately as she saw the black wing span circling around the area above her. In an attempt to draw the crow's attention towards her, Mitsuki took a set of dandelion seed and guided it with her wind towards the crow, prompting the crow to follow the direction from whence it came. Just like that, the crow dived down to land on Mitsuki's shoulder.
"Indeed, it's Itachi-kun's," thought Mitsuki as the crow stared exactly at her face the moment he landed. "What do you got for me, dear?" asked Mitsuki gently as she took out the small piece of paper that the bird was carrying in his mouth.
On the paper was one word, written atop a familiar symbol of the Hidden Stone village, jotted down with red looking ink which was likely to be Itachi's blood.
"Search"
Mitsuki let out an awkward chuckle as she read "the entirety" of Itachi's message. "Geez, can't you be even more vague?" she muttered sarcastically as she moved herself towards the top of a tree in an attempt to find a better area for her to search from.
Meanwhile, Itachi and Kisame were finally "forced" to halt their advance. It was all still within speculation, and Itachi was fine with the turn of event. Considering how they had steered around and more to disorient their chaser for a while now and lose them, yet there was no sign of the pursuer to be shaken loose, Itachi had finally decided that more running around would be more trouble than it was worth. In anyway, direct confrontation wouldn't delay them more than the chase already had.
"Well, might as well we just deal with them at once here, right, Itachi-san?" said Kisame with a grin, his body was itching for a real fight they he hadn't gotten in a while.
Hearing the enthusiasm in his partner's tone, Itachi dropped a calm reminder.
"Proceed with care, Kisame. They do not seem to be ordinary Jonin," he said, as he spotted a few of masked shinobi among the pursuers. However, Kisame was not bothered by the slightest. What showed up on his face was only more joy.
"Well, still.. it's about time for a work out. I was getting bored of the peace and quiet," said Kisame, not hiding his excitement and joy as he unwrapped his Samehada, freeing it completely from its half torn bandage. When Kisame was like this, Itachi knew that there would be no stopping him. At least for a while. With a sigh, Itachi muttered softly towards his partner.
".. don't stand out too much," said Itachi calmly, as he too prepared a plan in his mind for the upcoming fight.
As soon as Mitsuki did everything she could to search the area, it became clear to her what the purpose of the task Itachi was asking her to do was. Among a few moving squad which were swiftly, continuously moving towards a certain spot, which Mitsuki was sure then to be where Itachi & Kisame's location were.. There was one soul, unmoving, as if concentrating. Chakra was flowing out of him and towards the moving team, as if relaying a message and directing the squad's movement in the mean team.
"Their tracker, their strategist," she thought, as she locked on towards her target's location. She was not sure if Itachi wanted her to engage, but she could also sense that both Itachi and Kisame had way more people coming their way to eventually deal with.
Without delay, Mitsuki propelled herself towards who seemed to be the enemy's tracker and leader. Considering her requirement for ease of movement as well as the urgency of the situation, Mitsuki quickly took off her outer kimono and obi, revealing the shinobi training outfit she had worn underneath, the same one that she had been wearing during her spar with Itachi lately. Without stopping her advances, she quickly bundled her clothes together and tied them into one big bundle, and hung them with the help of her vines on one of the distinct tree she passed, as she planned to come back later to retrieve it once her task is over. As for then, she needed all the flexibility and speed that she could muster. Committed to her mission, Mitsuki removed the hairband tying the lower end of her hair, before using it to tie her hair into a ponytail bun instead, signifying that she was ready for whatever was to come in the upcoming confrontation.
"..5, 6, 7 of them.. and more might still be on their way, right?" Kisame chuckled lightly as he counted the surrounding hostiles. Seeing how the pursuers tensed up after meeting Kisame's gaze, Kisame let out a chuckle as he grinned towards his unaffected partner. "Oi, oi.. Are they seriously sending this much people after us? And why only us?"
"Likely, they are using some of biological cue to track us," thought Itachi, wondering if the tracker would be able to detect Mitsuki as well since her physical form surely will leave biological tracks, even devoid of chakra as she was. If that was so, it made sense why Deidara and Sasori weren't under attack and were having smooth entry instead. After all, the one who had been roaming around the area for the whole week, was Itachi and Kisame alone.
"Let's go, Kisame," said Itachi as he blitzed out of the enemy's sight, preparing himself to attack the enemy in coordination with his partner.
Hearing Itachi's word, and noticing the subtle sign that he gave him just before he blitzed away, Kisame's grin grew wider.
"With pleasure!" Kisame said as he jumped over towards one of the enemy's jonin, ready to shred him with his Samehada as the main distraction as Itachi sneaked around the rest of the team.
CLANG! CLANG!
A metallic clang ensued as Mitsuki's needle was stopped in its track.
Unexpectedly, Mitsuki's surprise attack was easily deflected. The one who did so was the one whom Mitsuki had marked as her target.
"I was wondering when you would come out," said the tracker, a young, male shinobi around Itachi's age. His eyes were closed and body un-turning, even as he initiated the conversation.
Mitsuki didn't answer, nor did she reveal herself. She knew that it would be stupid for her to reveal herself simply because the enemy had seen her attack coming. However, it doesn't make a difference in the end. As if knowing where she was, the young Iwagakure shinobi threw a few shuriken in a curving trajectory, heading precisely towards where Mitsuki was hiding in silence.
Thanks to her training with Itachi, however, Mitsuki was able to deflect them with ease with the help of her kunai.
"How surprising," said Mitsuki as she finally came out of her hiding, feeling that it would be no more than a waste of time if the guy can still somehow pinpoint her presence regardless. Noticing how the attacker had stopped hiding herself from his sight, however, the male shinobi of Iwagakure opened his eyes, revealing the emerald green iris beneath his lids as he turned his head to examine the one who would be his opponent. Likewise, Mitsuki too, observed the tracker's expression and subtle movement, her brain formulating a strategy as best as she could. Unlike Itachi, itsuki had no skill that could work as distraction to the senses, so it seemed like fighting head on while constantly moving around irregularly using her agility and moves as feint would be her best option. After all, if she focused too much on hiding, she won't be able to attack the enemy as efficiently as she could. Especially since being hidden doesn't eliminate the chance of enemy's attack heading towards her, and so it wouldn't give her any advantage of surprise. If that would be so, might as well she made it simpler instead of turning the fight into a pointless game of cat and mouse where the cat can always see the mouse no matter how.
"A woman? Seems like you are a tracker type as well," the shinobi remarked after examining Mitsuki's movement, appearance, and build. Honestly though, despite wearing shinobi training clothes, she barely looked, and acted, like shinobi would.
Noticing that the opposing seemed to be fond of talking, Mitsuki smiled as she gave him a non-answer. "Who knows. How did you find out where I was?" Mitsuki said, baiting the guy for information in case that he was stupid enough to answer. However, that didn't seem to be the case.
"You won't need to know," answered the guy, to Mitsuki's disappointment. "After all, I'll have to end you here," said the shinobi in continuation as he launched an attack towards Mitsuki with his kunai, before following the action up with some hand seals.
"Stay calm and read the attacks," Mitsuki recalled Itachi's teaching as she moved minimally to evade the kunai without wasting too much motion. However, by the time Mitsuki evaded the kunai, the shinobi lowered his hand and touched the ground. Starting from the point of contact, the Iwagakure's tracker's chakra bent the shape of the ground it passed, and formed big, sharp spikes of minerals which then spread its way towards Mitsuki's foothold, prompting her to jump upwards to the sky, where the enemy, with kunai on his hand had unexpectedly been waiting for her. However, Mitsuki were more than prepared. Her sparring partner had been that Itachi after all, and if anything, Itachi's attacks were as meticulous as it was merciless.
CLANG!
Mitsuki's kunai met the enemy's kunai, and the two were brought into a clash.
"WEAK!" said the shinobi as he easily pushed back Mitsuki's kunai, along with her body, overpowering her strike.
"Not that I'm trying to overpower you anyway," Mitsuki muttered quietly. Itachi had taught Mitsuki that ever since she had no chakra, it was unlikely for her to be able to win against shinobis who could enhance their strength with chakra in any kind of physical struggle, and she had taken those advices at heart. Instead of resisting the enemy's force, just like how she was taught, she used enemy's flow of movement to boost her own. As she pivoted around the enemy's hand, using the force of his charge to destabilize the guy's form, Mitsuki readied the drug laced needle in her left hand as she attempted to prick the shinobi's neck with it. However, sensing the incoming danger, the shinobi quickly shoved the girl away from his body, not letting her finish her attack.
"Ugh, so persistent!" complained the shinobi as Mitsuki threw a threaded kunai towards him in an attempt of counter attack. If she were lucky, which she weren't, the shinobi would have missed the thread's existence and Mitsuki would be able to grab the guy's arm with it and pulled him down with her and injure him.
"You stole my word," said Mitsuki bitterly, as the guy swiftly deflected her attack correctly, not letting her entrap him, as she landed softly on the ground with her feet, disappointed.
"Well, that didn't work. What to do now?" Mitsuki thought secretly with slight frown on her face.
The exchanges were indeed too time consuming, and as she had realized, she was not really built for combat. Her power and endurance aside, she had not been equipped with enough combat experience just yet. That was also why her usual strategy was either to attack the enemy off-guard, or deliver a surprise attack undetected, however..
"This shinobi, he is prepared," Mitsuki thought to herself. Not just prepared for combat, he was prepared to face enemy levels stronger than him. Knowing so, it was unlikely that he would drop his guard down in front of her, no matter how unremarkable she looked, or acted like. After all, judging from the way he said it, the shinobi somehow knew that she was a part of Itachi and Kisame's party, which normally would definitely be interpreted as being on the same level as them, however inaccurate the notion was. Thinking of what Itachi would do in her situation, suddenly, Mitsuki remembered a strategy that Itachi had used against her during one of her spar with him..
The epiphany led her to a strategy that might work, yet.. to execute it successfully…
"Ahhh, I don't want to ruin my clothes tho.." she muttered quietly with dread, recalling her clothes price and how it had put a dent on Itachi's wallet. "I guess I'll adapt as I do," she thought to herself as she braced the kunai with both of her hand and charged directly towards the enemy.
Author's note:
I'm! Trying! My best! To write combat scenes! *motivating self by re-watching some shippuuden episode
Also, happy belated new year~