Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter Fifteen
Sunrise109
Two days later, in the morning...
The fresh sea air filled Itachi's lungs, as he sat back, head titled slightly upwards, allowing the shy rays of sunshine that seeped through the thick, white clouds to caress his features. Both his palms were resting on the ground behind him, supporting his upper body weight as he regarded the silent roiling waves before him, which lulled his senses, onyx gaze alert.
Click, click.
It was hard to miss those unmistakeable, soft and padded footsteps, almost hesitant, slightly unsure, but surprisingly determined. The sound of her movement against the sandy terrain was almost completely drowned out by the sounds of the swirling waves in the background, and the sand did a great job of swallowing up any vibrations indicative of movement.
Itachi closed his eyes momentarily in concentration, and brought his palms together smoothly, uttering quietly under his breath: "Release."
This open beachfront was an extension of the Akatsuki hideout, and therefore warranted being protected by genjutsu illusion from outsiders. However, only a handful of the criminal organisation's members knew how to release this genjutsu.
In reality, Itachi had not been the one to set up this genjutsu in the first place, which confused its victims by making them believe they were walking straight into a dead-end and hence encouraging them to turn back; nor was he the one perpetually maintaining it. He suspected that it had been Konan's work. It did its job well, and its complexity was surprising for the genius of a non-Uchiha, but it was in no way near the mastery level of an Uchiha who knew the contrivances of his doujutsu prowess through and through, thoroughly tried and tested.
On the horizon, just peeking above those restless yet controlled waves, was the beginnings of the Hidden Grass village; only a dozen or so miles separated the Hidden Rain from its tiny, mysterious and inconspicuous neighbour.
Itachi wouldn't mind living in such a place, even temporarily, where no one knew him, his infamy unknown and face unrecognised, despite the Hidden village's close proximity to the Akatsuki's domain. The Hidden Grass was known for its speciality in the arts and crafts and in peach tea making, but nothing more than that.
His long eyelashes fluttered subtly as he turned around, his Akatsuki cloak weightlessly copying his movements in the sea breeze, and fixed his calm gaze on a startled looking female, with frankly alluring pearlescent eyes.
"You finally found me," Itachi stated impassively. A small degree of respect shone in his raven-black eyes. It was a statement, or perhaps a formal greeting, although the Uchiha's words always seemed to sound like rhetorical questions, which made her feel none the wiser.
"Yes, somehow," Hinata responded sheepishly.
The long indigo-haired Hyuuga, who had wandered into this secret place by accident, momentarily recovered from her shock. The mid-morning sun seemed to make the lightened strands of her hair glisten, now completely free from all traces of hair dye from her time as Danzo's spy; the Hyuuga heiress appraised Itachi almost as though she were seeing a ghost and was struggling to believe her own eyes.
It had been almost two weeks since she'd last laid eyes on the elusive Sharingan-user, since their meeting together with all the other members of the Akatsuki.
She had finally mustered up the courage to venture outside the pristine walls of the Akatsuki hideout again, after her close encounter with Sasori two nights previously, which had narrowly been neutralised by Deidara's genius. This time, Hinata had wagered that it would be safer to venture out first thing in the morning, whilst all the other members were hopefully fast asleep.
Moments previously, she had been walking towards a dead-end, the mountainous scenery with exotic trees giving way to nothing, and up to a certain point she had nearly given up. Even with Byakugan activated, it had been no use—there didn't seem to be any way through or around the dead-end. But something told her that there was more to this place than it seemed, and she kept on going.
Then without warning, the scenery had given way to reveal a dream-like beach front, and... Itachi.
Itachi seemed to fully understand her shock.
"I helped you," He elaborated, a low chuckle leaving his lips, from where he stood watching her silently from the raised wooden platform overlooking the sea. "Watch carefully." Itachi instructed her.
His hands, with deliberately slow movements, performed the following hand seals: Boar, Fox, Ox, Tiger.
Once Hinata realised that he was showing her how to break the genjutsu for next time, she nodded in gratitude and promptly committed the hand seals to memory. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."
Hinata had no idea what to say to him anymore. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and she realised with a jolt of surprise that the only reason why she had wanted to leave the Akatsuki base was in order to find him.
Plus, she had some important questions to ask him.
"It seems that you've been away for some time?" She finally pried him tentatively, her feet moving so that she was now standing but a few metres away from him, at the base of the boardwalk.
Why did it matter to her where he went to, or what he got up to in his spare time, anyway?
"I had business to attend to," Was his only simple explanation. It was a painful dismissal, but Hinata accepted it, knowing that there must be a good reason for his secrecy.
"Now, I assume you've been able to settle down, as much as is possible here, into your new role as a member of the Akatsuki?"
His questioning raven-black gaze made Hinata wonder whether he had a hidden meaning concealed behind those words, an unasked question that he was waiting for her to answer.
Hinata broke free from his searching eyes, in favour of gazing impassively out at the sea. Her red and black Akatsuki cloak billowed calmly in the fresh sea breeze, as she took a deep, pacifying breath. She crossed her arms and shrugged slightly.
"It has been quite an uneventful couple of days, apart from two nights ago when I was confronted by Sasori. Thanks to Deidara's intervention, nothing serious came of it. That's all."
An emotion flashed across Itachi's features... It was safe to say that this piece of information had irked him, greatly.
Ordinarily, the Uchiha would confront Sasori and… make it known to him the consequences that followed a decision to harm Hinata in any way, shape or form.
But seeing as Itachi was now back at the Akatsuki base for the foreseeable future, and his absence for a few days had been a one-off occurrence, there was now no risk of such an incident repeating itself again, now that Itachi was nearby to assist Hinata, should she need it.
Why did it matter to him what happened to her, anyway?
Well, Itachi would admit that recently, he had been dreaming about this lavender-eyed woman. Yes, now she was in his dreams. Not only was she in his dreams, he also couldn't keep her far from his thoughts. Frankly, it infuriated him to no end... and at the same time, brought him a great deal of inner peace and reassurance.
No amount of reason could explain this, but...
He simply couldn't lose her.
"I won't allow it to happen again." He promised firmly.
Hinata, slightly taken aback by his serious declaration, blushed. She remained silent.
Despite his reassurance, it still didn't iron out the rest of her fears.
"Do you have anything you would like to ask me?" Itachi finally asked, knowing that she had found him by chance, which he was glad about for reasons unknown, but could only ascertain that she was unsettled by something, even if it was small and insignificant. Something was amiss...
"Can you replay memories?" Hinata asked him suddenly.
Itachi nodded, answering slowly, "Yes."
"Please can you use your Sharingan to take us back to nearly two weeks ago, during Pain's audience in front of the Akatsuki?"
Only a heartbeat of time passed before she was lost in two pools of chrome black which bled into crimson, and she was staring back into a doujutsu prowess capable of accessing its owner's memories, and harnessing its visual capabilities in order to replay a real-life event that had occurred weeks ago, as though it were an illusion taking place in real time.
Curiosity got the better of Itachi, and for reasons of security, he decided to use Tsukuyomi on Hinata. They were now both standing in a timeless world of his making, where the landscape remained unchanged, apart from the scene playing before them. On this playing field, what felt like an hour in the genjutsu was in fact merely one moment in reality.
After a few minutes, Hinata finally spoke up.
"Now," She uttered, indicating that Itachi should pay closer attention to this particular scene of his memory.
The Uchiha heir intently watched as Pain's frightening Rinnegan eyes bore back at him, his icy features and pierced face like that of a corpse.
"... In Phase Two, we are to capture the jinjuriki one by one, and extract their Tailed Beasts, in preparation for my forbidden jutsu which will be the harbinger of peace to the Ninja World. We already have the Five Tails, Kokuou, thanks to the combined efforts of Hidan and Kakuzu—"
"Woohoo!..."
Pain's speech was unceremoniously interrupted by Hidan, before he smoothly continued, as though no interference had occurred.
"—This will ultimately lead us to attain our final goal, which is world peace, or domination, whatever you wish to call it. Whilst half of us will focus on Phase One, the other half will focus on Phase Two, until our two goals merge. Is this understood?"
"Stop," Hinata said, and Itachi obediently paused the illusionary representation of his own memories.
"You are concerned about being asked to capture your childhood friend, the jinjuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox, Uzumaki Naruto, for the Akatsuki."
Hinata felt a shiver run down her spine, even though the atmosphere in this illusion was the same temperate as it had been on the beachfront. Somehow, it felt like they both really were standing in another place entirely, in a completely undiscovered corner of the world.
"That is correct." Hinata finally responded, not knowing what else to say, and diverting her translucent gaze away from Itachi's face.
A moment later, he raised his hand towards her, and her breath hitched in her throat as she felt a smooth and delicate palm cupping her right cheek affectionately... a hand far too smooth to belong to a mass murderer and criminal.
"What if I were to tell you that I can stop this from happening?"
Pupilless eyes blinked in confusion, as she stared back at him, speechless. Not only because of his unheard-of statement, but also because this illusion felt far too real, far too intimate, to not be real.
"How?" She uttered, finally finding her voice, and feeling a deep, unknown, burning desire to draw closer to him.
Which surprisingly, she did.
Hinata placed her left palm in his right, whilst his left hand continued to slowly caress her cheek, his movements inquisitive, apprehensive.
Surprise momentarily flashed across Itachi's features at her bold action, but then it disappeared as though it had never been there.
"Now that our conversation can no longer be heard by Pain or any of his accomplices, I will freely tell you where I went to a few nights ago."
Hinata nodded.
"I paid Danzo a short visit, and recovered from him Uchiha Shisui's stolen right eye."
Hinata's heartbeat quickened for a short moment, as his words sunk in, before Itachi made her relax by squeezing her left palm which was currently enclosed in his.
Hinata had no idea what to make of this situation. Of any of this.
"I knew he was hiding something, especially behind those bandages of his, but I never could've guessed it would've been as insidious as that." She stated.
Itachi nodded solemnly at her naive words.
"There are many things that you wouldn't be able to guess about the elder, or the Hidden Leaf, at that. But that is a heavy conversation for another time." Itachi stated, making Hinata wonder what secrets and hidden mysteries there lay about her home.
"Danzo will retaliate against us eventually, but that is not worth worrying about for now. I plan on eventually using Kotoamatsukami, when the time is right, now that I have both of Shisui's eyes, in order to disband the Akatsuki organisation."
Again, Hinata allowed the bold declaration to sink in.
A small smile made its way across Itachi's features, too rueful for a face as young and handsome as his; but it oddly reassured her, in an indescribable way.
She simply felt safe here, with him, in Tsukuyomi.
Hinata quietly wondered whether Itachi had ever tried to escape from reality on any occasion in the past, by retreating into the safe walls enclosed by Tsukuyomi, where time was a thing of the past, a mere manipulation of the will.
"How do you want me to help you to achieve this?" Hinata asked. She felt unsure that she would be capable of helping him to accomplish such an aspiration.
"... And more importantly, why would this be your goal? I know hardly anything about you, other than that you massacred your Clan out of hatred and then defected from the Leaf village to become a member of this criminal organisation, which you now want to disband? Is everything I've learnt about you a lie, Itachi?"
Her words seemed to cause something within him to stir, penetrating into his being, but he did a good job of masking it as he abruptly withdrew from her, forcing their hands to part and creating a distance between them.
His dark irises flashed with an unreadable, impassive emotion, before his rueful smile returned to his face. Itachi crossed his arms, and his low ponytail swayed at the movement, his high collared cloak accentuating his noble cheekbones.
"The reasoning behind my goal is simple: my loyalties still lie with the Hidden Leaf village." He stated. "And I could use your assistance. If you are as skilled and passionate about protecting the Leaf village as you appear to be, you can help me to dismantle the Akatsuki organisation, before Pain's operations kick into full swing and cause too much destruction. It is all about timelines. I would like to bring them down peacefully using Kotoamatsukami, which is the highest level genjutsu existing in the Uchiha's arsenal."
"The reasoning behind my goal is simple: my loyalties still lie with the Hidden Leaf village."
Courage and, after a slight moment of hesitation, determination, shone in Hinata's translucent gaze as she regarded the genius and replayed his noble words in her mind.
"I will update you as and when I need your assistance." Itachi advised simply. "For now, continue as you were doing previously."
"Okay..." Hinata responded breathlessly, and dropping the honorific, she added, "... Itachi."
With that, he unexpectedly came closer and, hand moving directly in her line of sight, he poked her softly and playfully in the forehead.
"Release."
A few moments later, Hinata found herself back with Itachi on the open beachfront, back in their original positions.
Even dreams eventually came to an end.
It was suddenly difficult to imagine a world without that beautiful scarlet moon hanging over their heads silently.
But something didn't feel right—something had changed—and Itachi was already aware of this.
He was looking at something in the distance, and without much warning, thousands of sheets of origami paper materialised in the air and formed a human person: Konan.
Her jaded, amber eyes regarded them wordlessly, and with an air of slight suspicion, but it quickly faded away at Itachi's unamused expression.
She finally announced the reason for her appearance:
"Leader has summoned you for another mission."
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A/N: Well, well, well... *gins happily* I guess I'm back?! :D
I've finally managed to sit down and complete this chapter. Thank you all for patiently waiting for me.
A special thanks goes to: Itachi's Queen, I-Love-Trunks1, yessirbaka, christinamoondust, AliasTesin, fanofthisfiction and Komorebi-chama for your lovely reviews to the previous chapter, I really hope you all enjoyed this update!
Safety Note: I've added a health and safety Author's Note regarding the proper use of contact lenses at the end of Chapter Six. If you read this story prior to today's date (09/04/2022), please check out this note as I regret not putting it in earlier. Thank you.
What are your thoughts on this chapter?
See you!
Sunrise109